“Sister Qiao, Teacher Jiang treated the entire crew to milk tea, and it’s not cheap either. He’s so generous!”
Suddenly, Chu Xin’s voice reached her ears. Turning around, she saw Chu Xin entering with milk tea and a lunchbox.
Qiao Shu lowered her voice and said to Fu Wanxing in the video call, “Let’s talk later when I have time. My assistant is back.”
“Hey, hey—”
Before Fu Wanxing could finish, Qiao Shu ended the call. Chu Xin had already come to her side.
Chu Xin placed the milk tea on the table. “Sister Qiao, can you drink this? It’s a lightly sweetened taro bubble tea.”
“I can have a little.” Qiao Shu glanced at the cup of milk tea. It had been a long time since she last drank milk tea.
Chu Xin sat down. “I’ve heard before that Teacher Jiang treats the crew to milk tea every now and then.”
“I never thought I’d get to drink milk tea treated by Teacher Jiang in my lifetime. I have no regrets now.”
Qiao Shu’s lips twitched. Jiang Tu was indeed generous.
“Buzz…”
[Star:] Did your husband treat you to milk tea?
[Star:] Gossip jpg.
Qiao Shu’s lips twitched slightly as her fingers quickly tapped the keyboard. [He treated the entire crew, thank you.]
[Star:] Boring jpg.
[Shu:] You should go to sleep now
[Shu:] Goodnight jpg.
Fu Wanxing didn’t reply after that. After lunch, Qiao Shu drank some milk tea and took a nap lying on the table.
Time flew by, and it was already afternoon on set.
Qiao Shu and Jiang Tu were rehearsing their lines while the crew set up the scene. The director was giving them suggestions.
“You two need to act more intimately and naturally. Xiao Qiao, Yu Shujia is the kind of cute and innocent girl.”
“Your voice fits perfectly, but you seem a bit reserved. Have you never been in a relationship?”
Qiao Shu’s cheeks flushed as she nodded honestly.
Liu Zhongran understood. “Yu Shujia hasn’t been in a relationship either. Just act a bit shy, and it’ll be fine.”
Qiao Shu nodded. “Yes, Director.”
This scene was about Chi Ye and Yu Shujia going on a date to the zoo during New Year’s Day. They spent the afternoon wandering around the zoo and booked a room at a nearby hotel in the evening.
Coincidentally, the hotel only had one room left. During the New Year’s holiday, it was fully booked, leaving only one double room available.
Qiao Shu’s lips twitched slightly. It was the classic idol drama trope: “The hotel suite always has only one room left.”
The location was a remote zoo in Huaijing. The crew had rented the zoo for the afternoon, and aside from the zoo staff, everyone else present were extras.
“Action!”
Yu Shujia and Chi Ye walked hand in hand along the lakeside path. Yu Shujia felt shy yet incredibly sweet.
Yu Shujia wore a light brown down jacket paired with a checkered scarf and a knitted hat. Her bright and charming face was free of makeup, and her fox-like eyes sparkled.
Chi Ye was dressed in a black overcoat, tall and straight, with sharp and distinct facial features. He lowered his gaze to look at her.
“Do you regret it? Most of the animals are hibernating now. You won’t get to see the hippos you wanted to see.”
Yu Shujia tilted her head slightly to look at him. “With you here, I don’t regret going anywhere. Let’s go see the flamingos.”
“Alright.” Chi Ye’s eyes held a smile.
The flamingo pavilion was indoors, and visitors could only watch from behind the glass windows. Many tourists were taking photos.
Yu Shujia marveled, “They look so elegant, standing on one leg. Their feathers are so beautiful.”
Chi Ye’s thin lips curved into a smile. “Not as beautiful as you.”
Yu Shujia pouted her pink lips, tilted her chin up slightly, and chided, “Chi Ye! You’re teasing me again.”
“That’s the truth.”
Yu Shujia’s eyes curved into crescents, her face tinged with shyness.
“Come, stand there, I’ll take a photo of you.” Chi Ye took out his phone and opened the camera.
Yu Shujia stood by the window, making a peace sign, then switched to a few other poses. “Are you done yet?”
“Wait a moment, almost there.” Jiang Tu’s fingers stiffened slightly; the girl in the frame was smiling adorably.
He took several photos in succession. “Done.”
“Let me see.” Yu Shujia quickly ran toward him, eager to see the pictures.
Yu Shujia held his phone to look. “Why didn’t you capture the flamingos? You only took photos of me.”
“Want to try again?”
“No more photos, let’s take a selfie.” Yu Shujia pulled Chi Ye over to the window and handed him the phone to take the picture.
The two took several selfies and then followed the route, visiting the panda pavilion, bird garden, deer park, and other areas.
Happy times always pass quickly. The film crew later shot a few additional scenes, wrapping up the zoo segment.
It happened to be dinner time.
Jiang Tu’s trailer.
Manager Fang Zheng and two bodyguards sat at one table, while Jiang Tu sat alone at another.
Jiang Tu ate his meal unhurriedly, his gaze inadvertently falling on the phone on the table. He entered the password.
Almost as if guided by some inexplicable impulse, he opened the photo album.
Among the dozen or so photos, seven were of Qiao Shu that he had taken, and five were selfies of him and Qiao Shu together.
He zoomed in on one of the selfies. In the frame, the two were making childish gestures, looking sweet and happy.
Jiang Tu’s fingers paused slightly as he stared at the photo on his phone. So this is what couples in love look like.
Evening, 7:30 PM.
The scene being filmed was of the male and female leads leaving the zoo, going to a restaurant for dinner, and then heading to the movies afterward.
At the restaurant, after Qiao Shu and Jiang Tu rehearsed their lines, filming officially began. The director called out, “Action!”
The clapperboard snapped shut with a sharp “clap!”
Yu Shujia looked up at the man across from her. “Chi Ye, do northerners eat noodles every day?”
Chi Ye’s hand, holding chopsticks, paused. “Not every day. We occasionally eat rice too.”
Yu Shujia lowered her gaze to stare at the dishes on the table. After a long while, a deep, magnetic male voice reached her ears.
“What are you thinking about?”
Yu Shujia lifted her eyelids and, momentarily forgetting her reservations, blurted out, “I was thinking about marrying—”
Realizing what she had almost said, Yu Shujia’s pupils contracted in shock, secretly relieved she had stopped herself in time.
A hint of teasing flashed in Chi Ye’s deep, peach-blossom eyes as he said with a half-smile, “Hmm? Marrying what?”
“Nothing,” Yu Shujia replied, a trace of embarrassment crossing her fair face as she picked up some food for him. “Eat this.”
Chi Ye chuckled softly. “My mother is from the south. I grew up at my grandfather’s house and only moved back north when I was ten. You could say I was raised on rice.”
“So you don’t have to worry about eating steamed buns every day if you marry into my family. Besides, we won’t be living with our parents.”
Yu Shujia’s cheeks quickly flushed with a faint blush as she mumbled, “Who said I’m marrying you?”
“If not me, then who?” Chi Ye picked up some food for her, his deep peach-blossom eyes filled with affection.
Yu Shujia lowered her eyelids. “I’m not talking to you anymore. Hurry up and eat. We still have to go to the movies later.”
Chi Ye’s thin lips curled into a smile. “Alright.”
Liu Zhongran: “Cut! Thank you both for your hard work. Let’s move to the hotel set. The movie theater scene will be filmed later.”
Qiao Shu and Jiang Tu: “Thank you for your hard work, Director.”
After speaking, they glanced at each other.
Qiao Shu averted her gaze. For some reason, from the start of filming until now, she and Jiang Tu had never had an NG. Her only NG so far had been during a scene with the female supporting character.
The crew members all exchanged meaningful glances, clearly enjoying the chemistry between them.