Chapter 7
The Qin family’s house wasn’t as extravagant and luxurious as the Zuo family’s, just a spacious villa with a garden and a pond.
As soon as Zuo Bian stepped inside, she saw a woman in her forties sitting on the sofa in the living room. When the woman saw Qin Ai and Qin Tian, she immediately stood up, a hint of a smile appearing on her sorrowful face.
It was evident that the woman had been beautiful in her youth, but her drooping eyes and thin frame gave her an air of sorrow, as if she had been battered by life’s storms. Even her smile couldn’t dispel the gloom in her heart.
“Xiao Tian and Xiao Ai are back. Dinner is just ready, perfect timing. And this lady is?” Tian Yumeng noticed Zuo Bian.
Qin Tian ran to Tian Yumeng’s side. “Mom, this is the older sister I met in the game, she’s super amazing!”
“This is Zuo Bian, the eldest daughter of the Zuo family.” Qin Ai said.
Tian Yumeng smiled. “So it’s the Zuo family’s child. Come sit down and have dinner with us. Don’t be polite, just treat this as your own home.”
“Thank you, Auntie.”
【The progress is so fast! I didn’t expect it to develop to the point of meeting the parents in just a few days.】
‘555, what’s the progress now?’
【1.3%】
If it weren’t for the progress bar, judging by feeling alone, 555 would have thought it was at least 13%. Qin Ai was definitely a boss-level character! After all that effort, only a sliver of health was lost. 555 complained internally.
At this moment, Zuo Bian was already sitting at the dining table with the Qin family. She didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable being a guest at someone else’s house, and she ate with gusto, truly treating the Qin family’s home as her own.
Tian Yumeng had always been gentle and kind, not the type of person who would put on a show. On the contrary, she liked Zuo Bian’s poised and generous demeanor even more. It had been many years since her Xiao Ai had brought a friend home.
“This is delicious, Older Sister Zuo, try it.” Qin Tian gave Zuo Bian a piece of cola chicken wings.
Boys of this age were usually annoyingly childish, rarely as polite and willing to share food as Qin Tian. It was evident that he was well-raised.
“Thank you.” Zuo Bian smiled at Qin Tian, and Qin Tian smiled back sweetly.
Zuo Bian lowered her head to eat the cola chicken wings, noticing the absence of one character in this family. Although she was curious, she knew that it would be impolite to ask about such things abruptly.
【Host, it seems no one has ever mentioned Qin Ai and Qin Tian’s father. My access is limited, and I can’t find any specific information. I suspect he might have passed away.】
‘Mm.’
Zuo Bian couldn’t help but glance at Qin Ai. Qin Ai’s expression was always indifferent, as if nothing could make her emotions fluctuate.
She felt that something must have happened to Qin Ai for her to become like this. Zuo Bian felt that the real Qin Ai shouldn’t be like this.
When Zuo Bian looked at people, her gaze was unwavering. Qin Ai had actually noticed Zuo Bian’s gaze for a while now, but she pretended not to notice. However, Zuo Bian kept staring, so Qin Ai raised her eyes and met Zuo Bian’s gaze.
Seeing the person she was looking at looking back at her, Zuo Bian didn’t flinch or avoid her gaze, completely unaware of the fact that she had been caught staring.
They stared at each other for several seconds before Qin Ai was the first to look away.
Qin Ai’s thoughts raced, but all Zuo Bian could think about was that they should hurry up and eat, or the food would get cold.
For Zuo Bian, who had once experienced famine, eating was a wonderful thing, and no matter what, food shouldn’t be wasted.
After dinner, Zuo Bian went home. Her bodyguards were still waiting for her. Before leaving, Qin Tian and Tian Yumeng warmly invited Zuo Bian to visit often.
Qin Tian wanted someone to play with, and Tian Yumeng was happy that Qin Ai finally had a friend and didn’t want her to be scared away by Qin Ai’s bad temper.
As Zuo Bian got into her own car, Qin Ai stood a few steps away. Just as the car was about to start, Zuo Bian suddenly rolled down the window and waved at Qin Ai. “Bye, see you next time!”
The afternoon sun fell on Zuo Bian’s smiling face, her smile seeming brighter than the sunlight itself. For a moment, Qin Ai was mesmerized.
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Zuo Bian didn’t have the opportunity to meet Qin Ai in the following days. If she wanted to find a reason, she would have to wait until the weekend at least. It just so happened that the fantasy drama arranged by Zuo Bian’s parents was about to start filming, so Zuo Bian wanted to join the production first. She was quite interested in acting.
Actually, Zuo Bian was a little worried that doing so would affect her conquest, but 555 said, 【What’s wrong with that? The Heavenly Dao gave you a new life, not for you to revolve around one person. You should live your own life. As for the conquest, take it slow, don’t rush. At worst, we can just—】
It stopped abruptly, afraid of revealing too much.
In fact, Zuo Bian’s new life didn’t require completing the mission to obtain. Zuo Bian’s soul originally belonged to this body. 555 was a pure love system in this world. If the mission failed, then it failed. At worst, Zuo Bian and Qin Ai would remain single for the rest of their lives, but their lives would still be safe.
The reason 555 didn’t tell Zuo Bian the truth was that it was afraid she would lose motivation. Now that the lie had been told, it was too late to explain.
But there was no need to worry too much. The mission assigned by the Heavenly Dao could definitely be completed. Once the mission was successful, it could pretend that nothing had happened. 555 mentally praised itself for its cleverness.
“A life truly belonging to me…” Zuo Bian murmured. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that before. Master saved me, so I followed her up the mountain. Why cultivate? Just because everyone around me was cultivating. 555, thank you. I want to try more different things and find something I like to do.”
【Yes, yes, yes, just go ahead and try. How will you know what you like if you don’t try?】
Soon, Zuo Bian, with the memorized script, entered the production crew and participated in the opening ceremony. Perhaps because of her cultivation base and clear mind, she was very quick at memorizing lines and learning.
The Zuo family was the major investor, accounting for 70% of the total investment. It was a true case of bringing money into the production. Most people, if not fawning over Zuo Bian, definitely wouldn’t treat her poorly. Only one person looked at her with hostility.
That person was Chang Wensi, said to be the eldest daughter of the Chang family, her brother being Chang Wenyan, the CEO of Chang Group.
After the opening ceremony, Zuo Bian was taken to have her makeup and hair done for the character posters.
Zuo Bian sat in front of the mirror, allowing the makeup artist to apply makeup on her face. The makeup artist praised Zuo Bian as she worked.
“Miss Zuo’s skin is so good, we can even skip the foundation.”
Zuo Bian didn’t really understand what foundation was, so she just mumbled a response. Her knowledge of cosmetics was about the same as a straight man’s, at best, she could only recognize eyebrow pencils and lipsticks.
Chang Wensi was sitting next to Zuo Bian, her arms crossed, a sneer on her face. “So you’re Zuo Bian? You don’t look that special.”
Zuo Bian looked at Chang Wensi with confusion. “May I ask who you are?”
“Are you pretending to be stupid or are you really stupid?”
“Do I have to know you?” Zuo Bian looked away, thinking that this person was strange.
Chang Wensi suppressed her anger. “Oh, I forgot, you’re a fool anyway.”
【Host, this is Chang Wenyan’s younger sister, Chang Wensi. The second female lead in this drama. I heard she has a bad temper and is a bit of a firecracker. You should stay away from her.】
“You’re so rude, didn’t your family teach you any manners?” Zuo Bian asked without any sarcasm. She simply felt that the adult Chang Wensi was worse than the child Qin Tian.
“You!” Chang Wensi stomped her foot in anger.
“You dare mention my brother! Did you ever consider my brother’s feelings when you stole his girlfriend? If it weren’t for you, my brother wouldn’t be so heartbroken!”
Hu Miaofu, the third female lead, seeing that the atmosphere wasn’t right, tried to persuade Chang Wensi, but Chang Wensi brushed her hand away.
The atmosphere in the makeup room became awkwardly tense. Everyone present, except for Zuo Bian and Chang Wensi, felt a sense of disbelief. Had they just heard some shocking gossip?
The CEO of Chang Group had a girlfriend? And from the sound of it, his girlfriend was stolen by someone else? And the person who stole Chang Wenyan’s girlfriend was this fairy-like girl who clearly came from a wealthy background. This was explosive news!
Zuo Bian said, “But I was competing fairly, why do you say I stole her?”
Chang Wensi’s eyes widened. “Whether it was getting to know her or confessing his feelings, my brother was the first! You were the one who interfered!”
“Then let him fight for her back himself.” Zuo Bian calmly said to the stunned makeup artist, “Please continue with my makeup.”
“Oh, okay…” The makeup artist suppressed her shock and continued applying eye makeup on Zuo Bian.
Chang Wensi wanted to continue arguing with Zuo Bian, but she was stopped by her agent. “Sisi, stop making trouble, filming is important.”
“Hmph!” Chang Wensi snorted heavily and sat back down.
Hu Miaofu tried to lighten the mood, but she had nothing in common with Zuo Bian and couldn’t talk to Chang Wensi.
After the character posters were finished, the director went over the script with the main actors, saying that the official filming would start tomorrow, and everyone should familiarize themselves with the script and rehearse their lines today.
Zuo Bian’s parents had assigned her an agent and two assistants, while only two or three bodyguards remained. Actually, Zuo Bian’s mother, Du Yundong, wanted to arrange more people, but Zuo’s father said that having too many people would make their daughter stand out and didn’t want her identity to be exposed and attract people with ulterior motives. So they only arranged two assistants for Zuo Bian.
Compared to Zuo Bian, Chang Wensi’s entourage was much larger. She had five assistants alone, one for holding an umbrella, one for carrying bags, one for playing games, one for giving shoulder massages, and one for flattery. It didn’t look like she was here to film, but rather to inspect her family’s property like a little princess.
Only Hu Miaofu, the third female lead, had a single assistant, and her agent wasn’t even present because she had too many artists under her management.
As for the male lead, it was said that he wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it today.
Chang Wensi held her chin high in the air. When Zuo Bian tried to rehearse lines with her, Chang Wensi only responded with a snort.
“Hmph!”
Zuo Bian had no choice but to rehearse with Hu Miaofu, the third female lead, which made Chang Wensi even angrier.
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