Author: hoeniely (Page 9 of 14)

Chapter 63 – Try to confess again

Jie Jie: Thank you for the wait~ I hope everyone had a great week and will have an even greater week ahead~

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Xin Zimai immediately gave the answer, “The crew dismissed Lu Pinghui. At one o’clock just now, the official Weibo released a statement.”

An Xumo paused for a moment. He thought of a different outcome but did not expect it to be so serious.

“……dismissed?”

“En.” Xin Zimai explained, “The official statement has two main points. One, the crew did not film the kissing scene before the incident and there is no phenomenal breaking news of taking the initiative to kiss. Second, Lu Pinghui not only released unauthorized photos with the set’s content but also with messages insinuating the cast, deliberately induced plot discussion causing a bad impact. That’s why the crew used such a tough attitude to deal with the matter.”

He also added, “The key point is to expose the set’s content and deliberately distorting the plot to induce discussion.”

An Xumo was a little confused, “Plot discussion?”

After Xin Zimai explained, An Xumo remembered that there had been a round of discussion about the triangular relationship when the crew had a public interview before. When Lu Punghui said this, it was tantamount to stamping the relationship between Lin Rui and An Xumo acting the role in advance. This is why the crew came out and strongly denied it.

An Xumo really didn’t think about this point. He always thought that the target of this news was him but he did not expect that the crew would be involved.

Xin Zimai gave a frank answer to his doubts.

“It’s not crucial who will be affected but the key is that the crew will come forward to minimize the impact and impose the most severe punishment for Lu Pinghui.”

An Xumo listened to him and understood what he meant. However, remembering the name Yin Yuan that the two mentioned that day, he hesitated again, “To deal with him so directly……will there be any trouble?”

“There will be trouble,” Xin Zimai did not hide it. “But your brother has already dealt with this.”

An Xumo did not expect him to say this directly and subconsciously said, “That troubled brother……”

“For the time being, there is no need to rush to say thank you,” Xin Zimai sighed. “There is a reason for Jinchen to take action. He let you answer the phone today probably because of this. Xiao An, there is one more thing to tell you here.”

An Xumo curiously said, “What is it?”

“In order to make up for the impact of this revelation, after discussing with the team and the crew, they are going to shoot a little bit of your daily scenes on the set and wait for the right opportunity to release it,” Xin Zimai said. “The crew’s filming progress has already been more than halfway and you will gradually resume attending various interviews and activities afterwards. By then, the media will be asking all kinds of questions related to the period of filming Different Roads. You and the film emperor’s kissing scene will definitely be bitten to ask.”

“What you need to do is pay attention to your attitude during the interview.”

An Xumo understood a little and took the initiative, “Good. I want to keep my distance and clear the relationship—”

“No.”

Xin Zimai interrupted him.

An Xumo was stunned for a moment and heard on the other end of the phone say, “It’s to tell you not to deny the various rumors with Jinchen.”

“……”

An Xumo’s eyes widened, “Why?”

Countless complicated and different reasons flashed through his mind but none of them could convince him.

More importantly, Xin Zimai did not give him an answer.

He said, “It’s better for Jinchen to explain this matter to you.”

After the phone hung up, the room regained its calm. However, the heart of the only person left was in a mess.

“Don’t deny it head-on.” Although Xin Zimai added a sentence afterwards, “Don’t directly admit it.” But this kind of hollow answer, what kind of effect it will cause, An Xumo can definitely imagine it.

He couldn’t figure out why Xin Zimai would make such a request.

Doesn’t my brother hate spreading scandals with others?

Although it can’t be said to be a complete insulator of gossip but since the beginning of his career, Zhou Jinchen never had gossip that could be spread on a large scale nor have announced his love affair. The only thing that had been discussed on a large scale was Han Ming and the final result, An Xumo was also well aware.

In addition to Han Ming, there is also a very direct example in front. Since his brother had told him that he rejected Lin Rui’s confession, An Xumo had also paid attention to the relationship between the two people in general. Although there was nothing strange between Zhou Jinchen and Lin Rui, An Xumo found that his brother had never been alone with Lin Rui.

Zhou Jinchen was physically expressing a clear attitude: Avoidance.

But this time, why is it……

Although An Xumo doesn’t care much about various rumors in the entertainment industry, and apart from the need to work, the only news he cares about are Zhou Jinchen’s but that doesn’t mean he is not aware of the power of such news as sleeping together and the kissing scenes. Even if An Xumo leaves the set now, he can imagine what the other people in the crew are saying about them.

According to Zhou Jinchen’s usual behavior, he would certainly not allow such news to spread. 

No, An Xumo thought. It should be said that, according to common practice, his brother would never make such intimate moves with other people.

He slowly lowered his head and stared at his folded knees, feeling that the pattern on his clothes was like a black vortex that was trying to suck people in.

Although he didn’t understand the reason why Xin Zimai said not to deny the rumors positively, An Xumo could guess why this special case would be him.

The reason is that he is the only one who has maintained a brotherly relationship with Zhou Jinchen for more than ten years.

It has nothing to do with blood relation and reality. As long as there is this relationship, no matter what kind of news they spread, they won’t end up making the fake drama into reality.

This is an absolutely safe identity.

But……

An Xumo covered his eyes with his palm. He rested his other hand on his knee as if with these two layers of barriers, he could not be sucked in by the spinning pattern on the fabric.

What he was afraid of wasn’t the panic over the scandalous rumor caused by unknown reasons.

It is the fear of his immoral thoughts at the bottom of his heart that might be exposed to the sun.

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After filming two scenes in the morning, the crew wrapped up smoothly and started lunch on time.

But unlike the usual, a piece of news spread quickly among the crowd.

The previously hired actor, Lu Pinghui, was directly dismissed by the crew by making a public statement.

Lu Pinghui has been in the group for seven or eight days, and many people in the crew have dealt with him. When he first entered the group, he brought his own barrage of ‘I have a backer, who dared to mess with me’. Not only no one dared to mess with him, but he himself had caused a lot of trouble.

It is common practice to subjectively instruct the staff, fiddle with the crew’s equipment without permission, never greeted the person in charge, and even took selfies with the key props in the crew. A staff member even came up to remind him to delete the photo but Lu Pinghui and his agent scolded him till he cried.

If not for his small part, and if Ma Zechi hadn’t stopped him, this matter would have stabbed Ma Lao.

Although Ma Lao can certainly kick people out directly, his health has not been good. Ma Zechi doesn’t want to bother his father with this kind of thing. Lu Pinghui’s backer is indeed a hard piece of iron. Ma Zechi can only appease the staff while putting Lu Pinghui’s scenes together as soon as possible so that he can finish filming and quickly roll¹get lost; go away; scram away.

Unexpectedly, Lu Pinghui kicked an even harder iron plate²kicking an even harder iron plate, something like this: others thought that they are weak and easy to bully and as a result, the other party was worse than themselves and they end up suffering. before he left the group.

Zhou Jinchen’s way of handling is still the same. He did not even show his face and only helped behind the scene with the most appropriate reasons to promote the most effective results. Most of the people in the crew didn’t even know that this matter was related to Zhou Jinchen and thought that the reason was only the one stated in the official statement.

Lu Pinghui’s relationship with the crew was not good. When this happened, it was all those people who tried to suppress their emotions without clapping their hands and cheer. The confidentiality agreement is an agreement that everyone has signed. Apart from Lu Pinghui, no one else will be stupid enough to reveal the news to the crew.

As for An Xumo who was targeted by the news, although the crew knew what had happened, An Xumo was naturally more liked than Lu Pinghui. An Xumo’s relationship with the crew is not bad, even if someone wants to target him, after Lu Pinghui’s dismissal, they also have to give birth to concerns.

From the breaking news to the dismissal, it took no more than two days for Lu Pinghui who walked sideways³overbearing/arrogant to be dealt with. If there were others who want to spread An Xumo and Zhou Jinchen’s matter…….what kind of results will be waiting for them?

Moreover, Ma Lao hates it when actors’ do publicity during filming. There are only so many people in the crew, because of the incident, when the kissing scene was filmed, all the people present were screened and registered. If they spread the gossip, not to mention whether they can achieve their expected explosive effect, even their own identities could not be hidden.

In addition, Zhou Jinchen’s team has well-known public relations ability in the entire industry……

Therefore, as Xin Zimai expected, the news which should have caused a sensation was temporarily suppressed.

The initiative is still in the hands of their team.

Unlike the crew with such complicated ideas, the news of Lu Pinghui’s dismissal from the crew spread, and the majority in social media immediately gave the most direct response.

The eye-catching headlines occupied the most prominent positions. Although the specific contents of various reports were more or less the same because of the lack of information, these reports have also earned all the clicks long ago only by the headlines. The film 《Different Roads》 which was originally the scope of focus burned a topic again and the crew’s decisive approach made the main media happy.

These media are not necessarily purely agreeable but this kind of highly relevant news is a good material that can’t be missed. Coupled with the management and instruction of the crew’s investors, the report that agrees with the crew’s vigorous and resolute handling of the results was overwhelmingly dominant.

In addition to the official reports from various media, the voices of fans can’t be ignored on Weibo, WeChat, and several major forum websites.

The focus of the media attention is on the cast and crew of 《Different Roads》. After all, Lu Pinghui did not specify a name when he broke the news. Even if they wanted to directly guess that it was An Xumo, they have to consider the possibility of being sent a lawyer’s letter. The crew made it clear in the statement that it was too late for the media who previously rubbed An Xumo’s heat to avoid suspicion so how could they take the initiative to get into trouble again.

But in the fan’s eyes, Lu Pinghui’s biggest crime is to harm An Xumo.

It insinuates, reversing black and white and describes the idol that is serious about filming as a despicable villain who tends to follow the trend. After the crew’s statement was issued, the enraged fans finally started an organized and large-scale counterattack.

The certified Weibo account used by Lu Pinghui has been completely taken over by An Xumo’s fans. The fashion brands he worked with also announced that they were ending their contracts with him under pressure. Lu Pinghui can only be regarded as a mid-range influential online celebrity on Weibo and didn’t have many die-hard fans. After causing such a scene, his fans left on the spot and there were many who turned black and stepped back.

Furthermore, some inappropriate remarks released by Lu Pinghui have also been found out by An Xumo’s fans. What is more unexpected is that someone used technical means to restore the original picture released by Lu Pinghui, combined with his previous high-profile Weibo content, they actually found evidence of his tax evasion.

This is an absolute violation of the law.

The evidence of tax evasion was posted by fans on Weibo, and the skills of the great god of technology were simply amazing. The neatly typeset, well-organized, and well-documented Weibo was turned directly out of the circle. Finally, the official certified Blue V⁴verified companies, non-profits & government institutes which has been forwarded and @ for more than 20,000 times, has stepped in and announced that the local tax bureau has been involved in the investigation of the matter.

The development of the incident took a sharp turn and the onlookers were satisfied to eat melons.

As for An Xumo’s fans, this incident is actually an important turning point.

Since his debut, An Xumo’s development can be described as smooth sailing. Accordingly, his fans’ fighting power is slightly inferior. Usually, they are cloud sucking⁵to attractMo little girls, who have little experience in fighting against black powder and gossip. As a result, the original somewhat loose cuttlefish fanbase rapidly developed a very effective, collective organization and some potential great gods have demonstrated their abilities. The fans’ growth rate was particularly impressive at least from the statistics within the fanbase.

After this incident, the number of people who have left the group because of the news wasn’t much. On the contrary, it gathered a very considerable force within the group and developed a good side-by-side friendship and ‘fighting’ ability.

The development trend of fans is particularly gratifying, but for the parties involved, he has another important problem to face.

The crew arranged four scenes on the same day. After the filming was over, there were no additional night scenes.

When the actors returned to the hotel just before eight o’clock, they came back together, found their own rooms in the hallway, and swiped their cards to enter the room. But when Zhou Jinchen wanted to enter the door, someone stopped him in a low voice.

“Jinchen.”

Lin Rui’s voice was a bit low. He hasn’t been in a good mood all day, although Zhou Jinchen didn’t notice it.

“Can I talk to you?”

He looked at Zhou Jinchen who obviously had no intention of agreeing, he whispered, “It’ll be just a minute.”

There still so many rival scenes to film and Lin Rui knew that Zhou Jinchen will not quarrel with him at this time.

As expected, Zhou Jinchen did not refuse.

“Go to my room ba.” Lin Rui gestured to the side. After so many days together, he finally gave up the idea of going to Zhou Jinchen’s room to be alone with the man……

Because none of his attempts had ever been successful.

Unexpectedly, however, Zhou Jinchen glanced at the door that was pushed halfway and swept a quick glance at the spare room card that was inserted on the wall next to the door but he said, “Don’t bother.”

Lin Rui looked at him and saw the man pushed open the door to his room and motioned him, “Come in.”

Lin Rui obviously froze for a moment. Zhou Jinchen had already walked in and he quickly followed.

The lights were turned on in the room and the bed was covered with a soft quilt without wrinkles. It’s clearly the same room layout but this room obviously reveals that it belongs to Zhou Jinchen’s style.

Concise, strict, and meticulous.

Lin Rui came in and sat down on the single sofa inside the room. Zhou Jinchen sat opposite him and took out two bottles of mineral water from the side and placed them on the table.

As if to engage in some formal business cooperation. Reserved and unwelcome.

While Lin Rui smiled bitterly in his heart, he didn’t notice that Zhou Jinchen who picked up a bottle of mineral water, scanned the room and stopped for a moment in front of the closed bathroom door.

The golden room card is still lying in Zhou Jinchen’s pocket.

The silence did not last long. Lin Rui quickly spoke up to break the silence.

He looked at Zhou Jinchen who was separated from him by a table and seriously asked, “Jinchen, is it really impossible for you to accept me?”

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The author has something to say:

Xiao Mo waited in the room to ask questions, and as a result, two people came……

There is still a hurdle before the elder brother determines his heart to chase Xiao Mo. His illness hasn’t been written yet. The next key point is the process of his enlightenment. After writing about the brother’s change of heart, it’s a long way to chase Mo (also the process of healing Xiao Mo).

Chapter 62 – Is it a work-related injury?

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

Hope you enjoyed the bonus chapters~

I’ll update on Sunday and rest (not really, I’ll just be busy irl *cries)  for a while~

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An Xumo’s physique is special. Zhou Jinchen also did not expect this to happen before suggesting that the kissing scene should be changed.

This situation is actually the result of numerous coincidences and inevitability. After practicing the next morning, because of the medical examination at the hospital, everyone in the crew saw An Xumo and also noticed the strangeness on his lips. In fact, some people had already made a guess at that time which is why Lu Pinghui used that fashion big V to authenticate the Weibo breaking news. Just because of the excuse of allergies, everyone still accepted the explanation on the surface.

After this kissing scene, all the people present saw the actual scene of the two people filming. Not long after the shooting, the original nothing-unusual-An-Xumo now appeared in this condition. This time, people who didn’t think much about it last time and people who thought too much about it last time didn’t say anything but understood the real reason.

Although An Xumo has recently been among the ranks of traffic idols, he is still a complete newcomer in the field of filming. If the object has not been Zhou Jinchen, the scene he would have face now will certainly be much more severe.

Zhou Jinchen naturally also knows about this matter. Although An Xumo is not very popular within the crew, how can gossip and rumors be suppressed by the popularity in the entertainment industry? Had it not been for Zhou Jinchen’s status, others’ attitude would not be as cautious about An Xumo as they are now.

For those eyes that gathered around, Zhou Jinchen also understood their meaning. They are curious and testing their attitude.

Moreover, Zhou Jinchen did not conceal his attitude.

He glanced at Lin Rui; his voice remained no different than usual.

“En.”

Zhou Jinchen’s answer was so straightforward that Lin Rui surprisingly did not respond for a moment, the other party was agreeing with his question.

Lin Rui was a beat slower but there were others who reacted. Among the surprised eyes that were cast, Zhou Jinchen also looked at Ma Zechi who was standing not far away.

He asked Ma Zechi, “Is it a work-related injury?”

Everyone: “……”

Ma Zechi, “……”

What is this? Is this famous film emperor openly blackmailing the crew to cheat on medical insurance?

Before many people in the room recovered from the shock, Zhou Jinchen had already walked towards the decorated set. When passing by Ma Zechi, he even said to someone, “I just saw Ma Lao, he’s ready to come over.”

Between the two scenes, Ma Lao had to go to take his medicine so he was a little late than the two main actors changing costumes. The on-the-spot director was left to Ma Zechi. “If you wait for Ma Lao to come back and see that the scene has not yet started, he will definitely be unhappy.”

As soon as Ma Zechi was reminded of this, he reacted and hurriedly pulled Lin Rui who was still stopped halfway. He went to greet the staff on the scene to get ready to start working.

But before everyone was ready, Zhou Jinchen who was the first to walk into the scene did not stop in front of the camera. He passed through most of the set and came to An Xumo in the corner.

An Xumo who was carefully rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand did not expect his brother to come over and was stunned for a moment.

The man stopped in front of him and his eyes fell on the slightly swollen lips.

Actually, the people in the crew believed in the reason of ‘allergy’ to give face and it’s normal not to believe it. Since An Xumo’s lips did not look like the kind of that red swelling, it is moist and lustrous with a watery glow; even the color is a little too eye-catching.

An Xumo was a little embarrassed and the raised wrist used to block was neither good nor putting it away so he froze there for a moment.

He didn’t care about other people’s gaze but he couldn’t look at his brother.

Fortunately, Zhou Jinchen was not silent for too long. He quickly spoke, “There is no more scene for you today, go back to the hotel first.”

An Xumo stayed here to watch the shooting but in this situation, he didn’t have any thoughts of opposing the idea.

He immediately nodded, “Okay.”

However, when he was about to leave, he heard Zhou Jinchen once again say, “Go to my room.”

“…….?” An Xumo thought he had heard wrong.

“Look for my assistant, he has the room card.”

Zhou Jinchen quickly gestured, “Go ba.”

An Xumo was stupefied. He looked at Zhou Jinchen and confirmed that the other party did not look like he was joking before nodding his head in response and leaving the set.

Zhou Jinchen turned and bumped into a group of faces who were stunned on the spot.

Curious people who can’t bear but hold up their ears: “……”

Liu Longfei who watched the whole thing word for word: “……”

No matter how you look at it, a kissing scene that gave birth to love and spending time in the same room, it looks like you’re really in a relationship, okay?

Moreover, these things also happen to a popular idol and well-known film emperor. If they are not mistaken, this is clearly a piece of shocking news that can paralyze the server.

But why is it the concerned parties still looked unperturbed, so they won’t have any sense of achievement in discovering the scandal at all?

Watching Zhou Jinchen calmly return in front of the camera, people looking at each other had doubts about their own gossip ability and even their eyesight level.

Is this gossip true or not ah?!

In the face of the bizarre atmosphere of the whole scene, Ma Zechi who was standing next to the camera looked helpless. He had to use the loudspeaker specially used by Ma Lao and set it to maximum volume.

“Attention to all departments, prepare to start shooting!”

An Xumo who had left the set did not know what happened. He found Zhou Jinchen’s assistant around the set but the other party didn’t give him a room card instead, told him another room number.

The room is also on the same floor as the rented room of the crew, but it’s not in the same area.

An Xumo was a little confused but the set had already started filming and it wasn’t practical for him to call Zhou Jinchen again. After a moment of hesitation, he still rang the doorbell of that room.

He did not wait long. After a ‘click’ sound, the door was pulled open from the inside. A tall grim-faced man in black stood inside, his appearance is not outstanding, and his features were not special, as if people can forget it at a glance.

The only thing is that their eyes were frighteningly bright. After being looked at by the black-clothed youth, An Xumo suddenly had chills from behind.

He was a little surprised. When he tried to look at the other party again, the black-clothed youth had already withdrawn his sight, made way for space, and said in a low voice, “Young Master An, please.”

An Xumo hadn’t been addressed that way for a long time.

He subconsciously took a step back but heard the black-clothed youth say, “There is hotel surveillance in the corridor. Please come in.”

The youth said he was inviting the person but he only let An Xumo stand in the corridor behind the door. The youth’s tall figure blocked most of the view so An Xumo couldn’t see the situation inside the room at all. 

The black-clothed youth pulled out a room card from his inner chest pocket and handed it to An Xumo. Zhou Jinchen’s room number is written on a piece of paper wrapped around a golden room card. An Xumo took the room card and the youth spoke again, “The fifth compartment of the second part of the bedside drawer, the mobile phone inside can answer the call.”

An Xumo didn’t quite understand: “I have a mobile phone……”

The youth looked at him and said, “That once can prevent eavesdropping.”

An Xumo could not think of anything important enough to prevent eavesdropping. Although he grew up in the Zhou Family, he had never been allowed to come into contact with these things. The Zhou family would rather have a bookworm than cultivate a potentially powerful opponent for them.

After returning alone to Zhou Jinchen’s room, An Xumo quickly found the phone in the drawer. It was a very ordinary Apple, and even the desktop came with the system.

There was no phone number inside. An Xumo was a little confused. Before the crew was about to start working, he didn’t have the time to ask his brother why he wanted him to come to this room. Obviously, the room card was changed in the hands of the assistant but he was involved with a strange black-clothed youth.

Finally, there is an additional anti-eavesdropping phone that can’t see any clue.

An Xumo sat back on the sofa before he felt the tiredness coming from all over his body. The day is not even half over yet but he had experienced so many things.

NG blunders, being comforted by his brother, successfully filmed a kissing scene, and the truth about his allergies being discovered by the crew……

And so on.

An Xumo suddenly sat up straight.

He realized that he had forgotten one thing.

When he was watched by the crew before, rumors pointed directly at him broke out on Weibo that night. At that time, his brother and Xin Zimai dealt with this matter and his mind was on the official filming so this page was temporarily uncovered. Nevertheless, listening to the conversation between the two, the person who broke the news obviously does not have a simple background, and handling the matter was evidently tricky. But because of this matter, Tang Tang left the crew to go to the company and has not returned yet.

This matter has not been solved yet and just now, An Xumo was once again was watched by the crew because of his swollen lips.

……will that happen again this time?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He was not only worried about his own situation but also worried that he would involve his brother. Lu Pinghui did not know about the change before and pointed finger at An Xumo and Lin Rui. Now, so many people have seen the filming of the new script. If the word gets out again this time……before he finished thinking, the phone placed on the table suddenly rang.

It still the system’s ringtone.

An Xumo froze and reached out his hand to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Jinchen, there’s been……”

An Xumo and the person on the other end of the phone was stunned at the same time.

The person there was vigilant at first, “Who are you?”

An Xumo heard the voice on the other side, “Brother Zimai, I’m An Xumo.”

Xin Zimai breathed a sigh of relief. He muttered, “I said how come it’s not a message” and wondered, “You have your brother’s phone?”

“No,” An Xumo said, “I’m in his room.”

Xin Zimai asked, “Did you take the mobile phone in the drawer of his room?”

An Xumo, “Yes.”

“That’s an extension and it can synchronize calls,” Xin Zimai said. “I’ll tell you, your brother shouldn’t be free to answer the phone right now.”

An Xumo was a little confused, “Is something wrong?”

Xin Zimai said, “Did your brother asked you to come to his room?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I guess he probably wants you to know about it too,” Xin Zimai said. “Do you remember that big fashion V mentioned before, the one who broke the news of 《Different Roads》?”

An Xumo was just thinking about this matter, and naturally, he reacted immediately.

“I remember.”

Xin Zimai said, “The blogger named Lu Pinghui played a supporting role with a few scenes in the crew. The motive of the person hasn’t been found yet but he is a related household which is not easy to handle. Jinchen just called me not long ago and said that he had confirmed Ma Lao’s attitude. Therefore, he asked me to report the results as soon as possible after I finish dealing with it.”

The phone call and confirming Ma Lao’s attitude, this is probably what happened during the costume change, An Xumo thought on one side while asking, “What is the result?”

If it was something else, he might not care so much but just now, on the set, An Xumo was being watched again. With Lu Pinghui’s breaking news in front of him, he really didn’t want to repeat the same mistake.

Most importantly, he also didn’t want to spread scandals with his brother.

He didn’t want to be like Han Ming and Lin Rui, causing trouble to his brother and then being alienated from each other.

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The author has something to say:

Brother: What are you looking at? I kissed him and he also went back to my room.

Xiao Mo: I’m not, I did not. Don’t talk nonsense ah. Senior Zhou and I only have a cooperative relationship. The scandal is fake, please don’t spread it QAQ

Brother: ……

↑From this small theater, do you feel the emotional drama that is ready to move and is about to erupt? xd

Chapter 61 – After the kiss, it swelled up again

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

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Only then did An Xumo understand the meaning of Zhou Jinchen’s words. His brother was personally teaching him how to master these emotions and express them in front of the camera.

He took a deep breath, “I understand. Thank you, Brother Jinchen.”

Unhappy? How could that be?

An Xumo felt that the amount of happiness in the last five minutes was enough for him to squander for the rest of his life.

Zhou Jinchen looked at the boy and confirmed the other party’s expression before dropping the question.

However, he didn’t get up with An Xumo to go back to the filming position, but said, “The Bai Qingchi who takes the initiative possesses such positive emotion as well.”

An Xumo responded first then heard Zhou Jinchen continue, “This is the point where Bai Qingchi touches people’s hearts. You have to relax in order to perform this point.”

“Okay……” An Xumo said and suddenly froze for a moment.

He looked up at Zhou Jinchen and the man lowered his eyes to look at him. His expression faint and he couldn’t see anything different from usual.

But An Xumo clearly felt something.

“Brother Jinchen, I……”

“Kissing is not just a nervous thing.” Zhou Jinchen interrupted him.

An Xumo vaguely guessed something but when the other party said the words, the impact was not reduced by half.

What Zhou Jinchen said was, “Getting along with me is not just a nervous thing, right?”

“It’s not……” An Xumo was eager to explain something until the impatient Ma Lao had walked over. He tapped on the table with his horn, “How long are you two going to communicate?”

Zhou Jinchen replied, “It’s all right.”

An Xumo hurriedly stood from his chair under Ma Lao’s urging. He no longer had the chance to answer his brother’s question yet in his heart, he had a clear answer.

When I am with my brother, the nervousness is like a balloon. There were other things that poured in from that balloon and filled it up into a water balloon. Nervousness is wrapped in the outermost layer, something visible and tangible yet what’s overflowing inside is another emotion.

It’s the kind of positive, exciting, and something that makes you happy just as my brother said.

Ma Lao looked at the two men and knocked on the table again. He inclined his head and motioned to Lin Rui who was standing at the door and said to the two, “Are you all rampant to enter the scene off-cam now?”

It was only then did An Xumo notice Lin Rui, who was standing at the back door of the classroom. Lin Rui is an actor himself and An Xumo is not sensitive to the emotional perceptions of people other than his brother. He could not see anything different on Lin Rui’s face but he found a water stain on his cuffs and trousers.

When they looked over, an assistant came over and handed Lin Rui the new mineral water in his hand.

An Xumo remembered in hindsight when his brother kissed him, he seemed to hear something falling on the ground.

Then……is it the water bottle that Lin Rui was originally holding?

The mineral water bottle was a prop arranged in the script. Ye Qisheng and a group of his friends pushed open the classroom door and happened to bump into this scene. The water bottle in his hand fell to the ground and it was this action that attracted the two people who were kissing.

But just now, the camera wasn’t turned on and it was in a non-working state on the set. Everyone knew it was break time but the bottle in Lin Rui’s hand fell on the ground like the development in the script.

……no wonder Ma Lao said that they ‘all’ entered the scene off-cam.

The water stains spilled at the back door have been cleaned up. Ma Lao also gave the order to start filming again. An Xumo retracted his scattered mind and took a deep breath.

A crisp ‘pop’ sounded on the scene record once again rang in the hands of the whiteboard.

The camera gathered around and the lighting board refracted light on the two people in the classroom. Under the attention of high-definition cameras, in everyone’s eyes, An Xumo grabbed Zhou Jinchen’s collar. With a very light and fast movement, he kissed him.

Not far away, Ma Zechi who was standing in front of the monitor screen stared closely at the image in the camera. When he saw An Xumo’s action, he secretly said in his heart.

It’s done.

As expected this time, An Xumo who took initiative did not stop moving as soon as Zhou Jinchen wrapped his arm around his waist as he did before. He still followed the rhythm led by Zhou Jinchen but instead of moving forward with the waves, he took the initiative to cooperate.

He added his own part in it. Tightly closed, long curly eyelashes trembled slightly because of the anticipation and nervousness, and there was also a little distinct smile on the corner of his eyes and eyebrows.

It was a highly contagious expression.

Across the monitor screen, Ma Zechi could feel his heartfelt happiness.

Ma Lao’s tight frown also gradually relaxed a little.

Although An Xumo’s acting still looks a bit green in contrast to Zhou Jinchen’s, he exuded his own charm and is no longer an emotionless set prop with a backdrop like a village to support Zhou Jinchen’s acting.

This is already a very critical shift.

After the eleventh shot, Ma Lao still did not let Lin Rui who was waiting at the door to come in and film the next shot. But his expression has softened a lot and his attitude towards the two men has calmed down a lot.

“The feeling is right, do it again.”

After finding the right state, An Xumo returned to his normal level. Once again played with surprising comprehension ability, after each retake since then has become more and more refined.

So much that by the time Ma Zechi thought it was possible, Ma Lao still did not yell cut. He let the two people act two more times before giving up.

At the end of the day, An Xumo was in his best condition and had not yet entered a state of fatigue. He is the least experienced actor in the group and when he enters the state, the filming of the rest of the scenes becomes very smooth.

Lin Rui and Zhou Jinchen are both film emperors and this kind of scene with intense physical actions and strong emotional outbursts may still be an opportunity and a test for other actors. For both of them, it has become a pure opportunity for acting. The two once again let the crowd on the set experience the feeling of ‘whirlwind drama’,¹Where a few well-performed actors who put together their acting skills for the sake of high box office and finally, Lin Rui slammed the door and left. The whole atmosphere on the set was suppressed.

An Xumo has successfully entered the state of Bai Qingchi acting against Ye Qisheng and the group of actors who played as his good friends, are also the object of long-term cooperation. This conflict scene in the classroom was only shot three times and was exceptionally and smoothly approved by Ma Lao.

Because of the leads’ fighting scene, there are a little more make-up shots in this section, and it took a little more time to wait for all the shots to be finished before the crew began to move collectively, to prepare the next scene of another scene.

An Xumo who finally finished the task, also quietly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed from his tense state.

There are not many scenes of Bai Qingchi. According to the crew’s arrangement, the next scene will appear two days later so An Xumo can also relax for a while.

More importantly, the kissing scene was successfully filmed, An Xumo thought. When it comes to difficulty, there will definitely no other content more difficult than this scene.

Because it’s a modern drama and it’s in the student era, the crew is wearing light makeup so An Xumo didn’t remove his makeup and directly followed the crew over, ready to go see the next shooting. The filming scenes have been set up in advance for the most part. This scene still required the appearance of the two main characters yet in order to change costume, they came a little late.

Just when filming the hand-to-hand combat, Zhou Jinchen was painted with an injury makeup so he still needs to change on a new set of makeup over. In contrast, Ling Sihang would not have the heart to hurt Ye Qisheng so Lin Rui did not draw wounds on his face; he came one step ahead of Zhou Jinchen.

The staffs on the set were originally busy and An Xumo stood out of the way, ready to continue to watch the next filming process. When Lin Rui walked over, he didn’t notice An Xumo in the corner but he habitually scanned around. He paused on his steps and dropped his eyes on An Xumo.

To be precise, it should be on An Xuemo’s mouth.

The whole audience was waiting for Lin Rui and Zhou Jinchen, the two protagonists. They were fine before they came, but after Lin Rui came their sight also fell on An Xumo.

Even a person who stopped at the roadside to look at the sky would attract a group of people to look at him, not to mention Lin Rui who was waiting by the whole staff.

For a while, many people’s eyes were also subconsciously drawn over and fell on An Xumo.

An Xumo was originally not sensitive to the eyes of people around him, but he was standing not far from Liu Longfei. The latter was disturbed by the line of sight, losing his temper, but when he suspiciously followed the line of sight to look at An Xumo he also froze a bit.

“Xiao An, you…….”

An Xumo heard his voice and asked him sideways, “Assistant Director Liu, what’s wrong?”

Liu Longfei’s expression was somewhat odd. “Your mouth……”

Liu Longfei didn’t have a hesitating nature before. When he spoke with An Xumo like this, he made the latter even more curious.

However, Liu Longfei did not specify it in the end. He looked around then pointed at An Xumo. “There is a makeup artist over there, you go over and let them fix your makeup ba.”

An Xumo was puzzled. “I don’t have any scenes, why do I need to fix my make up?”

Liu Longfei pointed to his mouth, implying, “Yours is very red.”

An Xumo was startled for a moment, he suddenly remembered something.

Sure enough, Liu Longfei said, “It’s very similar when I saw you the day before yesterday morning.”

The morning before yesterday, wasn’t it the day when he was noticed by everyone because his lips were swollen due to practicing the night before?

An Xumo subconsciously covered his mouth.

Liu Longfei was kind enough to lead him and help him disperse the eyes that fell around him either openly or secretly. After all, the people in the crew were not blind. When he went to the hospital for a medical check-up the day before yesterday morning, An Xumo was asked by many people. At that time, he said it was allergies but now after the kissing scene, he reappeared in the same condition.

I’m afraid it’s impossible for anyone to believe in the ‘allergy’ excuse anymore.

However, An Xumo has not yet gone to the make-up artist and everyone’s attention has been attracted by another person.

After changing his costume, Zhou Jinchen walked over and met Lin Rui who stopped halfway with a complicated face.

“What’s wrong?”

Without waiting for Lin Rui to answer him, Zhou Jinchen had already noticed the line of sight around him.

And Lin Rui who turned sideways was looking at him with the same kind of gaze.

Lin Rui did not say anything, raising his hand and pointing to An Xumo.

Zhou Jinchen looked over and saw the boy standing aside with his head down as if he had made a mistake. Despite his lowered head blocking it a bit, the luscious and slightly swollen lips still caught the eye at a glance.

Lin Rui’s voice was slightly low and hoarse as he looked at Zhou Jinchen and asked, “Still allergies this time?”

•·················•·················•

The author has something to say:

Big Brother!²²大哥(da ge): eldest brother; big brother (polite address for a man of about the same age as oneself); gang leader; boss Be responsible after kissing ah!

Chapter 60.2 – Filming went one step further

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

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The kissing scene is dominated by Ling Sihang and the rhythm of the scene is controlled by Zhou Jinchen as expected. However, by contrast, An Xumo’s presence is much weaker, with Zhou Jinchen in the same frame; this can’t be noticed by the audience in the first place.

If the requirements are not too high, the footage can be used as the finished film. However, thinking about the film’s portrayal of the role of Bai Qingchi, Ma Zechi felt that Ma Lao would not agree with the quality of this shot.

Sure enough, Lin Rui, who had finished filming the scene of greeting his friends back to the classroom to see his crush, was still waiting outside the classroom and Ma Lao did not give him the order to push the door and barge in.

This time, the error correction is more difficult than the previous times. An Xumo’s own acting experience has a big difference from Zhou Jinchen’s. And the latter has been deliberately reducing his presence at ordinary times. Apart from the natural charm of stage performance, he rarely has the experience of actively striving for attention, especially in the presence of Zhou Jinchen. In order not to leave a bad impression on his brother, he is accustomed to weakening his own momentum.

An Xumo had not noticed this before until Ma Lao pointed out the deviation of aura of the two on camera that he only discovered this habit of his. After being cold-eyed¹cool eye; fig. detached; (treating) with indifference by his brother at the age of seven, An Xumo has submerged this habit into an instinctive reaction in the ten years that followed. If it were any other actor, An Xumo would not have behaved this way, but it was precisely in the face of Zhou Jinchen that he was unable to control his reaction comfortably.

Since the start of the filming was running smoothly, An Xumo had never experienced any major mistake. However, in this extremely important scene, he encountered his first hurdle. Even though Zhou Jinchen intentionally reined in his cooperation, An Xumo still had no way to smoothly hold up his role when the camera started filming. When he deliberately increased the range of movements and expressions to highlight his role, An Xumo’s acting seemed particularly deliberate and even more unnatural than before.

The content under the same frame was shot six times but An Xumo still did not meet Ma Lao’s standard.

What is even more disturbing is that his performance has not improved in time. Instead, even the mentality is slowly being shaken.

From time to time, there are always eyes around that will fall on him. Ever since this young actor entered the group, there are almost many topics surrounding him like the two main characters. After all, his current popularity is second only to Zhou Jinchen. Even the film emperor Lin Rui, who has been famous for many years wasn’t necessarily as popular as An Xumo in terms of heat and amount of topics.

Along with the attention that always has a variety of discussions, followed by an invisible pressure, whether malicious or not, this is something that cannot be avoided.

Ma Lao stayed for ten minutes. An Xumo sat alone in the front row for five minutes. A water bottle suddenly appeared in front of him.

Zhou Jinchen’s voice remained faint. “Don’t drink too much. It will wipe off your makeup.”

An Xumo took it and whispered thanks. The warm and cool water moistened his dry and cracked throat. After drinking it, Zhou Jinchen took the water back.

An Xumo sat against the aisle. He originally thought Zhou Jinchen was just letting him drink water to calm down, he didn’t expect that after it was taken away, Zhou Jinchen did not leave. Instead, he squatted down on one knee.

With a height of nearly one meter and nine, the short Zhou Jinchen who is crouching in front of An Xumo, who is sitting on his seat, has basically had the same line of sight, making the latter flush. Before An Xumo could react, he heard Zhou Jinchen ask him, “Is kissing a thing that makes you nervous?”

An Xumo hesitated for a moment and nodded hesitantly.

Zhou Jinchen said, “Is there something else besides nervousness?”

An Xumo opened his mouth. Zhou Jinchen didn’t rush to ask him but took up the question himself.

“In addition, there are also positive, exciting, and something that makes you happy.”

Zhou Jinchen said, “If you want the audience to feel these emotions, you must have them yourself.”

An Xumo looked at the other party, the man’s eyes were still a deep, bottomless, pure black. If he was careless, he would be deeply immersed.

Zhou Jinchen, “It’s not hard as you think.”

There was an obvious gasping sound of more than one person around and there was even the sound of someone accidentally dropping something in his hand on the ground.

But An Xumo has no way to pay attention to these background sounds anymore.

— Because the man in front of him, his brother, pinched his chin with warm fingers and leaned in for a kiss.

This kiss is unlike any previous practice or filming. After four lips pressed together, the originally shallow action did not stop there this time. An Xumo sat blankly with actual tables, chairs, and classroom walls behind him, and the man completely blocked the figure in front of him. A little unanticipated wetness touched his tightly pursed and slightly sore lips, which lingered lightly on the beads of his lips.

Then his lips were gently opened, a slightly stronger force invaded with a chilly and rich mint fragrance, almost making one fall into a thick fog woven by dreams.

The action is still Zhou Jinchen’s consistent temper, irresistible, and inescapable. Yet An Xumo felt that it was the gentlest intruder in the whole world.

Unlike many artists who dreamed of making their debut since they were young, An Xumo has experienced a complete academic career. Whether it was a private middle school or a public high school, the children of the Zhou family went to the best schools. And An Xumo, who was seen as a disgrace, was no different. He always wanted to work hard, to gain recognition through his hard work and topping in all subjects. The top first-tier universities in China have extended an olive branch to him.

He was such an outstanding student that he wrote a full-mark composition more than once. Even his score in the college entrance exam was only one point away from the top single division student in S City that year.

But now, An Xumo’s mind is blank. Even a complete and simplest sentence can’t be pieced together.

In fact, the action is not very skillful and sophisticated but because the target is the more inexperienced An Xumo, he did not distinguish it at all. Every part inside the mouth was meticulously taken care of and the breath that was held because of nervousness slowly rises. Obviously, the person sitting steadily on the chair was An Xumo but he felt as if he was wobbling and unstable.

There is no support all over his body, only the man in front of him exuded extreme attraction. An Xumo whose consciousness was dazed subconsciously wanted to touch the other but is suppressed by the last bit of reason and withdraws his hand.

But this is enough; the temperature coming from the lips and teeth warms the whole body. The original stiffness, uneasiness, nervousness, and distress were dispelled one by one.

It’s neither a raging wave nor a heavy color that covers everything. It wasn’t even similar to Zhou Jinchen’s strong style but rather, it was like a gentle and sweet cake aroma, tempting to move your index finger but also makes people satisfied.

After a long time of baking a cake full of cream, chocolate, and cheese which is enough for a person to eat for a lifetime, the warmth slowly receded.

It’s like leaving only a little bit of residual warmth, falling on the moist luscious lips with a watery glow.

When Zhou Jinchen retreated, An Xumo was still there; his mind was still struggling to deal with the excessive amount of complicated information. It wasn’t until Zhou Jinchen raised his eyes and looked up to one side, did An Xumo slowly pulled back to his senses.

Zhou Jinchen was looking in the direction of Ma Lao. A helpless Ma Zechi stood beside Ma Lao who was holding a megaphone, aimed at the direction of the two people in the classroom.

“Ten minutes, ten minutes is up!”

By the time he realized what just happened, An Xumo had to wonder how to write the two words shy and nervous. He was extremely shy but his face didn’t show, leaving only two ears where the tips were steaming so red that people can see it at a glance.

Zhou Jinchen took his eyes away from Ma Lao. He stood up from beside An Xumo and looked down at the other. “Understand?”

“……?”

“Positive, positive emotions.”

Zhou Jinchen paused for a moment, “or it’s just that a moment ago, you were unhappy when you kissed me?”

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The author has something to say:

A girl asked about the elder brother’s psychological activities. When this plot was written in such details, it also explains the brother’s emotional transformation. There will certainly be a detailed psychological analysis for his brother later~

《Different Roads》 filming and description is basically over, and in the later stage, Xiao Mo stunned the whole scene, helped his brother to open up, and so on. He also began to deal with the problem of his brother’s illness -3-

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Jie Jie: How you like that that that that kiss~

Chapter 60.1 – Filming went one step further

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

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An Xumo is neither a son nor a wife but his brother.

However, Zhou Jinchen did not intend to tell the relationship between the two, he had other contemplations besides the problems in the Zhou Family.

It’s only that his performance in the eyes of others, it will inevitably cause some misunderstandings. Ma Lao was even more impolite. He pointed it out to the extent of Zhou Jinchen’s special treatment to An Xumo.

But unlike Ma Zechi, Ma Lao obviously lacks the curiosity to gossip about the relationship between Zhou Jinchen and An Xumo. The problem was uncovered when An Xumo who had finished his makeup happened to return at this time.

When An Xumo came back, he heard Ma Lao say to Zhou Jinchen, “How many times do you plan to help others?”

An Xumo was a bit confused. He looked at the two men questioningly, not knowing what they were discussing.

Zhou Jinchen said, “Twice.”

Ma Lao snorted coldly, “Then the remaining thirteen times will be mine.”

An Xumo didn’t understand the conversation between the two but soon, he realized something —

Although he and his brother had practiced many times in advance, in the official filming, they still couldn’t get through it.

In other words, he and his brother had to kiss many times in public, in the full view of the public, and in broad daylight.

Ma Lao said before to shoot the scene before the hug, cut-off the shot after shooting Ling Sihang’s close-up, and then shoot the kissing scene. Looking at Ma Lao’s calm attitude, An Xumo originally thought that scene before the two people hugged could only be shot once. However, after the official starts, they re-take three more times before getting Ma Lao’s approval.

Before the first re-take, Zhou Jinchen reminded An Xumo to follow the feeling of the first shoot and not be affected by anything else, and the latter did so.

When he waited for the re-take, he found that, except for some unnatural performance mentioned by Ma Lao, An Xumo’s performance was basically the same. However, his brother who was acting against him had a completely different performance every time.

Naturally, this kind of difference does not refer to words and actions. Their lines have not changed much every shot, and Zhou Jinchen also did not act freely. An Xumo perceived the difference from Zhou Jinchen’s aura which is kind of an indescribable thing. But he could clearly feel that the gentle and eager to approach thing in his brother’s body slowly disappeared.

It wasn’t until the warm thing on his brother completely disappeared that Ma Lao didn’t continue to re-take. Only then did An Xumo realize that the original reason for these several retakes was not because of him, but because of Zhou Jinchen.

Nonetheless, his attention didn’t linger on this matter for too long because soon, after Zhou Jinchen’s facial close-ups, it was time for the two of them to start their kissing scene.

Despite the mental preparation for the whole day yesterday and despite the practice the night before, when it came to kissing in front of everyone, An Xumo still felt an uncontrollable tension.

Ma Lao agreed with him to pull Ling Sihang’s collar in relation to handling him. Therefore, when this section officially started shooting, they continued the method used in the first trial shooting.

After Zhou Jinchen said in a low voice, “Xiao Chi, is that okay?” An Xumo reached out to pull the man’s collar. However, when the other party cooperated with his strength that is pulled down by him, An Xumo’s hand wasn’t clasped tightly and it directly slipped off the man’s collar.

“……”

“I’m sorry, I, I didn’t hold it tight……”

Zhou Jinchen did not answer, he directly waved and the assistant not far away asked for a towel and handed it to An Xumo, letting him dry his sweaty hands.

Ma Lao reminded him, “Don’t stop by yourself. If you keep stopping, it will interrupt your state. Even if there are mistakes, you should continue to go on and start from the beginning after the performance.”

When An Xumo answered ‘yes’, he didn’t react to what he meant. It wasn’t until the scene recorder hit the board again that he realized — it means that the number of times they NG-ed, would have to be the same amount he has to kiss his brother.

After the familiar low voice question, he grabbed the other man’s collar with one hand and gathered the courage to kiss him on his tiptoes. The tight lip slightly let go and imprinted on the perfectly contoured thin lips. The familiar scent of mint filled his nostrils and An Xumo’s long curly eyelashes trembled lightly, without opening his eyes.

There was silence all around; inside and outside the set was also silent. An Xumo closed his eyes and could only hear his own heartbeat accelerating.

Because of last night’s breaking news of the big V, although An Xumo did not notice the change of people’s attitude towards him, when he came in the morning, the whole crew has actually gone through a clean-up. In the filming of this important scene today, all of the people present were strictly screened, and the number of people is much smaller than in the previous shooting. Accordingly, those who remain are also senior staff within the crew and have a thorough understanding of each actor.

In particular, it’s Zhou Jinchen’s notoriously unapproachable personality.

The originally schedule kissing scene between Lin Rui and An Xumo was already interesting enough. And now the revised plot is even more surprising, not to mention — this is a real kissing scene.

There were neither stand-in nor borrowed position. Under everyone’s eyes, the new actor kissed him up and Zhou Jinchen did not hide nor did he show an unnatural look.

For a while, the filming site was silent.

He’s really a film emperor, right……

Many people silently thought. Even if the camera looks somewhat repulsive off-cam, once they start working, this big name can also accept all the plot arrangements.

An Xumo naturally didn’t know the thoughts of the people around him. In fact, he had no time to care about anything else at this time.

During this section of filming, he kept his eyes close. Because by this time, Bai Qingchi was shy and indulged in joy, his eyes were surrounded by happiness, and there was no need for extra emotional expression. Zhou Jinchen is the focus of the camera here. Compared to Bai Qingchi’s enthusiasm, Ling Sihang needs to show an extra sober look at this point to let the audience see through his plans and lay the groundwork for the upcoming plot twist.

After the lips were pressed together, the initiative was transferred from Bai Qingchi to Ling Sihang, and An Xumo really didn’t know what to do next. He had no experience of kissing, and his only practice was cramming the night before yesterday.

An Xumo was waiting for Zhou Jinchen’s reaction but the other party did not do it as written in the script. An Xumo was puzzled, then he heard Ma Lao yelled out a cut.

When the two men were a little apart, An Xumo heard Zhou Jinchen whispered, “You are standing in the wrong position.”

Sure enough, Ma Lao came over, “The position of the two of you is on the wrong side and the camera can’t get the right angle.”

Ma Lao helped them find a suitable position then returned to the surveillance screen. An Xumo had no previous experience in filming so he didn’t know what ‘wrong position’ means and didn’t think much about it. It was only when Ma Lao turned around did Zhou Jinchen faintly said, “Next time, pay attention to the position or there will be a misunderstanding.” Only then did An Xumo vaguely sense something.

“Misunderstanding?” he asked carefully.

Zhou Jinchen looked at him, “Misunderstood as scene-stealer.”

“I……” An Xumo was a little flustered.

“I know you.” Zhou Jinchen cut off his explanation, “This is a reminder, not a criticism.”

An Xumo pursed his lower lip.

He felt that his mouth was full of sweet taste.

After carefully adjusting their positions, the two began their fourth shoot. An Xumo cautiously remembered every note and this time he finally continued the progress as he wished. The two lips pressed against each other, breathing inseparable,¹in love and inseparable and Ling Sihang slowly responded after being in a daze. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Bai Qingchi’s waist, taking advantage of his height, and lowered his head to kiss back.

The high-definition camera less than a meter away from the two is like a bright giant spotlight, pulling the upper body of the two into the frame. Both men were good-looking enough to withstand the close-up test but Ma Lao frowned as he sat in front of the monitor in the face of the scene that was enough to be called a pleasing shot.

Ma Zechi watching on the side, also quickly perceived the problem.

Chapter 59 – Is An Xumo your wife?

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

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Ling Sihang stood in the classroom, looking out the window at the bright sun but his complexion wasn’t sunny.

The room was very quiet that you can clearly hear the sound of footsteps outside the door. Everything was going according to plan but in Ling Sihang’s face, there wasn’t much satisfaction with the plan.

He raised his eyes to the door and the classroom door was pushed open. A slender figure in a white trench coat appeared at the door. Bai Qingchi pushed the door in and smiled at the first sight of Ling Sihang.

“Sihang.” He called out.

Ling Sihang glanced at him sideways, familiar with the usual people coming and going in the classroom. Now it was only the two of them left.

“Today’s dance was great,” Ling Sihang said. “Very impressive, congratulations.”

Bai Qingchi smiled, looking somewhat shy. He said softly, “Thank you.”

The room quieted down again. Bai Qingchi hesitated for a moment and slowly walked over, the distance between the two gradually shortened. He was hesitating how to speak but heard Ling Sihang said, “Do you have time tonight?”

Bai Qingchi froze for a moment. His expression was in a daze and hesitant but his eyes lit up with light that was difficult to suppress.

His voice was a little tight. When he opened his mouth, he deliberately disguised and pretended to be relaxed. “Yes ah. What’s wrong?”

Then Bai Qingchi heard an answer that was unmistakably similar to his fantasy.

“Can I invite you to have a drink?”

“Neither alcohol nor sweet,” Ling Sihang’s voice sounded a bit nervous. “I checked that ballet dancers can drink coconut milk and sugar-free yogurt or if you don’t like either, plain water is fine.”

Bai Qingchi helplessly saw himself shot in the chest by a pink long arrow.

Ling Sihang, who has always been calm and restrained, and when faced with a long stick to provoke a gangster who dared to stand in front of him, actually said such things to Bai Qingchi, which made him nervous.

Bai Qingchi looked up to see Ling Sihang’s expression, his figure has extremely excellent proportions but in front of Ling Sihang, he is still a little shorter.

Before he could see it, Bai Qingchi’s line of sight was blocked by Ling Sihang’s outstretched hand. The other person raised his hand and gently circled his shoulder.

This was a very gentle action. Although Bai Qingchi couldn’t see Ling Sihang’s face, he felt the other party’s temperature in his arms.

When he was too close, he also heard Ling Sihang’s voice.

“Xiao Chi……is it okay?”

After asking, Ling Sihang backed away. He was about to pull the distance between them when his collar was pulled by a tug.

The next moment, a warm touch came close ——

It touched his chin.

“Cut!” 

With a shout, Zhou Jinchen had to reach out to help the boy in front of him. Otherwise, he felt that the other party would most likely not be able to stand at all.

“I-I’m sorry……”

An Xumo wanted to hide himself in the hollow part of the listening stick.

Zhou Jinchen only replied to him.

“Look before you kiss.”

In a sense, this was the first time An Xumo had someone to remind him of the same mistake twice.

Ma Lao came over and said to An Xumo, “The first half of the emotion is good and quite natural. From the time Ling Sihang mentioned the date, you collapsed a little too tightly.”

Taking the opportunity to listen to the comment, An Xumo calmed down his emotions. He nodded hurriedly and said, “Okay.”

Ma Lao said, “Although Bai Qingchi is also very nervous at this time, it is suppressed a lot by the desire from his heart. The tension is crumbling, trying to recover something but at this time Bai Qingchi’s emotions are more erupting. That’s why he took the initiative to kiss.”

“Okay, Ma Lao.” An Xumo seriously noted down every word.

It was just the first shooting, the process was carried out smoothly and there was enough room for NG. It seems that because of this reason, Ma Lao did not criticize the wrong behavior that led to a cut but he focuses on the emotions that Bai Qingchi should have at this time.

After speaking, Ma Lao turned his attention to Zhou Jinchen. An Xumo was meditating on what Ma Lao had just said but he heard the person suddenly add another sentence.

“Let’s do it again later and cut it off when the two people are embracing. Shoot a close-up of Ling Sihang before filming the kissing scene.”

An Xumo naturally has no objections, he just nodded his head. He listened to Ma Lao, “Prepare the kissing scene in advance, and kiss again when you see it.”

“……”

After being reminded of the same content by the two big bosses, An Xumo simply felt like smoke was going to start rising from the top of his head.

Ma Lao’s attitude towards An Xumo was quite amiable but when An Xumo went to the side to fix his makeup, leaving only Ma Lao and Zhou Jinchen, the former’s face visibly sank.

Although An Xumo who had just started acting had performed very well, the gap between him and Zhou Jinchen was still irremovable —— this is undoubtedly the case. Zhou Jinchen’s performance was much better than An Xumo’s first shooting. This is not only clear to Ma Lao who directed the film; even the attentive staff on set can clearly see it.

However, in the content filmed by the camera, there was no clear-cut difference in their performance. This is certainly due to An Xumo’s natural performance —— even Ma Lao expressed his approval of this new actor, but there are more reasons……

Once An Xumo walked away, Ma Lao looked at Zhou Jinchen and his expression was not very good. “What were you doing? He is a newcomer acting for the first time, and so were you?”

Zhou Jinchen’s expression did not change but Ma Lao did not intend to reveal this. He directly said. “You are playing as a hunter, waiting for the fish to be caught. Not a big fool who fell in love. Bai Qingchi wants to express his love, Ling Sihang doesn’t have to. The person he likes is waiting outside the door, not in his arms!”

Zhou Jinchen was silent which Ma Lao took it as submission.

“Ling Sihang only wants to deceive Bai Qingchi, but the entire camera has to know and all the audience has to understand that Ling Sihang doesn’t like Bai Qingchi. He is using him. Do you still remember this ah?”

Being stared at by Ma Lao’s compelling gaze, Zhou Jinchen finally opened his mouth.

He said, “I remember.”

Ma Lao threw his hand: “Then you still act like this!”

His voice was a little loud and the originally noisy set was instantly silenced by this sound.

Everyone on the set looked at each other and watched the development with curious eyes, either explicitly or implicitly.

When Ma Lao used to talk about the scene, the crew members were busy with their own affairs, and they had to prepare for the second filming as soon as possible. Under Ma Lao’s high demands, the crew never had the habit of being lazy and timid.

Perhaps when Ma Lao just walked passed by, there would be some people who would like to pay more attention to the development on this side —— after all, the reason for calling cut this time was an obvious mistake. With everyone’s understanding of Ma Lao’s temper, even if he criticized in public without mercy, not many people would be surprised.

However, to everyone’s surprise, the merciless public criticism did happen but it didn’t happen to An Xumo. Instead, after everyone had already witnessed the calm comments of Ma Lao, it happened to Zhou Jinchen who rarely made mistakes.

An Xumo who was fixing his makeup on the side heard this, he was also stupefied for a moment and looked over their way.

The sight that gathered around did not make Zhou Jinchen’s expression appear any fluctuation. He still quietly listened to Ma Lao’s words. Until everyone realized that the imagined conflict did not appear, several assistant directors also began to clean up the scene so that everyone returned to their positions. The eyes gathered on their side gradually decreased a lot.

At this time, Zhou Jinchen who was questioned by Ma Lao about why he acted this way opened his mouth to explain.

“Everyone knows that the feeling is faked but Bai Qingchi must believe it’s true.” The surrounding sight had dispersed and the set was noisy again. Zhou Jinchen’s suppressed voice was difficult to be heard by a third person.

“Only by feeling Ling Sihang’s feelings can Bai Qingchi express his love.” Zhou Jinchen said the names of the characters in the scene but the meaning in the words was another layer.

Sure enough, Ma Lao’s anger subsided a little but he still frowned and stared closely at Zhou Jinchen.

“It may be difficult for new actors to feel the indifference of ‘Ling Sihang’ and to also show their love with the mentality of believing in this feeling.”

Zhou Jinchen said, “I asked you yesterday, and you said that the average number of re-takes for previous kissing scenes was fifteen. When the actor is not in good condition, they might shoot in two or three days.”

“So you wasted NG times to bring An Xumo into the scene?” Ma Lao’s expression was still not very good but his voice has been significantly lower than before.

Zhou Jinchen did not retort. “You know his memory, he can find the right state to remember and after that, he will not be out of the scene.”

Seeing Zhou Jinchen admit personally, Ma Lao didn’t show too much of a surprised expression.

Zhou Jinchen’s performance during the first shoot was too gentle —— so gentle that he didn’t look like he was acting. Ma Lao’s eyes are shrewd and ruthless; he could see at a glance that Zhou Jinchen had deliberately weakened his performance.

That’s why he got angry in public.

But for Zhou Jinchen’s explanation, Ma Lao is also the one who understands the deeper meaning.

《Different Roads》 has been filming for such a long time. Everyone who has an interest has understood Zhou Jinchen’s style of acting. He is like an extremely sharp knife, in every shot that requires an emotional outburst. It can make everyone inside and outside the camera feel the pressure.

Even if it’s not within the frame, Zhou Jinchen’s presence is also very strong. His sense of existence is not shown in stealing the shot but in an imposing manner which is unclear but can’t be ignored by everyone.

If you act against an actor with comparable acting skill, it will be a full-on¹to one’s heart’s content [idiom] drama. But more often than not, the actors who act with him will say that they will be affected by Zhou Jinchen’s emotions and unconsciously get deeper into the scene.

This kind of thing may be a good thing for actors in general. But fundamentally, this is a double crushing of acting skills and aura. In fact, they are all being carried along by Zhou Jinchen’s performance.

In the kissing scene with An Xumo, Zhou Jinchen could have completely opened his aura from the beginning. With his ability to show deep love on one hand and let everyone know he is acting on the other. He can definitely manage this kind of multi-layered performance.

In contrast, An Xumo is much thinner in terms of both the task being in the state of mind and acting experience. He is likely to be compared to a dry, Silly Baitian,²lit. silly white sweet; it describes people who are silly: but sweet/foolish, but kind/stupid, or but warmhearted/naïve.unable to show that he is worth liking in front of the camera.

The shyness and nervousness of seeing your secret love, the happiness and elation of that secret love coming true, and the sourness and sweetness of forbearance, are emotions that everyone will hide deep in their hearts.

Ma Lao naturally knows that this is the kind of emotion that resonates most easily on the screen. The audience must see these beautiful things in Bai Qingchi in order to like him, which is a test for An Xumo.

And now, it’s Zhou Jinchen who uses his own wrong performance to evoke these potentials within An Xumo little by little.

Ma Lao looked at Zhou Jinchen whose expression had not changed in front of him and his chest was still filled with some anger.

“Why didn’t I know when you are so helpful,” Ma Lao eyed him. “Is An Xumo your son or your wife, with you teaching him so gently?”

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The author has something to say:

The next chapter will definitely wrap up the kissing scene! Fourteen kisses are enough!

Chapter 58 – Breaking news is not as important as the kissing scene

Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

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The matter is not complicated and it can be explained in a few words. On Weibo, a V¹Verifiedfashion blogger with 100,000 fans made a post, mocking the efforts of a popular idol who is setting up a simple good younger brother outside. But when filming, he NG-ed ten times and took advantage of the filming of a kissing scene with the film emperor in advance. After the hot kiss, he waved around the whole crew with kiss marks, showing off his relationship with the film emperor to everyone.

“This big V has a group of their own fans. Their previous Weibo content is basically only spread among their fans so the influence is not very big.” Xin Zimai explained. “But two days ago, this blogger showed a photo of them inside the set, saying that they were invited to work with a top director. Several directors were named in the comments and except for Ma Lao, he denied all of them.”

“After posting the latest Weibo, the photo of them in the crew was taken out. After that, it got more and more troublesome, coupled with the forwarding of several marketing accounts, it became a hot breaking news incident.”

After Xin Zimai finished, he especially observed An Xumo’s expression. He knew the boy’s debut time and also knew that the other party hadn’t experienced a really big blow. If this had happened to Zhou Jinchen, Xin Zimai would never have worried about Zhou Jinchen’s own feelings —— he certainly wouldn’t feel it. But for the younger brother of his family’s good friend and employer, Xin Zimai still feels obliged to take care of the other party’s emotions.

But unexpectedly, the subject who was vilified did not show panic and impatience of new artists often have.

After listening to all of this, he simply asked, “Is the situation serious?”

“It may not be serious,” Xin Zimai said, “but the commotion is indeed not small.”

“You know, before the public interviews for 《The Scarecrow》, there was news that Lin Rui’s character would be liked by two people at the same time, and his final choice would be the focus of the plot. After a wave of speculation made before, some people soon connected this breaking news with the previous news.”

Xin Zimai did not finish his words but An Xumo realized something, “……so the Weibo post was that I kissed Teacher Lin?”

This answer was affirmed by Xin Zimai.

The kissing scene in the script was decided as early as a week ago, but the changes had not yet been announced. Ma Lao only gave the new script to the three of them so the rest of the crew didn’t know the details, coupled with the breaking news that the “film emperor” Weibo refers to, that’s why this situation occurred.

An Xumo asked, “So, what’s the situation now is that someone in the crew leaked it?”

“Yes,” Xin Zimai nodded. “The blogger is certified and has posted selfies before. The crew submitted an application to the official Weibo to confirm the actual identity of this blogger.”

An Xumo froze for a moment. “……isn’t there a picture?”

“The official information is more suitable to go through legal procedures and,” Xin Zimai paused before saying, “that person’s selfie P²photoshopped was too powerful. When I heard about the situation, the crew found several people to identify, but did not recognize the person’s face.”

An Xumo was a little speechless for a moment.

“Jinchen is discussing this matter with the crew, I also asked Tang Tang to contact the team to do emergency public relations. The situation on film emperor Lin’s side is not yet clear but I just spoke with his agent on the phone, they also expressed their position and they would cooperate with Jin Dian’s public relations.”

Xin Zimai said this to comfort An Xumo but found that the other party’s reaction was actually similar to his own employer’s —— they were both unusually indifferent to such major rumors about themselves.

Perhaps this is the power of brothers? But are these two not related by blood? As Xin Zimai thought, he couldn’t help saying, “In fact, it seems like at the film emperor Lin’s side, they initially misunderstood that it was a self-speculation on this side. However, it will be better after the situation is made clear, and they said that if necessary, they can come forward and issue a statement.”

After all, it’s Ma Lao’s film, and no one wants to make any mistakes when filming this movie.

An Xumo said thank you and then there was no more reaction. Xin Zimai went back to the laptop to deal with his business. He remembered Zhou Jinchen’s orders and said to An Xumo, “Jinchen will be back in a while as he has something to do on his side. If you want to know the details, you can ask Tang Tang or wait for your brother to come back.”

When he finished speaking, he went to work. It was only when there was a knock on the door that Xin Zimai went over and opened the door for someone.

An Xumo sat on the sofa not far from the door. Xin Zimai opened the door and came back, just in time to see what he was reading.

When he looked at it, Xin Zimai didn’t even notice Zhou Jinchen coming in at the door. He was surprised and said, “You’re reading Weibo comments?”

Behind him, Zhou Jinchen heard the words and also looked at An Xumo.

An Xumo didn’t understand why Xin Zimai was so surprised. He nodded and said, “I want to see what was spread outside.”

“……” Xin Zimai coughed lightly. “Actually, you don’t need to look at it. This kind of online rumors can be regarded as simple gossip at first. Later, it will be mixed with the forces of water army and it doesn’t make much sense to look at it.”

If you see too much, you may not be able to get out of it and it will cause a shadow. Xin Zimai thought. This is a process that young artists must go through. If they like it, there will also be slander. The pressure on the artist will also increase with their fame. In recent years, the public opinion’s strength has become more and more powerful and it is more difficult for young artists to overcome this hurdle. It is not uncommon for artists to take on the news of personally fighting bad comments.

No matter whether they criticize badly or not, the pressure on the artists themselves is indeed increasing. Frankly speaking, Xin Zimai doesn’t agree with young artists being directly exposed to real online evaluations before developing a strong heart.

But what Xin Zimai was worried about didn’t happen. An Xumo didn’t seem depressed at all.

Xin Zimai didn’t know whether he was really unaffected or was just overwhelmed by the blow so he deliberately said one more thing, “Some of the comments may be excessive, you don’t have to take it to heart.”

“Thank you, Brother Zimai.” An Xumo said. “I didn’t care about this. I’m just trying to figure out how to solve this matter.”

“The person has been found out.” Zhou Jinchen, who had been ignored for a while, suddenly spoke up and An Xumo’s attention was drawn to it.

However, before being drawn by the same, Xin Zimai looked at An Xumo thoughtfully.

The other party’s performance didn’t seem to be faked and his reaction is indeed much calmer than ordinary new artists. If he didn’t know his identity, Xin Zimai would have definitely looked up at An Xumo, thinking that he had the ability to resist pressure and luck to become a hit.

But once he thought that An Xumo was Zhou Jinchen’s younger brother, plus the two had such similar reactions, Xin Zimai has to think of Zhou Jinchen’s illness.

……is it possible that these two brothers had the same illness?

However, Li Qiucheng had clearly said that this disease was not common and after the onset of the disease, patients who could maintain normal human behavior were even rarer. Xin Zimai’s heart was unsure; he felt that he should mention this to Zhou Jinchen while he had the chance.

While Xin Zimai was contemplating, Zhou Jinchen already started to explain the situation, “The blogger who posted the content is a short-term actor within the crew named Lu Pinghui.”

An Xumo’s expression was a little dazed.

He hadn’t heard of this person.

However, Xin Zimai froze for a moment, “Lu Pinghui, he’s not……”

Zhou Jinchen said the person he had in mind, “Yin Yuan.”

Xin Zimai frowned. “He stuffed people in?”

After receiving Zhou Jinchen’s acquiescence, his expression became more and more serious. “Is this a coincidence or not? If it was Yin Yuan who instructed him……”

Zhou Jinchen shook his head. “It’s unlikely.”

Seeing Xin Zimai’s confusion, he said, “Li Xiuqing’s departure procedures were approved by Yin Yuan. I drained the shared from Zhou’s investment and he did not deliberately make things difficult.”

Xin Zimai consciously looks at An Xumo but he quickly retracted his gaze. Since Zhou Jinchen himself didn’t care about being heard by An Xumo, he naturally didn’t have to worry about it.

“If it wasn’t Yin Yuan, then it’s this Lu Punghui who’s doing things on his own?” Xin Zimai was a bit puzzled. “What’s his purpose? Did Xiao An get in his way?”

Zhou Jinchen narrowed his eyes. He remembered Lu Pinghui’s performance on the sidelines yesterday afternoon when An Xumo officially filmed for the first time.

After discussing with Zhou Jinchen, Xin Zimai quickly left. He hasn’t been with the crew these days, leaving only two assistants —— not to mention the secret bodyguards who were Zhou Jinchen’s own men.

Although he is only a supporting role with not much part in it, Lu Pinghui was kept by Yin Yuan. It may not be easy to handle this matter but it also needs Xin Zimai to deal with it. However, these two men did not explain this kind of thing to An Xumo. Tang Tang also called An Xumo to let him rest well, film with peace of mind, and worry about other things.

Because of last night’s experience, Zhou Jinchen didn’t mention the practice tonight. The two of them briefly discussed the script and Zhou Jinchen let the person go to wash up and sleep.

When An Xumo went to bed, Zhou Jinchen was still looking at his laptop. He only turned on the wall lamp in the corner and the sound of keyboard tapping was very soft.

An Xumo got a good night for a new day and quietly looked at the man next to the sofa a few more times before closing his eyes.

He didn’t fall asleep deeply until he heard the sound of light footsteps in the room and the mattress beside him sank slightly, only then did he sleep peacefully.

Early the next morning, An Xumo’s mouth really recovered and there was no difference at all. Before the two of them went to the set together, An Xumo envisioned whether he would be surrounded by all sorts of curious glances yet when he arrived on the set, he found that not many people seemed to be affected by last night’s breaking news.

Even if someone secretly looks at him, it was only some unfamiliar faces, and there were no special reactions to those long-time staff and actors who were familiar with him.

Ignoring the surrounding eyes is already a necessary skill for An Xumo. Even if there are really a lot of talks, he will not be affected by anything, let alone the present situation.

Moreover, An Xumo also noticed that he did not meet the actor name Lu Pinghui on the set. No one knows if something happened to him or because the person didn’t have a scene in the morning.

Nonetheless, the scene to be filmed in the morning is the scene that An Xumo cares about the most.

—— He was going to film a kissing scene with his brother in front of everyone’s eyes on the scene.

Even if he had practiced many times the night before, even if he could temporarily block himself from the sight around him, this scene was still not an easy task for An Xumo.

From the early morning when he applied makeup, his palms were a little sweaty. When Ma Lao called him over to talk about the scene, An Xumo’s nervousness was even more visible to the naked eye.

The scene of the cultural festival exchange event was already shot yesterday. Today’s scene will be shot directly from the classroom where only Ling Sihang and Bai Qingchi were present. He looked at the obviously nervous An Xumo, “You are to film a kissing scene with him, not to kill him, why are you so nervous?”

“There is tension in Bai Qingchi’s emotions but it’s not this obvious. Before meeting Ling Sihang, he has no plans for a relationship. You are in an inappropriate state, adjust yourself.”

Ma Lao said and directly talked about the scene.

After speaking, it was time to put it into practice. An Xumo managed to relax himself. He stood outside the camera and had to wait for three seconds after the start of shooting before he could push the door in.

Behind the door was Zhou Jinchen who is alone in the classroom.

It is also Ling Sihang who is about to be kissed by Bai Qingchi.

With a “pop”, the crisp sound of hitting the board fell.

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The author has something to say:

Please kiss [Seeking Home of Hailan Yin Xiaotian.jpg]³For the curious cats: Hailan’s home advertising has always been jokingly called “the most magical advertisement” by netizens. The first spokesperson was Yin Xiaotian, who was very popular at the time. He looked very handsome, and his appearance was sunny. Dancing the dance was really brainwashing. [TVC] [Dance]

Lin Rui and Han Ming are different, everyone should be able to see it~

Also, quiet little spoiler, although the current peach blossom⁴love affair is still on big brother, but in this text’s world, the biggest vinegar jar⁵easily jealous is also big brother =3=

Chapter 57 – Well-known Gossip

mochimùwú: Thank you so much for the ko-fis britener & impatientlywaiting! ♡♡♡

Here are the bonus chapters~

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“Bite?” An Xumo was confused for a moment. There should be neither teeth marks nor wounds on his mouth, so why would Assistant Director Liu ask this?

Liu Longfei was a little worried, “Was it bitten by some bug or allergy? Otherwise, Xiao An you should ask the crew’s doctor to take a look. You can’t delay being on camera, Ma Lao will be unhappy.”

An Xumo didn’t think anyone would really notice the strangeness in his mouth. When he heard Liu Longfei’s words, he couldn’t help but laugh and cry. He waved his hand and said, “No, it’s just a little swollen. It should go away in the afternoon. Thank you, Brother Liu. I’m fine.”

Liu Longfei seemed to have some hesitation but his brother was still waiting on the side, so An Xumo waved goodbye to Assistant Director Liu first.

Seeing An Xumo and Zhou Jinchen leaving together, Liu Longfei’s heart felt more and more that something was not quite right.

Ma Zechi has already mentioned the changes in the script to him. He has been worried about An Xumo’s decision to do a kissing scene before. After all, Xiao An is still a minor. However, Zhang Zhiwei said that An Xumo’s mother said not to interfere with her son’s choice so he did not say much.

But now, it seems that the relationship between An Xumo and Zhou Jinchen is obviously much better than Zhou Jinchen’s own words “been together on a variety show”. Since working with Zhou Jinchen a few times, this is the first time Liu Longfei see Zhou Jinchen take care of a junior. Even before, he especially came to Liu Longfei to apologize because he misunderstood him.

Moreover, Xiao An’s swollen mouth is also a bit strange. He has been well in the group for so many days. How can he take a kissing scene with Zhou Jinchen, then……then it looked like he’s been fighting with people for eighteen rounds?

Liu Longfei’s inner thoughts, An Xumo naturally wouldn’t know. But the question raised by Liu Longfei came across more than once.

While holding the lunch box and drinking porridge, An Xumo met Qian Lingyuan who plays Zhao Jiujiu. Uncle Qian was stunned at first when he saw him then asked, “Xiao An, the porridge sent by the crew today is very hot?”

An Xumo was a little unsure. He touched the side of the bowl and shook his head, “It’s not very hot, just right for drinking.”

Qian Lingyuan looked at him two more times, “Then, why is your mouth so red?”

An Xumo didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t answer because of the practice last night. While he was hesitating, Zhou Jinchen who was beside him had already turned around and said to Qian Lingyuan, “Brother Qian, Ma Lao said he was looking for you just now.”

Qian Lingyuan’s attention was drawn, “Ah, what’s wrong? Is he going to talk about the last day of filming?”

Zhou Jinchen said: “Maybe.”

Qian Lingyuan: “Okay. I’ll go over and take a look. Many thanks ah, Jinchen.”

Zhao Jiujiu’s scenes have almost been shot and it’s almost time for Qian Lingyuan to leave the group. Therefore, as soon as he heard this, he hurriedly got up and left.

An Xumo hesitated as he held the bowl of porridge, “Brother Jinchen……”

There have been two people who have noticed his strange appearance one after another, he can avoid one but not everyone. He wanted to ask the man how to explain it.

Just before he finished his words, Ma Zechi and Lin Rui came over one after the other.

The place where the two people sat together is near the corner, although the location is not conspicuous, it is more convenient to talk here. As long as the voice is not too loud, you don’t have to worry about being heard by the people around. Therefore, when several actors usually eat here, they are accustomed to choosing this location.

With the two men here, An Xumo naturally had no way to continue speaking. He was trying to use the bowl of porridge to cover up a little, and then he heard Ma Zechi say to Zhou Jinchen, “I heard about the scene tomorrow. Hey Jinchen, how did you two prepare last night?”

Zhou Jinchen said, “It’s all right.”

Ma Zechi did not mind his common answer and continued, “I didn’t believe it when my Father told me yesterday. Jinchen, when you played as a married couple with Li Weiwei you didn’t make any off-stage preparations. Then, right after that domestic violence scene, I asked my assistant to express sympathy through the agent.”

He teased, “The girl asked me specially and tactfully if you had any opinions about her.”

Li Weiwei was the actress who played the protagonist’s wife in 《The Scarecrow》. Although she didn’t have many scenes, her performance in the film was still excellent.

Zhou Jinchen said, “Sister Wei is a good actress and can quickly get in the role. We don’t have much need to get along in advance.”

An Xumo holding the bowl, heard Lin Rui on the side laughing, “Jinchen, you say that Xiao An is still sitting here.”

Zhou Jinchen’s voice was somewhat ambiguous which is unusual of his watertight¹lit. not one drop of water can leak out; watertight; rigorous (argument); describes very meticulous, thorough, and impeccable speaking and handling. speech style. The moment he praised Li Weiwei, he took An Xumo as an analogy. If no one cared, he could reveal it, but it happened that these words were pointed out by Lin Rui.

An Xumo also understood the meaning but before he could have any reaction, the man beside him directly said, “I’m telling the truth.”

Zhou Jinchen said the words directly but he didn’t have much meaning to embarrass An Xumo, rather it seems to be like mentioning a close junior. “He doesn’t have acting experience and if he doesn’t prepare in advance, then there will certainly be mistakes.”

He looked at An Xumo, “And he is easily nervous so getting along in advance will also help him adjust his state of mind.”

The words have already been said here, it’s not good for An Xumo to continue using the bowl to block himself. He put down the bowl of porridge and was about to say something but his words were frightened back by the expressions of the two people sitting across from him as if they had seen a ghost.

“……?”

“……” Ma Zechi paused for a moment before suppressing himself from raising his voice. He turned his head to look at Zhou Jinchen, his face complicated, “You said that Xiao An has no acting experience so you practice the kissing scene with the person in advance?”

An Xumo began to regret his decision to put the bowl down.

If he had to do it all over again, he would rather choose to hold the bowl all the time and never put it down even if his hands were sore.

But Ma Zechi knew that the two of them were in the same room last night, so naturally, he was not as easy to fool as Liu Longfei and Qian Lingyuan and saw through the truth at a glance. An Xumo listened as he continued to ask Zhou Jinchen. “How did you do this? It’s so obvious. I’m telling you Jinchen, I held back my opinion to continue your preparation ah, but you have to be on camera tomorrow. You did this, can’t even wear makeup to change it, can it?”

Unexpectedly, An Xumo didn’t want to hold the bowl to block anymore, he wanted to bury his face directly into the bowl.

Zhou Jinchen and Ma Zechi have known each other for a long time so he didn’t care when he heard the person talk like this and only said, “It won’t delay tomorrow.”

He didn’t have the slightest intention to refute this kind of reaction which made Lin Rui on the opposite side, felt more like falling into an ice cave.

Ma Zechi saw his attitude and slowly recalled it. He looked at An Xumo curiously then raised his eyebrows at Zhou Jinchen, “Would you like to say congratulations?”

An Xumo didn’t understand, Zhou Jinchen did but ignored him.

On one side, an assistant came and called Zhou Jinchen and An Xumo to go over. An Xumo hurriedly bid farewell and escaped. Zhou Jinchen told Ma Zechi that he has an ‘external allergy’ and left together.

Can allergies only swell the lips but the skin around the mouth is not red? Unexpectedly, this guy looks stable but when there’s a real situation, he is not as cool as he thought.

Ma Zechi shook his head in amusement.

But……Jinchen and Xiao An, seriously? Ma Zechi thought and couldn’t help but look at the silent Lin Rui beside him.

Ma Zechi is one of the insiders who knew about Lin Rui’s feelings for Zhou Jinchen.

When 《The Scarecrow》 was filmed, the three of them worked together for a long time. As a director, Ma Zechi naturally noticed the difference between the two men.

In line with the principle of respecting a friend’s privacy, Ma Zechi didn’t ask much about this matter. He originally thought that if the two worked together for two plays in a row, it might be possible for them to fall in love over time. But looking at it now, Ma Zechi felt that Zhou Jinchen had completely two different attitudes towards Lin Rui and An Xumo.

The matter of Li Weiwei is a very good illustration. At that time, Lin Rui may still have hope. Ma Zechi and Lin Rui were already his good friends and they get along with each other which are considered close so Lin Rui could also think that he might have —— after all, Zhou Jinchen was in the same position as everyone and had the opportunity to go further.

But now, it seems that only the special person has not appeared yet and friends are just friends after all.

Looking at Lin Rui who was silent but stirred the bowl of porridge for a long time without having a few mouthfuls, Ma Zechi couldn’t help but sigh gently.

Compared to all kinds of chaos in the circle, such as being kept, abuse, and unspoken rules, Lin Rui’s sincere feelings are more difficult to persuade.

Because of the extras, the crew especially took out time in the morning and took the main members of the crew together to the hospital next door for a check-up. Fortunately, the hospital had just replaced a batch of new equipment so they didn’t have to wait long before they got a reassuring result.

In order to make up for the delayed progress this morning, the crew worked overtime and started filming once they returned to the set. An Xumo who had been surrounded by sympathy all the way finally had the chance to catch his breath. After discussing with Zhou Jinchen, he spoke with Liu Longfei and went back to the hotel by himself first.

After applying anti-swelling ointment bought back from the hospital, coupled with the transition throughout the day, An Xumo’s lips finally returned to normal that night. Although there is still a slight swelling and redness when you look at it closely, it was much better than in the morning when it was kissed.

An Xumo didn’t know this would happen to him before. He only knew that when he bit his lips, it would make his mouth red so he slowly developed the habit of biting the tip of his tongue. But he really didn’t expect that the practice last night would also leave traces and the traces were so conspicuous that even using allergies as an excuse didn’t have much convincing power……

Thinking of all the curious eyes during the day and Tang Tang’s expression when she said, “you must bring ten lip masks with you in the future”. An Xumo felt for the first time that the loss of not going to the set for half a day was quite acceptable.

The crew’s progress of working overtime was smooth. After reading the new script and going to the gym to work out for two hours, in the window, An Xumo saw the actors who finished filming downstairs returned to the hotel.

After he went back to his room to take a shower and change his clothes, he knocked on Zhou Jinchen’s door.

In the hallway, An Xumo also met the other actors of the same crew, and the gaze they gave at An Xumo was obviously different during the day. Although he has always been insensitive to the gazes around him, he also sensed something strange. 

The suspicion became even stronger when he knocked on the door. The person standing inside the door was actually not Zhou Jinchen, but his agent Xin Zimai.

“Xiao An? Quick, come in.”

Closing the door and locking it, Xin Zimai’s expression is a bit serious, “I just called you several times and no one answered, where have you been?’

“Just took a shower.” An Xumo said, “Did something happen?”

He noticed that Xin Zimai was the only one in the room and Zhou Jinchen was not there. The laptop on the table had its screen lit and Xin Zimai was obviously dealing with something before he came.

“My brother he……hasn’t come back yet?”

“He went to see Ma Lao.” Xin Zimai looked at him, “Xiao An, I have some news. Listen first, don’t get agitated.”

An Xumo froze for a moment. “……what’s going on?”

“Someone broke the news of your swollen mouth this morning.” Xin Zimai said briefly, “There was no name, but all kinds of information were enough to take criticism. The person who broke the news didn’t speak well, you make a mental preparation first.”

Chapter 56.2 – Practice over and over again

An Xumo shook and in the next second, a warm, soft and irresistible touch covered his lips.

There was a loud boom.

An Xumo heard the sound of a nuclear explosion in his mind.

Time stopped, the blood was flowing backwards, the breath was full of sweet mint scent and a pair of eyes that forgot to close, can’t see anything clearly anymore.

Kiss, kiss……

He kissed his brother……

An Xumo’s dictionary has been rearranged and combined hundreds of millions of times and he has never approached these three words himself, brother, kiss, and close.

How to describe that moment?

It was long and beautiful, enough to extend into a full and happy life.

After about ten acting classes, An Xumo heard Zhou Jinchen’s voice.

“It’s Bai Qingchi who takes initiative, try it yourself again.”

The third time was not much easier than the first two. An Xumo closed his eyes after finding his right position, he finally managed to touch his brother. Although his body was shaking badly, he also had someone to reach out to hold him on the back of his waist.

The mint aroma was getting stronger and stronger and it’s no longer clear. Instead, it seems to urge people to dream.

After the success, An Xumo found another dizzying problem. He did not know what to do next, but he was supposed to do something else after sticking their lips together.

But he won’t, and……wouldn’t dare.

In the end, it was Zhou Jinchen who took the initiative to end the attempt. He looked at An Xumo as if in thought.

An Xumo has gone stupid and calmly asked instead, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Jinchen said, “You used mouthwash?”

No wonder he spent so much time in the bathroom.

An Xumo’s composure was punctured with a ‘snap’.

“Unless it’s necessary, kissing scenes rarely use teeth and tongue.”

An Xumi wasn’t just relaxed nor embarrassed, he could only nod his head absent-mindedly to show that he understood.

“The situation of the filming the day after tomorrow is still uncertain,” Zhou Jinchen said. “But with the exception for directors and blockbusters like Ma Lao, kissing scenes for other resources can be basically borrowed; this time is a special case. If you encounter it in the future, you can directly apply for illusion shots or borrowed shots.”

After thinking about it, he added. “Receiving too many kissing resources is also not good for your image. I will talk to Zimai and keep an eye on the scripts you receive in the future.”

An Xumo’s thinking has not yet caught up and the other party has considered it for the long run.

“In short,” Zhou Jinchen said, “this time I will teach you experience, and the scope of application is only in 《Different Roads》. Do not treat other film contracts with this experience and standards, understand?”

An Xumo nodded in a daze again.

Only when Zhou Jinchen saw that he answered did he release his right hand that was holding the person.

“Stand still, and don’t shake when you kiss.” He said, “Moderate tension is in line with Bai Qingchi’s emotions, overdoing it will look stiff.”

An Xumo had just relaxed his tense back because of the temperature behind his waist, and then he heard the man’s instructions again.

“It’s fine to close your eyes. Don’t make your mouth too tight. If the camera comes out, it won’t be able to see your lip color.”

Hence, in the end, fell another sentence — “Again.”

An Xumo can no longer remember how many times he practiced that night.

In fact, this is not in line with his habits. His temper can clearly remember even if he hasn’t seen his brother in a few days. Many people who shoot big scene can write down the details exactly, and the memory of this night should be the same, clear and error-free.

But memories need to be actively traced back. An Xumo not only wrote down this night, but he was not willing to open it again.

He used to look at Zhou Jinchen’s photos to fill his stomach, and this memory is the same. An Xumo wants to keep it a little longer. After waiting for a long time, when he has no strength, he will take out a small piece to fill himself.

In the end, he casually found a lame excuse to ask the brand of toothpaste and mouthwash used by Zhou Jinchen. The latter is used to using mint fragrance which tastes clear and refreshing but it tasted sweet to An Xumo.

For the next day, there was no scene of An Xumo — because he was with the crew for a long time, the logistics coordinator did not arrange his schedule too intensively. But as the protagonist, Zhou Jinchen will have a scene almost every day so they still need to rest early at night.

Zhou Jinchen locked his laptop and tablet in the portable safe and turned off the TV which doesn’t have any image. He called the front desk to ask for an extra quilt. When the floor was cleared, An Xumo came out of the bathroom.

His lips were still in the same state when he went in, slightly red and swollen but not too serious. I don’t know if he brushed his teeth again, but his face is obviously washed, perhaps also with an ice-cold towel. The flush that never gone down before was temporarily suppressed a little.

Zhou Jinchen swept a glance at him. He reached out and turned off the headlights, leaving only two warm yellow wall lamps above the bed.

“Sleep.”

There are two quilts on the bed so the solution to the problem of “pillow hanging halfway down” is temporarily set aside. An Xumo gingerly climbed on the bed. He lay down under the brand new covers, wrapped in a fluffy snow-white warmth, and his heartbeat was safely hidden.

The man next to him reached out to turn off the wall lamps and the room was pitch-dark.¹pitch-dark that you can’t see the five fingers of your hand.

An Xumo raised his face out of the quilt and pressed his chin against the soft quilt.

He took a soft breath and whispered, “Good night, brother.”

There was a silent movement on the other side of the bed.

An Xumo held his breath and heard the sound of candy falling in the metal box.

The elder brother replied to him, “Sweet dreams.”

This is definitely one of the most fulfilling memories of An Xumo in more than ten years.

The first official filming, the first time to receive instruction from the big director, the afternoon to determine the plan to shoot a kissing scene, the night with brother, sleeping together…….and practiced.

Plus there was an extraordinarily rich and steaming midnight snack.

This is definitely one of An Xumo’s most beautiful memories if you ignore the accident after waking up the next day.

An Xumo also did not expect that his mouth would swell up the next day because of the practice the night before.

It’s still very gaudy and it’s estimated that even powder can’t cover the degree.

Zhou Jinchen’s face was slightly dark. According to the plan, he was supposed to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant but now, he was still standing in his room.

“Are you sure you’re not allergic to last night’s midnight snack?”

“I have eaten the food from 7-11 before……no allergies.” An Xumo wore a black mask, the tip of his nose and chin were wrapped in it, revealing only two eyes. “But when I bite my lips before……it will swell the next day and will take a long time to disappear.”

Zhou Jinchen frowned when he heard ‘biting lips’ he paused before saying, “How long does it take?”

“A day or two,” An Xumo said. “It’s usually not visible on the third day.”

They have no choice but to make it through the day first. Fortunately, An Xumo did not have a scene today, otherwise, he would have had problems even getting on the camera.

His lips……at first glance, it looks like in a state of being ravaged.

The two went downstairs to eat together. When they were going out, Zhou Jinchen took a phone call. An Xumo stood in the hallway waiting and saw a uniformed hotel staff changing the humidifier in the hallway.

A faint smell of disinfectant slowly spread.

There is more than one crew in the hotel. As a rule, the staff should not have been deliberately staring at the actor. But An Xumo stood by the door for a while and the staff intentionally or unintentionally stared at him several times.

An Xumo was a bit confused. Zhou Jinchen came out just then, looked at An Xumo by the door, and said, “Take off the mask first.”

An Xumo, “?”

Although he was confused, he still took off the mask.

With such a pluck, the obviously slightly swollen than usual bright red lips were exposed.

Zhou Jinchen looked away from his lips and said, “I just got a call. A group of actors next door were diagnosed with tuberculosis and was taken to the hospital last night, someone also stayed in 《Different Roads》. The crew found a doctor and planned to give the main actors a physical examination to see if anyone was infected.”

The caller was Ma Zechi, he knew the two were together last night so he asked Zhou Jinchen to talk to An Xumo and didn’t call again.

An Xumo was speechless, “This……”

In this way, if he insists on going to the set with a mask, I’m afraid he will be quarantined in the first place.

Moreover, he can’t find an excuse to not go to the set.

The two were silent for a moment and Zhou Jinchen said, “Let’s go there first.”

It’s possible that everyone will not care, An Xumo thought, nodding towards Zhou Jinchen. Wearing a mask was originally the man’s suggestion but he really didn’t have any idea, it was just a little swollen, it wouldn’t be seen ba.

They were delayed for a while in the morning so there was no way to eat at the hotel, but the crew also provided breakfast. When the two arrived, it was just about time for breakfast. Despite the bad news last night, it seemed that everything was still normal for the crew and there was nothing unusual with a lot of work.

“Good morning.” Liu Longfei, holding the hot porridge, greeted the two with a smile. However, when he saw An Xumo who was blocked in the beginning by Zhou Jinchen, he couldn’t help but be stupefied for a moment.

“Xiao An, you……”

Zhou Jinchen was carrying two lunch boxes and An Xumo then took two cutlery, and ready to follow him. Seeing Liu Lonfei called him, he stopped doubtfully, “Assistant Director Liu?”

Liu Longfei glanced around and looked at Zhou Jinchen. He saw that the other party did not respond, he turned his head to look at An Xumo and lowered his voice to ask him: “Where were you last night?”

An Xumo was a little puzzled. “I was in the hotel, why?”

Liu Longfei asked, “You didn’t go out?”

An Xumo said, “No.”

Liu Longfei seemed to breathe a sigh of relief but his expression still carried doubts, “Then, what bit your mouth?”

•·················•·················•

The author has something to say:

Do you think it’s over after kissing?

The 《Different Roads》 cast and crew: To understand the gossip about tuberculosis, I originally wanted to write pneumonia but pneumonia doesn’t seem to be contagious enough. My brain is dizzy and I also don’t know if there is too much bug. If there are professional medical girls who see something wrong, please correct me!

Chapter 56.1 – Practice over and over again

Jie Jie: The chapter is divided into two parts~ Apologies for our side comments in this chapter, we just can’t help it hehe~

•·················•·················•

P-practice?

An Xumo was stupefied for a moment.

Practice kissing?

After hearing about the kissing scene, An Xumo has been worried about this matter. Not only did he have no acting experience, but he also didn’t even have any real experience of kissing someone.

Although the latter is something he should try to overcome — it is impossible for every actor to interpret all the experiences they had. But in reality, An Xumo was very worried that he would be stiff in front of the camera from beginning to the end.

If he could practice in advance, he might indeed be able to accumulate a little experience, An Xumo thought. At the very least, he can avoid leaving the lowest-level mistakes to the scene for filming, and appearing in front of the camera and his brother.

But……

“It would be good to find someone suitable to practice with……? An Xumo’s voice was tinged with uncertainty. “Is it okay for someone who is not an actor……”

The actors in the crew are all seniors who are working together for the first time. An Xumo always felt that this kind of thing is not appropriate to ask. However, if he looked for someone he is more familiar with, he is worried that the real experience will be quite different from the camera. If it is futile, it will be a waste of time.

An Xumo hesitated to finish the question, he felt a sudden slight chill around his body.

When he subconsciously looked up at Zhou Jinchen, he saw the man at the table with one hand on the thin Mac shell with an expression similar to the dark gray cold metal under his palm.

An Xumo couldn’t help but stiffened his neck.

It was only after the body’s instinctive reaction responded to the alarm did he realized that he seemed to be asking the wrong question.

Shouldn’t have……I shouldn’t have asked that? This should be his own efforts to practice, and it seems that he really shouldn’t bother his brother……

Before An Xumo thought whether he had made a mistake or not, he heard a deep voice.

Zhou Jinchen’s eyes were dim and his face was a little inexplicable. He said, “Who do you want to practice with?”

An Xumo opened and closed his lips a few times, then said after a long time, “I haven’t thought about it yet, I may not find the suitable……”

Before he could finish his words, his voice disappeared from Zhou Jinchen’s action of getting up.

The man’s movement was not urgent, but the steps from the table to the bedside made An Xumo give birth to a feeling of strange oppression. He was stunned and the other party had already stepped over on one knee from the right side of the big bed. In the blink of an eye, he took advantage of it and moved forward with less than a hand away from An Xumo, who was sitting next to the pillow.

The mattress on his side was pressed and slightly sunken. An Xumo was stunned for a moment. When he reacted, he could clearly smell the light, cold fragrance belonging to Zhou Jinchen.

He didn’t use the shower gel provided by the hotel.

In a very close distance, their breaths are distinctly audible. The pure black, bottomless eyes looked straight at him, like a hunter who has held down on his target.

An Xumo heard Zhou Jinchen say: “Why do you need someone else to practice?”

A slight ache came from his somewhat stiff body but An Xumo has long been not in the mood to take it into consideration. He could not hold down his frantically beating heart, it took him a while to organize a complete language. (T/N: An Xumo gay panickkss sksadwdq. E/N: Stop, he’s been gay panicking all night.)

“Because I can’t do it right the first time, I want to finish practicing and avoid mistakes……then film this scene with brother.”

It wasn’t until a cold sweat slid down the back of his neck to his collar that An Xumo reacted to the cold touch.

He actually told the truth from the bottom of his heart.

An Xumo lowered his eyes with some embarrassment, and his eyes still fluttered slightly. His brother who was too close to him had exceeded the circle of joy for him. He began to have difficulty restraining himself, worrying about whether his thoughts would be seen through.

I don’t want my brother to see my bad performance, and I dare not let my brother know my bad thoughts. An Xumo knows with regards to taking the initiative to approach and express goodwill, his brother will not only feel unhappy but will also feel……fed up.

This is the case with Han Ming and so with Lin Rui.

It was only when An Xumo was almost pressed to the point of being unable to breathe by the almost disappearing distance between the two and the trepidation at the bottom of his heart, he heard Zhou Jinchen’s voice.

The other party said, “There is no need.”

An Xumo raised his eyes and looked at the man with wide eyes.

It seems that after seeing An Xumo’s helplessness, Zhou Jinchen slightly restrained the aura in his body. His tone eased a little coldness. “There is no need to find someone else to contact and there is no need to avoid all mistakes. Efforts don’t need to be overboard. It’s only your first time acting and making mistakes is also part of progress.”

“And these days, your performance is already good enough.”

Before Zhou Jinchen’s words fell, he faintly frowned again.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?”

An Xumo was at a loss: “……huh?”

Zhou Jinchen said, “It’s very red.”

An Xumo stretched out his hand and covered his eyes in embarrassment.

His field of vision was dark, his heartbeat thumped and pounces on the eardrums and his nasal cavity was filled with blood swelling. An Xumo had to take small breaths through his mouth, trying to calm himself down. (T/N: Nosebleed. E/N: Eyesbleed, earsbleed, the only thing left is for him to explode.)

Then he felt a warm, gentle touch coming from the top of his head.

Zhou Jinchen quickly withdrew his hand; the feeling of touching his younger brother was actually very strange. Perhaps he had been familiar with this action a long time ago, but the time between them was too long.

It was long enough that even if they are brothers, in order to film a scene, they still need to hold the Buddha’s feet¹complete sentence: ’embrace the Buddha’s feet and pray for help in time of emergency’ (idiom); refers to someone’s inability to prepare in time, forcing them to rush to deal with the issue at the last minute. in advance to “cultivate feelings”.

After his emotions settled a bit, An Xumo remembered to explain his out of control emotions. His brother’s approval could be regarded as a gift he had never hoped for but before he could say anything, he heard Zhou Jinchen say, “Wipe your face and come back to practice.”

An Xumo was stunned: “Practice?”

“En.” Zhou Jinchen said, “There is no point in finding someone else to practice with. If you have no experience, I will teach you.”

“……”

Zhou Jinchen looked back at An Xumo who hadn’t moved. “What’s wrong?”

The boy who never missed a single beat when dancing on stage attracting many people and interpreted a noble temperament under a high-definition close-up camera, at this time, asked with an obvious dumbfounded expression, “Teach, teach what?”

Zhou Jinchen gently raised his eyebrows.

“Teach you how to express taking the initiative emotions in front of the camera.”

“Okay.”

An Xumo answered, got up, and went to the bathroom in a daze.

He stayed in the bathroom for a long time which must have been more than five minutes before he washed his face and walked out.

Zhou Jinchen had already sat from the middle of the bed to the edge of the bed. When he saw An Xumo come out, he looked at him and said, “Come here.”

An Xumo walked over and heard Zhou Jinchen who already stood up saying, “Raise your hand.”

He subconsciously raised both his hands and only when the man’s sight became deeper and deeper did An Xumo reacted and embarrassedly put one hand down from a surrender position.

“Grab my collar,” Zhou Jinchen said, “and kiss me head-on.”

An Xumo felt as if his collar was tugged by an invisible hand and even breathing became difficult.

“Kiss……”

Zhou Jinchen lowered his eyes to look at him. “Bai Qingchi takes the initiative. He is shorter than Ling Sihang and pulling the collar is one of the optional prelude actions.”

An Xumo felt that he was about to cry again.

But, but my brother is seriously teaching me. He has no reason to disappoint the other’s good intentions.

His trembling right hand rested on the expensive soft fabric. He paused, hesitating to tighten his fingers. An Xumo almost felt that his heart would jump out of his throat as soon as he opened his mouth. He stood on tiptoe, closed his eyes, and kissed him.

There was only a light sound of “clang”.

The only thing he could feel is the pain coming from the tip of his nose.

“Wu……”

An Xumo muffled a grunt. What was more difficult than the pain was the boundless embarrassment that he dared not to open his eyes.

Until he heard a voice near his ear that was close at hand.

“……open your eyes, don’t kiss until you see it.”

An Xumo opened his watery eyes, his wet lashes blinked several times before he could see the vision in front of him.

But he would rather keep his eyes closed — Zhou Jinchen’s appearance is already outstanding, and at such a close distance, it would only make the natural sense of oppression more intense.

An Xumo was shaking so badly that his hand holding the collar was slightly sore. Just as he was trying to muster up the courage for a second time, he noticed a sudden burst of strength coming from his lower back.

“Stand firm.” Zhou Jinchen said in a low voice. He reached out and raised An Xumo’s face, pressed his fingers against the other person’s white jaw, and then lowered his head.

When the shadow came up, An Xumo held his breath for a moment.

After a while, he realized that there was no real contact between the two. There was still less than a fingertip distance between the lips that were very close to each other. Even when the man spoke, the light mint smell was very clearly passed on.

“Tilt your face sideward and stagger the bridge of your nose, got it?”

An Xumo nodded his head in confusion.

Zhou Jinchen retreated a few distances and motioned, “Come again.”

He may become the first artist to be honored for his kissing scene. An Xumo thought foolishly. Under Zhou Jinchen’s instruction, he reached out to hold his collar again and used a little strength. He stood on tiptoe again and moved a little sideways to get closer.

The tip of his nose is staggered, and their lips are extremely close, just a small distance away.

An Xumo said softly in a slightly trembling voice, “This, is this right……?”

The distance was so close that he could even see Zhou Jinchen’s expression.

“Are you kissing the air?”

There was no emotion in Zhou Jinchen’s voice.