Mr. Lu, stop being such a jerk. Your wife is your nemesis's white moonlight.

"I'm so sorry everyone, I'm late!"

Xu An'an, clearly still feeling the urgency of having just run, politely pushed open the door.

Ye Ruyan turned her head gracefully, her gaze falling on the figure at the door, but her expression suddenly changed.

Standing at the door was Xu An'an, slender with a firm face and slightly curved eyes. She showed no trace of the haggardness of a hangover.

How is that possible?

She clearly drank a whole bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor), and it's only been less than 12 hours. How could she be in this state?

"I'm sorry I'm late, I had some personal reasons."

Xu An'an said sincerely, and bowed slightly in the direction of everyone.

The staff present were initially a little anxious, but when they saw her, as a film queen, take the initiative to bow and apologize, their displeasure quickly vanished.

After all, in this industry, ten minutes isn't considered late at all. Waiting for other celebrities for ten hours was a common occurrence.

Just then, Dongdong pushed in a cart full of exquisitely packaged boxes, and Xu An'an slightly raised her hand in greeting:

"To express my apologies, I'd like to invite everyone to afternoon tea. Please make yourselves at home."

The box lid was lifted, revealing an exquisite gilded logo. Several young staff members immediately recognized it and let out a murmur of surprise.

Wow! This is a dessert from C&M! They're super popular!

"Yeah, I heard their chocolate egg tarts are delicious! Last time I went, I queued for three hours and still couldn't get one!"

The excited discussion quickly spread.

It was originally a small matter, and now with top-notch desserts to soothe people's hearts, who would care about her being a few minutes late?

Everyone smiled and waved their hands:

"Teacher Xu, you're too kind! It was just for a short while, it's nothing!"

"Yes, Teacher Xu went to great lengths!"

Ye Ruyan, who was standing to the side, turned green upon seeing this. She had intended to use this as an excuse to make trouble, but Xu An'an had managed to win everyone over so easily with just a few boxes of pastries!

What is this?!

But now that the tide has turned, she has nothing more to say. She can only reluctantly force a smile and echo a few words.

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Xu An'an's tense nerves finally relaxed, and she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She composed herself, took a cup of freshly brewed coffee from the food cart, and walked towards Jin Cheng in front of the vanity mirror.

"Teacher Jin, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Jin Cheng took the coffee, nodded calmly, and said, "Have a seat, let's hurry up."

As an internationally renowned makeup artist, Jin Cheng is extremely professional.

She never uses formulaic costumes, but rather creates designs that reflect the character's personality and temperament, tailored to each actor's unique traits.

She carefully examined Xu An'an, from her facial features to her shoulders, neck, and waist.

When his gaze fell on Xu An'an's slender, fair wrist, Jin Cheng paused slightly. "Did you have an IV drip today?"

Xu An'an was taken aback, then explained, "I had a slight fever this morning, but I'm fine now."

Jin Cheng hummed in agreement and said nothing more, but in his heart he felt a little more approval for the girl in front of him.

In a secluded corner where no one was watching, a paparazzi disguised as a staff member recorded the scene with a camera.

She had only been working as a proxy photographer for a short time when Ye Ruyan told her that all she had to do was record what happened in the dressing room. But she was so nervous that she accidentally clicked on the wrong profile picture when uploading, sending the video and pictures to a proxy photographer's group.

She tried to retract the message immediately, but it was too late. These clips, thanks to the resourceful sharing among group members, quickly appeared on various platforms.

Xu An'an was once extremely popular. Even after retiring from the entertainment industry for many years, she still attracted a lot of attention, and soon the internet was buzzing with excitement.

"I cried. Xu An'an had a high fever, and she rushed to the film set to work right after her IV drip was removed. That's true idol power!"

"Xu An'an, with a high fever and no makeup, looks so pitiful. Whose youthful DNA has been stirred up again?"

"She didn't say a word even when she was sick. If the makeup artist hadn't noticed, who would have known that An'an was working while ill!"

The topic of Xu An'an quickly rose to the top of the trending search list, with views skyrocketing.

As the video circulated, people's focus shifted from solely on Xu An'an:

"By the way, what movie is this? Is An An finally making a comeback? I'm really looking forward to it!"

"An'an is breathtakingly beautiful, but who's that woman next to her? Ye Ruyan? Why does she look so strange!"

"Ye Ruyan looks alright normally, but compared to a true beauty like Xu An'an, she seems too ordinary! That's probably the difference between a TV face and a movie face!"

This comment received a whopping 2.3 likes.

In another corner of the dressing room, Ye Ruyan stared intently at the constantly refreshing comments on her phone screen, her face gradually hardening.

Her fingers flew across the screen, clicking to report one message after another, but new discussions kept pouring in, and she couldn't delete them all no matter how hard she tried.

Her fingertips turned slightly white from the force she exerted, and she felt a tightness in her chest from the anger.

Just then—

"Bang!"

The door to the dressing room was suddenly pushed open.

Producer Zhao Shuang strode in, his face ashen, accompanied by several security guards.

"Excuse me, everyone, please stop what you're doing for a moment."

She slammed the still-frantically refreshing trending topics on her phone onto the nearest dressing table.

"We've got proxy photographers infiltrated our area!"

……

Xu An'an then realized that she had become a trending topic.

The video quality is very clear; it's obviously the work of people in this shed.

While leaked costume fittings can be a minor or major issue, the fact that paparazzi can infiltrate the film set is a serious matter. Film crews handle a great deal of property and confidential information, and the consequences of such access by unauthorized individuals are unimaginable.

The producer acted swiftly, sealing off the venue, checking surveillance footage, and rigorously reviewing entry and exit records. After about ten minutes, he finally focused his attention on a young girl huddled in a corner.

The girl, wearing a baseball cap and not very old, looked increasingly pale as everyone stared at her, clutching her phone tightly in her hand.

"Who let you in? If you can't explain yourself, I'm calling the police right now!"

The young girl shuddered in fright, her terrified gaze instinctively drifting towards the crowd—

At the same time, Ye Ruyan's heart was in her throat.

Today's plan has fallen through. I absolutely cannot get caught, otherwise how will I face the world after this gets out?

"Sister Zhao!" Ye Ruyan spoke first, just as the girl was about to look at her, "I think I've seen this person before. After the reading session yesterday, she and Sister An'an's assistant seemed to be talking about something outside the hotel..."

The room fell silent upon hearing this. All eyes turned to Xu An'an.

The meaning of this statement couldn't be clearer—Xu An'an herself wanted to create hype by bringing the film crew to the location through proxy photographers.

Given that this trending topic is clearly more advantageous to Xu An'an, it seems logically reasonable.

Dongdong was stunned, then his eyes widened suddenly: "You're talking nonsense! When did I—"

"You still won't admit it?" Ye Ruyan quickly interrupted, her tone tinged with heartache. "It's a pity there are no security cameras there, otherwise I would have made sure you had nothing to say. But even if there's no physical evidence, there are still witnesses."

As she spoke, she walked over to the trembling girl and said kindly, "Little girl, don't be afraid. Tell everyone if this older sister came to find you?"

While the girl taking photos was still in a daze, Ye Ruyan, using her body as cover, whispered quickly in a very low voice:

"Identify Xu An'an, and the final payment will be doubled."