006

I joined the crew in mid-September.

After filming began, Jiang Huali gradually became busier. She filmed in Hengdian during the day and wanted to fall asleep as soon as she got back to the hotel at night. Sometimes she even had to get up to work the night shift.

She has a lot of scenes, and filming takes a considerable amount of time.

The system has recently become obsessed with watching dramas, and sometimes it gets so engrossed that it completely ignores Jiang Huali.

Surprisingly, Su Yueke didn't cause her any trouble during filming. Apart from sometimes looking at her with a sinister gaze, she didn't do anything else.

The appointment with Meng Zhiling for "next meeting" has also been temporarily put on hold.

While on set, she also exchanged WeChat contacts with the male and female leads, Yun Xin and Gu Huayu, since they had quite a few scenes together.

Jiang Huali's first impression of Yun Xin was that she was a girl who was very serious about acting and had a kind personality. Yun Xin was very beautiful and lived up to her reputation as a popular young actress.

In her spare time, Yunxin would often ask these supporting actors to rehearse together. When Jiang Huali had any questions, Yunxin would patiently explain the scene to her, and she never argued with anyone.

As for Gu Huayu, Jiang Huali had a much worse impression of him. This man's acting skills were barely acceptable, but he exuded an arrogant aura.

The system said that this was an important stage for Yun Xin and Gu Huayu's relationship to progress, but Jiang Huali didn't see any sweet or romantic atmosphere between them. She only saw Gu Huayu and Yun Xin arguing and giving each other the cold shoulder every day.

For example, when Gu Huayu invited the entire crew to afternoon tea, Yun Xin refused his drink because she was feeling unwell during her period, and his face turned as dark as the bottom of Er Gou's dark pot.

For example, a male supporting actor in the same drama seems to have a crush on Yun Xin. In the drama, he also has a crush on the female lead. Whenever the two of them have any contact, Gu Huayu seems to turn into a busybody, constantly calling Yun Xin to say that he needs to talk to her, making Yun Xin very embarrassed.

The system was slightly puzzled. Although it was a product of advanced artificial intelligence and its emotional simulation was very advanced, it was still no match for humans, creatures with complex neural networks that govern emotions.

Isn't this the kind of sweet plot that everyone raves about in novels? The male lead gets angry when he's rejected because he likes the female lead, and he gets jealous when he sees the person he likes being hit on. Isn't this what you humans call "love"?

Jiang Huali tapped the system on the head: "Love isn't that simple."

"You should watch more TV dramas instead."

How can a machine brain possibly understand human love?

That day, Jiang Huali had just finished filming her scenes with the male and female leads. As she was getting ready to take a car back to her hotel, the company assigned her a young assistant named Chen Xuan, a girl about the same age as her. She didn't talk much, but she was very efficient.

Autumn is often rainy. That afternoon, a sudden clap of thunder sounded in the sky, and in an instant, a torrential downpour began.

Large raindrops fell, splashing small water droplets on the ground. The rain curtain was so thick that one had no doubt that one would get soaked as soon as one left the eaves.

The filming location was a bit far from the hotel, but fortunately the company provided her with a car and driver, so she didn't have to worry about taking a taxi.

It all comes down to Meng Zhiling. Ever since they were photographed by paparazzi, Meng Zhiling seems to have spoken to her company, and she has clearly felt that the company's attitude towards her has been subtly changing lately.

Perhaps this can be considered an "apology"?

Meng Zhiling's attention to Jiang Huali was a bit excessive, completely unlike what a stranger who had only known each other for a short time should behave.

But Jiang Huali didn't care.

She came here only to complete a mission. Once the mission is complete, she will follow the original owner's fate and leave in what may be a snowy winter.

As the assistant opened the umbrella and Jiang Huali was about to get into the car, she saw an unexpected scene.

Yun Xin, the male actor who secretly loves Yun Xin, and Gu Huayu—the three of them are standing together, a rare sight indeed, but the atmosphere between them seems rather disharmonious.

From a short distance away, you could faintly hear the two men pulling each other's hair.

"Xin Xin will definitely ride in my car!"

"Senior, why don't you ride in my car? I have hot water and blankets in my car, it's raining heavily, so you don't want to catch a cold."

...

Yun Xin was frowning as she looked at the two of them when she happened to catch Jiang Huali looking over. Her eyes lit up, and she left the two embarrassing people behind and walked towards Jiang Huali.

"Hua Li, I had a minor car accident on the road. My car was rear-ended, and I'm dealing with it now." She smiled apologetically and asked, "Can I ride with you back to the hotel?"

Jiang Huali glanced at the two men with slightly resentful expressions not far away, smiled and nodded, "Of course."

Yun Xin breathed a sigh of relief, took her arm, and got into her car.

Two people in the distance: ...

Why?! Why did she get into that woman's car?!

The system suddenly displayed: 【Wow!】

Jiang Huali ignored the system that had recently become addicted to TV dramas, handed a tissue to Yun Xin, and said to her, "Wipe yourself off from the rain, so you don't catch a cold later."

The rain was so heavy that the driver kept the speed low for safety. Assistant Chen Xuan sat in the passenger seat, while Jiang Huali and Yun Xin sat in the back.

"Where's your assistant?" Jiang Huali asked, seeing that she was all alone.

Yun Xin smiled and said, "My assistant has a cold and a fever recently, so I didn't let her come with me today."

Jiang Huali understood, "With the changing seasons and frequent rain, we need to be more careful."

Neither of them mentioned what had just happened; they only talked about some interesting things they had encountered.

They were discussing some unspeakable things within their circle.

"Are you talking about that Teacher Li? I worked with him on the film before last, I never expected him to be..."

"And that young heartthrob in the industry lately..."

It turns out that it is human nature to gossip.

Finally, Yunxin arranged to have dinner with Jiang Huali and the others after filming, so they could talk about those juicy gossips.

Back at the hotel, Jiang Huali had dinner, then took a shower. After a quick skincare routine, she read the script for a while, then lay in bed scrolling through Weibo and played a few games of Gomoku on her phone.

While playing, Jiang Huali forgot to dry her hair and fell asleep without realizing it.

She was woken up by the system the next day. When she woke up, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if she had been hit on the head with a stick, and her head was throbbing.

Is he getting a cold?

Jiang Huali frowned. She had just told Yun Xin yesterday to be careful not to catch a cold, but she herself caught a cold today.

I guess I caught a cold because I forgot to dry my hair yesterday, and then I fell asleep while playing games and didn't cover myself properly with the blanket.

Jiang Huali had the system measure her temperature, which was 37.9°C. It didn't seem too serious.

She still has scenes to film today, and she can't let herself disrupt the crew's plans.

Jiang Huali rummaged through the first-aid kit and took out some cold medicine. The bitter taste made her frown. She asked the system, "Why didn't you remind me to blow-dry my hair yesterday?"

The system chuckled somewhat guiltily: "I was watching a palace drama last night, I was so engrossed... I didn't notice."

Jiang Huali shook her head, tidied herself up, and rushed to the film set.

Feeling dizzy and sleepy after taking the medicine, she wasn't in good condition today and had to do several takes. Fortunately, she managed to complete today's filming smoothly in the end.

After filming, Jiang Huali rested on the side, but her head was getting more and more painful and her throat was extremely dry. She planned to go back to the hotel to rest for a while.

Seeing that she wasn't feeling well, Yunxin came over and asked with concern, "Do you have a cold? Should you go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

Jiang Huali didn't like hospitals and was somewhat resistant to them. She said, "It's not very serious. I'll take some medicine when I get back."

Yunxin was still a little worried, but upon hearing this, she didn't try to persuade her further. She simply said, "If you need anything after you get back, just call me."

She has a night shoot tonight and can't look after Jiang Huali all the time.

Jiang Huali nodded and said okay.

Jiang Huali had her assistant take her back to the hotel, drank some hot water, changed her clothes, and was about to take a nap when she suddenly received a WeChat message from Meng Zhiling.

M: Are you free tonight? Want to grab dinner together?

It's a little past 5 p.m. now.

Jiang Huali replied: "No, I think I have a bit of a cold today, I'm going to take a nap."

M: [Have you caught a cold? Have you seen a doctor?]

A pear: [No, it's not serious.]

M: [Have you gone back to the hotel yet? What are you planning to have for dinner?]

A pear: [I'll take a nap and then get up to eat something simple.]

M: [Okay, you go to sleep first. Call me if you need anything.]

A pear: [Good]

After replying to that sentence, Jiang Huali put down her phone and fell into a deep sleep.

She didn't sleep well that night; in her dream, there was a little man carrying a hammer who would sometimes hit her head with the hammer and sometimes kick her throat.

Jiang Huali slept very uncomfortably, but it seemed like she was trapped in a nightmare and couldn't wake up until she heard a ringing bell.

The bell rang intermittently three times before Jiang Huali finally woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the small light ball system holding a doll, ready to blow it on her face.

Jiang Huali: ?

"What are you doing?" Jiang Huali hugged herself and stared at the system with wide eyes.

Just then, another bell rang outside the door.

Jiang Huali sat up silently, feeling a lot of sweat on her body.

She looked out the window. The night was deep, and neon lights were everywhere. Occasionally, a cool breeze would blow in, causing the curtains to flutter slightly.

"Who's outside?" Jiang Huali asked the system.

The system scoffed, put down the small toy in its hand, and said, "[It's Meng Zhiling. Check your phone; he sent you a message twenty minutes ago, but you're fast asleep. I've tried calling you, but you won't wake up.]"

Also, I need to remind you that your fever hasn't subsided yet.

The system noticed that Jiang Huali had been sleeping for so long and detected her physical condition. It was about to wake her up, but clearly, the system's ultimate move was not used.

Jiang Huali picked up her phone and saw that it was already 8:30 pm.

I did receive several messages from Meng Zhiling on my phone, the most recent one being sent more than twenty minutes ago.

M: [I'm at the hotel entrance.]

Presumably because she didn't reply to his message, Meng Zhiling didn't send any more messages and simply arrived at her hotel in silence.

Jiang Huali went to the bathroom, quickly washed her face with water, and then opened the door to her room.

Outside stood Meng Zhiling, wearing a black trench coat. His eyelashes were slightly lowered as he looked at his phone, which displayed their chat interface.

He was carrying a thermos in his hand, and when he heard the door open, his dark eyes looked over.

Meng Zhiling put away his phone and looked at the girl in front of him. She was wearing a simple nightgown with a fleece coat over it. Her hair was slightly damp with sweat, her eyes and nose were red, and a crystal-clear water droplet clung to the tip of her nose. Her eyes, even purer than the water droplet, seemed slightly misty as she looked at him with a hint of doubt.

"Meng Zhiling?"