Several seconds after Director Wang shouted the cut, Qi Cong slowly extricated himself from the character’s emotions. He then sat up and raised his hand to tap his chest.

“Are you okay?”

Qi Cong looked at the person who asked the question, and it took him two seconds to recognize that it was the young actor who played his servant boy. He suppressed the emotional weakness in his heart from performing at full strength, put down his hand and sat upright, shaking his head as he spoke. “I’m fine. How about you? I just pushed you, did it hurt you? Sorry, I wasn’t paying enough attention during the performance.”

The young actor shook his head, and glanced at Qi Cong. Hesitating for a moment, he then bowed his head and took out a neatly folded cotton checkered handkerchief and handed it to Qi Cong. “You-“

“Brother Cong!”

Shen Jia’s shout interrupted the silence in the corner, distracting Qi Cong and making him look sideways. The young actor, on the other hand, was startled and hurriedly withdrew his hand as he also turned his head to look in the direction of Shen Jia.

After Shen Jia came over, he threw himself directly on the desk and said excitedly, “Brother Cong you were great! Really good, really, really especially good! You just acted particularly well!”

After Shen Jia, several staff members gathered around with various tools, and one staff member echoed, “Mr. Qi performed really well just now. The live-scene was already so heart-wrenching, so I can’t even imagine how amazing the effect will be with music.”

Mr. Qi?

Qi Cong was stunned by this form of address, but before he could digest it and regain his senses, more “Mr. Qi”s could be heard around.

“Mr. Qi, Director Wang said he wanted to add some more shots, so your face make-up needs to be adjusted.”

“Mr. Qi Cong, your water is here. The bucket is right here. You can spit out the water here after rinsing your mouth.”

“Mr. Qi Cong…”

Everything that he could possibly need was affectionately placed right in front of him, while the expressions of the people around his were all well-intentioned and smiling and all the words caught in his ears were words of concern.

Since waking up from his “sleep”, this was the first time that Qi Cong had received concern from strangers like this in reality.

Qi Cong passively accepted the water handed to him from the staff and then rinsed his mouth with the bucket.

The strange taste of prop blood in his mouth was washed away as he gradually returned to his senses. He took the paper towel to wipe his mouth and met Shen Jia’s gaze who was still laying on the desk looking at him.

Shen Jia immediately gave him a big smile when Qi Cong looked at him and said quietly, “Mr. Qi Cong, congratulations on the success of your first filming.

Successful filming.

Qi Cong gently pinched the palm of his hand and then slowly smiled. His smile gradually expanded, from just a smile that gently curled the corners of the mouth, to a light smile with slightly exposed teeth to finally a brilliant smile with eyes all curved up.

Success.

He didn’t disappoint everyone.

He was also one step closer to Gu Xun.

The last day of August seemed to be his lucky day.

He put down the tissue, looked at the busy staff around him, and said sincerely, “Thank you.” Then looking at Shen Jia, his smile deepened again. “Thank you too, Jia Jia.”

Shen Jia’s eyes widened slightly as the surrounding staff suddenly quieted down. Yuan Yuan and Jiang Meng, who had just squeezed in with their cosmetic cases and wet paper towels, were also stunned.

Qi Cong was puzzled. His smile tightened, and he looked back and forth at the crowd with strange expressions staring at him. He was about to speak when Director Wang opened his mouth as he came over.

“What are you all doing there? Step back and don’t mess up the scene! Also, Shen Jia come here! Don’t lie down on the table. Read the script. The next scene will be up to you. Qi Cong, don’t  fix your makeup yet. Come here for a moment. I’ll tell you which scenes need to be fixed. “

The strange atmosphere near the desk was broken.

Since the director issued orders, no one dared to delay as they each finished their work and left. Shen Jia also sincerely got up and walked around the desk, waiting for Qi Cong to finish packing up and then walked with Qi Cong to Director Wang.

In the next ten minutes, Qi Cong, under the guidance of Director Wang and Director Guo, needed to do some close-ups and some re-shoots of the previous scene. During this time he was sensitive to the fact that the way people looked at him and their attitude towards him had once again changed.

Since joining the crew he has been secretly watched and kept at a distance because of the ups and downs on the Internet.  Everyone didn’t deliberately isolate him, everyone just coincidentally tried to avoid contact with him. When there was no way to avoid it, everyone spoke to him politely but raised a high invisible wall that prevented any deeper communications.

Although he was in the crew, he had always been outside of it.

But now this high wall has disappeared.

Many people sent friendly signals to him from behind the now broken wall, no longer avoiding his line of sight, no longer deliberately avoiding getting along with him, no longer alienating him when talking to him. Now more and more people were willing to take the initiative to find him and communicate with him.

It seemed that he was really accepted by the crew at this moment.

Qi Cong suddenly wanted to talk to Gu Xun; talk with him about today’s scenes, about the changes brought by the filming and… to thank him as well.

After all the shots were finished, Qi Cong took out his phone from the backpack that Yuan Yuan had put away for him. At the first opportunity when he could move freely, he found a quiet corner to sit down and opened his WeChat.

Someone approached and then sat down on the stool beside him.

Qi Cong’s attention was completely on his  mobile phone, so after noticing movement his eyes only moved to the side for less than a second. He didn’t even see if the person who sat next to him was a man or a woman. His gaze was fixed on the chat box on the top of the WeChat bar.

Gu Xun hadn’t sent any new messages.

Qi Cong’s fingers loosened and he was just about to click into the chat box to send a message to Gu Xun, when a bottle of water suddenly appeared in front of his face, blocking his phone screen.

He froze, raised his eyes, and then saw the familiar palm of the hand holding the water bottle, as well as the red garnet gemstone ring worn on that hand.

“You just sweated a lot, you need to hydrate.”

A familiar male voice came from beside him, making Qi Cong look to his side.

On the not-so-tall plastic stool, Gu Xun sat with his long legs, holding a plastic bag with one hand and a water bottle with another. His very neat hair from the live-broadcast had become messed up at this point, as few strands fell down and covered his forehead. The black shirt he was wearing was wrinkled and the sleeves were rolled up, giving off a very casual feeling, completely different from the formal appearance in the live broadcast.

“First a little statement.” Gu Xun and Qi Cong looked at each other for a few seconds before Gu Xun withdrew the hand that was holding a water bottle. Then he put the plastic bag he was carrying down and twisted the bottle cap as he spoke. “I have seriously completed my work at the premiere. The total length of today’s premiere was two hours and fifty minutes, including the red carpet, interviews with the cast, interaction with the audience, personal interviews, the main film viewing and many other aspects. I greeted the cast and guests as well as the media in advance so I could leave early after the final viewing and board a plane back here at 4:25. I got off the plane at 6:50, and arrived at your shooting compound at 7:40.”

Qi Cong’s eyes widened as he listened.

Arrived at seven forty? Wouldn’t that be….

“I also finished watching your performance.” Gu Xun sent the unscrewed water bottle in front of Qi Cong, while he reached out his other hand to fix a strand of Qi Cong’s long hair that fell in front of his face and slowly detangled it. Raising his eyes to meet Qi Cong’s gaze, he smiled. “Congratulations to my first and last student. Full marks for completing the first performance assignment, Teacher Gu is very satisfied and proud.”

Qi Cong looked at Gu Xun in a daze, and just a few seconds later snapped back to reality. Leaning back to take the water, he turned his head to look around.

Director Wang was asking the staff to change the scene layout and prepare for the next scene, while Shen Jia and the other main actors were lined up on Deputy Director Guo’s side. Yuan Yuan and the others were on standby, ready to fix the actors’ makeup and apply finishing touches. Zhao Zhenxun was talking to the Chief Scriptwriter Tang Mou.

Everyone was busy and no one seemed to pay attention to them.

Qi Cong withdrew his eyes, looked at Gu Xun, and opened his mouth. “You….”

Gu Xun sat up straight again. He picked up the plastic bag at his feet, took another bottle of water from it and unscrewed it, then looked at Qi Cong. He held up the water bottle and gently bumped his against the water bottle in Qi Cong’s hand.

“Cheers. I wish you success. “

The water bottle in his hand was gently touched, making the water inside shake slightly.

Just like Qi Cong’s not so calm heart that was stirred by Gu Xun at this time.

Qi Cong squeezed the bottle tightly. Glancing at Gu Xun who tilted his head to drink his water, Qi Cong also lifted his water bottle to take a sip. Afterwards, he looked at Gu Xun again.

Gu Xun smiled at Qi Cong, twisted his water bottle closed and put it aside. Then he dragged his stool and moved a little closer to Qi Cong. Touching Qi Cong’s leg he asked, “Does it hurt?”

Qi Cong shifted his leg and asked, “What?”

“Here in the chest, does it still hurt?” Gu Xun lifted the plastic bag at his feet and handed it over. “I bought you some medicinal balm. Apply some in the evening. If you can’t apply it yourself and want me to help you I can -”

“Thank you. I’ll do it myself.” Qi Cong hurriedly took the plastic bag into his arms and almost spilled the water in his hand.

Gu Xun reached out to help Qi Cong hold his water bottle, and then laughed in a low voice.

Qi Cong was embarrassed, so he picked up the bottle cap and screwed it on. Setting it down he said, “Thank you for the medicine. Also, I am sorry. I lied to you before that I would officially start filming tomorrow and you-”

“Cong.” Gu Xun interrupted him. He leaned toward Qi Cong, his expression deep and urgent, his eyes containing a hot emotion as his low voice became bewitching. “Let me help you. Let me help you walk faster to my side. I have a lot of resources, and my family also has some connections in the furniture industry. Whether it’s you or Sanmu as long as you-”

“Gu Xun.” Qi Cong grabbed Gu Xun’s hand, looked at Gu Xun very seriously and spoke again. “Gu Xun.” He shook his head.

Gu Xun shut up and his sense of reason that almost disappeared in his heart because of the desire to be with his sweetheart quickly returned to its cage. He looked at Qi Cong with gentle but serious and firm eyes. Backing away a little, he moved the hand held by Qi Cong and adjusted his grip on it. “I’m sorry for saying something stupid.”

Qi Cong was so stiff that he quickly let go of Gu Xun’s hand. Looking around, he moved the small bench aside, away from the atmosphere created by Gu Xun and softened his tone. “It’s me. I’m sorry. I have another scene today, playing a corpse, you–”

“I’ll wait for you.” Gu Xun retracted his legs and sat back, smiling at Qi Cong with a clever and honest look. “Cheer up.”

Qi Cong looked at Gu Xun, his emotions slowly settling down as he nodded. “I will work hard.”

A few minutes later, the last scene started shooting. Qi Cong went to the position pointed out by the director and layed down covered with a white cloth, playing a corpse honestly.

On the sidelines, Zhao Zhenxun had already been patient for a long time. He went to Gu Xun and sat down where Qi Cong had just sat. Then he spoke with a black face. “The main actor of the movie left the premiere early. You really know how to make news.”

Gu Xun looked at Qi Cong on the set and Lian Pengxing squatted down to examine the wound caused by the bite of a parasite. Gu Xun’s eyes squinted as he spoke, “I just didn’t accompany everyone to watch the main film. The live broadcast had already ended, so it won’t cause much news.”

“It still counts as news to your fan base.”

“I had my agent tweet for me in advance to appease the fans.” 

Lian Pengxing finally let go of Qi Cong’s hand and Gu Xun’s expression was no longer so frightening. He looked back at Zhao Zhenxun and asked, “What’s going on with the Yanhuang Company?”

“It’s being checked.” Zhao Zhenxun clicked on his cell phone text messages and handed it to Gu Xun. “He relied on leeching off of Qi Cong to build his company, so it will be gone soon.”

Gu Xun glanced at the text message, stretched out his long legs with satisfaction and once again looked in the direction of Qi Cong. “Qi Cong should be happy to hear the news.”

Seeing Gu Xun like this, Zhao Zhenxun had to remind him, “Dogs will bite when they are anxious. Don’t hit too hard, take your time.”

“If you break the dog’s teeth, won’t it be unable to bite?”

Zhao Zhenxun became completely speechless, and got up to leave.

At 9:00 p.m., after Lian Pengxing NGed three times in a row, the last scene of “the protagonist learning of the death of You Changqing and checking his corpse to find many clues” finally ended.

Two hours later, the official Weibo account of the cast of “Legend of Youth ” suddenly released a wave of on-set photos.

There were nine photos in total, eight of which were group photos and one single photo.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

 

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