Chapter 20 She Will Be Mine Sooner or Later (Part 4)

The girl standing face-to-face with them was in her early twenties, with long hair reaching her waist, dressed in a white dress. Listening to her friend's discussion across from her, she did not join in; she simply looked at Ji Anning among the extras with a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth.

"It's starting, get ready."

Ji Anning had changed into a white dress with her waist-length hair flowing down, simply straightened by the makeup artist.

No sooner had her makeup been done than the director began shouting instructions through a loudspeaker.

"Anning, hurry over."

Red Sister rushed over, grabbed Ji Anning's arm, and dragged her to the filming spot, explaining the gist of the scene she'd soon be filming as they walked.

It was a catfight between the supporting actress and the lead actress, dragging the lead into the sea and nearly drowning her.

The lead actress was the popular starlet Wan Yueyue, and the supporting actress was the villainous character from the currently ubiquitous palace drama, Qin Jiaxuan.

Ji Anning stood back to the camera, face-to-face with Qin Jiaxuan.

All equipment was ready, and at the director's shout of "Action," before Ji Anning could react, the hand of the woman opposite her with the short bobbed hair stretched out, and suddenly, her hair was yanked.

She cried out in pain, "Ah..."

She felt like her scalp was being ripped off.

"Cut!"

The director suddenly yelled stop, and immediately after, a scolding was heard, "Are you a stand-in? We don't need to hear your screams; you don't need to make any sound at all."

The message was clear: even if it hurt, she shouldn't cry out—after all, she had forgotten that as a stand-in, she was filming a scene.

Ji Anning nodded to show she understood, then returned to her original position, tidied her hair, and started over.

Again, at the director's cry of "Action," Qin Jiaxuan charged at her aggressively, grabbed her by her occasional hair, and dragged her towards the water.

Ji Anning endured the pain as she was dragged into the water.

"Plop"

Suddenly, Qin Jiaxuan broke character and laughed.

Then she released her grip and cast an apologetic glance in the direction of the director.

For actors, breaking character with laughter was inevitable, and the previous take had to be done over.

Over the next few attempts, various issues caused the director to shout "Cut!" three times because Qin Jiaxuan had broken character with laughter.

Ji Anning felt like her scalp was no longer her own, with red-rimmed eyes. The makeup artist was fixing her hair, preparing her for another take.

Every touch of the comb on her scalp made her tremble with pain.

"Did this stand-in offend Qin Jiaxuan?"

Qi Helian lay lazily in his own brought-in lounge chair, under a large umbrella that provided shade for him, his agent, and assistant.

He watched the scene unfold with Ji Anning with a sense of amusement, sipping his frosty drink contentedly.

"Quite leisurely, aren't you?"

Suddenly, a tall figure approached Qi Helian from behind.

The familiar voice made Qi Helian's eyes brighten; excitement flashed in his long, narrow phoenix eyes. He lifted his eyelids and looked up, "Yo, yo, yo, Mr. Ji, I've really missed you."

As he spoke, he rolled over and extended his arms, ready to embrace the man beside him, but as if the man had anticipated this move, he stepped back to avoid Qi Helian's bear hug, then looked down, disdainfully glancing at him.