Xu Qichen opened his emoji keyboard to find that the heart and laugh-cry emoji were side by side. Probably because he left Bai Yi a heart not long ago, this emoji was at the top, and his hand slipped…
It’s all Li Yun’s fault for calling at that moment, making him miss the best time for deleting the comment.
If he deletes now, he’ll get scolded ba…
Xu Qichen dared not look at the replies to his comment. He could already see an overwhelming wave of pink bubbles, covering the sky and the ground, and the little red heart he had sent.
Pretending nothing had happened, Xu Qichen silently burrowed into his blankets.
The extra reward points interface appeared before him again, and Xu Qichen silently burrowed out of his blankets. He saw the number ‘800’, tapped ‘Accept’, then happily went to sleep.
Director Chen is a person who places high emphasis on efficiency. Although he is very demanding when filming, he very dedicatedly provides guidance as well.
In order to remain true to the character settings, Chen Anping invited a local French teacher to teach Xu Qichen French, and strive for a pure and authentic accent in every sentence.
Chen Anping hated the currently trending heavy tones and skin-smoothening filters. Those blunt accessories differed too greatly from the actual texture that films should have.
In order to create a sense of reality, Chen Anping instructed Lin Ran and Ji Mengze to shoot with their natural faces, without even a touch of makeup.
He even went so far as to ask the makeup artist to draw a few freckles on Ji Mengze’s nose.
Reason being, ‘this child’s skin is too fair and too delicate, boys have to be a bit more unvarnished to seem real.’
However, with the addition of only a handful of freckles, he really did look more like an 18-year-old boy.
Director Chen sat behind the monitor and looked at Xu Qichen, who was leaning against his bicycle, through the screen. “We can start.”
“Nan Ke, Scene 4, Take 2, Action!”
‘Pa!’
Xu Qichen instantly entered Yu Ning’s character.
Under the blazing sun, Yu Ning, in shorts and a white t-shirt, leant against his bicycle, waiting about five meters away from the entrance of the coffee shop.
The door of the coffee shop suddenly opened, and Nan Ke walked out towards Yu Ning with two cups of Iced Mocha in his hands and a smile on his face.
“Why didn’t you wait for me under the shade? Your face has been burnt red.”
Yu Ning lowered his head, slightly flustered. He kicked a small stone on the ground. “Ah… I forgot…”
Suddenly, his cheek felt ice-cold, making Yu Ning shiver in shock. Then he realised that Nan Ke pranked him with the iced coffee in his hand.
“Drink quickly ba, or it won’t be iced for long. After working all morning, I can finally rest.”
Yu Ning took the coffee from his hand. Nan Ke walked to the parasol tree nearby and sat down. After parking his bicycle, Yu Ning followed behind and sat down beside him, leaving a space of about 15cm between them.
Nan Ke bit the straw, leant against the tree, and raised his head. The splashes of sunlight through the gaps between the leaves, fragmented on his profile. Yu Ning watched him as if in a trance.
Suddenly, the other party said, “Summer is so nice ah.”
Yu Ning sipped his coffee. There’s a hint of sweetness mixed in with the bitterness. It’s cold; the coldness slowly spreading through his entire body.
“To be able to see such a blue sky and such plentiful sunlight, I feel like all my troubles have become insignificant.”
Yu Ning softly returned an ‘en’, an almost imperceptible smile spreading across his face.
“Yu Ning.”
Hearing the other party call his name, Yu Ning raised his head, “En?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Nan Ke suddenly moved closer.
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Director Chen waved his hands, “Quickly get adjusted.”
Lin Ran leant against the tree. “Hey, you should also apologise to me ba.”
Xu Qichen turned to face him and apologised seriously, “Sorry, I think some fur from the parasol tree entered my nose earlier, it was very itchy. I held it back for as long as I could.”
Lin Ran saw his serious expression and suppressed his laughter with great effort.
“Director, I’m ready.”
Director Chen nodded. “Return to the earlier position and distance.”
Xu Qichen did as he was told. The two sat together with the tips of their noses almost touching, waiting for the clapperboard.
“Nan Ke, Scene 4, Take 3, Action!”
‘Pa!’
There was less than a centimeter left between them.
Yu Ning flusteredly closed his eyes.
“Caught it.”
The thing he was anticipating and worrying about, didn’t happen.
“Why did you close your eyes, are you sleepy?”
Yu Ning opened his eyes and saw Nan Ke retracting his arm from behind him, with a longhorn held between his long fingers.
So he was catching a bug.
Yu Ning smiled awkwardly, “A little.”
Nan Ke rubbed his hair, “That’s true, it’s easy to get sleepy on hot days. The apartment I’m renting is in this block, we can rest there if you’re sleepy.”
Hearing the word ‘apartment’, Yu Ning quickly avoided Nan Ke’s eyes. “No- no need. I still have to swim in a while.”
Nan Ke: “I want to swim too, but I still have work later.” He knocked his shoulder with Yu Ning’s. “I’m on leave in a few days, let’s go to Baie de Anges together?”
Yu Ning scratched the back of his head, gave a muffled ‘en’, then quickly stood up and ran to his bicycle.
“Are you leaving? See you tomorrow!”
“En…”
With that, he quickly escaped on his bicycle.
“Cut!” Chen Anping stood up. “This scene is fine, Yu Ning, change your clothes.”
Xu Qichen, who had cycled around half the set, stopped. “Okay.”
There weren’t many staff on the set, but they were all rather shocked. When they first heard that Director Chen had decided on Ji Mengze, they complained amongst themselves, thinking that a traffic idol like Ji Mengze, delicate and with poor acting skills, would surely be a torture to them, and wondered how many times he’d NG every scene.
Who knew the guy was actually so professional.
The daily average temperature in Nice was 37°C. Ji Mengze stood under the sun every day, his arms were burnt and peeling, but he had not said a single word of complaint. Plus, he didn’t NG too many times, his acting was rather natural.
“Don’t you think Ji Mengze’s personality in private is very similar to Yu Ning’s? I feel like he’s really the true Yu Ning ah.”
“No wonder Director Chen chose him. It doesn’t feel like he’s acting at all, he’s just being himself.”
“Right, right? His character is really good. I poured a cup of water for him during break, he kept thanking me. He’s super well-behaved. Ah, I’m a fan now.”
Xu Qichen heard these words while changing and felt a little happiness, like, because of his hard work, Ji Mengze’s image was slowly brightening.
The filming was progressing faster than he had anticipated. Of course this was mainly due to the efficient crew.
However, what really put him at ease were the scenes he filmed with Lin Ran. Although that guy was often unreasonable, he was deadly serious when filming. He transformed his body language and expressions within a moment and did his best to bring him along. During breaks, he talked to him about the script, plot, and the kind of emotions he should bring out.
After a full day of filming, Xu Qichen was somewhat lacking energy. He had been under the sun for too long, so he was tired and hot. Plus, dinner was western food that didn’t suit his palate. He forced himself to eat a little, then continued to film the night scenes.
“Nan Ke, Scene 12, Take 4!”
“Pa!”
Yu Ning was speeding on the bicycle on the street, his mind filled with anger and unease.
The sky was dark and he didn’t know where to go, so he just rode around the city aimlessly. Don’t know why, but when he stopped, he found he had subconsciously ridden to where Nan Ke’s apartment was.
Yu Ning had actually known all along that Nan Ke lived here. More than once, he had secretly followed Nan Ke after he got off work, keeping a distance of half a street between them, and watching from afar.
But this is the first time he was standing right beneath the apartment building.
He’d left the house after quarrelling with his adoptive parents., But after he’d left, he had realised that there was no one to take him in.
Yu Ning threw the bicycle aside and sat on the apartment steps.
“It’s so late, he won’t come out again ba.”
He spoke to himself under his breath like this.
After an unknown length of time, sounds of some voices came from outside.
“Nan Ke…?”
He couldn’t hide in time, and the tall silhouette had already reached the main entrance of the apartment building. Yu Ning stood up abruptly, wanting to look for a place to hide, but he suddenly felt dizzy and his vision blurred.
Xu Qichen thought he would fall down the stairs. It would be fine as long as he doesn’t hit his head, but if he does and gets injured, then it’d be difficult to continue filming.
He had such thoughts, but in the end, he didn’t fall down as expected, only fell into a warm embrace.
“Are you okay?”
His voice was like the wind by the sea in June.
“Yu Ning? Why are you here? Have you fallen ill?”
Ah, it’s Nan Ke, not Lin Ran.
Resting his forehead on the warm chest, he wanted to raise his head, but didn’t have the strength. Even when he spoke, his voice was soft: “Feeling a bit weak.”
The scene has been off for so long, why hasn’t Director Chen shouted ‘cut’…
In the dark, his vision was blurred and his consciousness was also hazy, but his ears had become especially sensitive and heard a very very light chuckle from the person holding him up.
Nan Ke held Yu Ning up by supporting him against his shoulder, and with his free hand, reached into his pocket.
A moment later, something was touching his lips, and a hand, somewhat forcefully, stuffed it inside his mouth, through his teeth.
A concentrated sweetness slowly burst inside his mouth.
It’s candy.
Nan Ke: “You look really unwell, I’ll take you to rest.”
Yu Ning’s legs felt weak, every step felt like he was stepping on cotton. He could only put his entire weight on Nan Ke while leaning heavily on his shoulder.
They had to climb only three floors, yet it felt like they had been walking for an eternity.
The moment Nan Ke opened the apartment door, Director Chen finally shouted ‘cut’.
“That’s fine, this scene passes. I checked the apartment earlier, it has to be redecorated before we can continue filming tomorrow. Let’s end here tonight.” Director Chen clapped a few times. “Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”
The candy in his mouth had completely dissolved, Xu Qichen had also recovered his strength. The moment ‘cut’ was shouted, he left Lin Ran’s embrace and leant on the wall, panting.
“Are you okay?”
Xu Qichen nodded.
“I’ll help you down.”
Xu Qichen: “No need, I’ll be fine.”
While holding the wall and making his way down, Xu Qichen kept thinking, why did Lin Ran have candies in his pocket?
Meanwhile, Director Chen had also walked over to the apartment from behind the monitor.
Upon seeing him, Xu Qichen immediately apologised: “Sorry, Director Chen. I wasn’t feeling well earlier.”
“I saw, but this improvisation was better than the previous few takes. It’ll be fine once we edit the script.” Chen Anping patted Xu Qichen’s shoulder. “You’ve filmed the whole day, quickly go back and rest well. Your body is too weak, better train it well ah.”
Xu Qichen nodded.
Assistant Zhang Xiaoxiao ran up to help him, but was rejected. “I’m feeling much better. Xiaoxiao, you just have to help me buy some food and bring it to the hotel.”
After returning to the hotel, Xu Qichen recalled the scene earlier and began to panic. He couldn’t resist opening Weibo, wanting to see the photo Lin Ran had taken, again.
It’s a pity humans are flawed. After opening Weibo, glancing at the hot search was inevitable.
Ji Mengze’s name was in the first place once again, but the hot search this time was even more terrifying.
[Ji Mengze Sheng Huafeng]
This gave him an ominous premonition.
The author has something to say:
Regarding appearing on camera without makeup: Actually many movies and certain MVs use his method. I won’t give any specific examples to avoid involving any celebrities. But if you’re curious, you can look it up online. Many western youth shows, such as SKAM, are filmed without any of its actors (mainly referring to male actors) wearing makeup.
Ahhh Love is Blossoming ah!
Thanks for the Chapter!
Thanks for the chapter~
Thank you for the update!!
Dammit is that Sun Cheng trynna frame our bby Xu Qichen, by saying he slept with Sheng Huafeng to get the role 😤😤😤
This tricks again!? My son is surely getting hot because of this so as his mother Thank you!~
Love is in the air~
Thanks for the chapter<3
Thanks for the chapter! ^^)❤
Thanks for the chapter! Little bunny is so overwhelmed, lol.
Thanks for the chapter! ♡
Ominous indeed…
Thanks for the chapter <3
thanks for the chapter <3
He kept a candy (◔‿◔)
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
He prepared!
Thank you for the chapter 🥰
Thank you so much for translating! <3
DAmn it…I’ve already ate so much dog food….I can…take mor-
Thanks for the chapter~
💜💜💜