Chapter 33: Yan Man Suddenly Feels a Little Tired

Hu Suling has high demands, selecting the best story, scenes, and actors. Every detail is meticulously crafted, which has caused Yan Man to be out early and return late these past few days.

She has to wake up around 5 a.m. to get her makeup done. As the lead actress with a lot of scenes, she rests for only two hours at lunch and then continues shooting until around 10 p.m., when she returns to the hotel to rest.

“Man Jie, the food is ready. You should eat and take a nap afterward.”

Shen Jie, feeling sorry for her, remembered that Yan Man’s scene last night had several NGs, and they finished work close to midnight. She knew that Yan Man probably hadn’t slept much.

Yan Man smiled. “Thank you.”

After speaking, she took her script, placed it next to her, and began eating while reading the lines.

She didn’t come from a professional acting background, so if Director Hu trusted her, she needed to work even harder. Last night, because of her, the whole team had to stay late. Yan Man felt guilty, but fortunately, Director Hu didn’t say much and even comforted her, saying her performance was good.

“Jie, you have a cut on your hand.” Shen Jie gasped. She immediately noticed a scratch on Yan Man’s hand.

Yan Man looked at the scratch in surprise. “I didn’t feel it until you pointed it out.”

It must have been from the scene with Qian Yi, where she fell against the bar and scratched herself.

Shen Jie quickly found the first aid kit and carefully disinfected the wound, expressing concern. “Be more careful next time.”

Yan Man and Shen Jie had been together for almost two years, and she treated Shen Jie like a sister, but Shen Jie seemed to think of her like a daughter. She patted Shen Jie’s head and smiled. “I know, you’re so naggy.”

“President Tan, too. After all these days, he still hasn’t come to check on you, not even a phone call.”

Shen Jie’s voice was small. She always thought that Tan Qishen wasn’t doing a good job as a boyfriend, but she was in no position to say much. All she could do was hint at it.

Yan Man paused, her lines interrupted. She asked, “What did you just say?”

Shen Jie thought she was upset from hearing her words and quickly explained, “… I didn’t mean to bad-mouth President Tan…”

“Bad-mouth?”

Yan Man was startled and quickly put down her chopsticks, grabbing her phone.

She had put the whole argument with Tan Qishen out of her mind and hadn’t thought about it. She vaguely felt that she had forgotten something, and if Shen Jie hadn’t mentioned it, she might have never remembered.

“What happened, Man Jie?” Shen Jie asked, her heart racing, thinking it was something serious.

Yan Man opened her phone and found the WeChat chat with Tan Qishen. The last time she was blocked was on the 25th, and today was the 30th.

Six days had passed!

Since they started dating, they’d never had such a long silent treatment.

Yan Man instinctively dialed his number, but a few seconds later, she was met with the familiar mechanical voice.

Okay, she wasn’t unblocked yet.

“Shen Jie, let me borrow your phone.”

Shen Jie quickly handed it to her.

Yan Man was very familiar with Tan Qishen’s phone number, her fingers flying over the keys. But when she reached the last number, she suddenly stopped.

A worried and conflicted expression appeared on her face. She’d been through this too many times before, and now she felt a bit exhausted.

After thinking for a while, she handed the phone back to Shen Jie. She hadn’t dialed the number.

“Forget it.”

Yan Man shook her head. Since six days had passed, one more day didn’t matter. She’d deal with it when she felt like reconciling.

Right now, she didn’t feel like making up.

---

After a half-hour lunch break, Yan Man continued with her afternoon shoot.

There were three scenes in total for the afternoon. The first two were easy to shoot and were completed quickly, but the last one was a kissing scene.

The kissing scene with the male lead, Lin Yiyang, though staged, made Yan Man nervous. She had never filmed an intimate scene before, and aside from Tan Qishen, she had never kissed anyone, so she was a bit anxious now.

Before the official filming started, the two actors rehearsed their lines on set. Although Yan Man was the one to be kissed, Lin Yiyang’s face was even redder than hers.

His assistant jokingly said, “Brother Yang, it’s not your first kissing scene, why are you still blushing?”

When his shyness was pointed out, Lin Yiyang’s face turned even redder, and even his ears turned pink.

Yan Man tried not to laugh and offered him an out. “How about we take a break for five minutes and then try again?”

“Okay.” Lin Yiyang nodded, his current state not suitable for the camera. He would be scrutinized by fans for a long time if they filmed now.

After resting for two minutes, the assistant director went to speak to Hu Suling and said something to her in a low voice.

Hu Suling’s expression changed slightly. She nodded and said, “I understand.”

She clapped her hands and addressed the crew, “The investors are coming to inspect the work, and they’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Filming is paused. We’ll continue after the investors leave.”

Hu Suling’s tone was cold, and her face was serious. Not only would this delay affect the filming progress, but it had also disrupted the whole day’s schedule.

The director and the team went to greet the investors, and the cast members were asked to wait in their trailers.

Outside the set, luxury cars arrived one by one, indicating the investors had plenty of money.

The first car, a black Maybach, slowly came to a stop, with a familiar license plate number: Jing A 99999. Hu Suling recognized it.

The driver opened the backseat door, and a man in a black coat stepped out, tall and upright, exuding an air of nobility and aloofness.

Next, several other investors got out of the following cars.

Hu Suling was surprised to see Tan Qishen, though she quickly hid her surprise. Her face softened, and she smiled, “Qishen, what are you doing here?”

Tan Qishen nodded at her, “Just came to see you, Aunt Ling.”

Hu Suling didn’t fully believe it. She had worked on many films, and Tan Qishen had invested in many of them, but he had never visited the set before.

She saw through it but didn’t say anything. She smiled and led the group of investors inside.

Tan Qishen glanced around. There were a lot of staff, but Yan Man wasn’t in sight. Seemingly unconcerned, he asked, “Isn’t there any filming today?”

Hu Suling replied truthfully, “I knew you were coming, so we paused the filming.”

Tan Qishen walked steadily, his tone serious. “No need, don’t let it delay your progress. We’ll just watch the filming process from the side.”

As soon as he spoke, the other investors immediately agreed.

“Okay.” This suited Hu Suling, and she instructed the assistant director, “Director Wang, take the investors to the director’s room.”

---

Inside the trailer, the staff knocked on the door and informed Yan Man that they could resume filming.

“The investors left so quickly?” Yan Man asked.

The staff shook their head but didn’t elaborate.

Soon, Yan Man and Lin Yiyang arrived at the filming site.

Tan Qishen was invited to the director’s room and sat next to Hu Suling. The monitors in front of them displayed four screens, showing the filming in progress.

“Actors are in position.”

He heard someone call out, and the familiar face appeared on the monitors. Tan Qishen’s heart tightened for a moment.

On the screen, Yan Man was smiling, standing opposite a man who shyly looked at her.

Tan Qishen frowned, gripping the armrest of his chair with his long fingers. His dark, deep gaze was fixed on Yan Man’s face on the monitor.

It had been six days. She seemed carefree.