Jiang Chi stood nervously at the entrance of the makeup room, feeling more and more embarrassed the more he thought about it. He didn't know how much Ye Lan had seen, nor did he know if he had been angry just now.

Jiang Chi wanted to pull his hair out in frustration. Scrolling through someone's tabloid gossip right in front of them was just too impolite, no matter how you looked at it!

Jiang Chi remembered that Ye Lan hated it when people wrote nonsense about him. It had been better in recent years, but back when Ye Lan had just debuted, he was young and aggressive, frequently clashing with the entertainment media. Film Emperor Ye had backing and talent, was never afraid of offending anyone, and didn't know the meaning of letting things slide. Every time, he had to have his say, and whether the entertainment media liked it or not was not his concern.

Because of this, the entertainment media once gave the newly-debuted Ye Lan the rather ambiguous title of "Rebellious Film Emperor." Later, during an interview, Ye Lan mocked them, saying, "Spreading rumors about your old man, who between us is more rebellious?" Humiliated, they gradually stopped using the title.

After that, it was unclear whether it was because Ye Lan was getting older and handled matters more calmly, disdaining to bother with it, or because he was getting more and more famous with a soaring number of topics about him that he simply couldn't keep up. He was rarely seen taking these miscellaneous entertainment news seriously anymore.

But that doesn't mean he likes people writing nonsense about him!!!

Jiang Chi wanted to cry but had no tears. The more he thought, the more he pitied himself. He had just managed to get a little more familiar with Ye Lan these past two days. Before he could even be happy about it, he'd carelessly reset the favorability meter to zero!

Jiang Chi took a deep breath, comforting himself. 'At least... Ye Lan only saw me scrolling through his gossip, he didn't see the collection of his semi-nude photos in my phone's album or anything...'

Jiang Chi gently pushed open the makeup room door.

Inside the makeup room, Ye Lan was sitting in a chair with a cigarette dangling from his lips, his legs propped up on the makeup table, lazily playing on his phone with his eyes half-closed.

Jiang Chi braced himself and said, "Brother Ye Lan..."

Ye Lan lifted his eyelids to glance at him and asked, "Was my gossip interesting?"

Jiang Chi almost dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Not at all!" Jiang Chi shook his head vigorously, explaining weakly, "I didn't mean to... It was an accident. A news alert popped up, and I was a little curious, so I clicked on it to take a look..."

Jiang Chi pledged his loyalty pitifully, "But I don't believe a single word of it!"

"So nervous?" Ye Lan raised an eyebrow. "Did you also post a reply to join in the fun?"

"How could I!" Jiang Chi was one step away from swearing an oath. "It's so obviously fake, just mooching off your popularity for clicks. I was really angry reading it! Really!"

A smile played on Ye Lan's lips. "How angry?"

"So angry that I..." Jiang Chi blushed for no reason. He wiped his face. "I'm planning to not accept any interviews from this platform in the future."

Ye Lan laughed. "Don't. If your agent hears that, he'll be the first one to come out and smear me."

The mention of an agent reminded Jiang Chi of the text Geng Tian had just sent him. Seeing that Ye Lan didn't seem to mind, Jiang Chi relaxed a bit, sat down in his own seat, and took out his phone to look.

Geng Tian: What time do you wrap up over there?

Jiang Chi checked the time and replied: Maybe eleven, not sure.

Geng Tian: What about tomorrow?

Jiang Chi: A full day of filming.

Geng Tian called. Jiang Chi glanced at Ye Lan, then went out of the makeup room to answer the phone.

Jiang Chi could pretty much guess what Geng Tian wanted to say. He spoke first, "Brother Geng, I told you yesterday, I'm not going to film two projects at once."

Geng Tian choked for a moment, then laughed it off. "Don't put it so harshly. What 'filming two projects at once'? There are some public appearances here, some are pretty good. I wanted to ask if you're interested."

Jiang Chi smiled. "Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't have any recent works out. What's the point of just doing public appearances? Why piggyback on someone else's promotion?"

Geng Tian said vaguely, "It's not piggybacking on others, it's just... Ai, how should I put this? The company recently signed a few new people and wants you to guide them."

Jiang Chi understood.

Next year would be the last year of Jiang Chi's contract with Century Entertainment. The renewal contract had not yet been settled, so everything was uncertain. Not to mention the current breach of contract issue, the company's upper management was very dissatisfied with him and had already begun to cultivate newcomers.

Many artists resented mentoring newcomers for the company, feeling it was a waste of their own popularity to pave the way for others. Jiang Chi didn't mind, but right now he was willing but lacked the capacity. He had to refuse, "I really don't have the time. But I can help them post on Weibo to boost their popularity, or record blessing videos and whatnot. Anything else... it's really not convenient."

Geng Tian sighed. "If you can't, then forget it. But Jiang Chi... you need to be aware. The company has signed a lot of newcomers this year. Your senior brother Yu Xijia and Tao Ke are also getting popular. The company only has so many resources, and you're always uncooperative... It makes things difficult for me too, you understand?"

Jiang Chi said apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"Also..." Geng Tian suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of Yu Xijia, how come I vaguely heard that you seem to have offended him? That you stole this current role from him?"

Yu Xijia graduated from the same university as Jiang Chi. Because Yu Xijia had graduated many years before Jiang Chi and they had both signed with the same company, Jiang Chi had always referred to him as senior brother.

Jiang Chi was stunned. After a moment of silence, he said, "Senior brother did indeed audition for this role, I know that. But..."

Jiang Chi didn't like to speak ill of others behind their backs, so he just said concisely, "He auditioned before I did and was politely rejected on the spot by Director Ren. At that time, because of my hand injury, I only got the audition a week after senior brother... I auditioned many days after he was rejected. How could it be said that I stole it from him?"

Geng Tian exploded when he heard this. "I actually believed you stole it from him! When Yu Xijia's agent told me about this today, I kept putting on a smiling face! Fuck! He's getting more and more shameless, he dares to say anything..."

Jiang Chi's brow furrowed slightly.

Geng Tian cursed a couple of times and said, "Isn't it because many people in the company found out about your situation these last two days? As soon as Yu Xijia heard you took the role for zero pay, he told others that you used this method to steal the role from him. You know, he's already thirty-four, he can't act in idol dramas for much longer. He's anxious to transition into the film industry. He finally got a chance to connect with a major director, but he couldn't seize it, so he's taking it out on you to save face. What a piece of work..."

Jiang Chi let out a laugh. "Don't worry about it. I doubt he dares to spread it around... The production side is well aware of the audition situation. It would be too easy to clarify. He probably doesn't dare to offend Director Ren either. At most, he's just complaining a bit to himself."

"If we weren't from the same company, I'd tear him apart in minutes." Geng Tian sighed. "Forget it, fighting with him over this would just give him publicity. Jiang Chi..."

Geng Tian said helplessly, "You've offended quite a few people because of this movie. Whether it's worth it or not, you know in your heart. I won't try to persuade you to take on other projects anymore. On my end... I've also signed two newcomers, so I might be paying less attention to you recently. If you need anything, just contact me more often."

Jiang Chi was silent for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

Jiang Chi hung up the phone and let out a soft breath.

His current position in the company was very awkward.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was isolated and helpless.

He was genuinely popular now, but he knew that for a fan-driven idol like himself who had been suddenly propelled to fame, popularity came fast, but it also faded fast.

Once he lost the company's resources, his popularity would drop and the buzz would cool down. Making a comeback would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Fortunately, he had anticipated these circumstances before taking the role and had prepared for the worst. At worst, he wouldn't renew his contract next year and would find a smaller film and television company to start over.

Maybe he would meet a better boss?

Suddenly skyrocketing to fame, being able to act opposite Ye Lan... These were things he never dared to dream of before.

Jiang Chi was already content.

For now, he just needed to film the current movie well. He would deal with future matters later.

The thought that he could still spend nearly half a year with Ye Lan day and night instantly lifted Jiang Chi's mood.

He pushed the door open and returned to the makeup room, seeing that Ye Lan was still looking at his phone.

There was another scene in a while. Jiang Chi sat down to wait for his makeup and also took out his phone to play.

Although Geng Tian wasn't a qualified or responsible agent, he at least hadn't over-exploited Jiang Chi in recent years, nor had he ever set Jiang Chi up with any shady "sponsors." In his heart, Jiang Chi was still grateful to him. Remembering that he had just mentioned taking on a few new artists, Jiang Chi opened Weibo, wanting to see if there was any promotion he could help retweet to boost their popularity.

Jiang Chi quickly scanned Geng Tian's recent Weibo posts, sifting through the promotions one by one, when his notifications suddenly alerted him: a new friend was shown. Jiang Chi clicked on it to see...

Ye Lan had followed him!!