“I'm not available!" Sheng Jiaoyang swiftly rejected.

"You sure? After this, you won't get a second chance!" Ye Fan reminded.

"I need to catch a plane, bye!"

Looking at the particularly graceful and unbridled figure disappear into the distance, Ye Fan turned around and gloomily asked his manager, “Is the offer to be my MV's heroine really that unattractive?"

“She's already the female lead of a TV series. Do you still think that she lacks resources?" the manager calmly asked.

“You're right…that girl only debuted two months ago, correct? First she attends the International Fas.h.i.+on Week shows, and now she's the lead actress in a TV series. Tsk, tsk, she's basically rising to the top at the rhythm of a rocket taking off and flying into s.p.a.ce!”

A certain someone really took off like Ye Fan had said. Sheng Jiaoyang took Ning Xiaoruan along with her and they flew back to the production team that very night.

Sheng Jiaoyang rested at the hotel for a day and briskly appeared in front of the director the next.

Director Wan Youfang was very pleased to see his female lead back and happily called the male lead over to discuss the next scene…the kiss scene.

Knowing that this was Sheng Jiaoyang's first kiss scene, Director Wan spoke in great detail and told them how to borrow the angle to make the kiss look real and alluring…

“Wait a minute… Director, are you asking us to borrow the camera angle for this scene?" Zhang Yue looked at Director Wan with uncertainty.

“Of course, how else did you want to do it?” Director Wan stared at Zhang Yue with a did-you-have-other-thoughts-in-mind expression, making the latter feel slightly uncomfortable under his scrutinising gaze.

Zhang Yue thought: Who was the person who asked them to prepare for the kiss scene a few days ago, and made it seem as if they were going to do an actual kiss for that scene? What kind of preparation did one need if it was just borrowing the camera angle…?

Director Wan righteously said, “Management has said that if we want this drama to pa.s.s the test screenings, we must leave out the parts that are detrimental for the physical and mental development of a young audience as much as possible. We must utilise the abundance of our storyline and use vivid emotions to win the audience over, instead of pleasing the public with claptrap, magnified kissing scenes and boat scenes.”

Li Yu, who was part of that management, was sitting in a daze in his office. He was still somewhat immersed in thought about the fact that his boss had intervened in Xu Jiaojiao's kiss scene. The point was that Boss, who was busier than he was, still had the time to pay attention to Xu Jiaojiao's filming progress. He must like Xu Jiaojiao a lot, right? It looks like Xu Jiaojiao will end up as his future Lady Boss sooner or later!

Thinking of this, Li Yu hurriedly asked his secretary to call several mid-managers and senior managers in charge of resources over for a meeting. He had to pick a few good resources and save them for the future Lady Boss.

In fact, Shen Zhining had interfered in this matter all thanks to Ning Xiaoruan. It was Ning Xiaoruan's words that reminded him that he was still acting as Xu Jiaojiao's boyfriend. If he didn't pay attention to his girlfriend's affairs, then being the blabbermouth that he was, Ning Xiaoruan would certainly reveal that the couple was on bad terms. Then, when the time came, he reckoned that not only his aunt and uncle would come find him, but his entire family…

He just had to put on an act, and it could save him a lot of trouble, so why not?

As a result, today's kiss scenes were shot in a relaxed manner, and the two leads could even chat while 'kissing'.

Zhang Yue said, “Let's go have dinner together after filming.”

Sheng Jiaoyang asked in response, “What do you want to eat?”

“What do you like to eat, Chinese or Western cuisine?”

“Hey, why are you two talking so much while filming the 'kiss' scene?!” the director yelled.

The two stared at each other with their heads tilted and couldn't help but laugh when their gazes met.

The staff around them were also overjoyed. This was definitely the funniest kiss scene that they'd ever seen on site.

“You two, stop fooling around. Even if you borrow the camera angle, you still need to do it earnestly. Let's be serious and finish the scene quickly, then we can also wrap up early today!” the director shouted.

The on-screen couple finally stopped chatting and the scene was shot smoothly. But, when the camera pulled a close-up angle on their faces, right above their noses, something went amiss once more.

“Your gazes! Pay attention to the emotions in your eyes!”

“Zhang Yue, your kiss must be filled with the feelings of being deceived, and at the same time, showing a bit of relief. Where are the emotions in your eyes?”

“What are you laughing at? What's so funny?!”

“No, the expression is wrong!”

“Xu Jiaojiao, you have to close your eyes in this scene.”

“Cut! Let's re-shoot!”

“Cut! Start over again!”

…

Wan Youfang expressed that this was the worst day since they'd started shooting 'Redeeming My IGD Boyfriend'.

Filming other people's actual kiss scenes took much less effort than the pair's angled kiss scenes. Those two brats weren't serious at all when filming their kiss scenes!

Meanwhile, the two worry-free brats finished filming their scenes and brought their a.s.sistants to eat…hotpot.

“I can't believe you that you haven't eaten hotpot before! How did you eat while growing up?” Zhang Yue stared at the person sitting opposite him in shock.

“Why does eating hotpot have anything to do with how I grew up?” Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at him with an eyebrow raised.

Ning Xiaoruan also cast her a strange look and asked, “Even I've eaten it before. How come you haven't?!”

Zhang Yue's a.s.sistant also gave her a weird gaze.

“It's just that I haven't eaten hotpot before. Why do you all make it seem as if I'm guilty of a crime or something?” the corners of Sheng Jiaoyang's lips twitched as she retorted.

It was normal for her to not have eaten hotpot. When she was a child, her mother never took her to eat this kind of spicy food. Later, most of the food she ate for the next ten years when she was abroad was western food, or it was food cooked by the housekeeper. Then, in the six months after she returned home, she could only eat lightly favoured food due to her health condition. After becoming Xu Jiaojiao, her tastes didn't change that much, and she'd continued eating lightly flavoured food.

“Can you eat spicy food?” asked Zhang Yue.

“I prefer lightly flavoured food,” Sheng Jiaoyang responded.

“Then, let's get a Mandarin Duck hotpot. You use the clear soup pot, and we'll use the spicy soup pot.”

Sheng Jiaoyang had initially wanted to ask them what a Mandarin Duck hotpot was, but she decided against it after second thoughts. Otherwise, they'd think that she was an odd person.

After the hotpot and side dishes were served, the four of them picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

At first, Sheng Jiaoyang ate very politely and gracefully with good table manners. But, as she was eating, she noticed that Ning Xiaoruan sitting next to her had rolled up his sleeves to eat. Then, she saw that the two people opposite her were eating with great delight. So, she couldn't help but pick up a veggie and dip it in the spicy soup pot.

Upon seeing her behaviour, Zhang Yue laughed and said, “Yup, give it a try!”

Sheng Jiaoyang placed the veggie dripping with red oil in her bowl and took a small bite. In that instant, she felt an electric current on the tip of her tongue and numbness in her mouth. Her expression changed constantly as she finished the veggie, leaf by leaf. She was holding a hand before her mouth, inhaling and exhaling due to the spiciness and numbness she felt. Afterwards, she put down her bowl and chopsticks, and hurriedly picked up a gla.s.s of mung bean juice next to her before downing it. She blinked with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Only after a while did the burning sensation go away.

“Hahahaha…” Ning Xiaoruan gloated at her reaction and couldn't stop laughing.

Zhang Yue found her reaction particularly interesting. He picked up his cell phone and took a picture of Sheng Jiaoyang, who'd stuck out her tongue and was fanning herself with her hand. It just so happened that she lifted her face and dazedly looked in his direction with teary eyes. She looked absolutely adorable! It was different from the cuteness she showed when acting in the drama. This time, her cute expression was very natural and pulled at one's heartstrings.

“You can all eat food with that level of spiciness? Can your stomachs stand it?” Sheng Jiaoyang had lingering fears as she glanced at the red-coloured spicy soup pot, not daring to go near it again.

“When you get used to this level of spiciness, you'll know how great it tastes,” Zhang Yue smilingly said.

“No, I have to go to the bathroom and rinse my mouth. I feel like everything I eat now is spicy.” Sheng Jiaoyang grabbed a small bottle of water and left the room.

After a while, Zhang Yue stood up and said that he also had to go to the bathroom.

Ning Xiaoruan stared at the carefree a.s.sistant sitting opposite him and felt that he was carrying a heavy responsibility, so he picked up his cell phone and sent a message to his cousin. In pa.s.sing, Ning Xiaoruan also sent him their current location.

He could tell with a glance that Zhang Yue was interested in Xu Jiaojiao. In this kind of situation, it was time for his cousin to declare his sovereignty!

1. Mandarin Duck hotpot is a double-flavoured hotpot. The pot is divided into two sections for two different soup bases.