HYAT - 56

The man who knocked on the door seemed a bit puzzled as to why Shen Qianzhan wasn’t in her room at this hour. He let out a surprised “huh” and turned to leave.

Shen Qianzhan heard the footsteps outside the door fade away. She bit her lower lip and glanced at Ji Qinghe.

See? She was so innocent.

Ji Qinghe was also looking at her. His gaze was more revealing, like a flame hidden in a fireplace, dancing and burning red.

In fact, the candlelight was indeed reflected in his dark eyes.

The faint scent of black pear blossoms drifted from the candle, a wisp at a time.

“He’s gone.” Shen Qianzhan’s gaze flickered toward the door. “It’s a good thing there’s been no signal these past few days. Otherwise, the whole crew would know I’m not in my room and can’t be found anywhere.”

She lightly pushed his shoulder with her fingertips: “Don’t jump to conclusions. When you come to the set yourself, you’ll see that the atmosphere on the crew is actually very good. Who would have nothing better to do than wander around and give people gossip?”

Ji Qinghe didn’t move.

He placed the scented candle on the windowsill. As the flame moved, the two faint fires in his eyes seemed to be extinguished, leaving only a deep, quiet stillness. “Do I look that easy to placate?”

Shen Qianzhan shook her head, sincerely and genuinely denying the question: “You don’t just look it; you are very hard to placate.”

Ji Qinghe pretended to bite her again. The moment his teeth touched her wrist, Shen Qianzhan immediately changed her tune: “No, I’m just talking nonsense.” She struggled a bit but couldn’t get free. From her expression to her eyes, she looked hopelessly resigned: “CEO Ji, are you and your nephew, Ji Lin, the same age this year?”

“I wish we were,” Ji Qinghe finally let go of her. His hand dropped and rested on the table behind her. “What did they talk to you about when they knocked on your door, huh?”

Shen Qianzhan didn’t answer. She lowered her head and turned to the side, looking into Ji Qinghe’s eyes for two seconds, then asked: “What do you want to know from me by asking that, huh?”

A few strands of her hair fell as she tilted her head. The jet-black hair contrasted with her fair skin, which was as smooth as cream.

Ji Qinghe’s gaze fell on her slightly upturned lips. Her lips were a little dry, not a vibrant red, but a little pale, like a faded artificial flower.

He swallowed and suddenly asked an unrelated question: “How much longer until Time starts filming?”

Shen Qianzhan was taken aback by the question. She frowned slightly and mentally calculated the progress: “At most two months.”

Once the script outline was finalized, the script itself would be completed quickly. The director and production team were already in place, so it wouldn’t take long to get the crew together. She was used to working with them, so there was no need to get to know each other.

She just needed to use this free time to scout filming locations. Once the script was ready, they could start filming.

Ji Qinghe didn’t say anything.

Shen Qianzhan thought he felt it was too slow and explained: “The slowest part of a crew is finalizing the script. This is the most time-consuming part of the pre-production process. Once the script is finalized, all the other processes can move forward together, and filming is the part where you can see the most progress.”

Besides, she had a deadline. Since it was a tribute drama, what was the point of airing it after the tribute period had passed?

Although Shen Qianzhan was puzzled by his sudden question about the start of filming, she hadn’t forgotten that Ji Qinghe was the investor, so she answered his question.

She was waiting for his reply, but Ji Qinghe started to laugh. Being so close, his facial features were at their most striking. Shen Qianzhan was momentarily distracted by his smile. When she came to her senses, he lightly scratched the tip of her nose with his bent finger and said: “Then in two months, when I come to knock on your door late at night, you don’t have to answer, and I’ll know what we talked about.”

Shen Qianzhan was first taken aback by the coldness of his words, but after staring at Ji Qinghe for a while, she found it funny and eventually burst into laughter. She rested her head on his arm, only her eyes showing. With her lips pursed, she asked him, half-jokingly, half-angrily: “When are you leaving tomorrow?”

“As soon as I’m awake,” Ji Qinghe said, looking down at her. He didn’t even notice that his tone had softened. “I just needed to confirm your safety and drop off the supplies. I was supposed to leave today.”

Shen Qianzhan blinked and didn’t respond.

Ji Qinghe didn’t want to say more and changed the subject, asking her: “When are you going back to Beijing?”

“In a few more days.” Shen Qianzhan turned to look out the window. The glass was fogged up. She wiped a patch clear with her hand and looked at the dark street through the damp spot: “Su Zan and I are like imperial envoys; we came here to get things done. If we go back without a result, we’ll get a scolding.”

“But I can’t stay for too long and neglect my own work.” Her phone has been as useless as scrap metal these past few days, so she couldn’t contact the outside world. She had, however, found some peace of mind and made a schedule for herself.

After returning to Beijing, she needed to finalize a director and work on the script.

Shao Chouxi had an interest in cooperating, so securing him wouldn’t be difficult. She could pretty much secure him with just the script outline and the first episode. The rest was scouting filming locations and inviting the lead actors.

With Ji Qinghe around, she didn’t even have to worry about funding. She could just send a note, and the money would be in her account immediately.

Thinking about this, Shen Qianzhan suddenly remembered her trip to Xi’an: “Remember to explain things to Mr. Ji for me. After I finish up here, we can set a new time?”

The purpose of this trip to Wuxi had already exceeded Ji Qinghe’s expectations, and the trip to Xi’an became less important.

“Whatever you want,” he said in a low voice. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

Shen Qianzhan agreed: “Have Su Zan come get me tomorrow. I’ll go with him to see you guys off.”

Before she could finish, footsteps returned.

The hotel’s soundproofing was terrible. She instinctively fell silent and looked warily toward the door.

Sure enough, the footsteps stopped at her door. There was a steady knock on the door. This time, the person outside was much calmer and announced his name after a few knocks: “Producer Shen, it’s Xiao Sheng. I need to talk to you about something.”

Xiao Sheng?

Shen Qianzhan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. She looked at Ji Qinghe, sat up a little straighter, and asked Producer Xiao outside the door: “I just fell asleep, so it’s not a good time. Is it an urgent matter?”

Perhaps because she said she had just fallen asleep, Xiao Sheng hesitated for a few seconds and said: “It’s a bit urgent, but I can wait outside for a while.”

Shen Qianzhan: “???”

Wait, did he mean he still intended to come into the room to talk?

She stared at Ji Qinghe, her eyes filled with a look that said: “You rascal, shouldn’t you go hide first?”