On the set, everyone except Ye Lan was scrolling through entertainment news, relishing the gossip.

Super Entertainment's bad blood with artists wasn't a recent development. The company had previously become famous through stalking and secret filming. To gain attention and traffic, they would expose news, both real and fake, earning them a notorious reputation in the industry. In the past two years, they had changed their work focus, handling increasingly complex projects. While exposing and slandering people, they also took money to do soft advertising and coordinate online smear campaigns. The biggest and dirtiest incident they caused once resulted in a variety show being suspended for a whole month.

Ye Lan had also been smeared by Super Entertainment quite a bit. They were the ones who had previously exposed Ye Lan's so-called secret marriage. However, at that time, Film Emperor Ye had already retired from fighting for many years and hadn't clashed with the entertainment media for a long time, so he didn't lower himself to their level. Moreover, Super Entertainment had only grown big in the last two years and had probably never witnessed Film Emperor Ye's style in his wild and reckless youth. Short-sighted and ignorant, they blindly smeared him and ended up kicking an iron plate.

An Ya from Ye Lan's Studio, together with his old company Starlight Media, leveraged their industry connections and resources. With public opinion on their side and occupying the moral high ground, they concentrated their firepower and dealt a heavy blow to Super Entertainment. Furthermore, an entertainment media platform controlled by Ye Lan threatened to cease cooperation in the next quarter, forcing Super Entertainment to bow their heads and issue a public apology.

Super Entertainment apologized, and An Ya breathed a sigh of relief. This would prevent others from digging this matter up again to slander Ye Lan months or years later. Everything was orchestrated by Super Entertainment themselves—they had admitted it and apologized.

An Ya had no intention of letting Ye Lan get entangled with Tong Yizhe. From beginning to end, she never publicly targeted Tong Yizhe, only releasing information within the industry, roughly explaining what he had done. As for how much this would affect his reputation, only Tong Yizhe himself would know.

At this point, the matter could pretty much be concluded. What An Ya feared most was that after the dust settled, Ye Lan would get happy, forward Super Entertainment's apology on Weibo, and then comment: 'How come my son chickened out? Not fighting back anymore?'

Ye Lan choked on his smoke, his eyes wide. "How did she guess I would say that?"

Cen Wen said with a numb expression, "Because you've done it before... Of course, it wasn't on Weibo back then. You had someone contact the other party. According to Sister An Ya, you even wanted to go find their boss at the time."

Ye Lan said resentfully, "That was centuries ago. Don't listen to her dredging up all that old crap..."

"Alright, let's not talk about the past." Cen Wen sighed. "They've apologized, so let's just leave it at that. Sister An Ya has handled it very well this time. Don't make things difficult for her again, okay?"

Ye Lan let out a laugh. "I've already given you my phone, what more do you want? Is she just short of coming to watch over me herself?"

Cen Wen said sincerely, "If she wasn't too busy, she would've been here long ago."

Ye Lan felt a headache coming on. He extinguished the cigarette in his hand and said, "Don't. The New Year is almost here, and I won't be here for many more days anyway. Don't let her come. Her nagging gives me a headache."

Cen Wen nodded. "I'll go tell her."

Ye Lan picked up the script, flipped through a couple of pages, and put it down again. He already knew the script by heart; there was really nothing left to see.

Ye Lan got up and walked around a bit, noticing that everyone on set, except for Ren Haichuan, was scrolling through Weibo. Super Entertainment's reputation in the industry was just too terrible. Now that they were having a bad day, everyone was unanimously kicking them while they were down. It was quite a spectacle.

The net-addicted youth, whose phone had been effectively confiscated by his manager, was bored to tears, scowling unhappily at everyone.

Jiang Chi, on the other hand, was off to the side, having a voice chat with someone. He kept his head down, speaking continuously and listening from time to time, as if discussing something. Ye Lan didn't have the nerve to get closer, lest it seem like he was deliberately trying to eavesdrop.

Jiang Chi was in contact with Geng Tian.

After the incident broke today, Geng Tian contacted Jiang Chi immediately. At the time, Jiang Chi didn't agree to let the company make a statement. He wasn't sure how Ye Lan would handle it and was afraid Geng Tian's PR would be too aggressive and say something inappropriate.

Of course, that concern disappeared after Ye Lan posted two consecutive Weibo updates—nothing could be more aggressive than that.

He decided to use this opportunity to ease the relationship with his company.

Jiang Chi had half a year left on his contract with the company and was currently wavering on whether to renew. They had a very unpleasant falling out before because Jiang Chi had accepted a role privately, and now he wanted to gauge the company's attitude.

If they continued to ignore him, Jiang Chi could harden his heart and find another place. He had earned a lot of money for the company over the years, and a few months ago, he had even compensated them a large sum of money, which could be considered repaying the company for discovering him back then.

However, the company didn't completely ignore him in the end. They actively contacted Geng Tian and initiated the PR process to deal with the situation. It was just that when it came to the specific handling, there was a little friction.

Jiang Chi's request was: stick to the facts, just clarify the truth, and don't escalate the situation.

The company, however, clearly wanted to ride on Ye Lan's coattails and stir up a wave of hype.

Thinking cynically, if it hadn't involved Ye Lan, the company probably wouldn't have been so proactive in helping Jiang Chi clarify the situation.

Jiang Chi had been in the industry for many years and was no longer so easy to fool. In all these years, he had only ever been foolish when it came to matters concerning Ye Lan. He understood what the company was getting at before Geng Tian even opened his mouth, so his attitude became increasingly firm.

"Don't drag him into this..."

Jiang Chi considered his tone for a moment, then said in a low voice, "The crew will be filming until Little New Year at the latest. Now that an important supporting actor is gone, the director needs to find a replacement, so we'll probably wrap up even earlier. When filming resumes, it will be at least after the Lantern Festival. During that one-month break, I will follow all of the company's work arrangements."

It was hard for Geng Tian not to be tempted. He asked, "Really?"

"Really. So..." Jiang Chi glanced at the idle Ye Lan not far away, lowered his voice, and said seriously, "Don't drag him into this."

Geng Tian knew that as soon as Ye Lan was involved, Jiang Chi would become stubborn. He gave a dry laugh. "Why must you be like this? It's not like we're the ones initiating it. Film Emperor Ye forwarded your Weibo first, so it's perfectly reasonable..."

"He can post, and so can I." Jiang Chi said just enough to make his point. "I don't want to go against the company, so let's be considerate of each other. Don't exploit him for publicity, and everything else will be negotiable."

Geng Tian understood Jiang Chi's hidden meaning and sighed. "Alright, I get it. Then I'll start arranging your schedule for the Spring Festival? You... you're probably still not going home for the festival, right?"

"I'm not." Jiang Chi said decisively. "Just leave me a few free days to go back and visit."

Geng Tian knew Jiang Chi's sore spot, so he didn't talk about the New Year. He said, "Alright then. As long as you're willing to work, it'll be easier for me to negotiate with the company."

Jiang Chi said sincerely, "Thank you for your hard work."

Geng Tian sighed. "As long as you think it's worth it."

After finishing the voice chat with Geng Tian, Jiang Chi let out a light breath and put his phone away.

Ye Lan had been glancing at Jiang Chi from a short distance away the whole time.

Jiang Chi put down his phone and subconsciously looked left and right. When his gaze met Ye Lan's, he froze for a moment.

Seeing that he had finally finished his chat, Ye Lan hooked his finger lightly, gesturing for him to come over.

Several people nearby noticed Ye Lan signaling to Jiang Chi and couldn't help but look at Jiang Chi with a smile. Jiang Chi felt inexplicably a little embarrassed and obediently walked over.

"It's filming time, why are you always on your phone?" Ye Lan sat in the makeup chair, furrowing his brow and pointing fingers. "Are you ready for the next scene?"

Jiang Chi quickly nodded. "I'm ready."

"Then let's go." Ye Lan stood up. "Ren Haichuan was rushing us five minutes ago."

Jiang Chi was stunned. "Why didn't anyone call me?!"

Ye Lan paused for a moment, but ultimately didn't explain. He just smiled to himself and walked off first.

Li Weili waited until Ye Lan had walked a distance before saying, "It was Brother Ye who said you seemed to be discussing something important, so we should wait a bit longer. He had someone tell Director Ren that he was caught up with something, that's why they didn't call you."

Jiang Chi's heart stirred, instantly softening.

The set lighting was adjusted for a long time, but Ren Haichuan was still not satisfied. After the two actors switched out with their lighting doubles, the lighting was adjusted for another ten minutes.

"Brother Ye Lan... thank you for just now. I wasn't actually discussing anything important." Jiang Chi leaned against the door of a narrow wardrobe, with Ye Lan pressing in front of him. They were very close, and Jiang Chi spoke carefully, afraid that his lips might accidentally touch Ye Lan's. "I was just chatting with my manager."

"I figured as much. You were discussing today's incident, right?" Ye Lan gave a casual smile. "Any other day would be fine, but today... did you see Ren Haichuan's face just now? It was green. Because Tong Yizhe was replaced, he's holding in a bellyful of anger and looking for someone to vent on. If you walked into his line of fire, hehe..."

Jiang Chi shuddered just imagining it.

"Guess how many takes it'll be before he lets this scene pass today?" Ye Lan chuckled deeply. "Take a guess."

Jiang Chi froze.

Speaking of which, this was their last kissing scene in the movie.

There weren't many lines, but Jiang Chi had never been very good at kissing scenes. Apart from the time Ye Lan added the scene himself, his best take had still required two shots to pass. Jiang Chi didn't dare to get his hopes up.

Jiang Chi closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Probably... two takes?"

Ye Lan chuckled lightly. "Naive."

As Ye Lan had predicted, Ren Haichuan, who already had extremely high standards for the final kissing scene, became even more irritable and his demands even more stringent after receiving the negative buff of 'having to reshoot scenes that were painstakingly filmed just because a supporting actor was replaced'.

"Ye Lan, your eyes are wrong! It's Pei Ran's birthday, you completely forgot about it and were out fooling around until the early morning. Can't you show a bit of guilt in your eyes?!"

"Jiang Chi! A little more gloom in your expression!!!"

"What's with you two?! What are you laughing at, Ye Lan?!!!"

Ye Lan tried his best to hold it in, but after Ren Haichuan yelled 'cut' for the third time, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Jiang Chi pinched his own finger hard, desperately suppressing the smile on his face.

"Sorry, sorry..." Ye Lan waved his hand, holding back his laughter. "The more you scold me, the more I think of Tong Yizhe, and the more I think about how unlucky he is right now, the more I want to laugh, hahahaha..."

Ren Haichuan: "..."

Immersed in the thrill of dissing people during the day, Film Emperor Ye broke character and laughed, very unprofessionally.

Ye Lan wiped his lips with the back of his hand and said to Ren Haichuan, trying to stifle a laugh, "Tch... five minutes, I'll adjust."

Ren Haichuan's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. "Three minutes."

Ye Lan nodded. "Alright, alright, right away..."

Ye Lan took a deep breath, forcing himself to get into character. Jiang Chi was also adjusting his emotions on the side. Ye Lan smiled softly at Jiang Chi and said, "Sorry about that... I'll try my best to pass this time."

Jiang Chi quickly said, "It's-it's fine. You... you're fine no matter what you do."

Ye Lan raised an eyebrow. "What? Haven't had enough of my kisses yet?"

"No!!!" Jiang Chi almost choked. He said awkwardly, "I... I'm not in top form either. I've been holding you back."

Ye Lan smiled. "Don't worry, we'll definitely pass the next take."

Jiang Chi said uncertainly, "Can... can we?"

"We can. Let's make a little bet. If we pass in one take, you'll let me play with your phone for a bit." Ye Lan turned his head to look at Ren Haichuan and said in a low voice, "My phone is still with Cen Wen. It's not that I'm afraid of her, but I just stirred up trouble today, so I feel bad making them worry again."

"Okay..." Jiang Chi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said reluctantly, "I'm just afraid I..."

"You won't." Ye Lan said with certainty. "Just cooperate with me... Don't be shy later. I'll pull back a little, and you kiss me back."

Jiang Chi nodded. "I'll listen to you."

Ye Lan smiled.

"All departments, stand by!!!"

"Action!"

The moment 'action' was called, Ye Lan, who had gotten into character in an instant, lowered his head and kissed Jiang Chi on the lips.

After gently grinding against his lips for a moment, Ye Lan, as if flirting, pecked Jiang Chi's lips twice and leaned back slightly.

As agreed, Jiang Chi actively kissed Ye Lan back. Guided by Ye Lan, he placed a hand on Ye Lan's shoulder and pushed him against the side wall.

Ye Lan lowered his eyes, which held a hint of indulgence and apology.

After kissing for a moment, Jiang Chi let go of Ye Lan and asked, "Why are you back?"

Ye Lan didn't answer, closing his eyes and lowering his head to kiss Jiang Chi again.

...

"Cut!"

Ren Haichuan's face was still green. After watching the playback, he said with a grim face, "It passes."

Jiang Chi breathed a sigh of relief. A smile played on Ye Lan's lips as he held out his hand to Jiang Chi, wiggling his fingers expectantly. Jiang Chi, a little embarrassed, took his own phone from Li Weili, unlocked it, and handed it to Ye Lan.

Not wanting to be watched by Cen Wen in the dressing room, Ye Lan found a spot on the set to sit down and started playing with Jiang Chi's phone.

Jiang Chi stood beside him, feeling a little uneasy.

The album of Ye Lan on his phone was password-protected, so he wasn't worried about that. Besides, it wasn't like Ye Lan would go through his photos. But he was afraid that Ye Lan might accidentally see some messy browsing history or something else he hadn't paid attention to.

Jiang Chi was too embarrassed to stare too intently, so he just stood to the side, watching him from the corner of his eye, keeping a constant watch.

Fortunately, Ye Lan was a gentleman. He didn't touch anything that might be private, simply opening the browser and typing in keywords to read the news.

Ye Lan lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth, mumbling something incoherently as he scrolled through the news about himself, probably cursing someone out again.

"Teacher Jiang, Director Ren is calling for you."

The Assistant Director came over and said, "Your next scene has been slightly modified. The new storyboard will be drawn up soon. Director Ren wants you to go over and take another look."

Jiang Chi hesitated, glancing at Ye Lan who was looking at the phone, before worriedly following the Assistant Director.

Online, the sentiment was almost unanimously against Super Entertainment. There were also a few who questioned Ye Lan, as a public figure, for handling things improperly and never restraining his temper. Ye Lan sneered, "Try it if it happened to you. You'd curse them out even worse than I did..."

Fortunately, there weren't many moral crusaders. The general consensus was to condemn the improper reporting. A few well-informed entertainment media outlets even knew that this incident was orchestrated by Tong Yizhe himself and mocked him covertly.

Ye Lan scrolled for a while, satisfied. He looked around and asked, "Where's Jiang Chi?"

Li Weili quickly explained.

Ye Lan nodded. Just as he was about to hand the phone back to Li Weili, it suddenly vibrated.

Ye Lan glanced at it subconsciously. A message from Geng Tian automatically displayed on the screen.

[Since you won't let us bring up Ye Lan, can you at least respond yourself? He already forwarded your Weibo post, can't you at least leave a comment?]

Ye Lan was slightly stunned. A moment later, the corners of his mouth slowly, bit by bit, curved upwards.

Ye Lan couldn't help but want to laugh. He quickly took the cigarette from his mouth, extinguished it in the ashtray, and rapidly typed a reply to Geng Tian: Okay.