Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Yang Zhengyi noticed something was off with An Ye after her time locked away. The shot went smoothly, though. In the midst of a bustling crowd at the mall, An Ye looked at the model and smiled, but it wasn’t the sweet smile she had sent him earlier. This time, it was a smile that perfectly conveyed a sense of relief mixed with a hint of despair.

Yang Zhengyi quietly waited for An Ye to finish her performance, then waved his hand to signal that today's indoor shooting was done.

They wrapped up early. There were still two more shots to go, but he didn’t seem interested in filming them. He just squatted in front of the camera, repeatedly watching the playback, finishing half a pack of cigarettes.

Before today, Yang Zhengyi had thought the rumors about An Ye's mental instability were just gossip. After a month of filming, An Ye had been stable, a professional actress. He hadn’t even noticed any issues with her performance or difficulty getting into character.

But after this take, Yang Zhengyi fell silent.

Xiao Jiao’s despair was something he hadn’t communicated with An Ye about during rehearsals. He and Scriptwriter Zhu had been debating this issue—whether the ending should be open-ended. Should it be a full despair, or leave a glimmer of hope?

During their discussions, they always went with the current interpretation, and the actors followed the existing script. Xiao Jiao in this scene didn’t require too deep an emotional dive. She was supposed to be the only sunlight in Alin’s world.

But Yang Zhengyi had to admit that An Ye’s interpretation was far more impactful than he had imagined.

It also made him think about what An Ye had said in the makeup room—that fear couldn’t be forgotten.

What was she afraid of?

Yang Zhengyi watched as An Ye walked out of the makeup room after removing her makeup. She was wearing her usual gray puffy jacket, one that was so filled with duck feathers that it covered her from head to toe, making it hard to see her eyes. She stumbled into her trailer.

Her assistant followed behind her, carrying a bunch of bags and clothes, with a serious expression.

The trailer door shut.

Yang Zhengyi let out a sigh, blowing smoke into the air.

Lan Yifang locked the trailer door after entering and quietly moved to a small stool at the far end of the trailer, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

This was a rhythm she was very familiar with. Since becoming An Ye’s assistant, she had seen this happen many times after filming. An Ye would sometimes suddenly become like this—wrapped up in her jacket, not speaking, not sleeping, lying rigidly, waiting for someone to knock and call for her. Only then would she sit up straight and walk out like a sleepwalker.

But once she went out, she would become more like herself again—just a bit slow to react or unfocused, like a doll who had been paused. Once the scene was ready, she would come back to life as the character.

Usually, when An Ye fell into this state, the filming would go very smoothly. But Lan Yifang’s pressure would rise. As An Ye's personal assistant, she knew that when An Ye was like this, she would constantly mutter to herself, reciting lines, lyrics, or even random conversations from the day. It was done in a monotonous, almost chant-like manner, with no intonation or punctuation.

This time, after a month of filming, An Ye had never fallen into this state, and Lan Yifang had felt relieved. She even thought maybe it was because Shi Tuo had returned. She had always felt that when Shi Tuo was around, An Ye seemed happier. It was like when they were scouting locations at the Ninth People’s Hospital on that foggy day—she thought An Ye would fall into this state then, but she didn’t.

Lan Yifang was actually scared. When An Ye was like this, she didn’t seem like herself. She was very obviously... like a mad person.

So during these times, she would lock the door, curl up in the corner, and shrink with An Ye, pretending to ignore her muttering. If An Ye got hungry or thirsty, she would take care of it herself, but Lan Yifang would act like she didn’t notice.

She was also on high alert, afraid that someone might come looking for An Ye during breaks and see her in this state.

When the small meeting came up, where someone mentioned Yan Wanhui attacking An Ye’s mental state, Lan Yifang chose to stay silent. She didn’t dare speak up. She was afraid that Qi Wei would find out and leave, and that Shi Tuo, upon learning about this, might cancel An Ye’s contract.

She couldn’t help An Ye much, so she could only lock the door and endure this void with her.

Every step that came too close made her eyelids twitch. Every knock on the door felt like a death toll to her.

Lan Yifang learned from An Ye, wrapping herself in a blanket, closing her eyes, and starting to resemble a sheep.The first knock on the door made Lan Yifang almost think there was going to be an earthquake. The space was so quiet, with only An Ye mumbling, reciting something she couldn’t even understand. The knock startled her so much that she jumped up from the little stool, bumping her head with a loud thud.

An Ye’s mumbling stopped.

From her angle, Lan Yifang could see An Ye’s puffy gray down jacket frozen in an uncomfortable position, as if it had been locked in place by something.

The door knocked again.

"Who... who is it?" Lan Yifang stammered, calling out.

Outside, there was a brief pause, and a very unfamiliar woman cautiously spoke up, "Excuse me, is Teacher An inside?"

"Which one?" Thankfully, after hitting her head, Lan Yifang was jolted back to reality and raised her voice to ask again.

"I’m Jia Jia’s mom," the woman answered, her tone careful and slightly ingratiating. "The one playing Teacher An’s child persona, Jia Jia. I’m her mother."

Lan Yifang rubbed her head and glanced at An Ye.

An Ye, who had been stiff just moments before, was now sitting like a corpse, though she had stopped mumbling.

Lan Yifang sighed, opening the door just a crack and softly said, "Teacher An is sleeping."

"Ah!" Jia Jia’s mom fidgeted, rubbing her hands, and forced a smile. "I came at the wrong time. I’ll come back later."

Lan Yifang stepped out of the trailer, closed the door behind her, and with a smile, asked softly, "Auntie, is there something you need?"

"I just... wanted to thank Teacher An," Jia Jia’s mom said, smiling even more eagerly. "I heard from the assistant director that Teacher An was the one who called and asked to change the car’s color during the car-jumping scene..."

She paused and then, sounding somewhat embarrassed, added, "Jia Jia is usually very obedient, but she has this one bad habit that we just can’t get rid of. I didn’t expect it to trouble Teacher An. I really... I’m so sorry about that."

Lan Yifang frowned slightly.

She wasn’t an idiot. An Ye had helped Jia Jia out on the way home that day, and Lan Yifang had heard a bit of it. So she knew who Jia Jia was and why her mom had come to see An Ye.

She was a little impatient with this kind of situation, especially after seeing the thing Jia Jia’s mom was holding. Her frown deepened.

"This..." Jia Jia’s mom pushed a fruit basket toward her. "I heard Teacher An is on a diet, so I wasn’t sure what to get her, so I bought some fruits. They’re low in sugar. Jia Jia controls her calories when she eats, so I know all about this stuff."

Her daughter was how old, and she was already controlling her calorie intake?

Lan Yifang didn’t want to take the basket.

Usually, these kinds of fruit baskets would have surprises: red envelopes, business cards, or hard-to-handle things stuffed inside.

"Teacher An doesn’t eat fruits," Lan Yifang, who was used to handling this sort of thing, said. "She only eats what her nutritionist recommends. If she eats one extra bite, she has to work out for half an hour."

Her tone carried just the right amount of subtle complaint and pride.

Jia Jia’s mom opened her mouth, feeling awkward.

"Why don’t you share the fruit basket with the camera crew? They’ve been working hard, and the shooting hours are so long." Lan Yifang’s smile was perfectly timed, even though she was still a bit embarrassed.

Jia Jia’s mom wanted to say something else, but Lan Yifang had already opened the door and slipped inside, winking at her and signaling for her to keep quiet. She gently closed the door behind her.

Jia Jia’s mom lingered at the door for a while before finally walking away.

Lan Yifang, pressed against the door, listened to the sounds outside and let out a sigh of relief. She wiped the cold sweat off her palms and locked the door.

An Ye had taught her how to handle these situations. None of the other celebrities she had worked with had ever shown her this. On her first day with An Ye, she had brought her a huge fruit basket, which had a business card and a key card inside it.An Ye didn’t scold her; she just patiently taught her how to reject the fruit basket, how to deal with these people, and how to talk and smile in a way that would make others think An Ye wasn’t being difficult but simply avoiding conflict.

This was also why, even though she knew An Ye might truly have mental issues, she still followed her faithfully.

She was afraid of An Ye, but she also knew An Ye was a very good person.

She leaned against the door again, listened for a while, and confirmed that besides the B-team still filming, no one else was near the trailer. Then, she sighed, sat back in the corner.

An Ye was mumbling again.

This time, she was reciting a conversation.

She said: "Jia Jia is usually very well-behaved, but this one bad habit we just can’t fix. I didn’t expect it to cause trouble for Teacher An. This really is..."

The same sentence repeated over and over.

Lan Yifang suddenly felt like crying, sniffing and pulling the blanket tighter around herself.

The phone rang.

It must have already gotten dark outside, and the trailer was very dim. Lan Yifang had fallen asleep drowsily, with only An Ye mumbling in the background, without much tone.

At first, it was An Ye’s phone ringing, the one that Lan Yifang had been holding in her hand. The vibrating sound woke her up. Before she could check who was calling, her own phone rang.

She squinted her eyes.

It was Shi Tuo.

There were two calls from Shi Tuo. After he couldn’t get through to An Ye, he switched to calling her.

Lan Yifang didn’t know why, but her nose started to feel sour again. She couldn’t help but sniff as she answered: “Hello.”

There was a brief pause on the other end, then Shi Tuo asked, “Is An Ye still filming?”

His way of addressing her was strange. It wasn’t like how they called her “Teacher An,” nor like how Wang Shanshan called her “Ye Ye.” Lan Yifang remembered that at first, he used to call her “An Ye Jiu Jiu,” but then he suddenly stopped.

She didn’t know how he acted privately.

“She’s done for today.” Lan Yifang couldn’t see An Ye’s condition in the dark. After a moment, she spoke in the same way she had with Jia Jia’s mother. “Teacher An is sleeping.”

There was another brief silence from Shi Tuo, then he asked, “Has she gone home?”

“Umm… She’s in the trailer,” Lan Yifang stuttered for some unknown reason.

“I’ll come over.” He said it and hung up.

“Ah!” Lan Yifang only managed to make that sound. The rest were question marks.

Did he know where they were filming today?

No, wait, why was he coming over?

Ah!!!

What if Shi Tuo sees An Ye in this condition?!

She hadn’t even told Wang Shanshan about it!!