Chapter 6

The cool fingertips gently brushed across Yan Yunyang's nose, like fine sheep fat jade. Caught off guard, he suddenly felt his ears heat up. He instinctively tried to pull back, but realized that his wrist was being held, trapping him between Zuo Mingran and the seat, unable to move.

The expression of the person in front of him seemed infinitely magnified, and the distance between them seemed close enough to count how many eyelashes the other person had. In their eye contact, it felt like they were trying to see through each other's eyes to understand something.

Suddenly, Zuo Mingran bent his eyebrows and keenly caught the fleeting surprise in Yan Yunyang's eyes.

Curling his lips, Zuo Mingran whispered, "When it comes to acting, it's more reliable to leave it to a professional actor like me."

Yan Yunyang: "..."

Let me tell you a joke, Zuo Mingran is a professional actor.

Before he could react, in just a few breaths, Zuo Mingran had already stepped back, put on his sunglasses again. The curve of his slightly upturned lips looked like the happiness of a young girl in the eyes of others, but in Yan Yunyang's eyes, it seemed like he was teasing his reaction just now.

His eyes dimmed, and Yan Yunyang took off his glasses, revealing a somewhat helpless smile. "You, you."

Zuo Mingran smiled in coordination, turned his head, opened the car door, and media immediately swarmed up. However, Zuo Mingran didn't rush to leave, instead, he supported the car door with one hand, bent slightly, pushed up his sunglasses with the other hand, revealing eyes filled with a full smile, and looked at Yan Yunyang in the car, saying, "Drive safely, my husband."

Accompanied by the gasps around him, Zuo Mingran knew without thinking that this scene would definitely be edited separately and posted online as a popular Weibo post.

Waving his hand, Zuo Mingran turned around and walked towards the company's entrance, while Yan Yunyang, although he didn't get out of the car, waited in place until she entered the company building under the protection of security before driving away.

This scene was also seen by Mao Mao, as she watched Zuo Mingran's figure getting off the car, staring at his face filled with happiness and contentment, she couldn't help but show a slightly complicated expression.

The driver was new, young in age, and had a lively personality. He usually chatted and laughed a lot. Seeing this, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Ran's husband is really good to her. But of course, if my girlfriend could be half as beautiful as Ran, I would pamper her to the heavens."

Mao Mao was stunned by his words and couldn't help but blurt out, "Is beauty the only requirement?"

The driver didn't notice anything wrong with her words and continued to laugh, "Yeah, girlfriends are there to be spoiled, right? If she could be as beautiful as Ran, of course I wouldn't let her do anything."

Upon hearing his words, a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Mao Mao's eyes. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails sinking into her palms, leaving deep marks.

The driver, confused, glanced at her through the rearview mirror and asked, "Mao Mao, Ran has already gone inside. Aren't you going down too?"

Mao Mao snapped back to reality and adjusted her hair, concealing her emotions on her face. She picked up her work bag from the side and replied, "Hmm, I'm going now."

Because of the necessary procedures, apart from the male actor who couldn't make it due to scheduling conflicts, everyone else had arrived at the company to prepare for the event the next day.

The cast members were not all from the same agency, so for convenience, the production team borrowed space from the investors. The actresses' dressing rooms were arranged on the third floor. Zuo Mingran accompanied Mao Mao as they went up. Just as they reached the door, they heard a few mocking laughs coming from the slightly ajar door, "This person really thinks she's so popular. The director has already arrived early, but she's still dragging her feet. Just wait and see, she's definitely going to be late again."

There were other people in the room as well. After a few joking remarks, a soft-spoken girl said, "Xuan Xuan, let's not say that. After all, she's the female lead. It's normal for us to wait for her."

The woman named Xuan Xuan sneered, unwilling to accept it. "What female lead? Everyone knows how she got her role. She doesn't even have a bit of acting skills. If it wasn't for us, this drama wouldn't have ended up in her hands. I don't know how someone like her became an actress."

The soft-spoken girl said slowly, "But she is beautiful. Many people like her face!"

This topic seemed to have hit Xuan Xuan's sore spot. Even standing outside the door, you could hear her throwing things. Zuo Mingran touched the doorknob and listened to Xuan Xuan say in an even more annoyed voice, "What's the big deal about being beautiful? When she becomes old and no longer attractive, who will look at her face? Let's see if she will still be so arrogant then."

The door was pushed open with a "thud," and Zuo Mingran stood expressionless at the doorway, taking off his sunglasses. His gaze swept across each person in the room.

The dressing room wasn't particularly large, with four mirrors in total. Two of the mirrors already had two young women sitting in front of them, the other two actresses from the production team.

Zuo Mingran didn't have a deep impression of them, but at least he could match names to faces. The one closer to the door was named Jiang Xuan, with considerable seniority but hadn't made it big yet, always hovering in the third or fourth-tier without a breakthrough. The other girl with delicate features was named Guan Xinrui, a newly debuted actress whose background was unclear. She didn't have much presence in the production team normally, so Zuo Mingran was surprised to see her at this promotional event.

The once bustling room fell into silence with Zuo Mingran's arrival, especially Jiang Xuan. When she saw that it was Zuo Mingran who came in, her expression seemed as if she had just swallowed a can of spoiled fish, and it was so heavy that she could squeeze out water.

Compared to her, Rui's attitude towards Ziran became more natural. She stood up, greeted Zuomingran, and said with a smile, "Ranjie, you're here. We were just talking about you."

Zuomingran glanced at her and walked into the room. "Oh? Is that so? What were you saying about me?"

Ziran, as if she didn't know that Zuomingran had just been standing outside the door and heard the whole conversation, tried to defuse the situation, "Of course we were just saying how beautiful you are, Ranjie. When I was in school, my classmates used to say that I looked pretty good, and I was quite proud of myself. But after seeing you, I realized the huge gap between us."

Zuomingran, who was a bit of a shut-in in her previous life and had few friends, didn't have much of a social circle apart from the elder sister at the supermarket downstairs and the delivery guy. But she had seen enough in life to know that doors don't just accidentally stay open. Ziran's words seemed harmless, but they were actually leading Jiang Xuan.

Zuomingran never expected to experience this kind of palace intrigue in her life. Three women in one drama, they were just missing a stage and some fanfare.

Rubbing her temples, Zuomingran didn't mind Ziran's flattery. Instead, she smiled coquettishly and said, "Perhaps beauty comes from within."

Ziran's smile froze on her face.

Beauty comes from within? Was she saying that Ziran wasn't good-looking? Or that she had a dark heart?

Zuomingran didn't care about her reaction and went straight to the makeup table with the best lighting. Just as she was about to put down her bag, Jiang Xuan, who had been silent all this while, "tsked" disdainfully.

Mao Mao, who was following Zuomingran, couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "What's the point of being jealous? Who are you being so sarcastic to?"

Zuomingran furrowed her brows, and her voice became stern, "Mao Mao!"

Mao Mao tightened her grip on her makeup box. Because of their past, her relationship with Zuomingran was much better than with others. Zuomingran had a bad temper, but she never got angry or said anything harsh to her. Today was the first time she had spoken to her like this.

Lowering her head, Mao Mao silently took out the makeup products from the box.

Jiang Xuan listened to their conversation, a sarcastic smile on her lips.

She just couldn't stand Zuomingran's appearance. It was true that she looked good, but who knew how she had climbed to her current position. She thought marrying into a wealthy family would bring her good fortune, but it had been a year and she still hadn't conceived. Who knew when she would be kicked out of the house.

Each of the girls had their own makeup artist. Zuomingran looked through the makeup products on the table and sighed softly, "It's terrifying when beauty fades."

This sentence seems abrupt, but it coincidentally connects to what Jiang Xuan just said, causing everyone present to have their own schemes.

Zuomingran was not a pushover. It was okay if others didn't think highly of her, she would improve herself if there was room for improvement. But if someone, especially someone like Jiang Xuan who appeared close to her on the surface but talked behind her back, said something bad about her, she couldn't let it slide.

Taking a small mirror from the table, Zuomingran looked at herself in the mirror and casually said, "But beauty in its aging is still beauty. Unlike some people who only have aging without the beauty, not even the name of a beauty."

Jiang Xuan's hand on the table tightened suddenly. Unfortunately, at that moment, Zuomingran turned the mirror in her hand towards her direction. "Jiang Xuan, what do you think?"

Jiang Xuan couldn't pretend not to hear what the other person said this time. But unlike Wen Feifei, who had a background and could confront Zuomingran, Jiang Xuan had nothing. Offending Zuomingran would mean stepping on countless toes in the future.

No matter what, she had to maintain her face. Forced to put on a smile, Jiang Xuan vaguely said, "Yes."

Zuomingran shook the mirror and sighed, "Indeed, it's not only beautiful.