Liang Xiaoyuan's face changed drastically. "When?" The anxiety on his face was evident. He thought, "It's over. Shen Tong must have misunderstood again. I'm really trying to forget about Xie Sangyan."
Xie Sangyan looked at Liang Xiaoyuan and said, "It was in the evening when you went out for dinner. I answered the phone for you."
"Why didn't you tell me when I got back?" Liang Xiaoyuan asked accusingly, his expression unfriendly.
"Because of the incident on set at that time, I forgot. I just remembered now," Xie Sangyan explained calmly.
Ignoring her explanation, Liang Xiaoyuan turned and walked towards the door, repeatedly dialing Shen Tong's number. "Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable..."
The mechanical female voice reminded him again and again that Shen Tong's phone was off. He was extremely anxious, wishing he could grow wings and fly back to explain everything to Shen Tong.
Xie Sangyan followed him out, trying to reason, "It's already midnight back home. Of course you can't get through."
"What if something happened to her?" Liang Xiaoyuan looked at Xie Sangyan anxiously. There could be thousands of reasons why Shen Tong wasn't answering, but what if something bad had really happened? He was genuinely worried about her, afraid that she might have encountered some accident. He didn't want anything to happen to her.
Xie Sangyan comforted him, "There's no use worrying now. Why don't you wait until morning back home and then call to check on her?"
Liang Xiaoyuan put down his phone dejectedly, saying, "I guess that's all I can do."
Sitting on the couch, Liang Xiaoyuan tried to read but couldn't focus. He ended up staring at his phone, unable to resist sending a text message: "Where are you now? What happened when you called?"
Xie Sangyan occasionally tried to console him, saying, "It's okay, maybe she just wanted to check in on you."
"You should go to sleep!" Liang Xiaoyuan couldn't help but tell Xie Sangyan, who was keeping him company.
After considering for a moment, Xie Sangyan said, "I bear some responsibility for this. It's okay, let me stay here with you. We don't have any scenes to shoot anyway."
"It's fine, it was my fault for forgetting to bring my phone," Liang Xiaoyuan said, thinking of Shen Tong's smile and praying silently.
Meanwhile, Shen Tong was sleeping soundly, completely unaware that someone was worrying about her all night, despite the small incident.
As soon as Shen Tong turned on her phone, Liang Xiaoyuan called. After a few seconds of silence, looking at the name flashing on her screen and recalling yesterday's events, she wasn't sure whether to answer or not. Finally, taking a deep breath, she answered the call.
"Hello? Shen Tong?" Liang Xiaoyuan's urgent voice came through. "What happened yesterday?"
Shen Tong took a deep breath and replied indifferently, "Nothing, I just suddenly wanted to call you."
On the other end, Liang Xiaoyuan sighed in relief. Xie Sangyan looked at him anxiously, mouthing, "Is everything okay?"
"It's fine," Liang Xiaoyuan mouthed back, and Xie Sangyan quietly left his room.
"That's good, that's good. I thought something had happened to you. I've been worried all day!" Liang Xiaoyuan said happily.
"Mm, sorry to have worried you. I'm really fine," Shen Tong replied politely.
Liang Xiaoyuan immediately sensed something was off. "I was out for dinner at that time, so..."
"You don't need to explain anything to me," Shen Tong quickly interrupted.
"Shen Tong, what's wrong?" Liang Xiaoyuan asked helplessly.
"Nothing. I have an appointment with a director from XX Company this afternoon. I need to prepare, so I have to hang up," Shen Tong said, intending to end the call.
Hearing about this director, Liang Xiaoyuan panicked and immediately said, "No! That director is a notorious lecher in the entertainment industry. You can't meet him alone!"
"But he made an appointment with me. What can I do? I don't have a Director acting as my artist's manager," Shen Tong said sarcastically. "I can only rely on myself. No matter what kind of person he is, I know I can't afford to offend him." With that, she immediately hung up, feeling as if something was blocking her breathing, just feeling anxious.
Liang Xiaoyuan stared at the disconnected call, extremely worried, his brows furrowed. That director had never failed to get what he wanted. Although he had no direct interaction with the director, he knew of his infamous reputation. Who knows what might happen to Shen Tong if she met him.
Liang Xiaoyuan quickly called Shen Tong again, thinking, "Please pick up, please pick up."
Shen Tong kept hanging up on Liang Xiaoyuan's calls, seemingly determined not to answer. This left Liang Xiaoyuan pacing anxiously like an ant on a hot pan.
Liang Xiaoyuan kept calling, and Shen Tong finally answered out of annoyance. "Hello? What else?"
"You can't meet that director!" Liang Xiaoyuan said firmly. "You'll regret it if you do!"
"Can you find a way to avoid offending the director without going to the appointment?" Shen Tong asked directly. She felt she had no choice in the matter.
"Don't meet him. I'll handle this," Liang Xiaoyuan replied quickly without thinking. "In this entertainment industry, you need to stay true to yourself. Don't let this cesspool change you."
"It's not possible to ask for your help every time there's a problem. I'd feel sorry," Shen Tong said slowly, her tone gloomy. "I can resolve this situation on my own."
"Now is not the time to be stubborn," Liang Xiaoyuan said helplessly, pinching the bridge of his nose. He tried to persuade her again, "This director is not someone you can handle."
"Mm, I understand," Shen Tong said. Just as Liang Xiaoyuan was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking she had finally agreed, her next words rooted him to the spot. "I'll figure it out myself when the time comes."
Liang Xiaoyuan wanted to say more, but Shen Tong cut him off, "Don't call me again. I won't change my mind." With that, she hung up mercilessly.
Liang Xiaoyuan almost crushed the phone in his hand, the screen displaying colorful patterns. He knew Shen Tong was angry. She had always been very rational, but this time she had lost her reason. Since he couldn't change her mind by talking to her directly, he could only try to resolve the issue through his connections. He thought about calling someone.
After making the call, Liang Xiaoyuan let out a sigh and sent another text message to Shen Tong: "The entertainment industry is like a microcosm of society. You can see all kinds of unspoken rules. Opportunities are important, but it's more important to stay true to yourself. Don't let opportunities blind you. Sometimes, compliance is not the only solution. You're a smart girl, don't forget that I'm behind you. I'll support you no matter what you do."
At the filming location, Shen Tong absentmindedly supervised the continuation of yesterday's advertisement shoot until the director said, "Alright, that's officially a wrap."
The director deliberately leaned close to Shen Tong's ear and said, "How was it? Not bad, right?"
Shen Tong snapped back to reality and smiled at the director, saying, "Thank you for taking care of us these past two days! It was really great!"
The director smiled broadly and said, "Oh, it was nothing. I really hope we can continue to work together in the future!"
"Mm!" Shen Tong nodded. "I also hope that the director can give our artists more opportunities."
"That depends on your performance," the director said with a smile.
On the other side, Su Xiao looked puzzledly at the director and Shen Tong. Their posture was extremely intimate, and Shen Tong's expression was very unnatural. Just as he was about to walk over, Chen Xiaoyong approached, a smile on her delicate face. "How was it? Our cooperation just now went smoothly, right?"
Su Xiao didn't say anything, just turned and walked in the other direction. Chen Xiaoyong glanced towards Shen Tong, her smile turning strangely sinister.
Chen Xiaoyong quickly caught up with Su Xiao and asked, "Su Xiao, do you have time this afternoon?" Her face showed obvious anticipation.
"No," Su Xiao said without hesitation.
"But I checked your schedule, and you have nothing planned. Can you have lunch with me this afternoon?" Chen Xiaoyong persisted, asking like a spoiled child. "I want to show you an interesting spectacle."
"Not going," Su Xiao flatly refused Chen Xiaoyong's suggestion, showing no curiosity about the "spectacle" she mentioned.
Chen Xiaoyong looked at Su Xiao reluctantly, following his gaze to where Shen Tong was packing up her things. A strange smile spread across her lips as she said, "This has something to do with Shen Tong. Aren't you interested?"
Su Xiao, who had been looking ahead, suddenly turned to face Chen Xiaoyong, who wore a mysterious smile. His emotions, which even he hadn't noticed, leaked out slightly as he urgently asked, "What do you mean?"
"You'll know if you come. Sunset Western Restaurant, one-thirty. Don't be late," Chen Xiaoyong said before turning away, leaving Su Xiao with a head full of questions.
Su Xiao looked at Shen Tong in the distance. Something to do with her? Had something bad happened?
Meanwhile, Shen Tong was packing up her things, feeling extremely anxious and unable to think of a solution. Did she have no choice but to keep the appointment? She sighed deeply, thinking, "Well, I'll just take it one step at a time."
Just as Shen Tong was lost in thought, someone suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her. She focused her gaze and realized it was the director. She quickly said, "Hello, Director! Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
"I was thinking about this afternoon's arrangement. Since you don't have anything else to do, why don't we go to the Western restaurant together?" The director looked at Shen Tong nervously, afraid she might change her mind.
"Ah? Don't I need to change clothes or anything?" Shen Tong tried to deflect, feeling very uncomfortable.
"A young lady like you looks good in anything!" The director said with a smile, a hint of ill intent in his voice. After all, later... why bother?
"Then I'll follow the director's arrangements," Shen Tong said heavily, feeling deeply helpless.
"So I'll wait for you outside?" The director looked at her lecherously, as if eyeing a prey about to fall into his hands.
Shen Tong remained silent for a long time before speaking with difficulty, "Okay..."
Shen Tong stood there for a long time, with Su Xiao watching her for quite a while. Just as he decided to call her to leave, Shen Tong walked up to Su Xiao and said, "You go back first. I have something to do."