The Movie Queen’s Secret Stand-In Lover [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 25

“What’s so funny about that?” Zhou Ning looked utterly bewildered. She considered herself someone with a very low threshold for humor, yet she couldn’t see anything amusing about the Sarira. The Sugar Daddy’s sense of humor was truly bizarre—just as peculiar as Xiao Bai’s aloofness.

Maybe this was what they called compatibility!

Yuan Zhi grabbed a tissue to cover her mouth, unable to stop laughing.

Zhou Ning frowned worriedly. If the Sugar Daddy kept laughing while eating, she might end up choking!

“It’s stuck!” Yuan Zhi patted her chest uncomfortably, reaching for her water glass to wash the food down.

Zhou Ning unscrewed the water bottle and refilled Yuan Zhi’s glass, thinking to herself: At least the Sugar Daddy only got food stuck—if she had choked instead, that would’ve been troublesome.

Cough cough cough cough cough! Suddenly, Yuan Zhi broke into violent coughing, clearly having choked on the water.

“Are you okay?” Zhou Ning quickly circled the table to stand behind Yuan Zhi, patting her back gently with a concerned expression. “Feeling better now?” Oh no! Had her mouth been blessed by some divine power? Whatever she said seemed to come true. She lowered her head guiltily, not daring to think anything else, afraid she might accidentally jinx the Sugar Daddy into an early grave.

But did this only work for bad things, or did good things count too?

Testing the waters, she muttered under her breath, “I want to earn another million.” With that extra million, she could cover the tax shortfall, and even if the Sugar Daddy wanted to terminate the contract, she wouldn’t have to worry. She stared at the ceiling for a long moment, but when no money fell from the sky, she pouted in disappointment.

“I’m fine.” After coughing for what felt like forever, Yuan Zhi finally recovered and waved dismissively at Zhou Ning, who was lost in thought.

Snapping back to reality, Zhou Ning circled the table again and returned to her seat, picking up her chopsticks while grumbling, “I still don’t get what you were laughing about.”

Yuan Zhi straightened her expression, pressing her lips together as she calmly picked up her own chopsticks. “I wasn’t laughing at what you said. I just suddenly remembered something happy.”

“What was it? Can I ask?” Zhou Ning’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Had the Sugar Daddy landed that overseas film audition? Or maybe secured some amazing new endorsement? Though it could also be something personal. “Haha, it’s fine if you don’t want to say.”

“Mhm. I don’t want to.” Yuan Zhi pushed her half-eaten lunchbox aside and picked up her glass to drink more water.

If she didn’t want to share, so be it. Zhou Ning smiled nonchalantly, glancing at the mostly untouched food in the lunchbox. “You’re not eating anymore?”

“Nope. I’m full.” After finishing her water, Yuan Zhi wiped her mouth with a napkin, grabbed her bag, and prepared to leave. Just as she was about to stand, she saw Zhou Ning calmly reach over and drag the lunchbox she had eaten from toward herself, digging in without hesitation. Yuan Zhi stared at her in shock. “What are you doing?”

Zhou Ning blinked in confusion. Noticing Yuan Zhi’s bag in hand, she hurriedly stood up. “Are you leaving? Let me walk you out.”

Yuan Zhi remained seated, still staring at Zhou Ning with bewilderment. “Didn’t you make plenty of food?” Even if there wasn’t enough to go around, surely, she didn’t have to eat her leftovers.

“Huh?” Zhou Ning was still in a dazed state. After thinking for a long while, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh! You want to take some food to eat on the way, right? Got it. I’ll go pack it up right now.” With that, she turned and headed back to the kitchen.

“Come back!” Yuan Zhi realized that hinting was useless with Zhou Ning—being direct was far more efficient. So she said bluntly, “I wanted to ask you, since there’s still so much food left, why did you eat my leftovers? Doesn’t it gross you out?” She absolutely couldn’t stand eating food someone else had touched.

Take an extreme example—if she were lost in a desert with only a half-drunk bottle of water left by someone else, and she was dying of thirst… well, of course she’d drink it. But they weren’t in a desert right now!

“Waste not, want not. The leftovers can be reheated for my late-night snack,” Zhou Ning replied with an embarrassed, sheepish smile. “Besides, I don’t think food you’ve eaten is dirty at all. To be honest, I’ve even secretly wondered—what if my Substitute duties required me to kiss you? I think I could handle that. If I can handle a kiss, then leftovers are nothing, right?”

It wasn’t like she’d eat just anyone’s leftovers. But her Sugar Daddy was different.

“Why would I ever kiss you?!!” Yuan Zhi nearly roared in utter shock. Could Zhou Ning get any weirder? Back when they were negotiating terms, hadn’t she sworn that even if she time-traveled to ancient times, she’d “sell her talents, not her body”? And now she was saying she’d be fine with kissing? The problem was, Yuan Zhi wouldn’t be!

Zhou Ning’s voice grew quieter. “I was just saying, in case… like, what if I imitate her so well that you get carried away and mistake me for her, and then you kiss me or something…” She chuckled. “I wouldn’t be mad. It’d be just like kissing for a role, right? All part of the job, no feelings involved.”

Yuan Zhi shook her head in speechless disbelief. “I’m leaving. Try not to dwell on such bizarre thoughts when you’re free.” Zhou Ning was already strange enough—if she kept entertaining these wild ideas, she’d only get weirder. God! Yuan Zhi didn’t even want to imagine how terrifying an even stranger Zhou Ning might be.

“I’ll see you out.” Zhou Ning eagerly hurried over to open the door for Yuan Zhi.

Without looking back, Yuan Zhi strode toward the elevator. Standing inside, she was still overwhelmed by sheer bewilderment. Zhou Ning had been secretly agonizing over whether she should refuse if Yuan Zhi kissed her. What nonsense! Yuan Zhi was in love with that woman—why would she ever want to touch anyone else? And that bit about “imitating her so well that you get carried away and kiss me”?

Please! How blind would Yuan Zhi have to be to mistake Zhou Ning for her? Even if Zhou Ning didn’t speak or make any expressions. Sure, in the beginning, Yuan Zhi had occasionally felt fleeting glimpses of her presence. But the longer she spent with Zhou Ning, the more that illusion faded. Now, whenever she faced Zhou Ning, her mind conjured up all sorts of bizarre associations—everything except her!

So why had she spent five million to keep Zhou Ning around? Wouldn’t it have been better to just hire her as a chef? And for way less money.

When the one-year contract expires, she should have another talk with Zhou Ning. She’d ask if Zhou Ning would be interested in becoming her personal chef. The salary wouldn’t match the current arrangement, but it would still be substantial—she was willing to offer an annual salary of several hundred thousand. Purely in terms of culinary skills, Zhou Ning wasn’t worth that much. But she really enjoyed the feeling of eating meals with Zhou Ning—it was warm and cozy, never lonely or cold.

Yuan Xiaoyuan received the message and waited by the elevator on the basement level. Seeing Yuan Zhi frown as she stepped out, she glanced sympathetically at the parking garage ceiling.

Had Zhou Ning upset Sister Zhi again? Honestly, if Sister Zhi disliked Zhou Ning so much, why keep visiting?

“You mentioned in your message that Kiki is at the studio?” Yuan Zhi quickened her pace toward the car.

“Yes. Accountant Li heard you were coming back to pick something up, so she had her family bring Kiki over temporarily.”

Yuan Zhi nodded approvingly. “Make a note—double her bonus this month.” She appreciated when people around her went the extra mile. Take Zhou Ning, for example—even if the effort was slightly misguided, the intention alone was valuable. Of course, Zhou Ning’s role was different. For the studio staff, good intentions without results were unacceptable.

But Zhou Ning’s sincerity was especially rare. She’d already prepaid Zhou Ning, who had no idea she’d kept backup plans. Despite that, Zhou Ning still worked so hard to please her—proof that Zhou Ning was genuinely kind and loyal. That’s why she was willing to be more lenient with Zhou Ning. If Zhou Ning didn’t irritate her, she could do whatever she wanted.

“Understood.” Yuan Xiaoyuan immediately opened her phone’s memo and recorded it.

Sister Wang was on the phone with her niece Wang Zi in the office.

“Just focus on filming your current drama for now. We can’t count on Yuan Zhi now. Why? Because I only know the gist of that big leverage against her—I don’t have concrete evidence. Do you think things are easy for me now? Officially, I’m still her manager, but I’ve long been sidelined. For ages now, that little assistant Yuan has been handling everything, big and small, while she makes all the decisions herself.”

“That Yuan girl must know something! I tried questioning her, but she’s tighter-lipped than anyone. Be patient—let me figure out how to gather evidence first.”

In the car, Yuan Zhi watched the surveillance footage on her phone through headphones, expressionless. Suddenly, she said to Yuan Xiaoyuan, “Xiao Yuan, did Sister Wang ask you about Zhou Ning?”

“Yes.” Yuan Xiaoyuan turned around, her gaze firm. “Don’t worry, Sister Zhi—I didn’t say anything. As you instructed, she only knows you brought a girl back from C City. She has no details about Zhou Ning, let alone that Zhou Ning is your heroic fan.”

Yuan Zhi nodded thoughtfully and closed the surveillance feed.

She was thinking that maybe Zhou Ning could help her with something.

When they arrived at the studio, Sister Wang came downstairs to greet Yuan Zhi in advance. “Zhi, I heard you’re leaving again soon? Look at me—your manager doesn’t even know your schedule. Haha.”

Yuan Zhi smiled and took the cat handed to her by accountant Xiao Li, cradling it in her arms. “Xiao Yuan and the others can handle these minor arrangements. Sister Wang, you should focus on more important matters.”

Sister Wang followed Yuan Zhi upstairs and asked casually, “Any news from abroad? If there’s still no word, maybe you should confirm your next project first?”

“No rush.” Yuan Zhi smiled as she walked to the office door. While trying to unlock it one-handed, a photo accidentally slipped out of her bag.

The photo landed right at Sister Wang’s feet. She bent down to pick it up and saw a young girl with long hair wearing a school uniform. From her professional agent’s perspective, the girl in the photo was merely pretty, but her unique aura stood out.

“New talent you’re planning to take on?” Sister Wang felt a strong sense of crisis. If Yuan Zhi had someone in mind, even if she did take on a GL drama next, the other female lead wouldn’t go to Wang Zi.

Yuan Zhi snatched the photo back with slight panic, awkwardly stuffing it back into her bag while smiling. “No, just an old photo.” Then she opened the office door while holding her cat.

An old photo? Sister Wang suddenly understood. “Is it that person? The one you mentioned when you first entered the industry, saying you wanted to become famous, so she’d notice you?”

Yuan Zhi still smiled awkwardly, lowering her head to search the drawer for documents needed for her trip.

“I thought you’d moved on,” Sister Wang said with a smile. “Xiao Yuan told me you brought a young girl to your side. Since you have someone new, surely, you’ve let go of the past. Why still carry that photo around?”

Yuan Zhi gave a bitter smile. “That girl was only brought in because she vaguely resembles her… But after having her around, I realized they only share a passing resemblance at first glance. Upon closer look, they’re nothing alike.” This was the truth. Zhou Ning might have that face, but she couldn’t be more different from that person.

“I see…” Sister Wang said thoughtfully.

“I’m in a hurry, got to go.” After carefully checking the documents, Yuan Zhi packed them into her bag and smiled at Sister Wang.

On the way to the airport, she called Zhou Ning from the car: “Would you do me a favor?”

Zhou Ning was diligently practicing her aloof walk. She stopped her haughty steps, chin jutting out proudly: “Name it. I’d go through fire and water for you!”

“Nothing that dangerous.” Yuan Zhi finally laughed genuinely. “Don’t you love selling vegetables? Rent a stall at the market near XX neighborhood! Did you see the photo I sent? That person will likely approach you, asking if you’re interested in making big money. Just say yes.”

Zhou Ning opened the newly received photo—it was from an event, showing Sugar Daddy along with a middle-aged woman who looked very familiar.

Ah! She remembered now. This was the woman walking with that guilty-looking actress in the garden outside the studio!

Hmph! Just as suspected—bad people! Those two have ill intentions toward Sugar Daddy!

“Zhi-jie, maybe you could briefly explain what’s going on? So, I know what to expect,” Zhou Ning said eagerly.

Without hesitation, Yuan Zhi explained the whole situation.

“I get it. She’s your agent trying to use my relationship with you to blackmail you. But you’re one step ahead, planning to use our relationship against her instead?” Brilliant! No wonder Sugar Daddy has remained unshaken in the entertainment industry for so many years—it’s not just about looks!

“Good that you understand. Remember to forge a fake identity—don’t let her know you’re from C City.” With that, Yuan Zhi hung up the phone.

Yuan Xiaoyuan turned back with a worried expression. “Sister Zhi, you told Zhou Ning everything… Aren’t you afraid she might…” What exactly was going on between Sister Zhi and Zhou Ning now? She was getting more confused. If Sister Zhi had already reclaimed all the money and left Zhou Ning saddled with a huge debt, why would Zhou Ning still help Sister Zhi with something like this? And how could someone as cautious as Sister Zhi trust Zhou Ning completely?

“She won’t.” Yuan Zhi curved her lips slightly. “Zhou Ning is a woman of her word.” In this profit-driven society, such people were rare. When she terminated the contract, she had hinted that Zhou Ning could default—yet Zhou Ning had said, “How could I do that? A gentleman’s agreement, right?”

A gentleman’s agreement… Hah. She was no gentleman.