Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Yan Huai moved quickly; by the time Yan Qing turned her head to look over, he had already let go.

He Wei suddenly had the illusion of being caught in bed committing adultery.

Caught off guard, she stumbled half a step forward uncontrollably.

Yan Qing didn’t notice the small movements between the two. She reached out as if to steady He Wei, but her eyes were on her younger brother: “Are you talking to me, or to He Wei?”

She thought about it and felt the second guess didn’t make sense.

Yan Huai shouldn’t know He Wei.

Thinking this, Yan Qing became even more certain that the earlier sentence was directed at her. She raised her eyebrows, “What do you want me to look at?”

He Wei turned her face slightly away, the corners of her lips lifting faintly.

Yan Huai raised his hand, loosened his tie knot with two fingers, then tightened it again. He glanced at He Wei, “I was talking to her.”

He Wei: “……”

Yan Qing was even more puzzled, “You two know each other?”

More than just knowing each other.

They had just woken up from the same bed today.

The expression on Yan Huai’s face settled, and he gave an “Mm.”

The elevator doors opened again—they had reached the first floor.

Yan Qing turned her head to look, only then realizing it. She cursed under her breath, “I rode past my floor—why didn’t you remind me?”

She urged Yan Huai, “Hurry and get out, I’m going back to the third floor.”

Yan Huai lowered his eyes slightly. He had a lunch appointment at noon, so he didn’t say more. As he passed by He Wei, his left index finger curled slightly and brushed lightly against her loosely held palm.

He Wei instinctively clenched her fingers.

The man’s finger was caught just like that in her hand. After He Wei realized it, she immediately let go.

There was no expression on her face, only the tips of her ears were red.

Yan Huai withdrew his hand and stepped out of the elevator.

Yan Qing was checking messages on her phone. After the elevator doors closed automatically, she raised her hand and pressed the button for the third floor.

The company’s elevator was fast—going from the first to the third floor took only two or three seconds.

Yan Qing had only roughly cleared her messages when the elevator doors opened. As she walked out, she asked He Wei, “What did Yan Huai just ask you to look at?”

“……”

He Wei was completely stumped by the question.

She thought for a few seconds, then lightly coughed: “…I didn’t hear clearly.”

Yan Qing curled her lips into a smile, “How did you two meet?”

He Wei answered half-truthfully, “Introduced by a friend.”

Asking too much would feel like checking household registration, so Yan Qing nodded, “Is your boyfriend an outsider to the circle?”

He Wei nodded.

She was actually quite afraid that Yan Qing would keep asking, after all, there were some questions she wasn’t very comfortable answering.

Fortunately, Yan Qing only asked in general terms.

After the two entered her office, Yan Qing briefly asked about her schedule for this period, then pulled out a stack of materials from the drawer.

She scanned them quickly, the sound of pages flipping “hua hua” ringing out. “Last month I picked a few scripts and appearances here. After you wrap up filming this month, are you planning to rest for a few days, or go straight into another one without a break?”

He Wei thought for a few seconds. She still had this bit of her own judgment, and didn’t ask for Yan Qing’s opinion. She answered, “No need to rest.”

Yan Qing lifted her eyes from the scripts, “Not going to accompany your boyfriend?”

The corner of He Wei’s lips moved slightly, “…He’s busier than I am.”

Yan Qing really wanted to ask what He Wei’s boyfriend did.

But she still needed to give people their privacy. She suppressed the curiosity rising in her heart and spread four scripts out on the table, “Three supporting female third leads, and one supporting female second lead.”

Yan Qing spoke honestly, “A female lead role will probably take some more time before you can get one.”

“But I’ve carefully looked through these. Although none are big productions, I know all the directors, and they’ve all worked with artists I managed before, so they’re reliable.”

Of course He Wei understood this.

She had only recently entered the industry. Being able to get this kind of resource was already not easy. Ever since she transmigrated into the book, she had been easy to satisfy. After nodding to show understanding, she picked up the scripts and skimmed through them.

The scripts sent by casting invitations weren’t complete—basically only character settings and the core premise.

But these weren’t important to He Wei.

Because there were two titles among them that she recognized.

One was a historical time-travel drama, and the other was a youth campus drama.

Both dramas were IP adaptations of popular novels. Comparatively, the first one’s online popularity far surpassed the second.

But based on He Wei’s experiences these past few times, after airing, the historical drama’s ratings flopped so badly it was unrecognizable, while that youth campus drama unexpectedly became wildly popular.

The reason He Wei remembered so clearly was because in her previous life, Song Zhenzhen rose to fame precisely by playing the female second lead in this drama.

Even though she knew the outcome, He Wei still felt uneasy.

After all, the plot had been disrupted and restarted.

He Wei could only ask the system for help: “Tiantian, is there a big difference between the endings of these two dramas compared to the previous life?”

The system quickly replied, “Host, things like scripts and advertisements belong to fixed plot points. That is to say, no matter how the plot is disrupted, the development of all fixed plot points won’t change much.”

It had been studying language quite well recently—even using idioms now: “In other words, what should become popular will still become popular, and what should flop will still flop.”

Only then did He Wei completely relax.

She used her fingers to push aside the time-travel drama script, then handed over the campus script, “Sister Qing, this one.”

Yan Qing took it and glanced at it.

To be honest, she was a bit surprised.

Among these four scripts, only this campus drama had the smallest investment. From the director and screenwriter to the original author, all were unknown figures. The only thing worth mentioning was probably that this drama offered a female second lead role.

Yan Qing raised her eyes to look at He Wei, “Are you sure?”

He Wei nodded, her gaze firm yet gentle.

“Alright, I’ll reply later.”

Yan Qing added, “I’ve looked at the character setting—a youthful, lively high school student. It suits you.”

The only thing that might be a bit tricky was—

“This drama has a kissing scene between the second male lead and the second female lead,” Yan Qing tapped the script with her finger. “From what I know, Royal Princess is your first drama, and it doesn’t have intimate scenes, so this campus drama kiss should be your on-screen first kiss.”

Yan Qing’s brows furrowed, “You’ve kissed your boyfriend before, right?”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Yan Qing quickly explained, “I’m worried it might be hard to explain to your boyfriend.”

He Wei pressed her lips together and didn’t speak.

Yan Qing sighed, “How about this—if you can’t explain it to him, I’ll do it for you.”

He Wei didn’t dare let her do that and immediately shook her head, “No problem.”

Her expression didn’t change: “He doesn’t mind.”

He Wei’s menstrual cycle was irregular, even the days of cramps were different from normal people.

Others hurt in the first two days, but He Wei was the exact opposite—she only hurt during the last two days.

And it was unbearable, wave-like pain.

Unfortunately, He Wei was nearing the end of filming, and those two days had the most scenes and were the most exhausting.

Just kneeling on the ground alone had no fewer than ten shots. The final scene was even more insane—it was the scene where the emperor bestowed poisoned wine upon her. After drinking that cup of poison, she had to collapse on the ground, her face twisted, while listening to the kind and virtuous female lead give her the final lesson of her life.

Although early summer had arrived, the ground temperature was still extremely low.

Because of the role, He Wei’s palace costume was very thin. Lying half-prone on the ground for two minutes already made her feel uncomfortable.

Her lower abdomen felt as if it were being torn apart, the pain so intense that even her fingers twitched along with it.

There was one advantage, though—

She didn’t need to deliberately control her facial expression; it was already sufficiently twisted.

Several directors were clearly very satisfied with her final scene, especially Cheng Yan, whose gaze toward the monitor could be described as deeply affectionate.

He Wei became even more certain that the system had bugged out.

Cheng Yan couldn’t possibly like her.

There was only the monitor in his eyes, only the camera—there was no her at all.

But if he really did like her, that would also be troublesome.

He Wei let out a breath of relief. Only after several directors nodded and said “Cut” did she push herself up from the ground.

Feng Ning immediately brought over a thermos and a blanket, “Sister Wei, are you okay?”

He Wei nodded. After taking a sip of hot water, she wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and went into the dressing room.

Today was her final scene. He Wei wasn’t in a hurry to change clothes; after finishing all the water in the thermos, the menstrual pain still hadn’t eased.

Seeing her pale face, completely devoid of color, Feng Ning was frightened too and quickly said, “Sister Wei, I’ll go buy you some painkillers.”

He Wei didn’t refuse.

She usually didn’t take this kind of medicine, but after seeing a doctor last time, the doctor said that if the pain was really unbearable, taking painkillers wouldn’t have much impact.

Feng Ning quickly went out.

He Wei used the blanket as a cushion, frowning as she lay prone on the table, changing several positions in just a few minutes.

It still hurt.

Cold sweat had formed on He Wei’s forehead. She didn’t bother wiping it, only pressing her lower abdomen slightly with force.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when the lounge door was opened again.

He Wei didn’t even want to open her eyes, only her fingers moved slightly, “How much was it…”

Feng Ning didn’t respond.

Instead, a hand reached over and gently rested on her lower abdomen, and a man’s voice sounded above her head, “Does it hurt a lot?”

He Wei lifted her eyes a crack and dragged out an “Mm.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“I don’t want to move…”

He Wei raised her eyes to look at him, “Has Feng Ning come back with the medicine?”

Just as she was speaking, there was a knock on the door, and Feng Ning’s voice came through, “Sister Wei, I’m coming in—”

“……”

Before He Wei could react, the door was pushed open.

Feng Ning’s voice stopped abruptly.

She recognized Yan Huai.

Precisely because she recognized him, she was even more shocked. One hand held a water cup, the other held the medicine, and she stood there frozen, unsure whether to go in or retreat.

He Wei forced herself up from the table, “Thanks for your hard work.”

“Sister Wei, don’t say that…” Feng Ning finally came back to her senses. She put the cup on the table, then nodded to Yan Huai, “President Yan.”

Yan Huai glanced at her, reached out to take the medicine from her hand, popped out one pill, and directly held it to He Wei’s lips. He picked up the water cup, his voice low and gentle, “Open your mouth.”

Feng Ning: “……”

So the “user” that netizens had been searching for on Weibo today was right in front of her now?

Feng Ning was stunned. She was perceptive; although surprised and curious, she didn’t stay any longer in the lounge. After delivering the items, she quickly slipped out.

They were still on set, with many people outside and a lot of noise. He Wei couldn’t possibly let Yan Huai carry her out.

It was fine that Feng Ning had seen just now, but if others saw, who knew what rumors it would turn into.

He Wei still didn’t want to move. Just as she lay back down on the table, the man’s hand reached over again.

His palm was warm. He lightly lifted her skirt and slipped his hand in, covering her lower abdomen and gently rubbing it again and again.

She didn’t know whether it was the painkillers taking effect, the wave of pain passing, or Yan Huai’s hand doing something, but He Wei felt much better.

She had been busy these past two days and hadn’t checked Weibo much. Now that her stomach didn’t hurt as much, she opened the trending list to take a look.

The number one trending topic was prominently pinned at the top—searching for user “User.”

He Wei: “???”