"No, it’s not something Director Ye just said casually. I asked Director Ye, and he told me I resemble an actress he used to know."

Jiayi pouted her lips, which could practically hang an oil pot from them.

"Ha, did he tell you who that actress is, where she is now?" he scoffed lightly.

Jiayi’s voice became quiet and clear, "No, Director Ye said that he had long lost contact with that actress."

Huo Zhenyang admired her naivety and said coldly, "How can there be such a coincidence? He just made up a person to deal with you. If he doesn’t say he lost contact, and you keep asking, how will he answer, how will he find someone who looks like you? He’s just using that to get closer to you, so you would star in his new film."

Jiayi was stunned, what he said made some sense.

Could it be true that Ye Yongning was only interested in me, that he made up knowing someone who looked like me, just to let me star in Demon-slaying Chronicle and to get closer to me?

Her complexion turned somewhat paler, but then she raised her head and looked at him seriously, "Regardless, I still want to take on Ye Yongning’s new movie." She paused and then pleaded, "Please, is that okay?"

Huo Zhenyang guessed her intention.

She wanted to leverage the appeal of Ye Yongning’s film to appear on the big screen, making it easier to find her family.

His eyes were as mysterious and ghostly as ever, and he resolutely refused, "Have you forgotten your current identity? A movie? Impossible."

She summoned all her courage, looking straight into the man’s eyes, "Is it because of my identity that I can’t act, or is it because you simply don’t want me to find my family?"

This was one of the few remaining ways that she had to reclaim her heritage.

Yet this man was like a ferocious tiger blocking her path, aggressively standing in her way.

His face suddenly tightened, and with a disdainful chuckle, he countered, "Even if you find your family, if I don’t let you go, do you really think you can leave?"

She deliberately provoked him, "If you’re so powerful, what are you afraid of? Let me act."

He could clearly see that Little Kitten was purposely infuriating him, "I’ve told you, you are my woman. You cannot be in the limelight. Don’t even think about it!"

With that, he shouted impatiently ahead, "Drive faster."

The speed of the car increased, racing through the city streets adorned with neon lights towards Huo Garden.

The special tires whirred past the asphalt, kicking up a cutting wind that also silenced Jiayi’s voice.

Upon returning to Huo Garden, the butler was at the gate to welcome Young Master and Miss Jiayi.

As soon as Jiayi got out of the car, without even a greeting, she turned around and went up the stairs, still entering the small nursing room next to Huo Tianpei’s.

The butler was startled and looked towards the Young Master, "What’s wrong with Miss Jiayi?"

Huo Zhenyang’s expression was also very dark!

Ever since returning to G City, even if this young miss was forced to come back with him, and they didn’t see eye to eye on many things, always thinking about H City, she at least maintained an amicable relationship with him in front of the people of Huo Garden.

Today was the first time she had openly snubbed her man in front of the servants.

His handsome face clouded over as he walked into the villa.

The butler looked eagerly at Lin Zixun, "Assistant Lin, what happened? It couldn’t be that the Young Master went to support Jian Meiyi, angering Miss Jiayi, could it?"

It wasn’t Jian Meiyi who angered Miss Jiayi; instead, Miss Jiayi issued Jian Meiyi a challenge. Lin Zixun replied with a wry smile, "Boss and Miss Jiayi ran into Ye Yongning at the premiere."

"Ye Yongning? The international director?"

Lin Zixun nodded, "Ye Yongning took a fancy to Miss Jiayi and wanted her to star in the new movie Demon-slaying Chronicle. Miss Jiayi agreed, but the Boss naturally objected, so Miss Jiayi and Boss had an argument."

The butler nodded in understanding, turned, and entered the villa, climbing to the second floor.

Huo Tianpei’s bedroom remained lit.

Yao Zhenru had already been sent to a mental health facility a few days ago.

The entire Huo Garden became even more desolate, with the old master seeking a new daughter-in-law and a new grandson to fill the emptiness and loneliness of the large family.

Huo Tianpei, leaning on the bed, saw the butler O coming in and squeezed out a rare smile, "The two of them are back?"

Butler O nodded, hesitated for a moment, and reported truthfully, "However, opposite to what the old master expected, the young master and Miss Jiayi didn’t take advantage of the premiere to get closer, but instead... they had an argument."

Butler O also knew the reason why the old master wanted Miss Jiayi to accompany the young master to the premiere tonight.

"An argument? Why?" Huo Tianpei was surprised.

Butler O repeated Lin Zixun’s words.

Huo Tianpei was startled. Director Ye Yongning wanted Jiayi for his new film?

Huo Tianpei knew that this Ye Yongning was a genius in the movie industry, unconventional in his choice of actors and his ways of doing things. In the past, many of the actors he had chosen didn’t come from a professional acting background. As long as he thought they had spirit and he liked them, he would pursue them.

Once, Ye Yongning wanted a country girl for the leading role in one of his movies and actually went to the countryside to find a rural girl, simply because she had the pure and unsophisticated air about her.

That girl had no acting experience, hadn’t taken a single acting class, and had hardly ever been to school.

But under Ye Yongning’s discovery and nurturing, the girl became the lead actress in that movie and eventually shot to fame, becoming a well-known rising star in the international film industry.

If Ye Yongning dared to cast an uneducated, ordinary rural girl, why not Jiayi? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

So it wasn’t strange that he took an interest in Jiayi tonight.

Huo Tianpei pondered for a while, remaining silent for a long time.

"Don’t worry, old master, it’s just a small matter. In a few days, the young master and Miss Jiayi will be fine," Butler O offered comfort.

Huo Tianpei suddenly looked up, "What, Zhenyang doesn’t agree?"

Butler O nodded, "Of course he doesn’t agree. His fiancée, possibly the future young mistress, how could she enter the entertainment industry to act? An actor, heh, no matter how nicely you put it, isn’t that just a performer?"

If it had been before, Huo Tianpei would certainly have agreed with Butler O, but at the moment his eyebrows twitched and he smiled, "If Zhenyang agreed, wouldn’t that little girl be tearfully grateful, settle down earlier, and marry Zhenyang?"

"Does the old master want the young master to agree?" Butler O asked.

Huo Tianpei neither confirmed nor denied, the smile on his face growing deeper.

——**——

After two days of cold war, the temperature in Huo Garden seemed to have dropped several degrees.

Jiayi saw Huo Zhenyang walking with his head down.

She couldn’t afford to offend him, but she could avoid him.

Out of sight, out of mind, hmph.

In the morning, Jiayi went to Huo Tianpei’s room to deliver his medicine.

After watching the old master take it and helping him lie down, Jiayi left the old master’s bedroom.

She closed the door behind her, just coming out when she heard a maid come over and whisper, "Miss Jiayi, the young master is in the study and has asked for you to go there."

What did he want with her? She couldn’t defy him, and she had already decided not to take the part in Demon-slaying Chronicle; did he want to continue to teach her a lesson?

Jiayi uttered a sound of acknowledgment, handed the tray to the maid, and went to the study.