After the various procedures of the opening ceremony, those behind only needed to follow and offer incense. Just as Ye Qiusuo had inserted her incense stick, the director called her over.
"Professor Ye, these are the main actors of 'The Lake'. They will be playing your students in the show."
In the drama, Ye Qiusuo also played a professor, while the protagonists were a group of students fighting for freedom and their country.
Her role wasn't extensive, but the director respected scholars, so he specifically introduced them.
Ye Qiusuo nodded and shook hands with each of them.
"Speaking of which, Professor Ye should know Yurou, as you were on the same program before," the director suddenly said with a laugh after seeing Ye Qiusuo shake hands with Wan Yurou.
"The previous recording was quite rushed, so I didn't really get a chance to speak with Professor Ye," Wan Yurou also smiled. "It's fate that we're working together again on this shoot."
Ye Qiusuo did not engage further.
"This is Feibai," the director pointed to the handsome man next to him and continued the introductions. "He plays Fang Zhouyue."
The two shook hands politely, without further conversation.
"We can start filming tomorrow. Let's all look out for each other then. If you have any problems, feel free to come to me," the director said after the introductions before heading off to attend to other matters.
After the group photo was taken, Ye Qiusuo prepared to leave as well, intending to go home and wrap up some loose ends from the university.
She had just driven out when suddenly a car swerved out from her right side and slammed directly into her car.
If that car had hit her head-on, she probably would have gone straight to meet Marx.
She immediately stepped on the accelerator to surge forward while turning the steering wheel hard to evade.
The other vehicle was a large, fast-moving van. Even though Ye Qiusuo spotted it and reacted extremely quickly, the rear half of her car was still smashed to pieces.
Ye Qiusuo: "..."
She sat in the car for a moment to collect herself. Without even getting out, she already knew whose car it was.
You Feibai.
It was only after the collision that Ye Qiusuo remembered this plot point.
On the day of 'The Lake's' opening ceremony, someone had tampered with You Feibai's van, causing the driver to lose control. It eventually crashed into a wall.
You Feibai, sitting in the back without a seatbelt, was thrown against the seat and knocked unconscious. It was the female lead, Wan Yurou, who helped him out, and from then on, the male supporting character remained deeply devoted to her.
And now, the newly added Professor Ye, driving her car, had become that wall.
Fortunately, Ye Qiusuo reacted swiftly; only the rear section of her car was destroyed. She pushed the door open and got out, looking at the two crashed vehicles. The other party was fully at fault for this accident.
Several people from the other car also got out, seemingly uninjured. You Feibai was momentarily stunned upon seeing Ye Qiusuo and was about to say something when he was interrupted.
"This is my WeChat. You can transfer the compensation directly here," Professor Ye said, opening WeChat and adding You Feibai. Then she turned to leave.
The car was wrecked beyond any point of worthwhile repair, and Ye Qiusuo didn't want to waste time on it.
You Feibai called after her, "Are you... sure you don't want to go to the hospital and get checked?"
Given the significant size difference between the two vehicles and the devastating scene of Ye Qiusuo's car, her simply adding his WeChat and leaving, as if the accident hadn't fazed her at all, was surprising.
Ye Qiusuo turned back and pointed at her car. "I'm not injured. I just hope for a prompt resolution regarding the compensation."
Professor Ye didn't have much money to buy a new car; she could only wait for the compensation payment.
"What happened?" The assistant who had gotten out from the other car was already questioning the driver.
"I don't know. The brakes and accelerator seemed to malfunction," the driver said fearfully. If the other car hadn't reacted so quickly, he might have been responsible for a death.
Seeing the crowd gathering, You Feibai frowned. "Call the police and retrieve the dashcam footage."
He then turned and left to borrow a car from the director, brushing past Wan Yurou who was standing to the side.
...
"What about the parking lot surveillance?"
"The police have already taken it, but we managed to get a copy beforehand."
You Feibai had his assistant play it.
"A man in a hat tampered with our car. The surveillance didn't capture his face," the assistant said, his expression grim. This had been far too dangerous.
"Right."
The incident couldn't be covered up, what with the police report and investigation. It made it to the trending searches that very night: You Feibai in a car accident after the opening ceremony.
A movie star being in a car accident instantly caused an uproar.
Some gossip accounts, having obtained on-scene photos of the crash from unknown sources, posted pictures of the two severely damaged vehicles, making netizens gasp.
[Is Feibai okay? How did he crash out of the blue?]
[Feibai doesn't seem injured.]
[Was it that white car speeding in the parking lot that caused the collision?]
[Don't they know the basic rule of driving slowly in parking lots? The white car owner should bear full responsibility.]
[Could it be a sasaeng fan chasing the car? This isn't the first time.]
[Inside info: the white car owner is Professor Ye.]
[???]
As time passed, more information surfaced, including a photo taken by a passerby. It showed not only a complete picture of both cars but also Ye Qiusuo standing nearby, both of them holding their phones.
Once this photo emerged, the previously one-sided blame directed at the white car owner paused.
[The white car owner is Professor Ye? It was probably an accidental collision, right?]
[Someone with years of accident investigation experience here. The damage patterns absolutely indicate one vehicle was moving at high speed. Otherwise, the white car wouldn't be so severely damaged.]
[I heard You Feibai crashed into Professor Ye's car because his own vehicle had been tampered with.]
You Feibai's popularity was immense; the hashtag for the car accident was marked with an 'explosive' symbol. Netizens began speculating about his relationship with Ye Qiusuo.
Finally, You Feibai's studio issued a statement on Weibo, clarifying that their vehicle had malfunctioned, leading to the collision with Ye Qiusuo's car. The police were already investigating the cause, and they urged everyone to refrain from further speculation.
Xie Xi heard about the trending search just before bed, as his assistant, holding a phone, read the headlines from top to bottom.
He only asked Zhang Dong to click and read the ones that piqued his interest.
Listening to the stream of headlines, Xie Xi found none of them interesting and wasn't particularly concerned about You Feibai's accident either.
If it was just called a 'car accident,' it meant no injuries—probably not even a scratch. Otherwise, the headline would have been 'You Feibai injured in car crash.'
Xie Xi wasn't interested, but Zhang Dong was. After reading a headline, he clicked in to take a peek himself. "Brother Xi," he gossiped, "You Feibai crashed into Professor Ye's car."
Xie Xi, who had been about to rest, immediately looked up at Zhang Dong upon hearing 'Professor Ye.' "What did you say?"
Zhang Dong promptly read You Feibai's studio's Weibo post aloud to him.
Halfway through, Xie Xi lost patience. "Was she hurt?"
"Seems not. There's a photo here too," Zhang Dong said, showing Xie Xi the picture of the two exchanging WeChat contacts.
Seeing the person in the photo was unharmed, Xie Xi let out a sigh of relief.
He returned to his room. After a while, he got up again, opened his phone, and scrolled through the pictures under that Weibo post. Just looking at the collision marks on the two cars told him how severe the impact must have been.
Xie Xi tossed and turned for a long time but ultimately exited WeChat.
...
Despite the accident, filming had to proceed as scheduled.
Ye Qiusuo's car was gone, so she had to take a taxi there the next day. When she arrived at the film crew, people around her sized her up to some extent. After all, she was one of the parties involved in the car accident the day before.
"Professor Ye," You Feibai stood up, still holding the script in his hand. "I'm sorry about what happened yesterday."
Ye Qiusuo didn't really care. The other party didn't do it on purpose. The person who tampered with the car seemed to have been caught later. It was a fan of a female celebrity who had once collaborated with You Feibai. Since the gossip about You Feibai and the female celebrity spread, the fan had always harbored hatred.
Ye Qiusuo went back and flipped through the notes she had taken last night. There was no mention of this person in it. She might only remember what happened in the original book when it was about to happen or had already happened.
You Feibai nodded to his assistant, and the assistant immediately brought a bank card. "There is compensation money in this card. The password is six 1s."
Ye Qiusuo calmly took the bank card.
"Also, here are the keys to my car. It's parked nearby. I'd like to lend it to you for some time. I hope it won't cause you any trouble." You Feibai was very tactful in handling things. There was a period between buying a car and getting the license plate, so he offered his car.
Ye Qiusuo glanced at the keys in his hand and refused. "No need. A temporary license plate will do."
While they were talking, the staff around them would look over from time to time, obviously curious about what they were talking about, especially with the bank card involved.
However, Professor Ye soon walked away and was pulled to change clothes.
"Brother Feibai, were you okay in the car accident yesterday?" The leading actress, Li Yandie, came over and asked.
"I'm fine." You Feibai put away the car keys in his hand, his eyes looking profound.
Two hours later, all the actors' costumes were finally ready. It was the first time for them to shoot a film, so there had to be some running - in. They first shot the scene where the male lead, the female lead and several others skipped classes. Ye Qiusuo watched from the side, observing the shots and the actors' performances.
Compared with shooting endorsements, it was much more difficult. There were more shots, repeated walk - throughs again and again, and repeated lines, which could easily drain one's energy.
Ye Qiusuo watched several scenes. From morning until after lunch, it was finally her turn to shoot.
"Professor Ye, just think of this place as a school. Don't feel awkward," the director instructed before the shooting. "Just ignore us here."
Except for the area within the camera range, the surrounding was full of staff. An ordinary person would really feel awkward.
Considering that it was Ye Qiusuo's first time shooting a film, the director chose a relatively simple scene. It was the scene where this professor first entered the classroom and gave a lecture to the students. There were not many lines and no significant emotional changes.
Ye Qiusuo had changed into a light - blue long gown and worn a short - hair wig. She was tall. Although the long gown didn't show off her figure, she looked neat and elegant.
She pushed the door open and entered. In the classroom, the students' voices gradually died down as they curiously looked at her.
At this time, the camera was not only focused on Ye Qiusuo but also on the male lead, the female lead and several others.
"From today on, I'll be your teacher, Pei Jinxi."
...
They shot this short scene four times in a row before it was finally passed. The film shots were different from the endorsement shots. Ye Qiusuo only found the right feeling on the third take.
"Why is there a problem at this time? It was supposed to be a cameo. Where can we find someone else now?"
Before leaving, Ye Qiusuo heard the director talking to the assistant director. Their voices were a bit loud.
"We can postpone it for a few more days. I'll look for other suitable people."
"Alright, alright, you look for them. I'll go and ask around again."
Ye Qiusuo didn't know what problem they had encountered. She withdrew her gaze and slowly walked out of the studio avenue, planning to take a taxi back.
"Teacher, what a coincidence."
A silver - gray car smoothly pulled up beside Ye Qiusuo. The rear window rolled down, and Xie Xi's extremely good - looking face appeared in front of Ye Qiusuo.
Ye Qiusuo was stunned for a moment and then said, "Good evening."
