Time rewinds.

Rewinding to around five in the morning.

In the hotel’s presidential suite.

The room is dimly lit and silent.

"Ring ring~ Ring ring~"

The phone alarm rings again, echoing in the tidy bedroom, but no one reaches out to hit the pause button.

"Mmm~"

A faint sound suddenly comes from the bed; the light blanket slowly rises like a small mound.

The edge of the blanket opens a crack, and a white arm as flawless as jade emerges, groping around blindly, missing a few times before grabbing the phone on the bedside table and swiping to forcibly pause the alarm.

The other arm also emerges from the gap, and together the two slender and fair hands tug at the sheet, creating creases as if trying to pull the soft body inside the blanket out.

Then there is no more movement.

After about two more minutes, the "small mound" shifts slightly, gradually rising, the blanket slipping down, first revealing the sleek black-haired crown, then the stunning face, the fragrant shoulder...

The rounded shoulder is partially concealed by the black locks, disheveled but not lacking in beauty, adding a touch of allure that is suggestive but not overly revealing.

Liu Feifei is very sleepy, though her consciousness is slowly awakening, her fatigued body still lazes in bed.

She doesn’t want to get up!

But thinking about the shoot today.

She struggles painfully between staying in bed and being late, delaying the shooting schedule, and finally gets out of bed.

Her silk nightgown is full of wrinkles and a bit short, exposing a pair of fair, slender, beautiful legs. She casually grabs the robe by the bed and drapes it over herself, heading to the bathroom.

Preparing to wash up.

Outside the bedroom, Xiaoxiao, as Liu Feifei’s personal assistant, is already waiting early in the presidential suite, bustling around for Liu Feifei, even going down to the hotel restaurant to pick out some delicate and delicious breakfast to bring up.

Now hearing the sounds of movement from the bedroom, knowing Liu Feifei is up and washing, she eagerly brings breakfast to Liu Feifei: "Feifei, eat while it’s hot. You’ll be doing makeup in a while, so you probably won’t have time to eat."

"Alright."

Liu Feifei tidies her clothing in front of the mirror; since she’ll be wearing makeup today, she just keeps a bare face. She smiles and nods: "You eat too."

Having said that, she picks up a delicate pastry from the plate Xiaoxiao handed over, takes a light bite, and reminds: "Oh, Xiaoxiao, don’t forget the task I gave you last night."

"Go over there and buy it once I start filming! Go early so you don’t miss out."

Indeed!

She is still deeply attached and thinking about the meals from Delicious Restaurant!

Sigh!

Maybe... the things you can’t have are always the most tempting!

That’s exactly how she feels right now!

"Ah... Do I really need to go that early... How about I wait until you finish filming in the morning, and then I go..."

But Xiaoxiao hesitates.

She’s mainly worried that if she leaves and Liu Feifei finishes a scene, no one will be there to take care of her.

"It’s alright, I can take care of myself, you just go ahead..."

Liu Feifei holds back a gentle smile: "Otherwise, if you go late and can’t buy it, it’ll all be for nothing."

A few words make Xiaoxiao feel she’s right, plus it’s said online that at Delicious Restaurant, people start queuing before mealtime, and if you wait until mealtime to queue, you might not get any.

Thinking this way, she agrees.

After hastily finishing breakfast, the two head to the film set’s makeup room together.

By this time, the makeup room is already bustling with people.

Doing makeup for a Republican-era drama takes quite a while; just styling the hair can take more than an hour.

To save time, the stylists have already started working on the heads of various female supporting roles.

Seeing her arrive, everyone politely greets her...

"Good morning, Feifei!"

"Feifei, you’re here!"

Liu Feifei curls her lips into a charming smile, nods at them: "Morning, everyone."

Then she walks straight to a vacant spot and sits down.

Just as she sits...

The head of the styling team comes over immediately to personally do her hair and makeup.

She smiles and says, "Feifei, let’s start with the hair and makeup now!"

"Alright, sorry to trouble you."

Liu Feifei nods.

The head of the styling team examines her face with admiration: "Feifei, your skin is so good, it’s white and moist, you don’t even need a base."

The others laugh and agree: "Everyone knows Feifei has great skin!"

Such compliments are a daily occurrence for Liu Feifei, she’s used to it and takes it in stride.

Liu Feifei gives a standard, gentle smile, graciously says: "You’re flattering me, your skin is also very nice!"

Others wave their hands: "No way, our skin condition can’t compare to yours, Feifei."

The head of the styling team looks for a moment, then smiles and says: "Feifei, close your eyes, I’ll start."

Liu Feifei obediently closes her eyes and says nothing more, letting the stylist dab and smear on her face...

It’s unclear how much time passes.

Then the coordinator comes in to distribute today’s schedule and the script pages for the afternoon scene.

"Give me that!"

Xiaoxiao takes them from the coordinator and happily delivers them to Liu Feifei: "Feifei, take a look."

Liu Feifei takes the stack of papers and looks down at them.

The schedule is packed tightly, not a moment to spare, once the makeup is done, filming starts, and there’s a night scene, the work is very challenging.

Of course, time is also tight.

Before everyone finishes with makeup!

The crew already sent someone to urge them, telling them to hurry up and get over to start filming.

To save on resources and expenses, TV shows generally shoot in concentrated scene mode, whatever’s convenient gets done first, filming all the scenes in one setting before moving to the next. It’s nowhere near following the script’s storyline, the finished product relies heavily on post-editing, resulting in rapid transitions where in one scene the leads have barely locked eyes, and in the next, they marry back home.

On set, the staff buzzes about, equipment and people are everywhere.

Liu Feifei, having gotten up early and not slept well, looks a bit tired, sitting in the chair while waiting, taking a short rest.

Xiaoxiao busies herself wrapping Liu Feifei in a thick down jacket to prevent her from catching a cold in her thin attire.

Director Lin calls over the male lead, Ling Lu Yi, to brief them both: "Today we’re shooting the Deng Mansion scenes, there’s a lot of interaction between you two, let’s start with that swing scene..."

Liu Feifei, though a bit tired, makes herself appear lively when hearing the director’s words, occasionally discussing some details with Director Lin.

After roughly explaining, Director Lin also looks at the two of them and says: "You two need to be mindful, even when you don’t have lines, your expressions need to be on point, we’ll be doing close-ups, and watch your blocking."

"Okay, Director Lin." The two nod humbly, continually.

Once all camera positions are set and the actors are in place, Director Lin sits in front of the monitor, signaling the start, and the clapperboard claps loudly, signaling action.