Li Ling was stunned. She didn't know how long Jin Jingyao had been waiting for her in the rain. The cold wind carried the rain in gusts, yet the handle of the umbrella still retained a trace of warmth. Cars on the roadside continuously splashed huge waves of water, each wave reflecting the dazzling and colorful night of the city. She was somewhat moved in her heart, but mischievously said, "Thank you, I'll be going now." Jin Jingyao's face turned pale, and his eyes immediately dimmed. Li Ling pretended to walk a few steps forward, but to her surprise, the person behind her remained standing in place. She had no choice but to turn back helplessly. In the pouring rain, the man who had been holding the umbrella by the roadside had disappeared. The rain continued to pour down on Jin Jingyao's face and body, smoothing out his sharp features. In the rain, his entire face was wet, and even his facial features were indistinguishable. Li Ling said, "If you don't come, I'm really leaving." Jin Jingyao was stunned, the lifeless gloom in his eyes suddenly vanished, like an abandoned billboard suddenly lit up, his whole being brightened. He quickly walked towards her, bent down, and awkwardly squeezed under the umbrella. Because he was drenched, he didn't dare to get too close to Li Ling, trying hard to keep his distance, with most of his shoulder exposed outside. But this posture was really awkward, and since he was too tall, he kept bumping his head against the umbrella. After the third bump, Li Ling turned her head somewhat embarrassed and said, "You..." She was caught off guard and met Jin Jingyao's gaze. In the rain and mist, he was still staring straight at her. The ambiguous neon lights reflected deep in his eyes, turning into overlapping rainbow shadows, conveying complex and strange signals, making her heart inexplicably race. He said he didn't dare to get close. Yet he was staring at her with an almost obsessive intensity. The rain pounded on the umbrella, making a crackling sound. Li Ling's mind was in turmoil, and she suddenly forgot what she was supposed to say. Jin Jingyao took the umbrella handle from her hand and said softly, "Let me hold it." Their fingertips touched. His hand was so cold that it made her breath catch. Li Ling felt he did it on purpose. When he handed her the umbrella earlier, his movements were so swift and decisive. Now he was being sticky and ambiguous, even using the excuse of holding the umbrella to secretly touch her hand, and trying to encircle her wrist, utterly shameless. She said mockingly, "Director, does your family only have one umbrella?" Jin Jingyao was silent for a moment, "I don't quite remember." Li Ling nodded and forcefully pulled her hand away, "Young people with such poor memory won't do." Anyone with a bit of shame would feel embarrassed at this point. Jin Jingyao wasn't embarrassed at all, and said to himself, "Maybe I left in too much of a hurry." After a pause, his voice lowered, "I was very worried about you." Li Ling stared at him in shock. Could the director really be possessed? They finally walked into the apartment, Jin Jingyao stopped at the door to close the umbrella, and she instinctively bypassed him, quickly walking into the elevator and pressing the close button repeatedly. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a slender hand, like a thin blade, wedged into the narrowing gap. The doors reopened, revealing a pair of amber eyes with dark currents swirling within. For a moment, Li Ling's heart skipped a beat, feeling that he was staring at her with an almost crazed look. But as the light shifted, his expression returned to normal, calm and unruffled, as if it was just her illusion. She was still shaken, cursing him for being crazy and asking if he wanted to lose his hand, while reluctantly pressing the door open button. Jin Jingyao walked in politely, thanked her, and then pretended to ask which floor she lived on. Here we go again, asking the obvious. Li Ling said, "You don't know which floor I live on?" He shook his head unconvincingly. "You know whether I took an umbrella when I went out, but you don't know which floor I live on?" Li Ling sneered, her body brushing past him as she pressed her floor button. They barely missed each other. The rainwater on him seemed invasive, enveloping her without a trace. The elevator doors closed again, and Jin Jingyao's hand paused for a moment before he naturally, yet conspicuously, pressed another number above. He turned to Li Ling and explained, "I live on this floor." "Is that so," Li Ling said. "I thought you lived right across from me." Jin Jingyao's expression stiffened, and he coughed lightly. He was soaked all over, his hair dripping with water. If someone else were drenched like this, it would be quite unseemly. But he looked like the heartbroken male lead in a French romance film, his slender back like a winter tree, with snow falling softly from its bare branches, evoking pity. The elevator doors opened slowly. He hesitated for a moment, then really put on an act, slightly turning his body to let Li Ling out. Li Ling laughed in exasperation and said to him, "If you have the guts, sleep in the elevator tonight." Jin Jingyao glanced back at her, pursed his lips, and silently followed her out of the elevator. She stood at the door, staring at him, waiting to see what he would do next. He gave up and started pressing the code on the lock. Li Ling let out a more obvious laugh. The young man suddenly turned his head and softly recited a string of numbers: "This is my home's password." She was taken aback: "Why would I need to know that?" For some reason, he looked somewhat disappointed, as if he expected her to have a different reaction to the six numbers. He paused, lowered his eyes, and said in a very low voice, "Then can you take me off the blacklist?" Li Ling: "..." So that's what he was waiting for. Outside the hallway window, the low murmurs of passersby, the sound of tires on the road, and the hoarse, torrential rain could be faintly heard. The young director's face was hidden in the darkness, silent like a drenched statue, his eyelashes trembling slightly, waiting for her judgment. "No," Li Ling said rather heartlessly. He was silent for a moment, his bloodless lips moved slightly: "Good night." - Li Ling returned home, turned on the light, and realized she was wearing Jin Jingyao's jacket again. It was raining so heavily outside, yet she hadn't gotten very wet. And she clearly remembered that Jin Jingyao was standing in the elevator just now, completely soaked, his face excessively pale, like a young, handsome water ghost. She felt a strange, indescribable sensation in her heart. Taking out her phone, Li Ling stared at Jin Jingyao's WeChat profile picture for a while. Without much hesitation, she took him off the blacklist. Almost immediately, a message popped up on her phone screen. Jin Jingyao: "Saying 'no' just now was also very cute." Li Ling: ? What the heck? She stared at the word "cute" for a long time. Dead memories suddenly began to attack her. If she remembered correctly, 9787532754335 often praised her as "cute." She used to think it was a compliment from an old father to a younger generation and didn't take it to heart. ...Old father, my ass. The other side seemed to realize something and quickly retracted the message. Then there was a long silence. The reason Director Jin would say such shameless things was because he thought he was still on the blacklist, and no matter what he said, Li Ling wouldn't see it. In fact, this wasn't the only shameless message he had sent her. He had sent many. Many pages. He never expected that the soft-hearted gods would release him early, and this message actually got through. He was anxious but also hopeful, thinking that since he retracted it so quickly, Li Ling probably didn't see it. Jin Jingyao thought for a long time about how to rephrase his opening line. After much deliberation, he politely said, "Good evening." "..." He saw the familiar red exclamation mark again. - After blocking Jin Jingyao again, Li Ling called her agent, angrily questioning why Director Jin was living next door. The agent said, "If I told you it was a coincidence, a beautiful arrangement by the heavens, would you believe me?" Li Ling: "Get lost." The agent said pitifully, "Since you already know, why ask? I think he's being very considerate, all for your own good..." Li Ling was speechless and said, "Don't tell me he even found the moving company." The agent chuckled, "Hehe." Li Ling: "..." So it was true. "How much is the rent and moving fee? Calculate it for me, and I'll pay him back," she said, feeling a bit pained. "Don't, why make a fuss over money?" The agent lowered his voice mysteriously, "Besides, you owe him more than just that." Li Ling's heart skipped a beat, "What do you mean?" "Oops, I let it slip." The agent hesitated for a moment, "Actually, the scripts you've been auditioning for recently were also recommended by him." Li Ling was stunned, "... Why didn't you tell me earlier?" "Director Jin specifically asked me not to." The agent sighed deeply, "Look, he's done so much for you behind the scenes. Where else can you find such a good director... By the way, is he pursuing you?" Li Ling was completely frozen, almost at a loss. The rain hadn't stopped, but the voice on the other end of the phone seemed to turn into an echo, gradually fading in the pouring rain. She stumbled a bit as she pushed open the bathroom door, didn't turn on the hot water, didn't change her clothes, and hugged her knees, sitting in the empty bathtub. —Such a good director. Li Ling knew very well that precisely because he was such a good director, they shouldn't get too close. The reason she left the crew in such a hurry was because she realized this. This relationship had to end here; it was the best and safest option. Otherwise... bad things might happen. The rain poured harder, connecting with other sounds from her memories. She heard Chen Fei say to her, "You can sleep with He Wei, why can't you sleep with me?" She saw herself standing in the heavy rain in London, pounding on the door over and over until her hands were swollen and her throat was hoarse. In the most desperate and helpless moment of her life, she hugged her knees, sitting on the empty sidewalk, repeatedly asking herself what had killed her future. In the end, that endless rain turned into another kind of haunting curse, constantly echoing in her ears. She couldn't get too close to directors. Couldn't create scandals. Had to keep her distance. Since Jin Jingyao's film wrapped up, she had indeed been trying very hard to do just that, trying to return from drama to reality. She went through a long period of withdrawal. She thought she would succeed. But just then, Jin Jingyao suddenly told her that the role he played was never just Zhou Jing or the director. He was also 9787532754335. Their connection was not limited to a single movie; he had long been a part of her real world. He knew the songs she liked to listen to, the restaurants she wanted to visit. He had watched every terrible drama she acted in and witnessed every time she transitioned from drama back to reality. There were so many ties, so many red lines between them. How was she supposed to cut him off? Drama and reality should be clearly separated, but Jin Jingyao had rudely broken that boundary. She hated Jin Jingyao. He was really bad, really annoying, messing up her life. But he was also very good to her. He was, so far, the best person to her. If it was just to apologize, what he was doing for her now was too much. Why was he being so good to her? What should she do? - Li Ling didn't sleep all night. The next day, she once again removed Jin Jingyao from the blacklist and vowed never to do such a childish thing to her benefactor again. She spoke to him openly: "Director, let's talk." Jin Jingyao said, "Okay." For some reason, his calm and indifferent attitude made Li Ling a little uneasy. "Are you at home now?" she asked. Jin Jingyao: "No." Li Ling was taken aback again. He sent an address that was not unfamiliar to Li Ling, a studio on the outskirts of the city. "There is a scene that needs reshooting," he said. "If it's convenient, I'll send a car to pick you up now.""