Chapter 69 – Wrapping Up

The incident at Wang Family Village came to a close for the production team, but it sparked a storm of controversy online. The large-scale human trafficking case shocked the nation, with headlines and legal programs eagerly reporting on it, all while the production team’s involvement remained hidden.

As discussions on “the safety of volunteer teaching,” “gender preference favoring boys over girls,” and “sentencing for human traffickers” continued to ferment online, the crew was filming the final scenes of “Pear Blossoms” in Wu Shan.

Less than a few hundred kilometers from Wufu Mountain, Wu Shan offered stunning scenery, a simple and honest local culture, complete facilities, and excellent accommodations. There were no mosquitoes or cockroaches.

“This is how a filming location should be,” Shen Fubai remarked, collapsing onto a bed as soft as a cloud.

They bid farewell to Xie Chian in Liang Chuan Town, giving autographs and taking photos with the two girls who had accompanied them. Afterward, they arrived in Wu Shan to shoot under a tight schedule. Here, apart from on-location shooting, there were also constructed studios, each day costing a hefty rental fee.

Xiao Ye and Ye Ziran formed a deep friendship, unwilling to return to Beijing and wanting to stay a few more days. For Jiang Heng, this meant calling Xiao Ye’s parents to assure them of his safety.

Xiao Donghua and his wife, who had been driven mad searching for their missing son, rushed to Wu Shan overnight on a flight. Xiao Ye’s mother hugged Xiao Ye and wept uncontrollably. Xiao Donghua was still shaken, and upon learning that Xiao Ye had been saved by Ye Ziran, he asked Jiang Heng to convey to Jiang Yuan that they were willing to withdraw from competing for that piece of land.

The bond between the two children somewhat eased the tension between the two families that had been at odds for so long.

Xiao Donghua and his wife took the reluctant Xiao Ye away, leaving Ye Ziran alone and in low spirits. Previously finding the outside world exciting, he now longed to return to Beijing. Boys tend to form strong attachments to new friends.

A few days later, Muran Jinhuan arrived at the set with bags in tow.

“What brings you here?” As an acquaintance, Shen Fubai welcomed him. The two sat at an outdoor table, drinking beer and eating barbecue, acting like good buddies.

The evening breeze was pleasantly cool.

Muran Jinhuan downed his beer in one go. “I’m visiting the set.”

Shen Fubai chuckled. “Visiting whose set? There are no relatives of yours here.”

“Why wouldn’t there be? My sister is here,” Muran Jinhuan said.

Shen Fubai was taken aback. “Your sister?”

“Over there.” Muran Jinhuan pointed at Mu Yao.

Upon seeing Muran Jinhuan, Mu Yao raised her eyebrows and approached, hands on her hips. “You brat, you didn’t even call me when you came.”

“I wasn’t here to see you…” Muran Jinhuan muttered.

Shen Fubai looked from one to the other. “You two, siblings?”

Mu Yao popped open a canned beer. “Yeah, what’s the problem?”

Shen Fubai stared at Mu Yao in disbelief. “But your last name is Mu! No, wait.” Mu and Mu were pronounced the same, so he might have misunderstood all along. “But your last name isn’t Muran!” He turned to stare incredulously at Muran Jinhuan.

“My last name is Mu,” Muran Jinhuan stated solemnly. “My name is Ran Jinhuan.”

Shen Fubai: “You’re joking.”

Muran Jinhuan: “I’m not joking. My mom was the one joking around, I don’t understand why she did it.”

Shen Fubai opened a can of beer, took a sip to calm himself, then spat it out.

Muran Jinhuan: “…If you can’t drink beer, don’t drink it.” The beer was his idea, perfect for pairing with barbecue. Who knew Shen Fubai couldn’t even handle beer.

Shen Fubai: “I only know how to appreciate wine.” To his shame, despite being an idol whose nickname was Wine and whose catchphrase was “cheers,” he actually didn’t smoke or drink, preferring milk tea and watermelon juice instead.

“You’re high-class, you’re sophisticated, you ooze aristocratic charm,” Muran Jinhuan gave him a thumbs-up.

Shen Fubai spat out the beer and calmed down. He accepted the three unbelievable realities: “Mu Yao’s real name is Mu Yao,” “Muran Jinhuan’s real name is Ran Jinhuan,” and “Mu Yao and Ran Jinhuan are actually siblings.” He felt nothing could surprise him anymore.

“In fact, I came to chase stars,” Muran Jinhuan said earnestly. “He is my superstar, I am his number one fan, I love his hypnotic voice and boring fairy tales. On countless sleepless nights, I think of him, so I came. I flew here to find him in the mountains, how crazy that is, Lolita.”

He even sang the last line.

Mu Yao was expressionless. “Just here to see Lu Yunqian, huh?”

Shen Fubai: “You truly amaze me.”

“Back to the point,” Muran Jinhuan said seriously. “I saw the news about a major human trafficking case involving women and children being cracked here. I thought of you guys shooting here. How is he? Has he been hurt?”

Netizens didn’t know that the “Pear Blossoms” crew was shooting here, but he did. Upon hearing the news, he hurried over worried.

“Has your village just gotten internet?” Shen Fubai rested his chin on his hand. Couldn’t their sitting here perfectly fine say everything?

“We’ve got internet. It’s because we got internet that I saw the news,” Muran Jinhuan said, then asked again, “So has he been hurt?”

“Woman and child trafficking,” Shen Fubai asked him. “Which category do you think he fits into? Woman, or child?”

Muran Jinhuan: “He’s just a kid.”

Shen Fubai: “He’s also your dad, Ran Jinhuan.” He hadn’t forgotten how Lu Yunqian introduced Muran Jinhuan to them during their first meeting.

Mu Yao was suspicious. “When did you introduce us to a stepdad?” She suddenly panicked. “I thought you wanted to pursue him, turns out you wanted to find our mom a second spring? Be a decent person, he’s younger than you.”

“Eh, it’s lively here,” Fu Hengcheng pulled Ye Ziran over. “Wow, there’s beer and barbecue. Do you mind if I have some?” He naturally sat down, picked up a skewer and took a bite, offering another to Ye Ziran.

Ye Ziran declined, having no appetite.

Mu Yao looked at Ye Ziran. “What’s wrong with Little Ye recently? Seems unhappy.”

“He’s suffering from lovesickness,” Fu Hengcheng shrugged. “His heart has flown back to Beijing, tied to a boy named Xiao Ye.”

“Good timing you came,” Shen Fubai grabbed Ye Ziran. “He’s been so depressed these past few days that I couldn’t bear to watch. Lu Yunqian’s scenes are wrapped up, we have two weeks left. Take Lu Yunqian back, and take him along – school is about to start.”

Shen Fubai gestured toward Ye Ziran.

Ye Ziran’s eyes brightened.

He could go home! Going home meant seeing his little buddy!

Muran Jinhuan glanced over. “No problem.”

Muran Jinhuan accomplished his mission, returning fully loaded. He came alone, but went back with a group in tow.

Mu Yao went back with them too. The production team no longer needed a martial arts instructor – judging from the battle at Wang Family Village, neither Jiang Heng, Shen Fubai, nor Yang Yingying required any coaching.

_

On August 30th, the “Pear Blossoms” crew was shooting the final scene.

Chu Yu, who heard the victory trumpet amidst gunfire, aimed his gun at himself. Amidst everyone’s cheers and embraces, the man who had never faltered or fallen crashed to the ground, causing the clamor to abruptly stop, replaced by stunned silence.

This was the end of the entire series.

“Cut! That’s a wrap!” Director Xu stood up, raising his hand in a gesture signifying a job well done.

The extras got up from the ground, and the crew members applauded.

The “Pear Blossoms” production officially wrapped up.

In the bustling crowd, a man in military uniform, covered in blood, still lay on the ground. Shen Fubai got up and walked over, lightly kicking Jiang Heng with his toe. “It’s over, get up.”

Jiang Heng turned to look at him. “Come closer.”

Shen Fubai didn’t hear clearly, so he slightly leaned forward.

Jiang Heng: “Closer.”

Shen Fubai squatted down. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Heng looked up at him, a smile in his eyes. “I was shot dead, I need a kiss from Ah Tang to get up.”

Shen Fubai laughed. “Stop fooling around, there are so many people here.”

Jiang Heng said, “They won’t see us.” Even if they did see, they would pretend not to.

The atmosphere on the “Pear Blossoms” set was great, and after the incident at Wang Family Village, it became unprecedentedly harmonious. They had been shooting for three months, and they couldn’t hide the sweetness of their relationship, others may have noticed. They just tacitly chose not to mention it.

Shen Fubai looked around, indeed no one was looking their way, busy packing up. Even those who did glance over smiled knowingly before looking away.

Shen Fubai blushed a bit, his heart pounding.

“My young master,” Shen Fubai leaned down and kissed Jiang Heng on the face. “I really can’t deal with you.”

Jiang Heng pushed his luck. “Not enough, on the mouth.”

“That’s enough from you,” Shen Fubai warned.

Jiang Heng: “I was shot dead. This little bit of energy isn’t enough to bring me back to life.”

Shen Fubai was half-squatting, looking down at Jiang Heng’s still handsome face, covered in blood. “Do you think you’re Snow White, dying and coming back to life with a kiss from a prince?”

Seeing that Shen Fubai wasn’t falling for it, Jiang Heng sighed, sat up, hooked his neck, and kissed him.

Shen Fubai narrowed his eyes halfway. “Not playing Snow White anymore?”

“Now I’m Cinderella at twelve o’clock, reborn by magic,” Jiang Heng, this kissing fiend, could come up with any shameless reason to achieve his goal.

Shen Fubai breathed shallowly. “If you told fairy tales to Ran Jinhuan, it’d definitely be thrilling enough to keep him up all night.”

“Darling, don’t mention other men’s names when we’re kissing.”

“You’re a world-class jealous king.” Asia can’t contain you anymore.

“Well, that can’t be helped,” Jiang Heng separated from him, sighing softly. “I’m universe-level in loving you.”

_

On August 31st, the crew flew back to Beijing, holding a wrap party at a high-end hotel.

Everyone drank, toasting and exchanging drinks, with the lead actors taking the lead. Shen Fubai, unable to hold his liquor, was still quite tipsy despite Jiang Heng blocking some drinks for him, leaning against the back of the chair.

Jiang Heng saw that it was time to leave, said something to Director Xu, and helped Shen Fubai out.

The hotel room had already been checked out, and Jiang Heng didn’t plan on getting another. He asked Shen Fubai, “Fubai, where’s your home?”

Shen Fubai leaned on Jiang Heng’s shoulder, eyes closed, cheeks flushed. “Don’t know…”

He was really drunk.

Jiang Heng: “Think harder?”

Shen Fubai mumbled, “In Chaoyang District… a whole row of houses… they’re all mine.”

Jiang Heng: “…” Chaoyang District was vast, who knew which row he meant.

“Be specific,” Jiang Heng prompted gently. “Otherwise, we’ll get lost.”

“It’s alright, getting lost is fine. If we enter the wrong house… we can just buy it… wrong can become right,” Shen Fubai started babbling like a rich drunkard.

Jiang Heng: “…”

Forget it, might as well take him back to his own place.