DP Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In December, as the end of the semester approached, most of the students at D University were busy reviewing for exams and completing course papers. Xiang Yiye finished his group assignments and course papers early and joined the film crew with his script and review materials.

This campus drama was set in a northern city, and many of the love scenes between the male and female leads took place under snowy landscapes, giving it a “Winter Sonata” feel.

During a break between scenes, in the makeshift rain and snow shelter, Xiang Yiye finished reciting his lines and a Weibo push notification popped up on his phone. Xiang Yiye glanced at it and clicked to take a look.

It was a few candid photos. The female lead was bending over, looking at the frost flowers that had formed on the window, while the male lead stood beside her, holding an umbrella in one hand and gently brushing the snowflakes off the female lead’s hair with the other. The whole scene had a very romantic vibe.

The comments underneath were all about shipping the couple, saying things like “They’re locked!” Knowing the real situation, Xiang Yiye couldn’t bring himself to feel anything for it, but he wasn’t so free that he’d comment with an alternate account saying, “The couple you’re shipping is fake.”

Lin Xiao came in wrapped in a down jacket and holding a hand warmer, shivering all the way as she approached the electric heater, her teeth chattering. “Cold, cold, cold…”

Han Fangyan also came in afterward, also heading to the electric heater, almost knocking Lin Xiao over.

Lin Xiao shoved Han Fangyan. “What are you doing? There’s another one over there, go, go, go…”—the soft and cute persona in the comments versus the fierce and spicy personality in real life.

The other electric heater was next to Xiang Yiye’s legs. Han Fangyan didn’t even look at it, saying rudely, “Go if you want, I want to use this one, what’s wrong with that?”—the gentle and domineering personality in the comments versus the volatile and explosive personality in real life.

“Get away, don’t get close to me.”

“It’s not yours, why can’t I use it?”

Xiang Yiye: “…” How affectionate. Those who ship them must already be typing “Fighting is flirting” on the public screen, right?

There were also a few rumors online that the male and female leads didn’t get along in real life, like they hated each other. But in reality, it wasn’t that bad, nor was it that good, just ordinary colleagues, maybe bickering and teasing each other every day at most.

In the end, Lin Xiao gave in and went to warm herself with Xiang Yiye. Xiang Yiye pushed the electric heater over to her side, saying, “You use it, it’ll be my turn to film soon.”

Lin Xiao was still a little sulky. “I don’t bother arguing with kids. Han Fangyan is only three years old at most. I don’t know what Xu Chuo likes about him.”

Xiang Yiye was also curious about this question, but he didn’t want to reveal it, saying, “Lin Xiao, have you known Xu Chuo for a long time?” In his previous life, Xu Chuo had said that he knew Lin Xiao, but at that time Lin Xiao was already a top-tier celebrity, and Xiang Yiye hadn’t specifically verified their relationship.

“We’ve been friends for a few years, we met at a friend’s birthday party before.” Lin Xiao glanced at Han Fangyan and lowered her voice. “I’ll tell you secretly, he used to chase after me, but I never agreed.”

Xiang Yiye looked at her in shock. Lin Xiao quickly felt guilty, saying, “Okay… actually, I flirted for a long time but didn’t get anywhere, I’m not his type.”

“There must be many people who like Lin Xiao,” Xiang Yiye said.

“Of course, it’s just that he didn’t take the bait.” This aroused Lin Xiao’s desire to confide in him. She continued to reveal information and complain, “I’m not that much older than him. When we first met, he said, ‘Xiao, you’re too young, I like mature women.’ Okay, after a few years, I thought I had become a little more mature, but that old man started hitting on younger women, only wanting those younger than him. Isn’t he just messing with me?”

“I thought he was too picky, but looking back at these past few years, all sorts of weird people have gotten close to him. He completely acts based on his mood, there’s no principle at all,” Lin Xiao said.

Xiang Yiye said, “Maybe… he doesn’t want to harm you.”

This time it was Lin Xiao’s turn to be shocked. “How did you know? He always said something like, ‘Xiao, you deserve someone better!'”

Xiang Yiye understood Xu Chuo. He was a playboy, but he always had a balance in his heart. If he wanted to maintain a longer-term relationship with someone, he would never cross the line. From this perspective, Xu Chuo actually valued Lin Xiao as a friend.

“But I’ve let it go long ago. If I can’t chase him, then I can’t chase him. He’s great as a friend, but he’s a complete jerk when it comes to relationships. I’d rather not give myself trouble. And at the time, I was mainly interested in his family background, hahaha…” Lin Xiao said bluntly, realizing that her voice was too loud, she quickly glanced at Han Fangyan.

Fortunately, Han Fangyan was focused on his phone, seemingly video chatting with someone, and didn’t notice what they were saying.

When it was time for Xiang Yiye’s scene, he stood up. As he passed Han Fangyan, he keenly heard Xu Chuo’s laughter coming from the phone. “Why are you like a child?”

Xu Chuo had said this to him in his previous life. At that time, they had only been together for a few months. Xu Chuo, as always, wanted to get rid of Xiang Yiye like he had gotten rid of others, but Xiang Yiye stubbornly clung on using various means.

It just so happened that Xu Chuo was in a bad mood during that time and didn’t have the energy to argue. In the end, when he had no way out, he said with a mixture of complaint and helplessness that Xiang Yiye was just like a child.

Now, Xu Chuo was saying these words to someone else. Han Fangyan’s voice continued from behind him. “When are you coming to visit me on set? I want to drink Aunt Wang’s soup…”

“Okay, what kind of soup do you want to drink? Just say it…”

Xiang Yiye paused, exhaled a puff of white air, and walked out of the rain and snow shelter.

A few days later, on the weekend, when the film crew had lunch, Lin Xiao was the fastest to run off, able to pick out the most filling and best-looking box lunch from among all the boxes.

She looked around, not seeing any annoying people like Han Fangyan, and then picked out another box, in a great mood and excitedly started eating. Xiang Yiye came late, halfway through her meal. She said, “Coming so late, you’re not enthusiastic about eating, there’s something wrong with your thinking.”

“I was kept back to discuss the scene, there’s an indoor scene that might have to be reshot this afternoon,” Xiang Yiye said.

Lin Xiao opened her down jacket and took out a box lunch from inside. “Here, this one’s delicious, I specially saved it for you.”

Wait, where did you take that out from…? To be this protective of food, there’s really no one else. Xiang Yiye paused, said thank you, broke open his chopsticks, and started eating.

“Are you and Little Han reshooting that scene from this morning?” Lin Xiao said. “I knew it… Han Fangyan couldn’t wait to finish filming today, he was acting absentmindedly, is someone coming?”

Xiang Yiye knew who was coming, but didn’t say anything.

Lin Xiao finished eating a whole box lunch, sniffed her nose, and asked, “Do you smell something?”

Xiang Yiye also sniffed, saying, “It smells like roasted sweet potato?”

Lin Xiao immediately turned into a surveillance camera, turning her head 360 degrees to thoroughly search, finally finding the source of the sin, which was a few other actors in the crew. She immediately pounced on them. “So you guys are eating alone without calling me, quickly give me one—”

Before long, Lin Xiao was holding a sweet potato in each hand, saying “So hot, so hot, so hot” as she walked back to Xiang Yiye’s side. “I brought you one too, you’re welcome.”

There was nothing better than roasted sweet potato in winter. As they were eating, suddenly an earth-shattering shout exploded from somewhere. “Lin Xiao, why are you still eating!”

Lin Xiao didn’t even need to raise her head, she knew who was calling her. She still held onto the roasted sweet potato and didn’t let go. “What’s wrong with me? I haven’t eaten that much. You only let me eat grass every day. It’s so cold, my head is buzzing from hunger, how am I supposed to film? Be a human…”

Lin Xiao’s assistant was a petite and lovely girl from the South, but when she roared, the ground shook. “If you eat that, you can forget about dinner! You decide for yourself!”

The sweet aroma of the roasted sweet potato was still floating in the air, Lin Xiao hesitated.

Someone else walked in, saying directly, “Listen to Sister Zhou, Xiao, there are people filming outside.”

This was more effective than anything else. Lin Xiao immediately stopped eating. Xiang Yiye’s hand holding his chopsticks paused, and he looked up towards the door.

Xu Chuo leaned against the door, smiling as he said, “You can gain weight, but you can’t ruin your image, right? Xiao, you have ambition, but not much.”

Assistant Xiao Zhou clasped her fist to thank Xu Chuo for helping her manage the artist, and then quickly took away the remaining half of the sweet potato from Lin Xiao’s hand with lightning speed.

After Xiao Zhou left, Lin Xiao looked warily at the door, asking, “Are there really people filming? Which direction?”

“I lied to you,” Xu Chuo said.

Lin Xiao’s eyebrows twitched, she said with a fake smile, “Please get out of here, goodbye.”

“Don’t rush to chase me away, this is a feint.” Xu Chuo said, taking out a thermal bag from behind him.

Lin Xiao’s mood immediately cleared up, her eyes shining, and she waved to Xiang Yiye, saying, “Come, come, come, his aunt cooks so well!”

Xiang Yiye raised the sweet potato in his hand, saying, “No thanks, Lin Xiao, you eat it, I still have this, don’t waste it.” Xu Chuo had specifically brought this for Lin Xiao, how could he eat it?

“Give me that, I want to eat it, I haven’t eaten it in many years, I want to try it. You eat mine in exchange, I just so happened to bring an extra portion,” Xu Chuo said, reaching out his hand towards him.

Xiang Yiye hesitated, and placed the still warm sweet potato in Xu Chuo’s palm. When he retracted his hand, Xu Chuo’s fingers intentionally or unintentionally touched the back of his hand, which was still very cold.

It had to be said that Xu Chuo was impeccable in his social skills, no wonder he was so well-liked. His arrival was like a blessing to the entire crew. He thoughtfully bought desserts and hot drinks for all the staff, but of course in Han Fangyan’s name.

In the afternoon, Xiang Yiye held a cup of hot chocolate with 30% sweetness and listened to the director talk about the scene in the indoor basketball court.

The main scene was a basketball game. Chen Xu had some prejudice against the male lead and didn’t approve of his sister dating him. Under this premise, the atmosphere between the two when they met on the court wouldn’t be relaxed.

“The tension wasn’t captured in the morning’s version,” the director specifically looked at Han Fangyan.

Han Fangyan knew he was being called out, wanted to perform well, and proactively suggested shooting his solo shots first.

Xu Chuo watched Han Fangyan’s scene from the side, also holding a cup of something to drink. Xiang Yiye remembered Xu Chuo’s hands, which were icy cold all year round, and couldn’t help but say, “Don’t drink cold drinks in the winter.”

Xu Chuo was quite surprised. “How do you know I’m drinking something cold?”

They had lived together for a year in their previous life, and Xiang Yiye knew Xu Chuo’s little habits very well. He reacted quickly, pointing to the cup lid and saying, “There’s no steam.”

“No wonder you’re a top student, your observation skills are so strong,” Xu Chuo said. “I’m used to it, I’ve always felt that there’s no difference between cold and hot drinks, they all become the same temperature after you drink them, right?”

In the dead of winter, except for the actors after the cameras started rolling, everyone on set was wearing a down jacket, but Xu Chuo was only wearing a black coat, with a nonchalant elegance.

Xiang Yiye was thinking that this handsome man looked glamorous and beautiful, but in reality, he had old cold legs and loved to kick off the covers while sleeping at night.

Xiang Yiye inconspicuously glanced at Xu Chuo’s knees, his brain warning him to be clear about what to say and what not to say, but his mouth was still faster, saying, “You’re wearing too little, you should wear more.”