DP Chapter 29
by VolareSaturday morning, Xiang Yiye rummaged through his closet and pulled out several boxes. Lin Xiao, as the spokesperson for a certain major cosmetics brand, had sent him a pile of foundation products. He wasn’t sure if the shades suited him, so he randomly opened a cushion foundation and clumsily covered the dark circles under his eyes, which were practically drooping to his chin.
On the way to the Gu’s house, he bought an Americano to perk himself up.
Makeup concealed his flaws, and coffee stimulated his nerves, making Xiang Yiye look energetic. However, Gu Wenyu, being familiar with him, quickly noticed he was more listless than usual, and said, “Balancing studies and work is too much. You’re not in good shape today.”
Xiang Yiye apologized, “I had a little insomnia last night.” It wasn’t a little insomnia; he hadn’t slept for most of the night.
“Then rest today,” Gu Wenyu said. “If you’re not feeling your best next time, you can say so in advance, and we’ll arrange things flexibly.”
Xiang Yiye still felt sorry and promised it wouldn’t happen again.
Gu Wenyu smiled and reassured him, telling him not to put too much pressure on himself. He also asked the housekeeper to serve him a bowl of chicken soup, saying it was a regular dish in their home and beneficial for the body after staying up late.
After saying that, Gu Wenyu went back into the garden. After retirement, he only needed to play himself, switching between the roles of gardener, calligrapher, father, and teacher.
The housekeeper was probably from Guangdong, calling him “young man” in her accent, asking if the soup was too bland and if he wanted salt. The soups she made were all for Gu Ying’s health and were too light for most people’s tastes.
Xiang Yiye politely shook his head, saying it wasn’t necessary, and that actors weren’t ordinary people either. He ate light every day, so he could get used to it.
The housekeeper smiled mischievously, saying, “Don’t regret it later, try the taste.”
Xiang Yiye smiled slightly, picked up the spoon, and took a sip. It was indeed blander than he had imagined. If it weren’t for the original fragrance of the ingredients, people accustomed to home-style stir-fries would find it hard to swallow.
So, sick people eat these things, Xiang Yiye felt a little sorry for Gu Ying. He finished the soup and looked out the French window at the garden, admiring the spring flowers growing towards the sun.
“Who’s this, sitting here all gloomy and sad? Isn’t there a lecture today? Where’s my dad?” Gu Ying, wearing a hat and mask, walked to the sofa.
“Teacher is in the garden outside.” Xiang Yiye greeted her. This seemed to be the first time he’d seen her during the morning hours.
Screenwriters probably have a special ability to perceive people’s emotions in a very short time. She saw Xiang Yiye’s expression and said teasingly, “Big handsome guy is going for the melancholic prince look today.”
Xiang Yiye looked at the rows of drooping red camellias on the flower stand, and said, “Those flowers are about to wither.” After saying that, he felt it was inappropriate; fading flowers and waning stars, such negative words were not suitable to say in front of a patient.
But Gu Ying was not affected at all. She followed his gaze and looked over, saying, “Yeah, come to think of it, it’s almost time for the camellias to wither. Do you like them? I’ll ask my dad to give you a few.”
So those were also camellias, red camellias. Xiang Yiye said, “Let them grow there, in the place where they belong, they’ll be more beautiful and at ease. I can just look at them, I don’t necessarily have to take them back.”
“I can’t tell, for such a big guy, you have such a delicate heart, knowing how to cherish flowers.” Gu Ying laughed, “This kind of camellia is very strong. When it withers, it falls as a whole flower, not petal by petal. If a large patch blooms, I don’t know how spectacular it would be when they fall, you could even say it’s tragic. After they fall, I’ll ask my dad to pick a few for you, you can make them into dried flowers and preserve their most beautiful form.”
Xiang Yiye paused, and said “Okay.” Gu Ying’s description touched his already sensitive nerves. He thought, in the moment when she was about to fall but hadn’t yet, if someone could catch her under the tree, that would be good.
The loneliness of blooming with all one’s might but not being caught, was like the desolation of shouting with all one’s strength but receiving no response. But Xiang Yiye knew that all these thoughts of his were nothing more than a brief moment of sentimental tears for the flowers.
Gu Ying couldn’t help but say, “Xiao Xiang, you can really shoot a set of literary photos right here. Come on, go outside with me and soak up the sun, don’t huddle in the house.”
The sunlight made people feel better, Xiang Yiye said, “Sister Gu Ying, are you going out today?”
“Yeah, I have to go to the hospital for a while, the director said I have to use immunotherapy drugs.” Gu Ying’s tone was light, as if going to the hospital was as casual as going home.
“I hope you have a smooth journey.” Xiang Yiye said.
“Whether it’s smooth or not, I can only leave it to fate. I care more about whether I can make it in time to finish this script in my hands properly.” Gu Ying said.
“It would be better to write after your health improves, wouldn’t it?”
“It’s just that I don’t know when my health will improve, so I have to seize the time even more.” Gu Ying said, “When I was in school, I and a few classmates started a drama club, writing our own scripts, directing ourselves, and editing ourselves. If we couldn’t find actors, we’d do it ourselves, making a few lousy films. All by ourselves, my dad didn’t help much. Small budget, and the final returns weren’t much either, but doing something together with a group of like-minded people, I’ll never forget that experience.”
“Can I see the films you made?” Xiang Yiye said.
“Sure, just don’t think they’re too rough.” Gu Ying laughed, “My classmates are doing pretty well in the industry. For my sake, if they ask you to act in a film in the future, the salary has to be discounted, a huge discount.”
Xiang Yiye did not hesitate: “It’s a deal. The content is too important. If the script is good enough, I can act without pay.”
Gu Ying laughed loudly, “If you don’t become popular, there’s no justice in the world.”
In the afternoon, Xiang Yiye refilled his Americano and went to Xinghui to take photos. His body actually can’t handle too much coffee, and he has trouble sleeping at night, but if he doesn’t drink it, it’s hard to maintain his condition.
He Jingming was also there, telling him that there had been a slight adjustment to his work schedule. His assessments in voice, acting, and appearance would be passed next week, and then he would prepare for the “Si Yan Hua” audition.
This indicated that the next period of time would be even busier. Xiang Yiye quite liked being busy, the bombardment-style busyness was like a concentrated sowing, indicating that a long harvest season would follow, and if he was busy enough, he wouldn’t be distracted by other things.
He lived a three-point line life between his residence, the school’s teaching building, and the company. A month passed quickly, coming to mid-April.
He had read the script of “Si Yan Hua,” and only had access to the first eight episodes. He roughly understood what kind of story it was. It mainly revolved around a story of the gods, humans, and demons battling, where the male lead was a god of war from the heavenly realm and the female lead was a demoness from the demon realm, working together to save the world and flirting while they were at it.
The story content wasn’t new, but it was also stable. After all, it had a wide audience, and the team was reassuring, belonging to the kind of ship that wouldn’t easily capsize even in big waves. If the various aspects of the later stages kept up and didn’t have any major issues, it was very likely to make the male and female leads popular next summer.
Judging from the recent auditions and the power struggles between the various forces, the female lead would most likely be Lin Xiao, while the male lead would very likely be one of Minghua Stage’s own male artists.
Xiang Yiye had been preparing for the role of the second male lead, but it wasn’t until a week before the audition that he learned he also had to audition for the male lead’s role.
He expressed his confusion. He Jingming gave him a look that said, “You know it yourself, why are you asking me?”
Xiang Yiye understood. Despite the unpleasant breakup that night, Xu Chuo had kept his promise.
This experience of getting slapped and then given a sweet date made him feel a little tired. He didn’t want to think about whether Xu Chuo’s motive was to continue toying with him or out of decency to end it.
The male lead in “Si Yan Hua” was a gentle and refined god of war from the heavenly realm, a white-robed noble young master; the second male lead was a free and untamed young master from the demon realm, a young man in bright clothes riding a spirited horse.
Judging solely from appearance, he was more suited to the second male lead; but considering the fit between his personal temperament and the role, he was more suited to the male lead.
When the final casting result came out, he was cast as the male lead.
Xiang Yiye couldn’t say what percentage of his audition performance played a role. Maybe it was just going through the motions, after all, hugging the thigh of a big shot was really good. It’s just that he was a little greedy and didn’t know what was good for him, wanting to hug not just the thigh of a big shot.
That day after watching the movie, the question Xu Chuo threw at him seemed to want him to choose between benefits and sincerity. Xiang Yiye hadn’t even said it when he was interrupted by the police station’s phone call.
If he had been allowed to continue speaking at that time, his answer would probably have been that he would go to Xu Chuo’s house one day, but not that night. What he wanted was not to rely on Xu Chuo to get a decision through internal channels, but to use his strength to gain leverage, to give him a chance to audition for the male lead, and he would do his best for the rest.
In other words, he wanted both benefits and sincerity. Some people say that there are only benefits between people, and some people say that there is true love in the world, but Xiang Yiye felt that these two things were originally mixed together and entangled endlessly. It wasn’t very realistic to lean too much towards either side.
Xu Chuo’s understanding of the world was perhaps more idealistic and more pessimistic. Perhaps he had been immersed in social graces for so long, but he still yearned for purity. Because that yearning was unattainable, he put on a frivolous and impatient exterior.
But what’s the point of thinking about these things now? Xiang Yiye occasionally swiped through the stagnant chat interface with Xu Chuo and felt that he might as well bury himself in work.
He thought he and Lin Xiao would break the industry’s fastest second-time collaboration record, and then learned that Lin Xiao’s role had been taken over by someone else.
Xiang Yiye asked what kind of background that person had. He Jingming said it was a female artist from Minghua Stage.
Xiang Yiye was silent for a long time, and asked, “Because the male lead was changed to me, so the female lead has to be changed?”
He Jingming said, “Minghua Stage has people they want to promote, and they must occupy one of the spots, there’s no way around it.”
Xiang Yiye never thought that he would be standing in competition with Lin Xiao. He said, “Then can I not act? Give Sister Xiao’s role back to her.”
“Are you saying childish things? Can you just quit if you want to? Are you still afraid of offending Lin Xiao? Doesn’t she have more scripts to choose from than you?” He Jingming said. In fact, she had already fought for Lin Xiao behind the scenes, and had several meetings, but she didn’t get any results.
“It’s not a matter of offending or not, it’s just that… she is…” Xiang Yiye was tongue-tied for a moment, “Anyway, I can’t act.”
“Oh dear, it’s already a done deal. The company decided internally, I’ll communicate with Lin Xiao, you just focus on your acting.” He Jingming said.
The company decided internally, it wasn’t that simple. Xiang Yiye knew that Yunhua had shares in Xinghui, which was equivalent to a unilateral decision, wasn’t it?
Xiang Yiye couldn’t accept it.