Chapter 157: How Toxic
"I need to prepare for the next scene." In the short time that had passed, Director Mo had already finished watching the playback and pointed out a few things for Rong Yu to pay attention to: "Jing Sheng, you are a ghost now. Your body is cold, your limbs are stiff, your skin is pale and bloodless. These are the initial manifestations. You need to unconsciously display these points, letting the audience sense something is wrong with you, so that at a certain moment they can deduce that the real ghost is not Jiang Qing, but you."
"So, what are the mid-stage manifestations?" Director Mo asked, but without waiting for Rong Yu to answer, he continued: "The ghost in this setting can freely pass through walls. While chasing the murderer, in order to catch up quickly, you unconsciously pass through a wall. Your body while running is not like a normal person's because you are the real ghost. You run as if floating, but you yourself don't feel it."
Director Mo had a habit: when explaining scenes, he would directly address the actor as their character in the drama, so he used the character's name.
Seeing Director Mo explaining the scene to Rong Yu, Yin Chengjue didn't want to disturb them, so he first wandered over to a camera further away, wanting to see how other shots were turning out.
Seeing it was Yin Chengjue, the cameraman cooperatively moved aside and adjusted the playback for him to watch.
Besides the playback of the scene just filmed, there were playbacks of other videos. Yin Chengjue watched them one by one.
Because it was a supernatural film requiring many special effects in post-production, what he saw now were fragmented scenes, making it hard to tell which part of the story was being filmed.
Just as Yin Chengjue was trying to recall which parts of his written plot these videos corresponded to, he felt something tug on his clothes.
Yin Chengjue looked down and first saw a beige checkered suit, then met a pair of large eyes.
"Um, hello, President Yin. I, I wanted to watch the playback from this camera, i-is that okay?" The man lowered his head, looking very nervous as he fidgeted with his fingers, appearing cautious.
Yin Chengjue instantly lost any desire to continue watching. He took a few steps away and headed towards another part of the set. Over there were a few youths with Li Qiao. Although Yin Chengjue's main purpose was to visit Rong Yu, to avoid raising suspicions, he still needed to check on the other artists from Huansheng Entertainment.
So, casting artists from his own company in this film had this advantage, it allowed him to plausibly explain that his purpose for visiting the set was to check in on the entire group of them.
"Um, President Yin, could you wait a moment? I think there was a misunderstanding between us before. Could you listen to me for a moment?" Ming Qian, who had just said he wanted to watch the playback, quickly followed him.
Yin Chengjue's eyebrows instantly furrowed deeply. He raised his hand and cracked his knuckles.
Crack, crack.
Ming Qian, who had been about to reach for Yin Chengjue's hand: "..."
In that instant, he remembered the scene where Yin Chengjue had choked him. The feeling of near-death suffocation made his hairs stand on end, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
"Don't want to hear it," Yin Chengjue said coldly.
Ming Qian's feet had already taken a frightened step back. But then, seemingly steeling himself, he gritted his teeth, summoned his courage once more, and spoke: "But I want to explain. That night, I was... I was drugged. I was dizzy and confused, I don't know how I ended up there. I truly don't know what happened. I was framed! I was wronged!"
If it weren't for the fact that people were coming and going, and speaking too harshly might make onlookers think he was bullying Ming Qian, and if ignoring him and walking away risked Ming Qian following him and causing misunderstandings, Yin Chengjue would have turned and left long ago.
Suppressing his impatience, Yin Chengjue said, "What does that have to do with me? It wasn't me who framed you."
Ming Qian said with a nervous expression, "But, I'm afraid you misunderstand me..."
Yin Chengjue: "Unnecessary."
Ming Qian's eyes lit up: "So, President Yin, you forgive me?"
Yin Chengjue: "I mean, whether there's a misunderstanding or not is unnecessary. It's unimportant. You can leave now."
The smile on Ming Qian's face instantly froze. Tears welled up in his large eyes, making it seem he might burst into tears at any moment.
A passerby who accidentally saw Ming Qian's tearful expression, thinking something had happened, couldn't help but glance at Yin Chengjue. Noticed by Yin Chengjue, who glared back, the person immediately pretended to see nothing and hurried away.
Watching that person leave, Yin Chengjue's mood didn't improve at all.
He wondered why he had never realized in his previous life just how irritating Ming Qian could be. The last time they met, he had physically thrown Ming Qian out. Surely, anyone with even a shred of self-respect would not have come seeking him out again after such an incident.
Yin Chengjue finally couldn't take it anymore and turned to leave. Unexpectedly, Ming Qian quickly circled around in front of him again, spreading his arms to block the way.
"President Yin, are you really so impatient to hear my explanation? I just don't want there to be misunderstandings between us."
With this movement, the tears gathered in his eyes instantly fell, smudging his eyeliner.
"I said it was unimportant," Yin Chengjue retorted. He tried to remember if he had ever given Ming Qian any encouragement in this lifetime. Was Chang Yue's financial support insufficient? Had Feng Changheng's affection waned? Why did Ming Qian persist in bothering him like this?
"But, to me, it's very important!" Ming Qian seemed to think it wasn't good to cry here and quickly wiped away the tears with his hands.
The area behind the camera position was a secluded grove of trees where no one was present. Yin Chengjue, wanting to leave, had begun walking toward the main set. After Ming Qian stopped him, Ming Qian stood with his back to the busy production crew, while Yin Chengjue faced it directly.
From this vantage point, Yin Chengjue could see the crew members hurrying to prepare the next scene and the actors focused on their lines. For the moment, no one had noticed the confrontation or the fact that Ming Qian was crying.
Yin Chengjue had originally wondered why Ming Qian dared to act up here, but when he looked up and saw how busy everyone was, he instantly understood: Ming Qian had chosen this spot on purpose.
Ming Qian had kept his back turned to the crew. After he wiped his tears, only his reddened eyes remained visible. When the next scene began and he walked onto the set, everyone would notice his distressed state.
He knew that if someone then asked, "Did anyone see who Ming Qian was talking to earlier?" someone would inevitably recall seeing Yin Chengjue standing there with him. With so many people around, they might have missed Ming Qian's expression or the details of their conversation, but they would have certainly seen Yin Chengjue's face.
And his expression had been thunderous.
Yin Chengjue began to reflect. He really must have been blind in his previous life; otherwise, how could he have found someone like Ming Qian cute? If only Ming Qian used these schemes to hone his acting skills, he wouldn't need to rely on these methods to climb up.
However, Yin Chengjue didn't know that in his previous life, he had used all his power to pave a smooth road for Ming Qian. If there was even a single thorn on the path, Yin Chengjue would remove it, allowing Ming Qian to walk smoothly. Naturally, Ming Qian didn't need to spend effort elsewhere. In this life, Yin Chengjue was merely a bystander. Ming Qian had no power or influence. The Feng Changheng he had previously attached himself to was now struggling himself and even asking Ming Qian for money. Later, the Chang Yue he attached himself to was a playboy whose attention never stayed on Ming Qian for long. Ming Qian inevitably faced setbacks everywhere, stumbling and falling frequently.
Hurt and in pain, he naturally learned to scheme, learned to use his advantages.
Yin Chengjue couldn't be bothered to say more to Ming Qian. He sent a "Get lost" his way and strode towards where the crowd was.
Ming Qian called out a few times from behind but, wary of the crowd, didn't follow further.
Yin Chengjue first visited Li Qiao and greeted the five young actors there. Afterwards, he approached Wei Hai and routinely inquired about his recent activities.
Wei Hai had secretly married, and his spouse was a man. Previously, only Wei Hai's assistant had known about this matter - even his former manager had been unaware. This was because the man Wei Hai had registered his marriage with was that very assistant.
Yin Chengjue knew about this situation because he had handled the exposure of Wei Hai's hidden marriage in his previous life. At that time, the media had photographed Wei Hai kissing his same-sex partner in a car. After the photos were published online, the company had discovered the situation and rushed to manage the fallout.
This incident had also allowed Yin Chengjue to witness once more how an artist could fall from great heights to being trampled and condemned by thousands after publicly revealing their sexuality. Most disturbingly, the majority of online insults had come from Wei Hai's own fans.
Although Yin Chengjue had eventually managed the situation adequately and Wei Hai hadn't left the entertainment industry, the artist had suffered severe impact and required a long time to recover.
It was precisely because of this experience that later, when Huansheng Entertainment faced its own crisis, Wei Hai remained unmoved by offers from other companies attempting to recruit him. He viewed with contempt those artists who simply paid their contract penalties and left.
"What are your plans?" Yin Chengjue asked.
Wei Hai immediately understood Yin Chengjue's meaning. When Yin Chengjue had directly pointed out the issue between him and his assistant that day, Wei Hai had been shocked. They had maintained extreme secrecy about their relationship, being flawlessly discreet in public. Even his previous manager hadn't detected anything, so he never expected Yin Chengjue to discover their secret.
Yin Chengjue had previously suggested that Wei Hai find a different assistant. Otherwise, the two men being constantly together would inevitably lead to discovery through a moment of lost control, just as had happened in the previous lifetime.
"We'll be careful," Wei Hai said.
His response implied that he didn't want to separate his professional life from his current assistant.
Wei Hai watched Yin Chengjue cautiously, fearing that he might become angry and directly force the couple apart. His expression was far too obvious, practically spelling out his anxiety.
Yin Chengjue's mouth twitched at the sight. "I'm not that unreasonable. If you insist on this arrangement, then you should consciously hint to your fans during this period that you have someone you like. Then gradually indicate that the person isn't in the entertainment industry. Later, you can show your wedding ring. This will give your fans a psychological buffer."
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