HYAT - 51

After lunch, Shen Qianzhan followed Su Zan to Xiao Sheng’s room to discuss the next steps.

Xiao Sheng’s room was on the same floor as Shen Qianzhan’s, but at opposite ends of the hallway.

After the hotel’s air conditioning stopped working, the hallway and corridors were as cold as an ice cellar, radiating a bone-chilling coldness from the walls to the floor.

Su Zan, who grew up in the north, was extremely unaccustomed to the freezing, unheated environment. He shivered all the way to Xiao Sheng’s door, his face pale and his lips tinged with purple.

Shen Qianzhan took off her scarf and handed it to him: “Wear this.” She pointed to his lips, “They’re turning purple from the cold.”

Su Zan shook his head.

He hugged himself tightly with both arms, but even so, only the parts where the fabric overlapped provided a brief moment of warmth. He didn’t even want to expose his fingers. He lifted his chin and pointed forward: “We’re almost there. I’ll just go in and ask Xiao Sheng for a drink to warm up. Sister Zhan, you’re a woman and not as strong, so don’t bother.”

He mumbled to himself and hugged his arms tighter: “Now that the city is snowed in, it’s difficult to even go outside, let alone with the power out. If we get sick at a time like this, we can’t even go to the hospital.”

Shen Qianzhan didn’t bother arguing with him. She grabbed Su Zan’s arm and pulled him closer without a word. She wrapped her beige fluffy scarf around him twice, stood on her tiptoes, and quickly tightened the scarf around his neck.

Su Zan’s face turned a bizarre red. He stared at Shen Qianzhan in a daze, and just as a look of emotion began to appear on his face, Shen Qianzhan slapped him on the back of his head, immediately bringing him back to his senses.

Shen Qianzhan glared at him: “What are you looking at? I’m the woman you can never have.”

After being hit, the back of Su Zan’s head was still throbbing. He felt the fluffy scarf around his neck and pouted.

Su Zan was good-looking, tall, and had a great personality. He was witty and charming, so in the early days when he and Shen Qianzhan were at social gatherings, people often mistook him for one of Shen Qianzhan’s newly signed artists.

Later, when they found out Su Zan was just an assistant, many people felt it was a shame.

Even Su Zan himself had moments of over-confidence about his looks, becoming quite full of himself. He had once asked Shen Qianzhan if he could sell fan fantasies and become an artist, given his good looks, Su Lanyi being the CEO of Qiandeng, and his family’s wealth and background.

Shen Qianzhan’s response at the time was: “If CEO Su agrees, of course, you can.”

Su Zan’s conditions for becoming an artist were perfect. Even by today’s standards, his background and network were exceptional. Of course, the “conditions” weren’t just about him personally but the massive network and background behind him.

When Shen Qianzhan answered him like that, she had already guessed that Su Lanyi would reject Su Zan’s fantasy.

Su Zan wasn’t truly passionate about being a performer. Once the novelty wore off, this rich second-generation heir, who only wanted to squander his family’s wealth, would find it boring and restrictive. Knowing this, the Su Lanyi she knew would never invest in such a fleeting passion.

Naturally, Su Zan was greatly disappointed and was despondent for a while. It was during this period that Su Zan, perhaps out of a rebellious or childish retaliatory mindset, showed an astonishing enthusiasm for the elegant and aloof Shen Qianzhan who seemed to disdain the world.

Shen Qianzhan still wasn’t willing to define this as a pursuit.

Su Zan’s enthusiasm only lasted for a week before it was defeated by Shen Qianzhan’s complete lack of interest.

At the time, she was sitting in front of a mirror, drawing her eyebrows and applying lipstick. She gave Su Zan a cold glare and said: “Do you, a rich second-generation heir who can’t stand on his own two feet and is still living off his family, have the right to pursue me?”

She didn’t even look at Su Zan and said softly: “Do you want to see my WeChat contact groups? My admirers are from A to Z, and you can find out about their net worth on Baidu Encyclopedia. Come back when you meet the criteria to be in that group.”

Su Zan’s eyes turned red with frustration. He was incredibly wronged: “What’s wrong with me? I’m good-looking, my family is rich, and I’m young and strong.”

Shen Qianzhan sneered. She looked at him with the same kind of affectionate pity she would show to a younger brother: “See? The more immature a man is, the more he cares about external conditions.” She put the cap on her lipstick and ruffled his hair as she stood up: “Alright, if you’ve had enough of this, come back and be my assistant, and I’ll let it go. If you continue to be so muddled and cause me trouble, you can leave now.”

She took off her coat, wearing only a magnificent evening gown. She stood under the light, proud and mocking: “I’m the woman you can never have.”

Su Zan always remembered that scene. The Shen Qianzhan of that night was like someone who had stepped out of a painting with an umbrella, and her every frown and smile was a flirtatious and graceful spectacle.

Afterward, the girls he met were either bland and tasteless or garish and vulgar. None of them could captivate an audience with just a single glance like Shen Qianzhan.

Later on, he remembered Shen Qianzhan’s last words, gave up, and never joked with her again.

Because of this, Su Zan felt an unspoken envy for Ji Qinghe. He had been with her through thick and thin, navigating the dazzling and intoxicating world of fame and fortune. Even he had moments of losing himself in the hedonistic lifestyle, but Shen Qianzhan had always remained clear-headed.

Ji Qinghe must have been special to her.

Otherwise, with her track record, it would be easy for her to fend off any man’s advances and desires.

Recalling the past, Su Zan felt a bit lonely and disappointed.

He buried half of his face in his scarf and mumbled indistinctly: “Only CEO Ji would dare to take on a challenge like this.”

Shen Qianzhan didn’t hear him clearly, but she guessed that this little pup’s mouth was probably not saying anything nice. She didn’t ask again and let it go. She pulled her down jacket’s collar tighter and unceremoniously kicked Su Zan: “What are you standing around for? Lead the way.”

Su Zan yelped, and the romantic atmosphere that had just appeared was instantly shattered by that kick.

Damn, did this woman have iron feet? That kick really hurt.

________________________________________

The closer they got to Xiao Sheng’s room, the louder it got.

At first, Shen Qianzhan thought it was a crowd of people, creating a lively atmosphere. As the noise became clearer, she realized it was an argument.

She grabbed the naive Su Zan, who was rushing straight ahead, and stopped him in a sheltered corner. After listening for a few minutes, she had a rough idea of what was going on.

The one yelling was the logistics manager, and the ones trying to mediate were the executive director and the finance officer.

Xiao Sheng was silent; she didn’t know if he was even there.

Shen Qianzhan heard the gist of it and was just about to wait for them to finish their argument before going in, when the security door to her left opened. Song Yan, accompanied by her assistant, came out and ran into Shen Qianzhan.

The slightly embarrassed producer, with her quick wits, pulled out a cigarette from her pack.

Song Yan smiled without speaking. She winked at her and naturally started a conversation: “I was so happy to hear you had arrived yesterday.” Her eyes glanced at Su Zan, and she politely nodded her chin: “Xiao Liang said you were too tired and went to rest after the meeting, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Shen Qianzhan had a good impression of Song Yan. Although they weren’t close, they often ran into each other at events, so they weren’t complete strangers. After all, the people on Shen Qianzhan’s WeChat list were people she could hold a conversation with.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two walked together to knock on the door.

Upon hearing the doorbell, the argument inside finally stopped.

The finance officer opened the door. When she saw the three people standing there, her expression changed, and she looked a little embarrassed.

Shen Qianzhan moved to the side to enter the room.

Producers often have meetings, so their rooms usually have a small living room. After Shen Qianzhan, Su Zan, Song Yan, and her assistant came in, the space instantly became narrow and cramped, with no room to move.

Xiao Sheng, who had been sitting silently on the sofa, finally looked up and greeted them without much enthusiasm, inviting them to sit down.

With the power out, the electric kettles in the hotel weren’t working. In front of Xiao Sheng was a small stove with a pot of warm wine on it. The rich aroma of the wine added a lot of warmth to the room.

The assistant got some disposable paper cups and poured some wine for everyone to warm up.

The atmosphere in the room was a bit stiff. As he poured the wine, he tried to ease the tension: “The power went out at the hotel this morning, and I was worried that the water would stop soon. And just now, when I went to wash the teacups, I found out... it did.”

Shen Qianzhan and Su Zan exchanged glances. She had woken up late, and the water was still running when she got ready. She hadn’t expected the water to be turned off just a short time later.

“The logistics team has been negotiating with the hotel to provide daily water, but the talks haven’t been very pleasant,” the assistant said, cautiously glancing at Xiao Sheng’s expression. Seeing that he didn’t object, he continued: “From the beginning of the snowstorm until today, the logistics team has put in a lot of effort to provide food and water for the crew, and it’s been hard on everyone. So, when the power and water went out, it’s understandable that emotions would run high.”

As a head producer, Shen Qianzhan oversaw the big picture and rarely concerned herself with the intricate operational chain of the crew.

With a snowstorm, the roads were blocked and transportation was difficult. The only shelter available also had no water or electricity. Anyone in this situation would feel powerless.

She didn’t want to get too involved in Spring River’s internal affairs and turned her attention to Xiao Sheng.

He was clearly impatient with these trivial matters, but with Su Zan and Shen Qianzhan present, he patiently resolved the issues one by one, sent the logistics team away, and closed the door to continue the conversation they hadn’t finished yesterday.

By the time Shen Qianzhan arrived, transportation in Wuxi was already difficult. Many plans from yesterday couldn’t be implemented, and now with the power and water outages and the loss of signal, they were completely stuck. Not to mention Xiao Sheng, even she felt as if she was being played with by fate.

Right now, let alone solving the crisis, the crew was trapped, and there was nothing anyone could do to salvage the situation. No one could help them.

But before she left, Shen Qianzhan still gave Xiao Sheng a word of reassurance. First, they had to get through the snowstorm. Afterward, they would have the finance department make a report. It wouldn’t be impossible to save the project if they invested more and hired a big star.

Furthermore, before the show even aired, no one could know whether the project would be profitable or not, so there was no need to be so pessimistic. The most important thing to deal with right now was the shortage of food and the instability of morale among the trapped crew. In the face of a disaster, the most critical thing was to ensure the safety of all crew members.

________________________________________

Shen Qianzhan was not nearly as calm as she appeared. She was anxious that her phone was a useless brick, good only for a flashlight and telling time. She was also worried about the lack of water and electricity, unable to wash her face, take a shower, or do her daily beauty routine.

Fortunately, the crew usually had floodlights. Su Zan borrowed one and, along with Song Yan and her assistant, the four of them sat in a circle to play mahjong.

Around eleven o’clock, Shen Qianzhan was too tired to continue and ended the game.

After returning to her room and doing a quick wash-up, she wrapped herself in a blanket and lay on the bed, listening to the relentless wind outside the window and the occasional sound of sleet hitting the glass. She slowly drifted off to sleep.

At first, her dreams were shallow, as if she were reliving the day’s events.

From meeting Song Yan to the hotel providing daily water in the evening, to playing mahjong by the light of a floodlight with the curtains drawn, every scene was as vivid and real as if she could reach out and touch it.

Gradually, her dreams deepened.

The dream jumped to noon, when Su Zan laughed and said, “There was nothing wrong at first, but after I told him that all the actors in this crew are totally your type, now he probably has a reason to call.”

In the dream, Su Zan was chattering endlessly: “Look at how you usually act so flirtatious. What kind of impression have you left on CEO Ji...”

“You better be careful. CEO Ji will probably come to the film studio himself to keep an eye on you.”

She held a chopstick in her mouth and said indifferently: “If he’s got the guts, he’ll come.”

Su Zan laughed so hard he was rolling on the bed: “You don’t know if he’s got the guts?”

“I do,” Shen Qianzhan smiled wickedly, a hungry look in her eyes and eyebrows. “I just don’t know if he has enough to plant a seed.” In any case, with the roads blocked by the snowstorm, it was the perfect time to sow a seed in fertile ground.

She laughed out loud in her dream, just about to sink into a more intimate scene. A faint sound of conversation came from the door, sounding like Su Zan and another man.

Shen Qianzhan’s consciousness cleared slightly, and she listened intently.

Then, the door lock clicked open. Shen Qianzhan’s heart thumped a little, and she instinctively opened her eyes. In her blurry, stinging vision, a beam of light from a flashlight shone in from outside.

The moment the door closed, Shen Qianzhan woke up completely, her sleepiness gone. She sat up in bed, wrapped in her blanket, and asked in a cold voice, “Who’s there?”

Her heart was pounding. She first discerned that the person who had entered was a man with a tall and straight posture. Just as she was about to call for help, he seemed to sense her intention and spoke first: “It’s me.”

Shen Qianzhan was slightly stunned.

After a brief analysis, her blank mind still didn’t register that the danger had passed.

She quickly got up, grabbed the down jacket from on top of the blanket, and draped it over her shoulders. In her haste, she didn’t have time to put on her shoes. She stood barefoot on the floor, retreated a few steps, and firmly clutched the ashtray on the table.

Ji Qinghe was only two steps away from her. Seeing that he had startled her, he didn’t move recklessly. He shone the flashlight on his face and repeated with a hint of mockery: “It’s me.”

For a moment, Shen Qianzhan thought she was in a dream with exceptionally clear senses, and he was the one who had entered her dream, walking toward her with a lantern. In that moment of daze, he had already come closer. Ignoring the cold he carried with him from the wind and snow, he leaned over and hugged her tightly.

“It’s me, Ji Qinghe.”