Chapter 30

After a thunderstorm, the weather cleared up unexpectedly. The sun was shining brightly without any wind, and the sky was unbelievably blue.

It was already early November, and snow had begun to fall in the northern regions.

In B city, sunny days like this were particularly precious. Zuo Mingran had Angel spread a blanket on the window sill and curled up with his laptop to play games.

The sprained foot was not serious, and with timely icing, the doctor only advised him to apply some red flower oil a few more times and avoid putting weight on the injured foot for the next few days.

Zuo Mingran's laziness kicked in, and he decided to stay in the bedroom without going out. He didn't have to read scripts or act, and he had meals delivered to his room three times a day. He spent his days in a decadent yet happy manner.

In order to take care of him conveniently, Angel chose to stay, while Mao Mao took on the role of a manager in advance, responsible for a newly signed young actor.

Zuo Mingran went to Shi Shuangxia specifically to inquire about this matter, ensuring that the new actor was not a major character from the original book's plot, which relieved his concerns.

Shi Shuangxia thought she was worried about Mao Mao and laughed at her for being paranoid. After all, Mao Mao had been working by her side for seven or eight years, so how could she not handle such a small matter?

Zuo Mingran thought to herself that she was worried about herself. After all, the original book's plot was still there, and if a villain appeared and joined forces with others, it would be disastrous for her if she struggled to say goodbye and then got kicked back to the starting point.

With Mao Mao now completely detached from the original book's plot, the stone of worry in Zuo Mingran's heart finally fell.

Now, apart from Shi Shuangxia, the only two people connected to the original book were free from the restrictions of the plot. Soon, she would be able to leave the entertainment industry with a fortune and live happily as a wealthy woman.

The sunlight penetrated through the glass, enveloping half of the room in a warm golden hue.

Zuo Mingran stared blankly at his computer, and his phone lit up intermittently next to him, with several unimportant message notifications.

Since that night, Yan Yunyang had not returned. Zuo Mingran had drafted several drafts of gratitude messages, opened the chat box, and then closed it again. In the end, not even a punctuation mark was sent.

Taking a deep breath, Zuo Mingran closed his laptop and leaned back on the whale plush toy behind him.

Angel stayed in the adjacent guest room. Just a few steps away, separated by a balcony, was Yan Yunyang's room.

At first, Zuo Mingran was worried that Angel would notice that they were staying in two separate rooms, but it turned out that she was overthinking. Yan Yunyang was completely elusive, nowhere to be seen or heard from. 

But from another perspective, Yan Yunyang's absence was actually a good thing for her.

The incident that happened not long ago was embarrassing, to say the least. And with Shi Shuangxia's piercing questioning, even if Zuo Mingran stubbornly denied it, there was a slight tremor in her heart.

As the saying goes, you can hide on the first day but not the fifteenth. But if you can hide for one day, who knows, maybe in ten or fifteen days, nobody will remember this incident.

Zuo Mingran consoled herself, feeling like she was starting to believe her own nonsense.

Although Yan Yunyang was nowhere to be seen, his presence was still strongly felt.

Except for the first morning when Mao Mao made breakfast, every meal thereafter was delivered by Yan Yunyang's assistant, Wen Mo. And each meal was prepared according to Zuo Mingran's preferences, never repeating the same dish.

Angel unintentionally received a mouthful of dog food again, making her feel the need to find a boyfriend quickly and get out of the single life, not just being on the receiving end of dog food.

The next day, they were going back to the film set. Zuo Mingran was packing in her room when the sound of the doorbell came from downstairs.

It was barely six o'clock in the evening, but the sky outside was already completely dark. The only person who would come at this time was Wen Mo, delivering the meal.

Listening to the commotion downstairs, Zuo Mingran got off the bed and carefully walked out, leaning against the wall for support, tiptoeing.

She didn't go downstairs but watched from upstairs as Wen Mo and Angel set the food on the table.

Zuo Mingran didn't have a deep impression of Wen Mo, but she knew that he was Yan Yunyang's capable assistant. Yan Yunyang had sent him to deliver the food, probably worried about her as a female celebrity and not wanting her living arrangement to be exposed.

"Wen Mo." She called out to him as he was about to leave. "Um, will Mr. Yan... Will Yan Zong be coming back tonight?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Zuo Mingran wanted to disappear on the spot.

Wen Mo looked up at the second floor. He wasn't familiar with domestic celebrities, and his impression of Zuo Mingran was only that she was exceptionally beautiful.

Because they were at home, Zuo Mingran wasn't wearing any makeup and had on a plain homewear outfit. From head to toe, she exuded simplicity. Wen Mo adjusted his glasses and said in a formal tone, "Mr. Yan is about to fly abroad, so he might not be able to come back tonight."

Zuo Mingran dryly said "Oh" and saw Wen Wenmo and Angel both looking at him. He paused and said, "Can you help me bring a box of cookies to him? They were baked in the afternoon."

Wen Wenmo: "?"

The cookies were made by Angel in the afternoon, using various animal-shaped molds. They were cute and delicious. During that time, Zuo Mingran was bored and asked Angel to bring the flour and molds upstairs. He also made a few himself. He made a bit too many and originally planned to bring them to Wen Feifei when he went to the set tomorrow, so it was convenient to use them as a thank-you gift.

As soon as Zuo Mingran finished speaking, Angel quickly ran to the kitchen and brought out the packaged cookies to Wen Wenmo.

"Here, there are chocolate-flavored ones and strawberry-flavored ones."

Wen Wenmo was wearing a suit, his hair neatly combed, and his nose held up by gold-rimmed glasses. He looked at the pink box being stuffed into his hand expressionlessly and calmly said, "Yes, Madam, I will give the cookies to Mr. Yan."

Wen Wenmo turned and left. Zuo Mingran stood on the second floor for a while. Angel prepared a portion of dinner for one person, ready to bring it upstairs as usual. Zuo Mingran glanced at it and suddenly said, "I won't eat, you can have it."

Angel was taken aback, "Huh?"

Zuo Mingran stretched lazily, grinning, "We'll be joining the crew tomorrow, skipping one meal saves one meal, so Director Wang won't call me fat again."

*

When Wen Wenmo returned to the company, Yan Yunyang had just come out of the conference room.

After several hours of meetings, Yan Yunyang was exhausted and sat on the chair with his eyes closed, resting.

Wen Wenmo knocked on the door and entered with a box in hand.

The pink box was particularly eye-catching, and it happened to be the end of work hours. In the few minutes it took to come upstairs from downstairs, at least dozens of people's eyes lingered on it.

And the most important thing was that it was him who was holding the box.

Silently, Wen Wenmo placed the box in front of Yan Yunyang and sat down on a chair, crossing his hands under his chin.

Yan Yunyang opened his eyes and saw the fancy box, couldn't help but laugh, "What's this? Did the front desk hire a new person?"

Yan Yunyang's comment wasn't unreasonable. Wen Wenmo was young, capable, and good-looking. He would definitely be considered a standard handsome rich guy if he were to be seen outside. There had been no shortage of people who had flirted with him, overtly or covertly. Unfortunately, Wen Wenmo was a straight guy by nature and had tactfully rejected several advances from the front desk girls. Unless it was someone new who didn't know the situation, no one would think so recklessly.

Wen Wenmo said, "Heart-shaped cookies."

Yan Yunyang paused in his action of opening the box, "What heart-shaped cookies?"

"Handmade by Madam herself." Wen Wenmo shifted his posture but kept his gaze fixed on the box. "There are many flavors. Do you want to try them?"

Yan Yunyang subtly moved the box in his direction, "I'm not hungry right now. By the way, the previous contract..."

"It's already taken care of. You signed it this morning." Wen Wenmo said, his eyes teasingly fixed on Yan Yunyang. "You didn't forget, did you?"

Yan Yunyang coughed and decided to move the box closer to himself. "You should be off work now."

Wen Wenmo scoffed and grinned, "You're being stingy, aren't you? After all, I've been eating dog food for so many days. I deserve some credit, even if there's no merit."

He put on a stubborn face, and Yan Yunyang helplessly said, "I'll give you two days off."

Wen Wenmo raised a finger, "Five days."

Yan Yunyang replied, "Three days, not a day more."

"Deal."

*

The sprained ankle seemed severe at first glance, but after resting for two days, it was mostly healed. There was still a slight pain when walking, but nothing else.

As the female lead, Zuo Mingran had a lot of scenes to film every day. If she wasn't there, the director could only film the supporting roles' scenes. Getting two days off was already the limit.

When Zuo Mingran returned on the third day, the happiest person besides the director was Wen Feifei.

Without Zuo Mingran, her scenes with Ren Luning were mostly with her and Ji Jian.

After two days of taking turns, Wen Feifei was completely brainwashed. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the robotic expression on Ren Luning's face while acting. She even dreamed of Ren Luning's voice reciting lines. It was scarier than a nightmare because nightmares were known to be fake, but Ren Luning's acting was undeniably real.

Wen Feifei longed for the stars and the moon, and in just two short days, it felt like two months had passed. While Zuo Mingran had just arrived on set and was still in makeup, Wen Feifei ran in excitedly.

Zuo Mingran glanced at her with a tilted head and smiled, "What's up? So energetic, Xiaofei is almost driven crazy by you."

Xiaofei didn't follow, and Wen Feifei quickly took out two lollipops from her pocket, gave one to Zuo Mingran, and peeled one for herself, mumbling, "Don't say it. I feel like I'm being tortured even before Xiaofei gets driven crazy."

Zuo Mingran asked, "Why?"

Wen Feifei made a pained expression and told Zuo Mingran in great detail about the dream she had the previous night. Finally, she sincerely looked at Zuo Mingran and said, "Ranranjie, I misunderstood you before. Although your acting is not good, it's so much better compared to Ren Luning."

Xiaofei arrived at the door just in time to hear Wen Feifei speaking nonsense.

Knocking on the door, Xiaofei pushed it open and lifted Wen Feifei from the small stool, apologizing to Zuo Mingran, "Ranjie, I'm sorry. Feifei doesn't know how to speak properly."

With her makeup finished, Zuo Mingran casually waved her hand and turned her head, "It's okay, she didn't say anything wrong. Besides, I wouldn't be so stingy, would I?"

Xiaofei took the lollipop out of Wen Feifei's mouth and laughed, "Of course not."

Zuo Mingran shrugged. She couldn't guarantee that everyone would like her. Wen Feifei could be her friend, but Xiaofei might not necessarily be. After all, she and Wen Feifei had similar roles and sometimes had to compete for resources. Essentially, it was a competitive relationship. Wen Feifei was innocent and naive, not yet aware of this, but Xiaofei was different.

She picked up the box of cookies that was placed aside and said, "Here, a little gift for you, as a consolation for your injured soul."

Wen Feifei, with the temperament of a child, instantly forgot everything when there was something delicious. Zuo Mingran got up and said, "Let's go. I also need to rehearse with you. I haven't been here for two days, and I feel like I've forgotten what I'm acting in."

Although she said that, when she actually arrived on set, faced with countless cameras, Zuo Mingran quickly became focused and entered the state.

What was even more commendable was that Ren Luning had actually become much more obedient. Although his acting was still as bad as ever, at least he was sincerely acting without any tricks.

After a few scenes, Zuo Mingran wrapped herself in a coat and drank ginger tea while Anqi quietly shared some gossip from the set. When Ren Luning was mentioned, she made a gesture