Chapter 139: You’re So Idle and So Kind
Xu Mocun and Zhou Fu both had the same perplexed look on their faces.
So, was that a yes or a no?
For a split second, Jiang Su even suspected Huo Qingyan had done that deliberately.
He shot Huo Qingyan an expressionless glance. “Goodbye.”
With that, he turned and strode away.
Xu Mocun hurried to catch up. “Are we going straight to the hotel, or should we find a place to eat first?”
Since it was already very late, their original plan had been to stay in the city for the night and head to the film set tomorrow.
“Straight to the film set,” Jiang Su said.
He really didn’t want to have another “coincidental” run-in with Huo Qingyan.
Xu Mocun was silent for a long moment. “Oh.” He still had no idea what had happened, and he didn’t dare to ask.
…
By the time Zhou Fu and Huo Qingyan exited the airport, Jiang Su and Xu Mocun were long gone.
Zhou Fu scanned the area. “Mr. Jiang and his companion left really quickly.”
Huo Qingyan said nothing, just walked to the car with his gaze lowered.
The next morning, Zhou Fu and Huo Qingyan went to the studio city.
The studio city was massive, with several crews filming there.
After finishing their work in the afternoon, their partners invited them to a teahouse.
Zhou Fu tactfully declined on Huo Qingyan’s behalf.
“Thank you for the kind offer, but President Huo would like to just look around.”
Zhou Fu assumed Huo Qingyan wanted to see Jiang Su. As soon as their partners were gone, he whispered to Huo Qingyan, “President Huo, I’ve already found out where Mr. Jiang’s crew is filming. Should we head over now, or…”
Before he could finish, Huo Qingyan cut him off. “We’re not going.”
“Huh?” Zhou Fu almost thought he had misheard. “But we’re already here…”
“We’re already here, so we’ll just look around,” Huo Qingyan repeated.
Zhou Fu: “…”
This was not what he had expected.
Huo Qingyan led the way out.
Jiang Su had fled Qingyang overnight to come to the studio city, most likely to avoid him.
Why should he go and add to his troubles?
Zhou Fu, however, thought of another matter.
“President Huo, Bai Mu isn’t on the same crew as Mr. Jiang anymore. Should we still have people keeping an eye on him?”
During the filming of Crime and Fiend, Bai Mu and Jiang Su were on the same set, and Huo Qingyan had people secretly monitoring Bai Mu.
But in three months, aside from his normal filming and some casual interactions with Jiang Su, Bai Mu hadn’t done anything suspicious.
Zhou Fu was beginning to wonder if President Huo was just being paranoid.
Huo Qingyan thought for a moment before saying, “No need to watch him so closely.”
“Understood.” Which meant, still keep watching, Zhou Fu thought. President Huo always had his reasons.
…
Filming a historical drama in the middle of summer was a true test of endurance.
There were layers upon layers of costumes and, invariably, several pages of lines to memorize.
Jiang Su was also getting a real taste of Li Jianshu’s strictness. Every single shot and expression required lengthy discussion and correction.
It was exhausting, but for Jiang Su, it was also incredibly fulfilling.
It wasn’t until they wrapped for the day and Xu Mocun informed him that Crime and Fiend had been scheduled and they needed to prepare for the premiere press conference that Jiang Su realized he had already been on set for three months.
Jiang Su counted on his fingers. “October 8th… that’s next Friday. It’s just a few days away.”
Xu Mocun nodded. “You’ll have to attend the press conference.”
Jiang Su thought for a moment, then got up and headed out. “I’ll go talk to Director Li myself.”
They had just pulled an all-nighter for filming, so Jiang Su wasn’t sure if Li Jianshu was asleep. He sent him a WeChat message first.
He quickly got a reply telling him to come right over.
Li Jianshu, having just showered, opened the door for Jiang Su wearing slippers. “Come in,” he said with a warm smile.
After working together for a while, Li Jianshu had grown to like Jiang Su, who had a good attitude and a pleasant temperament.
Jiang Su, not wanting to disturb his rest, got straight to the point. “Director Li, the drama I was in before is having its premiere press conference in a few days. I need to make a trip back to Qingyang City.”
“I know… Crime and Fiend, right?” Li Jianshu pointed to the nearby sofa, signaling for Jiang Su to sit.
Jiang Su sat down. “You know about it, Director Li?”
“Of course. A friend sent me the trailer a while back.” Li Jianshu nodded appreciatively. “It looks good.”
Jiang Su scratched his head, feeling a little bashful.
Seeing this, Li Jianshu smiled and asked, “What day is the conference?”
“Next Friday. I’ll come right back to the set as soon as it’s done.”
“No need to be in such a hurry. Take the time to visit your home, too.”
“Thank you, Director Li.”
…
On October 8th, Jiang Su and Xu Mocun took an early flight back to Qingyang City.
The production team sent a driver to pick up Jiang Su and take him directly to the press conference venue.
The conference was scheduled to start in the afternoon.
By the time they arrived, it was already lunch. After eating, they immediately began rehearsals and went over the schedule.
With everything finally ready and only half an hour to go, they at last had a moment to sit down and rest.
Xu Mocun handed Jiang Su a bottle of water, checked the time, and said, “Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
Jiang Su nodded, curling up in the armchair and closing his eyes.
With the press conference on his mind, he slept very lightly.
In a drowsy state, he felt a slight weight settle over him.
He opened his eyes and found himself staring into a pair of pitch-black eyes.
The next second, a low, deep voice permeated the room.
“The air conditioning in here is set too low.”
Jiang Su looked down and saw a thin blanket draped over his body.
Huo Qingyan straightened up, annoyed with himself for waking Jiang Su. His voice dropped even lower. “You can still sleep for another ten minutes.”
The weather had been strange this year; it was already October, but still very hot, and the air conditioning in the room was indeed cranked up.
Jiang Su tugged at the blanket, then looked up to study Huo Qingyan. “What are you doing here?”
Three months had passed, but Huo Qingyan was exactly the same as before: standard shirt and trousers, and an impassive face that betrayed no emotion.
Jiang Su observed him for a few seconds before looking away and pulling out his phone.
He checked the time and realized he had only been asleep for ten minutes.
“They invited me,” Huo Qingyan said.
Jiang Su retorted sarcastically, “They invited you, so you just came? You’re so idle and so kind.”
Huo Qingyan’s lips curled into a slight smile. “I am rather idle.”
The longer he was apart from Jiang Su, the more time seemed to stretch, and the more meaningless many things felt.
What’s there to smile about?
He sure knows how to smile now.
Jiang Su’s fine features soured. He looked down at his phone and ignored him.
“Susu, time to get up!”
Xu Mocun pushed the door open, only to freeze when he saw Huo Qingyan was also in the room. “President Huo?”
Why is Huo Qingyan here?
But Xu Mocun quickly remembered that Huo Qingyan was the main investor—the jin zhu baba—of this drama, so he swallowed his question.
The makeup artist came in to do Jiang Su’s touch-ups, and Zhou Fu followed right behind her.
“President Huo!” Thank goodness, I finally found you!
He had been speaking with the event organizers outside, and when he turned around, President Huo had vanished.
He ended up asking someone for Jiang Su’s dressing room and ran into the makeup artist on his way, so he just followed her in.
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