Ji Yan is usually very easy to talk to, but when he gets serious, he can be quite intimidating. The cast and crew of "The Vanished Murder" were all stunned by him.

Fortunately, Ji Yan had no intention of dominating the crew. After giving Song Jing a light threat, he continued as before, and his presence on set was not significant.

But his threat did have an effect—after that, Song Jing only had to do one take before she was able to complete her scene.

"Wow, Mr. Ji is amazing." During lunch, He Qing leaned over to Ji Yan and whispered to him.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Ji Yan held the lunchbox and took a big bite.

It has to be said that the food on the set of "The Vanished Murderer" was much better than that on the set of "Young Love Poems". The film and television base was also in a good location, with milk tea shops and hot pot restaurants open. On his days off, he could even drive home.

Even if he has enough time to rest, Ji Yan usually stays in the hotel to read scripts.

Actually, the role of Cheng Yuan is not difficult to handle. Of the three movies Ji Yan has acted in so far, he thinks the most difficult role to play is Gu Shan. Gu Shan's emotional layers are too delicate, and every time he filmed, it felt like he was going to exhaust his brain cells. As for Cheng Yuan, Ji Yan feels that he needs to make good use of the script.

This is usually the case with suspense films.

Suspense and mystery films typically fall into two extremes: one is utterly terrible, and the other is incredibly mind-bending. The plot must be both logical and entertaining. In a sense, the actors are never the main characters in these films; the screenwriters are.

It took Ji Yan some time to fully understand the script of "The Vanished Murder".

However, while the plot is important, Ji Yan is equally concerned about his performance in the film.

...

The party began amidst clinking glasses. Tang Shi, Yu Qian, and Qin Yuan all enjoyed the atmosphere, and Xue Song's intentional or unintentional flattery made them feel like they were getting promoted, receiving a raise, and reaching the pinnacle of their lives.

Tang Shi, Yu Qian, and Qin Yuan considered themselves to be above the average person, but they had always been frustrated and financially strapped. However, tonight's party gave them the illusion that their vision was about to be realized.

Song Jing and Yang Le's acting skills are much worse than Yu Qian's. However, after Ji Yan lost his temper once, Song Jing behaved himself, and Yang Le diligently studied the script and experienced the role.

He was about the same age as Ji Yan, a year older than Ji Yan. His career wasn't particularly smooth, but he had a lively personality. At first, he was quite afraid of Ji Yan, but the character Qin Yuan was an idol. In the "Disappearing Murder" crew, Ji Yan was the most familiar with the idol profession, so Yang Le often came to talk to Ji Yan about the character.

The two became acquainted as they chatted.

“Flattery,” Song Jing said softly.

"Keep your voice down." His agent quickly patted Song Jing on the shoulder. "If you really go to court with Lu Ming's side, you won't benefit from it either."

Unless it's a problem like unpaid wages, there's really no benefit for celebrities and production crews to go against each other.

The entire entertainment industry has witnessed Wen Xiang's fate. He relied on his powerful connections to oppose Chu Yunquan, but Chu Yunquan didn't have to exert much effort. Not only did Wen Xiang lose many fans, but now there are very few film and television production teams willing to take him on.

Film crews are there to make money, not to serve their ancestors. Wen Xiang could act like a big shot in Chu Yunquan's film crew, but other slightly famous film crews would shake their heads when they heard his name.

Before Wen Xiang, there were other celebrities who had lawsuits with production teams. While fans sided with the celebrities, the industry generally sided with the production teams. Although that celebrity was not officially blacklisted, he never received any decent roles afterward. The rising star went through a hiatus of several years. Even when he eventually reconciled with the production team, his original position had already been taken over by his competitors.

“But I’m still upset.” Song Jing wasn’t a magnanimous person. He bowed his head because he knew Ji Yan was not someone to be trifled with, but that didn’t mean he had let it go.

"The company will arrange it for you," the agent reassured Song Jing. "Isn't Ji Yan in this production crew? That makes things easier."

Song Jing's agent originally looked down on the movie "The Vanished Murderer," even though Lu Ming and Fan Cong were both Song Jing's classmates and had a fairly good relationship during their student days. However, in the entertainment industry, there are too many cases of classmates turning against each other. There are several popular young actresses in the industry who were classmates, but they still ruthlessly attacked each other without any mercy.

The reason he persuaded Song Jing to accept the offer was because he was interested in Ji Yan's popularity.

If Song Jing and Ji Yan had a good relationship, the agent originally planned to work together to ride on Ji Yan's popularity. But since the two have fallen out, they can just make up a few more stories about Ji Yan bullying Song Jing.

Song Jing's agency was originally good at marketing. Although its artists had only been in the film industry for a short time, the company had the ability to market second- or third-tier artists as if they were first-tier stars.

Using big brands for publicity is one of the company's specialties.

...

Yang Le originally thought Ji Yan would be difficult to get along with, but when he actually started talking to Ji Yan, he found that Ji Yan had no intention of keeping anything to himself. Ji Yan told Yang Le about his idol's daily life and the things he paid attention to in terms of makeup and styling. There were some things that Yang Le himself hadn't even noticed, but Ji Yan had taken them into consideration.

“My understanding is that this character is an optimist, but he’s not as brainless as outsiders imagine.” Yang Le frowned. “But besides these two points, aren’t there any other details worth exploring?”

“Of course there are. You can’t rely on these two points to get to the end.” Ji Yan held Yang Le’s script. “Like this part, and when the plot of someone dying starts to appear on the next page, take a look at how the script is written.”

"Then I'll ask Teacher Fan again."

Ji Yan gave an OK sign.

...

As the plot progressed, the party ended in a state of satisfaction for everyone. However, after Tang Shi and his companions were taken to the hotel to rest, they discovered the next morning that the hotel doors were closed. Apart from the robots that were still serving them meals, there were only five people in the entire hotel.

Tang Shi, Qin Yuan, Yu Qian, Xue Song, and Cheng Yuan.

At first, the five thought it was a joke Xue Song was playing on them, but when Xue Song also showed panic on his face, the five finally realized that it was no joke.

But they didn't know why the other party had left them there.

The group searched frantically in the hotel and finally found the password to control the switch. Xue Song arrogantly ordered Cheng Yuan to unlock the password.

Cheng Yuan responded softly.

"Get out of here quickly, I have a surgery scheduled for tomorrow."

"Why doesn't this crappy place even have internet?"

"..."

Cheng Yuan worked on the computer for a long time, when a "beep" sounded and the door shook slightly. Just when everyone thought they could leave, the TV screens in the hotel lit up at the same time.

"November 7, 2011".

"Where are you?"

The black background and white lettering are exceptionally clear.

At that moment, Yu Qian screamed, "Why is the door still not open?"

Xue Song and Qin Yuan rushed forward to kick the door, but it wouldn't open; instead, a mechanical voice sounded from the television screen—

"November 7, 2011".

"Where are you?"

Qin Yuan was speechless: "I'm still in school, you idiot!"

"That happened several years ago, who can remember it clearly?"

The hotel remained locked down, and despite the group's irritable shouts, the screen kept playing a mechanical male voice, which only fueled their frustration.

The story truly begins from this moment.

Tang Shi, the doctor, and Yu Qian, the music teacher, were calmer than the others. They began to suspect that their current situation was caused by one of the five of them.

Suspicion first fell on Xue Song, since the other three had been drawn to the place by Xue Song's invitation.

Xue Song, of course, refused to admit it.

But the others couldn't do anything about Xue Song. After the commotion subsided, they calmed down for a while and continued to think of ways to get out.

...

Filming has gradually gotten on track. Although Song Jing's acting skills are still somewhat weaker than others during filming, they are much better than at the beginning.

Lu Ming no longer wanted to be a nice guy. Whenever there was a problem during filming or he felt that the actors' performances were not up to par, he would point it out without mercy. Of course, in terms of anger level, Lu Ming was still several times less angry than Zhu Shuguang, but the atmosphere of the "Disappearing Murder" crew changed a lot as a result.

When filming is busy, Ji Yan and Ning Wei don't chat every day, but if their scenes are relatively light, they will send each other some emojis.

Besides chatting individually, Ji Yan would also go to the group chat where "Yi" and "Blue" were together and post a lot of messages.

"Teacher Ji, who could only chat on 2G during the filming of 'Young Love Poems,' experienced the joy of 4G network."

"Teacher Ji, what's going on with your crew? Some marketing accounts are sending messages saying that you're a bully on set and that you're taking advantage of people."

Ji Yan: "Sister Ying didn't tell me."

"I saw the message on my alternate account, which was posted by a marketing account just three minutes ago," Fang Yu said. "I've noticed why they all seem to be targeting you."

Within "Wings," Ji Yan is definitely a force to be reckoned with. He doesn't usually create topics on his own, but there's never a shortage of people who love to use him for publicity.

Fang Yu posted the newly published blog post from the marketing account.

"It is reported that in the newly started filming of 'The Vanished Murder,' one of the lead actors, Ji Yan, had a conflict with Song Jing. As a newcomer, Song Jing was bullied by lead actor Ji Yan and the director and screenwriter of the crew..."

Ji Yan: "...I, the kindest, gentlest, and most adorable person, have suffered such an injustice."

Fang Yu: "Ji Yan is shameless."

Lu Wei: "Shameless."

Duan Yiran: "Shameless."

Xie Mingxuan: "Shameless."

Du Jian: "Have you no shame?"

Ning Wei didn't follow the formation and only sent a meme specifically for middle-aged and elderly people. The meme first showed a golden thumbs up, followed by four big characters—"You're the cutest!"

Ji Yan: "..."

Even someone as thick-skinned as him felt extremely embarrassed at this moment; one can only say that Teacher Ning's filter is truly a hundred meters thick.

Others: "..."

"Are there still people in this world who agree with Teacher Ji? I'm disillusioned."

That person is still Ning Wei!

Ning Wei, a truly dignified woman!

That's simply... outrageous.