After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 371 - 362: Body Double Cutout, Escape from the Hospital

Chapter 371: Chapter 362: Body Double Cutout, Escape from the Hospital

Filming continued until noon, and it wasn’t until the set took a break for lunch that Jiang Lingxi and Xu Ling’an from the two different filming groups had a chance to talk.

Jiang Lingxi had already watched the playback with Director Wei. As she ran over holding her skirt, she patted Xu Ling’an on the shoulder approvingly, "Both scenes this morning were performed very well. I heard from Director Wei that you nailed them in one take."

Even with all that’s on her mind now, she still performed so steadily, which made her truly delighted and relieved.

Who said that shy and introverted children can’t handle big events? She actually believes that such children can become even more composed when encountering major events.

Xu Ling’an was a bit bashful from the praise and pressed her lips together, "Sister, if you keep praising me, I won’t be able to stop myself from getting arrogant."

"It’s okay to be proud. Our An’an is naturally a superb little girl."

Gao Lan stood beside them smiling quietly. She could see that Little Xixi was always trying her best to help An’an build her confidence.

When they meet tonight with such a wealthy and high-status family, the first meeting must not be nervous at all costs. The calmer and more composed you appear, the more respect you’ll earn from them.

Just then, Lu Zhengzheng came running over with Jiang Lingxi’s phone, "Sister Xixi, I just saw that Mr. Shen sent you a message on your phone."

Jiang Lingxi took her phone and said, "You guys go back to the lounge to eat first."

"Aren’t you coming, Sister?"

Lu Zhengzheng tugged Xu Ling’an’s arm and winked at her, "Let’s go, let’s go, we’ll go first."

Xu Ling’an: "..."

She seemed to understand.

So she didn’t ask further, obediently took her grandma along to eat.

Jiang Lingxi walked to a shaded corner of the set with her phone, glanced around to ensure no one was nearby, and then clicked on a long voice message.

Burst of intermittent and noisy voices immediately came from the phone speaker. After listening to it twice, she barely made out what those voices were saying.

Counting it up, she and Shen Yunqing had been waiting for almost a day and a night, and they finally received the hospital’s test results on Jing Huai’s blood.

After closing the audio, the next message was a text from Shen Yunqing.

[The audio is not very clear, but given Jing Huai’s agitated voice, it can be assumed that something abnormal was found in the test results. My team is figuring out how to make a copy of the full report to send over.]

Jiang Lingxi typed in response: [Jing Huai is very likely to go find Xu Qingmei.]

Shen Yunqing: [I assumed the same. My people will keep a good watch on him.]

[Tell your people to be careful, we still don’t know if Xu Qingmei has any other bizarre things in her possession.]

[Okay.]

After discussing their current findings and countermeasures, Jiang Lingxi returned to the lounge to finish her lunch, then took a quick nap on a reclining chair for over ten minutes. Before heading out to continue filming the afternoon scenes, she borrowed Lu Zhengzheng’s phone again to check it.

Sure enough, there was an unread message.

[We got the report, and it was sent to Lu Ye. Lu Ye said it largely matches his findings, except the activity level of the substance is somewhat higher, likely because of the fresh blood used for the test. Also, Jing Huai fled the hospital while his agent and assistant were away.]

Jiang Lingxi glanced at this and thought: "..."

It seemed he couldn’t endure it any longer.

When she handed the phone back to Lu Zhengzheng, she also instructed, "Keep an eye on the crew next door for ’Qingcheng Legend’ and see if Xu Qingmei returns to the set for filming."

She probably wouldn’t, but there’s always a possibility!

After all, as the lead actress, she can’t be absent from the set indefinitely. Even top-tier stars don’t act that way.

Xu Qingmei’s assistant also advised her the same, but for some reason, Xu Qingmei simply refused to leave the house.

Early that morning, she had forwarded the notice from "Qingcheng Legend" and reminded that the nanny car would pick her up later, but she received Xu Qingmei’s response right after she sent it.

Just four simple words: [Head hurts, not going]

The assistant was not only troubled by these four words but also had a headache. Despite earnest persuasion, she finally got what wasn’t quite a solution as a solution.

Use a body double!

As for some shots requiring the lead actress’s face, they would use CGI to overlay her face in post-production.

The director of "Qingcheng Legend" almost spat blood upon hearing this response.

He recalled back when he was so thrilled and ambitious about having Xu Qingmei play his lead actress, but now he wished he could have slapped himself a few times for that decision.

Why didn’t he think to check Xu Qingmei’s work ethic before signing her? How could he have been so blinded by her fame?

Now that over half of the series was shot, any regret was too late.

He couldn’t afford the cost of firing her and reshooting, so he had to compromise.

With Xu Qingmei suddenly halting filming to do a variety show, Jiang Xiyu had to endure a rather dull three days on the set.

Since nearly all of her scenes were with the lead actress.

Finally, when she anticipated the return of Xu Qingmei with great expectations, Jiang Xiyu was left seeing that the body double was the one performing opposite her.

As for Xu Qingmei herself, there wasn’t even a glimpse of her.

Even with several layers of powder on her face, it couldn’t conceal the livid expression that emerged.

While Jiang Lingxi was swiftly engaging in choreographed swordplay on set, Jiang Xiyu faced Xu Qingmei’s body double, barely suppressing her anger to deliver her lines.

Meanwhile, Jing Huai was also staggering out of the hospital, rushing to Xu Qingmei’s residence.

It was described as staggering because he left the hospital before even changing out of the patient gown. The gown had some blood stains seeping through the sleeves. After several taxis refused to take him at the hospital entrance, he finally managed to catch the ride of a daring private driver.

Once in the car, he remembered he had neither his phone nor any cash. Faced with the unfriendly gaze of the private driver upon arrival, Jing Huai had no choice but to grit his teeth and remove the watch from his wrist to pay the fare.

Yet, he wasn’t able to find Xu Qingmei.

After all, this villa was merely a place Xu Qingmei occasionally used for relaxation.

Even after ringing the doorbell for almost ten minutes without any sign of movement, Jing Huai finally faced the harsh reality.

He collapsed to his knees in despair.

He realized he knew just this one place, where else could he possibly go to find her?

Oh, the filming crew!

Thinking of what the doctor told him about the extra mysterious substance found in his blood tests, compared to his life, all other threats didn’t matter to him now.

But as he tried to get up to head out, he suddenly realized a severe problem.

This area was so remote, taxis rarely came here to pick up or drop off passengers, and he had already used up his only watch to pay the fare!

Not far behind Jing Huai, a young man with a black baseball cap covering most of his face noted the house number of the villa where Jing Huai rang the bell. Then he tapped the earpiece in his ear and asked, "Sir, the target is about to faint. Should we offer help?"

On the third underground floor of Yunxi Building.

Shen Yunqing glanced at the small red dot on one of the computer screens in front of him and, after hearing the youth’s inquiry, he replied with a faint hum, "While you’re at it, try to extract some blood from the wound. Be careful not to get hurt in the process."

"Understood."

After the instructions were issued, the scruffy man sitting at the computer turned to look at him, "Boss, you’ve been giving us more and more side jobs lately. You better increase our pay!"