Chapter 51: Fifty-One Fire

When they returned home, Yan Duo went upstairs to pack her luggage, while Ji Ran went to the kitchen to prepare ingredients for dinner.

Two hours later, Ji Ran’s meal was ready, but Yan Duo hadn’t come down yet. After setting the table, Ji Ran went upstairs to find her.

At the bedroom door, there were two large suitcases standing by, obviously already packed. Looking further inside, when Ji Ran saw what Yan Duo was doing, he couldn’t help but laugh.

At that moment, Yan Duo was dancing on a pole. Probably because she hadn’t practiced in too long, the woman who had clearly told him a few days ago that it “wasn’t too difficult” kept sliding off the pole, while still making excuses for herself, “This pole must not be used to me yet, we’re still not familiar with each other. I should be able to get familiar with it after a bit more practice, yes, that must be it.”

Ji Ran leaned against the door, admiring the scene for a long while, until Yan Dou was once again rejected by the pole, only then did he slowly speak up.

“How about I have the pole shipped to your film set, so you can practice more?”

The moment Yan Dou heard Ji Ran’s voice, she quickly let go of her hands on the pole, casually ran her fingers through her hair, and said: “I was just trying it out, I never said I was going to dance!”

The person who had firmly insisted she wouldn’t dance was now caught red-handed by Ji Ran. Yan Dou felt both embarrassed and annoyed. This person was just as bullying as the pole he bought her—she clearly remembered all the movements, but once she got on the pole, nothing worked. The pole simply refused to cooperate with her, which was simply going too far!

Ji Ran looked at her with a smile, but didn’t To expose, “You’ve been busy for so long, you must be hungry. Let’s go downstairs and eat.”

Yan Duo saw that Ji Ran was no longer mentioning dancing, so she quickly followed his lead: “I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it, but now that you say it, I am a bit hungry. Let’s eat, let’s eat.”

As she spoke, she was already walking out of the room.

Ji Ran watched her back disappear, then glanced at the steel pole once more before heading downstairs.

Before bed, Ji Ran unusually only did it once.

Afterward, Yan Duan wasn’t in a hurry to shower either, curling up under the covers holding Ji Ran’s arm while chatting with him.

“Tell me the truth, before me, did you have a girlfriend that you just didn’t make public?”

If he didn’t have a girlfriend, Ji Ran’s intense desire would simply have nowhere to go!

Is it really possible to rely only on five-fingered girl?

Ji Ran’s hand, pressed tightly against Yan Duo’s body, moved up and down along her curves as he answered, “No, you’re the first, and of course, the last.”

Yan Duo giggled, “So, how did you deal with your physical needs before?”

Ji Ran pulled her thigh with one hand, pinched her face with the other, and asked her, “Asking this, I seriously suspect I haven’t finished dealing with your physical needs yet.”

As soon as Yan Duo was threatened by Ji Ran, she didn’t dare to ask any further questions. She broke free from Ji Ran’s hand, quickly lifted the covers, and got out of bed.

“No, no, no, you’ve always been very hardworking. My needs were already taken care of by you, so there’s no need for you to worry about it.”

Ji Ran found it amusing as he watched her quickly flee to the bathroom.

This foolish woman would probably never understand that a man can live like a monk before he falls for a woman, but after he does, he only wishes he had more than two kidneys.

The next day, Fang Fang came to Yan Duo with her luggage, and the two took a car to the airport together.

Ji Ran had wanted to see her off, but Yan Duo firmly refused.

“There are so many people at the airport. If you go, what’s the difference from making an official announcement!”

Yan Duo had already refused when Ma Peng offered to drive them, but they had so much luggage that she didn’t turn him down. However, while Ma Peng could act as their driver, Ji Ran absolutely could not appear with them.

Ji Ran had no choice but to watch as Yan Duo’s figure disappeared from his sight.

On the same night that Yan Duo arrived in S City, the outdoor reality show recorded by the “Reborn Rose” crew was also broadcast on television.

The production team had previously used “What is the relationship between Yan Duo and Ji Ran” as a promotional gimmick, but when the show actually aired, Yan Duo first claimed to be single and then admitted to lying. Her ambiguous attitude left many netizens dissatisfied, feeling that there was something wrong with her approach.

First saying it has nothing to do with Ji Ran, then saying they just lied—who knows what that means!

What exactly is your relationship with my Ji Ran, or are you just riding on his popularity?

It’s just a variety show, why take it so seriously! Besides, don’t you think the host was being a bit intentional? Yan Duo clearly didn’t want to answer about her relationship with Ji Ran, but that person kept asking, showing no sense of tact at all.

Everyone in the circle knows full well that Ji Ran’s wife is Yan Duo, but unfortunately Yan Duo just won’t give Ji Ran the recognition he deserves, sigh~

Regardless of whether she’s single or has a relationship with Ji Ran, that’s her private business. It’s up to her to make it public or not—that’s her freedom and has nothing to do with anyone else.

If you look down on my Ji Ran, why marry him? And then not even go public after getting married, honestly!

If I were Ji Ran with such a huge group of brainless fans, I wouldn’t make my relationship with him public either. Who knows if I’d be the next one getting blocked at my doorstep and cursed at!

Compared to her personal life, I’m more concerned about her identity as an actress, and more concerned about whether her movie “Phoenix Rose” is good or not.

……

Yan Duo watched the netizens’ comments with a twitching corner of her mouth, finding it incredible. In her original expectation, it would have been normal for netizens to scold her, after all, she had contradicted herself, and it was understandable that it would provoke everyone’s indignation. But looking through the entire comment section, she felt that the netizens seemed to have missed the point. What was with the urgent tone in these people’s comments, wanting her to publicly announce that she was already married to Ji Ran?

It couldn’t have been Sister Qi or Ji Ran who hired the paid commenters, after all, no matter how powerful a paid commenting company is, they can’t control all the major website reviews, right?

And her later phone call with Qi Sixian confirmed her guess that these were indeed the netizens’ real thoughts.

Qi Sixian said, “Don’t be anxious either. It’s only a matter of time before you go public with Ji Ran. Their tone now clearly shows they’re gradually accepting it. When you officially make it public, they’ll be happy to see it happen.”

Judging by the current situation, there’s no need to guide online discussions at all. She just needs to prevent malicious people from exploiting any loopholes.

Yan Duo felt this made sense, finally reassured, hung up the phone and went to read the script.

The movie that will start filming tomorrow is a wuxia drama adapted from a major IP. Yan Duo plays Er Yue, a top-tier master who is blind in both eyes. She usually wears a long black dress with white cloth covering her eyes. Although she cannot see, this does not affect her

Her daily life in February didn’t affect her killing at all.

Yan Duo had never acted in a wuxia drama since her debut, especially for such a character that looked particularly appealing, so she was quite looking forward to it. Therefore, early the next morning, she took Fang Fang to the film set in S City.

Director Zhang appeared quite stern. The first thing he said to Yan Duo was, “Have you ever done wire work?” When he learned that Yan Duo didn’t have much experience, he immediately told her that no stand-ins were allowed in the crew and that the actors had to perform every shot themselves. He arranged for the martial arts instructor to teach her the movements. To this, Yan Duo had no objections and humbly followed the martial arts instructor to learn.

Therefore, after the first day of filming dramatic scenes while simultaneously learning martial arts movements, Yan Duo returned to the hotel completely exhausted.

Fang Fang saw her body covered in bruises and purple marks, and her heart ached with pity. She knelt on Yan Duo’s bed and gave her a massage.

Yan Duo watched television while enjoying Fang Fang’s massage and soon became drowsy. She didn’t snap out of it until Fang Fang pushed her, and at that moment, her name was coming from the television. Yan Duo turned to look at the TV, where Liu Chuang’s face appeared on the screen.

“There’s a rumor that you pursued Yan Duo while filming ‘Bathing in Fire Roses,’ is that true?”

Liu Chuang’s face darkened, “I’m here today to promote the movie ‘One Night,’ please don’t ask unrelated questions, thank you.”

“Then can I take that as a tacit admission? Did you two ever date?”

“After ‘Bathing Fire Rose’ finished filming, are you still in contact with her?”

“Regarding what Yan Duo said on the variety show last night, I heard you were there too. Do you have anything to say about it?”

……

Questions came from all around, obviously those people didn’t take Liu Chuang’s words of “don’t ask other irrelevant questions” to heart. Liu Chuang’s face was as dark as a pot bottom, but he probably knew he couldn’t change the situation, took a deep breath, and compromised.

“I have never had any relationship with Yan Duo beyond ordinary colleagues. The claim that I pursued her is completely baseless. Additionally, regarding the variety show that aired yesterday, I’ll just say this: whether filming a drama or recording a variety show, if someone changes my scenes at the last minute, I will directly refuse to cooperate.”

“Alright, I’ve said everything you wanted to know. I won’t be answering any more questions like this from now on. Thank you for your cooperation.”

When the TV started showing news about other artists, Fang Fang, who was still giving Yan Duo a massage, couldn’t help but say: “Liu Chuang actually spoke up for you? I wouldn’t have expected that!”

Whether it was on the film set before or during the recent promotional events, Liu Chuang had never treated Yan Dong with a pleasant expression, always treating her as if she were invisible. Before this news, Fang Fang didn’t understand the reason, but now she finally got it.

Yan Duo lay on the bed without speaking, feeling quite surprised. Liu Chuang had so cleanly and decisively drawn a line with her, and had even unintentionally helped clear things up for her. If it weren’t for the news as proof, she really wouldn’t have dared to imagine it.

Liu Chuang’s interview undoubtedly opened up another perspective for netizens, so was Yan Duo’s ambiguous statement actually forced?

As a rare newcomer who never publicizes her private life, Yan Duo was understandably unhappy when the show’s production team suddenly changed the interview script specifically to dig into her personal affairs. Many people expressed understanding, and after that, even more joined the gossip game of guessing what kind of relationship Yan Duo and Ji Ran really have, saying they looked forward to the two actually being married.

Previously, there were two distinct factions online – one opposing and the other supporting. After Liu Chuang’s interview, more people began to support her.

News on the internet comes and goes quickly. Just as the parties involved remained silent and “Phoenix Rose” was airing to great popularity, this matter finally came to an end. Meanwhile, Yan Duo was completely immersed in the busy filming schedule with the crew and had no time to pay attention to the online information.

Just when Yan Duo thought this matter was over, one day, when she returned to her room, she unexpectedly saw Ji Ran, whom she hadn’t seen for many days.

“How did you get here?” Yan Du happily rushed over and jumped directly onto Ji Ran.

Ji Ran held her in his arms, and after noticing that the woman in his embrace felt much lighter, he frowned. yuedudi.com

“I’m here to watch over you.”

Yan Duo smiled: “I’m not a child, I don’t need someone watching over me.” Though she said she didn’t need it, her arms around Ji Ran’s were exceptionally tight.

Hearing this, the words “I’m here to watch over you, so another actor with a ‘normal working relationship’ doesn’t chase after you” that were on the tip of his tongue turned into, “Look how thin you’ve gotten, I’m here to watch you eat.”

Yan Duo leaned on his shoulder, “So, you actually missed me, right?”

Ji Ran shook his head, holding her as he walked toward the bed, and replied: “No, I’m here to help you with your physical needs. You don’t have to thank me too much.”

Yan Duo chuckled, was it really that hard to just say he missed her?

Besides, who knows who will end up helping whom with their needs!