Isn’t money good?

Chapter 35

Yan Shiqiu’s smile as he turned back was too stunning. Even Chen Hangsheng couldn’t help but be amazed for a moment.

The filming continued.

Chu Junyan walked over to Chu Yuexuan’s side. “Second Brother, what were you thinking about just now? I called you several times, but you didn’t respond.”

Chu Yuexuan lowered his eyes, his slender, pale fingers resting on the city wall. Below, the streets bustled with activity, people of all kinds passing through, a glimpse of life in all its forms.

“I was thinking about An Mo.”

He looked up, gazing into the distance. “Today is the anniversary of his death.”

Chu Junyan fell silent. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Chu Yuexuan, both looking ahead. After a long while, he spoke again: “Did you visit him today?”

Chu Yuexuan shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll visit him after I finish what I need to do.” His voice was soft. “Soon. Just a few more days.”

Chu Junyan had already guessed what he intended to do, and his eyes darkened, becoming unfathomably deep.

He turned, gripping Chu Yuexuan’s hand firmly, staring into his eyes. “Second Brother, must you really do this? Even if in the end…”

Chu Yuexuan stopped him from continuing, nodding firmly. “Yes.”

Brushing away Chu Junyan’s hand, he turned to leave. But after a few steps, he stopped and looked back toward the distant horizon. The sunset had faded to its last traces, but the evening clouds remained beautiful.

He slowly drew his gaze back, settling it on Chu Junyan, and asked with a smile: “The sunset is so beautiful. Tomorrow will be perfect weather, won’t it?”

…

The scene wrapped just before seven o’clock. Chen Hangsheng had suddenly gotten new inspiration during filming and decided to add an impromptu outing scene.

So with a grand gesture, he gave everyone an hour for dinner and pulled screenwriter Xu Ling aside for a whispered conversation.

Just after seven-thirty, the official website released a little surprise preview. It was a three-and-a-half-minute edited behind-the-scenes footage plus promotional photos of Ji Yunnian.

The photos were released five minutes before the footage.

Ji Yunnian had a full forehead and distinctly sculpted features that suited period costumes perfectly. Plus, he rarely acted in period dramas. His last one was three years ago.

So when the photos dropped, fans went absolutely wild.

[Ahhhhh, Teacher Ji looks amazing in period costume!]

[I’m so satisfied!]

[When the drama airs, I’m definitely going to edit a cut of just Teacher Ji’s beautiful moments. I’ll watch it day and night. I love his costume look so much!]

[Don’t leave, sister! Please share it with me!]

Ji Yunnian’s fans were having a lively celebration. Other fans who came to look around found nothing related to their own favorites and were about to leave when they refreshed and discovered the official blog had posted the three-and-a-half-minute behind-the-scenes footage.

This footage included not only several funny NG moments but also casual interactions between actors during breaks. It was entertaining and fun.

Everyone perked up immediately.

[Fu Baiqing really loves gaming! His eyes light up whenever he talks about games, but he’s hilariously bad at playing. My six-year-old cousin plays better than him.]

[Ruan Lin: You guys play your games, don’t disturb my studying.jpg]

[Whispering quietly, Xie and He are so locked in! They really match so well!]

[Zhang Youxu and Zhao Yutong are hilarious. After making each other NG, they start trash-talking each other in fake Northeast dialect. Why do I find it brainwashing even though they sound so wrong?]

[Holy crap, was that a single take?]

[Yan Shiqiu’s acting is that amazing?]

[???]

[Teacher Ji, why are you so OOC? Using candy to coax someone into drinking ginger tea isn’t scientific!]

[Dying of laughter. When coaxing like a child didn’t work, Teacher Ji switched to reverse psychology. Brilliant.]

[It’s like “there’s pushback, then counter-pushback”. Two childish ghosts confirmed!]

[Ahhhhhhh, Teacher Ji, if you keep this up, I’m really going to start shipping you two. It’s so shippable!]

[Pat pat, sweetie, we don’t ship. Isn’t Teacher Ji’s solo beauty enough? Come on, repeat “just ordinary friends” a few more times and your filter will disappear.]

[It’s fake, don’t ship it. They don’t even follow each other on Weibo.]

Ji Yunnian saw this comment and pondered for a few seconds before getting up with his phone.

He went around to all the main actors and successfully followed each other on Weibo, finally coming to Yan Shiqiu and saying: “Weibo. Follow me back.”

Yan Shiqiu looked confused: “?”

Realizing what he meant, he took out his phone and logged onto Weibo, checking his new followers. He was a bit surprised: “Why did you suddenly follow me?”

Ji Yunnian said: “It’ll be easier to coordinate for promotions later.”

That made sense. Chu Yuexuan and An Mo would definitely be promoted together.

Yan Shiqiu nodded. “Oh.”

He clicked to follow back, then thought for a moment and beckoned Ji Yunnian with his finger, signaling him to bend down closer. Then he lowered his voice and whispered: “Is it safe for us to follow each other?”

After all, there was a big villain watching them constantly, so they had to be careful.

Warm breath brushed against his ear. Ji Yunnian lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Yan Shiqiu’s face so close to his, his voice becoming deeper: “It’s safe.”

He suddenly raised his hand, placed it on top of Yan Shiqiu’s head, and gently pressed down twice. “Don’t worry.”

Caught off guard by the head pat, Yan Shiqiu froze.

Coming to his senses, he looked up at Ji Yunnian with a puzzled expression.

But Ji Yunnian had already withdrawn his hand and straightened up, returning to his previous distant demeanor.

“Let’s go.” He said, then left.

Yan Shiqiu turned his head, watching Ji Yunnian’s retreating figure. He touched the spot where Ji Yunnian had patted him twice, finding it completely baffling.

Unable to figure it out, he didn’t dwell on it further.

Unlocking his phone with his fingerprint, he clicked into Ji Yunnian’s Weibo profile and browsed through his following list, understanding immediately.

He had followed all the main creative staff of the production in one go.

Being mixed in with them, he really wasn’t special at all.

Under the official blog for “Rivers and Mountains in Turmoil”, Ji Yunnian’s fans were blocking CP shippers, but the CP fans didn’t cause trouble either. They took the behind-the-scenes footage back to their own happy little groups and chatted to their hearts’ content.

[I found new candy! (image) (image) Here Teacher Ji turns back. He’s looking at Yan Yan, right? That angle is definitely toward Yan Yan, because earlier footage showed Yan Yan sitting right there.]

[Woo woo woo, they’re real!]

[They have to be real! After all these years, I’ve never seen Teacher Ji bicker with someone like elementary school kids. They must already be married!]

[Ahhhhhhh! Teacher Ji and Yan Yan are following each other on Weibo now!!!]

…

That evening, Yan Shiqiu had a crying scene.

This wasn’t crying in the literal sense. He had to portray sadness and grief but couldn’t shed tears. It required tearless heartbreak.

After Chen Hangsheng explained it to him, he thought for a moment, then walked aside to consider how to perform it.

Five minutes later, he came back and nodded to indicate he was ready.

Chen Hangsheng said: “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If it doesn’t work in one take, we’ll do it several times.”

Chen Hangsheng was very satisfied with Yan Shiqiu.

Since filming began over a week ago, except for a few particularly important scenes that required extreme care, Yan Shiqiu basically nailed everything in two or three takes. It saved both effort and money.

Moreover, he motivated other actors in the same scenes to work harder, as everyone gave their all during filming, afraid of being outshone by a newcomer.

Yan Shiqiu smiled. “Alright.”

“All departments ready.” The script supervisor clapped the slate. “Action—”

Returning from the palace in a daze, Chu Yuexuan had servants bring wine and locked himself in his room.

Candlelight flickered as half his body was hidden in shadow, holding a white jade cup in his hand.

Chu Yuexuan’s expression was utterly blank, his eyes reflecting no light at all, just dark and empty as he mechanically, numbly drank cup after cup.

Later, he threw aside the cup and grabbed the wine pot directly, drinking straight from the spout. He tilted his head back, his neck elegantly long, half his face bathed in candlelight, his eyes rimmed with red.

After finishing the pot, he held it in his arms and suddenly began to laugh softly.

The sound started light, then gradually grew louder, hoarse laughter with sobs caught in his throat.

This laughter wasn’t required by Chen Hangsheng, nor was it written in the script. It was Yan Shiqiu’s own interpretation, and Chen Hangsheng didn’t call cut. Instead, he showed a delighted expression.

He signaled cameras 3 and 5 to move in for close-ups.

Though Yan Shiqiu was laughing, his eyes were crying, an incredibly intense sadness. Without tears, just reddened eye rims, yet it made everyone watching involuntarily drawn into the scene, feeling that profound sorrow.

Ji Yunnian stood alone in a corner, quietly watching Yan Shiqiu surrounded by several cameras. In his night-dark eyes, several points of starlight flickered.

This scene was performed exceptionally well by Yan Shiqiu, better than Chen Hangsheng had expected. He originally thought it would need at least three retakes, but surprisingly, it passed in one go.

He picked up his megaphone and directly praised Yan Shiqiu.

It took Yan Shiqiu quite a while to suppress the fully immersed emotions and give Chen Hangsheng a polite smile in return.

It was already past midnight. Yan Shiqiu had no more scenes, but he didn’t feel like moving, so he continued sitting there, tapping his toes against the ground and staring blankly at a fixed point.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around and saw it was Ji Yunnian. His eyes naturally curved into crescents. “You haven’t left yet?”

“Mm.” Ji Yunnian pulled over a nearby chair and sat down. “I stayed to see how you’d perform this scene.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Shiqiu turned his chair to face Ji Yunnian and asked curiously: “What did you think?”

“Very good.”

Yan Shiqiu wasn’t satisfied. “That’s it?”

“That laugh you added was very appropriate.” Ji Yunnian elaborated. “Crying scenes aren’t hard to perform, but to not shed a single tear while still making the audience truly feel that sadness, that’s not easy.

You used laughter, used your voice, to replace what would have been tears, making the grief even more pronounced.”

He concluded: “Unexpectedly perfect.”

Praise? Rainbow fart compliments?

Staring at Ji Yunnian in disbelief, Yan Shiqiu quickly pinched his arm. “Does it hurt?”

Ji Yunnian’s mouth twitched. “…What do you think?”

“If it hurts then it’s not a dream.” He reached out again, pressing the back of his hand to Ji Yunnian’s forehead and his other hand to his own, comparing temperatures. “No fever either… ?”

Ji Yunnian laughed despite himself, swatting away his hand as his tone cooled. “Looks like I can’t praise you.”

Yan Shiqiu protested: “That won’t do. I like hearing people praise me. I was just surprised earlier. After all, this is the first time you’ve said so much to praise me. Give me some time to adjust.”

He leaned closer, flashing Ji Yunnian a brilliant sunflower smile, his eyes sparkling brightly. “Those compliments were really nice to hear. How about a few more?”

Ji Yunnian stared at him for several seconds, then looked away. “No more.”

“You’re a good person.” Yan Shiqiu said earnestly.

Ji Yunnian snorted coldly. “Giving me a good person card won’t work either.”

Yan Shiqiu sighed and pouted. “Stingy.”

“Reverse psychology doesn’t work on me.” Ji Yunnian stood up, smoothing his clothes, and looked down at him. “Go remove your makeup and change clothes. I’ll treat you to a late-night snack.”

Yan Shiqiu happened to be a bit hungry and immediately beamed with joy. “Great!“