Chapter 48

You want me to be happy with just that? There should at least be…

The next day, even before the sky lit, Pei Ying was woken by her alarm clark. She quickly climbed out of bed and washed her face. Song Nanchuan frowned as he watched her rushing. He started thinking that he really ought to have a talk with the production team.

Pei Ying didn’t even have time to eat breakfast. She grabbed a piece of bread and headed into her assistant’s car. She slept a bit on the ride. Then she put on some foundation, and they arrived to the filming location.

Though there was just the slightest glimmer of light in the sky, the crew was already busy with preparations. After Pei Ying had her makeup done, she picked up her script to look over it. Again, today, she had several scenes with Mo Zhen. She didn’t want to be scolded as much as the previous day.

Pei Ying already knew her lines by heart. She was just afraid that acting opposite Mo Zhen, her demeanor would shrink again. When Mo Zhen arrived, she put on her thick skin and asked him to practice with her. Without any airs of arrogance, he agreed.

Their rehearsal could be counted as going smoothly. Mo Zhen even gave her some pointers. After she spoke with Mo Zhen, she pulled out the notebook she always carried around and wrote down all of his suggestions.

Mo Zhen glanced over at her notebook. “You keep this kind of thing?”

“Yeah.” Pei Ying smiled embarrassedly. “If I take notes, I can look over them at any time. As the saying goes, a good memory still can’t beat rotten handwriting.”

Mo Zhen simply nodded at her comment. After the two of them rehearsed their scene again, the director called for the shoot to begin.

The scene was indoors, at Zhao Yue’s manager’s office. Wu Yang, who had a growing interest in, or perhaps suspicions about Zhao Yue, had brought along his junior in search of her.

Despite heading into a high-class company office, Wu Yang still wore his slippers, a head of lazy hair sleeping on his head.

But his gaze left Zhao Yue on guard.

“Ah, who’d have ever guessed that I’d be seeing a big star like this.” Wu Yang’s sexy, thin lips lifted slightly, reminding Zhao Yue of an old, lazy cat that hung around outside the building. He approached her, his long, black bangs sweeping across his eyelashes. “Ms Zhao looks even better in real life than on the TV screen.”

Zhao Yue’s lip twitched slightly, as if she’d smiled. “And what’s the reason that Officer Gu is looking for me?”

Her question had been directed at Gu Sibo, but without giving him a chance to respond, Wu Yang said, “I’d heard that Ms Zhao was very dedicated to her work. For a previous role as a factory worker, you even went to work in a factory for half a month.” At this point, he brushed aside the hair in his face. Unobstructed, his eyes landed on Zhao Yue. “Then, for your role of a killer in Chasing the Wind, will you actually go out and kill someone?”

Zhao Yue’s eyes dropped just slightly, as if she found his question very amusing. “Do you think that’s possible?”

Wu Yag laughed. “That would be rather extreme.”

Outside the office, Zhao Yue’s manager knocked on the door. Zhao Yue looked to the door and got up, excusing herself, “I’m sorry, I still have work.”

As she walked out in her heels, the director called cut. “Pei Ying, your performance today is much better than yesterday’s. You didn’t get scared off when acting with Mo Zhen either. But Yu Kaize was sitting there like a block of wood. Do you think you’re a mascot?”

Yu Kaize, “….”

“I didn’t have any lines in this scene,” he defended himself. With a sneer, the director responded, “If you don’t have lines, can’t you let your expressions speak? Is that something I need to teach you? You sitting there is like having an ugly duckling sitting between two swans!”

Yu Kaize, “….”

Did Director Zhao sign up for Qiao Yichen’s scolding courses? He was amazing at it.

“Let’s do it again!”

Pei Ying, “….”

She thought that as long as she performed well, the filming would proceed smoothly. She’d really been too naive.

That day’s filming lasted until the middle of the night once again. When he heard the director call cut, Yu Kaize collapsed into his chair, paralyzed. “Thankfully we get a break the day after tomorrow. Director Zhao really knows how to torture people.”

The director was packing up equipment when he heard those words. He looked at Yu Kaize and laughed. “I’m far worse than you think. The break for the day after tomorrow is cancelled.”

After he spoke those words, the entire crew froze. Director Zhao coughed. Then he took this opportunity to announce, “We’ll be making a trip for a location shoot the day after tomorrow. We just got permission to film there, so we can’t take a break now. Everyone, persevere a bit more, ah.”

“We’ve been filming continuously for half a month already! How do you expect us to stay alive?!”

Director Zhao glanced over at the furious Yu Kaize. “If your acting was better, we might have been able to take the break early.”

Yu Kaize, “….”

After finding out that their vacation was canceled, Pei Ying grew a bit distracted. She’d already agreed to go to C City with Song Nanchuan.

“I’ll head out first. Good work, everyone.” Mo Zhen put on his sunglasses and headed to his Bentley. When he passed the director, the director politely asked, “Emperor Mo, everything’s fine, right?”

“I’m fine with it,” Mo Zhen answered, not even turning his head back. Then he got into his car.

The director shouted to the crew, “Everyone see that?! Learn a bit from Emperor Mo, won’t you?! See how dedicated he is!”

Despite being angry, no one dared to respond. They just quietly finished their work. Yu Kaize added a few more angry lines before leaving, and Pei Ying’s assistant also helped her to their van.

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She slept on the ride back, and then her assistant woke her up, “Ms Pei, we’ve arrived.”

Pei Ying opened her eyes and nodded. “Oh, okay.”

When she entered the house, Song Nanchuan was, of course, still awake. He was wearing his sleepwear, leaning against the headboard. When he saw her walk in, he said, “Half an hour later than yesterday. What’s going on with your production crew?”

“Oh… The filming wasn’t going so smoothly, so we had to work longer.”

Song Nanchuan’s brows twitched slightly. “Did Director Zhao scold you again?”

“No. It was Yu Kaize today.”

Song Nanchuan was silent for a moment. Then he made a sincere suggestion, “When there’s an actor like that, who burdens the rest of the crew, you should just switch him out.”

“…I’m going to shower first.” Pei Ying took a quick shower and then dropped into bed.

Song Nanchuan looked at her, and he knew he shouldn’t try anything tonight either. He was actually a bit worried now. Filming for the movie would last two or three months. Would he be unable to touch her for an entire three months?

…He didn’t dare think about that.

As he was about to probe Pei Ying for some answers, he heard her sleepy voice sound from beside him. “Oh yeah, the director said that he’s cancelling our break for the day after tomorrow. We’re traveling for a location shoot.”

Song Nanchuan froze for a moment, and then he frowned. “Why? Can’t you guys have your break and then film afterwards?”

Pei Ying raised her eyes to look at him. “Oh, the place is very busy, so you have to reserve a time for filming. We finally got a time, so we can’t waste it for a break.”

Song Nanchuan was still frowning. “Then, when are you going to meet my parents?”

“At the next break, I guess. I’m sorry, Chuan Chuan,” Pei Ying apologized pitifully. Then, a bit nervously, she asked, “Did you already tell your parents that we were visiting them?”

“Not yet.”

“That’s good.”

“What’s good about that?” Song Nanchuan asked unhappily. “You don’t get a break, and you’re even traveling elsewhere for filming?” That meant that he was even going to be deprived of his ability to simply sleep beside her at night!

Pei Ying wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on him. “Chuan Chuan, don’t be angry. I want a break too. Everyone wants a break. But what can we do? We’ll definitely get a break after we finish this part.”

Although Song Nanchuan was unhappy, there wasn’t anything he could do. He just had to sulk. “You weren’t this busy on your other projects.”

“This movie’s different. The director has really high demands.”

Song Nanchuan frowned and asked, “How long will you be away?”

“Maybe a week.”

“For that long?”

“That’s not very long…” Before Pei Ying could finish speaking, Song Nanchuan’s expression pierced into her. She quickly corrected herself, “If things go smoothly, we might even be back in two or three days!”

Song Nanchuan harrumphed. “With Yu Kaize there, of course it won’t go smoothly!”

Pei Ying, “….”

She tried comforting Song Nanchuan a bit more, to lift up his spirits, and then she ended up falling asleep. Song Nanchuan looked over at Pei Ying, who’d talked herself to sleep. He let out a helpless sigh. He laid her down properly and pulled the blanket up over her. Song Nanchuan gave her a kiss on the lips and then went to sleep beside her.

Every day now, Pei Ying left the house early and returned late. If he didn’t stay up to wait for her return, they’d never see each other.

…This was all Director Zhao’s fault! Even a businessman like himself didn’t exploit his employees like that!

He decided that he’d never invest in Director Zhao’s projects again.

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The next day, Pei Ying hurried off to the filming location as usual. Director Zhao decided that they’d head off for their location shoot the next day. They had to wrap filming earlier that day, so everyone could get home and pack.

Pei Ying gave Song Nanchuan a call, and the two of them went out for dinner. When they got home, Pei Ying started packing. Song Nanchuan watched silently from the side.

“Mmh, I have to bring face masks too.” Pei Ying packed her face masks into her suitcase. She turned back to Song Nanchuan, and his gloomy expression caught her off guard. “Chuan Chuan, what’s the matter?”

“I’m unhappy. Can’t you see?”

Pei Ying put down the things in her hands and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the lips. “Are you a little happier now?”

Song Nanchuan’s brows lifted a bit. “You want me to be happy with just that? There should at least be…” His hand reached up under Pei Ying’s skirt without restraint as he tilted his head to bite her collar.

Pei Ying raised her head and moaned, slowly losing her balance. “Chuan Chuan…”

She subconsciously called out Song Nanchuan’s name. Song Nanchuan carried her onto the bed and pressed down on her. “Baby, call me Hubby.”

“Oh…” Pei Ying was too embarrassed to call him. Song Nanchuan’s mischievous hand moved with a bit more force on her lower body, and Pei Ying cried out, “Hubby, gently…”

When she called him that, Song Nanchuan’s mind and body both grew excited. He leaned over her, his eyes glistening. “Sounds good. Say it again.”

“Hubby…”

Song Nanchuan’s expression grew heavy, and then he kissed her fiercely on the lips, blocking her moans.

Because Pei Ying was too tired, one time wasn’t sufficient. Song Nanchuan had his way once more, while she was in her groggy state, before carrying her into the washroom for a bath.

When they left the bathroom, Pei Ying still wasn’t entirely awake. Thinking about how she’d only been sleeping for four hours a night, he couldn’t rightly bother her anymore. He carried her to bed and they both went to sleep.

The next morning, Pei Ying was woken by her alarm clock. Song Nanchuan still had his arms wrapped around her, and she couldn’t pull herself out of his clutches.

“Chuan Chuan…”

She quietly called him. Song Nanchuan didn’t open his eyes, but he gave a muffled response, “You called me Hubby last night, but after you got what you wanted, you don’t recognize me anymore.”

Pei Ying, “….”

He was really pushing his luck here!

But it was true that she’d been very busy recently and she hadn’t spent much time with him. So she said, “Hubby, I have to go.”

Song Nanchuan kissed her before finally releasing her.

Pei Ying took a deep breath after escaping his clutches. Then she went to wash up. She’d already packed up everything she needed, so she carried her luggage to the door and turned to Song Nanchuan. “Then, I’m going.”

“Mmh,” Song Nanchuan responded.

Pei Ying blinked her eyes. She walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodbye, Hubby. I’ll be back soon.”