Chapter 53

The staff of Ye Lan's Studio were ruthless and underhanded. After receiving Ye Lan's imperial edict, they all sprang into action.

Throughout the year, the workload for the numerous employees at Ye Lan's Studio was divided into a slow season and a peak season: the slow season was when the whole world celebrated the boss joining a film crew, focusing on acting, and having no time to roast people; the peak season was when the short-lived, accursed boss wrapped up filming, came back bored all day, and prepared to stir up trouble.

Ye Lan had returned to The Regent Prince crew, and there were no signs that his and Jiang Chi's matter was about to be exposed. The studio entered its slow season according to the laws of nature. Everyone was idle, with nothing to do but stare blankly at other people's gossip and drama. It was actually a bit boring. After receiving the big boss's authorization and learning they could bully Century Entertainment, everyone's spirits were instantly lifted, and they started work with great enthusiasm.

The staff who had worked under Ye Lan for these many years had all picked up a bit of a gangster-like air. They were usually arrogant, looking at everyone as if they were three ranks below their own artist, and would even bully people for no reason. Not to mention, this rebellious Century Entertainment had bullied the boss's man. If this could be tolerated, what couldn't?

In less than half a month, Century Entertainment lost an endorsement for a cosmetics brand in the Greater China region for the next season, an endorsement for a mobile game, and a male lead role in a TV series.

Among them, the cosmetics brand endorsement and the male lead role were both Yu Xijia's. Yu Xijia had low emotional intelligence. Instead of reflecting on his previous actions of spreading false rumors about Jiang Chi, he came knocking on their door to ask questions, only to be calmly rebuffed by An Ya in a few words: "You're overthinking it. Ye Lan never endorses third-rate brands, nor does he act in TV series. What use would it be for me to snatch your resources? Anyone with half a brain would know it wasn't us."

Yu Xijia was half-dead with anger.

The other party wasn't even worthy of being called a rival. An Ya couldn't be bothered with childish fights and delegated all such tasks to others, while she focused on assembling a separate team to plan Jiang Chi's career transition for the second half of the year.

Jiang Chi had also heard about Century Entertainment's troubles. He understood that Ye Lan was getting back at them for him.

"Feel better now?" Ye Lan sneered contemptuously. "Going against me, what a fantasy... Damn, just thinking about him telling others that Pei Ran's role was originally his pisses me off. With that face of his, if I managed to film this movie opposite him, my acting skills would truly have exploded. I'd deserve an Oscar."

Jiang Chi blushed and asked vaguely what it was like acting opposite him.

Ye Lan scoffed, "Asking what you already know? Did you forget I took the liberty of adding a few kissing scenes?"

Jiang Chi's heart blossomed with sweetness.

Century Entertainment was thoroughly taught a lesson by Ye Lan and became completely quiet, no longer making a peep. Correspondingly, the negative news about Jiang Chi on the internet gradually faded away, and no one mentioned it anymore.

With his mind at ease, whenever they talked, Jiang Chi would always eagerly bring up what would happen after filming wrapped up, earnestly and shyly telling Ye Lan his little plans.

Jiang Chi even marked a countdown on the calendar in his lounge, counting down the days. The others on the crew, not knowing the inside story, thought Jiang Chi was in a hurry to get to another set to make money.

Only Ye Lan knew that Jiang Chi couldn't wait to find him and become his "private special assistant."

They had just confessed their feelings and gotten together in the early morning, and by dawn, they were off to their respective film sets. Jiang Chi was already reluctant to part, not to mention his crew was rushing to finish scenes with overtime, while Ye Lan's crew was in the midst of intense preparations. Their break times never lined up, and phone calls often went unanswered. Their only means of contact were messages that could be replied to who knows how long later.

If not for his adherence to the bottom line of professional ethics, Jiang Chi really wanted to risk paying the breach of contract penalty and leave the set right now to find Ye Lan.

God knew, he missed Ye Lan so much his bones ached.

"You miss me that much?" Ye Lan found a moment during breakfast to step away from the crew and call Jiang Chi. Hearing him whisper that he had dreamed of him last night, he paused, then lowered his voice and teased, "What kind of dream? One with clothes, or one without?"

Jiang Chi was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly explained, his face beet red, "No, no, no, no, I just dreamed of you normally... N-nothing else."

"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Ye Lan waved to the director who had just arrived on set early, then clicked his tongue and sighed, "Jiang Chi... I underestimated you. So that's why you want to come over so badly, turns out you want to be..."

"Brother!" Jiang Chi wished he could find a hole to crawl into. He hastily cut Ye Lan off, whispering with difficulty, "Don't, don't say it."

Ye Lan held back a laugh, swallowing the verb that was on the tip of his tongue. He chuckled lightly, "What, you don't want to hear me talk anymore?"

"No..." Jiang Chi quickly defended himself. "I do, I miss you."

Ye Lan tried to hold it in, but couldn't, and let out a dirty joke with a smile, "Which part of me do you miss?"

Jiang Chi: "..."

"I'm asking you." The shameless Ye Lan found a place to sit down, picked up his script, and spread it across his long legs, asking with a calm smile, "Which part? If you don't say, I'll just assume you're lying to me."

People were constantly walking past Jiang Chi. He really couldn't bring himself to say anything more suggestive. Jiang Chi tried to move to a less crowded spot, his face red as he said in a small, urgent voice, "I'm not lying to you, I just... miss you."

Ye Lan chuckled softly. "I know you're not lying. Focus on filming. You can come over once you're done."

Jiang Chi hummed in agreement. He knew Ye Lan hated it when artists were perfunctory with the audience, so he quickly promised, "I'm filming very seriously. No matter how much I miss you, I haven't dared to slack off."

Ye Lan said with satisfaction, "That's good."

"I..." Jiang Chi couldn't help but ask for a reward. "My negative news has mostly disappeared, and I've been filming well recently without any issues. No one should be paying much attention to me. Can I... visit you on set today?"

Jiang Chi really missed Ye Lan too much.

Ye Lan was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "Today? What to do, I have scenes all day today."

Jiang Chi was stunned for two seconds, then quickly said, "Ah, it's fine, it's fine. I was just saying."

Ye Lan was still busy on his end, and he hung up the phone shortly after. Jiang Chi sighed quietly in his heart. The next call would probably be in the evening, and that was only if a night shoot wasn't suddenly scheduled.

He had been thinking of asking for half a day off to go see Ye Lan.

Jiang Chi missed Ye Lan a lot.

It wasn't just missing him. Because his lover wasn't by his side, Jiang Chi felt a little insecure, plagued by fears of loss. If Ye Lan didn't contact him and call him so often, Jiang Chi might even suspect this was all a figment of his imagination.

Was Ye Lan really with him?

It was simply unbelievable.

After sighing for a while, Jiang Chi started to reflect on himself again. Was he being a bit too clingy with Ye Lan?

Jiang Chi had been a fan of Ye Lan for many years, had spent half a year with him, and had been with him for a few days. Based on his understanding of Ye Lan, no matter how he looked at it... Ye Lan didn't seem like the type to like a clingy partner.

Ye Lan had revealed in interviews more than once that he liked being alone, disliked being constrained, and took a "come what may" approach to relationships, wanting to live a free and unrestrained life.

Jiang Chi took a light breath, feeling a little regretful. He shouldn't have rashly requested to visit the set just now.

Did he come off as too eager?

It wouldn't be good if he clung too tightly and made Ye Lan feel repulsed.

Now that they were together, they had to accommodate and tolerate each other in their relationship.

Since he liked Ye Lan so much, it was only right that he be a little more considerate of his feelings.

Jiang Chi believed he should have this sense of responsibility.

Li Weili juiced some fruit and brought it over to Jiang Chi, asking, "I made too much juice. Should I take a couple of glasses to Wu Xiaoling and her assistant?"

Back on 'The Scum' set, whenever Cen Wen prepared drinks for Ye Lan, she would always give some to Jiang Chi. Li Weili had learned from her example, thinking it was a good way for Jiang Chi to build relationships on set.

Jiang Chi nodded. "Okay. She's allergic to mangoes, there's no mango in it, right?"

Li Weili smiled. "Don't worry. I'm off then."

"Thanks for the juice." After finishing her breakfast, Wu Xiaoling walked over holding the juice Li Weili had given her, smiling. "Not bad, you're getting more and more of a big-shot actor's air, even sending us drinks. And I see Li Weili doesn't seem as clumsy as he was two years ago."

Jiang Chi stood up to let Wu Xiaoling sit. "He's always been quite steady, he just gets nervous around pretty female artists."

Wu Xiaoling laughed. "So good with words? Such a sweet mouth."

Sweet mouth...

Jiang Chi remembered the time Ye Lan praised his sweet mouth in front of Ren Haichuan. He coughed and subconsciously touched his lips.

"By the way, did you know? A big-shot director is coming to our set tonight. Named something-Hong... I forgot." Wu Xiaoling said mysteriously. "It seems he's coming to discuss some commercial film with our director, specifically to hammer out the contract details... You know how it is nowadays. The big directors want to make commercial films that have both critical acclaim and box office success, so they need help from a master of generating buzz like our director."

Jiang Chi nodded. "I've heard of it. Borrowing each other's personal production teams, exchanging resources, it's pretty normal."

"I think they're going out for dinner tonight. You should go show your face, maybe you'll get invited along." Wu Xiaoling urged. "Perform well, wouldn't it be great if you could join the cast! A movie that's starting to prepare now could very well be in the New Year's slot this year!"

Jiang Chi couldn't help but think of how Ye Lan had pulled strings for him to meet big directors. His mind was elsewhere, thinking of Ye Lan every few seconds. He said distractedly, "It's not that easy. Big directors usually don't think much of people like me."

"Why not? Didn't you work with Film Emperor Ye before?" Wu Xiaoling imagined. "When you're really familiar with the big director circle and have a firm footing, remember to get me a role sometime. I'm definitely not aiming for the first or second female lead, seventh or eighth would be fine. It would save my manager from scolding me all day for only being a B-list actress."

Jiang Chi smiled and nodded seriously. "Okay."

Jiang Chi knew that Wu Xiaoling's acting wasn't bad either; it was just that she had been on the commercial route since her debut, and like him, it was hard to catch the eye of major directors.

Seeing Jiang Chi actually agree, Wu Xiaoling couldn't help but laugh. "Are you silly! I'm just joking with you. I'm not going to ask for trouble. I'm fine like this, filming so many movies a year, making lots of money. Once I've earned enough, I won't need to marry into a rich family and can live my own carefree life. But..."

Wu Xiaoling looked at Jiang Chi. "Are you really not going to fight for it? You can't always be like this. You used to be the same, so aloof with everyone, never going to social events to suck up. You're not a girl, and you don't have a girlfriend, what are you afraid of?"

Jiang Chi tried his best not to show off and say, 'But I have a boyfriend.'

What if he went out to socialize, was photographed, and the news was twisted, and Ye Lan saw it?

Jiang Chi imagined it and shivered. In a fit of rage, Ye Lan would probably force him to call everyone he had socialized with one by one and tell them he was already taken and they shouldn't have any ideas, right?

Wouldn't that be mortifying?

He might even force him to write a self-criticism letter. Or punish him by making him say "I was wrong, I like Brother Ye Lan the most" a hundred times over the phone...

That day, he had called Ye Lan 'brother,' and he wasn't happy about it. So when he was punishing him, would he order him to call him... something else?

With both hands in his trouser pockets, Jiang Chi's cheeks gradually turned red as he turned his head aside, lost in blissful fantasies.

Seeing that Jiang Chi was a hopeless case, Wu Xiaoling felt discouraged. Sipping her juice, she commented, "No ambition, no drive."

After they wrapped up for the evening, the director indeed didn't leave. He kept checking the time while waiting and had the stagehands tidy up the set.

Wu Xiaoling kept winking at Jiang Chi, signaling him to pack up slowly. Wu Xiaoling was a bit clever; she figured that if Jiang Chi was still around when the big director arrived, would their own director not introduce him?

Once introduced, wouldn't they know each other?

Jiang Chi understood Wu Xiaoling's meaning. He smiled, clasped his hands together in gratitude at her, and then hurriedly told Li Weili to leave quickly.

He and Ye Lan had just gotten together; he didn't want to do anything that would cause Ye Lan to misunderstand.

Jiang Chi dragged Li Weili into the car in a hurry. But just as the car started, Jiang Chi's phone rang.

It was the director.

The director laughed. "Jiang Chi, you haven't gone far, have you? What a coincidence, we have a distinguished guest today, and he specifically asked to see you. Come on over."

With that, he hung up.

Li Weili wrung his hands and sighed, "When your luck is this good, you can't even stop it! Go on, go on. If he really asks you out to dinner, just say you already have plans."

Jiang Chi knew he couldn't disrespect the director. He said helplessly, "In a bit, tell them for me, I'm really not going out."

Li Weili nodded. "Don't worry, I'm also afraid Film Emperor Ye will skin me alive."

The two of them turned back and knocked on the door of the common lounge. The director said, "Come in, come in."

Jiang Chi pushed the door open. He looked at the man beside the director, who seemed a bit familiar, but he couldn't recall which big director it was at the moment. He bowed politely and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here."

The big director waved his hand and smiled. "It's nothing. It was my fault for not giving advance notice. I almost missed you."

Jiang Chi quickly smiled and said, "You're too kind. If we hadn't been able to meet, it would have been my regret."

"Your regret? I think you were running away pretty fast."

A person behind the terrace of the common lounge lifted the curtain and walked out.

Film Emperor Ye, wearing sunglasses, said with a cold face, "Do all these young artists have such big egos nowadays?"

Jiang Chi: "!"

Jiang Chi nearly choked on his own saliva. He stared at Ye Lan, dumbfounded, and suddenly remembered! The full name of The Regent Prince's director was Yin Jiehong.

The very same 'something-something Hong' that Wu Xiaoling had mentioned.

Jiang Chi looked at Ye Lan, trembling, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet. Did Ye Lan... specially come with the director for his sake?

Ye Lan ignored Jiang Chi and spoke to the two directors, "It's my treat today. How about we go out for a drink?"

Yin Jiehong naturally had no objections, and Jiang Chi's director was even more delighted. He laughed repeatedly, "How could we let Film Emperor Ye spend money! You've graced us with your presence, of course it's my treat. Let's go, let's go, we can talk on the way."

Ye Lan glanced at Jiang Chi. "Would this fresh meat with the big ego do us the honor?"

Jiang Chi's face was beet red as he nodded. "It would be... my greatest honor."