Chapter 41: Forty-One Fire

Halfway through filming, the weather grew increasingly hot. It coincided with the crew shooting the historical scenes, and Yan Duo, wearing heavy costumes under the scorching sun every day, felt like she was about to combust. Moreover, her makeup would get ruined from sweating, often forcing interruptions during filming, which significantly slowed down the progress.

Today’s filming mainly focused on Ji Ran and Zeng Meng’s scenes, while Yan Duo sat on the sidelines watching, sipping a cold drink.

After Sun Xiuwen set off for the capital with his longing for Wenjun, he encountered a heavy rainstorm and landslide along the way. Unfortunately, Sun Xiuwen was swept into the river by the current. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a guest room of the Prime Minister’s residence. Later, he learned from the servants that he had been saved by the Prime Minister’s legitimate daughter, Zhihua.

Within a few days, Sun Xiuwen’s not-so-serious injuries completely healed. However, he had lost nearly a year of his memory. There was always a vague figure in his mind, but he couldn’t see her face clearly.

In the subsequent spring imperial examination, Sun Xiuwen achieved excellent results, placing second in the metropolitan examination and becoming the top scholar in the palace examination. On this same day, Sun Xiuwen, who was appointed to the position of compiler in the Hanlin Academy, packed his luggage and prepared to move out of the Prime Minister’s residence.

“You haven’t replied to my letters, Mr. Sun. Could you tell me the reason?”

Zhihua had secretly fallen for Sun Xiuwen ever since saving him. Unable to meet him often, she had her maid deliver letters, but Sun Xiuwen never replied once. Now hearing that he was leaving, Zhihua couldn’t hold back and stopped him, wanting to get a clear answer.

“Miss Zhihua is my lifesaver. I will always remember your great kindness.”

Speaking only of gratitude and not affection, Zhihua quickly understood Sun Xiuwen’s meaning. She asked somewhat unwillingly, “Do you have someone you love?”

A hazy, graceful figure appeared in Sun Xiuwen’s mind, yet he couldn’t remember anything about her, so he hesitantly shook his head, “No.”

Zhihua walked up to him, looked up and asked him, “Since you don’t have someone you like and you’re not married, why won’t you accept me? A life-saving favor should be repaid with a fountain of gratitude. I don’t even need you to remember me—just marry me.”

Sun Xiuwen was a local scholar, so it wasn’t difficult to find out about him. Zhihua had long ago asked her father, the Prime Minister, to investigate Sun Xiuwen thoroughly, and found no sign of any marriage arrangement.

Hearing Zhihua’s words, Sun Xiuwen lowered his head and took a step back. After saying only “I’m sorry,” he picked up his belongings and left the Prime Minister’s residence.

……

After the long shot was finished, Zeng Meng, who played Zhihua, sat down next to Yan Duo, snatched the ice water from her hand, and took a big gulp while saying, “I’m dying from the heat.”

Speaking of the character Zeng Meng played, her fate was quite tragic. In her previous life, she finally received the emperor’s decree, thinking she could marry Sun Xiuwen, but before they could even get married, Sun Xiuwen fell off a cliff and died while saving the emperor during a hunting trip. Although she married someone else later, she was never happy for the rest of her life and died young.

In this life, she was reincarnated as Sun Yizhou’s classmate, secretly in love with him but never receiving any response—also a miserable existence.

Yan Duo didn’t mind that she had snatched her water, but her eyes remained fixed on Ji Ran. As soon as they finished filming, Ma Peng leaned over and whispered something in his ear. After hearing it, Ji Ran kept walking toward the dressing room, and she wondered if he had some urgent matter to attend to.

“Fang Fang, is there any more ice cream?” Yan Duo turned her head and asked.

Fangfang nodded, took out an ice cream from the small refrigerator, and handed it to Yan Duo.

Seeing that there was ice to eat, Zeng Meng didn’t want water anymore. “I want some too.”

Yan Duo took one out of the fridge and handed it to her, whispering, “Cover for me, I want to go find Ji Ran.”

Zeng Meng rolled her eyes at the words. They just had to stick together even for such a short moment, which was really too much. Zeng Meng expressed her disdain, but since she owed them for their hospitality, she eventually followed Yan Duo up and escorted her to Ji Ran’s dressing room.

Yan Duo carefully slipped into Ji Ran’s dressing room with ice cream while he was on the phone.

Yan Duo didn’t bother him, sitting beside him, scooping a spoonful of ice cream for herself, then another for Ji Ran. They took turns eating, one bite after another, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

When he finished his call, Yan Duo asked curiously, “Do you have another job?”

Ji Ran nodded, “I have to go back to T City in a couple of days to participate in a reality show.”

Yan Duo was taken aback, “Is it for some promotional event?”

Ever since she and Ji Ran had truly gotten together, Yan Duo hadn’t paid attention to him online for a long time. After all, when she couldn’t get enough of the person right in front of her, who had time to go online? Therefore, she wasn’t very clear about Ji Ran’s current work schedule.

Ji Ran shook his head, “Permanent guest.”

Yan Duo looked incredulous. “What kind of amazing show is this that actually made you a permanent guest?”

In Yan Duo’s impression, Ji Ran was one of the few top celebrities who disliked participating in reality shows. Regular reality shows were considered by many artists to be synonymous with quick money, ease, and rapid fan growth, but Ji Ran had never been particularly interested in them. Once, a very popular reality show had invited him to participate, yet he had refused without hesitation. Therefore, Ji Ran signing on for a reality show truly surprised Yan Duo.

Ji Ran: “It’s a new program that will be broadcast in the form of a live stream.”

Yan Duo: ???

“Why did you choose this kind of reality show?”

In Yan Duo’s opinion, live streaming was simply too demanding. It might be better if there was a script and rehearsal beforehand, but without them, it was practically a disaster waiting to happen. Artists whose public personas differed drastically from their true selves risked losing everything—their foundation, their reputation, and even their fans.

Ji Ran: “I don’t think there’s a script.”
The rehearsal went well, so I took it.

Yan Duo was completely speechless, and finally could only give a thumbs up, “You’re the big shot, you call the shots.”

A faint smile appeared on Ji Ran’s lips as he glanced at Yan Duo and said, “The first episode will be filmed at my place.”

Yan Duo froze, her mind immediately racing through all the traces she might have left in the house. After thinking for a while, she realized the most traces she’d left were probably in the walk-in closet, so she instructed Ji Ran, “When you’re live streaming, definitely don’t go to the walk-in closet, and if you do, don’t just open the cabinets, okay?”

Yan Duo felt that if sharp-eyed fans discovered her existence, it would probably be the beginning of her nightmare and the start of Ji Ran’s career decline. How terrifying!

Ji Ran remained silent upon hearing this. On one hand, he felt he had done poorly in the past; it was supposed to be a home for two, yet it had never changed because of her arrival. On the other hand, he thought to himself that he would probably disappoint Yan Duo.

When she returned to the hotel in the evening, Yan Duo specifically searched for the program Ji Ran had mentioned. The show was called “Men’s World,” and the production team had invited five guests, all men—actors, athletes, models, hosts, and even the male editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine. These individuals were handsome celebrities from different fields, and the program’s slogan was “Take you to know the unknown side of male gods.” This gimmick successfully aroused the curiosity and anticipation of many female viewers, and Ji Ran was the most popular one among them. The production team’s Weibo was filled with female fans confessing their love for Ji Ran.

After watching it seriously, Yan Duo felt very heavy-hearted. Judging by this trend, she felt that Ji Ran would only become more famous, so famous that she could never catch up to him. Thinking this, Yan Duo immediately called Qi Sixian.

“Sis, I think I can take on more work. I’m still very young and can endure a lot of hardship. Please don’t worry about working me to death—just throw all the work at me!”

Yan Duo’s thinking was simple: with more work, her acting skills would inevitably improve, and once her acting skills improved, she would gain more popularity from netizens.

Qi Sixian hit the nail on the head from the other end of the phone, “What’s wrong? Scared by the variety show your husband officially announced today? Afraid your gap will widen even more?”

Yan Duo’s face stiffened as she answered sheepishly, “Not at all! I just want to earn more money for the company.”

Qi Sixian snorted, “If you want to make money, that’s easy. Announce your marriage, then ride your husband’s coattails a few more times. Once you’ve attracted all the traffic, I guarantee you’ll have more work than you can handle.”

As Qi Sixian said this, although she was somewhat annoyed, she wasn’t just speaking baselessly. A few years ago, a popular male celebrity officially announced his relationship, after which his career stagnated, and he was even surpassed by newcomers. His girlfriend, however, had previously had mediocre stats across the board. After the announcement, although she was dissed by the male celebrity’s fans, her traffic genuinely increased significantly, and she received so many jobs and endorsements that her hands were full.

Yan Duo was rendered speechless, finally muttering in a small voice, “Sis, but I don’t want to rely on him, nor do I want to harm him.”

There were two things about Yan Duo that Qi Sixian couldn’t stand: one was her acting cute, and the other was her pretending to be wronged, whether real or fake.

“Alright, alright, alright, I’m already fighting to get resources for you, so rest assured. You just need to focus on filming every drama well and treat every job seriously. Leave the rest to fate.”

Qi Sixian understood why Yan Duo suddenly asked for more work, and she also understood her desire to close the gap with Ji Ran. Therefore, she had already done everything she could for her. Even after returning from S City, she took advantage of the opportunities when Yan Duo had several small supporting roles to increase her visibility and gave her a bit of promotion, with pretty good results.

“Thanks, sis. Love you.”

Hearing Qi Sixian’s words, Yan Duo finally felt relieved. After hanging up the phone, she took out the new script and began reading it. Just as she was getting absorbed in it, the room door opened. Yan Duo looked at Ji Ran who had suddenly entered and asked him strangely, “Why did you come down?”

Ji Ran tossed the room card aside, took out his pajamas from the cabinet, and said, “If you don’t come up, I’ll have to come down.”

Yan Duo glanced at the time and realized it was already half past ten, well past the time they had agreed to go upstairs. She tossed the script aside, waited for Ji Ran to change his clothes, then followed him into bed and lay down hugging his arm.

A minute later, Yan Duo, thinking of that reality show, uneasily added, “You can film the variety show, but whatever you do, don’t expose me, got it?”

Ji Ran propped his other free hand behind his head, looked at her, and asked casually, “If it gets exposed, what would you do?”

What would you do?

Yan Duo hadn’t considered this question before, but now thinking about it, Ji Ran had never been satisfied with her being his secret mistress. Yan Duo strongly suspected he might do something reckless, so she sternly warned him, “If you expose this without my consent, then I will really divorce you. So, you decide what to do.”

Ji Ran looked at the woman who was threatening him for the first time, in a very bad mood. “Divorce?”

Didn’t I just tell her the other day not to mention divorce casually? Has she forgotten already? So disobedient.

Yan Duo looked at Ji Ran’s eyes gleaming fiercely, couldn’t help shrinking back, and said without confidence, “Yes…”

Ji Ran turned over to face Yan Duo: “I think your memory has been too poor lately, you should do something to improve it.”

Yan Duo wished she could jump out of bed, “No, no, no, I’m especially tired today, I don’t want to…”

Recently, the hot weather combined with a busy filming schedule had left Yan朵 completely exhausted. Every time Ji Ran wanted to do something, he would find that Yan朵 had already fallen asleep.

“You don’t have to do anything, just close your eyes and sleep. Leave the rest to me!”

Yan Duo: “……”

If I really handed it over to you, I could still sleep with my eyes closed. By then, you’d be the one losing sleep over your poor skills, wouldn’t you?

Of course, Yan Dore didn’t dare say this, because if she did, the vengeful man on top of her would really swallow her alive, bones and all!