“Yesterday… that stinky man.”
As soon as those two phrases were spoken, Yin Kairui knew exactly who Shan Shan was talking about.
He looked slightly taken aback. “You saw him? Here on set?”
“Yes, I did!” Shan Shan’s expression turned sharp with wariness and worry. “He didn’t come here looking for you, did he?”
Because that man was nothing but bad news!
“It’s alright. I’ll go and take a look,” Yin Kairui said, calm and unconcerned.
Even if that person truly meant him and Shan Shan harm, there was no way anyone would dare to do anything openly, with so many people around.
His makeup was finished by now, so Yin Kairui smoothed out his clothes, took Shan Shan’s hand, and led her out of the room.
Xiao Liu followed closely behind, his gaze fixed mostly on the little girl.
When Yin Kairui headed straight for Director Luo’s side, no one found it unusual. After all, the director had been looking after Shan Shan quite often lately, and since Yin Kairui’s next scene was coming up soon, it only made sense that he would settle her somewhere safe beforehand.
If anything, it only made the leading man look even more charming.
Seeing him act so carefully and gently, like a true caregiver, made everyone think: We could be like that too!
We could be the older brother or sister to such a sweet, beautiful little girl!
For a moment, everyone couldn’t decide whether they were more envious of Shan Shan or of Yin Kairui.
In the end, they decided to be envious of both.
Yin Kairui had mentally prepared himself to see the man there, but when they reached Director Luo, there was no one else in sight only the director and a few crew members nearby.
If he hadn’t trusted Shan Shan completely, he might have thought she was just teasing him.
But as soon as Director Luo saw them, he waved Shan Shan over and asked, “Why didn’t you come over just now?”
Shan Shan didn’t know how to answer. Instinctively, she never spoke about those dangerous people to anyone else, so she simply put on her sweetest, most innocent smile.
As expected, seeing that little expression, Director Luo didn’t press the matter. He spoke gently and patiently, “Are you going to stay with me again today?”
Shan Shan first gave a careful little sniff, making sure there were no strange or unpleasant smells lingering around him, before nodding. “Yes, please!”
“Shan Shan is still quite shy around people she doesn’t know well, especially those I haven’t formally introduced to her,” Yin Kairui explained, as if making a casual observation. Then he asked, “Was there someone here with you just now?”
“There was indeed someone. Someone you probably know Pei Junzhe.”
Yin Kairui looked surprised. “What’s he doing here?”
“I invited him to record the ending theme song for our drama. He said he wanted to come watch us film for a while, to get a better feel for the story and the mood,” Director Luo replied honestly, with nothing to hide.
Yin Kairui fell silent.
He didn’t say anything more, as he himself wasn’t entirely sure what was really going on.
After entrusting Shan Shan to the director’s care once again, Yin Kairui went off to get ready for his shoot.
Shan Shan had become quite good at keeping herself entertained. She would watch Director Luo direct scenes for a while, then switch to watching cartoons on her tablet to give her eyes a rest, and whenever the director had time to chat, she would sit quietly and listen or answer politely.
Her behavior made her seem even more well-behaved and endearing than usual.
The crew members around her all shared the same thought: Here we are, falling head over heels for this sweet little girl all over again.
But right in the middle of watching her show, Shan Shan suddenly felt a heavy, unsettling sense of danger wash over her. She lifted her head instinctively, and what she saw made her eyes go wide.
Above Yin Kairui’s head, a thick, dark cloud of negative energy hung so dense it looked almost solid.
Her pupils shrank instantly, and she called out urgently, “Uncle Luo! Uncle Luo! Can you please tell Brother not to tie himself up with that rope?”
At first, Director Luo had told Shan Shan that the safety harnesses were used so that Yin Kairui wouldn’t “fly away” but Shan Shan wasn’t foolish. After seeing them used so many times, she knew full well that those ropes were just props to help actors “fly” or perform stunts.
Director Luo nearly lost his temper right then and there.
To say they wouldn’t use the wire rigs right when they were about to start filming? That sounded like nonsense.
But when he looked down and saw the serious look on Shan Shan’s face, he immediately calmed down.
This was Shan Shan he was dealing with not just any ordinary child.
For days now, she had behaved perfectly and never made a fuss over nothing. She wouldn’t say something like this without good reason.
“Is something wrong?” Director Luo asked, lowering his voice.
Shan Shan’s face was full of anxiety. “Brother is in danger!”
Director Luo’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately called out, “Hold on a second! Yin Kairui, come over here for a moment. There are a few details in the script I want to go over with you.”
Yin Kairui blinked in confusion. “?”
He hadn’t found anything wrong with the script at all.
But he wouldn’t argue with the director in front of the whole crew, so he had the team remove his safety harness and stepped down from the rig. He had only taken two steps toward the director when his foot caught on a raised part of the floor, and he stumbled forward, losing his balance completely.
Falling over wouldn’t have been such a big deal on its own, but directly in the path where he was about to land lay a wooden board and sticking straight up from it was a long, sharp nail. It was positioned exactly so that if he fell, it would drive straight into his face.
An actor’s career depended largely on their appearance; if his face was ruined, a huge part of his professional life would be destroyed right along with it.
Director Luo, who was always extremely careful about safety, watched this happen and felt his heart nearly stop beating.
But Shan Shan, standing right beside him, didn’t freeze up in shock.
In fact, she had already expected something bad to happen after all, that dark cloud of misfortune hanging over Yin Kairui’s head had made it clear that trouble was coming. She had been keeping a close eye on him the whole time, and the moment she saw him trip, she darted forward and kicked that wooden board right out of his path.
The sharp nail scraped past Yin Kairui’s cheek by mere millimeters. If Shan Shan had moved even a fraction of a second slower, he could clearly see now that it would have pierced him right in the eye.
“Set crew! Prop team! What on earth were you thinking? How could you leave something so dangerous lying around on the floor?” Director Luo roared, his voice shaking with rage and panic.
Yin Kairui still fell hard to the ground.
It was only because Shan Shan had quickly placed her hands beneath his face that he didn’t crash directly into the hard surface. Even so, he immediately felt sharp pain shooting through his shoulder and chest two stones had somehow ended up right where he landed, and his whole weight had come down directly on top of them. His face turned pale instantly from the pain.
“Ugh…” Yin Kairui gasped sharply through gritted teeth.
Xiao Liu, who had watched the whole incident unfold, was frozen in shock, but when he saw Yin Kairui lying on the ground unable to move, he hurried over. Not daring to move him himself, he leaned down and asked anxiously, “Brother Yin, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Yin Kairui replied. He took a moment to assess his body; while the pain was intense, once the initial shock passed, he didn’t feel any signs of serious injury. “Help me up.”
“Don’t move recklessly! What if you’ve broken a bone or fractured something?” Director Luo warned urgently. He quickly called over several people to carefully lift Yin Kairui up and carry him to a safe place.
Shan Shan followed right at their heels, her small hand clutching tightly to Yin Kairui’s large one. As she held on, Yin Kairui felt a familiar warmth seep through their joined fingers and spread slowly through his entire body, and the sharp pain in his limbs and chest lessened noticeably.
Even being carried, Yin Kairui was still much taller than Shan Shan, so he had to tilt his head down to look at her. He saw that her eyes were red and glistening, and her small lips were pressed tightly together as she hurried along on her tiny legs, her face drained of color.
Others might have thought she looked this way simply because she was frightened, but Yin Kairui knew better this was happening because she had used her own energy and strength to help heal him and ease his pain.
Really…
Once again, he had been saved by a small child.
He took a deep breath and pressed his hand gently against his chest and shoulder. Aside from the soreness and bruising that came with any fall, there was no deep or lasting pain. Having suffered his fair share of bumps and injuries during filming over the years, he could tell right away that his bones were unharmed. He looked up at the two men holding him. “I’m really alright. You can put me down now.”
Director Luo instinctively turned his gaze toward Shan Shan.
Shan Shan bit her lip and spoke softly, “Brother is okay… but… but it still hurts him.”
As she said this, her eyes grew even more tearful.
She had used her special energy to protect him just now, but she didn’t have much power at her disposal yet. All she could do was ensure he didn’t suffer life-threatening injuries she couldn’t prevent him from getting hurt at all, and she certainly couldn’t make all his pain disappear instantly.
The thought made her feel so sad and frustrated. She looked up at Yin Kairui, her eyes full of hurt and concern.
“Let’s move you somewhere comfortable to rest first,” Director Luo said. He was truly shaken by what had just happened.
Deep down, he had already suspected that something strange was going on with Yin Kairui. He still remembered the way Qin Hangxuan had behaved that night, but out of respect and consideration, he had never asked any questions.
If Yin Kairui was also being targeted or haunted by some kind of bad influence, did that mean those forces were trying to take his life?
And if something as simple as tripping over a raised spot on the ground had almost killed him, just imagine how dangerous it would have been if he had been suspended high up in the air on those wires.
The thought sent chills down Director Luo’s spine, and he felt nothing but gratitude toward Shan Shan.
Even though her only intention had been to save her brother, she had essentially saved the entire production crew as well. If something terrible had happened to a star of Yin Kairui’s standing while working on their set, the whole project would have been ruined instantly.
At that very moment, Shan Shan didn’t notice that the invisible barrier holding back her inner power and abilities had loosened just a tiny bit more.
Given what had happened, Director Luo immediately made the decision to push back all of Yin Kairui’s scenes scheduled for that day.
He told Yin Kairui to go back and rest, or visit the hospital to get checked thoroughly and make sure there was no internal damage.
Yin Kairui didn’t argue; he first went back to the makeup room to remove his makeup.
Shan Shan refused to leave his side for even a moment now. Not only did she follow him everywhere he went, but she also kept a tight hold on his hand the whole time.
Removing makeup was a much faster process than applying it, and once he was done and had washed his face, Yin Kairui took Shan Shan and Xiao Liu with him and returned to the hotel where they were staying.
Since his injuries were all on his chest and shoulder, areas he could easily reach himself to apply medicine, he sent Xiao Liu out to buy food and drinks for them.
As soon as Xiao Liu had left, Yin Kairui reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pile of fine grey ash.
This was all that remained of two protective amulets he had been carrying.
He had only replaced these amulets the night before. In the past, they would have stayed effective for at least two days, but after just a few short hours, they had completely turned to dust. No wonder they hadn’t been strong enough to hold back the dark, unlucky energy surrounding him.
Shan Shan immediately wrapped her small arms tightly around Yin Kairui’s arm. “If you hold me close, Brother, and keep me right by your side, nothing bad will ever happen to you again!”
Yin Kairui had indeed been quite frightened by what had occurred, so he didn’t push her away or refuse her comfort. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how things had suddenly become so dangerous for him.
Shan Shan, however, spoke up fiercely, her voice filled with certainty: “I knew it! As soon as that bad man showed up, I knew something bad was going to happen to you!”
She had seen so many things like this in her dreams!
Every time her brother crossed paths with bad men or bad women, he would end up getting hurt or suffering some kind of misfortune. Every single time, he was the one left battered and exhausted, while those terrible people always walked away completely unscathed.
“You knew all this beforehand?” Yin Kairui asked, looking at her with suspicion.
Shan Shan blinked her big eyes at him and spoke with complete confidence. “Of course I did! Because that bad man wants to hurt you, that’s why!”
Yin Kairui fell silent for a moment.
He could easily believe that Zhuang Qinqin wished him ill will.
She had tried to get close to him many times, but he had never paid her any attention or given her what she wanted. She had even tried to spread rumors about them being in a relationship, only to be firmly warned off by his team, leaving her feeling humiliated and embarrassed.
While their fans might not have known all the details, many people working in the entertainment industry were fully aware of what had happened.
Later on, Zhuang Qinqin had tried to make peace and resolve their differences, but Yin Kairui had refused every time. It made sense, then, that she would hate him and want to get back at him.
But Pei Junzhe? He had nothing to do with Yin Kairui at all. They had never even spoken or interacted with one another. The only times they had ever been in the same place were at large events like film festivals, where they would simply nod politely at each other from a distance.
One was an award-winning actor, the other a top-tier singer they moved in completely different circles and had no reason to be enemies.
Yet Shan Shan’s meaning was clear as day.
Yin Kairui looked thoughtful as he asked, “Are you saying that he and Zhuang Qinqin are working together to cause me harm?”
“They just want to hurt you, that’s all!” Shan Shan muttered. Then, worried that Yin Kairui might not believe her, she spoke quickly and firmly, “You have to trust me, Brother! I’m telling you the truth! They want to hurt you, and they even want to break your legs and ruin your face!”
When she mentioned them wanting to hurt him or break his legs, Yin Kairui didn’t react too strongly. He was already busy weighing in his mind whether he possessed anything valuable enough to make them take such big risks.
But when she said they wanted to ruin his face, Yin Kairui immediately thought back to that sharp nail earlier, aimed directly at his head, and his expression turned grave and serious.
“They want to ruin my face?”
“Then we have to investigate this immediately! I’ll have people check every single thing about them right away!”
The incident involving Yin Kairui spread quickly through the crew, leaving everyone feeling uneasy and confused. It seemed as though trouble kept following him around only a short while ago, he had narrowly escaped being hit by falling debris, and today he had almost lost an eye or his life because of a misplaced nail.
People began whispering among themselves, wondering if he had offended some powerful spiritual master, or if he had simply entered a period of terrible bad luck. Some even let their imaginations run wild, suggesting that perhaps his time was running out and that was why accidents kept happening to him one after another.
When Director Luo heard these rumors, he scolded everyone harshly and ordered them all to get back to work immediately.
Even as he watched the filming proceed with a sharp, watchful eye, his mind kept drifting back to the question of what was truly going on with Yin Kairui.
He was so preoccupied, in fact, that he didn’t even notice when Pei Junzhe left the set.
At that very moment, in the restroom area of the studio, Pei Junzhe was standing at the sink washing his hands. A young woman suddenly walked up beside him and began washing her hands as well. Pei Junzhe glanced at her casually, and in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper, he said, “Ten o’clock tonight.”
The woman replied just as softly, “Understood.”
Without another word, they turned and walked away in opposite directions, as if the exchange had never happened at all.
One left the studio entirely, while the other waited nearby for her own scene to begin filming.
Still, filming that day did not go smoothly.
With such a serious incident having taken place, the more experienced actors managed to stay focused and deliver their lines well, though even they couldn’t hide their shock. But many of the younger, less experienced actors found it impossible to concentrate or get into character.
As a result, they were all scolded harshly by Director Luo, who was far more short-tempered and strict than usual.
Filming didn’t wrap up until nine o’clock that night. Director Luo was still grumbling and complaining as he left the set; instead of going out for dinner, he headed straight back, planning to visit Yin Kairui and check on his condition.
Meanwhile, no one noticed that one person had not returned to the hotel.
And even if anyone had noticed, they wouldn’t have thought much of.