She had once nearly drowned while filming, a fact known to very few people.
For one, she had few acting roles in recent years, and adding another minefield would only mean fewer opportunities. For another, she was stubborn by nature; she could usually complain and vent to those around her, but when she truly encountered trouble, she would deliberately avoid it, not wanting to be pitied or sympathized with by others.
Ling Ye was still standing in place. Seeing Wen Wanning stop, he turned his head and glanced at her.
The director from the program group was still waiting for an explanation. His gaze did not linger for long—just a fleeting moment—yet Wen Wanning understood what he meant—
He had said that sentence on her behalf.
He had not forgotten.
That was back when she went to Northeast China to film, half a month after her first meeting with Ling Ye in the snow.
Mai Liwen was particular about details when filming movies. The story took place in the seventies, and every scene had to be restored with absolute precision. The prop department arrived more than a month early, scouring every large and small scrap vehicle processing station in North City before they could barely piece together a few old cars that met Mai Liwen's requirements.
The result was obvious: while they were retro, they were almost impossible to drive.
Over a dozen mechanics came; more than half said they couldn't fix them, and a few others left a mess after working for a long time. In the end, Ling Ye came over, popped the hood, took one look, and started working on it directly. It took less than a quarter of an hour to fix.
As the key turned, the old engine let out a roar full of the era's character, shocking Mai Liwen into exclaiming in his Hong Kong-accented Mandarin that the younger generation was formidable, and he immediately paid to keep him on the film crew.
As the end of the year approached, the snow in North City grew thicker, and the filming schedule gradually accelerated. Wen Wanning was as busy as a spinning top and did not see Ling Ye many more times.
Occasionally, when they bumped into each other in the tent, the young man would either be doing homework under the lights or replying to messages while clutching an old phone with a broken screen. He ate boxed meals with the extras in the group for all three meals, scraping the rice bowl clean.
With a delicate and thin face, he was always wearing that same washed-out school uniform. He had no desire to pry into the private lives of the celebrities passing by, and he didn't speak when he saw people.
That day at sunrise, Wen Wanning was wrapped in a large down jacket waiting for her scene by the heater. She greeted his back several times, only to be ignored until she had no temper left.
The words she and Ling Ye had spoken to each other didn't even add up to five sentences; what kind of conflict could they have?
She could only comfort herself in her heart that children at this age loved to act cool, and as an adult, she shouldn't bother arguing with him.
This scene was the female lead's dream. To escape the village with her lover, she drove a stolen car across the ice. When she reached the center of the lake, she found the surroundings vast and empty, with the whole world left with only herself.
For the sake of the visuals, the filming was done entirely with drones and cranes. All the staff had retreated to the shore, leaving only an old-fashioned Changchun four-axle bus on the ice. Wen Wanning, in the driver's seat wearing a floral padded jacket, was already in character, her cheeks red from the cold.
Everything was normal when filming started, and there were no issues when Mai Liwen shouted "cut." No one expected that when the steel cable pulled the bus halfway, the ice layer would suddenly crack.
Wen Wanning was moving cautiously with her back to the bus door when, caught off guard, she suddenly lost her balance and fell into the lake. The splash was not large, but it drowned out the screams echoing from the shore.
The incident happened so suddenly that everyone present was stunned. No one dared to go to the rescue easily. It took a few seconds for them to react one after another, leaving a few to call security and the police, while the rest rushed into the tents to find lifebuoys and wooden poles.
What would it feel like to be near death?
Until this day, Wen Wanning had never imagined it.
She had always felt she was a good swimmer. In middle school, she had filled in for someone else on the swimming team, trained for a few weeks at the last minute, and even managed to win a medal in a city competition.
But when the water under the ice soaked through her outer clothes, went over her throat, and dragged her whole body downward, all the techniques she had learned in the swimming pool failed.
Her fingers were already frozen stiff; the water-slicked ice was too slippery to grab, and the sharp gap was closing.
Wen Wanning instinctively thrashed several times, briefly surfacing and then sinking back into the water. The cold lake water, carrying a fishy smell, choked her throat. Her eardrums bulged, and the shore already felt like another world.
At the moment she was about to lose consciousness, the ice a few meters away shook violently. A white figure ran from the edge of her vision and jumped into the water without hesitation.
With a muffled sound of swimming, someone hugged her tightly from behind, bearing her full weight as they swam forward.
The drone remained hovering high above. The area in front of the monitor was crowded with idle people who couldn't help; some were truly worried, while others were just there to watch the spectacle. It wasn't until the water surface closest to the floating board splashed that Wen Wanning was lifted out of the water, and people were still asking who the boy who saved her was.
Wen Wanning was completely unaware of all this. She had choked on quite a bit of water, and even after reaching the shore, her consciousness remained hazy.
In the blur, a pair of cold, soft lips pressed against hers, attempting to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
After a few breaths were passed to her, she subconsciously tried hard to open her eyes.
Her unfocused gaze locked onto Ling Ye's anxious eyes—pitch-black and clean. His wet, long eyelashes quickly froze into a layer of white frost.
Driven by a survival instinct, she hugged his neck tightly, pulling him close with such force that it was almost a cramp, leaving visible white finger marks on his skin.
Seventeen-year-old Ling Ye just let her hold him like that, his Adam's apple rolling slightly. "It's okay now."
The program group had an explosive budget this season. They were stingy when it came to digging holes, but they never skimped on where money needed to be spent.
The evening pool party fully proved this point. Not only were the lighting and set design completely on par with the host clubs on the beach bar street, but even the late-night snacks were prepared very lavishly.
The coconut shell floating boats held tropical fruit platters and frozen desserts. They even considered the fact that the guests might not be full, specially inviting a chef from a seafood barbecue restaurant to host a live buffet.
Wei Yinghuai was already dizzy with happiness. At least he remembered that he only had a pair of swimming trunks on, so he had to keep his stomach tucked and chest out at all times, unable to eat completely freely.
As for Qi Jiujiu, she had been prepared long ago, wearing a large bath towel over her swimsuit. It looked casual, but it was actually a calculated move; she didn't reveal a single thing that should have been covered.
After having a blast for over an hour, the guests in the pool also came ashore, gathering around a table under the palm trees, chatting while drinking beverages.
Teacher Jiang Yun sighed softly, sighing with emotion about the water polo match just now. "I didn't expect Jiashu to be so good at water polo. Being on a team with Jiujiu was just something else; I didn't even touch the ball."
"Next round, let Lili switch in. I'm already an old aunt, just dragging Xiao Wei down."
Qiao Li still had a piece of pineapple in her mouth and smiled guiltily. "I'm a real exercise klutz. I'm not even sure I can stand in the water."
Wei Yinghuai comforted her, "It's mainly because I'm not good enough. It has nothing to do with who my partner is. If Brother Ling Ye were on, he could dominate even if he were carrying the director."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xu Jiashu's expression darken a few degrees, so he quickly added, "I absolutely didn't mean that Brother Jiashu isn't good. I'm just a fanboy of Brother Ling Ye. What kind of malice could us die-hard fans have?"
Since the topic had reached this point, everyone's gaze followed and glanced in Ling Ye's direction.
Everyone had seen the Hot Search tonight. Abdominal muscles never go out of style. One could understand with their knees that the program group had just found a legitimate excuse to show some skin.
As it turned out, even though they had all changed into their clothes, Ling Ye had suddenly changed his tune. Wearing a loose white T-shirt and beach shorts, he spent the whole time lounging on a bench watching them play, acting more modest than anyone.
Playing hard to get.
Xu Jiashu hated these kinds of scheming men who acted cool the most, and he snorted coldly in his heart.
Qiao Li, beside him, couldn't hold back, her large eyes flickering. "Brother Ling Ye, why didn't you go into the water? Are you not feeling well?"
Ling Ye raised his eyes. "I'm afraid of water, I can't play."
...Yeah, right.
A dignified world champion race car driver using such clumsy lines to force a "beautiful, strong, and miserable" persona—how cheap.
Xu Jiashu's internal complaints were clattering away, but the director team pampered Ling Ye so much that no matter what, he didn't dare to say it to his face.
He had no choice but to aim his fire at Wen Wanning, who also hadn't gone into the water. "Then what about Teacher Wen?"
It was one thing for Ling Ye to make up that he was afraid of water, but Wen Wanning loved to market her "National Little Mom" persona so much—would she really be content wearing a long dress over a shirt when she had such a great opportunity to show off her figure?
"It was me who asked Teacher Wen."
Ling Ye was quiet for a moment, the corner of his lips curling up slightly. "I said I was afraid of water and asked Teacher Wen to keep me company."
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