Chapter 52: Fire

Just as Yan Duo had thought, that night, Ji Ran seemed to have transformed into an indefatigable electric motor, holding Yan Duo down and refusing to stop. They only went to sleep at 2 AM, and the final result was a lose-lose situation – one with a hoarse voice, the other covered in scratch marks.

The next morning, a loud knocking at the door finally woke Yan Duo up. She glanced at the phone beside her and saw it was already 8:30, instantly breaking out in a cold sweat. Not having time for much, she jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom, while instructing Ji Ran, “You go get the door.”

Ji Ran looked at the closed bathroom door, then at his phone, casually grabbed the clothes on the bed and put them on, and slowly walked toward the entrance.

Fang Fang knocked three times before Ji Ran finally opened the door. She anxiously asked him, “Mr. Ji, where’s Sister Duo? Is she up yet?”

All morning, she had made countless phone calls, but not a single one was answered. She finally had to come over and knock, but no one responded to the knocking either. If she hadn’t known that Ji Ran was in Yan Duo’s room, Fang Fang would have already used the spare key card to open the door.

Ji Ran replied, “She’s up. You can wait for her downstairs in the car.”

Fang Fang looked at Ji Ran with some difficulty and asked him, “We’re already late now. What should I say when Director Zhang calls later?”

Director Zhang was strict with everyone and quite serious about it. Last time, the lead actor was ten minutes late and was scolded by him for ten minutes in front of the entire crew, showing no mercy at all. It almost made the male actor walk off the set in anger. And this time, Yan Duo was not just ten minutes late. Fang Fang was really worried that Director Zhang would criticize her to her face, making it impossible for her to save face.

Ji Ran pondered for a few seconds and said, “I’ll handle this.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he closed the door directly.

Fang Fang stared blankly at the closed door again, then thought about the red marks she accidentally glimpsed on the side of Ji Ran’s neck just now. She muttered to herself, the battle must have been intense, no wonder Yan Duo woke up late!

After closing the door, Ji Ran took out his phone and made a brief call. Just as he hung up, Yan Duo, who had quickly washed her face and applied light makeup, came out of the bathroom and hurriedly opened the wardrobe to find clothes.

“Don’t worry, I’ve called Director Zhang and taken leave for you. Remember to eat before you go later.”

Yan Duo’s hand froze as she reached for her clothes, and she widened her eyes to ask him: “You called him to ask for leave for me?”

It can’t be what she’s thinking, can it?

Ji Ran walked to Yan Duo’s side, patted her head and said, “Director Zhang and Director Zhong have a good relationship, and they’re perfectly clear about our relationship!”

In the cast of “Waiting for You Year After Year,” Ji Ran never hid his relationship with Yan Dou from Director Zhong from the beginning. Since Director Zhong had a good relationship with Director Zhang, it seemed natural that he casually revealed their relationship.

Yan Duo figured out the relationship, sighed, and stopped dwelling on it. “Then let’s go eat together.”

Since I had already taken time off, I figured there should be enough time to have a meal with Ji Ran, so there was no need to rush.

Ji Ran thought Yan Duo would panic when she found out that Director Zhang knew about their relationship, but hearing her words now, he couldn’t help but laugh: “Okay.”

After the two finished eating at the hotel, Yan Duo took Fang Fang to the film set. Director Zhang didn’t say much when he saw Yan Duo, just telling her to change clothes and come over for the shoot. Yan Duo smiled and agreed.

At three in the afternoon, when Ji Ran arrived at the film set with afternoon tea for the entire crew, Yan Duo was hanging from a wire with her eyes covered.

Before filming began, Ji Ran had gone through the script with Yan Duo, so he had a general understanding of the lead character’s appearance and the plot. However, when he saw Yan Duo in costume for the first time, Ji Ran was still stunned by her appearance.

A graceful woman in black, her eyes covered with a white cloth, slowly flew from the distance toward the front. Her black dress, black hair, and the white blindfold were lifted by the oncoming wind, accentuating her exceptionally cold and aloof temperament.

In Ji Ran’s impression, Yan Duo had mostly played delicate and weak women since her debut, never taking on such a role before, but it turned out she was completely capable of handling it.

When the actors and crew on set saw Ji Ran bringing afternoon tea to visit, they were first puzzled. Then, following Ji Ran’s gaze to Yan Doo, who was suspended in mid-air, they revealed A knowing smile.

Ji Ran watched from the sidelines for a bit. Seeing that Yan Duo, who was practicing, probably wouldn’t be done anytime soon, he went to talk to Director Zhang.

Director Zhang saw Ji Ran and rarely smiled, asking him: “Haven’t been filming lately?”

Although they had never worked together, they had met a few times at some gatherings and could be considered friends who could chat.

Ji Ran shook his head, “Let’s rest for a while first.”

Director Zhang noticed his gaze never left Yan Duo high above, and didn’t expose his lie that resting was false while accompanying his wife was true. He turned to look at Yan Duo as well and said, “Your wife is more outstanding than I imagined.”

The original female lead choice for this film wasn’t Yan Duo, though it wasn’t completely finalized either. Later, the Fan family invested money to secure this opportunity for her. To be honest, Director Zhang, who had to compromise to money at that time, was somewhat resistant. But afterward, whether it was costume fitting or subsequently joining the cast, Yan Duo simply exceeded his expectations.

In the entertainment industry, good-looking people are everywhere, and there are also many with acting skills. Even more people are constantly striving to improve and willing to settle down to learn, but those who possess all three of these qualities are extremely rare, and Yan Duo is one of them. Director Zhang felt very fortunate that the person who was pushed into this role was her.

Hearing this, Ji Ran smiled and said politely, “Thank you for your concern.”

Director Zhang said he was being polite, then asked, “You two don’t have plans to have children in the next few years, do you?”

The most precious learning time for an actress is just these few years. What Yan Duo, who is currently on the rise, needs to do is to continuously film more movies, rather than go home to have and nurse children, wasting the most crucial years of her career. Director Zhang could see that Yan Duo wasn’t like other actresses who only thought about marrying into a wealthy family and living the life of a rich wife. She had her own thoughts and pursuits in her heart.

Ji Ran understood perfectly well why Director Zhang said this. He shook his head, “We don’t have such plans at the moment.”

“That’s good then.” Director Zhang said.

In recent years, a blockbuster TV series would emerge every year, and this year’s hit was the exceptionally brilliant serious drama “Bathed in Fire Rose.” What was even more surprising was that while other shows made their protagonists famous, all the spotlight in this series was captured by Yan Duo, who was only a supporting character. Viewers who followed the show unanimously agreed that Yan Duo’s performance was the best, vividly portraying the character’s initial innocence and later despair, perfectly bringing the role to life.

Not only were netizens full of praise every day, but even colleagues had praised her many times in front of Director Zhang. So, out of curiosity, Director Zhang specifically watched the show himself. After watching, he felt that while the netizens’ comments were somewhat exaggerated, they were largely true. Yan Duo was indeed an actress with great talent who could convincingly play any role, and Director Zhang felt that such a rare promising talent in the entertainment industry shouldn’t be overlooked.

When Yan Duo came down from the wires, Fang Fang finally told her that Ji Ran had come. Yan Duo was stunned for a moment, then sighed, “Everyone in the crew is talking about me, aren’t they?”

Ji Ran coming to visit the set openly was basically making it clear to the entire crew that their relationship was anything but ordinary. Yan Duo was simply at a loss for words.

Fang Fang understood Yan Duo’s feelings and comforted her, saying: “Don’t worry, when I just distributed afternoon tea to them, I specifically told them not to make your affairs public. Rest assured, everyone won’t gossip about it.”

Yan Duo felt a bit helpless, “I hope so.”

After the two finished speaking quietly, they returned to the dressing room, and not long after, Ji Ran knocked and came in.

“Angry?” Ji Ran looked at her eating the “Wish-Come-True Orange” he had specially saved for her and asked.

Yan Duo didn’t speak.

Ji Ran continued, “I know I shouldn’t have come without your permission, but if I didn’t, I might not have been able to see you before leaving.”

Yan Duo forgot her anger when she heard this and pressed, “What do you mean?”

What’s this about leaving? Didn’t we agree you’d stay here for a couple of days? It’s only been one day, why are you leaving already?

Ji Ran explained, “The director of the variety show called me and said they’ve temporarily changed the recording location. The place is a bit remote, so I need to leave early.”

“Men’s World” usually broadcasts live on Sundays, with the specific time adjusted according to the circumstances. Except for the first episode which aired in the morning, all other episodes were scheduled for the afternoon or evening. Although this episode’s time wasn’t changed, the location was directly altered, which caught Ji Ran, who had calculated his timing carefully, completely off guard.

Yan Duo put down her cake spoon, not wanting Ji Ran to leave at all, but powerless to stop him, she could only complain softly, “How could you be like this? You don’t keep your word.”

At this moment, Yan Dou felt quite wronged. After waiting for more than ten days for him to arrive, he left after staying for just one day, which she found hard to accept.

Ji Ran pulled the nearly crying Yan Duo into his arms and comforted her, “Don’t worry, as soon as I have some free time, I’ll come see you. I’ll keep my word next time, okay?”

Speaking of which, although Ji Ran hadn’t been filming during this period, there were too many miscellaneous matters, and he simply couldn’t spare the time to stay here and accompany her. Ji Ran felt guilty.

Yan Duo only felt sad for a moment. Thinking that the film crew would soon move back to T City, she quickly comforted herself and then turned to comfort Ji Ran.

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it. You go get busy then.”

Don’t worry about me.

Facing such a well-behaved and understanding Yan Duo, Ji Ran’s guilt grew even stronger. After kissing Yan Duo again and again, he finally left reluctantly.

After Ji Ran left that afternoon, Yan Duo quickly adjusted her state and threw all her energy into filming the movie. She went to the film set early every morning and only returned to the hotel when it was completely dark. When she came back, she was too exhausted to do anything else and went to sleep early, not even finding time to check the news about herself or watch the variety show Ji Ran participated in.

With Yan Duo working so hard, the film crew’s shooting schedule was advanced by two days because of her, allowing everyone to return home early.

When Director Zhang announced that the outdoor shoot was over and they could return to T City early, no one was happier than Yan Duo. To see Ji Ran as soon as possible, she even bought a five AM flight for the next day, incredibly eager to get home.

To give Ji Ran a surprise, Yan Duo didn’t tell him in advance. She woke up at three AM and boarded the plane at five-thirty. Unlike Fang Fang who fell asleep as soon as she got on the plane, Yan Duo sat in her seat catching up on the episodes of “Men’s World” she had missed. However, she hadn’t finished catching up when the plane arrived in T City.

After getting off the plane, Yan Duo clearly noticed many people at the airport staring at her, obviously recognizing her.

Fang Fang also noticed the difference in the passersby and pulled Yan Duo aside, saying with some concern: “It didn’t feel like a big deal when we took off from S City at five AM, but now it’s daylight, it’s Saturday, and there are too many people. I’m really worried we might be stopped and unable to leave.”

Since “Bathing Fire Rose” became a hit, Yan Duo’s fanbase had grown at a visible rate, with fans often visiting the set. Her popularity had skyrocketed. Seeing people around looking at Yan Duo, wanting to approach but seeming uncertain, Fang Fang was worried they would swarm over. Not only would they not be able to leave, but it might also cause airport congestion.

At any other time, Yan Duo would have毫不犹豫地 greeted everyone and would have fulfilled any reasonable requests, but today was different. She wanted to surprise Ji Ran and didn’t want fans to post about her return online where Ji Ran might see it.

So Yan Duo smiled and made a “shush” gesture to the fans around her, then apologetically gave them a heart sign with her fingers before quickly walking briskly toward the airport exit. Rather than feeling rejected, those fans found her especially adorable at that moment and silently watched her leave.

After parting ways with Fang Fang at the airport, Yan Duo took a taxi straight home. To her surprise, Ji Ran wasn’t home at all. Fortunately, this didn’t stop Yan Duo from preparing an even bigger surprise for Ji Ran—it was the perfect opportunity to show Ji Ran the results of what she had learned from the crew members.

Yan Duo first went to the bedroom to find the steel pole that had been standing there for a long time. When she tried to move it, she discovered that the fifty or sixty-pound object was simply too heavy for her. In the end, she had to divide the pole into four sections, carry them separately to the living room, and then assemble it there.

After all this, half an hour had passed. Yan Dou resisted the urge to call Ji Ran, took out her phone, and called Fang Fang, “Help me ask Ma Peng if he knows where Teacher Ji has gone. Oh, and remember to tell him not to let Teacher Ji know that I’m back.”

Fang Fang agreed and called back a minute later, “Ma Peng said Mr. Ji just arrived at Qushui Huating and should be home in about ten minutes.”

Hanging up the phone, Yan Duo hurried upstairs and changed into the black low-cut, off-the-shoulder, midriff-baring top she had bought but never worn, along with a matching pearl chiffon skirt. After letting her hair down, she returned to the living room, standing beside the steel pole with her back to the door.

After all that trouble, Yan Duo was already sweating from the heat, but she didn’t mind at all, her heart filled only with excitement and joy.

What kind of reaction will Ji Ran have in a moment?

Kisses, hugs, and lifting you high, or just carry you straight upstairs?

Thinking of the man who had always been “a man of action rather than words,” Yan Duo couldn’t help but smile.

Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from the door.

Yan Duo immediately turned on the explosive music on her phone. Following the rhythm, her hands gripped the pole, and after spinning in the air with both legs suspended, she wrapped one leg around the pole. Just as Yan Duo felt her opening was perfect and struck a beautiful, difficult pose on the pole, she smiled toward the door.

“Honey, surprised?”

Half a second after the words left her mouth, the smile on Yan Duo’s face froze. Realizing what she was doing, Yan Duo lost her balance and nearly fell from the pipe.

At the doorway, besides Ji Ran, there was also Jiang Yan standing frozen to the side, and a dark camera lens pointed directly at her, filming.

A voice kept looping in Yan Duo’s mind: It’s over, it’s over, it’s over…