Chapter 17: Two women meet, new entry

Zhou Jin chose a very famous hot pot restaurant near Hengdian, which many celebrity actors had frequented.

Zhou Jin pushed the door open and entered. The restaurant's decor was stylish, the lighting was soft, and a faint aroma of hot pot wafted through the corridor.

A pretty waitress stood at the front desk. When she saw Zhou Jin walk in, her eyes clearly lit up.

However, she was accustomed to seeing celebrities in the restaurant, so she quickly resumed her professional smile and asked politely, "Sir, do you have a reservation?"

"The surname is Zhou."

"Very well, sir. Box 323, please follow me."

Zhou Jin followed the waitress into the private room, which was still empty.

Neither Li Yitong nor Meng Ziyi had arrived yet.

Just as he took out his phone, a familiar voice sounded at the door.

"Zhou Jin."

Zhou Jin looked up. Li Yitong was standing at the entrance of the room, waving at him with a smile: "Good evening."

She was wearing a light blue camisole dress that evening, the hem reaching mid-thigh, revealing two straight, slender legs.

Her face was lightly made up, her skin white with a rosy tint, and her lips were coated with a thin layer of lip glaze, making them shine.

What was most attractive about her were her eyes.

When she smiled, they curved into two crescents, the corners slightly upturned, as if her entire face had been lit up by those eyes.

Zhou Jin looked at her, and his heart stirred slightly.

She truly lived up to the name of a beauty with smiling eyes; she was genuinely beautiful when she smiled.

"You're here, sit down." Zhou Jin gestured for her to take a seat.

The two chatted for a while, talking about their experiences over the past few days.

Li Yitong rested her chin on her hand, listening to him talk about the interesting things that happened on set, smiling from time to time.

After chatting for a bit, Li Yitong asked curiously, "When will your fan support group leader arrive?"

Zhou Jin glanced at his phone: "Soon. She said she just got out of a taxi."

A while later, the door to the room was pushed open.

A bright and elegant woman walked in.

Zhou Jin recognized her at a glance; it was indeed Meng Ziyi.

She was wearing a red slim-fit dress, her skin glowing white, and she wore black strappy sandals on her feet.

Her features were striking—thick eyebrows, large and bright eyes, a high bridge of the nose, and full lips.

Her hair was tied into a high ponytail, revealing a smooth forehead and a delicate face shape. Standing there, she looked like a ripe cherry, bright and eye-catching.

Zhou Jin recognized her instantly and stood up, extending his hand politely: "Zhou Jin."

"Meng Ziyi."

Meng Ziyi shook his hand generously; her palm was warm, and her grip was crisp and decisive.

Zhou Jin looked at her, feeling a bit more appreciation.

He had known a little about Meng Ziyi in his past life.

Her personality was indeed of the "ditsy beauty" type, with her brain always running behind her body.

But at least on the surface, when she wasn't speaking, she was the kind of bright, eye-catching beauty that made it impossible to look away.

【Host has engaged in a normal interaction with top-tier star Meng Ziyi. Reward: Random Primary Entry.】

【Do you wish to draw a Primary Entry?】

Zhou Jin confirmed in his mind.

A slot machine appeared on the light screen, and the patterns on it began to spin continuously.

【Entry draw successful—Primary Entry: Deep Affection Traction.】

【Entry Effect: Comes with an intense and sincere emotional aura, naturally leading opposing actors to empathize and enter the scene, allowing the actors you perform with to be more immersed in the emotions and more dedicated to their performance.】

Zhou Jin's eyes lit up.

When there was a large gap in acting skills, even if one's own acting was excellent, there would still be a sense of disconnection.

This was especially obvious when he acted opposite Reba, but with this entry, that situation would no longer occur.

Meanwhile, inside the private room.

Li Yitong and Meng Ziyi's gazes met in the air.

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

So beautiful.

So beautiful.

Both of them had the same thought at the same time.

"Li Yitong."

"Meng Ziyi."

After introducing themselves, the two women nodded slightly and, by tacit agreement, sat on either side of Zhou Jin.

Both of them were confident in their own beauty and had dressed up carefully today, wanting to outshine the other, but both were equally stunning.

At this moment, both women felt a bit awkward.

Li Yitong took the initiative to suggest, "Let's add each other on WeChat."

"Sure." Meng Ziyi breathed a sigh of relief and readily agreed.

She, Sister Meng, was indeed not good at handling such situations.

Zhou Jin sensed the subtle awkwardness in the air, so he looked at Meng Ziyi and took the initiative to throw a topic her way: "I remember you're a freshman at Beijing Film Academy, right? What made you think of coming all the way to Hengdian to see me?"

"Actually, I want to enter the entertainment industry," Meng Ziyi said seriously, putting down her chopsticks.

Zhou Jin said helplessly, "Then you've found the wrong person. I'm just a newcomer in the entertainment industry myself."

"I know. But it doesn't matter, I can bring capital into the crew," Meng Ziyi said as if it were a matter of course. "Mainly, I wanted to see how different you look in person compared to your photos, and by the way, ask if you have any connections."

Zhou Jin: "..."

Li Yitong: "..."

Everyone said Meng Ziyi was direct, but this was a bit too direct.

Zhou Jin did recall that Meng Ziyi's family background was indeed very wealthy.

He explained helplessly, "For slightly larger productions, there is an endless stream of investors. The crew doesn't just take any money."

"Ah?"

Meng Ziyi widened her eyes in surprise.

This was indeed touching on her blind spot of knowledge.

"Then does your crew still need people?" she asked again.

Zhou Jin sighed: "We'll be wrapping up in a while, how could we still need people?"

Meng Ziyi looked a bit dejected, her shoulders slumping. But after a while, she perked up again, grabbed her chopsticks, and said, "It's okay, I'll keep looking. There will always be a chance to act."

Gurgle, gurgle.

The hot pot was boiling, and the meat rolls just added were tumbling in the red soup, already cooked.

Meng Ziyi immediately threw her disappointment to the back of her mind, picked up a chopstick full of meat rolls, and stuffed them into her mouth.

Zhou Jin turned to Li Yitong and asked, "How is your micro-movie coming along?"

"Movie? That's amazing." Meng Ziyi, who was eating meat rolls, looked up and exclaimed incoherently.

Li Yitong waved her hand embarrassedly: "It's just a seven-minute micro-movie I'm helping a friend shoot, not a real movie."

"That's still amazing," Meng Ziyi praised sincerely.

Li Yitong smiled, and her impression of Meng Ziyi improved quite a bit.

Originally, she thought the other girl was a scheming girl, but after interacting, her personality was unexpectedly easy to get along with.

"Have you finished filming?" Zhou Jin asked.

"Finished a long time ago," Li Yitong said. "Recently, I've been submitting audition materials to various crews to see if there are any suitable roles."

"So envious." Meng Ziyi rested her chin on her hand, her eyes full of anticipation. "I want to act too."

Zhou Jin didn't respond, but he thought to himself, according to the normal timeline:

Meng Ziyi would debut in 2014 by filming *God of War Zhao Zilong*, and Li Yitong would debut in 2015 by filming *Half-Demon City*.

But now, due to his influence, both Meng Ziyi and Li Yitong had begun to enter the entertainment industry ahead of schedule.

He wondered how big a storm the little butterfly flapping its wings would eventually stir up.