WAM CH36

The original first scene was canceled because of an unexpected change—the street set wasn’t prepared properly, and a small shed accidentally collapsed at one corner. So, the original first scene was canceled, and the second scene was moved up.

The second scene involved Gu Yanzhou sitting at a table with his several uncles, engaged in a plot of scheming and infighting.

The actors playing the uncles were all veteran actors with years of experience who had a good personal relationship with Director Ou, coming over this time as a friendly guest appearance.

“Um, the guy sitting opposite Best Actor Gu looks very familiar.” Li Guangzong handed an open bag of biscuits to Shao Si. “Huang Shengwei? The one who filmed God of Gamblers?”

Shao Si sat in his chair, took the biscuits, picked out a piece, and said, “…Probably.”

After saying that, he casually thrust the bag of biscuits in front of Ye Xuan and asked, “Want some?”

Ye Xuan was wearing a blue and white costume, her long hair draped behind her head. She was clutching a tissue in her hand and looked very nervous. When she looked towards Shao Si, the outer corners of her eyes, accentuated by eyeliner, looked as if they were going to fly up: “No thanks.”

Expected.

Shao Si withdrew his hand, casually placed the bag of biscuits on his lap, looked straight ahead, and squinted to watch Gu Yanzhou act for a bit.

“What are you all trying to do?” Gu Yanzhou’s hands were crossed and placed horizontally on the table, a cup of hot tea resting beside his hand.

Facing the unreasonable demands of his uncles, he continued to question them: “When my father was alive, you didn’t have these faces. You should know in your hearts how my father treated you.”

Huang Shengwei—was the core figure among these supporting roles.

When Gu Yanzhou was speaking just now, he had already started sneering disdainfully. Now, he suddenly stood up, slammed the table hard, and said: “We naturally know in our hearts, but it’s you who should reflect properly on yourself. Is this the attitude to speak to your elders?”

The character Gu Yanzhou played was, beneath the skin of a pretentious eldest young master, essentially a coward. He was actually afraid of them, but he couldn’t afford to lose his imposing aura no matter what.

Therefore, Gu Yanzhou was in no hurry to answer Huang Shengwei’s question. Instead, he lifted the tea lid, slowly rubbed it against the rim of the cup a couple of times, and then raised it to drink.

The situation temporarily reached a stalemate.

Ye Xuan was completely stunned watching this. Her hand loosened, and she said in a slight daze, “Brother Zhou’s acting is really good.”

Shao Si, busy picking whole pieces from the remaining half bag of crushed biscuits, replied without even lifting his head, “Mhm, he’s very formidable.”

“He barely uses a stunt double, very dedicated…” Shao Si unconsciously started counting Gu Yanzhou’s good points. “His line delivery is excellent, he has high standards for himself, he’s a good actor.”

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, Ye Xuan rarely saw him praise someone like this. She couldn’t help but tilt her head and ask, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“I’ve read reports about you. They always like to put you two together when they talk…”

Perhaps due to a conditioned reflex from the recent rumor mill, Ye Xuan was actually trying to say that because both of them had won the Best Actor title at a very young age, the media always compared them in their evaluations. For example, on the day Shao Si won Best Actor, everyone guessed whether he would become the “Second Gu Yanzhou.”

However, before Ye Xuan could finish speaking—with the words only halfway into Shao Si’s ears—he put down the half-eaten biscuit and, with rare seriousness, clarified, “Not married.”

Ye Xuan: “Ah?”

Shao Si pulled out a wet wipe to clean his hands, continuing as he wiped: “I am not married to him. No rings, no couple tattoos. Fake, it’s all fake.”

…

Ye Xuan opened her mouth: “I… didn’t mean that.”

She was just about to explain when Shao Si tossed the wet wipe and casually cemented her “meaning” into reality: “It’s okay, I won’t mind.”

Truthfully, during this period, Shao Si had weirdly grown accustomed to this “married” atmosphere.

Whenever he scrolled through Weibo, the comments beneath his posts were filled with pink bubbles, emitting the sour stench of the entire world being in love on his behalf. The moment he posted anything, everyone would @Gu Yanzhou, and to make matters worse, Gu Yanzhou would always politely stroll over and leave a comment, stirring up waves of excitement every single time.

Shao Si and Ye Xuan fell silent for a while.

The sounds of commands from the directing team could be heard occasionally, along with the footsteps of the cameramen walking back and forth, and Gu Yanzhou’s deep, constantly undulating voice.

At this moment, Ye Xuan suddenly asked him: “Why did you want to become an actor?”

Shao Si turned his head to look at her: “Why do you ask?”

Ye Xuan lowered her eyes: “Nothing, just asking casually.”

Shao Si observed her brows and eyes, knowing this was a good opportunity. If things went smoothly, he might get closer to his hypothesis.

So Shao Si leaned back, adopting a casual posture, and said in a seemingly unintentional but actually probing manner: “When I was very young, a teacher played a song for us in class. Although I didn’t quite understand it at the time, I later learned he was a star.”

Ye Xuan listened earnestly.

Shao Si sized her up from the corner of his eye and finished the rest of his sentence: “His name was Ye Qing. That day was the anniversary of his death. Our teacher really liked him and still remembered him so many years after he passed… Honestly, I was… very envious, so I probably also wanted to be remembered…”

The words were true, of course, but his intention in saying them now was far from pure.

Shao Si had anticipated how Ye Xuan might react—whether she would zone out, act surprised, or try hard to look as if she had never heard of this person.

But he truly didn’t expect—

Ye Xuan would lose her composure so completely.

When she stood up, she used too much force. The wooden chair crashed to the ground, making a loud noise in the medium-sized room.

Gu Yanzhou had just finished his last line and turned his head to look over.

Director Ou raised his hand, yelled “Cut,” and then turned toward Shao Si’s direction, roaring: “What’s going on? What are you doing?”

Ye Xuan ran away without looking back.

It was fortunate she wore opera costumes year-round; the long hemline wasn’t much of a hindrance to her.

It wasn’t appropriate for Shao Si to chase after her at this moment, so he could only sit in his original spot and lazily spread his hands, indicating he also knew nothing.

“Maybe she’s too nervous. From earlier, she’s been constantly sweating.” When Gu Yanzhou finished his scene and walked over, Shao Si explained this way, then pointed to the bag of biscuits on his lap, using the same method to change the subject, “Want some?”

Unlike Ye Xuan, Gu Yanzhou didn’t stand on ceremony: “I’ll give you face.”

Shao Si: “…Then thank you very much.”

When Shao Si raised his hand to pass it to him, Gu Yanzhou didn’t take it directly. He rolled his sleeves up significantly and said, “My hands are dirty.”

“The restroom is out the door to the right. Or how about you wipe them with a wet wipe?” Shao Si lowered his head, picked another piece for himself, and pointed to the pack of wet wipes on the table next to him.

“No need for all that trouble.”

Then, before Shao Si could react, Gu Yanzhou reached out, grasped his wrist, lowered his head, and directly bit away the piece Shao Si was holding between his fingers.

…

Gu Yanzhou finished it in two or three bites and evaluated it like a lord: “Passable.”

Shao Si suddenly stood up and threw the bag of biscuits into his arms: “…Then eat it slowly. I’m going over to check on her.”

The next scene was a scene opposite Ye Xuan. Now that the female lead had run off, he couldn’t exactly put on a one-man show.

As Shao Si walked down the stairs, perhaps because he was walking too fast, his heartbeat felt slightly irregular.

“…How old are you, still needing people to feed you? If your hands are dirty, can’t you go wash them?”

Li Guangzong was taking a phone call in the hallway downstairs. Hearing his Daddy Shao muttering something as he came down from afar, he hung up his phone and walked over to take a look: “I knew this voice sounded like you. What are you muttering about?”

Shao Si’s expression remained unchanged: “Memorizing lines. By the way, did you see Ye Xuan just now?”

“I saw her. She just ran down and went that way,” Li Guangzong pointed to the small woods on the right. “Did she not act well and get scolded by Director Ou? Her eyes were very red. I even called out to her twice… she ignored me completely.”

That grove covered a fairly large area, and a film crew inside was currently shooting a “hero saving the beauty” scene.

As soon as Shao Si walked in, he heard a deafening shout of “Ha—”, followed by the sound of clashing weapons.

“Stop! Explode! Did you guys forget again? How many times have I said it: when the assassin comes out and swings his sword, that rock explodes.” A certain director shouted through a small megaphone. “Did everyone hear me clearly? No more mistakes. Come on, Scene 56, Take 7.”

…

Fortunately, Ye Xuan hadn’t gone far. She was sitting on a stone bench nearby.

“The second scene is about to start filming,” Shao Si stopped in front of her, choosing his words carefully. “…You’re not in a good mood. Did I say something wrong just now?”

Ye Xuan wiped her face: “Ah, no. I just suddenly felt a bit unwell. Maybe I ate too much this morning.”

He didn’t know if anyone had ever told her, but she was completely unsuited for lying.

To this, the system was thoroughly convinced: [Your sixth sense is accurate every time.]

[Earlier, Old Mei said Ye Qing was an orphan, but he didn’t just pop out of a rock. Although this hypothesis is a bit far-fetched, it’s the only point on this entire timeline that can barely be connected, and facts have proven they are indeed connected.] Shao Si walked unhurriedly behind Ye Xuan. [Those two have a connection.]

The two returned to the filming location. After several NGs, they finally finished the scene where they were practicing and talking at the opera troupe.

The next scene to be filmed was a plot where Shao Si and Gu Yanzhou fight intensely over the female lead, eventually rolling around on the ground together.

This was also the last shot of the morning.

Everything was going smoothly at first. According to the script, the two were evenly matched when they first started fighting, but Gu Yanzhou quickly gained the upper hand.

The problem occurred when Shao Si, pinned to the ground by Gu Yanzhou, forgot his lines.