Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  That sight was really troubling.

  Xiang Wan’s heart missed a beat. “What happened?”


  She was asking about the reddish mark on Xie Wanwan’s neck yet the latter simply tried to cover the mark by pulling her collar higher and answered her earlier question about the “missing” female assistant. “She still has some work to do. She likely won’t be back tonight .”


  Was that really the case?

  Why did she still feel strange about this?

  Xiang Wan was an extremely sensitive person with regards to emotions.

  Nonetheless, although she had a lot of doubts, it was not appropriate to probe too much into the matters of others.

  “Alright! Let’s have our dinner then.”


  Xie Wanwan helped herself by taking her own bowl and chopsticks. She also took the rice herself, not behaving like an arrogant superstar who needed to be served right to the toe.

  Of course, she was not inside her own house…… It was not appropriate to put on airs either.

  Xiang Wan stopped her politely. “Just take a seat. You need not help out. Oh, I still need to bring the soup out, be right back……”


  “Let me do it?” Xie Wanwan rose from her seat.

  “It’s fine, it’s fine. Please sit.”


  “Don’t be so polite, I can still do such tasks……”


  As the two of them tried to be polite to each other, both of them entered the kitchen.

  Xie Wanwan wanted to help but she was obviously unfamiliar with the kitchen. She didn’t know where the soup ladle was, nor the bowl to hold the soup. As she followed Xiang Wan around, she felt awkward and a little nonplussed. And when she offered to help scoop the soup, she accidentally dropped the ladle on the floor…… In the end, she gave up and puffed a sigh.

  “Seems like getting the soup also requires skill as well.”


  Xiang Wan picked up the ladle and smiled casually.

  “Well, everyone has their own specializations. Miss Xie is not born to do such work. You are more suited to stand on the stage and shine brightly like a star, like a goddess……”


  The smile on Xie Wanwan’s face slowly faded away.

  She crossed her arms and looked at Xiang Wan’s gentle side profile as she scooped the soup from the pot.

  “It’s not so easy to be a goddess.” She smiled bitterly. “In fact—I kinda envy you.”


  Xiang Wan looked towards her. “Why do you say that?”


  “Simple, clean, free and you have a boyfriend who can protect you,” replied Xie Wanwan, “for a woman, this is the ultimate happiness. After all, nothing beats having a sense of security.”


  Xiang Wan furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

  She actually agreed with Xie Wanwan’s view on this.

  Although she was a famous celebrity, Xiang Wan witnessed her frustrations when she tried to hide from the paparazzi; her inconveniences in life; how she was being vilified and hurt by all those haters…… Xiang Wan felt that there was nothing to envy about being a glamorous celebrity.

  If she was given a chance to exchange her identity with Xie Wanwan, she knew she would turn it down…… Even if Xie Wanwan had a lot of fans and an unimaginable amount of fortune……

  Being ordinary was precious.

  Xiang Wan smiled. “Maybe.”


  Xie Wanwan leaned against the kitchen countertop, her smiling face slowly became cold and melancholic. “I feel that I’m rather pathetic. I can’t even protect myself, let alone the ones beside me.”


  Xiang Wan turned to look at her with a serious expression. “What happened when you three went out earlier?”


  When Xie Wanwan came back just now, her mood didn’t feel quite right.

  Right from the moment she entered the house, even though she was smiling, her face actually seemed bitter.

  Xiang Wan could feel that.

  Xie Wanwan also noticed that she had sensed that.

  After some silence, she slowly lowered her eyes to look at her feet. A foot of hers was gently moving to and fro as if drawing on the floor. “One of the investors took a liking to my assistant. So, she…… won’t be back tonight, most likely.”


  “.……”


  The assistant? This was certainly something that was unheard of.

  Xiang Wan looked at her eyes but she could only see her long, curly eyelashes.

  The dismal gloom on her face couldn’t be hidden.

  Xiang Wan pursed her lips for a moment. “I think the other party is interested in you, right?”


  Xie Wanwan was startled. She lifted her head suddenly and looked straight at Xiang Wan.

  Xiang Wan had a pair of observant eyes. “I got it right.”


  Her gentle and firm sentence exposed all those emotions that Xie Wanwan was trying so hard to hide…… She looked away from Xiang Wan as her eyes suddenly reddened. The tears that she was holding back filled her eyes.

  “You’re right.” Xie Wanwan forced a smile. “But I can’t do it.”


  “But your assistant can?” Xiang Wan asked her back.

  Xie Wanwan couldn’t say a word.

  Right from the beginning when they got to know each other, Xie Wanwan thought that she had a more imposing aura than Xiang Wan.

  If this was a movie, Xiang Wan would be the female lead in Bai Muchuan’s story while she herself would be a minor supporting character. Even though she wouldn’t have a lot of scenes to appear in, she believed that her acting would be better than the female lead. She was always the eye-catching one and the audience would have their attention on her. She was a presence that could overshadow the female lead, a presence that she could look at Xiang Wan from a greater height……

  Hence, when she lost Bai Muchuan, she had been in pain but she was soon indifferent.

  She was confident and proud……

  She felt that she didn’t lose out to Xiang Wan, but……

  She lost to Bai Muchuan.

  Lost to his understanding of her.

  Lost to their “brotherly” ties in their younger days which became a hurdle they couldn’t cross……

  Lost to his male chauvinism and somewhat common taste in terms of aesthetic standards……

  Yet at this moment, Xie Wanwan realized that she seemed to have made a mistake.

  Xiang Wan was not ordinary.

  Her gaze was sharp, observant, intelligent, shrewd and calm. She was great at managing her emotions. No matter if she was in Jin City, in Nanmu or the Capital, she faced the difficult situations calmly. Although she had Bai Muchuan’s help, she also owed it to her extraordinary thinking.

  For instance, she could actually reject Xie Wanwan’s request outright.

  But she didn’t and was able to receive her rather warmly……

  She was graceful and magnanimous in this issue. Not only did she not let Bai Muchuan be caught in a tight spot, she actually made Xie Wanwan become the one who was awkward about the whole thing……

  She won the battle without seeing blood. Their image in front of Bai Muchuan…… it was obvious who had the more favorable image.

  Such a woman was a formidable one.

  Xiang Wan, indeed, was a woman who would be able to keep Bai Muchuan.

  Xie Wanwan’s line of sight slowly moved away as she answered Xiang Wan’s question with difficulty.

  “She stayed behind, willingly.”


  Xiang Wan: “She has something to gain from it?”


  Xie Wanwan puffed a sigh. “She might have felt lost but hopeful at the same time about fulfilling her dream.”


  After a pause, she raised her eyebrows. “Maybe you might not be able to comprehend such an emotion.”


  Xiang Wan took a deep look at her but said nothing.

  Although she never experienced such things, she could still understand, perhaps generally……

  The female assistant that didn’t come back was also a good-looking woman. While she worked as Xie Wanwan’s assistant, she had seen, felt and come in contact with all kinds of temptations and traps that accompanied the lustrous and dazzling showbiz industry……

  “Half of her wanted salvation,” she smiled. “The other half wanted to degenerate.”


  Xiang Wan used a simple and easy to understand explanation to show her understanding.

  “You’re considered a good boss already. You wanted to protect her.”


  “She still doesn’t understand what the industry is like. She still doesn’t understand the moment she makes a wrong move, she might not be able to turn back again……”


  “Since you feel sorry for her and want to protect her, why don’t you invest your own money in her and make her into a celebrity as well?” Xiang Wan gave a smile as she talked about the key to the problem.

  That made Xie Wanwan think for a moment and she let out a soft chuckle.

  “Xiang Wan, you always amaze me and make me see you in a different light.”