Chapter 29 Jiang Jiaoming sat lazily leaning back...
Jiang Jiaoming leaned lazily against the bedside table, looked him up and down for a few seconds, then pretended to cover his eyes with his hand, "Isn't this inappropriate?"
Liang Kongxiang ignored him, slapping the floor with her wet slippers, spilling some water from the bathroom, and walked to the wardrobe. When she turned around, Jiang Jiaoming was still covering his eyes, looking like a respectable young man.
She came out after changing her clothes. Jiang Jiaoming had already gotten up from the floor and was curled up on the sofa, frowning as he looked at his phone. When he saw her come out, he asked, "Was it that brat's friend who picked the lock?"
The little brat was talking about Louis.
"Hmm," she said, having filmed all morning and feeling incredibly thirsty after showering. She walked to the water dispenser to get some water. "They didn't seem to have any malicious intent, but it does show that the security of the main gate needs to be improved."
There are many girls in the crew, and there's no guarantee that someone won't be as lucky as her, so safety is something we can't be careless about.
Jiang Jiaoming had arranged for someone to check the surveillance footage before going to bed, but he hadn't received any results and still didn't know how the child had sneaked in...
This place is definitely not as safe as Gongtai; we need to deploy more security personnel. If this gets out in the news, the impact on the production crew will be enormous. So many people are hoping something bad happens to the crew; even if nothing's wrong, they can still fabricate some negative stories. If something really happens, the PR team probably won't be able to do anything, no matter how hard they try.
“Okay.” Jiang Jiaoming sent a message to Wang Jianbo, asking him to ask the production manager to arrange for more cameras to be installed here and more security patrols to be added.
Liang Kongxiang threw the dirty clothes into the washing machine to soak. Soon a layer of black mud and grass fibers floated on the surface of the water, but fortunately the smell was covered up by the fresh fragrance of the laundry detergent.
Seeing how dirty the clothes were, Jiang Jiaoming roughly knew which scene she was filming. He stood aside, staring intently at Liang Kongxiang.
She was never the kind of person who relied solely on her looks, as others claimed. On the contrary, her beautiful face sometimes even brought her negative effects. Jiang Jiaoming knew how difficult it was for beautiful girls in this industry, especially those who only had beauty but no talent or connections.
When he first learned that she had entered the entertainment industry, he struggled with whether or not to contact her. But then he thought, since Liang Kongxiang had given up on him, why should he go out of his way to be so shameless?
He would never go back to an old flame.
"Did Director Cao say anything?" Jiang Jiaoming suddenly asked. Judging from Cao Lengyu's expression this morning, she didn't seem like the type to pry into things without thinking.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom, and a washbasin was emptied with a splash. Liang Kongxiang came out and passed by Jiang Jiaoming: "I didn't say anything."
"How did you meet Cao Lengyu?" Jiang Jiaoming followed her.
"They've started checking household registrations?" Liang Kongxiang, holding two wads of wrung-out clothes, glanced at him, then found four hangers to string them together. As she opened the window to dry them, she turned back to look at Jiang Jiaoming again.
This time he covered his eyes with his hands folded over his shoulder. "Should I check?"
"I can't give it to you." A wave of heat rushed in through the window in an instant, and Liang Kongxiang hung up the clothes and immediately closed the window.
Hearing the window close, Jiang Jiaoming lowered his hand, stared at her, and changed tactics: "Are you sure she won't ruin my reputation behind my back?"
He reverted to his previous innocent demeanor, but he was leaning back on the sofa with his legs crossed and arms outstretched. His appearance and demeanor were rather cold, with high brow bones. When he slightly raised his eyes while sitting on the sofa, a bit of the whites of his eyes were visible, and his collarbone and Adam's apple were very prominent in his posture.
It's completely at your mercy.
"Director Cao wouldn't dare to talk about you, aren't you known for being meticulous?" She leaned against the window and looked at him, making a joke.
"You really do inquire about me behind my back, huh? You even know that?" Jiang Jiaoming said. "Next time you want to know something, wouldn't it be more accurate to just ask me in person?"
"You're the investor, I'm the actor, what's the point of me asking you all this?"
“Oh,” Jiang Jiaoming nodded at her, understanding: “You’ve changed your identity again.”
He then asked, "As the investor, I'm really curious now, how exactly did you and Cao Lengyu meet?"
Actually, Jiang Jiaoming had asked this question several times, but she had no intention of bringing it up before; it wasn't appropriate for them to reminisce about the past.
“She held a photography exhibition in Songjin a few years ago,” she said.
Liang Kongxiang recalled that time when she was standing in the corner staring at a black and white photo of a cruise ship in the deep sea. Suddenly, someone gently patted her back, and a somewhat thin face came into view. The woman had deep-set eyes, wore a fisherman's hat with the brim pulled low, and her bangs half-covered her eyes. Her eyes were long and sharp at the corners, but she had a gentle temperament. She smiled at Liang Kongxiang and asked her softly, "Can I buy you a cup of coffee?"
Liang Kongxiang recognized the owner of the photography exhibition, paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "You've already shown me such wonderful works, how can I let you treat me to coffee?" She added, "I'll treat you."
The two then found a coffee shop. Since it was a weekday, there weren't many people inside. Cao Lengyu took off her hat, casually placed it on the right side of the bench, and gestured to Liang Kongxiang to introduce herself.
Liang Kongxiang shook hands in return, smiled, exchanged names, and asked, "What can I do for you?"
When Cao Lengyu spoke to her, she would always glance at her intentionally or unintentionally. When the waiter brought over the coffee, she stirred the latte art with a spoon and casually asked, "Is Miss Liang still in school?"
"Just graduated." Liang Kongxiang's plan is to find a job as an editor as a transition. In fact, her works always focus on the artistic conception, and are somewhat lacking in visual language and storytelling. To make good works, it is not enough to just have good control over the visuals; you also need to put a lot of effort into the narrative.
When Cao Lengyu heard that she had just graduated, she asked, "May I ask what your major was?"
“Directing major,” Liang Kongxiang said, noticing the woman opposite her raise an eyebrow slightly and ask with a smile, “Doesn’t it look like it?”
“I’m sorry, it was just my stereotype,” Cao Lengyu said. “After all, she’s so beautiful, I thought she was a performing arts student.”
"I thought you felt my physical stamina couldn't keep up with the workload," she said half-jokingly, taking a sip of her macchiato, trying to guess Cao Lengyu's intentions. Cao Lengyu was the go-to cinematographer for renowned director Tian Lei, but she had reportedly left the team after a falling out.
Jiang Jiaoming previously claimed that Tian Lei stole the inspiration of a female photographer on the team and preemptively launched the project...
Why did she think of Jiang Jiaoming again? She frowned.
"Miss Liang, have you considered acting?" Cao Lengyu suddenly asked. She placed her hands on the table, and the glass surface faintly reflected her serious expression as she looked at Liang Kongxiang.
Liang Kongxiang was taken aback.
"...You mean filming?" She had considered all kinds of behind-the-scenes positions, but this was the last one she thought of. However, she quickly realized that Cao Lengyu might have hinted at it from the beginning. The phrase "I thought it was a performance major" indicated that Cao had that impression when she approached her, and that her conversation must have been related to acting.
“Yes,” Cao Lengyu nodded, “I would like to invite you to play the female lead in my first film, which I wrote and directed myself.”
Liang Kongxiang had almost no experience in this area. Although she would give acting advice to the actors when filming short films at school, she might not have been as outstanding when it came to herself. In addition, this was Cao Lengyu's first work, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do for such an important role, and remained silent for a while.
Cao Lengyu calmly analyzed for her, "Actually, watching movies and making movies are two different things. Being able to understand a movie doesn't necessarily mean you can make a good movie, and making a good movie doesn't necessarily mean you can get it screened."
She turned to look out the window, watching commuters walk arm in arm across the sidewalk. Lost in thought, she turned back, gripping the handle of her coffee cup, her index finger and thumb twirling on the porcelain stem. She murmured, "From seeing to filming is one difficulty, from filming to release is another… Since you're a directing student, you probably all hope to make a film, right?"
"Of course." Liang Kongxiang could hear the helplessness in her words and vaguely guessed her unspoken meaning.
“You don’t need to worry about the acting. If you’re willing, I’ll arrange for you to take some classes with a teacher from the acting department. We’re not in a hurry,” Cao Lengyu said. “You can also consider this as accumulating resources. Without resources and connections in this industry, it’s very difficult to get by. There are many examples of younger students who have their films taken away by investors and then nothing happens when they first enter the industry.”
Cao Lengyu's words appealed to Liang Kongxiang. Since they were both learning, Liang Kongxiang thought she might as well learn from Cao Lengyu for a while. She liked Cao Lengyu's style, and she could also use Cao's help to step into this circle. It was a win-win situation, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Time flies. When she broke up with Jiang Jiaoming, she thought that given his personality, he would be vengeful and make things difficult for her if he found out she had entered the entertainment industry.
But he didn't.
They were like strangers in the industry. Apart from a chance encounter at the awards ceremony that year, they were just "Mr. Jiang" and "Ms. Liang" in the eyes of industry insiders, with no connection whatsoever.
Who would have thought that we'd end up sharing a room?
After listening to Liang Kongxiang's long recollection, Jiang Jiaoming, unusually, did not offer any comment, but only said something that left everyone puzzled.
"What a coincidence."
Liang Kongxiang was stunned. It seemed that when Cao Lengyu saw her off at the coffee shop, he had also muttered something like, "What a coincidence."
"...Where is the coincidence?" Liang Kongxiang asked.
"Your connection with Director Cao," Jiang Jiaoming said, his phone ringing. He took it out, glanced at it, typed a reply, and then stood up. "No filming this morning?"
"I'm heading to the film set in a bit," Liang Kongxiang said, as she needed to get her makeup and hair done before leaving. "Thanks for last night...."
Jiang Jiaoming glanced at her, put away his phone, and laughed, "How ruthless."
“Isn’t it better than being affectionate?” Liang Kongxiang said.
Jiang Jiaoming narrowed his eyes, unable to refute it.
Liang Kongxiang went out first, followed by Jiang Jiaoming. Once they were out of the room, they returned to their nodding acquaintances, one going upstairs and the other downstairs.
After eating some salad upstairs, Liang Kongxiang began to do her makeup and hair.
Most of the afternoon's filming took place in the small house, and it was a scene where the character had a conflict and argument with Kong Jingying's character. It wasn't very difficult.
She was walking down the steps when she saw Louis riding a bicycle next to Myrtle by the apartment entrance.
He pushed himself up with his feet on the ground and moved aimlessly, spinning in place. He looked up when he caught sight of Liang Kongxiang's feet out of the corner of his eye.
Seeing Louis staring at her silently, Liang Kongxiang smiled and asked, "Looking for me?"
“The photos,” Louis said succinctly, “Brian wants them.”
Brian… that little boy who always had a red face in the mornings. Remembering what Brian had said, Liang Kongxiang took out her phone. “How should I send it to you?”
Louis also took out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it. "I use WeChat."
"This kid's pretty trendy," Liang Kongxiang smiled, opened WeChat, and said, "I'll scan your QR code."
Louis looked down and fiddled with the machine for a moment, first showing his payment code. Liang Kongxiang glanced at him and said with amusement, "This isn't the code."
Louis immediately put the mobile game back and fiddled with it for a few seconds. This time, he gave the correct code and explained, "I don't add strangers much."
After Liang Kongxiang finished sweeping, she made a note for Louis and casually asked, "Is that bakery on the street yours?"
Cao Lengyu said this morning that the bakery owner's child was a boy with green eyes who had delivered milk tea to the film crew.
“Hmm.” Louis glanced at Liang Kongxiang’s profile picture and put his phone back in his pocket.
Liang Kongxiang was about to politely ask, "Don't you need to watch the shop?" before slipping away to the film set, when she looked up and noticed that Louis's expression was strange, staring intently at her from behind.
She turned her head and pressed her cheek against Jiang Jiaoming's Adam's apple.
It's cool.
He stood directly behind Liang Kongxiang. When Liang Kongxiang's cheek pressed against his, he looked down and met her gaze. His eyes were cold. He reached out and took the phone, which still had its screen lit up, from Liang Kongxiang's hand, glanced at it, and handed it back to her.
He took a step back, looked directly at Louis, and then spoke.
"That's so tasteless."
Even this fake can compare to it.
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Author's Note: Someone's jealous.
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