Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  Bai Qing paints very slowly, and it takes half a day to deliberate on just one cheek.

  He hoped to see Lin Xiao urgently asking him to hurry up, hoping that the other party would not agree to put on makeup, but the other party was like a wooden stake, saying nothing, and letting him do whatever he wanted.

  "What's going on? This guy doesn't seem to be afraid at all?! He drew more and more anxiously, as if he was the one who had fallen into the trap. "This thing is so obvious, how can he not have any feeling about it?"

  He gritted his teeth and steadied his hand, continuing to draw once more.

  Time passed minute by minute and second by second. Bai Qing stopped her pen and looked at it, "Alright, just add some foundation powder and it's done."

  Gong Xuehua has returned, she quickly walked towards the large tent, today is Hui Fei's full makeup shoot, her makeup was also very troublesome.

  Just arrived at the front of the tent, Liu Yiyi walked out "Gong sister."

  "Hmm?" Gong Xuehua didn't have a good impression of this yin-yang person either. She casually agreed with a single word.

  "Gong sister, someone is putting on makeup now. Or, would you like to wait a bit?"

  Who arrived faster than her? Her car was the first to return. Gong Xuehua was still thinking when she heard Liu Yiyi laugh and say, "In a little while, Lin Xiao's makeup will be finished, and he'll be right with you."

  "Who?!" Gong Xuehua doubted her own ears.

  Liu Yiyi said with a confused expression, "Lin Xiao, you guys didn't come back, and he left so many people here...he let us draw first..."

  "Did he let you put on makeup?!" Gong Xuehua's anger suddenly surged, her voice rising several degrees "What is his status?! How dare he put on makeup in the big tent?! What are you doing?!"

  Liu Yiyi stopped talking in time. After a while, she explained with difficulty: "Gong sister, after all, the other party is also a red man of the crew, he said that using it for a while doesn't matter, and the time..."

  "Red man? Bullshit!" Liu Yiyi's explanation was like adding fuel to the fire. Gong Xuehua had already drunk some wine and almost rushed into the big tent with red eyes.

  Liu Yiyi hastily followed up.

  As soon as she entered, she almost unbelievably widened her eyes. The high-end cosmetics she had placed in the room were almost all opened one by one, and Bai Qing was holding that Japanese imported eyebrow brush to brush Lin Xiao's eyebrows.

  "You......you......" Gong Xuehua's anger was like a volcano, on the verge of eruption, and the intense flames made her nerves tremble, leaving her speechless for a moment.

  Liu Yiyi took a glance at Gong Xuehua, whose mouth corners were trembling. He hastily walked up to her, picked up the makeup box and exclaimed in surprise, "Bai Qing! How could you use Gong Jie's makeup box?! Haven't I told you countless times not to touch anything inside here?!"

  "I had no idea it was Gong's!" Bai Qing also looked shocked. "I originally said I'd use my own, but this person insisted that using a little bit wouldn't be a problem, so I just used a tiny bit, who knew Gong would come back so soon."

  "Is this even a little bit?!?" Gong Xuehua looked at the foundation that was one-tenth less and directly slammed the box over. Bai Qing let out a "ouch" and covered her forehead, not daring to speak again.

  "Who let you in?! Who allowed you to do your makeup ahead of time?! Who allowed you to touch my things?!" Gong Xuehua shouted "Do you know what kind of person can come in and do their makeup here?! How many years have you been in the industry?! Do you understand the rules?!"

  Seeing Bai Qing and Liu Yiyi both nodded silently, Gong Xuehua's fiery gaze immediately shifted to Lin Xiao.

  "Lin Xiao." Her voice was like a knife being sharpened. "You rely on Director Chen's favor and dare to disregard seniority! You're moving my things today, and tomorrow won't you be after my position?!"

  "Gong sister, you misunderstood." Lin Xiao replied.

  " Misunderstanding?! " Gong Xuehua burst out laughing. "Liu Yiyi! Hurry up and call Director Chen and the others over, I want everyone to see this misunderstanding."

  Lin Xiao also stood up.

  "Where are you going?!" Gong Xuehua slapped the table "You're not allowed to go anywhere!"

  "Gong sister, I'm just waiting here." Lin Xiao said calmly "I also want the director to come and take a look at what's going on."

  Liu Yiyi hastily pulled Bai Qing out of the tent and rushed towards the filming location like a flying bird.

  "Yi yi." Ran a few steps, Bai Qing patted her chest in shock "Why didn't you tell me that was Gong sister's makeup?! You scared me half to death!"

  "What's the big deal? You've told me and you can still use it so smoothly?" Yui gave him a white eye. "Teacher Chen is not hot-tempered for this kind of thing, their identity has destined that no one dares to disrespect them. But second- and third-tier actors who have just risen to fame value this identity more than they do."

  "But why did Gong sister get so angry?"

  Liu Yiyi burst out laughing. "Because she has a mild case of mysophobia. Those makeup brands you saw are expensive, and at her current salary, it would take her half a year to afford a set. And as for used products, she absolutely wouldn't use them again. Let alone something used by a man, that's even more unbearable than being slapped in the face."

  When they arrived at the scene, Chen Jialin and his party were discussing it enthusiastically.

  "How did you two get here? Weren't you going to put on makeup?" Vice Director Jia asked, looking up as the two approached.

  Liu Yiyi lowered her head and whispered a few words quietly.

  "Is this really happening?" Chen Jialin furrowed her brow and said to Vice Director Jia, "Go take a look. Xiao Gong hates it when people touch her things."

  "Director Chen." Gao Lan Chun suddenly said "Xiao Gong absolutely doesn't use other people's things."

  "Hmm." Chen Jialin nodded, suddenly stunned, and exclaimed "Then she didn't wear makeup?!"

  Everyone looked at Liu Yiyi, he swallowed his saliva and nodded with difficulty.

  "Does she have a spare one?"

  Liu Yiyi and Bai Qing both shook their heads.

  Everyone fell silent, and it was clear to all that this play would likely be prolonged.

  "What nonsense!" Chen Jialin was the first to stand up, pointing at the two and shouting loudly "What kind of food have you eaten?! Even with makeup on, you can still come up with something like this!"

  The calm crew was immediately stirred up, the director flew into a rage, and everyone else stared at the director's chair in shock.

  "Something's happened." Sun Lei whispered to Cai Dechuan.

  "This is Lin Ge's last performance, it wouldn't be normal if nothing happens. Li Ruijin's gaze almost ate him up." Cai Dekuan said "It's just unknown whether this matter has anything to do with him."

  Everyone stretched their necks, but unfortunately, after Chen Jialin's angry shout, there were no other voices. Liu Yiyi and Bai Qing were distinguishing something, the more they spoke, the darker Chen Jialin's face became.

  After a few minutes, he put on an overcoat and walked towards the makeup tent himself.

  "Why don't we just go and take a look?" The actors who usually got along with Lin Xiao felt that something was off.

  "It's tough." Many people shook their heads. "When have you ever seen Director Chen leave the set? He even went there in person today, what can we do to help?"

  "It's possible that it has nothing to do with Lin Ge."

  "Maybe."

  Everyone knows this is just a verbal comfort, thinking of Liu Yiyi's initial move, there are no fools here.

  "Heh heh, let's see how long he can stay arrogant." In the crowd, Li Ruijin smiled sinisterly, his two eyes burning with intensity as they stared at the large tent. In a few more hours, he would still be the number one person in the crew.

  The meal he invited, can it be delicious? He was not present himself, unless Qian Zhong reported him, otherwise there was nothing to do with him.

  Chen Jialin and several other actors, prop manager Qian Zhong, soon arrived at the side of the large tent, with gloomy faces they lifted the flap of the tent, and saw inside Gong Xuehua's pale face, as well as Lin Xiao, and on the table were opened bottles and jars.

  "What's going on?" His face also looked very unsightly.

  "Director Chen." Gong Xuehua spoke up first. "You know my habits, I never use other people's things, and I never let others use mine. Today, I put the thing here, and I didn't even think that a newcomer would dare to come in and misuse it. Is this the place he should be?"

  "Is there a spare one?" Chen Jialin asked.

  "No, the nearest one is also in the county, you have to go there to buy it." Gong Xuehua hummed a sound, she also knew that this would definitely delay the filming, but she really couldn't bear others' things being used on her face.

  Chen Jialin furrowed her brow and turned to Lin Xiao "What did you say?"

  "Director Chen, this is a misunderstanding." Lin Xiao still didn't look tense "I had no idea these things belonged to Gong sister, and all the makeup was done by the makeup artist, he brought me to this tent and did my makeup."

  "This is impossible!" He had just finished speaking, Qian Zhong called out "I specifically instructed to put things here, but makeup must be kept separate, it's just that someone used Gong sister's things. Xiaobai has been in the circle for two years, how could he not know these rules."

  "Yes, we clearly said not to use the things here, but he insisted that it would only take a moment to finish drawing. Otherwise, if filming is delayed, we will be held responsible. It's also our fault, just one sentence wasn't told to Bai Qing, this is Gong sister's makeup, otherwise someone else would have used it." Liu Yiyi hastily explained.

  "Listen!" Gong Xuehua's anger, which had just subsided, was immediately reignited. "Not using mine, but someone else's! Is this kind of thing something a newcomer should be using?! He shouldn't have come in here at all!"

  Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything.

  "Director Chen?" Qian Zhong asked anxiously, "If this continues, we won't be able to finish filming the play this afternoon. Several teachers have already arrived."

  "What's the point of saying anything?!" Chen Jialin snorted and beckoned to Gao Lanchun and the others.

  Several people walked out of the tent, Chen Jialin irritably lit a cigarette for the first time.

  "Director Chen, the crew isn't allowed to smoke, but you set the rule yourself."

  Chen Jialin pinched off the cigarette butt with a headache and trampled it several times.

  "What does everyone think?" he asked with a sigh.

  "It's so obvious, but let's see what Director Chen thinks." Xue Zhongrui said "Originally, Xu Ziyao invited us to dinner in person just to show his attitude. His position may not be high on the investment side, but he is still a representative."

  "You mean..."

  "They've just eaten our food, so we should give them the respect they deserve. Later, we can cut some of Lin Xiao's scenes." Xue Zhongrui thought for a moment and said, "This way, they'll save face too."