The senior officer leading the raid did not care to waste any more time listening to Hong Yao’s sarcastic remarks. He signaled to his men to begin the search.
Hong Yao was unperturbed. She merely gave him a coy, seductive look, the smile on her lips irresistibly alluring to even the most stoic of men.
Every man in her presence was now fantasizing about having their way with her.
The senior officer looked like a serious, no-nonsense man, but Hong Yao knew exactly what he was thinking. She had been working in a brothel for long enough to be able to read men like a book.
He had not shown any outward interest in her during the search, but when he walked past her on his way out the building, his hand shot out and squeezed Hong Yao’s behind.
As soon as he touched her, Yan Huan inwardly launched into a litany of expletives.
But that was Yan Huan. Hong Yao, on the other hand, continued to smile pleasantly because she was already used to men fondling her without her consent. As soon as the men had gone, however, her smile dripped with contempt.
“Cut!” shouted the director.
The expression on Yan Huan’s face immediately changed into one of consternation. She touched her behind, where the actor had fondled her, and wondered whether it was safe to disinfect the area with bleach without damaging her skin.
She had sworn to protect herself in this new life. Physical contact with other actors was inevitable when shooting a scene, but outside of the set, she was determined to be the scandal-free “good girl” in showbiz. She had had too many scandals and negative press in her previous life.
No secret was 100% safe in this world. Even the best kept secrets would eventually be discovered; it was only a matter of time. Yan Huan now knew that the only way to maintain a squeaky-clean image was to not do anything that would compromise her reputation in the first place.
Her actions caused everyone on the set to burst into laughter.
Director Jin turned to the actor playing the senior officer and said with a laugh, “Now look what you’ve done. You frightened the young lady.”
The actor gave a helpless, awkward smile. He had not acted opposite such an innocent young lady for a very long time now. All the other actors in the production were slightly older than average; some of the background actors were young, but the lead actors were all pushing 30. The female lead was 28 years old, already toeing the acceptable upper age limit for “young lady” roles. The actresses in the secondary and tertiary female roles were also around 26 and 27. In comparison, Yan Huan was only a young girl, not yet a woman. She was the only actress in the production who had not yet celebrated her 20th birthday. But her acting skills were on par, or perhaps even better, than those of the veteran actors.
With her looks, youth, and acting skills, she was a guaranteed star. If she failed to become a hit with the audience it would prove that the world was horribly unfair and illogical.
The rest of the crew chuckled as Yan Huan blushed a bright red. They then dispersed to take a short break before shooting the next episode.
During the break, Yan Huan went to Director Jin to personally thank him for recommending her to Yuelun Entertainment. She knew that it was largely thanks to him that Yuelun had offered her a contract that was incredibly generous for a newcomer like herself. Without Director Jin’s help, she would probably have had to work for the company for free for a few years under an unfair contract.
“You don’t have to thank me,” said Director Jin. He went on to praise her by saying, “You’re a rare piece of unpolished jade, a wonderful actor who will go far. Yuelun should count their lucky stars for signing you. Once you’re a superstar they’ll owe me one.”
“Oh, by the way,” Director Jin suddenly remembered something, “I recently came across a good Xianxia novel, and I want to adapt the story into a TV series once we’re done with Love and Tribulations. I’d like to ask you to join that project as well. Right now we’re looking at having that show go on air in April of next year, which means we don’t have a lot of time. I don’t have a character in mind for you yet, so you’ll have to audition and see which character fits you best.”
A Xianxia TV series? Yan Huan searched her past memories but could not recall which show he was referring to. It didn’t really matter, though; she knew that Director Jin’s projects were always of high quality. He was the type to prioritize quality over quantity, and she had heard that he sometimes spent several years on pre-production alone to make sure everything was perfect before shooting.
There were not many Xianxia shows airing on TV right now; the show she had acted in previously had been the first in a long while. That show had not exactly been a massive hit, but it had been popular enough to prove that there was a market for Xianxia shows.
