WAM CH6

The intensive shooting schedule quickly passed. According to the plan, Undercover was to be filmed over a period of roughly six months. However, the script was cleverly designed this time, and the dual male lead setup allowed Shao Si to take a huge advantage: his scenes wrapped up in just about three months.

Because the character he played—one of the two male leads—unexpectedly died in an explosion midway through a mission. The subsequent plot had nothing to do with him, yet it was filled with his shadow.

Undercover was a story about perseverance, self-awareness, and struggling between good and evil while never forgetting one’s original intentions.

The character Shao Si played was full of hostility and aggression. If one wasn’t told he was a police academy graduate, it would be impossible to tell. Because of his outstanding looks, he chose to use a romantic and frivolous demeanor as his camouflage during his undercover assignment.

Sometimes, Li Guangzong couldn’t help but gulp while watching Shao Si act from the sidelines. The man before him wore his clothes loosely, often had a cigarette pinched between his fingertips, swayed slightly from left to right when he walked, and wore a look that practically screamed ‘I want to fuck you’.

Even though Shao Si looked half-asleep every day, the moment he started acting and the camera focused on him, he could instantly get into character. For his previous film Anti-Narcotics, Shao Si had deliberately trained to get abs. However, those abs didn’t look exaggerated at all, and… who knew when Shao Si might get lazy again and let them disappear.

The scene currently being reshot featured Shao Si leaning against a wall, flirting with an actress.

Li Guangzong held a jacket, waiting to drape it over Shao Si once he finished the scene. The temperature had dropped today, bringing an indescribable, damp cold typical of the southern regions.

As he waited, his gaze drifted from Shao Si’s cigarette-holding hand to where that hand was resting—on the actress’s butt.

…

“If I’m not mistaken, did you just give it a squeeze?” Li Guangzong asked as he draped the jacket over Shao Si after the reshoot was finished.

Shao Si: “…Did you even read the script properly? What nonsense are you thinking.”

After speaking, Shao Si walked over to Director Wang’s side to watch the playback. Upon confirming there were no issues, he bowed deeply to Director Wang. “Elder Wang, you’ve worked hard. I don’t know how to say pretty words, but I truly learned a lot over these past three months. Thank you very much, and I hope we have the chance to work together again.”

With this, all of Shao Si’s scenes were officially wrapped.

Director Wang felt both melancholic and gratified. After Shao Si bowed and thanked the other staff members, he stood up and patted Shao Si’s shoulder. “When it comes to acting, I’ve taught you everything I can. Finally, I can only offer you one piece of advice as an elder: you must guard against arrogance and impatience. Especially in this circle, when you’re popular, everyone praises you… Once a person harbors desires, they can never be fully satisfied. You must understand why you stepped into the entertainment industry and what your original intentions were… If you are compared to a ship, then where is your anchor? This is very important. It can remind you and ground your values when you’re lost or accidentally take the wrong path.”

These were absolutely words spoken from the bottom of his heart.

Shao Si’s eyes seemed to redden slightly. Li Guangzong couldn’t see clearly against the studio lights, so he didn’t know if Shao Si was moved or just freezing.

It was already night.

On the way back, Shao Si surprisingly didn’t sleep. Every time he wrapped a project and left the crew, suddenly freed from his busy work, he always felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Li Guangzong held a few sheets of paper and a pen, constantly scribbling as he reported the upcoming schedule. “I’ve proposed to the company to give you a few days off to rest properly.”

Slumped in the backseat, Shao Si expressionlessly finished a game on his phone before looking up. “Since when is the company so willing to give me a vacation?”

Li Guangzong: “The excuse I gave them was that you sprained your ankle filming that final explosion scene, and it’s a severe sprain. So don’t forget to pretend to have a limp these next few days.”

Shao Si: “…”

“Then, in a few days, we have to fly to New York to attend Louis’s spring fashion show.” Li Guangzong flipped the page. “Louis specifically requested you to be his finale model and walk the runway… Dad, what’s with that expression? Louis is very famous! A few years ago, he invited my male god. Stop looking like a corpse; this is your first step towards international fame. Will taking a plane kill you or something?”

Shao Si remained silent. After a long while, he came out with a completely irrelevant question: “Little Son, why did you become a manager?”

The topic jumped too drastically, and Li Guangzong didn’t catch on immediately: “Ah?”

“It was just by a strange combination of circumstances. I couldn’t be a star, so being a manager is pretty cool too. Actually, if you ask me exactly why I entered this industry, I don’t know either. I just figured, since fate brought me down this path, I should do my best and do a good job.” Shao Si rarely discussed such topics with him, and Li Guangzong found himself getting increasingly into it as he spoke. “What about you? I heard you were a top student with terrifyingly high college entrance exam scores. What made you think of joining this industry?”

But by the time he finished, he found that Shao Si had already closed his eyes and gone to sleep: “…”

[…I heard all of that. Pretending to sleep won’t work, you’re on vacation for the next few days.] The system’s resentful voice sounded. [Can we have a proper chat?]

[Chat about what? There’s no clue regarding Yang Yinyin. She didn’t have any schedules for a month, and now she’s busy running around in circles. The company publicly claimed she just caught a cold recently.]

[Is that it?]

[There are some scattered details. She has a little assistant whose whereabouts are somewhat unusual.]

[Oh.]

[I’ll go to her film set in the next few days to get in touch with her. I happen to know one of the lead actors there.]

[…Keep it up! I offer you my spiritual encouragement and support!]

The next day, Shao Si limped his way to visit the set of The Legend of Consort Rou.

For this, he had given the minor lead actor he knew a heads-up beforehand: “I’m coming over to see you tomorrow.”

Consequently, his WeChat was bombarded by the ‘minor lead actor’.

Chi Zijun: “????”

Chi Zijun: “Bro, is there something wrong with you? [terrified.jpg]”

Chi Zijun: “I’m just playing a little eunuch beside the emperor… My lines for the entire show add up to no more than three sentences, and you’re coming to visit me on set? [a runaway mantis shrimp.jpg]”

Chi Zijun’s WeChat avatar was a large pot, seemingly stewing a bunch of indescribable skewers.

He was the poor little guy who debuted at the same time as Shao Si, but because his acting skills were lacking, Qi Ming had tried to get him drunk and send him to an investor’s bed.

It was precisely to stand up for him that Shao Si had pinned Qi Ming down and beaten him up.

Later, because of that incident, Chi Zijun practically quit the entertainment industry, switched careers to selling Malatang (spicy hot pot), and only occasionally picked up a few inconspicuous extra roles.

…Like this one: the little eunuch beside the emperor.

Shao Si: “I was just in the shower. Wait for me, your bro is on his way… What’s wrong with a little eunuch? Don’t look down on little eunuchs.”

Chi Zijun: “…Yes, Your Majesty.”

However, by the time Shao Si arrived at the set, Yang Yinyin had already left.

“The female lead isn’t here?” Shao Si squatted by the flowerbed, fully armed with a hat, mask, and sunglasses. The oversized black hoodie he wore made his figure look even thinner than usual. He carefully scanned the set again and indeed saw no sign of Yang Yinyin.

Chi Zijun, dressed in a Qing dynasty eunuch uniform with delicate features, also squatted on the ground, their heads close together. “You mean Yang Yinyin?”

Shao Si gave a lukewarm response: “Yeah.”

Chi Zijun looked left and right. Confirming no one was around, he lowered his voice even further and whispered, “While she was acting today, she suddenly had an emotional breakdown. Her manager came out, halted the filming, asked for a leave of absence, and took her back.”

“An emotional breakdown?” Shao Si took off his sunglasses, revealing his signature eyes—cold, yet carrying a hint of inquiry.

“Bro, please be careful and cover up properly. The crew of Entertainment Live Room came for an interview today specifically because of Yang Yinyin’s incident… It’ll be troublesome if they catch you on camera.” Chi Zijun hurriedly helped him put his sunglasses back on, paused for a moment, and continued, “At first, her complexion just looked bad. She was sweating and constantly touching up her makeup. Later, after a few hours… she started vomiting. Her manager and assistant immediately called cut and took her away.”

Sweating and vomiting?

Was she simply in poor health, or could it be… she was pregnant?

System: [Pregnant… Could she have been raped?]

Shao Si: […]

The system gasped: [The dark secrets of the entertainment industry, the gang-rape incident of a Best Actress—I think I might already know the truth.]

Shao Si: […You don’t know shit. Last time with Chen Dongxu, a guy, you also said it was gang rape, but it turned out he just had hemorrhoids. Why is your mind so dirty?]

While Chi Zijun happily babbled away with him, Shao Si discreetly sent a text to a private detective, roughly asking for Yang Yinyin’s current location.

Chi Zijun had a lively personality; when he smiled, his eyes curved into crescents. “Bro, my Malatang is selling incredibly well! Health-nourishing bone broth base, tons of people line up every day! I’m not far from getting rich. I’m planning to open another branch in the city center these next few days, what do you think?”

“Mhm, open it then.”

Shao Si kept his head down, offering a casual, absent-minded response. When his head was lowered, his hat covered most of his face. His long, slender fingers tapped swiftly on the screen. Only after sending the message did he turn off the screen, look up at Chi Zijun, and belatedly realize, “…Listening to you is making me a little hungry.”

Chi Zijun fell silent for a moment. “Actually, I made myself hungry talking about it too.”

Shao Si then pocketed his phone and stood up. From Chi Zijun’s angle, his legs looked outrageously long. He furrowed his brows and asked, “How many more scenes do you have?”

Hearing this, Chi Zijun became ecstatic. “With Yang Yinyin gone, my scenes for today are basically canceled. I can wrap up in about half an hour! Wait for me, I’ll treat you to Malatang! I’ll book the whole place! I’ll kick everyone out!”

In all his years in the industry, Chi Zijun was the most innocent person Shao Si had ever met, so innocent that his EQ was somewhat worrisome.

Even when he said this, he genuinely just wanted to treat Shao Si to a meal. Straightforward as an arrow, he didn’t realize there was anything inappropriate about asking an A-list superstar to stand and wait for him for half an hour.

However, Shao Si didn’t mind. He felt this kind of interaction—like ordinary friends—suited his taste perfectly. Between them, there was no gap of ‘superstar’ and ‘nobody’.

While waiting for Chi Zijun to wrap up, Shao Si wasn’t idle. He learned from the private detective that Yang Yinyin had returned to the company.

…Why did she go back to the company? She didn’t go to the hospital, nor did she go home.

Shao Si couldn’t figure it out, vaguely feeling that this matter wasn’t so simple.

As he sat by the flowerbed pondering, his attention was drawn to Chi Zijun.

After watching for a while, Shao Si couldn’t help but rub his chin and sigh: Chi Zijun’s acting was as terrible… as ever.

Back then, they had joined the company in the same batch and were both under Qi Ming. The persona arrangement charts were handed out uniformly in a meeting room, and after receiving them, everyone dispersed.

Later, Shao Si went to the restroom to wash his hands. Just as he finished wiping them dry and was about to leave, an unfamiliar boy rushed over and grabbed his arm, refusing to let go.

Chi Zijun: “Hello, classmate. I want to ask, what did Big Brother Qi mean by what he said earlier? I didn’t understand… What is OOC? Also, my chart says to play a ‘scandal-magnet physique’, what does that mean?”

Shao Si admitted that his initial friendship with Chi Zijun was formed purely because Chi Zijun’s ‘scandal-magnet physique’ persona seemed even more idiotic than his ‘ice and snow youth’ one.