The boy merely had this to say in response to them, “It’s fine. There’s no pregnant woman here.”


  “Pfft!” Jun Mo was tickled. “I didn’t expect you to know that pregnant women should not take in second-hand smoke.”


  “Yeah.”


  Inwardly, though, the boy was beating his chest. He had done his homework on this matter.

  There was a time when he suspected his mother of being pregnant again; hence, he had read extensively on the topic. In the end, her pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm, which vexed him for some time.

  As Hua Jin was busy with his mahjong tiles, he muttered, “Gu Xingze turned up for the kickoff ceremony today.”


  The protagonist’s hand froze for a split second, glanced at the man, and then turned her gaze downward at her tiles before calling, “Dongfeng[1].”


  The young man followed suit as he gave up a similar tile, then he went on. “If not for the superstar, the lead role would’ve been mine! Unfortunately, he came along and cut me off the deal.”


  Jun Mo was quick to dismiss his claim. “The investor for this show favored the superstar from the start, so how did that cut you off the deal?”


  “I can’t accept my defeat! Why is he the one to be paired with Shishi as the best on-screen couple? I think Shishi and I are more compatible.”


  Yun Shishi’s lips twitched violently for a second.

  Jun Mo mercilessly continued with her digging. “You’re far behind Xingze’s caliber! Those female leads who acted with him have shot to stardom one after another.”


  “Hmph! I can’t swallow that!”


  The female guest seemed to recall something as she sized up the protagonist silently before commenting, “I saw Xingze some time ago; he’s with a woman who looks a lot like you.”


  Yun Shishi was stunned momentarily. Looking dazed, she asked, “Eh? A woman who looks like me?”


  Her friend continued. “I mistook that lady for you at first; she really looks a lot like you! From her figure, I reckon that she’s a young model. Still, it’s obvious that she went under the knife for those similar features to yours. It’s even reported in the news before.”


  The protagonist could not get over her shock yet. “Are you sure it’s him that you saw with the woman?”


  “I went up to say ‘hi’.”


  “What?” The other woman was wide-eyed with shock.

  Her friend explained, “I got along well with the superstar during the production, so I greeted him when I saw him. I realized that the woman wasn’t you when I saw her within proximity. There were still differences despite the similarities. After all, even the most advanced reconstructive surgery wouldn’t be able to replicate another person completely.”


  “I see.” It was obvious that she had not gotten over her shock from the look on her face. “There are hardly any scandals or gossip concerning him in showbiz, though.”


  “That’s true, so when I saw him leaving a hotel with that woman, I was equally surprised. I don’t remember any woman being with him in the first place.”


  Yun Shishi’s finger jerked slightly when she heard that but quickly concealed being perturbed with a calm composure. “Hotel?”


  It would be hard to dismiss any insinuations when he was seen hugging a woman on the way out of a hotel. There was only something that came to mind when a couple left a hotel together.

  She frowned and felt unwell all of a sudden.

  It was not because she was jealous over the news; rather, she did not feel good about the woman the superstar was seen with. From what her friend had told her, that woman was a youngling from the modeling industry, and it was a hedonistic trade. The young models would try all ways and means to climb up the social ladder. To her, the man was perfect and his image should not be tainted.

  In retrospect, they would not develop to that intimate stage if the couple did not have feelings for each other.

  [1] ‘Dongfeng’ is one of the mahjong tiles. Players may call the name of the tile that they are giving up for other players to take.