The props team sprayed down torrential rain, but beneath the water’s surface, the undercurrents surged even more violently than the deluge above.
The moment Yu Jiaze threw off his suit jacket and jumped into the water, almost everyone who wasn’t busy crowded around the monitors, packed together like sardines to watch the spectacle.
On the main monitor, Wu Man had already lost consciousness and hung her head limply. Zhui Ye glanced coldly at the person swimming over from afar, then held Wu Man and swam in the opposite direction, swimming out of frame.
Yu Jiaze’s position hadn’t had a camera set up from the start. On the main monitor they could only see the black-shirted figure flash past from a distance, unable to make out his expression, but that oppressive, overwhelming aura made everyone’s blood run cold even through the screen.
But Zhui Ye seemed completely oblivious, swimming faster and faster. Even carrying the weight of another person, he left Yu Jiaze behind, the gap in stamina and speed brought by youth becoming abundantly clear.
Before long, he surfaced with Wu Man in his arms and placed her on the shore.
Wu Man had already passed out by this point. Zhui Ye clumsily pressed on her chest, pinched her nose, and was about to continue giving her artificial respiration.
Just as their lips were about to touch, the water surface churned and a figure emerged, viciously shoving Zhui Ye aside.
Yu Jiaze was like a vengeful demon crawling up from hell to claim a life, saying in a low voice: “Get lost!”
“Are you sick?” Zhui Ye’s temple twitched. “Don’t block me from saving someone!”
“Something I’ve raised needs you to save it?” Yu Jiaze actually curved his lips, saying with a smile, “Besides, if something I’ve raised gets dirty, it might as well be dead.”
“…What the hell kind of bullshit are you spouting?!”
Zhui Ye grabbed Yu Jiaze’s collar in a towering rage, unhesitatingly raising his fist like a giant bomb and swinging it at him.
The speed was so fast that before anyone could react, two black-suited bodyguards rushed out from the crowd and restrained him from both sides. Zhui Ye cursed, and the three of them became entangled in a scuffle. Only then did the crew members set aside their spectating and rush over in a flurry to pull them apart.
The scene was chaotic beyond precedent. Wang Cheng watched the main monitor and got strangely excited: “Edit this footage a bit and it’s straight out of Young and Dangerous!”
Yu Jiaze, meanwhile, methodically straightened his rumpled collar, swept a contemptuous glance over the scene, bent down, picked up Wu Man, and strode away.
*
When Wu Man woke up, it was nighttime. Pitch darkness surrounded her.
She looked groggily toward the bedside. In the darkness sat a person, half their face immersed in deathly silence, half their face showing deathly pale in the moonlight, concentrating on peeling an apple.
“Awake?”
He lifted his head and held a piece of apple to Wu Man’s lips.
Wu Man had no appetite whatsoever at the moment, but still bit the apple into her mouth.
Yu Jiaze wiped away the juice overflowing from the corner of her mouth: “Before filming started, you told me you wouldn’t be afraid.”
Wu Man’s voice remained as calm as possible: “I’m sorry. I overestimated human physiological instinct.”
His voice was gentle: “That kid kissed you in the water. Did you know?”
Hearing this question suddenly, fragmented memories instantly flooded back, and even her heart trembled.
She lied with an unchanged expression: “…He didn’t touch me. I dodged.”
She remembered the camera angle wasn’t a close-up but a wide shot, so it wouldn’t be very clear.
Thank goodness it wasn’t a close-up. What tremendous luck. Wu Man silently put her hands together in gratitude to the heavens.
“Is that so?” Yu Jiaze gently stroked the soft skin at her lips—what had been a very tender caress gradually increased in force.
Her lips felt numb and painful, visibly swelling.
Wu Man nodded and forced a smile: “Besides, he came over just to save me. After all, it would be terrible if there was an accident during filming.”
“Saving you again and again—what a warm-hearted person he is.” Yu Jiaze withdrew his hand and picked up the fruit knife. He aimed the blade tip at the apple core, applied force with his wrist, and stabbed into the center. “Should I present him with a banner for being such a model citizen?”
“…You’re really overthinking this. The birthday present he gave Ding Jiaqi—he searched through music discs released eighteen years ago, one by one, to find one with her name in it. Doesn’t that sound much more meaningful than anything with me? You also heard him say with his own mouth that I’m not his type.” She met his eyes. “There’s nothing between him and me.”
“Keep filming and maybe there will be.”
“Are you worried?” Wu Man deliberately provoked him. “We’ve already filmed half the drama. So many eyes are watching. If you suddenly don’t let me film, everyone will think you’ve lost instead.”
Yu Jiaze’s apple-peeling motion paused. He threw down the knife and suddenly gripped Wu Man’s throat.
He smiled very happily: “You’ve said so much, but not one sentence hits the mark.”
She was choked until her face flushed red, and what little breath she had just recovered was barely squeezed out.
Yu Jiaze moved close to Wu Man, his ice-cold lips pressed against her ear: “What you should say most is: don’t worry, because my eyes will only have you.”
He relaxed his grip slightly. Wu Man choked out in broken phrases: “My eyes… will only have… you.”
Only then did Yu Jiaze release her. Violent coughing echoed throughout the entire room.
“Fine, then finish filming.” Yu Jiaze kissed Wu Man’s forehead.
After all, that young Cannes Best Actor would have great difficulty getting cast in any more productions.
“I have a dinner engagement in a bit. If you need anything, just call me directly.”
He stuffed the last piece of apple into Wu Man’s mouth, dusted off his hands, threw on his trench coat, and left.
*
After this, Wang Cheng specially came to her room to check on her, saying the production coordinator had already changed the call sheet to give her a proper day of rest tomorrow. Although the water park filming had ended with a mishap, the footage before she passed out could all be used. Only after hearing this did Wu Man completely relax, falling into a drowsy sleep. When she woke again, it was deep into the night.
She felt a bit hungry and ordered room service. The knock came faster than expected.
Opening the door, a flash of surprise crossed Wu Man’s eyes.
Standing outside was Zhui Ye, hands in his pockets, two wounds still visible at the corner of his mouth.
“…We still have scenes to film—how did you get yourself in this state?”
Wu Man knew nothing of what had happened after she passed out and couldn’t help asking in surprise. At the same time, a vague prediction formed in her mind, along with a very ominous premonition.
He was completely indifferent, touching the corner of his mouth: “This? Wanted to fight an idiot, didn’t get to, got bitten by the idiot’s lackeys instead.”
“You don’t mean…”
“Who else but Yu Jiaze?”
“Are you insane?” Wu Man gasped. “Do you have any awareness at all of the current situation… The Yu family is all over the entertainment industry, has incredibly wide connections in the circle, even ties to the censorship bureau. If you offend him, you’re offending the entire domestic entertainment industry!”
“Give me another chance and my only regret would be that my fist wasn’t fast enough.” Zhui Ye asked her absurdly: “Do you know what kind of bullshit he was saying when you were passed out by the pool? Does this person understand what basic respect is? I cannot imagine any woman falling in love with someone like this.”
Wu Man helplessly curved her lips: “Using love to define relationships between men and women in the industry—should I say you’re naive or stupid?”
“So you’re admitting you stay by his side because of benefits?”
“…This is between him and me.” Wu Man glanced left and right at the empty corridor. Room service might arrive soon, or someone might suddenly pass by—being seen would be inappropriate either way. “It’s very late. I need to rest. Regardless, thank you for what happened at the pool.”
She finished speaking rapidly and was about to close the door when Zhui Ye suddenly stuck his hand in the gap.
Wu Man almost crushed his palm, stopping at the last second, asking irritably: “Why are you so reckless!”
Zhui Ye took advantage of the still-open gap to slip inside, kicking back with his heel to push the door completely shut.
Wu Man furrowed her brows: “I’m warning you—you need to leave. Yu Jiaze will be back from his dinner engagement soon. The pool incident already made him very unhappy, but that could be considered an accident. If he sees you in my room again, you’ll really be finished. I’ll be finished too.”
He stared into Wu Man’s eyes, seeming to block out her words, looking straight as if to penetrate her soul.
“Whatever reason you’re by his side doesn’t matter. You must leave him. He’s not a good person.”
Wu Man froze for a moment, her shoulders trembling slightly as she couldn’t help laughing.
“Not a good person? Then how do you know I’m a good person? Birds of a feather flock together. Actually, I’m not a good person either.”
Zhui Ye’s face darkened as he walked closer and closer to Wu Man, the shrinking distance making her feel panicked.
She turned and sat back on the sofa not far away, putting distance between herself and Zhui Ye, feigning composure as she crossed her legs with a languid posture: “Is it the bad habit of playboys to like leading good women astray and persuading bad women to reform?”
“Wu Man.”
Zhui Ye suddenly called her name with great solemnity.
This seemed to be the first time he’d called her by name, directly stunning Wu Man.
She watched as he pursued relentlessly, walking toward her step by step. That oncoming sense of oppression forced her to instinctively stop moving.
She glimpsed out of the corner of her eye his amber shadow projected on the opposite wall—an enormous thing, like a hunting leopard.
This leopard was suddenly right in front of her, extending both hands. His scraped palms pressed into the soft sofa cushions—an extremely rough and soft collision.
She uneasily lifted her head, passively and vulnerably trapped in his embrace.
“I’m not a playboy.” Zhui Ye lowered his head to catch her gaze, tracing from her eyes along the contours to her lips. As he spoke, his sharp canines showed, as if he would bite straight into her artery. “And you’re not a bad woman.”
*
Downstairs at the hotel, a Bentley stopped at the entrance.
Hotel staff respectfully wearing white gloves pulled open the car door. Leather shoes touched the ground, then legs, the hem of a trench coat, broad shoulders.
Yu Jiaze got out of the car, rubbed his forehead, his breath carrying the smell of alcohol.
He walked into the hotel’s glass elevator and pressed a floor number.
The numbers jumped up one by one.
Wu Man and Zhui Ye in the room remained completely unaware that those numbers were the countdown to Yu Jiaze’s return.
15, 16, 17…
The number stopped at Wu Man’s floor. The elevator doors opened.