"Yuan You!!"
Bai Ri burst out of the classroom, sprinting along the corridor leading to the rooftop. It was approaching evening, with the sunset nearing the horizon. The sunset glow was as dazzling as fire, just like the day he first met Yuan You.
He raced all the way to the rooftop but abruptly halted when he saw the figure at the edge.
"Don't come any closer," Yuan You said softly.
On the rooftop, Yuan You had his hands on the railing, gazing impassively at the ground below. He stood exactly where the police had determined Bai Ye had fallen. Hearing Bai Ri's cry, he turned his head slightly, giving Bai Ri an expressionless glance before turning away again.
The polite smile that usually clung to his face like a mask had disappeared, but somehow Bai Ri felt this was the real him.
If possible, he would have rushed forward to pull Yuan You back, to ask him properly why he was doing this. But he feared that acting rashly might provoke him, and with the distance between them, he wasn't confident he could reach Yuan You in time if he decided to jump.
"Come here quickly! It's dangerous there!!" Bai Ri called out anxiously.
Yuan You responded irrelevantly: "Since the day he jumped, I've been wondering what the scenery looks like when falling from here."
"I'm about to find out."
As he finished speaking, he finally smiled—but unlike any of his previous smiles, this one could almost be described as manic.
Then, without warning, he pushed hard against the railing, his body leaning forward, instantly flipping over the guardrail.
Bai Ri rushed toward Yuan You.
Yuan You fell toward the ground.
The camera pushed in continuously, finally freezing on Yuan You's eyes.
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"—Cut!"
Shao Yichen clapped her hands sharply. "Good, that's approved!"
After saying this, even though she was intent on losing money, she felt excited. After all, being immersed in the film crew for over a month had been taxing even for her.
She grabbed the megaphone she had prepared earlier, jumped onto the director's chair, and shouted through it with all her might:
"I announce that 'The Web' has wrapped filming!!"
In an instant, even though the crew had fewer than ten people, the atmosphere erupted with joy.
Cinematographer Jiang Miaomiao laughed and cried simultaneously, hiccupping through her tears—from excitement.
This was the first film she had ever shot! And she was the crew's only cinematographer! That was something to be proud of!
She was no longer the bullied little employee at the photo studio!
"Hic—look, today's sunset, hic, is as fiery red as on our first day of shooting, hic, this must be a sign that the film, hic, will be a huge hit!" she said, crying while grabbing the art director's hands and shaking them up and down.
Art director Qin Lu had just come to join the celebration, as filming didn't have much to do with his prop and set design work, so he wasn't particularly excited. He hadn't expected to become the emotional outlet for the overly excited Jiang Miaomiao.
He thought to himself: Isn't it because you deliberately scheduled this scene for sunset again? I feel you must have some special attachment to sunsets...
Though he thought this, he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud and dampen Jiang Miaomiao's enthusiasm, so he could only nod and agree: "Yes, yes, yes, it'll be a hit, definitely a hit, please stop crying, I have tissues..."
On the other side, Nan Rongzhou came running with two bouquets, a relieved smile on his face—finally finished filming! He was finally free from the struggle with acting!
The blissful gaming life! He was back!
He ran past Shao Yichen like a gust of wind, then suddenly braked, made a quick turn, and tossed a bouquet to her: "Director Shao, this is for Teacher Li, I mean, Xingyu! Please give it to him for me!"
Shao Yichen caught the flowers reflexively, not quite understanding what was happening.
What is this?
Nan Rongzhou didn't care whether Shao Yichen understood or not. After saying this, he turned and ran again.
This time his direction was clear, carrying the remaining bouquet straight to the filming area, charging toward his twin brother and giving him a forceful hug.
"Brother! Congratulations on wrapping up!" Nan Rongzhou patted Nan Rongyu's back vigorously. "It's been a tough month!"
Nan Rongyu grimaced at the impact of Nan Rongzhou's collision, and before he could recover, he received two more powerful pats, nearly coughing blood—his brother hadn't held back at all, and he felt his ribs might break!
Did he have to be so earnest?!
He yelped: "I know you're excited, I'm excited too, but let go, let go, let..."
Nan Rongzhou belatedly released him, scratching his head, feeling a bit embarrassed himself.
Since reaching adulthood, the brothers hadn't expressed their feelings this way. Today's wrap-up had excited him into such childish behavior.
He thrust the flowers into his brother's hands: "Brother, these are for you! I heard that other film crews give flowers at wrap parties, so I bought two bouquets, one for Teacher Li and one for you!"
Hearing this, Nan Rongyu thought, wow, his brother had actually done something sensible for once! He'd brought gifts!
He looked at the bouquet emotionally, curious to see what his brother had chosen.
Looking down, he discovered it was a large bunch of roses.
Nan Rongyu: ...?
Which film crew gives roses at a wrap party? Was this a proposal or a congratulation? Was someone planning to marry someone in the crew?
Sharp-eyed, he pulled out a card from among the roses and looked closely: "Ninety-nine roses, dedicated to my most beloved."
Nan Rongyu: ...
He had felt touched too soon.
His brother was, indeed, still an idiot.
Across from him, his unfortunate brother was still proudly boasting: "Brother, let me tell you, I almost arrived late because of traffic. When I reached the flower shop, without saying anything, I just told the clerk to give me two of the most expensive bouquets! They immediately brought these two over, I paid and came straight here, just in time! Fortunately, I was decisive... Ouch! Brother! Why are you hitting my head?!"
"The hit is to fix your brain!" Nan Rongyu said bluntly, raising his hand to smack him again. "Look at what flowers you bought!"
"What's wrong with them?" Nan Rongzhou rubbed his head, pouting and whimpering.
"Which film crew gives roses instead of wheat stalks for a wrap party? Are you proposing here?!" Nan Rongyu waved the card emphatically in front of Nan Rongzhou's eyes. "See this card? If this weren't for me, you'd have made a fool of yourself today!"
Nan Rongzhou grabbed the card, and after squinting to read what was written, immediately showed an awkward expression: "Damn, why didn't the clerk explain this to me?"
"Qixi Festival is approaching, they probably thought you were rushing to buy something for your girlfriend," Nan Rongyu said sarcastically, but halfway through, feeling a bit harsh, he added supportively, "But I'm still happy you remembered to bring flowers. Next time just don't get roses..."
As Nan Rongyu was saying this, feeling proud of his understanding and genuine emotions, he realized his brother wasn't listening at all. Nan Rongzhou suddenly slapped his forehead and exclaimed: "Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Nan Rongyu, interrupted mid-heartfelt expression, wasn't feeling very pleased.
"I bought two identical bouquets, and I sent Director Shao to give the other one to Teacher Li!" Nan Rongzhou said with a crestfallen face.
Nan Rongyu was silent for a moment, then stated solemnly: "If you get double-teamed by Xiao Li and Director Shao, I won't help you."
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When Shao Yichen saw Nan Rongzhou hand the bouquet to Nan Rongyu, she immediately understood what the flowers were for.
She'd heard that other film crews gave flowers to actors during wrap parties, but she had forgotten about this custom. Fortunately, the crew's main actors were strictly just the twins and Li Xingyu. The twins had sorted themselves out, so she only needed to deliver these flowers to Li Xingyu.
However, she hadn't expected that despite Li Xingyu stealing scenes from the leads and adding his own lines, Nan Rongzhou would still remember to buy him flowers at the wrap. They really were just rich and clueless, not even noticing Li Xingyu's scene-stealing...
Shao Yichen was still trapped in her self-created narrative of "tense relationships among crew members," making these assumptions to herself. She hadn't paid attention to what kind of flowers Nan Rongzhou had tossed her as she took them and walked toward Li Xingyu.
Li Xingyu was currently climbing back over the railing from the other side.
Although there was no wire harness during filming, and he had jumped without any safety equipment, that didn't mean he was in danger.
On the contrary, he was completely safe in this shot... because there was a small terrace outside the rooftop.
The small terrace was technically between the top floor and the roof, slightly lower than the top floor. From the top floor, half a flight of stairs led to the terrace, while a full flight led to the rooftop. The terrace had potted flowers and plants, regularly tended by school janitors, so its safety was absolutely guaranteed.
The only difficulty he faced while acting was restraining himself from laughing when saying the line about "the scenery seen when falling from here."
What scenery? It was all fake.
After filming the jumping scene, Li Xingyu landed smoothly on the terrace with minimal effort. He showed half his body from the terrace, looking at the crew members on the rooftop, hearing Shao Yichen announce the film's wrap, and feeling quite emotional.
When his first film with Shao Yichen wrapped, it was genuinely a small-budget production. After finishing, not only was there no sense of ceremony, but he and Shao Yichen had spent an entire afternoon cleaning the rental apartment, which had been rather miserable.
This film was different.
Although the crew was still small, at least they had a cinematographer, an art director, more than one actor, and the crew could afford grips and extras—though most were interning juniors from the university. This crew at least looked like a proper production.
He had heard that the crew would be having a dinner party later, and Nan Rongyu and Nan Rongzhou seemed familiar with the venue, inviting everyone to enjoy a band performance. The evening would surely be lively.
Li Xingyu thought this, completely unaware of the torment his and the rest of the crew's eardrums would soon endure. He looked at the terrace door, which was closed from the outside, and deciding it would be troublesome to call someone to open it, he pushed himself up with both hands on the rooftop floor and climbed back over the railing.
As soon as he landed, he met Shao Yichen's gaze.
When did she come over?!
Li Xingyu wobbled momentarily, nearly falling, but managed to steady himself.
Shao Yichen clapped her hands: "Climbing a six-story building barehanded, impressive skills, young hero!"
Li Xingyu: "...Too kind, too kind. My skills are amateur. I've made the director laugh at me."
Due to Veteran Fang Yuan's earth-shattering speculation, Li Xingyu's feelings toward Shao Yichen were currently quite complex. Simply put, he wasn't sure whether to maintain an appropriate distance.
But he also felt that his current relationship with Shao Yichen was comfortable, and continuing this friendship was fine.
There was even a moment when he seriously considered whether he might have feelings for Director Shao Yichen that transcended friendship, but as soon as the thought emerged, he pushed it to the deepest recesses of his mind.
His current situation wasn't suitable for thinking about such matters, and Director Shao Yichen clearly had no such intentions either, so there was no point in overthinking.
With this in mind, Li Xingyu decided to interact with Shao Yichen as he had before.
With filming just wrapped, he asked in a relaxed mood: "Why isn't the director congratulating the two lead actors? What are you doing over here?"
Shao Yichen produced a bouquet from behind her back like a magician: "Came to deliver flowers."
Without further explanation, she thrust the bouquet into Li Xingyu's hands.
Li Xingyu looked down—a large bunch of red roses.
Li Xingyu: ?!?!?!
Author's Note:
Shao Yichen: I heard the author was very disappointed that we didn't get to exchange flowers during the Qixi Festival a while back.
Li Xingyu: So this is a belated Qixi gift?
Third update!
Author is giving up.