Chapter 327: Clearly, I Was First

That was a kiss filled with dominance and initiative.

Chen Hao felt she had largely immersed herself, using the pretext of filming to act out scenes she had once fantasized about in her mind.

If only this weren't a filming set, she would definitely reach down with her hand.

"Now, you can propose to me."

After letting go, Chen Hao, breathing slightly heavily, gazed at the man, her smile at the corner of her mouth clearly very satisfied.

Zhou Yi, whose tongue had just swept across the corner of his lips, chuckled softly, then raised his hand to cup the back of the woman's head, revealing an unmistakable, head-to-head intensity—

The next second, he kissed her again!

This time, it was clearly him who took the lead.

A few seconds later, Zhou Yi finally let go to let her catch her breath: "This is my proposal. Do you accept?"

Their uncompromising gazes met in mid-air, the figures of light and shadow interweaving, their sharp edges fully exposed.

The nominal director, Ning Hao, was already quite satisfied with this take, but the actual director, Jiang Wen, sat with his legs crossed and brows furrowed, looking as though he was still unsatisfied—

"Zhou Yi, learn to hold back a bit. You're slipping back into your own character again. Do it again."

"..."

Zhou Yi could swear he had never hated kissing so much.

Damn Jiang Wen; better be careful not to get hit by a big truck and thrown into another world when you go out next time!

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Zhou Yi, having just filmed another take, sent Jiang Wen his best wishes.

Chen Hao, for her part, actually enjoyed the kiss this time.

Seeing the gloomy expression on Zhou Yi's face, she instead elbowed him and teased with a laugh: "Why do you still look so glum? What, is kissing me such a grievance?"

"If only this place could be changed to a hotel, you'd know whether it's a grievance or not."

Regarding Chen Hao's behavior of speaking without bearing the consequences, Zhou Yi expressed strong contempt.

"Is that so? Really?" Chen Hao's eyes lit up, and a mocking curve immediately rose at the corner of her mouth.

"What do you think?"

Zhou Yi, wiping the lipstick from the corner of his mouth, commented: "The lipstick is nice."

"Of course."

In a great mood, Chen Hao's steps as she walked seemed light: "What shall we eat tonight?"

"Ribs stewed with white radish, I haven't had it in a while."

Thinking of Chen Hao's signature dish, Zhou Yi also felt a craving: "Add some shredded pork with green peppers, please."

"No green peppers!"

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, inside a private dining room of a certain restaurant.

Facing the dishes ordered by her father, Sun Yanzi, extremely picky, set the green peppers aside and shoveled the meat slices into her own bowl.

"You're so picky even at your age."

Sun's father shook his head helplessly: "After this meal, I'll return to Singapore. Be careful on your way to the airport."

"Don't worry, Dad, I know what I'm doing."

Sun Yanzi, with cheeks puffed out, made an OK gesture and mumbled something indistinctly.

These past few days, to prepare for the concert in Malaysia, she had been strictly controlling her diet; now that the promotion and singing were finally done, she naturally had to gorge herself.

If she gains weight, so be it; she wouldn't mind gaining a bit, provided the fat went to the right places.

Eating more meat helps with the secondary development of the figure—coming from a method that is not a solution.

"Mr. Chen, I entrust Yanzi to your care."

Sun's father raised a glass to Chen Ze Shan, who hurriedly responded: "Rest assured, Warner will take very good care of Yanzi."

Sun Yanzi, burying her head in her meal, heard nothing around her until she let out a full burp, then slumped onto the chair without any regard for image, rubbing her small belly to aid digestion.

On the flight back to China, Sun Yanzi, in first class, experienced for the first time what it felt like to be a so-called "global superstar"—

It was that a foreigner in first class recognized her and even said the song title "Good Time" in one breath.

"Ah Yi's song is very popular abroad now; you can hear it at all sorts of events. It's normal for fans in first class to recognize you," Chen Ze Shan said quietly after Sun Yanzi had signed her English name with a broad stroke and he watched the fan leave.

Although it didn't top the charts in all sixty-plus countries, it at least managed to squeeze into the top twenty of the local music charts.

Not to mention "Baby," which also dominated globally, and "Yeah," which dominated in Britain and America.

The only pity was that the two English hit singles "Song of the Lazy" and "Victory at the Start" did not reach number one on the Billboard charts upon their initial release; the latter didn't even make the Billboard top seventy.

"It's clear it's very popular; during my days in Kuala Lumpur, I almost got sick of hearing 'Baby' and 'Good Time'."

Sun Yanzi stuck out her tongue, then pulled the small blanket over herself and immediately began to catch up on sleep.

After she returned to the Imperial Capital, she immediately took out her phone to send a message to Zhou Yi, and then began to pay attention to what had happened in the domestic entertainment circle during this period—

The result was that not looking was fine, but looking was shocking.

Eight out of ten pages were content related to Zhou Yi; this could already be called the secret code for these newspapers to get rich.

"Let me see what the media is reporting about Zhou Yi."

Sun Yanzi, like a little rooster pecking at whoever she pointed to, randomly picked up a newspaper; the large headline upon opening it was convincing: "Zhou Yi Cast as Duan Yu? Zhang Jizhong's Attitude Intriguing"

"Lin Chih-ying May Take a 60% Pay Cut, Solely Due to Zhou Yi's Pressure"

"Ah Du's Album Sales Break 700,000; Entertainment Circle, a Call from a Folk Contractor"

"Gold-Digger Spends 24 Hours Overnight at Zhou Yi's Heavenly Queen Palace, 21 Wild Kisses Per Hour!"

6.

Sun Yanzi widened her eyes, looking at the photo on the front-page headline, which was said to be of Zhou Yi kissing—

It looked highly likely to be a paparazzi shot, and based on her knowledge of Chen Hao, that woman was undoubtedly Chen Hao...

What's the meaning of this?

How long have I been away from the country, and you two already kissed?

After subconsciously flipping through several more newspapers, Sun Yanzi finally breathed a sigh of relief: Good, good, it's just an MV shoot. Even if—

Hmm?

That's not right.

Even if it's an MV, shouldn't I have been the first one?

Sun Yanzi instinctively frowned, pressed her lips tightly together, and puffed out one side of her cheek.

Back then, the very first thing Zhou Yi discussed with her was the "Fairy Tale" MV. How come Chen Hao has a kissing scene?

For Sun Yanzi, who had read the original script and synopsis of "In the Name of the Father," the description of this scene in the newspaper differed somewhat from her memory—

The original script didn't have a kiss either.

Could it be that she missed it?

…………………………………………

"Oh, that's not it. It's because the director changed it."

Beijing, Zhou Yi's home.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zhou Yi returned to his own home, lay on the sofa too lazy to move, and was just about to take a nap when Sun Yanzi's text message flew in. Zhou Yi briefly explained—

In short, the added scenes were the director's decision; it has nothing to do with me, a person of pure and unblemished character.

"..."

Inside the Warner office building, Sun Yanzi glanced briefly at who directed the "Lianshan" MVs—Ning Hao.

Hmm... so young, obviously a fool who can't direct!

"When does my shoot start? I can't wait any longer—uh, mainly because I still have to film my own MV. If I don't hurry, there might be a scheduling conflict." Seeing the image of Chen Hao and Zhou Yi kissing in the newspaper, Sun Yanzi fell into thought.

"Didn't you just return?"

"I've been resting in Kuala Lumpur for several days already; I only returned today."

"Then you can join the production anytime, no problem."

"Aren't you filming the MV for the A-side song? Is it finished?"

"It's finished..."

Far away at home, Ning Hao suddenly sneezed—"A-choo!"

"Damn, I finally have money."

Although he suffered and toiled as a director with no presence, being ordered around for four MVs, the moment Ning Hao counted the balance that arrived in his account, he was on the verge of shedding tears of excitement.

It was not in vain that he endured Jiang Wen's high pressure for so long.

As for the portion above the market price, he would just consider it Warner's compensation for mental distress.

This job is truly not fit for humans.

Embracing hopes for a beautiful future, Ning Hao fell asleep contentedly.

The next day.

When Zhou Yi appeared at the Warner recording studio, Sun Yanzi, wearing monitoring headphones around her neck, was standing inside. Upon seeing him arrive, her face immediately broke into her signature smile.

"Who is recording a song inside?"

"That singer from the company named Wang Feng. He sings quite well; after making a demo of 'In the Rain,' he is doing a trial run."

Taking off her monitoring headphones, Sun Yanzi walked out of the recording studio: "Mr. Zhou asked me to listen and see if this song is worth the huge investment to promote."

(End of this chapter)