Chapter 13 – Dispensing a couple of copper coins

“Mango, hurry up and eat, after that I’ll send you to the crew.” Muran Jinhuan had already had his assistant thoroughly investigate Lu Yunqian’s identity.

In fact, it was just finding out his name and that he was an eighteenth-tier minor actor from a nearby crew… Do you really think that at his command, the people below him could instantly dig out his family address, phone number, and his entire life story?

Wake up, it’s a legitimate business company, not a census organization.

Lu Yunqian had just woken up, still a bit dazed: “What time is it now?”

Muran Jinhuan: “Still early, six-thirty.”

Lu Yunqian instantly snapped to full alertness.

“Six-thirty!” Lu Yunqian threw off the covers in haste and began hurriedly dressing, “Crap, I’m going to be late!” It would take two hours to rush from the hotel to the subway station and then to the crew!

Muran Jinhuan hurriedly stopped him: “You’re not going to eat breakfast?”

“No time for breakfast, I have to rush for the subway.” Lu Yunqian was putting on his socks.

“What subway are you rushing for? I said I would send you.” Muran Jinhuan chided him, “You can’t skip breakfast. Not eating breakfast will stunt your growth. You’re already so thin—how can you even dare to skip breakfast…”

Lu Yunqian rushed to put on the other sock: “I can’t, people will think I’m being kept if I get off your car.”

These rich people’s vehicles are all multi-million-dollar luxurycars; he dared not ride in them, truly.

Muran Jinhuan: “What’s the big deal. I can just buy another VW that costs 300 grand in full and pick it up on the spot, then I’ll send you off with that. The 4S store is right downstairs.”

Lu Yunqian: You city folks sure know how to play.

To avoid CEO Mu from truly spending a fortune to pick up a car on the spot, Lu Yunqian conceded: “No need for all that trouble, it’s really not bad like this.”

The nanny van was very spacious, more than capable of accommodating Jiang Heng, Shen Fubai, Xiao Zhang, Xiao Lin, and the driver. Neither Shen Fubai’s agent Li Man, nor Jiang Heng’s agent Ms. Wen were there. Agents were very busy, generally, they wouldn’t keep up with the artist’s schedule all the time—that was the assistant’s job.

The driver sat in the driver’s seat, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin very tactfully took seats together in the second row, leaving the back seats for those two.

Shen Fubai bent down and climbed in, sitting on the farthest inside seat. Jiang Heng also followed and stepped up, sitting next to Shen Fubai.

Both were guys over six feet tall, sitting together inevitably meant their bodies would touch. Shen Fubai’s gaze swept over the other’s long legs—both wanting to touch, but also not daring to.

Jiang Heng’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes straight ahead; but by chance he caught a glimpse of a section of Shen Fubai’s pale calf exposed under his seven-eighths length pants, he quickly averted his gaze and sat up straight.

The two of them kept their legs together, sitting very obediently, like little kids in a kindergarten class.

On the other hand, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin, straight men, were fearless and were playing a game while draped around each other’s shoulders.

Right when they were engrossed in the game, the car passed through a traffic light intersection, and there was a sudden hard brake. Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin were taken aback by the momentum and their bodies lurched forward, their foreheads colliding with the back of the seat in front of them. Their fingers swiped the screen randomly, and the phone display went out.

“Ah! I lost!” The two of them who were restarting their phones gazed frustratedly at the screen. Xiao Zhang said to the chauffeur, “Uncle Zhang, could you let us know the next time you brake suddenly…”

Uncle Zhang did not answer, his eyes were dazedly fixed on the rearview mirror.

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin sensed something was off, they turned around and were also stunned.

The young man dressed in a pink hoodie had his forehead resting on the black-clothed man’s thigh. He was supporting himself with one hand on the back of the chair trying to get up, while holding onto the man’s shoulder with the other.

Jiang Heng’s entire body was rigid, his muscles tense, he didn’t know where to put his hands and feet, barely holding onto the youth’s waist.

What kind of picture was this… how could you put it? It was a bit of a head turner.

The situation had been like this earlier. When the chauffeur braked, Shen Fubai would have bumped into the seat front because of the inertia. Jiang Heng’s hands shot out at once to protect Shen Fubai’s forehead, pulling him over and onto his lap—it was quite an embarrassing position.

It was an instinctive reaction when things got hectic, and afterward, both of them were a bit in a daze.

Especially when they saw Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin both turn around and stare at them, Shen Fubai’s face flushed red, and he almost didn’t want to get up from Jiang Heng’s embrace.

Fortunately, he still had his wits about him, Shen Fubai got up in time, maintaining a normal expression: “Thanks for that, I bumped into you earlier, is your hand okay?”

Jiang Heng withdrew his hand that had been hit, which had turned red: “I’m fine.”

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lin quietly turned back around.

Though they knew it had to be an accident, they still felt that the two of them had looked like they were hugging and sticky, not wanting to separate.

“Uncle Zhang, drive more carefully the next time.” Jiang Heng was very composed, if you ignored the redness that tinged his face.

Uncle Zhang acknowledged: “Understood.”

Shen Fubai lowered his head, his face heating slightly, and he praised the driver in his heart: Nice move.

He seemed to have hit Heng Heng’s… Oh, that part. It was so freakin’ big… and hard.

Not like that, damn it, what were you thinking?—he was talking about his abs, his abs. How come Heng Heng had such a solid build and broad chest beneath the disguise of his scrawny physique, surely evident of working out at the gym frequently—he had a top-notch feel to it.

Shen Fubai was also a little demon with abs, with a dancer’s body full of explosive power, absolutely eclipsing that of an ordinary man, only that he couldn’t develop eight abdominal muscles… Okay fine, he didn’t really exercise that much either.

It wasn’t because he ate too much–

At the crew it was just time for makeup and costume changes. The scenes for Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng were shot separately in the morning, with one scene together scheduled for the afternoon.

The order in which the actors shot their scenes wasn’t necessarily the same as the order in the script. Sometimes scenes from later in the story would be shot first, then the earlier scenes would be shot as a flashback. It wasn’t uncommon for an actor to play a dark villain in the morning and switch to an innocent schoolgirl in the afternoon—this required the actors to adjust and switch between two states on their own.

In accordance with Director Xu’s original plan, today was the second day of shooting, and he wanted to let Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai, the two male leads, shoot their individual scenes for half of the day each. One was to observe the other while he was filming to help the two actors become familiar with each other more quickly, and when they shot scene together, it would flow more smoothly.

But after seeing the improvisational performance of Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai in the dressing room yesterday, Director Xu changed his mind. He decided to move this scene to shoot today in the afternoon.

He was curious, the two youngsters had just barely managed to pull off their impromptu performance—what kind of sparks would they spark when they filmed officially?

After getting off the car, Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng split up, each heading to their dressing rooms. His morning scenes were not extensive, mainly focusing on Jiang Heng. Acting left Jiang Heng with far more experience than him, Director Xu intentionally wanted Shen Fubai to see more of Jiang Heng’s on-the-spot performance to learn and benefit from it.

The two main leads in “Pear Blossoms” had vast differences between their earlier roles and later ones. Chu Yu would transition from a young master dressed in fine clothes and free-spirited to a resolute and city-versed general. While Yu Tang would grow from a pitiful little nobody with a tragic past to an unparalleled opera performer, one who must be gentle and tough, presenting the steadfast loyalty amidst immense tenderness.

These antithetical states with such profound disparity, they had to abruptly shift them before the end of the day. In the morning they would be the young master and the little nobody, then in the afternoon, they would be a great general and a famous opera performer.

Difficult? It was quite challenging.

Shen Fubai, however, didn’t feel any anxiety at all.

He gazed at the face that was made up to look gloomy in the mirror and even felt a newfound excitement.

Not only was it because he could perform scene with Jiang Heng, performing was something he naturally loved. In this area, he possessed the talent that had been there since birth.

Jiang Heng was his idol, he had always looked up to him as an example. He was eagerly anticipating doing scene on stage with Jiang Heng and enjoying the greatest thrill in each moment their eyes, body language, and thoughts gelled in perfect harmony.

That was the performance art he pursued, that was something he truly loved.

It didn’t take much time to do Shen Fubai’s makeup for this part. Compared to the complex opera costumes from yesterday, he was only being shot in the vignettes of his early years of hardship at the Pear Orchard today. He would only need to wear shabby clothing and have a dirty face.

Shen Fubai was playing the young, impoverished Yu Tang. He couldn’t play a young child Yu Tang when he was sold into Pear Orchard, his age was an obstacle, the child-themed scenes would have to be performed by another young actor. That young actor was still at school and hadn’t joined the crew yet.

Yu Tang had to endure for quite a few years before he could finally make his debut on stage and took off later when he was promoted by Chu Yu. The scenes Shen Fubai would be acting in the morning were the years of Yu Tang’s struggles.

As for Jiang Heng, his transformation was just as straightforward. The young gentleman who has returned from overseas was clad in a white suit, his appearance refined, but he had a natural air of arrogance of a budding youth. He carried with him the sophisticated ambiance influenced by the West, as well as the aura of nobility nurtured by a prominent family, and with pride and confidence deep in his eyes, akin to someone from a different era to ordinary kids like Yu Tang.

When they were finished with their transformations, Jiang Heng, dressed in formal wear, and Shen Fubai, clad in tattered rags, happened to create quite a rather striking contrast that really made Shen Fubai be seen as a pitiable figure.

“Sigh, the difference between people.” Shen Fubai joked, “Young master, would you be so kind as to give a beggar a couple of pennies?”

This outfit Shen Fubai had on was pretty much the same as a beggar’s rags. Yu Tang’s early years at pearl orchard were spent in hardship—a face that was too flamboyantly handsome, in turn, made him the subject of envy, he was regularly assigned to do all sorts of menial chores. With a subordinate position as lowly as any weeds, it was naturally deplorable that his attire was not much to look for.

Yet Yu Tang’s beauty could not be veiled, same went for Shen Fubai. No matter how dull the costume was, he looked just the same when wearing it—a pitiful beauty who deserved affection, only lamenting the fact that his gem was muddied, and the inability for people to recognize the value of jade set in gold.

It truly justified the case of one’s good looks endows him with an appealing look even when wrapped in a sackcloth.

Jiang Heng let out a light chuckle, it was a fitting nobility’s son mannerism: “How can a couple of pennies be enough, I could just as easily have a golden house built for your essence to be sheltered.”

These sentences were not part of the lines in the script, one was telling a joke and the other casually played along.

Suddenly, Shen Fubai did not know how to respond to this.

He couldn’t very well say, “Sure, then take me home now.”

But that was how he wished it would progress–

At this moment, a flashy red Ferrari zoomed up, attracting the attention of the crew personnel.

“Who could it be? Such a scene. Yu Xiaoxiao?” Shen Fubai turned his head.

Yu Xiaoxiao was the actress playing Miss Zhang, thus becoming Chu Yu’s matchmaking partner in the production team. In this drama that revolved around the two male leads, she could be considered the female lead… or a villain, given that she had tormented Yu Tang multiple times.

“She is still filming in another production, she’ll join us next week.” Jiang Heng answered.

Jiang Heng did not support the notion of being part of multiple productions at the same time, to act in one show should be done properly. After he landed a project, he would turn down all the other offers. But he would not interfere with other people’s choices.

Not many could have it easy living, who would want to be a bosser if they could steal away a leisurely afternoon.

“Oh? Then who is it?” Shen Fubai got curious–

Inside the car.

Lu Yunqian: “…Didn’t I say not to drive it in here?”

He no longer dared to get out of the car. Too many people were focusing on him, coming out of a Ferrari—he would be swamped in groveling explanations even if thrown into the Yellow River!

Muran Jinhuan provided a well-grounded argument: “Now that they’ve seen it, they won’t dare bully you.”

Lu Yunqian drew a deep breath: “Just for them to use their saliva to drown me instead.”

He wasn’t some superstar, he was just a nameless extra at the 18th teir. What was all this show for, anyway? It would give everyone at the crew a bad impression…

Muran Jinhuan: “However, if you’re really concerned about it, you can say I’m your father, and I’m simply delivering my son. Then others would assume you’re some rich playboy and won’t torment you or look down at you.”

Lu Yunqian: What are you saying, my love? Who was sobbing and calling me daddy last night?