Volume One, Chapter 16: I’m a Chill Guy

6 p.m.

Su Nianxi sat promptly in the makeup room at the MV shooting site. This punctuality owed much to Su Yan’s exceptional driving skills and the fear his fellow drivers had of scratching a luxury car.

While she was getting her makeup done, Su Yan was already pointing and criticizing the set pieces around the venue with sharp, unfiltered remarks—so much so that the prop master, having had enough, kicked him out of the filming area.

Back in the makeup room, Su Yan held back his anger and grumbled to Su Nianxi, “People’s aesthetic sense is really going downhill these days.”

Su Nianxi was enduring the makeup artist’s assault on her face. Amid the rhythmic tapping of brushes, she couldn’t speak, only managing a series of vague murmurs.

“What are you babbling about?” Su Yan frowned. “Sounds like a wailing old goat.”

Rolling her eyes at his words, Su Nianxi seized the moment while the makeup artist fetched another brush to interject, “Why don’t you just leave already?”

Su Yan had expected some earth-shattering response, but instead, she was urging him away. Who could stand that? “Ungrateful! I personally drove you here, not holding grudges, and this is how you treat me?”

“It’s not like that,” Su Nianxi said, unaware of what exactly had transpired between the original owner of this body and them. “I’m just busy now. I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”

Her tone made it sound as if Su Yan were some distant collaborator.

Hearing this, Su Yan ground his teeth.

Feeling the chill radiating from him, Su Nianxi forced a laugh. “Oh, I mean, the company’s broke. Having a set at all is a blessing.”

Yet Su Yan clearly lost interest in the set. He glared at her through gritted teeth, clenching his fist. “Honestly, I should have twisted your head off when you said those things.”

“Huh? What did I say?” Su Nianxi hadn’t caught on yet and replied, echoing his words.

But no response came for a while. Puzzled, she looked up to find Su Yan staring at her with a complicated expression.

“What’s wrong?” she tilted her head, feigning innocence.

Su Yan narrowed his eyes and slowly recited the harsh words the original girl had said: “You said the Su family was a prison to you, that your parents treated you like a tool and a sacrifice, that we were stains in your life. You said you wanted to follow Song Xiao forever, and since we were blocking you, you’d cut ties with us completely. You’ve forgotten all that?”

Good grief, the original girl sure knew how to talk.

Su Nianxi shivered, suddenly realizing how kind her brothers were to still keep in touch despite such harsh words.

“Well, those were just angry words, angry words…” she mumbled, trying to smooth things over.

Honestly, she had no clue what the original girl had really said.

But Su Yan smirked ambiguously. “Judging by your attitude these past few months, it doesn’t seem like angry words.”

“Ha, really?” Su Nianxi playfully flipped her hair, only to have the makeup artist smack her hand away.

As Su Nianxi racked her brain for answers to Su Yan’s pressing questions, the makeup room door suddenly opened from outside.

The MV director walked in, leading a foreign young man. He introduced, “Ms. Su, this is Finn, the male lead of your MV.”

“Oh.” Su Nianxi glanced at the blonde guy standing at the door and nodded approvingly.

Not bad—at least he was a foreigner.

Finn was friendly and, seeing the director say no more, took the initiative to chat with Su Nianxi. “Ni hao, I’m Finn.”

“Ni hao, I’m Queen,” Su Nianxi greeted politely.

“Ah?” Finn froze for a moment, hesitating. “Your name’s Queen?”

“Yes,” Su Nianxi nodded confidently. “Because Queen never cry.”

“Heh.”

Finn didn’t quite get the joke, but Su Yan chuckled coldly and turned away, no longer bothering with her.

Watching the reactions of the other staff in the makeup room, Finn guessed Su Nianxi was telling some kind of joke.

So he played along, “Actually, I’m a chill guy, you are a…”

“Chill girl,” Su Nianxi answered instantly, afraid to miss a punchline.

“Yeah!” Finn got excited seeing her catch his words. “How about we produce some chill-dren?”

Su Nianxi: “…”

Suddenly regretting her rapid-fire banter.

Sometimes it’s better to miss a joke.

“Thanks, bro,” Su Nianxi almost stretched out her social hand. “You really made a huge contribution to fighting global warming.”

Beside her, Su Yan silently slipped back on his flashy pink jacket and pulled out a packet of cold medicine. “You really… made the 17-degree air conditioner worse.”

Their bizarre conversation made the crew work faster, eager to usher this makeshift trio—consisting of the foreign buffoon, the cold-medicine prince, and the pun-loving Queen—onto the set.

However, the moment Su Nianxi stepped onto the set, she was so shocked by the almost unrecognizable, drastically changed scene that she nearly tumbled backward out of it.

Was it human nature twisted or morality decayed? What had transformed what was once a fresh, lighthearted filming location into a hardcore mechanical fortress?

Speak!

“It’s money,” Su Yan answered, snapping his fingers.

“But didn’t you say the company was broke? Didn’t they just send you money?” Su Yan raised his chin, looking like a husky always waiting for praise.

Su Nianxi stared blankly and slapped his face away as he paraded in front of her seeking credit. “Bro, your intentions are good, no doubt. But haven’t you forgotten? Our MV theme is Japanese-style light freshness!”