Chapter 225: An Elaborate Trap

Gu Xiqiao came out in the morning to Baili Bin waiting for her while leaning on his car.

“Thank you, Big Brother Baili.” Gu Xiqiao hopped off the car not far away from the entrance to the studio and waved Baili Bin goodbye.

After Baili Bin’s car drove away, Gu Xiqiao put down her hand and glanced to the side, her smile fading slightly and returning to her usual laziness and indifference as she walked towards the entrance.

After she walked in, two people appeared out of a corner behind her—Sheng Yin and her assistant.

“Sister Sheng, what are you looking at?” The manager asked, not seeing anything along Sheng Yin’s line of sight.

Sheng Yin fiddled with her phone, her eyelids drooping slightly. “Didn’t you notice… The car Gu Xiqiao came here on was different than the last one?”

The manager tried to think back to said car before a light bulb lighted up in his head. “Ah! It was a Bugatti last time, but the car that drove her here this time was a Maybach!”Upon hearing these words, Sheng Yin only curled her lips and smiled slyly, before walking into the crew wordlessly.

“Beauty Qiao, that Sheng Yin took photos of you in secret!” The system spirit floated in front of Gu Xiqiao with a sulk.

Gu Xiqiao was greeting the crew members with a smile, and upon hearing this, there wasn’t a visible change in expression on her face, and she only hummed in an indication that she knew.

The system spirit was still quite angry, and it clenched its tiny fists. “Beauty Qiao, let me go hack Sheng Yin’s phone!”

“No need.” Gu Xiqiao saw Director Cheng speaking with Du Yixin and hurried off to the dressing room. “In fact, it would be troublesome if she didn’t take pictures instead.”

There were quite a few makeup artists in the crew, but Sister Yu was the most renowned and skilled. When Sheng Yin arrived at the dressing room, she smiled in greeting at Gu Xiqiao who was being made up by Sister Yu before sitting down on another seat. Even though it was quite clear that she wanted to be worked on by Sister Yu, but there wasn’t enough time to allow it.

The characteristics of Gu Xiqiao’s role, Feng Qiqi, was that of an unbearable rich young lady early on until the character would become more developed throughout the movie.

“Little Gu, we’ll get to the key part where the personality of your character changes in about two days, so you’d better think about how to act it out properly. During the intermission, Cheng Zhou went over to Gu Xiqiao to talk to her about her upcoming scenes. “Feng Qiqi is the soul of this movie, especially during the later scenes, and it would be a challenge for any actress.”

Gu Xiqiao hadn’t replied before a voice spoke up behind him. “Director Cheng, are you telling that to her of all people?”

Cheng Zhou blinked and thought twice about it before coming to the conclusion that he was thinking too much, worrying about Gu Xiqiao’s acting skills. If anything, the one he had to worry about the most was Du Yixin.

After thinking of this, he turned around to see Li Yu walking towards them slowly.

The visit from one of the best actors in the country undoubtedly raised the morale and excitement of the crew, and the extras were all huddled together and chattering about seeing him in the flesh.

“You’re free today?” Cheng Zhou sighed as he looked at Li Yu. He had struggled over whether he should have asked Li Yu to take the role of the main actor back when he first created a role because of how he could match Gu Xiqiao in acting skill, but he could only choose Du Yuxin because the latter was a better fit for the character. “Are you here to make fun of me?”

“Of course not.” Li Yu sat next to both of them. “I came here to make a guest appearance on another set, so I came to check on the set of ‘Divergent Paths’ since I had the chance to—Speaking of which, do you have any side characters you can let me cameo as?”

Cheng Zhou flipped through his script for the day, before shaking his head. “No, not really…”

“Pity.” Li Yu shrugged.

After the break was a scene between Sheng Yin and Du Yixin, and Cheng Zhou returned to direct and left Li Yu and Gu Xiqiao to chat with each other. “I saw Qingqiu today, and he seemed to be quite heartbroken that you’re acting in another movie.”

Upon saying this, Li Yu looked into Gu Xiqiao’s eyes. “He said that you would be treated and compensated better if you went to his company and that the job isn’t even tiring.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Tang Qingqiu had suffered heartburn upon hearing that she was acting, and Li Yu was quite curious as to which trait of Gu Xiqiao’s made the picky man so set on employing her.

“He must be dreaming, then.” Gu Xiqiao scrolled her phone and smiled at Li Yu. “The next time he talks about this, tell him that he can’t afford my salary.”

Asking the boss of Nine Heavens to be an employee at Tang Enterprise? If Tang Qingqiu knew of her true identity, he would probably choke himself to death.

Li Yu heard this and immediately messaged Tang Qingqiu.

Li Yu: Miss Gu said that you can’t afford her salary.

Li Yu had always replied to messages slow, but he practically replied to this one in a second.

Tang Qingqiu: I can give her as much as she wants!

Li Yu: Do you have more money than Young Master Jiang?

Tang Qingqiu: … right.Du Yixin had a unique air to him when he acted, and Li Yu observed his scene with Sheng Yin carefully before looking back at Gu Xiqiao when Cheng Zhou yelled ‘cut’. “Du Yixin seems like an actor with decent acting, wouldn’t you two work together well?”

Why did Du Yixin always come to ask him about how he should act with Gu Xiqiao? Li Yu was quite confused.

Gu Xiqiao glanced over at the set, furrowing her brows slightly before she said in disdain, “He’s too dull!”

“Dull?” Li Yu looked at Gu Xiqiao’s disdainful expression in confusion, but he finally understood why she said so when she acted with Du Yixin.

This scene was the start of Feng Qiqi’s change in character, and while she was still in her usual green dress, she was grabbing Ji Zhang’gui’s longsword that was impaled in her chest. The blade dripped with blood as her clothes that stained her robes, dripping between her fingers and contrasting with her ghastly, pale complexion.

It was the first time that she didn’t have an arrogant and snobbish expression, and she seemed calm instead. Without the usual shade of arrogance, her beauty was less outspoken and more subtle, and she was currently staring up at the man in front of her with a never-before-seen seriousness in her orbs, along with complicated emotions that could burn everything. “Ji Zhang’gui, are you truly going to kill me?”

After that, there was an awkward silence, the man in question not moving at all.

“Cut!” Director Cheng shouted angrily. “What are you doing, Du Yixin?! Are you a wooden block?? Are you a fashion model? Act!”

It was understandable that he was so angry, given how Gu Xiqiao had unleashed her acting ability completely, and even he was stunned by that gaze. It was fine if everyone was stunned, but Du Yixin was the single person that couldn’t be frozen in place like that! Cheng Zhou was so frustrated that he almost threw his phone at him!

Du Yixin snapped back to reality upon being shouted by Cheng Zhou, and even though he was already used to being shouted at directors, he was still quite miffed that he was shaken like that.

After Cheng Zhou shouted, Gu Xiqiao looked over at Li Yu that was sitting and watching nearby.

Li Yu knew what Gu Xiqiao was trying to convey with the scene from earlier, and realized what Gu Xiqiao meant when she said that he was too dull.

If it were him in Du Yixin’s shoes earlier, he and Gu Xiqiao would have already started out-acting each other, and if it were any other actor, they wouldn’t have been frozen in place like that. Li Yu rubbed his chin—It wasn’t Gu Xiqiao’s fault that she and Du Yixin didn’t develop much acting chemistry with each other.

“Yixin.” After Du Yixin stepped off set, Li Yu walked over and pat his shoulder. “Why did you freeze there just now?”

He had seen the script of ‘Divergent Paths’ before, and it shouldn’t have had been so difficult for Du Yixin, not to mention that he was extremely fit for the image of the character too.

Gu Yixin looked at Li Yu, before hanging his head in shame. “I don’t know.”

He didn’t know? Li Yu’s warm smile almost dropped off his face as he suppressed the urge to smack Du Yixin.

But then, he only rubbed his fingers and thought about it for a bit, before walking over to Cheng Zhou and speaking into his ear.

Du Yixin sat there with the script in hand as he looked at Li Yu walk in front of the cameras with a longsword.

“OK!” Director Cheng gestured, and while this was happening, many of the crew members had already surrounded the set and were taking videos of the scene excitedly.

It was the same scene and the same dialogue.

Li Yu’s reputation didn’t come from nowhere after all, and even though his image wasn’t fit for Ji Zhang’gui, just by standing there ramrod straight, the sword in his hand seemed like a part of his body, and it was the very image of a cold and heartless immortal.

Crimson droplets dripping down her fingers, Feng Qiqi looked up at him. “Ji Zhang’gui, are you truly going to kill me?”

Ji Zhang’gui’s expression was still frosty, his eyes as deep as a winter’s spring, and even though there wasn’t a single change in expression on his face, everyone could tell that he was uneasy and conflicted.

The sword in his hands impaled one inch deeper into Feng Qiqi’s chest, and Feng Qiqi loosened her grip, her arms falling to her sides, and as the light in her eyes faded away, she stared at Ji Zhang’gui with an unspoken persistence and delusion.

And so, the scene ended.

“No!” Some of the girls that were taking videos with their phones started to cry and wipe their tears, and they screamed when the sword was pushed deeper.

The props master snapped back into reality, before glaring at them. “Why are you people shouting? We’re filming here!”

One of the girls looked at him uninterestedly. “Tell me that after you wipe away your tears.”

The props master: “…”

Du Yixin looked at this scene, finally knowing what Li Yu meant when he said that he competed in acting with Gu Xiqiao.

Upon thinking of this, he inhaled deeply and walked over to Cheng Zhou. “Director Cheng, may I have the rest of the afternoon off? I need to adjust my condition.”

Cheng Zhou smiled when he saw his firm, determined gaze. “Alright, see you tomorrow.”

After the main male lead left, the other scenes were completely disrupted, and so Cheng Zhou ended their work for the day early.

Gu Xiqiao immediately messaged Baili Bin that she would be busy for a while, and to wait for her at the same place he fetched her last night.

After a short moment, Baili Bin replied: Okay.

Gu Xiqiao breathed a sigh of relief upon not getting any extra questions, before getting out of costume and leaving.

***

Meanwhile, in the training arena.

Even though he had already been in the cave for a long time already, Fu Dongyi was still in disbelief at what was happening to him.

From the lightning dragon flying over the cave to the difference in the flow of time inside and outside of the cave, he felt as if he were in a fantasy novel.

“Miss Gu!”

Suddenly, everyone in the arena greeted, and upon looking towards the entrance, Fu Dongyi saw Gu Xiqiao walking in their direction.

It was this young girl that was not only the person behind the renowned Nine Heavens Group, but was also the head of such a mysterious force that inspired fear and respect.

Those plans that she wrote up for him were easy enough for even him to understand, and the knowledge that was as fleeting as clouds were now transparent in front of her.

The longer he knew her, the easier it was to understand that she was incomprehensible by his meager mind, and he realized that the rapid development of Nine Heavens wasn’t by chance.

“How is it going?” Gu Xiqiao walked towards Luo Wenlang and Fu Dongyi.

Luo Wenlang raised his head and explained everything to Gu Xiqiao, seemingly not surprised in the least.

Gu Xiqiao flipped through the pages as she listened to him, and at the same time she finished reading the last page, Luo Wenlang finished speaking too.

“Good luck, Mr. Fu.” Gu Xiqiao smiled at Fu Dongyi. “Fu Xuejun’s going to drag Fu Enterprise down into the mud soon enough, and you’ll be the savior that brings it back to life.”

***

Gu Xiqiao had already laid a trap and was merely waiting for Fu Xuejun to step into it, but at that moment the girl didn’t have the faintest idea, and was in the middle of making a bold declaration, “As long as everyone follows my lead, Fu Enterprise’s assets will be doubled within a year!”

After these words, all of the major shareholders in the room applauded Fu Xuejun fiercely. After the girl led several projects and brought many major profits, they were all convinced of her ability and leadership.

Unbeknownst to them, it was all a trap by Gu Xiqiao.