A Different Kind of Pursuit
After everything that had happened the night before, Mu Wan had not fallen asleep until well past midnight.
She slept through the morning and only went to the production base in the afternoon.
By the time she finished all her scenes, it was already past four.
She changed clothes, gathered her belongings, and headed out.
She had just left the set when Li Nan called.
These days, Li Nan paid far more attention to Mu Wan than he had in the beginning.
He knew she had someone powerful behind her.
Later, when Mu Wan learned that Liu Qianxiu had been helping her, she became much more open in her conversations with Li Nan.
“There’s a cosmetics advertisement,” he said.
“They’re shooting in France. It’ll only take a week. Interested?”
When Mu Wan first graduated from film school, she had occasionally accepted advertisements like this.
Cosmetics companies liked young, fresh faces, so they often hired newcomers for their campaigns.
But Mu Wan had been in the industry for years.
It had been a long time since she received an offer of this kind.
“Did the advertising company approach you directly?”
She nudged a small stone with her shoe as she asked.
There was a noticeable hesitation on Li Nan’s end.
That hesitation was enough.
Mu Wan understood.
This was another opportunity Liu Qianxiu had arranged for her.
But why a cosmetics advertisement?
And why did it have to be filmed in France?
“Hmm.”
She sounded puzzled.
Hearing her hesitation, Li Nan quickly asked, “So are you going?”
Mu Wan glanced toward the neighboring production.
She pressed her lips together.
“I’ll go.”
Liu Qianxiu had said he wanted to pursue her.
She was curious to see exactly how he intended to do it.
After ending the call, Mu Wan kept looking toward the neighboring set.
They were filming a Qing-dynasty palace drama.
At the moment, a group scene was underway. Several imperial consorts were competing for the emperor’s attention.
Mu Wan enjoyed watching scenes like this.
She walked onto the set and stood behind two young actresses dressed as palace maids.
The scene itself was not particularly difficult.
But the female lead, Li Yuan, kept making mistakes.
She looked distracted.
“What’s wrong with Li Yuan today?” the taller palace maid asked.
The shorter one glanced around, then leaned toward her companion’s ear.
“Isn’t she signed to Shen Entertainment? Shen Entertainment is in serious trouble.”
“Liu Fengmian and Liu Qingyuan have fallen. I heard they were arrested this morning.”
“What?”
The taller maid sounded surprised.
“Is that why she’s acting like this? Surely it isn’t that bad.”
“Even a starving camel is bigger than a horse. The Shen family must still have resources.”
“Who knows? Anyway, their stocks keep hitting the daily lower limit.”
The shorter maid shrugged.
“I heard artists at Li Yuan’s level even own shares in the group.”
Then she remembered something else.
“Speaking of Shen Entertainment, I’ve got another little piece of gossip. Do you know Mu Qing?”
Mu Wan shifted her gaze toward the shorter palace maid.
“Of course!” the taller maid answered immediately. “That actress who always gets incredible resources.”
“I heard Li Yuan talking on the phone in the changing room today,” the shorter one continued.
“She said she saw Mu Qing kneeling in front of Shen Cheng at the company.”
“Begging him.”
“What? Shen Cheng dumped her again?”
“No!”
The shorter maid shook her head.
“Mu Qing was the one who dumped Shen Cheng. She got involved with someone from the Liu family a while ago.”
“But now the Liu father and son have fallen, so she immediately went crawling back to Shen Cheng.”
“Is she stupid? Shen Cheng isn’t some fool she can keep using. Does she really think he’ll take her back?”
“Which Liu family member was she involved with?”
The taller maid sounded particularly interested in that detail.
“Liu Fengmian.”
“If you go by her relationship with Shen Cheng, she should have been calling him Uncle.”
“Oh my God! Isn’t that completely messed up? Does she have no shame?”
“Ha! Does a woman like Mu Qing even know what shame means?”
The shorter maid continued eagerly.
“Anyway, she’s brought all this on herself. Shen Cheng used to love her so much, and his family was already wealthy.”
“But she just had to attach herself to some disgusting old man.”
“Now that old man’s fallen. The productions she had lined up have lost their backing, and Shen Cheng won’t even pay attention to her anymore.”
“And it’s all over the forums and Weibo now. Apparently, she may even have been involved in Liu Fengmian’s money laundering.”
“If that’s true, she could go to prison.”
“What?”
The taller maid sighed.
“That’s almost pitiful. Though I suppose she only has herself to blame…”
The two palace maids continued discussing Mu Qing.
Mu Wan finished watching the scene, then turned and left the production.
She did not open Weibo or any forums to investigate the gossip.
To her, Mu Qing was nothing more than a stranger.
If Mu Qing lived well, Mu Wan did not care.
If Mu Qing suffered, perhaps the younger Mu Wan would have clapped her hands in delight.
But now?
She felt almost nothing.
She only needed to look after her own life.
Mu Wan had just stepped outside the production base and was about to look for a taxi when she saw Liu Qianxiu standing beside a car.
Today, he had driven a black Bentley.
He wore a black suit, his figure tall and straight. His handsome features remained calm, his expression cool and distant.
Even if every male celebrity at the production base were gathered together, none would be as pleasing to look at.
For one brief moment, Mu Wan was captivated by his refined, aristocratic appearance.
She lost her train of thought.
Then she quickly looked away.
By the time she lifted her eyes again, she caught the faint scent of sandalwood.
Liu Qianxiu had already approached.
He stopped in front of her and looked down.
The tailored suit emphasized his broad shoulders and long legs. His shirt was tucked neatly into his trousers.
Even through the thin fabric, Mu Wan could almost make out the lines of his abdominal muscles.
“What are you doing here?”
Her tone was unfriendly.
She had not forgotten that they had broken up.
“To pick you up.”
Liu Qianxiu’s voice was low.
Somehow, wearing a suit made even his voice sound deeper and more magnetic.
Mu Wan’s heart gave a little jump.
She pressed her lips together and looked up at him.
“Could you please stop using such an old-fashioned method to pursue a woman?”
There was considerable dissatisfaction in her clear eyes.
Liu Qianxiu pressed his lips together.
Then he straightened.
One hand rose to the tie around his neck.
Mu Wan’s gaze followed his movements.
With an expression of complete calm, he loosened the tie.
Then he undid the top two buttons of his shirt.
A section of his collarbone appeared beneath the white fabric.
Its outline was clean and beautiful.
When he finished, he met her eyes again.
His voice dropped.
“I’m here to take you for dual cultivation.”
Mu Wan stared up at the exposed line of his collarbone.
Her throat moved.
He was seducing her!
— End of Chapter 46 —
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Ohhh Mu Qing….this is going to be interesting. She try to flaunt herself so much in front of Mu Wan so much. And her mother also bullied Mu Wan too. And now the so call big backer she was going for had fallen down so bad even before he could take flight.
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