Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 423: Chapter 334: Utterly Shocked

As expected, Shen Yao and Wan Zhiliang accepted Meng Ran’s apology with indifference, as if nothing had happened. Shen Yao even magnanimously said, ”It’s fine, you’re busy with work now, everyone understands.”

Zhou Yun thought to herself, ’Understands my ass.’

If it hadn’t been for Meng Ran, many of the arrangements on set wouldn’t have been disrupted at the last minute.

After a while, Meng Ran came over to her.

What could she say? She forced a smile and said, ”It’s okay, Meng Ran, you’ve been working hard too. Take the chance to talk more with your company. Even if you’re young, you can’t push yourself too hard. Running around like this must be exhausting, right?”

Zhou Yun was nearly sick of her own false politeness.

Thankfully, her time filming ’Warm Little Horse’ wasn’t extensive; she didn’t have to endure months in this crew.

Truth be told, Zhou Yun enjoyed shooting this film immensely.

Whether it was her scenes with Shen Yao or acting alongside Liu Yuqian and other actors, she found it very satisfying.

This feeling was different from when she was filming ’Heart Inquiry’. Back then, she wasn’t as confident as now. At that time, she, still a newcomer, had to act opposite well-established actors like Song Chi and Su Yan, and even with Director Kang Xin’s praise, she still felt somewhat anxious inside.

This time around—well, Zhou Yun didn’t want to put it this way, but indeed that’s how it was—the award did bring something different.

Like confidence.

Even though Zhou Yun always said that winning that award didn’t mean she was all that great or that her acting skills were now god-tier, the fact remained: she had won, her performance had been internationally recognized, and the treatment she received from those around her silently reinforced her belief in her own acting ability.

On the other hand, filming movies was different from TV shows. Even though ’Warm Little Horse’ was just a commercial comedy, it still followed a movie filming process, where every shot was carefully crafted and shot after shot was taken, giving her ample space to fine-tune her performance. She remembered when she first started filming ’Eighth Heartbeat’, wanting to redo scenes but being denied to avoid delays; back then, it was enough as long as the acting was passable.

Meng Ran’s return to the set caused quite a stir, but online it barely made a ripple. Conversations about Meng Ran’s lack of professionalism had all but ceased. Yet, although she had returned, her acting didn’t show much improvement. Whenever she was in the shot, the NG (no good) takes would pile up. Wan Zhiliang always pulled her aside to painstakingly break down her character and teach her step by step.

Often at wrap-up, Meng Ran could be seen sitting on her chair, eyebrows drooping, devoid of any spirit, staring blankly at the set.

Meng Ran’s personality was completely different from Liu Yuqian’s. Apart from necessary social interaction, Meng Ran was a very quiet girl, sitting alone in a corner, not really talking to others. Especially since Wan Zhiliang was critical of her acting, she might have felt ashamed, inferior, too embarrassed to face others.

Sometimes Zhou Yun felt Meng Ran seemed to lose spirit, and she hesitated whether or not to talk to her, to help alleviate some of her internal pressure.

She thought that although Wan Zhiliang wasn’t much of a talker, the pressure he put on actors as a director was still quite substantial.

Wan Zhiliang didn’t curse, but when he was dissatisfied, he would publicly call you over to teach you over and over again.

This feeling... just thinking about it made Zhou Yun’s skin crawl.

...

In the evening, after dinner, Zhou Yun went for a walk outside the studio to help digest.

In October, the temperature was gradually dropping.

She strolled alone, slowly making her way to a more secluded, dimly lit area.

Zhou Yun didn’t dare wander alone in such places, so she decided to head back.

Suddenly, she heard a soft, bell-like laughter from behind her, a discreet laugh, but Zhou Yun immediately recognized who it belonged to.

She turned around in surprise to look.

This area was surrounded by several factories, usually used by crews to store things, with hardly anyone around.

Zhou Yun had no idea where exactly the laughter had come from.

But—

Indeed, Zhou Yun listened carefully and caught a faint sound.

”...don’t sweet-talk me; I never expect you to really take responsibility for me, stop saying these nice things to me.”

It was indeed her.

Liu Yuqian.

Liu Yuqian liked to chat with her often, so she was very familiar with Liu Yuqian’s voice.

But who was Liu Yuqian talking to?

Zhou Yun blinked in surprise, somewhat at a loss. She thought about it and decided to let it go; there was no need to know who this person was. Knowing would only make things more difficult. As she was deciding to play dumb and leave, the issue Yu Mengyao had brought to her about Liu Yuqian seducing Shen Yao a few days ago came to mind.

Could this person possibly be Shen Yao?

Zhou Yun quickened her steps to leave.

”Sister Xiao Yun?” Just at that moment, an untimely voice intruded abruptly.

Meng Ran.

Zhou Yun looked in surprise at Meng Ran who had suddenly appeared and instinctively became flustered, for Liu Yuqian and that unknown person.

She knew that those two must have heard Meng Ran’s voice.

Zhou Yun could only pretend to be unaware and said with a smile, ”Xiao Ran, you’re out for a walk too?”

Meng Ran nodded, her expression a little bit aggrieved and pitiful.

”Just getting some air.”

Zhou Yun asked, ”Are you alone?”

Meng Ran nodded, saying, ”Yeah, I’m alone.”

Zhou Yun smiled and said, ”Then I’ll be off first.”

Meng Ran suddenly spoke timidly, ”I’ll go back with you, it’s a bit dark here and I’m afraid to stay alone.”

Zhou Yun thought that was fine.

”Alright, let’s go.”

Zhou Yun didn’t look back even once, bringing Meng Ran back to the set.

She asked Zheng Xiaojue privately, ”Is Brother Shen around?”

Zheng Xiaojue shook her head and said, ”He probably left around twenty minutes ago.”

Zhou Yun felt a sudden collapse in her heart like a sandcastle.

So...

With the timing being so coincidental, nine times out of ten that person was Shen Yao.

So Yu Mengyao’s intuition was right, did Liu Yuqian actually manage to win Shen Yao over? At this moment, Zhou Yun was somewhat at a loss for words. For both Liu Yuqian and Shen Yao, Zhou Yun was at a loss for words. The two were bold enough; with so many people in the crew, they still dared to sneak around together.

Ten minutes later, Shen Yao returned, and five minutes after that, Liu Yuqian also came back.

Zhou Yun pretended to be oblivious to everything and unaware of anything, finishing shooting the evening’s scenes and wrapping up to return to the hotel.

Her heart was greatly shaken.