I have a persona specifically for acting.

The camera pulls up, giving a bird’s-eye view of the entire estate.

In the shot, each bedroom door gradually becomes transparent, revealing what each guest is doing.

The smart AI automatically identifies restricted and overly private scenes.

If a guest is changing clothes, that door will not become transparent, and even the production team cannot secretly peek.

…

He Shun is flipping through a book.

Zhong Muxi, who has returned to her room, is holding a first aid kit and iodine to treat her wound. She lets her tears slowly dry on her cheeks, her face showing numbness. This small first aid kit is something she brought in her luggage, and it’s clear that this self-harming behavior has been going on for some time. She is also quite accustomed to cleaning up the mess left on her body after an emotional breakdown.

Chang Xiaonian is lying on the bed playing with her phone, and the smart AI enlarges the screen of her phone.

“Prince Street No. 23”

“The Young Master’s Rule”

“Sparrow Wants to Rise”

“No wonder she’s so nice to Wei Zekai; turns out she likes prince-and-princess love stories,” the young stagehand said.

Tong Zhao placed all the bottles and jars she had brought on the desk and was going through a complicated skincare routine. While she was applying body lotion to her calves, the director, with a bit of self-interest, had the camera linger on her for a moment, treating it as a fan-service shot for the audience.

The camera panned to the last bedroom—Han Zhi’s room.

He was sitting at his desk, holding a sketchbook.

When drawing, Han Zhi wore glasses. The frameless, square glasses concealed the emotions in his passionate eyes, giving him a touch of cool abstinence and intellect. His pale, slender fingers held a pencil, and in no time, a gentle and simple face appeared on the paper.

The assistant director widened his eyes in surprise, “He actually likes Zhong Muxi?”

Who would have thought that the “sea king” would first set his sights on an unremarkable girl with glasses?

Not to mention Tong Zhao, who is stunningly beautiful, even Chang Xiaonian, who has a sweet and cute style, looks better than Zhong Muxi.

It’s not polite to judge someone’s appearance, but the entire production team was genuinely surprised.

The young stagehand made a sound, “Hmm. Some guys like him are like that. They go after plain, honest girls because they’re easier to control… Think about it—if a handsome guy like Han Zhi confessed to you, wouldn’t you feel particularly surprised, like you’re unworthy? Even if you fought or argued in a relationship, you’d want to slap yourself for it.”

As he spoke, Han Zhi gently tore out the completed sketch from his sketchbook and carefully placed it in the drawer.

Then, he began to draw on a new page.

Even if he is handsome, there’s no point in continuously filming him just drawing, so the director was about to switch the camera when he noticed something unusual.

This time, Han Zhi was drawing a different face.

Lively, spirited round eyes and lips that always curve up into a sweet smile—the face of Chang Xiaonian, who the production team had just been discussing.

Production team: “…”

So, he’s really just an expert at keeping things balanced?

After finishing, Han Zhi carefully tore out this sketch as well and put it away.

The assistant director, who had some experience with sketching from studying art, watched for a while and remarked, “Han Zhi is quite skilled at drawing. You can tell who it is, but he makes them look even better than in real life; he’s very good at capturing the highlights.”

Even Zhong Muxi, who was labeled as “ordinary” by the production team, appeared different under Han Zhi’s pen. With her eyes lowered, he captured the graceful lines of her neck when she looked down. Only then did everyone realize that Zhong Muxi actually had a nice side profile, with a well-proportioned head and neck, looking fragile and delicate enough to evoke sympathy.

Han Zhi has a keen eye for discovering the good qualities in others.

If he could make someone so ordinary look so good, how stunning must Tong Zhao look under his pen?

The production team couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

However, the previously inspired Han Zhi encountered difficulties when drawing the third sketch. Several times, he completed rough drafts only to tear them up and crumple them into a ball. After three repeated attempts, he finally drew a large, messy question mark over the oval face draft he had completed.

The small night lamp cast a warm glow on half of his face.

“I’m starting to think I’m filming an idol drama here. He doesn’t need much directing at all—he’s a man who naturally looks good on camera. Any random shot looks like a movie poster. If Tong Zhao were a man, she might achieve even more success!” the director said.

Leading roles for women in films are still a rarity.

You could say it’s a blue ocean market, but no one wants to explore it; everyone thinks it’s unprofitable. There are almost no actresses who can carry a box office hit—most of them just add a little extra appeal. However, actresses have their strengths: their “true selves” are more consistent and less likely to fall apart in their performances, even if they rarely shine.

While the production team drifted off-topic, Han Zhi put down his pencil, stuffed the sketchbook into the drawer, and furrowed his brows.

※

Early the next morning, Wei Zekai woke up very early.

He had a nightmare.

He dreamed that Zhong Muxi had slashed down with a knife, severing the major artery in her wrist, and blood kept gushing out, covering the floor. The fear from the morning shock still lingered. Being a young boy who gets hungry quickly, he habitually goes downstairs. Seeing the empty dining room, he remembered he wasn’t at home; no aunt woke up earlier than everyone to prepare breakfast, and a wave of sadness came over him.

He hadn’t been sad for long when he smelled the aroma of food.

Sniffing the air, he walked towards the kitchen and saw a tall, slender figure.

Han Zhi was cooking something delicious.

Wei Zekai’s eyes lit up, and at the same time, Han Zhi happened to turn around.

Han Zhi had no particular interest in cooking for another man, but when he saw the hungry young master staring at him with eyes practically turning green from hunger, he gave a gentle smile. “I’m a bit hungry. If you don’t mind, would you like to eat together?”

Wei Zekai couldn’t have asked for anything better.

In the skillet, there was a pot of diced tomatoes, green and red peppers, onions, and bacon being stir-fried, with two sunny-side-up eggs cracked in. The wobbling egg yolks were incredibly appetizing, and the smell was irresistible. The rich tomato juice mixed with the egg yolk, perfectly paired with lightly toasted bread, awakened both the stomach and taste buds in the early morning. Han Zhi had also prepared a pot of plain porridge, blending Western and Eastern styles seamlessly.

Even Wei Zekai, who was used to eating all kinds of delicacies, was captivated by Han Zhi’s cooking skills.

After hearing Wei Zekai’s praise of him, Han Zhi was momentarily stunned and said, “This is just Shakshuka made with last night’s leftover scraps, nothing extraordinary.”

Here, a segment of Han Zhi’s inner monologue was mixed in:

[The same goes for love.]

[When you’ve dated a lot and have all kinds of beauties at your fingertips, your pursuit begins to diversify. There isn’t a girl who isn’t worthy of my love. If other men think a girl is ordinary, it’s because they lack the ability to polish a rough diamond or uncover a hidden treasure. That’s their incompetence, not the girl’s fault.]

Assistant Director: “Damn, he’s so poetic in his player ways.”

The scriptwriter joked, “How about we cut this part and let me steal it for my novel?”

The young stagehand was puzzled: “Is that being a player? I think what he said sounds quite pleasant. If this is what being a player is like, I’d like to be played by him!”

The production team debated endlessly about whether Han Zhi’s mindset was considered “playing” or not, until the props team, staying true to their focus, gently reminded them, “Wake up, everyone. He’s just a subconscious manifestation split from Tong Zhao; this man doesn’t actually exist in reality.”

The statement jolted everyone to their senses.

The assistant director, however, came up with a new idea: “Hey, how about we reveal Han Zhi’s true identity only after this season airs?”

“Good idea! Since Han Zhi has managed to charm the women in our team so thoroughly… Forget about his charisma, just look at that face—who wouldn’t love it? Is this really extracted from Tong Zhao’s memory? She’s got quite the imagination!”

“Then, we could create a trending topic like #DemandHanZhiToDebut and build up some hype, followed by a plot twist later. That would definitely make a splash!”

…

Amidst their discussions, the rest of the people gradually woke up.

Chang Xiaonian and Zhong Muxi came to an agreement and cooked a pot of noodles to share, deliberately not making any for Tong Zhao and He Shun.

After eating their fill, the two girls curled up on the sofa, whispering while watching TV, gossiping about how Tong Zhao was a “green tea bitch.”

Zhong Muxi hesitated a bit, “She didn’t really do anything, right…?”

“Women understand women best!” Chang Xiaonian declared confidently. “I knew it last night during dinner. She didn’t even look at us and only responded to the guys. It was super obvious. I just don’t know which one she’s targeting. Hopefully, she’ll leave Wei Zekai alone. I think Teacher He would suit her better; he kept staring at her.”

“That He teacher is pretty annoying too. Calling him ‘teacher’ is already giving him too much credit. You can tell he’s got a ‘straight man cancer’ mentality—probably the kind who would dump all the household chores on his wife after marriage and treat her like a nanny. Asking him to step into the kitchen is like asking him to sacrifice himself.”

Zhong Muxi nodded silently.

She wasn’t interested in finding a partner in this event, so she didn’t care who Tong Zhao tried to flirt with. However, Chang Xiaonian was her only female friend in this unfamiliar environment, so she wouldn’t contradict her friend just for Tong Zhao.

But just as Zhong Muxi nodded, she heard the sound of the sofa sinking down beside her.

The two were startled and looked toward the source of the sound, only to find that the very person they had been talking about—Tong Zhao—was sitting on the single-seater sofa sipping a yogurt. Her fair and delicate face was adorned with a subtle “no-makeup” makeup look, and her almond-shaped eyes cast a casual, teasing glance in their direction.

[Did she hear what we were just saying?]

[Whatever, so what if she did hear? We’re not friends anyway; saying a few bad things behind someone’s back is pretty normal!]

This was Chang Xiaonian’s inner monologue.

Zhong Muxi was also worried that Tong Zhao had overheard them, so she looked down and pretended to be playing on her phone.

In this reality show focused on natural interactions, storylines of girls scheming against each other were also very popular with viewers, so the AI instantly captured Tong Zhao’s inner thoughts.

Tong Zhao had indeed heard everything.

She thought that what Chang Xiaonian said made a lot of sense.

Concubine Chen wasn’t interested in women at all and didn’t care about their opinions of her.

“I totally didn’t notice you come over. How do you walk so quietly?”

Chang Xiaonian awkwardly tried to start a conversation.

Tong Zhao swung her well-proportioned legs and chuckled, “Maybe it’s because I’m too light. Oh well, I’ll just have to try harder to gain some weight.”

The ordinary girls who gain weight no matter how much they eat: “…”

Without any men around, the “Concubine” wasn’t pretending to be innocent at all.

At this moment, she resembled a flamboyant carnivorous flower; every glance and smile seemed to flaunt her beauty.

After speaking, Tong Zhao patted her flat stomach. “Talking about gaining weight makes me hungry. I’ll go ask Teacher He to make me something to eat.”

?

Do you not have hands of your own?

Question marks popped up in the heads of the two girls.

After a while, Chang Xiaonian saw He Shun—whom she had labeled as someone who would absolutely never do housework—enter the kitchen with a “can’t say no to you” smile and make Tong Zhao a bowl of fried sauce noodles. After she happily finished eating, he even took the initiative to wash the bowl.

What’s going on?

Where did your macho attitude go?

Chang Xiaonian was shocked to her core.

Zhong Muxi was also a bit surprised.

Teacher He resembled her ex-boyfriend a lot, so when Xiaonian bluntly said that He Shun would never do housework, she agreed wholeheartedly. However, seeing this scene made her somewhat confused.