At this time of day during normal working or filming hours not many people would call her, so An Ji didn’t even bother checking the caller ID before eagerly picking up the call.
“Hello?” An Ji’s voice carried a clear sense of anxiety and anticipation.
“Are you not filming right now?” A deep male voice came through, carrying a hint of puzzlement.
It wasn’t the voice she was anticipating. It was Mai Jianhua.
“Ah, we just finished a scene, it’s break time.” An Ji let out a sigh of relief, her voice returning to its usual calm. She offered Han Deyu an apologetic smile and gracefully walked over to a corner.
“Are you guys rushing through any scenes right now? If you aren’t pressed for time, should I bring Zai Zai over to keep you company in Nanshi?” Mai Jianhua looked at the entertainment newspaper in his hand, staring at that striking headline. With one hand tightly pinching the edge of the paper, he spoke with a serious expression.
“You guys don’t need to make the back-and-forth trip. Isn’t tomorrow already the weekend? I’ll be back by tomorrow at the latest.” An Ji glanced at the date on the schedule sheet beside her and spoke into the phone.
“If you feel tired from filming, just take a break. Zai Zai and I can come over to Nanshi to spend the weekend with you, and it’ll give Zai Zai a chance to experience and learn new things along the way,” Mai Jianhua insisted on his idea, attempting to persuade An Ji.
“No. It’s too much of a hassle for Zai Zai to be running back and forth. Besides, I still have to go back and check on Lao Da; he’s been acting way too mischievous lately.” An Ji refused Mai Jianhua’s proposal without leaving any room for discussion.
“I can bring Lao Da along too. I heard there are plenty of scenic spots in Nanshi.” Mai Jianhua didn’t want to give up and continued pressing.
“No need. Lao Da still has schoolwork to do; he’s about to enter middle school and we can’t let him slack off.” The mere thought of Lao Da gave An Ji an instant headache. With her not around to supervise, she could only imagine how unruly he might be acting.
“Alright then. Can you come back tonight, though? I’ll come pick you up.”
“We’ll see how it goes. I’ll let you know once I book a flight.” An Ji truly couldn’t confirm whether she could make it back tonight.
When she originally agreed to take on the script, An Ji had requested mandatory two-day breaks every two weeks so she could return home to take care of her family and children. Therefore, every alternate weekend, An Ji’s itinerary was set for home.
Normally, if she finished filming on Friday and it wasn’t too late, she would usually catch a flight back.
However, the situation today was special. Yu Junye was nowhere to be found, and she genuinely couldn’t set her mind at ease.
“Alright then. The kids and I will wait for you at home.” Seeing that An Ji’s attitude was resolute, Mai Jianhua didn’t press the matter further.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to hang up now.” An Ji appropriately brought the conversation to a close.
“I love you, A-Ji.” Just before An Ji disconnected the call, Mai Jianhua uttered a rare, mushy phrase.
An Ji froze in place, holding her phone. It was such a distant declaration of love, sounding almost like words transmitted from an ancient era.
Since childhood, An Ji had possessed a romantic disposition. During her youth, she had also dreamed of a white knight appearing in her life to dote on her, cherish her, and take her to see the hustle and bustle of the mortal world. Because of this, she always loved hearing others say “I miss you” or “I love you,” feeling that such touches were the kind of life she wanted to live constantly adding a little flair amidst the trivialities of daily life so it wouldn’t become too dull, especially as the bright aspirations of life were slowly worn away bit by bit.
As for her ex-husband, there was no need to dwell on that they met through a blind date, his background was decent, and her family was extremely satisfied, leading them to muddle through into a marriage. A marriage without emotional foundation could only turn out as one would expect.
Being with Mai Jianhua didn’t have that fairytale-like perfection either. Aside from repeatedly whispering things like “you’re so beautiful” and “I love your body so much” right in her ear before getting intimate, she practically never heard him deliberately tell her he loved her on its own.
Today was truly an unprecedented occurrence, and it happened at such an unorthodox time.
It was entirely anomalous.
To An Ji, it carried no sense of impact at all; it simply had to be fake.
Long after the call ended, those three words I love you kept echoing in An Ji’s mind as if set on an automatic loop.
Pity that An Ji had already moved past the age of indulging in sweet dreams. Over all these years, Mai Jianhua had never once uttered those three words seriously. To suddenly drop them out of the blue left An Ji with nothing but endless suspicion after the initial shock faded.
When An Ji returned to the set, Han Deyu had already left.
The film set was just as usual, showing no difference whatsoever despite missing a lead actor.
The only point of difference was that the crew members present looked at her with rather peculiar gazes, occasionally pointing and whispering among themselves.
An Ji knew this was mostly a result of the scandal reported by the media.
Previously, when they weren’t in the presence of the principals, those people would casually chat away upon seeing the gossip. Now, however, the protagonists of the scandal were right in front of them and often times, they had witnessed the two scandal leads acting all lovey-dovey while filming and chatting and laughing merrily off-set. These people couldn’t openly gossip about it, yet they couldn’t help gathering in clusters to whisper secretly either.
Then there were those unbothered individuals who, unable to resist the guidance of multiple news reports, began to harbor half-doubting attitudes. Not daring to size her up directly, they could only steal furtive glances, turning the scene into quite a spectacle.
And this was only the first day. She had no idea how things would evolve later on. An Ji felt it was necessary for Producer Han and Director Yin to straighten out the atmosphere on set.
“Teacher An, the next scene is about to start. Are you ready?” someone on set asked her.
“I’m ready. Let’s shoot.” An Ji frowned, checked her phone once more with a sigh, put away her belongings, and stepped under the camera’s lens.
Time always flies during filming. By the time An Ji finished her scenes, past noon had already arrived.
“Let’s take a break, we’ll continue in the afternoon,” Director Yin said, putting away his storyboard drafts and addressing the crew.
“Teacher An, let’s go together.” The moment wrap was called, Irene trotted over eagerly.
“Alright. Let’s go to our dressing room.” An Ji smiled and nodded.
“What do you suppose is going on with Ye? There’s still no news at all, it’s enough to worry someone to death.” Irene pouted and grumbled in a low voice.
An Ji didn’t reply, silently picking up her phone once more.
It went through!
The call actually went through!
An Ji, who had held zero expectations, instantly froze in her tracks upon hearing the connection tone. She felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
Not hearing An Ji’s response, Irene turned around, only to find that An Ji was no longer beside her. Turning back, she discovered An Ji still standing right where she had spoken earlier, holding her phone with an expression that mixed anxiety with a trace of joy.
Irene had no choice but to walk back and ask, “Teacher An, what’s wrong?”
“Shh.” An Ji raised a finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture.
Irene closed her mouth in astonishment, looking at An Ji with puzzlement as An Ji held the phone to her ear without speaking.
“Teacher Yu’s phone is going through.” Taking advantage of the gap before the call was picked up, An Ji softly answered Irene’s confusion.
“Really? That’s great!” Irene’s expression morphed into wild joy within a single second.
“But nobody’s picking up.” An Ji’s brows knitted tightly together. She probably hadn’t even realized how much she had been talking while waiting for the connection.
The ringtone was almost at its end, yet no one answered. An Ji looked at her phone screen in perplexity there was no mistake.
“Hello?” Finally, right as it was about to automatically disconnect, the call connected.
An Ji’s heart leaped straight to her throat. She didn’t notice that her hand was trembling slightly.
“Teacher Yu, where are you right now?” An Ji didn’t beat around the bush, asking directly and rapidly.
Irene cast a surprised glance at An Ji. An Ji’s voice actually carried a hint of a tremor.
“Hello, who is this, may I ask?” A completely unfamiliar voice came through the phone.