In the dimly lit car, at some point, only the two of them were left. It was so quiet that it seemed they could only hear each other's breathing.

Qin Fan, wearing a thin silk qipao, shivered slightly. All five of her senses were amplified.

The man's thin lips drew closer inch by inch. The faint, woody scent of agarwood domineeringly and forcefully occupied all the air she could breathe. Qin Fan subconsciously held her breath, lest her mind be muddled by such a tantalizing scent.

Because of his words, a scale really did appear in her mind.

'Bed buddy' was written on the left, and 'wife' was written on the right.

'No, no, what was there to choose? He might be shameless, but she still had her pride!'

Just as Qin Fan was so nervous she couldn't catch her breath, Xie Yanli's thin lips stopped abruptly, an inch away from hers.

He looked down at her with a faint, unreadable smile.

Qin Fan's dark eyes were wide open, and she finally saw the deep meaning in Xie Yanli's eyes.

With a strength that came from nowhere, she pushed Xie Yanli back into his seat:

"I don't want to!"

Xie Yanli didn't look flustered at all. He smoothly leaned back against the seat, letting out a casual "Mm."

"A Fairy would never agree to car sex." Qin Fan deleted the news notification about car sex and emphatically reminded this duplicitous dog man, "You, a human with such low tastes, shouldn't even attempt to fantasize about this Fairy."

For once, Xie Yanli was very patient and replied again, "Alright."

The dog man's sudden patience made Qin Fan look at him suspiciously: 'So agreeable?'

Seeing Qin Fan frozen in place, Xie Yanli slowly sat up straight, tidying his slightly disheveled suit, and said casually, "Aren't you getting out of the car, oh Fairy that humans cannot fantasize about?"

Although Xie Yanli's voice was as cold and indifferent as ever, making it impossible to discern any emotion, Qin Fan heard a sense of ridicule in it.

Wait?

What right did he have to ridicule her?!

"Xie Yanli, you..." Just as Qin Fan was about to argue with him and get things straight, he got out of the car and left after speaking.

"Stop, don't go." Qin Fan fumbled to unbuckle her seatbelt, then clattered after him in her high heels, grabbing the man's long arm. "Make it clear, were you laughing at me just now?"

They went all the way back to the villa.

Right up until bedtime, Qin Fan still hadn't gotten an answer from Xie Yanli.

Lying in bed so quietly was a rare occurrence, and Qin Fan found she couldn't sleep.

In the moonlight, Qin Fan turned her head to look at him—

Xie Yanli's sleeping posture was just like him, prim and proper, extremely standard, with his hands folded over his abdomen. His eyes were lightly closed, his breathing soft and slow. It was hard to tell if he was asleep.

Qin Fan had a breakthrough in her career today, so she was already having a little trouble sleeping and wanted to talk to someone.

Obviously, the person beside her was the least suitable confidant. Qin Fan averted her gaze, fumbled for her phone, and prepared to scroll through Weibo to help herself fall asleep.

The dim light from the phone screen illuminated a small part of the bedside.

Fifteen minutes later, as Qin Fan stared at her phone, her eyelids began to feel heavy.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, suddenly, the man's lean and powerful body leaned over her. His arms braced on either side of her face like a dense net, enveloping her completely. Though his breathing was still gentle, it now felt intensely aggressive.

Qin Fan was instantly jolted from her daze. She placed her small hands against his chest and asked, "What are you doing?"

The man easily pinned both of her hands above her head, looked down at her, and said in a slow voice, "Giving you the treatment 'Mrs. Xie' deserves."

'So the treatment for Mrs. Xie was to stay up in the middle of the night and be available for Mr. Xie's physical needs at any time?'

'What was the difference between this and being in the car? It was just a change of venue!'

Qin Fan's eyelashes were moist with forced-out tears, the corners of her eyes tinged with red. The very pale beauty mark below the corner of her eye seemed to have become vivid and enchanting.

The clean pad of Xie Yanli's finger touched the corner of her eye, then his fingertip toyed with her long, thick eyelashes.

Nighttime, in bed, an adult man and woman. From the time and place to the people involved, everything heralded what was about to happen, steeped in an extreme and intense sensuality.

Qin Fan felt her throat go a little dry, and she subconsciously moistened her crimson lips.

But unexpectedly, Xie Yanli was the one who kissed her first.

Qin Fan's dark pupils widened abruptly.

This dog man was a clean freak. In their two years of marriage, the number of times he had kissed her could be counted on one hand.

In her astonishment—

The man's cool, thin lips fumbled in the darkness for the woman's soft ones. His warm breath brushed against the side of her fair face like a feather.

Qin Fan subconsciously tried to pull away but was held firmly by the nape of her neck.

The initially gentle, lingering kiss grew more urgent.

Her mind was in a muddle as she thought: 'This dog man's kissing technique is terrible. He bumped into my lips.'

Qin Fan instinctively bit back.

And then—

Things spiraled out of control.

The shower had been for nothing.

Morning, nine o'clock.

When Qin Fan woke up, aside from the faint, lingering scent of agarwood, there was no other trace of the man having slept in the room.

After a quick wash, she went downstairs, looking languid in an ankle-length silk nightgown.

The maid had already set out breakfast.

While Qin Fan was eating, she received a call from Jiang Rong.

Jiang Rong's voice was full of pleasant surprise: "The crew of Feng Hua has notified you to come for an audition this afternoon."

"How did you convince Director Pei last night?"

As she recalled, Director Pei was known to be the most difficult to please in the directing circle.

Qin Fan's fingers, holding the fork, paused. Her beautiful eyes held a hint of delight. "Perhaps... my beauty?"

Jiang Rong was speechless for a moment but couldn't think of any other reason.

'Let's just assume he was won over by her beauty.'

After her joke, Qin Fan thoughtfully sped up her eating. Now that she had the audition opportunity, the rest would truly depend on her skills.

Qin Fan closed her eyes. From Fang Yuze to getting the audition, everything had gone so unbelievably smoothly that it felt unreal.

She pinched her fingers and stopped eating breakfast, using the little time she had to ponder her acting skills.

A last-minute cram session, what if it actually worked?

That afternoon, Qin Fan appeared in the audition hall for Feng Hua, accompanied by her assistant, Xiao Tu.

Jiang Rong had some business at the company and couldn't accompany her.

In fact, the auditions for Feng Hua had already quietly begun in private. It was just that not many actors had received invitations, and everything was kept confidential. If one more person knew, wouldn't that mean one more competitor? No one was stupid.

Feng Hua was a big-budget film set in the Republican era. To replicate the authentic historical buildings and scenes of that time, the production team had spent several years scouting locations and building sets. It had already cost a fortune before filming even began, so it was no exaggeration to call this film Pei Feng's lifeblood.

The role Fang Yuze had previously recommended Qin Fan for was the third female lead, the male lead's White Moonlight, who was brutally killed by the enemy for his sake. She was an extreme perfectionist who, even in an era of war and smoke, had to die exquisitely and beautifully. Throughout the film, she existed only in the male lead's memories.

And the White Moonlight bore a resemblance to the female protagonist. The first time the male and female leads met, he mistook the heroine for the resurrected White Moonlight.

The female protagonist of Feng Hua, Ning Fenghua, went undercover among the enemy forces alone. In her qipao, she captivated the eyes of thousands of passionate men. Her personality was mercurial; one second she could be smiling at you with enchanting charm, and the next, she could coldly and mercilessly raise a gun and put a bullet through your brow.

In this film, both the female lead and the third female lead were stunning beauties full of charm.

Only after arriving did Qin Fan realize that Pei Feng had given her the audition for the female lead.

When Qin Fan changed into a dark green military jacket with a belt buckled at her waist, she shed her usual lazy and casual demeanor. She straightened her back, looking both dashing and cool. No one would think for a moment that the uniform didn't suit her looks.

The scene she drew was of the female lead coldly and mercilessly pointing a gun at the male lead, arguably one of the most difficult scenes in the entire script.

While waiting for her audition, Qin Fan opened WeChat to ease her nerves, looking for someone to vent to.

She scrolled through her contacts and finally landed on one with a blank profile picture, noted as—Sleeping Partner.