Chapter 15: He Made Hottest Search, Stubborn Meng Ziyi

Zhou Jin smiled.

This was nothing to him. This book is originally published on Daily Novel Reading, solving your reading drought with flawless, properly ordered chapters.

"Of course, whoever kisses me is the most beautiful."

Yang Mi heard the answer, satisfied, kissed Zhou Jin's cheek again, then stood up and walked gracefully toward the door.

"Sis is leaving. You'll have to guard the empty bed yourself."

…

The next day.

Zhou Jin woke up full of energy.

Over the past month on set, even his abundant energy had been worn thin.

But after last night's intense battle with Yang Mi, he felt refreshed and invigorated.

"Indeed, the ancients weren't lying—life lies in movement."

"Movement is good. I should exercise more often."

Zhou Jin finished washing up and arrived on set.

His scenes today were few, mostly opposite Reba.

Reba thought about what Zhou Jin had said last night.

Picture Fuqu as herself.

Picture Ling Yue as Zhou Jin—wasn't her feeling for Zhou Jin exactly Fuqu's feeling for Ling Yue?

Once Reba understood this, she broke from her usual self the moment filming began and slipped into character quickly.

Aside from her acting still being somewhat raw and unpolished, everything else was excellent.

Director Liang watched Reba's performance, his eyes lighting up, growing more satisfied with each take.

"Cut."

Reba dared not look at the director, nervously glancing at Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin patted her shoulder. "Relax. You did great today."

Director Liang's stern expression softened. He smiled at Reba and praised her: "Reba, your performance today was outstanding. Keep this energy in every future shoot."

Hearing the praise, Reba's eyes crinkled with joy. She immediately jumped up in delight and rushed into the arms of Shen Jin, dressed in ancient costume.

"Yay! I finally found the feeling for playing Fuqu! Thank you, Brother Jin!"

Only after hugging him did Reba realize she was on set, surrounded by crew members and cameras.

She immediately pulled away, blushing furiously as she lowered her head.

Other crew members who witnessed this all smiled warmly.

Having spent years in the entertainment industry, they were used to deceit and manipulation; they felt more tolerant toward Reba's simple, lively nature.

Reba secretly glanced toward Yang Mi, observing her reaction to Reba hugging Zhou Jin.

Seeing that Sister Mi's expression remained unchanged, Reba finally exhaled in relief.

It seemed Sister Mi and Zhou Jin really had nothing going on.

Yang Mi saw through Reba's subtle thoughts and found them amusing.

Reba, remembering she had once suspected a relationship between Sister Mi and Zhou Jin, felt a pang of guilt. She ran over to Yang Mi, linked arms with her, and nervously flattered her:

"Sister Mi, what did you do last night? Your skin looks so amazing—I'm so jealous."

Yang Mi also felt slightly guilty. She tapped Reba's forehead with her finger but said nothing.

In fact, Yang Mi herself had noticed: after every intense match with Zhou Jin, her skin improved dramatically.

Even though her legs were a little weak, she woke up each morning feeling more energetic than ever.

The set then plunged back into frantic activity.

To maintain momentum, the Swords of Legends crew released the character-design photos taken at the start of filming and tagged all the actors.

Since the drama hadn't officially premiered and the promotional budget was limited, the crew spent only a small amount to buy low-ranking Hottest Search slots for Yang Mi and Li Yifeng as a test.

If the response was good, they'd add more later; if it was mediocre, they'd wait until the drama aired.

But to everyone's surprise, neither Yang Mi's nor Li Yifeng's Hottest Search entries broke into the top thirty.

Instead, Fourth Male Lead Zhou Jin, with just one character-design photo, stormed straight onto the Hottest Search list.

#MostHandsomeAncientCostumeAppearance#

This entry surged rapidly from the bottom of the list, accelerating faster and faster until it slowed at twenty-third place, finally settling steadily at Hottest Search #23.

Today happened to be Zhou Jin's shooting day—he was busy on set the whole time and had no idea he'd gone viral on Weibo.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jin's Weibo follower count was skyrocketing.

One thousand.

Five thousand.

Ten thousand.

Fifty thousand.

One hundred thousand!

As the Hottest Search entry stabilized on the list, Zhou Jin's follower count surged past 100,000.

…

Hengdian.

Swords of Legends crew.

A female assistant in charge of Weibo held up her phone, exclaiming in delight: "Wow! We're on Hottest Search! We're on Hottest Search!"

Everyone knew the crew had released the character-design photos today, but neither Yang Mi nor Li Yifeng had expected much.

When they heard the female assistant say it had made the Hottest Search, everyone was surprised.

Reba asked curiously, "Did Yang Mi make the Hottest Search, or did Li Yifeng?"

All eyes turned to the female assistant; the girl's face instantly flushed crimson, and she hurriedly waved her hands.

"No, not either of them—it's Zhou Jin on the Hottest Search! His ancient-style costume has already climbed into the top thirty, and it's still rising!"

"What?"

Every member of the entire crew stared at Zhou Jin in shock.

The two leads didn't make the Hottest Search, but a Fourth Male Lead made it just because he's good-looking!

The female assistant glanced at her phone and her voice grew even more excited: "It's at twenty-seven now!"

"Wow, twenty-three! It's jumped to twenty-three!"

The girl's voice trembled with excitement.

Yang Mi was surprised, but after glancing at Zhou Jin's costume, she found it perfectly reasonable.

He's so handsome, and his ancient attire gives him such presence—it'd be strange if he didn't make the Hottest Search.

Reba looked at Zhou Jin with starry eyes and admired, "Wow! So amazing! Neither Yang Mi nor Li Yifeng made the Hottest Search, but you did, Brother Jin!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yifeng's face darkened.

But during his time on set with Zhou Jin, he'd never had any friction with him, so he said nothing now.

Moreover, Li Yifeng vaguely felt that Yang Mi's relationship with Zhou Jin was unusual.

He couldn't afford to offend Yang Mi, so naturally he wouldn't offend Zhou Jin.

Director Liang chuckled softly beside them.

The moment he first saw Zhou Jin, he'd had a hunch—casting this man would save a huge amount on promotion and marketing.

He hadn't expected to be right: not a single cent spent, and just one costume still photo had shot up to number twenty-three on Weibo's Hottest Search.

…

North Electric Female Dormitory.

First year just started.

A scream erupted from one of the dorm rooms: "Wow! So handsome!"

Meng Ziyi sat on her bed, admiring her beautiful selfie, startled by the shout.

She looked up at her roommate, unimpressed:

"North Electric has no shortage of handsome guys and beautiful girls—why are you acting like this?"

Her roommate rushed over, phone in hand, excitedly saying, "Sister Meng, search Zhou Jin on Weibo! Quick!"

Meng Ziyi pursed her lips: "I don't believe it—how handsome could he possibly be?"

She was confident in her own looks, and since childhood, her family had taken her to many places; she'd seen plenty of handsome idols on TV.

She figured even the most handsome guy wouldn't shock her.

Meng Ziyi picked up her phone and slowly opened Weibo, typing "Zhou Jin" into the search bar.

The page refreshed, and the first result was Zhou Jin's ancient-style costume still photo.

Meng Ziyi, who had been indifferent moments before, stared at the photo—and her eyes widened in shock.

Wow—really that handsome!

"Sister Meng, how's that? Isn't he handsome?"

But Meng Ziyi was a girl who cared about face.

When pressed by her roommate about whether he was handsome, she sniffed and insisted, "Meh. I think he's just average."