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

Jiang Jingjing raised her eyebrows and looked at Huang Yali, "Sister-in-law, don't make yourself sound so noble. You're with me, aren't you just after money? Don't worry, I won't shortchange you and my brother a single penny."

Hearing that the amount of money wouldn't be small, Huang Yali breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay then, just call me if you need anything."

-

Inside the van, Qi Muci thought for a long time before deciding to explain to Qiao Ran.

Qi Muci: "We didn't invite Jiang Jingjing over. She called my brother and said she wanted to invite him to lunch. My brother felt guilty towards her because of the role change, so he invited her over."

"As for her playing the second female lead, it was her idea that came up first, and my brother couldn't refuse. I didn't know about these things beforehand; my brother only told you when you went to the restroom."

Qiao Ran was very grateful for Qi Muci's honesty. "Yes, I understand. Chairman Qi is right to do this. For the sake of the show's ratings, we should have used Miss Jiang. After all, I haven't acted for two years."

Qi Muci: "Two years isn't a long time. If you put it that way, I've always acted in movies, and TV audiences aren't familiar with me. I think the quality of the work is the most important thing."

Qiao Ran: "Ms. Jiang's works are all of good quality, and her acting skills are evident to all."

Qi Muci paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's not mention her anymore. She was just a minor incident. Go back and get some rest. I'll pick you up at 7 p.m. and take you to the club. We'll have dinner there."

Qiao Ran nodded obediently, "Okay, thank you, Brother Qi."

Qi Muci's eye twitched. He didn't like Qiao Ran being so polite; he wanted to get closer to her.

But Qiao Ran doesn't seem very willing to get close to him, which is really difficult!

Qi Muci drove Qiao Ran and Ding Ding to the elevator entrance of the underground parking garage in Heyuan Community. After watching them get out of the car and enter the elevator, he instructed Fu Chao to drive home and rest.

Seeing his sullen expression, Fu Chao asked with concern, "Brother Qi, is it because Miss Qiao is bothering you?"

Qi Muci sighed softly, "It seems like she's deliberately keeping her distance from me."

Fu Chao: "That's normal, Brother Qi. Think about it, Miss Qiao was hurt so deeply by your cousin, she should have given up on love by now."

"Brother Qi, don't worry. Use your actions to slowly heal Miss Qiao's wounds. I believe that one day she will open her heart and accept you."

Qi Muci raised an eyebrow and looked out the window. The car drove out of the dark underground parking garage, and sunlight immediately streamed in through the glass window.

Qi Muci's mood also became cheerful.

He secretly vowed to himself that he would be the ray of sunshine in Qiao Ran's life, squeezing in through the cracks to warm her.

When Qiao Ran returned home, she saw Zhao Mengmeng lying on the sofa doing a face mask. "When did you finish your work? Why didn't you call me to have lunch together? Today's lunch is on Chairman Qi's treat."

Zhao Mengmeng sat up, ripped off her face mask, and said with a smile, "Dingding told me I'm too lazy to go. I'll save my belly for getting drunk with you guys tonight. Show me your divorce certificate now."

Ding Ding sat down next to Zhao Mengmeng. "Didn't I send you the photos?"

Zhao Mengmeng reached out to grab Qiao Ran's bag, saying, "I want to see the actual item."

Qiao Ran took out the divorce certificate from her bag and placed it in Zhao Mengmeng's hand. "Here, it's good for you to see this. If you don't understand anything when you get divorced in the future, you can ask me."

Zhao Mengmeng: "Haha, I will never get a divorce in my life because I will never get married. Interesting. So this is a divorce certificate. Ms. Qiao, please tell me how you felt when you received the divorce certificate."

Qiao Ran sat down on the sofa opposite, poured herself a glass of lemonade and took a big gulp. "Awesome! I feel like I've never felt so good in my life. I regret it. I should have called Lin Mengchuan back to get a divorce sooner."

Zhao Mengmeng was excited, "Congratulations on your new life. Don't get married again, just date."

"Ha, someone's going to be sad," Dingding exclaimed from the side.

"Who's sad?" Zhao Mengmeng blurted out, then immediately realized, "You mean Brother Qi? If he really loves Ranran, he'll definitely respect her."

"You two shouldn't be playing matchmaker anymore. You can't make these kinds of jokes anymore. Don't bring trouble to Brother Qi. I'm serious. I think we should be more careful in the future," Qiao Ran reminded her.

Zhao Mengmeng disagreed, "What are you afraid of? Even Brother Qi doesn't mind, so why are you?"

Qiao Ran: "It is precisely because he doesn't mind that we should be more cautious. I am just a washed-up actress and a divorced woman. I don't care what others think of me, but Brother Qi is different."

“He has maintained a good image and has no scandals over the years, and I don’t want us to ruin his image.”

Zhao Mengmeng, being an actress herself, naturally understood Qiao Ran's concerns. "Okay, then we'll be more careful in the future. Ranran, you're just too kind and always thinking of others. Don't do that again."

"Think about yourself too."

Dingding chimed in, "Yes, Ranran, don't always make yourself suffer."

Qiao Ran stood up. "I know. Okay, I'm going to remove my makeup, take a shower, and take a nap. I'm not going to both of you anymore."

Dingding: "Go ahead, don't worry about me, I'll sleep in the living room."

Zhao Mengmeng also stood up, "Then I'll go catch up on my sleep too. The best beauty treatment is sleep. It's rare to have time. Dingding, wake us up at five o'clock to do our makeup and change clothes."

Ding Ding: "Yeah, Brother Qi said he'll pick us up at seven."

Zhao Mengmeng: "Oh, whatever you want."

Ding Ding: "Okay, don't worry about me. I'll pick a movie and watch it while I sleep."

Qiao Ran went back to her room to get her nightgown and came out. Suddenly remembering something, she reminded Ding Ding, "Remember to print out a copy of the script for that palace drama for me as soon as possible. I'll be joining the crew next week to learn court etiquette, and I haven't even glanced at the script yet."

Ding Ding: "Oh, right, right, I'll contact the production department right now. They should have printed it out. I'll ask them to arrange for a local courier to deliver it."

When Qiao Ran woke up from her afternoon nap and went to the living room, she saw a thick stack of documents on the coffee table.

Ding Ding pointed to the materials: "The script has been delivered, and the production team even gave you some highlighters. This is the story outline and character biographies. You can take a look at these to get a general idea."

"Let's take our time reading the script. This TV series has a total of forty episodes."

Qiao Ran sat down, picked up the synopsis, and glanced at the title: "The Palace Romance".

She read through the entire story outline in one go.

Zhao Mengmeng came out of the bedroom, yawning and rubbing her sleepy eyes, and asked, "What time is it? Shouldn't you be putting on makeup and changing clothes?"

Qiao Ran put down the documents. "Okay, I'll put the script away."

Zhao Mengmeng: "Is it the book of 'The Palace Romance'? You can ask me for it if you want to read it, but I haven't finished reading it yet."

Ding Ding: "Anyway, I'll have to get her a copy sooner or later. Didn't you already get it? Why haven't you finished reading it yet? Please, can't you be as diligent as Ranran?"

Zhao Mengmeng: "Please, is it that I don't want to watch? Why don't you schedule fewer appearances?"