Day: January 6, 2021

Chapter 55 – Practice kissing first

Where else can An Xumo eat, it’s all good if he doesn’t choke.

While he was trying to maintain his calm expression, Zhou Jinchen continued, “The newly revised script is to let Bai Qingchi take the initiative to kiss. Have you thought about his state?”

After starting to talk about business, An Xumo’s mood slowly settled down. He has been doing character sketches of Bai Qingchi since long ago, even if Bai Qingchi’s experience has changed. An Xumo can also infer Bai Qingchi’s thoughts from following Mr. Tao’s pen and ink.

An Xumo said, “Before Bai has been misunderstood and hurt for many years, it was overwhelming. Mr. Tao said he had never been in love so Ling is his first love. This kiss is also his first initiative.”

Trying to peel off his feelings for his brother, An Xumo tried to analyze objectively and comprehensively. “Bai must have a lot of worries before he kissed him…… even he originally never thought so, that is, the atmosphere is just right, he couldn’t help it.”

The warm breeze in the room was very comfortable. Two people sat face to face discussing the upcoming scene across a table of hot food. After the psychological state of the two characters was completely analyzed, An Xumo finally breathes a sigh of relief. He felt as if he had finished a final three-question, and the complex information is finally no longer surrounded by fog but became a well-organized, logical, and orderly emotional development. Every move and expression was supported by good reasoning, allowing him to better identify what he was trying to show.

Of course, these discussions only stop at the mannerisms and emotions before and after the kiss — as for the part during the kiss, Zhou Jinchen skipped over it without mentioning it and An Xumo really didn’t dare to ask.

After they finished talking, An Xumo also ate almost all of the oden. He was hesitating over the two snow-white meat buns when he heard Zhou Jinchen say, “If you can’t eat it, don’t force yourself.”

An Xumo looked up and saw that the man was looking at him. Before he could say anything, the other party asked, “Are you full?”

An Xumo nodded honestly.

Zhou Jinchen motioned in the direction of the bathroom, “Go and take a bath.”

As he carried his clothes to the bathroom, An Xumo quietly glanced at the man inside the room with his back on him. The other party is calling his assistant and asking someone to come and take away the rest of the food.

This feeling is too strange, An Xumo thought silently. More wonderful than a dream, yet so real.

After taking a shower, An Xumo didn’t have the heart to wear a bathrobe directly, he changed into a simple cotton t-shirt with loose pants before walking out of the bathroom.

The table has been restored to its previous neatness and the dutiful ventilation system of the room has dispersed all the smell. The owner of the room was sitting at the table looking at his laptop and the position was just blocking the way to the inner sofa. An Xumo hesitated and sat on the left side of the king-size bed.

Yes, the crew booked double rooms for most of the actors but main actors like Zhou Jinchen and Lin Rui, as well as Ma Lao and the others, were booked in single rooms.

Although the conditions of the single room are also very good, it’s impossible to have two beds in the room.

Although the bed in the single room is nearly two meters wide, being invaded in their private space makes people very easy to feel resentful so An Xumo asked before he came whether he should sleep on the sofa – then he automatically silenced himself in his brother’s sight.

They came to sleep in the same room in order to cultivate the necessary feelings for filming, coupled with the fact that they are of the same gender and have a former brotherly relationship……so Zhou Jinchen did not agree to his suggestion to sleep on the sofa.

An Xumo thought so and his heart also did not give birth to a bitter smile.

It’s obvious that he was the one who wants too much, but why is this case now……

He let out a low sigh.

People with strange thoughts will have a guilty conscience.

Before coming out of the bathroom, An Xumo had already blow-dried his hair. He didn’t dare to come out with wet hair and make a mess on the floor. As a result, An Xumo found out that he seems to have made a mistake. The room was too quiet that he didn’t even get a chance to wipe his hair to find something to do.

It was fine when they were eating and discussing their roles and there was not much difference from how they usually get along. Now that the room was quiet, leaving only the occasional sound of the keyboard, An Xumo became uncontrollably nervous. 

—— He and his brother are in the same room and will be sleeping in the same bed later.

The mere thought made An Xumo want to bury his face in the blanket.

In order to control his thoughts, An Xumo had to find something to do. But now that he’s sitting on the bed and the new script hasn’t been delivered, there are very little things he can do.

When he came out of the bathroom, An Xumo inadvertently glanced at the laptop’s screen. He originally thought that the other party was watching something related to the movie but unexpectedly, the screen was showing complicated zigzag lines and colorful reports.

Zhou Jinchen was busy with his own business so An Xumo had to find something to do for himself. He reached out and pulled the two pillows stacked together on the bed, placing them on each side, and then quietly moved the pillow on the left side a little outward.

Moved a little bit more.

It was not until An Xumo almost hung half of the pillow on the left and solved the problem of ‘how to keep half of the pillow hanging on the side without falling’ by the bedside. He was concentrating then he suddenly paused.

It seems that he hasn’t heard the sound of the keyboard for some time.

An Xumo subconsciously turned back and instantly crashed into the man’s bottomless dark eyes.

Zhou Jinchen looked at the person for a while until An Xumo felt like he was going to be cooked¹heat up again, the man said, “The TV remote control is in the left drawer.”

An Xumo didn’t dare say anything and hurriedly looked down to find the remote control.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed and had to bend over when searching the drawer. By the time he found the remote control, Zhou Jinchen had already looked away. An Xumo turned on the TV and heard the other party say, “If you have other questions, you can ask them now.”

The black screen popped up with a selection of program categories and An Xumo’s hand shook for a moment before he managed to steadily hold the remote control. After finishing his words, the man turned his eyes back to the screen.

The characters and plot have been thoroughly analyzed earlier, and An Xumo couldn’t find out what questions he had for a while. The only thing they didn’t discuss was the process of the kissing scene, and on this issue, An Xumo found it a little difficult to open his mouth.

After thinking hard for a while, he finally found a question he could open up.

“Brother……”

Zhou Jinchen looked up at him from the laptop.

“En?”

“When you were filming kissing scenes before, for the preparation stage……what would you do with someone?”

“……”

The room was quiet once again.

An Xumo swallowed carefully, he vaguely perceived that the atmosphere seemed a little strange but he couldn’t figure out where it had gone wrong.

The question just now……is not quite right to ask?

After a while, An Xumo who couldn’t help but stiffen up heard the man’s voice.

“No preparation.”

“Ah……?” An Xumo looked over blankly.

Zhou Jinchen’s gaze had already returned to the laptop, while looking at the screen he said, “This is the first time I cultivate feelings with the kissing scene as the subject.”

An Xumo felt that his mind turned upside down, “But didn’t Mr. Tao say that before filming a scene, they usually let the two actors together……” 

Otherwise……why would he come to his brother’s room to sleep?

Could it be that brother used a stand-in for the kissing scene before? An Xumo thought wildly. He had also heard various rumors about the popularity of stand-ins in the industry before. However, 《Different Roads》 did not have any dangerous scenes so far. In addition to Ma Lao’s requirements, An Xumo had never seen a real stand-in scene.

Zhou Jinchen did not notice An Xumo’s expression. He lightly tapped the keyboard twice, the action and the voice did not interfere with each other, “I have filmed three kissing scenes, two are other shots covered by a finger, and one real shot is a borrowed position.”

An Xumo foolishly repeated, “Borrowed position?”

“The camera was shot from the side, the other side of the hand reached over and kiss the back of your own hand.”

An Xumo clenched the remote control in his hand and for a moment, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or lost.

So is that why my brother has never directly discussed the process of kissing scene with him? Because it was already known in advance, as long as you flash past the camera, there was no need to go to such great lengths to think about it in advance……

It took a while before he found his voice.

Regardless…….always have to ask the question.

“Then this time,” An Xumo said hesitantly, “do you want to use the other shot or borrowed position shot……?”

Zhou Jinchen finally moved his eyes away from the screen this time.

He looked at An Xumo and frowned slightly.

“Why do you think so?”

An Xumo stammered, “You just said that, with your own hands……”

Zhou Jinchen said, “That’s a TV series, it’s hard for movies to use this way.”

An Xumo’s brain buzzed and exploded.

“Moreover, Ma Lao would not agree to borrow position. He pays close attention to the quality of the camera. From the very beginning, the kissing scene was set as the actual shot.” Zhou Jinchen said, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have proposed to replace Lin Rui.”

An Xumo really felt the taste of bungee jumping back and forth in a short period of time.

And the man not far away looked at him again and asked: “Do you have other ideas?”

An Xumo hurriedly shook his head, “No, no……”

Zhou Jinchen said, “If it’s about the image of an artist, you don’t have to worry. Zimai and I have mentioned it to me that your team has no intention of giving you an extreme image, and doing kissing scenes will not affect your future.”

In such matters, the situation is the same for both male and female artists. The flawless “no kissing scenes” good boy image may be completed in a short period of time but it is also followed by a high-level of constraint and restrictions. Once the artist is a little careless with their words and actions, the fans that were initially attracted by their persona will be taken off in large numbers or even turned black.

Even if the artist can use resources to pile up a new persona, slapping faces is by no means a fun thing to do.

Zhou Jinchen has considered such a long-term, and An Xumo found it difficult to argue. He never thought of such a complicated reason, the only worry was that his brother would detect his feelings while filming……

But the only truth can’t be laid out on the surface.

“No, brother, I’m not worried about that……”

An Xumo said stiffly, “I’m worried because……don’t have……on, no kissing experience before……”

Being watched by the other party and telling the truth, An Xumo can’t feel his face burning.

“So I’m afraid that when I take the initiative to kiss, I may not do well……”

He had almost given up on himself.

There was a frightening silence in the air. An Xumo can only hear his own ‘thumping’ heartbeat. He waited for the other party to be dissatisfied, laugh, blame, or unresponsiveness, and envisioned a thousand worst-case scenarios.

However, after the silence, An Xumo heard a soft “click”.

The slender fingers closed the dark gray laptop. Zhou Jinchen looked at An Xumo, his voice was still consistent indifferent and magnetic.

“Instead of worrying about this,” he said, “you might as well practice in advance.”

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The author has something to say:

Kiss to find out.

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Editor: who said the room is just for cultivating feelings???

Jie Jie: *gasps* a wild editor suddenly appeared! Hahaha~

Again, thank you for the ko-fis impatientlywaiting! ♡

Chapter 54 – A night of eating and talking

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

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For the indoor scene filmed at night, An Xumo was unable to note down the entire scene.

He spent the whole night doing psychological construction but when the clapperboard hit, the crew finished work and prepared to return to the hotel. Watching Zhou Jinchen coming towards him after bidding farewell to other actors, An Xumo still inevitably turned into a state of blankness.

If it hadn’t been for the past experience these days weren’t too real and if not for the knowledge that his boldest wishful thinking would never happen, An Xumo would have certainly doubted more than once whether these days of what happened was true.

And now getting an important supporting role in a film directed by Ma Lao is real, the stumbling but smooth start of the actor’s road is real, and the fact that he can see his brother every day……the person who walks towards him now is also real.

It’s so real that you can reach out your hand and touch it.

The evening shot was an indoor scene but he didn’t go to the location to take materials. Therefore, the distance between here and the hotel is also very close. After work, everyone was used to walking back together.

Today is no exception.

From Zhou Jinchen walking over to the two people walking side by side at the back of the crew, during this time, every second is firmly imprinted in An Xumo’s mind. He used to have a very good memory, he would never forget what he wanted to write down but this time is not the same. For the first time, he has that “it turns out that the memory can be so clear” feeling.

Even the faint smell of dust in the surrounding air, the cool temperature outside at night, the slightly uneven ground at the foot, and the sweaty moisture in the heart of the palm, are all remembered little by little.

Although the two people are walking side by side, they didn’t talk much. Zhou Jinchen is a person who doesn’t like to talk much and An Xumo has been nervous. It wasn’t until Zhou Jinchen spoke to a few people in front of him that the two men turned to another road alone. An Xumo realized in hindsight……they seemed to have begun to be alone in advance.

He was a little uncertain, “Brother Jinchen, where are we going?”

In the night, the light moonlight sprinkled down and gently dr4p3d on people’s shoulders. Zhou Jinchen looked sideways at him and the original three-dimensional outline of his face showed a deeper shadow in the dim light.

His voice was still faint but it was overshadowed by the night with a richer layer of low mellow.

“Buy food,” Zhou Jinchen said, “for you.”

An Xumo stared blankly, not yet reacting.

Until he heard another sentence——

“Sleep in my room tonight.”

……

The pleasant sound of music rang out with the glass door that opened automatically, and the bright convenience store was filled with the aroma of hot oden soup. An Xumo followed the man with his arms and feet, watching the other party from the shelves took an instant porridge, a box of fresh milk, a bag of cheesecake sandwich, a large portion of tonkatsu ramen, and asked the clerk to help him with seven or eight sticks of oden.

When the clerk asked, “Are these for takeouts, sir?”, Zhou Jinchen paused for a moment and asked the person to take two snow-white, steaming meat buns from the food warming showcase.

The clerk deftly used the cardboard tray to hold the heated tonkantsu ramen and fresh milk, handing it to the waiting Zhou Jinchen. An Xumo, who had been stunned for a long time, reacted and scrambled to hold the oden sticks and the bag filled with food.

The convenience store is located at the entrance of the hotel where there are various drama groups resident filming all year round, and the clerks had long been well-informed.

But even An Xumo can tell with his barren experience that watching Zhou Jinchen buy so much food, the clerk’s curiosity and surprise have already leaked out from their feigned calm expression.

…… Although the misunderstood Zhou Jinchen has never reacted, the-culprit-who-caused-all-this-An still feels guilty.

Along with the elevator back to the hotel floor when passing by An Xumo’s room, the man in front of him has no intention of staying at all. An Xumo holding the oden sticks also followed the person all the way back to another room.

As a result, when Zhou Jinchen swiped open the door and inserted the room card, An Xumo discovered that there was a familiar suitcase placed not far from the door.

Zhou Jinchen swept a glance at the surprised An Xumo, placing down the things in his hand and said, “Your assistant took it in advance.”

An Xumo also followed and put the tray filled with the oden in his hand on the table. “Thank you……brother.”

Zhou Jinchen didn’t say anything to his thanks but said, “The assistant said there was no place for snacks in the room, and there was no hot food after half past nine in the hotel. The convenience store will make do with what is available first. I’ll get you another midnight snack tomorrow night.”

An Xumo felt that he couldn’t even say thank you.

“It’s t-too much trouble brother.” His ears burned up again. “In fact, I can just eat a little tonight……”

Zhou Jinchen heard the words but turned his eyes over and fell on An Xumo.

He frowned, “You only ate lunch boxed meals for two meals during the day. How can you have enough at night without a midnight snack?”

“I……”

An Xumo really did not expect that his situation during the day was noticed by his brother.

The aroma of the squid balls slowly spread out in the room, the tonkatsu ramen that was opened a little in the corner when heated also tempted people to eat with the golden soup, and the soft snow-white meat buns stacked on the table were obediently waiting to be eaten.

But An Xumo felt that he was already full.

He didn’t dare explain the reason why he wasn’t hungry —— he could never say to his brother, “I’m not hungry when I see you”. It was too strange, so strange that An Xumo felt that he would never say it for the rest of his life.

So in the end, he just whispered his thanks, sat down at the table in the sight of Zhou Jinchen, and tore the seal of the tonkatsu ramen a little bigger.

Zhou Jinchen got up and went to the bathroom, leaving An Xumo alone in the room with a table of midnight snacks. He quietly bit the tasty noodles and ate them, then suddenly his vision blurred.

It may be the heat of the ramen is a little too hot, An Xumo thought randomly. He dared to sniff out quietly when the sound of water came from the bathroom.

Brother…….

An Xumo has lived for seventeen years, he has experienced too many bad things. The pain of living is stronger than happiness, only his brother has always been An Xumo’s sun.

No one would expect the sun to shine only on them, and no one would want to take the initiative to get close to the sun, An Xumo has always thought so. He just needed to see his brother, take one more look, and then continue to live hard.

Now, he is sitting in his brother’s room, eating what the other party bought, and in less than thirty hours, if there is no accident, he will have to kiss his brother.

The world deviated from its original trajectory, the sun dissolves the centrifugal force, and little by little he moves closer in the direction of An Xumo, and the scorching light shone on all the frozen places.

How do you describe this feeling?

All the previous hunger, empty stomach, and painful tongue are not worth mentioning.

When Zhou Jinchen came out of the bathroom, An Xumo had just finished half of his ramen, and he still had a half piece of squid ball in his mouth. The fresh gravy left a satisfying aroma on his lips and teeth.

Zhou Jinchen glanced at the table. The water stains on his body had almost been wiped away but his voice still carried moisture.

“Your appetite has become smaller lately?”

An Xumo hesitated for a moment but still nodded his head.

“Adjust slowly, there is no hurry.”

An Xumo never knew that Zhou Jinchen had really been there when he was in a coma so he didn’t quite understand the meaning of his sentence. But soon, Zhou Jinchen changed the conversation. He looked down at An Xumo and said, “You keep eating, and let’s talk about the kissing scene.”

Chapter 53 [Title at the end of chapter]

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

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Zhou Jinchen suggested that he wanted to change the actor for the kissing scene because he was worried that An Xumo would be overpowered by Lin Rui’s aura which was his personal consideration.

Lin Rui proposed to change the actor of the kissing scene. The reason given is that the kissing scene of two people will make the film better and have more gimmicks in publicity which was his consideration for the film.

Zhou Jinchen’s consideration is difficult to put on the surface so to say, but Lin Rui’s consideration can.

An Xumo listened to the explanation of the situation and couldn’t help but slightly stiffen.

Although he had been restless for a long time because of the kissing scene, but from the bottom of his heart, An Xumo is also really……more inclined to Zhou Jinchen’s proposal.

People always have selfishness.

However, An Xumo wasn’t sure when he was worried about the final result. On the bright side, it seemed that Lin Rui’s proposal was more reasonable. But in fact, for the crew of 《Different Roads》, Lin Rui is just an actor, but Zhou Jinchen was not revealed as one of the main investors.

Therefore, from the start, it was impossible to pass a proposal that was at odds with Zhou Jinchen’s proposal.

An Xumo didn’t know the other identity of Zhou Jinchen and neither did Lin Rui. So although Lin Rui’s proposal has long been crossed in advance, the final result will still be decided by Ma Lao and Mr. Tao.

It didn’t take long for An Xumo to be anxious, Mr. Tao announced the answer ——

The kissing scene was set between Ling Sihang and Bai Qingchi.

The previous plot setting was to have Bai Qingchi as the trigger for the pretend breakup between the two leads with Ye Qisheng kissing him and Ling Sihang leaving for another country. However, in Mr. Tao’s words, considering that Ling Sihang crashed into the heartbreaking scene after the two kissed, the spread was too small and finally decided to do something big.

In the plot setting, Ling Sihang and Ye Qisheng did not like Bai Qingchi. Ling Sihang is secretly in love with his best friend and Ye Qisheng is heterosexual. Their common pursuit of Bai Qingchi is to give a signal to the people around them who knew they are close friends —— these two friends gave birth to grudges and drew swords against each other for the sake of their love.

After modifying the object of the kissing scene, the plot scene is slightly changed.

“Bai Qingchi came to Ling and Ye’s school to participate in the cultural festival exchange activities. He came to the classroom to find Ling Sihang, and the two kissed there. When Ye Qisheng heard that Bai Qingchi came to the classroom, he brought a group of his friends to look for him, saying that he wanted to show his friends the person he liked. However, the group happened to run into the scene of Ling and Bai kissing. Ye Qisheng pretended to be furious and scuffled with Ling Sihang. In this way, they have publicly torn apart in front of their classmates.”

Mr. Tao who served as the scriptwriter is a courteous 40-year-old man who always keeps his pen in his chest pocket all year round. The tone of his speech was also gentle which makes people comfortable.

However, what he said was not equally comforting to the three actors present.

“After the students witness the separation, Ling Sihang and Bai Qingchi’s affair was brought up to Ling’s parents, who didn’t want their son to be with someone of the same sex from a dance school. Since they intended to leave the country, they simply took their son with them directly. In this way, Ling and Ye’s plan was successfully implemented and the police never suspected the two of them for ten years.”

While Mr. Tao was talking, Ma Lao had not spoken, but a few people present could guess that this should be the result of a joint discussion between the two.

In terms of age and seniority, An Xumo is the youngest one so he did not take the initiative to express his opinion.

Lin Rui, who had a proposal at the beginning, shrugged his shoulders and didn’t continue to make any objection, Ma Lao and Mr. Tao have well thought out the plot, and they also know that no matter how many words he says, it will not be useful.

Moreover from the start, Lin Rui didn’t propose it with a serious attitude. It was only after Zhou Jinchen proposed the change that he followed the joke and also mentioned it.

His thoughts on Zhou Jinchen are here, not only Zhou Jinchen himself understood, but even everybody in the cast noticed the clue. If it was originally like that, Lin Rui could have used his acting skills to pressure this newcomer who has attracted much attention from Zhou Jinchen. But now that Zhou Jinchen had offered to kiss with An Xumo, Lin Rui will also feel uncomfortable.

After having debuted for many years, Lin Rui has been a cold-eyed spectator to the chaos in the circle. There are countless wild butterflies but Zhou Jinchen was the first person who really made his heart flutter. Lin Rui, who has never lacked confidence in his charm and ability, has been determined to win him from the start. Even if he was directly rejected by Zhou Jinchen for the first time, he never thought of giving up.

No matter how strong Zhou Jinchen’s momentum is, for Lin Rui, who is in love and in the market, appears to be an inexperienced young junior. Lin Rui felt that he doesn’t lack the means, strength, and sincerity. He thinks that there is no reason why he won’t be able to take down Zhou Jinchen. In his actions, he has indeed never given up.

However, when this new actor who is inferior to himself in everything except for age appeared, things changed unknowingly.

To be fair, Lin Rui’s impression of An Xumo would have been good if it weren’t for the person he liked has a preference for this newcomer. Although An Xumo won roles and resources that others could not think of at a young age, it was inevitable to arouse jealousy. But Lin Rui also made his debut as a popular child actor at that time, and he naturally will not be jealous of An Xumo’s resources. On the contrary, Lin Rui has always been able to give a helping hand to the juniors who are hard-working and sincere, and he will not step on others.

Otherwise, Lin Rui’s reputation and popularity in the circle will not be so good.

The problem is that this newcomer has now a faint tendency to becoming Lin Rui’s love rival. So now, naturally, he can no longer be generous enough to give up his desired goal.

Lin Rui was calm on the surface, but in his heart, he went to re-organize his planned actions again.

He has always advocated the principle of “fighting for what you want”, not only in the acting profession but also on the road to love is also the same.

On this side, An Xumo and Lin Rui did not raise objections, but on one side, Zhou Jinchen took the initiative to speak to Mr. Tao.

Naturally, what he said would not be an objection but what An Xumo did not expect was that the other party was actually asking a question about Bai Qingchi.

“Ling and Ye are acting, what about Bai Qingchi’s attitude?”

Mr. Tao looked at him and asked, “Are you asking about Bai Qingchi’s feelings?”

Zhou Jinchen nodded.

An Xumo also pricked up his ears.

Mr. Tao said, “Bai Qingchi likes Ling Sihang, that’s why he took the initiative to find him in the classroom.”

An Xumo almost failed to sit still on his chair.

Fortunately, he didn’t make any noise to attract people’s attention so it was only Zhou Jinchen on the side who saw him in his peripheral vision and gave him a sideways glance.

An Xumo hurriedly sat upright.

Zhou Jinchen withdrew his gaze and said to Mr. Tao, “Isn’t Bai’s previous setting was unmoved?”

The person who spoke up this time was Ma Lao, whose voice was obviously older and more serious than Mr. Tao’s. “Xiao Chi¹Probably Mr. Tao’s name. discussed this matter with me at noon and I have considered before that if Bai Qingchi has been treated as a prop and is not really moved, in terms of the overall effect, it would appear to be disconnected from the whole as if it hadn’t been integrated into the plot.”

“If Bai fell in love with Ling, the tragedy of this character would be more obvious and he can step on the real thing, making the audience feel more realistic.”

An Xumo who has been commented on blinked blankly in the eyes of the public.

Zhou Jinchen took the lead in pulling back the attention of a few people. “Good. How did Bai and Ling’s feelings develop?”

Mr. Tao explained: “Didn’t Ling Sihang already saw Zhao Jiujiu harassed Bai Qingchi in the second half of the scene this afternoon? After the plot behind it was changed, Bai Qingchi encountered trouble again. As a result, Ling helped Bai to solve the problem, and the two get along in the process. Bai Qingchi’s heart was gradually moved.”

He added: “However, we didn’t leave too many scenes for this flashback ten years ago, so these plots won’t be shot directly. Only when Bai went to the classroom to find Ling in vain, we used the lines to bring them out a little. When the atmosphere between the two is enough, we can directly shoot the kissing scene.”

Zhou Jinchen nodded and expressed no objection.

An Xumo also followed and nodded confusedly.

The content of 《Different Roads》 is mainly about the dealings between Ling Sihang, Ye Qisheng, and the police after ten years. The proportion of the scenes before ten years was not large in the first place. Since the beginning of the film, the camera has shot pretty much in the early days. Basically, only the remaining altered scenes are left. Bai Qingchi’s scenes have not been shot yet.

Before the end of the meeting, Ma Lao said, “Get ready. If there is no accident, we will shoot the newly changed part the day after tomorrow. The script will be sent to you tomorrow and the lines should be memorized in advance.”

This is the most basic thing and the three naturally quickly agreed.

Ma Lao glanced at Zhou Jinchen then turned his gaze to An Xumo. What he said showed no signs at all, but it directly poked An Xumo’s heart. “The day after tomorrow, I want to film a kissing scene between you and Zhou Jinchen’s kissing scene, so get ready.”

An Xumo tried to control himself and finally succeeded in not letting himself stutter, but only a piece on the tips of his ears burned red.

“I understand, Ma Lao.”

Ma Lao said, “This kind of scene should usually be notified to the actors a few days in advance, but this time the script has been changed a lot, the time is a little tighter.”

An Xumo didn’t understand the meaning of his words and was still nodding foolishly.

Nevertheless, Zhou Jinchen took a deep look at him and took the initiative to take over Ma Lao’s words. “When should we start to prepare?”

Ma Lao thought for a moment and frowned, “Tomorrow’s scenes are all full, right?”

The most important part for tomorrow is Ye Qisheng’s scenes. He looked at Lin Rui and the latter nodded, “Yes, a total of four scenes.”

Ma Lao turned to Zhou Jinchen, “You also have a lot of shots during the day and you may not be able to leave. How about this, you start this evening and it’s also the same for tomorrow. I remember there’s no evening scene tomorrow. You two will find a quiet place to stay for one night and sleep in the same room once you come back. When you start filming the day after tomorrow, you must find your feelings.”

Zhou Jinchen did not have any special reaction and nodded directly, “Okay.”

However, An Xumo stood upright and froze.

“Sleep, sleep in the same room?!”

Was he hearing things??

Mr. Tao kindly explained, “The preparation before the kissing scene is usually to let two actors stay one afternoon in advance to cultivate feelings, so as not to be stiff and nervous or not have enough emotions. The time for changing the script is tight. You may not be able to have the time to spend alone during the day. It’s estimated that you can only work harder at night.”

Ma Lao looked at An Xumo: “What, you can’t sleep with others yet?”

“No, no.” An Xumo finally broke and stammered again when he answered. His cheeks were as hot as fire, his ears were buzzing, and he didn’t even have the courage to look up at Zhou Jinchen.

After a long time of effort, he barely smoothly said, “I understand.”

Only then did Ma Lao showed a look of satisfaction.

The meeting was dismissed on the spot, Ma Lao and Mr. Tao left first. Lin Rui wanted to wait for Zhou Jinchen but Ma Lao who had reached the door stopped and raised his voice, calling Lin Rui away as well.

The two people who were left behind are Zhou Jinchen and An Xumo.

An Xumo did not dare to look up at all. He even had an illusion —— anyone with eyes could see the color of his face was as red as dripping blood.

He plucked up his courage to say only one sentence.

“Jin, Brother Jinchen, I’ll be troubling you tonight……”

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The author has something to say:

Secretly asking Xiao Mo, are you happy being on the same bed~

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Jie Jie: I think the title is a bit of a spoiler.

Chapter 53: You have to share a room before filming

Chapter 52 – Who exactly is brother going to kiss

mochimùwú: Sorry for updating a bit late. Had some stuff to do.

Anyway!

Thank you so much for the ko-fis impatientlywaiting! (I love your name btw!)

Enjoy the following bonus chapters~

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Lu Pinghui only joined the group three days ago but this does not mean that he’s not clear about Zhou Jinchen’s status and background. It’s true that he relied on the resources of the golden backer to join the group, but after spending nearly half a year in the circle, Lu Pinghui also knew very well what Zhou Jinchen’s name represented.

After the head-on collision between two eyes, Lu Pinghui was so cold that he shivered. He subconsciously moved his gaze away and didn’t dare to continue looking directly at each other. When he came back to his senses and tried to adjust his expression to reconcile for it, he saw that Zhou Jinchen had already withdrawn his eyes and looked at An Xumo in the middle, together with the others.

Lu Pinghui squeezed his fingers tightly and couldn’t help but bite his lower lip.

The agent on the side was wiping the cold sweat from his face. “I don’t know what happened why he noticed us……it’s not hard to see, what is the relationship between Emperor Zhou and the newcomer? A’Hui, you have to be careful ah……”

“Okay, I understand.” Lu Pinghui’s nature is that he doesn’t like to listen to other people’s advice. He impatiently waved his hand and said to the agent, “Right, go and find out what’s the relationship between them. Speaking of the newcomer, Zhou Jinchen is still unhappy?”

The agent nodded in response, his expression still looks a bit flustered. Lu Pinghui couldn’t bear his cowering appearance. Obviously, he usually made a profit under his own banner, but when it comes to meeting someone, he went as far as to be a coward to this extent?

Thinking that he would be used in the future, Lu Pinghui could only force down his impatience. Moreover, if you really calculate it, you don’t necessarily have to be afraid of this Film Emperor Zhou.

No one around noticed this. Lu Pinghui snorted coldly and said, “Besides, even if Zhou Jinchen really heard it, so what? He’s only a film emperor and he signed a contract with Jin Dian. I don’t believe he can still be bigger than Brother Yin.”

After hearing this, the agent also felt that there was some truth to it. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and followed Lu Pinghui’s words, “Yes, yes, Mr. Yin is a top executive of Jin Dian. How can any artist compare to him?”

After being coaxed by his agent again, Lu Pinghui’s face finally looked better. He flicked off the non-existent dust on his cuffs and lifted his chin towards the crowd, “Go. Let’s go and see the newcomer’s duck walk.”

Lu Pinghui and his agent were in a gloating mood as they gathered around again. However, just as the two of them approached, they heard Ma Lao’s voice.

“Okay. That’s the state.”

Ma Lao’s tone was not only as strict and serious as usual but there’s also a faint satisfaction in his calmness. People who are used to seeing Ma Lao on the set know how rare this situation is —— even the two protagonists who have been through a hundred battles¹身经百战: lit. veteran of a hundred battles (idiom); fig. experienced; seasoned. have never been treated this way a few times in total.

After Ma Lao finished, he signaled to An Xumo, “Go again, and then we will officially start shooting.”

Not only was the stunned Lu Pinghui who was waiting to see someone embarrassed, but everyone else on the set were quite surprised. It took less than twenty minutes from the beginning of his attempt to achieve Ma Lao’s satisfaction.

This is much faster than expected.

The only person present who felt that this was expected was Ma Zechi, who was standing next to Ma Lao. After filming An Xumo’s scene in the morning, he had a long chat with the scriptwriter Mr. Tao at noon. Ma Lao was also there at that time. Although Ma Lao didn’t say much, but Ma Zechi had a faint intuition of something.

As expected, after the afternoon shooting, Ma Lao was not surprised by An Xumo’s outstanding performance. Ma Zechi also really understood why Ma Lao would look at a few actions before deciding An Xumo to act.

Speaking of which, the role of Bai Qingchi is actually very special. Unlike the two main characters, he doesn’t need extra three-dimensional layer, high-level requirements so Ma Lao is willing to choose from the newcomers. This role requires more physical appearance and temperament, An Xumo took advantage of this and he can almost be regarded as a natural actor.

The boy walking in the middle of the path has a straight back, a long neck, and an extremely beautiful demeanor. Even if a layman who doesn’t know his identity can see at a glance the difference in temperament between him and ordinary people.

The large screen of the cinema will magnify all the flaws, and any hint of the actor’s drooping back and slanted shoulders can be clearly felt by the audience. However, these minor problems are actually invisible before the camera so many newcomers will make such mistakes. They must be corrected over time and constantly reminded for a long time in order to be forced to change these minor problems that have lasted for more than ten to twenty years.

Getting rid of their bad habits is only the first step. What is more difficult is to imitate the character’s temperament and manners. Actors like Zhou Jinchen and Lin Rui have to adjust themselves when acting as students, not to mention those actors who can’t adjust at all —— there are actors in the circle who are extremely popular but not well evaluated. They were uniformly evaluated as “acting like themselves in any role.”

Ma Zechi can clearly see that An Xumo is in fact also acting as himself but his own image is very consistent with the role so the first time he acted, he was directly recognized by Ma Lao.

The kid’s luck is very good. Although the filming has just started, Ma Zechi can almost foresee all kinds of comments after the movie is released. How many actors are waiting for roles and how many scripts are waiting for good actors, and An Xumo’s first performance encountered the most suitable role for him.

However, thinking about the way this child looked like when he was seriously watching the shoot with the crew, Ma Zechi felt that it was not just a matter of luck.

A great opportunity fell on his head and An Xumo grasped it with his own efforts.

Unsurprisingly, in the sight of numerous attentions, An Xumo successfully completed the last task. Ma Lao didn’t even say a few heavy words and the boy who was filming for the first time passed his examination.

Many high-definition cameras which were originally thought to have to wait for a while before starting up were turned on, and the staff began to prepare for their work. An Xumo who had been tense for a while finally let out a sigh of relief quietly. Before he could relax, he saw Qian Lingyuan who was about to shoot with him next, came over to him and said with a smile, “Xiao Mo is doing well. Ma Lao rarely releases people so quickly.”

An Xumo was still a little nervous. He smiled shyly and his thousand miles repulsive temperament in front of the camera was obviously diminished. “Thank you, Uncle Qian. I hope I won’t delay everyone later ba……I also ask Uncle Qian to take care of me.”

“Child, there is no need to be so polite.” Qian Lingyuan patted his shoulder. “Take it easy. You know Ma Lao’s temperament, re-shooting does not necessarily mean it’s unsatisfactory. He may just want better results, relax ah.”

An Xumo smiled gratefully, “I understand.”

As soon as he finished talking with Qian Lingyuan, An Xumo just looked back and saw Zhou Jinchen walking over.

“Brother…..Brother Jinchen.” An Xumo’s tension in the filming has not yet completely relaxed when he stammered again once he opened his mouth.

Zhou Jinchen glanced at him and his eyes were slightly heavy. He and Qian Lingyuan said the same thing. “Relax, don’t be nervous.”

An Xumo nodded hurriedly, “Okay.”

It seemed that Zhou Jinchen was just passing by and after speaking with An Xumo, he also intends to go to the other side where he’ll be on camera later.

But just when An Xumo thought that his brother was going to leave, he heard the other party say in a light tone, “That performance just now was very good.”

An Xumo was stunned for a moment. When he looked up, Zhou Jinchen had already turned and walked towards the other direction.

Leaving only one sentence for him.

“Keep it up.”

For An Xumo, this sentence almost has the same effect as Ma Lao’s “OK. Keep this state when we officially start filming.”

When the staff member came up to help him with a simple makeup, An Xumo’s tense shoulders finally relaxed a little.

His heart and stomach are warm.

With the smooth progress at the beginning, after the second half of the filming ended an hour earlier, the present staff did not show much surprise. Before considering An Xumo’s first time filming, the crew coordinated and set aside time for it but also worried that the time is not enough for Ma Lao to train people to increase the filming. They didn’t think that the process is so smooth. Coupled with the additional close-up shots, the whole scene finally came down and played only ten times on the board.

This number may sound like a lot, but apart from the trial shoots and incomplete make-up shots, the total time spent is not too long. In addition, Ma Lao has always been accustomed to striving for perfection. The key shots are basically more than a dozen times. Hitting the clapperboard ten times is a normal level.

In the second half, it was the first time that Bai Qingchi was harassed by Zhao Jiujiu. This was the beginning of Bai Qingchi’s nightmare. At the end of the shot, Ling Sihang who was inadvertently passing by saw Bai Qingchi. This is also the source of emotional entanglement between Ling Sihang, Ye Qisheng, and Bai Qingchi.

Although there are several times the emotional performance is not quite in place, but after Ma Lao’s corrections, An Xumo quickly adjusted. And everyone found that this newcomer with no acting experience has a powerful attribute —— a mistake that has been corrected once, he will never make the same mistake twice.

Actors in this industry, especially newcomers, are prone to lose sight of what they are doing when faced with a director’s instructions. They tend to pay attention to one point, forgetting the other. After a few more training sessions, the director will get irritated and the newcomer will easily mess up.

As for An Xumo, he can accurately remember what Ma Lao said every time. Although he lacked experience like a brand new sponge, everyone could see that he was rapidly absorbing a lot of water.

Therefore, even though it was the first time he acted, the total number of times An Xumo had NG-ed was not that many. After the filming was over, everyone’s impression of An Xumo also changed, such as popular idol, hard-working, and so on.

The afternoon filming ended a few hours ahead of schedule. After the crew wrapped up, there was still time before the evening shoot. An Xumo had just received dinner from the uncle who praised him a lot and ran into Liu Longfei who came to call him.

“Going to a meeting?” An Xumo was a bit confused, he hadn’t attended any meeting discussion with the crew. “Assistant director, do you know what it’s about?”

Liu Longfei said, “Listening to Mr. Tao’s meaning, it seems to be about revising the scene between you and the two protagonists which is the free time before the evening shot. So Ma Lao called the three of you over and said to listen together to their opinions.”

An Xumo thanked Liu Longfei. After handing the lunch box to Tang Tang, he went to the conference room where he had just pointed out. Although Liu Longfei had given him an explanation, the doubts in An Xumo’s heart were not completely dispelled. Ma Lao’s habit of revising scripts is not a secret in the industry. He sometimes even shoots two versions and then makes changes at the end. Due to this, he quarreled with a lot of scriptwriters when he was young.

However, this should be the first time that the actors have been asked to go to a meeting on script changes. After An Xumo entered the crew, in the past, it was Ma Lao and Mr. Tao who discussed directly plus the opinions of several assistant directors, and the actors directly take the new script.

It wasn’t until An Xumo rushed to the conference room that he finally understood why the actors were additionally called in this time——

The script to be revised is precisely the emotional scenes between Bai Qingchi and the two protagonists and now there is a disagreement in the most crucial kissing scene.

Zhou Jinchen told An Xumo before that he proposed to change the kissing scene between the two of them, but after arriving at the scene, An Xumo realized that Lin Rui had also made a proposal.

What he said was that he wanted to film a kissing scene between himself and Zhou Jinchen.

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The author has something to say:

Okay, let’s turn on An Xumo’s Su hanging mode, which startles us all the way and shakes the whole audience.

The kissing scene will be filmed soon, and the elder brother is about to face his illness. After the elder brother understand that he has an illness the emotional drama will be surging forward~