Chapter 28: Acting Spoiled

Coincidentally, the owner came to serve the dishes. Shen Xici politely spoke up, “Director Lu, why don’t we write after we finish eating?”

Lu Jiming was overjoyed. There’s such a good thing?

No wonder when he and that extra named Old Wei sat down in this shop and looked at the menu, he had no desire to order anything. It turned out he had a premonition that he would run into two gods today, and the gods would even treat him to a meal!

Lu Jiming immediately stood up. “Okay, okay, I’ll go tell my friend!”

Walking around the flower trellis, he picked up his canvas bag and said with a sincere face, “Old Wei, look, how embarrassing. I didn’t expect to run into a friend. I’ve troubled you to make this trip today, and you only got to drink two sips of flower tea. I’ll definitely treat you to a good meal next time!”

After sending Old Wei out of the courtyard gate, Lu Jiming sat down at Shen Xici’s table with great familiarity and quickly scanned the dishes, swallowing hard.

Picking up his chopsticks, before he started eating, he asked very cautiously, “This meal isn’t going Dutch, is it?”

Shen Xici was eating the mango shaved ice he had ordered. The first bite sent a shiver through him. He shook his head. “I’m treating you. We’re not splitting it.”

He could tell that this Director Lu was very hard up. His canvas bag was worn with holes, and his plaid shirt had been washed countless times. He probably cut his own hair to save money. When meeting someone to discuss business, he chose the most remote restaurant in the county town, freeloaded on the owner’s tea, and didn’t even order any food after they finished talking.

But although this person’s hair was messy and his clothes were tattered, he was very clean from head to toe. Even his fingernails were neatly trimmed. He had a baby face, making it hard to tell his exact age. Behind the large black-framed glasses, his eyes were clear.

He was curious. “Director Lu, how much did you pay that extra to act in a scene with you?”

Lu Jiming hadn’t eaten such a delicious meal in a long time. He shoveled down a few mouthfuls of rice, and after swallowing, he held up three fingers.

Shen Xici: “Three hundred?”

Lu Jiming: “Thirty, including round-trip bus fare!”

Shen Xici let out a soft gasp—So ruthless. The capitalist named Sheng sitting next to you is a bodhisattva compared to you.

Lu Jiming, having found his only two audience members, said, “What do you guys think of the lines I discussed with Old Wei? The first scene, about rejecting my script and then coming back to me for cooperation, is a ‘reject-and-chase’ trope, a scumbag looking back, wanting but not getting. The later scene with the heartless man, it’s melodramatic, boy love, having a child, suspense. If we expand on it, we can even add elements of running away with the child and the scumbag’s ‘cremation ground’.”

He was a little apprehensive. “If you were Zhong Yue, would you stop and listen?”

The elements were indeed sufficient. Shen Xici answered sincerely, “As long as the director isn’t behind me with a knife, I would stop and watch this drama unfold.”

Lu Jiming praised, “Brother, you have good taste!”

Shen Xici: “I saw online that after Zhong Yue finishes filming this movie, he’s immediately joining the next crew for another year and a half. He might not have the time.”

Lu Jiming didn’t care at all. “What do you think I see in Zhong Yue?”

“His good acting skills and large fan base?”

“No, no, no, how could I be so profound? I just saw his money.”

Lu Jiming held up his empty bowl for the owner to add more rice and said logically, “Zhong Yue is backed by the capital city circle’s capital. If any one of them is willing to invest a little, a small sprinkle of water, everything will be revived. He’s busy? It doesn’t matter, I can wait. Anyway, I can’t start work without money.”

Shen Xici heard this and said, “That makes a lot of sense. A film crew is such a money-burning thing. Every minute, every second, money is being spent. Without money, let alone starting work, you can’t even find a single person.”

“Right, right,” Lu Jiming hadn’t forgotten about recruiting Shen Xici. “After I talk to Zhong Yue, would you consider taking a role? Whatever role you want to play, I’ll tailor-make it for you. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Shen Xici held back a laugh. “That’s certainly faster than bringing my own screenwriter to the crew to change the script. But I need to go back and discuss it with my… manager.”

“Okay, okay, find me anytime!” Lu Jiming complained again, “I admire Director Wan Shan’s movies, but I really don’t like this location he chose. To corner Zhong Yue, I spent all my savings of 928 yuan and even owe money on Huabei just to get here.”

Before this, Sheng Shaoyan had listened to this person’s endless, familiar chatter with no expression on his face. It wasn’t until this sentence that he finally looked up.

So there are people in this world who are even poorer than he was when he had nothing?

After the meal, Shen Xici took the initiative to exchange contact information and also had the owner pack up all the restaurant’s signature dishes for Lu Jiming to take back.

Lu Jiming said verbally, “How can I? This is too much. This one meal can keep me from starving for two days!” while rubbing his hands and quickly picking up the stack of packed food containers. His figure, as he walked out of the courtyard gate, was jubilant.

The courtyard became quiet again.

Seeing Shen Xici’s lips were red and moist from the shaved ice, Sheng Shaoyan naturally reached out and wiped the corner of his mouth. Meeting Shen Xici’s questioning gaze, his expression was flawless. “There was some jam on the corner of your mouth.”

Shen Xici didn’t suspect anything and touched his own lips. “Is there still any?”

“It’s gone.”

“Okay, thanks A’Shao! Do you want to try this shaved ice? Besides being too cold, it’s perfect.” Shen Xici tried hard to sell it, scooping a spoonful with a clean spoon and handing it over.

He had originally just wanted to hand the spoon to Sheng Shaoyan for him to eat himself. Unexpectedly, Sheng Shaoyan, not minding the trouble, leaned over, and after getting close, opened his mouth and ate the spoonful of shaved ice.

It was as if he was feeding him.

“It’s indeed delicious,” Sheng Shaoyan smoothly changed the subject. “You think that director is not bad?”

“Director Lu?” Shen Xici thought it was probably his own action that had made Sheng Shaoyan misunderstand. He switched back to his own spoon. “Although I don’t know if Director Lu’s script story is well-written or how his directing skills are, he’s very impressive. With less than a thousand yuan, he dared to travel thousands of miles from Ningcheng to Sui County just to see Zhong Yue. After figuring out Zhong Yue’s schedule, he didn’t rush up rashly, but found an extra, wrote lines, and tried his best to create an opportunity for himself. I admire people like that.”

Shen Xici had seen too many people struggling in the entertainment industry. Everyone held the dream of making a name for themselves. One in ten thousand, or even one in a hundred thousand, succeeded and became glamorous. The rest were just footnotes under words like “disappointed” and “failures,” as if these people had never worked hard.

In his previous life, although he had also eaten at this restaurant a few times, his role as the undercover agent Ah Zheng didn’t have as many scenes as the mute boy. At the same point in time, he had already finished filming, left Sui County, and returned to Ningcheng. He hadn’t met this director named Lu, so naturally, he had no way of knowing if Director Lu had successfully told the story of his script to Zhong Yue.

Knowing it was unrealistic, Shen Xici still said, “I hope he can successfully win this opportunity.”

Sheng Shaoyan was even more indifferent and detached. “If I were Zhong Yue’s manager, I wouldn’t let this person’s script take up a single minute of Zhong Yue’s time.”

Shen Xici used his temporary persona and joked, “Aren’t you my manager? Then why didn’t you stop me when I was chatting so much with him?”

“You’re different.” Under the bright sun, Sheng Shaoyan’s tone was still calm. “If you like it, you can do anything.”

---

The next day at the film set, Shen Xici specifically asked Lan Xiaoshan if anything had happened when Zhong Yue came out of the crew’s hotel.

Lan Xiaoshan was just about to say, “Yes, yes!”

Just as Shen Xici was thinking Director Lu might have succeeded, he heard Lan Xiaoshan say, “Teacher Zhong got into the wrong car when he went out today. He ducked his head into Teacher Wen’s car, which scared Teacher Wen into urgently denying the rumors, saying she doesn’t like older men. It went straight to the top two on the trending list!”

Shen Xici pressed on, “Anything else? Did anyone come looking for Teacher Zhong Yue? Or was there anything different from usual?”

“Fans come every day,” Lan Xiaoshan thought hard. “Something different, oh, there was one thing. I was in the car at the time. I saw a fan who seemed to want to give a book he made or something to Teacher Zhong. The bodyguard stopped him, and it looked like they got physical, pushing the person down. That fan was limping. I don’t know if he was injured. So unlucky.”

After five in the afternoon, the motorcycle stopped at the emergency department of the county hospital.

Sheng Shaoyan went to park the motorcycle. Shen Xici went to the emergency room on the first floor by himself. On the hospital bed by the window, completely different from the gloom Shen Xici had expected, Lu Jiming was crossing his legs and chatting with the old man in the next bed.

“Grandpa, I’m not going to meet your granddaughter. I really can’t get married right now. A famous director, do you understand, a famous director? If the news of my marriage gets out, a whole bunch of reporters will swarm over, chasing and blocking me. That pressure, can an ordinary person bear it? I’d better not hold your granddaughter back. She deserves someone better!”

Shen Xici walked over. “Director Lu.”

At first, Lu Jiming thought he was hearing things, until the old man excitedly pointed behind him and asked, “If you can’t marry her, what about this handsome guy?”

“Handsome guy?” Seeing Shen Xici in a black mask, Lu Jiming was startled. He adjusted his broken glasses and quickly waved his hands at the old man. “No, no, he’s even more impossible. A famous actor! How can an actor get married so early? Career comes first!”

With a “swish,” he pulled the blue curtain by the bed, isolating the space. Lu Jiming couldn’t believe it. “I thought you were just asking. You really came?”

Shen Xici sat down on the chair by the bed. “The old man is introducing you to a girlfriend?”

Lu Jiming chuckled and explained in a low voice, “I dislocated my ankle. The doctor ‘cracked’ it back into place for me, and it hurt so much I howled. As soon as I got here, the old man came over to get close to me, saying that when I howled, the whole floor could hear it. My voice is loud, my breath is strong, my body is healthy, I’m reliable. He wants to recruit me as his grandson-in-law!”

He “tsked.” “A face that launches a thousand ships. Even with a mask on, as soon as you stood here, the old man immediately abandoned me. This world that judges by looks, so superficial. Why doesn’t anyone look at my inner talent?”

The smile on his face could no longer be maintained. Lu Jiming sat in the middle of the hospital bed, his head lowered, his overly long hair covering his expression. He stuck his finger into a hole in the bedsheet and twirled it. “It’s my fault too. I couldn’t see clearly. I hoped Zhong Yue would give me two minutes. What was I thinking? What’s that saying? He’s a swan, and I’m a toad.”

After saying that, he laughed first himself.

Shen Xici didn’t offer any comfort. He took the fruit he had bought from the old lady out of the plastic bag and placed it on the cabinet one by one. “I don’t know what you like to eat, so I just bought some random things.”

“It’s enough that you came. Why buy fruit?” Lu Jiming quickly picked the largest orange, peeled it in two moves, and stuffed it into his mouth. He was so satisfied he was about to cry. “I haven’t had fruit in almost three months. So this is what oranges taste like! Brother, I just like your style of just buying some random things!”

Shen Xici picked another large one and handed it to him. “What are you planning to do next?”

“I’ll go back to Ningcheng first and work some odd jobs. I have to earn rent money. Then I’ll find some time to hang around the Ningcheng Academy of Drama. Maybe I’ll really get to scout two future stars, with not only great acting skills but also a salary of only twenty thousand, before tax!” Lu Jiming’s eyes showed no trace of gloom. He said spiritedly, “Maybe I’ll be able to pull together a film crew just like that?”

Before he left, adhering to the principle that since Shen Xici had come, he couldn’t go back empty-handed, Lu Jiming pulled out a thick script from his worn-out canvas bag. “Your manager looks tough to deal with. A salary of twenty thousand, if I dare to quote him that, he’ll dare to kill me with his eyes.”

He caressed the cover of the script. Because the return gift was too meager, he was uncharacteristically a little embarrassed. “I wrote it myself. Don’t mind it. You can take it back and use it as a bedtime story to help you sleep, or to prop up a table leg, or cover instant noodles. It’s multi-functional!”

Shen Xici did not refuse his kind offer. He took the meticulously bound script, which had very good paper, and left the emergency room. He then went to the billing office and paid Lu Jiming’s medical fees.

After eating out and riding his motorcycle around the streets for a few laps to feel the wind, he went home and took a shower. Shen Xici looked at the notice from the film crew and began to study the content to be filmed tomorrow.

Sheng Shaoyan had also taken a shower. His hair was half-dry. He sat on the bed in the bedroom and continued to browse through rental apps, looking at houses in Ningcheng. The choice of type had changed from the previous two bedrooms to a large master bedroom with a walk-in closet. It would be best if two studies could be arranged. Shen Xici needed to be fully focused when reading scripts, so it would be better if the studies could be separate.

After finishing his study of tomorrow’s scenes, the night had already deepened. Shen Xici suddenly felt that something was wrong. He turned his head and saw Sheng Shaoyan sitting on the bed.

A thin pajama top with a front opening, the style was as plain as could be, but two or three buttons were undone. The open collar made the lines of Sheng Shaoyan’s neck clearer, and the person himself more sharp. One could also vaguely see the distinct muscle lines on his chest. The shadow was like it had been carefully drawn on a piece of drawing paper with a pencil.

Coupled with his mixed-race features that had a Slavic quality, and his long, slightly bent legs, even Shen Xici couldn’t help but be stunned for a couple of seconds.

How to put it? It was a bit like a male animal in nature that did not hide its physical aggressiveness and allure. It was too handsome and eye-catching.

Looking again, he saw that there was an extra set of pillow and thin quilt on his bed. Or rather, Sheng Shaoyan hadn’t taken them away after getting up in the morning.

Shen Xici was just trying to organize his words when the person on the bed spoke first. “Going to sleep?”

“Yeah, I’m about to.” Shen Xici hesitated. “A’Shao, do you still want to sleep on the bed tonight?”

Seeing Sheng Shaoyan’s cold and pressing eyes look over without denying it, Shen Xici remembered the other’s quirk of not liking to sleep in the same bed with people. He got up to get his own pillow. “Then I’ll go sleep on the sofa.”

Before he could touch the pillow, his wrist was grabbed.

“It’s too cold to sleep alone. Will you accompany me?”

Seeing that Shen Xici didn’t answer, Sheng Shaoyan recalled something for a moment. Experimentally, the hand holding Shen Xici’s wrist gave a small, unfamiliar shake.