Cen Xiangyang was fully prepared for his meeting with Ji Fanyin.
Despite Song Shiyu's attempts to conceal the truth, he was still able to make some deductions based on the other party's attitude and words.
For example, Song Shiyu seemed to be particularly sensitive to the word 'substitute'. He was also oddly determined to stop him from obtaining Ji Fanyin's contact number.
Through his constant harassment of Song Shiyu over the last few days, Cen Xiangyang felt that he had finally gotten to the bottom of this matter.
Most likely, there's some sort of dirty deal between Song Shiyu and Ji Fanyin.
Cen Xiangyang had actually never heard of Ji Fanyin prior to this. He was one of Ji Xinxin's suitors, but all along, he thought that she was the only daughter of the Ji Family.
Not once had Ji Xinxin mentioned the existence of her twin sister to him.
So, he spent some time visiting his juniors in Lakeside University and was surprised to learn that the Ji Fanyin he had met that day was very different from the 'Ji Fanyin' they knew of.
They said that 'Ji Fanyin' was a gloomy reclusive, but Cen Xiangyang couldn't see how those two words could be applied to the Ji Fanyin he met at the movie premiere.
They said that 'Ji Fanyin' was extremely ugly and dared not show her own face, but Cen Xiangyang felt his heart pounding in excitement just thinking about the Ji Fanyin he met.
They said that 'Ji Fanyin' liked Song Shiyu, but Cen Xiangyang couldn't sense any affection from her attitude toward Song Shiyu. He could only conclude that she was able to hide her emotions well.
The results made him feel like he had collected a bunch of false intelligence. In fact, he felt a little regretful that Ji Fanyin wasn't a social recluse. Someone like that would have been much easier to control.
It looks like I can only count on my verbal skills to entice this thorny rose into making a deal with me.
Cen Xiangyang spent some time making thorough preparations to ensure that everything would go his way before finally dropping her a call. It was already a few days later by then, but he was confident that his mixture of threats and baits would be enough to make her accept his deal.
Sitting in the book café they had agreed to meet at, Cen Xiangyang picked out a book named 'The Lucifer Effect' in a good mood while waiting for Ji Fanyin's arrival. He took a look at the time as he flipped open the book.
I guess I can magnanimously forgive her even if she's late. It won't be long before she's mine anyway.
Three minutes before the agreed meeting time, Ji Fanyin arrived at the restaurant.
She walked toward the table under a waiter's lead. She took a glance at the cover of Cen Xiangyang's book and remarked with a smile, "The Stanford prison experiment. Who are you hoping to change?"
Words that directly pointed out the origin of the book meant that she wasn't just flaunting her knowledge here. Cen Xiangyang was about to rise to his feet when those words caused him to freeze up for a brief moment.
'The Lucifer Effect' and the Stanford prison experiment weren't exactly obscure topics, but very few of those who didn't dabble in related fields knew about them.
"It caught my eye when I was looking through the bookshelves earlier. I've only just started on it." Cen Xiangyang was able to quickly adjust his state and reply with an innocent smile. "I've only taken a brief look, but I must say that the notion that a person could be easily changed by their environment is quite an intriguing one."
Ji Fanyin didn't bother further discussing this topic with him. She responded with a casual nod and took her seat. "I must have kept you waiting."
"Nah, I've also just arrived not too long ago," replied Cen Xiangyang. He passed the menu to Ji Fanyin and said, "There's something that I'd like to talk to you about today... Shall we first order some food? I'll treat you."
Ji Fanyin's eyebrows shot up. She decisively picked out two expensive dishes and a freshly-squeezed beverage that had an artsy but incomprehensible name.
After the waiter confirmed the orders and took his leave, Cen Xiangyang picked up the teapot and poured Ji Fanyin a cup of barley tea. "I've been quite busy ever since that day, so I wasn't able to ask you out till today."
Ji Fanyin received the cup of barley and thanked him. "Busy with your new movie?"
"Yeah. There's a great deal of preparation work to be done before filming... Just like the ancient saying, 'the rations move before the army.'" Cen Xiangyang placed the teapot aside and carefully pushed the conversation toward the direction he wanted.
"It's interesting how the concept of the movie I've decided on half a month ago happens to be about a pair of twins too. Don't you think that it's a coincidence?" he asked with a casual tone that made it sound like a passing remark.
Ji Fanyin raised her eyebrows in interest, a signal for him to continue speaking.
Cen Xiangyang felt a little peeved by her expression. It wasn't one that he thought would ever appear on Ji Xinxin's face. It was too casual and perfunctory.
Ji Xinxin should be more... elegant, pure, and innocent.
"The story is about a pair of estranged twin brothers who have never met one another before. The older brother is a respected cop whereas the younger brother is an idle vagrant. One day, the younger brother witnessed his older brother getting murdered by his enemies. He coveted his older brother's standing and lover, so he stole his identification documents and headed to his home. He wanted to take over his position."
Ji Fanyin calmly listened to his story with the cup of barley tea in her hands. She even chuckled softly in response to his words at one point in time.
This chuckle looks a little like Ji Xinxin, Cen Xiangyang thought. Now I really want to hurry up and make her mine.
Ji Fanyin waited for Cen Xiangyang to finish his story before asking, "Was the younger brother exposed in the end?"
"We'll have to wait for the movie to hit the theaters in order to find out," Cen Xiangyang reined in his thoughts and replied in a half-joking manner.
"Surely it's impossible for him not to be exposed?" Ji Fanyin got straight to the point. "Without the suspense from the constant threat of being exposed, the movie would lose its greatest charm."
"But don't you think that the premise is pretty interesting?" asked Cen Xiangyang. "Actually, I'm quite curious since you and your younger sister are twins too. Are the two of you able to act as one another impeccably to the point where it's impossible to tell the two of you apart?"
He didn't receive an answer right away because the waiter served their first dish then.
It was only after the waiter left that Ji Fanyin finally answered his question, "I'm quite curious about that too, but we have never tried that before."
"I thought that twins would put their identical appearances to full use and swap places with one another," Cen Xiangyang replied with a regretful sigh.
He was indeed feeling a little regretful as Ji Fanyin was turning out to be a difficult catch, just as he had expected. However, he had no plans on giving up. He was determined to reel her in by hook or by crook.
So, he decided to take a step back and attack from another angle. "Song Shiyu told me about your affairs the other day... I heard that your parents are a little biased?"
The earnestly eating Ji Fanyin stopped what she was doing.
She raised her head, looked at Cen Xiangyang, and said with a smile, "Director Cen, don't you think that your round about way of speaking is a waste of time for adults?"
Cen Xiangyang was choked up by her straightforward rebuttal for two seconds before he was able to slowly reply, "It looks like you're a smart person too. I've already heard about your affairs from people who know you. Your parents only dote on Xinxin, making you an invisible person in the household. It's almost like they only have a single daughter... Is that true?"
"Yes, that's true," replied Ji Fanyin with a distracted nod.
Cen Xiangyang realized that Ji Fanyin had just taken away the most tender piece of meat from the torched marble goby fish: "..."
He paused for a moment before proceeding with his script, "Don't you want to become Ji Xinxin and be as loved as she is?"
Ji Fanyin raised her head to present a surprised look and said, "No, I want to enter the Forbes' wealthiest people ranking. I don't expect too much, just ten billion... No, 9.8 billion would suffice."
Cen Xiangyang narrowed his eyes and asked slowly, "You're denying it, but isn't that what you're doing with Song Shiyu? Or are you trying to say that... It's fine with Song Shiyu but not with anyone else?"
"Anyone else?"
"With me."
There wasn't any hint of surprise on Ji Fanyin's face at all. She rested her chin on her hand and said, "Carry on."
"This is a good thing for both you and me," said Cen Xiangyang confidently. "We can both get what we want. You'll obtain your younger sister's happiness, and I'll attain the sense of satisfaction I seek."
"That's not right." Ji Fanyin shook her head. "The order should be reversed. I can give you the sense of satisfaction you want, and I'll obtain what I'm seeking."
"How's that any different?" Cen Xiangyang was unbothered by her seemingly meaningless argument on semantics.
"What I want is not the happiness of others," said Ji Fanyin. "What I'm looking for is something simpler and far more practical."
Cen Xiangyang sensed that he was gradually losing power over the flow of the conversation, and the loss of control made him feel a little anxious. "What is it?"
"Director Cen, don't you pay the actors who work for you?"
"..." Cen Xiangyang was silent for a few seconds before he finally grasped what Ji Fanyin was getting at. He stared at her in disbelief and exclaimed, "You want money?"
No. No no no no! How could my Ji Xinxin possibly be obsessed with dirty money?
"Is there a problem with that?" asked Ji Fanyin.
Cen Xiangyang suddenly thought that Song Shiyu was very pitiful. "Song Shiyu paid you as well?"
Ji Fanyin crossed her hands and said, "I'm afraid I can't answer that question."
Cen Xiangyang: "..."
The conversation had gone down a different direction from what he had expected, but the endpoint looked to be the same. At least they did manage to exchange their views and expressed their interest to proceed with this transaction.
Things still looked optimistic thus far.
It was just that Cen Xiangyang couldn't help but feel like something was wrong as he paid for the meal.
It was only till he walked out of the restaurant and saw a couple of people giving out flyers about a gym membership that it finally struck him.
She's really viewing this as a business? It feels like she'll be even more vicious than gym memberships when ripping off her clients.
Ji Fanyin put on her coat as she asked him, "Would you like to have a look at the fee structure?"
"..." Cen Xiangyang felt like he was just like a plump lamb who had caught the eye of a wolf.
But he was the one who first raised the suggestion, and he did want to entertain himself with this imitation while Ji Xinxin was away.
So, Cen Xiangyang's eyes curled into a smile, and he said, "It'll be fine as long as you ensure that it's value for money."
...
Not too long after the two of them parted ways, Cen Xiangyang received the so-called fee structure from Ji Fanyin. He checked the document's last edit and noted that it had just been reviewed not too long ago.
What would lead to her reviewing her fee structure in recent days?
With this thought in his mind, Cen Xiangyang opened the document and was immediately met with a series of detailed rules. It really looked like the fee structure of a legitimate company.
On top of that, the most important part was placed obediently in the middle of the document, almost like a wolf hiding amidst a pack of sheep.
When Cen Xiangyang saw that the prices started from 100,000 dollars per hour: "..."
This is almost on par with top-tier celebrities! Is Song Shiyu really paying her this sum or compensating her through his body?