Su Qiao had friends who had visited her on set before. For her first drama series, Yao Xun and a couple of her closer girl friends had taken the time off to drop in and say hi. It wasn't openly permitted so as to speak but this was just another one of those strings that people tended to pull. For example, if Su Qiao had been a complete nobody and her friends were just unimportant normal youngsters just fresh out of university, it was very possible that they wouldn't be allowed past security.
But in the eyes of the public, at least, Su Qiao was the presumed heiress of the Su Family. And her friends were either rich or famous. So they'd hyped up her popularity for her by appearing on set, buying everyone lunch or dinner, and then posting about it on their social media.
Lin Zizhou talked all that crap about taking care of Su Qiao's reputation but the real people who had supported her through debut were the very same sheltered young masters and mistresses that her ambitious ex-fiance had looked down on.
"Don't let your attention wander."
Su Qiao's head snapped up to meet Mo Chen's impassive gaze. He didn't need to elaborate for her to know what he was talking about. As much as she tried to keep a calm front, Lin Zizhou's presence had thrown her off the loop. He was seated next to the director's chair because he'd said that he was interested in watching the filming. Su Qiao had thought that one person more or less didn't matter. She was used to being observed.
But it was different. Lin Zizhou wasn't Yao Xun. He wasn't one of her girl friends, here to show her utmost support in all and any of her endeavours. He didn't even have any goodwill towards her.
This was a first for Su Qiao. She could feel the unfriendly flat stare that scrutinised her every move and it rankled her.
"You're riling yourself up."
"…I know." She sucked in a deep breath and held it for ten seconds. "I'm trying to control it—"
"Why control it?" Mo Chen interjected. He had his head tilted lazily to one side, hands buried deep in his pockets. If smoking were permitted in offices, she was sure that he would have a cigarette dangling idly from the corner of his lips by now. "You went to acting school, right? You must be familiar with the Stanislavski method."
Su Qiao was but it wasn't one that had worked for her in the past. She told him as much. Across the set, Director Ma was arguing with the lighting director about something or another, that was the only reason why they hadn't begun yet.
And she could still feel a pair of disconcerting eyes boring into her back like it was trying to burn a hole through her.
Mo Chen must have noticed Lin Zizhou's unnatural attention on her by now. That was how obvious and uncomfortable it was. But he didn't comment on it.
"Don't you think it's a pretty familiar scenario?" he asked, using his fingers to highlight a list of similarities to her. "One arrogant CEO, one white lotus, and one ambiguous display of favouritism."
It was only because Mo Chen didn't know what Lin Zizhou used to be to Su Qiao that he was about to say such things candidly in front of her. But it meant that at least Su Qiao wasn't imagining the romantic tension that was already starting to take hold between the male and female lead of this stupid novel universe that she was stuck in. She didn't have any issues about that insofar as she managed to stop them from destroying her hand-in-hand. But listening to a third party discuss the relationship between her ex and her stepsister evoked some peculiar feelings.
"Did I say something wrong?" Mo Chen asked after catching sight of Su Qiao's funny expression.
She shook her head. "Not at all." She considered the new angle that Mo Chen had provided her. "You're suggesting that I project my experience of dealing with my boss into Yuan Siqi's dealings with Wei Yunian?" She made sure to refer to Lin Zizhou in his capacity as CEO of her entertainment company and nothing more. Now that they weren't together anymore, Su Qiao wanted nothing to do with him. Once her contract with DFE terminated, she was going to look for a new home.
Mo Chen hummed. "Unless I misread your irritation with him earlier on."
"…you didn't." But Su Qiao didn't elaborate. Mo Chen's advice had its merit. Yuan Siqi's friction with Wei Yunian wasn't unlike her annoyance with Lin Zizhou. The only difference was that Wei Yunian started the series smitten with the poor but determined intern who showed him a whole other world and Lin Zizhou just liked soft reliant girls whose entire world revolved around him.
"There you go. No need to calm down, ramp up the anger as much as you like."
Su Qiao accidentally let slip an unglamorous snort. "There's still a major difference." Her smile was dismissive. "I'm worried that if I projected the image of Lin Zizhou too much on Wei Yunian, I wouldn't be able to stay in character for the second half of the drama."
"…" Mo Chen paused. The second half of the drama was when Yuan Siqi's and Wei Yunian's relationship blossomed. "You're that repulsed by him?"
"You don't know the half of it."
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"Lin Zong, you have a meeting scheduled at four in the afternoon, will you be back from inspections by then?"
CEO Lin. Anyone who worked personally for Lin Zizhou addressed him as such, even without him asking. But he knew that deep down inside, they couldn't shake off the image of his Lin Zixun every time they said this.
Lin Zizhou's frown deepened. He wanted to head straight back to work now but Uncle Su had asked him for a favour to make sure that Bai Meixin was settling in well into her new career. Apart from the fact that Lin Zizhou required Uncle Su's support to secure his position in the Lin Family, he was not averse to assisting Bai Meixin. She was a charming young lady that was like a breath of fresh air in a a field of decaying flowers.
He had never any one as ideal as her before. Her mannerisms were gentle enough that he found his patience with her unwavering. She was kind too, able to find it in herself to care for everything and everyone, from small animals all the way to the spoiled brat of an elder sister that treated her with the utmost scorn.
Speaking of that elder sister.
Lin Zizhou's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure why filming was being delayed but he could see poor Bai Meixin standing outside on the office corridor, which was part of the set. She'd been there for a good twenty minutes now, shifting from one foot to another to alleviate the painful pinch of her heels on her toes. She was clearly suffering but so obedient and professional that she didn't interrupt anyone or kick up a fuss.
In contrast, Su Qiao was seated on a swivel chair behind a desk, legs comfortably crossed and arms resting on the armrest like a big boss. If someone just gave her a crown, she was arrogant enough that she would look like she was perched upon a throne. By her side, Film Emperor Mo leaned against her desk as they chatted, the both of them forming a good-looking couple. A wave of agitation washed over Lin Zizhou as this thought came unbidden to his head but he quashed it.
Even before she decided to change her styling, Su Qiao hadn't been his type. She had looked the part but she was too headstrong, too selfish, too independent in her values. Lin Zizhou needed a wife who could support him in his fight to amass power within the Lin Family. Su Qiao had too much force of personality, had been unable to conceal it even when they'd been dating. From coquettish texts that demanded for his attention to her reluctance to be a trophy wife because she was too passionate about acting, Su Qiao wasn't a suitable candidate for his wife.
On the other hand, Bai Meixin was perfect. In all regards but one.
She was just a stepdaughter, who had no blood relations with the Su Family. Even though she had Su Yongshen's fondness now and some of the things Su Qiao had suggested about Bai Meixin's real relationship with Su Yongshen had rose his suspicions, Lin Zizhou wasn't prepared to hedge his future on a possibility. As long as Bai Meixin's surname wasn't 'Su', Su Qiao was still the safer choice.
He watched as Mo Chen said something that brought a wry look on Su Qiao's face. He couldn't remember her being this lively ever when they'd been together. Not in this way, at least. She'd always been very animated around him, but her behaviour had felt so childish back then, like a little girl that needed taking care of. On more than one occasion, Lin Zizhou had wanted to tell her to stop being so naive and to grow up, just because everyone called her a princess, did she really think that she was one?
But then, one day, this princess had upped and left the castle on her own accord. That was the day Lin Zizhou realised that things had spiralled out of hand.
Su Qiao. Thanks to her self-centred behaviour, he had spent the last couple of weeks trying to do damage control. He hadn't even dared to show up at the monthly family gathering because he still hadn't come up with a way to break the news to his grandfather that their engagement was cancelled.
Worst still, he suspected that that sly older brother of his had already caught on that something was wrong.
Lin Zizhou was running out of time. He needed to either convince Su Yongshen to acknowledge Bai Meixin as a legitimate daughter of the Su Family or he needed to get Su Qiao back before it was too late.