The Heartless One
Zhu Qing had always trusted Li Lan.
Trust was the foundation of any relationship; ever since she realized what she felt for Li Lan, it had come to her as naturally as breathing.
Since I chose to be with you, I will love you without reservation, stand by your side, and choose to believe in you.
But Li Lan’s concealment of the contract marriage had left a crack in that trust.
If Li Lan had hidden the contract marriage from her, then what else had she hidden?
Zhu Qing did not doubt Li Lan’s feelings for her right now. She believed Li Lan loved her; she just didn’t know what else the other woman was still keeping from her.
That kind of uncertainty, impossible to pin down or put into words, let threads of chill seep into Zhu Qing’s heart.
After a full day of filming, everyone was exhausted. Li Lan still had to review the day’s footage with the director, so Zhu Qing headed back to the hotel first.
The filming base and the hotel weren’t far apart, and the privacy was pretty good. Fans rarely lingered along the road, so Zhu Qing usually rode an e-bike to and from work.
Halfway back, her stomach started to feel empty. Zhu Qing took a detour to buy some sugar-roasted chestnuts, and by the time she was heading back, she’d ended up closer to the hotel’s rear entrance, so she cut through a side path.
As soon as she stepped inside, she heard a man and a woman talking in the corner.
“Dressed so slutty; let me take a good look.”
The man’s voice sounded somewhat familiar to Zhu Qing. It was one of the slate hands on the crew.
The woman’s voice was soft and coy. “Isn’t that because your management’s too strict? I couldn’t even follow the crew. I spent ages getting in here.”
Zhu Qing had no interest in eavesdropping on a slate hand’s private affairs, so she pushed open the small door and went into the hotel.
The moment her hand touched the doorknob, she heard the slate hand curse.
“Isn’t it just because Miss Big-Star Li is such a pain in the ass and pays so little? I’ve been on plenty of sets, and this one has the most demands by far. What’s with ‘no outsiders allowed on set’? She brought her own wife and studio staff to the crew, and nobody says a thing. The prefect sets fire; the county magistrate can’t even light a lamp. She only knows how to squeeze the rest of us.”
The woman coddled him sweetly. “Exactly. I can do makeup too; before, I was always following crews and helping out directly. They even want to do some kind of assessment, saying my skills aren’t up to par.”
Zhu Qing was silent for two seconds, then yanked the door open hard.
With a creak, the voices on the other side fell silent at once.
Zhu Qing didn’t go up to confront them. It wasn’t strange for people on a crew to grumble about their boss behind her back.
It was just that he sounded a little too resentful, and Li Lan was a public figure who valued her privacy. Keeping someone like that on the crew could easily become a hidden risk.
After thinking it over, Zhu Qing sent Qian Chu a message about the slate hand’s behavior; she was serving as the executive producer now.
The next day at work, Zhu Qing didn’t see that slate hand again.
Today, Zhu Qing’s scene was the “escape” sequence. She woke up in the hospital, then slipped back to the Bai family home while the doctor wasn’t paying attention.
The stunt coordinator came over and walked her through the scene several times, explaining how she was supposed to jump from the third floor and roll so she wouldn’t hurt herself.
“This move can use a double, but only for a day or two’s worth of shots. The rest still has to be Zhu Qing herself.” The director looked at Li Lan, waiting for her opinion.
Li Lan’s brows drew together; she clearly didn’t like it.
Zhu Qing tried rolling on the mats a few times. “I think we can give it a try. There’s a wire rig too, so it should be fine.”
Li Lan said, “You’ve never used a wire rig. If you’re using one for the first time, it’s hard to control your movement, and the chance of injury isn’t small.”
Zhu Qing patted Li Lan’s forearm and smiled faintly. Since they couldn’t be too affectionate on set, even this counted as an intimate gesture. She said, “Let’s try first. If it doesn’t work, we’ll talk.”
Jumping from the third floor, there was a wooden crate about a person’s height below. Zhu Qing had to leap from the window onto the crate, then jump down from the crate and finish with a roll on landing.
The first shot was a long shot. From the window to the crate, the wire rig didn’t help much; in the frame, Zhu Qing would appear to be dropping straight down.
From a little over two meters away, Li Lan watched from inside the viewfinder, tense to the point of distress. Her face even changed color.
Once Zhu Qing landed on the crate, the wire rig caught her and controlled her descent.
Then the shot cut to a medium frame. Zhu Qing crouched onto the crate, and the impact cracked it open.
To make the descent look natural, the wire rig lifted Zhu Qing another meter.
The prop team came over to inspect the crate. It wasn’t allowed to crack when Zhu Qing landed, because the wire rig’s precision wasn’t high enough. By the time Zhu Qing reached the ground, the rig would lose its pull, and the crate had to support her.
The shot where the crate split open would be the next one; after Zhu Qing crouched into position, the prop team would break it deliberately.
The prop master finished adjusting the crate. Zhu Qing looked at one of the people there and thought he seemed vaguely familiar, yet she was sure she had never seen him before.
He wore a cap. After setting up the prop, he left.
The director had already called action, and Zhu Qing didn’t think much more about it before jumping down.
A little over one meter didn’t sound high, but the instant she jumped, the wire rig loosened, and the sudden sensation of hanging in the air made her heart lurch.
Zhu Qing couldn’t quite tell what made her heart skip like that. She had a bad feeling.
The moment her feet touched the crate, before she had time to steady herself, a sudden wobble shot up through the soles of her feet. In the next instant, the crate split apart into pieces, and Zhu Qing fell straight through—
Exclamations broke out all around her; everyone rushed over.
Li Lan was the first to get there. She quickly shoved aside the scattered planks and hurried to Zhu Qing’s side, asking anxiously, “How are you?”
Supporting Zhu Qing by the arm, Li Lan asked in a panic, “Where does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The on-set doctor followed close behind Li Lan and moved in to examine Zhu Qing’s injuries.
A plank that had scattered behind Zhu Qing had jabbed her in the back. It burned fiercely, and her whole body felt like it had come apart.
She had fallen all the way into the crate, dizzy and dazed from the impact.
“My head’s fine,” Zhu Qing said, her lips already pale. “My back hurts.”
The doctor had already called for help. This time, a stretcher really did arrive, and Zhu Qing was lifted onto it and sent to the nearest hospital.
Li Lan couldn’t spare attention for anything else and followed Zhu Qing out.
Qian Chu stayed at the scene. She looked around and asked in a low voice, “Who was responsible for that crate just now?”
-
Halfway to the hospital, Zhu Qing started to come around a little. She patted Li Lan’s hand. “Don’t worry. I should be fine.”
How could Li Lan not worry? She had already opposed Zhu Qing doing the stunt herself. Her nose was sweating, and even her palms were trembling faintly.
“Use a double. For scenes like this, use a double from now on.” Li Lan’s voice shook.
Zhu Qing lifted a hand and brushed Li Lan’s chin, smiling. “You former model types who switched careers aren’t professional at all. We’re making a movie; how can we use doubles for every action scene? You need to be responsible for the audience’s ticket money.”
“If I’m going to be responsible, I’ll replace you right now,” Li Lan said hoarsely. “Why do you have to help me?”
Zhu Qing looked at her silently without saying anything.
After a while, Li Lan gathered herself, clasped Zhu Qing’s hand, and helped her lie against her in a more comfortable position. Leaning close to her ear, she said softly, “Sorry. I panicked.”
Zhu Qing rested her chin in the hollow of Li Lan’s shoulder and shook her head slightly.
Li Lan said, “I know you did it for me.”
When the film was first being prepared, the fee for the lead actress took up half the production budget. After He Guang Tong Chen withdrew its funding, Li Lan invested. Although she waived her own salary, if they wanted to hire another young actress with solid acting skills and some recognition in the domestic entertainment industry, they would definitely need extra money.
Yang Huayi said Zhu Qing could act in it; the director said Zhu Qing could act in it too. Only Li Lan couldn’t bear to let her.
By the time they got to the hospital, Zhu Qing was already able to walk. After the examination was finished, there were no internal injuries apart from a large bruise across her back.
The director finally let out a breath.
Who knew how frightened she’d been when the accident happened.
This film project was already full of difficulties. If the lead actress also got hurt, then it would really feel as if heaven wanted to destroy it.
After they returned to the hotel, Qian Chu told them the results of the investigation.
The behind-the-scenes camera at the filming site had recorded the entire process of someone tampering with the prop.
“Last night I fired a slate hand,” Qian Chu said in a low voice in front of Li Lan and the director. “The prop master who tampered with it was his biological brother. I’m guessing he did it for revenge.”
Li Lan looked at Qian Chu coldly. “Why did you fire that slate hand?”
Qian Chu didn’t say it was Zhu Qing’s suggestion; she only explained that the slate hand had been bad-mouthing her behind her back.
“Have you regressed mentally as you’ve grown?” Li Lan snapped, too angry to watch her words. “If you wanted to fire him, why didn’t you first check his relationships on the crew? You even missed his own brother?”
The director sighed too. “Honestly, people gossip behind others’ backs all the time. There was no need to fire him. Even if you were going to, you should’ve handled it more gently. Sending him off in the middle of the night like that…”
“None of that is a reason for him to tamper with the prop,” Qian Chu admitted her mistake very sincerely, but still insisted, “I did mishandle it. I’ll review it afterward and won’t make the same mistake again.”
“Right now, Zhu Qing’s injury counts as minor. We don’t know yet whether we should report it to the police. Reporting it would delay the filming schedule, and the other side isn’t admitting they did it on purpose; they’re only saying they forgot to insert that fixed plank, that it was a work error.”
Just as Li Lan was about to say he should explain that to the police, someone walked straight in through the doorway.
They were holding a meeting in the hotel conference room. When Yang Huayi reached the door, she had listened in curiously for a while, but when she heard this, she couldn’t hold back anymore and pushed the door open.
“Report what to the police? Do you really need to call the police over something this small?”
The three of them stood up. Li Lan’s expression was rather ugly. “Chairwoman Yang, do you have any good solution?”
“Solution to what?” Yang Huayi spread her hands in confusion. “That prop master?”
Li Lan said, “He tampered with Zhu Qing’s prop. This time Zhu Qing was lucky and nothing serious happened. But if her position had been off, those hard wooden planks and the row of nails on the bottom might have seriously injured her. Shouldn’t I call the police?”
Yang Huayi gave a slight smile. “You think he hurt Zhu Qing because you fired that slate hand?”
Li Lan frowned. “If not, then what?”
“He was sent by Liu He,” Yang Huayi said, sitting down in the center of the sofa. “As long as Liu He isn’t brought down, if you call the police, then with Zhu Qing’s injury only counting as minor, at most he’ll get fined and detained for a few days. Once he’s out, nothing will happen to him.”
Li Lan forced herself to breathe slowly. Liu He; it was Liu He again.
“What exactly does she want?”
“She wants to stop the film from being shot, delay my money-making, seize my authority, take my people, and sit in my place.”
Li Lan said bitterly, “Chairwoman Yang, when you gave me this script in the first place, did you foresee that there would be so many troubles today?”
Yang Huayi didn’t care at all about Li Lan’s sharp tone. She said very patiently, “Don’t be angry. If I’d known she had ambitions of her own, I would’ve crushed her to death in advance.”
Li Lan said irritably, “What are we supposed to do now? I need to make him and Liu He pay.”
Meeting Li Lan’s barely suppressed irritation, Yang Huayi curved her lips into a cold smile.
“Endure it.”
-
Zhu Qing shifted on the bed, stuffed a pillow under her arm, and changed positions several times, but nothing felt comfortable.
Her back was injured; even lying on her side hurt. She could only sleep on her stomach.
Li Lan and the others were discussing something, probably about this accident.
Zhu Qing kept feeling like this accident was a little strange. Who exactly was that familiar-looking person from the prop team?
She felt like that person was the key, and after thinking hard for a long time, the slate hand’s face suddenly flashed through her mind.
Right! The familiarity didn’t mean she had seen that person before; it meant he looked very much like the slate hand!
At that moment, Li Lan gently pushed the door open.
Zhu Qing quickly told her what she had figured out. “Is he related to the slate hand? Was he the one who hurt me because of this?”
Li Lan took Zhu Qing’s hand, her expression somewhat downcast. “Yes.”
Zhu Qing angrily punched the bed once. “Damn it.”
Li Lan froze for two seconds, then took Zhu Qing’s hand again and said in a low voice, “Xiaoqing… I may not be able to go after him for the time being.”
Zhu Qing stared at her, then instinctively asked, “Why?”
Li Lan’s answer was difficult. “The legal team says your injury only counts as minor, and he isn’t admitting he tampered with it intentionally; he’s only saying it was a work mistake. In this situation, even if we report it, it’s hard to get any serious punishment. And once we report it, you’ll have to give a statement too, which will delay filming…”
By the end, Li Lan couldn’t keep speaking.
She felt as though she were reciting lines from a scumbag woman’s handbook.
What could be more important than Zhu Qing’s grievance?
After hearing that, Zhu Qing was silent for a long time. “That does make sense.”
Li Lan lowered her head and said nothing for a long while.
Zhu Qing said, “If we don’t report it, then don’t report it. Fire him, then. Don’t let him stay on the crew.”
Li Lan said nothing.
Zhu Qing found that odd. “Li Lan?”
Li Lan looked up, her tone apologetic. “Sorry. I can’t fire him either.”
Zhu Qing’s delicate brows furrowed tightly. “Why?”
Li Lan’s voice had gone dry. She avoided Zhu Qing’s gaze and said weakly, “Yang Huayi just came by. She said this person was sent by Liu He. If we want him to pay, we have to bring Liu He down. Only after we find evidence that Liu He ordered him to sabotage the shoot and connect it to what happened to you can we…”
“Can we help her bring Liu He down?”
Zhu Qing quietly pulled her hand back and lay down again.
Li Lan crouched down so she was level with Zhu Qing and hurriedly explained, “Liu He is the number two at He Guang Tong Chen. She was personally cultivated by Yang Huayi, and she knows a lot about Yang Huayi’s affairs. Yang Huayi needs time to deal with her…”
Yang Huayi again. Yang Huayi again. It was always Yang Huayi.
“She’s dealing with Liu He; what does that have to do with you?” Zhu Qing asked quietly.
Li Lan’s voice stopped.
Zhu Qing looked into Li Lan’s eyes quietly. “What do Yang Huayi and Liu He fighting for power have to do with you?”
She wasn’t questioning her so much as she truly couldn’t understand.
Li Lan lowered her head, as if apologizing and also as if stubbornly hanging on.
“Sorry. A lot of my resources are tied up with her, and Yu Ling is following Liu He. If Liu He wins the struggle for power, our future path will be very difficult.”
Zhu Qing painfully lifted her head and turned her face to the side, no longer looking at Li Lan, and said nothing else.
“Since you’ve already decided, then… I support you.”
Li Lan looked at the back of Zhu Qing’s head, her heart aching unbearably.
“Xiaoqing, I’m sorry…”
Zhu Qing said, “I want to rest. Leave first.”
Li Lan crouched there for another half minute. Seeing that Zhu Qing had no intention of continuing the conversation at all, she silently stood up, tucked the blanket around Zhu Qing properly, and left in low spirits.
————————!!————————
Zhu Qing: Heartless woman.
Li Lan: [heartbroken]