Perfect Match, Secret Marriage

The room went quiet.

"Talent"s can be acquired. Also, If you"re not pretty, then what am I?" Manager Hong said seriously.

Lu AnLing was at a loss for words. That wasn"t what she meant. She wasn"t trying to compare herself to anyone. From the corner of her eye, she glanced towards Ning Jie who stared at herself closely in her mirror.

"I just don"t think that whether I"m pretty or not means I should join the entertainment industry."

Manager Hong felt a bit embarra.s.sed that she had insinuated such a thing but when she looked at the girl from top to bottom, examining her every feature, she didn"t feel like she was wrong.

"Yes but—"

Out of the corner of Lu AnLing"s eyes, she saw a strange gleam pa.s.s through Ning Jie"s eyes. It was just for a moment but the emotion in it was raw. Lu AnLing was going to ask Manager Hong to drop the subject but when Lin Li began to speak the look disappeared.

"She"s right." Lu AnLing frowned, feeling partially offended by the girl"s straightforwardness. "The entertainment industry isn"t a joke. It"s not only about looks so If you don"t have the talent or a love for it and you"re satisfied with going into the industry just to end up being a D or C list actress or model or singer, don"t even try to step foot in it. You"ll just be wasting resources."

Lin Li sounded meaner than usual. Though it was also her intention to be mean. She too had seen the emotion in Ning Jie"s eyes and it wasn"t hard for her to distinguish it.

Lu AnLing understood where she was coming from and made no effort to reply but it didn"t stop her from grinding her teeth.

The room grew awkward and the awkwardness didn"t stop there.

***

The venue where the event was being held wasn"t too far away from the Halo Stars Building so despite taking a long time to get dressed up and get their makeup done, the girls had gotten to the event just on time.

Thank G.o.d that the car ride was short or else Lu AnLing wouldn"t have been able to take the silence that resounded between them.

Once they arrived, Ning Jie made her way onto the red carpet while the three other girls entered a little later through another entrance because they didn"t feel comfortable entering through the front.

Each door was well guarded by security guards, meaning that not anyone could enter but as soon as they showed their pa.s.ses the men allowed them in without problems.

Once inside, they gazed at the beautiful scenery before them. They weren"t even in the ballroom yet and they couldn"t believe their eyes. The walls shone like gold and they were surrounded by a sea of beautiful ladies and gentleman.

Every single person was wearing designer clothing.

Lu AnLing really felt out of place there and so did Manager Hong and Lin Li, so they just stood in a small corner in silence, eyes gaping wide.

Seeing them enter, Ning Jie walked towards them without haste but inside her chest, her heart was beating hard. Getting to the side of the three girls, Ning Jie felt no release from her nervousness but she felt better than how she had before.

The event was too much for her.

Out of all of them, Lu AnLing had the most experience in events of the sort but she hadn"t been to an event for a long time so her fingers curled into fists.

She was nervous.

"Oh my G.o.d!" Manager Hong screamed forcing all the girls" eyes to turn to her.

"What?" Lin Li and Lu AnLing said in unison.

"I think I just saw Mo Yichen!"

Lin Li fought back an eye roll. "Mo Yichen is the president of Halo Stars, of course, he"ll be here."

"Yeah but I"ve never seen him in person."

Lu AnLing: "I think we"re all going to see a lot of people we"ll most likely never get to see again."

"If I was a gold digger I would look for a rich man to take care of me so I would never need to work again." Manager Hong joked. In the end, there was an antic.i.p.ating pause.

Waiting, there was no reply.

Manager Hong"s starstruck expression disappeared.

Both Lin Li and Lu AnLing turned to look at Ning Jie. The girl looked like she was lost in thought.

"Ning Ning?" Manager Hong said as she put her hand on Ning Jie"s shoulder. Feeling her Manager and close friends touch, the girl"s face turned completely white, almost matching the dress she wore.

Ning Jie didn"t say anything to Manager Hong. She just stared ahead at the sheer amount of important people at the event.

Seeing this, Lu AnLing sighed.

She understood where the girl was coming from.

When she"d lived with the Lu"s, these events happened at least once a month and her grandmother would force the majority of her grandchildren to attend because they were "great places to network".

The Starlight Event was no different. The only difference was that the people in this room were a higher cla.s.s of influencers and superstars; multimillionaires, and billionaires. They were all the most important people with connections to the entertainment industry.

The first time Lu AnLing had attended an event of this sort, she"d spent half her time there in the bathroom trying her best not to puke out the food she"d eaten. The same feeling began to arrive in her stomach now but she began to take big breaths, calming herself down.

In Lu AnLing"s mind, she could only imagine how much worse Ning Jie was feeling.

Lu AnLing walked up to Ning Jie. Instead of touching the girl, she stood right in her line of sight. Ning Jie was a tall woman and Lu AnLing was much shorter than her, but because Ning Jie didn"t like wearing heels, she and Lu AnLing were almost the same height at the moment.

Staring ahead, Ning Jie looked like she could see straight through Lu AnLing.

"Do you think you don"t belong here?" Lu AnLing asked straightforwardly. The words immediately caught Ning Jie"s attention.

Ning Jie looked to stare at Lu AnLing"s clear eyes.

"Well you"re probably right…" She continued, with a sigh.

"What are you saying!" Lin Li almost screamed.

Lin Li didn"t believe that Lu AnLing"s words would help Ning Jie. She believed that it would just make everything worse and she really didn"t want Ning Jie to make a fool out of herself here.

Lu AnLing looked at Lin Li dismissively, but she didn"t stop speaking.

Lu AnLing couldn"t leave Ning Jie in the state she was in or else she would end up making a fool out of herself. The more nervous a person was the worse their mistakes could end up being.

She knew this by experience.

"But you"re already here so you have to suck it up and show that you do belong here or you should walk out that door."

Lin Li glared at Lu AnLing but, right across from her, Manager Hong, listening to the girl"s words and nodded. "She"s right."

Lin Li turned to look at Manager Hong with disbelief.

"You were invited here for a reason so stop sulking, and act like your usual annoying self." Manager Hong smiled wide. Her nervousness had begun to disappear.

Before she had spoken, she"d applied Lu AnLing"s mentality to herself.

Ning Jie glared at Manager Hong, "Who are you calling annoying. If anyone is annoying, you are."

Manager Hong and Ning Jie began to giggle in unison, though, Lin Li still had a sour expression on her face. But, internally, she didn"t feel as angry as she was before. All in all, Lu AnLing"s words had fixed the situation so there was nothing she could say.

The girls continued to talk amongst themselves. They were waiting until the majority of people had entered the ballroom before they entered themselves so they would feel less awkward.

The more they stood around and spoke the calmer they all began to feel. Lu AnLing herself began to feel really amazing but suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"It"s you..."