Chapter 28 "Actually, he was my ex."...

Liang Kongxiang's ankle was gripped tightly by those hands, and she paused in her steps.

At the same moment, someone knocked on the door, and someone entered the password to open it.

Cao Lengyu, gripping the doorknob, hadn't finished speaking when her gaze swept past Liang Kongxiang and caught sight of the tall man lying at her feet. She paused for a moment, stunned.

He was wearing a gray pajama top with the collar open, revealing a small patch of his collarbone. His hair was slightly messy, and his thumb seemed to unconsciously rub against Liang Kongxiang's ankle for a second before letting go when he saw Cao Lengyu at the door.

Liang Kongxiang was the calmest one. She took her foot out, threw down the washcloth, and closed the door for Cao Lengyu and Chang Xin. "Sit for a while, I'll be done soon."

Having been in the industry for so many years, Cao Lengyu had seen all sorts of big things. She didn't show much surprise on her face, nor did she ask to inquire further. She originally wanted to wait at the door, but hearing Liang Kongxiang's meaning, she didn't intend to hide the matter. So she simply came in, sat on the small single sofa, and greeted Jiang Jiaoming generously, "Good morning, President Jiang."

"Good morning." Jiang Jiaoming let go of her hand and sat up, putting away his unserious demeanor in front of others. He stood up, folded the quilt, and put it back on the bed. He glanced at the bathroom, pondering whether to leave or stay.

Cao Lengyu sat thoughtfully at the table. Chang Xin followed Liang Kongxiang into the bathroom with a cup of black coffee. Liang Kongxiang moisturized her face in front of the mirror and, noticing Chang Xin's embarrassed expression, asked her with amusement, "Are you sure you want me to drink coffee in the bathroom?"

Chang Xin had no choice but to take the coffee out again. She accidentally made eye contact with Jiang Jiaoming and was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground. Why was he still wearing his pajamas? What a wanton man…

Knock knock.

"I'm leaving now?" Jiang Jiaoming leaned against the bathroom door and knocked. Looking at Liang Kongxiang's face in the mirror, she was applying skincare products with her eyes closed.

“Let’s go later, after everyone’s at work,” Liang Kongxiang said. “Going out in pajamas now will only cause misunderstandings.”

“That’s true,” Jiang Jiaoming nodded. “After all, we’re not even friends, so it would be a loss if we were misunderstood.”

The two of them were talking in unison, and Cao Lengyu didn't realize that they were trying to explain. She took the opportunity to ask, "Why was President Jiang sleeping here last night?"

Jiang Jiaoming turned his head and pointed to the door lock: "Someone tried to break in yesterday, and Teacher Liang sent me a message asking me to come and take a look. As for supervising the work, I'm the only one with plenty of free time, so I didn't bother the rest of the crew."

"Pick the lock?" Cao Lengyu frowned and asked, "It's difficult enough to even get into this place... Should I have someone check the security footage?"

"No need, I'll have Director Zhang go." Jiang Jiaoming planned to investigate himself. It was hard to say who it was; maybe it was someone from the production crew, or maybe it was a local.

After going downstairs, Liang Kongxiang intentionally let Chang Xin go first, while Cao Lengyu lagged behind to have breakfast.

The aroma of toasting bread filled the air downstairs.

“It’s nothing much,” Cao Lengyu said as she walked. “I just came to call you for breakfast. I remembered a bakery we ate at when we were scouting locations. I found it last night, but I didn’t have time to tell you.”

It was quite a coincidence. Who would have thought that she got up early just to call Liang Kongxiang to eat some bread, only to run into Jiang Jiaoming in her room?

“I knew Jiang Jiaoming before,” Liang Kongxiang didn’t explain clearly, but she knew Cao Lengyu had guessed their relationship, “but we haven’t seen each other for several years.”

Liang Kongxiang didn't specify when they met or to what extent they knew each other, but Cao Lengyu could tell that Liang Kongxiang didn't want to elaborate, or perhaps she couldn't explain it clearly in a short time. Being adults, she had her own guess, and left the question at that, smiling and saying, "It's all about fate that we're in the same circle."

As they entered the cafeteria, it was bustling with crew members eating breakfast. Suddenly, Liang Kongxiang put his arm around Cao Lengyu's shoulder and leaned closer, whispering, "Actually, he's my ex." After saying that, he pulled away to observe Cao Lengyu's expression. Seeing that she remained unmoved, he jokingly said with a smile, "So composed."

Cao Lengyu patted her on the shoulder. Liang Kongxiang could be quite wicked sometimes; she always appeared cold and unsmiling on the surface, but would occasionally blurt out something infuriating in private. She deliberately snorted, "I already guessed it, what's there to be surprised about?"

"So smart," Liang Kongxiang joked again.

The two stopped talking in crowded places. Cao Lengyu went to the film set first. Liang Kongxiang's scenes weren't very prominent, so she ate slowly and unhurriedly. As she left, she glanced at her room; the window was tightly closed, and the curtains were drawn. Jiang Jiaoming was probably taking a nap.

Thinking of this, Liang Kongxiang sent him another text message.

Remember to lock your car when you leave.

After turning off my phone and walking a few steps, a boy on a bicycle suddenly appeared in front of me. He had black hair and green eyes, and his complexion didn't look good.

He was still holding onto the back of a boy's shirt. The boy looked to be about his age, wearing glasses, with a red face and pockmarked features. He was muttering something, clasped his hands together, and huddled next to Louise, looking at her with an embarrassed expression.

“He’s apologizing,” Louis explained for him, but still didn’t let go of him, his eyes fixed on the quiet Liang Kongxiang.

"Why are you apologizing?" He had never met the boy before, so why was he apologizing?

Louis said something in English with a local accent, and he spoke very quickly, so Liang Kongxiang couldn't hear him clearly.

The boy apologized in broken Mandarin, and Louis released his collar and explained, "He broke into your room last night."

Liang Kongxiang frowned slightly. "Why did you pick the lock?" He looked like a minor, so he was probably after money.

“Because I like you,” Louis said casually, “you are the female lead in ‘Yellow Flower,’ I know that.”

Liang Kongxiang looked at Louis on the bicycle and then at the boy standing obediently beside him. "What does this have to do with picking the lock?"

He wants to confirm if you are her.

Hearing this, Liang Kongxiang didn't know whether to feel helpless or relieved that the person who broke into the lock last night didn't have any bad intentions. She asked Louis, "Can he understand what I'm saying?"

“I don’t understand,” Louis said, looking at Liang Kongxiang.

"What about in English?"

"I understand."

Liang Kongxiang cut off the conversation, first telling the boy not to be nervous, but telling him that this behavior made her feel very insecure, and hoped that he would not do it again next time.

The boy said something excitedly, which Louis translated: "He said thank you," and after a moment, he gripped the handlebars without looking at Liang Kongxiang, "He said you are very beautiful."

The boy was left standing there bewildered, and the other rode away.

Liang Kongxiang smiled gently at the boy who was standing there. The boy made a photo-taking gesture, and Liang Kongxiang asked him if he wanted to take a picture together. The boy immediately nodded vigorously, but then showed a shy and embarrassed expression. He pointed to Liang Kongxiang's phone, shrugged in distress, and said no. Then he excitedly pointed to the back of Louis, who had already ridden far away.

Liang Kongxiang guessed that he wanted to take the photo with her phone, but sent the photo to Louis.

The little boy really meant no harm, so Liang Kongxiang didn't hold it against him. After filming, she told him again that she didn't like his behavior last night and hoped he wouldn't do it again next time. She also stated that if she encountered a similar situation again, she would hand him over to the police.

After confirming that last night's events were a misunderstanding, Liang Kongxiang thought for a moment and then sent a message to Jiang Jiaoming, relaying what Louis had said. However, she received no reply to these messages and didn't know what time Jiang Jiaoming had gone to sleep last night...

Filming has already begun, and today's scenes are all concentrated on the tidal flat behind the house. The tidal flat is not close to the house, but you have to walk through a bush that is half a person tall to see it. The crew wore long rain boots and waded through the water to get there, which was more difficult for the actors. Liang Kongxiang walked barefoot into the wetland to perform a chase scene.

The grey heron, with an insect in its long beak, stares at the camera and the humans tumbling in the water, their bodies covered in black mud.

Cao Lengyu has very high requirements for lighting. The color and angle of the morning light are significantly different from the effect presented by the evening light in the shot. Therefore, when Liang Kongxiang filmed the chase scene in the morning, she was completely covered in dirt.

One long take took almost an hour to film. Liang Kongxiang suddenly realized that her mouth was full of salty, muddy taste. She took the towel that Chang Xin handed her to wipe her face clean, and then went back into the water again and again.

She also has high standards for herself. She understands the feeling that Cao Lengyu wants and knows what angles and actions will create tension in front of the camera. So she readjusts herself again and again because it is not easy to stand firmly in this place, so it is difficult to achieve a 1:1 reproduction of the perfect picture in her mind.

After several takes, Cao Lengyu shouted "Keep one take!" Chang Xin's tense face relaxed, and she quickly prepared a new towel for Liang Kongxiang to come ashore.

After filming the last take, she wiped her face, which was covered in mud from head to toe. She took a sip of water, sat down next to Cao Lengyu, and joked, "From now on, we won't need to put salt in our food."

Cao Lengyu admired her composure; a woman's calm and collected demeanor was very attractive. Before she could even process it for two seconds, something cold suddenly stuck to her forearm. Looking down, she saw that Liang Kongxiang had smeared black mud from her fingertips onto her arm.

“This is Xisa Port,” Liang Kongxiang said with a smile, looking up at her and taking another sip of water.

"Crazy." Cao Lengyu muttered under her breath. There were many people on set, and she was rather reserved by nature, so after calmly finishing wiping, she told her to stay away.

As soon as Liang Kongxiang stood up, the folding chair was covered in a terrible mess of mud. Chang Xin pinched her nose and picked it up, intending to go back and wash it. Liang Kongxiang smiled and said to Cao Lengyu, "I'm going back now."

Cao Lengyu didn't look at her, but waved her hand outwards with the back of her hand, signaling her to leave quickly.

On her way back to the apartment, many people stared at her. Chang Xin huddled up like a quail egg, head down, as if afraid of being mistaken for a lunatic. Liang Kongxiang, on the other hand, walked slowly, wondering as she went upstairs if Jiang Jiaoming had left...

Upon opening the door, Liang Kongxiang changed her shoes first. The shoes were no longer wearable. She leaned against the wall by the door, bent over slightly, and looked into the room while putting on her slippers. Jiang Jiaoming, on the other hand, was still lying on the floor. The tall and strong man looked rather pitiful, curled up on the floor sleeping.

She chuckled, went to the bathroom to wash her face and hands, opened the closet to get a change of clothes, and went in to take a shower.

The bathroom soundproofing should be pretty good. Liang Kongxiang just ran the water and listened through the door for a while, and found that the sound wasn't loud, so it probably wouldn't disturb Jiang Jiaoming.

She took off her muddy, dirty clothes and washed them off first. She wasn't sure if the costume department would still want them… She didn't throw them away; she planned to wash them and return them later.

After showering and wrapping my hair, I paused for a moment while getting dressed.

The T-shirt rubbed against her nipples without any obstruction, and she realized she wasn't wearing a bra. She usually didn't like wearing one when she was alone, and since her pajamas had padding, she hadn't even thought about it in broad daylight…

Jiang Jiaoming was probably still asleep. She gently opened the door, and white steam from the bathroom wafted out. Liang Kongxiang stood at the bathroom door, still holding the handle.

They met eyes with Jiang Jiaoming, who was sitting up on the ground, propping his face up with his hands.

Jiang Jiaoming stared expressionlessly at Liang Kongxiang's face, his gaze slowly moving downwards until it landed on a certain round, protruding area, at which point he raised an eyebrow.

"wow".

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Author's Note: Chang Xin (Male Virtue Judge): Throw President Jiang out.