DP Chapter 40
by VolareOn the set, Xiang Yiye often saw Tao Mujia’s figure waiting around.
Whenever Tang Shuqin and her assistant called “Little Tao,” he would appear like a gust of wind, running back and forth following instructions. He would stand under the scorching sun for a while, always trying his best and never slacking off.
Sometimes, when Tang Shuqin’s assistant wasn’t available, he would proactively help her with things like fetching a water cup or a fan.
When he wasn’t needed, he would stay nearby but not too close, trying to minimize his presence.
When it was hot, Xiang Yiye would sometimes have Xiao Zhou order cold drinks for the crew to cool down.
One day, everyone was taking their drinks, and Tao Mujia stood by watching.
Xiang Yiye handed him a cup, but he took it and put it back down, hesitating and saying, “Can I…can I take it? Will there be enough?”
“There’s enough, there are always extras,” Xiang Yiye said.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Xiao Zhou added, “There’s sparkling water, coffee, and tea. See which one you’d like to drink.”
Tao Mujia took a cup of peach-flavored sparkling water, said “Thank you” to Xiang Yiye, and took only a few sips before he was called over to film a long shot. He put down his drink and apologized for having to waste it.
“Go ahead,” Xiao Zhou said, “I’ll find an ice pack to keep it cold for you. You can drink it when you get back, no waste.”
When the moon rose above the treetops in the evening, Xiang Yiye still had one fight scene left to film. Tang Shuqin had already wrapped up for the day and gone back, but Tao Mujia hadn’t left yet, saying he was waiting for his sister and squatting next to a chair chatting with Xiao Zhou.
A stray cat ran over from somewhere on the set. Tao Mujia plucked a foxtail grass and used it as a cat teaser, amusing the little tabby cat so much that it ran wildly up and down, and he grinned, showing his teeth.
Xiao Zhou saw this and asked, “Do you like cats?”
“I do,” Tao Mujia said, “My sister likes them too. She likes the really pretty ones, like those called Ragdolls, but I can’t afford one yet.”
Xiao Zhou said, “There are some pet adoption agencies now that have all kinds of kittens. Adopting is much cheaper than buying. I’ll ask around for you when I get back.”
Tao Mujia listened attentively and said, “Okay, thank you, Sister Xiao Zhou. I’ll go back and discuss it with my sister tonight.”
Xiao Zhou heard him mention his sister in almost every sentence and joked, “Looks like Little Tao is a sister-con!”
Tao Mujia said shyly, “I don’t have any other family members. I work hard so she can have a better life.”
Xiang Yiye finished his scene and happened to hear the second half of their conversation, and he felt a little complicated.
On the one hand, he felt that Tang Shuqin’s use of a body double would easily encourage bad habits. In the future, as long as an actor is famous enough, they only need to show their face during filming. What’s the difference between that and using AI face swapping?
On the other hand, he also felt that Tao Mujia being able to work alongside Tang Shuqin wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
After all, although Tang Shuqin’s attitude wasn’t great, she hadn’t mistreated her assistant materially. You could tell from her assistant’s usual clothing and belongings.
After wrapping up, Xiang Yiye was in the process of removing his costume, and Tao Mujia, a few steps away, asked if he needed any help.
“I can do it,” Xiao Zhou said. “You’ve been busy all day, hurry back. Isn’t your sister here? Don’t keep her waiting.”
Tao Mujia still didn’t leave. Xiang Yiye could tell he wanted to talk to him.
“It’s about my sister.” Tao Mujia looked around a little embarrassedly.
Tao Muya walked over. “Brother Yiye, I watched your show and I really liked you. Can I have your autograph? It’s okay if you’re tired…”
“No problem. It’s just that I don’t have any photos with me. Is it okay if I sign it on paper?” Xiang Yiye looked at Xiao Zhou.
“I have some, I brought some!” Tao Muya took out a still from “Ming Xia” for him to sign.
Xiang Yiye’s role in “Ming Xia” made a bigger splash than he expected. He Jingming had said that he didn’t have a romantic storyline in it, missing a major source of support for shippers.
But in fact, this was actually a little more liberating. Without a fixed pairing, it meant he could be paired with anyone.
Now that “Ming Xia” had been airing, there were a huge number of fan-made CP videos related to Xiang Yiye’s character on a certain website.
After signing, Tao Muya said, “Thank you, Brother Yiye! I hope this show is a big hit! We’ll be leaving then!”
After she finished speaking, she turned to her brother and said cheerfully and with a bit of a proud attitude, “Thank you too, Tao Mujia!”
“Don’t be so disrespectful,” Tao Mujia tapped her on the head.
Tao Muya: “So what? You’re only a few minutes older than me. Let’s go home. I got paid for tutoring this month, I’ll treat you to a late-night snack…”
Back in the car heading to the hotel, Xu Chuo was in the back seat. Xiang Yiye glanced at the video playing on his phone screen and laughed, “Why are you watching this too?”
“Lin Xiao sent it. It’s pretty well-edited. The real talent is among the people,” Xu Chuo said.
Lin Xiao was always on the front lines of trending topics. Whenever she saw an interesting fan-made video, she would send it to a group in minutes, along with the emoji “Shipping is so common.jpg.”
The “Ming Xia” production team was good at grasping trends. They encouraged fan-made content on Weibo and even held a lottery for some of the more popular fan-made works, giving away platform memberships or merchandise.
This interactive drama-watching experience greatly stimulated the enthusiasm and imagination of the audience, and the number of crossover videos increased rapidly.
Xiang Yiye played the female lead’s older brother, Chen Xu, in “Ming Xia.” In high school, he was a ruthless person who would fight at the slightest disagreement, but after growing up, he became calm and introverted, a college professor who always held back a bit when speaking.
He didn’t have many lines. He mainly conveyed emotions through his actions and eyes, which added a lot of tension. He had a strange chemistry with many characters in and out of the show, and the character of Chen Xu became synonymous with CP bait for a while.
If Xiang Yiye didn’t only have this one project at the moment, there might have been crossovers pairing him with other characters he had played, focusing on the reality of a self-insert fic.
Xu Chuo turned off the video and leaned over, trying to put his arm around him. Xiang Yiye dodged to the side, glancing at the driver’s seat in front.
Seeing him dodge, Xu Chuo didn’t restrain himself and instead became even more aggressive. The front seat remained motionless, as if a signal jammer had been turned on.
The driver had probably seen a lot, and even if a fight broke out in the back seat, it wouldn’t stop him from staring straight ahead and driving attentively.
Xu Chuo continued to get handsy. Sometimes his oblivious attitude was quite annoying. Xiang Yiye stopped him and told him to calm down.
The car was a hatchback MPV, which had a lot of space, but it couldn’t handle two adults flailing their arms and legs in a fight.
The third time they bumped into the car window, Xiang Yiye looked towards the back of the car and even considered the possibility of hiding in the trunk area.
There was a suitcase in the back, and judging by the gap between the seats, there wasn’t enough room for him to squeeze through. Xiang Yiye had no choice but to lock Xu Chuo in his arms to prevent him from moving around anymore.
Unable to force his way, Xu Chuo began to pester him gently. “My flight has been rescheduled. I’ll drop you off at the hotel and then leave.”
Xiang Yiye paused, feeling a little surprised, but also thinking that it made sense.
Xu Chuo had been here for four or five days, and he should go back to City S. He wasn’t idle.
“I don’t know when we’ll see each other next,” Xu Chuo said, “It’ll be at least next month, right?”
Xiang Yiye thought about it and released his arms. “…I can’t do anything with you.” After saying that, he allowed Xu Chuo to turn around and nuzzle him, but he remained stiff the entire time.
After a moment, Xu Chuo understood something and asked, “What did you film today? A kissing scene?”
Xiang Yiye tacitly acknowledged it.
“I don’t mind,” Xu Chuo said, “Didn’t you say it’s just work?”
The past two days had been full of crying scenes. When Xiang Yiye went back with red eyes in the evening, Xu Chuo noticed and insisted on reading a compilation of jokes to him in the middle of the night, all of them dark humor.
Xiang Yiye said helplessly, “It’s just work. The character is sad, it’s not like I’m sad.”
Xu Chuo: “The emotions are real. It’s bound to hurt your liver a bit. I’m making up for it by making you laugh.”
Xiang Yiye: “…” Can you really add and subtract that way?
The car was driving smoothly. The phone, which had fallen to his feet at some point, suddenly started ringing. Xiang Yiye freed a hand to pick it up and answer.
“Hello… Sister Tang?” Xiang Yiye dodged Xu Chuo’s interference. “No, I’m still on the road. Is there something you need?”
Xu Chuo leaned close to his ear and heard Tang Shuqin say that there was a crucial scene tomorrow where the male and female leads poured out their hearts to each other, but she wasn’t confident about it. She wanted to know if they could find time to rehearse beforehand.
Xiang Yiye glanced at Xu Chuo and replied, “Yes, we can…”
We can? Xu Chuo opened his mouth and bit the tip of his ear.
Xiang Yiye blocked him and continued into the phone, “I’ll get to the set early tomorrow morning. Half an hour should be enough, right? I’ll talk to Director Zhang and them later too… Okay, that’s it then.”
After hanging up, Xu Chuo sat back in his seat and said, “From what Tang Shuqin said, she wanted to rehearse with you tonight. Aren’t you being a little insensitive by changing it to tomorrow morning?”
“That’s even more of a reason why I can’t go. I think Sister Tang has been a little…too immersed in the role these days. She might be seeing me as the character in the show,” Xiang Yiye said.
Recalling the situation on set these past few days, he could sense that the way Tang Shuqin looked at him these days was really filled with affection.
Tang Shuqin’s talent lay in her ability to get into a role quickly and completely. Whatever state the character was in, that’s the state she was in.
Even after finishing work, she would unconsciously maintain some of the habits of the female lead, Qu Nong, such as her way of speaking and walking.
This made it easy for her to develop feelings for him because of the drama, which might also be the reason why her studio was so good at creating hype.
The car stopped in the hotel parking lot. Xiang Yiye gave Xu Chuo one last kiss and prepared to get out of the car.
Xu Chuo looked at him, his eyes flashing for a moment, and said to the driver, “Old Hu, please change my flight to tomorrow.”
Then Xu Chuo got out of the car with Xiang Yiye, saying that he was going to supervise his rest to prevent him from working overtime tonight.
Xiang Yiye: “?” What about the work thing and not minding?
The next day, Xu Chuo left early in the morning to catch his flight, and Xiang Yiye arrived at the set half an hour early.
Director Zhang and Tang Shuqin had been chatting opposite each other for a long time, and it took Xiang Yiye a while to understand one sentence: last night Xu Chuo said he would supervise his rest, but in reality, he hadn’t let him off, resulting in him being completely sleep-deprived at the moment.
After he came to his senses, he noticed that Xiao Zhou was being a little too attentive today, following him almost everywhere.
Compared to Lin Xiao, he was a little more self-disciplined and wouldn’t eat things randomly without someone watching him. Xiao Zhou supervised him less often and would usually slack off a bit.
After asking several times, Xiao Zhou said, “Xu Chuo sent a message this morning saying that, to prevent you from having any negative rumors that would affect your development, you should avoid being alone with other actors as much as possible, except when filming. I think that makes a lot of sense.”
Xiang Yiye: “What did he give you this time?”
Xiao Zhou: “A bag cures all ills, you know?”
Xiang Yiye: “I’ll give you one too. Can it restore you to normal? Anyway, he’s not here, he can’t see it.”
Xiao Zhou: “How could I be so impolite? Besides, it’s just a word from you, I’m definitely on your side.”
Xiang Yiye: “Then I’ll add another one.”
Xiao Zhou: “Okay, I’m leaving right away.”
As they were chatting idly, they suddenly heard a commotion ten meters away, not knowing what they were arguing about.