July was a busy month. Ren Qingzhou had to go back to continue filming *A Picture of the Land*. The scenes shot before were all interior and studio scenes. In July, only the outdoor on - location and action scenes were left.
Filming action scenes and outdoor scenes in July was quite a pain, but there was no way around it as the schedule was so tight.
After being away from the cast and crew for several months, he really missed them. Gu Xiaowei had won another award at an international film festival. Her value in the industry must have increased a lot. It was estimated that she wouldn't easily take on TV dramas in the future.
When Ren Qingzhou met her, he naturally congratulated her on her award first. "Sister Xiaowei, congratulations!"
"It's not a major award. I bet few people in China have even heard of this film festival."
"Who says so? This is an award highly recognized in the industry." Hearing her words, Lin Yujie came over and chimed in.
"I'll treat you guys to dinner on a day when we finish early."
This was just a small episode. Once the actual filming started, they basically had to get up early and return late every day. After work, all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. He didn't even want to say a word, let alone go for dinner.
Outdoor scenes and fight scenes were already extremely difficult, and there was also Dong Yueyi dragging everyone down. She played the personal female bodyguard of Shangguan Jiatang, who was played by Lin Yujie, in the drama.
This character had a lot of fight scenes. They originally thought that since she just had poor acting skills, it might be easier when it came to fight scenes as she didn't need to speak.
Facts proved that the director had thought too simply. The fight scenes were even more difficult than before. Female actresses were generally more delicate, and Dong Yueyi was shooting a costume drama for the first time.
On the first day of using the wire - harness, she vomited. Every day after that didn't go smoothly. They originally planned to finish shooting in 20 days, but it was eventually dragged on to 25 days.
This made Lin Yujie swear that he would never cooperate with her again.
Ren Qingzhou also suffered a lot. He had sensitive skin, and the summer was hot. Every time he took off the wig after wearing it all day, he would get a lot of bumps.
Coupled with the heavy costumes and the wire - harness, Ren Qingzhou had more than one abrasion on his body. It hurt even more when he sweated every day.
He endured it and didn't say a word. When Su Tang saw his new and old injuries after he got back from filming, she immediately wanted to take him to the hospital without saying a word.
"It's okay. I'm really fine. It will heal on its own in a few days." Ren Qingzhou insisted that he was okay.
"You must have thought the same way on the set, so you've let it drag on like this." Su Tang complained about him. "Your assistant doesn't even care about you. How could they not notice that you're in this state?"
Su Tang generally didn't complain about others. This time, it was because she felt so bad for him. After saying that, she felt a bit guilty and then said, "But they can't take care of everything. It's just that you don't pay enough attention to yourself."
The two of them went to the hospital and registered at the dermatology department. The doctor said it wasn't a big deal, prescribed some medicine, and then sent them back.
"I told you it wasn't a big deal. See, the doctor also said it wasn't serious, but you still made such a fuss and brought me to the hospital."
"The doctor says it's okay, then it's really okay. What you say doesn't count." Su Tang retorted. "Go back and apply the medicine properly. You'll get better in a few days."
Ren Qingzhou patted her on the head. "I just realized that you're so fierce?"
"It's too late to realize it now. There's no going back." Su Tang laughed when she heard this.
"It's okay. Even if you're this fierce, I won't return you."
Ren Qingzhou opened the car door for her. "Get in. Let's go find Jiang Bai and the others for dinner."
"Speaking of Jiang Bai, I have something to tell you."
"Do you know why Jiang Bai hasn't been in a relationship for so many years?"
"Why are you asking this out of the blue?"
"I found something really interesting at the company this month. Fang Ting seems to be quite interested in him, but I don't know if Jiang Bai is just not interested or simply doesn't notice."
"Fang Ting..." Ren Qingzhou's tone was a bit strange.
"What do you mean by that? Let me tell you, Fang Ting is a really nice girl. She's always been serious about relationships."
"I heard from Jiang Bai that she had quite a few relationships during her four - year college life."
"Why would Jiang Bai gossip about this with you? She did have quite a few relationships, but she was serious about each one of them."
"It's not really gossiping. Back in college, Jiang Bai seemed to have a crush on her, but she was always in a relationship, so he never got the chance."
"This is what they call being fated but not in love. But now that they're both single, they should be able to develop something."
"Okay, okay, okay. Now you're starting to meddle in other people's love lives?"
"Speaking of developing something, shouldn't we organize some kind of activity? They don't have any alone time in the company all day. How can they develop their relationship?"
"You've really thought a lot." Ren Qingzhou was really impressed by her for coming up with such ideas. "I'm going to film a variety show next week. How about we go on a trip this week? Invite them two. Then we can give them some alone time."
"Let me think. There doesn't seem to be anything major at the company this week. Then let's mention it to them two later."
As they were talking, they parked the car downstairs of the company. Su Tang called Fang Ting. "Come down. Let's go for dinner together."
"Sure thing~ We'll be down right away~"
The four of them chose a restaurant that Ren Qingzhou had always been eager to try. From the first bite, Ren Qingzhou kept sighing. "You have no idea how bad the food on the set is. And it's mainly because it's so hot. After shooting outdoors all day, I don't even want to eat. I have absolutely no appetite."
Su Tang picked up some food for him. "Then eat more. You've lost weight this month."
"Do you know that while you were filming these days, she was worried about you every day. She would just stare at the weather forecast. If the temperature was high one day, she was so afraid that you would get heatstroke."
"And she was afraid of affecting your work, so she didn't even dare to call you." Fang Ting looked at Ren Qingzhou, smiling mysteriously.
Su Tang knew that if she didn't stop Fang Ting's words, she would say something inappropriate. So she quickly interrupted her.
"Do you have time these days? Let's go on a trip together."
"Where?" Fang Ting asked her.
Su Tang looked at Ren Qingzhou. She had no idea...
Ren Qingzhou gave in. "Let's go somewhere nearby. It's convenient to drive there."
"See if there's any place you like and choose one."
"Let's go to the grassland. It seems quite interesting this season." Su Tang had a sudden idea.
"Okay, I have no objections. I don't care where we go. What about you?" Fang Ting looked at Jiang Bai.
"You guys decide. You guys decide." Jiang Bai was always easy - going.
As soon as they got back, Fang Ting asked her, "What on earth are you and Ren Qingzhou up to? You must be hiding some evil plan. Why do you suddenly want to go on a trip?"
Su Tang tried to deny it. "We just want to go out and have fun. There's nothing else. He hasn't been out for a long time."
"Come on. I don't believe it."
"Look at you. You're so paranoid all day. You think everyone has some evil plan."
"Others may not, but when you two get together, it's bound to be no good. You're just like two evildoers colluding."
Hearing this, Su Tang pretended to hit her. "Look at what you're saying. How am I colluding with evildoers?"
"Confess honestly. Be lenient if you confess, strict if you resist."
"I just thought that you haven't made any progress this month, so I wanted to give you a hand."
"What are you talking about?" Fang Ting stared at her.
"Come on. Your feelings are as obvious as the sun in the sky. If there's anyone who doesn't know, it's probably just the person involved." Su Tang never thought that she would one day mock Fang Ting's love life.
"I originally thought that he might not be interested in you. After all, even someone as slow as me has noticed your feelings. So I specifically asked Ren Qingzhou today. You know what? There's really someone who's even slower than me in this world."
"Ren Qingzhou said that he even wanted to pursue you back then. So I guess he really doesn't notice now. I really didn't expect someone as experienced in love as you to be frustrated with him."
"You know what? The more experienced a driver is, the more likely they are to have an accident." Fang Ting also felt a headache when she thought of Jiang Bai. "I thought I was being quite obvious. I've almost gone up to him and said that I like him, but he just ignores me. There's nothing I can do, right?"
"So we need to create the right conditions for you. I'm out of ideas, so I can only try to create some alone time for you two. You know, there are so many people in the company all day. It's impossible to have any private time."
While packing her things, Su Tang chatted with her. "Now I'm just hoping that something new will happen between you two on the vast grassland."
"Okay, okay. You go and pack your things too. We'll go to the supermarket tomorrow. We can leave the day after tomorrow."
Early the next morning, the two of them went to the supermarket together.
On the way, Fang Ting asked her, "I've always wanted to ask you. Is this car Ren Qingzhou's?"
"Yeah. How can I buy a car in the capital? Don't even mention it. Back in City S, I was going to buy a car because it was inconvenient to get around, but luckily I didn't. Otherwise, I don't know what to do with it now."
"All his cars are his treasures. I feel so nervous driving his car every day."
In the morning, most of the people in the supermarket were aunties buying groceries. Su Tang saw that the newly - arrived vegetables were really fresh, so she bought some. But it was not easy to weigh them.
Fang Ting complained, "Look at this line. When will it end?"
"Why don't you go and browse around there and buy the things we need for this trip. I'll be done soon."
"Okay, okay. I'll wait for you here." Fang Ting then asked, "What are we having for lunch today?"
"What do you want to eat?"
"Looking at what you've bought, it's just right for lunch. They won't be fresh if we keep them for a few days after we come back from the trip."
After Su Tang weighed the vegetables, the two of them went to buy some daily necessities, food, and drinks. Then Su Tang remembered that they needed to buy some mosquito repellent. "Do you think the supermarket sells mosquito repellent? There must be a lot of mosquitoes on the grassland these days."
"No. You have to go to the pharmacy downstairs."
"Then let's go and check out."