Chapter 54 [VIP] If you NG more than three times, I’ll come to settle accounts with you tonight.

The night was heavy, the cold wind piercing. The streetlights below emitted an old yellow glow. The two stood under the lamppost; Yu Chi had his arms crossed, leaning his shoulder against the lamp post, tilting his head to look askance: “Sister, did you also NG this many times when filming kiss scenes before?”

Sheng Li wasn’t wearing a scarf, and the cold wind rushed into her neck. She shivered, her body cooling down, making her much more awake. She pulled out a cigarette box from her coat pocket, lit one skillfully, thinking that Xu Yuan, this chain smoker, might make her develop a nicotine addiction after this movie, which would be depressing.

However, at this moment, smoking was a good thing—at least taking a drag could calm her down.

She was still dressed as Xu Yuan, every move exuding poised charm. “First time.”

“So, are you taking advantage of your ex-boyfriend?”

“...”

Ex-boyfriend again? Don’t you have a name? Can’t you use the first person?

Sheng Li directly ignored this sentence and turned to ask: “How can you guarantee it will be a one-take pass next time?”

Yu Chi seemed to be in a good mood, his tone lazy: “Just a casual remark. Whether we can pass or not depends on whether Sister can focus.”

Another trap for her? Sheng Li stared at him for a few seconds, noticing his earlier aloofness before filming had disappeared. Even though they were standing outside in sub-zero temperatures, his expression was the most relaxed since joining the production.

Because he kissed her so many times? So his mood improved? If you ignore the sound of the equipment running and the crew, it indeed… made one feel quite pleasant.

The alley entrance was too narrow for cars to enter; they had to walk in from outside.

Sheng Li saw Huang Baiyan walking in from the intersection and remembered there were no scenes scheduled for her and Yu Chi for the next three days, so she couldn’t help but ask, “Are you going back to Beijing tomorrow?”

“Mm.” Yu Chi also noticed Huang Baiyan. “There’s an appointment.”

Sheng Li smoked more than half of the cigarette, had enough of the cold wind, and felt completely calm and clear-headed. She somewhat understood why Yu Chi called her downstairs to catch some fresh air. After kissing twelve times in front of the camera and numerous crew members, both needed to cool off, otherwise, they couldn’t continue filming the kissing scene.

Huang Baiyan quickly walked up to them, glanced at the two assistants standing by the stairway, and said helplessly: “You two standing here so openly, aren’t you afraid of being photographed by paparazzi? Although your poses aren’t intimate, it’s still too careless.” He paused and looked at Yu Chi, “Don’t mention Sheng Li, even if it’s any other pretty girl standing alone with you nowadays, she might be considered your first love.”

Yu Chi sneered at Sheng Li, mocking: “Then you’re wrong. No matter how much trouble I stir up with her, there won’t be any scandal because the Starry Couple fan base is strong and omnipresent.”

Sheng Li: “...”

She stubbed out her cigarette, adjusted her coat, flicked her long hair, and smiled sweetly at him: “Younger Brother, after spending so much effort to chase me to the set and only getting to film ten-some kiss scenes, isn’t that a bit of a loss? I’ve already given you the guidebook. Welcome to break up the CP.”

After saying that, she turned around and walked back.

Yu Chi chuckled, hands in his trouser pockets, lazily following behind her.

Huang Baiyan: “...”

Is this how these two act when they’re in a relationship?

Actually, they didn’t need to worry about paparazzi constantly on set. A few days ago, some leaked photos caused a stir, so the production team arranged security around the area. Paparazzi had been following him for over ten days now, but apart from the set and hotel, he only went to the hospital. They couldn’t capture any big news.

Moreover, with such low temperatures today, the paparazzi wouldn’t be very diligent.

After returning to the set, both regained their composure, and the kissing scene that had NG’d more than ten times was finally completed.

They wrapped up at ten o’clock in the evening. On the way back to the hotel, Sheng Li noticed Yuan Yuan grinning at her phone and leaned over to ask, “What are you looking at? So happy.”

On the screen was a photo of her and Yu Chi standing under the lamppost. The lighting wasn’t great, their outlines were hazy, but the ambiance was good, giving it a film-like quality.

Yuan Yuan hadn’t taken just this one photo. Recently, she’d secretly taken quite a few pictures of the two together.

Sheng Li raised an eyebrow: “Let me see?”

Yuan Yuan had specifically created an album to store their photos. She sighed: “It’s just a bit frustrating. These photos can only be seen by me. Without sisters to ship the CP together, it’s like missing out on hundreds of times the fun... I don’t know when you’ll have a CP super-topic and countless fans.” She exclaimed, “Oh yeah, I heard from Xiao Chen that the girl who brought gifts the other day clearly doesn’t like Big Brother-in-law.”

“After all, she’s a Starry Couple CP fan.” Sheng Li opened the album and discovered there were over a hundred photos, including some from more than three years ago. She complained, “Why haven’t I seen these photos before?”

Yuan Yuan felt wronged: “Back then, you didn’t even open the gifts Big Brother-in-law sent you, let alone look at photos...”

True.

Sheng Li felt a bit guilty and touched her earlobe.

—

Early the next morning, Yu Chi and Xiao Chen returned to Beijing with Huang Baiyan for an appearance. They were bringing some new talent from the company to record a program. Previously, Yu Chi had insisted on taking Xu Yuan and voluntarily offered to halve the salary for Rose 2 , causing the company to lose a large sum of money. To compensate, they squeezed it out of him by having him bring newcomers to a few variety shows.

After recording the show for two nights, early on the third morning, they hurried back to the set. Huang Baiyan drove them to the airport and glanced at the rearview mirror. “The production team has a five-day Lunar New Year holiday. You only have one day off. Do you want to move into the new house before the New Year? I’ll call someone to help you pack your things.”

For these three years, Yu Chi had lived in the previous two-bedroom apartment. Even though he became immensely popular and earned a lot of money, he hadn’t moved. He knew which neighborhood Sheng Li lived in but didn’t know the exact address. It was easy for Huang Baiyan, with his extensive connections in the industry, to find out.

After confirming his role in Xu Yuan , Yu Chi had Huang Baiyan rent a place for him in Sheng Li’s neighborhood.

Yu Chi replied to messages on WeChat, thought for a moment, and said: “Don’t touch anything in the bedroom. The rest can be moved over first.”

After replying to the messages, he saw that Sheng Li had just posted on her social media: It’s eight o’clock, ready to start work.

Attached was a photo.

In the photo, the makeup artist was styling her hair, which was tucked behind her ear, revealing the star-shaped earring on her right ear.

Echeng was rather remote, and it would take several hours by car to reach the filming location after landing. The driver took them directly to where the crew was shooting—Cheng Cemetery. All the day’s scenes were being filmed there.

When Yu Chi got out of the car, Chen Yuan was explaining the scene to Sheng Li. Everyone greeted him as he walked over.

Sheng Li heard the sound, looked up, and saw him. She was momentarily stunned before smiling: “Officer Cheng, I thought you wouldn’t arrive until seven in the evening.” Coincidentally, her next scene was a kissing scene with Jing Yiming. She originally thought she could avoid overlapping with him…

Yu Chi looked at her: “I arrived a little earlier.”

Chen Yuan checked his watch and laughed: “It’s only four o’clock now. You can go back to the hotel to rest. After finishing this scene and moving back to the studio, your scenes probably won’t start until after eight.”

Yu Chi: “It’s fine. I slept enough in the car. I’ll stay here and watch.”

The scene to be filmed now was the opening scene of the movie. After the exoneration of Xu Yongliang’s case, the first thing Xu Yuan did upon returning to Echeng was buy a newspaper, come to the cemetery, and burn it for Xu Yongliang, telling him that he was innocent, that he had no crime.

Sheng Li rehearsed the scene twice, and then they officially started filming. Yu Chi and Chen Yuan stood behind the monitor. When the wind blew Sheng Li’s long hair, revealing the star-shaped earring on her right ear, Yu Chi was momentarily startled and said: “Director, shouldn’t her earring be removed?”

Chen Yuan slapped the script against his palm and shouted loudly: “Right, Xu Yuan, take off the earring for this scene.”

Xu Yuan liked to wear jewelry, and usually wore all sorts of earrings, studs, and pendants. That morning, Sheng Li came to the set wearing the earring, and Chen Yuan said there was no need to remove it. Wearing mismatched earrings suited Xu Yuan’s personality, so she kept it on while filming all day. However, for this scene, dressed all in black, she shouldn’t wear any jewelry.

Sheng Li quickly took off the earring but didn’t see Yuan Yuan nearby, so she had to put the earring in her coat pocket temporarily and re-filmed the scene.

After finishing this scene, the crew packed up and returned to the studio.

On the way, Sheng Li hesitated about whether to inform Yu Chi first that her kissing scene with Jing Yiming had been rescheduled to tonight. Then she thought, they weren’t even dating now, so why should she report to him?

Yu Chi had indeed been possessive in the past. When she filmed kissing scenes, he asked her to minimize NGs, and when she begged him not to watch on set, it felt like surrendering territory and paying reparations. Sheng Li still remembered the insatiable demands that night after filming the kissing scene, leaving her unable to cope. However, years had passed, and since he was also an actor now, he should understand, right? Moreover, he knew the extent of this film from the beginning, so he shouldn’t hold a grudge over a kissing scene.

Lost in thought all the way, Sheng Li got out of the car and was hit by the cold wind, unable to help but despise her own premature worries.

Therefore, by the time she changed clothes, touched up her makeup, and rinsed her mouth, she was already quite composed.

Yu Chi went to the bathroom. As he washed his hands at the sink, Jing Yiming came in holding mouthwash and a cup. Seeing him, he casually remarked: “Traveling all day must be exhausting. Won’t you go back to rest for a while?”

“No.”

The restroom was small. Yu Chi turned off the tap to give way. His gaze casually swept over and suddenly froze. He stared at what Jing Yiming was holding for two seconds, imperceptibly furrowed his brow, then looked up, “Next… filming a kissing scene?”

Jing Yiming hummed, unscrewing the cap of the mouthwash bottle. Thinking about the last time Yu Chi and Sheng Li NG’d over ten times, he chuckled: “I saw that Sheng Li is in good condition. This scene shouldn’t be too difficult to film.”

Yu Chi lowered his eyes and softly hummed: “I’ll step out first.”

As he turned around, his entire face turned cold.

Without expression, he walked out, glanced around, and his gaze settled somewhere. Sheng Li was reciting lines from the script, immersing herself in the character. Yuan Yuan handed her a glass of water, and she lowered her head, gently sucking on the straw for a couple of sips before pushing it away.

Yu Chi coldly stared at her for a while. Xiao Chen, standing beside him, found it spine-chilling. This gaze was like trying to bore a hole through Sheng Li, no—it was more like he wanted to devour her alive. He quickly coughed and whispered, “Brother, can you tone it down a bit? The way you’re looking at Lili-nee is too blatant…”

Others could tell there was something going on!

Yu Chi’s lips curved indifferently, and without speaking, he walked straight towards Sheng Li.

Yuan Yuan tugged at Sheng Li’s sleeve. Sheng Li looked up and saw Yu Chi walking towards her emotionlessly. Her heart skipped a beat, but she couldn’t immediately detach herself from the emotions of the character Xu Yuan. Before she could think, Yu Chi had already stopped by her side.

Reacting slowly, she looked up and blinked at him.

Yu Chi slightly leaned forward, lowering his head to whisper softly in her ear: “Sister, if you NG more than three times, I’ll come to settle accounts with you tonight. Same code as before—don’t dare to keep the door closed.”