At two o'clock in the afternoon, the program group staff and guests met at the airport.
The first episode of the program would only begin filming after arriving at the island.
There was no pressure to perform right now, so Wen Wanning took off her mask and greeted the director team one by one, feeling a bit more relaxed.
As soon as she pushed open the door to the VIP lounge, the people inside were sitting sparsely, far fewer than she had expected.
On the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, Jiang Yun and Wei Yinghuai were chatting. The woman had her back to her, and from her perspective, she only caught a glimpse of Wei Yinghuai's handsome face.
Seeing Wen Wanning enter, the young man's eyes brightened significantly, and he waved enthusiastically, "Sister Wanning!"
Wen Wanning smiled and waved back.
After walking over with quick steps, she first greeted Jiang Yun, "Teacher Jiang, long time no see."
Jiang Yun was the elder sister of this season's program and a senior figure in the entertainment industry. She had won all the awards she should have won when she was young, and in recent years, she had been cultivating her character, essentially semi-retiring from the circle.
She had collaborated with her many times over the past two years; the veteran actress carried a sense of distance, but she was very easygoing.
"What a coincidence," Jiang Yun said, wrapped in a large scarf to keep warm, her tone quite intimate, "We were just talking about you with Xiao Wei."
Wen Wanning sat down beside her and looked up with a smile, "What were you talking about?"
Wei Yinghuai was barefaced today, his hair looking very fresh, "I was saying that I am actually Teacher Wanning's junior; we both graduated from the same school. I even watched your graduation play at the school theater back then."
"I know that."
Wen Wanning's eyebrows and eyes relaxed, "It seems we are quite fated, it's just a pity we didn't know each other at that time."
This sentence was half sincere and half polite.
She had only recently heard from Zhou Fu that they graduated from the same school. As for that graduation play which had caused a sensation across several campuses, there were so many people who came to watch it that she couldn't even meet all the directors who wanted to scout her; naturally, she couldn't have had an impression of a freshman who had just enrolled.
"Not a pity, not a pity at all," Wei Yinghuai didn't expect her to answer like that, and his earlobes turned noticeably red, "It's enough that I know you now. I went to the cinema to watch Floating Ice the year I was a freshman, and I've watched every film since then."
"Last time when we joined the crew for the Republic of China era film, I didn't know I would be acting with Sister Wanning. I was so nervous when we started filming that I almost threw up."
He said it exaggeratedly, but as a professionally trained top student, no matter how much he lost his composure, it wouldn't be too bad.
Wen Wanning recalled the stepson in the military uniform who got into character the moment filming started, and she couldn't reconcile that image with the fanboy with shining eyes in front of her.
Noticing the clothes he was wearing, she thanked him twice and changed the topic, "Are you cold?"
As a young male actor in his early twenties, he still had fans surrounding him to take photos at the airport, and most of them preferred style over warmth.
It was about five degrees in Shen Cheng today. Wei Yinghuai was only wearing an overcoat over his knit sweater; it looked good on camera, but it had no cold-protection effect, and the tip of his nose was frozen red.
"It's okay," Wei Yinghuai sat very straight, "It's easier to change clothes after landing this way. It's a different season there compared to home, with thirty-degree sunshine, and we'll have to deal with mosquitoes."
Wen Wanning hummed in acknowledgment, reminded by the last sentence, and took two small sprays out of her bag for him and Jiang Yun.
"I used a bottle every half month when I was filming in the mountains before. It can repel mosquitoes and wasps, it's not irritating, and it's quite useful."
She couldn't quite handle the gaze of the young man opposite her, so she turned her head and asked, "Teacher Jiang, do you want lemongrass scent or unscented?"
Jiang Yun had been resting with her eyes closed for a long time, and being asked suddenly, she didn't even want to open her eyelids, "Give me the one without scent; my rhinitis has been acting up lately."
The remaining blue bottle went to Wei Yinghuai.
He took it, and just as he was about to lean in closer, a young man and woman pushed the door open. The girl in front scratched her head embarrassedly and spoke in a small voice, "Excuse me, three teachers, I am Qiao Li's assistant."
"Lili has prepared afternoon tea in the private lounge to help everyone fill their stomachs before dinner. Are the teachers going over now?"
Wen Wanning recognized the assistant of Xu Jiashu standing in the back and understood what was going on in her heart.
Qiao Li was the daughter of Wen Wanning's former company, Jiayue Media. Her grandparents came from a wealthy family in Hong Kong, and every time they met backstage at red carpet events, her display of status was intimidating.
She didn't expect that even when going abroad to record a program this time, the little princess's attitude remained unchanged, with no intention of being low-key.
And Xu Jiashu had likely fallen into his old habit of being a snob, sticking to wherever there was an advantage.
There was still more than an hour before the flight took off. Jiang Yun didn't really care and glanced at the two of them.
"Let's go," Wei Yinghuai happened to be hungry too, "Are you going, Teacher Wen?"
Wen Wanning smiled, "I'm controlling my weight lately, so I'll pass."
She signaled to the two assistants, "I'm afraid it will be too rushed after boarding later, so take these two bottles; you can use them after getting off the plane."
Since it was a small gift prepared for everyone, no one could be left out, so as not to give people something to gossip about.
Seeing that she wasn't going, Wei Yinghuai felt a bit disappointed.
He sighed dejectedly and was just about to get up when he saw the assistant girl turn in another direction and ask cautiously toward the sofa in the very corner, "What about Teacher Ling?"
"Lili said she is very looking forward to meeting you today and hopes to chat with you for a while."
Teacher Ling.
This form of address was completely adopted from their circle; it felt a bit out of place, but everyone present instantly realized who she was calling.
Wen Wanning watched, dumbfounded.
She hurriedly went over the previous conversation in her heart, confirming that Ling Ye's name hadn't even been mentioned, before she could barely settle her mind.
When did this guy arrive?
She had been sitting for so long and hadn't noticed there was someone else nearby. Since the girl could ask like that, she might have been observing for a while.
To put it bluntly, inviting them might just be a cover; the little princess sent someone over specifically for one purpose: Ling Ye.
The sofa in the corner was high, and the large potted plants next to it had lush leaves that could almost completely hide a person.
Ling Ye stood up, his black coat left open casually, and he glanced over here nonchalantly, "I'm not used to eating sweets. You guys chat."
His tone wasn't harsh, and it could even be considered polite, but the refusal was quite direct.
Not expecting this attitude, Qiao Li's assistant's face flushed red, and she hesitated several times.
The person at the center of everyone's attention, however, had a normal expression, carrying his bag on one shoulder as he walked toward them.
The newly renovated VIP lounge at the airport was very large, yet he insisted on taking a shortcut from the opposite side of the sofa where they were sitting.
Wei Yinghuai thought he was going to sit down, so he leaned back against the chair in surprise, and the distance that had been close was pulled away.
But Ling Ye didn't stop his steps and walked straight to Wen Wanning's side.
It had rained in Shen Cheng at noon, and the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window was a grayish-blue, damp and cold.
She had just finished worrying about whether Wei Yinghuai was cold in his overcoat a few minutes ago, but looking closer, Ling Ye's coat was even thinner, to the point where his solid, long arm muscles were vaguely visible.
A child born in the Far North, accustomed to the bitter cold of tens of degrees below zero, he didn't take the winter in the South seriously at all.
While she was lost in thought, Ling Ye abruptly leaned down and squatted, his gaze moving slowly from the open bag on her lap, sweeping straight over to her.
"Sister, do I have one?"
"Have what?" Wen Wanning's brain didn't catch up, and she was stunned by the question.
"The spray," Ling Ye was tall with broad shoulders; even though he was in a submissive half-squatting position, his presence was still outrageously high, "You gave one to everyone, but left me out?"
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