CH 70

Zheng Baozhu made a leap and jumped onto Qu Zhi's back. Her hands wrapped around Qu Zhi's neck and she was holding a bunch of flowers that she somehow got from inside the private room.

Qu Zhi stood up with her on his back and looked at the flowers in his hand, asking, "Where did these flowers come from?"

Zheng Baozhu replied, "I just took them from the private room."

"...You just took them without asking?"

The nearby waiter overheard their conversation and smiled, "It's okay. If Miss Zheng likes it, consider it a gift."

"Did you hear that? They said it's a gift for me," Zheng Baozhu proudly shook the flowers in front of Qu Zhi. He reached back to grab her hand and gently pulled it away, warning her, "Be careful not to fall."

Following his warning, Zheng Baozhu obediently held onto his shoulders, picked a flower from the bouquet, and gently tucked it into Qu Zhi's hair without him noticing. The waiter on the side couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Zheng Baozhu turned her head and made a "shush" gesture.

The waiter nodded, not saying a word. Qu Zhi carried Zheng Baozhu on his back all the way out of Tianxia Restaurant to where their car was waiting. After the assistant brought Zheng Baozhu's car over, he poked his head out and asked Qu Zhi, "Qu..."

Before he could say "Mr. Qu", his gaze was drawn to the little flower on Qu Zhi's head. Zheng Baozhu blinked playfully, and the assistant understood, pretending not to notice the flower on Qu Zhi's head, "Mr. Qu, should I drive you back, or will you be driving Miss Baozhu home?"

Qu Zhi would probably choose the latter option because he didn't drink much that night, so he would want to drive Zheng Baozhu home.

Qu Zhi indeed chose the latter option, "You go back with everyone first, I'll drive Baozhu home."

"Alright," The assistant opened the car door and got out of the car. He glanced at the flower on Qu Zhi's head, smiling at him, "Then I'll go back first. Take care of yourselves, Mr. Qu and Miss Baozhu."

"Okay," Qu Zhi nodded slightly, then turned to look at Zheng Baozhu, who was still clinging to him, "Are you sober now? If you are, come down."

"Oh," Zheng Baozhu replied and jumped down from Qu Zhi's back. She consciously walked to the passenger seat, opened the door, and sat inside. Qu Zhi took the driver's seat, and as he did, he automatically closed the side door.

Zheng Baozhu buckled her seatbelt, but she struggled to fasten it for a while and couldn't manage it. Qu Zhi frowned slightly, "Let go, I'll do it."

"Okay," Zheng Baozhu obediently released her grip. Qu Zhi leaned over and helped her buckle the seatbelt. Just as he was about to sit upright, he looked up and saw the flower on his head in the rearview mirror.

"... " He remained silent for a while before looking at the mischievous person sitting beside him, "Zheng Baozhu, did you do this?"

"What's wrong?" Zheng Baozhu innocently looked at him as if she just noticed the flower on his head, "Oh, why do you have a flower on your head? It looks surprisingly good."

"Hmm," Qu Zhi gave a faint smile, looking at the flowers in Zheng Baozhu's hand, "What happened to the bouquet you had earlier? How come it's just a twig now?"

Zheng Baozhu lowered her head to look at the twig in her hand, showing the same surprise, "Yeah, where did my flowers go?"

"...Childish," Qu Zhi said as he took the flower from his head and casually pinned it onto Zheng Baozhu's head, "You look even better with it."

"Who says that? I think you look good with it," Zheng Baozhu replied confidently, "Look at those men from ancient times; they all liked to wear flowers on their heads, right?"

"They are who they are, and I am me," Qu Zhi fastened his own seatbelt, started the car, and said, "Sit properly."

"Okay," Zheng Baozhu sat properly in her seat, took out her phone, tilted her head, and took a few selfies, "I look really pretty."

Qu Zhi smiled and responded with a simple "Hmm".

Zheng Baozhu then took a picture of Qu Zhi driving, put her phone away, leaned back on the seat, and closed her eyes, "I'm a bit tired, I'll take a nap."

"Sure, wake up when we arrive."

Qu Zhi set the navigation and the car moved steadily through the city's night scenery. As Qu Zhi drove smoothly, Zheng Baozhu unknowingly fell asleep. When she woke up again, the car was already parked in the garage.

"Are we here?" Zheng Baozhu opened her eyes, sitting up.

"Yes," Qu Zhi unbuckled his seatbelt and replied, "Sober now?"

Zheng Baozhu raised an eyebrow defiantly, "I only had a little; I wasn't drunk to begin with!"

"Oh, then pretending to be drunk and making me carry you on my back was intentional?"

"What pretending? Clearly, you were the one who carried me!"

"Is that so?" Qu Zhi leaned closer; his dark eyes looked into hers. "So, do I need to carry you to your hotel?"

Worried that he might really do it, Zheng Baozhu instinctively put her hand on his chest, "I've told you; there are surveillance cameras here."

Qu Zhi chuckled and distanced himself, "Why are you so defensive? Are you thinking of something unhealthy?"

"..." You really know how to turn the tables!

Zheng Baozhu opened the car door and got out along with Qu Zhi. Qu Zhi saw her walking steadily and reminded her, "Go back and rest early."

Zheng Baozhu said, "I'll rest after Sister Xiaonan returns me some luck! Didn't you see how she kept watching me during dinner today?"

Hearing Zheng Baozhu's words, Qu Zhi burst into laughter. Indeed, during dinner, Zhou Xiaonan had been watching Zheng Baozhu closely, afraid that she would eat more than she should.

"I'll have to start filming soon, so I definitely can't gain weight," Zheng Baozhu patted her own stomach while realizing that as long as she had thick skin, even if her manager kept watching her, it wouldn't affect her eating, "I'll go back and exercise for twenty minutes."

Qu Zhi lightly laughed, "It seems like I made the right choice with my gym. Your usage rate might end up higher than mine in the future."

Qu Zhi's penthouse was almost finished with renovations, they should be able to move in officially by the next Chinese New Year.

"When you have time, we can go together to pick out the decorations," Qu Zhi suggested to Zheng Baozhu, "Some furniture needs to be customized, so we need to select them in advance."

"Sure!" Zheng Baozhu was very interested in decorating the house, especially since it was going to be her wedding house with Qu Zhi, "Homeland City is a great place to shop; I could spend a whole day there."

Qu Zhi raised an eyebrow teasingly, "You are already a popular star with millions of fans. Won't people recognize you in Homeland City?"

"I can do disguises!" Zheng Baozhu replied confidently and then looked Qu Zhi up and down, "But you also need to disguise yourself; many fans recognize you."

As Zheng Baozhu spoke, she recalled the time when Qu Zhi's half-face went viral and topped the trending list as [How High Can an Average Person's Value Be?]

They soon arrived at the door of Zheng Baozhu's room as they chatted. Since the last time Qu Zhi slept in her room, he hadn't been there again. Zheng Baozhu stopped at the door and looked at him, "I'm here."

Qu Zhi also stopped, glancing at Zheng Baozhu for a moment, and nodded lightly, "Hmm, then I'll head back now?"

Zheng Baozhu hesitated for a moment and also nodded, "Alright, goodnight."

"Goodnight," Qu Zhi bid her goodnight and walked towards his room. Once Zheng Baozhu was back in her room, she closed the door and stomped her foot in frustration!

Ah, should she have invited Qu Zhi inside for a bit? They were both adults and had mutual feelings for each other. Why were they being so polite?

Maybe Qu Zhi had some concerns and might even hold back until their wedding day.

...No, she needed to come up with a way to devour this man.

Judging from Qu Zhi's behavior, if she took the initiative, he probably wouldn't be able to resist!

Just as Zheng Baozhu was thinking this, Zhou Xiaonan sent her a message: Are you back? Remember to exercise before sleeping.

"..."

Zheng Baozhu replied cheekily: Does that kind of exercise count?

Zhou Xiaonan: ???

Zhou Xiaonan: Did I disturb something?

Zheng Baozhu: Not really.

Zhou Xiaonan: ? Is it that you're not interested, or is it Qu Zhi?

Zheng Baozhu: It's not that. If you don't have anything else, I'm going for a non-aerobic workout.

Zhou Xiaonan: Weren't you featured in a magazine a while ago? The pre-sale for the issue will start the day after tomorrow, and they'll give you a solo link.

Zheng Baozhu: ...The timing is perfect.

Zhou Xiaonan: Tell me about it. Your popularity has soared in the past two days, and they want to sell more copies. Don't forget to repost on Weibo tomorrow.

Zheng Baozhu: Okay.

The magazine feature Zheng Baozhu shot was just a page with a short interview, but the main sales didn't rely solely on that. However, the photoshoot turned out beautifully, which made it quite appealing. Originally, the magazine had no plans to include Zheng Baozhu's poster, but her popularity skyrocketed too fast. To attract more buyers, the magazine decided to add her poster as a last-minute bonus.

The pre-sale started at noon, and soon, the inventory set was sold out in less than half a minute. Those who missed out rushed to the magazine's blog to question whether there was a limited quantity and why they didn't announce it earlier.

The magazine was also feeling unjustified. Their inventory was set based on the typical sales level of magazines featuring stars over the past few years, and they didn't expect it to sell out so quickly. After receiving the feedback, the magazine hurriedly adjusted the inventory, this time setting it at 990,000 copies. This should be enough to avoid running out.

Seeing that the magazine was available for purchase again, those who were complaining shifted their focus. To make up for their earlier mistake, the magazine even specially made a sales poster for Zheng Baozhu and promoted it on Weibo.

With the success of Zheng Baozhu's magazine sales, the haters couldn't sit still. They alternated between mocking her for relying on speculative investments and mocking her for being naive enough to be used as a tool for speculation.

However, Zheng Baozhu didn't pay too much attention to this matter. She had always been clear about her goals and wanted to be an actress. The magazine's success was just a bonus and she didn't rely on it to make a living. She thanked everyone for their support on Weibo and then shifted her focus back to the script.

Recently, she had been studying the script on her own, and whenever she had questions, she would consult with Teacher Ge during classes. She even added the screenwriter on WeChat and bothered him from time to time.

Although the screenwriter had complained about Zheng Baozhu to Gao Boyun before, he admired her dedication as an actress.

Soon, the second script reading session was scheduled, and many actors attended, including representatives from the production company. Lin Ziqin, the male lead, also dutifully attended the script reading. Seeing everyone's seriousness, Zheng Baozhu felt more assured because making a TV drama wasn't a solo effort; it required everyone's collective effort to do well.

During the script reading, everyone had different interpretations of the script, but the overall atmosphere was good. Afterward, Gao Boyun invited several key actors and creators to have dinner. The representatives from the production company who attended the reading were also present at the dinner that was held at Tianxia Restaurant.

"Baobao, I noticed that Yu Wei has been watching you," Gao Boyun quietly told Zheng Baozhu at the dinner table, "Be careful, I'm afraid he's taken an interest in you."

Zheng Baozhu also noticed that Yu Wei had been glancing at her. He even deliberately toasted her earlier. She responded quietly to Gao Boyun, "Who is this person?"

"He's from the Yu family," Gao Boyun whispered, using his hand to block the conversation, "But you don't need to worry. The Yu family's influence in the company is not absolute anymore. Their CEO, Song Nanchuan, is very capable."

"Oh... I think I've heard of him. Isn't he a celebrity's husband?"

"Yes."

Gao Boyun nodded, and Yu Wei, who was nearby, interrupted them, "Director Gao, what secret conversation are you having with our lead actress? Is there something we can't hear?"

"Of course not," Gao Boyun smiled, "I was just feeling a bit unwell and asked Baozhu if she could have a few drinks for me."

"But that's not acceptable. As a man, how can you let someone else drink on your behalf?" Yu Wei raised his wine glass again, "Let's all have another toast together."

Everyone at the table raised their glasses for another toast. Meanwhile, Gao Boyun discreetly sent a message to Zheng Baozhu: Yu Wei doesn't have a good reputation in the industry. He often mingles with internet celebrities. Be cautious around him.

After Zheng Baozhu replied with a "Got it", she received a message from Qu Zhi: Are you still at dinner?

Zheng Baozhu: Yes.

Qu Zhi: Are you drinking?

Zheng Baozhu: Yes.

Qu Zhi: I'll come pick you up. Wait for me.

Zheng Baozhu smiled and put her phone aside. Since Lin Ziqin had another engagement the next day, he suggested leaving early. Zheng Baozhu followed his lead and stood up, saying she also needed to leave.

Yu Wei tried to persuade them to stay for a while, but seeing their firm attitude, he also decided to leave.

Ignoring him, Zheng Baozhu walked out of the private room, called her assistant to bring the car out, and prepared to wait for Qu Zhi in the car. However, Yu Wei caught up with her and said, "Miss Zheng, where are you going? How about I give you a ride?"

"No need, I have my assistant." Zheng Baozhu smiled at him and continued walking forward.

Yu Wei still followed her, "Don't be so distant. How about we have a few more drinks? I have some friends coming out, and we can go to KTV."

"Really, Mr. Yu, I have work tomorrow," Zheng Baozhu replied as they walked outside Tianxia Restaurant, but couldn't shake off Yu Wei. Her assistant had already brought the car out, and seeing Zheng Baozhu being pestered by a man, the assistant opened the car door and walked over, "Miss Baozhu, you can get in the car first."

"Okay."

Zheng Baozhu nodded and was about to get into the car when her arm was pulled by Yu Wei, "Miss Zheng, don't be so disrespectful. You're not famous yet, and you're already ignoring the investors?"

Frowning, Zheng Baozhu pulled her hand back, looked at him, and said, "Mr. Yu, the investors put money into the drama, not me. If you have any requests, you can talk to Director Gao."

Yu Wei sneered, thinking that she didn't know what was good for her, "Are you suggesting that I invest in you? Well, I can do that, can't I?"

Zheng Baozhu also sneered, about to tell him to use that money to fix his own brain when Qu Zhi's voice came from the side, "Baozhu."

Before Yu Wei could react, Qu Zhi had already approached them. Zheng Baozhu was surprised at how quickly he arrived. Qu Zhi pulled her towards him and looked at Yu Wei, "Who is this?"

Zheng Baozhu said, "Oh, he's Yu Wei from Huanyu Pictures, one of the investors in our drama."

"Mr. Yu, right?" Qu Zhi's tone was cold, "I am Baozhu's boyfriend. Thanks for sending her out."

After saying that, without waiting for Yu Wei's response, he directly pulled Zheng Baozhu away. The assistant followed them and quickly got into the car, not daring to delay for even a second before driving away.