Chapter 73
Chapter 72
After a while, Shen Qingyuan looked away and blinked a few times in a panic.
Is this person some kind of succubus?
"Are you not angry anymore?" Ye Chuyang's voice was chuckled. "The main thing is not to let men affect your friendship."
"No, that won't happen. Men are like clothes, sisters are like limbs."
Ye Chuyang rolled her eyes helplessly. But she did seem to be in a much better mood.
Shen Qingyuan's gaze lingered on his lips for two seconds. His pink, petal-shaped lips seemed... even fuller than usual.
Shen Qingyuan recalled his kissing scene during the day. Hehe, he was too enthusiastic; his lips were swollen from kissing so hard.
Even though it's work, I suddenly feel really uncomfortable. Even my grip has tightened.
"Hey—be gentle, Shen Qingyuan! You're like Popeye! Eat less spinach in the future!" someone exclaimed in protest.
After the vibration, the screen of the phone on the bedside table lit up briefly; it was Ye Chuyang's phone.
The phone was very close to her, and upon hearing the sound, Shen Qingyuan subconsciously glanced at it.
She swore it wasn't intentional; these days, cell phones are truly the most dangerous products, the source of 80-90% of our joys and sorrows.
Ye Chuyang's phone had a very large font, like a feature on a basic feature phone. So it was easy to read at a glance.
The message that popped up on the screen was from Ning Xin: Are you asleep? [smile]
Ye Chuyang was probably preoccupied with the pain of [unclear] and didn't notice the message on his phone.
Shen Qingyuan wondered if she should remind him. Or perhaps it was something important—filming, script, or something else. After all, it's normal for colleagues to discuss work-related matters after work.
She cleared her throat. "Your phone just rang; you have a message."
Ye Chuyang grunted, his tone not particularly concerned. "Could you take a look at this for me? It's not very convenient." He was lying on the physiotherapy bed, which was indeed inconvenient for him.
He is quite upright.
Shen Qingyuan pursed her lips, oscillating wildly between her insane curiosity and her respect for privacy. It was a strange psychological state involving possessiveness, curiosity, and a voyeuristic desire.
Ye Chuyang urged her, "The phone password is 123456, take a look."
Xiao Chao usually holds his phone, and Xiao Chao will also watch over it for him if there are urgent calls or messages. It seems like he's never been very guarded. Mainly because he's been dealing with work-related matters for years, he hasn't had much of a private life and isn't afraid of being seen by others.
Shen Qingyuan swallowed hard, picked up her phone, and opened the chat window.
Anyway, Ye Chuyang told her to look at it, so why not? A popular male star receiving a WeChat message from his co-star late at night… this is way more interesting than any TV drama. She tried to find something unrelated to Ning Xin in the new messages section, so she could read something else first to set the stage and avoid any awkwardness.
Unfortunately, apart from Ning Xin, no one else contacted him late at night.
Indeed, with Ye Chuyang's status, who would dare to talk to him about work late at night, especially since he's been on set for the past few months? Those who know what's good for them wouldn't dare to bother him.
Shen Qingyuan read in a businesslike manner: "Are you asleep? Question mark, smiley face."
"What question mark and smiley face? Who sent it?" He only realized what he meant after he finished speaking. Dr. Shen was indeed a science student, meticulous.
"Ning Xin".
Ye Chuyang remained silent. He thought to himself, "Ning Xin, you know how to seize opportunities."
The male protagonist remained silent for a moment.
"Relax a bit, your muscles are all tense." Shen Qingyuan found it a little amusing. She wanted to tease her: Should I reply for you?
After thinking about it, I decided against it. Privacy is a fundamental human right, and I will respect it no matter how curious I am.
He suddenly said, "Please reply to this for me, Dr. Shen." His tone was calm and unhurried.
Shen Qingyuan was utterly astonished. "Ah, what should I say?" She really didn't want to get involved in the story of the male and female protagonists in the real world.
Ask her what's wrong.
"So direct? Just replying with 'What's up?'?"
"right."
Where are the punctuation marks and emoticons?
"unnecessary."
Shen Qingyuan felt it was inappropriate, so after typing "What's wrong?", she added "吗" (ma) to soften her tone.
A few minutes later, the phone vibrated again. Both of them heard it.
Shen Qingyuan restrained herself from looking.
“Look what she said.” He immediately issued orders.
Shen Qingyuan quickly glanced at it; it was quite a long message. There weren't any particularly striking words.
She read, "I just wanted to thank you. This collaboration made me feel that you have grown a lot. Your acting skills, understanding of the script, and interpersonal skills are all more mature and professional. I am very happy to have worked with you, and I truly feel that way."
Wow, it's actually a compliment, and the tone is quite official.
Regarding women's compliments to men, Song Ting has some insightful observations: Compliments naturally indicate goodwill. These days, the early bird catches the worm. Women are often more direct than men.
Shen Qingyuan always admired the spirit of taking action when one wants to achieve something.
"Should we return it?"
"Thanks."
"Huh? Just those two words?"
"right."
Even Shen Qingyuan thought it was going too far. Even if he was a straight man, he shouldn't be so unrefined.
Shen Qingyuan: "They've said so much, and you only reply with two words!"
Ye Chuyang: "Then there's no need to reply."
Shen Qingyuan: "..."
He's such an awkward person. He seems to be deliberately trying to distance himself. She's not unaware of this.
"There's no need to be so careful. Colleagues should get along well!" she said earnestly, like a caring older sister.
Ye Chuyang turned to the side and stared at her: "Dr. Chen really doesn't follow the usual path." Other girls would be overjoyed to see their boyfriends or prospective boyfriends avoiding each other like this, but she's different.
Shen Qingyuan: "I watched a lot of documentaries with my dad recently. In one episode, a wolf queen secretly ran out of her territory at night to mate with a lone male wolf. Of course, male wolves sometimes leave their territory to mate with female wolves from other wolf packs."
Ye Chuyang: "Huh? I've heard that wolves are very loyal?"
Shen Qingyuan: "Basically, it's monogamous, but wolf pack society is more complex, and there are exceptions."
Ye Chuyang asked suspiciously, "By the way, why did we suddenly start talking about wolves? What's the connection between this and my reply?"
Shen Qingyuan: "Human nature is of course much more complex than wolf nature."
Ye Chuyang: "Hmm?"
Shen Qingyuan said slowly, "I don't have high expectations for human nature."
After the medical dispute, most of her fellow resident trainees avoided her, as if afraid of getting involved in trouble. Some of her friends spoke up for her, but they all gradually grew tired of it.
Perhaps she was too depressed during that period. People aren't used to constantly offering pity; it's exhausting. Even with her parents, Shen Qingyuan knew they loved her, but from a young age, her parents, especially her mother Nan Lan, had very high expectations of her. Prolonged depression probably disappointed her parents.
If she doesn't pull herself together soon, even those who encourage her will grow tired and distance themselves. Sun Zhi probably felt the same way about her.
When Shen Qingyuan had just resigned, Sun Zhilao was not at home. On the one hand, he was genuinely busy; on the other hand, Shen Qingyuan had suspected that he would rather stay in the hospital than face his dejected girlfriend.
Humans cannot withstand scrutiny.
Ye Chuyang sat up and tidied her hair and clothes.
He raised his head, his beautiful eyes shining brightly, and said, "Shen Qingyuan, of course you have high expectations of me."
Ye Chuyang raised his right arm, placed his fingers on Shen Qingyuan's, and slowly gripped her from her fingertips to her knuckles.
She didn't flinch, nor did she immediately pull her hand away. Perhaps still bewildered by the phrase "excessive expectations," coupled with that affectionate gaze, it was like poison hidden in honey.
This moment didn't last long; Xiao Chao pushed the door open and came in.
Xiao Chao, with his sharp eyes, immediately noticed that the two people's hands were "communicating" at close range.
The child's surprise was manifested by his mouth being slightly open unconsciously; if it dragged on any longer, he would start drooling.
"Brother Yang, Sister Chen...you..."
When people are at a loss, they become petrified; this gene seems to have been passed down from their ancestors' fear of poisonous snakes.
After being frozen for two seconds, Shen Qingyuan pulled Ye Chuyang's forearm closer, her face calm and collected, as if she had seen it all: "It must be a muscle strain. Does it hurt this much?"
"It hurts... oh, it doesn't hurt." Whether it hurts or not, he doesn't know anymore.
"Then let's apply a cold compress."
"..."
Shen Qingyuan: "Xiao Chao, could you please go to the refrigerator and get some ice cubes?"
-
Besides thank you, Ye Chuyang replied with a few more words in that WeChat message.
He said: Ning Xin, you've improved a lot too. Let's work well together in the future and make the film a success.
The director was quite satisfied with the emotional scenes in this drama. Strangely enough, he felt that there was a kind of tension and tacit understanding between the male and female leads, especially the female lead. Her gaze towards the male lead always seemed to carry a hint of sorrow, which was quite emotional and full.
The director felt the casting was excellent, even though Ning Xin was recommended by one of the investors. Even if someone is from the investors, they still need to be reasonably competent; the director welcomed such talent.
A few days later, the crew was filming a scene where the male and female leads broke up. Ning Xin cried her eyes out. Even after the director yelled "cut," she was still in character and kept crying on set for a long time.
"The acting is really good, this actress has a bright future!"
The producer and director gave it extremely high praise, feeling that a talented actress like Ning Xin could still be used in the next project.
Having difficulty breaking character isn't necessarily a good thing. Take Ye Chuyang, for example. She was quite immersed in the role during filming, but after the director yelled "cut," she went about her business a little while later.
Ning Xin's next scene was a group scene. Because her eyes were red and swollen from crying, the director asked the makeup artist to come and apply some foundation. Fortunately, it was a group scene, so her eyes weren't too visible. If it were a close-up, her appearance definitely wouldn't have been good.
Her role is less than Ye Chuyang's, and after these few key scenes, filming will wrap up in a few days.
"I might also feel a little sad about parting." Ning Xin said to the producer and director, laughing and crying at the same time, "I'm a little reluctant to leave you all as filming is about to wrap up."
"Don't cry, baby. We're still working together. I'll contact you once everything's ready. Make sure you make time for me!" The female producer hugged Ning Xin to comfort her. "She's so sweet and soft, I love her so much! I adore a leading lady like her!"
Ning Xin turned her head slightly and took a deep look at Ye Chuyang not far away. Ye Chuyang was holding a green apple, chatting with the extras next to her, a smile on her face.
Unlike typical big stars, Ye Chuyang genuinely gives off an approachable vibe. When he's happy, he's like the boy next door, chatting with anyone he meets. The crew and extras all like him, finding him down-to-earth and easy to get along with.
Almost simultaneously, Shen Qingyuan replied to an email on her laptop in her hotel room.
Before pressing the send button, she took a deep breath and, as if gathering her courage, clicked it.
After meeting with Professor Dai Ying last time, Shen Qingyuan contacted Professor Dai several more times.
Dai Ying initially advised Shen Qingyuan to return to her doctoral studies, promising to recommend a supervisor. She assured her that as long as her grades were satisfactory, she wouldn't have to worry about finding a supervisor. Besides, it's the doctoral era now, especially in the medical field. Even if she didn't pursue it now, in a few years, once her personal situation stabilized, she would need to improve her academic qualifications and research capabilities. Whether she started early or late, she had to do it.
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