Chapter 53 - I’ve got this Celebrity’s back (13)
Chapter 53: I’ve got this Celebrity’s back (13)
It was too outrageous.
Looking at Gu Xi, this beast who still embraced someone in his arms while he was starting right in front of him, Liang Yuan spent a few moments holding himself up with a hand on the door frame. He went back with large strides and pulled Gu Xi aside. “…the third one?”
This child looked good, eye-catching with his penetrating and clear eyes. Although Liang Yuan was seeing him for the first time, he still instinctively didn’t want him to hear these bad things and he unconsciously lowered his voice.
“What third one?”
Liang Yuan’s grip on him was very tight. Gu Xi wasn’t able to shake it off immediately. He looked at him all puzzled.
Remembering those messy noises he had heard from Gu Xi over the phone, Liang Yuan gritted his teeth. It was a while before he was able to force out the words, “It’s – on the phone that day, the one that made you scream from pain…and what about that pretty face on the hot search? Is there no end to this matter?”
Gu Xi was stunned. He looked at the highly-imaginative Director Liang and after a while, he patted him on the shoulder, thoroughly won over. He then turned and beckoned: “Qingzhou, come here.”
His tone was affectionate and filled with smile. Lu Qingzhou relaxed. He put down the lunch box, got up and ran towards him.
Gu Xi stretched out his arms and put the other against his chest. He rubbed the top of his head and hugged his shoulders to present him to Liang Yuan. “I’d like to introduce you to my new a.s.sistant, Lu Qingzhou. He’s great at making ice cream and noodles with black bean sauce.”
Liang Yuan: “……”
Gu Xi: “He also can do a mean deep tissue ma.s.sage. It hurts like h.e.l.l when you’re right in the middle of it but it feels like you’ve gone to heaven after.”
Liang Yuan: “……”
Gu Xi was overwhelmed with self-confidence, he was beginning to mess up his p.r.o.nunciation, “The first time I met him, I took him to check into a hotel. He followed everything I said, very obedient…”
The little paparazzo wrapped in his arms couldn’t help but curl his lips. With shamelessness honed from years of performing in front of a camera, Film Emperor Gu turned the person back to his chest and patted him with care. “He’s just a little wary of strangers so don’t talk so loud and don’t scare him.”
Liang Yuan was so shamed into anger than he rolled a copy of the script and raised his hand to beat him. Looking at the little a.s.sistant he was protecting in his arms, he suddenly stopped halfway.
The hot search news that he’d just read suddenly came to his mind.
Liang Yuan furrowed his brows. He reacted surprisingly quick and lowered his tone: “…it’s him?”
His question that been vague but Gu Xi’s expression suddenly sank and his smile faded.
Now, it’s no longer so strange.
Those people were intent on attacking the people who were beside him and apart from Lu Qingzhou, who else could they possibly find who was closer?
Caught by the coldness in his eyes, all of Liang Yuan’s thoughts of coming over to admonish him faded. Frowning, he hesitantly went to close the door. “Old Gu…”
Originally he’d been angry thinking that Gu Xi didn’t know how to stand his ground but now he was worried that Gu Xi had overreacted. After thinking about the broken Yixing tea pot in the photo, Liang Yuan couldn’t help but feel concerned. He calmed his tone and wanted to ask him, but Gu Xi was already stroking the back of the young man in his arms and led him to sit back down on the sofa.
Remembering he had left his big-scale shoot unattended, Director Liang took a breath and sent a text message informing the whole crew to take another half an hour break.
……
“So, you found someone to blacken you?”
Liang Yuan knew nothing except filming. He knew little about these tricks in the circle. After listening to him briefly, he finally understood. “You were ruthless enough in handling this. I was shocked when I saw it. I’ve never seen you be blackened so miserably…”
Gu Xi declined to comment. He took out his mobile phone and simply flipped through some pages online.
No matter how powerful the channels behind Lu Qingzhou were, it was impossible to spread his black material all over the internet this quickly. If it weren’t for Zhou Tong stupidly trying to antagonize him, it wouldn’t have been so obvious that the mastermind behind all this wasn’t all that clear on the situation with how he was unknowingly helping to add fuel to the fire and blowing this problem up.
The entire matter about flying into a rage over a pretty face was not only to make the little paparazzo blush, but rather, he was also taking a gamble.
Zhou Tong daring to spring at him like this, meant that he must have heard something from Fang Kun; probably something about him getting blackened so badly he wouldn’t be able to raise his head. They could not criticize him about his behavior among the crew so they can only be planning to blacken him over something about his private life. The only scandals that would be difficult to come back from were drug abuse, adultery and abusing unspoken rules.
He wasn’t married and he hadn’t suffered from sudden weight loss. And when you connect it with the paparazzi at the door of his house that day, the unspoken rules angle was undoubtedly the biggest probability.
He deliberately set a pole and as expected, there were people climbing up along it. The more noise this issue made now, the more people he’ll need to pack in when this goes into a reversal. You need to use a long line to catch a big fish. He might even be able to bring in the main mastermind if he hastily makes a move. Everyone can have fun digging pits for each other.
Liang Yuan felt that this was too risky. Deeply worried, he wanted to dissuade him once again but Gu Xi had already changed the subject. “Do you have any roles here that I can pick up? Just a couple of friendly guest appearances will do. I’m not choosy and I don’t need any money.”
Right now, what he lacks was exposure.
He hadn’t been idle these past two days. He had put in order his network of relationships and he has some gotten some ideas on who were the ones who would mercilessly blacken him to death.
The little paparazzo has been bullied. He needed to regain his dignity. Whether they praised or bashed him didn’t matter. Whether the situation was urgent or not didn’t matter.
After finally understanding why Gu Xi had specially come looking for him, Liang Yuan took a breath and pondered for a long time before he cautiously said, “There are a few. I was planning to just get someone at random to play them. They’re just roles that will take half a day to shoot at most… If you accept this, aren’t you afraid of getting into trouble with your agency?”
Gu Xi’s eyes became cold and did not answer.
Naturally, an actor has to report to his agency if he’s thinking of accepting a role. At his level, even if he only shows his face, he can still attract a lot of attention.
Having been a cash cow for so many years, the company has kept a close eye on him and wouldn’t let him accept even a guest appearance for nothing.
Liang Yuan knew that he had already gotten rid of his agent and a.s.sistant, but when all was said and done, he was still afraid that Gu Xi would have an absolute cold war with his agency. And so he calmed down his tone and tried to sound him out, “Or I could pay you. I still have some spare money…”
“No need.”
Gu Xi waved his hand nonchalantly. “Anyway, the agency and I have already had a complete falling out. I’m not happy with them so they should just leave. I’m not short of money so you can just save that bit for yourself and use it to find a wife in the future.”
There were many singles in their business and it was especially grave for directors. After all, they couldn’t just pick any one from off the road.
Liang Yuan choked, so angry that he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hands trembling, he said, “What if I don’t give you the role?”
“Then I’ll just live here. I just drank beer. I can’t drive a car today and Qingzhou can’t drive.”
Rubbing Lu Qingzhou’s soft hair ends, Gu Xi dropped his gaze, filling those quiet black eyes with a gentle smile. He raised his head unworriedly and said, “And I’ll still drink tomorrow.”
Liang Yuan: “……”
Liang Yuan walked out in grief and indignation.
The door closed once again.
Lu Qingzhou raised his head, his eyes fell on Gu Xi’s still cold side profile.
Gu Xi looked handsome and heroic. He has been in the circle for many years, and his temperament has been tempered early on. Never has he been a.s.sociated with words such as gentle and delicate. Somewhat on the serious side, he appeared to be so majestic as to awe others.
But there was no coldness to be found in those eyes at all.
Gu Xi looked at him intently, slowly toying with the ends of his hair. He bowed his head and kissed him on the forehead. That ‘decisiveness to slaughter’ kind of imposing manner also gradually faded, leaving only that warmth and gentleness that wouldn’t agitate him in the slightest. He said slowly, “Qingzhou, would you appear with me in front of a camera?”
For him to let the world know about Lu Qingzhou, it would be necessary for the little paparazzo to stand beside him.
When the time comes, he can find a few trusted media outlets. He can set down the rules in advance and he can even ask them to take shots only of his silhouette and back. But Lu Qingzhou’s mental issue has not been completely unraveled and he can’t just make a decision like this on his own.
Lu Qingzhou raised his head and met the soft warmth in the depths of his eyes and his chest gradually filled up. He clenched his hand. “I can.”
When the two of them were together, anything was possible.
His black eyes were pure and bright. The light was so bright that it could penetrate into the bottom of people’s hearts. Gu Xi couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. He gathered the other into his arms and snuggled against him. With a gentle tone, he changed the subject, “Are you full already?”
Lu Qingzhou had only made one portion of rice b.a.l.l.s for Gu Xi. It wasn’t quite enough for two people. Liang Yuan didn’t have anything here to tide over one’s hunger and he didn’t know if he could call for takeaway.
It was stipulated in their contract that he had to tell the truth. Lu Qingzhou was coaxed and doted upon by Gu Xi so unrestrainedly that his heart softened and he was starting to learn to speak actively. Blushing, he shook his head. “No…”
His voice was small but it dug into his chest and burst forth covering it with layer upon layer of warmth. Gu Xi’s eyes lit up with stars. He hugged Lu Qingzhou and kissed him hard. He led him to his feet. “Let’s go and freeload some lunch off of them.”
*
Liang Yuan didn’t dare to lead him around to be seen by other people. He was afraid that exposing him would invite disaster onto himself. He was also afraid that someone had read those nonsense hot searches and would secretly point at him, making the never-been-happier Film Emperor Gu feel sullen.
He thought about this thoroughly but Gu Xi didn’t have the slightest such thoughts. He wanted to let the whole world know that he had found a new a.s.sistant. After finishing the little paparazzo’s styling, Gu Xi led him as they made their way to the set.
These scenes didn’t seem to be going well. When Gu Xi arrived on the sidelines, Liang Yuan was holding his loudspeaker, shouting himself hoa.r.s.e as he explained the scenes. He noisily slammed the rolled up script.
There weren’t a lot of proper directors who had good tempers. Especially when the actors couldn’t get into character or the filming wasn’t on point, it wasn’t uncommon to have abuse rained down on them. The few people in front of him were all looking embarra.s.sed, no one dared to look up. Everyone around him were trembling, afraid of setting off the director.
Gu Xi was not afraid of Liang Yuan. Swaggering, he led the little paparazzo to the sidelines. He coaxed him to sit on the director’s recliner chair to no avail. He could only watch as Lu Qingzhou took a seat on a wooden bench under an umbrella. Gu Xi himself simply moved a small stool and placed it next to him to sit on. He pointed at various things and quietly introduced them to him.
Gu Xi became famous as a teenager. After the age of fifteen, he spent more time on the set than at home and he knew all the things here like the back of his hand. He deliberately told the little paparazzo interesting things to distract him, trying his best to keep his attention away from the crowd. He had his body half-turned, protecting him back into the shadows.
His movements were very subtle, as if he were just talking and laughing but Lu Qingzhou still managed to take it all in. His heart turned even warmer and he quietly held his hand.
Gu Xi’s eyes brightened. With a smile on his face, he securely held his hand back and continued to boast to him, “I’m not kidding, most of them are my juniors. Since you’re with me, my seniority also applies to you and they’ll have to treat you very respectfully…”
Lu Qingzhou couldn’t help the corners of his lips from ticking up. The sunlight fell onto his face and a crystal clear smile appeared.
Liang Yuan was in the middle of admonishing the cast and crew when he suddenly realized that the sidelines had gone quiet.
There was a premonition in his heart. When Liang Yuan turned his head, he saw the tall and long-legged Film Emperor Gu enjoying himself quietly as he sat on a camp stood. He didn’t know what nonsense he was spouting to that very well-behaved little a.s.sistant. The child was teased by him until his lips and eyes were pursed. The little a.s.sistant blinked non-stop and carefully tried to hold back the smile from his brows and eyes.
The crew’s gazes were directed towards Film Emperor Gu who had suddenly swooped down from nowhere. The rest were on the particularly good-looking little a.s.sistant.
What a reckless waste of resources.
Liang Yuan curled his lips, not without regret. He pressed down on his anger and quickly walked over. Keeping his voice low, “Why did you run over here?”
They haven’t finished shooting this scene since he left. Even after resting for half an hour, there was still no progress when he came back. Liang Yuan didn’t hold back his temper and he knew that he had been admonishing them quite fiercely. Gu Xi’s sudden appearance actually gave him a way out of this predicament. But that guy had caused trouble in his own set and now, he was pompously appearing at someone else’s set. If the media catches sight of it, who knows what they’re going to say about it.
“I came here looking for something to eat. Where do you keep your packed lunches?”
Gu Xi fixed his clothes and stood up. His eyes swept over the actors, grumbling off-handedly, “You’re not even going to offer me a meal after I ran all the way here just to watch you waste time here…”
Lu Qingzhou also stood up with him and respectfully gave his greetings.
With most of his line of sight subtly being blocked by Gu Xi, his instinctive nervousness in front of crowds lessened and his thinking became clearer. He pulled back the system that was indulging itself in spreading black materials online, “How is it? Did you find it?”
This time Gu Yuan was involved in an A-level story world. In order to protect the protagonist, Lu Deng had opened a single-blind perspective. Although he knew that the villain was deliberately targeting Gu Xi because of his role in “The Journey”, he did not know the villain’s precise ident.i.ty.
Although it was impossible to s.n.a.t.c.h back the role that would ultimately be given to the protagonist, it was still necessary to figure out who the villain was in order to take the proper precautions.
The system was still raring to continue its task. Its data was jumping about with excitement. “I’ll find them! I tracked the IP of all the accounts that gave me likes and I’ll be able to sort them all out in half a day!”
Lu Deng ‘hmm’-ed to himself and added another command, “Filter it first and see if there are any on this set.”
Just now, when he and Gu Xi were talking, most of the gazes cast their way were curious and harmless but the remaining few were particularly hostile, which appeared particularly noticeable when mixed amongst the others.
He wanted to share the burden with Gu Xi but Gu Xi insisted on bearing it alone in order to firmly protect him. This tacit understanding between the two of them has been acc.u.mulated through several worlds. Even without speaking, he could already guess what the other person was thinking.
Gu Xi didn’t come to this set simply to find somewhere quiet and provoke the single Liang Yuan in pa.s.sing.
The system was full of vigor and the mechanical sound responded affirmatively and then jumping and spinning, went back to screening. Lu Deng was looking at the set in a trance when the hand Gu Xi was leading him with was gripped lightly.
He raised his head subconsciously. Gu Xi had just slightly lowered his head and looked at him, silent concern in his eyes.
It’s nothing.
Lu Qingzhou pursed the corners of his lips and curved it into a gentle smile towards him. As he was led to walk a few steps forward, suddenly, the mechanical sound of the system re-appeared in his mind, “Host! I’ve finished screening the results. There are several mobile IP addresses from this set! They’re side accounts so let me try to see if I can pick out the linked main account!”
Lu Qingzhou’s heart moved slightly. He was about to find a way to remind Gu Xi, but the director’s a.s.sistant hurriedly ran over from outside and leaned close to Liang Yuan, speaking in a low voice.
“Director Liang, there are a few media outlets outside. I don’t know how the news leaked out. They know that Teacher Gu came here to visit and they’re insisting on coming in to interview him. Several of them belonged to Shengxing Entertainment. It’s not easy to push them away…What should we do?”
This film’s main investor was Shengxing Entertainment’s CEO and they had to give the investor face. Liang Yuan’s face suddenly sank. He was about to get angry but Gu Xi had already raised his hand to hold him back. “Hurry up and get me two lunch boxes. Ones with more meat, okay?”
“Is this really the time for that?”
Seeing that he was still so indifferent, Liang Yuan’s belly was filled with anger. He gritted his teeth and admonished him, “Do you or do you not know that Shengxing Entertainment and your company has always been on bad terms? You think their media outlet would have anything good to say about you? You’ve already gotten dirty water thrown all over you. What would they think about you running off now…?”
“They’re not going to think anything of it. I’ll leave my a.s.sistant with you for a bit. If he sweats even a single drop then you better watch your back…”
These media are not easy to deal with. Gu Xi had no intention of taking Lu Qingzhou to meet them. He turned around and was about to say a few words to the little paparazzo but his hand was suddenly held tight.
It was very hot out today but his hand was a bit cold. Nevertheless, the strength was extremely firm. Gu Xi’s heart moved. He raised his gaze and met the clear and translucent glow in his obsidian eyes.
‘Stop. Stop blackening him for now.’
Lu Deng instructed the system in his mind. Lu Deng met his gaze and pursed the corners of his lips lightly. His eyes were bright and clear. “I’ll go too. Is that okay?”