After the divorce, my ex-husband's cousin tricked me into getting a marriage certificate.

Qiao Ran and Ding Ding returned to the private room, only to find two more women inside.

"Jiang Jingjing!" Ding Ding cried out in surprise.

Jiang Jingjing turned to look at the two of them, a hint of disgust flashing in her eyes.

But she quickly masked it with a professional fake smile, "Hello, I am Jiang Jingjing. Ms. Qiao, hello, I have long admired your name. Today I finally have the opportunity to meet you in person. I grew up watching your dramas."

Looking at Jiang Jingjing's meaningful smile, Qiao Ran felt that the last sentence was ironic rather than a compliment.

Qi Muci got up and pulled out the chair next to him for Qiao Ran to sit down.

Qi Mu'an pointed to Jiang Jingjing and introduced her to Qiao Ran: "Qiao Ran, this is Jingjing. She is the second female lead in our drama, the one who plays the Empress. You will have many scenes with her."

“Yes, Miss Qiao, I play a bad woman in the play, scheming against you both openly and secretly. I hope you can forgive me. I don’t want us to become enemies off-screen as well,” Jiang Jingjing said with a smile.

Qiao Ran smiled and replied, "Although I haven't filmed for two years, I still keep my professional ethics in mind. A play is a play, and I won't bring the emotions from the play into real life."

Jiang Jingjing: "Of course, Miss Qiao is a veteran actress. I still have a lot to learn from you in the future."

Qiao Ran: "I dare not accept such praise."

What was originally a celebratory dinner for Qiao Ran's signing turned into a show hosted by Jiang Jingjing and her agent. The two of them went around toasting Qi Mu'an, flattering and fawning over her, making Qi Mu'an very happy.

Qiao Ran wanted to leave as soon as possible, but the dinner was organized by Qi Mu'an, and if she left like this, it would be disrespectful to the boss.

Finally, Qi Muci saw her yawn and interrupted Qi Mu'an and Jiang Jingjing's conversation: "Big brother, Ranran and I have something to do, so we'll leave first. You guys can eat slowly."

Seeing Qi Muci stand up, Jiang Jingjing also stood up. "Teacher Qi, when do you have time? Let's have a cup of coffee and talk about the script. I have a lot of ideas about the character that I'd like to discuss with you."

“Miss Jiang, you should talk to the director about this,” Qi Muci coldly replied. “Sorry, we’ll be leaving now.”

After Qi Muci finished speaking, he called Qiao Ran and Ding Ding and left.

Jiang Jingjing unconsciously clenched her hands behind her back and clenched her jaw.

Qi Mu'an quickly explained for her brother: "Miss Jiang, my brother has a bad temper. Please bear with him when you work together in the future. He doesn't mean any harm, he's just a bit cold-hearted."

Jiang Jingjing switched back to a smiling face, "It's alright, Chairman Qi. It's normal for someone of Teacher Qi's stature to have a bit of a temper."

"Chairman Qi, Mr. Qi and Miss Qiao seem to have a good relationship. Could they be dating?" Jiang Jingjing's agent, Huang Yali, asked tentatively.

Qi Mu'an's face hardened, and he looked somewhat displeased. "Miss Huang, Qiao Ran's first film was with Mu Ci. They've been friends for many years. Now that Qiao Ran has made a comeback and chosen to sign with our company, isn't it normal for Mu Ci to treat her well?"

Jiang Jingjing glared at Huang Yali, then turned to Qi Mu'an and apologized: "I'm sorry, Chairman Qi, my sister-in-law was just joking."

"You have to be careful who you joke with. As an agent, you should understand this even more. It's getting late, and I need to go back to the company for a lunch break. I have a very important meeting this afternoon. I've already paid the bill, so please go ahead."

After Qi Mu'an finished speaking, he got up and left without looking back.

Jiang Jingjing turned around and glared angrily at Huang Yali, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you? Why did you say such discouraging things? I was hoping to sign with Xingyun when my contract expires next year."

"Now that you've offended Chairman Qi, how am I supposed to discuss the contract with him?"

Huang Yali pursed her lips, "I didn't expect Chairman Qi's reaction to be so strong. I think that Qiao Ran might really be having an affair with Qi Muci. That's probably the real reason for her divorce."

"If that's the case, how are you going to use Qi Muci to create hype? This Qiao Ran is really annoying. She just had to get divorced and make a comeback at this time, and she even stole the role that should have been yours."

Jiang Jingjing felt even worse. When she received Qi Mu'an's call yesterday, saying that he wanted to replace her, she thought it meant replacing her with an actress of higher status than her.

Unexpectedly, he is an actor who started as a washed-up child star.

After recovering from her surprise, she tentatively asked Qi Mu'an if the male lead had been cast.

As a result, Qi Mu'an replied that his younger brother, Qi Muci, would take the stage.

Jiang Jingjing was truly shocked. Qi Muci was an international film emperor, and it was unbelievable that someone of his stature would act in a TV series.

In the end, the actresses who acted alongside him were past their prime. Isn't that beneath him?

Isn't Qi Mu'an afraid of being criticized?

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Jingjing thought it over and over and felt that she should participate in this drama, just because Qi Muchi was the male lead.

She thought about it for a moment and realized that, apart from the female lead, the actress who had the most scenes with Qi Muci was the second female lead, the empress.

If she can get the role, we can try to create some hype by associating her with Qi Muci.

Of course, if given the chance, she would turn the hype into reality and become Qi Muci's official girlfriend.

Qi Muci has maintained a clean image with zero scandals throughout his many years in the industry, always appearing aloof and reserved.

Such men possess a fatal attraction for women.

After making the decision, Jiang Jingjing called Qi Mu'an back, expressing her desire to still participate in the drama and her willingness to lower her price to play the second female lead.

Feeling guilty, Qi Mu'an readily agreed to Jiang Jingjing's request.

Today's dinner was not invited by Qi Mu'an to Jiang Jingjing, but rather Jiang Jingjing called Qi Mu'an and said she wanted to treat him to dinner.

Qi Mu'an then asked her to come over.

Throughout the dinner, although Jiang Jingjing was chatting with Qi Mu'an, she was actually secretly observing Qi Muci and Qiao Ran.

It's obvious to everyone that Qi Muci has feelings for Qiao Ran.

However, Jiang Jingjing felt that Qiao Ran seemed to be deliberately keeping her distance from Qi Muci, probably because she had just gotten divorced.

"If you keep talking so recklessly, then you can forget about this show." Jiang Jingjing grabbed her Hermes bag hanging on the back of the chair, angrily pulled out the chair, and walked away.

Huang Yali quickly followed, "Jingjing, don't be angry. I only said those things for you."

Jiang Jingjing stopped and stared at Huang Yali. "Don't tell me you're doing this for me, sister-in-law. If you really are doing this for me, you should learn to be careful with your words and actions, and not make a fool of yourself. It's me who will be embarrassed!"

"I asked you to be my manager because I felt more at ease knowing you were one of my own. I never expected you to have such low emotional intelligence, not knowing what to say in any situation!"

Huang Yali pouted, "Okay, I know, I'll be more careful in the future."

Seeing that Huang Yali showed no remorse, Jiang Jingjing's suppressed anger surged up again. "Alright, I'll handle this project myself. You should go home and spend some time with your child for now."

"So that my brother won't keep calling and nagging me, saying that I've assigned you too much work."

Huang Yali panicked, "Jingjing, are you going to fire me? I know I was wrong, and I will definitely be more careful in the future. Please don't fire me, okay? If it were someone else, they wouldn't genuinely care about you; they would just want to use you to make money."