“Xiao Xian just returned to the fitting room, and he doesn’t have any scenes coming up.” The staff member was still holding an ice pack. “If Gu-laoshi needs anything, I can have someone pass a message to Xiao Xian first. You should apply this ice to your face, otherwise I’m afraid you won’t recover in time, and it won’t look good on camera.”
Gu Fanzhou reluctantly accepted the ice pack from the staff member. His assistant helped press it against the half of his face that had been swollen from the slap, while Gu Fanzhou himself was busy fishing his phone out of his pocket, opening the chat window with Xian Sui to edit a message. After pausing for a moment, he finally typed out a short sentence: [Back already?]
Ten minutes passed, with no reply.
Gu Fanzhou originally couldn’t sit still, but his assistant pushed him back into his seat, explaining that he needed to ice it a bit longer for it to heal properly. After another five minutes passed and there was still no new message in the chat window, he simply ignored the assistant’s expression and stood up from his seat on his own. “I’ll be right back.”
The assistant genuinely couldn’t make sense of it. Wasn’t it just fifteen minutes without a reply? When he himself got busy, he could go half a day without replying to a friend, so why was Gu Fanzhou in such a rush?
Xian Sui finished filming. The rest of the schedule for the day mostly consisted of scenes featuring Gu Fanzhou, Meng Qiao, and other actors, so he planned to change out of his costume first and then return to the vicinity of the set to watch the filming. The qipao was a tight, high-collared style, and even though he had been in the crew for nearly three months now, he still wasn’t entirely used to wearing this outfit.
Just as he pushed open the door of the dressing room and reached to untie the buttons of his clothes, Xie Zhuangqiu was already waiting inside out of nowhere, toying with the pack of Five Leaf Pine cigarettes that Xian Sui had left behind, which only had two cigarettes left. “I heard your filming state hasn’t been as good as before lately, so I came to check on you.”
“There’s no such thing. President Xie can rest assured that Peach Blossoms Unseen will finish filming smoothly.” Out of politeness, Xian Sui walked up to Xie Zhuangqiu and spoke while looking directly into the other man’s eyes.
“Of course I trust the team selected by Director Yu.” Xie Zhuangqiu inverted the cigarette pack in his hand, and the two cigarettes inside immediately dropped through the opening into the trash can. “Looking out for the artists in my own company is also within the scope of my duties. Xian Sui, is your nicotine addiction that severe?”
“Not really, I only smoke one or two occasionally.” What Xian Sui said was the truth; in reality, when there were no troubling matters on his mind, he wouldn’t even think about smoking. Aside from the times he actually smoked, he was simply Jian Shuyu.
“I certainly don’t remember the pay being low to that extent.” Xie Zhuangqiu tapped his fingertip against the empty cigarette pack on the table, then fished another pack of high-end cigarettes from his coat pocket, pulled one out, and lit it.
Xian Sui disliked the smell of smoke on himself, especially after Gu Fanzhou had pointed it out on the set earlier. He wanted to look for his sachet, only to remember that he had left his belongings stored in a locker elsewhere.
Xian Sui watched as Xie Zhuangqiu took a puff right in front of him, and then extended the cigarette toward his lips. “Give it a try.”
“President Xie, I’m not used to smoking.” Xian Sui instinctively turned his face away. Instead of backing off, Xie Zhuangqiu pressed forward step by step, stopping within a hair’s breadth of Xian Sui, practically on the verge of shoving that cigarette straight into Xian Sui’s mouth. “My patience is limited. Once it wears thin, I won’t guarantee what else I might do.”
Xian Sui pressed his lips together tightly. He clenched his fists in secret, originally intending to push Xie Zhuangqiu away regardless of the consequences, when someone suddenly pushed the door open from the outside and forcefully pulled Xian Sui into his embrace, instantly putting a distance between the two men. “Since when does President Xie come to the set without needing to keep things subtle?”
“It doesn’t need to be broadcast to the world. Director Yu knows I’m here.” Xie Zhuangqiu bit the cigarette back between his teeth. “Mind?”
Gu Fanzhou didn’t speak. He raised an eyebrow, signaling that Xie Zhuangqiu could continue.
Xian Sui found the smoke uncomfortably stifling, so he turned his face away to avoid it as much as possible. Gu Fanzhou seemed to notice the small movements of the person in his arms and raised a hand to gently cover Xian Sui’s nose and mouth. “If Director Yu finds out that President Xie is here disrupting the actors’ emotional states, I’m sure she would also advise President Xie to head back.”
“Director Yu probably wouldn’t expect the actors she selects to have such fragile mental states.” Xie Zhuangqiu let out a sneer. Having no interest in wasting time playing a war of words with Gu Fanzhou, he turned to leave the doorway, but the phone in his pocket suddenly began to vibrate at that exact moment.
Xian Sui watched as Xie Zhuangqiu instinctively answered the call. The man’s expression instantly turned extremely ugly, and before a moment had passed, he abruptly hung up the call, fixing a deadly glare on Gu Fanzhou’s face. “If we’re talking about not keeping things subtle, who could possibly compare to you, Gu Fanzhou?”
“It looks like it’s about time President Xie replaced the people around him,” Gu Fanzhou said with a very casual smile. “Your capable assistant switched sides a couple of days ago. Is President Xie only just figuring out what’s going on?”
“Such a brilliant method. You even managed to talk around someone who has followed me for so long. Or is it that under the weight of interests, human relations truly hold zero value?”
Instead of hurrying away, Xie Zhuangqiu closed in on Gu Fanzhou’s direction. “Don’t think for a second that you’ve completely won this game, Gu Fanzhou. Everything you currently hold in your hands, I will take back one by one.”
At that, his gaze swept across Xian Sui’s eyes. “Including you.”
Seeing Xie Zhuangqiu leave the lounge, Gu Fanzhou made no move to loosen his hold on Xian Sui. The person in his arms instinctively struggled, and Gu Fanzhou lowered his head to ask him, “Where do you want to go?”
Noticing that Xian Sui’s face was turned toward the direction of the door, Gu Fanzhou followed the other’s gaze and saw that Cheng Lian was clutching the door handle, standing there in a daze as if hesitating whether to step inside. “Sorry, you guys.”
Taking advantage of Gu Fanzhou’s momentary distraction, Xian Sui quickly broke free from his embrace. “We were just running lines. Come on in if you need to change your clothes.”
Looking rather embarrassed, Cheng Lian walked inside, while Xian Sui instinctively stepped out the door first, only to find that Gu Fanzhou had followed right behind him. “What is the meaning of this?”
“It doesn’t mean anything, Gu-ge,” Xian Sui said with considerable difficulty. “You shouldn’t be helping me anymore.”
“Who do you think you are, Xian Sui? If you could handle Xie Zhuangqiu on your own, why did you beg me at the hotel back then?”
“I’m not asking anymore, Gu-ge. I thought you would be happy about that.” Xian Sui had no idea his words sounded so terrible, but he could tell that Gu Fanzhou had been provoked to anger by him once again.
Gu Fanzhou didn’t answer. He couldn’t bring himself to explain the root cause of his emotions.
Faced with Gu Fanzhou’s thoroughly displeased expression, Xian Sui thought it over and could only manage a single sentence: “I’m sorry.” With that, he hurriedly slipped out of Gu Fanzhou’s field of vision.
“Gu-laoshi,” Cheng Lian said, stepping out of the dressing room just as Xian Sui left. “I’m sorry about disturbing you last time. I only realized my earphones were missing after taking a shower, and I’m really sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s nothing.” Gu Fanzhou had accidentally picked up a pair of Bluetooth earphones on set, an expensive brand. When he asked around, he found out the owner was Cheng Lian, and since Cheng Lian happened to be staying right across the door at the hotel, he had simply brought them back to his own room.
Cheng Lian originally wanted to treat Gu Fanzhou to a meal, but the offer was declined. Clearly lacking any interest in prolonged conversation with Cheng Lian, Gu Fanzhou walked straight away down the hallway.
Just as Xian Sui left the front of the dressing room, he heard about the fact that Gu Fanzhou’s blows in those two takes had actually been real hits. That was when it clicked for him, which explained why one side of Gu Fanzhou’s face was exceptionally red.
He specifically asked Meng Qiao if Gu Fanzhou’s face was badly injured, and Meng Qiao told him it looked much better after a cold compress, advising him not to worry.
Xian Sui felt considerably more at ease, so he shouldered his bag and left the set alongside his assistant.
Gu Fanzhou’s condition was indeed no different from what Meng Qiao had described. Although it had been beet red when Xian Sui first looked at it, by the following day the swelling had completely gone down.
Xian Sui was very quiet before filming started. Even the others could tell that the atmosphere between him and Gu Fanzhou was extremely subtle, prompting Director Yu to pull the two of them aside in private to give them a stern reminder to keep their emotions under control no matter what.
This scene was being shot in the City of Night. Having a regular patron present meant Jian Shuyu naturally had to accompany him, so he opened a bottle of wine and was promptly pulled into the patron’s arms.
“You can’t go back on your word now,” Jian Shuyu murmured, leaning against the regular patron as he held the wine glass up to the man’s lips. “Tonight, we drink until we drop.”
The patron leaned in close to Jian Shuyu’s ear, and anyone watching from the side would have easily mistaken it for kissing his cheek. “As you say, we drink until we drop.” With that, he downed the entire cup of wine.
Before Jian Shuyu could pour a second cup, Fu Minglou materialized by the wine table without a sound.
The regular patron looked deeply displeased upon seeing him. “And who might you be?”
“I would like Shuyu-guniang to accompany me tonight.” Fu Minglou snatched the wine bottle right out of Jian Shuyu’s hands and poured the liquor straight into his own mouth.
The patron laughed, praising him for having some nerve, but Jian Shuyu quickly stepped forward to stop Fu Minglou. “If Young Master is willing to wait, Shuyu will keep you company no matter how late it gets, or how about Shuyu opens a fresh bottle of wine for Young Master in advance tomorrow night?”
“Even after drinking, you still won’t leave with me?”
“Shuyu will buy you a drink then, so please don’t make things difficult for Shuyu.” Jian Shuyu immediately hurried to Fu Minglou’s side, speaking almost flush against the other man’s ear.
Fu Minglou let out a cold laugh. “I’ll wait for you right here.”
Jian Shuyu intended to offer a few more words of persuasion, but the regular patron didn’t mind much, waving his hand for Jian Shuyu to return to his side. Pulling another person close to have a dancing girl feed him wine, he deliberately tried to make things unpleasant for Fu Minglou right before his eyes.
Once the regular patron had drunk himself into a daze, Jian Shuyu finally escorted him out the door, helped him onto a rickshaw, and then returned to the wine table. Fu Minglou immediately grabbed his hand. “Is he more important than me?”
“It’s just Shuyu’s job,” Jian Shuyu said, motioning for the waiter to clear away the empty wine bottles and glasses. “I didn’t want you drinking this much alcohol. You don’t need to compete with the guests.”
“He kissed you.” Fu Minglou still argued with him like a child.
Jian Shuyu let out an imperceptible sigh, turning his palm over to interlock fingers with Fu Minglou. “No, you misunderstood.”
Fu Minglou sat down beside Jian Shuyu, his gaze falling onto the side of the other’s face as if deliberately inspecting him for any traces, though naturally, he could find nothing.
“Minglou,” Jian Shuyu said, his palm brushing lightly across Fu Minglou’s cheek. “Come to my place.”
He pressed a kiss to Fu Minglou’s lips.
“I’ll give you something… that only you can have.”
With that, the scene came to an end. The actors were still fully immersed in their emotional states without dropping the ball, leaving Director Yu quite satisfied with the outcome.
Knowing the script’s arrangement, Xian Sui knew that the next scene to be shot was a bed scene set in Jian Shuyu’s home. Scenes of this nature were notoriously difficult to shoot and presented an even greater challenge for Xian Sui.
Taking various factors into consideration, Director Yu ultimately decided to postpone this scene by a few days. While packing up his backpack, Xian Sui inadvertently overheard Director Yu inviting Gu Fanzhou to grab a drink at Mist.
Gu Fanzhou did not give a reply. Instead, he turned around and intercepted Xian Sui just as the latter was about to leave. “Find some time. I’ll pick you up and we can run lines at my place.”
“Gu-ge, I know you’re looking out for me,” Xian Sui hesitated for several seconds before speaking. “We shouldn’t see each other too much in private, and do not touch me.”