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Ao Qingyuan looked at him eagerly. "Hope we get to film it soon."

Wenren Yan said nothing, casually handing Ao Qingyuan the chilled mung bean slush.

After finishing the mung bean slush, Ao Qingyuan continued filming with a blank expression. This scene was about his character snatching the primordial divine artifact, the Mizi Ring, within a small secret realm. He infused it with true qi, awakening the Supreme One's soul that had been dormant inside the Mizi Ring. In other words, it was the first meeting between the male lead and the Supreme One.

The scenes they had filmed before were all about the Supreme One and the male lead fighting side by side. Now that they were filming their first encounter, Wenren Yan still had some trouble finding the right feel for his lines. Fortunately, Wenren Yan would not be dubbing himself for this drama. Once filming wrapped, professional voice actors would record his dialogue. So even though his delivery was not quite on point, the director let it pass after two NGs.

When filming ended that night, Wenren Yan naturally wanted to invite Ao Qingyuan back to the hotel for a late-night snack. To his surprise, Ao Qingyuan refused with a gloomy expression. "I still have to shoot a commercial in the studio after work. Go back by yourself."

Wenren Yan glanced at the time. It was already past two in the morning.

Ao Qingyuan sighed heavily. "Can't be helped. The variety show I signed on for earlier is about to start filming. The title sponsor needs me to shoot the ad in advance so it can air on TV alongside the show's promotion."

Wenren Yan understood. Considerately, he said, "Then I'll head back first and have the hotel prepare a bowl of red date porridge. Eat it before you sleep."

Ao Qingyuan nodded. The man, over six feet tall, looked a little pitiful.

Wenren Yan did not sleep after returning to the hotel. Zhao Zhao, who had infiltrated the "enemy" ranks, called him in the middle of the night. While working during the day, he had accidentally overheard his current boss arranging a meeting to discuss cooperation. The other party was Boss Jiang from Wenshan Holdings. Zhao Zhao suddenly remembered that Steven had mentioned, during their last phone call, that Wenshan Holdings was accumulating Wenren Group's scattered shares on the secondary market. Zhao Zhao felt there was something fishy going on, so he called Wenren Yan overnight.

Wenren Yan had not expected that, after all the twists and turns, these people would end up working together. He was momentarily surprised. But on second thought, it was only to be expected. They had gone to such lengths to deal with him. It was hardly strange that they would set their sights on Wenren Group.

"Boss, what do we do next?"

Wenren Yan said, "Keep watching them. Don't rush, and don't make any unnecessary moves. Don't let them suspect you."

Zhao Zhao naturally understood that. The two talked for a while longer before Zhao Zhao hung up.

Following Wenren Yan's instructions, Steven had spent nearly two months secretly approaching several minor shareholders of Wenren Group. He bought roughly ten percent of the shares and registered them under different names. Afterward, he called Wenren Yan to report the results. Upon receiving the news, Wenren Yan immediately asked the production team for three days off, preparing to return to Yanjing once again. This time, however, Wenren Yan did not forget to give Ao Qingyuan advance notice.

Ao Qingyuan was a little surprised, then smiled. "What a coincidence. I took four days off too—the variety show I signed up for earlier is starting production. The filming location happens to be the Forbidden City in Yanjing. When are you leaving? Why don't we go together?"

Wenren Yan had originally booked a flight for that afternoon. Hearing Ao Qingyuan's words, something stirred in his heart. "Which flight did you book?"

Ao Qingyuan said, "I have to finish filming today's scenes. My flight is at 12:40 tonight. If you want to go with me, I can refund it and switch to one tomorrow morning."

Wenren Yan said, "No need to change it. We'll leave together tonight."

As he spoke, Wenren Yan called his assistant and told them to change his ticket.

Both the male lead and second male lead had taken leave. Naturally, the remaining filming schedule had to shift its focus to the female lead. Since joining the cast of Immortal-Demon Duel, Tian Bao'er had not forgotten to promote herself. With Ao Qingyuan, a global superstar, as her co-star in the new drama, many businesses were highly optimistic about her prospects. Several brands had already placed their bets early and negotiated endorsement deals. Tian Bao'er also needed time off to shoot new promotional materials and commercials. But she had not expected Ao Qingyuan and Wenren Yan to beat her to it. As a result, when she went to request leave from the director, she was turned down. While filming, she could not help looking at Ao Qingyuan with a somewhat resentful gaze.

It made Ao Qingyuan feel a little guilty. Tian Bao'er stewed over it for a while before getting over it herself. "Forget it. I'll have the production team come here to film my commercials. Saves me the trouble of running around on my own."

Previously, Tian Bao'er had always had a habit of juggling multiple productions to make money. This time, after taking on Immortal-Demon Duel, because the male lead was Ao Qingyuan, a highly watched international superstar, and because she was eager to turn around her reputation, she had honestly stayed with the production for this long. She seriously rehearsed scenes during the day and studied the script at night. After more than two months, she had unexpectedly rediscovered the passion for acting she had felt when she had first graduated from school. To be honest, she felt a little grateful to Ao Qingyuan as well.

Ao Qingyuan curled his lips into a faint smile. Through their interactions over this period, he had come to feel that Tian Bao'er was not the monster the rumors made her out to be. Although she had disliked memorizing lines when filming first began, she had not dropped the ball once over the past two months. More importantly, as a female artist who had graduated from an acting program, Tian Bao'er's fight scenes and wirework were genuinely beautiful. That might have had something to do with her dancing since childhood. She was also remarkably tough when filming. Hengdian was scorching in summer, and the layered ancient costumes were so thick that hanging from wires made a person look like roast duck hanging in an oven. Yet Tian Bao'er had endured it all. She never used a stand-in for anything she could film herself. A few days ago, when the temperature had reached forty-eight degrees Celsius, she had suffered heatstroke from the sun. After resting in her trailer for a while, she still insisted on finishing the scene.

Ao Qingyuan felt that no matter what the outside world said, Tian Bao'er was, at least in his eyes, a highly qualified and dedicated partner. Over the past two months, his attitude toward Tian Bao'er had improved considerably. Their relationship had also become more harmonious. At the very least, they could chat and joke around without restraint.

Tian Bao'er had not expected Ao Qingyuan's personality to truly be so simple. Logically speaking, Ao Qingyuan had been in the industry for three or four years and had met no small number of celebrities and entertainers, both domestic and foreign. She had also heard about Ji Jie repeatedly telling Ao Qingyuan to stay away from female artists. She had originally assumed that a young male star with such a brilliant career ahead of him would surely be arrogant and proud. In the end, he was a little high-spirited, but he did not have the overbearing temperament of someone who looked down on others. Every day, all he thought about was eating and having fun. Other than that, he memorized lines, danced, and lost weight. He was so simple that he barely seemed like someone from the industry.