The moment he lifted his head, their eyes met.
Lin Yizhou suddenly smiled.
It wasn't the gentle, innocent smile he used to wear.
Instead, it was a smile laced with aggression.
As if he had finally torn off that thin layer of disguise, revealing the real, sharp self beneath.
He raised his hand in a gesture as natural as reuniting with an old friend, his tone casual.
"Long time no see, Liuyue."
Director Daqing, who had been flipping through the script, looked up in surprise at the words.
His gaze swept between the two, curiosity undisguised in his voice.
"What a coincidence, Liuyue, Yizhou, you two actually know each other?"
Before Jiang Liuyue could respond, Lin Yizhou had already taken the lead.
His smile turned polite and submissive again.
His voice was unhurried: "Yeah, we were in the same acting training class together."
Director Daqing smiled and nodded, tapping the script twice with his fingers.
"Even better, then. Since you already know each other, intimate scenes won't be awkward."
Jiang Liuyue silently flipped through her script.
She didn't say anything for now, her lashes lowered to conceal what lay beneath her eyes.
"Falling Star" was a story about secret love becoming reality.
The female lead, Lin Wanxing, had nurtured a secret crush since childhood on her neighbor, Cheng Yuan, who was three years older. But he was so outstanding, surrounded by brilliant people, that she felt inferior.
She only dared to approach him as a little sister, all the while bitter and heartbroken.
The story began in their school days, reaching its climax in the college years.
When Lin Wanxing was a freshman, Cheng Yuan was already in his first year of grad school at the same university. After bitter longing and cautious testing, they slowly came together.
The intimate scene involved Lin Wanxing, drunk, forcibly kissing Cheng Yuan, and the two wound up sleeping together in a haze.
But upon waking, Lin Wanxing was too timid to face the possibility of rejection and ran away. What followed was a chase, and whenever the two were on the verge of getting together, a new character always emerged, becoming a crack in their relationship.
Director Daqing closed his script and raised his face, speaking with vigor.
"You've all read the script, right? We've set the date. Filming officially starts tomorrow. We'll shoot the latter half first on the N University campus in Nancheng."
"As for the youth-era scenes, we'll switch to a different city for location shots. There are many alleyways there, fitting the story's setting."
Lin Yizhou nodded humbly, his voice gentle.
"No problem at all, Director."
He then swept a glance Jiang Liuyue's way, before quickly looking away.
Jiang Liuyue's fingertips paused slightly on the script. Then, she lifted her face and gave Director Daqing a poised smile.
She apologized: "Sorry, Director, I need to step out and touch up my makeup first."
"Sure," the director replied without a second thought, bending his head to discuss the shooting plan with the assistant director.
Watching Jiang Liuyue push the door open and leave, the gentle smile on Lin Yizhou's face could no longer hold.
He dropped into low-energy mode, his brows sinking, the corners of his mouth vanishing.
The actor sitting next to him, acutely sensitive, sensed something amiss.
In an instant, he felt Lin Yizhou's aura shift, making him unconsciously want to scoot away.
Jiang Liuyue walked to the window at the end of the hallway and pulled out her phone to call Song Hanzheng.
This time, he answered quickly, his tone carrying a softness he hadn't noticed himself.
"What's up?"
"I saw the male lead actor at today's table read for 'Falling Star.'"
"Yeah?" Song Hanzheng's tone was flat, unreadable.
So he really didn't know about this.
Jiang Liuyue took a deep breath and cut to the chase.
"He's Lin Yizhou."
"..."
There was a beat of silence on the other end.
Then came Song Hanzheng's voice through gritted teeth.
"How is that possible?!"
"I'll take care of this right now. Wait for me."
"Hey—"
Before Jiang Liuyue could say anything else, the call ended abruptly, leaving only the sound of a dial tone.
It seemed Song Hanzheng truly detested his half-brother.
Jiang Liuyue put away her phone, touched up her hair in front of the hallway mirror, confirmed her expression betrayed nothing, and pushed open the door to re-enter the read-through session.
She returned to her seat with her usual composure, showing nothing.
Flipping through the script, nodding at the director's arrangements, occasionally making sounds of agreement—everything was normal.
That evening, Director Daqing suggested everyone have dinner together as a warm-up before the shoot. No one objected, and Jiang Liuyue, unwilling to be the killjoy, agreed as well.
The seats in the private room were randomly arranged, with people taking their places in groups of twos and threes.
Jiang Liuyue had barely settled into her chair before a breeze rushed to her left, carrying a faint, clean scent.
Before she could react, Lin Yizhou had already sat down right next to her.
The movement was natural.
He turned sideways and lowered his voice.
"Can't be friends? Fine: we're colleagues."
"What, not even saying a word to your colleague? That's not very polite, is it?"
These words showed his fangs, sharp and distinct from his sluggish, otter-like act before.
Lin Yizhou's personality was anything but simple and harmless.
He just played his part well, feigning innocence, always playing the victim to win others' attention and sympathy.
Jiang Liuyue sighed softly.
She looked at him, a note of pity in her eyes.
Sensing that pity, Lin Yizhou's eyes darkened with displeasure, his lashes casting a small shadow beneath them.
His voice hitched with feeling.
"You pity me? Why?"
Jiang Liuyue took another look at him and then gave her firm conclusion.
"Even though you're the younger son, Uncle Song probably values Song Han more, right?"
"So all you can do is act the innocent, considerate, humble good boy to snatch a little bit of his attention?"
"At that last dinner, you deliberately invited Li Yuele over. Song Han didn't want that meal to go smoothly, and neither did you."
These words hit the mark.
Lin Yizhou wasn't angry.
Instead, he suddenly lifted his head, a flicker of amusement flashing in his narrow eyes.
It was the amusement of being truly seen and understood.
Even with a trace of pleasure.
He paused, his voice dropping very softly.
"Yeah, I did that on purpose."
He paused again, then said:
"Liuyue, clearly I met you first. Why does every good thing always fall into Song Hanzheng's lap?"
"Want to know why my name is Lin Yizhou and not Song Yizhou? Because Song Hanzheng wouldn't allow it."
"He said if Dad had me change my surname, he'd jump off the building just like his mother. Tell me, isn't that too much?"
His fingertips clenched, the rims of his eyes reddening, his voice trembling slightly.
"I'm Song Tianqi's son too."
He said the words softly.
But they carried immense weight.
