Public [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Treacherous Undercurrents**

As Qin Mang uttered those brief two words, the room fell into complete silence.

Everyone present was a top-tier elite, rarely paying attention to entertainment gossip—only a few exceptions existed.
Especially given Qin Mang’s aggressive and striking beauty, which made her instantly recognizable. She effortlessly overshadowed the similarly styled Shen Wanyin.

Under the stares of the powerful attendees, Qin Mang remained composed. She calmly walked past Shen Wanyin, who was blocking her path, and glanced around the room—only to find no empty seats.

Her gaze landed on He Lingji.

Under the dim, antique-style palace lamp lighting, the man sat quietly. His posture was elegant and refined, yet he radiated an innate sense of pressure that kept others at bay.

This was exactly why Shen Wanyin had instinctively dropped to one knee—
As if afraid to defile a god.

For a brief moment, they made eye contact. Then, without hesitation, Qin Mang simply sat herself down on He Lingji’s knee.

Her slender arms wrapped around the man’s long, pale neck.

Forget about gods or propriety.

She had come to the club to have dinner with her film crew—only to catch this unfaithful dog shamelessly flirting next door.

Shen Wanyin quickly realized what was happening, her stiff knees straightening as she stared in disbelief at Qin Mang’s brazen move. “Qin Mang… what gives you the right to refuse on He’s behalf?”

Dressed in a stunning qipao, the woman sat confidently on a man as aloof and dignified as a deity. Her every movement radiated an alluring charm that others could only dream of imitating.

Qin Mang chuckled softly, as though she had just heard a joke. A laugh so light it was like a feather brushing the heart.

Her watery eyes turned sideways, casting a seductive glance at the man serving as her seat. “President He, didn’t you promise that if you ever engaged in unspoken rules, you’d consider me first?”

The crowd was dumbfounded.
She really said that out loud?!

Was she weaponizing her beauty?

Rumor had it that over the years, many beautiful actresses and even heiresses had tried to pursue or seduce He Lingji, but he’d never shown the slightest interest. It was as if he had no such desires—some even believed he had transcended worldly temptations.

And now, this same man was allowing a woman who looked like a seductive siren to sit so wantonly on his lap.

Could it be—

Everyone held their breath, waiting for President He’s response.

Unexpectedly—

A few seconds later, He Lingji replied with an emotionless “Oh,” then seemed to ponder,
“Did I promise that?”

Shen Wanyin lit up with hope. “President He never said that,” she said quickly.

Her words fell fast and sharp.

The atmosphere in the room froze like shattered glass.

The smile on Qin Mang’s pretty face faltered for a split second.

He was really going to leave her hanging?

Could it be he actually liked Shen Wanyin?

Her gaze skimmed past Shen Wanyin, then suddenly locked onto her long, fluffy, black curls—

They looked familiar.

The more she looked, the more it resembled her own favorite hairstyle, down to the exact curl pattern.

Remembering the words she overheard before entering, Qin Mang’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.

Her loosely wrapped arms around his neck tightened. The corner of her eye, tinged with seductive red, lifted slightly. “What do you mean, you didn’t say that?”

Then she leaned in and whispered just loud enough for the two of them to hear, word by word:
“I was *personally selected* by Mrs. He.”

“The number one ‘Flower of Speech’.”

Chosen by Mrs. He herself.

So—

He Lingji leaned back slightly against his chair, his gray-blue eyes scanning the room with icy authority. His voice was calm, yet left no room for debate:
“Everyone, feel free to leave.”

The message was clear—get out.

“President He—”
Shen Wanyin wasn’t ready to give up. How was she any worse than Qin Mang? Why was she being shut out again?

She could still remember it clearly—
President He had looked at *her* first!

Secretary Cong and the bodyguards waiting outside entered with respectful but firm attitudes: “This way, please.”

Their primary concern was Shen Wanyin.

Secretary Cong had noticed something off in the way she looked at Madam He.

As she was being ‘escorted’ out, Shen Wanyin caught one last glimpse of the pair under the soft lighting—two figures that looked like a match made in heaven. Resentment boiling inside her, she suddenly asked:
“President He, if you never had feelings for me, then why did you look at me like that before?”

“You made me… *hope*.”

What was that supposed to mean?

That He Lingji had led her on?

Secretary Cong didn’t even dare look at Madam He’s expression.

If not for his commitment to gentlemanly conduct and restraint, he would’ve gagged the woman on the spot.

Nonsense.

“Miss Shen, this isn’t a place for your baseless remarks.”

Secretary Cong blocked her line of sight and had the bodyguards forcibly remove her.

Meanwhile, he remained nearby—just in case Madam He and President He ended up in a spat. He could help explain.

Unexpectedly, neither of them seemed bothered by Shen Wanyin’s parting words.

They didn’t even mention her.
As if she were completely irrelevant.

He Lingji was just about to stretch his leg when he spoke:
“Madam He—”

Just as Qin Mang, still caught up in her thoughts about Shen Wanyin’s hair, assumed he was about to pick a fight again.

She reflexively interrupted,
“Madam He is a proper businesswoman. She doesn’t engage in hidden rules—it’s not how President He operates.”

She mimicked He Lingji’s usual tone, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Well? Did I sound like you?”
“Was that what you were going to say?”

*Pfft.*

Secretary Cong, standing off to the side like a statue, mentally revisited every sorrowful moment in his life just to keep from laughing.

He didn’t dare laugh—
But it was spot-on!

Madam He was truly a master of mimicry.

Facing her wide-eyed, mischievous gaze, He Lingji reached up with his jade-like fingers, calmly loosening his tightly fastened tie. His typically cold, abstinent expression turned into a faint smile:
“No.”

“What I was going to say was…”

His deep, magnetic voice paused for a second before whispering something unfinished by her ear:
“I—”

Qin Mang’s mind swirled with his light yet direct words.

*Ahhhh!*

*This dog of a man has no shame!*

How could he say something like that with such a cold and indifferent face?

Next second, he added casually,
“You’ve been sitting too long.”

Qin Mang froze.

He wasn’t lying—
She really had been sitting there for quite a while, completely absorbed in her thoughts.

Then, like a gentleman, He Lingji moved her aside.
“You’ve crossed a line. Can you get off me now?”

Qin Mang’s brain short-circuited.

The more she thought about it, the more unacceptable it seemed!

That unfinished line—if he *reacted*, was it still “crossing a line”?!

“Well, sorry for offending the pure and noble President He,” she said with mock sincerity.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she crossed her arms and looked down at him, sarcasm laced in every word:
“It’s not my fault. You just don’t leave much of an impression.”

“…”

He Lingji laughed.

His relaxed expression was breathtaking, beautiful like a carnivorous flower—stunning, yet laced with deadly danger.

After a pause—

His thin lips parted slightly to say two words:
“Very good.”

Secretary Cong nearly cried.

He wished he could become blind and deaf on the spot.

Would he even make it out of this room alive?

Madam He paid the price for her sarcasm.

On her first day of filming, Qin Mang wasn’t defeated by the script—
She was defeated by He Lingji.

At first, she was stubborn:
“He Lingji, you dog!”

Later, she tried a softer approach:
“Hubby~ I *really* realize I was wrong…”

“How could Madam He be wrong? It’s *my* fault.”

“No, no, our President He could never be wrong! It’s all *my* fault!”
For the first time ever, Qin Mang rushed to take the blame, and quite sincerely at that.

“No, it’s *my* fault—for not letting Madam He understand me well enough.”

“I—I understand you deeply!”

“Oh?”
He Lingji spoke slowly and deliberately.
“In what way?”

Madam He, known for her sharp tongue, was finally at a loss for words. “…”

Should she write a whole essay explaining how “deeply” she understood him?

President He nodded.
“Sure.”

Then offered a timely suggestion,
“A standard essay is about 3,000 words. So—”

Qin Mang, deadpan:
“Keep dreaming.”

**The next morning…**

Sunlight streamed through the sheer curtains into the spacious master bedroom, scattering flecks of golden light across the edge of the luxurious black velvet bed. As the temperature in the room rose, Qin Mang, as usual, was awakened by the heat from her furnace-like body constitution.

Her slender wrist instinctively reached to the side, habitually searching for the “manual air conditioner” to cool down, but she came up empty.

She struggled to open her sleepy eyes.

To her confusion, she realized that the man who had been sleeping beside her had vanished, along with the suitcase that had stood by the door.

Hmph.

He came without a word and left just the same.

It made Qin Mang feel like she’d been taken advantage of for nothing.

Especially when she accidentally found a business card under the pillow—this feeling intensified!

The black card with silver embossing was very much in line with He Lingji’s personal style.

Utterly noble and cold—it only had:

A name, and a company.

No title, as if confident that anyone who got their hands on the card would already know who he was.

But why did the whole scene feel so… off?

Showtime was approaching, so Qin Mang didn’t think too deeply about it. She slipped the card into her bag and headed to the set.

—

**In the makeup room.**

Qin Mang lowered her eyelashes, absentmindedly toying with the black card with silver letters. Her soft, pale fingertips pinched the sharp edge—it looked like her delicate skin could be cut at any moment.

Due to the filming schedule, He Lingji was respectful of Mrs. He’s profession.

You could say he was careful—above the neck, she looked perfectly untouched.

But also not—because at that moment, Assistant Tong was blushing furiously while applying concealer to Qin Mang’s fair, beautiful ankle.

Next to them, Meng Ting cleared his throat and reminded, “Next time, tell President He to be a little more careful.”

If they were filming a scene and the makeup accidentally got rubbed off…

And if the media showed up during a surprise visit…

That would be a big scandal.

After all, Qin Mang had just publicly declared her ambition to shine in the entertainment industry—and then a scandal breaks out? Meng Ting didn’t even want to imagine it.

He quickly changed the subject to something more serious. “You mentioned last night that there was something off about Shen Wanyin. I actually had someone look into it.”

“What did you find?”

Qin Mang finally looked a bit interested. When the stylist asked about accessories, she casually pointed to a uniquely designed ruby brooch. Many of the vintage pieces worn by her character were ones she had brought from home.

The stylist next to her sincerely praised, “Teacher Qin, your sense of style is amazing.”

“It goes perfectly with the costume.”

Thinking of what Wei Qin and Shen Wanyin had done, Meng Ting didn’t hide his disgust. “Shen Wanyin has been deliberately copying you.”

“She’s copying me?”

Qin Mang frowned slightly, puzzled. “But didn’t she debut earlier than me?”

When Qin Mang entered the industry, Shen Wanyin was already well known as a ‘goddess with bold, dramatic features.’

“That’s exactly what’s so disgusting about their team!” Meng Ting grew more agitated.

He nearly smashed his tablet in front of her.

Taking a deep breath, he finally explained, “Wei Qin saw that video of your white lion dance. At the time, not many people had discovered it. She predicted you’d blow up in the entertainment world, so she jumped the gun and gave Shen Wanyin a makeover similar to yours—presenting her as a sultry beauty with strong features, and debuted the new look on the red carpet at a major film festival. It made a big splash.”

“Then after your debut, they played even dirtier—releasing heavily edited magazine photos of Shen Wanyin and comparing them to your unfiltered everyday shots. So when you finally appeared on-screen, the public had already been primed to think, ‘Wow, she’s already this beautiful? Then Shen Wanyin must be even more stunning!’”

Meng Ting swiped through photos on his tablet and showed her. “Look, this was her before your debut.”

A pure, innocent girl-next-door look.

“So she got a taste of success from copying me, and then took it to the extreme—even copying the exact curl of my hair?”

Qin Mang couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically.

“No wonder she’s desperate for you to fall into scandal and get kicked out of the industry. She saw that your new drama is becoming a hit, and now you’ve got a growing fanbase—those ‘Shen Wanyin outshines Qin Mang’ posts are starting to fall flat.”

“Hmph, she’s really bold.”

She looked at her flawless reflection in the mirror.

Her red lips curved into a slightly wicked smirk. “Since she cares so much about upstaging me, let’s give her the chance.”

She then slowly laid out a plan.

After hearing it, Meng Ting couldn’t help but exclaim, “Truly, the most vicious—”

He paused under Qin Mang’s sharp gaze.

“—most brilliant fairy-hearted goddess.”

Just then, a staff member knocked on the door outside. “Teacher Qin, it’s time for your scene.”

“Coming.”

Qin Mang casually tossed the business card she had been playing with for an hour into the jewelry box. But just as she was about to leave, she suddenly froze.

She finally realized what was so odd about the scene she woke up to that morning in the presidential suite.

Damn it.

Wasn’t it exactly like one of those over-the-top CEO romance clichés? The domineering CEO accidentally sleeps with the wrong woman, leaves behind a business card, hinting the heroine can come find him to claim her “payment”—but the proud heroine refuses to bow to money. Then, three years later, she returns in glory with a genius child to confront the man and reveal he’s the father!

The most important thing was—

Qin Mang suddenly clutched her lower abdomen, and her eyes—made even more alluring by makeup—flashed with a hint of panic.

He Lingji… he didn’t use—?