Chapter 7 – Character Analysis

Having finished shooting Yu Tang’s makeup test photo, they moved on to snapshots for Chu Yu and Yu Tang’s duet, which would also serve as promotional posters for “Cauliflower.”

In the series, the leading role was a tandem of two men, with heavy screen time for both Chu Yu and Yu Tang. Due to Yu Tang finishing his scenes earlier, they were classified as the primary and secondary male lead.

Photographer Hu, after finishing Shen Fubai, signaled for Jiang Heng to move over. Jiang Heng, poker-faced, walked to Shen Fubai’s side. His grip on the hat tightened, leaving a crease in the brim.

Shen Fubai moved slightly to share the center of the camera’s focus with Jiang Heng. His heavily made-up face held no excess expression, only eyes that shone with tremulous luminosity, enhanced by the languorous eye makeup, appearing as if filled with water from an autumn stream.

The sight of a petal dropped into the water, creating a faint ripple, was reminiscent of a thousand tender sentiments glistening in his eyebrow, ten thousand sensibilities piled up at the corner of his eyes. With an inexplicable mix of hesitance and restraint, his emotions conveyed a complex allure.

Despite the turmoil in his heart—mountain torrents raging, seawater rushing in, or a magnitude ten earthquake.

How incredibly handsome is Heng Heng in this military uniform!!! I’m gasping for air!!!

Jiang Heng wore a green military uniform, with medals adorning his chest, symbolizing his honor. The military cap sat atop his head, while he grabbed the prop gun from his waist. The cold gaze under his brim was as steely as a blade.

For a fleeting moment, when his line of sight intersected with the shimmer in Shen Fubai’s eyes, the ice melted into the water, the blade willingly eroded by the liquid, shackles loosened, and the gun appeared to wobble, only to limp its surrender.

He was ready to praise Fubai’s costume design to the stars! He would go all-out for Fubai!!! Fubai’s face ruled the world in sheer beauty!!!-

The two men slipped into their acting personas with an air of comparable solemnity, their minds, however, teeming with exuberant exclamations.

Under the photographer’s direction, “Jiang, point the gun at Shen. Shen, have your sword aimed at Jiang. Try to create a sense of conflict between the two of you.”

In the show, Chu Yu and Yu Tang were deeply in love, but numerous misunderstandings and intense confrontations characterized their relationship, sometimes making them antagonists who were on the verge of taking each other’s life. For these two’s poster, Hu intended to capture a sense of tension, which required the creation of contentious scenes.

Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng, both with different expressions at their instructor’s command, made no comments, following the photographer’s guidelines.

Jiang Heng closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them to find all warmth vanished; he pointed the gun without hesitation at Shen Fubai’s forehead. The stern-faced man’s expression was void of emotion, yet his trigger finger relaxed ever so slightly, revealing a subtle reluctance—an understated vulnerability.

Chu Yu and Yu Tang shared an undercurrent of affection, more akin to former lovers than bitter rivals. This lingering kindness was significant.

At this point, Shen Fubai should have thrust the sword towards his opponent, creating a standoff between them. Instead, he performed an unexpected act, stepping closer to Jiang Heng and pressing the sword against Jiang Heng’s neck.

Jiang Heng’s reflex was instantaneous; the gun aimed at Shen Fubai’s forehead began to swivel, pressing against Shen Fubai’s temple.

Suddenly, the conflict had escalated exponentially. Earlier, they merely had to point guns and swords at a distance; now, it was a moment of life or death.

The strikingly beautiful theater performer tilted his head slightly, the sword blade pressed against the general’s neck, exactly targeted. However, the exquisiteness of his eyes—doubled with light tremble and mist—told a tale of his adversity and sorrow.

The general kept his eyes slightly lowered, meeting the young man’s stare, as the dark hollow of the gun met the youth’s temple. A pursed thin lip, a tensed jawline, it was the eternal trigger never pulled.

Their closeness, just an embrace’s reach. If not for this manufactured drama, he would have held the youth in embrace instead.

The photographer made sure to capture this moment.

Shen Fubai’s move was breathtakingly inventive. According to Hu’s initial plan, the pair were to maintain a distance while pointing weapons at each other, a setup that could highlight conflict, but not intimacy. The complexities of Chu Yu’s and Yu Tang’s relationship were multifaceted, reduced to mere simplicity through this setup.

Yet Shen Fubai had a solution. Choosing to advance and placing his blade against Jiang Heng’s neck—sacrificing an element of safety in doing so—sharply illustrated their profound connection. Chu Yu would never allow anyone’s intrusion into his personal space, and Yu Tang’s solitary demeanor emphasized this.

“The shot is a keeper!” decided Hu, eyeing the photo on his camera, “There’s no need to move forward. We will choose this one!”

Typically, one would compare multiple shots to select the best. But Hu didn’t think it necessary—this shot was already exceptional. The looks, the posture, and the atmosphere were perfectly aligned, precisely the image he had envisioned.

The rest of the crew was somewhat surprised. After all, photographer Hu had high standards for the pictures. There were times when he sifted through a hundred photos to pick one he deemed satisfactory, putting the actors through a gauntlet of repetitions. And yet, he was content with merely one shot?

However, there was a plausible explanation. That scene had shaken even them. It was merely a promotional shoot, and they could only wonder how stunning the actual filming would be.

Should Shen Fubai’s acting talent match the standard of his photo shoot theater poses.

Recalling the incident in the makeup room, their faith in his acting skills grew.

Who’d have thought, even the master photographer with high standards was content, but the protagonists held a different perspective.

“Master Hu, I think we could do one more,” offered Shen Fubai.

“Oh?” Hu was intrigued, “Do you have any other thoughts? The current shot is already excellent.”

In the series, Chu Yu believed Yu Tang was a spy, indeed, he once had the intention to kill him. Pointing the gun at me makes sense. But for Yu Tang, it’s different. Forcibly coerced and threatened to poison Chu Yu, he never contemplated harming Chu Yu. Even the cup laced with poison was meant for self-consumption.” Placing the prop sword on the table, Shen Fubai turned to Master Hu, “I won’t point the sword at him.”

Yu Tang lost his sanity, harbored resentment, felt despair, but he never hated Chu Yu, not once.

His loyalty to Chu Yu, recognizing him as his benefactor, was steadfast. The world did not allow animosity as repayment for kindness. His sorrow was rooted in inappropriate emotional attachments, a self downtown challenge he unwittingly created.

Jiang Heng sighed in agreement—this too was his belief.

He had his interpretation of the script. When Master Hu proposed that they should point weapons at each other, he wanted to highlight this aspect, emphasizing that Yu Tang could never harm Chu Yu—there was not the slightest thought beneath his heart.

But to facilitate the photographer’s instructions and to ease Shen Fubai’s adjustment to the first photoshoot, Jiang Heng didn’t raise this point.

To his surprise, it was Shen Fubai who initiated the dialogue.

Simultaneously, Jiang Heng uttered in his heart: Neither will my gun be pointed at you.

In the series, there was an unavoidable episode. Beyond the realm of the script, if Shen Fubai pulled the trigger on him, Jiang Heng would attribute it to a misfire.

However, in reality, a civil society with a lawful framework, examples like these couldn’t emerge—they had no access to firearms.

As Shen Fubai’s No.1 admirer, he danced to the tunes of his emotions, offering unconditional support-

Director Xu, hearing Shen Fubai’s perspectives, grew significantly impressed with this young man.

The poisonous wine episode occurred later in the script. Shen Fubai’s ability to bring up this point and provide an insightful view demonstrated his thorough reading of the entire script.

“So, how do you perceive this shot being taken?” inquired Director Xu. He was anticipating the suggestions Shen Fubai would offer, already eager.

“Yu Tang loves Chu Yu immensely, yet due to his overly sensitive and suspicious nature, nurtured in his childhood environment, he chose to keep things to himself, never voicing out. He was a man of endurance. Even when coerced to the brink of ending his own life, he bore the suffering alone, with no intent to retaliate. Chu Yu had his intentions to slay him, stirring pain in his heart; nonetheless, he suppressed personal pain for the welfare of the one he loved, carrying that onus to perpetuity.” His delicate hand caressed the sword’s handle on the tabletop, while he picked up a fan, unfolding it to cover half his face, a light smile graced his lips, “His gun is targeted at me, I will cover my face with this fan. A soft approach to overpower the firm stance. What do you think about this?”

At the half-hidden makeup face that the young man stared tenderly, Jiang Heng held his breath, feeling his blood heating and circulating faster.

His gloved hand covered his lips for a moment, attempting to control his thoughts, he managed to let his voice be heard without tremble, “Beautiful.”

Ablen to achieve a dominant status through gentleness… he was nearly completely conquered.

In the presence of Shen Fubai, he felt like a wisp of candy – if he was a diamond, he would carve it into a piece of glittering perfection for Shen Fubai-

Director Xu found the proposition to be excellent. Indeed, Shen Fubai put in tremendous effort to understand his character. In just a morning’s time, he had improved Director Xu’s opinion of him from a negative number to fifty. If during the actual shooting he did not falter, he could easily earn a full favor with Xu, on par with Jiang Heng.

Master Hu, hearing the logic behind the proposal, adjusted the camera once again, “Alright, then, let’s take another shot. I won’t guide the actions—your ideas seem better than mine.”

A nod from Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng. They shared a fleeting gaze, quickly looking away, entering the playing ground.

Shen Fubai closed his eyes, gathering his emotions. He originally thought about the balance in his bank account… no, he couldn’t think of this, he would burst out laughing. He was far too wealthy.

In a hurry, he diverted his attention, recalling years of suffering under the hands of a ruthless company, and the cold, inhuman stare he received from Heng Heng moments ago. The recollections led him down a path of sorrow, causing his eyes to glisten with tears.

Jiang Heng repeated his earlier action, donning a frigid demeanor, his gun pointed at Shen Fubai’s forehead. Shen Fubai, expanding the fan to cover half of his expressionless face, eyes craned up slightly, as if he were smiling. The other half, concealed behind the fan, featured a light furrowed brow, partially closed eyes, lowered eyelashes… a teardrop cascaded down.

The half-concealed facial expression, standing at Jiang Heng’s eye-level was not visible, yet the camera captured every instance magnificently, even the tears falling below.

The rugged man aimed his gun at the nighthawks legendary beauty. The theater performer, concealing his face under the fan’s cover, smiled sweetly, with one half displayed as breathtakingly gorgeous, while the other, concealed in shadow, cried, explaining ineffably the story of agony and unspoken pain.

Snap—Image fixed in time.

“Done, wrap up!” exclaimed Hu, overjoyed. The masterpiece created today would be a matter of much conversation for a long time to come. The original image was spellbinding enough, and once edited, it was bound to create a massive ripple-

Shen Fubai immediately wiped away his tears. Crying was never his nature, nevertheless, the crying scenes in the series piled up. Every time he gathered emotions, he had to rummage through his mind for sorrowful episodes—difficult to find.

At the sight of Heng Heng, a glistening smile was all he could do to not laugh; how could he cry? His face whined, but inwardly he chuckled merrily—it was about him.

Shen Fubai too, lamented not being able to have more shots with Jiang Heng, that close encounter he could reminisce for a lifetime. Alas, both were professionals, not wasting everyone’s time for chances to meet their idol once more.

Jiang Heng hesitated for a moment, then took the initiative to approach Shen Fubai, “Your performance just now was incredible.”

Shen Fubai: I could die a happy man now. During my lifetime, I never thought I’d receive praise from Heng Heng!

Lowering his head close, Jiang Heng took out his phone, whispering between soft breaths, “I…may I have your WeChat?”

Shen Fubai, in shock, remained immobile.

Heng Heng is…asking for his contact information voluntarily?

Please accept my sincere apologies. He was currently stunned. Could you accede him a moment to manage his surprise.

With no response from Shen Fubai, Jiang Heng felt somewhat uncertain, but his tone was one of feigned nonchalance, a culmination of every acting skill he had, “You refuse?”

Shen Fubai: I consent!!!

Regardless if it was QQ, WeChat, telephone number, bank card, ID card, or hukou, he would provide everything he had. Even the passwords were at Heng Heng’s disposal!