180: Chapter 180 You Really Need a Beating

At the Songjiang school filming location, the morning's scenes had just started shooting.

Director Ning Yuan sat behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie to adjust Shen Feng's blocking.

Li Cheng ran in from the school gate, walkie-talkie in hand, his expression looking off.

He trotted over to Jiang Fan, bent down, and lowered his voice.

"Brother Fan, something happened."

"What is it?"

Jiang Fan was still clutching a handful of melon seeds, his mouth not stopping.

"Tang Yingxue is here. She said she's here to visit the set, and her car is already parked at the school gate."

Jiang Fan's hand paused mid-crack.

The way Li Cheng looked at Jiang Fan seemed to say—you're done for.

Director Ning Yuan turned his head from the front.

"What's wrong?"

"Tang Yingxue is here to visit the set."

Director Ning Yuan's brows furrowed, and he took off his monitor headset and tossed it onto the table.

"What is she here for?"

Jiang Fan didn't answer, stood up, brushed the melon seed shells off his pant legs, and walked straight toward the school gate.

Director Ning Yuan made a "tsk" sound behind him, sat back in his folding chair, and grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Everyone stop, ten-minute break."

Sister Yue was standing in the middle of the set waiting for filming to start; hearing this, she froze in place and turned to look at Shen Feng.

Shen Feng pointed his script toward the school gate.

Sister Yue followed his gaze.

A black minivan was parked horizontally at the school gate.

The car door slid open, and a gust of wind caught the hem of a black trench coat.

A woman stepped out in high heels, most of her face hidden behind sunglasses, walking inside while ignoring the surrounding gazes.

The script in Sister Yue's hand had unconsciously rolled into a tube, and her mouth stayed agape for a long time.

"Oh my god! Is that... Tang Yingxue?"

Shen Feng leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his tone dripping with the profundity of someone who had been through it all.

"Sister Yue, do you understand now why I fought so hard to change Lu Wanqing's kissing scene to a camera trick?"

Sister Yue swallowed hard.

"I understand now."

Lun Zi had crept over at some point, peeking around.

"Brother, I just saw Tang Yingxue in person. She's even more... than on TV—"

"Shut up." Shen Feng and Sister Yue spoke in unison.

Lun Zi pulled his neck back.

At the school gate, when Jiang Fan arrived, Tang Yingxue was already standing next to the guard room.

When she saw Jiang Fan come out, she took off her sunglasses, held them between her fingers, and smiled at him.

"President Jiang, I'm here to visit the set. Am I welcome?"

Jiang Fan walked up to her, hands in his pockets.

"The crew has rules: non-staff members cannot enter the core filming area."

Tang Yingxue unzipped her handbag, pulled out a folded document, and handed it over.

"I am not a non-staff member."

Jiang Fan took it and glanced at it.

It was an extra actor contract.

Role: Passerby A (Cameo).

Pay: 1 Yuan.

Jiang Fan flipped the paper over and fixed his gaze on her face.

"What kind of game are you playing?"

"I'm playing a cameo role in your movie." Tang Yingxue tucked her sunglasses back into her bag and crossed her arms over her chest. "One yuan pay—that's sincere enough, right?"

"Not necessary."

The smile at the corners of Tang Yingxue's mouth faded slightly.

Jiang Fan folded the contract and casually stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

"You come in with me first; everyone else stays outside."

He turned and walked inside; Tang Yingxue paused for a beat before following in her high heels.

The assistant and bodyguard behind her had just stepped forward when Li Cheng stepped sideways to block them.

"Teacher Tang's team, please rest at the gate for now; the space inside is limited."

The assistant looked at Tang Yingxue's back, then at Li Cheng, and stepped back to their original spot.

Jiang Fan walked in front, with Tang Yingxue following beside him, half a step apart.

The two turned into the corridor leading from the teaching building to the playground; there was no one around.

"About last night, aren't you going to explain?" Tang Yingxue's voice was very low.

"There's nothing to explain."

"Xu Qingya did it on purpose."

"What she does in her own home is her freedom."

Tang Yingxue's steps faltered, her high heels clicking crisply against the terrazzo floor.

At the end of the corridor, Jiang Fan stopped and turned to face her.

"Tang Yingxue. Your song will reach a hundred million streams by noon today. You should be in Kyoto doing promotions and taking appointments, not flying three hours to a middle school in Songjiang—"

"I arrange my own schedule."

Tang Yingxue interrupted him, stepping forward half a step, chin held high.

"Come see me tonight. If you come, I'll leave tomorrow."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll come to your set every day." Tang Yingxue tilted her head to the side. "Do you believe I can turn your production into an entertainment headline?"

Jiang Fan stared at her.

A top-tier diva running to a low-budget comedy set every day—it would be a miracle if the media didn't go crazy.

When Xu Qingya saw the news, it would definitely be another round of chain explosions.

"No, I can't go tonight."

Tang Yingxue's expression suddenly turned cold.

"Are you that afraid of Xu Qingya?"

"It's not that I'm afraid of her."

Jiang Fan was thinking about how to say it less bluntly.

"She saved my life; you wouldn't understand that."

After this sentence was spoken, the corridor was silent for three seconds.

Tang Yingxue turned her face away. After a long while, she turned back, her tone harder than before.

"Then I'm staying here and not leaving. I won't leave today, and I won't leave tomorrow either."

Jiang Fan looked at her unyielding demeanor.

"You really need a lesson."

Before Tang Yingxue could react, Jiang Fan had already reached out, grabbed her wrist, and strode toward the school gate.

She was dragged along, stumbling two steps, her high heels scraping harshly against the concrete ground.

"What are you doing—"

"Let's go."

Jiang Fan dragged her straight to the minivan.

The car door slid open; the assistant and bodyguard waiting by the car were stunned.

"All of you, get out." Jiang Fan tilted his chin at the driver in the driver's seat.

The driver looked blankly at Tang Yingxue.

Tang Yingxue was shoved into the passenger seat, and before she could react, the seatbelt was pulled over and buckled.

"Sister Xue—" the assistant cried out.

Jiang Fan walked around to the other side, opened the door, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine cleanly.

"You guys take a taxi back."

He said to the people outside, shifted gears, reversed out of the school gate, and merged directly onto the main road.

The assistant stood there, hand still suspended in mid-air.

Beside the horizontal bars at the edge of the playground, Lu Wanqing had witnessed everything that happened in the corridor.

The distance between the two of them was very close, and the woman's expression switched back and forth between cold and soft.

Finally, Jiang Fan dragged her away by the wrist, and that imperious diva followed along in her high heels, with no intention of breaking free.

That was Tang Yingxue.

Just yesterday, she was playing the song later on repeat on her phone.

Now, this living, breathing person was standing right there in her film crew.

Agent Zhou came over and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Lu Wanqing withdrew her gaze.

Agent Zhou glanced in the direction she had just been looking.

"Wanqing, how is the preparation for this afternoon's scene?"

"It's ready."

"That's good." Agent Zhou patted her back. "Focus your mind on the acting; don't think about other things."

Lu Wanqing nodded.

The set resumed work.

Director Ning Yuan sat back behind the monitor and grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Everyone in position, continue!"

The afternoon shooting went surprisingly smoothly.

Shen Feng's scene on the playground was a one-take, and Lu Wanqing didn't make any mistakes.

A rare hint of a smile appeared on Director Ning Yuan's usually stern face.

Only Li Cheng was absent-minded the whole time.

He clutched the walkie-talkie in his hand, lighting up his phone screen every few minutes.

Brother Fan dragged Tang Yingxue into the car and drove off. Where did he take her?

What did they go to do?

—

The minivan drove out of the Songjiang urban area and turned onto a provincial road heading south.

Tang Yingxue sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed over her chest, her face turned toward the window the whole time.

There was still a red mark on her wrist from where she had been grabbed so hard earlier.

Jiang Fan drove for over twenty minutes, then turned the steering wheel and veered onto a narrow dirt road.

The road became increasingly remote, and finally, he stepped on the brakes at the foot of a desolate mountain.

The car engine cut out, and everything went quiet, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Outside the window was a wasteland overgrown with weeds; there wasn't a soul in sight.

Tang Yingxue finally turned her head.

"You dragged me to a place in the middle of nowhere like this—what are you trying to do?"