The Aloof Film Emperor is Cold Outside and Hot Inside (2)
For the next half month, Xiao Yan had no work and stayed at home to research Lu Chengyan.
He organized an outline of Lu Chengyan’s hobbies, works since his debut, and more, memorizing them point by point.
By now, he could say he knew Lu Chengyan like the back of his hand.
Everything was ready; he was just waiting for the reality dating show.
The reality dating show that Xiao Yan was participating in was called Fall in Love With You, and the invited guests were all people from the entertainment industry.
The first season invited eight guests—four men and four women—and all of them successfully paired up: one lesbian couple, one gay couple, one four-way love couple, and one mainstream romance CP.
It had great showmanship and extremely high popularity.
Now, even before the second season had started recording, the hype for Love 2 had surged into the top 5 of the variety show charts. Half of the reason was that the production team announced the permanent guest lineup, which included Xiao Yan.
This season also had eight guests.
The lineup was released in the morning, and by noon, the fans of the other seven guests were crusading under Xiao Yan’s Weibo post:
“Stay away from my older brother (sister).”
Regarding this, Xiao Yan expressed: I’m sorry, babies who are fans of Lu Chengyan.
When I make a move, your idol only loses his innocence; if I don’t make a move, the whole world goes down together.
The recording of Love 2 arrived as scheduled.
Love 2 was a travel-themed reality dating show that would visit several cities for recording, airing episode by episode as they were filmed.
The filming location for the first episode was the Heart of the Pacific—the Santorini Islands, a place as beautiful and dreamy as a fairy tale.
At 7:00 AM, Xiao Yan’s assistant, Lin Zhou, came to pick Xiao Yan up for the airport.
Lin Zhou was 24 years old, an honest and sincere person. He wasn’t good at interpersonal communication and wasn’t really suited for the role of an assistant, but his redeeming quality was that he was hardworking and resilient.
Ding-dong, the doorbell rang.
Coming, Xiao Yan padded over in his slippers to open the door, poked his head out, and greeted the person outside, “Morning… Brother Zhou.”
Lin Zhou, standing at the door, stared at Xiao Yan’s face in a daze, then apologized with a blushing face: “S-Sorry, I went to the wrong door.”
With that, he slammed the door shut with a bang.
Xiao Yan almost got his nose caught.
He rubbed his nose with lingering fear and muttered, “I didn’t remember wrong, did I? He is Lin Zhou. Why did he say he went to the wrong door?”
Three seconds later, the door was knocked on again.
Xiao Yan opened it.
At the door, Lin Zhou looked at Xiao Yan with an awkward expression, pulling at the corners of his lips: “Excuse me… are you Xiao Yan?”
Xiao Yan spread his hands and shrugged: “If I’m not Xiao Yan, who else could I be?”
Lin Zhou looked Xiao Yan up and down from head to toe, scratching his sideburns: “You’ve changed so much, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
If he hadn’t been sure this was Xiao Yan’s house, alongside Xiao Yan’s voice, he wouldn’t have dared to recognize the pretty young man in front of him at all.
To say Xiao Yan’s appearance had undergone a complete rebirth compared to before would be no exaggeration.
Xiao Yan was left laughing despite himself. He had just casually changed his styling, and Lin Zhou was actually about to fail to recognize him?
He had to admit that his self-makeover was a huge success.
Xiao Yan teased, “Have you re-entered my new image into your memory system now? You must remember me next time, okay?”
Lin Zhou nodded hastily: “Definitely, I will definitely remember.”
Xiao Yan stepped aside, leading him inside: “Did you eat breakfast coming over this early? I made too much breakfast, do you want to eat some?”
Lin Zhou waved his hand in refusal: “No, Uncle told me to drop you off earlier, saying we can’t let the seniors wait, or else you’ll be talked about online again for acting like a big star.”
The uncle in Lin Zhou’s mouth was Xiao Yan’s manager, Lin Zizhi, who had kept helping Xiao Yan out when he was down on his luck.
After Xiao Yan made a comeback, Lin Zizhi arranged for Lin Zhou to be Xiao Yan’s assistant. Firstly, Lin Zhou was sincere and steadfast in his work, and secondly, Xiao Yan’s nature was pure and kind, so Lin Zizhi felt at ease having his nephew follow Xiao Yan.
Although Xiao Yan had done quite a few bizarre things for the sake of becoming famous, he was a grateful person who repaid kindness and treated the people around him well. This was why Lin Zizhi had never given up on Xiao Yan.
Since Lin Zhou wasn’t eating, Xiao Yan didn’t continue to persuade him. He packed the remaining breakfast into the freezer compartment of the refrigerator to eat after returning from his business trip, and then went to the bedroom to pull out his suitcase.
Along the way, Lin Zhou secretly glanced at Xiao Yan several times in the rearview mirror.
Xiao Yan noticed, met Lin Zhou’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and joked, “Brother Zhou, you haven’t seen me for half a month and you missed me? You keep peeking at me.”
Lin Zhou’s cheeks flushed from being called out, and he explained, “N-No, it’s just that you’ve changed so much, I’m not quite used to it.”
As if afraid Xiao Yan wouldn’t believe him, he listed several of Xiao Yan’s changes in detail: “Your hair is dyed back to its natural color, you aren’t wearing weird makeup, your clothes don’t have holes in them, and you aren’t wearing huge earrings.”
Xiao Yan teased him: “It seems Brother Zhou had a lot of opinions about my previous styling.”
Lin Zhou hurriedly shook his head: “No, no opinions. I just feel that you are great like this now. You used to always get scolded by those people online.”
“Uncle advised you long ago, but you didn’t listen. You suddenly changed today, which is a bit surprising. When Uncle sees you like this now, he will definitely be very happy.”
The past Xiao Yan had no ability to establish himself in the entertainment industry other than his face, but he had ambition. To him, playing the ugly villain and courting hatred was the only way to fulfill his ambition.
Today’s Xiao Yan had no ambition; he only wanted to hook up with Lu Chengyan, only wanted to complete the task to earn points to save his little life, and he didn’t need to do any of the embarrassing things he did just to get famous in the novel’s setting.
Xiao Yan leaned back lazily against the car seat, his tone languid: “From now on, I won’t be like before.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhou smiled with relief.
He was one year older than Xiao Yan, and through three years of getting along, he had always regarded Xiao Yan as a younger brother. Seeing his younger brother improving made him very happy.
“That’s good. Uncle and I can both rest easy.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow: “Don’t rest easy just yet, there will be plenty of things that will trouble your hearts.”
Lin Zhou: What did that mean?
Xiao Yan calmly and composedly dropped words that made Lin Zhou want to scream: “I like Lu Chengyan, I want to marry him, and I’m going to pursue him on the show.”
Lin Zhou was so frightened he almost drove into the roadside greenbelt. To prevent Xiao Yan from uttering anything else startling, he turned off the car engine and parked on the side of the road.
Lu Chengyan was a mega-star, and his fanbase covered men, women, young, old, domestic, and international spheres. If Xiao Yan dared to lay a finger on Lu Chengyan, his family background for the past eighteen generations would probably be dug up and cursed at, and the criticisms he would face would be more than the past five years combined.
“Xiaoyan, you’re joking with me, right?”
Xiao Yan: “I’m serious.”
Lin Zhou thought Xiao Yan was just creating a CP and chasing clout like before and was about to advise him a bit that Lu Chengyan wasn’t someone they could afford to provoke. Xiao Yan covered his eyes and gave a bitter smile, his expression pained.
“I know all of you think I’m having wild fantasies, and I’ve also tried to persuade myself to give up, but I can’t do it. The more I restrain myself, the more I like him.”
“Brother Zhou, I really like him so much. Even if I get attacked and cursed at, I still want to stand by his side.”
Lin Zhou: You really like him?
Xiao Yan lowered his hands, looking at Lin Zhou with eyes holding a trace of moisture, and said with certainty: “I like him.”
Lin Zhou: “When did you start liking him? I remember you two haven’t even had any interaction.”
Xiao Yan paused.
Ah, right now they indeed didn’t have any interaction yet. Allow him to make up a reason on the spot.
“Do you believe in love at first sight? Half a month ago, I ran into him by chance, and I sank into it just by looking at him from afar.” As for where he ran into him, never mind that.
Without giving Lin Zhou time to think, he continued: “I know you’re worried that I’ll be attacked by people online. Lu Chengyan has a background; if I make him unhappy, I probably won’t be able to survive in the industry anymore.”
“But I’m not afraid. At worst, I’ll quit the industry. My contract with the company is about to expire, and the money I’ve earned these years is enough for retirement. If I chase him down successfully, I win big. If I don’t catch him, let’s just consider it retiring early. It’s just that I’ll have to trouble Brother Zhou to find a new job.”
“I’m telling you this because you and Uncle Lin are the only two family members in this world in my heart. I have someone I like and I want you to know. Also, I want you to mentally prepare yourselves; after the show starts airing, it will most likely increase your workload.”
Seeing Xiao Yan with this expression, Lin Zhou felt very conflicted inside, and he found an answer in his heart for the reason behind Xiao Yan’s sudden change.
“So you made these changes for him?”
“I remember you couldn’t cook before, but today’s breakfast was made by yourself. Did you learn it specifically for him?”
Xiao Yan nodded. Saying it like that was also fine, though it wasn’t for cooking; he knew how to cook before he transmigrated.
Lin Zhou was silent for a moment, turned around to put a hand on Xiao Yan’s shoulder, and spoke earnestly: “Xiaoyan, you are a person with your own mind. Since you’ve decided, I won’t stop you. If there’s anything you need from me, just say so. I don’t have any great abilities, but as long as you need it and I can do it, I will definitely help you.”
“Also, although I’ve never been in a relationship, I know that when it’s time to break, you must break cleanly. If you can’t catch him, don’t force it. Being too persistent will only hurt yourself.”
If I can’t catch him, my life will be over. Lu Chengyan is someone he had to get even if he had to force it.
Xiao Yan sighed helplessly in his heart.
Lin Zhou’s concern was genuine; he didn’t continue to add to the other person’s distress, so he nodded, considering it an acceptance of the other’s suggestion.
The production team’s plane took off at 8:30 AM. Xiao Yan lived in the city, which was a twenty-minute drive from the airport. Leaving at 7:00 was considered early, but because he had a long heart-to-heart talk with Lin Zhou, coupled with traffic jams, he only boarded the plane at 8:10.
When he boarded the plane, he was even stopped by a staff member of the production team, who said he had gotten on the wrong plane. To prove he was Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan even took out his ID card.
The staff members present watched him board the plane in amazement and pointed fingers loudly behind his back.
“He’s Xiao Yan?”
“Did, did he get plastic surgery?”
“Gosh, what did he do to his pretty face before!”
After boarding the plane, Xiao Yan suffered the same treatment once again.
There were eight permanent guests for this season. When Xiao Yan boarded the plane, the other seven had already arrived, and filming had already begun.
Xiao Yan scanned their faces one by one.
Jiang Yi: Male, 28 years old, a gold-medal music producer who had crafted hit singles for many singers. Shen Xingci: Male, 23 years old, an edgy director whose short films had won multiple international awards. Gu Xiaoran: Female, 27 years old, a powerhouse actress who had starred in multiple phenomenal television dramas. Yu Wan: Female, 25 years old, a singer-songwriter who blew up online with multiple original songs. Su Yi: Female, 22 years old, a model and spokesperson for a well-known fashion brand. Song Yutong: Female, 24 years old, a next-generation host who had hosted popular variety shows. The last one, Lu Chengyan.
The husband he was about to win over.
The moment Xiao Yan saw Lu Chengyan, the slight annoyance in his heart of throwing away his integrity for the sake of the task completely vanished.
Lu Chengyan grew completely according to his aesthetic preferences!
His facial features were three-dimensional, his brows and eyes deep, his nose bridge high, his thin lips sexy, his neckline slender, and his temperament frosty and pure. He was someone to be admired from afar, and one wanted to defile him with play.
Xiao Yan was gay, and because he had extremely high requirements for appearance when looking for a partner, he had been single since birth for 23 years.
Now that he had found a top-tier dish, he was eager to try.
Lu Chengyan had probably rushed over from finishing work somewhere, showing some fatigue on his face as he closed his eyes to rest. The other guests probably didn’t dare to disturb him, so none of them sat next to him.
Without a second thought, Xiao Yan dragged his bag and walked towards Lu Chengyan.
Yet, just as he took two steps, he was blocked by the assistant director, Li Minghui.
“Who are you, which team are you from? Don’t you know they are filming inside? Why are you still walking in?”