Chapter 46

Yin Ruxin had mixed feelings in her heart. In fact, during dinner downstairs, she had vaguely guessed that the current Zuo Ming was different from their past lives.

In her memory, Zuo Ming had a high position and a big attitude. Looking down on people was a common occurrence, and there were countless people in the circle who had been offended by her. 

But now, he could let go of his arrogance and maintain a constant smile on his stunningly beautiful face. Anyone who saw him couldn't help but develop a favorable impression.

Such a person was completely different from the one she remembered.

If his previous behavior was just for the sake of appearances, then the words "The temple suppresses the river monster" completely dispelled her doubts.

The previous Zuo Ming would never have responded to her with that phrase.

Yin Ruxin stopped in her tracks.

In the quiet corridor of the late night, the two of them stood side by side, barely half a meter apart. It seemed like they could touch each other with a slight lift of their arms. Surprisingly, after saying that password-like sentence, both of them remained silent, refusing to be the first to break the deadlock.

In Yin Ruxin's mind, she thought, "What a coincidence, you've also been reborn?"

In Zuo Ming's mind, he thought, "Haha, I know you've been reborn. Did you know that I'm an outsider?"

Regardless of who spoke first, it wouldn't sound pleasant.

Angela was waiting for Zuo Ming in the room.

Originally, she was waiting downstairs, but Zuo Ming found her bored and told her to go up and pack while he would be back soon.

Fifteen minutes passed, and her phone, which was charging in the corner, emitted a faint light. Angela became a little anxious as she couldn't wait for Zuo Ming and sent a message to Zhuang Bai, ready to go downstairs. Just as she opened the door, she saw two people standing in the hallway, one with their back to her and one facing her.

Without any guard, if it weren't for recognizing the person facing her, Angela would have called the entire hotel staff right then and there.

Collecting herself, Angela leaned against the door frame and asked, "Ran... Ranjie, since you're back, why aren't you going into the room?"

As she spoke, her gaze kept glancing to the side.

The guest who came to participate in the program filming had already been informed in advance. Just now, she accompanied Zuo Mingran downstairs to meet. Although she couldn't see the person in front of her, Angel could still recognize Yin Ruxin by her dressing. 

With Angel's interruption, the tense atmosphere instantly relaxed. Zuo Mingran smiled and said, "I was just chatting with Miss Yin." 

This posture didn't look like they were having a good conversation at all, which made Angel suspicious. However, she nodded obediently and took a step back, saying, "Then I'll go back first." 

The soundproofing effect of the hotel was very good, so Angel thought for a moment and didn't close the door completely. Instead, she left a small gap and sat on the sofa by the window from a distance. 

This way, she couldn't hear their conversation, but if something happened, she could rush out first. 

Zuo Mingran, who was outside, didn't know Angel's thoughts. She turned her head to the side and happened to meet Yin Ruxin's gaze. 

The overhead lights shone brightly, and Zuo Mingran smiled, "Miss Yin." 

Yin Ruxin also smiled and turned her body to shake hands, saying, "Miss Zuo, I've heard of your name for a long time." 

After listening for a long time, Angel didn't hear any loud noises. Not even a fly flying by. She thought it had been a long time, but when she picked up her phone to check, it hadn't been five minutes yet. 

At this moment, Zuo Mingran pushed the door open and casually closed it behind her. Angel stood up awkwardly. She didn't think too much about it just now, but now that she looked at it, it seemed inappropriate to purposely leave a gap in the door. 

Fortunately, after spending some time with Zuo Mingran, she could guess the reason behind Angel's behavior. 

Could it be that she thought they would fight? 

Zuo Mingran casually changed the topic, and by the time they finished removing their makeup and tidying up, it was already eleven o'clock at night. Angel's room was downstairs, so when she left, there was only Zuo Mingran left in the room. 

Leaving only a small night light on the bedside, Zuo Mingran lay back on the soft bed and let out a long breath. 

Talking to smart people was simple. Neither she nor Yin Ruxin sweet-talked about their identities, yet they could still communicate without barriers. 

Her goal was very clear. She wasn't the original host, and she didn't plan on being a malicious supporting character who would eventually be cannon fodder, according to the original book's plot. Furthermore, it was even better if she had no connection whatsoever with the female lead. In the future, they could mind their own business, with each of them climbing their own ladder. Even if they happened to cross paths, they could pretend to be strangers as much as possible. 

Perhaps Zuo Mingran's strong desire to distance herself from any relationship was too obvious, as Yin Ruxin almost lost control of her expression. 

In Yin Ruxin's memory, in her previous life, Zuo Mingran and Tang Wenbin had constantly created obstacles for her, both openly and secretly. Zuo Mingran was a big star, and she had no background or status. Even if one searched online, there was no information about her. Engaging in a fight with Zuo Mingran would be as futile as an egg hitting a stone.

Now, things were different. She was reborn and ready to compete with Zuo Mingran, but after waiting for several months, Zuo Mingran never showed up. Instead, she watched helplessly as Tang Wenbin, whom she had kicked out, became impoverished. Not to mention becoming famous overnight by clinging to a powerful figure like in her previous life, even the original live broadcast was shut down for various reasons. She truly had nowhere to turn. 

At first, Yin Ruxin thought that Tang Wenbin had offended someone, but gradually she realized that not only did Zuo Mingran not divorce early like in her previous life, but she also generated several hot topics due to her loving relationship with her husband. If things continued at this pace, Yin Ruxin had no doubt that the next news she would see would be Zuo Mingran's pregnancy and childbirth. 

The world was too surreal. If it weren't for everything else being exactly the same as in her previous life, she would have doubted whether she was reborn or transmigrated. 

The weather in Y City was still chilly in the early morning and evening, despite being located in the south. 

The next day, when someone pulled her out of bed, it wasn't even 6 o'clock in the morning. Zuo Mingran got up groggily, washed up, and only began to regain some clarity when she sat in front of the dressing table. 

Zhuang Bai was still responsible for her makeup. Taking advantage of the opportunity to drink water, Zuo Mingran took out her phone and checked the time. When she saw the numbers on the screen, she was initially stunned, then turned to Angel in disbelief. 

"Didn't filming start at 8 o'clock?" 

Zuo Mingran wasn't in a bad mood from waking up, but anyone would be a little irritable when abruptly woken up early in the morning. 

Angel, who had already figured out Zuo Mingran's temperament, greeted Zhuang Bai to start her makeup while explaining, "The crew came to urge us half an hour ago. The filming location is not here, so we need time to travel. We have to leave at 7 o'clock, minus the time for makeup and breakfast..." 

Angel counted on her fingers, and Zuo Mingran waved her hand in a headache, accepting her fate. "Forget it, forget it. Is everything packed?" 

According to the crew's regulations, each guest was only allowed to bring five items with them. Zuo Mingran picked and chose before ultimately packing a small bag. 

Breakfast was delivered by the crew directly. Thinking about the amount of physical activity they would be doing today, Zuo Mingran unusually ate until she was full, scaring Zhuang Bai into repeatedly reminding her to watch her figure. 

The bus responsible for picking them up was parked at the entrance of the hotel. Despite the crew's efforts to keep it a secret, a small group of fans managed to find out and waited at the entrance for them to come out. 

The crew wanted to film their departure as bonus footage to be shown before the official episode. As a flight guest, Zuo Mingran was originally scheduled to be the last one to appear. However, Fan Zhenzhen, who didn't come with the majority the day before and arrived at the hotel in the early morning, had yet to make an appearance even when there was only Zuo Mingran left. The crew went upstairs twice to call her down. 

Zuo Mingran found this situation quite strange. It was just the order of appearance, and it would be edited by the crew later. Whether someone went first or last was just a matter of a snip of the scissors, yet they were making it seem like a live palace drama.

So when the director smiled and asked her to leave, Zuo Mingran didn't hesitate at all and stood up to leave.

Her fans were held back by security guards, and when Zuo Mingran showed her head, she was almost drowned in the sea of screams.

Among so many celebrities present, Zuo Mingran couldn't distinguish her own fans for a while, so she waved her hands to everyone, trying not to offend anyone.

The tour bus was parked not far ahead, and just as Zuo Mingran was about to run over, she heard a man's voice break through the screams and overshadow everyone else's voice.

He yelled, "Zuo Mingran, you wolf in sheep's clothing!"

Concerned about herself, Zuo Mingran stopped abruptly and instinctively looked towards the direction of the voice. Before she could see anything, a piece of clothing fell in front of her, blocking her line of sight and the camera lenses of others.

There seemed to be the sound of something breaking. Before Zuo Mingran could think too much, Anqi, who was protecting her, dragged her forward. Zuo Mingran quickly reacted and followed her onto the tour bus.

The blackout curtain was already down, and after the door of the bus closed, the whole bus became a sealed space. After the clothes on her head were taken off, Zuo Mingran noticed that the sound of something breaking she had just heard was not an illusion. There was half an eggshell hanging on Anqi's hair, and the sticky egg white was stuck to her hair and even some on her face.

Zuo Mingran's face changed, and she suppressed her anger as she asked, "What happened?"

Several guests who had arrived early sat in the back row, not in a hurry to distance themselves, but to leave enough space for the two of them to talk.

Anqi wiped off the egg white on her body with a wet tissue and smiled at Zuo Mingran, "It's nothing. Maybe it was a hater who happened to know that we were here today."

Zuo Mingran didn't believe her words. She took a wet tissue and helped her wipe the areas she couldn't see, then spoke in a calm voice, "That person was specifically targeting me. They saw that I was far from the entrance and had no one else around me, so they threw the egg. If it wasn't for you rushing over, that egg would definitely have hit me."

She looked at Anqi in a firm gaze and said, "If you hadn't known ahead of time, there wouldn't have been enough time for someone to throw the egg from the entrance to where I was standing."

Anqi thought she was being suspected and hastily explained, "It wasn't me, I was just..."

Zuo Mingran interrupted her, "I know it's not you, but I'm curious about what happened that I don't know, which made you constantly pay attention to me and rush over at the moment something happened."

Anqi looked at her in shock, but still tried to be strong, clenching her teeth and saying, "There... there really isn't anything."

Zuo Mingran lifted the curtain and glanced outside. The middle-aged man had already been taken away by security, while the fans remained in their original positions, many of them looking at their phones, probably posting about what had just happened.

Thinking about the man's initial shout, Zuo Mingran lowered her gaze and said calmly, "Even if you don't say anything, I can still go online."

Anqi was suddenly taken aback, but before she could say anything, a phone call came in. It was from Shi Shuangxia. Besides Anqi, Zhuang Bo had also been in the hotel lobby earlier and contacted Shi Shuangxia quickly after the incident.

Zuo Mingran's guess was correct. There had indeed been something that she was temporarily unaware of. Initially, it was just an unnoticed Weibo post, but within ten minutes, it skyrocketed to the top of the trending list with a high level of discussion. Knowing that Zuo Mingran was still filming a reality show out of town, Shi Shuangxia called Anqi and asked her to keep this matter secret from Zuo Mingran, preferably not allowing her to go online.

But within five minutes of ending the phone call, the egg incident happened. They claimed that there was no one manipulating things behind the scenes, but who would believe that?

Anqi quietly got off the bus. There was no one else here, and she still needed to handle things with the middle-aged man. Although it was difficult to get anything out of him since he had been bought off, the fact that they were able to buy him off meant that they had a way to make him talk. At the very least, they had to stall until Shi Shuangxia arrived.

There were still other people on the bus, and Zuo Mingran just listened, occasionally asking a question or two, but then fell silent.

After hanging up the phone, she sat in her seat for a while, then stood up and bowed to the people crowded in the back row, apologizing, "I'm sorry for startling all of you."

Yin Ruxin was the first to react, getting up and taking a few steps forward to pull Zuo Mingran back down, saying, "We're all fine, there's no need to worry."

The others quickly echoed her words, sharing their own experiences of the difficulties they had faced over the years and urging Zuo Mingran to relax. Besides Yin Ruxin, everyone present had been through the ups and downs of the entertainment industry for many years, and even though they had learned about what had happened online through various channels, no one showed even the slightest hint of curiosity in front of Zuo Mingran.

The atmosphere in the bus gradually became harmonious. Zuo Mingran opened Weibo and saw the top trending topic - "Zuo Mingran, the wolf in sheep's clothing".

How rare. That so-called uncle of hers, who had embezzled the accident compensation money from the original owner's parents and had been hiding like a coward, actually dared to cause trouble.

But it was also good. It saved her the trouble of going after him later. Now she could take care of it all at once.