“There is one more thing I would like you to provide.”

“What is it?”

Zhao Zhenxun looked at Qi Cong. “I want the records and examination reports of the major hospitals you went to after your high fever and memory loss back then. Qi Cong, your past with Jiang Zhaoyan hasn’t been dug up yet, but that’s only a matter of time. Instead of having people scold you for being unfilial because of love, you might as well ask people to scold Jiang Zhaoyan for maliciously using and misleading an amnesiac patient. Do you understand what I mean?”

Naturally Qi Cong understood. Remembering Jiang Zhaoyan made his heart clench. “I will give you the information as soon as possible. Brother Zhao, this is hard on you.”

No, it would be Gu Xun who would need to work hard.

Zhao Zhenxun simply replied, “You don’t have to worry about public opinion, do what you have to do.”

 

…..

 

After arriving at the hotel, Zhao Zhenxun immediately contacted the acting teacher and arranged the online class. Shen Jia and Qi Cong only had time to put away their things and take out their own scripts and character materials before they sat up in front of their laptops. Then they followed the teacher’s class honestly.

The two-hour class passed quickly, and Qi Cong found himself a bit unable to keep up, while Shen Jia was well adapted.

Zhao Zhenxun frowned at the situation, thought about it and said, “Jia Jia has learned before, you haven’t, so your progress is different. You feeling unable to keep up is normal. I will contact the teacher afterwards and ask him to set a separate class schedule for you. After the schedule is set you won’t have to follow Jia Jia to the film set every day. You will stay at the hotel and take lessons.”

Qi Cong nodded.

It was a quarter past ten when he returned to his room after class and Qi Cong contacted Gu Xun.

The two made an appointment to meet in Gu Xun’s room ten minutes later. Qi Cong put down his phone and looked at the white t-shirt that was smeared with something when he was tidying up things. He smelled his shirt and frowned, running to select a fresh set of clothes before walking quickly into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Qi Cong hurriedly finished showering and was trying to dry his still dripping hair. He took his character information and walked quickly down the stairs to the eleventh floor.

As soon as he came out of the hallway, he was stopped by someone.

“What’s the hurry? Are you not afraid of falling?”

Qi Cong stopped and looked at Gu Xun leaning against the outer wall of the corridor. Gu Xun didn’t look at Qi Cong but his gaze fell on Qi Cong’s waist. Puzzled, Qi Cong followed his gaze.

The hem of his sky blue t-shirt was half stuck in his white pants. He was so anxious to not be late that he didn’t tuck it well.

Qi Cong stiffened and reached to pull the hem out, but Gu Xun was one step ahead of him. He already reached out, his long slender fingers pinching the sky blue fabric and pulling it a little outward before thoughtfully smoothing it over.

Qi Cong stiffened again.

The heat from his palm could be felt through the thin layer of cloth, slowly stopping at the waist of his pants. Then it moved back and repeated the motion several times.

This was no longer Gu Xun straightening his t-shirt hem, it was obviously him touching.

“All right!” Qi Cong  grabbed Gu Xun’s hand and tried to keep calm. “I’ve got the role information. It’s getting late. Let’s start already.”

Gu Xun looked down at his grasped hand, then raised his eyes to Qi Cong gaze, smiling. His voice was a little low. “Okay, let’s start.”

It was obviously a very normal sentence, but why, coming from Gu Xun’s mouth, did it sound so…?

 Qi Cong released Gu Xun’s hand and handed over the information on his character before glancing away. “Let’s go to your room and talk.”

Gu Xun’s voice became even lower as it carried a hint of a smile. “Ok, let’s go to my room.”

…. It was getting worse and worse!

Qi Cong stopped talking, looked for Gu Xun’s room, and walked in the direction of 1109.

The hotel room Gu Xun was staying in was the first on the floor. It was a relatively large suite with a bedroom and a small living room. It had the same layout as Shen Jia’s room. Qi Cong entered the suite and looked at the closed inner room door and secretly sighed with relief – no bed could be seen.

Click.

The sound of the door closing.

Qi Cong turned around and said, “By the way, I just got – “

Gu Xun didn’t know when he managed to stand very close to Qi Cong and leaned over slightly. Qi Cong looked and his lips were just a few centimeters away from touching Gu Xun’s face.

Qi Cong hurriedly shut up.

“Just what?” Gu Xun looked normal, still maintaining his half – leaning posture as he reached out to touch Qi Cong’s still wet hair. “I have the air conditioning on low. You might catch a cold with wet hair. Sit on the sofa, I will go get the hair dryer so we can dry your hair first.” Saying that, he straightened up and walked to the bathroom on his right side.

“……” 

Qi Cong relaxed and let out the breath he was holding. He looked at the closed door and then the figure of Gu Xun looking for a hair dryer in the bathroom. He realized something after the fact. It seemed that he shouldn’t have come to Gu Xun’s room at such an hour, especially just after a shower.

Its meaning was a bit ambiguous.

But it was too late to regret.

Qi Cong moved slightly and a little stiffly over to the sofa. Looking at the curtains that were pulled closed tightly, he looked back at the direction of the bathroom. Then he sneaked over and pulled the curtains halfway open.

After doing this he hurriedly sat down on the sofa and pretended that nothing had happened. He looked down at his character information.

Gu Xun came out with the hair dryer and glanced over at the open curtains and Qi Cong who sat down on the sofa reading thought his character information. With a smirk, he went over and plugged the hair dryer into the socket next to the sofa and stood behind Qi Cong. Moving Qi Cong’s head with one hand, he turned on and waved the hair dryer over his wet hair with the other.

Qi Cong pretended to be busy. He straightened his back and hurriedly turned to take the hairdryer. “No, I’ll do it myself.”

“It’s late. To save time, we’d better divide the work.” Gu Xun interrupted Qi Cong and raised the hair dryer. “Tell me about the role you will play while I blow dry your hair. When you finish, your hair should be dry, then we can directly start the next step.”

What kind of labor division was this?

But …… he couldn’t refuse.

Qi Cong looked at Gu Xun, who played the rogue and then withdrew his gaze and sat down. Picking up the information on his lap, he said “I am playing brother of the second male lead. It’s a plot clue character ….”

The sound of the hair dryer resumed and his scalp was gently stroked by a finger and his hair was ruffled. A warm breeze blew on his hair…. 

Qi Cong looked at the figure of Gu Xun reflected on the window glass, his voice slowing down unknowingly.

 

…….

 

His hair was dry and the two page character information was also finished.

Gu Xun put the hair dryer to the side and then from the small refrigerator took out a bottle of juice and put it in front of Qi Cong. Then Gu Xun sat next to him and reached out to take the papers in Qi Cong hand to look through before saying, “This is actually a very suitable role for deep digging. The mother is a foreign spy, but is in love with the person she was sent to spy on. The father is a king who loves his people, but also has his own ambitions, while the brilliant older brother swings between good and evil ……”

The sofa sank where Gu Xun sat and his thigh was rubbing against the other man’s leg. Qi Cong’s back straightened and he looked at the too close distance between the two of them. He looked at Gu Xun who was still seriously explaining his character outlook and uncomfortably moved to the side.

“…… this role shouldn’t have only three scenes.” Gu Xun ended the preliminary explanation.

Qi Cong smiled and remembered what Zhao Zhenxun said in the car before, that the scriptwriter might add some scenes to his character. He looked up and fixed on the serious expression of Gu Xun’s slight frown. It was obviously strange to him, but he didn’t have the same sense of distance as he used to. Instead, he wanted to get closer to the other person and know more about him.

“You don’t have the foundation of acting, so you can only learn how to control your expressions in time. If you want to act this role well, you can start by substituting the characters’ emotions. I think—” Gu Xun suddenly turned his head to meet Qi Cong’s gaze and stopped talking. Lowering his hands he put down the documents and turned sideways, putting one hand between Qi Xong and the other on the back of the sofa. Then he put one hand on his knees and leaned closer to Qi Cong. “Dazed?”

Qi Cong returned to his senses and was forced to lean back because Gu Xun’s face was too close. “What?”

“You came to learn from me and I will teach you. But you didn’t listen and stared in daze.” Gu Xun narrowed his eyes: “Is it boring to stay with me?”

“No.” Qi Cong became completely awake and a little embarrassed. No, very embarrassed. “Sorry, I will listen carefully now.”

Gu Xun didn’t speak as he continued to approach Qi Cong.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

 

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