Shan Shan didn’t move too far away.
In fact, there were several meters between where the filming was taking place and where Director Luo was standing. It was only then that Shan Shan realized: if she didn’t get close, she couldn’t catch the unpleasant scent that clung to Zhuang Qinqin.
She clumsily unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into her mouth, taking sips of milk from time to time. Her eyes never left Zhuang Qinqin, and she kept trying to think of a way to stop this woman from having any negative effect on her brother.
And who was that bad man holding hands with her?
Shan Shan recalled the images and impressions from the memories she had inherited. The person who had caused most of Yin Kairui’s misfortunes wasn’t this smelly woman, but another villain entirely.
But how was she supposed to find him?
Shan Shan felt her heart grow heavy with worry.
Also, since Brother Qin whom they had met the other day was able to help resolve the problems affecting her brother the Water Immortal, did that mean she should hurry up and go find her other brothers and sisters too? For all she knew, they might be in danger at any moment.
Life was hard, and Shan Shan let out a long, soft sigh.
The little girl had delicate, fine features, and her small face was all scrunched up in thought, looking just like a plump white steamed bun with its characteristic folds utterly adorable.
Director Luo turned around and saw her like this. He smiled and reached out to pat her gently on the head. “Little Shan Shan, what’s the matter? Is something troubling you?”
Shan Shan sighed again. “I still have to go and find people, you see.”
“Find people? Who are you looking for? Tell me about it maybe I know them?” Director Luo asked, speaking casually without thinking much of it.
But Shan Shan’s eyes lit up immediately. She tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. “Uncle Luo, do you know which lady sings the most beautifully in the whole world?”
“It’s hard to say who is the absolute best singer,” Director Luo replied thoughtfully, “but if you ask who most people think is the most talented, then it has to be Bai Ling. Are you interested in learning how to sing?”
“No, that’s not it at all!” Shan Shan’s eyes shone bright with excitement. “I’m looking for Sister Bai Ling!”
Director Luo laughed. “That might be difficult. She rarely attends public events or functions she just loves singing and nothing else.”
The more he spoke, the more certain Shan Shan became that this was the very same Sister Bai Ling she knew the spirit who had taken the form of a lark. She hadn’t expected to find a clue about her so quickly.
But she would only know for sure that this was her friend once she actually met her. After hesitating for quite some time, she managed to suppress the surge of excitement rising in her chest and said simply, “Never mind then.”
For now, she couldn’t sense any trace of Sister Bai Ling’s presence or spiritual energy, which meant there was no immediate rush to find her anyway. She couldn’t go looking for anyone else until she was certain that her brother the Water Immortal was safe and sound.
So there was still plenty of time to figure out what to do next!
Seeing her give up so easily, Director Luo raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Why are you giving up just like that? Where is your determination and perseverance? If you’re willing to take the role of the Little Phoenix in our production, I can definitely find a way to take you to meet her myself.”
Even though she couldn’t go off to find her other brothers and sisters right now, Shan Shan felt a sudden strong pull of interest.
Director Luo was a shrewd and clever man.
He could see clearly that Shan Shan was tempted, so he went on to explain that he and Bai Ling’s teacher were old friends, and told her in great detail exactly how he could arrange for her to meet the singer.
Once he had said everything he needed to say, he turned back to keep an eye on the other actors and the ongoing filming.
The truth was, even if Shan Shan didn’t agree to take the role, Yin Kairui had more than enough influence and resources to arrange a meeting with Bai Ling if Shan Shan really wanted it. Director Luo wasn’t actually saying that he would refuse to help her unless she acted in the drama he was simply making her think that was the case.
At the end of the day, he simply couldn’t accept the fact that the character of the Little Phoenix might end up being created entirely through special effects and computer graphics! If Shan Shan hadn’t appeared, he would have had no choice but to go ahead with that plan. But now that the perfect candidate had practically been delivered right to his doorstep, the thought of letting the opportunity slip away was driving him crazy with frustration.
He had no idea whether he would be able to win her over.
And he also had no idea whether Yin Kairui would ever agree to let her take the role. Perhaps he would need to find a way to convince Yin Kairui to change his mind too?
After all, Shan Shan listened to her brother and obeyed everything he said.
While his mind was busy making all sorts of plans and calculations, his face remained calm and gave nothing away.
Soon, Zhuang Qinqin’s scenes were completed, and it was time for Yin Kairui to step onto the set.
The moment Shan Shan saw him, her face lit up with pure delight and excitement. She watched as Yin Kairui performed his scenes, completing each one perfectly in a single take. Compared to the performances she had seen earlier, this only made her admire him even more and think that her brother was the most amazing person in the world.
Having finished filming a segment, Yin Kairui suddenly felt the weight of her intense gaze fixed firmly on him. He turned his head and found Shan Shan looking back at him with the most eager, admiring expression imaginable. When she realized he was looking at her, she raised her small fists and cheered, “Brother! You’re doing great! Brother! You’re the best in the whole world!”
Her sweet, childish voice rang clearly across the entire set, drawing the attention of everyone working there.
Seeing the tiny little girl standing there, so full of love and pride, many of the female staff members felt their hearts melt completely.
She was just too adorable!
Oh, how they wished they had such a sweet and lovely little sister of their own!
Yin Kairui didn’t even notice that a soft smile had unconsciously spread across his lips. He nodded gently toward Shan Shan, then walked over to her. “If you get tired, go and find Xiao Liu and ask him to take you to the makeup room to rest for a while.”
“I’m not tired at all!” Shan Shan said enthusiastically. “Brother is so amazing and wonderful! I love watching you act!”
There she went again saying she loved him and loved watching him perform. Didn’t little girls know that they were supposed to be a little more reserved and modest?
Even as he thought this, the smile on Yin Kairui’s face grew even warmer and broader.
Standing beside them, Director Luo teased her, “Is your brother really that good-looking?”
“He’s beautiful! He’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!” Shan Shan replied instantly and without the slightest hesitation.
Yin Kairui looked pleased and satisfied. “This little girl certainly has excellent taste.”
Director Luo burst out laughing.
They had only spoken for two short minutes before it was time for Yin Kairui to return to filming.
Director Luo didn’t know that all of Yin Kairui’s old injuries had completely healed, and Yin Kairui had no intention of telling him. He didn’t want to reveal any more of Shan Shan’s unusual, non-human abilities than he already had. As far as Director Luo was concerned, Shan Shan had simply protected Yin Kairui when he was injured, which was why he hadn’t been hurt too seriously.
After discussing it together, they had even decided to let Yin Kairui try filming a scene that involved a certain amount of action and movement. And as it turned out, it went perfectly smoothly.
The next few days passed in relative peace and quiet.
More than ten days had gone by in the blink of an eye. In that time, Yin Kairui had already replaced his protective talismans five times. Normally, the two talismans would burn away completely in less than two days though they lasted this long only because Shan Shan stayed close to him every night, weakening the dark energy and slowing down the process.
During this period, Qin Hangxuan only appeared when he came to bring new talismans; otherwise, he kept himself busy elsewhere. Meanwhile, Shan Shan spent every day on set, sitting on her small stool right beside Director Luo.
It was worth mentioning that Zhuang Qinqin had come to look for Director Luo twice specifically to discuss her acting and scenes with him. Seeing how serious and dedicated she was, Director Luo had patiently answered all her questions each time.
But whenever Zhuang Qinqin tried to bring up the subject of Shan Shan, Director Luo’s attitude would immediately harden. “If you want to spend time with the child or get close to her, you need to speak to her guardian first. And you must never force her or make her do anything she doesn’t want to do. Whether she likes you or not, how does that really affect you in any important way?”
Zhuang Qinqin couldn’t understand why Director Luo was so protective and defensive of Shan Shan, but since he was the most senior and powerful person on the set, she didn’t dare do anything behind his back to get closer to the little girl.
Even when she had bought snacks and treats for everyone on the crew twice, Shan Shan had refused to eat any of them. Zhuang Qinqin had noticed this clearly.
She simply couldn’t figure out why Shan Shan disliked her so much. The only explanation she could think of was that Wen Yiting or the others must have said something bad about her to the child.
With no progress to show for her efforts, she eventually stopped focusing so much of her attention on Shan Shan.
Ten days later, even the physical injuries that had been visible to the naked eye had healed completely. Yin Kairui was back to his usual filming schedule and workload, and had even begun performing scenes that required him to be suspended from safety wires.
When Shan Shan saw him hanging in the air for the first time, she rested her chin in her hands and let out a soft sound of wonder.
Then she turned to Director Luo and asked, “Uncle Luo… why do they tie Brother up with those ropes and hang him up like that?”
“Because we’re filming a scene where he needs to look like he’s flying through the air,” Director Luo explained patiently. “Look at him now doesn’t he look just like he’s really flying?”
“It looks a little bit like flying,” Shan Shan tilted her head thoughtfully, “but Brother really knows how to fly all by himself, you know!”
Director Luo laughed loudly. “And when did you ever see your brother fly?”
“I have seen him! I’ve seen it lots of times!” Shan Shan nodded her head firmly. “He was wearing clothes just like those, and he flew through the air just like that!”
Director Luo found her words even more amusing.
He assumed she was talking about the ancient fantasy films that Yin Kairui had acted in before, where he had played the role of a spiritual cultivator who could fly through the skies.
He patted her head gently and said, “We tie him up with these ropes because we’re afraid that if he flies too high, he’ll just fly away and we’ll never see him again!”
Director Luo was joking and playing with words, but Shan Shan took his words completely seriously and suddenly understood everything.
Oh! So that meant if her brother ever really flew away in the future, she could just tie him up with ropes to keep him close to her!
It felt as though a whole new world of possibilities had just opened up to her!
Later that day, when they had finished filming and Yin Kairui took Shan Shan out to dinner, he noticed that she was looking at him with an expression that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
He looked at her warily. “What are you planning to do?”
“Nothing at all! I’m not planning anything!” Shan Shan shook her head quickly, looking guilty and flustered.
This only made Yin Kairui even more suspicious.
But he didn’t press the matter any further, and led her toward the private dining room he had booked.
Just as Yin Kairui was closing the door behind them, Shan Shan’s expression changed instantly. She covered her nose with both hands and cried out, “It smells so bad! So stinky!”
Yin Kairui instinctively closed the door firmly before looking down at her. “What smells bad?”
“That bad woman… the smelly one,” Shan Shan mumbled into her hands.
Yin Kairui stared at her. “The person who just walked past wasn’t Zhuang Qinqin.”
“Huh?” Shan Shan blinked in confusion. “But it smells exactly the same as her!”
“The person who just walked by was a man,” Yin Kairui said. He certainly knew the difference between male and female.
And although this person had tried his best to disguise himself, there was something familiar about him. Yin Kairui was almost certain that he had seen him somewhere before.
But Shan Shan let out another sound of surprise, then said with absolute certainty, “It’s a bad man!”
Oh no! So the bad man had come here too!
Was he planning to come and harm her brother?
Shan Shan would never, ever allow that to happen!