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The veteran actors running through the scene with them could not help secretly clicking their tongues. During the break, they smiled and remarked, "Young people really do have endless energy."

"Tired?" Xu Ningze, who played Nine Heavens Immortal, poured him a cup of homemade chilled herbal tea. "It's hot out. Have some tea to cool off."

Ao Qingyuan took the cup and thanked him softly. Smiling, he said, "I'm fine. When I was learning dance and rehearsing for concerts, I had to practice for over ten hours a day. I'm not tired, just really hot."

As he spoke, Ao Qingyuan touched his soaking-wet neck. The wig cap had trapped him in sweat. It felt sticky and unpleasant, like his whole body was about to go sour.

"I feel like a roast duck hanging in an oven." Ao Qingyuan shared his thoughts with complete seriousness. "Even my hair is giving off heat."

Xu Ningze smiled and seriously offered him a suggestion. "Put on some prickly heat powder when you get back."

Ao Qingyuan frowned. He was not a child.

"Teacher Xu is right." Tian Bao'er, who had been sitting nearby for a long while before finally recovering, joined in. "It's way too hot. With temperatures this high and costumes this thick, you'll break out in heat rash all over if you don't use some prickly heat powder."

Although she still did not particularly enjoy memorizing lines, Tian Bao'er had personally gone up on the wires during the rehearsal. Ao Qingyuan had been suspended for however long, and Tian Bao'er had stayed up there just as long. By the end, she had run out of strength and hung listlessly from the wires. Yet she had not complained or cried about being tired, much less suggested using a stunt double.

That one scene changed Ao Qingyuan's opinion of Tian Bao'er. Hearing her words, he sincerely thanked her as well. "I'll think about it."

Just as they were talking, a burst of cheers rose from outside the set. Everyone turned to look and saw a pink ice cream truck slowly driving in and stopping at the edge of the filming area. The driver set up the stand and began making ice cream, shaved ice, and all sorts of cold drinks for the cast and crew.

Ao Qingyuan's little assistant popped up from nowhere and handed him a matcha ice cream. "Yan Shu is treating everyone to ice cream and cold drinks."

Ao Qingyuan instinctively looked toward Wenren Yan's trailer. After thinking for a moment, he took the ice cream and got up to knock on the door.

Inside the trailer, Wenren Yan was on a video call with Steven. Several incidents at Yan Feng Capital had made Wenren Yan suspect that someone had bribed company employees and planted informants inside Yan Feng Capital. That was why he had personally led the team in high-risk trading this time: on one hand, to salvage the company's reputation and stabilize its clients; on the other, to warn the culprit. He had Steven distribute the data from every operation to different people, so each trader knew only the stocks they themselves were assigned to trade. After several days of operations, Yan Feng Capital's trading information had stopped leaking.

"But we can't keep doing this forever." Steven was somewhat worried. Yan Feng Capital's upcoming investment moves would be larger, with more projects requiring teamwork. Under those circumstances, they definitely could not continue operating in isolated lines, and maintaining secrecy would become even harder.

"Then let them know a little more." Wenren Yan was not worried about that. Since the other side could plant informants inside Yan Feng Capital to steal trade secrets, Wenren Yan could turn their own scheme against them. So next, Yan Feng Capital would advance several investment and acquisition projects at once. Some would be genuine, while others would be decoys to mislead outsiders.

Wenren Yan hoped that aside from resorting to underhanded tactics, they would at least use their brains a little.

"Can I come in?" Ao Qingyuan stood outside the trailer and rapped on the window.

Wenren Yan paused. On the other end of the video call, Steven's eyes immediately widened as he asked excitedly, "That voice just now! Was that Ao Qingyuan? Was that Ao Qingyuan? Boss, you're already that close with Ao Qingyuan? He actually came to your trailer to find you?"

"Boss, can you get me an autographed photo of Ao Qingyuan?"

Wenren Yan was at a loss for words. Ignoring Steven's enthusiastic request, he directly ended the video call.

Ao Qingyuan lifted his heavy skirts and climbed into the trailer. Cool lemon-scented air washed over him from the air-conditioned interior. His spirits lifted, and he could not help tugging at his collar. "It's so much cooler in here. Outside is unbearably hot."

Wenren Yan took a can of chilled cola from the mini-fridge and handed it to him. Ao Qingyuan popped it open and chugged more than half the can in one go, then sighed in satisfaction. "Refreshing!"

Wenren Yan pointed toward the small bathroom in the trailer. "Want to take a shower?"

"Forget it." Ao Qingyuan shook his head. "I still have scenes to film later, so I won't waste the water."

As he spoke, Ao Qingyuan lifted the matcha ice cream in his hand again. "Thanks for the treat."

Wenren Yan curved his lips. "It was nothing."

Ao Qingyuan pursed his lips, suddenly unsure what to talk about. He was not actually someone who was good at socializing. Usually, other people were the ones who took the initiative to find something to talk to him about.

With amusement in his eyes, Wenren Yan asked, "Tired?"

"I'm fine." Ao Qingyuan answered earnestly. "Being on wires while actually filming is different from my usual practice. I have to do the movements and strike poses while delivering lines. But I think it's pretty fun."

After a pause, Ao Qingyuan asked Wenren Yan, "Do you need to go on wires for your scene this afternoon too?"

Wenren Yan shook his head. "I have a stunt double."

After all, no one could see the actual person beneath the mask. The production only needed to find a martial arts stunt double with a similar build to Wenren Yan to go on the wires, so there was no need for Wenren Yan to do it himself.

Ao Qingyuan squeezed the cold cola can. Condensation from the can dampened his palm. It was wet, but pleasantly cool. He was actually very curious why Yan Shu had come to act. Yan Shu did not seem like someone trying to make it in the entertainment industry, and neither his words nor his manner suggested any particular interest in acting. If that was the case, why had he gone to such lengths to come here and act?

But Yan Shu did not seem willing to say much about it. Ao Qingyuan was not about to pry. After all, this was only their second meeting. They were not close enough to speak freely about everything.