Chapter 183 Telephone
Lü Dan knew about this too; to be precise, she was the one who relayed the message. Zhou Pingchuan didn't have much time to chat with a minor actor.
Hearing this, Lü Dan was also quite confused. Recently, filming of "Legend of the Dragon" has resumed, and many behind-the-scenes photos of Ji Cen and Xia Mian have indeed been leaked. However, no matter how intimate they are in the photos, they are just ordinary friends or brothers with their arms around each other. Ji Cen did this to increase Xia Mian's popularity and traffic, and there was no other behavior that crossed the line.
Furthermore, Lü Dan understands Ji Cen; he's more interested in improving his acting skills than in romance. This is often the case with highly talented individuals in a particular field; they tend to dedicate more time and energy to their hobbies than to relationships.
"Just keep things in perspective. I believe you can do it. I'm hanging up now."
Hearing the busy tone, Ji Cen licked his back teeth. Ugh, what a mess this is!
Twenty minutes later, Xia Mian returned to the scene, insisting that she was really fine. Gao Yifeng looked around but couldn't find Zhou Pingchuan, so he didn't force him. Seeing that everyone had rested enough, he called him back and continued filming the remaining scenes for the main characters.
Perhaps she wasn't in a good state after hearing Zhou Pingchuan's words, because Xia Mian didn't finish filming the last scene of the day until after 9 p.m.
Gao Yifeng pulled Xia Mian aside and patted him on the shoulder: "Go back and get some rest, spend some time with Jay Chou. Also, please apologize to him for me. I didn't mean to keep you up this late. I was just rushing to meet the deadline, so please understand."
Xia Mian said embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, Director Gao. It's my fault. I kept making mistakes and made you all stay up so late with me."
“It’s normal to have to do NG (no good) shots, especially since you’re not feeling well. Alright, I’ll take advantage of the bright moonlight today to shoot a couple more establishing shots. You can go home now.”
Ji Cen and Jiang Chun finished their scenes earlier than him and had already returned to the hotel. Xia Mian nodded, but wasn't in a hurry. Instead, she helped Li Zi pack her bag first, and then checked the dressing table with Da Huang before slowly walking towards the parking lot.
From the moment Zhou Pingchuan finished speaking at noon until now, his mind and heart have been in turmoil, unsure how to face Zhou Pingchuan. Everything else is fine; it's all just the damned nature of men, which he understands. He can even calmly cooperate if Zhou Pingchuan ever really wants to have sex with him. As Zhou Pingchuan said, they are a legally recognized married couple, and they should satisfy each other's desires in bed.
But the word "possession"... just thinking about it made Xia Mian's heart start to tremble inexplicably.
From the moment he chose to enter into marriage, he remained true to his duty, because he had promised Zhou Pingchuan that he would be faithful.
In reality, Zhou Pingchuan had almost never restricted his actions, interfered with his life, or prevented him from associating with friends. Today, however, Zhou Pingchuan repeatedly challenged Ji Cen, even asking him if he liked Ji Cen, displaying an extraordinary possessiveness towards him.
No, actually it wasn't just today; he started acting strangely a few days ago! He ran into the live stream, hugged and kissed him in front of countless viewers. He also sent him flowers and gifts.
Why did Zhou Pingchuan do all this? Why did she develop a possessive desire for him?
An answer gradually emerged in Xia Mian's mind.
No, no, what are you thinking? This is impossible. Putting aside the differences in their personalities, just considering the plot, Zhou Pingchuan should be infatuated with Xia Mingzhao. What does it have to do with his cannon fodder Xia Mian?
Let's wait and see how things develop, or find an opportunity to clarify that saying "I like him" was just lustful thinking. Xia Mian is restless and trying to come up with a solution.
There was no way to avoid it. When he arrived at the parking space, he opened the car door with a heavy heart.
The driver flashed him a bright white smile: "Hurry up and get in. I'll take you back first. I still need to pick up the leaders for their performance later."
This is Gao Yifeng's driver. It seems Zhou Pingchuan... has already left.
The anxiety that had tormented him all afternoon and evening vanished instantly, replaced by an inexplicable sense of loss.
Like going to the hospital to get your wisdom teeth pulled, before the extraction you are tormented by the pain, but once the anesthesia is administered and you can no longer feel it, you feel empty.
The wind whipped snowflakes into the narrow space, and the driver hunched his shoulders, urging, "Hurry up and get in."
"......Um."
On the way back to the hotel, Li Zi inevitably asked about Master Zhou. Xia Mian closed his eyes and only said that he had left. Seeing that he was not interested, Li Zi took out a small blanket and draped it over him, without asking any further questions.
For the next period of time, the crew fell into an unprecedented calm, but also an unprecedented busyness. It became a daily routine to be on set with eyes open and to sleep with eyes closed. Xia Mian thought this kind of life was quite good. Being busy kept her from thinking about all sorts of things.
At Lü Dan's reminder, Ji Cen was having a real headache trying to control the boundaries of his interactions with Xia Mian. It was impossible for him to stop hanging out with Xia Mian altogether; the two got along quite well. Fortunately, all the media outlets that were supposed to visit the set had already done so, and no more intimate photos were leaked.
Days passed by, and that evening, Xia Mian was taking a bath when she received a call from Zhou Pingchuan.
"When are you coming back? Have you booked the tickets yet?"
Xia Mian glanced out the window and saw the colorful lanterns hanging on the trees that read "Happy New Year," realizing that New Year's Eve was already approaching: "It's not decided yet."
"You're not planning to come back?" the person on the other end asked.
Xia Mian fell silent. He also asked himself in his heart: Should I go back to Beijing? He received no answer.
Actually, it wasn't that he had no answer. He'd been so busy filming lately that he hadn't thought about it at all. The sudden mention of it came up after a long day, when his mind was completely blank. The only thing he was certain of was that he would definitely go to Nangang. Ren Xiping and Aunt Xue were there, and he needed to go and wish them a Happy New Year, and spend some quality time with them.
"I'll have Yu Heng apply for the flight route," Zhou Pingchuan said directly, his tone leaving no room for argument, before Yu Heng could even reply. "The day after tomorrow, is that alright?"
They hadn't been communicating lately, and their previous interactions had been rather unusual, almost making Xia Mian forget that Zhou Pingchuan was actually a man of his word. This was the Zhou Pingchuan she knew best and could accept the most.
Xia Mian knew she couldn't refuse. She calculated the days and realized that the day after tomorrow was the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, and the film crew should be on holiday: "Okay."
"Yu Heng will contact you after the time is set."
"good."
It was an ordinary phone call, so ordinary that Xia Mian doubted whether the two had actually had such an intense, chilling conversation in the car.
Of course, it also made him realize a fact: his guess might be false.
As he thought, how could Zhou Pingchuan possibly like him? Both of them were in a bad mood that day, and perhaps they argued too harshly. Zhou Pingchuan got angry and deliberately said some scary things to frighten him.
Moreover, someone like Zhou Pingchuan, even if he's interested, is probably just playing around, right? For example, Zhou Pingchuan once personally came to Yunshan to pick him up, but now he's back to sending Yu Heng to pick him up.
This is good; the "clarification" statement that has been carefully crafted over many times no longer needs to be said. Xia Mian submerged herself in the water, enjoying the dual tranquility of body and mind.
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