Chapter 10

After putting on his clothes, Yan Huai opened the door and let Yuan Meng in.

"You..." Yuan Meng stuttered, "You guys..."

Yan Huai hurriedly said: "You misunderstood! He and I are innocent! It's not what you think! I..."

The more he explained, the more confusing it became, and Yan Huai was getting overwhelmed.

Yuan Meng's mouth twitched. No matter what these two people said now, she thought they were having an affair.

"How's your pneumonia?" Yuan Meng asked. "Director Lu has reportedly found funding. Once you're better, come back to the set as soon as possible."

Yan Huai felt much better after the infusion, "I'll be fine in two or three days."

Yuan Meng nodded and took out the script from her bag.

"Moss, you go memorize the script first," Yuan Meng said. "The rest are new scripts handed to me. Take a look. If you like any, let me know. I'm leaving now. Get some rest."

Before leaving, Yuan Meng's eyes were still scanning back and forth among them, with an expression that said "I understand everything."

Yan Huai knew that this misunderstanding had become a big deal, and prayed in his heart that she would not talk nonsense to Ye Xiaoming.

Shang Zhier was peeling a pear with a fruit knife in his hand, while Yan Huai was flipping through the new notebooks.

"Which one do you think is better?" Yan Huai turned around and asked.

Shang Zhier asked back, "Which one do you like?"

"They're all okay," Yan Huai said, "but I also want to try something different."

"Try it." Shang Zhier cut the pear into small pieces, put them into a bowl, and pushed it in front of Yan Huai.

Yan Huai continued to urge him: "Which role do you think is suitable for me?"

Shang Zhier thought for a moment and pointed to one of the notebooks, "This one."

The script he was referring to was about a costume villain, and the character was very charismatic. If he performed well, he would be very popular. However, Yan Huai had never taken on such a role before, so he was a little conflicted.

"The villain." Yan Huai bit the pear.

"Try to step out of your comfort zone. Don't you also want to have a new role?"

Yan Huai originally wanted to continue thinking about it, but he subconsciously believed in Shang Zhier's judgment. He stared at the script and sent a WeChat message to Yuan Meng directly, confirming that he would play this role next.

The nurse came in to remove the needle for him. The needle was pulled out from the skin and Yan Huai pressed the cotton.

The nurse said in surprise, "You...are you that Yan Huai?! I've liked you for a long time. Can you sign an autograph for me?"

"Sure." Yan Huai smiled. "Do you have a pen?"

The nurse excitedly asked him to wait and ran back to the lounge to get photos and a pen.

Yan Huai took the pen and signed the photo. "Any wishes you would like?"

"It will be all right!"

Yan Huai thought about it and wrote "safe, healthy, happy and joyful" on the photo.

"Thank you!" The nurse took the photo and pen, a little shy on her face. "Rest well and get well soon! I've seen all the dramas and movies you've acted in, and I'll always support you."

Before Yan Huai could say anything, the nurse disappeared without a trace.

In the evening, Yan Huai took a photo of the meal with his phone and posted it on Weibo, captioning it: "Sick Meal."

He was very full after eating and yawned leaning against the pillow.

"What is this?" Yan Huai pointed at the bowl with a spoon.

"Snow pear soup, good for moistening the lungs." Shang Zhier moved in front of him.

Yan Huai was drinking while replying to the comment section, and a fan asked below.

--Baby, did you eat too much? Is your stomach full?

--This is for two people, there won’t be anyone else.

--Don't guess blindly, it must be the assistant, otherwise who will take care of baby Huaihuai.

Because there were six dishes for him and Shang Zhier to eat, they usually had nothing to eat on a diet, but now he took the opportunity while he was sick to let himself go and eat a lot.

Yan Huai didn't reply. Talking too much would make things confusing.

Just like he shouldn't have impulsively asked Shang Zhier if he liked her.

On the day of discharge, Yan Huai put on his down jacket and pushed his suitcase to go out.

"Gloves." Shang Zhier reminded him.

Yan Huai felt in his pocket, but it wasn't there. It should be in the box. He was too lazy to open the box. "It's in the box. I don't want to take it. Let's go."

Shang Zhier took off the black gloves on his hands and stuffed them into his hands.

Yan Huai pinched the soft woolen gloves, hesitated for a moment, and put his hand in. It was still warm inside, about the temperature of Shang Zhier.

Yuan Meng stood by the door. After they finished packing, she took the bag and things from Yan Huai's hand and followed him into the elevator.

In the elevator, Yan Huai always felt that there was a burning gaze behind him, scanning back and forth between him and Shang Zhier. He sneezed and felt a chill on his back.

"You guys go first, I'll take a taxi there." Shang Zhier said.

Yan Huai nodded and left the hospital lobby with Yuan Meng. He knew there might be paparazzi and fans outside.

As expected, there were quite a few people gathered at the hospital entrance.

Yan Huai sighed and went out through the back door with Yuan Meng.

After getting in the car, he posted again to say that he had left the hospital and asked people not to linger at the hospital entrance and not to interfere with the normal work of medical staff. He hoped that everyone would leave in an orderly manner and return home safely.

Shang Zhier arrived at the crew before him. Yuan Meng went back to the hotel to put her luggage, and he went to the crew first.

Yan Huai bent down and went into the studio, saying to Lu Zheng, "Director Lu."

"You're here?" Lu Zheng turned around. "I didn't visit you when you were in the hospital. I was too busy to spare the time. Go to the dressing room first to put on some makeup and memorize your lines."

Yan Huai nodded in agreement, but his gaze fell on the little boy beside Shang Zhier. He looked no more than twenty years old, wearing a hoodie and a down vest. He looked very well behaved, and he kept chatting and laughing with Shang Zhier, showing a very close relationship.

Yan Huai suppressed his emotions and left the studio.

He walked into the dressing room, took off his down jacket and hung it on the hook, sat on the chair, took off his gloves dejectedly and threw them on the table.

He Xuan finished putting on makeup and bit into a hawthorn cake. Yan Huai suddenly asked, "Who is that?"

"You mean that guy? His name seems to be Yan Xuxing." He Xuan thought for a moment, "I heard that the investment was brought in by Shang Zhier. He found someone he knew in the industry, and they were willing to accept it. They just wanted to squeeze someone in. It was an exchange of interests, so Shang Zhier gave him a small role and stuffed him into the crew."

Yan Huai felt a little jealous and a little resentful, and filmed with He Xuan in a mixed mood.

They filmed the college entrance examination scene in advance. After filming this scene, the crew had to move to the village to shoot the rest of the plot.

Yan Huai was a little absent-minded and often stole glances at Shang Zhier and Yan Xuxing.

A heart full of emotions, ups and downs.

What are they talking about?

Why are you smiling so happily?

After adding a few more shots, Yan Xuxing's character was next to Yan Huai at the table, with two lines. There were four or five boxes of mineral water next to their seats that had not been moved away in time.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, something went wrong with the props and several boxes of mineral water fell down, heading towards Yan Huai and the boy.

Yan Huai reacted quickly and dodged, but the boy was hit on the wrist.

A bunch of people from the crew gathered around to help him apply medicine and disinfect, including Shang Zhier.

During the entire process, Shang Zhier didn't even look at him.

I didn't care if he was hurt or if he was scared.

Yan Huai pressed his five fingers together, cracking his joints. He was reluctant to admit that he was jealous.

His first reaction was not concern, but jealousy.

Yan Huai couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't been like this in the past twenty-seven years, yet now, because of Shang Zhier, he was like this. He had never imagined that one day he would be jealous and envious of someone. The hateful thing was that this person had barged into his life, teasing him, seducing him. It was clearly Shang Zhier who started it all, so why was he ignoring him now?

He Xuan noticed that he was in a bad mood and pulled his arm.

Yan Huai said nothing in the end and left the crew.

He lay in the pristine white bathtub, the blue bath salts obscuring the clear water. It was hot and stuffy. Yan Huai was tormented and conflicted. He knew he should take that step first, but what would happen after that? He hadn't thought it through, and yet he couldn't treat Shang Zhier like a normal colleague.

Yan Huai suddenly felt a little regretful, regretting that he had not had a relationship before.

It was really frustrating to have someone else's emotions affect you. He hated himself for caring so much. Shang Zhier had clearly been the one who had fallen for him first, but he'd lost out because of his concern. He blamed it all on his lack of relationship experience. If he had, maybe he could just eat and sleep when he needed to, instead of being so bored like this.

Yan Huai knocked on Shang Zhier's door in his bathrobe, but there was no response.

He took out his cell phone and sent a message.

--Aren't you in the hotel?

After a few minutes, Shang Zhier replied.

--I have something to do outside. What's wrong?

Yan Huai returned to his room expressionlessly and slammed the door.

He thought that he was too stupid to knock on Shang Zhier's door foolishly.

On the other side, Shang Zhier, Lu Zheng and a group of people were discussing how the crew could leave the city. The final filming location was a mountain village, which was not very developed and could not accommodate so many people, so they had to screen out some people.

After receiving the message from Yan Huai, Shang Zhier returned to the hotel.

He knocked on Yan Huai's door and stood at the door for thirty minutes.

In her left hand, she was holding a palm-sized strawberry cake with less sugar, strawberries, and blueberry jam.

Shang Zhier knew that Yan Huai loved to eat strawberries and remembered it clearly, but Yan Huai did not open the door.

"He must have fallen asleep," Shang Zhier muttered to himself, "I came back late. I should have driven faster on the road earlier."

He returned to his room, sat on the sofa, and ate the cake in silence with a fork.

The crew members flew to the village in two groups. In addition to the photographers, makeup artists, props designers, and costume designers, there were not many actors. Apart from the two protagonists, there was the senior who played Xiang Shui's mother. Extra Lu Zheng said that the crew would find a few people and assistants to come on stage. Oh, and the little boy Yan Xuxing also came.

Although he had no more roles to play, he spent his own money to join the crew, saying that he wanted to learn from the experience.

Yan Huai leaned back in his chair, staring at Shang Zhier and Yan Xuxing in front of him. He was so upset that he put on an eye mask and fell asleep on the table.

He slept for two hours without even eating.

After getting off the plane, He Xuan nudged him in the car: "Do you want some Crispy Shark? I just got it from the plane."

Yan Huai was also a little hungry, so he nodded, opened the package and started chewing.

Shang Zhier had snacks in his bag. He found some peanut butter cookies, held the package in his hand, and poked Yan Huai's neck.

"What are you doing?" Yan Huai turned around and said unhappily.

Shang Zhier opened the package and said, "Have some cookies. You didn't eat anything on the plane."

"The calories are too high." Yan Huai shook his head and refused.

Yan Xuxing came over and said, "Hey, Brother Zhier, give it to me. I like peanut butter."

"Oh, okay." Shang Zhier handed him the biscuits.

Yan Huai looked at the two of them being affectionate with each other, his mouth twitched, and he turned around angrily, put on the eye mask and continued to sleep.

When they arrived at the village, they saw a big yellow dog at the entrance that wouldn't let them pass.

Lu Zheng went down to communicate with them and told them that he had agreed with the village chief, so they were able to pass smoothly.

There are few and sparse street lights, and one light is more than ten meters away from another. Drivers with poor driving skills can easily drive directly into the fields.

After getting off the bus, Yan Huai shivered. It was even colder than in the city. He wrapped his scarf tightly around him and walked with difficulty on the thick, crunchy snow with his snow boots.

The village chief's house hosted them. Most of the houses were empty, so the crew paid and cleaned them up. However, this wasn't the city, it was a village, so there weren't any mattresses, only earthen kangs (hot pots) that needed a stove.

A group of people lived together in groups of two or three. The middle-aged senior was the only woman and lived in a house alone. She was afraid that it was unsafe, so she lived with the village chief's wife.

Yan Huai was dragging his suitcase and preparing to go to He Xuan's room when Shang Zhier grabbed the hood of his down jacket.

"What do you want to do?" Yan Huai glared at him.

Shang Zhier suddenly said, "I'll live with you."