Chapter 422: Chapter 33: Paranoia
The next day, as soon as Zhou Yun arrived at the film set, Liu Yuqian came over and asked, "Xiao Yun, has Meng Ran’s company contacted you?"
"Ah?" Zhou Yun was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Are you talking about speaking up for her?"
"Yes." Liu Yuqian clicked her tongue twice and said, "So they did contact you."
"Did she contact you too?" Zhou Yun asked in surprise.
It really shouldn’t be Liu Yuqian that Meng Ran goes to.
After all, it’s clear to everyone that these two don’t get along.
No matter how desperate Meng Ran’s side is, they shouldn’t pin their hopes on Liu Yuqian.
Liu Yuqian smiled, waved her hand, and said, "Why would they come to me? I dislike her the most. She’s not foolish. It’s the other actors in the crew that her company has approached. They even promised to pay them a service fee."
Zhou Yun was somewhat surprised and said, "They’re even offering a service fee?"
Liu Yuqian asked in astonishment, "What, they didn’t offer you any compensation when they contacted you?"
Zhou Yun forced a smile and said, "They didn’t come to me directly; they contacted my agent."
"That makes sense. Meng Ran is clever, why would she come to you personally? If she were outright rejected, it would be embarrassing. Later, she could just claim it wasn’t her idea, and she knew nothing about it—it was the company’s unilateral decision," Liu Yuqian said contemptuously.
Zhou Yun wanted to say something but didn’t know what would be appropriate.
In front of Liu Yuqian, it’s hard not to be cautious with words. After all, they’re not true friends, and Zhou Yun doesn’t really trust Liu Yuqian to keep secrets.
The main reason Zhou Yun now found talking with Liu Yuqian enjoyable was because she discovered Liu Yuqian just had that kind of personality; she seemed to particularly enjoy chatting, not only with Zhou Yun but with everyone in the crew. Otherwise, how could she know so quickly about Meng Ran’s company contacting them?
Regardless of Meng Ran’s situation, Zhou Yun continued with her scenes methodically.
Zhou Lan kept a close eye on the filming progress every few days, firmly preventing any deliberate delays.
Zhou Lan thought that Zhou Yun was an exceptionally good actor. She committed to the schedule without haggling, didn’t ask for leave to do other jobs, stayed focused on shooting in the crew, but it seemed that just because of that, people think you are easy-going and good-natured, so when someone needs to take advantage, they think of you first.
Zhou Lan wouldn’t allow it.
Zhou Yun, in her role as Dong Zhimei, began deliberately putting thought into crafting details.
Previously reliant on instinct in her acting, each performance was infused with irreplicable inspiration.
Zhou Yun now felt that if she really wanted to control the quality of each performance, planning in advance was crucial.
She was gradually mastering the details and even she could feel that she was becoming more familiar with and grasping the essence of Dong Zhimei.
That evening, Yu Mengyao suddenly came looking for Zhou Yun.
Zhou Yun thought Yu Mengyao had something important to discuss, but she just asked her what kind of person Liu Yuqian was.
Zhou Yun looked surprised, not understanding why Sister Mengyao would suddenly ask her this.
"Sister Mengyao, what’s wrong?" Zhou Yun said, "I’m not very close to her, haven’t really interacted much, so I don’t know how to answer."
Yu Mengyao pursed her lips and said, "I suspect she’s trying to seduce Shen Yao."
"Ah?" Zhou Yun widened her eyes in shock, not understanding why Yu Mengyao suddenly harbored such suspicion, which was quite abrupt.
Mainly because these past few days of filming together, Zhou Yun saw Shen Yao and Liu Yuqian frequently and did not notice anything unusual.
Why did Yu Mengyao suddenly have this idea?
Was there any indication?
Yu Mengyao said, "Look, the last time Shen Yao got food poisoning, it was because he ate the crab Liu Yuqian gave him, right?"
Zhou Yun said, "That crab, Zhenxi and I received it too, but I didn’t eat it."
Yu Mengyao said, "It’s not just the crab; she always finds an excuse to go talk to Shen Yao, and the two of them chat and laugh together."
Zhou Yun awkwardly smiled and said, "Sister Mengyao, it’s normal for everyone to communicate about the scenes in advance during filming."
"Of course, I know, but think about it, among these people, who has the most scenes with Shen Yao? You have so many scenes with Shen Yao, yet you don’t seek him out half as much as she does. What does she need to talk to Shen Yao about so much?" From Yu Mengyao’s demeanor, she really suspected Liu Yuqian.
Zhou Yun didn’t know how to begin to explain.
If Yu Mengyao’s suspicion arose just from these few aspects, Zhou Yun really didn’t think Yu Mengyao’s suspicion was justified.
Liu Yuqian did talk to Shen Yao a lot, but she also talked a lot to others. Maybe it was just her personality; unable to sit still and liking to be friendly with people. Moreover, Liu Yuqian didn’t sneak off to chat with Shen Yao in some corner—every time, she openly approached him in plain view of everyone else. What sort of inappropriate topics could they discuss under such circumstances?
Zhou Yun was somewhat at a loss on how to speak to Yu Mengyao.
"Never mind, since you’re not familiar with Liu Yuqian, I won’t ask you about it anymore." Yu Mengyao waved her hand, "Regardless, I don’t like this girl Liu Yuqian. We definitely shouldn’t hire her for any roles in the future."
Zhou Yun was half-amused, half-frustrated.
"Sister-in-law, why don’t you investigate further? It might just be a misunderstanding," Zhou Yun said.
But Yu Mengyao was very certain and said, "Zhou Yun, believe me, even if nothing has happened between those two, it’s only because Liu Yuqian hasn’t succeeded yet. Over the years, I’ve seen too many women like her around Shen Yao. Just you wait and see."
Zhou Yun thought to herself that she really did not want to wait and see.
This matter had nothing to do with her, and she couldn’t be less interested in getting involved.
The last thing she wanted was for Liu Yuqian to think that she was behind any troublemaking.
It was exactly this evening that Meng Ran and her team hurriedly returned to the set.
Meng Ran’s agent brought a cart of milk tea, handing out drinks to everyone with an apologetic smile.
A series of apologies.
Following her agent, Meng Ran bowed to every person, apologizing for causing inconvenience to everyone because of her personal matters.
Liu Yuqian openly rolled her eyes and said, "Personal matters, as if we don’t know she went to shoot another movie."
Zhou Yun just smiled.
She didn’t have any particular opinion about Meng Ran’s situation, purely watching the reactions of Shen Yao and Wan Zhiliang.
If Shen Yao and Wan Zhiliang chose to give her a hard time, intending to teach her a lesson, she would naturally play along. But if Shen Yao and Wan Zhiliang acted as if nothing had happened, then she wouldn’t put herself forward as the bad guy.