WAM CH21

Chi Zijun’s show was scheduled to begin filming in three days. He earnestly asked Shao Si to drop by and visit him if he had time.

[Chi Zijun]: Bro, my filming location is right at the film and television building near your house [/Panicking].

[Chi Zijun]: Come over if you’re free, please. I’m a bit scared. The director’s team sent me a set of books to figure things out on my own. I’m afraid I won’t perform well… [/Image Link]

In the car, Shao Si opened the image he sent. It showed five or six books stacked together. Looking from the side, one could clearly see a row of titles.

—How to Master the Essence of a Venomous Tongue, Learn the Art of Roasting in Three Minutes.

…

It seemed he was going to build a persona as a sharp-tongued romance mentor.

Although Shao Si said, “What would I go for, to be an applauding audience member?” his words full of disdain, he still agreed and promised to go to the recording site that day to cheer him on.

Chi Zijun hadn’t received a decent gig in a long time. This time was also because paparazzi had written a massive report on him a while back, sprouting some nonsense like: Little Fresh Meat switches careers to sell Malatang, the reason behind it is actually this! After reading, 1.3 billion Chinese people were shocked!

With such a brain-dead title hitting the Weibo trending searches, Chi Zijun momentarily became an internet celebrity.

For the next few days, Shao Si was busy shooting a commercial for a newly released perfume by the ZB brand. The scent was a bit cold and aloof, an aquatic note.

It aimed for a high-end luxury vibe. The commercial script intended to emphasize that this perfume was suitable for all age groups. Therefore, Shao Si had two distinct looks, and the commercial had two versions: a youth and a working professional.

In one of the scenes, Shao Si needed to have wet, dripping hair and ride a skateboard from one end of the street to the other, then ditch the skateboard and do some parkour. Vaulting over a low wall, he would climb up a high building in a few agile movements, with a little girl following the scent behind him.

After finally finishing the main action sequences, Shao Si sat on the high building’s perimeter wall according to the script, one leg bent, his arm resting on his leg. When he turned his head to look at the little girl to film this final shot, she suddenly burst into tears, wailing “Wah wah wah.”

Shao Si: “…”

The girl had long curly hair and looked exquisite and cute. She wore a puff-sleeve dress and little leather shoes paired with princess socks featuring white lace trim.

She covered her eyes with her chubby arms, the lop-eared rabbit plushie in her other hand tossed straight to the ground. She cried so hard the staff were at their wit’s end.

“Oh, Shengsheng, why are you crying?” The director hurried over, wiped her face, pinched her cheeks, and asked, “What are you crying about?”

The rest of the staff also swarmed over.

The director waved his large hand: “What are you all doing? Coming down all at once like this, are you trying to scare her on purpose… Disperse, everyone disperse. With all of you crowding around, even the air is getting bad.”

Thus, Li Guangzong took two steps back, returning to Shao Si’s side. “What’s going on? The filming was going so well, why did she start crying?”

“How should I know? I didn’t even touch her.” Shao Si jumped down from the wall and patted his clothes. “Do I look that scary? She started crying the moment I turned around.”

Li Guangzong pushed him: “Hurry up and go coax her. When kids start crying, it’s endless. We won’t get any peace today if you don’t.”

If it were anything else, it would be fine, but this put Shao Si in a difficult position. He wiped the water dripping down his neck and frowned: “…I don’t know how to coax kids.”

“Just smile at her, give her a candy or something… I heard this kid has quite a background. The production team begged her guardian for ages before they agreed to lend her for one day of shooting.”

Li Guangzong added: “You can’t just stand here doing nothing either, it makes you look incredibly cold and apathetic.”

Shao Si thought to himself: …But I am cold and apathetic.

Under Li Guangzong’s continuous urging, Shao Si raised his hand, fished another smoking-cessation candy from Li Guangzong’s jacket pocket, held it in his palm, and said: “Fine, I’ll try.”

That little girl had actually been mostly coaxed by the director.

However, the moment Shao Si approached, holding the candy and before he even had time to say a single word, the child squeezed her eyes shut, opened her mouth, and looked ready to cry again.

…

“Your name is Shengsheng?” Shao Si squatted down to be at eye level with her, then opened his palm. “…Want a candy?”

One minute later, Shao Si returned to Li Guangzong’s side, with the girl behind him crying so hard she was out of breath.

Li Guangzong was utterly amazed by this: “Did you two have some sort of doomed, ill-fated relationship in your past lives?”

Shao Si stuffed the candy back into Li Guangzong’s jacket pocket without changing his expression, then went to discuss with the director how to shoot the final scene.

If they couldn’t be in the same frame, the storyboard had to be changed. The moment he turned around, the camera would cut to the girl.

However, the director held up his phone and waved his hand at him: “Wait a moment.”

Hearing the phone go beep three times before being picked up, the director’s tone immediately became somewhat cautious: “Um, Shengsheng just won’t stop crying… but we didn’t do anything. No matter how we try, we can’t coax her. Would you mind, if you’re free, coming over for a bit?”

Whatever was said on the other end, the director replied with several “ah’s” before hanging up the phone.

“With her crying like this, we can’t even film that shot separately now.” The director turned around and leaned close to Shao Si’s ear. “Didn’t expect Best Actor Gu’s child to have such a big temper.”

This sentence spun around in Shao Si’s head.

He hadn’t been standing very straight initially, leaning lazily to one side. But now he couldn’t help but straighten his posture: “Illegitimate child? I really couldn’t tell…”

…

Shao Si took another look at Gu Sheng, carefully comparing her facial features, and felt there was indeed a resemblance.

Gu Yanzhou was twenty-nine this year, almost thirty.

This child looked to be about eight or nine years old. Based on their ages, it actually matched up perfectly.

“Where is your mind wandering to,” the director rolled up his script and knocked Shao Si on the head, “She’s his niece!”

Gu Yanzhou’s family background had always been a mystery in the entertainment industry.

This mystery also signified that his background was unfathomably deep.

Gu Yanzhou arrived very quickly, striding over the moment he got out of the car.

The moment he appeared in everyone’s line of sight, the crowd collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

However, seeing her uncle appear, Gu Sheng cried even harder.

She ran forward while crying, her little legs pumping energetically.

If she hadn’t been crying so miserably right now, the sight would actually be quite adorable.

Afraid she might fall, Gu Yanzhou quickened his pace. He reached her in a few strides, scooped her up into his arms, wiped her tears, and coaxed: “What’s wrong? Who made my baby cry?”

Gu Sheng didn’t answer, just sniffled and buried her face into Gu Yanzhou’s chest. Gu Yanzhou didn’t mind that the child was wiping her snot all over his coat, simply raising a hand to rub the top of her head.

This single sentence and action melted the hearts of countless staff members on set.

Li Guangzong clutched his chest, chanting an aria: “Ah! Did she save the Milky Way in her past life!”

Shao Si pushed him away in disgust, then realized Li Guangzong was actually serious.

“What are you envious of, I can call you ‘baby’ every day too.” Shao Si draped an arm over Li Guangzong’s shoulder and tested it out in a cold tone: “Baby.”

“…” Li Guangzong shook off his hand, getting goosebumps all over. “You, you, you get away!”

It was evident that Gu Yanzhou’s child-coaxing routine was highly practiced. After coaxing her, he began to lecture her strictly: “Werent you the one crying and begging to come play and shoot the commercial? Affecting the uncles’ and aunts’ work like this is your fault.”

After his few sentences, Gu Sheng pursed her lips, feeling wronged by the scolding, but still said in a milky voice: “I was wrong.”

After she finished, she pouted and wriggled around in Gu Yanzhou’s arms. Twisting her body, she pointed a finger towards Shao Si’s direction: “But I saw the big baddie. He’s the baddie from last time.”

Shao Si was completely baffled by being pointed at. He subconsciously looked behind him, but there was no one else there.

“Little Son,” Shao Si pinched Li Guangzong’s lower back, “Could it be you?”

Li Guangzong’s sharp gaze darted back and forth among the three of them, and he shook his head: “…Why do I feel like she’s talking about you?”

Shao Si believed he had never bullied a child, nor did he interact with children much.

Then Gu Yanzhou lowered his head and said something unknown to Gu Sheng. Gu Sheng frequently looked up at Shao Si. Initially, when she peeked, she was still a bit scared, but eventually, her expression returned to normal.

Shao Si rubbed his chin, unable to comprehend what this uncle and niece duo were up to.

However, regardless of the process, the outcome was beautiful.

Ten minutes later, Gu Sheng, hugging her doll, prepared to reshoot the final scene.

Gu Yanzhou sat beside the director, smiling at her.

Shao Si sat back on the wall, just getting into his pose, when he heard the director shout through the megaphone: “Shao Si, come down first! No, your hair has no water left, add some water! We have to highlight that this perfume is an aquatic note.”

…Aquatic note my ass.

“This pose is very hard to maintain,” Shao Si kept his leg bent, too lazy to get down again, and reached his hand out to Li Guangzong. “Bring the mineral water over.”

Li Guangzong had managed him for several years and had mostly figured out Shao Si’s temper. Anticipating the subsequent development, he advised, “It’s cold, you’ll catch a chill. Let the stylist use a spray bottle to spray it on slowly.”

Shao Si ignored him. He took the water, twisted off the cap, and simply tipped it backward over his own head.

He didn’t pour much, splashing it two or three times before shaking his head and handing the bottle back.

Li Guangzong was left speechless; this guy’s actions were certainly swift and decisive.

The director didn’t say anything more about it either, waving his hand and saying: “Let’s begin.”

It was just a short shot, and filming wrapped up quickly. Shao Si jumped down and was just about to say another word to Gu Sheng, but before his hand hovering in mid-air could even touch her head, Gu Sheng turned and ran away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shao Si glimpsed Gu Yanzhou looking over.

Gu Sheng ran two steps, then ran back, proactively leaning close to him. Cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, she said to him: “Baddie Uncle, your acting is really good.”

Shao Si was completely confused hearing this, but before he could react, Gu Sheng had already run away.

“…A little brat, does she even know what acting means?”

However, he vaguely felt that this ‘acting’ didn’t seem to refer to today’s events.

A speculation surfaced in his heart: had he met Gu Yanzhou and Gu Sheng before, and left some sort of bizarre impression on them?