Ye Lan reread the text message Geng Tian had just sent over.

The previous messages from both sides were voice messages, which Ye Lan hadn't listened to.

It would be one thing to see it by accident, but intentionally going through someone's message history was a bit lame. Besides, there was no need to. Just by reading this single message, Ye Lan already understood most of the situation.

Insisting on not dragging him into it was indeed something Jiang Chi would do.

Ye Lan still remembered the time he joked with everyone about having Jiang Chi take him home after drinking, and how Jiang Chi hadn't played along.

Jiang Chi never intentionally revealed to others how good their relationship was.

If he were some peripheral, eighteenth-tier starlet, it would be understandable for Jiang Chi to not want to get too involved. But he just so happened to not be one.

Ye Lan wallowed in self-pity, considering himself to be in his prime.

Refusing to cling to such a powerful backer, was he crazy?

But Jiang Chi just wouldn't.

The lingering boyishness about him, twisted together with a stubbornness incomprehensible to adults, made him obstinately confront his manager and company, saying he was unwilling.

For a rare moment, Ye Lan's heart softened.

He's a kid, he's thin-skinned.

If he's unwilling, so be it. If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain. Ye Lan condescended and took the initiative to let Jiang Chi latch onto him.

As his mind was wandering, Geng Tian sent another message.

[Then hurry up!]

Ye Lan replied with a smile: Right away.

'Can't blame me for this...'

A smile played on Ye Lan's lips as he opened Jiang Chi's Weibo. He pursed his lips, hesitating. 'How should I reply to make it good?'

'It can't be too eager, or people will say Jiang Chi is a clout chaser; but it can't be too perfunctory either, or people will criticize Jiang Chi for being arrogant and disrespectful to a senior. The tone has to be just right...'

Ye Lan sighed internally. 'Who says I don't understand PR? Look at this, such a thorough analysis.'

Ye Lan thought for a moment, trying to channel Jiang Chi's tone, typed a few words, and hit send.

He was operating someone else's account, after all, so he couldn't cause any real trouble. Ye Lan considered this, logged out of Jiang Chi's account, logged into his own, and posted a couple of sentences.

Ye Lan smiled. Foolproof.

Jiang Chi stood in the crew's common lounge, feeling restless.

There were many crew members in the lounge, but because Ren Haichuan was present, it wasn't noisy. No one was smoking; everyone was busy with their own duties, hurrying back and forth.

On the wall in a corner of the lounge, which was usually used as a discussion area, were posted storyboards, some pre-printed and some drawn by hand on the spot. Everyone was in an intense discussion. A small detail had caused another minor dispute between the screenwriter, art director, director, and cinematographer. Jiang Chi sat to the side waiting for a conclusion, growing more anxious with every passing moment.

He was starting to regret just handing his phone over to Ye Lan.

But given the situation, he couldn't bring himself to say no. It was already difficult to refuse Ye Lan once, not to mention this was part of a bet. He had agreed that if he passed the scene in one take, he would let Ye Lan play with his phone.

Jiang Chi prayed silently, 'Please don't let anything go wrong.'

"We'll go with what we just discussed. Are you familiar with it?" Ren Haichuan looked up at Jiang Chi. "The lines have changed quite a bit. Is that a problem?"

He had at least that much professional integrity. Jiang Chi nodded. "I've memorized them. Should I do a run-through first?"

But Ren Haichuan wasn't in a hurry. "Wait a moment."

Jiang Chi could only wait miserably.

Meanwhile, Ye Lan checked the comments under Jiang Chi's Weibo post, smiling amidst a sea of screams before logging out of the account.

Ye Lan logged back into Jiang Chi's Weibo account. Seeing the comments, retweets, and follower count skyrocketing, he was quite satisfied.

Ye Lan reopened WeChat and typed a reply to Geng Tian: I posted it, and Ye Lan replied to me too.

It took a while for Geng Tian to message back: Film Emperor Ye actually replied to you?! This is great, now no one can accuse you of clout-chasing; the Film Emperor replied himself! Good heavens, why is he suddenly so approachable?!!

Ye Lan raised an eyebrow and replied swiftly: When has Ye Lan ever not been approachable?

Geng Tian messaged back: Alright, alright, I get it. He's good at everything and whatever he does is right, okay? Hahahahaha, I won't argue with you about that. This is great, it'll win a lot of goodwill. It's like Ye Lan has affirmed your acting skills again, and other people will be able to guess that you two have a good relationship. Not bad, not bad...

Li Weili, who had been waiting by the side, looked anxious. He didn't know what Ye Lan was doing, but seeing him leaning on the sofa, smiling while typing, he sensed something was up. He forced a sycophantic smile and said, "Um... I'll go see if Brother Jiang needs any help."

Ye Lan's gaze remained on the phone screen. He gave a slight nod. "Bring me a drink on your way back. No coffee, no alcohol."

Li Weili agreed and hurried off.

Li Weili circled around twice before finding Jiang Chi in the common lounge.

Li Weili explained the situation, then took out his phone and said, "Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I have to let you know. Let me check online..."

Jiang Chi's face turned pale after hearing this. He swallowed and tried to reassure himself, "Don't panic, don't panic. It should be fine."

Li Weili opened Weibo and refreshed the page. "..."

Jiang Chi: "..."

Ten minutes ago, Jiang Chi's account had again retweeted the Weibo post of his selfie that Ye Lan had previously retweeted, adding the comment: Thank you, Brother Ye Lan, for the compliment! I'm extremely honored!

It was followed by several cutesy emojis.

Jiang Chi covered his face in agony.

He just knew it.

This time, no matter how he explained it, no one would believe that the person behind this silly, cute post was Film Emperor Ye, Ye Lan, right?

The Weibo post from Jiang Chi's account had a very humble and sincere tone, but Li Weili was still worried people would criticize Jiang Chi for being a sycophantic clout chaser. He quickly clicked open the comments, only to be blinded by the top-rated one.

Underneath this Weibo post, Ye Lan had commented: You're welcome. Feel free to discuss things and chat with me more often, no need to always be so shy.

There was no need to read the rest; it was all fans exclaiming in delight.

"Film Emperor Ye directed and acted this whole thing out himself, and it's quite good..." Li Weili let out a breath of relief as if drained of all strength. "Thank goodness, thank goodness. It's... it's pretty official, and it's great for boosting fan affinity."

Anyone not in the know would just see it as a normal conversation between a polite, shy junior and a gentle, cultured senior.

However, just in case things took a turn, Li Weili urged him, "You should get your phone back quickly. What if Film Emperor Ye gets carried away and starts a conversation by switching back and forth between the two accounts? If his split-personality act slips up and he gets exposed, you two will be tomorrow's headline."

Jiang Chi felt both excited and flustered. He nodded helplessly, strode out of the common lounge, and went to find Ye Lan.

Ye Lan, for his part, hadn't done anything more on Weibo. He had been busy chatting with Geng Tian the entire time.

Jiang Chi hurried over. Seeing Ye Lan playing on the phone with a smile, he—the one whose account had been hijacked—felt a little embarrassed. His cheeks flushed as he sidled up to him. "Brother Ye Lan, you..."

Ye Lan was in the middle of a happy chat when he was caught off guard by Jiang Chi's rare show of awkwardness. He immediately rushed to exonerate himself. "Ah, your manager told you to post on Weibo! I accidentally saw the message, so I just did it for you..."

Jiang Chi looked at Ye Lan skeptically. 'Did it for me? All the way onto my Weibo account?'

Ye Lan coughed, taking the offensive. He frowned and said, "Your manager just wanted you to respond, right? Why didn't you listen to him?"

"I..." Jiang Chi was at a loss for words. "I..."

'Wasn't it all because of you?!'

Ye Lan waved his hand. "Forget it, forget it. We're even... Pfft, your manager is pretty interesting, hahahaha..."

Jiang Chi's heart sank.

Thinking Jiang Chi didn't believe he had Geng Tian's go-ahead, Ye Lan beckoned him to sit down and showed him his chat history with Geng Tian.

Jiang Chi quickly scanned the screen and relaxed slightly. Thank goodness.

Jiang Chi could roughly imagine what had just happened.

'Did Ye Lan know that I was unwilling to drag him into this, so he took the initiative to post on Weibo for me, boosting my goodwill and stats?'

A warm feeling spread through Jiang Chi's heart, and his face grew hot.

Jiang Chi looked at the chat log for a while, not noticing that several new messages had appeared at the bottom.

Geng Tian: Don't post on Weibo for a while. Keep a low profile.

Geng Tian: Still filming?

Geng Tian: Didn't you just say you weren't busy?

Geng Tian: Where are you?

Geng Tian: Furious. Where are you? There's something I need to discuss with you!

The phone was still in Ye Lan's hand. Seeing the messages, he immediately replied: What's with all the shouting? Daddy's here.

Geng Tian/Jiang Chi: ...

Geng Tian: You... what's wrong with you?

Ye Lan: Nothing. Let me tell you, Daddy's been putting up with you for a while now. What kind of attitude is that?

Geng Tian was a mess of confusion: ...Are you okay?

Ye Lan: I'm fine. Never better.

Geng Tian: If you're fine, then why are you acting crazy?!

Ye Lan shook his head, tutted, and typed in all sincerity: It's been many years since anyone dared to talk to me like that.

Geng Tian: ?

Geng Tian: ...Did you go crazy with joy because Film Emperor Ye replied to you?

Ye Lan scoffed: So what if he replied?

Geng Tian: Jiang Chi!!!

Ye Lan: What now?!

"Well, I'll be damned." Ye Lan looked at Jiang Chi in disbelief. "Is he scolding me? He's got guts, come on..."

"He's scolding me, me!" Jiang Chi was on the verge of losing his mind. "Please, give me the phone! My manager is going to go crazy! How am I supposed to explain this..."

Ye Lan deliberately hid the phone behind his back, looking at Jiang Chi with a smile in his eyes.

Naturally, Jiang Chi didn't dare to snatch it from him.

Ignoring the phone that was buzzing incessantly, Ye Lan looked at Jiang Chi and asked softly, "I used your account. You're not angry, are you?"

Jiang Chi froze, and a bittersweet tingle instantly spread through his heart.

He lowered his gaze and said quietly, "How could I be... I'm not that unreasonable."

Seeing that he truly didn't mind what had just happened, Ye Lan relaxed and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll explain it for you."

Ye Lan raised the phone to his mouth, pressed the voice message button, and said, "I'm done talking with you, got to give the phone back to Jiang Chi... I was the one who posted those two Weibo messages. Explain things for me. I was helping you out, so don't let him hold a grudge against me."

On the other end of the line, Geng Tian recognized Ye Lan's voice and completely froze.

Ye Lan handed the phone back to Jiang Chi, muffling his wild laughter.