Thanks to being coached several times by Yu Shiqing, Yu Rong performed exceptionally well that afternoon. Yan Hongyun was very satisfied, while Yu Rong couldn’t believe it. After receiving the schedule for the next day, he practiced alone at the hotel that night. The next day’s performance made Yan Hongyun fall into silence again.
Since then, Yu Rong shamelessly stuck to Yu Shiqing every day on set—either he was with him or on the way to find him. He wasn’t stupid. He had entered the film industry to expand his business partnerships, so naturally, the better he performed, the more valuable he would be commercially.
Luckily, a lot of his scenes had already been cut by Jiang Yu, so with the focus on filming during this period, he would probably wrap up his part today.
“Senior!”
Early in the morning, Yu Shiqing had just arrived at the set when he heard Yu Rong calling out behind him and running up to him.
Jiang Yu immediately walked off without turning his head. His temper had been pretty bad lately, and Yu Shiqing suspected it was a side effect of his estrus variation.
Still, in that brief pause, Yu Rong caught up.
“Senior, I bought you a fruit tea—it’s still warm.”
Small gifts like this came almost every other day. Not wanting to argue, Yu Shiqing took it and smiled. “Thanks.”
Yu Rong took a deep breath. “Senior, I’ll finish filming today. I really appreciate all the help and guidance you’ve given me.”
Yu Shiqing replied, “No need to thank me.”
Yu Rong wanted to say more, but Jiang Yu’s voice came from ahead.
“Yu Shiqing, you’re going to be late for makeup.”
Just from his tone, you could tell his face was expressionless.
Yu Rong: “…”
He had a fear of Jiang Yu, so he could only reluctantly say, “See you later, senior.”
Yu Shiqing gave him a small nod and continued walking.
Jiang Yu stood with one hand in his pocket, leaning against the prop wall. As Yu Shiqing approached, Jiang Yu glanced at the fruit tea in his hand and sneered, “So thoughtful, bringing you drinks every day.”
Yu Shiqing glanced at him and finally asked, “Do you have a problem with Yu Rong?”
“What, feeling sorry for him now?” Jiang Yu’s lips flattened.
Yu Shiqing said, “What?”
“You’re with him all the time, and you care whether I have a problem with him?”
Yu Shiqing didn’t catch the hidden meaning, only saying, “We have scenes together. It’s required for filming.”
“Filming needs?” Jiang Yu was half-skeptical. “Is it really that simple?”
Yu Shiqing shot back, “How complicated do you think it is?”
Jiang Yu’s eyes swept again over the fruit tea. “You two seem to get along great. And you accept his gifts so naturally.”
Yu Shiqing said, “Just think of it as his tuition fee.”
As for their good conversation—well, it’s only natural to talk more when discussing scenes.
This topic had been strange from the start. Jiang Yu had been unusually focused on Yu Rong lately.
After thinking it over, Yu Shiqing turned to Jiang Yu and asked directly, “Do you like Yu Rong?”
Jiang Yu stumbled.
Regaining balance, he turned and snapped, “What nonsense are you talking about?!”
Seeing that possibility ruled out, Yu Shiqing said calmly, “Just asking. Don’t get worked up.”
Jiang Yu: “…”
He held back his annoyance and changed the subject. “So, you’re helping Yu Rong just to make the movie better?”
Yu Shiqing replied, “What else?”
“Hah.” Jiang Yu glanced in Yu Rong’s direction. The pent-up frustration in his chest instantly vanished. “Looks like someone’s going to be disappointed.”
Yu Shiqing didn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Yu smiled. “We should go get our makeup done.”
But they had barely taken a few steps when noise started coming from a distance—it was Yan Hongyun arriving with a group of crew members. Everyone paused their work to welcome the two people being escorted in.
Yan Hongyun craned his neck to look around the set. When he spotted Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu, he waved excitedly. The two people behind him turned in the direction he waved.
Seeing who it was, Jiang Yu’s smile faded and he instinctively looked at Yu Shiqing.
Du Han had arrived along with Dawn’s director, Shi Zhifeng, following behind Yan Hongyun.
Shi Zhifeng smiled first. “Yu Shiqing, Jiang Yu—surprise! We came to visit your set.”
Because of funding issues at Huaze, Dawn had been delayed three months, so Shi Zhifeng had nothing better to do and decided to come check things out.
Du Han also said, “Shiqing.”
Being able to say this with a smile was the best he could do.
He had heard yesterday that Shi Zhifeng was visiting the Apocalypse crew, and he volunteered to tag along—mostly to see a joke. But from the moment he entered the set, the grand set design, thorough props, and fine details completely overturned his expectations of a low-budget, poorly made production.
What was going on?
Did the company mistakenly give Yu Shiqing a great script?
So when Yan Hongyun asked if he wanted to cameo in a scene opposite Yu Shiqing, he immediately agreed.
After over three years, Du Han had starred in a string of quality films and was recognized as a skilled actor. In contrast, Yu Shiqing—once under the spotlight and someone who had overshadowed him—had not had a strong script in over three years.
So what if he got lucky and joined a good production?
Du Han thought: He would crush Yu Shiqing in front of everyone who knew him, just like how Yu Shiqing once stepped on him. Now it was his turn to step on Yu Shiqing and humiliate him!
Yan Hongyun hadn’t expected Du Han to agree so easily and laughed. “Shiqing, looks like your old friend still gives you face!”
He then gestured for the team to prepare a temporary set.
Coincidentally, the scene from yesterday had just wrapped, and the next one was simple—about one to two hours to set up.
This scene was a flashback after Ji Ming’s death, where his comrade reminisces about him to clear up a misunderstanding the protagonist had. The protagonist believed Ji Ming was heartless and didn’t even return home after his father died. So none of the main cast was present.
While Yu Shiqing and Du Han went to makeup, Jiang Yu finally had some rare free time.
Two hours later, Yu Rong poked his head in. Seeing Yu Shiqing still chatting with Jiang Yu, he slipped inside.
“I heard Du Han sat in a corner for an hour and a half just to get into character. So professional,” he said, then turned to Yu Shiqing, “Senior, don’t you need to get into character too?”
Yu Shiqing replied, “I already did.”
Yu Rong asked, “When?”
Yu Shiqing said, “Before you came.”
Yu Rong: “…”
Thinking back to their earlier conversation, he felt like Yu Shiqing was making a fool of him.
