Chapter 47: Back to the City
At first, Jiang Lingling thought Mi Hongdou was stunned by the sudden braking and was about to tease her about her cowardice when she saw her angrily open the car door and run out.
Jiang Lingling, who hadn’t even been glanced at by Mi Hongdou, slowly poked her head out of the open door and looked in the direction Mi Hongdou was running.
Oh, tsk tsk, Jiang Lingling touched her nose. She totally didn’t see this drama on purpose.
That being said, she quickly got out of the car.
Not far ahead, Zhang Zijing was tightly gripping Ji Junxin’s arm, his face full of concern. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he and Ji Junxin were the main couple. Ji Junxin, her face slightly pale, was letting him hold her arm. No wonder Mi Hongdou was furious. Jiang Lingling leaned against the car, watching and commenting silently, feeling like something was missing. What was it? … Oh, a bag of five-spice butter-flavored sunflower seeds! Crunch, crunch. Unlike Jiang Lingling, who was enjoying the show, Mi Hongdou’s mood was terrible.
Although she was in the back seat and her view was obstructed, she could still recognize the familiar figure who had suddenly appeared in front of the car. Fortunately, fortunately, the brakes were applied in time… Mi Hongdou couldn’t believe that Ji Junxin had darted out from somewhere and almost been hit by the car.
The sudden lurch from the braking hadn’t harmed her physically, but Mi Hongdou’s heart had leaped out of her chest. Was Ji Junxin an idiot? Did she know what road safety was? Look at the road, look at the cars, didn’t her kindergarten teacher tell her that! Did Qiao Rubai buy her kindergarten diploma! The initial chill was followed by a surge of anger. This anger intensified after seeing Zhang Zijing, who had also appeared out of nowhere.
You didn’t grab her when she was in danger, and now you’re grabbing her when there’s no problem? She’d chop off his hands, believe it!
Zhang Zijing was also a bit unlucky. He was walking along the road when he saw Ji Junxin alone up ahead, pacing and kicking pebbles. The long, wide road, a man and a woman, wasn’t this a god-given opportunity to strike up a conversation? Although they had many scenes together in the drama, they barely spoke outside of filming. Zhang Zijing was someone who knew how to seize opportunities. Ji Junxin had a good personality and a strong background. Chatting with her and getting to know her would definitely be beneficial. Dajin Entertainment was doing well, but Qiong Yu, backed by the Qiao Corporation, had far greater resources and connections. Befriending Ji Junxin meant the possibility of a shortcut, how could he not be tempted?
Thinking this, Zhang Zijing quickened his pace. But he wasn’t fast enough. A car was faster. A car sped past him, and Zhang Zijing watched as Ji Junxin, who had been kicking pebbles by the roadside, suddenly darted into the middle of the road. Zhang Zijing’s heart skipped a beat. Was he about to become a witness to a car accident and make headlines? … He didn’t want to be in the news for this kind of thing!
After the screech of brakes, Ji Junxin was still standing safely in front of the car. Zhang Zijing, clutching his chest, ran over and grabbed Ji Junxin, pretending to have rushed out to save her but being just a little too late.
“Are you okay!” Zhang Zijing panted, feigning concern.
Ji Junxin had only hesitated slightly about whether to stop Jiang Lingling’s car, but the car was almost past her. Without thinking, she took two steps forward and almost stepped under the wheels. This was something Ji Junxin hadn’t expected. Although it was her own fault, she was also quite startled. She didn’t even see who grabbed her, just instinctively replied, “I’m fine…” As soon as she finished speaking, the back door opened, and Mi Hongdou stormed out, her face dark.
Eh, an angry expression?
Both Ji Junxin and Zhang Zijing felt that something was off…
They froze, until Mi Hongdou, her face dark, slapped Zhang Zijing’s hand away from Ji Junxin’s arm.
Zhang Zijing’s face also darkened.
After all, Zhang Zijing was a popular actor being promoted by Dajin Entertainment. Of course, his status couldn’t compare to Ji Junxin, who was backed by Qiong Yu, but compared to Mi Hongdou, an untrained newcomer from Mengguan, he was definitely superior. But Mi Hongdou was even harder to deal with than Ji Junxin. Ji Junxin would at least exchange a few words with him outside of filming, but Mi Hongdou would change her expression faster than flipping a page as soon as the director called cut. Not to mention their first scene together, the wedding night scene. There were many scenes between the emperor and empress later, and no matter how much admiration and affection the young empress showed the emperor in the drama, as soon as the director called cut, Mi Hongdou would immediately drop the persona and leave the set with an expressionless face, not saying a word to Zhang Zijing. Sometimes, as soon as “cut” was called, while Zhang Zijing was still immersed in the role, the dignified and gentle young empress beside him would suddenly turn cold, making it difficult for him to detach from the character.
Mi Hongdou’s aloofness towards Zhang Zijing, at first, he thought it was shyness. He had initiated conversations several times, but was met with Mi Hongdou’s cold indifference, and he knew that she truly disliked him. But what annoyed him the most was that he had no idea why! He was a normal man, good-looking, polite, and even humorous on set. His career was also on the rise. Why did this little newcomer dislike him from the start! So, Zhang Zijing also stopped trying to talk to Mi Hongdou. He was also unhappy. Dajin and Qiong Yu were collaborating, and he had hoped to get closer to Ji Junxin, not necessarily to create rumors, but at least to build a relationship for future collaborations. But because Mi Hongdou was close to Ji Junxin, he didn’t have many opportunities to talk to her. So, he disliked Mi Hongdou even more.
The discord between them was obvious to everyone in the crew, and Ji Junxin naturally knew about it. Although she had asked Mi Hongdou and knew that there was no real conflict between them, just mutual dislike, Ji Junxin still intentionally or unintentionally avoided interacting too much with Zhang Zijing. That’s what friends did, she wouldn’t get too close to someone her friend disliked.
Now, Mi Hongdou slapping Zhang Zijing’s hand away from Ji Junxin’s arm stunned both of them.
Zhang Zijing was surprised that their mutual dislike had escalated to physical contact without a word. And Ji Junxin hadn’t expected the person grabbing her to be Zhang Zijing… It was really unfortunate. She had originally planned to hitch a ride with Jiang Lingling back to Jiang City so she could keep an eye on Mi Hongdou on the way. She hadn’t even figured out how to ask for a ride when Zhang Zijing, whom Mi Hongdou disliked, grabbed her arm…
Mi Hongdou was angry, but she still had some sense of propriety. She didn’t use much force, just acted quickly. After slapping his hand away, she pulled Ji Junxin to her side, half-shielding her from Zhang Zijing. Having separated them, Mi Hongdou’s anger subsided slightly, and she felt that she should say something about the current situation. She opened her mouth, then realized that there was really nothing to say to Zhang Zijing.
“…” Mi Hongdou turned to Ji Junxin, not wanting to lecture her about road safety in front of Zhang Zijing. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s go.”
Zhang Zijing almost cursed. She struggled for so long and only managed to say those two words! Was he just air in her eyes! As an actor, he still cared about his image. Zhang Zijing suppressed his anger and looked at Ji Junxin with a gentlemanly expression.
Ji Junxin, living up to Zhang Zijing’s expectations, didn’t treat him like air and gave him a forced smile: “We’ll be going now.”
Good job! One more word! Zhang Zijing waved his hand, the smile on his face almost cracking. Seeing Jiang Lingling leaning against the car door, excitedly watching the show, Zhang Zijing finally snapped. Were there any normal people in this crew!
It was just a short distance from the front of the car to the door. Before Ji Junxin could figure out how to ask for a ride, Jiang Lingling, looking at the small bag Ji Junxin was carrying, asked, “Are you going back to Jiang City? Let’s go together.”
Ji Junxin could only nod.
Mi Hongdou was a little surprised but was quickly ushered into the back seat by Jiang Lingling, followed by Ji Junxin.
Jiang Lingling, sitting in the passenger seat, felt very pleased with herself today.
“Let’s go.” Jiang Lingling patted the assistant.
The assistant turned around, her face streaked with tears.
“Aiya, what’s wrong? Why are you crying…” Jiang Lingling shuddered and handed the assistant a tissue. Seeing a crying face suddenly was startling.
“Waaah… waaaah… I almost hit someone…” The assistant sobbed.
Ji Junxin’s face flushed. The driver had been driving perfectly well, and her actions had made her cry…
Jiang Lingling, catching sight of the mortified Ji Junxin in the rearview mirror, who looked like she wanted to jump out of the car and run, quickly handed more tissues to the assistant. “Don’t cry, you’re a good driver, you wouldn’t hit anyone.”
“Waaah…”
Ji Junxin’s face was burning, and she instinctively reached for the door handle.
Jiang Lingling saw that she was about to run and quickly used her trump card, patting the assistant. “Don’t cry! You braked well! I’ll give you a raise!”
The assistant sniffled, and the crying stopped. Ji Junxin’s hand stopped two centimeters from the door handle.
Jiang Lingling breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, let’s go, I’ll take you to eat braised pig’s feet later.”
“Can we have Huang Ji’s Braised Pork Ribs?” the assistant asked, sniffling.
“Sure…”
“Can I have a piece of the master chef’s braised pig’s feet? The kind where the sauce has seeped in, soft, tender, and melts in your mouth, so fragrant that you don’t want to open your mouth and let any of the flavor escape…” The assistant wiped her face with a tissue and held up a finger pitifully. “The kind you got for Director Pan, just one piece, is that okay?”
“Okay…” Jiang Lingling facepalmed, slightly regretting having described so vividly how she bribed Director Pan with the pig’s feet earlier.
Although she felt it was a bit inappropriate, Ji Junxin still couldn’t help but gulp slightly.
Fireworks exploded in the assistant’s sad heart, colorful braised pig’s feet appearing before her eyes. The world suddenly brightened. She wiped her face and started the car.
Zhang Zijing watched Ji Junxin and the others get into the car, but the car didn’t move. He was thinking about whether to be chivalrous and ask if they needed any help when the car suddenly sped past him, leaving him in a cloud of dust.
These people! They were so annoying!
Zhang Zijing’s bad mood persisted until he reached the set. But as soon as he arrived, he was summoned by Director Pan, along with Jiang Duo from his company.
Zhang Zijing’s scenes were originally scheduled for the afternoon, so he was called in early. He was mentally prepared to film additional scenes later, but he hadn’t expected that from morning to afternoon, all his scenes would be with Jiang Duo. He didn’t know they had so many scenes together! Even their chance encounter in the garden needed a separate scene? That scene was just a distant shot, shouldn’t it be filmed incidentally while filming other scenes?
Director Pan patiently arranged several scenes for Zhang Zijing and Jiang Duo, big or small. At first, Zhang Zijing couldn’t understand what Director Pan was doing. Then, it clicked. He thought of Jiang Lingling’s car. Could it be that he had arranged something else for those three and was now using him and Jiang Duo as replacements? The more Zhang Zijing thought about it, the more convinced he became, and his face darkened even more.
Jiang Duo’s expression was also unpleasant. She wasn’t dissatisfied with the intensive filming, but she really had something to do today! Jiang Duo tried to interrupt Director Pan several times, but was deterred by his stern gaze. Finally, after Director Pan finished speaking, Jiang Duo tried to ask for time off, but was silenced by Director Pan’s concluding remarks: “Today’s scenes are very important. You have to film, whether you have something to do or not, whether you’re happy or not. If you don’t want to film, you can leave now and don’t come back.”
Director Pan’s gaze swept over the two of them. Zhang Zijing was the first to react, forcing a smile: “It’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll follow your arrangements, Director Pan.” He didn’t mention why Mi Hongdou and the other two had left. The perceptive Zhang Zijing also tugged at Jiang Duo. Director Pan’s attitude was very clear. Dajin wasn’t Qiong Yu. Even if Dajin one day surpassed Qiong Yu, they would still have to be polite to Director Pan.
Zhang Zijing didn’t want to offend Director Pan. Offending a renowned director was extremely unwise. He could see that Jiang Duo seemed to want to object. They were both from Dajin, so out of camaraderie, he should try to stop her.
“…” Jiang Duo glanced at Zhang Zijing. He winked at her, and Jiang Duo clenched her phone, taking a deep breath. “Yes, we’ll follow your arrangements, Director Pan.”
“Okay.” Director Pan hummed in satisfaction and patted Zhang Zijing’s shoulder. Anyway, Qiao Rubai’s intention was to keep Jiang Duo filming all day. With the other three gone, Zhang Zijing had the most scenes with Jiang Duo. His cooperation was the best outcome.
Actually, Director Pan also couldn’t quite understand why Qiao Rubai had called to ask for leave for Ji Junxin, and specifically asked him to keep Jiang Duo on set, just when the other three asked for time off. But judging by her serious tone, it must be something important. Qiong Yu was the major investor, and if she didn’t care about the potential losses from changing the filming schedule, why should he worry? And the scenes Jiang Lingling had circled on the script were all Jiang Duo’s scenes. Director Pan didn’t bother figuring out their intentions. Since he had to change the schedule and keep Jiang Duo anyway, he might as well let Mi Hongdou and Jiang Lingling go. Of course, it was mostly because of the braised pig’s feet, but he wouldn’t admit that.
After arranging Jiang Duo and Zhang Zijing’s scenes, Director Pan touched the phone in his pocket. It seemed it was time to discuss the weight of the pig’s feet with Jiang Lingling.
At the same time, Ji Junxin, on her way back to Jiang City, was also fiddling with her phone.
Leave a Reply