Chapter 89: Gaining a New Friend

After leaving a message on WeChat saying he was returning to the company to handle official business, Ling Ziheng headed back, while Lin Zhiwei led the others to the studio. Xiaoyu and Mei Ning had an appointment with the brand to discuss alterations to the clothing, and the moment Zhao Lei stepped into the office, he slipped straight into video-conference mode.

At that moment, only Lin Zhiwei and Yin Mi'er still had a trace of leisure left. Lin Zhiwei grabbed two cans of sparkling water, gestured to Yin Mi'er, and the two of them quietly escaped to the little balcony on the top floor to slack off for a while.

Several lounge chairs had been set out there. Whenever they had free time, everyone could come up to recover their spirits. Occasionally, when Mei Ning was under too much pressure and utterly devoid of inspiration, she would come here to empty her mind or let out a scream. Lin Zhiwei had seen it happen a few times. It was startling to witness, but not altogether a bad way to release tension.

Lin Zhiwei chose a comfortable recliner and spoke first. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you who I was at once.”

Yin Mi'er had not expected her to be so frank. In truth, during that game just now, she had already arrived at the answer in her heart. It had felt unbelievable, and yet, if such a thing had happened to Lin Zhi, it was not entirely impossible either.

She smiled in relief, stars glimmering in her eyes, and lay back naturally on the recliner beside her, finally breathing easy from the heart. “You don’t need to apologize. I understand your difficulties. And you were the one who saved me. The one I chose to follow was you as a person, not your identity, and not your gender.”

Lin Zhiwei blinked at her, her own tension easing. Seeing Yin Mi'er in her present state, she felt at peace. “Don’t worry. I’ll deal with Ye Linyun.”

“I believe you.” Warm sunlight rested upon her face. Yin Mi'er closed her eyes with natural ease. In her mind appeared the man’s calm, steady eyes, his utter fearlessness when he had saved her, and every bit of patient counsel he had given her. “Actually, this is better. Ever since I became famous, I haven’t had a single real friend. And after I fell from grace, no one paid me any attention at all.”

“Now, all of a sudden, I feel as though I’ve gained four friends. You especially.” Yin Mi'er turned her head and looked at Lin Zhiwei beside her.

Lin Zhiwei turned as well. “Me too.”

It was a pity, of course, that Lin Zhi’s dream had come to an end today. But when Heaven closes one door, it opens a window somewhere else. Yin Mi'er was happy. This friend was worth having.

“So then... are you really just going to leave the Film Emperor hanging in a probationary period like that?” Yin Mi'er asked with delighted curiosity, mischief flickering in her eyes.

Lin Zhiwei considered it for a moment, then answered carelessly, “Let it be. Does he look to you like a man who’s actually put himself in probation?”

Yin Mi'er burst into laughter. “Lin Zhi, oh, Lin Zhi—probably only you would dare treat the great Film Emperor Ling like this.”

“Come on, look at the way he treats me...”

“Actually,” Yin Mi'er said slowly, “I can see how much thought he puts into you. It’s my first time meeting him, but over the past few days I’ve often heard Xiaoyu and Mei Ning talking about it. The changes in the Film Emperor Ling after meeting you are plain for all to see.”

“Mi'er, you’re supposed to be on my side. Don’t defect on me now.” Lin Zhiwei made a mournful face.

“Of course I’m on your side. But hasn’t he already said it? There is a beauty whom, once seen, can never be forgotten; one day apart, and longing grows wild to madness.” Yin Mi'er’s eyes brimmed with smiling envy. “And he said it in front of everyone. Weren’t you moved at all?”

“When you buy vegetables at the market, you still have to pick and choose. Anyone can say a few pretty words. Whether he’s a mule or a horse, let him be led out first and we’ll see.”

Yin Mi'er could not help laughing at the comparison. To liken the great Film Emperor Ling to a mule or a horse—probably in all the world only Lin Zhi would dare such a thing.

“Lin Zhi, I’m truly curious what you really look like, if even the Film Emperor longs for you like a madman.” Suddenly Yin Mi'er sat upright, studying Lin Zhiwei’s disguise with eager fascination.

“Then come find me where I live next time. You know the place anyway. Ah, it’s only a shell of flesh,” Lin Zhiwei answered readily. She had not inhabited this body for very long, after all. Besides, she had been dressed as a man so often lately that even she herself would occasionally feel a confusion of time and space.

“Really? If I’m free, I can come see you and hang out?” Yin Mi'er’s eyes lit up at once.

Lin Zhiwei nodded. “Of course you can. What’s there to stand on ceremony about between us?”

Yin Mi'er smiled gently. She had never known this feeling before. No wonder the Film Emperor could not let go. A girl like this would be very hard not to like.

What was rarest of all was not that she possessed a thousand hands and a thousand faces, but that every face of hers felt utterly real, utterly free.

“Oh, right, right, I remember something.” Yin Mi'er leaned closer, smiling brightly. “The Film Emperor just said his first kiss was—”

“Stop right there.” Lin Zhiwei pressed a hand to her forehead in helplessness, cutting off her appetite for gossip. “He was cheating.”

Yin Mi'er laughed aloud. “I never thought you’d have someone you were afraid of too.”

“Hah. I simply can’t be bothered lowering myself to his level for the sake of my reputation.”

“Oh, spare me. You’re just all bark and stubborn pride. You like him and won’t admit it.”

...

The two of them chatted and laughed, both of them delighted beyond measure in that splendid sunlit afternoon.

Meanwhile, after returning to the studio, Ye Linyun wore no pleasant expression at all. With one sweep of her hand, she knocked over the bird’s nest tonic her assistant had just offered her and snapped, “You expect me to drink this cheap, trashy brand? I’ve always taken only Rongbaozhai’s.”

Her assistant Xiao Zhu recoiled in fright and retreated to one side, replying in a trembling voice, “Sister Ye, Rongbaozhai recently signed Li Qiming as their spokesperson...”

Smack.

A crisp slap landed across Xiao Zhu’s face. Redness bloomed at once on her cheek. Covering the left side of her face, Xiao Zhu clenched her teeth and said nothing further, resentment burning inside her. If she had not signed away five years of her life, she would never have stayed to serve this Medusa. What goddess? She was a venomous viper, talentless too. It served her right that someone else had stolen her endorsement.

“Useless thing. That only proves your incompetence. You can’t even secure one tiny endorsement, and you let that bitch Li Qiming profit from it for nothing.” At that moment, a ring of massage therapists surrounded Ye Linyun. Dressed in a bathrobe, she suddenly rose in fury, and the therapists all shrank aside, not daring to step forward.

Who in the circle did not know Medusa’s temper? At the mere mention of it, people paled. Yet because of her power and influence, no one dared say a word, and that only made Ye Linyun ever more overbearing, more lawless, more convinced she could do as she pleased.

“Xiao Tian, did you find out? What did they say?” Ye Linyun shot a glance at the assistant who had just come in and asked impatiently.

“Sister Yun, I asked around. Several staff from the training room all saw the Film Emperor Ling and his director behaving intimately. It looked like their relationship is far from ordinary,” Xiao Tian reported in a stiff, methodical tone.

The more Ye Linyun heard, the more enraged she became. With one violent sweep, she sent all the skincare products on the table crashing to the floor. Such extreme fury made her chest heave as she gasped for breath, her face twisted and savage. “So it’s true... it really is a male director. Ling Ruoyu.”

She practically ground out the name through her teeth.

So you truly do like men. No matter. Whatever it is you like, I can destroy it all the same. And when that time comes, won’t you be the one kneeling and begging me?

She immediately reached for her phone and dialed a number.

“Brother Long, do you have any male escorts over there who are good-looking and trained fighters?”

“What? Looking for some amusement? Then naturally, you may choose as you please.” On the other end, Brother Long was smoking, thoroughly in his element at the card table. Seeing that the caller was Ye Linyun, he did not dare neglect her.

“Not now. I have a use for them later. When the time comes, prepare two for me.” A sinister smile curled at the corner of Ye Linyun’s lips.

“Easy enough.”

Ye Linyun hung up, feeling much soothed. She reclined once more upon the sofa, her face easing into calm.

Lin Zhi, just you wait.

The massage therapists around her all stood off to the side, at a loss what to do.

“Why are you all standing there like idiots? Are you dead?” she shouted.

Only then did they hasten back to work.