For the next few days, Jiang Chi was very uncomfortable whenever he had to face Ye Lan.

He couldn't help it during filming, but during breaks or after work, Jiang Chi tried his best to avoid Ye Lan, afraid that his little secret thoughts would be exposed and things would backfire.

He wanted to wait for this awkward atmosphere to fade before he sidled over to curry favor again.

However, this "awkward atmosphere" was clearly Jiang Chi's one-sided notion. Film Emperor Ye considered himself to be upright and forthright. So, after Jiang Chi had dodged him for the umpteenth time, Ye Lan, in front of several assistants, cornered Jiang Chi by the car door and demanded, "Why are you running?"

Jiang Chi: “…”

His idol was still so direct it made his legs go weak.

Jiang Chi said awkwardly, "I... I wasn't running."

Ye Lan gave Jiang Chi a distrustful glance, then looked at Li Weili. "Weren't you two just hiding from me?"

"Of course not!" Li Weili shook his head like a rattle-drum, his tone firm. "We were afraid of being late, so we were in a hurry. We didn't see you there."

Ye Lan was expressionless. "We finished work at the same time. If I'm not here, did Director Ren make me stay behind to clean the set with the crew?"

Li Weili's face was tense. He shook his head hard, his face almost turning the color of pig liver.

Filming in this location was finally finished, and the entire crew was about to move to Nanping. Jiang Chi's and Ye Lan's groups left the set one after another, with Jiang Chi just one step away from leaving first.

Ye Lan glanced at Jiang Chi, paused, and tried to make his tone as even as possible. "I brought a few too many people today, and a lot of stuff, so the car's a bit crowded..."

Jiang Chi was stunned for a moment, then said enthusiastically, "Then should my assistant and I move some of your things over? It's fine! My car has plenty of space, we won't damage your things. Is it clothes? I can hang them on my side."

"..." Ye Lan was silent for a moment before continuing what he was saying, "If you don't mind... I'll ride in your car."

The rims of Jiang Chi's ears immediately turned red.

Ye Lan wanted to ride in his car?!

He and Ye Lan, Ye Lan and him, two people in one car...

Was his luck really going to keep falling into his lap like this?

Ye Lan raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't want to?"

Film Emperor Ye was rarely refused, so this situation was a bit novel.

"No, no, no..." Jiang Chi had no intention of being unique just to attract Film Emperor Ye's attention. Without the slightest hesitation, he blurted out, "I couldn't ask for more. Um... please, get in the car first."

Jiang Chi personally opened the car door for Ye Lan.

Li Weili had always been a little afraid of Ye Lan. Seeing Ye Lan get in the car, he leaned close to Jiang Chi's ear and whispered, "Brother Jiang, if it's all the same, I won't ride with you. I'll just take the crew's car."

The thought of sitting silently for several hours next to Film Emperor Ye made Li Weili's back ache.

Jiang Chi's mind was in a fog. He nodded dazedly, "Fine, fine."

Li Weili hugged his backpack and happily slipped away.

Jiang Chi held the car door, hesitating for a moment, unsure whether he should sit in the back with Ye Lan or in the front passenger seat.

If it were up to him, he would, of course, want to sit next to Ye Lan.

But Jiang Chi clearly remembered Ye Lan saying in an interview four years ago that he usually liked to be alone in the car, so he could relax and read a script or listen to light music.

It was a four-hour drive from here to Nanping. If he sat next to Ye Lan, he would probably disturb him, right?

Seeing Jiang Chi hesitating outside the car, Ye Lan asked, "Did you forget something?"

"No, no." Jiang Chi swallowed and tentatively asked, "Um, I... sit here?"

Jiang Chi pointed to the spot next to Ye Lan.

Ye Lan frowned.

Jiang Chi's heart tightened.

"Where else?" Ye Lan retorted incredulously. "Do you want to sit on my lap?"

"I wouldn't dare!!!"

Jiang Chi's face flushed bright red.

'I might as well die from stupidity!!!'

Jiang Chi silently covered his face, climbed into the car, sat properly beside Ye Lan, and obediently fastened his seatbelt.

Ren Haichuan's car was at the very front. Ten minutes later, his car started, and the cars behind slowly followed. Half an hour later, they were on the highway.

"Brother Ye Lan..."

Since getting in the car, Ye Lan had been looking down at his tablet, scrolling through Weibo and reading the news.

Jiang Chi, wrapped in a large blanket, pretended to read his script while sneaking glances at Ye Lan from the corner of his eye.

After calming down, he felt that Ye Lan might have noticed his odd behavior these past two days. Thinking back, he had been quite rude. Jiang Chi softly explained, "I wasn't avoiding you, I'm just..."

Ye Lan looked up.

"I'm just..." Jiang Chi pursed his lips and decided to just tell the truth. "A little... embarrassed."

Ye Lan closed the news app and smiled. "I took advantage of you."

"No, no." Jiang Chi's cheeks turned slightly red as he said in a low voice, "I know you were helping me... I'm grateful to you in my heart, but I was too embarrassed to say it. Please don't misunderstand me for being unappreciative..."

At the mention of that scene, Ye Lan unconsciously rubbed his fingers together. His thoughts suddenly shifted, and he asked, "Director Ren scolded you in front of so many people that day. Do you hold a grudge against him?"

"Not at all." Jiang Chi looked blank. "It was my own fault for not acting well, why would I hold a grudge? After so many NGs, I'm just thankful Director Ren didn't get angry with me."

Ye Lan smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Chi's words were probably sincere. If he didn't hold a grudge against someone as harsh as Ren Haichuan, then by the same logic, he probably didn't mind his own bad tone that day, right?

If he hadn't personally seen Ren Haichuan scold Jiang Chi that night, Ye Lan wouldn't have even realized he had also been harsh to Jiang Chi once.

Ye Lan said, "Ren Haichuan just has a disagreeable temper, but he's actually fine otherwise... He wasn't deliberately targeting you that day. He knew you could do better, so he got mad when you couldn't perform up to par."

Ye Lan and Ren Haichuan had worked together for many years and knew each other's tempers and personalities well. When Jiang Chi first joined the crew, Ren Haichuan definitely wouldn't have had such high expectations for him. But as filming progressed, everyone's expectations and demands for Jiang Chi grew higher and higher.

Fresh Meat Jiang's acting skills were much better than everyone had anticipated. Once they knew he could get a perfect score, seeing him get a ninety-nine was naturally no longer satisfactory.

Ye Lan couldn't be bothered to explain all that. Knowing Jiang Chi hadn't taken it to heart, he picked up his tablet and continued to play. Jiang Chi, in turn, continued reading his script.

Over an hour later, the convoy of cars stopped at a rest area.

Ye Lan's assistant came to knock on the window, saying they would rest for fifteen minutes before leaving again.

Ye Lan stretched, rubbed his slightly sore neck, and frowned. "Don't you only have one scene tomorrow? Why does it look like you're never going to finish?"

"Ah!" Jiang Chi looked up and explained in detail, "Starting tomorrow, we'll be filming scenes from a few years ago. The timeline is shifted back by a full five years, right? The character's entire mentality and temperament will have changed. I'm worried I won't be able to adjust... so it's better to look at it more."

A movie's filming schedule is adjusted based on many subjective and objective conditions; it's rare to shoot in complete chronological order. It's done in whatever way is most convenient, and then edited according to the timeline in post-production. To accommodate schedules and locations, filming for "The Scum" had started from the second half. Now, they were going back to film the first half of the movie. In the story, Zhan Ming and Pei Ran were both several years younger, their entire state of being completely different. Jiang Chi didn't dare to take it lightly.

In fact, this was relatively easy for Jiang Chi. In the upcoming scenes, his character's age and his real age were very close, both in their twenties. He could pretty much just act as himself.

Ye Lan, on the other hand...

Jiang Chi coughed. As long as his idol reined in his off-the-charts hormones, which were always on display, just based on his face, playing a guy in his twenties was absolutely not a problem!

Jiang Chi thought Ye Lan hadn't brought his script again and proactively offered, "Do you want to look at mine? I've already marked tomorrow's scenes."

"No need." Ye Lan pushed the car door open, getting out impatiently. "It's just one group scene tomorrow. I can just bullshit my way through it..."

From the car in front, Ren Haichuan, who happened to be getting out to go to the restroom: "..."