Chapter 161

Ye Zifeng nodded and said, “My fault, my fault. I was too forward, too forward.”

After saying that, he sat down directly. Even the director gave Cao Zijin a thumbs-up—you’re really something. How could you smooth that over?

Jin Lan looked at Cao Zijin, not quite understanding her intentions.

Cao Zijin whispered, “For now, we should go with the flow. No rush. To torment someone, to destroy someone, you don’t necessarily have to ignore them. Giving hope and then despair—isn’t that better?”

Jin Lan said, “But I don’t really want to do it that way. If I do, I’d just become your pawn.”

Cao Zijin whispered something in Jin Lan’s ear.

Jin Lan froze and said, “Are you sure?”

“What do you think? Why would I lie to you for no reason? Haha, you agree, right?”

“I’ll trust you once. If it doesn’t work out, I won’t let it slide.”

“Why bother? At worst, it won’t be that bad, right? What do you say?”

Jin Lan nodded silently. She had to admit that point.

At worst, how bad could it get?

“Let me introduce—this is the top official of Qin City. Director, you’d better shoot the movie well and promote Qin City a lot.”

The director quickly stood up, saying, “Sorry, I was presumptuous. I … don’t worry, I’ll definitely make it beautiful and let everyone know about the treasure that is Qin City.”

Jin Lan nodded.

She came today with a purpose. After all, given her status, everything still revolved around Qin City’s development.

Filming a movie could indeed bring significant tourism to the city and create many job opportunities.

That alone was worth Jin Lan having a drink over.

Chen Fan frowned and said, “Where’s Lin Qingyue?”

Just as he asked, the door opened, and a woman stood at the entrance.

Everyone looked toward the door. The director froze, holding his glass mid-air. There really … was a woman this beautiful?

Lin Qingyue, worthy of being the number one female lead, wore a blue tight skirt and carried a clutch, her charm impossible to resist.

Beauty—she was the pure symbol of beauty. You couldn’t see any excess desire in her; you could only like her. You could call her a vase, but she had to be a one-of-a-kind vase.

Xiao Lan glanced at her own outfit.

Clashing outfits wasn’t scary—what was embarrassing was who looked worse.

Suddenly, Xiao Lan felt like she was nothing more than a clown.

Utterly ridiculous.

Ye Aotian stood up and said, “I didn’t expect you’d come. What a surprise. How … have you been lately?”

I’ve been digging up your family’s ancestral graves.

But Lin Qingyue swallowed those words.

Lin Qingyue said, “Chen Fan invited me.”

Hahaha, Cao Zijin said, “I told my husband to invite her. After all, everyone in Qin City knows Lin Qingyue was my husband’s first love—though it was just his unrequited crush. Still, I wanted to meet her, and sure enough, she’s gorgeous. If you became a celebrity, my position would be in jeopardy.”

Are you that bored? Did you call me here just to mess with me?

Cao Zijin took Lin Qingyue’s hand and said, “Come, come, sit here. We finally got you here. Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just wanted to fulfill my husband’s dream—he’s been dreaming of having a meal with you.”

The director was utterly confused. What kind of development was this?

Chen Fan was stunned, but it kind of made sense. He was the simp, the first female lead had arrived, he was here, and the protagonist was here too.

But something felt off. Damn it, shouldn’t I be in Ye Aotian’s position, and Ye Aotian in mine? Did something go wrong somewhere?

Forget it—this part is improv, not part of the plot. It’s not my problem. I’ll just eat, drink, and watch the show.

Lin Qingyue sat down and said, “Sorry, I’m late. Why’s everyone looking at me?”

Only then did the director hurriedly go to toast her.

Damn, it’s such a pity this girl isn’t a celebrity. Did Qin City plant peach blossoms or something? How are there so many beauties?

At that moment, no one noticed that Chen Fan was already surrounded by a group of beautiful women.

Even Chen Fan himself hadn’t realized it.

A riot of colors, a hundred flowers vying for attention.

…

At the dinner table, most of the conversation consisted of polite small talk, but Ye Aotian’s gaze seemed to linger more on Chen Fan’s side.

“They’re all mine, they should all be mine. As long as I defeat Chen Fan in the end, these women won’t be bullied by him anymore.”

Self-consolation had always been the protagonist’s forte, but unfortunately, Chen Fan didn’t care about any of this at the moment. Chen Fan only cared about how this part of the plot would unfold.

The storyline was simple: brothers turning against each other.

How they would turn against each other and how it would eventually be resolved remained unknown.

Time ticked by, second by second. Two hours later, everyone had drunk quite a bit, and some people started heading off to karaoke.

Chen Fan, meanwhile, found a spot, propped his legs up, and looked at his phone.

At this moment, for Chen Fan, with no plot to follow, spacing out was the best option.

Cao Zijin, on the other hand, pulled Lin Qingyue to sit beside her and said, “Have a drink?”

“I think you’re pretty bored. I really don’t get why you had Chen Fan invite me here.”

“Because we can watch the drama together! Look at you—don’t you want to watch too?”

Lin Qingyue said, “Actually … I do like watching. By the way, what’s going on this time?”

Both of them cleverly avoided mentioning the rules. Based on instinct, Lin Qingyue knew what would happen next and had a clear idea of it. You couldn’t bring it up directly—only subtle hints were allowed.

“Nothing much. I’m just adding some spice. Haha, I think it’s more fun with more people, don’t you?”

Well, that was true.

At that moment, a young girl stood up, walked over to Lin Qingyue, picked up a glass of wine, and said, “Boss.”

“I’m not your boss … and I don’t want to deal with you …”

At this point, Cao Zijin intervened and said, “Don’t listen to her. I’m in charge here. Come, sit down.”

Lin Qingyue looked at Cao Zijin—How is it that you’re in charge?—but Cao Zijin gave her a look, and Lin Qingyue didn’t say anything more.

“After all, with so many years of friendship between us, how could we just part ways like that?”

“I … didn’t mean it. And … Boss, you’re right. Ye Aotian really isn’t a good person.”

Cao Zijin coughed and said, “After all, he built himself up from nothing. How is he not a good person? Maybe you just don’t understand him well enough.”

Xiao Lan said, “I don’t know. My gut tells me there’s something off about this guy. It’s like he feels the whole world is out to get him. It seems like, no matter who it is, if they don’t pay attention to him, he thinks they’re looking down on him or something.”

There was nothing wrong with that statement—wasn’t that exactly the personality a protagonist should have?

If a protagonist didn’t have this kind of personality, how could conflicts arise and create satisfying moments? If you were too laid-back, no one would care about you. If the plot became too chill, how could it go on? Readers wouldn’t buy it.

Lin Qingyue said, “Isn’t that what you chose?”

“I … It’s fine, I guess. He’s pretty good to me.”

Cao Zijin said, “Let me ask you something. Do you feel happy?”

“Uh … I don’t lack food or drink. There’s nothing unhappy about that.”

Cao Zijin shook her head and said, “I mean that kind of happiness. We’re all women here—don’t you get what I’m asking?”

Xiao Lan paused, then said, “Oh, you mean that aspect … How should I put it? It’s okay, I guess.”

Wait, no, that’s not right. Shouldn’t it be more than that? Weren’t novel protagonists supposed to be exceptional in that regard? They were supposed to be like engines or something, but from Xiao Lan’s words, it didn’t seem to be the case.