He's quite good at pretending.

  What Zhong Mu said was something Shu Xiao Ai didn't expect.

  Because she never thought so in the first place.

  "Is it 'noble by association'? Aunt, I'm not you, I don't have your kind of mindset. You can humiliate me, but don't humiliate my future children."

  Zhong Muqi's tremble was well-known, she could marry Old Master Zhong only by relying on her own son.

  Unexpectedly, she single-handedly turned the tide of battle.

  "Mom."

  The mother turned around and faced her son's gaze.

  "You're back just in time, tell me, what's the meaning of having this woman live here?"

  Zhong Yuchen walked towards them, "What's the point? I can't choose to marry a woman I love, so what if I find someone interesting to sleep with?"

  One sentence made Zhong Mu speechless.

  "Xiao Er, you're getting married in a few months, stop fooling around and settle down. You all are quite good at hiding things from me."

  "Alright, mom, everyone in our yard is someone I've entrusted with things, you can go back now. There are many things to deal with at the company and I'm very busy. I thought something big had happened."

  Zhong Mu turned her head and glared at Shu Xiao Ai before turning around and leaving.

  Shu Xiao Ai lowered her head and gazed at the ground, the warmth on her face still lingering there.

  A pair of leather shoes caught her eye.

  Xiao Ai suddenly felt a sour nose and her eyes quickly became moist.

  His hands cupped her face and she lifted her head, looking at him. "The rest, every time you say how much money, I'll compensate you."

  "One in a million."

  "……" Shu Xiao Ai was so angry she wanted to kill him, 1 million at a time, and there were still 62 times left, how much money would that be?! She couldn't even make enough in one go!!!

  "It's too expensive..." she said anyway.

  "That can't be helped, and you still want to compensate with money?" He was expressionless.

  "I... I don't need money anymore..." She turned around and went upstairs.

  Zhong Yuchen looked at her figure, unable to express his feelings.

  He looked at Aunt Chen, "When my mom comes back, you call me directly, and don't make things difficult for Xia Ai."

  "Aunt Chen nodded, 'Don't worry, young master, I won't make things difficult for Miss Shu.'"

  He grunted and went out the door.

  Shu Xiao Ai went upstairs, took a mirror to look at her face, then washed with cold water in the bathroom, applied powder foundation, and covered it up.

  She let her hair down and then slung a bag over her shoulder on her way to the film crew.

  Upon arriving at the film set, I saw a group of women gathered together, discussing how the man who was scared unconscious by Shu Xiao Ai yesterday came out of the bathroom and saw a ghost. They described it in vivid detail, each one acting as if they had seen the ghost themselves.

  Shu Xiao Ai ignored him and went to the filming location after finishing her makeup.

  Outside the studio gate, there were many fans shouting Sun Dandan's name, while Sun Dandan herself lay under a sun umbrella, wearing sunglasses and squinting.

  She walked up and found a stool to sit down, holding the script, bowing her head silently reciting lines.

  She sensed someone sitting beside her and looked up to find it was Mu Xiangyao.

  Under the gaze of many eyes, he sat beside himself, somewhat attracting attention.

  Shu Xiao Ai looked around and found that many staff members and actors were staring at the two of them, including Sun Dan Dan who was pretending to be asleep but sat up.

  "Will you sit down?" Shu Xiao Ai said in a low voice.

  "This is a public area..."

  Shu Xiao Ai had no choice but to get up herself, holding her lyrics book and keeping a distance from Mu Xuan Yao.

  He gazed at her from afar, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

  He also stood up and left.

  Sun Dandan hummed and cursed, "You little cheap thing, still pretending to be elegant."

  The assistant whispered, "Dan Jie, you think these three young masters have fallen in love with Shu Xiao Ai?"

  "Pshaw! Is that possible? With her appearance, a complete mess, only slightly pretty, what's attractive about her?"

  Assistant nodded, "I think so too, but why did Third Young Master deliberately sit next to her just now?"

  Sun Dandan became even more annoyed, "My eyes might be having problems, probably thought I was asleep, that's why it was like that..."

  The assistant whispered, "Dan Jie, when you weren't asleep, San Shao never looked at you either..."

  Sun Dandan was like a volcano eruption, immediately raised her hand and gave her a slap, "What did you just say?"

  The assistant covered her face, and only then realized she had misspoken.

  "Sister Dan, sorry, sorry..."

  "Next time you make such a low-level mistake, get out of here, got it?"

  The assistant nodded, "Got it, I won't make the same mistake again."

  "Places, everyone! Action!" shouted the assistant director.

  Then the actors who were supposed to go on stage for the first act began.

  Shu Xiaoye has few lines, and most of the time she just follows Sun Dandan, with a high rate of appearance, but she is not a heavyweight actor.

  In the play, she and Sun Dandan are in a master-slave relationship, but they are more like sisters. The two people in the play show infinite closeness, and when the director shouts "cut", everything returns to its original state outside the play.

  Today is just a play, and the rest are Sun Dandan and other actors' hand-to-hand combat scenes, without bringing her.

  So she finished work early and went back to the dressing room to change her clothes.

  As soon as she stood at the door, she heard Yuhuan, the maid beside her usual decent eldest daughter, say in a slightly louder voice, "Dan sister will probably deal with Xiaolai again, and it's likely to calm down for a while recently."

  "In this play, offending Dan Jie is worse than death..."

  "That's right, and Dan Jie holds grudges..."

  "But I think Xiao Ai is not a thrifty lamp either, obviously having an affair with San Shao."

  "It's obvious to anyone with eyes."

  “…………”

  Standing there listening for a while to the gossip of several people inside, Shu Xiao Ai pushed open the door.

  The people inside saw her return and immediately changed their faces.

  "Xiao Ai, why did you come back so early?"

  "It's just a play, we'll be back after filming."

  "Alright, we've changed into our costumes, let's go to the filming location." Three or four women walked out of the dressing room.

  She changed her clothes, looked at the time and found it was still early, so she went back to bed for a nap.

  As soon as Zhongmu returned home from Jinxiu community, Song Lincang's phone call came over.

  Is there a woman inside?

  The mother of Zhong naturally replied that there was none.

  When she heard her say that, Song Lin felt that the matter of the sandals was still unexplained, but she put down a lot of her mind.

  "I told you, it's just your imagination. He said that to you, but Lingling, maybe for other reasons." Song Mu peeled an apple and handed it to her.

  Song Lin Cang sat on the sofa, took an apple and said, "What could be the reason?"

  "My mother said, 'I heard some rumors when I was playing mahjong that he had a girlfriend before and they were together for many years. They broke up for some reason, but he still has feelings for her, isn't that abnormal?'"

  Song Linlang was surprised, "Is this still a thing? I haven't seen it online before."

  "Nothing came out after all."

  "I thought he had never had a girlfriend before." Song Linlang smiled, "Mom, you said, would that woman be prettier than me?"

  "Of course my daughter is the prettiest, does this even need to be said?"

  "But Shu Xiao Ai is prettier than me..." She bit into the apple with a huff, "Apart from that, what can she compare to me? A third-rate university graduate, with a poor and shabby appearance, I really don't know what Hong Tang sees in her! In the past when she was dating Mu Xiang Yao, I thought they were quite compatible, apart from their family background. Now there's another rich second generation, is her face made of gold?"

  "Is Makoto with him? You mean she's been with the youngest son of the Maku family?"

  Song Lin Cang nodded, "Uh-huh, in college, but was dumped by Mu Xuan Yao in the end."

  "No wonder I met her when I went to Ma Jia's place to play cards a few months ago."

  "Is this thing still going on? He must have known that Mu Xiangyao is back and went to bother them again."

  Song Mu was puzzled, "However, she went back with the old lady of the curtain, could it be that she found a backing?"

  "It goes without saying, she's still got a mind for the wealthy families. On one hand, she's flirting with Hongtang, and on the other hand, she's still entangled with Mu Xuyao. It seems like she wants to keep a back door open, thinking that at least one of them can help her squeeze into a rich family. No wonder, considering how poor her family is."

  After finishing speaking, Song Linlang looked at her own mother, "Mom, why did you take a liking to her dad back then? Thinking that I and she have the same mom makes me angry!"

  "My mother said faintly, 'At that time, I was matched with your father by a matchmaker. After getting married, we didn't have any feelings for each other and had nothing to talk about. After having you, I lived with your father, and it took me a long time to go back there once.'"

  "Mom, you're so brave, bravely pursuing your own love." Song Lin Cang gave a thumbs up.

  Song's mother smiled and said, "The path you choose for yourself, don't regret it, whether it's me or you."

  "Let's pick up Dad from the hospital and take him home, he has been hospitalized for three months now."

  Song's mother nodded, "I think it's okay, after all this time has passed, just say you're going home to rest and recover, and give the doctor a large sum of money to keep quiet."

  "This money is well spent, but I think my dad can go get an Oscar now, his acting skills are too good."

  Song's mother smiled and said, "I think so too."

  Evening.

  Hongtang didn't expect it, but Zhong Jiali came again.

  Here is another drunkard coming.

  She had a bottle after another, without any worries, she wouldn't get drunk for two nights in a row.

  Hongtang looked at her from afar, sitting on the sofa, without moving forward.

  Let her drink as she pleases.

  Mù Xǔ Yáo stood in front of him for a while before he reacted, "Damn, when did you arrive?"

  "Your father has been standing in front of you for a while now, and you just noticed?"

  Hongtang pointed at the sofa across from him and said, "Sit."

  Mù Xù Yáo looked towards the bar and then sat down, asking "What's wrong with Second Young Master's sister?"

  "I don't know, it was like this last night and still is tonight."

  "She must be in great pain inside, and that's why she uses wine to numb herself."

  Hongtang didn't make a sound, leaning on the sofa, "It's already past 10 o'clock, are you also here to get drunk?"

  "Of course not, it depends on who you ask."

  "Is it to see me?"

  Mantou Yao gave him a faint glance, "I'm not gay, what's the point of you?"

  "So you're here to see who? Or is there some little beauty here that's caught your eye?"

  He smiled but didn't speak.

  Hongtang saw him not speaking, anxious, "Hurry up and say it, who is it? I'll immediately step in to help you deal with it."