Zheng Qi never expected that before he could even see Shen Kui for an explanation, Han Tang would come looking for him first.
Zheng Qi felt completely baffled: “Young President Han, are you looking for me?”
Hadn’t people been saying that Young President Han was currently pursuing Shen Kui? Why would he still come to find him at a time like this? Wasn’t he afraid that Shen Kui would misunderstand and get jealous?
Recalling the hostility previously displayed in Shen Kui’s eyes, Zheng Qi felt his heart skip a beat, and he couldn’t help but suspect:
Could it be that Shen Kui had said something in front of Han Tang, and as a result, Han Tang had come to make trouble for him?
Thinking of all the frustrating troubles he had encountered before Han Tang bought out the company, Zheng Qi felt deeply depressed.
Just as he was thinking this, Zheng Qi saw Shen Kui enter the dressing room as well.
As the male lead, Shen Kui had no business lingering in a dressing room that wasn’t his own, and his purpose for coming here was crystal clear.
He probably wanted to come and watch his former rival make a fool of himself, to let him see clearly how much Han Tang favored him, so that he would never again dare to seduce Han Tang and shake his position.
Hadn’t that been exactly what he encountered before?
Thinking of this, Zheng Qi looked at Shen Kui with an unavoidable hint of impatience and disgust.
He could only place his hopes on completing the mission entrusted to him by that person as soon as possible.
But before that, he was still an artist under Han Tang’s company. If he didn’t want to pay a massive breach of contract penalty, he could only endure Han Tang’s various bizarre antics for now.
Holding the mindset of getting it over with sooner rather than later, Zheng Qi ignored Shen Kui’s arrival and asked Han Tang directly: “I wonder what business Young President Han has with me?”
Shen Kui had no idea what was going through Zheng Qi’s mind. He had already suspected that Zheng Qi’s background wasn’t clean, and seeing the other person’s expression sink the moment he spotted him only served to confirm his suspicions.
Han Tang had his back to the door and didn’t realize Shen Kui had entered the dressing room either, mistakenly believing Zheng Qi’s impatience and disgust were directed at him.
He understood.
After all, from the other person’s perspective, he had attempted to forcefully keep him as a kept man not too long ago, so vigilance was only natural.
This was precisely why he chose to discuss this matter in a relatively public space like the dressing room.
After explaining his intentions in a few brief sentences, Han Tang looked at the other person with eyes full of anticipation.
Who was Zheng Qi? That was someone whose acting skills in the middle and later stages of the original novel would rival the protagonist shou!
Although the other person hadn’t reached that level yet, guiding a rookie like him was more than enough!
Zheng Qi never expected that Han Tang hadn’t come to pick a fight with him at all, but rather to ask for his guidance on acting.
His first reaction was to refuse, but remembering the mission he had come to fulfill, he felt rather conflicted.
He wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t be too rigid about it.
The person in front of him wasn’t just his ultimate boss, but also the film crew’s financial backer. If he displeased him and got kicked out, his mission would fail.
If the mission failed, he would truly be forced down that path he wanted to avoid the most.
Seeing Zheng Qi staring intently at the youth with a probing look in his eyes, Shen Kui’s coldness intensified even further.
While pondering, Zheng Qi suddenly felt a chill behind him, as if he were being targeted by some fierce beast. Following the source of the chill, he looked over.
Sure enough, he saw the vigilance and hostility in Shen Kui’s eyes turning almost tangible, transforming into icy blades slashing toward him.
Zheng Qi experienced a sudden flash of insight.
Shen Kui was right there. When a young couple had a lover’s spat, wouldn’t it be best to let them resolve it internally? What on earth was he stressing out about here!
Faced with Han Tang’s request, Zheng Qi deliberately put on a troubled expression and said:
“Young President Han, you also know I received this invitation quite last minute, and I haven’t even fully wrapped my head around the script yet.”
Seeing Han Tang’s expression agree with him, Zheng Qi quickly passed the baton:
“Your dramatic scenes are mostly with Teacher Shen anyway. Why don’t you go ask Teacher Shen instead? That way, we can also save ourselves the trouble of trying to mesh our rhythms when official filming starts.”
Han Tang knew what he said made sense, and he also felt Shen Kui was the best choice.
Using Shen Kui’s acting skills to coach him was like using a butcher knife to slaughter a chicken, plus he could take advantage of the situation to flirt under the guise of discussing lines and rack up hatred points!
It was just that the other person was too busy!
Shen Kui was the absolute protagonist of this show. Because the third male lead had an accident and his replacement hadn’t arrived yet, many previously scheduled scenes couldn’t be filmed in order. Consequently, Su Li gathered all available scenes that Shen Kui could shoot and crammed them together, resulting in Shen Kui’s schedule running almost from morning till night.
Han Tang’s bottom hurt just from sitting on a small stool watching Shen Kui work every day, let alone standing from morning till night and having to expend so much mental and emotional energy like Shen Kui!
He wondered if such heavy exhaustion would affect the quality of the film.
This was an important turning point in Shen Kui’s career! He hoped there wouldn’t be any problems!
He was still waiting to go home after finishing the mission!
Thinking of this, Han Tang wanted to offer a word of persuasion: “That may be true, but…”
Before Han Tang could finish, someone suddenly stepped between him and Zheng Qi:
“Teacher Zheng makes a valid point.” After saying that, he turned to face Han Tang and said, “Young Master, after shooting wraps up today, I’ll come find you to talk about our scenes together.”
Han Tang was so startled that his legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground, though fortunately Shen Kui reacted in time to catch and steady him.
Recontacting the youth and lightly inhaling the fresh scent blending paper ink and the youth’s natural fragrance, Shen Kui’s exhaustion from rushing through scenes instantly vanished, and his entire being became revitalized.
Although the two of them guarded against each other and harbored their own agendas, their reactions to this matter were surprisingly uniform.
The arrangement was quickly finalized amidst Shen Kui and Zheng Qi’s back-and-forth remarks.
When Shen Kui knocked on his door that evening to practice lines, Han Tang still couldn’t figure out how Shen Kui had agreed so easily.
When he had asked Shen Kui to practice lines before, the other person refused without a second thought. Now, the moment Zheng Qi brought it up, the other person agreed right away. Was this the gap in how the protagonist treated his own faction versus the villain faction?