Bi Tan’s voice was quite loud, almost piercing through the entire corridor.

The waiter in the private room also looked over with hesitation and excitement.

Bi Tan looked at Ye Lin, his panic mixed with a hint of anticipation: “You never told me about getting married! When? Will you still film after marriage? Are you taking baby formula endorsements? When are you planning to go on a reality show with kids—”

Ye Lin frowned, and he shut up.

Ye Lin: “Do you think it’s possible?”

“Why not? Isn’t ‘marrying first, loving later’ quite popular these days?”

“...”

Ye Lin was too lazy to pay attention and quickened his pace forward.

Bi Tan trotted to catch up, still confirming, “Is there? Is there?”

The man denied it very decisively.

“No.”

“What no?”

“Nothing at all.”

Just as Ye Lin finished speaking, Yan Man very naturally turned her head: “But there will be soon.”

Zhou Xuan: “...”

All the main creators behind them were laughing. Suddenly, the little assistant of the crew said, “But I think Teacher Ye is indeed different towards you compared to others. I’ve been on his crews before, and he’s really super cold and ruthless towards female actors who try to get close. He wouldn’t give them the slightest chance to say such things.”

“Really?” Yan Man said, “Don’t comfort me. I’m easily convinced.”

“Really! Believe me, at least Teacher Ye definitely isn’t as repulsed by you as he says.”

Yan Man was best at amplifying emotions—especially good words like these.

In her dream that night, Ye Lin had already fallen deeply in love with her, going crazy for her, keeping track of her every move—only pretending not to care on the surface.

After waking up, Yan Man felt confident again.

During the day, she and Ye Lin didn’t see each other, filming their respective scenes in two different groups. Their scenes together were in the evening.

There were two hours of break time in the late afternoon, but she had no rest. She had to go to Xiwen Entertainment to discuss the contract signing.

—It was originally scheduled for noon, but something on the set caused a delay.

But even with the urgent time, Yan Man still went to the restroom before leaving.

Ye Lin’s scenes hadn’t finished filming yet.

Taking advantage of the scene change, she leaned close to his ear and whispered:

“Baby, wait for me to come back.”

The man was expressionless and didn’t even look at her.

“Won’t wait.”

……

It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later, when the car was driving onto the elevated road, that Yan Man suddenly realized—

He hadn’t even refuted her calling him “baby”?!

Yan Man looked out the window, feeling that even the clouds today were particularly beautiful.

She coughed lightly twice and looked at Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Xuan: “What?”

Yan Man: “You can prepare the wedding money for me and Ye Lin.”

“...”

Xiwen’s headquarters wasn’t too far away. Forty minutes later, Yan Man arrived downstairs.

A staff member led her into a conference room and politely closed the door.

Sitting in front of her was a man in a gray suit, looking around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He didn’t even introduce himself but asked her directly, “Yan Man?”

“Mm.” She nodded.

“You were asked to fill out a form before coming upstairs, can you hand it over?”

This form was a Xiwen tradition. It wasn’t given to artists in advance, but rather, artists were given a few short minutes to fill it out as quickly as possible.

Without embellishment or external help, it could directly show the artist’s on-the-spot performance ability and level.

After seeing the beautiful handwriting, the man tilted his head slightly.

Despite having already obtained some rough information, he was still surprised for a few seconds when he saw this impressive resume.

An excellent academic background would be an advantage for an artist, whether for marketing or attracting fans.

—Of course, this only applied to popular artists.

If you weren’t famous, no one would care if you were the top student in the entire school.

So this wasn’t a key factor in signing the contract.

The man pointed to the fifth column.

“There are a total of twelve talents listed here. The basic requirement for artists is to know at least three. Just tick the boxes.”

“I see you drew a horizontal line under these three. Does that mean you know these?”

Yan Man: “It means I don’t know them.”

“...Besides these three, you know all the others?”

“Mm.”

The man let out a soft breath again, nodded as he looked at her, a hint of appreciation in his eyes, and perhaps a little bit of surprise.

The communication process was very smooth. After a standard question-and-answer session, Yan Man also understood all the questions she wanted to ask.

The man pushed a contract over: “If there are no problems, you can sign now, or would you like to consult a lawyer?”

“I studied law,” Zhou Xuan said. “I can take a look.”

There were no major issues with the contract. After all, it was a long-established agency with a good reputation in the industry.

After signing her name, Yan Man saw that it was getting late and prepared to get up.

Before leaving, she confirmed, “Are you my manager?”

The man asked, “When do you wrap up filming?”

“Tomorrow,” Yan Man said.

“Come to the company tomorrow afternoon. Professional teachers will evaluate you, and managers will be assigned based on the evaluation results.”

In the chair, the man in the gray suit said to her:

“I only work with S+ artists.”

S+, Yan Man repeated silently in her heart. Not having time to think too much, she realized she was running late.

It was already past seven o’clock when she returned to the set. Fortunately, the previous scene was delayed, so filming hadn’t started yet.

The crew was adjusting the lighting. Ye Lin leaned against a palm tree, looking down as he put on a watch.

She jumped in front of him and leaned over: “What good stuff are you playing with?”

Bi Tan explained, “It’s not playing. This is a sports watch we’re trying to get an endorsement for recently. He’s testing it.”

Yan Man: “Sports watch?”

“Yes, it’s mainly used to monitor heart rate and also has functions for playing music and making calls,” Bi Tan said, introducing it. “Young people nowadays often stay up late. This can judge your health through your heart rate and breathing and remind you before your body reacts, avoiding the occurrence of major diseases.”

Bi Tan: “In short, it can be worn by people of all ages.”

“Teacher Yan, would you like to try it? You can give us your most honest feedback then.”

Yan Man nodded, as if doing them a favor.

She stretched her slender wrist under Ye Lin’s eyelids and shook it. Light-colored, beautiful blood vessels could be seen under her fair skin.

Yan Man: “Let me wear it?”

Ye Lin ignored her. Of course, she didn’t need him to pay attention, because the next second, as if carefully planned, she withdrew her hand and pretended to suddenly realize, “Oh no, I can’t wear it, it’ll break.”

Yan Man: “After all, my heart rate skyrockets as soon as I see you.”

“...”

After saying that, Yan Man seemed quite satisfied and nodded to herself first.

The man lifted his eyelids to look at her.

Others pursued people to satisfy the other person. She pursued people to satisfy herself.

Soon, Yan Man was called by the costume and makeup teacher to change clothes and touch up her makeup.

She had good features, so the touch-up was quick, and she returned to the set in no time.

Zhou Xuan’s eyes lit up: “This cheongsam looks great on you!”

“Of course,” the costume teacher said, “We specially customized it according to the manga, and Man Man has a great figure, bringing out its best effect.”

Today’s scene was in a hospital. According to the original story, something would happen between them on the hospital bed.

The female lead’s cheongsam also leaned towards a sexy style but wasn’t revealing. There were delicate hollow-outs on the shoulders, occasionally revealing some fair skin as she moved, creating a unique charm.

Under the lighting, Yan Man was rehearsing her movements to ensure her route during the actual filming later, avoiding mistakes and ensuring the camera captured her properly.

This was a necessary step before every scene, quite ordinary, but because of the cheongsam she was wearing at the moment, she became the center of everyone’s attention.

Alluring but not vulgar, that was the highest-level quality she possessed.

Bi Tan also kept nudging Ye Lin, signaling the man to look up.

Yan Man caught his gaze. Perhaps because the light was dazzling, it reflected off her necklace, and the man narrowed his eyes slightly.

She suddenly leaned closer, deliberately saying, “Why are you looking for so long? Don’t you recognize my neck? Didn’t you give me a love bite there yesterday?”

“...”

Ye Lin stared at her for two seconds with the look one gives a lunatic, then turned his head away.

She guessed the man must think she was boring at this moment, but she didn’t think so at all.

—She found it incredibly interesting.

Because this scene was set in winter, Yan Man also had to wear a trench coat.

Wearing a trench coat over a cheongsam was also a common outfit for women in the Republican era.

She waited for a while wearing it. More than ten minutes passed, but the crew hadn’t started filming yet.

Yan Man was already getting hot.

After waiting for another twenty minutes, she couldn’t stand it anymore and was also afraid of her makeup melting. She knelt on the sofa sideways and quickly took off her coat.

But this trench coat was a bit difficult to take off.

She pulled at the sleeves with force, twisting like an S-shaped twisted dough stick. The sofa sank a little, and her high heels fell off.

There were many beads sewn onto the cheongsam. Afraid of damaging the props, she carefully applied force. Even though the trench coat had already half-slipped down to her shoulders, she was still moving bit by bit.

This scene of her pressing down on her waist happened to be seen by Zhou Xuan who was walking by.

Zhou Xuan laughed, “Who are you seducing?”

“Who am I seducing!” Yan Man said with a headache, “Come help me quickly, this coat keeps getting caught on the cheongsam.”

Finally, with Zhou Xuan’s help, the trench coat was taken off.

But it wasn’t over yet. Zhou Xuan stared for a long time before slowly asking, “This on your back, is that the design?”

Yan Man looked back and realized that the button near her butterfly bones was undone, and a small section of bone was protruding against her skin, looking rather alluring.

“Maybe I struggled too hard just now,” Yan Man buttoned it up behind her back, then suddenly looked up, “Did anyone see?”

Looking around, she realized this area was a blind spot. This place directly faced Ye Lin, and no one but him could see it.

Yan Man breathed a sigh of relief, “Good thing, only Ye Lin can see it.”

After a pause, she added, “Then why did I button it up?”

Zhou Xuan: “...”

After waiting for another half an hour, Yan Man, being idle, started to get restless again.

She once again took off the little bear pendant she had previously hung on him, sat next to Ye Lin, and pointed to the hem of his clothes: “You have a fake zipper design here. Don’t you think it’s missing something?”

The man glanced at her: “Missing what?”

She smiled and buttoned the pendant onto it: “Missing me.”

“...”

Ye Lin reached out, but before he could make a move, the production assistant came running over, saying it was time to start filming.

So Yan Man stopped his hand, smiled, and pulled him over: “Let’s go, don’t delay filming.”

……

This was a scene of a long-awaited reunion. Accompanied by a “Action,” the camera zoomed in.

The male lead was injured at this moment, lying on a hospital bed, one hand tied down and immobilized.

The female lead pushed open the door, her steps visibly anxious. She rushed to his bedside and repeatedly confirmed, “Are you alright? Are you really alright?”

Then, thankfully, she grasped his uninjured hand and pressed it against her cheek: “It’s good you’re alright, it’s good you’re alright.”

Her nose was red, and tears streamed down her face one after another. Her shoulders shook as she cried uncontrollably.

The man pulled his hand out of hers. Her heart emptied for a second, but the next moment, those hands curled into beautiful knuckles and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Alright, you’re so grown up, what are you crying for?”

Emotion was a universal currency, and no one could remain unmoved by sincerity.

She looked up, still sobbing, “When I received the news, I really thought you were going to die...”

He said, “Aren’t I still alive?”

Yes, he was right there in front of her, speaking, smiling, even mocking her for being a crybaby.

Nothing could be more fortunate than this.

Perhaps momentarily controlled by emotion, she threw herself at him, kissing the corner of his lips somewhat chaotically, not even hearing the man’s muffled groan.

Soon, she was pressed down beneath him.

Finally creating some distance, the man’s pale lips had been roughed up by her, showing a bit of color. Her eyes were blurry with tears, and she looked at him a little dazed.

He said, “You’re pressing on my wound, it hurts a lot.”

She sniffled and said again, “I was thinking then, if you really couldn’t come back, what would I do? I can’t even find someone to be with me... you didn’t leave me anything.”

She blinked, and a tear rolled out, flowing into her hair.

She leaned closer and asked him, “Do you still remember? You owe me a child?”

The weather changed tonight. The whole city entered winter overnight. There was a fine, dense crackling sound on the windowsill. She couldn’t tell if it was the wind or the rain.

Just like she couldn’t tell who initiated the kiss in the end.

She was half-pressed against the pillow, the smell of disinfectant mixed with his breath entering her. Her brain began to feel dizzy, as if injected with anesthesia, but her lips and teeth were responding to him.

A long-awaited reunion was originally an emotional sublimation.

The sound of kissing, wet and tangled, came from the inner room. Outside the ward, nurses and family members walked back and forth.

The door wasn’t closed tightly, letting out a sliver of light.

Her heart pounded like a drum, as if it was about to jump out of her throat. She worried about pressing on his wound and also worried that someone might walk in at any moment.

But the more it was like this, the more uncontrollable her emotions became.

When they separated, the man’s eyelashes were lowered, his eyes slightly darkened, filled with a trace of lost control and infatuation, beautiful enough to take one’s breath away.

His eyelashes were wet, and so were his eyes.

It was as if that unreachable idol had finally, at a certain moment, had his desire glimpsed by her.

As if possessed, she leaned over and kissed his eyes.

This wasn’t in the script.

The man’s back stiffened.

Even though it was such a chaotic scene, this kiss was very clean.

So clean that she actually didn’t believe she hadn’t had any wild thoughts at that moment, but it was clearly pure, as if all primal desires had been stripped away, the most heartfelt, clean, and undisguised emotion.

As if finally regaining his senses, the director then loudly yelled “Cut!” and began to lavishly praise the final kiss.

But Yan Man didn’t hear a word.

Her ears were buzzing, as if her mind had been stolen.

It took a while for her reason to return. She looked up, and Ye Lin had already disappeared.

As if to confirm something, she looked at the sofa. Ye Lin’s coat had originally been draped there, but it had now been taken away, yet the little bear hadn’t been left behind.

Yan Man lifted the blanket, got out of bed, and started running outside. She didn’t actually know where she was going, but some emotion surged into her brain. She was calm yet panicked, as if something in the dark was guiding her, and she had to do something.

Finally, she saw Ye Lin by the RV.

He was wearing his coat, the little bear pendant hanging from the hem.

This time, the little bear hadn’t been left behind again.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but he had changed his clothes and was probably about to get in the car, but someone stopped him outside.

Although Yan Man didn’t know the industry that well, she could vaguely tell that it was a quasi-first-tier young actress.

She was probably making a move or confessing. In any case, she spoke for a long time, so long that Yan Man felt Ye Lin had already begun to lose patience.

When Yan Man approached, she happened to hear his voice of rejection, a cold and indifferent “no need,” as if cutting off all possibilities.

Everyone was too proud, so proud that after he said those two words, the first-tier actress left without looking back.

After all, they were all darlings held in the palms of fans’ hands. Who would be willing to risk freezing their hands to warm a piece of ice that had been cold for years?

Ye Lin finally prepared to get into the car.

And Yan Man called out to him for the second time.

The man turned his head, his brow slightly furrowed.

At this moment, his eyes were already clear, as if he had returned to that desireless and aloof deity, rational, indifferent, keeping people at a distance.

But before her eyes flashed the expression of his infatuation just moments ago.

Yan Man pursed her lips and called him again,

“Ye Lin.”

She took two steps closer, gazing intently into his eyes.

“Do you like me?” she said. “Even just a little bit counts.”