SM Chapter 11
by VolareChapter 11: Cheers to the Present… Our World
After finishing the movie, the rain outside had lessened a lot. Ye Lai went upstairs to change his clothes and then went into the basement wine cellar, found his treasured bottle of red wine that he had kept for many years, and took it to find Lin Han.
Lin Han is Sheng Mingqian’s agent and also a partner in his studio. The two have been working together for more than ten years. Sheng Mingqian doesn’t like or is good at handling the complicated relationships in the entertainment industry. He is only responsible for filming, while Lin Han is responsible for the studio’s operations and business negotiations.
Lin Han is also the only one who knows about his marriage agreement with Sheng Mingqian. Lin Han found out because Sheng Mingqian accidentally let it slip while drunk once.
After Lin Han found out, he also made him sign another confidentiality agreement. Ye Lai didn’t have a good impression of Lin Han at first, but he still signed the confidentiality agreement. Over time, he came to understand Lin Han’s character. Lin Han is meticulous but righteous, worried that he would take advantage of Sheng Mingqian.
Before Ye Lai went to find Lin Han, he called him to confirm his schedule, and only went out after confirming that he was in the office.
There are many artists in the studio every day. In addition to the artists signed by the studio, other artists also come to submit their resumes. Ye Lai wore a hat and mask, covering himself tightly, so that Lin Han wouldn’t think too much.
“A rare guest, why are you wrapped up so tightly?” Lin Han was fiddling with the movie discs in the office bookcase.
“Brother Han, isn’t it because I’m afraid of being recognized?”
“So what if you’re recognized? There are many people coming in and out every day, one more of you doesn’t make a difference.”
Ye Lai took off his hat and mask. Lin Han saw the injury at the corner of his eye, pointed at it and asked, “Your eye, what happened?”
“I accidentally bumped it.”
“As an actor, you have to be careful with your face, there’s nothing more important than this.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Brother Han, I’ll be careful next time.” Ye Lai said, taking the red wine out of the tote bag and placing it on the table, “Brother Han, this is for you.”
Lin Han is over forty years old this year, with a stubbled beard and a rough, unkempt appearance. He doesn’t have any other special hobbies, he just loves to taste wine. Ye Lai catered to his preferences, and the bottle of red wine he brought today is a collector’s edition.
Lin Han’s eyes lit up after seeing the label, he turned around and walked to the desk to look at it, his rationality was still there, but his eyes didn’t want to move away, “So generous, tell me, what’s the matter you came to me for today?”
Ye Lai didn’t dawdle, and directly handed the wine bottle to Lin Han, “Brother Han, I have a small favor I want you to help me with.”
Lin Han took the wine bottle,Tsk tsk a few times, holding the bottom of the bottle with one hand and the neck of the bottle with the other, looking back and forth, “Quickly say, what is it?”
“How is Mingqian’s current movie going? How much is left to shoot?”
“It’s almost done, it’s almost wrapped up,” Lin Han touched the wine bottle, smiling and asking him in return, “Why don’t you ask him yourself? Why come and ask me instead?”
“You don’t know how he treats me. I’m afraid he’ll get annoyed if I ask too much.” Ye Lai turned his head to look at the rainy window, his eyes dark and unclear.
Lin Han put down the wine bottle and gave Ye Lai a meaningful look. After thinking for a while, he said, “Forget it, forget it, I don’t know the ins and outs of your affairs, and I can’t say anything. You came to me, just to ask about this?”
Ye Lai turned his head, the gloom from just now was gone, “There’s another thing. I wanted to ask Brother Han, when will Mingqian’s next movie be filmed? Has it been decided yet? Are the actors all set?”
“The actors haven’t been finalized yet, the casting director is preparing for it. It definitely won’t be that fast to start filming, it will take at least half a year. You also know that Mingqian has high requirements for roles, and it will take a lot of time just to cast the roles.”
“Has the lead actor been decided yet?”
“It shouldn’t be decided yet, Zhou Ran might… but he,” Lin Han hesitated, then shook his head, “Not necessarily. This drama has two male leads, Zhou Ran can play the economics professor who is the male second, but to let him play a teenager, he lacks a bit of youthfulness, it’s not suitable.”
Ye Lai frowned, “Has Zhou Ran been decided?”
Lin Han waved his hand, “Not decided. Zhou Ran has approached Mingqian many times to talk about this, and he has also come to me, but we haven’t budged.”
Ye Lai thought of what Zhou Ran said that day, it turned out that it was all his wishful thinking. He didn’t beat around the bush anymore, and directly asked, “Brother Han, then do you think I can do it?”
Lin Han didn’t answer directly, just smiled and looked Ye Lai up and down, “No good deed goes unpunished, I knew it wouldn’t be that simple for you to bring such good wine to me.”
“Brother Han, give me a heads up, can I go to the audition?”
Lin Han leaned back on the chair and glanced at Ye Lai. That look was complicated. Ye Lai was uncomfortable being stared at by him, “What’s wrong?”
He also knew that Ye Lai would come to him because Sheng Mingqian’s side wouldn’t work. He sighed, “I can still help you with this little thing about the audition opportunity. I can directly tell the casting director that you can go directly according to the audition time, but the person who finally decides on the role is not me, it’s Mingqian.”
Ye Lai lowered his eyes, put his hands on his legs, and his nails were scratching the hem of his clothes.
Lin Han continued, “I can’t say anything about Mingqian’s decisions. Just like the movie “Life Unveiled” you acted in before, before the filming started, the investors stuffed someone in, a child who wanted the role of Chi Wen. They thought it was just a small role, so it could be replaced, after all, it wasn’t the male lead. Unexpectedly, Mingqian refused as soon as he heard it, and he argued with them for a long time. In the end, he directly said harsh words, saying that if the role of Chi Wen was replaced, then he, the Director, would be replaced as well. The investors thought he was joking, but he was serious. Mingqian really wanted to quit, and Mingqian didn’t even go to the opening ceremony. In the end, the investors dragged the person over.”
After Lin Han finished speaking, although he was reluctant to part with the bottle of wine, he still pushed it back to Ye Lai, “So, I can only get you an audition opportunity at most, as for the others, I can’t help you.”
Ye Lai’s fingers were still twisting the hem of his clothes, his breathing stiffened for a moment, he didn’t expect that the events of that year were like this.
The faint gaze behind Sheng Mingqian’s smoke, at this moment five years later, suddenly penetrated the heavy smoke and the barrier of time and had a definite sense of reality. Ye Lai felt that his cheek was pricked by that gaze.
Everything was connected into a complete line. Sheng Mingqian only notified him to join the team when he went to find him. That day, he was so drunk with the news of being regained that he didn’t think deeply about it. It turned out that the movie almost didn’t get made because of himself.
“Brother Han, what you just said…”
Ye Lai’s expression was still wandering in his memories. Lin Han looked at his expression and asked, “What? You didn’t know about this?”
Ye Lai straightened his expression and shook his head, “I never knew, Mingqian didn’t tell me either.”
“That’s just how he is. That mouth of his can only be used when filming movies. At other times, it’s just a decoration. Your wine isn’t cheap, take it back. I can’t help you too much.”
Ye Lai smiled and pushed it back, “There’s no reason to take back a gift. It’s just for Brother Han. Being able to go to the audition is already a great help to me.”
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The rain kept falling. Sheng Mingqian returned home on time for the agreed-upon dinner time on the weekend.
This is a clause that Ye Lai added to the agreement. Every month, they would take a weekend evening to have dinner together. As for which weekend of the month it was, there was no fixed time, but this habit has been stubbornly adhered to for almost five years, and neither of them has ever broken the agreement.
Sheng Mingqian rarely eats at home. Ye Lai prepares carefully every time. On the dining table are Sheng Mingqian’s favorite yellow gerbera daisies, red wine, candles, and even the folds of the drooping tablecloth are in Ye Lai’s careful design.
Coming back from Lin Han’s place, Ye Lai felt as if he was walking on clouds. Ye Lai’s low mood dissipated after that day, and even the sound of the rain outside sounded a lot lighter.
Everything about Sheng Mingqian, every little bit of news, is like a huge wave to him. How can he stand firmly on the crest of the wave? If he steps on it, it’s a brilliant beauty within reach. If he doesn’t step on it and falls, he will drown.
Up and down, dark and bright, Ye Lai has been stepping on the crest of the wave for five years like this, swaying and still not really drowned. He doesn’t know if this counts as his luck.
Perhaps Sheng Mingqian’s persistence at that time only stemmed from himself, and the role he had chosen could not be changed, but for Ye Lai, that persistence of Sheng Mingqian’s flowed on him was a layer of honey.
If there had been no such movie, then everything after that would not have happened. He would still only be able to peep behind the screen, still just one of the people standing at the foot of the mountain looking up, his roots rotting underground.
As soon as the electronic sensor door in the yard opened, Ye Lai saw Sheng Mingqian’s car driving in from the floor-to-ceiling window. He picked up the umbrella on the cabinet and went out, opened the umbrella and stood on the stone steps at the door.
The rain under the eaves fell on the umbrella surface and rolled down along the umbrella ribs, and there was a rain curtain in front of him.
Sheng Mingqian parked the car, and Ye Lai held the umbrella and walked to the car door.
Sheng Mingqian had just finished filming a scene in the rain, and when he got out of the car, Ye Lai saw that his white shirt was stained with a lot of mud. He rarely comes back in this appearance, looking a little embarrassed and tired.
Bending over and getting under the eaves of the umbrella, Sheng Mingqian took the umbrella from Ye Lai’s hand and raised it a little higher.
“You don’t have to come out.”
“I was afraid you didn’t have an umbrella in the car.”
Ye Lai raised his head, naturally raised his hands to hook Sheng Mingqian’s neck, and imprinted a kiss on his lips that were still wrapped in a layer of cold rain.
Sheng Mingqian gently put his other hand on his waist and pushed him away, “I’m dirty.”
The two were close together, and inevitably, Ye Lai’s clothes were also stained with the black mud spots on Sheng Mingqian’s clothes, and the clothes he had just changed into were also dirty.
The two went into the bathroom together to take a shower. If it were normal times, taking a shower together would definitely not be just a simple shower. Today, Ye Lai just wanted to have a stable dinner with Sheng Mingqian.
After taking a shower, the two sat face to face on either side of the dining table. Sheng Mingqian was wearing a bathrobe, with the collar open. Compared to Sheng Mingqian’s casualness, Ye Lai was dressed much more formally, like a little prince attending a banquet.
Ye Lai likes the monthly dinner time. The atmosphere is so good that at this time, he often chooses to selectively forget the agreement, and temporarily doesn’t think about their agreed-upon relationship. They are like ordinary couples.
Sheng Mingqian looked at Ye Lai’s eyes, “Not better yet?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Ye Lai raised his hand and touched his eye sockets, which were getting redder after taking a shower, but his eyes didn’t leave Sheng Mingqian’s deep and charming eyes.
The jumping candle flames on the table flickered in Ye Lai’s dark eyes, adding a bit of different amorous feelings to those peach blossom eyes. The clear waves rippled, and the warm yellow halo was spread on Ye Lai’s face, setting off the upper half of his shirt like a white dew on a slender neck. The rain outside the glass window behind him seemed to be reluctant to disturb him, and quietly acted as the background.
Ye Lai raised his wine glass and touched Sheng Mingqian’s. The red liquid collided in the glass and produced fine wave patterns. The ripples touched Ye Lai’s emotions.
“Mingqian, I wish you success in your new movie.”
Sheng Mingqian raised his wine glass and took a sip, his gaze moved down. Ye Lai couldn’t tell where he was looking, maybe it was the gerbera daisies, maybe it was the food on the plate, maybe it was just a casual glance without any special attention.
That’s how Ye Lai is, he cares about every look in Sheng Mingqian’s eyes. Even in such casual moments, he will secretly speculate in his heart. This is a habit he has developed over the past five years.
“The movie will be released early.” Sheng Mingqian’s tail sound was slightly low, and at the same time he interrupted Ye Lai’s speculation about his look in his heart.
Ye Lai raised his head and drank the red wine in his glass, propping his forehead with his index finger, his peach blossom eyes slightly upturned, the mellow aroma of the red wine on his tongue slowly spread, dyeing his voice with a bit of trance, “Then let’s toast you, toast me, toast the present… our world.”