DP Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Are you always this generous, caring, and kind to everyone?” Xiang Yiye asked.

“How is that possible? I’m not some saint,” Xu Chuo said with a laugh. “I only care about the people I want to care about.”

Coming from Xu Chuo, those words sounded ridiculous. In many people’s eyes, he was the type who never refused anyone, caring and protective of everyone as long as they weren’t enemies.

“Then I don’t need your concern, nor do I need your apology,” Xiang Yiye said. “You can leave. I made myself clear during the day. As long as Han Fangyan doesn’t cause me any trouble in the future, I won’t do anything to him either. You can rest assured.”

“Needing and doing are two different things,” Xu Chuo said. “It’s like I don’t need anyone telling me to drink less iced drinks or wear more clothes, but you still did it, didn’t you?”

“That was…that was me minding my own business,” Xiang Yiye said. He could never win an argument with Xu Chuo, that’s how it was in his previous life.

“In the basketball court during the day, you said I cared about you because I’m kind, but actually…” Xu Chuo suddenly leaned in, almost touching Xiang Yiye’s ear, and said, “There are other reasons why someone cares about another person, like…having thoughts about him.”

The scent of perfume, warmed by body temperature, wafted to his nose. Xiang Yiye’s ears instantly burned red. He pushed Xu Chuo away, dragging his injured leg, retreating three feet away. “You…you have some self-respect!”

“What did I do? Why are you acting like you’re about to call the police?” Xu Chuo moved closer. “I’m just stating an objective fact.”

Xiang Yiye stretched out his arms, blocking the space between them, and said somewhat anxiously, “Didn’t you just ask me to make a request? I don’t want your things, but I have a few conditions. First, stay away from me.”

“Okay, tell me,” Xu Chuo said, sitting up straight.

“First, you’re not allowed to suddenly get close to me in the future, and no sudden physical contact with me.”

Xu Chuo tilted his head, expressing his confusion. “Who do you take me for? This is just how I express my goodwill towards others…”

“Second, you’re not allowed to say these inexplicable things to me in the future. Having a good impression, having thoughts, none of that is allowed!”

“You’re too cute…”

“You’re not allowed to say that either!”

Xu Chuo looked at his expression as if he had been insulted, and amusedly said, “Your demands are really unique…Anything else?”

“Third…” Xiang Yiye thought seriously for a long time, and said, “In the future, once the temperature drops below zero, you must wear a down jacket.”

“Huh…?” Xu Chuo was puzzled. What kind of weird requirement was this?

“It’s your punishment,” Xiang Yiye began to desperately justify. “I’m very vengeful. But I still have to work with Han Fangyan later, so I can’t go after him. Aren’t you Han Fangyan’s boyfriend? Disgusting you is disgusting him. You don’t like wearing it, so I’m forcing you to wear it. Besides a down jacket, also long johns, you must wear them when the temperature is below zero, and you can’t take them off when you go to sleep at night.”

Xu Chuo was quite impressed. “Well, clear purpose, complete chain of cause and effect… Is the retaliation of a genius student so particular about logical rigor?”

“Shut up!”

“You’re getting more and more interesting…”

“Violation! You’re not allowed to say that!”

Xu Chuo was speechless for a moment, then smiled and took out his phone. “This isn’t allowed, that isn’t allowed, can I at least add you as a friend?”

“No, I’m not familiar with you,” Xiang Yiye said with a cold expression.

“If you don’t add me, how will you supervise me?”

“Supervise you what?”

“Report to you, otherwise how would you know what I wear to sleep every night?” Xu Chuo said.

“Can’t you…can’t you be self-aware!”

Long after Xu Chuo left, Xiang Yiye finally came back to his senses. Looking at the friend request popping up on his phone, he realized what he had done, and his heart was filled with complicated feelings.

This was truly touching the heavens, touching the earth, touching himself and the Jade Emperor. Xiang Yiye, ah Xiang Yiye, there is no one more despicable than you in this world.

In the blink of an eye, it was late December. Xiang Yiye’s foot had recovered as usual, and his scenes were almost finished. During this time, he went back and forth between the film set and the hotel every day, his mind was filled with lines, stage directions, and theorem formulas, and he also had a slight cold. He couldn’t spare any thought for other things.

Han Fangyan still gave him a cold look, but he cooperated in his work. That was the good thing about him. He was openly hostile and wouldn’t stab him in the back.

Xu Chuo never appeared again, but all kinds of deliveries appeared in the crew every now and then, from flowers and cakes to heating equipment, to watches, ties, shoes, bags, and big brands, all showing his presence.

Since that day in the basketball court, Han Fangyan seemed to have been in a cold war with Xu Chuo. He refused almost all of the things that the latter sent, and he was often heard arguing with someone on the phone.

Lin Xiao privately told Xiang Yiye that Han Fangyan was a little fool.

“Don’t look at how Xu Chuo spoils him, sending so many things to make peace. But I think they will break up soon,” Lin Xiao said. “I can tell that Xu Chuo doesn’t have much patience left. Little Han might as well take advantage of the fact that they haven’t broken up and take more things.”

“Han Fangyan doesn’t want things,” Xiang Yiye said. He wouldn’t be so jealous if he was only after money.

“Then he made the wrong decision. Giving his heart to Xu Chuo is like feeding it to a dog. Even if the sky falls, it won’t affect him finding his next target,” Lin Xiao said. “But it’s also strange, with his seamless changing partners, there should be a shadow of his next partner by now, why hasn’t there been any movement…maybe he’s still choosing.”

Xiang Yiye was speechless, thinking of the pile of read but unreturned WeChat messages on his phone. Any of the teasing words and photos in them could make his nose bleed three thousand feet straight down.

So Xu Chuo was…treating him as the next target? Xiang Yiye thought, and suddenly felt a blockage in his lungs and started coughing.

Lin Xiao quickly patted him on the back and said caringly, “Your cold hasn’t gotten better, haven’t you taken any medicine?”

“Not yet. Taking medicine makes me sleepy and affects my condition during the day. It’s okay, I’ll be fine in a few days,” Xiang Yiye said.

Lin Xiao poured him a cup of hot water. “Poor child, when you’re done filming in a few days, you must take a good rest.”

However, he couldn’t rest even after he finished filming. A few days later, Xiang Yiye bid farewell to the crew and didn’t even have time to celebrate New Year’s Eve, turning around and throwing himself into preparing for the final exams.

He finished five courses while sick, and slept under the covers in the dormitory for a day and a night. Fortunately, his roommate Wu Yiyue went home after the exam, otherwise he would have been scared to death, thinking that he had died suddenly in bed in the middle of the night.

In the morning, Xiang Yiye was woken up by the vibrating phone beside his pillow. His limbs were sore, his head was heavy, and he felt weak from oversleeping, but he felt much better.

The phone went silent. Xiang Yiye picked it up and found that Manager Hu from Xinghui had been calling him countless times since yesterday. He quickly called back. After a few pleasantries, Manager Hu asked him if he intended to sign with Xinghui, and if so, to come to the company today.

This was expected. Xiang Yiye got ready and took the subway to Xinghui.

He met with the vice president of Xinghui. According to convention, the vice president first praised Xiang Yiye’s excellent performance in the drama, then introduced Xinghui’s original intention, historical achievements, and future development, and finally asked about his personal situation and future intentions.

The vice president spoke eloquently. Xiang Yiye nodded and smiled appropriately at the pauses, but he didn’t hear a word of what the other party was saying. He was still dizzy, and his senses were automatically blocked, but he was good at acting. It was too easy to play a well-behaved and sensible nodding machine.

Although Xiang Yiye was dizzy at the moment, he was not confused. All the leaders were good at drawing big cakes. If it had been a long time ago, he would have been dizzy from the cakes falling from the sky; if it had been not so long ago, he would have sneered at the cake, wishing he could tattoo the words “noble” on his forehead.

But now, having lived a new life and being a new person, Xiang Yiye had been thoroughly enlightened. In response to the vice president’s favor, he first gave a combination of being flattered, praising back, and being grateful, saying that he would share life and death with Xinghui in this life.

But that was impossible. Judging from his experience in his previous life, the most glorious historical node of Xinghui would come about a year later, and the representative event was Lin Xiao’s contract termination.

Yes, Xinghui’s greatest contribution to the industry was returning Lin Xiao’s freedom. When she was in Xinghui, Lin Xiao was a lark with her hands and feet tied, always bringing newcomers to the company, and the roles she played were seriously homogenized, and her reputation declined more and more; after leaving Xinghui, she was reborn, constantly expanding her acting path, rising all the way, and all kinds of leading roles came one after another, and major awards were won softly.

After breaking up with Lin Xiao, Xinghui’s internal leadership underwent several reshuffles, and then it became silent at a clearly visible speed.

Xiang Yiye naturally wouldn’t put his future entirely on Xinghui, so when discussing the contract term, he signed the shortest term of 2 years. Xinghui also breathed a sigh of relief, after all, they couldn’t accurately assess Xiang Yiye’s commercial value at this stage, and signing too long wouldn’t do them any real good.

The signing of the contract came to an end. The vice president welcomed him and then told him: “The filming of your and Xiao Lin’s scenes was completed a few days ago, and the wrap-up banquet is at Yunxi Hotel at noon today. You were busy filming in the crew before, and some staff members didn’t have time to get to know each other, so you can chat more at the banquet.”

This was also an opportunity for newcomers to gain experience and accumulate contacts. Xiang Yiye nodded to show his understanding.

He didn’t think much about it and went there in his casual clothes. When he arrived at the hotel, most of the actors had more or less put on some makeup, and he was the only one with a bare face. He quickly made a deep reflection.

Xiang Yiye thought: I’m not professional anymore, is it too late to go back and put on makeup orz…

But since he was already here, he found the actors’ table and sat down next to Lin Xiao. As soon as Lin Xiao saw him, she said “Congratulations, congratulations” and warmly welcomed him to become her own colleague.

“Your face still looks a little pale,” Lin Xiao said, putting several dishes on his plate. “Eat more to nourish yourself.”

Lin Xiao must have a little talent in eating. Xiang Yiye had already seen her many attributes in the crew before, such as a glutton, a big eater, and a food protector. Today, he saw her superb skills in serving dishes.

The round table rotated at a uniform speed. The time each dish stayed in front of her was obviously precisely calculated in her heart and quickly internalized into muscle memory. She not only took care of her own serving work, but also served a portion to her partners on the left and right, vividly interpreting what is meant by accurate feeding and helping the rich to lead the poor.

Thanks to her, Xiang Yiye didn’t miss a single dish and tasted almost all of them.

Xiang Yiye sincerely admired her and gave her a thumbs up when Lin Xiao took a break from eating.

Lin Xiao understood instantly, her eyebrows raised high, her face was full of the expression “Are you picky eaters? Bring this Lin Xiao!”

Xiang Yiye put down his chopsticks, looked around, and asked Lin Xiao, “Isn’t Han Fangyan coming?”

“He’s here, behind you.”

Xiang Yiye turned his head and saw the table behind him empty. Han Fangyan was drinking alone at the empty table.

“I bet ten trotters, he must have broken up with Xu Chuo,” Lin Xiao said.