"Sister Yifei."
Xiao Qin was a cute, round-faced girl. She came over to Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli with her phone in hand.
"I can see A'Yang's doing really well with the crew. Did anything happen this afternoon?" Liu Yifei asked directly, without hiding her curiosity.
"Something did." Admiration appeared on Xiao Qin's face, and she began chirping away like a happy little bird. "It was Teacher Deng Chao's scene this afternoon, just like yesterday afternoon..."
Xiao Qin recounted everything she had seen and heard that afternoon, then held out her phone to Liu Yifei. "Sister Yifei, I even took a video."
Liu Yifei exchanged a glance with Liu Xiaoli. Both of them could read the surprise in the other's eyes.
Liu Yifei had seen Zhang Yang's fight scenes before, but she hadn't realized that those had been nothing.
"Mom, let's watch it together." Liu Yifei opened the video on the phone and watched it with Liu Xiaoli.
As Liu Yifei's personal assistant, Xiao Qin had been left with the crew to look after Zhang Yang. She'd been standing with Nazha the whole time, so her video captured everything, and from a great angle.
The mother and daughter soon finished watching. Liu Xiaoli couldn't help exclaiming, "Xiao Yang's really skilled."
She'd spent years accompanying Liu Yifei on set and knew action scenes well enough to judge them.
"Looks like I underestimated him." Liu Yifei finally understood why Zhang Yang was getting along so well with the crew.
"Ah..." Liu Yifei handed the phone back to Xiao Qin, then put her arms around Liu Xiaoli. "If I'd known, I would've finished my IV and had dinner before coming back. Anyone who didn't know better would think I came back to the set for a free meal."
She was purely making fun of herself.
"You..." Liu Xiaoli laughed and tapped Liu Yifei on the forehead.
At the same time, Nazha and Zhang Yang sat together eating boxed meals.
She glanced toward Liu Yifei every now and then, then finally couldn't hold back her question. "Brother Yang, aren't you going to see Sister Yifei?"
Whoa. The smell of jealousy was so strong even a clueless straight guy could pick up on it.
"Why would I?" Zhang Yang shook his head, his expression calm. "Men and women need to keep a proper sense of distance and boundaries. Besides, I'm an actor. What would it look like if I kept hanging around another actress for no reason?"
Nazha's eyes lit up. She picked up her chicken leg and put it in Zhang Yang's bowl. "But this morning, you went straight to see her as soon as you arrived."
A good answer deserved a chicken leg.
Boundaries, huh? I don't have any with you, Nazha. Get it?
Zhang Yang didn't bother being polite. He picked up the chicken leg and took a bite, his expression casual. "That was just a coincidence this morning. I had medicine on me, so I couldn't very well hide it."
"But even if that hadn't happened, I probably still would've gone to see Sister Yifei first thing."
Nazha's pleased smile froze. "And you're still talking about boundaries?"
"You really didn't take in a single thing I taught you on the set of The Legend of Dugu." Zhang Yang gave her a reproachful look. "When you join a new crew, you don't know anyone, so you need to be cautious about how you act. But it's different when you already know someone."
"Sister Yifei is a connection I already have, and she's an important leading lady on this crew. Making our relationship clear can help me avoid potential trouble. Just look at what Xiao Qin told us."
"But things are different now. I proved myself this afternoon. Brother Deng, Director Chen, and Chao Ge all think highly of me. What do I have to worry about?"
Nazha nodded thoughtfully, her smile gradually returning.
In short, Zhang Yang was only making use of Liu Yifei. So there was nothing to worry about.
"You need to learn these things and think them through. Don't let people sell you off and still help them count the money. Cai Yinong's especially good at that, so keep your guard up." Zhang Yang took his usual opportunity to badmouth Cai Yinong.
Don't ask. It was just an employee complaining about a ruthless capitalist boss.
"Clean up. I'm going to go say hello."
Zhang Yang put his empty meal box on the table, stood up, and walked over to Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei.
Nazha: ???
If anyone's being sold off and counting the money, it's me!
"Auntie Liu, is Sister Yifei all right?" Zhang Yang sat down beside Liu Xiaoli.
"Why don't you ask me directly?" Liu Yifei, who'd been pretending to focus quietly on her script, broke character in a second.
"You used to bully me all the time on set. We're not that close. I'm closer to Auntie Liu." Zhang Yang spoke with a straight face. "I'm concerned about you because you're Auntie Liu's daughter, not because of you."
Liu Xiaoli couldn't help laughing. She found Zhang Yang's way of talking amusing.
He was the first guy to speak like this in front of both her and Liu Yifei.
"As if I care," Liu Yifei said, rolling her eyes.
"Watch your image," Liu Xiaoli reminded her.
Liu Yifei: "..."
Zhang Yang deliberately gave her a challenging grin, then said, "Auntie Liu, I really miss your guobaorou and Harbin sausage. Could you make some for me?"
Liu Xiaoli was from Harbin, and she was genuinely good at making the city's signature dishes.
"She's my mom!" Liu Yifei reminded him.
"She's Sister Yifei's mom, but doesn't that make her my Auntie Liu too?" Zhang Yang countered. Then he gazed straight at Liu Xiaoli, his eyes full of anticipation.
Liu Xiaoli: She couldn't refuse him at all!
"All right. I'll have someone buy the ingredients, and I'll make it for you tomorrow." Liu Xiaoli agreed.
Zhang Yang had genuinely helped Liu Yifei, first by bringing medicine and then by suggesting she go to the hospital. What was making him a meal in comparison?
Besides, Zhang Yang had once been a younger friend she was very fond of.
Zhang Yang knew that, which was why he was "so confident."
"Mom?" Liu Yifei looked at Liu Xiaoli.
She wanted some too, but Liu Xiaoli had refused to make it for her, giving her a whole list of excuses and lectures.
Who was the real daughter, anyway!?
Liu Yifei was full of resentment, but said no more, because Chen Jiashang had arrived with several people.
He first asked how she was doing, and after confirming that her injury wouldn't affect filming but she needed to rest, he turned to Gu Xuanzhao and said, "For tonight's scene, give Yifei some easier moves. Give Deng Chao—no, I mean A'Yang—a heavier load."
The scene scheduled for that night was the one that had injured Deng Chao's stunt double a few days earlier.
Chen Jiashang didn't want to rush, either, but their crew's rental period at the Along the River During the Qingming Festival scenic area was nearly up, and another crew was about to move in.
If they couldn't finish within the next few days, they'd have to move to Xiangshan Film and Television City to shoot, then wait until the end of May to return to Hengdian.
Hearing Chen Jiashang, Gu Xuanzhao didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked Zhang Yang, "Yang Zai, do you know about Flying Cat?"
"I've looked into it." Zhang Yang's expression grew serious.
Flying Cat was essentially a camera suspended from an overhead track. It had first been used during the live broadcast of the 2008 Olympics. Using it for filming took a lot of technical skill, and it also placed greater demands on the actors.
But Zhang Yang would be using drones for filming in the future, so Flying Cat was well within his wheelhouse.
"We'll be using Flying Cat for tonight's scene." Gu Xuanzhao asked in a consultative tone, "Do you have any good ideas for Yifei's fight scene?"
At that, Zhang Yang glanced at Liu Yifei and smiled. "The Wuqing played by Sister Yifei already has paralyzed legs. Having her act it out like this actually fits the character even better. The moves should be easy enough to plan."
Liu Yifei: ?
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