"Ouch, my eyebrows..." Qin Qiao'er suddenly swatted away the makeup artist's hand and leaned closer to the mirror to take a careful look. "Help me check. Is there something extra in my eyebrows?"
"N-no..." The makeup artist, looking guilty, dared not meet her eyes and tried to brush it off. "Qiaoqiao, you must be seeing things. Let me continue with your makeup." With that, she reached out her hand, but was blocked by Tu Qinqin as she tried to push Qin Qiao'er back into the chair.
"If Qiaoqiao says there's a problem, then there is. You're so flustered. Are you feeling guilty?" Tu Qinqin challenged her, grabbing the makeup artist's hand and motioning for Qin Qiao'er to look at the makeup case. "Qiaoqiao, take off your makeup and check her makeup case. There must be something wrong..."
Following Tu Qinqin's instructions, Qin Qiao'er found two identical cosmetics in the makeup case. One had an expiration date and production certificate, while the other was a no-name product with nothing. It was obvious to anyone what was going on.
Realizing she had been caught, the makeup artist panicked.
"You can explain the problem to the director yourself." Although Qin Qiao'er had a good temper, she wasn't a soft target to be bullied. "How dare you use fake cosmetics on people's faces? I, Qin Qiao'er, can't afford a makeup artist like you..."
"Qiaoqiao, I have an old and a young at home, waiting for me to support the family. Can you..." The makeup artist pleaded, deliberately avoiding mentioning Song Qianqian. After all, using inferior cosmetics and deliberately ruining a star's appearance were two different things. She still wanted to continue working in the industry. "I know it was wrong of me to use inferior cosmetics. Qiaoqiao, give me another chance. I promise..."
"Do you think I'd still dare to let you be my makeup artist now?" Qin Qiao'er retorted with a mocking smile. If she hadn't heard Tu Qinqin's account of seeing the makeup artist interacting with Song Qianqian, she might have been deceived by the makeup artist's excellent acting skills of crying on cue. "If you want me not to pursue this, go and apply to the production staff for a transfer on your own."
"Okay, okay." The makeup artist quickly grabbed her makeup case and tried to slip away.
But Tu Qinqin wasn't going to let the matter go so easily. "Wait. Leave those no-name cosmetics behind. If anything happens to Qiaoqiao in the future, we'll at least know where to find the source, right?"
"Going too far." The makeup artist muttered under her breath, but had no choice but to leave the evidence behind and slink away.
A short while later, a taciturn makeup artist arrived. With excellent skills, she quickly finished applying the makeup for Qin Qiao'er's character, without delaying the shooting. Qin Qiao'er had no problems acting with others, but when it came to Song Qianqian, things went wrong. Qin Qiao'er watched with amusement as Song Qianqian messed up the scene again and again, her acting so exaggerated that it was unbearable to watch.
"Song Qianqian, can you act or not?" Director Zhang said with a dark face. He once again had the thought of kicking Song Qianqian out of the cast.
The news of Qin Qiao'er changing her makeup artist couldn't be hidden from those well-informed people in the crew. Director Zhang also knew what had happened, but since the person involved had chosen to let it go, he didn't want to interfere too much. However, he now had a better impression of Qin Qiao'er. No one disliked a sensible, intelligent, and worry-free person. Director Zhang was no exception. He just wanted to finish filming a high-quality movie.
He didn't expect it to be a classic that would go down in history, but at least it wouldn't be a ridiculous movie that was criticized everywhere. But there were just some people who didn't focus on acting. Director Zhang was in a difficult position because of the investor. Despite his difficulty, thinking of the investment he had received, Director Zhang could only suppress his anger. "Song Qianqian, if you can't act, come here and I'll give you some pointers."
"Director, there's no need..." Song Qianqian refused without even thinking. She didn't want to deal with Director Zhang at all, especially after being privately summoned by the investor after the wire-flying incident. She was sure it was Qin Qiao'er who had caused trouble behind her back. Song Qianqian glared at Qin Qiao'er resentfully and secretly added another mark against her.
Director Zhang laughed instead of getting angry. "Fine. If this take doesn't work, Song Qianqian, you can leave on your own. No one can stop me."
Director Zhang had never seen someone as ungrateful as Song Qianqian. Although she was related to Qin Qiao'er and had a good advantage, she insisted on causing trouble for herself, turning their relationship sour and ruining her own reputation. She was really a fool. She wasn't as good at handling things as Qin Qiao'er. Director Zhang sighed.
After Qin Qiao'er learned that Song Qianqian had also gotten the role of the supporting actress, Tu Qinqin had taken the initiative to talk to Director Zhang and asked him to be more tolerant during the filming. Although there was no special promotion for Song Qianqian as she had hoped, Tu Qinqin didn't smear her either. That's how the entertainment industry was. No matter how fierce the private feud was, they still had to maintain a good appearance.
With Qin Qiao'er setting a good example, Song Qianqian, who was always causing trouble, seemed even more out of place.
It wasn't without reason that the Song family had declined. Director Zhang watched as Song Qianqian agreed to continue filming. This time, she performed just passably. Her acting wasn't outstanding, but at least there were no more problems. The filming went smoothly, and the morning's shooting was over. Just as Qin Qiao'er was about to go back to her room to rest, she received a message from Tu Qinqin.
"Come quickly to the first restaurant outside the crew. See the surprise I've brought you!" Tu Qinqin said excitedly on the phone. "I guarantee you'll love this surprise."
"Is it Chenchen and Wanwan?" Qin Qiao'er's eyes lit up.
She missed these two little guys so much. It had been almost two months since she last saw them, and she didn't know how much they had grown. As the old saying went, children changed every day. Qin Qiao'er was afraid that she would miss her two babies too much after the filming was over.
"It's a secret. Come and see for yourself." Tu Qinqin deliberately kept her in suspense.
After saying hello to Director Zhang, Qin Qiao'er couldn't wait to meet Tu Qinqin outside the crew. As soon as the twins saw Qin Qiao'er, they immediately ran over and hugged her legs tightly. Their sweet smiles made people feel dizzy. Qin Qiao'er was so excited that she hugged the twins tightly.
"Mom, are you surprised?" Qin Wanwan and Qin Chenchen asked in unison.
"Surprised. You two are the biggest surprises in my life." Even though she had guessed that the surprise Tu Qinqin mentioned was the twins, Qin Qiao'er was still overjoyed. "Come on. Mom will take you to dinner and then show you around the crew."
"Great!" The twins clung to Qin Qiao'er closely. "Aunt Tu said there are a lot of fun things on the set. Mom, can you tell us about them..."
"Sure..." Qin Qiao'er picked out the interesting things on the set to tell them.
She told them about the small mistakes during filming and how the director gave instructions to the actors. The two little ones were laughing out loud. Qin Qiao'er and Tu Qinqin took the twins to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It would have been a pleasant noon if it hadn't been for Song Qianqian, the troublemaker.
Song Qianqian was like a shadow that wouldn't leave. It was as if she had installed a tracker on Qin Qiao'er.