Not a few days into the filming, everyone noticed that the script had once again been altered. Forget the s.e.x scenes, even the hand-holding scenes had now been removed.
Someone had also started a rumor that the boss was interested in Mei Jing, which was why he had ordered the removal of all the intimate scenes.
"You guys shouldn"t make baseless claims like that. How is it even possible for the boss to fall for someone like her?" A crowd had formed around Tian Yiyi. Tian Yiyi curled her lips and said, "I"d say the company is just trying to build up her image as a pure and innocent beauty. That"s why they cut out all the intimate scenes."
Such was human behavior, always finding a reasonable excuse to conceal their jealousy.
Those standing around Tian Yiyi nodded as if they all agreed that Tian Yiyi"s a.s.sessment was indeed the truth. Until a member of the cast suddenly grew wide-eyed and shouted, "The boss is here!"
Everyone turned their heads around and saw Wan Qingsi walking in. Wan Qingsi"s eyes scanned the entire set as if looking for someone. Moments later, Wan Qingsi headed straight for Mei Jing.
Chu Yi was holding the movie script in his hands and complimenting Ah Sha on her earlier acting. "You"ve handled this part very well," Chu Yi said. "I hadn"t expected that not having the character cry during that scene will have an even more powerful emotional effect on the audience."
Ah Sha still seemed pretty aloof. "Well, I guess that"s what it means by "having no more tears left to cry"."
"See, I told you you"re great! You have your own unique way of getting into your character"s head."
"It"s rare for the king of acting himself to look so highly upon me. I"m honored!" Ah Sha smiled. Having hung out with Chu Yi for the past few days, Ah Sha thought that Chu Yi had a decent disposition; he did not have those bad habits which were typical of stars and celebrities. He was a man who was polite and who knew how to respect the personal boundaries of others.
The pair launched into another bout of amiable discussion about the script. Just then, Xiao Hua turned her head around and nearly jumped out of the skin when she saw the person heading in their direction. "Mei... Sister Mei," Xiao Hua said quickly. "The boss is here."
"Looks like there"s ample time to film the movie if the lead actor and lead actress have the free time to chat with each other." Wan Qingsi was looking at Ah Sha cryptically.
Chu Yi"s eyes darted back and forth between Wan Qingsi and Ah Sha. Then, he stood up and said, "Boss Wan is here to see Miss Mei, right? I"ll be out of your way, then." Chu Yi gave Ah Sha a smile before leaving.
"B... Boss? You wanted to see me?" Ah Sha had a fawning look on her face; her eyes were practically glued to Wan Qingsi"s body at this point.
Wan Qingsi smirked. "You"re done for the day, right? I"ll treat you to lunch."
Ah Sha froze. Then she quickly recovered and schooled her features into a shy look. "Really!" Ah Sha lowered her head demurely. "Then... I"ll go remove my make-up and get changed."
The moment Ah Sha and Wan Qingsi left, a ruckus broke through the pin-drop silence of the movie set.
"F*ck! I can"t believe the boss actually asked her out."
"Looks like there really is something going on between them."
A few disgruntled actresses mocked, "Humph, taking advantage of the situation when Tang Yue isn"t here."
"Enough! It might just be a work thing. Don"t start spreading baseless rumors," Tian Yiyi yelled out in frustration. In her hand was her phone which showed the text message that she had just received, "Wait for me at the hotel tonight." The short text was signed off with only one name: Manager Yuan.
Once Ah Sha followed Wan Qingsi out of the movie set, Xiao Hua waved at Ah Sha before running off on her own.
"Where"s your driver?" Ah Sha asked. She did not see the Lincoln MKZ anywhere.
Wan Qingsi led her to where a Hummer was parked. "This is my car," he said.
Ah Sha laughed inwardly as she climbed into the vehicle. She had always liked SUVs. That was why Xunxun had always driven a Hummer.
"Do you enjoy Thai cuisine?" The man asked Ah Sha once he had started the engine.
"I do!" Ah Sha gave the man a suspicious look. "He knows that I like Thai?" Ah Sha thought. "Could it be that he has recognized me?"
When Ah Sha went home last time, Ying Qingcang told her something.
"You see? That brat couldn"t even recognize you, and yet he claimed to be head over heels for you. Daughter, you really should reconsider!"
At the time, Ah Sha had asked Xin Qing something out of sheer puzzlement. "Mommy, do you think daddy would be able to recognize you if your face changed?"
Even now, Ah Sha could still remember the look that her parents had shared with each other back then; it was like they could only see each other in this whole world and that everything else were mere nonent.i.ties.
"No matter how time changes us, no matter how your daddy becomes, I will still be able to recognize him!" That was the answer that Xin Qing had given her.
Ah Sha always had the idea that no two people in this world shared a love as powerful as the one shared between her parents. Xunxun disagreed.
One time, when Ah Sha was wrapped up in Xunxun"s arms, he told her, "That"s their story. In our story, you and I are the main characters!"
At that thought, Ah Sha suddenly realized that Xunxun"s failure in recognizing her was indeed a saddening thing. Perhaps this was her true purpose for hiding her ident.i.ty in the first place— to test whether Xunxun would be able to recognize her in a different face. Evidently, the surprise that she had been antic.i.p.ating did not happen.
"This place has amazing Thai cuisine." Wan Qingsi had already parked the car. Ignoring Ah Sha who had been staring off into s.p.a.ce throughout the entire journey, Wan Qingsi got out of the car and went around to the pa.s.senger side to open the door for her. "Get down," he ordered.
Ah Sha followed behind him with a pout. The restaurant"s manager welcomed them both with a smile. Clearly, the manager knew Wan Qingsi. Moments later, they were led by the manager into a booth. After that, the manager left them alone.
After the dishes were served, Ah Sha spent most of the meal poking at a crab sh.e.l.l while her mind was miles away. Some time later, she heard a slow sigh beside her.
"Babe, how many times do I have to tell you that you should focus when you"re eating?"
Ah Sha"s head snapped up instantly and she stared at Wan Qingsi with huge eyes. Gone was the man with the icy expression. The man before her was now looking at her with a loving and affectionate expression. If anyone ever saw this scene, they would have thought that they had just seen a ghost; Wan Qingsi, the man famed for his ever-present facial paralysis, actually knew how to smile?
"You... you..." Ah Sha spluttered.
"Cut the c.r.a.p," Wan Qingsi said. "Now, spill. Why did you come back without telling me? And for G.o.d"s sake why did you turn your face into something like this?" Wan Qingsi reached out and wiped across her face. A thin facial mask was peeled off.
All of a sudden, Ah Sha pounced on him and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing tightly. "You knew it was me all along, didn"t you?" Ah Sha yelled. "I can"t believe you"ve been lying to me the whole time!"
"Hey, you naughty minx! Who was the one who lied first?" Wan Qingsi smacked Ah Sha"s b.u.t.t gently. Wan Qingsi"s eyes met hers in a deep stare. Then, before Ah Sha could say another word, Wan Qingsi"s lips crashed down on hers. Wan Qingsi"s lips sought friction on hers, rubbing and sucking.
"G.o.d, I miss you so much," he said, prying open Ah Sha"s lips with the tip of his tongue. He started with a few gentle licks. But the moment his tongue touched her soft tongue, the kiss turned heated and frenzied. Wan Qingsi sucked her tongue into his mouth forcefully, his arms tightening around Ah Sha"s waist and squeezing her to his body.
By the time Ah Sha was allowed to catch her breath, her mouth was already red and swollen.
"Why did you hide your return from me, hmm?" Wan Qingsi asked as he licked her glistening lips.
Blushing a shade of scarlet, Ah Sha leaned further into him. "I didn"t want people to make the connection between me and Xin Enterprises," she whispered.
"Is that the only reason?" Wan Qingsi"s hands slipped past the hem of her shirt and found the soft flesh of her waist. "The reason I launched a branch of Stars Entertainment in China is because of you. And yet you sneaked back into the country and hid your ident.i.ty. You nearly lost the chance to play the lead role because of what you did."
Had his plan gone smoothly, Ah Sha would return to China at the end of this year. Then, he would a.s.sign Ah Sha to a movie that they would produce in collaboration with their counterpart in the United States. That movie would then propel Ah Sha into the limelight and make her famous. But Ah Sha had ruined the whole plan with this cloak-and-dagger stunt that she had pulled.
"You even let that woman hit you." Wan Qingsi felt angry at the mere thought of that incident. He planted a fierce kiss on Ah Sha"s lips. "You can forget about the whole acting gig if that kind of thing happens again."
Ah Sha covered her mouth. "Ow, that hurts..."
She looked just like a little deer right then, what with those huge, watery, doe-eyes and all. That sight prompted Wan Qingsi to kiss her again and again until Ah Sha collapsed into his arms, heaving and panting. Moments later, Ah Sha heard the man"s voice. "Hurry up and grow up already!"
Ah Sha burst into laughter. Wan Qingsi reached out and pinched her nose. "Oh, you"re laughing at my expense now, are you?"
"Last year, when you came to visit me at the university, I was practically naked in your bed. You had managed to keep it in your pants even then. So why are you getting so twitchy now?" Ah Sha deliberately wiggled in his arms a few times.
Wan Qingsi glared at her. "You"re so heartless. Whom do you think I"m holding back for, huh?"
Back then, Ying Qingcang had drilled into him never to touch Ah Sha before she reached the age of 18. On this Wan Qingsi was very compliant with his father-in-law. Premature s.e.x would have detrimental effects on a girl"s health.
Ying Qingcang had always chalked up Xin Qing"s poor health to the fact that he had taken her virginity before she had come of age. Because of that, Xin Qing had never truly recovered her health. Wan Qingsi would be d.a.m.ned before he let the same thing happen to Ah Sha.
"Come, hurry up and eat. After that we should go move your stuff into our place."
Ah Sha had no objection with that request. Considering this man"s high-handed temperament, h.e.l.l would freeze over first before he allowed her to stay at her own place.
Wan Qingsi dropped Ah Sha off at the movie set again in the afternoon. Both of them had forgotten that they were still in the middle of a movie production. It was Xiao Hua who had called— risking her own life in the process— to pester her to return to the movie set.
Ah Sha had prohibited Xunxun to come fetch her after they wrapped up the filming that night. For one, she did not want anyone to start getting suspicious. Two, she was so used to addressing Wan Qingsi as Xunxun and it would lead to all kinds of trouble if she accidentally used that name in front of others. Right now, other than herself and the members of her family, n.o.body dared address Wan Qingsi as Xunxun. In fact, the number of people who even knew that nickname was scarce.
So Wan Qingsi was forced to wait at the corner of a street a few blocks away from the movie set. As Ah Sha and Xiao Hua strolled off into the night, Ah Sha suddenly had a thought. "Are you the same kid that Xunxun had sent back to base that year?" Ah Sha asked.
When she heard Ah Sha"s question Xiao Hua"s first reaction was to stop dead in her tracks. Then, the penny dropped and she instantly understood. "No wonder they both had to sneak away just now," Xiao Hua thought. "So the young master had already come clean to her!"
"Young Miss! You still remember me?" Xiao Hua was so happy that she literally leaped into the air.
Ah Sha nodded. "I thought your face seem rather familiar when I saw you. After that, I remembered." Ah Sha patted Xiao Hua"s head. "A girl really does change a lot once she grows up. Xiao Hua, you really have turned into a real beauty!"
"You"re the beautiful one, Young Miss!" Xiao Hua reached out and held Ah Sha"s arm. "I"ll protect you with my life!"
Ah Sha smiled back at the girl. Back then, she had found and picked up Xiao Hua from the streets, literally.
Ah Sha herself had only been seven or eight years old back when Xunxun brought her to the night market that night. On their way back, they saw a small kid fighting for food with a dog. Ah Sha had asked Xunxun to chase the dog away. After that, Ah Sha had even given her own food to the kid.
The kid ended up following Ah Sha around wherever she went. Nothing they did could get the kid to stop following her. After that, Xunxun had told the kid something— though Ah Sha had no idea what— and after that, the kid was sent to Boss Wan"s base.
Wan Qingsi had already seen the two women from afar. When they got close enough for Wan Qingsi to notice Xiao Hua holding Ah Sha"s hand, he coldly s.n.a.t.c.hed Ah Sha"s hand away from Xiao Hua"s grasp. Terrified, Xiao Hua quickly stood at attention. She would never ever touch the young miss again. The young master"s eyes right now were outright petrifying.
"Are you tired?"
Ah Sha climbed into the car and shook her head. "Nope. I"m not tired. Hungry, though!"
"Aunt Qing asked us go back home for dinner," Wan Qingsi said, buckling Ah Sha"s seat belt for her. Then, his eyes darted to Xiao Hua who was trying to get into the car as well. Xiao Hua took the cue instantly and closed the car door. It seemed like Xiao Hua was taking a cab back home tonight.
Back at Ying"s residence, Xin Qing happily awaited the return of the two children.
"Humph, that brat even asked me to keep it a secret for him. In the end he"s the one who has caved so soon." Ying Qingcang raised his brows. "Babe, let"s ask our daughter to move back in!"
As if Xin Qing had no idea what Ying Qingcang had in mind; his intention was none other than to p.i.s.s off Xunxun while c.o.c.k-blocking the kid at the same time.
"Yeah? I don"t have any objections to that. If you can s.n.a.t.c.h her away from the kid, that is," Xin Qing said. She would never ever get into a verbal sparring match with Xunxun; it would be too tough on her brain cells.
Little did any of them know that the paparazzi were still hard at work even at this time of the night; someone had captured a photo of Ah Sha climbing into Xunxun"s car. Soon, everyone found out that there really was an intimate relationship between Mei Jing and the boss of Stars Entertainment.