Chapter 7

Accustomed to speaking in a roundabout manner, Jiang Xuan was momentarily taken aback by Zuo Mingran's straightforward response. She stared at him in disbelief, frozen in place, with her perfectly made-up face showing a cute expression of incredulity.

Knowing when to stop, Zuo Mingran stood up and beckoned to Mao Mao, who was also shocked. He asked, "Has the dress arrived?"

Reacting quickly to the work at hand, Mao Mao took out her phone and checked the group message. "Yes, it's here. It's already been delivered to the changing room."

Zuo Mingran nodded and without paying attention to Jiang Xuan's pale face, he turned and walked towards the exit. "Then let's go try on the dress."

The fitting room was on the other side of the hallway. When they opened the door and walked out, Zuo Mingran clearly heard Jiang Xuan stomping her feet in frustration, accompanied by an angry exclamation, "This is so infuriating!"

Zuo Mingran couldn't help but burst into laughter at the thought of Jiang Xuan's angry expression. Mao Mao, wearing a pained expression, lamented, "Jian Jie, how can you still laugh in this situation?"

Zuo Mingran was confused. "Why shouldn't I laugh? Should I cry instead?"

"Xia Jie called me early this morning and repeatedly reminded me to keep an eye on you, warning me not to let you cause any trouble," Mao Mao's round face wrinkled into a frown. "Before even meeting that person, you're already arguing with someone else. Xia Jie isn't here, and if anything happens, I won't be able to help much either."

Mao Mao hesitated, her face full of grievances, but after a moment, she changed her tone. "But there's a saying, the first one to provoke is the cheap one. I recorded everything they said. If anyone dares to spread rumors online, I'll throw the evidence in their face."

Zuo Mingran couldn't help but be amused by Mao Mao's words and reached out to pinch her face. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Mao Mao clearly didn't believe him, allowing Zuo Mingran to pinch her face. She mumbled, "Ran... Ran Jie, you always say that."

Zuo Mingran's hand paused as he looked at Mao Mao, who was worried about him. In his mind, he couldn't help but recall the scenes from the original book.

As Zuo Mingran's personal assistant for the past seven or eight years, Mao Mao was truly dedicated and hardworking. Many of Zuo Mingran's tasks were completed by her, both in work and in life.

But it was precisely this kind of person who could deliver a fatal blow at the most critical moment.

In the original book, later on, Zuo Mingran and Shi Shuangxia parted ways for various reasons. The studio disbanded after Zuo Mingran terminated her contract, leaving the company. Zuo Mingran essentially lost her only support, and Mao Mao was the only staff member who Zuo with her.

At this time, Zuo Mingran undoubtedly trusted Mao Mao the most, so she confided many things to her, including the fact that her marriage to Yan Yunyang was fake and that her true love was Tang Wenbin.

However, not long after, the fake marriage was exposed, and Zuo Mingran's extramarital affair dominated the Weibo trending page. Numerous true and false scandals emerged, completely suppressing Zuo Mingran, who had lost the support of her company.

During that time, Tang Wenbin leveraged Zuo Mingran's influence and became a popular young actor with countless fans. He immediately changed his stance and found a new supporter, leaving behind the useless Zuo Mingran and distancing himself from her.

As a person who transmigrated into the book, Zuo Mingran's biggest plot armor was undoubtedly knowing the subsequent plot. The one who betrayed Zuo Mingran was not anyone else but Mao Mao, the person she trusted the most in the end.

Not only did Zuo Mingran not expect it, even Shi Shuangxia believed that Mao Mao was the person who could help Zuo Mingran in the end.

When the truth was finally revealed, Zuo Mingran's overwhelming feeling was not anger but rather confusion and disbelief. She couldn't understand why Mao Mao would do such a thing. They had once shared a small bed on the set and talked about their hopes for the future. They were clearly the closest of family members back then.

"Ran Jie? Ran Jie!" Mao Mao waved her hand, bringing Zuo Mingran, who was lost in thought, back. "What's wrong? Didn't you rest well yesterday?"

Shaking her head, Zuo Mingran snapped back to reality and smiled faintly. "Nothing."

The two of them walked side by side, with Mao Mao whispering the recent gossip she had heard while glancing at Zuo Mingran's expression.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Mao Mao always felt that today's Zuo Mingran was somewhat different from before. There were emotions in the gaze that looked at her that she couldn't quite comprehend, but upon closer inspection, she couldn't find any differences.

Could it be that her thoughts were discovered?

Mao Mao's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and she quickly shook her head, pushing that speculation aside.

It's impossible. She only occasionally contemplated it and wouldn't really do anything to Zuo Mingran.

The hallway was long, and as Zuo Mingran turned the corner, she looked up and saw two people standing in front of her. One was the concerned Guan Xinrui, and the other was a young person around twenty years old, with a slim figure and a round face that was not the popular oval shape but rather a short hairstyle. They were holding a baseball cap in their hand and smiling as they spoke to Guan Xinrui.

Sure enough, old enemies never die. Seeing the other person's appearance, a name immediately jumped into Zhang Ming's mind - Wen Feifei, Zhang Ming's archenemy.

Mao Mao's reaction was the most intense. Zhang Ming even heard her gasp behind him, as if she was afraid that her and Wen Feifei's mutual dislike would escalate into another fight.

Glancing back, Zhang Ming calmly said, "Don't worry, can I still have a problem with a child?"

"... Child?" Mao Mao's expression seemed like she was about to cry. She couldn't imagine what Wen Feifei's reaction would be if she heard these two words.

After teasing Mao Mao, Zhang Ming put on a smile and walked towards the front. Her sudden appearance interrupted Guan Xinru and Wen Feifei's conversation. Seeing the newcomer, Wen Feifei's originally pleasant face immediately darkened. She let out a light "hmph", rolled her round eyes upwards, and then turned her head away from Zhang Ming, saying to Guan Xinru, "I'll go change my clothes first, see you later."

Wen Feifei went into her fitting room with her assistant and didn't even give Zhang Ming a single glance. Guan Xinru was still the same as before, as if the incident that happened a few minutes ago didn't exist at all. She smiled slightly at Zhang Ming and said, "Ran Jie."

However, Zhang Ming didn't even look at her, only passing by her with a soft comment, "Your acting skills are so good, you deserve an Oscar for life."

Guan Xinru's smile didn't change. "Ran Jie, you really know how to joke."

Zhang Ming shrugged and brushed past her.

Whether it was Guan Xinru or Wen Feifei, they were both people who didn't appear in the original book's plot. Zhang Ming's knowledge of them came entirely from her memories as Zhang Ming.

As for Guan Xinru, let's not mention her for now. Just thinking about the bloodshed and rumors on the internet between Zhang Ming and Wen Feifei, it wasn't difficult to guess what kind of image Wen Feifei had in Zhang Ming's mind.

Background, bad temper, spoiled rich girl... basically a string of negative descriptions.

However, looking beyond Zhang Ming's identity, she quite appreciated Wen Feifei. After all, compared to the insincere Guan Xinru and the backstabbing Jiang Xuan, Wen Feifei blatantly showed her dislike on her face. Despite having a background and the ability to cause trouble behind the scenes, she didn't do any underhanded tricks. So while the two couldn't stand each other, they didn't have as many annoying things going on.

Whether in the previous life or now, Zhang Ming is a few years older than Wen Feifei. Besides the fight they almost had earlier, there weren't any deep-seated grudges between them.

If Zhang Ming's position in the entertainment industry was earned through her own hard work and perseverance, then Wen Feifei was a flower sheltered in a greenhouse. Her grandparents were famous veteran actors, and her parents were highly educated intellectuals. From the moment she set foot in the entertainment industry, there were many people protecting and guiding her. She didn't need to fight for good resources; they were handed to her on a silver platter. The darkness of the entertainment industry would never reach her feet.

She was a child living in an ivory tower.

Zhang Ming chuckled self-deprecatingly and pushed open the dressing room door with her name on it.

The dress was provided by a sponsor. As an A-list actress, Zhang Ming had numerous endorsements, and this dress was from a high-end brand she represented for the current season. In order to achieve the perfect fit, the dress had been tried on twice half a month ago and underwent some minor adjustments.

The assistant unveiled the dust cover and Zhang Ming took a deep breath at the sight of the dress in front of her.

Indeed, money made people feel happy.

The dress was a blue color reminiscent of a clear sky after rain. There were large exquisite lace details on the shoulders and hem, but it wasn't exaggerated. Instead, it had a perfect balance of beauty. The upper part clung to her figure, and the bottom of the skirt, aside from the lace, was made of a fabric with a silky texture. It had a side slit that revealed her legs as she walked, but it didn't come across as vulgar. Just looking at the dress was a feast for the eyes.

A pair of high-heeled shoes in the same color scheme were placed on the nearby shoe rack, adorned with sparkling diamonds like stars in the night sky.

Estimated the height of the heels, Zhang Ming's originally lively mood instantly dampened by half. The shoes were at least ten centimeters high. Just looking at that height made her feel pain in her heels, let alone considering what it would be like to wear them. No wonder every female celebrity she saw had impossibly long legs. With shoes like these, who wouldn't have the perfect nine-heads figure?

Mao Mao took the dress off the rack and said to Zhang Ming, "Ran Jie, let's go try on the clothes."

It was Zhang Ming's first time wearing a high-end designer dress. When she came out of the fitting room and saw herself in the mirror, it was not an exaggeration to say that she felt breathtakingly beautiful.

Clothes make the man, as the saying goes. The ancients weren't wrong. Turning in front of the mirror, feeling elated, Zhang Ming waved to Mao Mao and said, "Come take a few pictures of me."

Trying on beautiful clothes must be accompanied by taking photos. It was a life philosophy for every girl. Mao Mao found the angles and said, "Xia Jie said this dress looked great a while ago and wanted to buy it."

"Buy it?" Zhang Ming held the skirt, struck a pose, and continuously asked, "How much does this dress cost?"

"Seventy to eighty thousand."

Zuo Mingran was taken aback for a moment, then realized that Maomao had directly ignored the unit at the end. If nothing unexpected happened, the unit should be "ten thousand".

Remembering how hard he had worked on writing novels in his previous life for several years, struggling to save enough money for a house, but here even a piece of clothing cost nearly a million, Zuo Mingran's heart trembled.

Okay, having money is really great, it makes me feel inflated, it allows me to do whatever I want!

After taking the photo, the costume assistant stared at Zuo Mingran for a while with a hesitant expression and asked, "Ranran, have you been... eating a bit too much recently?"

In order to look good on camera, Zuo Mingran's figure was extremely slim. With a height of one meter seventy, their weight was less than a hundred catties, yet even so, Zuo Mingran still managed to have a curvaceous figure. Truly, luck was on their side.

Zuo Mingran was well aware of the importance of appearance to themselves. They were strict with themselves when it came to eating and exercising, rarely encountering situations where their dress didn't fit properly. So, Shi Shuangxia had been confident in them. However, now that there was a different person inside the shell, Zuo Mingran was someone who never deprived themselves of good food.

Thinking of the three buns they had for breakfast, Zuo Mingran guiltily rubbed their stomach. "No, it's the same as before. I had two vegetable leaves before leaving the house, didn't even drink much water."

At the same time, outside the changing room, Yan Yunyang, who had been about to knock on the door, couldn't help but laugh softly.