Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

On the film set at Songjiang Middle School, the morning's scenes had just begun filming.

Ning Yuan sat behind the monitor, using a walkie-talkie to adjust Shen Feng's positioning.

Li Cheng ran in from the direction of the school gate with a walkie-talkie in his hand, his expression not quite right.

He jogged over to Jiang Fan, bent down, and lowered his voice.

"Brother Fan, something's happened."

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Fan was still holding a handful of sunflower seeds in his hand, and his mouth was still open.

"Tang Yingxue is here. She said she's here to visit the set. Her car is already parked at the school gate."

Jiang Fan paused for a moment while cracking sunflower seeds.

The way Li Cheng looked at Jiang Fan seemed to say—you're finished.

Ning Yuan turned around from the front.

"What's wrong?"

Tang Yingxue came to visit the set.

Ning Yuan frowned slightly, took off the monitor's earpiece, and tossed it onto the table.

"What's she doing here?"

Jiang Fan didn't respond to that. He stood up, brushed the sunflower seed shells off his trousers, and walked straight toward the school gate.

Ning Yuan clicked his tongue in the back, sat back in his folding chair, and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"The whole group is on pause for a ten-minute break."

Ma Yue was standing in the middle of the field waiting for filming to begin when she heard this and froze on the spot, turning her head to look at Shen Feng.

Shen Feng pointed the script towards the school gate.

Ma Yue looked in that direction.

A black van was parked across the school gate.

The car door opened, and the hem of the black trench coat was lifted by the wind.

A woman walked down in high heels, her face mostly hidden behind sunglasses, ignoring the stares of those around her as she went inside.

Ma Yue unconsciously rolled the script in her hand into a tube, and her mouth remained open for a long time.

"My God! That's... Tang Yingxue?"

Shen Feng leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his tone exuding the wisdom of someone who had been through it all.

"Ma Yue, now you understand why I insisted on changing Lu Wanqing's kissing scene to a fake camera angle, right?"

Ma Yue swallowed hard.

"I understand now."

Rinko suddenly appeared, peeking around curiously.

"Brother, I just saw Tang Yingxue in person! She's even better in person than on TV—"

"Shut up," Shen Feng and Ma Yue said at the same time.

Rinko pulled her neck back.

When Jiang Fan arrived at the school gate, Tang Yingxue was already standing next to the gatehouse.

When she saw Jiang Fan come out, she took off her sunglasses, held them between her fingers, and smiled at him.

"President Jiang, you've come to visit the set. Are you happy to see me?"

Jiang Fan walked up to her, his hands in his pockets.

"The production crew has a rule that non-staff members are not allowed to enter the core filming area."

Tang Yingxue unzipped her handbag, took out a folded document, and handed it over.

"I am not a non-staff member."

Jiang Fan took it and glanced at it.

It was a contract for temporary actors.

Character: Passerby A (guest appearance).

Remuneration: 1 yuan.

Jiang Fan flipped the paper over and looked at her face.

"What kind of trick are you playing?"

"I'll play a cameo role in your movie." Tang Yingxue stuffed her sunglasses back into her bag, crossed her arms, and said, "One yuan as payment, isn't that a generous offer?"

"unnecessary."

Tang Yingxue's smile faded slightly.

Jiang Fan folded the contract neatly and casually put it into his coat pocket.

"You come in with me first, everyone else stay outside."

He turned and walked inside. Tang Yingxue paused for a moment, then followed him in her high heels.

The assistants and bodyguards behind them had just taken a step when Li Cheng stepped in front of them and blocked their way.

"Teacher Tang's team can rest for a while at the entrance, as the space inside is limited."

The assistant glanced at Tang Yingxue's back, then at Li Cheng, and stepped back to where he was.

Jiang Fan walked in front, with Tang Yingxue following beside him, about half a step apart.

The two turned into the corridor leading from the teaching building to the playground, where there was no one around.

"Aren't you going to explain what happened last night?" Tang Yingxue's voice was very low.

"There's not much to explain."

"Xu Qingya did it on purpose."

"It's her freedom to do whatever she wants in her own home."

Tang Yingxue stopped in her tracks, her high heels clicking crisply on the terrazzo floor.

At the end of the corridor, Jiang Fan stopped and turned to face her.

"Tang Yingxue. Your song will surpass 100 million plays by noon today. You should be in Kyoto promoting your song and doing gigs right now, instead of flying three hours to a middle school in Songjiang—"

"I arrange my own schedule."

Tang Yingxue interrupted him, taking half a step forward with her chin raised.

"Come see me tonight. If you come, I'll leave tomorrow."

"What if you don't come?"

"Then I'll come visit your set every day." Tang Yingxue tilted her head to one side. "Do you believe I can make your show the headline of the entertainment section?"

Jiang Fan stared at her.

It's no wonder the media is in an uproar when a top female star keeps going to low-budget comedy productions.

When Xu Qingya sees the news, it will definitely be another series of explosions.

"No, I can't go tonight."

Tang Yingxue's expression immediately turned cold.

"Are you that afraid of Xu Qingya?"

"I'm not afraid of her."

Jiang Fan was thinking about how to put it in a less blunt way.

"She saved my life, something you wouldn't understand."

After he said that, the corridor was silent for three seconds.

Tang Yingxue turned her face to one side, and after a while, she turned her head back, her tone even harsher than before.

"Then I'll stay here and not leave. I won't leave today, and I won't leave tomorrow either."

Jiang Fan looked at her, seeing that she was unwilling to give up.

"You freaking need to be taught a lesson."

Before Tang Yingxue could react, Jiang Fan had already grabbed her wrist and strode towards the school gate.

She was pulled and staggered a couple of steps, her high heels scraping loudly on the concrete.

"What are you doing—"

"Walk."

Jiang Fan pulled her straight to the nanny van.

The car door opened, and the assistant and bodyguards waiting by the car were all stunned.

"Get out of the car," Jiang Fan said, raising his chin at the driver in the driver's seat.

The driver looked bewildered and turned to Tang Yingxue.

Tang Yingxue was shoved into the passenger seat, and before she could even react, her seatbelt was pulled over and fastened.

"Sister Xue—" the assistant called out.

Jiang Fan walked around to the other side, opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, and started the engine decisively.

"Take a taxi back."

He said something to the people outside, shifted gears, and reversed the car out of the school gate, merging directly onto the main road.

The assistant stood still, his hand still hanging in mid-air.

Lu Wanqing witnessed everything that happened in the corridor from the horizontal bar at the edge of the playground.

The two were very close, and the woman's expression switched back and forth between cold and soft.

Finally, Jiang Fan grabbed her wrist and left, while the arrogant diva followed in her high heels, showing no intention of breaking free.

That's Tang Yingxue.

Yesterday she was still listening to "Later" on repeat on her phone.

Now, this living, breathing person is standing right in front of her in the film crew.

Agent Zhou came over and put her hand on her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?"

"I wasn't looking at anything." Lu Wanqing turned her gaze away.

Sister Zhou glanced in the direction of her gaze.

"Wanqing, how are the preparations for this afternoon's scene going?"

"Ready."

"That's good." Sister Zhou patted her on the back. "Focus on the play and don't think about anything else."

Lu Wanqing nodded.

Filming has resumed.

Ning Yuan sat back behind the monitor and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"All in position, let's go!"

The afternoon's shooting went surprisingly smoothly.

Shen Feng's scenes on the playground were filmed in one take, and Lu Wanqing didn't make any mistakes either.

A rare smile appeared on Ning Yuan's usually stern face.

Li Cheng, however, was completely distracted throughout.

He held a walkie-talkie in his hand and turned on his phone screen every few minutes.

Fan Ge pulled Tang Yingxue into the car and drove away. Where did they go?

What have you been doing?

-

The nanny van drove out of Songjiang city and turned onto a provincial highway heading south.

Tang Yingxue sat in the passenger seat, her arms crossed over her chest, her face turned towards the window.

The red marks from the forceful grip on her wrist were still visible.

Jiang Fan drove for more than twenty minutes, then turned the steering wheel and turned onto a narrow dirt road.

The road became increasingly remote, and finally, the car braked at the foot of a desolate mountain.

The car was turned off, and the surroundings became quiet, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Outside the window was a wasteland overgrown with weeds, not a soul in sight.

Tang Yingxue finally turned her head.

"What do you want to do by bringing me to this desolate place?"