Song Xueyan felt as though Fang Zhouji’s head was about to burst from pure rage.
He glanced over. Yan Qi looked like he had the words “What? What happened?” etched onto his forehead, yet he maintained such an obedient expression that even if one felt anger, it was impossible to unleash it immediately.
Looking back at Fang Zhouji, sure enough, he was barely suppressing his temper.
Yan Qi felt both guilty and bewildered. Never mind Fang Zhouji; even he was confused. Heaven is his witness, he had approached this purely to learn, so how did he end up drifting off while watching? Did Song Xueyan have some kind of hypnotic charm on set?
The atmosphere on set was awkward yet chilling, stiff yet brimming with volatile sparks. Just as Fang Zhouji felt he could no longer hold back, a voice intervened at the perfect moment, extinguishing the three flames of rage on his head.
“It’s been wrong since you walked in. A xiaoguan (young male entertainer) undergoes professional training; every move must conform to rules and be aesthetically pleasing. I’m not asking for a lightweight posture while walking, but at least don’t puff out your chest and gut like a pregnant pig.”
Song Xueyan twisted his prayer beads unhurriedly. “It doesn’t matter if you have a belly; suck it in. At least maintain the appearance of your physique. You don’t have many scenes total; you won’t die from holding your breath.”
Yuan Mo clenched his fists, holding his breath as he apologized.
“You can mimic a feminine voice, but don’t make it so exaggerated. That sound you just made? Even an old eunuch who’s been castrated for half a lifetime would have to call you their ancestor. And your lines your voice is unstable and shaking. This scene is an assassination in a study, not a seduction in a bedchamber.”
“Uh…” Yuan Mo said, “I’m sorry.”
“Besides the issues Director Fang mentioned, there’s one more thing. When I kicked you, you were already prepared to be kicked, but the character wouldn’t have that expectation. Therefore, the details of your performance don’t align with the character’s logical behavior.”
Song Xueyan’s tone was flat; it wasn’t mocking, nor did it sound like criticism. “Did you even prepare at all? Maintaining your figure, training your poise, understanding the character—you seem to have done none of this. Do you look down on this minor supporting role with only two scenes and think you can just slack off? Or do you mistake yourself for an award-winning actor, thinking your acting can cover up your lack of physical preparation, and that two simple scenes can be handled with ease?”
“I did prepare…” Yuan Mo’s eyes reddened not from grievance, but from sheer embarrassment.
“If you had, you wouldn’t have played a young xiaoguan as a super-hybrid of a middle-aged brothel madam and a eunuch, and you wouldn’t have spoken normal lines like a G/V actor.” Song Xueyan stroked the black Pixiu head below his prayer beads. “Continue.”
Fang Zhouji leaned back and said, “Damn it, it’s like seeing a ghost, acting like this is a five-star difficulty climax scene! Where’s the stunt double? Let him come and fall once. I want to see which part of this is haunted!”
The stunt double quickly came up.
He was a young man with clean, delicate features. He put on the harness, visibly nervous. Fang Zhouji gave the order, and he quickly found his mark, took a deep breath, fermented his focus for a few seconds, and with the help of the director and the harness, fell onto the mat cleanly.
Just as Fang Zhouji nodded in satisfaction, the next second he became even angrier. “The stunt double’s poise and movements are better than yours, and even his facial expressions are more in character!”
Yuan Mo glanced at the stunt double. The other man was beaming because he had been praised. Yuan Mo gritted his teeth, paused suddenly, recognized the stunt double’s face, and then scoffed.
Reduced from a background extra to a stunt double, yet still able to laugh what a pathetic worm.
Fang Zhouji wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “Such a simple scene, someone else can figure it out just by standing nearby, yet you have the script and can’t understand it. I really don’t know if you were sent by my rivals to deliberately piss me off so I don’t live long enough to compete for awards with them!”
Yuan Mo had been picked apart from head to toe by Song Xueyan; he was already full of stifled anger, and now, having been humiliated by a stunt double, all his fury surged to his head. Before he could stop himself, he retorted, “If he’s so good, why don’t you let him act!”
Fang Zhouji stood up, shaking the table so hard the cup lid rolled off, only to be caught by Yan Qi’s quick reflexes.
“Notify the production team immediately! Fucking replace him! And find Yuan Mo’s audition clip; I want to see who poured this piece of shit in front of me.” Fang Zhouji looked at the stunt double. “You, can you do it?”
The stunt double was stunned, and before he could answer, Yuan Mo had already rushed out in tears, bumping into him and making him stumble back two steps. He steadied himself, came to his senses, and said, “I, I can?”
“Just you.” Fang Zhouji was impatient. “Can you or not?”
“I can, I can do it!” The stunt double’s eyes lit up, he stepped forward and said, “I can.”
Fang Zhouji said, “What’s your name?”
“Tan… Tan Shui (River water, Tan Shui).” Tan Shui didn’t care about his bruised chest. His eyes swept past Fang Zhouji and landed timidly yet excitedly on Song Xueyan’s face. “Thank you, Director Fang, thank you.”
Well then. Yan Qi watched coldly another die-hard fan.
Yuan Mo rushed into the nanny car. The assistant quickly closed the door and handed him a tissue. “Don’t cry”
“Fang Zhouji actually replaced me! On what grounds? And he replaced me with Tan Shui!” Yuan Mo shoved the assistant’s hand away, causing the assistant to fall to the floor. “Did you see how he was smiling just now! He was kicked out of the crew by me before, and now he’s stealing my role. He must be so smug! If this gets out, how am I supposed to show my face!”
Yuan Mo hadn’t expected Fang Zhouji to really dare to replace him, and the assistant hadn’t expected Yuan Mo to lose the role. Once the company investigated, Yuan Mo certainly wouldn’t take the blame, so the company would vent its anger on him—perhaps he would even lose this job.
The assistant crawled up, (enduring) said: “Director Fang’s temper is well-known. He never gives anyone face. Previously, a big-name actor acted like a diva on set, and he kicked him out directly. I told you about these things before filming started, and I also advised”
Yuan Mo slapped the assistant’s face, gritted his teeth and said, “It’s not your turn to lecture me, get out!”
“Uh…” The assistant covered his face, not daring to speak again, and hurriedly got out of the car.
Yuan Mo turned around. “Drive.”
The driver heard nothing of the outside world, started the car, and left the set.
“Uh…” Yuan Mo took out his phone, found a number in his contacts, and dialed it. After the other party picked up, he sniffled and called out “President Wang” in a pitiful, whiny voice.
President Wang’s voice was a bit muffled on the phone. “Calling me so late? Missed me?”
Yuan Mo’s acting was very refined at this moment; he shed tears almost instantly, embellishing the story of what had just happened.
Fang Zhouji was hard to touch, so Yuan Mo specifically mentioned Tan Shui and Song Xueyan. Tan Shui had offended him in a previous crew and had been slapped and kicked out by him; upon returning, he had been fired by his agency and was now penniless and helpless—someone he could bully as he pleased. Although Song Xueyan had established a foothold, who told him to dare rebel against Huaying back then, walking away and giving Huaying such a big slap in the face?
Yuan Mo sniffled and said in a hoarse voice, “Teacher Song is my senior, and he has a private friendship with Director Fang. When he’s on set, it’s like he’s the director. Whatever he says, I have to take it; I don’t dare to make a sound, fearing I’ll make Teacher Song unhappy. But now that Tan Shui has taken my role, how am I supposed to live from now on!”
“Song Xueyan is so noble and cold. Never mind you, even if it were a top-tier celebrity currently in vogue, as long as they are in the crew, they would have to bow to him.” President Wang sneered, silent for half a minute, feeling very unsettled. “A beautiful face and seductive bones, yet a troublesome prick who doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
Yuan Mo heard the malice and hurriedly took the opportunity to say, “No matter how good-looking or skilled he is, he’s still an ingrate. Back then, Huaying brought him up, and as soon as his wings hardened, he abandoned his old employer and flew away on his own. I think he’s just arrogant because he has Director Fang’s protection and a face that can command a price.”
He didn’t believe for a second that Song Xueyan was “clean.”
After Song Xueyan hit it big, he signed with Huaying. A serious businessman would definitely value his commercial worth, but President Wang was different. Even if Huaying’s chairman Wang Ruizhe valued his cash cow more, there was still Wang Deqi underneath. Yuan Mo knew exactly what kind of person Wang Deqi was.
Song Xueyan looked like someone who would be the death of that lecherous old pervert! He had been in Huaying for so long; could Wang Deqi have restrained himself to only look and not eat?
When Song Xueyan voluntarily terminated his contract with Huaying, something must have happened. The outside world had many different opinions, all just guesses, and Yuan Mo couldn’t be sure either. But listening to the tone Wang Deqi used when talking about Song Xueyan, perhaps it really did have something to do with him.
Yuan Mo wiped his tears and said worriedly, “If Song Xueyan can still be smooth sailing without Huaying’s protection, he’s really born to eat this bowl of rice. He’s only 24 years old. If he goes on like this, he’ll definitely become the next Qu Chengtai.”
This reminded Wang Deqi: if Song Xueyan were allowed to continue like this, who knows how wild he would get in the future? If both sides had ended it peacefully, that would be one thing, but the problem was that Song Xueyan had unilaterally terminated the contract, publicly slapping Huaying’s face. This must have been a source of unhappiness. Once Song Xueyan truly hit the big time, he might reveal the “past” to the outside world.
Sure enough, Wang Deqi cursed under his breath and hung up the phone.
He thought the summer rain wouldn’t last long, but it poured again in the middle of the night. The rain stopped in the morning, on and off, never clearing up completely.
The weather forecast didn’t give any good news, so He Songjun and Fang Zhouji decided to modify the script and storyboard overnight, picking out the few scenes that required summer rain.
Once the shooting schedule was changed, the crew was notified, and the actors who needed to appear had to be adjusted.
Yan Qi’s half-day of mini-vacation was ruthlessly occupied. He didn’t mind; he just sent word to the three elders of the Yan family, temporarily canceling the “Return to the Old Nest” plan this time.
Filming until the afternoon, Tang Wanbai took advantage of the break time to talk to Yan Qi, “Are you still living with Teacher Song?”
The time of intimacy from living together had long passed, but Song Xueyan and Yan Qi seemed to have forgotten, and neither had mentioned it.
They would bump into each other when going out in the morning, and do whatever they needed to do. If it happened to be a coincidence, Yan Qi would serve Song Xueyan a meal, covering everything before and after the meal, but sometimes the crew’s schedule was too tight, and they might not even see each other for a whole day.
Like today.
Yan Qi drank a sip of mint water and said, “Yeah, Teacher Song and I live under the same roof.”
“I envy you so much.” Tang Wanbai propped his chin on his hands, “Teacher Song not moving out means he lives quite comfortably.”
Yan Qi felt secretly cool, but pretended to be calm and deep, “The suite is so big, and my roommate is a polite, considerate, and gentle handsome man. If he isn’t comfortable, who is?”
Tang Wanbai was immersed in envy and didn’t hear the logical emphasis Yan Qi had deliberately designed, nor the boasting in his tone. He nodded unconsciously.
This was blatant envy and disappointment.
Yan Qi saw through Tang Wanbai’s psychological activities, sighed, and pressed the corners of his mouth, “What a pity, it’s a two-bedroom suite, it can only accommodate two of us. Otherwise, inviting you to be a guest for one night, to be under the same roof as your idol at close range, wouldn’t be impossible.”
Tang Wanbai turned his head, and before he could say anything, he was called away by Fang Zhouji, leaving Yan Qi alone in the rocking chair, unable to help rocking a few times.
“Qi-ge!”
Xiao Bing popped up from behind, throwing two pieces of paper, one big and one small, into Yan Qi’s arms.
“Scared the hell out of me.” Yan Qi reached out to pick them up. One was an invitation, the other a list of invited guests. He opened the invitation, “Tu Ming, who’s that?”
Xiao Bing lay on the top of the rocking chair and said, “He’s a very famous producer and investor in the circle. It’s his birthday tonight. He’s hosting a banquet. On the surface, it’s to celebrate his birthday, but it’s actually effective socializing expanding contacts, exchanging benefits, that kind of thing. Director Fang and Tu Ming are good friends, and Tu Ming is also Director Fang’s senior from the same department, so he sent invitations to everyone in our crew.”
Yan Qi said “oh,” “Are Director Fang and Writer He going too?”
“Seems like they aren’t, there’s filming tonight.” Xiao Bing paused, and said as if telling a secret, “But Teacher Song will go.”
“Him?” Yan Qi was startled, “Doesn’t he not really like banquets like this?”
Xiao Bing, who seemed to be a master of the underworld, immediately told a past story: “Back then, Teacher Song was able to star in Black Cliff—besides Director Fang’s strenuous recommendation and protection—it was thanks to that drama’s investor who bucked the trend and supported Fang Zhouji’s decision to use him.”
The investor must be this Tu Ming. In this way, Tu Ming also had a bit of grace for Song Xueyan.
Yan Qi said: “This Tu Ming has quite a sharp eye.”
Xiao Bing asked: “So Qi-ge, are you going or not?”
Yan Qi didn’t have much interest. While hesitating, he casually flipped through the invited guests.
There were many people in the circle, and grievances were everywhere. In large-scale banquets like this, not everyone knew each other’s roots.
So the host would post the list of invited guests in advance, asking guests to “avoid mines” themselves, so that enemies wouldn’t meet face to face later, making both host and guest embarrassed.
This guest list with red background and gold foil characters dazzled Yan Qi, so he simply flipped to the main page. The top guests written there were the most important ones. To put it vulgarly, they were those with status and power.
Yan Qi didn’t see the names of Yu Jingchen and Fu Yangle, so he said: “Forget it, I”
His eyes suddenly paused. In the fourth column, it read: Wang Deqi.
It was sultry after the summer rain. Song Xueyan sipped a mint candy in front of the banquet hall, which was passed to him earlier by Han Dongling on behalf of Zhou Yi.
Wait until the cube completely melted into candy juice, Song Xueyan turned around and handed in the invitation, followed the receptionist through the fluttering gowns and famous watches and expensive wine, and went directly to Tu Ming. Tu Ming was chatting and clinking glasses with someone; he waited nearby for a while. During the interval, he glimpsed two rows of small strawberry cakes on the dessert table.
A bit like the one Yan Qi had sent him earlier, but not as cute.
Tu Ming sent away several business partners with a wave of his hand, walked a few steps closer to Song Xueyan at the same time, stood by the antique white standing table, and spoke.
“Mr. Tu, I wish you a happy birthday, good health, and a family full of gold and jade.” Song Xueyan presented the gift bag with both hands, “To your liking, high-quality Jinshan Shiyu.”
Tu Ming smiled and took the gift bag, leaned closer and said: “A basket full of gifts tonight, but yours is the one that understands my heart the best. I heard from Little Ji that your filming schedule is tight, and I thought you weren’t coming; you scared me.”
Song Xueyan’s tone was much milder than usual, “Your birthday, I definitely must come.”
“I know you remember me. Alright, since you’ve come, I won’t restrain you. You can leave whenever you want, but I’ll take this opportunity to say a few more words to you.” Tu Ming said.
Song Xueyan nodded, “Please tell me.”
“That kid you’re filming with, his name is Yan Qi.” Tu Ming paused, “How are you getting along?”
Song Xueyan said truthfully: “Very well.”
“That’s good. I know you aren’t a person who bows to the high and steps on the low, or bullies the soft and fears the hard, but I’m just saying a few words, it doesn’t waste saliva.” Tu Ming lowered his voice, “Yan Qi has some background, raised in a golden palace. You have a cold personality, and he isn’t a novice soft bun either. If you two can get along harmoniously in the crew, that’s best; just don’t offend another big head.”
Tu Ming took a fancy to Song Xueyan at first glance. Otherwise, he couldn’t have bucked the trend to support Fang Zhouji’s casting decision, nor could he have代為 (on behalf) shouldered the pressure from the investors. The facts proved his sharp eye; he hadn’t made the wrong decision.
After so many years, Song Xueyan could be considered to have walked his path under his watch; he wouldn’t comment on the Huaying matter back then.
But offending one Huaying was enough; he didn’t want to see Song Xueyan offend the Yan family as well.
Song Xueyan hadn’t expected him to say this, and couldn’t help but curve his lips: “Thank you for your concern; I know what I’m doing. Besides, Yan Qi is…” He paused, casting himself as an ordinary senior and colleague, “He has a great personality, doesn’t like to bully others, is very willing to accept guidance in short, he’s someone who is easy to like.”
“That’s good.” Tu Ming smiled, “Then I’ll continue to be a social butterfly, you look after yourself.”
Song Xueyan nodded. Waiting for Tu Ming to take his drink and dive into the crowd, he also turned around. Tu Ming told him he could leave whenever he wanted, but it wasn’t good to leave just as he arrived.
Not far away stood a dessert table. As Song Xueyan passed by, he took a strawberry cake. He had been here before and knew there was a pavilion outside the back door of the banquet hall, walking half a circle around a small garden.
Dark clouds blocked half the moon. He remembered that he hadn’t seen Yan Qi today.
Sitting down in the pavilion, Song Xueyan took out his phone, set the angle, took a picture of the little cake, edited the picture, and uploaded it to Moments. He poked a piece of cake into his mouth, thinking it was too sweet.
“Xueyan.”
The sound of footsteps gradually approached. Song Xueyan glanced at his phone. Fu Yangle was the first to like and comment.
【Eating cakes at someone else’s house is not as good as coming to my house for noodles. (Shy)】
He turned off the screen, turned to look at the person coming, his tone indifferent, “The host’s good day, don’t stick your perceptiveness to the soles of your feet; don’t come here to make me unhappy.”
Wang Deqi stood outside the pavilion, spreading his hands, “Your words are strange; I just want to find you to relive the past.” He stared at Song Xueyan’s face, “You’ve looked pretty good recently.”
Song Xueyan couldn’t be bothered to respond. Wang Deqi was used to it; he took two steps forward, his toes touching the steps, “I called you, but you didn’t pick up, and you didn’t reply to my messages. Do you really want to sever ties with me? We were colleagues after all. Xueyan, you’ve done things too ruthlessly.”
“President Wang is joking; at most, we stayed in the same company.” Song Xueyan narrowed his eyes at Wang Deqi, displaying all his contempt, “In terms of function, Chairman Wang is my superior.”
Huaying Media was managed by Wang Ruizhe. Although Wang Deqi was a high-level executive, it was a titular position. To put it bluntly, he got to the top because of his family relationship. Song Xueyan’s words were peeling off Wang Deqi’s face, scolding him for being a dog using its master’s power while begging for food.
Wang Deqi stared at Song Xueyan, walked up the steps, and said gloomily: “You fucking”
“President Wang.”
Song Xueyan’s hand gripping the small fork froze slightly. He and Wang Deqi turned their eyes at the same time, seeing Yan Qi standing by the wooden lotus tree not far away.
“Uh…” Song Xueyan quickly withdrew his gaze, gripping the fork even tighter.
“Yo, isn’t this the little young master?” Wang Deqi instantly changed his smiling face, revealing a kind and approachable elder’s posture, “Little Qi, long time no see.”
Yan Qi stepped over, passed Wang Deqi, and went straight to Song Xueyan’s side. He lowered his eyelids. Song Xueyan’s eyelashes trembled in his gaze.
Was this fear?
It didn’t look like it, it looked more like… tension.
He couldn’t be sure, when suddenly he reached out to wrap his arms around Song Xueyan’s waist, ignoring the surprised looks on the faces of Song Xueyan and Wang Deqi, and with strong force, pulled the fork out of Song Xueyan’s hand bit by bit.
Song Xueyan wanted to move, but Yan Qi pressed him down, not letting him. Eye contact met. Song Xueyan didn’t know what Yan Qi wanted to do, his lips pressed into a line.
Yan Qi suppressed the strange pity in his heart, turned his head, his eyes cold and dark.
“As the saying goes, ‘Friends’ wives should not be bullied.’ President Wang, what do you want to do?”