Chapter 177 - The First Day of Filming

After saying goodbye to Yan Chi, Chu Qianqian returned to the villa with Qingyi and Chu Ziyu.

This time, she calculated the drive carefully. From Changyun Mountain to Qingyi’s villa, under normal conditions without heavy traffic, the trip would take about thirty minutes.

That was actually a very short distance, making it convenient to commute between the villa and the film crew every day.

“Qingyi, you really chose a fantastic location for this villa. If it weren’t this close, I think I’d have no choice but to take you both to stay at the crew’s hotel.”

It’s quite common to arrange hotels as accommodations for actors. After all, filming locations are often scattered across the country, requiring shoots in all kinds of places. For convenience, film crews usually book nearby hotels for the cast. Sometimes, the hotel’s star level becomes a measure of the crew’s financial resources.

When it comes to finances, the crew of Ling Xiao was undoubtedly well-funded. For this production, the crew had reserved three entire floors of a five-star hotel near Changyun Mountain for six months, all at once, courtesy of Director Zhang.

However, no matter how luxurious a hotel is, it can’t compare to the comfort of one’s own home. Actors who had the option of commuting between their house and the set would usually choose to stay at home. Qingyi and Chu Ziyu were no exception.

“Director Zhang mentioned today that the crew will gather at 8:00 a.m. every day. Considering there might be rush hour traffic, we should leave by 7:00 a.m. That means you both need to get up by 6:30 at the latest.”

As soon as Chu Qianqian finished speaking, Qingyi’s face fell, and he looked at her with a pitiful expression. “Isn’t 6:30 a bit too early? Maybe we should just stay at the hotel.”

“6:30 is a little early, but I’m building in time for you to have breakfast. Unless, of course, you’re okay with fainting on set from low blood sugar.”

Chu Qianqian made a valid point, but Qingyi still found it hard to accept. He pulled a long face and was about to voice his complaints when he heard Chu Qianqian sigh deeply. “Honestly, staying at the hotel would definitely be more convenient… but after what happened with Gao Qiaoqiao last time…”

Chu Qianqian didn’t complete her sentence, but Qingyi immediately understood. Both of them couldn’t help but recall that incident when Gao Qiaoqiao had attempted to drug Qingyi in his hotel room. If it weren’t for Chu Qianqian’s vigilance that night, Qingyi might’ve walked right into a trap.

As the two fell silent, Chu Ziyu, who had been inadvertently left out of this part of the conversation, raised an eyebrow. His expression clearly indicated dissatisfaction. “What are you two talking about?”

Seeing Chu Ziyu’s raised brow and the look in his eyes that seemed to demand, Explain yourselves right now, Qingyi rubbed his nose awkwardly. After a long hesitation, he finally stammered out an explanation of the incident with Gao Qiaoqiao.

Hearing Qingyi’s account, Chu Ziyu glanced at Chu Qianqian, his brows furrowing with an unpleasant expression. “So it’s true. I thought the rumors on Weibo about Gao Qiaoqiao trying to seduce you were just nonsense.”

“It was far from nonsense. Gao Qiaoqiao is really… ugh.” Qingyi, having grown up in a well-disciplined household, found it hard to say anything vulgar. Even after Mu Han joined the military and came back with a slightly rougher edge, Qingyi had never picked up any bad habits. He couldn’t bring himself to call someone names or use harsh language.

Though Chu Qianqian simply brought it up as a reminder, the mere mention of Gao Qiaoqiao was enough to solidify Qingyi’s decision. Despite knowing people like her were rare, her actions had already left a lasting impression on him. Reluctantly, Qingyi gave up on the idea of staying at the hotel and agreed to Chu Qianqian’s daily 6:30 a.m. wake-up schedule.

Chu Ziyu, on the other hand, was used to a disciplined routine. Even on his days off from work, his biological clock naturally woke him around 6:30. It wasn’t a big deal for him. Seeing that Qingyi had agreed, he also nodded along without hesitation.

The next morning, thanks to Chu Qianqian’s extraordinary patience, Qingyi managed to get out of bed on time without any lingering in his usual lazy fashion.

As they rode in the car, Qingyi rubbed his still-sleepy eyes and finally asked the question that had been bugging him all morning. “Qianqian, how did you know how long I’d stay in bed? You knocked on my door at exactly 6:15 to wake me up.”

Indeed, while Qingyi technically got up by the set time of 6:30, Chu Qianqian’s decision to call him fifteen minutes earlier made it feel like he had successfully snuck in a bit of his signature procrastination.

“It was Mu Han-President Mu-who told me.” Chu Qianqian had gotten into the habit of casually addressing Mu Han by name. Now, unless she consciously made an effort to call him “President Mu,” her default was to refer to him directly. This tendency annoyed her slightly, but habits weren’t something she could easily change.

“Oh~ so it was my brother.” Qingyi’s voice trailed off in a teasing tone. “Was it something the two of you talked about while you were together~?”

Chu Qianqian refused to answer that question, but her silence was enough for Qingyi to take it as confirmation.

“Ah, so it was~”

While Qingyi’s playful tone couldn’t quite materialize into physical waves, Chu Qianqian could practically feel the imaginary squiggly lines behind his extended syllables. The realization made a vein on her forehead visibly throb.

Yes, Qingyi’s guess was indeed correct. Mu Han had told Chu Qianqian about Qingyi’s habit of lingering in bed for fifteen extra minutes. That had happened during the month they had spent together.

When Chu Qianqian and Mu Han first started spending time together, their conversations often revolved around Qingyi. Since they didn’t know each other very well back then, talking about Qingyi became their go-to topic. It was during those conversations that Chu Qianqian truly realized just how much of an over-the-top younger brother enthusiast Mu Han was.

After all, how many older brothers could recall every little habit of their younger sibling in detail, listing them fondly as if they were the cutest things in the world? Only someone like Mu Han, whose devotion to his younger brother was nearly fanatical, could do that.

Back then, when she and Mu Han had talked about these things, Chu Qianqian had genuinely enjoyed the conversations. But now, for some reason – perhaps because her perspective had shifted – those memories felt hazy, as though covered in a layer of gauze. They weren’t just unclear; they’d also begun leaving her feeling annoyed instead of amused.

Today, Qingyi failed to notice Chu Qianqian’s unusual irritation with the topic. He, as always, was absorbed in his own playful teasing. However, before he could continue talking, Chu Ziyu cut him off decisively.

From the moment Qingyi mentioned Mu Han again, Chu Ziyu’s mood had soured. Fortunately, Chu Qianqian didn’t seem willing to discuss Mu Han today either, so Chu Ziyu took the opportunity to shut Qingyi up.

“You idiot. Did you not sleep well last night? Is that why you’re so tired?”

Sure enough, as soon as the subject shifted to whether Qingyi had stayed up late, both Chu Qianqian and Qingyi completely forgot about their earlier conversation.

Their back-and-forth quickly escalated – with Chu Qianqian grilling Qingyi and Qingyi adamantly denying every accusation – while the car steadily approached the film crew.

The day’s shooting schedule was light. For this first session, the focus was primarily on introducing the world of Ling Xiao. Other than that, it was also an opportunity for a few of the main characters to make their debut on camera.

Today’s scenes featured Lin Zisu, played by Qingyi; Fu Zichu, played by Chu Ziyu; and Ye Qingxuan, played by Qi Yue. It was essentially the first meeting between these three key characters.

In the world of Ling Xiao, cultivators and ordinary humans lived very separate lives. The core concept of the story established that cultivators did not lightly involve themselves in mortal affairs. This was because mortal lives were meant to follow the flow of destiny, while the lives of cultivators were entirely about defying it. The two worlds were inherently at odds, and the less intermingling between them, the better.