SA CH158
Filming for Zeroth Law continued steadily. Sr. Holt did an excellent job maintaining secrecy for the crew, and he didn’t accept interviews from various magazines or media outlets.
Therefore, the public’s understanding of this production was limited to the information intentionally released by the official crew at the launch press conference.
The more they kept things under wraps, the more eager fans became. The movie hadn’t even been released, or even officially announced, yet fans had already created private forums for it. Fans from all over the world could join these forums and discuss movie-related content freely.
If the Holt father and son guaranteed box office success in Europe and America, then Rong Xu and Qin Cheng were currently the hottest male stars in Huaxia. Just one of these top Chinese actors would be enough to guarantee the movie’s Chinese box office.
Now, with such a powerful collaboration, the lineup couldn’t help but generate anticipation, prompting fans from various countries and different languages to enthusiastically exchange and discuss on the forums.
Rong Xu had some understanding of these situations from Luo Xi, but he didn’t pay much attention. All movie promotion was handled by Clemens and had nothing to do with him; his most important task now was filming.
But at this moment, Rong Xu also didn’t know that across the ocean, Luo Zhentao, far away in Huaxia’s capital, had already begun to consider whether to accept a new announcement.
Zeroth Law began filming in early January 2047, and by March, most of the story had been shot. In mid-March, just after Rong Xu finished filming an action scene, he suddenly received a call from Luo Zhentao.
On the other end of the phone, Luo Zhentao said methodically: “You haven’t released a new song in two years, Xiao Xu. I know you don’t plan to enter the music industry, but these few songs are truly good. They were specially written for you by Elder Yang, tailor-made. I hope you can take them on. So, are you free now? I’ll email them to you; you can take a look first.”
In the entertainment industry, many celebrities cannot control their resources and announcements. They even go to great lengths to beg their agents for better resources. But for a celebrity of Rong Xu’s status, his agent must consult his opinion before accepting any announcement. If Rong Xu doesn’t want to accept it, Luo Zhentao can absolutely not take it on privately.
Just like Qin Cheng used to take on at most one film a year, despite Xu Jin’s daily earnest persuasion, this young master simply wouldn’t take on more, and Xu Jin could only persuade, not do anything else.
After Rong Yan and Lost Wings, Rong Xu had not released another album. Over the years, the cumulative sales of Lost Wings exceeded 1.4 million copies, with all proceeds donated to Ling Xiao’s foundation; Rong Yan‘s sales had already surpassed 1.5 million copies, making it a platinum-level album in the global music scene.
Over these years, music producers frequently contacted Luo Zhentao, hoping to collaborate with Rong Xu, but Luo Zhentao directly rejected them all. However, Elder Yang was different. Rong Xu knew that Luo Zhentao couldn’t reject Elder Yang the way he rejected others, and… the fact that Luo Zhentao was so eager to send him the DEMOs probably meant those songs were truly outstanding.
That evening, after returning to the hotel, Rong Xu opened the email from Luo Zhentao. Just as he clicked on the first DEMO, Qin Cheng happened to finish showering and came out of the bathroom.
A gentle and elegant prelude quietly flowed through the room. Rong Xu listened intently, then was suddenly embraced from behind. He helplessly grabbed the two “perverted” hands and said impatiently, “I’m working. Elder Yang’s new songs, don’t mess around.”
Qin Cheng lowered his gaze, calmly looking at the computer screen: “Elder Yang wants to collaborate with you again, asking you to sing?”
Rong Xu raised an eyebrow: “Elder Yang and I only collaborated that one time.”
“Oh.” Qin Cheng was clearly not very interested in this matter; he was more concerned with the pajamas his Rong Rong was wearing.
He didn’t know who chose these pajamas; they were quite wonderful. The collar was loose, and when Rong Xu sat cross-legged on the bed wearing them, the collar completely fell down, revealing an alluring shadow that invited imagination. From Qin Cheng’s angle looking down, he could even see two pink points, hidden within the loose pajamas, fair and high collarbones, and a pretty light pink color…
A certain man covered his nose and silently turned his face away.
Just then, the prelude to the first song finally ended, and the singing began.
The moment the gentle voice sounded, Rong Xu was slightly startled, a hint of surprise quickly flashing in his eyes. Then he closed his eyes and listened with serious focus. After finishing this song, he didn’t hesitate to click on the second, listening until the end of the third before letting out a long sigh.
“Elder Yang’s three songs are really good. The first two are about growth and inspiration, while the third is a love duet, and it’s even a duet between two male voices.” As he spoke, Rong Xu opened his phone and sent a message to his agent. A moment later, he said in surprise, “Huh? So Elder Yang has already invited Lin Xuan. He wants me to sing the third song with Lin Xuan?”
Duets are mostly love songs between a man and a woman, but same-sex singers can also collaborate and sing a song together. The third song Yang Changzheng gave to Rong Xu was indeed a love song, but it wasn’t about the story of two male singers; rather, it depicted the emotions between men and women. This narrative style is rare in the music industry, but not unheard of.
However, as soon as he heard this, the man covering his nose nearby suddenly frowned: “Lin Xuan?”
Rong Xu clicked on the third song and played it again: “Yes, Elder Yang wants me to sing this song with Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan’s side means that as long as I take it on, he’ll come and help collaborate.”
After all, this was Rong Xu’s mini-album, so Lin Xuan would indeed be coming to help.
But to a certain man, this translated to: I’m going to sing a love song with Lin Xuan.
Qin Cheng: “…”
Qin Cheng subtly wrapped his arms around his beloved’s slender waist, resting his chin lightly on Rong Xu’s shoulder. His voice was calm as he said, “Xiao Xu, it would be better if I sang with you. Zeroth Law will be promoting soon. If I sing with you, we can promote both the movie and your album using the movie.” After thinking for a moment, Qin Cheng nodded slightly: “Hmm, win-win.”
Simply a master strategist.
Who knew that upon hearing this, Rong Xu would suddenly burst out laughing. He looked up, scrutinizing the man up and down, gazing for several moments, and finally asked with a grin, “Mr. Qin, who gave you the courage to want to sing? Liang Jingru?”
Qin Cheng: “…Who is Liang Jingru?”
Rong Xu: “That’s not important. What’s important is, where did you get the courage to think you can sing… well, let’s just generously call your humming ‘singing’ for now.”
Qin Cheng: “…”
Early the next morning, before dawn, Qin Cheng leaned over and kissed the still-sleeping young man beside him, then returned to his own room.
But once in his room, he didn’t rest for a while. Instead, he walked to the window, gazed at the winding mountains in the distance, then lowered his head and made a phone call.
Xu Jin was quite surprised when he received the call. According to the time difference, it should still be early morning in Los Angeles, and yet Young Master Qin was calling him at this hour? Without thinking much, he asked, “What’s wrong? I’ll be in Los Angeles next week.”
The next moment, a calm and indifferent male voice came from the other end of the phone: “How’s my singing?”
Xu Jin suddenly froze, only thinking he’d misheard: “Huh? What did you say?”
With no emotion on his stern face, Qin Cheng calmly repeated: “How’s my singing?”
Xu Jin: “…I remember last year at the Golden Bear Awards, David even used that as a joke to tease you. Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
Qin Cheng asked again: “How’s my singing?”
Xu Jin: “…Can I not answer that question?”
Qin Cheng: “Hmm?”
Xu Jin: “…”
Qin Cheng: “Do you think I…”
“When you first debuted, weren’t you originally supposed to sing that movie’s theme song? Think carefully about why you didn’t sing that theme song later. You… you recall the reason yourself, I didn’t say anything at all.”
Qin Cheng: “…”
Hearing that Young Master Qin finally fell silent, Xu Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Being his manager was incredibly difficult. They say no one is perfect, and he never denied that, but who would have thought that as good as Qin Cheng’s acting was, his singing was equally terrible! He was tone-deaf by nature, yet he couldn’t even tell it himself, thinking he sang wonderfully.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xu Jin hadn’t spoken yet when Mrs. Xu, who was sitting opposite him eating dinner, asked, “Judging by your expression, is my God Qin’s singing really that bad?”
This sentence was not deliberately whispered and was transmitted completely through the phone.
Qin Cheng, hearing this sentence: “…”
Xu Jin, wanting to cry but having no tears, quickly took the phone and walked to the balcony, saying as he walked, “Why did you suddenly bring up singing again? Hasn’t it been over ten years? I haven’t seen you think about this before.”
“Isn’t the auto-tuning technology quite good now?”
Xu Jin instinctively replied: “You actually think an auto-tuner can get your singing in tune?!”
Qin Cheng: “…”
Due to inherent physical limitations, no matter how hard Mr. Qin tried, his desire to sing a love song with his Rong Rong was shelved. Elder Yang’s three songs could all be called classics, and they were entirely in Rong Xu’s style. With almost no hesitation, Rong Xu accepted this announcement.
Zeroth Law was expected to finish filming around May. In mid-April, Rong Xu temporarily returned to Huaxia to record songs. Since it was an EP (mini-album) with only three songs, all three were recorded by late April, and Luo Zhentao began promoting it.
Zeroth Law still had a few months until its release, and Rong Xu’s fans had already prepared themselves for possibly seeing little of their Rong Rong in the next half-year. However, they never expected that only four months later, Rong Rong would appear again, and even…
[Ahhhhhhh album! New album! My Rong is singing again! Ahhhhhh I can’t take it, I’m going downstairs to run five laps, no one stop me!]
[QAQ I don’t even dare to say it, but I’m actually a fan of Rong Rong’s songs! I’ve watched all of Rong Rong’s movies, but I was won over by Rong Yan. Rong Rong is singing again, it’s been two years, I almost thought I’d never hear Rong Rong’s new songs again, woo woo woo…]
[I’m so excited my hands are trembling as I type, so excited, I’m pre-ordering three new EPs!]
[EPs are usually priced cheaper, I want ten! Buy, buy, buy!]
[I want ten too, I can praise Rong Rong’s singing for a lifetime!!!]
Just the announcement of a new album was enough to excite fans this much. Even Luo Zhentao didn’t expect fans to be so enthusiastic about Rong Xu releasing new music. But upon closer thought, it made sense: Rong Xu hadn’t released new music in two years, leading to pent-up demand. Now that new songs were out, of course they would be warmly embraced by fans.
Without further ado, Luo Zhentao immediately capitalized on the fans’ excitement and, two hours later, announced the name of the new EP.
[Luo Zhentao: #FloatingLightMay20th# After two years, @YangChangzheng@RongXu collaborate again. That’s a hint of light gently floating on the water’s surface. 520, your Floating Light.]
Upon seeing this news, Rong Xu’s fans couldn’t sit still any longer and responded directly with a unified message under Luo Zhentao’s promotional Weibo post—
[YES YES YES!!!]
The promotion of Floating Light gradually emerged across Huaxia. Luo Zhentao used his connections to place advertisements in major public places in various cities, making more and more people aware of Rong Xu’s new album. Throughout Huaxia, even many passers-by began to follow news of this album.
Rong Xu didn’t pay too much attention to these matters. By the time he returned to Los Angeles, Zeroth Law had already entered its later stages of filming. Chu Wen gradually discovered his feelings for this robot. He had never experienced such emotions and didn’t even know how to face them: this was just a robot, a machine, not a human.
On one side were deeply ingrained beliefs, and on the other, emotions he found hard to ignore.
By mid-May, the crew finally reached the last scene.
Author’s Note:
Qin Chengcheng: Who is Liang Jingru anyway? What does she have to do with my baby’s singing, hmph ╭(╯^╰)╮