Xi Jia didn't want to see Ji Qingshi at all, mainly because Ye Qiu was on set. Ye Qiu had finally gotten into character, and if Ji Qingshi ruined it, his acting skills would definitely be back to square one.
Xi Jia insisted that he not come to the film set, saying, "I don't want to see you for the time being."
"I want to see if you're up to it. You think you're all that now, not calling or replying to messages. Do you even remember how long it's been since you ate with me?"
Ji Qingshi wanted to smoke, but smoking was prohibited in the hotel, so he had to resist and put a throat lozenge in his mouth.
Xi Jia thought for a moment, "Didn't we see each other on New Year's Day?"
"without."
Even so, Xi Jia still didn't want to see Ji Qingshi. "It's inconvenient for you to visit the set, and I don't want anyone to know about my relationship with you, so please don't cause me any trouble. I'm swamped on set and don't have time to see you. That's all for now, the elevator's here, I'm hanging up."
Before Ji Qingshi could say anything more, Xi Jia hung up the phone and entered the elevator.
Xi Jia drove herself back to the city. The roads were not congested in the early morning, saving her more than half an hour compared to usual. She arrived home before 2 a.m.
The lights in the villa were all off. She turned on her phone's flashlight and went upstairs first. She took a quick shower and dried her hair as she went to the bedroom.
Afraid of startling Mo Yushen, she turned on the bedroom wall lamp.
Mo Yushen was a light sleeper and would wake up at the slightest noise. Looking at the person in front of him, he thought it was a dream, but he still asked her, "Why are you back?"
Xi Jia climbed onto the bed. "Didn't I say I'd go rain or shine?" She lowered her head and kissed his lips.
Mo Yushen then came to his senses; it wasn't a dream. He held her and turned over. Xi Jia lay on the bottom, and Mo Yushen stroked her cheek.
There are complaints, but also heartache.
"Don't drive at night next time."
This is his bottom line.
Xi Jia nodded and agreed. She then reassured him, "Have you forgotten what I used to do? Driving is as easy for me as walking. No, it's even easier than walking on flat ground."
Mo Yushen continued to dry her hair, but Xi Jia snatched the towel away, saying, "Don't pretend to be so serious. I don't believe you still have the mind to slowly and carefully dry my hair right now."
Mo Yushen was rendered speechless.
Xi Jia raised her hand and turned off the light, and Mo Yushen kissed her passionately.
After that, neither of them spoke, and they spent the time trying to ease their longing for each other.
After it was over, Xi Jia was so tired that she fell asleep immediately.
Mo Yushen wasn't sleepy at all. He got up to find her bag, took out her notebook, and went to the study. He photocopied more than a dozen pages from her most recent notebook to use for tracing.
The next day, Xi Jia had to get to the film set before eight o'clock, so she got up before six o'clock. She had only gone to bed at four o'clock the night before and had only slept for two hours in total.
Mo Yushen had his driver take Xi Jia in a minivan, and he went along with her.
Xi Jia initially refused, fearing it would delay his trip to the company.
Mo Yushen insisted, "There's nothing to do this morning, I can handle my work in the car as well." He laid out blankets and pillows on the back seats of the van so she could sleep for two more hours on the way.
As Xi Jia opened the car door, she remembered something else and turned back to the villa.
Mo Yushen: "Did you leave something behind?" He followed after them.
Xi Jia: "I bring a loungewear set, the kind I can wear to visit other people's rooms in the hotel." Sometimes she needs to see Teacher Shang and Ye Qiu, but wearing sexy pajamas is inconvenient, and wearing a coat is troublesome.
Mo Yushen: "Then bring something thicker."
Xi Jia glanced at him; this man seemed to want her to go out wrapped in a down jacket all the time.
Upon arriving at the bedroom walk-in closet, Xi Jia stood in front of the cabinet doors and looked around. Since getting married, her clothes, whether dresses or loungewear, had always been sexy and mature; she rarely wore conservative clothing.
Mo Yushen opened another cabinet and found one for her, saying, "Take this set."
Xi Jia: "..."
This is her "battle outfit," which she hasn't worn since getting married. It used to be her favorite style, one she'd loved since childhood: a cute pony loungewear set, oily brown, made of faux horsehair, with eyes, ears, and a ponytail.
Later, as it grew taller, the pony became a large horse, but the style remained the same.
Mo Yushen had already packed the set into a tote bag, so Xi Jia let him. Anyway, while at the hotel, she would only go to Ye Qiu and Teacher Shang's rooms.
On the way to the film set, Xi Jia took a nap and recovered.
It was already eight o'clock when they arrived at the resort. Xi Jia tidied her hair and hurriedly got out of the car. Mo Yushen did not get out of the car and watched her until she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
Xi Jia went to the restroom to touch up her makeup, and when she came out, she ran into Zhou Mingqian by sheer bad luck.
Zhou Mingqian looked her up and down; it was clear she hadn't slept well, as her eyelids were slightly puffy.
Xi Jia read the disdain and dissatisfaction in his eyes. She glanced at him sideways and gave him a warning look.
Zhou Mingqian suddenly questioned himself: Why did he fix her car in the first place? Why did he give up his seat for her?
Maybe... my heart has gone blind.
Xi Jia didn't have time to review her notes in the morning, so she found a quiet place and quickly browsed through them, trying to memorize them as she went.
There wasn't enough time, so she only managed to catch up on the last two days.
With each passing day, her notes grew longer and longer, and each morning she had more and more to remember, making it increasingly difficult for her.
The middle finger of my right hand has developed a callus from the pen.
After reading through the important notes in her notebook, she opened her email, which contained electronic versions related to her work. She then read those as well.
Zhou Mingqian was already seated in front of the monitor when he turned around and saw Xi Jia walking around while looking at her phone, occasionally referring to the script in her hand. This woman was contradictory; he had met countless people, yet he couldn't understand her at all.
Since joining the crew, she has visibly lost a lot of weight. Aside from her harsh attitude towards him, she is gentle and low-key towards others.
"Miss Xi, come over here and tell me about this," Ye Qiu called to her.
Xi Jia put away her notebook and phone. "Which section?"
Besides Ye Qiu, several other actors also gathered around.
Xi Jia not only told them her thoughts and the emotions she wanted to express when writing this passage, but also personally demonstrated the facial expressions and body language of one of the passages.
Zhou Mingqian sat in front of the monitor, and then his gaze somehow fell on Xi Jia's profile. Yu An had said before that Xi Jia had the most beautiful profile, and her face was also stunningly beautiful.
At the time, he scoffed at it.
This woman has a good sense of the camera; her acting is quite convincing.
Xi Jia suddenly laughed, and when she looked over, she couldn't stop laughing, as if she was laughing at him.
Zhou Mingqian looked away, and the next second, he looked over there and asked coldly, "Have you had enough fun?"
They exchanged disapproving glances at Zhou Mingqian before dispersing.
In the past two days, all the actors have gradually found their rhythm, and the filming progress has caught up with the schedule.
The weather is nice today, sunny and breezy.
At noon, Xi Jia found a sheltered spot to bask in the sun. With no one around, she took out her voice recorder and began organizing the key points.
These were recorded this morning during a discussion with Teacher Shang and Zhou Mingqian.
Zhou Mingqian went to the car to get something. As he passed the garden, he heard his own voice in the distance. Startled, he followed the sound.
Xi Jia was playing a recording and typing as she listened.
Sometimes when he speaks quickly in the recording, she will pause and replay it.
Xi Jia sensed someone behind her, turned around abruptly, and sure enough, rolled her eyes, turned back and continued typing.
Zhou Mingqian walked over and said, "Aren't you tired of memorizing all this useless stuff all day?"
Xi Jia didn't even look up. "Not tired, very happy." She wasn't giving Zhou Mingqian a friendly look now. So what if he's her idol?
Oh.
Zhou Mingqian started to leave, but after a few steps he turned back. It was actually quite cold here, below zero. "Don't slack off, go back to the set."
Xi Jia ignored him and continued listening to her recording.
Zhou Mingqian narrowed his eyes, thinking, "This dog bites Lü Dongbin." Too lazy to care anymore, he went to the parking lot.
Filming went smoothly today, and we wrapped up around 6 p.m. Zhou Mingqian treated the crew to hot pot out of his own pocket.
Xi Jia didn't sleep well last night and has a splitting headache today, so she didn't go.
Yu An repeatedly confirmed with her, "Sister Xi Jia, you really aren't going?"
Xi Jia shook her head, exhausted, with severe tinnitus and discomfort in her ears. "Tell Director Zhou I'm going back to rest."
Yu An couldn't bear to force him, "Then you should rest well."
When Xi Jia returned to the hotel, Yu An looked at the slender figure under the streetlight and sighed slightly. Her irritable boss would probably think that Xi Jia was deliberately going against him and not giving him face.
When Zhou Mingqian returned from the restroom, he saw Yu An looking worried. "Why didn't you go to the restaurant?"
Yu An didn't know how to say it so that the boss wouldn't blame Xi Jia. She blinked, trying to think of the right words.
Zhou Mingqian looked at her and frowned. "Did you freeze to death?"
"Director Zhou, Sister Xi Jia isn't feeling well and needs to go back to revise the script, so she's going back to the hotel to rest. But she said that since you're treating, she'll definitely want to eat a lot, so she asked me to pack some for her."
Yu An was lying for the first time and felt guilty.
Zhou Mingqian didn't reply, but slightly raised his chin, gesturing for her to go to the restaurant. He grabbed his coat and walked away gracefully.
Yu An jogged to catch up. Was the boss angry or indifferent, judging from his expression?
Xi Jia returned to her room, ordered food, ate a simple dinner, took a shower, and went to bed.
I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I woke up again to the sound of a phone call.
Xi Jia answered the phone impatiently, "Ji Qingshi, what are you doing in the middle of the night!"
Ji Qingshi went straight to the resort after getting off the plane and was already downstairs at the hotel. "Come downstairs, I don't have a room key, so I can't go up. I bought you a gift."
"I appreciate the gift, but please, just go home now."
Ji Qingshi threatened her: "How about I visit the set during the day?"
Xi Jia was kept awake by the noise and slept for almost four hours. She felt much better now. It seems that Ji Qingshi is determined to achieve his goal.
"Ten minutes! I still need to get dressed."
She threw off the covers and got out of bed.