Last chapter was a bit short, so the author made this chapter longer. Enjoy! ❤
“Yes, yes, yes! This is it,” Xue Yunfei stood up from his chair out of excitement, “This was what was missing last night.”
Tang Tu was the one Xue Yunfei was entangled about last night. Liu Man did put in her distress about her family when she played, then what about Tang Tu? How would he perform Duan Nanfeng"s desperate crush on Ji Ning?
At this moment, Ji Ning had deeply fallen in love with Gu Qing, and the proud Duan Nanfeng did not think it worthy to compete with Gu Qing under the broad sun. His struggles and sorrows in his heart were expressed clearly in this look.
Perhaps only Tang Tu himself understood that he was now the same as Duan Nanfeng and was struggling. He already had Shen Mozhen as a girlfriend, but his heart was clear after he took that look at Liu Man, that he had already liked her. This kind of liking, to him, was unfamiliar and strange, and he had no way to suppress it.
Xue Yunfei told Ye Xian, “So, Tang Tu wasn"t the kind of superstar with only a handsome appearance and no acting skills I a.s.sumed he was after all! His acting and piano skills are really good, and he was the one leading Liu Man the entire time.”
Ye Zian only didn"t like Tang Tu because he got into the crew with his social connections, but he had to admit Tang Tu"s capabilities, “Go watch his first movie and you will understand why he"s still popular. Among the young male actors nowadays, he"s definitely the best.”
Qiao Xin, who was on a break, was sitting behind Ye Zian acting as an audience. He felt very uncomfortable after hearing what Ye Zian said, for he had started acting when he was just a child. He had worked in the entertainment circle for more than ten years, but he still hadn"t gotten very popular. Tang Tu, however, was three years younger than him and had only filmed one movie before as an extra, but Tang Tu was much more popular than him — This could be seen just from the number of fans they each had on their Wei Bo. Tang Tu had nine million while Qiao Xin only had five million.
Deep down, Qiao Xin knew that if it wasn"t because he was more experienced, the male lead in this movie would"ve been Tang Tu instead.
The movies Ye Zian directed could always make the leads popular, but Qiao Xin didn"t want Tang Tu to be more popular in the end. After all, he was the male lead!
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He stared at Tang Tu and Liu Man, who had already finished their scene.
The stage stairs were a bit tall. Tang Tu was probably feeling very good, he jumped down directly and turned to Liu Man. He reached out a hand and told her something.
Liu Man smiled as she shook her head. She lifted the hem of her dress and walked down carefully, step by step. Her posture was like a child, but with an elegance that she was born with.
From the perspective of a man, Qiao Xin would admit that Liu Man was a very pretty girl that was attractive. But his guts told him Tang Tu was not treating this girl just like a friend.
According to what he knew, Tang Tu had a girlfriend. If Tang Tu"s fans knew that their idol was a sc.u.mbag playboy who fell in love with someone else other than his own girlfriend, would they still like him?
The shooting of the piano scene was very successful and managed to meet Xue Yunfei"s requirements. The other actors were getting ready for the next scenes, and only Liu Man was able to take a break. Ye Zian told her she could rest at the hotel if she wanted, or she could stay here and observe the other actors.
Liu Man chose to stay. Her next two scenes would have many emotional outbursts and struggles, so she needed to learn.
The next scene was Gu Qing, after watching the wonderful duet of Duan Nanfeng and Ji Ning, realized Duan Nanfeng"s emotions for Ji Ning and went backstage to find him.
The crew moved to the backstage of the music hall to shoot the next scene.
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Qiao Xin and Tang Tu were ready on their spots.
“Start,” Ye Zian ordered.
“Why are you in my way?” Tang Tu frowned. A hint of impatience flashed in his eyes as he looked at Qiao Xin, who was standing in his way.
“I"m cheering for you. I didn"t expect your duet with Ji Ning to be this good,” Qiao Xin said phonily and perfunctorily clapped his hands. He then complimented Tang Tu with a strange tone, “You"re the top student in the grade: You have always been so smart, moral, handsome, and sportive. You"re good at everything, but there"s only one thing: How could someone be so perfect? As expected, G.o.d lets me find just an issue on you.”
Tang Tu answered coldly, “Oh, so you"re here to brag.”
“What can I even brag about, and what do I have to be proud of?” Although Qiao Xin said this, his eyes were filled with blatant pride, “Oh, Ji Ning now lives in the same house as me, so I do feel proud of her.”
Qiao Xin emphasized the words “lives in the same house.”
As expected, Tang Tu, who had always suppressed his emotions well, tightened his fists, “She"s your sister.”
“We are not blood-related anyways. I didn"t even know my stepfather had another daughter, beautiful and always exceeding expectations. She"s nothing like her father. Luckily, she"s back in China, and fate lets me meet her,” Qiao Xin"s tone sounded rejoiced, then abruptly said as if he wanted to stimulate Tang Tu, “Do you know? Our bedrooms are right next to each other. Not only do we get to meet each other at school, but we also get to see each other before we go to bed and after we wake up. We are practically doing everything together…”
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“Shut up,” Tang Tu"s tone was deadly cold, and his eyes were filled with anger.
“Why are you angry?” Qiao Xin took a small step towards Tang Tu; he was purposely getting closer. Tang Tu was 180cm tall, while he was 4 centimeters taller, so he could stare down at Tang Tu with malevolence, “Wait, don"t you have a crush on Ji Ning?”
Tang Tu went silent, but his eyes were staring at him fearlessly.
“Are you too scared to admit it? Or are you scared to admit you are finally not the best and that you lost to me? How does it feel to watch the girl you love gradually fall in love with someone else? This time, G.o.d finally turns against you and lets me and Ji Ninoog mutually like each other…”
“Yes, I do like her,” Tang Tu was finally infuriated by Qiao Xin. His eyes were red as he yelled at Qiao Xin, “What is there for you to brag about? Ji Ning"s too ingenuous, and you are just coaxing her with your flattering words as you take the advantage of being in the same house as her. She will realize that one day.”
“Realize what? Realize that someone has a crush on her? Or a loser has a crush on her?” Qiao Xin laughed, “Are you willing to take my trash?”
Tang Tu couldn"t resist anymore; he raised his fist and waved it at Qiao Xin"s face.
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
“Stop,” Ye Zian cut them. He told Tang Tu and Qiao Xin, “That punch looks too fake. Tang Tu, your suppression of your emotions and your sudden outburst were not properly expressed. Qiao Xin, your expression as he punched you was wrong, too. Imagine now, you both are middle schoolers that are only sixteen to seventeen years old. You are pugnacious, young, and energetic. You cannot seem too mature, so you need to seem a bit childish.
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Normally, the scenes involving face-punching would be faked or just a light punch. Qiao Xin was Tang Tu"s predecessor; Tang Tu didn"t dare to punch hard anyways.
Ye Zian said, “Again.”
They acted the scene out three more times, but Ye Zian was still unsatisfied when it came to the face-punching part. He was getting a bit angry, “You two are both skillful at acting, so why are we repeating this simple face-punching scene? This is the fourth time, and we are still pausing every time we reach this part. You are slowing down our progress. We could"ve finished all the campus scenes by today, and you are making us have to drag it to tomorrow.”
The stern Ye Zian becomes scary whenever he gets mad. The entire backstage quieted down; none of the staff dared to make a single sound.
“Director Ye, I"ve never acted in a scene where I have to hit someone. I don"t know how much strength to use,” Tang Tu was the first one to admit his fault to Ye Zian, “I faked it just now, and you aren"t satisfied.”
“Stop faking it. Punch Qiao Xin for real,” Ye Zian was probably way too angry to order this.
Both Tang Tu and Qiao Xin froze.
Qiao Xin was going to protest, but when Ye Zian threw him a cold glance, he held it back. To be honest, the main issue was on Qiao Xin when they had to pause the first few times. Qiao Xin couldn"t act out his expression when he got punched; He should"ve looked more in pain. So the real issue was his acting skills; they weren"t good enough. This was also why he was only a second-tier superstar after being in the entertainment circle for so many years.
Qiao Xin didn"t talk, and Tang Tu was not dumb enough to refute Ye Zian"s order. He wasn"t the one getting punched anyway.
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So came the fifth time:
Tang Tu"s fist hit Qiao Xin"s face solidly. Tang Tu worked out in the gym four times a week, and he had the kind of body that was skinny but looked muscled if he took his shirt off. Although he only used half of his strength, his punch still made Qiao Xin fall back to the ground.
Qiao Xin, with one hand covering his face, stared at Tang Tu as if he couldn"t believe what had just happened. Perhaps only he knew whether he was acting or if he really couldn"t believe how hard Tang Tu had hit him.
Yang Huayue, who had been waiting at the corner for a long time, ran over and helped Qiao Xin up, then said as if she was about to cry,
“Brother, are you fine?”
“Why are you here?” Qiao Xin loudened his voice.
How embarra.s.sing it was to get punched, especially by his rival, Duan Nanfeng. It was also watched by his stepsister. In the script, Gu Qing vented out all his anger on Ji An.
Ji An eavesdropped on the conversation between Gu Qing and Duan Nanfeng and learned Gu Qing liked Ji Ning. She felt miserable, for she had a crush on Gu Qing ever since she was just a kid. Now, after hearing Gu Qing"s cold tone, she started to cry.
Yang Huayue"s acting skills weren"t faked, and her tears came when she needed them. She looked wretched and delicate.
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These tears made the two male leads even more annoyed.
Tang Tu wanted to turn and walk away, but it was as if Yang Huayue turned into a madman. She dashed and pulled Tang Tu, her fists punching him, “You don"t have the right to punch my brother.”
Her strength was nothing to him. Tang Tu waved his hand and left her behind.
“An An,” Qiao Xin was worried for Ji An, and he yelled at Tang Tu, “Duan Nanfeng, vent out your emotions on me. Don"t you feel embarra.s.sed to be treating a girl like this?”
Tang Tu walked up to Qiao Xin, who was still sitting on the ground. This time, Tang Tu was the one to look down at him, his eyes filled with indifference, and no friendliness towards a cla.s.smate could be seen from his eyes, “If using Ji Ning against me isn"t shameful for you, then why should I be embarra.s.sed?”
“Ok,” Ye Zian yelled for them to stop and nodded, “It"s good this time.”
Qiao Xin stood up from the ground and wiped at the corner of his lips with the back of his hand. Liu Man, who had been watching from outside the scene, saw there was bloodstain at the corner of his mouth, and his face was red. She also saw Qiao Xin"s eyes as he looked at Tang Tu, who had his back turned. Qiao Xin"s eyes were as cold and indifferent as to how Tang Tu looked at him when they were filming.
Credits: Sydney, Teresa, & Puppxteer