The moment Jiang Chi saw the text message, his heart stopped.

Geng Tian was also startled.

Jiang Chi took a deep breath, and after a two-second blank, his brain quickly resumed functioning.

Ye Lan had sent him a text message, asking him to come pick him up.

Jiang Chi suddenly found it difficult to breathe and desperately needed to go outside to inhale some smog.

Jiang Chi got up and, while changing his clothes with a dazed expression, said, "Um... Brother Geng, I have to go out for something, so I won't see you off..."

Geng Tian looked shocked. "What-what are you going to do?"

Having put on his trench coat, his mind still in a daze, Jiang Chi subconsciously replied, "I... I'm going to pick him up."

"Are you crazy?!" Geng Tian was dumbfounded, almost having a heart attack from anger at Jiang Chi. "Film Emperor Ye would never text someone in the middle of the night for a booty call. And even if he would! He wouldn't look for trouble for himself by asking you, who he's still working with! Do you understand?"

Jiang Chi sobered up instantly and hurriedly defended Ye Lan, "Of course he didn't mean it like that! His character..."

"You listen to me first! We don't know what he's like in private." Geng Tian cut Jiang Chi off. He paced back and forth twice in anger and said, "The Golden Age is a private clubhouse opened by Film Emperor Yu Xinze. It's not open to the public at all. The people who usually go there are from their circle. Ye Lan is there now, who knows how many people are with him. Even if he needed someone to drive him, would he need you?"

"You don't need a brain to figure out what's going on, right? They're having a wild time in the middle of the night, what kind of joke wouldn't they dare to make? That group of people, who wouldn't they dare to prank? If you go rushing over there right now and push open the door, there might be a whole room of people laughing their heads off at you making a fool of yourself. Are you really going to eagerly walk into a situation where you're just being played for a fool? Ugh... you're making my lungs hurt from anger. I'm doing this for your dignity, don't you get it?!"

Jiang Chi pressed his lips together. Of course he understood.

Geng Tian advised earnestly, "Alright, I know you're excited because it's the first time he's contacted you. Let the excitement die down and that's it. Don't go, and definitely don't call to ask. It's already one in the morning. When you see him tomorrow, just say you were asleep and didn't see it. That way it won't be awkward for anyone. That's the best way to handle this."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Chi said, "What if he was drunk and sent the text to me by mistake?"

Geng Tian laughed in spite of himself. "Jiang Chi! Is this your first day in this industry? Aren't you a little too naive? You just lost a year's savings for him today! What? Is that not enough? You don't want your reputation or your dignity anymore? You're just waiting for people to treat you like a joke?"

Jiang Chi fell silent, looked down at his phone, and read the text message several more times.

He understood everything Geng Tian said. No matter how he looked at it, the text was, in all likelihood, a joke.

But what if it wasn't?

What if he really was drunk?

If I don't go, whose car will he get into?

Jiang Chi remembered Ye Lan saying in an interview before that he loved to drink, but he wasn't a good drinker. He got drunk easily, and when he was drunk, he couldn't tell east from west.

The charming, drunken state of Ye Lan from his past movies suddenly flashed before Jiang Chi's eyes. Jiang Chi's heart leaped a few times, and he suddenly felt a pang of fear.

Jiang Chi calmed himself, picked up his car keys, and walked out the door amidst Geng Tian's flustered and exasperated curses.

He was betting that Ye Lan wouldn't play this kind of joke on him.

"Remember to wear a mask! Don't get photographed, you hear me!!"

Jiang Chi: "Don't worry."

Even with Jiang Chi's superb driving skills, speeding all the way, it was already one-thirty in the morning by the time he arrived at The Golden Age.

A doorman came over eagerly to greet him. Jiang Chi rolled down the car window and waved his hand, indicating he was just there to pick someone up.

Jiang Chi took a deep breath, picked up his phone, read the text message one more time, and confirmed again that it was from Ye Lan.

Jiang Chi rolled up the window, took off his mask, ruffled his hair, and made the call.

"Is that your phone?" The private room was noisy. Yu Xinze frowned, looked around, and patted Ye Lan's shoulder. "Is it your phone?"

Ye Lan was hazy with drunkenness. He picked up his phone and answered without looking, "Hm?"

The lazy, breathy sound Ye Lan made after drinking traveled through the phone's earpiece and into Jiang Chi's ear. Jiang Chi choked up, and his ears instantly turned red.

"Brother Ye Lan, did you send me a text message just now?" Jiang Chi tried his best to keep his voice calm. "I happened to be hanging out nearby, so I came over. I'm at the entrance of the clubhouse now, are you..."

Ye Lan was taken aback, instantly sobering up by half.

"Scram... get away from me." Ye Lan covered the mouthpiece, shrugging off Yu Xinze's hand from his shoulder. Seeing him about to cling to him again, he pushed him onto the sofa, got up, and left the private room, dumbfounded. "You came over? This... what a mess. Did I send you a text message just now?"

In the car, the redness on Jiang Chi's face subsided a little. He hummed in agreement and said softly, "Twenty minutes ago... you sent me a text, asking me to come over..."

Ye Lan quickly scrolled through his call log, and sure enough... the text he had meant to send to his driver, Jin Ming, had been mistakenly sent to Jiang Chi, whose name also started with the letter J.

Ye Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of mess was this?

"You..." Ye Lan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Wait a moment, I'll be right down."

Ye Lan hung up, thought for a moment, and returned to the private room. He walked over to Yu Xinze and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Tell him to come up! Isn't this perfect?" Yu Xinze shouted. "Quick, quick, have him come..."

"Shh... shut up!" Ye Lan frowned and looked around, lowering his voice. "If all these people hear, it'll never end. We both have scenes tomorrow... He doesn't know these people, what would he come up for? I'm not discussing this with you. If you're willing, go down yourself and have a few nice words with him, so I have a way to save face. Otherwise, what the hell is this... leading someone on a wild goose chase in the middle of the night?"

Yu Xinze was also a bit drunk and said lazily, "What's wrong with leading him on... It's so cold, I'm not going down. Can't you just tell him to come up? Let him meet a few more people, he'd be dying for the chance. When he saw the text you sent by mistake, who knows how excited he was. Isn't that why he rushed right over?"

"You motherf..." Ye Lan was so angry he laughed. "Fine, don't ask me to pull strings for you again. Sign him or don't, I don't care."

As Ye Lan spoke, he left the room. Yu Xinze tried to stop him but was held back by a female celebrity.

Ye Lan didn't delay any longer. He went downstairs alone, took the overcoat a waiter handed him, and just as he reached the portico, a white car slowly drove over from not far away.

Ye Lan let out a soft breath and got in the car.

"Just now..." Jiang Chi didn't dare to look Ye Lan in the eye. As he reversed the car, he handed a cup of milk tea to Ye Lan, saying a little stiffly, "I bought this on the way. If your stomach is upset... Of course, you don't have to force yourself to drink it if you don't want to. You..."

Jiang Chi was annoyed with himself for being unable to speak clearly and hastily ended the topic: "Do as you please."

Ye Lan had been a bit embarrassed, but seeing that Jiang Chi was even more flustered than him, he didn't think much of it anymore. He let out a chuckle, took the milk tea, and had a couple of sips. "Sorry about that. I was sending a text to my driver. Your names are right next to each other, so I didn't notice and sent it to you... It's so late, I'm sorry for disturbing your rest."

The anxious knot in Jiang Chi's chest finally loosened.

Ye Lan wasn't playing him for a fool.

Jiang Chi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shook his head. "No disturbance, no disturbance at all. I was still awake when I got the text. I usually go to bed late anyway."

Ye Lan was confused. "Didn't you just say you were hanging out nearby?"

Jiang Chi coughed and managed an explanation, "My home is nearby... Where are you headed?"

Ye Lan hesitated for a moment and then gave the name of a residential complex.

The car drove steadily onto the main road. Ye Lan forced himself to stay awake and chatted and joked with Jiang Chi for a bit, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Jiang Chi noticed how sleepy Ye Lan was, so he turned up the heat. While passing an intersection, Jiang Chi freed up a hand to grab a blanket from the back seat and handed it to Ye Lan. "It'll be about another half hour to your place. If you're sleepy, you can take a nap. I'll wake you when we get there. Um... the blanket is new, it's very clean."

Ye Lan took the blanket, which had a faint citrus scent, and draped it over himself. He felt more relaxed, but he didn't plan to actually doze off—it was one thing to break his rule and get into someone else's car drunk for the first time, but to fall dead asleep and not know where he was being taken was another.

Having been in this industry for so many years, Ye Lan was habitually cautious and wouldn't allow himself such a lapse.

"It's bad enough making you my free driver, but to just sleep on my own would be a bit too shameless, right?" Ye Lan smiled, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and took the initiative to start a topic. "Have you looked at the script for tomorrow's scene?"

Jiang Chi's nerves had been on edge. Hearing this, like a primary school student being called on, he quickly answered, "I have! I've already memorized the lines and rehearsed them with my assistant a few times. I've written up a few analyses of the inner thoughts, which I need to discuss with Director Ren tomorrow. I've watched the storyboards many times and I remember all the blocking. Tomorrow I'll definitely..."

"Haha... don't be so nervous." Ye Lan couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong, little friend? Do you think I'm Ren Haichuan? Relax, I was just asking casually."

Jiang Chi realized he had been foolish again and gave a dry laugh. "I... it's my first time in a movie, I'm always afraid of dragging everyone down. I... I'll do my best to act well opposite you."

Ye Lan squinted slightly and said, "You don't have to be so modest. Your acting is very good. If I had to pick a flaw, it would just be your lack of experience... but everyone starts out that way. You'll get better."

Nothing was more invigorating than receiving affirmation from his idol. Jiang Chi's face reddened a little, and his heart beat a few beats faster.

Ye Lan leaned back in the passenger seat. He found Jiang Chi's slightly flushed cheeks amusing and thought for a moment before saying, "Tomorrow... is the scene where I forcibly kiss you, right?"

"Cough, cough cough..." Jiang Chi choked and nodded. "Yes..."

Ye Lan turned his face to the side and smiled. "Don't worry, I never take advantage of people while filming. We'll see what Director Ren arranges tomorrow, it should..."

Jiang Chi looked at Ye Lan anxiously. "Should... what?"

Ye Lan thought for a moment and gave a lazy smile. "It shouldn't require a French kiss, right? But we'll still have to see what Director Ren requires."

Jiang Chi gripped the steering wheel in agony, using all his strength to keep from driving the car into the green belt.