Chapter 42

After Ye Lan sent out a Weibo post, it took over the top headlines in less than an hour.

This time, when Ye Lan joined the crew, it wasn't like when he was filming 'The Scum' and needed to hide his schedule. Most fans had already gotten the news from the fan club before he even started. The publicity department for The Regent Prince crew had also been tirelessly promoting it recently. Thus, the moment that Weibo post went out, everyone knew for certain that someone had visited Ye Lan on set!

Ye Lan didn't @ anyone, and after everyone waited anxiously for more than an hour, no one came forward to claim responsibility for the Weibo post. The hashtag #MysteriousPersonVisitsYeLanLateAtNight# was instantly and furiously trending.

Several entertainment paparazzi studios were filled with regret. The Regent Prince hadn't officially started filming yet, and the opening ceremony hadn't even been held. They had slacked off and arrived a few days late, unexpectedly missing such a huge piece of news!

There were all kinds of speculations online about the identity of the "mysterious person." Marketing accounts seized the opportunity to ride the hype, pulling up and thoroughly investigating the schedules of every female star rumored to be linked with Ye Lan. But they were either out of the country or the timing didn't match up. Jiang Ying's studio, who had been the subject of rumors with Ye Lan for a considerable time before the year's end, had intended to post on Weibo to muddy the waters. However, it wasn't long before a leaked video of Jiang Ying recording a variety show at a local TV station that very night was exposed, and the rumor collapsed on its own.

The man of the hour, Ye Lan, went silent after his Weibo post. The entertainment paparazzi refused to let this big story go, using all sorts of connections to contact The Regent Prince crew. Someone even got in touch with one of the crew's Assistant Directors, but the Assistant Director was also completely baffled; he had been with the crew the whole time and hadn't seen anyone visit at all.

When the crew members saw the news, their reactions were similar to the Assistant Director's—confused and curious. The people who had seen the food container on set were going crazy with gossip. Who on earth had visited?!

Of course, no matter how badly everyone wanted to know, no one dared to ask Ye Lan.

Only the actor sitting near Ye Lan during dinner had a vague impression. He suddenly realized, "That new assistant of yours!"

"Shh..." Ye Lan gave the other person a mysterious smile. "It's a secret."

The other person couldn't have broken the secret even if he wanted to; from start to finish, he had never seen the "new assistant's" face.

He only knew that the person was male.

The actor shook his head, lamenting in distress, 'This circle is too chaotic!'

Jiang Chi, the other male protagonist in the mysterious set visit incident, found his heart beating erratically from the moment he saw Ye Lan's Weibo post.

It wasn't the first time Ye Lan had posted about him on Weibo, but this time, there were no work-related or official elements involved. It was personal to the point of making Jiang Chi blush.

No one else knew who Ye Lan was talking about; only he knew.

This small, private happiness excited Jiang Chi so much that he almost stayed awake the entire night.

Jiang Chi looked at Ye Lan's Weibo post over and over. Afraid his hand might slip and like it, he carefully logged into his alternate account. He didn't comment or repost; he just stared at the Weibo post, with its four words and single punctuation mark, for an unknown length of time.

Really...

'I'm liking this person more and more.'

No matter how late he went to sleep, he still had to start work on time the next day. In the early morning, Jiang Chi used eye drops to clear up the redness in his eyes and, taking advantage of a moment when no one was around, confirmed with Li Weili, "Nobody knows I went out, right?"

"Don't worry, everyone thinks you had a cold and went to bed early," Li Weili said. "I returned the car too. They didn't even ask; no one thought anything of it."

Jiang Chi relaxed a little. When he arrived at the film set, he could still hear people discussing the visit to Ye Lan.

A sweet feeling spread through Jiang Chi's heart. He thought for a moment and sent a message to Ye Lan, making small talk by asking if the driver had gotten back safely.

Ye Lan couldn't be bothered to text and called Jiang Chi directly. "You're up so early? Old Jin said he was stuck behind a truck on the highway for an hour on the way back yesterday. It was after midnight by the time he got to the hotel. How many hours of sleep did you even get?"

Having just visited Ye Lan, Jiang Chi was actually quite energetic. "I'm fine. I have scenes this morning, so I had to get up early anyway."

The thought of Jiang Chi driving such a long way by himself yesterday still made Ye Lan feel uneasy. He frowned and said, "Just take a day off. Don't you guys often take leave to juggle multiple projects or attend events when you're filming a TV series?"

Jiang Chi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'Does my idol even know how to make conversation?'

Jiang Chi knew Ye Lan was concerned for him and said in a small voice, "No, it's fine. I don't feel sleepy, and I'm in good condition."

"You..." Ye Lan said, exasperated and too lazy to argue. "Give your phone to your director. I'll talk to him."

Jiang Chi choked abruptly and frantically shook his head. "No, no, no, no..."

Jiang Chi's string of "no's" made Ye Lan laugh. "What's wrong? It's a perfectly normal thing for Papa to help you ask for a day off."

On the other end of the line, Ye Lan could be heard asking someone, "Who's their director? Do I know him? Have we had drinks together?"

Jiang Chi was frantic. Afraid that Ye Lan would actually contact his director, he hastily changed the subject. "Oh, right! I have something to ask you!"

"Hmm?" Ye Lan asked. "What is it?"

Thinking quickly, Jiang Chi didn't forget to insert his own agenda, asking tentatively, "The houses near your place... are any of them for rent?"

Ye Lan was bewildered. "For rent?"

"Well..." Jiang Chi said, a little embarrassed. "The place I'm living in now is provided by my company, and I'm about to terminate my contract, so I plan to move out soon. I do have my own house, but the security system in that complex isn't great, and the media found out its location a long time ago, so I can't live there anymore. Last time... I noticed the houses in your neighborhood seemed really nice, so I was wondering..."

Ye Lan thought for a moment. "I'm really not sure about that. But in my district, at least, no one rents their houses out. They'd rather leave them empty. The residents here have an agreement they sign before moving in, promising not to lend their property to outsiders for filming or things like that. Once they find out who you are, they probably won't agree."

Jiang Chi hadn't really expected to be able to rent a place in Ye Lan's neighborhood anyway. He asked tentatively, "Then... could I rent a house in your vicinity?"

Jiang Chi had actually had this idea for a long time, but he hadn't dared to ask Li Weili to look for a place before getting Ye Lan's permission, lest Ye Lan think he was a pervert.

But now... Ye Lan seemed to already see him as a friend. He trusted him and was so concerned about him. He should agree, right?

Something stirred in Ye Lan's heart. He chuckled softly. "What's this? Want to be a little closer to me?"

Jiang Chi blushed, stammering, "I like the environment over there... and the location is good..."

Ye Lan scoffed lightly. "There are plenty of places with good locations and property management. Go take your time looking somewhere else."

Jiang Chi's heart clenched. "I just want to be a little closer to you!"

Ye Lan tried to hold it in, but still burst out laughing.

Jiang Chi silently covered his face. 'Thank goodness this is over the phone...'

"If you want to move here, then go ahead." Having teased him enough, Ye Lan started acting magnanimous. "It's not like I own the whole area, can I really stop you? I'll have Cen Wen keep an eye out. I'll let you know if a suitable place becomes available."

Jiang Chi quickly thanked him, then added, "It doesn't necessarily have to be a rental. If it's a good fit, buying is also fine."

Although Jiang Chi hadn't had any income recently, he had managed to accumulate some savings over the past few years. If worst came to worst, he could sell his previous house. Pooling his funds, buying a new place shouldn't be a problem.

Ye Lan thought to himself that it would be best if he bought a house right next door. Then, the monk could run, but he couldn't run away from the temple.

Remembering how ridiculously stubborn Jiang Chi had been yesterday, running off without meeting anyone, Ye Lan was still simmering with anger.

But he couldn't unleash that anger now. He would wait until the man was truly by his side...

The two chatted for a few more moments before someone on Jiang Chi's end came to hurry him. Jiang Chi was reluctant, not wanting to hang up the phone.

"Alright, you go shoot your scene," Ye Lan said. He glanced over at An Ya, who was sitting on the sofa opposite him with a grim face, sipping coffee. After Jiang Chi hung up, Ye Lan added for show, "Don't come again if it's nothing important. Look how much trouble you've caused everyone."

Ye Lan put down his phone and asked An Ya with gentlemanly concern, "Why are you drinking such strong coffee again? Aren't you worried it'll hurt your stomach?"

An Ya said with a wooden expression, "My stomach already exploded from anger. I don't care about this anymore."

"What a way to put it." Ye Lan smiled. "What's the big deal? Didn't I just tell you? It was just Jiang Chi who came to see me, no one else."

"It's a good thing it was him," An Ya said coldly. "If it had been some drama queen who loves to stir up trouble, I wouldn't have had time to see you today. I'd have been busy to death handling public relations."

It was at times like these that An Ya felt it had been an incredibly wise decision for Ye Lan's Studio, upon its founding, to have invested so much manpower and resources into building a public relations department that was so well-staffed and well-connected. Other studios all poured money into their resource departments; only they were unique. The staff of the PR department worked the hardest in the entire studio, living on eggshells every day as they prepared to handle Ye Lan's various unexpected situations.

Ye Lan smiled. "So what's the PR department preparing to say this time?"

"I contacted someone who 'wouldn't arouse suspicion' last night and discussed it with the PR team." An Ya said calmly. "After our discussion, we've prepared two plans. The first is to play dead and not respond. The entertainment media didn't catch anyone, and Jiang Chi was careful enough not to leave a single trace, so we can just treat this incident as you hyping yourself up."

"Plan two," An Ya looked at Ye Lan, "is that if you agree, Director Ren Haichuan will repost your Weibo within twenty-four hours and say that he was the one who sent the chicken soup."

Ye Lan: "Pfft!"

Cen Wen gripped the corner of her dress tightly, using all her strength to suppress her reaction.

"Ren Haichuan... cough..." Ye Lan struggled to hold back his laughter. "How... did you convince him? Heh... he actually agreed..."

"You seem quite happy about this?" An Ya suppressed her rage. "It's a good thing you weren't exposed, otherwise would we even be here discussing plan A and plan B? What on earth is wrong with you lately? You've only been quiet for less than two years, are you regressing? Are you just too bored?"

Ye Lan smiled. "Yes... it is quite boring."

His scenes with Jiang Chi had already wrapped up, and Ye Lan wasn't willing to exchange more than a few words with anyone on this new crew. It was boring.

Every time he thought of Jiang Chi, his heart felt unsettled. He wanted to just grab the man and bring him over, but Jiang Chi was even more proper and self-restrained than he was. It left Ye Lan with a constant itch in his heart that he didn't know how to scratch.

"You..." An Ya took a deep breath as she looked at Ye Lan's nonchalant expression. "Do you have any idea how many paparazzi are squatting outside right now, waiting to get a picture of you? On the outskirts of the set, there are several vehicles not belonging to the crew parked in plain sight. Who knows how many cameras inside are aimed at the main gate, waiting to catch someone!"

Ye Lan raised an eyebrow with a smile and turned his head to Cen Wen. "Go, tell the Assistant Director to get a crew hand to go out and collect parking fees. One thousand an hour. If they don't pay, tell them to get lost."

Cen Wen was dumbfounded. She said dryly, "What if... they don't get lost, and they don't pay?"

"Isn't that simple?" Ye Lan's lips curled into a smile. "Smash their windows. Key their cars."

Even after following this man for so many years, An Ya and Cen Wen were still shaken by his simple, crude, gangster-like aura.

An Ya ground her teeth. 'So what if he's been famous for years? So what if he's won so many Best Actor awards that his hands have gone soft from collecting them? At his core, this guy is still a hooligan!'

Cen Wen hesitantly looked at An Ya's expression. An Ya was so angry with Ye Lan her liver ached. She lowered her voice and said to Cen Wen, "You go take a break... I'll talk to him."

As if granted amnesty, Cen Wen left the lounge, not forgetting to close the door behind her.

Ye Lan lit a cigarette, the smile vanishing from his face.

An Ya put down her coffee cup, suppressing her anger. "And you think you're justified?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ye Lan looked at An Ya and retorted, "What did I do?"

Ye Lan took a drag from his cigarette and said flatly, "I just sent out a Weibo post. I felt like it, who did I offend? Did I take drugs? Did I cheat on someone? What do I have to feel guilty or afraid about?"

An Ya was momentarily at a loss for words.

"I just posted a fucking flirty comment, without naming any names, and that's not allowed?" Ye Lan said with a cigarette dangling from his lips, letting out a cold laugh. "If I end up doing him one day, are you all going to quit as a group?!"