"No, that's okay, Veronica. I'll go find some ice myself in a bit."

  Cynthia was flustered and apprehensive. Veronica was a big star, yet she was being so kind and approachable to her, even offering to get her an ice pack.

  Her words seemed to refuse, but inside, she was both happy and proud.

  Veronica smiled and said, "It's no trouble at all. I have some ready right there. It's a simple thing, don't be polite."

  Her act as a kind and caring senior made both Chloe and Cynthia's impression of her improve greatly.

  Little did they know, the moment she turned around, the smile was torn from Veronica's face like a mask, her lips curling slightly with a trace of contempt.

  After getting the ice pack, Cynthia knew the priority was to apply it, so she gave Chloe a cold snort and turned to leave.

  Chloe's expression remained calm as she returned to her own makeup room.

  Lily wasn't there at the moment. She went straight to the small fridge, took out a bottle of water, and drank.

  The cool temperature instantly dispersed the summer heat around her, making her feel much more comfortable.

  Just then, there was a knock on the door. Chloe said, "Come in," her gaze turning questioningly towards it.

  The door opened to reveal a staff member with a work ID peeking in first, followed by two young people.

  A man and a woman, neither looking very old.

  "Ms. Dorothy?"

  The man's opening words startled Chloe. She quickly waved her hand. "Please don't call me that. Just my name is fine."

  She didn't have a single official production under her belt yet; she couldn't bear the title "Ms."

  The man smiled and nodded, introducing himself. "I'm Larry, head of the publicity department at 'Golden Joe'."

  "Hello, Mr. Larry. May I ask what brings you here?" Chloe asked politely.

  'Golden Joe Entertainment & Culture Ltd.' was the production company behind this drama. Larry was here on the instructions of his boss, Jones, to deliver assistants to Chloe.

  "It's like this, Chloe. We considered that you currently don't have a company or team, right? So, to allow you to focus wholeheartedly on filming while on set, we've arranged two temporary assistants for you."

  As Larry spoke, he stepped aside. The young man and woman took a step forward. The man spoke first, proactively, "Hello, Ms. Dorothy. I'm Edward, your personal assistant."

  The woman followed immediately, "Ms. Dorothy, I'm Taylor, your attendant assistant."

  Chloe was stunned for a moment before reacting. She hurriedly said, "No, no, please don't call me that. I'm probably younger than both of you. Just call me Chloe."

  Then she turned to Larry, looking somewhat embarrassed as she politely declined, "Mr. Larry, I'm a newcomer. There's no reason for me to have two assistants. I can manage myself. It's really no trouble for everyone."

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  "Chloe, it's true you're new, but you are one of the leads. Things on set can be very complicated. Having assistants can help you handle many things, allowing you to focus more on your work. This is all arranged by our company for you. You don't need to pay."

  Chloe didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's not about the money. You're not letting me pay, which makes it even harder for me to keep them."

  Wouldn't that be like freeloading?

  Larry simply said, "Don't rush to refuse. It's your first day on set; you might not feel it yet. Keep them with you for two or three days, and you'll see the benefits of having assistants."

  Before Chloe could refuse again, Larry quickly added, "If, after three days, you still feel it's unnecessary, I'll apply to the company on your behalf to have them leave. Is that okay?"

  With the other person having gone this far, the offer was too hard to decline gracefully. Refusing further would seem rather ungracious.

  Chloe could only nod gently. "Then I'm really imposing on everyone. I feel quite awkward."

  Larry repeatedly said it was "our pleasure." Before leaving, he didn't forget to give Edward and Taylor a "be smart about this" look before opening the door and departing.

  Now the room contained only herself and two complete strangers. Chloe blinked, feeling at a loss.

  Before she could even feel awkward, Taylor sprang into action. With sharp eyes, she noticed the half-finished bottle of water Chloe had left on the table. She stepped forward, touched it, shook her head, and gently advised, "Chloe, this is too cold. Try not to drink water this icy. It could upset your stomach and definitely cause diarrhea."

  Chloe nodded dumbly. "Oh, okay."

  Taylor then found the air conditioner remote in the makeup room, turned on the ventilation mode, adjusted the temperature to 24 degrees, and set the fan to gentle.

  Edward, meanwhile, simply put down the backpack he was carrying. Then, under Chloe's dumbfounded gaze, he pulled out a series of bizarre items: a sun umbrella, a handheld fan, a folding stool, a first-aid kit, an electric mosquito swatter...

  There was even a healthy diet recipe book inside.

  It completely stunned Chloe.

  Evening. Upon hearing that Grace was back, her aunt's family of four came over together.

  Audrey and her younger sister Aurelia worked together in the kitchen to prepare a table full of dishes. Now that the eldest sister and her niece had reconciled, Aurelia, as the younger sister and aunt, was genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.

  "Grace, it's been a long time since you've had your aunt's special stewed duck, right? Eat more today." Aurelia picked up a large duck leg for Grace, her eyes reddening as soon as she spoke.

  Grace smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Auntie. I've been craving this for so long. The stewed duck at many big restaurants in Aethelburg isn't as good as yours."

  Seeing this, Aurelia's husband, Casper, chuckled cheerfully and said, "Aren't we waiting for Tony?"

  Audrey shook her head with a smile upon hearing this. "We won't wait for him. He gets out of evening self-study late, and after that, he goes to the internet cafe to play games for a bit. Let's eat without him."

  Hearing this, their son, Glory, looked at his mother and said, "Mom, look. Auntie isn't even stopping Brother Tony from playing games."

  Aurelia glared at her son upon hearing this. "What are your brother Tony's grades like? And what are yours? In the start-of-term diagnostic test, your score wasn't even as high as your dad's blood pressure! If I scattered rice on your test paper, even a chicken would score better than you! And you want to compare yourself to Tony?"

  Hearing this, Glory pursed his lips, but he knew he couldn't compare to Brother Tony.

  Aurelia started worrying as soon as her son's grades were mentioned. She looked at her sister helplessly and said, "Sis, tell me, what should I do? Neither of my two kids gives me any peace of mind."

  "Lisa's grades have been poor since she was little. She barely scraped into a vocational college. Luckily, her height takes after her dad. After graduating from the flight attendant program and becoming a stewardess, it'll at least sound somewhat decent."

  "But what about Glory? He grows in height but not in brains. He can't become a flight attendant in the future! Up until now, Casper and I have worried every day, wondering what he can learn if he can't get into university."

  Lisa, who was concentrating on eating, chimed in upon hearing this, "Flight attendant just sounds decent. To put it bluntly, it's just being a server in the sky."

  "You know that. That's good that you know that," Aurelia said with exasperation to her daughter. "If one doesn’t work hard in youth, one can only serve other coke in old age. Isn't it because you didn't strive hard enough yourself?"