115: That's really awful.

Xu Jingge was dead drunk, but he didn't want to disturb Chang Qing, so he grumbled, "Chang Qing doesn't love me anymore; he only sent five messages today."

Chu Yilan said in a low voice, "He's busy."

"Busy, everyone's busy. Being busy is good."

Dealing with a drunkard, Chu Yilan didn't bother to respond. He looked up at the pitch-black sky, feeling as if a rope was tied in his heart, with something immensely heavy at the other end, giving him a sense of peace.

"Look at you, actually being in love," Xu Jingge muttered.

Chu Yilan: "You've said that N times already."

"I never expected it." Xu Jingge leaned against a stone lion nearby, rambling incoherently. "To be honest, back at the Joint Chamber of Commerce between Lin City and Qudu three years ago, when I first saw you, I thought someone like you wouldn't live long."

That was damn harsh. Chu Yilan's fingertips itched as he suppressed the urge to punch him.

"Lifeless, with a face full of bad luck." Xu Jingge clicked his tongue in wonder. "I even complained to Chang Qing about how someone like you could occupy such good feng shui and end up as the richest man in Qudu."

"Is it possible that I'm just very capable?" Chu Yilan said.

"It's not a matter of being capable or not." Xu Jingge waved his hand and struggled to get up unsteadily. Worried he might tumble down the steps, Chu Yilan reached out to steady him.

"Drank too much." Xu Jingge said in a strained voice, "I want to throw up."

Chu Yilan mercilessly tossed him to the assistant nearby.

The car slowly parked at the bottom. Chu Yilan instructed Xu Jingge's people to take good care of him, then turned and walked away.

By the time Chu Yilan settled into the hotel, it was already past two in the morning. Having a bit of a germaphobia, he washed up before lying down. He could only sleep for a few hours before having to get moving again.

As it turned out, when he received Yang Bin's call the next day, Chu Yilan checked the time and saw he was a full half-hour late.

"Hello." As soon as he spoke, he realized his voice was very nasally, and his throat hurt as if it were being scraped by razor blades.

Yang Bin was startled. "CEO Chu?"

"It's nothing." Chu Yilan coughed. "Buy some cold medicine and bring it up. I'm getting up now."

Chu Yilan had an excellent physique. One of his early ways to vent was staying in the gym, sweating until he was exhausted so he could sleep better.

Thus, there was the famous scene of Chu Yilan "dragging two along."

Those he dragged along were none other than his two special assistants.

Yang Bin and Sun Binghe were enthusiastic at first, but on that unforgettable day, their "rest" activity with their boss consisted of a thirty-kilometer jog, three hours in the gym, plus stretching, battle ropes, and weightlifting—the whole works. By sunset, Chu Yilan wiped the sweat from his face and looked back to see Yang Bin slumped in a chair and Sun Binghe collapsed on the treadmill, looking like he was about to meet his end.

That was the first time Sun Binghe proactively asked for leave. After that, whenever Chu Yilan mentioned working out, he would turn around and leave at the speed of light.

So, Chu Yilan didn't take a common cold to heart.

On the way to the negotiations, Yang Bin took Chu Yilan's temperature: 38.5 degrees. He had a fever.

Yet Chu Yilan kept his head down, flipping through documents, seemingly unaffected.

In their position, no one would dare say it's easy.

"Don't tell Shen Lian," Chu Yilan instructed.

Yang Bin's hand, which was about to send a message, stopped, and he obeyed the order. "Alright."

Shen Lian didn't expect Chu Yilan to be so busy that he wouldn't even answer the phone. After checking in with Chang Qing, he found that Xu Jingge was even more like a spinning top—after one call in the morning, he couldn't be found for the rest of the night.

"Brother Shen, I've finished writing," Jiang You said, putting down her pen and sighing in relief.

Shen Lian refocused, picked up the test paper for a quick scan, and smiled. "You've improved. Your accuracy has gone up by about thirty percent. As expected, if you can't memorize it, use the sea-of-questions tactic. Just use the key points Assistant Sun highlighted for you; it won't go to waste."

Jiang You thought it was truly surreal. What kind of assistant was she? Instead of running around the set every day, she was pinned down to do test papers. Not to mention Sun Binghe's strict requirements; once Shen Lian heard her exam was in a month, he joined in too. Now, when Jiang You got tired, she would even receive soothing tea brewed by Shen Lian or Sun Binghe themselves, making her unsure whether to cry or laugh.

Chen Zao hadn't noticed Jiang You much before, but now whenever they crossed paths, she would cast a sympathetic look at her, give her a hug, and sigh.

Jiang You didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Shen Lian, my treat tonight, let's go eat." Director Liu Zong walked up, but as soon as he saw the test papers on the table, he instinctively stopped in his tracks.

Shen Lian was amused. "Are you afraid of these too?"

Director Liu Zong made a face of agony. "During my student days, except for my Chinese grades, everything else was a total mess. I don't want to see them. Make sure you come tonight."

Shen Lian: "No problem."

Once Director Liu Zong left, Shen Lian said to Jiang You, "There will definitely be drinking tonight, and there are too many random people. Our Producer Zheng is hard to get along with, so don't go. Go have hotpot and sing karaoke with your friends tonight; I'll reimburse you."

Jiang You couldn't have asked for more. "Brother Shen, you're like a real brother to me!!!"

Sun Binghe had to follow along.

The main cast was all there. Director Liu Zong had booked a fairly large venue. As expected, once that Producer Zheng got drunk, he started looking for girls to dance with.

However, everyone knew his nature, so no girls came near him, leaving him pacing around anxiously.

"Luckily I let Jiang You go, otherwise I might have had to give someone a piece of my mind." Shen Lian poured two glasses of low-alcohol champagne and pushed one toward Sun Binghe.

Special Assistant Sun's gaze was relaxed. Watching a few people in the center of the dance floor twisting in bizarre shapes, he picked up the glass and drained it in one gulp.

Jiang Nong was also there, staying by Su Niansheng's side the whole time.

He was quite a lively person when he first arrived, but he might have truly been discouraged, as he had been very quiet lately.

Before long, Su Niansheng came forward with a drink.

Shen Lian picked up his glass, while Sun Binghe didn't even bother to move.

Shen Lian needed to maintain social relations, but as for giving face, Sun Binghe didn't have to give it to Su Niansheng if he didn't want to; they were in different fields.

Su Niansheng didn't pay attention to Sun Binghe either. Instead, he lightly clinked glasses with Shen Lian, took a sip, and then said, "Regarding everything before, we exaggerated too much. I'm sorry."

Shen Lian gave the same response: "It's fine."

As long as First Light could be filmed smoothly, Shen Lian wouldn't take any targeted grievances to heart.

Su Niansheng apologized and Shen Lian accepted, so logically it should have ended there. However, Su Niansheng remained seated, swirling his glass. After a moment, he looked up at Shen Lian. "Do you really... have someone you like?"

Shen Lian's smile faded.

"There's no point in asking that," Shen Lian said. "Jiang Nong isn't my type."

"His young master tantrums are quite severe, but he doesn't have any malicious intent..."

Sun Binghe sneered. "Communicating with you two brothers is really exhausting."

If this were a business negotiation, Sun Binghe would have made them leave the conference room in tears one way or another.

Su Niansheng felt a bit embarrassed by Sun Binghe's mockery.

He truly thought the so-called "person he likes" was just Shen Lian's excuse to reject Jiang Nong. Since his younger brother was sad and wouldn't give up, he wanted to ask again, forgetting his own initial wary and distant attitude toward Shen Lian.

"Really, best actor Su," Shen Lian said helplessly. "Let's not mention this again in the future."

Su Niansheng nodded repeatedly. "Alright, sorry, sorry."

Afterward, Director Liu Zong called them over. Shen Lian stepped forward, and everyone raised their glasses in celebration. The filming was going quite smoothly, and Director Liu Zong was in a good mood, thinking about giving everyone a day off.

The flash of a camera clicked twice at the door. Sun Binghe made a gesture, and the Bodyguard immediately gave chase.