Chapter 23: I Have Sacrificed Too Much for the Production!

In a corner of the film set, Lao Cai was lecturing Li Yapeng. Li stood there looking utterly miserable, forced to keep his head bowed as he took the heat. Ji Yu, watching from afar, was absolutely delighted. This was a classic tale of a workplace underdog learning how to frame a colleague to secure a passive promotion. Ji Yu didn't see himself as a villain; he was simply carrying out justice on behalf of heaven.

On the other side of the set, Sun Li, still visibly shaken from earlier, caught sight of Ji Yu standing alone with a sinister smile on his face. She couldn't help but shudder. What was he smiling about all by himself? He really was a creep! How had she not noticed that from the start?

Sensing a gaze, Ji Yu turned toward Sun Li and flashed a toothy grin. Sun Li let out a small cry and bolted. The people around them looked on in confusion, while Ji Yu, feeling a pang of guilt, rubbed his nose and started humming, pretending he knew nothing. This was the trouble with being too good an actor—it became a burden. It was no wonder the actress who played Nurse Rong used to get pelted with vegetable leaves whenever she stepped outside. Ji Yu felt a lonely sense of mastery in the "playing a psychopath" lane.

Just as he was about to leave, Lao Cai called him over. "Ji Yu, you don't have any messy romantic entanglements, do you?" With only two male actors in the company—one caught cheating and the other playing a psychopath so convincingly it was terrifying—Lao Cai was genuinely worried. Li Yapeng was just a cheater, but what if Ji Yu turned out to be a legal liability?

Facing her suspicious gaze, Ji Yu immediately shook his head. "No way, I keep my nose clean!"

"Then... you don't have any, uh, peculiar habits?" Lao Cai hesitated for a moment before adding, "Everyone is saying your performance is too realistic. It doesn't look like acting."

Ji Yu felt wronged and retorted, "Does the actor who played Hannibal actually eat people?"

Lao Cai nodded awkwardly. She couldn't judge his character just because his acting was good. She comforted him, "You're just playing the part well. The young actresses are a bit on edge."

Ji Yu grumbled, "On edge, my foot. If that woman yesterday was so scared, how did she find the energy to crawl into 'Peng-ge's' bed?"

Lao Cai was left speechless; he had a point. She simply said, "Just be careful. He’s already in trouble, and I don't want you to be next."

"Don't worry, I don't play around. I have a girlfriend!" Ji Yu said with a straight face, spewing nonsense. Since Teacher Li was his girlfriend, this was technically true!

"You have a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?"

"Is it that strange for someone as handsome as me to have a girlfriend?"

"..." Lao Cai rubbed her temples in frustration. "Is she in the industry?"

"Yep, a peerless beauty!"

"Stop bragging and just tell me."

Ji Yu replied, "Li Xiaoran. Isn't she a peerless beauty?"

Lao Cai was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected it to actually be a beauty, though not a particularly famous one. "Since you have a girlfriend, be careful. Don't end up like Yapeng. You're just starting out; don't ruin your future over that kind of thing."

"Got it."

After giving a few more instructions, Lao Cai hurried off. She still had to deal with the fallout of Li Yapeng's scandal. She needed to get those online posts deleted and contact Zhai Ying to ensure she didn't come out publicly to denounce Li, or the situation would blow up completely.

Ji Yu hummed a tune as he packed up to head home. Everything is relative; as long as he worked hard and Li Yapeng kept up his self-destructive pace, the latter would be finished soon enough. It was a shame that Li was currently at the height of his popularity, so he wouldn't fall immediately. Even if he were juggling eighteen affairs, in this era, the impact was minimal. It was a wild, untamed age for the entertainment industry where almost anything was tolerated—even actors who used drugs could still continue their careers. If this were the future, Li Yapeng would have been destroyed by now. What a pity.

That night, Ji Yu spent half an hour on the phone with Li Xiaoran. Being in a long-distance relationship while still in the honeymoon phase was absolute torture. Li Xiaoran felt the same way, regretting even more that she hadn't agreed to see Ji Yu that night. Now, when she missed him at night, she didn't have many memories to cling to. *Finish the filming quickly, so I can go find him!*

Over the next few days, the Li Yapeng situation was suppressed. The actress who had climbed into his bed was handled by Lao Cai, leaving her no chance to stir up trouble or use the scandal to boost her own fame. Lao Cai’s capabilities were impressive; she had clearly learned a lot during her time in Hong Kong.

Ji Yu was slightly disappointed. He hadn't gleaned anything useful from eavesdropping on Li Yapeng, only hearing him argue with Zhai Ying a few times. With Li keeping a low profile, Ji Yu had to do the same. After all, who else was there to target? He couldn't exactly bug Jiang Qingqing; her downfall wouldn't benefit him at all and wasn't worth the "exposure points."

Filming continued, but Ji Yu's reputation on set was worsening. As a serial killer, he was constantly committing crimes in the show. Several actresses had already been scared to tears by him. Fortunately, after four consecutive "murders," his character was prepared to stop. He had no choice; the lead character, Ke Lan, was closing in on him.

Ji Yu's character, a detective, abused his authority and Ke Lan’s trust to frame a carriage driver who gave rides to the starlets. During the pursuit, he shot the driver dead. Dead men tell no tales!

Ji Yu was finally able to stop. He didn't have to keep playing a sex offender—and the kind who killed before raping, at that. That was just pure insanity! The sequence was all wrong. Did he enjoy the feeling of things slowly going cold? Ji Yu felt like vomiting just thinking about it. He was truly a kind-hearted person at heart; he wasn't cut out to be a psychopath.

One day, while Ji Yu was studying his script and refining his lines, he heard that Zhai Ying had come to visit Li Yapeng on set. He was immediately interested. Was she here to have a showdown with Li? Zhai Ying wasn't someone to be trifled with. Ji Yu remembered that when Li Yapeng filmed *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* and got involved with Zhou Xun, Zhai Ying had broken up with him decisively. She hadn't shown a shred of hesitation or lingering attachment. She was probably here to break up this time, too.

Ji Yu wandered around the set and spotted Zhai Ying and Li Yapeng arguing in a secluded corner. *Intermediate Stealth Skill, activate!* Ji Yu quietly slipped to within three meters of them.

"For the sake of our past, I've given you time. But now, no matter what, we have to make the breakup public."

"Give me a little more time. If we announce it now, everyone will think I cheated back then."

"Isn't that the truth? I've been tolerating you for days!"

Zhai Ying’s voice was cold, and her tone was sharp. Ji Yu heard every word clearly. Li Yapeng’s voice had a deeper resonance, sounding somewhat muffled. It seemed Zhai Ying wanted to break up, but Li and Lao Cai had managed to talk her down. It made sense; if she broke up the moment the news broke, the gossip would never end. The best strategy was to wait a while so the impact would be minimized.

Ji Yu listened for a while longer before quietly slipping away. No one knew he had ever been there. Finding an excuse to leave the set, he ducked into a public phone booth to tip off a reporter. *You don't want to announce the breakup? Fine, I'll do it for you.*

The more news there was about Li Yapeng, the more famous the production would become, and the higher the ratings would be when it aired. By taking down Li Yapeng, he could also make the show more famous. Ji Yu was sacrificing so much for the production! He could only rely on this show to make a name for himself, and he had poured his soul into his acting—he'd already scared a few actresses to tears. All that was left was to ensure the show got more exposure so he could have more opportunities to shine.

Li Yapeng would just have to be the sacrifice. Besides, even if he were juggling twenty affairs, it wouldn't lead to the show being banned. What was there to be afraid of? If you're going to do it, just do it!