Chapter 47: Now

Seeing the news on the trending topics that Shen Xici was confirmed to star in “Capital City Massacre,” Xu Lingjia, who was sitting in a high-end Japanese restaurant, felt as if he had been slapped hard across the face twice—once by Shen Xici, and once by Zhong Yue.

Why did Shen Xici have to meddle in everything? Couldn’t he just disappear completely like that country woman named Zhuo Suli?

His phone vibrated with a new WeChat message.

Cheng Ningyu’s voice came through: “The money has been sorted out. Your dad and I are in Norway celebrating our wedding anniversary right now. You be a good boy, and make sure you listen to your godmother, you hear?”

Joy spread across his brow. Xu Lingjia pressed the voice message button and said in a wheedling tone, “Mom, I knew you loved me the most! Don’t worry, this investment will definitely bring back returns several times over, and godmother will surely get a promotion. I’ll be very good, you and dad just have fun!”

The sliding door of the private room in the Japanese restaurant opened. A waitress in a kimono led a person in. After bowing in greeting, she took small steps back outside and closed the door again.

Xu Lingjia sized up the newcomer.

He wasn’t very tall, was very thin, and looked shrewd. He was indeed the person he had seen in his prophetic dream.

The director of the movie “Double-Sided,” Wu Ya.

The current Wu Ya was far from the high-spirited man of the future. The clothes he wore were all cheap street-stall goods. Standing in the high-end Japanese restaurant, he seemed ill at ease from head to toe, not daring to move around freely.

A sense of disdain grew in his heart, but then he thought about how in just over half a year, “Double-Sided” would seize the second-place spot at the Spring Festival box office, sweeping nearly two billion yuan. Wu Ya would become a rising young director, enjoying unparalleled fame.

Hiding the contempt in his eyes well, Xu Lingjia spoke with enthusiasm, “Director Wu, come sit over here! See what you’d like to eat.”

Wu Ya clutched an old hat and sat down opposite Xu Lingjia, smiling constrainedly. “You order, you order. I’ll eat anything.”

Xu Lingjia smiled and said, “Then I’ll just order a few of this restaurant’s signature dishes for you to try.”

“Okay, okay, thank you, Teacher Xu!” Wu Ya said. While Xu Lingjia lowered his head to look at the menu, he took the opportunity to quietly survey the room’s decor, from the cherry blossom branches in the vase to the expensive-looking flower vessel, and then to the incomprehensible calligraphy and paintings on the wall, his eyes filled with envy.

After ordering, Xu Lingjia asked, “I hear Director Wu is preparing a new film called ‘Double-Sided’?”

Hearing Xu Lingjia ask about the movie, he said cautiously, “Yes, Teacher Xu is well-informed. ‘Double-Sided’ is indeed in preparation.”

He couldn’t quite figure out the meaning of this meal. Yesterday, someone had suddenly told him that Xu Lingjia wanted to have a meal with him. He knew of Xu Lingjia, who had been a fixture on the trending topics for the past two days, but the two of them were complete strangers. What could he want from him?

“Have you found the actors already?”

Wu Ya nodded. “We’re in contact, but nothing is settled yet.” He asked tentatively, “I didn’t expect Teacher Xu to be following this movie. May I ask where Teacher Xu heard about ‘Double-Sided’?”

In a prophetic dream, of course. Xu Lingjia hid a smile at the corner of his mouth by taking a sip of water.

So what if Zhong Yue wouldn’t let him play the second male lead? He could find better opportunities. As for Shen Xici, so what if he got to be in “Capital City Massacre”? He had seen the script; that emperor was just a supporting role with few scenes, completely incomparable to the male lead of the soon-to-be-hit movie “Double-Sided.”

No matter what, Shen Xici could not surpass him. Thinking this, Xu Lingjia felt much more comfortable.

“‘Double-Sided’ is Director Wu’s third work. The first was a romantic suspense film, and the second was a campus-themed youth romance. Neither did very well at the box office. Director Wu must be tight on funds, right? But making a movie is like burning money like paper.” Xu Lingjia put down his teacup, his smile deepening. “How about this, I’ll personally bring twenty million to the production to solve your urgent need. Later, my company, Jiarui Media, will provide further investment. What do you think?”

Wu Ya finally understood. “Teacher Xu wants to play the male lead?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.” Xu Lingjia waited leisurely for him to agree.

Unexpectedly, Wu Ya appeared somewhat troubled. “Well, we’re already in contact with actors. It’s not great to switch people midway through…”

Wu Ya was crying inwardly. Xu Lingjia was currently entangled in scandals. First, he insulted domestic products on a live stream, and the aftershocks still hadn’t dissipated. Then there was the Zhong Yue incident; even though Zhong Yue didn’t call the police, his attitude was clear enough. So what if Xu Lingjia still had die-hard fans? Offending Zhong Yue meant offending the Beijing circle, didn’t it? How could he dare to cast him!

Wu Ya was confident that “Double-Sided” would do well at the box office, but he hadn’t made any money on his first two films; in fact, he’d lost money. This made fundraising very difficult. Now that there was an offer of more investment, no one would turn their back on money. Therefore, it would be best if the money could stay, but the person didn’t have to. Jiarui Media could just send over a different newcomer.

Unexpectedly, Wu Ya had refused. Xu Lingjia almost lost his composure.

How dare Wu Ya refuse him?

A nobody director with no fame, whose first two movies were as bad as they could get. What right did he have to refuse him?

Xu Lingjia’s words held a barely perceptible mockery. “I heard that Director Wu wrote the script for ‘Double-Sided’ himself?”

A sense of alertness rose in Wu Ya’s heart. He said, “That’s right. I had some ideas a long time ago, but I never had the time to write them down. A while ago, I finally took two months to write the script.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Xu Lingjia’s tone was light, as if he were mentioning it casually. “Director Wu studied in the directing department at Ningcheng Academy of Drama, right? In that case, you’re my senior from the department next door. I heard that when you were in college, your roommate on the top bunk was just as talented as you. With a dormitory friendship, does that roommate still keep in touch with you?”

The hand under the table instantly clenched into a fist. Wu Ya’s tone was mournful as he sighed, “Alas, after graduating from college, everyone went their separate ways. The people in the dorm kept in touch at first, but then we slowly drifted apart. It’s been a long time since I’ve contacted that roommate.”

How did Xu Lingjia even know that Lu Jiming was his top-bunk roommate in college? Wu Ya felt a sense of dread. Being stared at by Xu Lingjia’s eyes, he had a feeling that Xu Lingjia hadn’t brought it up by chance; he must know something.

Seeing the change in the man’s expression, Xu Lingjia thought, he hadn’t originally planned to use this as leverage, but who told Wu Ya to be so clueless?

In his prophetic dream, after “Double-Sided” was released, there had been a commotion at the box office celebration party. His godmother had come back and told him that she went to the party and unexpectedly witnessed a farce.

Somehow, a person had managed to sneak into the celebration party. He ate and drank in the banquet hall, chatted with many artists and bigwigs, and appeared completely at ease and familiar with everyone. The security personnel didn’t notice anything amiss.

It wasn’t until Wu Ya was giving his speech on stage that this person suddenly pulled out a small megaphone he had brought with him. While live-streaming, he shouted that Wu Ya was a thief who had stolen his script and storyboards!

The investors were all present at the time. With a box office of nearly two billion, they were all waiting to get their share of the money. How could they tolerate someone coming out to ruin their good fortune?

They immediately called security and contacted the platform to shut down his live stream.

Wu Ya was also a ruthless and black-hearted person. Not only did he smash the man’s phone to pieces in the chaos, but he also secretly had a security guard break the man’s leg. His godmother said that even with the uproar in the banquet hall, you could still hear the man’s screams.

With so many people at the scene, any rumors that leaked out were quickly suppressed. In the end, it was spun as a hater crashing the celebration party and being subdued by security, causing only a small ripple.

His godmother had commented that it was indeed tragic, but instead of trying to solve it privately and get some money, he had foolishly tried to provoke capital and block the financial paths of the bigwigs. Wasn’t that just asking for death? He was destined not to become a famous director.

Xu Lingjia strongly agreed. So, even though he knew Wu Ya’s script and storyboards were not clean, he wasn’t worried at all. Later, so many capital bigwigs would be waiting for the box office to explode so they could divide the money; they would not allow a single bad apple to spoil the whole pot.

Moreover, since he knew about these things in advance, perhaps by then, there wouldn’t even be that small ripple at the celebration party.

Also, so much time had passed that he couldn’t quite remember the plot of the movie, but in his dream, he thought the movie was quite good, which meant that Wu Ya must have some skill.

The ordered dishes were served, one of which was black truffle and foie gras steamed egg custard. Xu Lingjia wiped his hands with a warm towel. “How are you considering it, Director Wu? Is it beneath you to have me play the male lead?”

Wu Ya gritted his teeth, his face wreathed in smiles, and said warmly, “Not at all, not at all, how could that be? It’s me who is not worthy of Teacher Xu! I’m truly honored that Teacher Xu doesn’t mind and is willing to work with me!”

Putting down the towel, Xu Lingjia’s lips curled. “Glad to hear it.”

Having not lived in the rented house for long, Shen Xici packed his bags and got into the car arranged by the production crew, heading to Qintai Film and Television City. It wasn’t too far; the journey took just over three hours. He dozed off and, upon entering the studio, arrived just in time for the crew to be handing out box lunches.

Shen Xici took a picture of the box lunch and sent it to Lu Jiming.

Lu Jiming expressed his envy: “You’ve surpassed your master, brother. Your time management is truly brilliant. You’ve saved money on another meal!”

Having become resistant to rainbow praises lately, Shen Xici called him directly. “Did you go to check the filming location?”

Lu Jiming didn’t dare to make a sound.

Raising an eyebrow, Shen Xici delivered another soul-crushing question, “Did you contact actors for auditions?”

Lu Jiming held it in for a long time, finally gathering his strength, and stammered a bit, “I-I’m the director. I know how to make arrangements!”

As if he hadn’t heard that, Shen Xici spoke very coldly, “Go this afternoon. You can either check the location or select actors. I’ll do a random check-in then.”

After only one sentence of assertiveness, Lu Jiming reverted to his meek and weak self, and replied hesitantly, “Oh, okay, I’ll go this afternoon.”

After hanging up, Shen Xici quickly finished his lunch and was taken to the makeup room by the head of the styling team. Ancient costume makeup and styling were much more troublesome than modern dramas. Shen Xici felt like a ball-jointed doll, being repeatedly worked on by several pairs of hands.

Just applying the bald cap took a lot of time. In addition, since the character was an emperor, the dragon robe had three layers inside and out. Putting it on, taking it off, changing into another one, plus all the various accessories, he suddenly had several extra pounds of weight on him.

When it was finally done, Shen Xici got up and walked around the makeup room a couple of times to get used to it. After finding his feeling and state, he hurried to the adjacent studio to take his costume photos.

Director Rao Qingping had hair past his ears, graying at the temples, and wore black-framed glasses, making him look serious and unapproachable. Shen Xici could feel that from the moment he stepped into the studio, that gaze had been fixed on him, quietly observing.

The set was always noisy and busy, with everyone hurrying around with things to do. Someone was carrying a heavy light stand, someone was shouting “Who took the gaffer tape again,” and someone else was complaining to the assistant director that the box lunches were too small and they didn’t have the energy to film.

Shen Xici walked through the middle of these people.

The corner of the robe embroidered with golden dragon patterns swept across the thin layer of dust on the ground. Whether it was his expression, his posture, or his gaze, everything transformed with each step.

With every step he took, the aura of Shen Xici on him weakened by a point.

Until his black-booted foot stepped onto the wooden footstool. He turned and leaned obliquely against the long couch covered with an apricot-yellow silk cushion, raised his eyes, and looked at the camera with a casual air. He had transformed from the inside out into that gloomy, world-weary, and handsome young emperor.

His eyes and brows held a smile, but it was very cool. His lips were thin, curved without any warmth. His eyelids were naturally narrow at the front and wide at the back. When he half-lowered his eyelids, he looked exactly like a deity sitting high in a Buddhist hall, coldly watching the world.

The “click” of the camera shutter sounded continuously.

Shen Xici did not remain still. He was too natural. He lazily picked up a memorial from the square table in the middle of the couch, unfolded it to read, and casually picked up a porcelain cup to take a sip of tea.

His bearing was magnificent, and every move exuded a graceful and noble air.

While reading the memorial, he seemed to have seen something interesting. A mocking look appeared in his eyes, but his lips were smiling.

As the teacup held between his long fingers slowly turned back and forth, that mockery gradually turned into a faint anger. His gaze became gloomy, as cold as a winter pond.

Director Rao Qingping stood by with his arms crossed, watching the photographer take pictures. A few minutes later, he called the scriptwriter over. “We’ll shoot this emperor according to the first version of the script.”

The scriptwriter’s eyes were red from staying up all night revising the script. Looking at Shen Xici under the lighting panels, he couldn’t help but doubt, “The first version is good, but can he really pull it off? Director, you said that character is really hard to play.”

“I asked Wan Shan. He said this actor is amazing, gets into character quickly, doesn’t need much teaching, and his acting is not like a rookie’s at all. Just give him a script and a camera, and he can act well.” Rao Qingping shook his head. “At the time, I thought Wan Shan was exaggerating or had too thick of a filter. I didn’t expect him to really be such a promising talent!”

This behind-the-scenes footage of the costume photos was posted on the official Weibo account. At that moment, Zhong Yue had just finished filming. Hearing that Shen Xici had arrived, he rushed over to welcome him without even having time to change his clothes.

The on-set publicist, well-versed in how to create buzz, specifically asked Zhong Yue a couple of questions about his opinion on Shen Xici’s ancient costume look. This clip was also attached to the end of the behind-the-scenes footage and posted online.

As expected, the popularity skyrocketed.

“——Ahhh, this behind-the-scenes footage of the costume photos, his acting is a killer! Shen Xici is a divine beauty! This beautiful emperor is so stimulating and cool. When I made eye contact with His Majesty, my whole body felt like it was zapped with electricity. In the last few seconds, I already foresaw that after he finishes reading that memorial, someone is definitely about to receive the ‘extermination of nine clans’ package deal!”

“——Who understands me? When Brother Zhong and Teacher Shen stand together, and they’re both in ancient costumes, the concentration of beauty is too high. My nosebleed is more torrential than the Yellow River!”

“——Everyone, ship them! If you don’t ship this, is there any justice in the world? A glance at ZhongShen is a mistake, a glance is a mistake for a lifetime. It’s too good!”

In the office, with the tide-like flickering neon lights behind him, Sheng Shaoyan didn’t know how many times he had watched this behind-the-scenes footage.

On the middle finger of Shen Xici’s left hand, the space was glaringly empty. The ring with his fingerprint on it had been taken off. As for the blue crystal bracelet, the sleeves of the costume were too wide and long, completely covering his wrist, so it couldn’t be seen.

Sheng Shaoyan thought, he’s on set, so he must have taken off all his jewelry for makeup and styling. But he still couldn’t help but search for it over and over, trying to confirm something.

On the screen, the crew was conducting an interview. The two stood together, very close. The wide sleeves of their costumes brushed against each other from time to in time. Zhong Yue praised Shen Xici to the camera—all just pleasantries, but the screen was full of comments shipping the CP.

And while Zhong Yue was speaking, Shen Xici turned his head, revealing a flawless profile, and smiled at Zhong Yue.

It was a very beautiful smile, his eyes like a clear spring with stars fallen into it.

In an instant, like a flood breaking through a dam, all his entanglement and uncertainty were washed away. Sheng Shaoyan called in Yu Zhou, who was working overtime. “Arrange it. I’m going to Qintai Film and Television City.”

Although he didn’t know the reason for this sudden request, as a top special assistant, Yu Zhou wouldn’t just arrange a trip to Qintai Film and Television City. Even if his boss had a sudden whim to buy the entire film city overnight, he could immediately start working on the acquisition proposal with a straight face.

“Understood. When will you be departing? Do you need me to confirm your schedule?”

Most of Sheng Shaoyan’s itinerary was set a week, or even a month or two, in advance, and then fine-tuned according to the actual situation.

Rising to his feet, Sheng Shaoyan picked up the dark suit jacket draped over the back of his chair and strode out. “Now.”