According to the original plot, Gu Fanzhou, as the protagonist Shou’s love interest (the protagonist Gong), would naturally be attracted to Cheng Lian. Meanwhile, Xian Sui, playing the role of cannon fodder, was merely a regular partner during filming. In the original book, Xian Sui, wanting to climb high by latching onto Gu Fanzhou, frequently interfered with the interactions between the main gong and shou, and even persecuted the protagonist shou, ultimately becoming a thorn in Gu Fanzhou’s side.
Xian Sui looked slightly dazed as he watched Cheng Lian, who had just arrived at the film set. The other man seemed to sense his gaze and nodded and smiled at him from a distance.
The staff immediately arranged for Cheng Lian to audition, and Gu Fanzhou followed Yu Zhifu into the inner room, forcing the filming to pause. To prevent the atmosphere from becoming awkward, Meng Qiao took the initiative to treat everyone on the crew to drinks. An assistant immediately volunteered to run the errand, returning with two insulated bags.
The role Cheng Lian was auditioning for was hardly difficult. While sipping the warm milk tea in his hand, Xian Sui listened to the gossip among the other crew members: Cheng Lian was a graduate of a well-known domestic drama academy and a junior to Yu Zhifu by about two classes. Even while still studying in school, he had played the second male lead in an idol drama. Unfortunately, the role lacked any highlights; though billed as the second male lead, his actual screen time was pitifully low, failing to generate any topics of discussion or accumulate many fans.
Xian Sui still remembered that in the original novel, Cheng Lian had caught Gu Fanzhou’s eye and later, recommended by the protagonist Gong, obtained an opportunity to showcase his talent, stepping upward rung by rung.
Xie Tangqing happened to be dropping by to observe this scene. After drinking the coffee bought by Meng Qiao, her gaze swept across the set and inevitably fell on Xian Sui. She placed her cup of coffee on the table right next to Xian Sui’s milk tea cup, quickly drawing the latter’s attention. “Tangqing-jie.”
“You seem a bit down,” Xie Tangqing poked Xian Sui’s shoulder with her finger. “Is it because of work or relationship problems?”
“Not at all. With Teacher Meng treating us to drinks, I’m too happy for words.” Xian Sui immediately curved the corners of his mouth upward. Seeing that he looked reluctant to open up, Xie Tangqing did not pursue the matter any further.
Given the circumstances, filming would likely be postponed until the afternoon or evening. Xian Sui finished the milk tea in his cup, intending to change clothes and leave the set. As soon as he reached the hallway, he noticed someone in the corner nearby. He instinctively stepped closer and found that Cheng Lian was standing right in front of Gu Fanzhou, holding out a photo. “Gu-laoshi, I’ve always been your fan. Can I please have your autograph?”
Gu Fanzhou fished a marker from his coat pocket, signed his name on his own photo, and placed it back into Cheng Lian’s palm. Cheng Lian looked as though he deeply treasured the photograph, carefully putting it away in his pocket.
When Cheng Lian left, he seemed not to notice Xian Sui. Instead, it was Gu Fanzhou, standing further back in the inner area, who spoke up first. “What are you doing acting all sneaky? Come out.”
Xian Sui awkwardly scratched his head and took the spot where Cheng Lian had just been standing, right in front of Gu Fanzhou. “I’m not being sneaky. I just happened to pass by and didn’t have the heart to interrupt your conversation.”
“You stayed here even after listening to everything. I thought you wanted an autograph too.”
“I wasn’t, exactly.” Before Xian Sui could finish his sentence, Gu Fanzhou shoved his pen into Xian Sui’s hand and then held out the back of his left hand toward him. “I didn’t bring any paper. Sign it here.”
Xian Sui’s gaze landed on the back of Gu Fanzhou’s hand. Even if he were to dream in the middle of the night, he never would have imagined that a Best Actor would ask him for an autograph.
“Gu-ge?” Xian Sui was still dazed while clutching the pen, and Gu Fanzhou’s hand moved a fraction closer to him, clearly conveying a sense of urgency.
Only then did Xian Sui let the tip of the pen touch the back of Gu Fanzhou’s hand, writing carefully stroke by stroke. Although he wasn’t a genuine, hardcore fan, this was, after all, the very first autograph since he started acting, so he wrote with exceptional seriousness.
Until the final dot was set, Xian Sui handed the pen back to Gu Fanzhou. The other man’s gaze lingered on the back of his hand for a good while, before he finally disappeared from Xian Sui’s field of vision.
Gu Fanzhou walked straight away from the set. When he got into his car, he deliberately took a photo of Xian Sui’s signature.
“Why is this handwriting so ugly?” The corners of Gu Fanzhou’s mouth curved up in a way that was almost imperceptible.
By the time Xian Sui returned to the set in the afternoon, it wasn’t his turn to film yet, so he temporarily sat off to the side to review his script.
This scene revolved around the characters of Gu Fanzhou, Cheng Lian, and Meng Qiao. Cheng Lian seemed to be shooting a film for the very first time, and perhaps partly because he was acting alongside Gu Fanzhou, his performance fell below par, causing Yu Zhifu to call cut several times already.
“Has your state been off lately?” Yu Zhifu had watched the idol drama Cheng Lian previously filmed, and he was more than capable of handling this role. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t have lost his past standard. “Let’s take a ten-minute break.”
Seeing Cheng Lian leave the camera’s view with a dejected expression, Gu Fanzhou found a spot to sit beside him and opened the script in his own hands. From a distance, Xian Sui watched as Gu Fanzhou patiently gave Cheng Lian performance pointers, his gaze frequently falling onto the heavily annotated script.
During his time on set, he had heard quite a bit about Gu Fanzhou, some of which wasn’t even covered in much detail in the original book. Although Gu Fanzhou had achieved fame at a young age, he had also experienced a difficult period before hitting superstardom early in his career. It seemed he had inadvertently gotten caught up in a money-laundering scandal, after which no acting offers came his way, until he crossed paths with Yu Zhifu and began making a name for himself through his works.
Gu Fanzhou possessed immense talent in acting, yet he was never arrogant. His scripts were always filled with dense markings, and even for other people’s characters, Gu Fanzhou had his own understanding. To him, the other characters in the script also comprised a part of his own role, such as his perspective and attitude toward them.
Xian Sui couldn’t hear the exact content of the conversation, but Cheng Lian soon broke into a bright smile, clearly having received enlightenment.
He silently averted his gaze, forcing himself not to look at Cheng Lian, and lowered his head to focus on the script in his hands.
When filming resumed, Cheng Lian’s state was noticeably much better, and the entire scene passed in a single take. Ironically, when it was Xian Sui’s turn to shoot, he looked consistently absent-minded, prompting Yu Zhifu to call back-to-back cuts for the second time today: “Xiao Xian, what’s wrong? I’ve never seen you like this during previous shoots.”
During the break, Gu Fanzhou specifically came looking for Xian Sui. Not finding anyone in the public areas, he headed to the lounge and discovered him smoking alone. He snatched the remaining half-burned cigarette from Xian Sui’s hand. “Need this?”
“I’m a bit messed up. Smoking this makes it a bit better.” Xian Sui reached to pull the cigarette back from the other man’s hand, but Gu Fanzhou took the half-cigarette into his own mouth first, taking a puff. “What are you thinking about?”
“I can’t say.” Xian Sui instinctively reached into his pocket, intending to pull out another cigarette from the pack. Gu Fanzhou clearly saw his movement and immediately pressed down on the back of his hand to stop him. “Xian Sui.”
Xian Sui knew why Gu Fanzhou was calling his name; this method of using cigarettes to alleviate worries was very similar to Jian Shuyu’s.
“Don’t force me to find a way to shut your mouth.” Gu Fanzhou stared hard into Xian Sui’s eyes.
“Gu-ge,” Xian Sui pulled back the hand that Gu Fanzhou had pinned down, “you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll adjust myself in a moment.”
“I’m not so out of touch that I don’t understand you.”
Xian Sui deliberately distanced himself from Gu Fanzhou. “Gu-ge, actually, we aren’t that close.”
“Not close.” Gu Fanzhou seemed to have hit a raw nerve. He forcefully stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and tossed it into the trash can. “So we can even be not close now.”
Xian Sui couldn’t help but pause. Gu Fanzhou’s expression looked exactly the same as when he first walked through the door, and Xian Sui couldn’t fathom the man’s true attitude. “Gu-ge?”
Gu Fanzhou stood up abruptly, ignored Xian Sui completely, and walked straight out of the lounge.
When Xian Sui returned to the front of the camera, he had smoked the other half of the cigarette after Gu Fanzhou left, which barely allowed him to adjust his state and pass on the first take.
As filming ended and Xian Sui was about to leave, Gu Fanzhou walked past him and suddenly spoke up, deliberately dropping his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear: “Smells like smoke.”
Because his qipao made it inconvenient, Xian Sui hadn’t carried a sachet with him during the shoot. Since Gu Fanzhou had deliberately stopped him from smoking earlier only to end up doing it himself, it was no wonder Gu Fanzhou used that tone.
Xian Sui returned to the dressing room to change clothes, and upon returning to the hallway, he passed Gu Fanzhou’s lounge just as Cheng Lian and Gu Fanzhou walked out the door together. Cheng Lian looked like he was in quite a good mood.
He stuffed the sachet into his pocket and acted as if he hadn’t seen this pair of original-novel protagonists.
“Xian Sui,” Gu Fanzhou said, as if deliberately suppressing some emotion, “Mist. My treat.”
Mist was a newly opened bar nearby, and the owner was an industry insider. To ensure that the artists visiting the bar wouldn’t be harassed, entry required an invitation letter.
“Sorry, Gu-ge, I have other things to do.” Xian Sui hurried away down the hallway, only to run into Xie Tangqing at the very end.
Xie Tangqing had also come to the set in the afternoon to supervise. Due to the cast change, she came to check on how the newcomers were performing, and had just been chatting with Yu Zhifu earlier about a few NGs.
“So rushed, where are you hurrying off to?”
“I’m heading back, Tangqing-jie.” Xian Sui skirted around Xie Tangqing and was about to leave when she suddenly fished an invitation letter for Mist bar out of her pocket. “Going? The owner is a friend of mine, and I gave one to everyone in the circle.”
“Just take it, you can use it later.” While Xian Sui was hesitating, Xie Tangqing directly shoved the invitation letter into his hand. “Everyone will be there in a bit, and it’s my treat. You’ll miss out if you don’t come. Think about it.”
Xian Sui deliberately lowered his voice to ask, “Is Gu-ge going too?”
“Didn’t you know? Gu-ge made other plans and said he isn’t coming.”
“Then I’ll go with you.” Xian Sui accepted the invitation and walked behind Xie Tangqing as they left the hallway.
Mist was not far from the film set. Xian Sui caught a ride with Xie Tangqing and arrived at the entrance of Mist in less than ten minutes.
Almost all of the familiar young faces from the set were there. Xian Sui sat right next to Xie Tangqing; not being very knowledgeable about alcohol, he casually ordered a cocktail with a pleasing name.
Xian Sui took a light sip, and it had a faint sweetness, exactly the flavor he liked.
Before he could even take a second sip, Xie Tangqing’s voice suddenly rang in his ear, asking the person beside her if the person sitting at the bar counter was Gu Fanzhou.
Xian Sui instinctively raised his gaze and found that, across a distance, Gu Fanzhou was locking eyes with him from afar.
There was no alcohol in front of Gu Fanzhou, and after staring at each other for a long while, neither of them had any intention of looking away, easily giving the illusion that the other person was here specifically to monitor him.
That gaze was like a thin cord, carrying the silent desire to bind the person right before him.