Chapter 12: Big and Little Guys Have Strong Firepower, Show Some Consideration

Seeing Yan Li, unaware of the situation on Qin Lan's side, hurried back to the set of "Heroes of Sui and Tang" to apply makeup and shoot.

Today his scenes were mainly scheduled for the afternoon and evening.

Originally expected to wrap up by 9 p. m., they kept shooting until nearly midnight, with no sign of stopping.

Delayed wrap times were normal for the crew.

During filming, everything couldn't go smoothly every day—sometimes actors repeated takes too many times, set changes were slow, costume and makeup had errors, or location and transportation coordination failed.

In short, with all these miscellaneous problems, wrap time got pushed back—the more issues, the longer the delay.

Seeing Yan Li had encountered this before; he eased his anxiety and fatigue, maintained his state, and shot as he always did.

The evening scene involved the female lead, Li Rongrong, attempting to assassinate Yang Guang; Seeing Yan Li had minimal screen time—most of the earlier portion focused on Yang Guang and Li Rongrong's love-hate drama, and he only appeared at the critical moment to rescue and apprehend her.

So while other actors wrapped early, Seeing Yan Li had to wait until the very end.

According to the plot, the female lead Li Rongrong was a stunning beauty with extraordinary qin skills; when Yang Guang was still Crown Prince, he lusted after her and proposed to her father, only to be rejected, whereupon he flew into a rage, framed her family, and had them executed.

Li Rongrong was lucky enough to survive, wandered among the common folk, later met Qin Qiong and Wang Baidang, and fell in love with Qin Qiong.

Driven by her family's blood revenge, Li Rongrong was determined to kill Yang Guang, originally relying on Qin Qiong.

Then Li Yuanba at Four Ming Mountain slaughtered all eighteen rebel kings; this sister, desperate for vengeance, suddenly had an idea, had Wang Baidang build a mechanical zither, and decided to kill Yang Guang herself.

Overall, Li Rongrong's revenge plan was fairly sound—she used the alias Qin Rong, bribed a palace maid, and since Yang Guang was lustful and fond of beauty, and she excelled in both music and looks, she was easily recommended to him.

Because she resembled the original Li Rongrong, and what one cannot have is always the best, Yang Guang became deeply interested in her and was even seduced into listening to her play alone.

But he missed one move—Yang Guang's concubine Xiao Fei was no fool; she sensed something was off and went to report to Yuwen Chengdu.

Yuwen Chengdu, cunning and shrewd, deduced Li Rongrong's true identity and immediately sent Yuwen Chengdu to guard Yang Guang.

Li Rongrong had just begun playing the qin to lower Yang Guang's guard, but when Yuwen Chengdu burst in, she realized she was exposed and acted decisively.

The hidden arrow she shot was blocked by a soldier, then the qin was smashed, and Yuwen Chengdu seized her throat with one hand.

"Who are you? Why are you attempting to assassinate His Majesty?"

After that, Seeing Yan Li had no other lines except the final one: "Take her away." He simply kept one hand clasped around Li Rongrong's neck, tightening it slightly as Yang Guang spoke.

Before filming, Seeing Yan Li specifically sought out Tong Lei, who played the female lead, to rehearse the scene.

She was about his age, reportedly still studying at the Beijing Film Academy; since they had no prior scenes together, Seeing Yan Li had barely interacted with her.

But this neck-holding scene involved physical contact, and a sensitive area, so Seeing Yan Li wanted to talk to her beforehand to avoid hurting her with excessive force.

"If I apply a little pressure, give me a signal—does this feel right?"

Tong Lei was young and seemed gentle and shy; as soon as Seeing Yan Li spoke, she nodded immediately.

"Brother, it's fine, go ahead—I'll cooperate."

Seeing Yan Li then lightly tested the pressure; her neck wasn't very thin, but his hands were large and easily encircled it—he confirmed the exact force, then let go.

The girl understood Seeing Yan Li meant well and was quite polite: "Thank you, brother."

"You're welcome."

Seeing Yan Li was used to it—he didn't look old, but he wasn't youthful either; he appeared slightly older than his actual age, and his calm demeanor made him seem less like someone just out of his twenties.

Previously, Qin Lan thought he was twenty-five or twenty-six, so many on set—both younger actors and crew—mistakenly called him "brother."

Whether called right or wrong, Seeing Yan Li never corrected them; after all, "brother" was better than "little brother."

After filming began, Seeing Yan Li's role mainly involved expressions and movements—no difficulty—but Tong Lei and Xie Junhao had some pressure during their scenes, ng'd twice, but overall went smoothly.

After finishing this scene, they finally wrapped; many with scenes tomorrow rushed to queue for makeup removal and went home to rest.

Seeing Yan Li had no scenes tomorrow, so he wasn't in a hurry; he borrowed a cigarette from the camera crew and strolled slowly toward the makeup room.

On the way, it was midnight—daily intelligence refreshed on schedule; since Seeing Yan Li hadn't slept, he checked it directly.

…

【Daily Intelligence 2: Qin Lan's suitor is Huang Xiaoming, graduated from Beijing Film Academy's 1996 Acting Department, age 24, height 1.73 meters, weight… appeared in TV dramas such as "Internet Diary," "The Great Han Emperor," and "My Fair Huanzhu Gege 3"; industry insiders hold high prospects for his career】

Huang Xiaoming?

Seeing Yan Li recognized the name, but not from watching any of his dramas—he knew him because of two of Huang's classmates.

Zhao Xiao Yanzi and Chen Kun!

The former became wildly famous through "My Fair Huanzhu Gege" and "Love in a Mist," the latter gained minor fame for starring in Zhao Baogang's "Like Fog, Like Rain, Like Wind."

Riding on their fame, the 1996 class of Beijing Film Academy attracted some attention; among the rest, Huang was one of the more successful.

Seeing Yan Li entered Beijing Film Academy in 2000, by which time the 1996 class had already graduated.

He never expected that because of Qin Lan, he'd unexpectedly cross paths with this senior.

But Seeing Yan Li didn't take it seriously.

So what if he was a senior? If the senior acted like a scoundrel, he'd still have to be dealt with—he'd already beaten up seniors before.

Do you think it's easy being the ex-boyfriend of Beijing Film Academy's campus goddess?

Previously, many senior "animals" had their eyes on Dong Xuan as a tender little cabbage; a few who overstepped were dealt with by Seeing Yan Li and his brothers.

One particularly memorable case was a 1999-class son of a celebrity named Du; Seeing Yan Li broke into his dorm to confront him, and later received a major demerit for it.

Daily Intelligence 4: Former girlfriend Dong Xuan, unable to tolerate Seeing Yan Li's days of silence, swore to her best friend Guan Yue that if Seeing Yan Li didn't initiate contact with her again, she would break up with him permanently and not look back

Seeing Yan Li: "..."

He hadn't contacted her for over half a month—maybe that was a bit too much; should he call her back tomorrow?

Hmm, he couldn't call directly—if he did, she'd start acting up again; better to reply to Guan Yue, subtly show concern, and Guan Yue would surely pass the message along.

【Daily Intelligence 6: At this moment, Qin Lan, sleeping in her hotel room, is having a dream of passion—the dream's object is Seeing Yan Li; the two of them in the dream…】

"Cough… cough…"

Seeing Yan Li choked on his cigarette, stunned—he didn't understand, what was this girl thinking? How did a meal turn into a dream like that?

Did the restaurant owner slip something into the food?

【Daily Intelligence 8: Associate Director Wang Decai of "Heroes of Sui and Tang" recommended Seeing Yan Li to producers, directors, and associate directors he knew, praising him highly and asking if there were any suitable roles for Seeing Yan Li】

Seeing Yan Li clapped his hands. Good, the 3000 yuan red packet wasn't wasted—Old Wang really delivered.

Later, I'll drag him out for some grilled skewers, give him a proper boost; maybe before filming wraps, Old Wang can help secure my next role.

【Daily Report 10: A gang of con artists has recently appeared in Hengdian, luring men through seduction then extorting them. Exercise caution. (Note: Their initial bait is commonly distributed via colorful small cards in Hengdian's various hotels.)】

Pfft, why tell me this?

Seeing Yan Li scoffed aloud, but as he passed the makeup room's trash bin, he quietly pulled out his wallet and tossed a colorful little card inside.

A young man in his prime, strong and built—he's got more than ordinary fire.

Spending every night alone, it's only natural to feel curious sometimes…

(End of Chapter)