Bai Yin expressed her gratitude to Shen Bin profusely. Shen Bin gripped the emerald engagement ring tightly in his hand, the one that would determine his happiness for the rest of his life. As he walked into the elevator drenched in sweat, he bumped into Chen Huaixiao who was on his way downstairs for a meal.
Shen Bin was so frightened that he quickly hid the ring behind his back and greeted him nervously, "Huaixiao... Mr. Chen!"
If he hadn't been so jittery, Chen Huaixiao might not have noticed anything amiss. But seeing how anxious and sweaty Shen Bin was made Chen Huaixiao suspicious - what are you hiding?
"I'm not hiding anything, really!" Shen Bin protested.
Chen Huaixiao was naturally distrustful. In a calm yet uncompromising tone he demanded, "Show me."
Shen Bin didn't dare defy him and reluctantly revealed the emerald ring.
The moment Chen Huaixiao saw the ring, his expression darkened instantly - "This is..."
Shen Bin quickly explained, "Madam gave it to me! I didn't steal it or ask for it. She even told me not to let you know, which is why I hid it just now."
Chen Huaixiao felt his heart turn icy cold.
He had this ring specially designed and oversaw the jewelers personally as they set the emerald. He was even involved in the ring's design... All because he wanted to make her happy.
Bai Yin had been wearing this ring all this time. Whenever Chen Huaixiao saw it on her finger, it always put him in a good mood.
He thought she loved it.
He never expected...she only saw it as a trinket to give away casually.
The next morning, Bai Yin had just walked downstairs from her hotel room, about to head to the buffet for breakfast. She had no scenes to film that morning and planned to go to the garden behind the hotel to see the snowy mountains after her meal.
Before she even entered the restaurant, she saw a white Porsche parked at the hotel entrance. Since the production crew had booked out the entire resort, it was impossible for any other guests to check in.
Curious, Bai Yin went to take a look. A tall, slender woman stepped out of the car. She was dressed in a short winter dress with a down jacket on top. Her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders. The winter sun shone brightly on her fair skin and red lips, accentuating her striking features.
As she took off her sunglasses, Bai Yin recognized her - it was Qin Yao.
Seeing Bai Yin, Qin Yao smiled and waved her black sunglasses in greeting, "Sister Yin, hello!"
Though Bai Yin wasn't much older than Qin Yao, possibly even a year or two younger, "Sister" was how newcomers addressed veterans in the entertainment industry.
"What are you doing here?" Bai Yin asked.
"My agency sent me. I'm here to visit the set and learn from the production team," Qin Yao replied, a placid smile on her face.
Bai Yin knew Qin Yao was signed to Glory Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Chen Corporation.
This meant...the old master Chen must have arranged for her to come.
Not in the mood to chat with her further, Bai Yin turned and walked away. Qin Yao quickly caught up to her and linked arms with her, "Sister Yin, where's Brother Huaixiao? Is he out on location?"
"Don't know."
"Actually, Brother Huaixiao told me a long time ago that he's always loved acting and wanted to join the entertainment industry. But with someone like Chen Jingye in the Chen family, whose legs were nearly broken when he entered the industry, Brother Huaixiao had to give up that dream since Old Master Chen had such high hopes for him."
Bai Yin didn't interrupt as Qin Yao prattled on affectionately about her history with Chen Huaixiao.
"We've known each other since we were young. That was the darkest time in his life but I was always by his side. We reconnected again in high school and have been best friends ever since."
Seeing Bai Yin clench her fist, Qin Yao's eyes flashed with faint amusement.
She knew what Bai Yin cared about most.
Chen Huaixiao's feelings were set in stone. Her only chance was to get through to Bai Yin instead.
The Qin family business was on the brink of bankruptcy. Qin Yao had returned with a mission.
At the same time, she could no longer tolerate Chen Huaixiao having feelings for another woman.
She had gone through great pains in the past to convince the ever-suspicious Chen Huaixiao that she was the little girl from his memories.
She couldn't let all her previous efforts go to waste.
"Sister Yin, you could never understand the history between Huaixiao and me..."
Before she could finish, Bai Yin impatiently cut her off - "So what?"
"So..." Qin Yao said straightforwardly, "I hope you'll let us be together."
Bai Yin laughed as if Qin Yao had just told a hilarious joke.
"Do you know why Su Anning left the industry?"
Qin Yao had heard of Su Anning. Ever since Bai Yin debuted, that woman hadn't had a single good day.
"Su Anning left because she was disgraced. And why was she disgraced? Because her mother was a mistress."
Bai Yin looked straight at Qin Yao, smiling. "Now that you've returned, isn't it to fulfill your dream of joining the entertainment industry? How can you still chase your dreams as a mistress? Or could it be that this so-called dream of yours isn't worth mentioning compared to a married but wealthy man?"
"That's not true!" Qin Yao shook her head over and over, looking grievously wronged. "Huaixiao and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts. We're nothing like what you're accusing us of!"
"Qin Yao, I don't make trouble without reason. If you hadn't approached me today, perhaps in the future I might have divorced him and let you be together. But after this conversation, you've changed my mind."
"What...what do you mean?"
"When I was young, there was a annoying classmate who kept pestering me for a handmade doll I had. Truthfully I didn't even like that doll very much, but I disliked her even more. So I threw the doll into a storeroom and let it rot and be ruined instead of giving it to someone I hated. "
Bai Yin walked right up to Qin Yao and looked into her eyes. "So you see, I've changed my mind. I absolutely will not divorce Chen Huaixiao."
Qin Yao trembled with anger, no longer bothering to maintain her genteel image. She snapped, "What about him then? Can you guarantee that he won't be the one to file for divorce?"
"But isn't that your purpose in coming here, to seduce my husband into divorcing me? In that case, I'll wait and see."
Bai Yin turned and walked away, raising her hand in a mocking wave. "In all these years, I've rarely seen a mistress as refined and self-righteous as you."
Watching Bai Yin's departing figure, Qin Yao's expression darkened.
Before coming, she had spoken to Old Master Chen on the phone and knew what kind of character Bai Yin had, and what underhanded methods she was capable of.
Bai Yin never pulled punches with anyone.
......
Chen Huaixiao didn't take Qin Yao's presence to heart. He also didn't rise to the occasional sarcastic barbs from Bai Yin.
He seemed frozen in place, numbed.
That emerald ring had become a knot in his heart that he couldn't get past.
How silly...
The handkerchief she had sold him, he had treasured and locked away in a safe all these years.
Even that ridiculous obsidian earring he wore, because she had given it to him, he had maintained and polished it regularly and continued wearing it to formal finance summits without taking it off.
Yet her...
Anything he gave her, she would casually hand it off as a gift to someone else.
Carrying his snowboard, Chen Huaixiao stood at the edge of the snowy trail and glanced over at Bai Yin.
She was in the makeshift dressing room having her makeup done while discussing the script with the assistant director.
She didn't care, so why should he care about a mere ring?
After the director called action, Chen Huaixiao sped swiftly down the trail, executing the moves perfectly for the first few shots.
However, at a bend in the slope, Chen Huaixiao's thoughts wandered for a moment. He slipped and fell tumbling down the steep section into the snow.
Fortunately his years of skiing experience had given him basic self-protection training. After rolling a few times he managed to stop himself in a curled position with his hands protecting his head.
The crew was shocked speechless. Director Xu leapt to his feet and raced over to check on Chen Huaixiao's condition.
Hearing the news, Bai Yin immediately rushed out from the makeup trailer, heedless of everything as she tried to get to the accident scene.
But Qin Yao had already flung herself forward first, tears springing to her eyes. "Brother Huaixiao, are you alright? Are you injured? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Chen Huaixiao pushed her reaching hands away, not letting her touch him as he sat up and brushed the snow off himself. His gaze coolly swept over Bai Yin standing farthest back in the crowd.
Bai Yin met his eyes briefly from afar before hesitating, and didn't step forward.
"Mr. Chen, are you okay! Let's get you to the hospital for a checkup in case you're hurt!" Director Xu cried anxiously as he hurried over to help Chen Huaixiao up.
Chen Huaixiao moved his limbs around a bit. Other than some slight pain in his knees, likely just scraped, he seemed fine overall.
"I'm alright."
"Let's call it a day. No more filming today," Director Xu said immediately. "A doctor should still come take a look this afternoon."
"It's fine, we can continue shooting the rest of the scenes," Chen Huaixiao considered the piled up business at his company and the limited time he had for filming. "We won't easily get sunny weather like this again, it'd be a waste not to use it."
"Can you still film the skiing scenes?"
Chen Huaixiao rotated his joints and flexed his muscles. "Yes."
Bai Yin watched Qin Yao fussing solicitously over Chen Huaixiao and rolled her eyes. She was about to leave when she heard Chen Huaixiao say he would continue filming the ski scenes. Clearly the man was just putting up a front.
When he stood up earlier, his left leg was noticeably bent at the knee, likely scraped up. Yet now he acted as if nothing was wrong.
She walked over and told the director, "Director Xu, Chen Huaixiao is done for today."
Chen Huaixiao interrupted displeasedly, "I said I'm fine."
Bai Yin looked at him stubbornly, "I said we're stopping for today!"
"I said I'm fine."
"I said we're stopping!"
"I'm fine."
"We're stopping!!!"
The onlookers exchanged looks.
Were these two produced in the same factory or something?
Chen Huaixiao turned to leave but Bai Yin grabbed his sleeve. He shook her off but she grabbed on again. And again he shook her off, and again she grabbed on...
At this moment, Qin Yao walked up and advised, “Bai Yin, Brother Huaixiao is usually very busy. After finishing shooting, he has to go back to the company to deal with things. Today the weather is so nice, he must also want to complete the shooting schedule earlier. Since Brother Huaixiao is fine, I believe he can do it.”
Bai Yin's eyes were about to roll to the sky. She shook off Chen Huaixiao's sleeve and said lightly, "Then you can shoot."
After speaking, she turned and left.
Seeing the little girl's unhappy face, Chen Huaixiao felt empty in his heart. He hurriedly chased after her, "Let's not shoot anymore."
Bai Yin ignored him.
"I said we won't shoot anymore."
"Whether you shoot or not, what does it have to do with me?"
Chen Huaixiao saw Bai Yin's jealousy. He put his strong arm around her shoulders and coaxed softly, "Wife, help me back."
...
Bai Yin didn't want to pay attention to Chen Huaixiao at first, but considering that the man was limping, afraid that his knee was really injured.
She still helped him back to the room, took off his ski suit, and brought over the first aid kit. She took out tincture of iodine and Yunnan Baiyao, ready to stop the bleeding and bandage him.
However, when she rolled up his pants, she saw that his knee was just scraped a little, and there was no blood at all.
Just now he pretended as if his leg was about to break off, and made Bai Yin support him all the way back. This!!!
Bai Yin threw the Yunnan Baiyao at him, "Chen Huaixiao, how old are you!"
Chen Huaixiao took the small bottle of Yunnan Baiyao and patiently put it back in the medicine box, "I said I'm fine, you made a fuss over nothing."
"With your acting skills, why don't you use them when shooting?"
Chen Huaixiao sat on the sofa, looked up at her indifferently, "Miss Bai, I'm more professional in acting than you."
"Then don't NG if you have the guts."
"I never NG."
"Don't NG in kissing scenes either."
Chen Huaixiao smiled lightly, "I can't guarantee that."
Seeing him relax, Bai Yin's displeasure also dissipated a lot. She sat on the sofa opposite him, "You used to be good at snowboarding alone. Is it because you saw Qin Yao come and got distracted... so you fell?"
"Are you jealous?"
"Huh."
Chen Huaixiao's mood improved slightly. He sat next to her.
Bai Yin got up to leave, but he grabbed her slender wrist tightly and pulled her back. Then he took out the emerald ring and put it back on her fingertips, and said solemnly, "I was angry for a long time, but seeing you jealous, the anger is gone."
Seeing this ring, Bai Yin was a little surprised, "Did Shen Bin tell you?"
Chen Huaixiao did not explain, stroking her fair and smooth hand, clasping her five fingers tightly, "So the things I give you, if you don't like them, you can give them away casually?"
Bai Yin looked at the smooth and bright emerald on her fingertip.
Only a fool wouldn’t like it!
"Chen Huaixiao, don't look down on people. Xingxing Media is in such dire straits, Bai Yin won't stand idly by either."
Chen Huaixiao frowned, looking at her incomprehensibly, "Explain clearly."
Bai Yin said sullenly, "Shen Bin said he can barely hold on. I thought he was someone you were used to, so I gave him this ring and told him to hold on no matter what. If he resigns, you won't have a single capable person left around you."
"..."
Seeing Chen Huaixiao silent for a long time, Bai Yin asked him, "What are you thinking?"
Chen Huaixiao clenched her hand tightly, and a coldness flashed through his eyes.
"Nothing."
He was thinking...which of the ten cruel tortures would befit his "loyal and honest" assistant.
