Chapter 23

Regarding the matter of eating hot pot, Zuo Mingran had actually been secretly planning for a long time. 

It was already a perfect weather in autumn, ideal for sitting around the fire and having hot pot. Plus, the weather had been fluctuating lately, with temperatures constantly rising and falling. Even on a sunny day, as long as the sunlight didn't touch your body, you couldn't feel the warmth. 

In this kind of weather, being able to enjoy a lively hot pot feast was truly the ultimate dream of life. 

However, due to the recent incident of gaining weight from lunch, Mao Mao and An Qi had been strictly managing Zuo Mingran's diet. The boxed lunches from the crew were limited, and it was impossible to even take one more bite of meat, let alone eat a hot and spicy hot pot. 

Even hot pot's relatives, such as spicy hot pot, spicy skewers, and spicy hot pot with a fragrant aroma, were all put on the blacklist and strictly forbidden. 

Today, the wind suddenly picked up, and the temperature dropped by a few degrees. Coupled with the series of antics caused by Ren Luning, Zuo Mingran's desire for hot pot was rekindled. 

As the saying goes, what problem can't be solved with a hot pot? If there is one, then have it twice. 

An Qi and Mao Mao were out of the question. These two would rather secretly eat hot pot without her after work than bring her along. Zuo Mingran could only focus his thoughts on Yan Yunyang. 

Yan Yunyang had been elusive these past few days. Although Zuo Mingran hadn't seen her when she left in the morning, she keenly spotted her shoes in the hallway. So she tentatively sent a message, saying that she wanted to eat hot pot, and unexpectedly received a response. 

With the anticipation of eating hot pot in the evening, Zuo Mingran was in a great mood. She had her makeup done by Zhuang Bai after her eyes became less swollen, regardless of the condition of her throat, and threw herself into the filming. 

Fortunately, her next scene was with Wen Feifei and Ji Jian, both of whom had good acting skills. With them leading the way, Zuo Mingran was able to immerse herself in the role more quickly, and the progress of filming was much faster. 

Perhaps due to being scolded by Zuo Mingran earlier, Ren Luning had become much more obedient in the afternoon. Apart from not being able to improve his acting skills in a short period of time, he no longer had trouble coming up with lines or delivering them poorly. 

As evening approached, a light drizzle started falling from the sky. They were filming indoor scenes today, and after finishing one scene, Zuo Mingran looked outside through the window. 

The rain wasn't heavy, but combined with the gusts of autumn wind, it was becoming a bit unbearable. Zuo Mingran waved and called An Qi over, whispering, "Did those girls come today?" 

She was referring to the fans who often came to the set. After coming so many times, they had become somewhat familiar. 

An Qi replied, "Yes, they came and gave me a few letters, saying that they're for you, Elder Sister Ran."

Zuo Mingran doesn't accept gifts, but she always asks An Qi to help her collect the letters from fans. As a result, during her time on the set, they have collected quite a few different types of letters.

Zuo Mingran asked again, "Do we have any spare raincoats or umbrellas?"

An Qi shook her head. "We only prepared two umbrellas, but the logistics department should have more."

"Then go and see if you can borrow some or buy them directly. We can bring our two umbrellas and give them to the fans later."

An Qi nodded and quickly went to negotiate with the relevant staff.

Both the morning and afternoon scenes were scenes between Zuo Mingran and Wen Feifei. At this moment, Wen Feifei was also having her makeup touched up by her own makeup artist. Although Zuo Mingran and An Qi were speaking softly, the conversation could still be vaguely heard.

With a thought, Wen Feifei pulled Xiao Fei, who was looking at her phone next to her, and whispered a few words.

Watching Zuo Mingran not far away, Wen Feifei's heart was filled with mixed feelings.

To be honest, she didn't like Zuo Mingran at first. 

Everyone said it was because of the extra story of the female lead in that drama, but only Wen Feifei herself knew that the reason she disliked Zuo Mingran was because of those online comments.

As a top-tier actress, Zuo Mingran had no shortage of haters, even more so than fans. With all kinds of true and false revelations combined, three people could make a tiger, let alone these.

For Wen Feifei, whether she played the female lead or the second female lead didn't make much of a difference. As long as she was acting, it was fine. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been brought in last minute to save the day by Director Wang.

However, the Zuo Mingran in this drama truly broke her preconceptions. Her acting skills couldn't be considered good, but compared to the last drama they worked on together, she had made significant progress. More importantly, Wen Feifei didn't expect Zuo Mingran to be so dedicated.

No stand-ins, no photo retouching, she even handled the dubbing for scenes without recording sound. This Zuo Mingran was nothing like the rumors.

Currently, voice actors in China have almost become a system. No matter what drama it is, the same few voices are used. It has even reached the point where the audience can identify the voice actor through their voice alone.

Under these circumstances, actors who are willing to put effort into working on their lines are rare. Based on Zuo Mingran's previous reputation, she definitely should not be this type of person. However, the reality was right in front of her, forcing her to believe.

Feeling awkward about admitting her mistake, Wen Feifei couldn't bring herself to do so and could only interact with Zuo Mingran reluctantly.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. After the last scene was filmed, everyone was about to finish work and go home. Wang, the director, looked outside and suddenly said, "Don't we have a rainy night scene?"

The assistant director quickly opened the script and found that page. "Yes, we do."

Wang clapped his hands and made a decision, "Then let's shoot it tonight. It's raining tonight anyway, and in a few days it will be even colder. We would have to arrange for water trucks to simulate rain. It's troublesome."

Zuo Mingran almost spurted out water. She looked outside and wondered why it wasn't cold today.

However, the crew had already started preparing, clearly showing that Wang was serious. Zuo Mingran quickly looked through the script and saw the lineup for the rainy night scene, feeling even more despair.

It was a big scene, with the male lead, female lead, male second lead, and female second lead all present, as if they were going to play mahjong on the spot.

Wen Feifei and Ji Jian were manageable, but Ren Luning was a disaster scene. Filming this scene would take ages.

Zuo Mingran resignedly took out her phone and sent a message to Yan Yunyang, telling him not to wait for her tonight.

"Leaving? When did you decide to leave?"

Not long after she sent the message, she heard an incredulous voice from Wang on the other side, "Didn't you tell him about shooting the night scene tonight?"

The assistant director's voice was low, "I didn't have time!"

Wang seemed angry, but was persuaded by the assistant director. The two of them sneaked into the rest area. Zuo Mingran shifted her gaze and looked at An Qi beside her. "What's going on?"

As an assistant, she needed to keep her eyes and ears open when necessary. An Qi leaned closer and whispered, "Ren Luning left."

Zuo Mingran raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue.

"The assistant director personally went to look for him but couldn't find him. He found out that Ren Luning left after the previous scene because he didn't have any scenes today. He said there was another event waiting for him. The assistant director couldn't even bring him back with a phone call, it seems like they want to use a stand-in."

No wonder the director was so angry. Anyone would be furious in this situation.

But Zuo Mingran was somewhat relieved. Acting with a stand-in would be much easier than acting with Ren Luning. At least it wouldn't be so easy to break character.

It seemed that the night scene was inevitable. Zuo Mingran said, "An Qi, see if there are any food delivery points nearby. The night shoot was added last minute, and the crew probably didn't prepare dinner. Go order some."

Today's events were witnessed by many people, and Zuo Mingran wanted to build good relationships with the staff who held various gossip. After finishing the night scene without Ren Luning, the progress was much faster. Even so, it was already 11 pm when they finished. Zuo Mingran changed her clothes, didn't have time to dry her hair, and pulled An Qi onto a nanny car, saying, "Let's go, let's go home quickly."

Because it was late at night and raining, Zuo Mingran had An Qi find a nearby hotel and booked three rooms for them to stay in. This way, they could arrive at the set early the next morning.

After dealing with everything, Zuo Mingran stood exhausted in front of her home's door, about to enter the passcode. But the door opened from the inside before she could press anything. Yan Yunyang was standing there in casual clothes and an apron, speaking warmly to her, "Come in."

Zuo Mingran's movements paused. For some reason, she felt that this scene didn't feel quite right.

However, her depleted energy didn't allow her to spare any brain power to figure out what was wrong. She walked into the house, dropped her slippers, and let out a long sigh as she collapsed onto the sofa. "I'm so tired."

Her voice had not fully recovered, and Yan Yunyang, who had been headed towards the kitchen, paused upon hearing her words and asked, "What happened to your voice?"

"Oh, this." Zuo Mingran nonchalantly pinched her throat where her voice was hoarse. "I strained it during the afternoon scene. Overused it."

Yan Yunyang: "But you're still eating hot pot."

Zuo Mingran was taken aback, instinctively looking at the time. It was already close to midnight. She quickly got up from the sofa and leaned against the backrest as she asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Yan Yunyang: "I have, but I can still have some late-night snacks."

Late-night snacks were something that could be there or not, but once it was mentioned, it became a necessity.

Zuo Mingran confirmed, "Of course, not only can I have some, I feel like I can eat a bowl of chili peppers raw right now."

Yan Yunyang: "..."

Ignoring her nonsense, Yan Yunyang walked into the kitchen and took out various ingredients from the refrigerator. Zuo Mingran followed suit, unable to resist salivating at the sight of the food.

Yan Yunyang held a bag of hot pot seasoning and asked, "Can you handle spicy food now?"

Zuo Mingran was confused. "Why wouldn't I? It's not like I have a sore throat."

Yan Yunyang paused for a moment, then set the hot pot seasoning aside and said, "Never mind, let's have a clear broth hot pot."

"Zuo Mingran hurriedly grabbed his arm, pleading, 'No, the hot pot is our bottom line.'"

"Yan Yunyang coldly responded, 'Either we have a clear broth hot pot, or we go hungry.'"

Zuo Mingran remained silent.

"Can you believe this? Is this even human language?"