Superstar's Development Diary
Chapter 117: Deception and Evasiveness

Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Deception and Evasiveness

"Besides, this is a photo shoot that the entire cast needs to attend; all the actors have cleared their schedules for today to do the magazine shoot. If we can’t shoot today, we’ll have to coordinate another time, and it’s not possible for everyone to reschedule.

The Lunar New Year is coming, which is a prime time for stars to make money. Basically, many stars’ schedules are already full. At the very least, Wu Daxi’s schedule is definitely packed. His popularity is no less than Jinxia’s, so..."

Luo You said in a deep voice, leaving the rest unsaid, but the others understood what he meant.

It was very likely that apart from the time scheduled for today, Wu Daxi wouldn’t be able to make any other time.

"But Fat Emperor’s health at the moment—"

"Sister Xiao Hua, I’m fine." He Jinxia interrupted Cheng Xiaohua, speaking with a firm tone, "Let’s hurry up and set off."

She smiled reassuringly and said, "Have you forgotten? I’m going for the Lunar New Year special issue. I’m sure to be wearing winter clothes; only that will give the New Year’s atmosphere, right? With such a theme, the magazine shouldn’t make any excruciating demands. Don’t worry."

They weren’t employees of the magazine, so who knew what the magazine might think?

But now, they could only comfort themselves with the reason Jinxia had given.

Wearing winter clothes, she surely wouldn’t catch a cold that would make her illness worse... right?

With worried hearts, Luo You and Cheng Xiaohua escorted He Jinxia to the magazine’s designated photo shoot location.

He Jinxia was led to a private makeup room. On the way, she passed the public makeup room and noticed that other members of the crew had already arrived, except for Wu Daxi and Li Li.

Speaking with the staff, she learned that the two had arrived half an hour earlier and had gone to a private makeup room.

Upon hearing this, He Jinxia’s eyes flickered slightly.

It was understandable for Wu Daxi to have a private makeup room since he was a popular young actor, but Li Li...

Not long after she entered the makeup room, a female makeup artist came in to do He Jinxia’s makeup.

The makeup artist assessed her appearance, selected a set of clothes from a pile for her to change into, and then started styling her hair.

The hairstyling was done quickly; in less than half an hour, He Jinxia moved on to the makeup stage.

Originally, Tony should have come with her, but since she was shooting for "Decorum," a well-established second-tier magazine in Hua Country, everyone in the industry knew that "Decorum" had a rule—they didn’t allow stars to bring their own private makeup artists for their photoshoots!

The magazine had its own philosophy on makeup; the stars’ makeup had to be suited to the theme of that issue. Personal makeup artists, no matter how skilled, were considered by "Decorum" as incapable of grasping the meaning behind the magazine.

Thus, even the makeup done by personal artists for the stars, "Decorum" felt it couldn’t reflect the thematic idea of the magazine. Therefore, from its inception several decades ago to the present day, "Decorum" insisted on using their own makeup artists to do the stars’ makeup.

Tony knew that if he insisted on coming along, he would certainly be turned away, so he had expressed earlier his regret at being unable to accompany her.

"Why is your face so hot?" the makeup artist asked, unable to hide her frown.

He Jinxia’s lips parted, ready to reply, but the next second, the makeup artist said, "Fortunately, your face isn’t oily, so the makeup is still manageable. Don’t talk now; let me apply some lipstick to check the overall complexion."

He Jinxia closed her mouth, a bad feeling arising within her.

For some reason, she always had the feeling that this makeup artist was unreliable.

Perhaps she was used to Tony and other makeup artists applying lipstick last during the makeup process, but now this artist was starting with lipstick, causing Jinxia to feel something was off.

What followed was a series of "bang bang clatter clatter" makeup application—it was really "bang bang clatter clatter"!

He Jinxia silently watched the makeup artist smear some foundation on her face, then duck her head to search for another brand of foundation, with bottles and jars crashing into each other in a disorganized frenzy.

An hour passed, and the makeup artist narrowly finished her makeup.

It had just reached noon when the magazine staff brought over lunch.

He Jinxia had to carefully wipe off the lipstick from her mouth before she could eat lunch.

Being a star had its drawbacks; it was troublesome to eat on time, and if you didn’t want the hassle, you had to wait until work ended. But eating irregularly like this over a long time would break down your body.

Cheng Xiaohua, worried that He Jinxia wouldn’t eat enough, even brought some high-energy biscuits. Although they were average in taste, they definitely staved off hunger.

With He Jinxia’s current work intensity, even if she ate and drank abundantly, it was unlikely she would gain weight, let alone if she ate in an organized manner.

He Jinxia’s team wasn’t worried at all that she would gain weight again.

After finally having a full meal, when the makeup artist came in, He Jinxia quickly reapplied the lipstick.

The makeup artist looked her over and frowned, saying, "Why does your face look a bit oily? The makeup seems to be melting off. I’ll touch it up for you, don’t get yourself overheated again!"

After all that, the makeup artist still hadn’t realized that He Jinxia was running a fever.

Once her makeup was touched up, He Jinxia was called to take photos. On her way to the photo studio, she thought for a moment and said softly to Cheng Xiaohua, who had been following her in case of any emergencies, "Go find Tony and ask him to bring me some setting spray or powder."

Cheng Xiaohua’s expression turned serious, and she nodded, saying, "All right, I’ll go now."

The photo studio was already set up, and when He Jinxia arrived, she saw Li Li happily chatting with Wu Daxi. They both wore smiles and did not notice her arrival.

It was only when He Jinxia approached and greeted them that they snapped back to reality.

Li Li put on a fake smile and hooked arms with He Jinxia, pretending to be on good terms as she said, "Jinxia, it feels like it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, how has shooting been going recently?"

He Jinxia subtly stepped back a few paces. Although her arm was hooked, there was still a distance between them. She smiled and said, "It’s been the same as usual; not bad."

Li Li curiously asked, "Gu Runfei has joined the crew for filming, right? Have you had any interaction with him? Is he as hot and scoundrelly as he looks?"

He Jinxia shook her head, "I haven’t done any scenes with Senior Gu yet. We’ve only met a few times in the crew, not very familiar."

Li Li showed a hint of disappointment on her face, "Oh, I see..."

Wu Daxi coughed a few times, and as if remembering something, Li Li immediately forced a remorseful look on her face and said:

"Jinxia, I’m sorry about last time. I don’t know which paparazzi was so despicable to leak that photo of me crying, causing many netizens to misunderstand you."

It was then that He Jinxia displayed her impressive acting skills, adopting a magnanimous and unconcerned demeanor, "It’s okay, didn’t you clarify it afterward?"

Li Li guiltily responded, "Alas, by the time I saw the news, it was too late, and my clarification wasn’t timely. Please don’t take it to heart; I really didn’t mean for it to happen!"

Unfortunately, Li Li’s acting wasn’t up to par; her forced look of guilt was especially exaggerated and He Jinxia thought to herself that Li Li should find a mirror and see what ’fake’ truly looked like.