Chapter 6: The Film Empress Who Jumped Off a Building (6)

Bai Qian soon received word of the first drama she would star in after taking over as the original host.

In truth, she owed this opportunity indirectly to Zhao Tong.

Zhao Tong had recently released a web drama. Despite buying hot searches, hiring water armies, and getting bloggers and uploaders to promote it, the show had failed to make any waves.

Her team had finally given up and shifted their focus to the next project.

This new drama’s director, screenwriter, and others had all been handpicked by Shao Liangrong, with the script and character tailored specifically for her.

It was a web drama about two female leads solving cases.

Crime-solving dramas were plentiful online these days, but ones featuring dual female protagonists were rare.

Moreover, the role Zhao Tong played was a high-IQ, expressionless academic genius—a perfect match for her limited emotional range on screen.

Barring any surprises, this drama ought to catch a bit of fire.

Bai Qian learned the news from her manager.

It was rare for the manager to call her, and the moment she did, it was with such a huge surprise.

Bai Qian was astonished, but her manager seemed even more incredulous.

First, she explained the purpose of the call: one of the female leads in the web drama Double Beauties Case had been specifically requested by the investors.

Then came a few words of concern—the usual spiel about how she’d been doing lately, how much she wanted to help but couldn’t due to Bai Qian’s lack of buzz, and how capital wouldn’t back her without it.

Finally, she revealed the real point of the call: the drama was funded by the second young miss of Shao Enterprises. When exactly had Bai Qian connected with her behind her back?

Of course, Bai Qian wasn’t about to spill the truth. She played dumb, claiming she had no idea and was still reeling from the good news.

Her manager pushed and prodded a few times but couldn’t pry out any juicy details, so she bought the story. Her friendly tone turned curt in an instant, and she quickly found an excuse to hang up.

Bai Qian felt no particular attachment to her biased manager. Following the conversation, she pulled up the X Platform and searched for the drama.

Shao Zizhi emerged from the kitchen carrying two glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. “Did Shao Liangrong invest in a new show for you to star in?”

“You overheard my call? Perfect timing, then. Don’t you have her number? Mind giving it to me? I should thank her.”

“Why thank her?”

Bai Qian took a sip of her drink. “She invested in this drama. I don’t know the director or anyone else, except her by a stretch. So it must be her recommendation that got me in. I thought I’d be out of work for ages, and now a pie drops from the sky. Don’t I owe a thanks to whoever tossed it my way?”

The smile on Shao Zizhi’s face melted away in an instant. She snatched the glass from Bai Qian’s hand and slammed it down on the coffee table in a fit of anger.

Some of the orange liquid splashed out, forming irregular little blooms on the transparent surface.

“No!”

With that furious declaration, Shao Zizhi stormed back to her room, face dark.

“What about your drink?”

“Don’t want it! Choke on it!”

Bai Qian was baffled. Why the morning rage? Hadn’t her relatives just left a couple days ago?

~~~

A few days later, Bai Qian spotted Shao Liangrong again at the opening banquet.

After watching for a while, she waited until the young woman headed to the restroom alone, then intercepted her midway.

Shao Liangrong blinked in surprise, furrowed her brow in thought, and finally showed a look of sudden realization.

Bai Qian found her shifting expressions odd and cut straight to the point. “Miss Shao, you seem awfully surprised to see me.”

Shao Liangrong’s face twisted. “Just call me by name, please. ‘Miss Shao’ makes me uncomfortable. You’re that… Bai, Bai something—Bai Qian, right? We met not long ago on the set of Legend of Great Liang Smoke Concubine. We even stood in the same row playing palace maids. Ring any bells?”

Bai Qian grew even more puzzled. “Of course I remember. Don’t you?”

Shao Liangrong looked a bit sheepish but explained candidly enough. “Sorry about that. I meet so many people day-to-day that anyone I don’t see often takes a moment to recall.”

That explained the pondering look from earlier.

Bai Qian pressed on. “You forgot about me, so how did you specifically request me for your drama?”

Shao Liangrong looked more shocked than she did. “Huh? Shouldn’t I be asking you that? What’s your deal with my sister—er, Shao Zizhi? This is the first time she’s ever pushed someone my way. I’ve known her for years, and she’s never done anything like this. Oh, and I found out later you lied to me. You’re clearly twenty-eight—why’d you trick me into thinking you were eighteen?”

Both young ladies surnamed Shao shared a striking similarity in the set of their brows when they were peeved.

“You told me the truth first before trying to fool me, didn’t you?” Bai Qian said.

Shao Liangrong’s eyes flew wide, her expression a comical mix of shock and endearing innocence. “My sister actually told you that too? You two are definitely up to something. Are you dating her? I’m warning you—don’t even think about lying to me again. These sharp eyes of mine can see right through any deception!”

Bai Qian let out a soft laugh and fixed her with an unwavering stare. “Then take a good look. What answer do you see reflected in my eyes?”

To her credit, the guileless girl actually leaned in closer. Bai Qian didn’t pull away, content to tease her like one might indulge a sweet, harmless puppy, letting her draw near.

Just as Shao Liangrong was about to press right up to her face, a sharp, icy female voice cut through the air from a short distance away.

“Shao Liangrong, didn’t you go off to deal with your personal needs? Is this what you meant by that?”

Bai Qian turned her head involuntarily, locking eyes with the woman’s frigid glare.

Jealousy had her entire face taut and rigid, the very picture of a righteous wife looking down on the scheming mistress trying to steal her man.

Caught in the crossfire through no fault of her own, Bai Qian offered the woman a gentle, placating smile.

The woman’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest. Face set like stone, she spun on her heel to leave.

The eager little lapdog that was Shao Liangrong had already dashed to Zhao Tong’s side, babbling explanations in a frantic rush. “I was just about to take care of it! Aren’t you the one with the stomachache? Why aren’t you resting inside? You came all the way out here! I’ll head back as soon as I’m done—go lie down, quick!”

“Don’t touch me. Get lost!”

“No one will see us here. I’ll just hook your pinky finger. Promise, it’ll be super discreet. Pretty please?”

“Go hook someone else’s finger then. Don’t touch me!”

“Who else is there? I only like you! You can’t mean Bai Qian, right? Pfft, she’s practically family already—she’s my sister’s girlfriend. For real, I swear on it. She’s totally my sister’s partner. I’ve never lied to you. Don’t be mad, okay? Come on, let me walk you back so you can rest. No more wandering around.”

Bai Qian heard every word crystal clear and came to a firm conclusion: the entire Shao family was utterly deranged.

She turned—and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of the figure who had materialized silently behind her.

Once her heartbeat settled, she hissed under her breath, “Shao Zizhi, are you insane? Can’t you announce yourself or something?”

The woman’s face was far from pleasant, shrouded in gloom like a veil of thin black mist. She flicked a glance toward the pair who had vanished into the distance, then turned back to Bai Qian with a voice like chilled steel. “Shao Liangrong is doomed to pine after Zhao Tong her whole life. Even if they haven’t made anything official yet, that doesn’t mean you get to wedge yourself in between them.”

Bai Qian: ?

Shao Zizhi let out a cold scoff. “You’ve got some nerve, seducing her in broad daylight like that. If Zhao Tong hadn’t shown up when she did, would you have just gone for the kiss anyway? Typical of you. Experience like yours really does run deep.”

“Shao Zizhi.”

Bai Qian brushed off the barbed sarcasm and massaged her temples, which throbbed from the headache induced by the Shao sisters’ overactive imaginations. “Are you seriously unwell? Even if I wanted to latch onto a powerful backer to climb the ladder, I wouldn’t pick some kid who hasn’t even hit puberty yet.”

Shao Zizhi’s face darkened even further at her words. “Bai Qian, how can you say that? So you really do want to find a sugar mommy! How could you stoop to something like that!”

A mischievous impulse suddenly struck Bai Qian. “Everyone else does it—why can’t I? Actually, you might have a point. I probably should line one up soon. Once I’m too old, even if a benefactor wants to prop me up, it won’t be easy to break out big anymore. Right?”

“No! No! Absolutely not! You can’t do that!”

“Why not? In this industry, how many get as lucky as Zhao Tong? The real stars either start with ironclad family connections like yours, or they trade their bodies later to grease the wheels with big money. And the ones who hold out, staying pure and true to themselves—how many of them actually make it?”

Shao Zizhi stared at her, small face set in stubborn defiance laced with heartbreaking vulnerability.

The crueler retorts Bai Qian had lined up died on her tongue. Staring into those eyes, she just couldn’t bring herself to voice them.

In the end, this was just a sheltered young heiress, spared from all the industry’s grime. And truthfully, Bai Qian had no plans to actually play the gold-digger game. No point in debating it to death with her.

With a sigh, she resolved to say something soothing, to defuse the tension.

Plop.

The little princess—who hadn’t shed tears in her presence for ages—suddenly cracked, a string of them tumbling down her cheeks.

“Bai Qian… I don’t care what anyone else does. Just promise me you won’t, okay?”

She choked on a sob, fat teardrops splattering the ground, her whimpers filling the air.

“Aren’t we friends? If you want to act, I’ll line up resources for you. Any kind of drama you like, I’ll find it—make you the female lead, buy you hot searches, shoot you to stardom. Whatever a sugar mommy can do, I can do it all too. So, Bai Qian, please don’t go looking for a sugar mommy, okay? I really don’t like seeing you like this.”

With that, Shao Zizhi raised her hand to wipe away the tears brimming uncontrollably in her eyes.

But another hand got there first, carrying the soft warmth unique to a woman, gently brushing them away for her.

Through her tear-blurred gaze, that person’s beautiful, crystal-clear eyes twinkled like stars in the night sky, igniting a greedy urge to pluck them down and hoard them as one’s private treasure.

“Little girl, are you afraid?”

She hiccuped through a sob.

Softly murmuring an “Huh?”

The woman leaned in slowly, drawing so close that Shao Zizhi could count every one of those long, thick lashes before she finally stopped.

She let out a soft chuckle.

“Right now, I want to kiss you, out in the open and fair and square. Are you scared?”