Filming White Whale

Soon, another piece of news shot up the hot search.

The Xu father and son’s scandalous affairs had long been the subject of gossip, but now there were photos and proof; some of the images were so indecent they had been mosaicked out. In an instant, they stirred up another storm.

And this time, the news had been exposed by the Yan Group.

Yan Yue could tell that the Yan Group was protecting her; they were beating the grass to startle the snake, warning the Xu Family that if they kept pushing their luck, what came next would not be just a few harmless scandal photos.

Sure enough, discussion about Yan Yue vanished by more than half almost at once. The netizens turned back to the Zheng Chong incident, and even the few trying to steer the conversation were quickly buried under a tide of criticism aimed at Zheng Chong.

It took nearly half a month of uproar online before the matter gradually calmed down. During that time, people from the Cen family found Su Yan and wanted to know where Cen Qingqing had been buried.

Naturally, Su Yan shut the door and refused to see them. It was only when she looked at Mrs. Cen’s tear-streaked face that she finally told them the truth.

Although the ashes had already been scattered into the sea, she had kept one of Cen Qingqing’s belongings; it was the eighteenth-birthday gift Mrs. Cen had given her, a priceless pendant. Before the Cen family left, and despite how reluctant she was, she still returned it to them.

That evening, the sunset was perfect. Su Yan looked toward the horizon and faintly felt that everything was moving in a better direction, as if she had entered a new chapter; a new beginning, and new possibilities.

Ye Bai went to Huanfeng Century and, together with Qian Wei, began reorganizing the company. Not long after taking office, the first thing he did was sign Qin Qingyan. Qin Qingyan knew that this was also Yan Yue’s intention.

She was willing, because that person was Yan Yue; so she did not hesitate at all.

Filming for White Whale was in Beixui City, more than a thousand kilometers away from Nanjing City, and because production was closed and centralized, they basically could not return home during that time. Before departure, Ye Bai organized a dinner, inviting only a small number of people; most of them were acquaintances.

When Director Liu arrived in a hurry, Ye Bai and Qian Wei were talking with Qin Qingyan, while Su Yan nearby was busy taking all kinds of photos. The atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious. He let out a breath of relief; traffic on the way had nearly made him miss the time.

Qian Wei joked around with a few lighthearted remarks, and in the middle of their laughter the topic turned to his new film.

“Too bad I don’t have the skills for it. Otherwise, Director Liu, I’d have to come and ride along on your set no matter what, just to see how my face looks on camera,” Qian Wei said.

Liu Rui took off his hat while smiling. “If a big boss is willing to step in, then I won’t have to worry about funding this film. I’ll definitely shoot you to look like some heavenly beauty.”

Qian Wei burst out laughing.

“Qingyan is also kind of officially joining a production set for the first time. Director Liu, you’ll have to guide her more; our Huanfeng’s future ace is in your hands now,” Ye Bai said, glancing at Qin Qingyan before looking back at Liu Rui.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” He had had his eye on this promising young woman ever since Qingyi Village. This collaboration was a perfect chance to get to know her properly. If possible, he would be very willing to invite Qin Qingyan to take on more roles with him in the future.

“You’re all here already?” came an upbeat female voice from outside.

Yan Huan walked in beside Yan Yue, looking very cheerful.

When Qin Qingyan looked over, she instinctively glanced at Yan Yue, and Yan Yue happened to be smiling at her too. It looked like an ordinary choice, but the seat was right next to Qin Qingyan.

After Yan Yue sat down, Qin Qingyan unconsciously grew tense, her body stiffening. She couldn’t quite explain why she reacted like this; she only knew it had something to do with Yan Yue.

After the online uproar caused by Zheng Chong, when she watched those insults pile up one after another, she had thought about messaging Yan Yue; yet she did not know what to say.

After all, if she had been able to reach where she was today, she must have already gone through many far more difficult moments than this. Would comfort from her have been too condescending, too little of her?

She wrestled with the thought for a long time, and in the end sent nothing.

When Yan Yue had been caught in that storm, she herself had done nothing. Qin Qingyan lowered her eyes, not daring to look at anyone, and once again felt that she was a terrible person.

The dishes were not all served yet, and the others chatted casually back and forth. Yan Yue did not say much to them; noticing that Qin Qingyan’s mood seemed off, she deliberately threw out a contentious topic at the right moment and left the men to argue it out.

“Bad mood?” Yan Yue asked in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Qin Qingyan’s eyes flickered. She looked up at her briefly, then looked away again and shook her head.

“No.”

No? Hah.

“Do you need a mirror?” Yan Yue said. Under Qin Qingyan’s puzzled gaze, she teased, “That’s rare. This is the first time I’ve seen someone manage to carve a bitter melon onto their own face.”

Qin Qingyan laughed out loud, and the tension in her body eased quite a bit.

Yan Yue smiled in satisfaction as well. She was still young after all; easy to coax.

She let out a quiet breath and asked gently, “Worried about filming?”

Qin Qingyan shook her head, thought about it, then nodded again. But Yan Yue could tell it wasn’t really because of that, so she looked at her in confusion.

After hesitating for a while, Qin Qingyan looked at Yan Yue and asked, “When they were insulting you online, I didn’t help you. Are you angry with me?”

Yan Yue froze. So that was it. Not very old, but she certainly thought about things quite a lot.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. For me, I don’t lack your one or two lines of support. But if you had spoken up, it might not have been good for your own future. If one day someone deliberately tried to smear Changyue, or if something happened to Changyue later on, it wouldn’t be impossible to drag you into it either.”

Every word she said was reasonable; she analyzed the pros and cons with the utmost calm and objectivity.

But Qin Qingyan did not want her to think that way. She did not want to leave even the slightest impression of selfishness in Yan Yue’s heart.

“No, that’s not it,” Qin Qingyan said after a pause. “I just feel like you’re so amazing, and I was afraid my concern would make you think I was looking down on you.”

Yes, that was what she wanted to say.

Yan Yue understood at once, and couldn’t help feeling once again that Qin Qingyan really did overthink things. Still, she could also understand it; when she had been in Qingyi Village, she had learned about Qin Qingyan’s background.

Two years drifting under the disgust of relatives; even with Jiang Granny being kind, it was still life under someone else’s roof. Two years, then five years more; more than seven years in total. Being careful and cautious had long since become carved into her bones.

But that wasn’t good.

“You’re not me. If you don’t say it, how would you know I’d think that?” Yan Yue said. “Besides, if it’s you, I’m not afraid of being disturbed. You don’t need to hesitate so much; be bolder. Do you really think I’d hold a grudge over one or two words from you? In your eyes, am I that petty? To put it more bluntly, do you think I could eat you or something?”

Qin Qingyan’s mood cleared completely, and the knot in her heart loosened one by one until it vanished without a trace. Right; she had thought too much and sunk too deeply, completely forgetting that she should have stepped out of that dead end long ago. If she had, she would have understood much earlier that Yan Yue simply was not that kind of person.

The meal was a very pleasant one, and afterward they took a group photo together.

Qin Qingyan faced the camera with the practiced, professional curve of her lips. Then, suddenly, a hand lightly rested on her shoulder, and a familiar fragrance drifted softly over.

At the instant the photo froze, her smile was bright and radiant.

Filming White Whale was estimated to take more than five months, with everyone working together to complete the project.

It was also through this shoot that Qin Qingyan experienced an unprecedented sense of teamwork.

Every movement, every expression, she had pondered countless times to ensure that when it appeared on camera, it would be in its best state. Judging from the director’s and the main actors’ praise, she had indeed done it.

As the film’s villain, besides outwitting the police, there were also quite a few action scenes. Fortunately, she had some foundation; training was painful, but at least the final results were good.

By the end of each day, she was already exhausted. She had developed the habit of lying down on a patch of grass not far from the crew, staring at the dark sky and letting her whole body relax.

She missed Yan Yue. She couldn’t explain why; she missed her without warning, as though thinking of Yan Yue was like a wild night wind, arriving for no reason at all yet somehow perfectly natural.

She probably liked her.

But the distance between them… Qin Qingyan looked at the bright crescent moon. Being able to steal even one night’s glance at her had already been an immense blessing.

She shouldn’t be too greedy. She often reminded herself of that. But no matter how much she suppressed the driftwood in her heart, the moment she loosened her grip, it would rise back up and carry away a thousand thoughts.

During those months of filming, Qin Qingyan worked seriously during the day and indulgently thought about the person she longed for at night. Sometimes she could not help wanting to message her, but she always held back, only staring at her chat avatar for a very long time, over and over again.

Until one day, after wrapping as usual, she sat alone on the grass, turned on her phone, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

The top chat, the one she had pinned, showed three new messages.

Her breathing went out of rhythm; it took her quite a while before she opened them.

【Are you getting used to filming?】

【I wanted to see when you’d think of me. It’s been over a month; are you too afraid to look for me?】

【Does the crew not allow phones?】

Checking the time, she saw that the first two were sent around nine in the morning, and the last one was from just one or two hours ago.

【It’s pretty good. Everyone’s been nice. No. I can bring it; I just don’t look at my phone much during the day.】

She finished typing and sent it all at once.

She waited by the phone, and the other side replied almost immediately.

【I see. Then work hard and do well. I’ll go watch it after the film is released.】

On the final night of filming, Qin Qingyan looked out at the endless dark and could no longer remember what she had replied with at the end. She held onto that one sentence, only feeling that the wind that night was especially gentle, the moonlight especially clear, and the cicadas sang deep into the night.

The urgency to meet Yan Yue had already caught up to the anticipation for the film’s release. She had thought that once she returned to Nanjing City, seeing her again would only be a matter of time; but everything always went against expectations, derailed by one accident after another.

Yan Yue went abroad. To say she went would be too mild; it was more accurate to say she was being forced by the Yan family. Old Master Yan’s meaning was plain enough.

He had observed many families, but only the Xu Family’s boy had truly caught his eye. After a year of day-and-night companionship, he did not believe Yan Yue could remain unmoved in the slightest.

And Yan Yue agreed because the old master promised that this would be the last time he would force her to do anything as an elder; after this, neither he nor anyone else in the Yan family would ever demand anything of her again.

After White Whale was released, the reviews were excellent, and in just two days its box office passed one hundred million. That was praise for the tight pacing of the story and recognition of the actors’ performances. No one had expected that a young director who usually made serious drama would turn out to be unexpectedly good at directing films.

Among the most-discussed names surrounding the film, aside from Liu Rui, the dark horse director, was Qin Qingyan.

Before this, hardly anyone knew her. But after this appearance, with both looks and acting on point, she won fans by the countless. Her Weibo followers also rose sharply; from fewer than ten thousand to over one million now, it had taken only a few days.