Tang Li finished her shower, and as she lay down on the bed ready to put on her eye mask, her cellphone rang. She paused for two seconds as she saw the incoming call on the screen, then pressed the answer button.
After answering the call, Tang Li heard Song Baiyan asking her, "Did anything happen today at Lishan?"
The man’s voice was steady, filled with the familiar concern she knew.
Tang Li clenched her cellphone, thinking that the bungee jumping accident shouldn’t have reached the Capital so quickly. Even if it made it into the news, it wouldn’t be reported to such a high-ranking official like him. She figured that Song Baiyan was just showing routine concern, so she glossed over the bungee jumping incident, "I went out to play with the actors from the crew this afternoon and had a bit of an accident, but I’m fine."
"What about the others?" Song Baiyan asked again.
Then, Tang Li responded, "An assistant’s bungee cord broke, but they are already in the hospital. It’s nothing serious; they should be out in a few days."
She downplayed the incident, intentionally blurring the severity of the injury.
Hearing this, Song Baiyan couldn’t help but chuckle, "Someone falls from fifty or sixty meters high and it’s not serious?"
"..." Tang Li pursed her lips and remained silent.
"Not taking the initiative to call or send a message tonight, did you do something bad at Lishan?"
"...No." Tang Li denied steadfastly, "I don’t want to bother you every day, you’re so busy with work. And also, I have two important scenes to film tomorrow, I thought I should rest early."
Listening to her feeble excuses, Song Baiyan laughed softly but didn’t expose her, simply instructing her, "When facing issues, avoid being aggressive and confrontational. It’s important to take care of yourself when you are out there."
Tang Li agreed repeatedly.
The next day, Tang Li saw Lai Yuaner at the film set.
Lai Yuaner looked unwell, as if she hadn’t slept all night, with only Sister Wen staying by her side, handing her a thermos cup to drink water.
Watching Tang Li walk by, Lai Yuaner remembered the incident from yesterday. Her fingers were tightly gripping the thermos, and the panic at the bottom of her heart rose again.
After finishing her makeup, Lai Yuaner came over, while Tang Li was performing with Tong Jing at the entrance of Jiaoyang Palace. Noticing her, Tang Li cast a faint glance, which whitened Lai Yuaner’s complexion even more. She didn’t want to come to shoot today, but Sister Wen said that was not an option because the director wouldn’t give her a second chance.
Thinking of Shen Na lying half-dead in the hospital, Lai Yuaner wanted to avoid Tang Li.
However, the scene being filmed today involved Mrs. Bao, who had just given birth, bringing people to the Qi Family’s residence to provoke them, so she couldn’t avoid interaction with Tang Li, and she even had a confrontation scene with her!
It wasn’t long before the set was ready for filming.
As the clapperboard was snapped, the scene officially began.
The young and beautiful Mrs. Bao was dressed in a red concubine’s palace attire, her black hair styled into a bun, with a lotus-shaped hair ornament on her forehead, seductive like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Her figure showed no signs of having recently given birth. The palace maids pushed open the main doors of Jiaoyang Palace, and in the frame sat a modestly dressed member of the Qi Family, sitting on a mat and reciting scriptures.
The maid Ah Nan, unable to bear her mistress being humiliated, stood at the door to stop Mrs. Bao.
These were Lai Yuaner’s lines.
But when she met Tang Li’s calm gaze, no sound came from her throat.
Instead, it was Tang Li who slightly curled her lips, "Your mistress hasn’t even spoken yet, and you’re already so restless."
This line was supposed to follow Lai Yuaner’s line.
Now that Tang Li had said it ahead of time, it didn’t seem out of place.
Zhao Zhenglei, holding a walkie-talkie and sitting there, knew that Tang Li had stolen a line, but he didn’t call "cut." He just stared at the monitor screen.