FLME Ch12: Loose Lips

Yu Wen watched for a moment and roughly figured out the rules and settings of Small Courtyard in the Mountains.

The show had a total of five regular cast members and occasionally invited guests. This kind of show was a thankless task, lacking heat and gimmicks. They couldn’t always manage to invite guests for every episode, and even when they did, they were mostly obscure nobodies. A high-traffic idol who debuted from a survival show like Xi Su was exactly what the show lacked.

To show respect to the guests, every guest was allowed to make a new request to the program the night before their arrival. The production team would unconditionally satisfy it, with a time limit of one day.

The requests made by the guests in the previous episodes were mostly based on making the tasks easier, and the production team would nitpick the wording to increase the difficulty. In other words, the production team had always played the role of the villain in the show.

Although Xi Su was a regular cast member, he joined halfway through, so the production team also granted him the right of a guest once.

He made a request that was completely different from the show’s style: The cast members would form groups of two and distribute tasks among themselves. The time taken to complete the tasks would be the primary judging criterion. The fastest group to complete their task would receive double points, while the slowest group’s points would be cleared to zero.

Points were the most important virtual currency in the show, capable of being exchanged for a large amount of supplies.

This way, not only would one member inevitably be left alone, but it would also create a strong crisis of competition, completely clashing with the vibe of the entire show.

In the released behind-the-scenes interview, he joked: “Motive? Just a sudden whim, I felt it would be very interesting.”

Jian Heng explained: “After this episode aired, he was scolded miserably, scolded all the way onto the trending searches. But in the next episode, he subverted the audience’s perception again…”

In the sixth episode, which was the second episode after Xi Su joined, the broadcasted clips included a segment where he secretly went back to his room to take allergy medicine after eating scrambled eggs made by Chu Han. It was only after a big fan exposed the information that everyone realized he was mildly allergic to eggs. However, he never said anything. It just so happened that there was an abundance of eggs during those few days, and scrambled eggs were on the dining table for every meal.

Later, when the production team asked him, he finally scratched that head of blue hair. His untamed features actually revealed a somewhat uncomfortable smile as he said, “I just arrived and wanted to get familiar with the geges and jiejies as quickly as possible. The scrambled eggs were made by Chu Han-ge. Every time someone praises him, he gets very happy…”

How was this a troublemaker? This was clearly a dumb puppy who didn’t understand the ways of the world.

As for his request in the previous episode, under the repeated pressing of the production team, he awkwardly admitted: “I thought sharing joys and sorrows might help me quickly build a bond with the seniors in the same group. That’s how it is in other shows I’ve watched…”

An awkward puppy who earnestly wanted to make friends but easily messed things up.

—In just a short week, the wind direction on the internet had changed to this.

Enduring a week of scolding in exchange for the entire internet’s guilt.

If Yu Wen hadn’t seen his other face at the cafe, he might have been completely fooled too.

But now.

“This acting is much better than mine…” he praised sincerely.

Jian Heng’s eyes widened. “He’s acting? This is a script? How do you know?”

Yu Wen picked up his thermos and took a sip of water. “I guessed.”

“I think you guessed right,” Jian Heng said seriously. As a fellow artist, he couldn’t criticize Xi Su for mastering the traffic code, but he had worked with Xi Su before, and this guy’s private persona had absolutely nothing to do with a dumb puppy.

Jian Heng said, “I remember he debuted from a survival show. For this type of singing and dancing artist, the most important thing is to solidify the fanbase and transition. Without works to fall back on, the larger the traffic, the easier it is to provoke a backlash. He’s a bit too impatient…”

“Maybe.” Yu Wen held his thermos, comfortably sipping hot water. “Maybe he urgently wants to make some achievements to show his dad and his gege.”

Jian Heng nodded in agreement, then suddenly realized something the next second.

“How do you know his psychological activities?”

He hurriedly searched online and confirmed that there wasn’t a single word about Xi Su’s family on the internet.

But the words Yu Wen used weren’t even broad terms like “family members,” but precisely “father” and “xiongzhang” (older brother).

Jian Heng looked up at him.

The two looked at each other.

Jian Heng: “…Xiao Yu, do you know something?”

Yu Wen blinked innocently. “I don’t know anything. I’m just a passerby.”

Jian Heng couldn’t see anything, but Yu Wen felt a subtle strangeness due to Chu Han and Xi Su being on the same show.

During his break, he repeatedly dragged the progress bar, watching the interactions between Chu Han and Xi Su a few times, then turned and sent a message to Chu Han: [Be careful of Xi Su.]

How should he put it, the romantic parts of Rise! were a bit melodramatic, which Yu Wen didn’t like, but he couldn’t deny that the book’s protagonist, Chu Han, was an extremely sincere person. Moreover, Chu Han lowered his own value to give half of the live stream exposure to him, which led to the subsequent contract renewal and variety show. No matter what, Yu Wen owed him a favor.

Chu Han didn’t reply. Yu Wen remembered that he didn’t surf the internet much and was probably working.

When he returned from filming a scene, he happened to see Chu Han’s reply from a few minutes ago.

Chu Han: [What?]

Yu Wen: [There’s something off about Xi Su. Be careful of him.]

Just looking at Xi Su’s proficiency in playing with public opinion, let alone Chu Han, even if Feng Chengzhou came, he’d be left a whole street behind.

He had cram-studied Xi Su’s debut experience over the past few days. Among it was a combo: hyping a CP — dismantling the CP — stepping on the other party to elevate himself — acting pitiful. It was a tried-and-true formula.

Right now, the show’s wind direction already faintly showed some signs of this.

Chu Han: […He’s quite a nice person. Do you guys have some kind of misunderstanding?]

Yu Wen: [You think he’s a nice person?]

Chu Han: [Mn.]

Yu Wen: [He is Feng Chengzhou’s didi.]

Chu Han: […]

An instant kill.

Chu Han was currently in a cold war with Feng Chengzhou and wouldn’t even relent on the live stream contract renewal. Right now, anyone associated with Feng Chengzhou would be labeled by him as harboring unfathomable motives.

Watching the “typing…” at the top of the chat box, Yu Wen guessed that Chu Han would have a hard time mustering any goodwill toward Xi Su for a while, and thus put down his phone with peace of mind.

The PA teacher urged him to prepare for the next scene. Yu Wen shoved his phone back into his pocket and didn’t see the message Chu Han sent out with extreme caution after recovering from his shock.

“How did you know?”

“How on earth did you know?!”

During the break, Jian Heng floated behind him like a ghost, leaning in to whisper like a devil, “Tell me, tell me, tell me…”

Yu Wen hugged his thermos, looking at him like looking at an unreasonable grandson, sighing helplessly. “Xiao Jian, just focus on filming properly. Don’t pay attention to gossip all day long.”

“This isn’t just gossip! This is an earth-shattering secret! If I don’t know, the world will be missing a warrior who fights against evil! By then, the world will be in turmoil, and the Earth will be destroyed!”

Jian Heng suddenly thought of something. He bent down, his eyes gleaming brightly. “Did you find out during the last live stream? You were at the scene, you definitely heard more unknown secrets. Quick, tell me, is the Crown Prince sincere? When did they meet? What stage have they progressed to?”

Yu Wen: “Sincere, but unfortunately the Crown Prince is a bit lacking in brain cells, and the two of them are at odds; they probably met sometime in the past six months, but I don’t know the exact day; they’ve progressed to cohabitation, grabbing each other’s clothes in the bathroom…”

Yu Wen hit the brakes right in time.

Jian Heng analyzed word by word. “So it’s not a publicity stunt, the Crown Prince is really gay? They’ve known each other for over half a year… The Crown Prince doesn’t go on shows, how did they meet? Progressed to cohabitation… wait.”

“Progressed to the cohabitation stage.” He rounded his eyes, trying to make himself look more innocent.

Jian Heng remained unmoved. His gaze quickly shifted from shock to disbelief to vigilance, and then as if facing a formidable enemy. “What were they doing in the bathroom? How do you know…?”

He looked at Yu Wen as if looking at an extrajudicial fanatic with a peeping fetish.

Yu Wen: “…I don’t know, you heard wrong.”

Jian Heng: “Still trying to quibble.”

Yu Wen: “Why are you dialing 110?”

Jian Heng: “I suspect you installed hidden cameras in their house. I am placing righteousness above loyalty to a friend, calling the police to arrest you.”

Yu Wen: “…”

He smiled politely and stopped Jian Heng’s finger from choosing righteousness over a friend. “Teacher Jian, I merely accidentally, accidentally found out about some things. I didn’t witness them with my own eyes.”

He specially emphasized the word “accidentally” twice.

Jian Heng: “How exactly was it an accident?”

Yu Wen: “I accidentally… found out about Chu Han and Feng Chengzhou’s conversation.”

Jian Heng believed him seventy percent and calmly put his phone away. “So you’re saying you’re not an extrajudicial fanatic?”

Yu Wen: “Do I look like one?”

Jian Heng scrutinized him.

A moment later, a bizarre smile slowly curled at the corners of his mouth.

Yu Wen: “No matter who you are, quickly leave Teacher Jian’s body.”

Jian Heng: “I’m not possessed by a ghost.”

Yu Wen: “Ghosts are never willing to admit they are ghosts.”

Jian Heng slowly grabbed his hand.

Yu Wen’s expression went blank. “Sorry, I’m homophobic.”

“Hey, what homophobia?” Jian Heng patted him disapprovingly, the corners of his mouth almost rising to his temples. “We have a pure friendship. Between good friends, holding hands and gossiping with each other is a very normal thing.”

Yu Wen understood.

He pulled his hand out. “If we hold hands while chatting about gossip, we’d be a bit too ambiguous.”

“Then we won’t hold hands.” Jian Heng waved his big hand. “Just moving our mouths is fine too.”

“Now, tell me all the gossip you know.” Jian Heng’s eyes burned brightly, and he even added: “You wouldn’t want others to know that you know so much, right?”

The PA came over to call the male lead, saving Yu Wen from the fire and water.

Before leaving, Jian Heng gave Yu Wen an ambiguous wink and said, “Remember our promise.”

Yu Wen: …

He sighed and brought his small folding stool to sit in front of the monitor and watch the face-off scene between the male and female leads.

This scene was shooting the very last meeting between the male and female leads. When Puyang Xi rushed over, Jiang Qiuyue was leaning against the stone pillar beside the mountain gate. Her entire body was pouring with blood, but her cheeks were as clean and fair as ever. She leaned there, seemingly as if she had just fallen asleep.

[“You’re going to die.” Puyang Xi murmured in a low voice.]

In the end, he never leaked a single word about the holy relic. It was hard to tell whether he was simply rational enough, or if, between Jiang Qiuyue and Jiang Qiuyue’s will, he prioritized the latter.

Yu Wen always felt that Puyang Xi and Jiang Qiuyue were two extremes.

Puyang Xi was warm on the outside but cold on the inside. At first glance, he seemed like a lush and verdant wilderness, his entire person radiating vigorous vitality, but in reality, beneath the wilderness was nothing but barrenness. He was gloomy and paranoid, constantly worrying about gains and losses in relationships, and never shied away from speculating about his lover with the utmost malice.

But Jiang Qiuyue was the exact opposite of him.

Eldest Shijie was cold on the outside and warm on the inside. She possessed the purity and sensitivity of a child, and at the same time, an immovable soul. If Puyang Xi was a paper tiger—baring his fangs and brandishing his claws on the outside, but so sensitive on the inside that a single poke could break him—then Jiang Qiuyue was a cluster of tall bamboo growing by the roadside, curiously watching the joys and sorrows, partings and reunions of the mortal world, yet never swaying because of the wind.

They were naturally compatible, born to be a match.

[“I’ve said it before, with your personality, you’d send yourself to a dead end sooner or later.” Puyang Xi wiped her fingertips with meticulous movements. The longsword had fallen powerlessly to the side, its owner no longer possessing the strength to pick it up again.

The light of the sky grew bright, and a brilliant red sun rose. During this fine moment of the newly risen morning sun, this fine moment when the human realm bred hope, Jiang Qiuyue’s last sliver of breath disappeared in the morning breeze.

Puyang Xi tidied up her appearance for her, and a dog-eared storybook fell out from the small pouch close to her body.

The pages were soaked with fresh blood, the ink characters blurred, but Puyang Xi still managed to recognize from a few words that this was the cliché storybook he had once enthusiastically recommended on purpose just to tease his shijie.

“Terrible.” This was how Jiang Qiuyue evaluated it the first time she read it.

Puyang Xi deliberately put on a despondent face. “Is it? It seems shijie and I don’t share the same preferences. That’s true, how can a mortal’s likings be compared to the moon in the sky…”

Jiang Qiuyue stared at him for a moment, took the book back, and told him to get lost.

After reading it for the second time, Jiang Qiuyue forcefully and resonantly told him: “Terrible!”

One could even hear a bit of irritability in her usually cold voice.

Puyang Xi scratched his hair and said dejectedly, “Alright, if shijie doesn’t like it, then forget it. I don’t know where it displeased shijie. Perhaps it’s because Yang Xi hasn’t read many books, so I actually found the plot full of twists and turns, deeply engrossing…”

Jiang Qiuyue was shocked by the terms “twists and turns” and “engrossing”, took the book back, and later unwillingly flipped through it two or three more times.

Puyang Xi thought, if she could still speak, her very last dying words would definitely be “Terrible!”

Thinking this, he flipped through the book. Accidentally turning to the last page, there were two ink characters on the blank page written so forcefully they penetrated the paper: “Terrible!”

Flipping one more page, Jiang Qiuyue’s elegant handwriting leaped off the paper: “The plot is a cliché, devoid of originality, cannot be summarized in just a few words—absolutely terrible to the extreme!”

Puyang Xi laughed dumbly.

After laughing, sorrow filled his chest, an aching tartness spread through his limbs and bones, and finally surged to his eyes. Under the tartness, warm liquid rolled down endlessly.

He held Jiang Qiuyue’s hand, his forehead touching the back of her hand, suppressed sobs swirling in his throat.

There would be no more Jiang Qiuyue in this world.

Just thinking about it filled one with despair.

…

]

The emotions were perfectly in place, passing in one take. After the director yelled cut, Jian Heng was immersed in sorrow, his tears unable to stop.

Yu Wen kindly went over to check on him, but his arm was grabbed. “Xiao Yu boo-hoo-hoo…”

Yu Wen patted his shoulder. “Xiao Yu is here.”

Jian Heng: “Boo-hoo-hoo I want to change the script, I want to die together with all of you…”

Yu Wen advised: “If everyone dies, that counts as a happy ending (HE).”

Jian Heng: “…Do I have to be the one to bear this bad ending (BE)?”

Yu Wen: “When the heavens are about to place a great responsibility on you, they must first embitter your mind and destroy your spirit.”

Jian Heng: “Master, can I still be saved?”

Yu Wen: “Scan this code for 998, and a luck-changing talisman will be delivered to your door.”

Jian Heng: “You fucking black-hearted merchant.”