AYF CH1

Chapter 1: Born Defective

“Assistant Director! The light stand fell! It smashed right through the camera lens! The light is broken too!”

“The light stand fell? Why didn’t you fall with it? Stand there and wait to be chewed out! That thing is way more precious than you…”

Amidst the clamor, a tide of chaotic voices flooded his ears. The sensation of being isolated by a thin film gradually faded. Shen Xici caught a few words and thought, so it’s true that before a person dies, their life flashes before their eyes frame by frame, like a movie projector.

He had a great memory since childhood. The incident with the light stand smashing the camera lens happened on the set of Mountain Ridgeline. It was his first time acting, and also the first time he learned of his true parentage.

“Born defective, a shallow bond with family, destined to die young.” This was his destiny as read by the village fortune-teller when he was barely a month old and brought in to be named.

His father, Wu Licheng, wanted to smash him to death right then and there, claiming it was a waste of food to raise him, but the fortune-teller stopped him.

The fortune-teller changed his surname and named him Shen Xici. He also made him take a mountain outside the village as his godmother, saying it might help him live a few more years.

Wu Licheng was addicted to gambling and drinking. When he lost money and came home drunk, he would beat people. His mother, Zhuo Suli, was cowardly by nature, often weeping over her bitter fate and telling Shen Xici not to blame her.

From the moment he could remember, Shen Xici understood that no one would help him. In that house, he could only protect himself.

Later, he started boarding at middle school and tried every means to earn money during holidays. Once, when he came home, he was already taller than Wu Licheng. When the man raised his fist at him, for the first time, a look of fear appeared on his face.

From that moment on, when he heard noises at the gate in the middle of the night, he finally didn’t have to hold his breath.

He always thought he was simply destined to have a father without grace and a mother without love. That was until later, when he saw Zhuo Suli crying to the camera in a trending search video. To let her biological son escape the impoverished mountain village and the beatings and curses, Zhuo Suli took advantage of a heavy snowstorm that sealed the mountains. The popular actress Cheng Ningyu, who had come to the mountains for charity and to build a primary school, suddenly had her water break. While the midwife was delivering Cheng Ningyu’s baby at the village chief’s house, Zhuo Suli quietly swapped the two infants, bringing the newborn Shen Xici home.

Shen Xici finally understood why, when he was five and a celebrity parent-child travel show blew up, Zhuo Suli plastered the walls with posters of one of the kids named Xu Lingjia. They stayed up for over a decade, yellowed and faded, but she couldn’t bear to take them down. Meanwhile, Cheng Ningyu’s photo was cherished and hidden away in a wooden box by Zhuo Suli.

Maternal love truly is great. This woman, who had never stepped out of the mountains, had made up her mind from the very beginning to find her own child.

Naturally, she wouldn’t spend a fraction of her care on him.

Perhaps fulfilling the phrase “shallow bond with family,” even with a blood tie, time was the greatest barrier. The Xu family did not welcome Shen Xici’s appearance; they found it annoying and repulsive.

But fortunately, at twenty-one, he was an independent adult. He had his own past and future; he was no longer that toddler waiting at the door, hoping his parents would look back at him.

He just wanted to act well and try his hardest to survive.

Shen Xici felt that although his life was very short, he had no regrets.

He had always tried hard to hold onto what he could grasp, not caring about what he couldn’t get. So, in his five years of acting, through good and bad, he treated every role with all his heart. He had been nominated for Best Newcomer, won Best Supporting Actor, was invited to collaborate by a famous director at an award ceremony, and many people went to the cinema specifically for him.

If he had to name a regret, it might just be that he died a few days too early to know if his first leading film role had won an award at the Flanders International Film Festival.

The voices in his ears grew clearer.

“We’ve been shooting for days, and suddenly he wants to switch roles? What kind of crazy fit is this young master Xu Lingjia throwing?”

“Who knows? I just know a lot of people in the crew are about to cry. The daily call sheets have to be rewritten. He’s shorter than Shen Xici, so both of their costumes have to be remade, makeup and styling redesigned, promotional photos reshot. Tsk, what, do the lives of us working stiffs not matter?”

“Keep your voice down! But how could the lives of packhorses matter? They’ll just say your stress tolerance is low and you can’t keep up with Young Master Xu’s pace!”

“That hits hard! Sigh, if only I also had a Heavenly King and Queen for biological parents, and a producer for a godmother. I’d demand three box lunches at noon: one for rice, and the other two filled with seven meat dishes and one veggie!”

“Look at your ambitions, hahahaha…”

As the staff joked and roughhoused, Shen Xici frowned. Switching roles? What role did Xu Lingjia want to switch?

A sense of dissonance surfaced. Shen Xici was very certain that in his memory, Xu Lingjia never asked to switch roles.

Mountain Ridgeline was the latest masterpiece by internationally renowned director Wan Shan after a three-year hiatus. The producer was Xu Lingjia’s godmother, who specifically saved the best role in the movie—second only to the male lead—for Xu Lingjia.

The edge of the national border was a vast mountainous region, marked on the map as the “Hundred Thousand Mountains.” Because crossing the mountain range meant leaving the border, many criminals would hire villagers as guides to cross the mountains and escape pursuit.

Xu Lingjia was playing a mute teenager from a mountain village.

Although the screen time was less than half an hour, it was practically the focal point of the entire movie. Every storyboard was meticulously crafted.

How could Xu Lingjia possibly be willing to trade this role away?

“What are you all gossiping about over here? The crew is about to serve food. If you don’t go line up soon, you won’t even get a speck of minced meat!” A somewhat familiar voice sounded, shooing away the surrounding staff. Someone gently patted Shen Xici’s thin shoulder and called out carefully, “Brother Shen, stop sleeping, it’s time to eat. Brother Shen?”

It was as if all his bodily senses sprang to life from the spot on his shoulder that was patted. Shen Xici struggled to open his eyes, saw the delicate, single-eyelidded boy in front of him, and voiced uncertainly: “…Xiao Shan?”

“Brother Shen, you’re awake?” Lan Xiaoshan placed a stack of three disposable lunch boxes on the table in front of Shen Xici. While breaking apart the disposable chopsticks, he secretly observed Shen Xici’s expression. “Brother Shen, are you okay? Don’t let my young age fool you; I’ve followed several crews, big and small. Power crushes people, influence crushes people, and money crushes people too. But it’s okay, Brother Shen, you’ll definitely be famous in the future! Once you’re famous, no one will dare to bully you!”

Lan Xiaoshan wasn’t just flattering him; he genuinely thought Shen Xici was incredibly good-looking.

He had been assigned by the crew to be Shen Xici’s set assistant. When he arrived on set, he happened to catch Shen Xici getting off work.

At the time, Shen Xici was wearing a white shirt, having been drenched in rain for hours. His hair plastered to his face, not a single dry spot on his body, looking exceptionally disheveled.

But even so, when Shen Xici turned his eyes to look at him, Lan Xiaoshan forcefully shivered.

Hair as black as ink, a face pale as frost because it was so cold, eyes like painted lacquer, lips a rich red—the color contrast was taken to the extreme. His whole person looked like a fairy emerging from an icy spring. Too bewitching!

Lan Xiaoshan had dropped out before finishing high school and didn’t know what words to use to describe that single glance. He only felt that such looks were rare even in the entertainment industry; at least he hadn’t seen anyone like it in the several crews he had followed.

It wasn’t until the lifestyle assistant director who brought him over to recognize people roared, “What are you spacing out for? Don’t you know how to work?” that he hurriedly went to find a large towel to hand to Brother Shen.

Shen Xici took the chopsticks a couple of beats slow. Looking at the disposable plastic containers in front of him, he recognized at a glance that this was definitely not the crew’s standard catering: “You went out and got takeout?”

Lan Xiaoshan carefully organized his words: “Yeah, my mom always says, when you run into trouble, eat a good meal first so you have the strength to face it.”

Everything was too real.

The rough wooden splinters on the bamboo chopsticks in his hand, the aroma of freshly stir-fried food, Lan Xiaoshan’s concerned eyes, the mixed smell of smoke, machine oil, and perfume in the air on set—it all felt too real to be an illusion.

Had the hands of time turned backward? He hadn’t died, but had returned to the time he was shooting his first movie?

Seeing Shen Xici remain silent, Lan Xiaoshan grew anxious. “Just as I came back, I happened to see Xu Lingjia walking his godmother out. Brother Shen, if you feel awful, just let it out. Always holding it in—”

Shen Xici remembered the words he heard through his hazy consciousness and interrupted him: “Xu Lingjia wants to switch roles with me?”

“Yeah, when the producer went to discuss it with Director Wan, the assistant directors overheard. The producer came out of the room and was still lecturing Xu Lingjia on the road, saying she took an overnight flight just to fix this role-switching mess for him and pushed two meetings today. She told him to be sensible and not switch back after acting for a few days.”

Lan Xiaoshan rubbed his straw-thin arms, unable to stand it. “Xu Lingjia is in his twenties and he’s still acting spoiled with his godmother. Saying stuff like the undercover role is so good, he can definitely act it well, absolutely won’t switch again, and after filming is done, he’ll definitely blow up and win awards with this role.”

There were many eyes and ears in the crew, making secrets almost impossible. The situation and details from that time had long spread out.

This role is good?

Shen Xici’s eyes darkened slightly.

Seeing Lan Xiaoshan’s eyes turn red after finishing his piece, he found it somewhat funny: “Why do you look like you’re about to cry?”

In his past life, Lan Xiaoshan was his first set assistant. It wasn’t until two or three years later, when Shen Xici asked someone to track him down, that he learned Lan Xiaoshan only had a chronically ill mother at home whose life hung by a thread on medication. That was why he came to the crew at such a young age, taking on all the grueling tasks. He had a big appetite, but to save money, he never ate his fill and developed a severe stomach condition, often tossing and turning in pain in the middle of the night.

He heard that later, when his mother passed away, Lan Xiaoshan returned to his hometown and was never heard from again.

Yet Shen Xici always remembered how, in his previous life, when he was blocked by Xu Lingjia’s fans and a baseball bat swung at him, Lan Xiaoshan had blocked it for him, grimacing in pain while insisting he was fine.

“I’m just feeling wronged on your behalf, Brother Shen!” Lan Xiaoshan poked at the crew’s provided lunchbox with his bamboo chopsticks, almost piercing the already flimsy container. “You won the role of A-Zheng by going through the open auditions and beating so many people. Why does Young Master Xu get to change it just because he wants to? Won’t even discuss it beforehand, it’s too disrespectful!”

“You said it yourself, power, influence, and money crush people in this circle. I’m just a newcomer right now, why should anyone respect me?” Shen Xici comforted him in return. He picked the largest pieces of meat and placed them into Lan Xiaoshan’s lunchbox, speaking slowly and methodically, “Besides, what’s wrong with switching? Director Wan really likes this role. Just for the mute teenager’s storyboards, he drew a massive stack of paper. He will definitely film it well. Who knows, the final cut might be even more brilliant than the undercover role.”

In his previous life, Shen Xici had seen the final cut of Mountain Ridgeline. Ignoring the actor himself, the storyboards for the mute teenager role were exquisitely detailed, and several shot designs were absolutely top-tier.

While a mute is indeed hard to act, it isn’t impossible to act well.

“Really? This role is better than your original one, Brother Shen?” Lan Xiaoshan’s eyes weren’t red anymore. He popped a piece of twice-cooked pork into his mouth and almost cried again. “This is too delicious! The crew’s lunchboxes have had especially little meat lately, and I hadn’t even heard that the price of pork went up!”

Lan Xiaoshan was straightforward. Seeing that Shen Xici really wasn’t upset and that the new role was quite good, he went back to happily eating his meat.

Shen Xici didn’t pick up his chopsticks immediately; out of habit, he waited for the food to cool down a bit before eating.

In his mind, he was pondering why the situation had changed so much compared to his past life. Or rather, why did Xu Lingjia think A-Zheng’s role was better, going so far as to beg his godmother and risk offending a major director just to get the role switched, while being so certain that the undercover role would blow up and win awards later?

A staff member ran over to say the director was looking for him. Shen Xici’s train of thought was interrupted. He stood up, told Lan Xiaoshan to keep eating, and went alone to the lounge.

Director Wan Shan was already sixty years old, wearing a dark blue baseball cap. Beside his hand sat a thermos filled with red dates and angelica root water. Hearing the door open, he lifted his remarkably clear eyes from beneath his reading glasses: “You heard the news? What are your thoughts?”

Director Wan was from the southern coast, speaking with a hometown accent that gave his pronunciation a distinct rhythm.

Shen Xici didn’t say much, just nodded: “I already know. I’ll follow the crew’s arrangements.”

Even though in his previous life, many of his scenes were cut when the movie finally premiered, it was ultimately Director Wan Shan who gave him his first role, had finance settle his pay the day after he wrapped up to help him in an emergency, and later recommended him for auditions in other crews multiple times.

So, towards Director Wan Shan, Shen Xici was always grateful.

Hearing Shen Xici’s response, Director Wan Shan thought to himself that at least there was one person who was worry-free. He picked up a brand-new script from the side and handed it over, his tone softening: “Although the roles have been swapped, the shooting schedule can’t be delayed. Familiarize yourself with the new role as soon as possible.”

“Okay, Director, you can rest easy.”

The lounge quieted down, the clamor outside turning into white noise. Wan Shan replied to a few messages and when he looked up again, he found that perhaps because he hadn’t dismissed him, Shen Xici hadn’t left yet. He was sitting in a chair, head lowered, reading the script.

This was the crew’s lounge, cluttered with a few blue plastic chairs. The long table was messily strewn with various papers and black pens, and equipment of all sizes was haphazardly piled up. But in this ordinary, barely-a-set setting, Shen Xici held a pen loosely in his fingers, head bowed, marking the script. A sense of loneliness, with him as the epicenter, diffused across the entire scene.

This sense of loneliness wasn’t intense or sharp, but calm and serene.

Director Wan Shan had spent his entire life shooting movies; his eyes were a camera lens. He realized that in just the two short days they hadn’t seen each other, the aura around Shen Xici had completely changed.

Any breathtaking shot relies on precise camera angles, lighting tested countless times, coupled with detailed props and a pitch-perfect set, just to capture a single perfect frame.

But Shen Xici, simply sitting there, possessed an exceptionally rare atmosphere. Looking at him, you couldn’t help but want to interpret and admire him frame by frame.

Such a person was born for the big screen.

Wan Shan had originally harbored doubts about whether Shen Xici could pull off the mute teenager role.

But at this moment, because of the Shen Xici before him, he suddenly had several new inspirations for the mute teenager’s storyboards.

As a director, you naturally have a bit more fondness for actors who are naturally photogenic and cause no trouble. His tone could be called gentle: “You can head back for now. Regardless of the two roles, Xu Lingjia did snatch your role this time. You’ve been wronged, so we’ll add another 100,000 to your previously agreed-upon pay.”

No words sounded sweeter than “add another 100,000.” Shen Xici sincerely thanked Director Wan, instantly slapping a “Great Samaritan” label on him in his mind!

This good mood lasted right until Shen Xici saw Xu Lingjia walking towards him.

Xu Lingjia approached with three assistants in tow and glanced at the food set before Shen Xici: “Oh, your little assistant is quite considerate, knowing you’re feeling awful and specially getting you some extra food?”

Shen Xici didn’t take the bait, asking with quite a bit of patience: “Do you need something?”

A victorious smile played at the corners of Xu Lingjia’s mouth: “Nothing much. Just wanted to tell you that the mute teenager role is pretty good too. Acting as a mute means you don’t even have to memorize lines, saving half the effort. I’m actually a bit reluctant to give it up to you.”

Give it up?

Shen Xici reached out to press down Lan Xiaoshan, who wanted to swear. After all, Director Wan had paid a 100,000 “crew harmony fee.” He patiently watched Xu Lingjia’s performance: “So I should thank you?”

“I heard your family is extremely poor. The reason you came to the open auditions was that you were desperate for money and wanted to make a quick buck in the entertainment circle?”

Being called out in front of everyone, Shen Xici didn’t deny it, stating candidly: “Yes, you are very well-informed.”

He really did need a sum of money urgently. To make such a large sum in a short time, aside from illegal deeds, entering the entertainment industry was the only way. That was why in his previous life, he had suspended his studies midway and signed up for the Mountain Ridgeline open auditions.

“Then you really should thank me. I didn’t even have my godmother kick you out of the crew.” Xu Lingjia crossed his arms and cast a sidelong glance at Shen Xici. “I’ll do a good deed to the end and give you one more piece of advice: the mute teenager role has no lines, so just smile a lot. When it premieres, the reception will definitely be great!”

After Xu Lingjia walked away with his assistants, Lan Xiaoshan held his chopsticks and frowned: “Would Young Master Xu be so kind? But what he said seems to make sense. Brother Shen, you look so good and you’re so photogenic. If you smile at the camera, won’t all the viewers in front of the screen be captivated?”

Seeing that the food had cooled down, Shen Xici finally picked up his chopsticks and smiled: “That’s quite a nice compliment, Xiaoshan. I’ll reimburse you for lunch later.”

Lan Xiaoshan widened his eyes, anxious: “No way, how can this money—”

Shen Xici’s inner eye corners angled slightly downwards while the outer corners swept up. His double eyelids were narrow at the front and wider at the back—a classic subtle fan shape. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked coldly detached. Unhurried, he delivered a lethal strike: “Right now, between you and me, whose salary is higher?”

“…Yours.” Lan Xiaoshan really couldn’t refute that, so he just muttered a muffled “Thank you, Brother Shen!” and resumed his grand mission of eating.

From afar, they heard Xu Lingjia modestly lowering his stance, apologizing for causing everyone trouble, and then announcing that he was treating the entire crew to hotpot in the city tonight, and that milk tea, coffee, and desserts would be delivered to the set in the afternoon.

Cheers erupted.

Shen Xici nudged Lan Xiaoshan with his toe, quietly reminding him: “Remember to eat more meat tonight. Someone else is footing the bill anyway.”

Lan Xiaoshan understood instantly, nodding vigorously: “Yes, yes, yes! Once I finish these two pieces of meat, I won’t eat any more rice!”

Looking at Xu Lingjia, who was surrounded by countless people complimenting him with faces full of smiles, Shen Xici withdrew his gaze and calmly took a bite of food.

It seemed that he wasn’t the only one to encounter this rebirth phenomenon. Xu Lingjia must be just like him.