Chapter 41: No Hindrance

The brief moment of relaxation flashed by in an instant. The days that followed were the hardest to endure.

“Beauty’s Bones” entered the next stage of filming. The warm daily life of the female lead and the Wolf Girl was disrupted by the sudden arrival of a Maybach. The owner of the Maybach, who was also the female lead’s estranged fiancé from an arranged marriage, barged into their living space with a few thugs. The Wolf Girl rushed forward to bite his neck but was stopped in time by the female lead.

At this point, the man still maintained a gentlemanly demeanor, so when the female lead apologized on the Wolf Girl’s behalf, he accepted it very graciously.

Afterward, the female lead taught the Wolf Girl not to easily get into conflicts with these people. Although the Wolf Girl was extremely reluctant, she always remembered what the female lead had said and did not take the initiative to attack humans. After several days of this standoff, the man, unable to find fault, began to make trouble.

One afternoon, on the pretext of discussing family matters with the female lead, he sent her away. Then he had his thugs repeatedly provoke the Wolf Girl. The Wolf Girl, after they tore up the sweater the female lead had painstakingly knitted for her, finally couldn’t bear it anymore and bit the man, injuring him on the ground.

And at this very moment, the man also timed it perfectly to bring the female lead back to the scene. They happened to walk in on this scene. The man used this as an excuse to persuade the female lead to stay away from the Wolf Girl and go home with him. On the surface, he was concerned for the female lead, but the threat in his words was very obvious.

The female lead realized there was no room for negotiation and harshly reprimanded the Wolf Girl in front of the man. She then promised him that she would leave with him the next morning.

This was the plot for the week after they resumed work. They had originally thought that, like before, every scene could be done in one take. Who knew that a problem would arise on Yi Lan’s end, and the problematic scene was precisely the one where Jiang Wenting reprimanded her in front of the man.

It was unclear whether it was because she was tired from a day of filming or because she was too emotionally invested. The third time Jiang Wenting scolded her, Yi Lan’s vision suddenly went black, and she fainted on the ground.

“Yi Lan…” Jiang Wenting was the first to rush forward, gathering her into her arms.

The staff members thought it was part of the plot. It took them several seconds to react: “Teacher Yi, are you alright?”

Zhou Jing also stopped filming at this point and instructed her assistant, “Quick, call the medical staff over.”

After being held in Jiang Wenting’s arms, Yi Lan’s consciousness returned a little. Memories of the past replayed in her mind like a revolving lantern. The script overlapped with the past. She was a little confused about what was real and what wasn’t. She just clung tightly to the collar of Jiang Wenting’s clothes, her face pale, large beads of sweat rolling down from her temples and onto her clothes.

Jiang Wenting was terrified, her slender arms holding her tightly: “Where is the doctor? Where is the doctor…”

At this moment, a medical staff member carrying a first-aid kit rushed over.

“Teacher Jiang, let the patient lie down first.”

Seeing that the person speaking was carrying a medical kit, Jiang Wenting carefully tried to move her out of her arms. Who knew that Yi Lan would not cooperate at all, the knuckles of the fingers gripping her collar turning white. Her unfocused eyes were covered with tears, her lips opening and closing, but she couldn’t utter a single word.

“Yi Lan, be good, listen to me, let the doctor take a look, okay?” Jiang Wenting regained some of her rationality, comforting her in a soft voice.

But the effect was still minimal.

The staff members present looked confused: “What’s wrong with Teacher Yi? Why did she suddenly become like this?”

“Maybe she’s just too tired.”

“Ah, we didn’t film that many scenes today, how could she suddenly collapse from exhaustion?”

“Didn’t Teacher Zhou say so? Teacher Yi’s physical condition is different from ours…”

There were occasional whispers from the surrounding people, but no one thought anything more of it. Under Jiang Wenting’s repeated reassurances, the feeling of suffocation in Yi Lan’s chest finally eased slightly.

“Jiang Wenting…” Her breathing was still very difficult, but she could vaguely distinguish the difference between the script and the past.

Jiang Wenting held her fingertips: “Don’t be afraid, Yi Lan, I’m here, I’m here!”

Her mouth was slightly open. After slowly exhaling that turbid breath, tears streamed down her face.
‘There was no betrayal. Jiang Wenting didn’t betray her.’
‘They were just acting, just acting.’
‘In the script, the female lead did that to protect her, out of necessity.’
‘Then what about A’Ting? Did A’Ting also have reasons she couldn’t help?’

Thinking of the scene where Jiang Wenting was shot until she looked like a pincushion, Yi Lan immediately started to dry heave. She gripped Jiang Wenting’s hand tightly, her lips and teeth parting as she called out that vague name.

“A… Ting…”

Jiang Wenting couldn’t hear clearly what she was saying, but she nodded in response. The doctor couldn’t see any problems for the time being, but the patient was indeed emotionally agitated. He hesitated for a moment, then pushed in a shot of tranquilizer.

A moment later, Yi Lan’s turbulent emotions were soothed, leaving only fatigue and weakness in her body. The back of her clothes was soaked with sweat, and even her messy hair was dotted with water droplets. She looked at Jiang Wenting, and after a good while, she finally said, “Jiang Wenting, I can’t film anymore today.”

Her voice was very, very faint, like a wisp of smoke that would dissipate with a touch.

Jiang Wenting bit her lip and nodded, tears rolling down uncontrollably as she said, “Okay, okay, we won’t film anymore. We’ll rest. We won’t film tomorrow either. We’ll wait until Yi Lan’s body recovers.”

At this moment, Zhou Jing didn’t hesitate at all: “Yes, yes, health is the most important thing. We’ll talk about filming later.”

Less than half an hour later, Shen Jinglan’s car arrived.
Xiao Ru had recently returned to Yuncheng on business.
Zhou Jing had called Shen Jinglan as soon as the incident happened.
The usually serious woman, seeing CEO Shen get out of the car in a panic, was also a bit embarrassed: “CEO Shen, it’s my problem…”

Shen Jinglan waved her hand, “It’s not your fault, I’ll take her back first.”

It wasn’t until Jiang Wenting and Yi Lan were taken away that Teacher Zhou deliberately waved her hand at the staff members present in a relaxed manner: “That’s all for today’s filming. The crew will have a day off tomorrow. Everyone go home and have a good rest, relax a bit.”

The incident happened so suddenly that no one seemed to want to leave at this moment.

“Teacher Zhou,” a young actor stood up and asked worriedly, “Is Teacher Yi alright?”

“She’s fine, she’s fine. Teacher Yi’s constitution wasn’t good to begin with, and the filming load these past two days has been a bit heavy. She’ll be fine after going home and resting.”

After speaking, Zhou Jing smiled, her fox-like eyes lightly sweeping over the crowd. “You all have to take care of your own bodies. If you can’t take it anymore, you have to tell me. Don’t push yourselves, you hear?”

Everyone was still a little worried, but in the end, they didn’t press the matter further.

In fact, before joining the crew, they all knew a little about Yi Lan’s situation.
Coupled with the video that had gone viral online, many people didn’t understand why Zhou Jing would choose someone with a somewhat questionable intellect to play the role of the Wolf Girl.

But after spending this period of time together, those subtle misunderstandings were deeply overcome by her acting skills, and the voices of doubt in private had almost disappeared.

However, today’s incident happened too suddenly.
People couldn’t help but remember the previous online incidents and the fact that Yi Lan was a psychiatric patient.

For the next several days, Yi Lan couldn’t recover from the impact of the script.
Her body had no strength, and her heart felt heavy.
She always had insomnia at night, and when she finally fell asleep, she would have nightmares.
In her dreams, it was always the scene of Jiang Wenting holding a knife to her, and the scene of her using her own body to block arrows for her.
At times like these, her heart would ache with spasms.

It wasn’t until the nightmare ended and her blurry eyes slowly made out Jiang Wenting watching over her that her body and mind would be soothed.

Filming had stopped for almost a week.
During this period, Zhou Jing arranged scenes for other actors.
But the main roles in “Beauty’s Bones” were still the two female leads.
If the female leads didn’t appear for a long time, there would inevitably be questions.

So, on the tenth day, Director Zhou finally couldn’t take it anymore and braced herself to visit.

Yi Lan’s condition was still not very good, but she could barely get out of bed and move around.
Hearing that Zhou Jing was coming, she still politely got dressed and went downstairs to support Jiang Wenting.

Zhou Jing came with a fruit basket and fresh flowers, knocking on the door with full sincerity.
Shen Jinglan and Beiye had gone out to buy drinks.
Jiang Wenting was in the kitchen cooking.
Hearing the doorbell, she quickly turned off the fire.
Yi Lan opened the door one step ahead of her.

She bowed slightly and made a gesture to invite her in.

Zhou Jing was stunned for a moment, handed the flowers to Yi Lan, and asked with a smile, “You look like you’re in better shape, huh?”

Yi Lan took the flowers and responded with a faint voice.
She was not good at communicating with people.
At this moment, Jiang Wenting also poked her head out from the kitchen: “You’re here, Teacher Zhou.”

Zhou Jing glanced at the apron she was wearing: “Oh my, Ting Bao is cooking? What delicious food are you making?”

Jiang Wenting’s peach blossom eyes curved slightly.
She was wearing no makeup, and there were faint bluish circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.
Her tone was soft and casual: “I’m making pork rib soup. Hearing that Teacher Zhou was coming to visit, I wanted to put on a good show.”

Zhou Jing: “Then I’m in for a treat.”

A few people moved from the courtyard to the living room.
Before long, Shen Jinglan and Beiye came back with drinks.

“Well, long time no see, CEO Shen.” Zhou Jing’s fox-like eyes curved with a smile, her tone a bit ingratiating.

Shen Jinglan gave a faint “Mm.”
“For Teacher Zhou to be so polite, does that mean my role as a stunt double will be needed in the upcoming scenes?”

Zhou Jing was taken aback for a moment, her fox-like eyes narrowing even more charmingly: “What are you talking about, CEO Shen? Wasn’t I very polite before?”

After speaking, she glanced at Beiye and raised an eyebrow: “Right, Xiao Ye?”

Beiye: “I don’t know, Teacher Zhou.”

Zhou Jing: …

‘Why is she not cooperating at all?’

After the simple pleasantries, Zhou Jing told them about the recent situation.
The goddess of acting finally made a compromise and concession: “It’s not good to drag the schedule out for too long. If it really doesn’t work out, Ting Bao, you and CEO Shen can partner up for a while first. We’ll bring Yi Lan back in when she’s feeling better.”

Shen Jinglan agreed.
But the woman who had been listening the whole time spoke up at this moment.

“Tomorrow morning, I will go to the set with her and complete the rest of the filming work.”

The moment she spoke, everyone looked over at the same time.
Jiang Wenting was the first to object: “No, your body is still not well.”

Yi Lan’s eyes were firm: “It is no longer a hindrance.”

After exchanging glances, Zhou Jing and Shen Jinglan spoke up: “It’s okay, Yi Lan. You should focus on getting better first. CEO Shen and Ting Bao can film a few scenes first. It’s the same if you join back in later when you’re better.”

But Yi Lan was very stubborn: “I said, it is no longer a hindrance.”

Jiang Wenting valued this drama very much, and she didn’t want to become a burden to her.