Ling Xi talked and explained to An Ruifeng for a long time that he had no interest in men.
“How about women?”
Ling Xi considered it: “I should like them right?…”
“Should?” An Ruifeng burst out laughing: “Is it worth your time to ponder such a question? Have you ever had a girlfriend?”
Ling Xi blushed: “It’s because I’m famous!” He spread his hands: “You know… celebrities don’t have the freedom to casually make friends.” Unfortunately, this sentence was delivered by a 12th tier star and lacked credibility.
An Ruifeng was noncommittal and reached out to take the salmon suitcase from Ling Xi, before turning around to invite him to follow. They’d walked a few steps side by side when An Ruifeng suddenly said: “…Actually, I believe that when it comes to love, you are better suited to being cared for than caring for others. You should be aware that today’s young girls are extremely demanding.”
An Ruifeng’s eyes were riveted ahead. When Ling Xi turned to face him, his sight was drawn to An Ruifeng’s side profile. It was around six or seven o’clock in the evening, just before sunset. The evening sun’s afterglow delicately illuminated An Ruifeng’s flawless brow, nose, and jaw. Ling Xi was taken aback for a moment. He thought he finally understood why An Ruifeng’s ardent supporters referred to him as “a man more dazzling than the sun.”
He turned back and stared at the ground, saying with great difficulty: “Find someone who can take care of me?” He picked his fingernails to hide his awkwardness, “But the rich women in their 30s and 40s think I’m too old.”
“…” An Ruifeng didn’t know what to say, so he consoled him: “It’s okay, they also despise me for being older.”
※※※
Ling Xi spent another day in S City’s film and television district before returning to B City in the evening. His two days of vacation were squandered in S city. He didn’t feel like he’d gotten much rest, and yet he would have to devote himself to intensive homework.
Wu Youpeng’s face looked as long as a donkey’s in response to Ling Xi’s rash departure. When Ling Xi asked for another day off, Wu Youpeng shook his head: “You don’t have time to waste. This morning, I received a call from the crew of Jian Jue Tianxia. Their finances and employees are largely in place. The promotional photographs will be taken the following week.”
“So fast?” Ling Xi was surprised.
“It’s not fast. It’s been over two months since the audition. The filming would have begun by now if it hadn’t been for the sponsorship.” Wu Youpeng, with a disgusted expression, remarked, “You should eat less over the next two weeks. Take a look at your glowing face. It’s clear you did not suffer during your trip to visit An Ruifeng.”
An Ruifeng particularly asked Ling Xi – the Human Flesh Express – to eat at a high-end Japanese restaurant to thank him for delivering the suitcase yesterday. Because of the celebrities, there were several high-end eateries in and around the film and television city. Yesterday’s dinner was really expensive. An Ruifeng scarcely moved his chopsticks, and Xu Zhiqiang sat with a black expression the entire time, yet Ling Xi’s performance was unaffected by the other two teammates. This King of Large Appetite requested forty sweet shrimps just to fill the gap between his teeth.
Recalling the scrumptious meal the night before, Ling Xi swallowed his saliva.
Mama Wu said sourly: “Take a look at your greedy face. When it comes to distinguishing between people, don’t let a meal fool you.”
The promotional photoshoot was set for the following Friday, which was less than ten days away. Wu Youpeng recruited an acting teacher for Ling Xi again, and he and the acting teacher were once again subjected to mutual torment. Ling Xi eventually impressed the teacher with his little development after ten days of hard effort. The teacher generously granted Ling Xi a C in the final examination, adding, “At least the singing is quite beautiful.”
Wu Youpeng felt that the money had been spent on a dog.
※※※
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.
Wu Youpeng drove Ling Xi to the studio for the photoshoot on Friday morning. Jian Jue Tianxia’s topic was immortal cultivation, with most of the scenes set in deep mountain temples. Naturally, there was no reason to drive so far for a simple promotional photoshoot, so it was set up in a studio. The group immediately hired a studio in B city, complete with all of the requisite costumes, props, and makeup artists. All of the employees arrived at the studio an hour early to prepare and were ready to demonstrate their abilities.
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Furthermore, Jian Jue Tianxia was not a TV series based on a novel, and thus did not have its own fan base. Prior to filming, there were just two selling points worth publicity. The first was the reveal of the cast roster, and the second was the promotional photoshoot. As a result, everyone involved in the production, from the director to the scriptwriter, placed a high value on this promotional photoshoot.
The primary reason for Wu Youpeng’s early arrival with Ling Xi was to make a good impression on the team. After all, he was a singer-turned-actor, and it was natural for people to form preconceived notions about him.
Unfortunately for Ling Xi, as soon as he stepped out of the car, he was confronted by a huge number of people led by the male leader Bao Hui and his agent. Bao Hui’s agent was very proud. He raised his head so high that his nose nearly pierced the roof. They’d had a feud since the day Bao Hui tried to steal the title track. When Ling Xi saw them from a distance, he felt ill.
In contrast to his sunny and outgoing public persona, Bao Hui was an extremely arrogant person in private. In just one year since his debut, he had angered a large number of individuals. He was, nonetheless, handsome and with excellent acting abilities. Fans admired him, and his popularity was steadily increasing. Upstart Entertainment, his agency, was grooming him as the next big star and worked hard to pave the path for him.
If Bao Hui asked for the moon, he got the moon; if he asked for the stars, he got the stars. He knew from his contacts that the theme song of Jian Jue Tianxia was fantastic, so he made a grab for it. In the end, he didn’t anticipate his senior from the same firm, An Ruifeng, to truly safeguard Ling Xi – the small singer who had been nearly unknown for the past eight years – and let his thoughts come to nothing.
It had been more than a month since then, but Bao Hui still stomped his feet in rage whenever he remembered it.
They came across each other like enemies on a narrow road, but Ling Xi didn’t bother to look at him. He was about to leave, when Bao Hui stopped him, saying in a strange tone, “Yo, isn’t this the little singer king of two yuan stores.”
Ling Xi was magnanimous: “Um, it’s me. What’s the problem?”
“…” Bao Hui felt he’d landed a punch on cotton: “It’s not easy for a singer like you to put on a play ah.”
“In any case, it’s preferable to an actor trying to sing.” Ling Xi parried.
Bao Hui choked for a moment but he refused to be outdone: “Oh! I didn’t suggest that nowadays some singers are confident in their abilities and dare to appear on TV despite having no acting skills – Hey! Speaking of which, have you caught the feeling of acting like a dog?”
Ling Xi retorted: “Fortunately, it’s not as big of a challenge as your acting.”
Ling Xi’s battle effectiveness increased dramatically when confronted with a cheap guy. He obstructed Bao Hui at every point, rendering him speechless. Bao Hui’s agent acted rashly, pointing at Ling Xi’s nose to chastise him. If it hadn’t been for a passing staff member, it was very likely that a bloody battle would have really taken place there.
All of the makeup and wardrobe professionals were waiting for Bao Hui, the principal actor. Before entering the dressing room, Bao Hui turned around and said three words to Ling Xi: Just you wait.
Ling Xi responded with an OK gesture.
As a result, when Bao Hui was taken into the dressing room, he appeared to be suffering from hypertension.
Ling Xi was perplexed at first by Bao Hui’s “wait and see.” Later, he discovered that Bao Hui’s makeup and photoshoot were proceeding extremely slowwww…
There were two groups of makeup artists and stylists. One group was dedicated to female celebrities, while the other was allocated to male celebrities. On the women’ side, the makeup artists had proceeded from the female lead to female lead number N, while the male lead, Bao Hui, was still ordering the makeup artist to touch up the make-up on his neck.
When Bao Hui emerged from the dressing room after taking his own sweet time and began posing for the shots, he would call a timeout practically every time the photographer clicked the camera. He first grumbled about his wrinkled clothes, then about his unkempt hair. It was unclear if he was naturally fussy or if he was deliberately stalling for time. In short, by the time he finished one photo, the actress had completed three.
Several actors lined up behind him, ready to put on makeup and pose for photos. Some of them had previously worked with Bao Hui. They stood in a circle, chatting to each other, and while talking, they cast sneaky glances in the direction of Bao Hui. Ling Xi didn’t want to become involved in their squabbles, so he found a quiet spot to relax and rest on his own.
Ling Xi became bored after a while and resorted to Wu Youpeng for gossip. While he was speaking, he became aware of an itch on his feet. He extended his hand and touched a furry creature. When Ling Xi looked down, he saw that a mixed-breed puppy had appeared out of nowhere and was staring at him. With a pair of moist eyes, it was endearing.
Ling Xi liked dogs, but he couldn’t keep one as a pet due to his job. Every time he encountered a small wild dog on the side of the road, he couldn’t help but feed it a sausage and pet it. Unfortunately, he arrived at work today without a sausage. The puppy kept leaning in his direction but he didn’t know what to give it as a treat, so all he could do was reach out and let it lick his fingers.
It was a little mixed-breed dog with a lovely dark yellow topcoat. It had snow-white fur that ran from its mouth to its belly and limbs. Its two large ears protruded from the top of its head. They would turn to the sides alertly when they heard a sound. It swung its huge fluffy tail softly on the ground.
Ling Xi observed that the dog was extremely intelligent and could do a variety of tricks such as bowing, turning in circles, or lying down and pretending to be dead. They were all executed expertly. Ling Xi initially believed it was a stray dog, but when he saw how clean it was and how it behaved like only trained canines could, he realized it had to be someone’s pet. If such a lovely little thing had gone missing, its owner must have been worried.
When he patted his knees, the puppy leaped up and curled into a ball. He held it and stood up before succumbing to its charms and kissing its head twice: “Come on. Gege will take you to your owner.”
Before he could walk to the door, a young man in charge of logistics greeted him.
“Hey! I see you two get along well.”
“Do you recognize this dog?” Ling Xi stroked the dog’s head and kissed its tiny paw once again.
“How can I not know,” the young guy replied: “It’s the other you – the dog who plays the prototype of the fourth apprentice.”
“…” Ling Xi peered into its round eyes, remembering how he had just made it bow and whirl. There was a strong sense of iniquity that he’d played with himself.
“By the way, the makeup artist asked me to inform you that you should hurry up and put on makeup. Bao Hui finally finished the photoshoot.” The young man reached out and took the puppy: “It also needs makeup. I’m not sure if the clothes are appropriate. If not, they’ll have to be modified.”
Ling Xi couldn’t help but : “Why does the dog need clothes?”
“If you want it to be naked when it becomes a human, then it doesn’t need to wear clothes.”
Ling Xi was defeated and didn’t dare to say any more nonsense. He took a hike and walked right inside the dressing room.
The person in charge of applying his makeup was a sweet middle-aged female makeup artist with tidy movements and deft hands. The stylist she worked with was her trainee, who was younger than Ling Xi but still had a girl’s mischievousness and cuteness. When posing for advertising shots, Ling Xi used to dress up in a fashionable manner. He was wearing an antique costume for the first time. His heart was racing with anticipation and excitement. However, the makeup for a period drama proved to be more challenging than he had anticipated. The most difficult issue was the hair. His hair was securely wrapped in a special hairnet, and a wig was placed on his head. Then she gently secured the wig’s edge with a special glue.
His wig was not precisely put into a topknot like other male characters’ because his character was a naïve and careless dog demon. Instead, it draped on his shoulders. The stylist removed flesh-toned plastic earmuffs the size of a palm and placed them upside down on his ears. Then she bonded the wig to them so that his natural ears were disguised no matter which way he looked.
The earmuffs provided average sound insulation. Despite the fact that he was wearing them, Ling Xi could clearly hear other people’s voices. He couldn’t figure out why they were going above and beyond: “Can you tell me why you’re covering my ears?”
The stylist smiled mischievously: “Because we specially prepared another pair of ears for you.” With that, she turned and walked to the table behind her. When Ling Xi walked in, he noticed a large and thin metal box on the table. The foreign language written on the packaging was incomprehensible to Ling Xi. He simply gave it a passing glance before averting his sight. He had no idea the contents of the box would be relevant to him.
Something unexpected happened – the enthusiastic stylist skipped to the box, took out a pair of fuzzy ears and a similarly furry tail, and presented it to Ling Xi like a treasure: “This is our crew’s top degree of technology. I’ve prepared the equipment, and now I’m going to test it on you.”
With that comment, she used hairpins to carefully secure the ears on Ling Xi’s head, and the tail was also looped around his waist with a special belt equipped with two sensor chips. One was bonded to his chest, and the other to his scalp beneath his wig. After she and the makeup artist completed dressing him, they took two steps back and signaled for Ling Xi to turn around and look at himself in the mirror with his own eyes.
The mirror portrayed a young man clothed in light green sect robes, with long flowing hair down his waist, dog ears on top of his head, and a big tail attached to his back. He cocked his head and peered at himself with interest.
“What…?” Wu Youpeng, who was watching all of this with bated breath on the side, was a little surprised.
The makeup artist directed: “Ling Xi, think about something that makes you particularly happy.”
Despite the fact that Ling Xi had no idea what medicine she was selling in her gourd, he remembered how he had rolled his eyes at Bao Hui in the corridor and one-upped him.
Wu Youpeng exclaimed: “It moved, it moved!”
That’s right, as Ling Xi’s mood changed, the ears rotated slightly to the sides, and the tail behind him swayed slightly to the left and right.
Needless to say, when Ling Xi looked into the mirror, he immediately noticed the changes in his ears and tail.
…What the hell is this dark technology…
Ling Xi had a playful personality. He couldn’t stop himself after discovering such an intriguing toy. However, the set of ears and tail controlled by the sensor chips was still in the testing phase. It couldn’t tell the difference between complex emotions. It could only replicate four basic feelings in a dog – happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. Ling Xi worked hard to recall these feelings and watched himself in the mirror with keen interest.
Even Wu Youpeng, who was mature and stable, was amazed by the accessories on Ling Xi’s body and praised them again and again. The fluffy ears and tail were soft to the touch, and their color was chosen to complement the dog’s dark yellow coat. According to the stylist, it was a new product being tested by a company that designed smart gadgets. After reading the script, they took the initiative to contact the team. The fourth disciple did not have ears or a tail after transforming into his human form in the original screenplay. The script had been customized for the product.
Ling Xi continued to play for a while, and the more he played, the happier he became. He could have played for a long time on his own if it hadn’t been for the photographer’s urging.
Ling Xi’s manner when he walked out of the dressing room, with fluffy ears on his head and a tail attached to his back, astounded the spectators. Ling Xi had a beautiful face and fair skin. His skin appeared soft and supple with cosmetics. The flexible ears and tail on his body, in particular, were incredibly appealing.
The logistics brother carried the dog, who was also clothed in the same light green design, in his arms. He was quite popular with the pup. It put out its tongue and licked his chin as soon as it reached his arms. Ling Xi laughed as he got teased. The tail behind him moved slightly as he laughed, and the tip of the tail seemed to scratch everyone’s heart.
In a trance, everyone appeared to have really seen the cute and silly puppy demonized into a human form like in the play. The tableau seemed to have emerged from the script and projected in front of everyone’s eyes.
The director circled Ling Xi a few times and said “good” repeatedly. Ling Xi felt a little embarrassed about being praised. In reality, he was just taking advantage of the props…
He was ready to walk the dog to the photographer when he heard a disturbance at the door. In the midst of the hubbub, someone cried, “An Ruifeng has finally arrived!” It turned out that An Ruifeng had specifically requested a day off from the director of Heroic Thief Saga to participate in the photoshoot today. He caught an early flight from S City and rushed to the studio as soon as he landed in B city.
It was like a predestined coincidence. The gorgeous young man with a puppy in his arms and a pair of dog ears on his head was the first thing An Ruifeng saw when he walked into the studio.
Ling Xi, clad in a fresh costume, stood out in the noisy and chaotic studio like a small monster who had inadvertently entered the modern era. He looked ignorant with an innocent grin on his face, and his eyes were brilliant and full of mischief. Ling Xi smiled broadly when he saw An Ruifeng, as though greeting a long-lost friend.
This smile, like an unexpected sharp arrow, slammed into An Ruifeng’s heart with a thunk, and penetrated into the deepest region concealed from view. It was a dead ringer.
“Ling Xi,” Wu Youpeng clinched his teeth and hissed in Ling Xi’s ear: “Take care of your tail! It’s like a fucking tornado!”
OMG! Ling Xi is so cute!
Tornado tail I’m dying ahahahahahahhaha
Brooo, I remember seeing those gadgets back in the days, neko meme, was the brands name. They had cat ears though.
Wow, I think Ling Xi can fly with his tail www, a propeller
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwh he’s adorable!!!!!
Thank you so much.
F**king Tornado 🌪️ LOL
SO CUTE ughhh
HAHAHAHA!! it was swirling like a tornado 😂
I can’t help but imagine Ling Xi as Gorou (Genshin impact) ADORABLE AAAAA 😍
Please I’m dying 💀💀💀
I cant when i imagined his tail after seeing AR 😆😆😆
gyahahahahahaha am dyin’
Hahahaa 🤣🤣
Ling Xi is so cute!🤩
And it seems like An Riufeng is starting to fall😂😂
I already can imagine how those props would be used later)
The artwork is sooo cute 🤩😍
Haha, so cute~ 😍😂
Thanks for the chapter <3
Cute overload much….
Ling Xi is a fan !! 😂😂