The film set was as busy as ever, a bustling scene of people applying makeup, carrying equipment, and moving props around in full swing.
Inside the dressing room, An Ji and Irene stared at each other with wide eyes, looking at the empty room as their expressions darkened.
Yu Junye had still not arrived at the set, and her phone remained turned off.
“Let’s wait past nine o’clock. If there is still no news from her, we’ll have Producer Han try contacting her family,” An Ji said, her voice low as she gripped the script tightly in her hand and lowered her eyelids.
“Alright! I’ll go get my makeup done first then.” Irene nodded and walked out.
“Teacher An, you’re here so early today!” Makeup artist Xiao Yang greeted as soon as she entered the room, seeing An Ji sitting quietly in her chair. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she felt as though a wave of melancholy was radiating from An Ji today.
“Not really! Good morning.” An Ji forced a smile.
“Where is Teacher Yu? Didn’t you two come together today?” Xiao Yang asked, casting a surprised glance at the dressing room where only An Ji was present. In the past, An Ji and Yu Junye always arrived together, chatting and laughing while creating a tranquil, cozy, and peaceful atmosphere. Even she and the other makeup artists often envied how harmonious the two lead actresses of this drama were.
Not to mention actresses of similar standing, even people working on the same set were prone to making snide remarks or fighting behind each other’s backs.
“Let’s get started with the makeup.” An Ji didn’t answer, directly shifting the topic.
Xiao Yang didn’t think much of it and obediently went to work.
By the time An Ji’s makeup was completely finished, there was still no sign of Yu Junye.
Xiao Yang grew a bit puzzled. “Did Teacher Yu oversleep today? Or did she ask for leave? It’s already this late.”
An Ji forced a faint smile and remained silent.
“Quick, look at today’s newspaper!” someone among the crew shouted out.
“What’s wrong with today’s newspaper?”
“Is there some big news?”
“Wow, our crew made the front page!”
“Well, the media did come for a visit, so they’re bound to make a big fuss out of it.”
…
People began to chatter noisily. An Ji didn’t even lift an eyelid; she just stared blankly and fixedly at her phone.
“Look at this report, Teacher An and Teacher Yu are caught in a scandal!”
“Look at the photo. That look in their eyes is identical to the way they look in the show.”
“Shh… keep your voices down.”
…
The overlapping voices outside still inevitably drifted into An Ji’s ears.
An Ji gave a cold smile. It was an expected development, though it seemed much milder than she had imagined. After all, they were just two female actors, and both of them publicly had partners. Most importantly, it took place on the film set where both of them were wearing costumes, making the credibility plummet significantly.
“Is there still no news of Ye?” Irene rushed over anxiously the moment she finished her makeup.
“None. Let’s call Producer Han!” An Ji said listlessly.
“Okay. I’ll go right now.”
“Where are you off to in such a rush?” Just as Irene bolted out the doorway, she collided head-on with someone.
Irene steadied her footing, recognized the person before her, and broke into a grin. This was precisely the person she was looking for!
“Producer Han, perfect timing. I was just about to look for you!” Irene spoke as if she had encountered her savior.
“Early in the morning, is something urgent?” Han Deyu asked, looking at Irene with a puzzled expression.
“Of course there is, it’s a matter of life and death.” Irene grabbed Han Deyu’s arm, her grip tightening unconsciously.
Han Deyu frowned. Seeing the anxiety written all over Irene’s face, he asked, “What is it?”
“Ye—oh, no, I mean Teacher Yu—has been missing since yesterday afternoon, and we still can’t reach her,” Irene said, her words tumbling out so fast she could barely speak clearly.
“What? She hasn’t been reachable since yesterday afternoon?” Han Deyu’s frown deepened even further.
“Yeah. Can’t you contact her family? Did she go home or something?” Just as Irene finished asking, An Ji also looked anxiously at Han Deyu.
“She didn’t go back. Old Guo from her family called me bright and early this morning, saying her phone has been turned off and unreachable since last night, so he asked me to come to the set and check,” Han Deyu stated truthfully.
“Then where could she have gone?” Irene was starting to genuinely panic now. “Could something have happened to her?”
The expressions on both Han Deyu and An Ji turned heavy.
“When was the last time you saw her?” Han Deyu shifted his gaze onto An Ji.
“We both asked Director Yin for leave and went back to the hotel, probably a little past 3:00 PM,” An Ji said, opening her phone to check her call logs. Yu Junye had entered her room shortly after An Ji finished making a call, stayed for about ten minutes, and then left. “It must have been around 3:20.”
“It’s been so long. Should we call the police?” Irene suggested.
“It hasn’t been 24 hours yet; the police won’t accept the case,” Han Deyu vetoed Irene’s suggestion.
“Then what should we do?”
“Don’t panic. Right now, all we can do is wait and ask others on the crew if anyone has seen her.”
“They probably haven’t seen her. Her assistant, Xiao Shi, just ran up to me earlier looking panicked and asked about her,” An Ji said, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh.
“Let’s wait a bit longer. As a public figure, she should be fine,” Han Deyu comforted them, seeing everyone’s anxious expressions. “No news is arguably good news, too.”
“Old Han, you’re just in time, I need a word with you.” When Yin Quan passed by the doorway, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Han Deyu inside the open door. He hadn’t expected Han Deyu to arrive at the set so early.
“You need me for something too?” Han Deyu looked at Yin Quan in surprise.
“What do you mean, I need you for something?” Yin Quan retorted with dissatisfaction, then cast an intentional or unintentional glance toward An Ji.
An Ji felt somewhat baffled.
“Come on, let’s talk outside,” Yin Quan said, pulling at Han Deyu’s arm.
“You guys go ahead and film. I’m going to do my best to contact little Yu on my end,” Han Deyu said as he followed Yin Quan out of the dressing room.
An Ji silently picked up her phone once more.
“What is it? So secretive.” As soon as they reached the director’s lounge, Han Deyu demanded an immediate answer. He didn’t have time to idle around.
“Can’t I just want to chat with you?” Yin Quan refused to play along with Han Deyu’s impatience.
“You’d better have a real reason, or else I’m leaving.” Han Deyu said, standing up and preparing to walk out.
“Don’t, don’t! Did you look at today’s newspaper?” Seeing that Han Deyu was genuinely heading out, Yin Quan grew anxious.
“No, didn’t have time yet. What’s wrong with the newspaper?” Han Deyu turned back to look at Yin Quan. He refused to believe Yin Quan had nothing better to do than chat about the news.
“See for yourself.” Yin Quan unfolded the newspaper and tossed it over to Han Deyu.
Han Deyu took the paper with a puzzled expression.
A striking headline immediately caught his eye: An Ji and Yu Junye Suspected of Turning Screen Romance into Real Life.
The accompanying photo was very familiar it was taken right on the set. The two of them were in costume; Yu Junye held a microphone in one hand and held An Ji’s hand with the other, while An Ji looked at Yu Junye with a worried expression.
Admittedly, the photo was captured quite well, but wasn’t it completely normal for such photos to surface on a film set?
Han Deyu looked up at Yin Quan and asked, “What? Since when do you care about gossip and scandals?”
“I don’t care about gossip; I only care about the production,” Yin Quan shot Han Deyu an amused sidelong glance.
“Then it’s no big deal. Just treat it as a promotional point for our drama. When two actors collaborate, they’re either rumored to be dating or rumored to be feuding—isn’t that just what gossip media does?” Han Deyu explained seriously to Yin Quan.
Professional directors typically only focused on the quality of the drama they were filming and wouldn’t deliberately delve into the convoluted twists and turns of promotion and distribution.
“Are you going to start working now? I still have things to attend to!” Han Deyu asked, seeing that Yin Quan had stopped talking.
“Yeah! I’d better go direct; it’s much less of a headache,” Yin Quan muttered, leaving Han Deyu behind as he walked out the door.
“Oh right, little Yu’s scenes are suspended for today. Adjust the schedule, she didn’t show up.” Seeing that Yin Quan was about to step across the threshold, Han Deyu suddenly remembered and called out.
“What? You’re telling me now? You people really… can you all stop making it impossible to film properly?” Yin Quan was so startled he nearly jumped. He felt like sooner or later, these people were going to give him a heart attack.
Seeing that Yin Quan was genuinely getting angry, Han Deyu quickly offered a flattering smile. “Drinks tonight, we won’t stop until we’re drunk.”
At the mention of alcohol, a faint gleam flashed in Yin Quan’s eyes, though he quickly suppressed it, rolled his eyes, and turned around to storm off angrily.
Once everyone left, the room fell silent. Han Deyu pinched the bridge of his nose, sat back down, leaned against the chair, and closed his eyes.
Yu Junye was missing. What should they do? Where could she have gone? Weren’t things going fine with the filming?
Yet now, there was zero trace of her.
According to Guo Nianhong, in all these years, this was the first time Yu Junye had ever pulled something like this. In the past, when she was in a bad mood, she would go out alone to clear her head, but she would never cut off communication entirely.
These young people truly gave a person a headache.
Han Deyu took out his phone and, after making a few calls, felt slightly more at ease.
“Teacher An,” Han Deyu walked over during a break when An Ji had finished filming a scene.
“Producer Han,” An Ji looked at him with expectant eyes.
“Little Yu should still be in Nanshi,” Han Deyu said slowly, sharing his thoughts. “I checked her flight records there were none. Her car hasn’t been driven out either.”
An Ji didn’t respond. She kept her wide, anxious eyes fixed on him, quietly waiting for Han Deyu to continue.
“Did she ever mention wanting to go anywhere recently? Somewhere in Nanshi or nearby?”
An Ji thought for a moment. They had been here for so long and rarely went out. They had only been to C’ian Temple once, and even that famous night market had been brought up many times without them ever actually managing to go.
An Ji dismissed the idea of the night market. She shook her head and said, “She mentioned a lot of places before, discussing going there for fun if we had free time…”
Before she could finish her sentence, An Ji’s phone suddenly rang.
A surge of warmth blossomed in An Ji’s chest, a few flickers of light dancing in her eyes as she eagerly picked up her phone.