APCF – Chapter 48 The Storm is Coming

Bo Ye has always maintained a clean image, never using relationships for publicity and rarely being involved in scandals.

Hearing An Ran’s words, Qi Xingchen opened Weibo, half-believing, half-doubting.

At the top of the trending page, the headline “[Bo Ye Night Meeting with Mysterious Woman, Relationship Exposed]” was prominently displayed with a big red “Explosive” tag next to it.

“The night of the 21st, our reporter captured Bo Ye entering a hotel near Baisha Port at approximately 11:40 PM. He stayed for over two hours, leaving at 3:10 AM. The following day, Bo Ye’s nanny van was seen again at the hotel entrance, staying for nearly half an hour before departing.”

An Ran read the Weibo post softly while Qi Xingchen flipped through the accompanying pictures one by one.

Judging by the angles, the photos were taken from across the street from the hotel, likely by paparazzi renting a room to stake out the “Heart of the Ocean” crew and capturing these by chance.

In the photos from the 21st, Bo Ye was seen returning to the hotel with the crew, including Director Shang, Tao Tao, Feng Qingyuan, and Qi Xingchen himself.

The photos of Bo Ye leaving the hotel, however, showed him alone, with no one seeing him off.

On the 22nd, the photos captured Bo Ye’s nanny van arriving and leaving, as well as Qi Xingchen getting into the vehicle.

Due to the angle, the photo of Qi Xingchen getting into the van only showed the top of a head wearing a baseball cap, with the van obscuring the person’s appearance, height, and attire, making it difficult to discern the gender.

To an outsider, this photo would indeed seem suspicious.

Qi Xingchen breathed a slight sigh of relief, initially thinking Bo Ye might have really gone to meet a girl.

Now, it appeared Bo Ye had simply been a bit careless during his visits to see him, and the paparazzi had caught him.

He opened the comment section.

“FYI: The other people in the photos are all members of the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ crew. Brother Ye has a good relationship with the director and actors like Tao Tao and Qi Xingchen, so he probably just visited the set.”

“If he was visiting the set, wouldn’t the director see him off when he left? Shang Yuliang wouldn’t be so impolite, right? And why did he go back to the hotel entrance the next day? Clearly, it was to meet someone in private. Stop fooling yourselves, some people.”

“I’d advise some people to watch their words. What do you mean by ‘private meeting’? Do you know if he was there to pick something up or drop something off?”

“If he needed to pick up or drop off something, an assistant could do it. Does he really need to show up personally? At least make up a better excuse. Don’t twist your tongue with all this wind.”

Bo Ye’s loyal fans and haters were clashing in the comment section. Qi Xingchen stood up.

An Ran called out to him, “Hey, Xingxing, where are you going?”

“I’ll call Brother Ye and discuss how to clarify the rumors.”

“Xingxing, before being a fan of Bo Ye, I’m your assistant first…” An Ran’s expression turned uneasy. “It’s my duty to remind you of something. Listen first before you decide whether to help him clarify the rumors.”

Her serious expression made Qi Xingchen frown slightly—was there a problem with him helping Bo Ye clarify the rumors?

“Go ahead,” he nodded.

“I distinctly remember you telling me that Bo Ye left your room after 2 AM.”

Qi Xingchen: “Yes, that’s right.”

“Now look again at the content of the Weibo post and the time marked on the photo of him leaving the hotel.”

Qi Xingchen was stunned.

He didn’t need to look.

He had observed carefully when flipping through the photos earlier—Bo Ye left the hotel at 3:10 AM.

The narrative could be fabricated, but photos don’t lie.

“I’m not sure if you misremembered,” An Ran analyzed, “but if you did, you should help him clarify. If you didn’t misremember… Although we shouldn’t assume the worst, you’ve just entered the entertainment industry. Maybe you should consider whether someone is… taking advantage of you.”

“Of course,” An Ran paused, “I’m talking about the worst-case scenario. It’s also possible he just made a stop somewhere else and didn’t tell you. But once you help him clarify, if his whereabouts after leaving your room are uncovered and it turns out he had a secret meeting in another celebrity’s room, whether a female or male star, you’ll definitely be dragged into it…”

“Enough!”

Hearing words like “female star,” “male star,” and “secret meeting” made an intense discomfort surge up, and Qi Xingchen interrupted An Ran, “He wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Xingxing, you’re up next. Are you ready?”

The director’s assistant called Qi Xingchen to get ready. He put down his script, “Ready.”

This scene had been added later, inserted before Lin Xiao’s confession was rejected.

The setting was also in the aquarium.

Lin Xiao hadn’t eaten lunch, so Ji Yan brought him a bowl of noodles. Lin Xiao mistook Ji Yan’s casual gesture as a signal of interest and kept pestering her.

“Sister Ji,” Lin Xiao leaned against the railing of the beluga training area, holding a bowl in one hand and using chopsticks to bring noodles to his mouth with the other, “How did you know I didn’t have lunch?”

Ji Yan was wiping the floor. “Swallow your food before you speak.”

Lin Xiao stuffed another mouthful of noodles into his mouth and swallowed quickly. “Don’t change the subject.”

“…Didn’t you have an impromptu performance this morning?” Ji Yan rolled her eyes. “You didn’t come off stage until 1 PM. Of course, you didn’t eat.”

“So you care about me that much, huh?” Lin Xiao smirked.

“Cut—”

Director Shang Yuliang called a stop. “Xiao Qi, your smile was too fake. It looked awful. Let’s do another take.”

The set got ready again, and the sound of slurping noodles resumed.

Unfortunately, the second take didn’t pass either, and they had to shoot a third.

To convey Lin Xiao’s liking for Ji Yan’s noodles, Qi Xingchen kept eating large mouthfuls. He raised his bowl to signal the crew, “I’m out of noodles.”

For this scene, the crew had prepared three bowls of noodles and quickly brought him another.

However, after finishing the second bowl, Qi Xingchen still hadn’t nailed the take. Tao Tao looked at him worriedly. “Xingxing, do you need a break?”

Qi Xingchen shook his head. “No need, I’m fine. Brother, could you please bring another bowl?”

“Then eat less in the next take, don’t overeat,” Tao Tao advised. “Let’s try to get it in one take.”

“Okay.”

Next, the fifth take: “Cut!”

The sixth take: “Cut! One more!”

“Director Shang…” the crew member said awkwardly, “We’re out of noodles.”

Shang Yuliang: “…Everyone take a ten-minute break. Xiao Qi, stay put.”

Shang Yuliang was good at handling actors’ emotions. When scolding, he’d call the actor aside to avoid embarrassing them in front of others. This time, he was visibly a bit anxious and walked over to the training area himself. “Xiao Qi, did you not sleep well last night?”

Qi Xingchen shook his head.

“Then why are you in such bad shape? I told the screenwriter to keep the new scenes simple and lower the emotional tension, fearing you guys would feel pressured. Yet, you’ve NGed six times over a casual conversation. What’s going on in your head? Didn’t eat enough noodles?”

In reality, six NGs for a new actor wasn’t excessive. Shang Yuliang’s harsh words stemmed from his belief that Qi Xingchen had matured through recent training and shouldn’t be making such basic mistakes.

“Director Shang, I was wrong,” Qi Xingchen apologized. “Please shoot the next scene first. I’ll have my driver buy more noodles now.”

Shang Yuliang glanced at his slightly rounded belly: “…Forget it, we’ll shoot this scene tomorrow. Go rest for half an hour.”

Feeling too full, Qi Xingchen didn’t return to his car but wandered over to the nearby seal training area.

With no scenes involving the seal today, Xiangxiang was lazily sprawled on the ground, sometimes nibbling its flippers, sometimes wagging its tail.

Qi Xingchen crouched beside it, kissed its forehead as usual, and took out his phone.

Forty minutes had passed, and Bo Ye’s scandal was still trending at the top.

He didn’t want to look at the comments; they were likely in a heated argument. He patted Xiangxiang’s face. “Buddy, should I ask him about it?”

“Poof—” Xiangxiang exhaled.

Qi Xingchen got a spray of seal spit on his hand. “…You don’t want me to ask?”

Before Xiangxiang could react, he chuckled softly to himself: “You’re right, I have no reason to meddle in his private matters. He stayed with me until late; that’s already more than enough.”

After speaking, Qi Xingchen stared at the Weibo post for a few seconds, then called the hotel’s front desk.

Half an hour later, he received something from the hotel, edited a Weibo post, and sent it.

—Qi Xingchen: Entrusted by Director Shang, Senior Bo Ye helped guide me through scenes on the 21st and 22nd. I learned a lot and am immensely grateful.

[Video]

The video was a recording from the hotel’s surveillance camera, showing Qi Xingchen leaving the hotel and getting into Bo Ye’s car, although the quality wasn’t the best.

After finishing, he curled his fingers and scratched Xiangxiang’s itch. “Buddy, I feel a lot better now.”

Xiangxiang, panting, closed its eyes. Just as it was about to pat its belly, another voice interrupted.

“Xingxing, it’s time for your scene. Go touch up your makeup.”

The crew member came running to inform him, noticing Qi Xingchen mumbling to Xiangxiang and curiously asked, “Hey, why are you chatting with the seal? It can’t understand you!”

“Maybe…” Qi Xingchen lowered his head, smiling, “Maybe it’s because I ate too many noodles and feel too full.”

Today was filled with scenes between Lin Xiao and Ji Yan.

After revising the script, the presence of the second male lead diminished significantly, while the interactions between Lin Xiao and Ji Yan increased. Judging from the number of scenes, Qi Xingchen and Xu Sheng now shared an equal amount of screen time.

In terms of interaction and the female lead’s responses, Lin Xiao had the upper hand, taking on the role of the passionate second male lead.

After being scolded by Shang Yuliang in the morning, Qi Xingchen made up for it during lunch and was back to 80% of his usual state by the afternoon, with an average of three takes per scene.

Following a monologue and a scene with a partner, Tao Tao’s assistant came onto the set with a phone. “Tao Tao, you had a call just now.”

Tao Tao glanced at the caller ID and quickly spoke to Shang Yuliang. “Sorry, Director Shang, I need to step out to take this call.”

As the female lead in Night of the Peach Blossoms, Tao Tao’s biggest asset was her beauty, followed by her professionalism. It was rare for her to interrupt filming to take a phone call.

Qi Xingchen suddenly had a bad feeling.

Five minutes later, Tao Tao returned but didn’t resume filming at the beluga training area. Instead, she whispered something to Shang Yuliang.

Shang Yuliang’s brows immediately furrowed. “It’s that serious?! I’ll have the assistant director watch the set. I’ll take you there.”

“No need, Director Shang,” Tao Tao, still in her plastic work uniform, was already anxious. “I can go by myself.”

Before she could finish her sentence, she had already left.

Qi Xingchen’s unease intensified. Seeing Shang Yuliang drop his walkie-talkie, he quickly ran up and asked, “Director Shang, what happened to Tao Tao?”

“Her brother was admitted to the hospital,” Shang Yuliang sighed, getting up. “Tao Tao lost her parents early on and has always depended on her brother. If something happens to him, how will she manage… Xingxing, go back and review your script. I’ll have the assistant director shoot some empty shots for now. I need to be at the hospital to assist her since it’s not easy for a female celebrity to handle things alone.”

“Thump—thump—thump—”

The more Shang Yuliang spoke, the faster Qi Xingchen’s heart raced!!

He grabbed Shang Yuliang, who was about to leave. “Director Shang, just one last question—why was Tao Tao’s brother hospitalized?”

“He was reportedly beaten up by a classmate,” Shang Yuliang said impatiently. “Alright, Xingxing, I really need to go. Make sure to focus on your script…”