Bo Yan was just about to speak when a phone call came in. It was his assistant, Song Fengzhi: "Mr. Bo, you haven't rested yet, have you? I need to confirm with you some details about the reshoot tomorrow."
"I'm outside and had some drinks. I'll send you my location."
After hanging up the phone, Bo Yan put down his chopsticks, stood up, and shook his head decisively: "No."
Then he pulled on his jacket, put on a baseball cap and glasses, and pulled the brim down: "You should visit home more often; your dad talks about you a lot."
As he opened the door and walked out, Han Yifan muttered softly behind him, "If it's a no, it's a no. Why rush off like a startled cat with its tail stepped on, jumping even higher?"
Of course, Bo Yan didn't hear this comment.
...
Bo Yan stepped outside, where the night breeze, bearing a hint of dampness from Yan River, made his alcohol-fogged mind a bit clearer.
He hummed lightly, remembering Han Yifan's last question.
But then he thought of the words Xia Siyu had yelled at him at the award ceremony and decided to open Weibo.
He ignored the messy comments on Weibo and went straight to her video. In the video, although the camera was very close, almost in a close-up shot, she wasn't looking at the lens. He knew where her gaze was directed – at his own retreat.
Then there was her roar: "Who wants to work with you? I would never work with you in this lifetime! You can forget about it!"
As he watched, a growing look of mockery appeared in Bo Yan's eyes:
Not willing to cooperate, eh? I'd love to see if, given the chance, you would beg me to collaborate with you!
**
Xia Siyu slept until ten in the morning when Wei Jingjing's phone call woke her up.
The ad insertion during filming was scheduled for one in the afternoon, at the film studio on the outskirts of Yancheng where she had just wrapped up shooting for a movie the previous week. It would take two hours to drive there from the Qingcheng apartment.
As a female artist, especially one who relies on her looks, going out without makeup is practically suicide. Even if the ad shoot had different makeup requirements, she could never appear in front of clients without any makeup on.
Luckily, Wei Jingjing was prepared and had arranged for a professional makeup artist from the company to come and apply a fresh base for Xia Siyu on the way to the location.
In addition to that, they brought two bodyguards. Including driver Xiaotang, the six of them set off grandly towards the film studio, maintaining the appearance befitting a top celebrity.
As they approached and were about to arrive, they found a large crowd had gathered around the courtyard where they were supposed to shoot, blocking the path completely.
Just as they were pondering how to move forward, a staff member came over: "Miss Xia, I apologize for the inconvenience. The courtyard where we were scheduled to shoot has been temporarily occupied by another crew, so we might need to wait a bit longer until they finish shooting and clean up. In the meantime, you can come with me to a resting area to wait."
The film center is small and there aren't many shooting locations to go around. It's common for several crews to schedule in turns—first I finish, then you shoot, especially for minor scenes like ad inserts.
Xia Siyu, wearing sunglasses, acknowledged with an "Mhm" and casually asked, "Which crew is shooting?"
Before the staff member could answer, she saw a familiar figure walking towards her from a distance—it was Bo Yan.