APR 58

Seeing it was Lu Zhiyi, Zhong Su paused his movements and said coldly, "Why are you here? Isn't your scene scheduled for tomorrow?"

"Is that so?" Lu Zhiyi gave him a suggestive glance, her tone ambiguous. "I must have forgotten it's tomorrow. Probably because I was thinking about Zhong being at the filming site today—I just wanted to hurry over and see you."

Lu Zhiyi was a temptress at heart, fond of cloaking herself in a gentle, affectionate guise, using just a few glances and words to fluster others into blushing and obeying her every whim.

Zhong Su briskly brushed aside Lu Zhiyi's hand as she reached out, not even bothering to lift his eyelids. "Cut the act. Not a single reliable word ever comes out of your mouth."

Most likely, Jiang Xun had changed the shooting schedule again, or there was a conflict between the filming schedule and Lu Zhiyi's newly added commitments, which was why she had come early to catch up on her scenes.

Lu Zhiyi naturally sat down beside Zhong Su and asked, "Zhong, what are you eating? I haven't had dinner yet either. I'd like to eat with you."

During usual breaks, Xiao Lao Dao always stuck close to Zhong Su, showing clear dislike toward her, making it impossible for her to maintain close contact with Zhong Su for long.

With Xiao Lao Dao absent today, she could finally get a little closer to Zhong Su.

The sweet, lingering scent of wine from Lu Zhiyi wafted around Zhong Su's nose. Disliking the overly cloying fragrance, he shifted slightly away and casually pointed toward the food cart not far off. "Just a boxed meal. If you want some, go get it yourself over there. Don't expect me to share half of mine with you."

Standing beside the table, Zhou Kaiwen, upon seeing Lu Zhiyi, found all the sarcastic remarks he had prepared to mock Zhong Su stuck in his throat. He bit his lip hard and forced an ingratiating smile. "Senior Lu, if you haven't eaten yet, why not have mine? I just packed this sushi from the restaurant, it's delicious and healthy."

"Eating the production crew's low-quality food could ruin your health," he said, pushing his own lunchbox toward Lu Zhiyi and gazing at her eagerly.

Only when the exquisitely packaged lunchbox came into view did Lu Zhiyi seem to notice Zhou Kaiwen for the first time, her face showing just the right amount of surprise. "Kevin, so you're here too. You were so quiet, I didn't even realize you were around."

She said gently, "Thank you for your kindness, but I'd rather eat the same as Zhong."

The smile at the corner of Zhou Kaiwen's mouth stiffened slightly.

Lu Zhiyi had already waved over her assistant and instructed, "Yiqian, could you go over there and get me the same boxed meal?"

Although Zhang Yiqian found it a bit odd that Lu Zhiyi, who usually watched her diet closely, would want a second dinner, he was naturally easygoing and didn't dwell on it. He immediately jogged over to the food cart to fetch a boxed meal. "Sure thing, got it, Lu-jie! Coming right up!"

By now, Zhou Kaiwen, who had witnessed this scene, was seething with anger. He snorted loudly, turned, and stormed off. "What's so great about boxed meals? Whoever wants it can have it, I certainly don't."

Even with his admired idol right before him, Zhou Kaiwen couldn't maintain his facade of friendliness, stung by jealousy. As he left, he deliberately bumped into the table where Zhong Su was sitting.

Not long after Zhou Kaiwen stormed off in a huff, Zhang Yiqian quickly returned with the boxed meal.

The lunchbox lid was opened, revealing a vibrant stir-fried beef dish glistening with oil in the container. Slices of meat were dotted with crushed chili peppers, and the steaming aroma mixed with spiciness rushed straight into the nostrils.

Lu Zhiyi looked at those bright red chili peppers and frowned almost imperceptibly. Having grown up pampered abroad, she couldn’t handle spicy food.

This subtle resistance was noticed by Zhong Su. He glanced faintly at Lu Zhiyi, tapped his chopsticks together, and said, “If you can’t handle the spice, don’t eat it. Have your assistant swap it for a non-spicy one.”

Zhong Su’s intention was to avoid wasting food, but Lu Zhiyi seemed to interpret it differently.

“Zhong, you’re so considerate,” she blinked, her emerald-green eyes filled with emotions as intense as dark clouds, a dazzling smile blooming at the corner of her lips. “But you don’t know me well enough yet, I’ve always enjoyed challenging difficult things.”

“The harder it is, the more it fuels my desire to conquer it completely.”

As she spoke, she actually scooped a spoonful of rice into her mouth. The spiciness burned her tongue, but Lu Zhiyi stared unblinkingly at Zhong Su, her gaze scorching, as if what she swallowed wasn’t food but something else entirely.

“So spicy,” she whispered, her tongue lightly brushing the corner of her lips.

It sounded like she was talking about the chili peppers, yet it also seemed like she was referring to someone.

Zhong Su narrowed his eyes, about to tell Lu Zhiyi to tone it down. At that moment, Jiang Xun, who knew Lu Zhiyi had arrived, came over to greet her, handing her the script outline while urging Zhong Su to finish eating quickly so they could hurry and film the upcoming scene between the two of them.

Once everyone was ready, the production crew wasted no time relocating, moving the camera equipment from the hotel to a nearby street to rush the night scene scheduled for today.

By the time all the equipment was moved and the set was prepared, it was already late at night.

The second scene to be filmed was the plot where “Lin Wenhan” and “Si Xiaoxing” meet to exchange intelligence, only to be accidentally discovered by the protagonist.

The street was empty, with all the shops closed and deserted. Only two rows of streetlights along the roadside emitted a faint, cold glow. One of the streetlights seemed to be malfunctioning, flickering on and off intermittently. Beneath the streetlight stood two people, their faces shifting in and out of the light and shadows.

Under such lighting conditions, any imperfections in an ordinary person’s appearance would be magnified infinitely.

But Lu Zhiyi’s exquisitely refined mixed-race features were cast in an eerie, ambiguous beauty, both righteous and sinister. She spoke gently, “Lin, did you bring the item?”

Zhong Su expressionlessly slapped a brown paper bag against Lu Zhiyi’s chest and said, “What you wanted, the route map, distribution channels, and the arrival time of the goods at the port.”

Lu Zhiyi opened the brown paper bag, poured out the documents, and skimmed through the lines of text. After a moment, she looked up with a beautiful smile. “You even found out the license plate numbers. Is there anything you can’t do, darling?”

Zhong Su frowned almost imperceptibly, unimpressed by this overly affectionate praise, and said coldly, “It’s because you police are so incompetent, unable to figure out even this much, that I had to make a big commotion to bring it out from the gang’s headquarters.”

“I’ve given you the item. What you do with it next is up to you. Don’t contact me again for a month.”

He turned to leave, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed by Lu Zhiyi. Her slender fingers clamped precisely around his wrist bone. “What a shame, you can’t leave just yet—”

"Can't leave."

"What are you doing—?"

"You were careless, Lin. A little mouse followed you here."

Lu Zhiyi pressed a finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture, and said softly, "Hiding behind that brown car, peeking out sneakily to watch us, even forgot to properly hide its tail. Someone you know?"

She spoke lightly, but Zhong Su glanced at the shop window beside the car. The glass clearly reflected Zhou Kaiwen's figure, crouching at the edge of the trunk, thinking he was being discreet as he observed the two conversing.

Zhong Su's expression darkened. "It's someone from the gang."

According to the script, Lu Zhiyi was supposed to throw a punch at Zhong Su next, pretending they had a conflict to dispel "Zhuo Qiwei's" suspicions about "Lin Wenhan."

A gang member peacefully staying with a police officer would seem strange, but if the two were in conflict, it would be perfectly normal.

"Well, there's no choice then. It seems we'll have to put on a show to get rid of this annoying little mouse." Lu Zhiyi licked the corner of her mouth, delivering her line.

She tilted her head closer to Zhong Su's ear, her voice soft but with a cloying breath that almost seeped into his ear: "Bear with it. I'll make it hurt less, baby."

This line wasn't in the script, so she wasn't saying it to "Lin Wenhan" but to "Zhong Su."

Zhong Su frowned slightly, this was enough to count as verbal harassment that annoyed him.

But before he could react, Lu Zhiyi finished speaking, clenched her fist, and punched Zhong Su squarely on the jaw.

She clearly hadn't intended to hurt him. On the surface, the punch seemed fierce, but she held back her strength, and her knuckles merely grazed the corner of his mouth.

This was a camera angle trick; Lu Zhiyi's punch shouldn't have caused Zhong Su any harm.

Yet the moment her fist touched the corner of his mouth, Zhong Su's already dry, slightly chapped lips split open.

"Tsk… it's bleeding." Warm liquid trickled from the corner of his mouth. Zhong Su licked it and tasted the metallic tang of blood.

The coldly handsome young man took a step back in disarray, his lips stained crimson with blood. Paired with his perpetually icy, ascetic face, the sight was breathtakingly vivid.

Lu Zhiyi's eyes instantly changed. Her Adam's apple bobbed up and down, like a cat seeing raw meat, unable to contain her excitement.

So beautiful. Would it be even more beautiful with more color?

Her narrowed green eyes gleamed like gemstones. Almost without thinking, she couldn't hold back and put real force into her second punch.

"What are you doing, huh—?" Zhong Su was still reciting his lines when he suddenly sensed the change in Lu Zhiyi's strength. He quickly raised his arm to block his face.

The fist collided squarely with his arm, sending a numbing shock through it.

This bastard was serious.

Realizing this, Zhong Su reflexively prepared to counterattack, but Lu Zhiyi was a step ahead, firmly pinning his wrist.

"Don't dodge, Lin." Lu Zhiyi seemed deeply immersed in the act, a smile spreading in her eyes as if she genuinely meant well, continuing with her lines: "I'm helping you clear suspicion, if the gang finds out you're mixed up with the police, what do you think will happen?"

He paused briefly, his tone turning more serious, each word enunciated clearly: "If this gets exposed, I don't care. After all, I'm a police officer, no one would dare touch me. But what about you? What happens then is hard to say."

Zhong Su looked at Lu Zhiyi's handsome face, which was putting on an act, and understood that the other was determined to play tricks with him.

Hah, with acting skills like this, who wouldn't praise them as excellent?

"Sir Si, if you're going to deceive everyone, then take it seriously." Zhong Su pressed down the corner of his mouth as a dull ache pulsed through his arm. He raised his hand, using his knuckles to roughly wipe away the blood at the corner of his lips, his gaze cold and fierce as he met the other's eyes: "You hit so lightly, is it because your delicate nature can't stand the sight of blood?"

Lu Zhiyi narrowed her eyes slightly, the smile at her lips growing even more beautiful, almost unnervingly so. Now she understood why, from the very first moment she laid eyes on Zhong Su, she couldn't look away.