Liangji Villa, Business Club.
This club is actually not much different from other clubs outside. Its interior decoration and facilities mainly provide leisure and entertainment functions, but because the villa has designated the top floor as an internal office area, the environment of the entire floor is more corporate, so it was chosen by Zhuang Yan as the filming scene for a "company drama".
At this time, the top-floor office area had been modified and decorated, and all the actors who played "colleagues" were in place. Song Yecheng's makeup and hair for this scene was also very simple, so filming officially started shortly after arriving on the scene.
This is a scene where Fang Zhi is in the company. The main plot is that he is called to the office by his boss for a talk.
Due to the establishment of a new company under the group, the leadership hopes that Fang Zhi and two other employees can accept the transfer and go to the new company to help with its development. Because the new company is thousands of miles away, in order to make it convenient for them to go home often or have their families visit them often, they will be able to enjoy more vacation time and salary than before after the transfer.
If these were the only conditions, Fang Zhi would not be impressed. After all, he is a person with very strong family values, and his foster care experience as a teenager has made him cherish the opportunity to be with his family more than most people.
However, the leader then proposed another very attractive benefit - if they already have children of school age, the group will provide them with a place in a top-notch, nationally renowned and hard-to-get-in private school in the location of the new company.
This is undoubtedly much more attractive to parents than something like a salary increase.
So Fang Zhi hesitated.
But he did not answer on the spot. Instead, he told his leader that he needed to think about it for a few days and then left the office.
This scene ended here, and then we filmed two company scenes that could be used in subsequent plots. It was already past four in the afternoon when everything was completed.
"Okay, that's it for now."
Zhuang Yan reviewed the filmed footage several times, and finally gave the go-ahead after confirming that there were no problems.
As soon as he finished speaking, the assistant director next to him came over and whispered something to him. Zhuang Yan immediately stood up and called Song Yecheng and the others, "Come on, let's go downstairs. Mr. Qi is here."
Qi Xianyun had arrived at the villa half an hour ago, but the filming upstairs was still going on, so the assistant director first had someone take him to the private room on the second floor for tea.
Two minutes later.
The elevator stopped on the second floor. Zhuang Yan led Song Yecheng and Jiang Que out, while Douzi went straight down to the first floor in the elevator because he had to go back to the villa to prepare some useful things for Song Yecheng for the evening's outdoor scenes.
Since the entire villa was booked by the crew, there were basically no outsiders in the club except for a few waiters. As soon as Zhuang Yan and his companions entered the second-floor hall, they saw Qi Xianyun and two others drinking tea in the elegant seats by the window in the distance.
The middle-aged man sitting opposite Qi Xianyun was his assistant who had been with him for many years. Zhuang Yan and Song Yecheng had both met him before, so they were quite familiar with him. However, the person sitting next to Qi Xianyun was a young and beautiful girl who was about eighteen or nineteen years old. When they saw her from a distance, Zhuang Yan and Song Yecheng were a little confused.
When she got closer, Zhuang Yan finally recognized her: "Hey! Tingyu is here too?"
Qi Tingyu - Qi Xianyun's granddaughter. Because her parents were busy with work, she was raised by Qi Xianyun since she was a child. She used to follow Qi Xianyun to the film set during the winter and summer vacations, and became familiar with many directors and actors. Only in the past two years, as she grew up, she went less often.
"Uncle Zhuang, Brother Yecheng," Qi Tingyu stood up and greeted them with a smile. Then he turned his gaze to Jiang Que and called out uncertainly, "Teacher Bai?"
"So it's you?" Song Yecheng's tone was full of realization and amusement, "I almost didn't recognize you."
Qi Tingyu rolled her eyes subtly, and Song Yecheng said, "Why are you rolling your eyes at me? I'm complimenting you. Girls change a lot when they grow up, don't you understand?"
He almost didn't recognize her just now, because the last time he saw this girl was several years ago. In his impression, she was still a little girl who had just graduated from junior high school, wearing school uniform and short hair all day long. But now she has grown into a graceful young lady, with long straight black hair, and has learned how to put on makeup and dress up. At first glance, he really thought she was a stranger.
"Thank you," Qi Tingyu said with a forced smile, "I'm grateful that you don't insult me."
Qi Xianyun was familiar with Song Yecheng's mother Qiu Mingyue, so when Qi Tingyu was a child, he would often follow his grandfather to visit the Song family.
At that time, she was nothing like the girls she is now. She was a tomboy who moved as fast as a crazy rabbit. Although she was ten years younger than Song Yecheng, she always had to provoke him. In the end, she was usually beaten to a pulp by Song Yecheng and ended up in the famous scene of "the short legs were pushed against the forehead and she was waving her claws but couldn't hit anyone".
Ever since Qiu Mingyue went abroad, the two families had been interacting less and less. The last time Song Yecheng saw her was when she came to visit the set of a play she was working on with Qi Xianyun. At that time, she had actually begun to grow up, at least no longer looking like a tomboy. However, the first thing Song Yecheng said when he saw her on the set was: "Wow, you've finally grown as tall as my thigh?"
Qi Tingyu had been praised and admired since she was a child, but she always suffered a critical hit when she met Song Yecheng. So in her opinion, this guy was simply the number one villain in her princess growth diary, and she wanted to pull out her eyes and roll her eyes at him.
"Tingyu is in college, right?" Zhuang Yan asked with concern. "You don't have classes these two days? How about I have someone arrange a room for you to stay here for a few days?"
Although Qi Tingyu had grown up, her personality was still straightforward. Upon hearing this, she quickly said, "No, no, I won't disturb you from filming. I'll be leaving soon. I have to rush back to school tomorrow."
"Well, leave her alone."
Qi Xianyun waved at Zhuang Yan and smiled, "She was just free, so she insisted on sending me over here, saying she'd like to see the crew environment. From what I can see, she didn't want to see the environment, she probably wanted to see something else."
Although Qi Xianyun is almost seventy years old, he does not look old at all. Because he started out as a comedian when he was young, his appearance and temperament are not that of a serious old cadre. Instead, he is more humorous and witty, which makes people feel very friendly at first sight.
Zhuang Yan jokingly added, "Oh, maybe she came here specially to see her brother Yecheng?"
"Who knows?" Qi Xianyun echoed him, glancing at Qi Tingyu with a smirk before turning to Jiang Que and asking, "Is this the screenwriter, Mr. Bai?"
Although addressing each other as "teacher" was common practice in the group, Jiang Que felt a little uncomfortable being addressed as "teacher" out of the blue by such an old senior. He hurriedly said politely, "...Hello, Mr. Qi."
Qi Xianyun nodded and smiled at Jiang Que, marveling at him. "No wonder they say that online... He could rely on his looks, but he chose to rely on his talent? Hahaha, seeing is believing. He's indeed handsome, talented, and a promising young man!"
Jiang Que was so flattered that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said modestly, "Master Qi, you're too kind."
"Grandpa, didn't you say you wanted to discuss tonight's performance with Uncle Zhuang?" Qi Tingyu reminded him, "How about you guys talk about business first, and we go chat over there?"
Zhuang Yan came over just to talk to Qi Xianyun about the evening show in advance. Upon hearing this, he said to Song Yecheng, "Okay, it's a good opportunity for you young people to chat for a while. I'll talk to Mr. Qi about the evening's arrangements first, and then you can go over the show again."
Song Yecheng nodded, and Qi Tingyu also stood up and left the table. The three of them sat down at another booth not far away.
The waiter came forward and ordered tea for them. After he turned and walked away, Song Yecheng looked at Qi Tingyu with pretended disgust: "You are not really here to see me, are you?"
Qi Tingyu once again abandoned her ladylike image and rolled her eyes: "You wish—"
After she finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Jiang Que, and put on a sweet and lovely smile like a Sichuan opera face-changing: "Teacher Bai, actually, I came to see you."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Que and Song Yecheng were a little surprised.
Qi Tingyu leaned forward slightly, moved closer mysteriously, and asked cautiously in a low voice, "I want to ask... are you from Sucheng?"
As soon as these words came out, Jiang Que and Song Yecheng on the opposite side were extremely surprised, and even couldn't help but look at each other - after all, Jiang Que had never mentioned these things to others. It was already strange that Song Yecheng could narrow down the scope of his hometown to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions based on the clues in the book. Qi Tingyu could actually pinpoint the city directly?
Qi Tingyu's eyes swept back and forth between their faces. Seeing their reactions, he immediately understood what was going on. As if inspired, he asked, "Do you live in Longmingjingyuan?"
If her previous sentence was just surprising, this one was a bit scary. However, even Song Yecheng didn't know the answer, so he could only look at Jiang Que with her for confirmation.
Although Jiang Que found it unbelievable, he hesitated for a moment and nodded truthfully: "How did you know?"
Qi Tingyu clapped his hands with an expression that said, "That's right!" "You're Teacher Ye Ying's son, right?"
Jiang Que's expression was blank for a moment, and then he seemed to finally understand something: "You are... her student?"
Qi Tingyu nodded excitedly, then frowned and smiled wryly, as if sighing. "That's what I told you! When I saw your photo on the trending search, it felt very familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it before. It wasn't until last night before bed when I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen you in person, but I had seen your photo. It was during high school when I was taking classes at Teacher Ye's house."
"etc?"
Before Jiang Que could say anything, Song Yecheng asked in confusion, "Didn't you go to school in Shanghai? How come you have a teacher in Sucheng? And you went to a tutor across town?"
Qi Xianyun is from Shanghai, and Qi Tingyu also grew up in Shanghai. Although Shanghai and Suzhou are not far apart, they are still about a hundred kilometers apart. It would be too troublesome to go back and forth for a make-up class.
Qi Tingyu gave him a look that said, "You really don't know anything about me," and pointed at herself. "I'm a sophomore at the Yenching Conservatory of Music. Two years ago, in 2017, I was in my junior year of high school. I was taking the piano exam in Suzhou. My mom hired Ye Ying as my piano teacher through connections. Do you understand?"
After hearing her explanation, Song Yecheng finally understood what Jiang Bei meant by "artist". Then he suddenly realized what was going on. He squinted at Qi Tingyu and said in a tone that seemed to be wasting his talent: "You are the only one who still learns piano?"
The image of the wild monkey jumping up and down and making trouble kept flashing in his mind. When he thought of the wild monkey sitting in front of the piano and trampling on the keys, he felt it was really horrible.
Judging from Qi Tingyu's expression, she had probably given up on saving her image in Song Yecheng's eyes. She shook her head and said smugly, "I'm the only one who got into Yanyin. What's wrong? Do you have any objections?"
Song Yecheng sneered and nodded in agreement: "Okay, you're awesome. But you have a really good memory. You still remember what happened two years ago?"
Hearing this, Qi Tingyu pursed her lips in a rare moment of embarrassment. After a moment, she admitted with a smile, "Actually, I was a face-chaser back then. When I saw the photo, I thought, 'Wow, this little guy is so handsome,' so I asked Teacher Ye who he was. Teacher Ye said it was her son, and he was away at university. I was really surprised at the time, thinking that Teacher Ye and Uncle Jiang both looked so young, and their son was already in college? He must have taken good care of himself, right?"
Qi Tingyu didn't know that they were Jiang Que's adoptive parents, but Song Yecheng knew, so when he heard this, he subconsciously turned his head to look at Jiang Que's reaction.
Jiang Que didn't react at all, just smiled politely and courteously.
Song Yecheng thought: Maybe the couple is not necessarily well maintained, but they are indeed very young - if they adopted Jiang Que when they were in their twenties, then when Jiang Que went to college, they would actually be only in their thirties, which would indeed make people feel incredibly young.
"Oh right," Qi Tingyu seemed to recall something interesting. "Later, when I was admitted to Yanyin College in 2018, I held a thank-you banquet for my teachers. It happened to be summer vacation, so I asked my mom to ask Teacher Ye if you were on vacation. I wanted Teacher Ye to bring you along, but then I heard that you had just graduated and was very busy and didn't have time, so the plan fell through. If you had gone then, we would have met years earlier."
"Hey, hey, hey, don't try to get close to me," Song Yecheng said, "Who would want to know you a few years earlier?"
Qi Tingyu was just about to retort when the waiter brought the pot of scented tea they ordered. She temporarily turned off the fire, thinking of waiting until the waiter left before fighting again.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the tea was served, Song Yecheng naturally picked up the glass pot and poured her a cup first, which made her feel flattered and grateful.
So, she generously chose not to argue with him unilaterally. She cleared her throat and turned to Jiang Que again: "Teacher Bai, I came here this time just to confirm whether you are Teacher Ye's son. Now that you have confirmed it, I want to ask you something."
Jiang Que was holding the cup with two fingers, keeping the rim close to the mouth of the teapot held out by Song Yecheng. Hearing this, he looked up and asked, "What's the matter?"
Qi Tingyu seemed very confused. "Did Teacher Ye change her number? She said before that I could ask her any questions after I started college, and that she would continue to teach me during the holidays. But then I called her several times and couldn't get through. I was thinking of going to your house to see her during the holidays, but my mom said it wasn't appropriate to show up without saying hello, so I didn't feel comfortable going."
"Oh," Jiang Que explained without seeming surprised, "She went abroad."
"He went abroad?!" Qi Tingyu was shocked and almost spilled the tea he had just brought to his lips. "When did he go? Was he going to perform, travel, or..."
"Settled down," Jiang Que said, "I left at the end of 2018."
"ah--?"
Qi Tingyu's tone took a sharp turn, as if she was deeply regretful about not being able to attend Ye Ying's class anymore. "Are you with Uncle Jiang? Where did you settle down?"
Jiang Que seemed a little helpless at her questioning: "Canada."
"Oh... okay," Qi Tingyu pouts regretfully, blinks a few times, and suddenly seems to think of something, "So she's not using her old account anymore? Did she get a new one?"
Jiang Que nodded.
Qi Tingyu thought for a moment, then said, "Would you mind adding me on WeChat? Recommend her to me, or me to her?"
This request was actually a bit abrupt, because since Ye Ying didn't even inform anyone that she was going abroad or changing her phone number, it was very likely that she didn't want to keep in touch with her previous connections after going abroad. In other words, these people might not be important to her.
Song Yecheng clearly sensed Jiang Que's hesitation. Just as he was considering whether to speak up to smooth things over, he heard Zhuang Yan, who was a few tables away, suddenly turn around and say, "Chengzi? Come over and go over your lines with Elder Qi."
"Oh, here it comes."
Song Yecheng responded and turned to grab the script from the table next to him.
When she turned around again, she saw Jiang Que had already taken out his phone. He lowered his head to unlock it and said to Qi Tingyu, "I'll give you her WeChat ID directly. You can search it yourself."
11pm, Yinling suburban highway.
On the empty six-lane road, four vehicles of different models used by the crew were lined up in a row and drove neatly towards the city.
In the third SUV, Douzi was sitting in the passenger seat and yawning, while Song Yecheng and Jiang Que were sitting on either side of the back seat.
In the afternoon, it was already dark when Qi Xianyun and Song Yecheng sorted out the plot and lines. Zhuang Yan treated everyone to a simple dinner in the banquet hall of the villa, and then took several groups to the city in advance around eight o'clock.
What we are going to shoot tonight is the beginning of the main plot of "Searching for the Light", which is the scene where the fortune teller played by Qi Xianyun and Fang Zhi first meet. The shooting location is a pedestrian overpass in the city. This kind of real-life shooting on a public transportation section in the city needs to be reported to the relevant departments in advance and the specific time and shooting details must be determined to avoid traffic congestion or other problems.
Therefore, the crew completed the filing procedures a few days ago, and the specific available time approved is from 12 o'clock tonight to 5 o'clock in the morning, which is the time period with the lowest pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the city. Shooting at this time is beneficial to reduce the chance of mistakes in the film, and is less likely to attract onlookers and affect traffic.
However, the crew had made all the calculations but still failed to take everything into consideration - no one expected that the weather in April could change as suddenly as a baby's face. The weather forecast two days ago said that it would be sunny for the next week, but unexpectedly it started to rain late last night.
The spring rain was not heavy, but it was fine and long, drizzling all day long and only stopping in the evening.
Although the rain has stopped, the dark clouds are still in the sky. Looking up, you can only see the dark clouds in the night sky, and there is no trace of the stars or the moon.
Zhuang Yan had been a little worried since the day, and he couldn't feel relieved even when the rain stopped at night. After all, the dark clouds were still there, and no one knew if it would suddenly start raining again in the middle of the night. The pedestrian bridge he chose was open-air and had no roof.
But even so, he still took the crew to the city in advance, and arranged for the actors to set out from the villa at around 10 o'clock and arrive on time. He decided to adapt to the situation at that time. If it really didn't work, he would take advantage of the time when the rain stopped to shoot. If that still didn't work, he would have to postpone it.
At this time, the green belts on both sides of the suburban roads emitted a watery glow after being washed by rain under the reflection of street lights, and the wet road surface reflected the high beams of passing vehicles.
Inside the car, Douzi, who was so sleepy that he could hardly open his eyes, had already put on his headphones and decided to use heavy metal music to force himself to wake up.
Seeing the dust-like raindrops appearing on the side window again, Song Yecheng sighed softly in his heart, thinking that Zhuang Yan's worries were indeed right. He really didn't know if this scene could be filmed tonight.
Thinking about it, he turned his head to look to his side, only to see Jiang Que quietly leaning against the window on the other side. A slight breeze flowed in through the small gap in the window, gently ruffling the hair on his forehead. The street lights passing by outside the window weaved overlapping light and dark shadows, making his already black eyebrows and eyelashes look even thicker, and also embellishing his eyes looking out the window with more clarity and sparkle.
Song Yecheng stared at the quiet and picturesque silhouette for a moment, and suddenly an inexplicable sense of familiarity flashed through his mind, just like the night he first met Jiang Que and watched the shabby wooden door slowly open, and the moonlight stained the eyebrows and eyes of the person inside the door. It seemed that Jiang Que, who was in such dim light and shadow, always gave him a subtle sense of déjà vu.
Where does this feeling come from?
Song Yecheng was not sure, but after thinking about it, it seemed that he could only attribute it to the mysterious feeling of feeling familiar at first sight that his ancestors had talked about.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sneer with amusement and whistled softly at Jiang Que.
Jiang Que turned his head and saw Song Yecheng leaning on the windowsill with his elbow and his chin in his hand. He raised his chin when he saw him looking at him and said, "Can I ask you a question?"
Jiang Que nodded doubtfully, signaling him to ask. Song Yecheng put down his hand, sat up straight, and moved closer to him. Then he lowered his head slightly and asked, "What were you busy with when you graduated?"
He had wanted to ask this question when he heard Qi Tingyu say in the afternoon, "You were very busy when you just graduated," but he had never found a suitable opportunity.
Jiang Que immediately understood that he was still thinking about the afternoon's events, but he didn't expect that his focus would be on this. After a moment's pause, he said, "Find a job, find an apartment. Aren't these what you have to deal with after graduation?"
This reason was perfectly sound, but Song Yecheng stared at him for two seconds as if somewhat dissatisfied, and asked suspiciously, "Is it because you were busy with these things that you didn't join the group?"
After hearing this, Jiang Que finally realized what his real focus was - Jiang Que graduated in 2018, and "Twins" also started filming that year, from early summer to late autumn, which happened to be the few months when he just graduated.
Song Yecheng actually just wanted to know why he didn't show up at the whole time, but the reason Jiang Que gave obviously made him feel a bit perfunctory.
Before Jiang Que could answer, Song Yecheng pressed on, "That was your first script. Didn't you ever think of going to see... witness it?"
This question was actually quite subtle. If he had been a little thicker-skinned, what he really wanted to ask was, "Didn't you want to see me then?"
Jiang Que inexplicably heard a hint of resentment in his tone, and looked at him in surprise for a few seconds, trying to confirm whether it was his illusion.
This is indeed not an illusion.
Because this resentful atmosphere even spread to the front row, the driver couldn't help but glance at the rearview mirror, and happened to meet Jiang Que's sensitive gaze. He quickly retracted his gaze, sat up straight, and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Jiang Que couldn't help but feel a mixture of laughter and tears, and finally explained in a compromising tone, "I thought about it, but I was afraid it would affect your filming, so I planned to go to the wrap party, but then something unexpected happened and I couldn't go."
Zhuang Yan actually knew about this, but he wanted to give Song Yecheng a surprise at the time, but the surprise didn't come, so he didn't mention it to Song Yecheng, so Song Yecheng was really a little surprised to hear this answer at this time.
So he was planning to attend the wrap party?
After the accident, he suddenly thought of something: "When you say something urgent, do you mean your parents are going abroad?"
In the afternoon, when Qi Tingyu asked about Ye Ying going abroad, Jiang Que said that they went abroad at the end of 2018, which means that the time should be around the wrap-up party of "Twins".
Sure enough, Jiang Que nodded and said, "Yes."
Song Yecheng nodded with both helplessness and understanding, and did not ask any further questions. After all, it was just an unfortunate coincidence that these things happened to happen at the same time, and no one could be blamed.
However, it's no wonder, there are always some regrets. Song Yecheng raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Jiang Que with emotion and sighing: "If you had gone to the wrap-up party, we would have met years ago."
This sentence structure is exactly the same as the one Qi Tingyu used when she lamented that Jiang Que was unable to attend her teacher's farewell banquet. Thinking back to the disgusted expression on Song Yecheng's face when he said to her, "Who would want to know you a few years earlier?", this blatant double standard is simply hilarious.
However, Jiang Que didn't have the slightest intention of mocking him. Instead, he nodded slightly, looking back at him quietly with a regret no less than Song Yecheng's, and murmured in agreement, "Yeah, we should have met a long time ago."
In the interweaving of light and dark, a certain soft yet heavy emotion floating in his eyes spread out, silently enveloping Song Yecheng, causing his heart to tremble slightly, and it took a long time to calm down.
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