Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
She lay in bed and aired her grievances to her best friend, who then said that Yan Ge probably doesn’t actually fancy her and had merely agreed to the arranged marriage since they were both compatible with each other in terms of background and status.
However, Xin Min was extremely frustrated and continued to lament and grouse to her best friend until she dozed off.
Meanwhile, An Xiaoning was just waiting for her to fall asleep. Since she could not get the key card to Xin Min’s room from the lobby, the only way An Xiaoning could enter her room was to climb in from the window.
For safety reasons, she asked Jin Qingyan to send a professional technician to her aid, so as to help attach her to the safety harness of a suspension cable and move her in mid-air to Xin Min’s balcony.
Although the door of the balcony was locked from the inside, it was no issue for An Xiaoning.
She opened it effortlessly.
Xin Min was sound asleep at the time and had no idea that someone had entered her room.
She only realized what happened when An Xiaoning called her into Fang Erlan’s room the next day and showed her a video of herself being hypnotized.
Frightened out of her senses, Xin Min asked, “How… how did you get inside my room?”
“There are many ways to do that. I called you here privately entirely because I want to save Yan Ge from the embarrassment.”
“You’re committing a crime!”
An Xiaoning retorted coldly, “And you are not? You sneaked into Erlan’s room and put a snake on her bed. You then maliciously broke the suspension cables she was attached to. You repeatedly plotted a scheme and stirred so much trouble. I’d like to ask you a question, Ms. Xin. Do you think your life and future will still be bright if I hand you over to the police?”
Xin Min’s legs turned to jelly as she was overwhelmed with fear and panic. She knelt on the ground immediately and pleaded, “Please spare me this once, I wouldn’t dare to do it again.”
“Oh? You’re surrendering so soon?”
“I really won’t do it again. It was Fang Erlan who held herself cheap first. She was asking for it and I was merely teaching her lesson!”
“How was she asking for it? A penny for your thoughts?”
“I don’t know about the rest, but Fang Erlan pretended to have met with a crook and used that as an excuse to spend a night in Yan Ge’s room. Later on, she even added the kiss scene on her own and gave Yan Ge massages while trying to seduce him. That’s why I wanted to teach her a lesson!”
Fang Erlan turned as pale as a sheet and she snapped angrily, “Who said I was pretending? I really did meet with a crook and barged inside Yan Ge’s room by accident back then. The surveillance camera footages are evidence that can vouch for me. I only started giving Yan Ge massages as a form of compensation, precisely because of that incident. After all, he could be considered to be my savior for that night. As for the kiss scene, who told you about that?”
“I heard it from the screenwriter who warned me against you!”
Noticing that Fang Erlan was about to retort, An Xiaoning stopped her and interjected, “The screenwriter said it? Sure, I’ll get him here to question him about it. How does that sound?”
“You’re the investor, he’s definitely going to be biased toward you,” Xin Min said in disgruntlement.
“It’s wrong to put words into others’ mouths.” Not wanting rumors about Fang Erlan forcing a kiss onto Yan Ge to spread, An Xiaoning said too Mei Yangyang, “Yangyang, call Jing Tian and get the two screenwriters to come here.”
“Okay.”
Upon the sight of Mei Yangyang leaving the room, Xin Min said straight away, “You don’t have to call the screenwriters here. Just tell me how you’re planning to deal with me. I’ll let you do whatever you want with me, so long as you don’t hand me over to the police.”
“That won’t do. I must find out which screenwriter is the one who sparked false rumors and sowed seeds of discord between you and Erlan, causing such a misunderstanding. I must get them to explain themselves clearly.”
Knowing that the screenwriter will definitely not stand on her side, Xin Min felt like she was at a complete loss for words. At the same time, she also felt a little regretful for telling on the screenwriter and implicating her.
Mei Yangyang went to the film set and asked Jing Tian for the contact number of the screenwriters, whom she then asked to come to the hotel room.
Jing Tian was puzzled about her request and, hence, Mei Yangyang had no choice but to tell him the truth, which gave him a huge shock. They then called the screenwriters, who agreed to come without hesitation upon hearing that An Xiaoning wanted to see them.
Both of them arrived in no time.
By the time Mei Yangyang, Jing Tian, and the two screenwriters arrived at the room, Xin Min had already got up from the ground and was sitting on the bed with reddened eyes.
An Xiaoning shook the hands of the screenwriters and said while smiling, “Sorry for troubling you to make a trip down here. I didn’t want to bother you at first, but Ms. Xin here insists that Erlan was the one who added the additional kiss scene with Yan Ge out of her own accord. I asked her where she had heard it from and she said that it was from the screenwriter, who also warned her to keep a lookout for Erlan. May I ask, which one of you said that?”
A sullen expression formed on the screenwriters’ faces. The male screenwriter said, “It’s not me, this is my first time meeting Ms. Xin.”
The female screenwriter began cursing Xin Min in her head, thinking to herself that the latter was an absolute fool. She then said, “It can’t be me either. Although I’ve met Ms. Xin once when I visited the film set at night, I definitely wouldn’t have said such things out of the blue. Besides, all the scenes in the script were originally planned out by me, Screenwriter Jin, and the author. How could actors and actresses possibly be allowed to add scenes as and when they pleased? However, there was one kiss scene that the director had added because he thought it would make the episode better. I wonder if that’s the one you’re referring to, Ms. An?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I don’t know about it, then. I’ve never said such things to Ms. Xin before. Ms. Xin, please don’t try and frame me and push the blame on me. I still care about my reputation.”
Having already expected the situation to turn out this way, Xin Min did not retort and instead remained silent.
An Xiaoning looked at Xin Min with a sarcastic grin and warned, “Ms. Xin, you’ve heard the screenwriters for yourself. If the nonsense and false rumors you spouted were to be spread to the public, it’ll greatly taint my artiste’s reputation. Her name can never be cleared then. Ms. Xin, please don’t run your mouth and spread false rumors. Otherwise, I’ll definitely hold you responsible.”
Xin Min clenched her jaw in anger, though she could not say anything since she was aware that An Xiaoning had a hold on her.
“Ms. Xin? Did you hear me?”
“Yes,” she answered softly.
An Xiaoning looked away and said to the two screenwriters, “The script is a huge factor in determining the success of the television series. We’re almost done with filming for the entire series. I hope you two will continue to work doubly hard and strive to achieve a perfect ending. Once filming officially ends, you two will be invited to our celebratory gathering. Director Jing, do help me tend to them.”
Jing Tian nodded and said, “Sure.”
The three of them left, after which a silence filled the room.
An Xiaoning stood up and said to Xin Min, who was sitting opposite her, “You probably didn’t expect me to find out so soon that you were the culprit, did you? If I hadn’t investigated this personally, what were you planning to do to Erlan next?”
“I haven’t thought about it.”
“You may leave after apologizing to Erlan.”
She looked up at An Xiaoning in shock, surprised that the latter would let her off so easily. She then stood up and apologized to Fang Erlan.
An Xiaoning added, “Wait a minute. I have one last warning for you. If you’re planning to take revenge on me, I hope you’ll consider it carefully and ask yourself if you can afford to bear the consequences.”
“I understand.” She opened the door and left.
