After the kitchen scene was over, Jiang Chi was so ashamed he didn't dare to look Ye Lan in the eye. Logically, since Ye Lan had helped him out so much, he should have gone to thank him properly, but he... was truly too embarrassed.

After all, Ye Lan had just seen that place... he was afraid he wouldn't even be able to speak clearly when he went to thank him.

But it would be too heartless to just accept Ye Lan's kindness by playing deaf and dumb. Jiang Chi thought for a moment and had Li Weili help him order a huge, three-tiered fruit platter from the hotel, asking the hotel staff to deliver it to Ye Lan's room after they wrapped up for the night.

Although Li Weili was also on set, he wasn't clear on the details. He asked doubtfully, "Why? Why suddenly send a gift out of the blue?"

"N-No... no reason," Jiang Chi replied evasively, his face red. "Brother Ye Lan always gives me pointers and helps me a lot, so sending some fruit is nothing... It's not like it's anything valuable anyway, it's fine."

Li Weili had no choice but to nod. Jiang Chi added, "Order a small one too, we can eat it after work tonight."

Li Weili smiled, "Alright, thanks, Brother Jiang."

Jiang Chi secretly clutched his chest with a sigh... his heart was still pounding.

A warm feeling spread through his heart.

In that situation just now, if Ye Lan had only informed Jiang Chi, Jiang Chi might not have dared to ask Ren Haichuan for a retake. Even if he had asked, Ren Haichuan wouldn't necessarily have agreed. It was an intimate scene to begin with, so such a small accident wasn't an issue at all.

Ye Lan must have thought of this as well.

Jiang Chi was beating his chest and stamping his feet in his heart. 'How can my idol be so warm, so warm, so warm...'

Beside him, Ye Lan frowned as he took the vegetable juice Cen Wen handed him and downed it in one go.

"Your skin hasn't been in the best condition recently. It's not convenient to have someone come here to do a treatment for you, so let's try a dietary approach first," Cen Wen said helplessly. "It's like this every time, a few months after you join a crew. Your skin gets worse, and you start to lose weight too."

Ye Lan handed the empty cup to Cen Wen and said nonchalantly, "This time is pretty good... I'm not sunburned or frostbitten. It's just a little rough, that's all. At my age, would it still look good if I were fair and rosy-cheeked like Jiang Chi?"

"What age are you? Unless a role requires it, when you're not wearing makeup or styled, don't you still look like you're twenty-six or twenty-seven?" Cen Wen laughed in spite of herself. She glanced at Jiang Chi in the distance and said, "But Jiang Chi's skin is really nice, so fair and delicate."

Ye Lan recalled the scene from just now and snorted with a laugh, "Yeah, it is pretty fair."

Cen Wen didn't hear clearly and looked up, "Huh?"

"Nothing." Ye Lan twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took a couple of sips, washing away the taste of vegetable juice in his mouth. He smiled and said, "I'm saying... we should film well, wrap up early, and rest early."

After the little wardrobe malfunction incident, Jiang Chi and Ye Lan seemed to have broken through the honeymoon phase bottleneck one step ahead of the screenwriter.

Jiang Chi's problem with stiff limbs completely disappeared. During filming, his expressions and movements became more and more natural. In the scenes, he could even respond in a relaxed manner when he was occasionally teased and flirted with by Ye Lan. Of course, whenever the director yelled "Cut," he would still immediately take two steps back, blushing awkwardly for a moment.

Everyone thought Jiang Chi was just young and thin-skinned and didn't think much of it. Only Jiang Chi himself knew that when he stood to the side without joking with people after "Cut" was called, it wasn't just because he was shy, but also because he was secretly savoring the moment.

If only the filming process and the behind-the-scenes footage could all be recorded, Jiang Chi would be willing to pay a fortune to buy them and rewatch them for a lifetime.

Meanwhile, Tong Yizhe, who had been with the crew for many days, finally wrapped up his scenes.

Tong Yizhe had been with the crew for nearly a month, and with his stunning looks and good temper, he had won over almost everyone. In the end, even the looks-obsessed Li Weili had defected, admitting that when it came to being alluring, Tong Yizhe was much stronger than Jiang Chi.

Jiang Chi was also handsome, but his was a fresh and clean kind of handsomeness, with a bit of a youth's slenderness. Tong Yizhe, on the other hand, was the gorgeous type. The role of the bartender was practically tailor-made for him. Every frown and smile was bewitching and charming.

On the day Tong Yizhe wrapped up, everyone in the crew was very happy. They all ate the wrap-up cake that the Assistant Director had prepared for Tong Yizhe in advance, took photos together, and agreed to meet up again after the entire production wrapped.

...

"Sigh... Tong Yizhe is such a nice person. Before he left yesterday, I ran over to ask if I could take a photo with him, and he agreed immediately." Ye Lan's other personal assistant, Yao Mengxi, pulled Cen Wen over to look at yesterday's photos and whispered, "He's so handsome. It's a shame he's not very famous, but he'll definitely get his chance in the future."

While waiting for his scene, Ye Lan was playing a game in his dressing room. Hearing Yao Mengxi's muttering, he laughed and said, "Just because he took a photo with you, that makes him a nice person?"

Yao Mengxi blinked. "You just haven't met the bad-tempered ones. Oh, let's not talk about that. It's such a pity. The crew has a confidentiality rule, otherwise I could post it on Weibo to show off."

Ye Lan smiled, exited the game interface, and opened an entertainment news app to scroll through the news.

The film he shot at the beginning of the year, "Lights of a Thousand Homes," had finally been released. As the most anticipated New Year's film, "Lights" was packed solid on the screening schedules of major theaters. There was no pressure regarding the box office; it was a surefire moneymaker.

A few days ago, the film company had invited Ye Lan to attend the premiere, but An Ya had politely declined on his behalf, using the reason that Ye Lan was engrossed in filming.

Since the promotion for this film began, the female lead, Jiang Ying, had been constantly using Ye Lan to generate hype. An Ya hated this kind of thing the most. For the sake of the box office and Ye Lan's public gentlemanly image, she didn't give a blunt explanation that would have been a slap in the other party's face, but she completely shut down any possibility of Ye Lan and Jiang Ying appearing on stage together. Any discerning person in the industry could tell what was going on at a glance.

Ye Lan scrolled through the film reviews. Just as he was about to close the news interface, a new headline notification lit up.

Ye Lan refreshed the page, and several rather impactful photos and a piercing headline loaded—

[Leaked Photos of Film Emperor Ye's New Film! Scenes Full of Gay Vibes, the Actor Ye Lan Repeatedly Praised Finally Surfaces!]

The series of accompanying pictures under the news article were, to his shock, from the intimate scene between Ye Lan and Tong Yizhe in front of the liquor cabinet.

Ye Lan's face instantly turned ashen.

In less than a minute, the chat apps on everyone's phones in Ye Lan's dressing room started chiming one after another. Everyone looked down at their phones in confusion, and after seeing the messages, their expressions all changed.

Yao Mengxi said drily, "This... this... When on earth did paparazzi sneak in? To think they managed to shoot this exact scene... My god, this is a huge misunderstanding..."

Cen Wen's expression was complicated. After reading the news article twice, she didn't say anything.

"It was released by Super Entertainment again. Aren't their paparazzi annoying?! They clearly know what genre of drama we're filming, everyone else pretends not to know, but they just have to report it!" Yao Mengxi was so angry her face turned pale. "The rumors about Brother Ye and Jiang Ying were just about to die down, and now this happens! And Tong Yizhe, he's so hardworking and serious, to be dragged into this..."

Ye Lan's brows were tightly furrowed. He impatiently threw his phone onto the dressing table.

The dressing room instantly fell silent.

"It's been a month..." Ye Lan said with a smile that wasn't a smile. "The photo was taken a month ago, and they just had to wait until now, wait until after he wrapped up to release it. These paparazzi sure are patient."

Yao Mengxi froze for a few seconds, her eyes widening bit by bit. She exclaimed, "It couldn't be... Tong Yizhe himself..."

"He wraps up his scenes, and the next moment, leaked photos of me and him are exposed. And the press release endlessly praises him from head to toe." Ye Lan stood up, his tone chilling, enunciating every word, "This is what you call a 'nice person'."

Ye Lan sneered and pushed the door open, walking out.

In Jiang Chi's dressing room, his phone also rang. Geng Tian had sent him a message; it was a link. After Jiang Chi opened the link, the smile on his face slowly froze.

Li Weili received it too. He swallowed carefully and said with an awkward laugh, "This... what unfortunate timing for the photo. How did they happen to catch them right when they were filming a scene..."

Jiang Chi read the press release carefully.

[A month ago, multiple media outlets rushed to visit Ye Lan's film set. During the interviews, Ye Lan seemed very satisfied with his co-star in the new film. Not only did he generously reveal that the other party was an artist he had never worked with before, but he also spared no effort in praising them to everyone as "a very dedicated actor with good skills". He even stated ambiguously, "It's very comfortable acting in scenes with him."

Film Emperor Ye's few words caused quite a stir in the industry. There was widespread speculation online about who this mysterious artist could be, but the search was fruitless. But today, leaked photos from Ye Lan's set were released, and the mysterious veil of this artist was finally lifted. It turned out to be Tong Yizhe, who shone brightly in last year's summer blockbuster drama, "Shu Mountain"!

Tong Yizhe, a rising young actor, handsome and with good acting skills, had once...]

Jiang Chi closed the interface, not wanting to read any further.

In the leaked photo, Ye Lan was lifting Tong Yizhe's chin, a smile in his eyes. The two of them were very close, almost about to kiss.

Jiang Chi let out a long sigh...

Li Weili said, holding his breath in frustration, "We can't let them spout nonsense! We have to clarify this, it's too..."

Jiang Chi gave a dry laugh and said, "Should I post on Weibo myself, and say that the person Brother Ye Lan was praising wasn't Tong Yizhe, but actually me?"

Li Weili: "..."

Jiang Chi turned off his phone, picked up the script beside him, and lowered his head to read it.

Actually, in his years in this circle, Jiang Chi had long since gotten used to these rotten affairs of buying awards, snatching resources, misattributing credit, and doing the hard work for others' gain.

It wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this. It wasn't to the point where he would act like a newcomer who had just entered the industry, getting flustered and flying into a rage over a piece of fake news.

But to say he wasn't angry at all would be a lie.

Those two sentences...

Ye Lan had clearly said them to him.