ABSML Chapter 17: Scene Partner

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The director had seen the entertainment industry at its filthiest, but he still couldn't believe his bottom line was being trampled on.

Straightening his back, he wanted to firmly refuse and declare that his set wasn’t a brothel. But when he glanced at the contract, with its promise of a substantial investment, he hesitated. Instead, he diplomatically said, "We don’t encourage that sort of behavior here."

The young man frowned. "My boss sincerely wants to make a friend. He’s not playing around."

The director misunderstood even further. "If it’s for dating—"

The young man cut him off impatiently. "Do you think someone of his status needs to go to a film set to find a partner?"

The director paused, realizing his mistake. Given Yin Ronglan’s wealth and looks, people were probably lining up for him all the way to the Southern Heavenly Gate. Embarrassed, he quickly apologized.

The young man didn’t dwell on the misunderstanding and instead added, "Any role is fine, but preferably one with many interactions with the main supporting actors."

He carefully avoided directly saying male supporting lead, as it would seem too deliberate.

The director felt like he was looking through fog. At first, he thought the investor had set his sights on the lead actress, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Since there was no direct conflict, negotiations proceeded smoothly. Before leaving, the young man assured him that the funds would arrive within a day or two.

The director’s smile was genuine for once. "I won’t let you regret this investment."

The young man simply nodded. The profit didn’t matter—this amount of money was mere pocket change for their company.

Reality hit fast in the film industry. The director immediately instructed the screenwriter to add a fifth male role—someone insignificant, with minimal interaction with the main cast, making it easier to cut in post-production.

Chen Zhan was unaware of this sinister transaction. He was reviewing his script while mentally calculating how many days remained until he wrapped filming.

"If this has nothing to do with you, then why didn't you come to find me that day? Why don’t you dare look me in the eye? Why—"

Before he could finish his line, a tall figure approached. The backlight made his features indistinct, but he looked oddly familiar.

As the figure drew closer, Chen Zhan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Yin Ronglan smiled. "Trying to make a living."

His arrival caused quite a stir on set. The other actors remained composed outwardly but secretly stole glances, trying to figure out who he was. Someone discreetly asked the assistant director, and soon word spread—he was an investor who had bought his way into the production.

News traveled fast. Chen Zhan pulled him aside. "You still haven’t given up your side gig as a wine scammer?"

Yin Ronglan cleared his throat and said with a straight face, "I quit. Pulled some old connections and found a new job."

Chen Zhan nodded approvingly. "That’s right. We’re still young. It’s not too late to start fresh."

The two didn’t bother to conceal their conversation. From a distance, the director assumed they were rehearsing and didn’t think much of it.

The role assigned to Yin Ronglan was bizarre. He was cast as Chen Zhan’s lackey, a character who carried out various shady tasks on orders from the protagonist. The director initially worried that someone of his status wouldn’t be willing to take on such a demeaning role.

However, Yin Ronglan was surprisingly agreeable. Not only did he accept the role without hesitation, but he also seemed pleased with the script.

Clapping his hands, the director called out, "Get ready! Next scene coming up!"

A makeup artist quickly touched up Chen Zhan’s look. Once the camera was rolling, he slightly adjusted his expression and said in an icy tone, "Even you want to stop me?"

Yin Ronglan grabbed his sleeve. "Big brother, wake up!"

Their eyes met. Chen Zhan, still mid-scene, had no time to fully register his character’s frustration before he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Director, isn’t it weird that he's older than me but playing my little brother?"

The director, well aware of Yin Ronglan’s real identity, found the casting even more jarring. But he couldn’t deny that Yin Ronglan’s acting was impressive—his presence was simply too overwhelming.

"Age doesn’t determine rank," the director said. "Stick to the script."

A person should never find a particular joke too funny, or else, once triggered, they won’t be able to hold back their laughter.

Right now, as long as Chen Zhan looks at Yin Ronglan, he feels the urge to smile. The latter, however, enjoys the spectacle and, without hesitation, effortlessly calls out, “Big Brother.”

Chen Zhan sighed melancholically, “I haven’t been a big brother for many years.”

He’s ready to abdicate now.

The rest of his words were swallowed by the director’s merciless call of “Action.”

Chen Zhan diligently maintained his character’s persona and got back into the scene. “There’s only one fate for those who dare to block my way—death.”

Unfortunately, just as he got into character, he broke down the moment Yin Ronglan called him “Big Brother” again.

Luckily, since the final cut wouldn’t need to retain these outtakes, the director’s requirements weren’t too strict. After barely passing the threshold, the director signaled that Chen Zhan could take a break and switched the focus to the male and female leads.

Chen Zhan grabbed two bottles of water and handed one to Yin Ronglan. After the last mineral water incident, he now carefully checked his water before drinking.

Seeing this, Yin Ronglan slightly narrowed his eyes. “There won’t be a repeat of such incidents.”

Chen Zhan smiled. “Better safe than sorry.”

Without a personal assistant van, he casually found an empty spot and sat down. The wind blew against his script, rustling the pages. Recalling the lines and Yin Ronglan’s performance earlier, Chen Zhan sighed helplessly, “Are you trying to groom me into an award-winning actor?”

He said it without much thought, but Yin Ronglan seriously asked, “Do you want to be one?”

With his support and ample resources poured in, it wasn’t impossible for Chen Zhan to reach that level.

Chen Zhan glanced at the lead actors performing in front of him and shook his head. “To make a mark in this field, one needs a certain level of talent.”

He wasn’t particularly good at immersing himself in different emotions.

Flashing a slight smile at Yin Ronglan, he added, “Besides, it’s more important to focus on the present.”

With that, he opened his laptop and began working on today’s manuscript—

That one ‘accidental’ fall led to her and her boyfriend getting back together.

Yin Ronglan, sitting nearby, glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye. Seeing the first sentence, he couldn’t help but frown. “You like Jiang Ying that much?”

Chen Zhan’s fingers paused. “You don’t?”

Even the old man across the street loved watching Jiang Ying’s films.

“She’s a competent actress.”

But that was all.

Unlike others, Yin Ronglan never had strong emotional reactions to movies or TV dramas.

Chen Zhan couldn’t quite grasp his thoughts, so he just shrugged. “Please respect the title of my book.”

Confessions. Wasn’t he repenting for the foolishness of his past self?

Yin Ronglan’s expression softened, seemingly satisfied with the answer. He didn’t say anything further, allowing Chen Zhan to continue writing in a relatively quiet environment.

Chen Zhan organized his thoughts, recalled the storyline, and resumed typing:

..........

She clearly deserved someone better—someone like me.

When I learned that she had canceled a talk show appearance to go on a hiking trip with her boyfriend, I became even more determined not to let that man hinder her career.

On a beautiful day, I quietly followed the two of them to the same destination.

At this point, she wasn’t particularly famous yet. Simply wearing a wig and sunglasses was enough to keep her from being recognized by passersby.

That’s right—among the crowd, the only one who could recognize her at a glance was me.

She and her boyfriend laughed and chatted as they climbed the rugged mountain path. Many people were hiking today, but no one’s laughter was as carefree as hers.

Jealousy surged through my soul. Why did that man get to make her smile like that?

Perhaps even fate couldn’t stand it anymore—halfway up the mountain, that aloof, otherworldly rich man had an allergic reaction to a hot dog.

Fortunately, he hadn’t eaten much, so the symptoms were mild—just a slight dizziness and some small red rashes on his skin.

A golden opportunity!

I pretended to be a passerby and walked up to them, asking if they needed help.

She gave a subtle glance at her boyfriend’s heavy backpack, then smiled at me gratefully, hesitating a little before saying, “Would you mind…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but everything was understood.

Ha, why should I carry that damn guy’s backpack?

Instead, I plugged my charging cable into the power bank attached to his backpack and started charging my nearly dead phone. With a blank expression, I said, “Don’t worry, I’ll follow you both and charge as we walk.”

As the power bank lost energy, the load would naturally get lighter.

After typing out the final punctuation mark, Chen Zhan relaxed and stretched his wrists.

He hadn’t intentionally hidden his screen while writing, so Yin Ronglan had seen everything clearly.

Chen Zhan had no reservations and shared his writing. “As the first reader of the new chapter, give me some feedback.”

Yin Ronglan’s gaze was complicated as he looked deeply at Chen Zhan’s serious expression. “The writing is… quite stunning.”

Now, he finally understood why so many people kept up with the updates—until the very last moment, you could never predict the protagonist’s thought process.

After double-checking for typos, Chen Zhan hit ‘Publish.’ His update schedule was irregular, but there were always readers who managed to comment first.

【Maria’s Hair: First! Still shipping Lin Chiang and Chen Zhan.】

【Asylum Resident: At first, I thought this was a horror story where a couple goes on a trip and encounters a serial killer. But by the end… I realized I had overestimated every character in the story.】

【4.5GB Trash: Just one question—does a power bank really get lighter after being used? Are you insulting my intelligence?】

【Glory Ship: A dignified CEO allergic to hot dogs? Ha, truly a celestial being.】

【Ok Ben: I’ve heard about this before. My uncle has ties with the Lin family. Apparently, Lin Chiang is only allergic to one specific brand of hot dogs.】

【Maria’s Hair: Bowing down to the rich commenter above.】

Below this comment, there was a flood of “+1” replies.

Chen Zhan hadn’t originally planned to reintroduce Lin Chiang into the story so soon, but considering the guy was likely busy dealing with Jiang Ying’s insurance scheme and had no time to react, plus the fact that he himself was experiencing writer’s block…

He had already gotten used to using Lin Chiang to pad his word count whenever he hit writer’s block.

After closing his laptop, he pulled out a small notebook and began jotting down various observations from the film set.

Yin Ronglan assumed he was writing a diary and was about to step away to give him privacy. However, to his surprise, Chen Zhan put the notebook away after writing just a short passage. Looking up, he smiled and explained, “I’m just gathering material—it’ll help with future storytelling.”

A sudden sense of crisis surged within Yin Ronglan. If his identity were ever exposed one day, would he also end up as a character in Chen Zhan’s novel?

_____

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