TW: Brief mentions of r*pe and SA
The intense shooting schedule quickly passed by, and Undercover, according to plan, was expected to take about six months to film. However, this time the script was cleverly designed, and the dual male lead roles turned out to be a big advantage for Shao Si. His scenes wrapped up in about three months.
He played one of the two male leads and although his character met an unexpected explosion and died halfway through the mission, the subsequent plot had nothing to do with him, but his shadow lingered throughout.
Undercover is a story about perseverance, self-awareness, and the struggle to remain true to oneself amidst the forces of good and evil.
Shao Si’s character in the film is full of hostility, and if you didn’t know that he came from the police academy, you really wouldn’t be able to tell.
Due to his striking appearance, he chose to use a flirtatious and frivolous demeanor as his persona during his undercover mission.
Sometimes when Li Guangzong watched Shao Si act on the side, he couldn’t help but drool. He looked at Shao Si wearing loose-fitting clothes, who often held a cigarette between his fingertips, swaying as he walked, and had a face that basically screamed I want you.
Although Shao Si looked like he hadn’t slept every day, as soon as he started filming and the camera focused on him, he could immediately get into character. During the filming of Anti-Drug, Shao Si deliberately worked on his abdominal muscles. However, those abs didn’t look exaggerated at all, and… you never know when Shao Si would suddenly get lazy again, and his abs would disappear.
The scene currently being re-shot is Shao Si leaning against a wall and flirting with an actress.
Li Guangzong was holding a jacket, waiting for Shao Si to finish filming so he could help him put it on. It’s gotten colder today, and the southern region is unusually damp and chilly.
As he waited, his gaze followed Shao Si’s hand holding the cigarette, moving downwards until his hand covered the actress’ butt.
……
“If I didn’t see it wrong, did you just give her butt a little squeeze?” Li Guangzong asked as he helped Shao Si put on his jacket after he finished reshooting the scene.
Shao Si responded, “…Did you not read the script? Why do you have such a dirty mind?”
After Shao Si finished speaking, he walked over to Director Wang to review the playback. Once he confirmed that there were no issues, he respectfully bowed to Director Wang and said, “Director Wang, you’ve worked hard. I may not be good with words, but I have genuinely learned a lot during these three months. I truly appreciate your guidance, and I hope there will be another opportunity to work together in the future.”
At this point, Shao Si’s scenes have all been wrapped up.
Director Wang was both melancholic and relieved. After Shao Si expressed his gratitude to the other crew members, Director Wang stood up and patted Shao Si’s shoulder, “I’ve already taught you everything I can about acting. As an elder, let me give you some advice: always guard against arrogance and impatience, especially in this industry. You’ll have many fans when you’re in the spotlight. But once desires arise, they are insatiable. You must understand why you entered the industry in the first place, what your original intention was… If I were to compare you to a ship, where is your ship’s anchor? This is very important; it can remind you, keep you anchored when you’re lost or accidentally strayed from your path, preserving your true self.”
These are definitely heartfelt and sincere words.
Shao Si seemed to have reddened eyes, and Li Guangzong couldn’t see clearly against the backdrop of the studio lights. He wasn’t sure whether Shao Si was moved or just feeling cold.
It was already evening.
On the way back, Shao Si, for once, didn’t fall asleep. Every time he finished filming and left the set, he always felt a bit out of sorts from suddenly breaking free from the busy schedule.
Li Guangzong sat in the passenger seat, holding a few sheets of documents, and with a pen in hand, kept jotting down notes and briefing Shao Si about upcoming work arrangements. “I’ve already told the company that you should take a few days off to rest.”
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.
Shao Si slumped back in the car seat, finished playing a round of his game expressionlessly, and then raised his head to ask, “Since when has the company been so eager to give me a break?”
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Shao Si remained silent for a while and then asked seemingly out of the blue, “Son, why did you become a manager?”
The topic shifted too abruptly, so Li Guangzong didn’t immediately catch on. “Huh?”
“It’s more like a twist of fate. I couldn’t become a celebrity, so being a manager is also pretty cool. Actually, if you asked me why I got into this line of work, I really don’t know. I just thought, since I ended up on this path, then I should give it my all and do it all.” Shao Si rarely discussed such matters with him, so Li Guangzong couldn’t stop himself from continuing, “What are you? I heard you were a top student, and your Gaokao scores were frighteningly high. So how did you end up in the entertainment industry?”
However, when he finished speaking, he noticed that Shao Si had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep. “…”
[…I heard everything already, there’s no point in you pretending to be asleep. You’ll have a few days off starting tomorrow.] The voice of the System complained. [Can we have a proper chat?]
[What do you want to chat about? There’s been no lead on Yang Yinyin’s case. She had no jobs for a month, but now she’s swarmed with work. The company told the public that she just had a common cold.]
[Just this?]
[There are also some minor things. She also has an assistant by her side whose behavior is a bit abnormal.]
[Oh.]
[I’ll go to her set in the next few days and get in touch with her. I happen to know a lead actor there.]
[Fighting! I offer you encouragement and support in spirit!]
Shao Si decided he will limp to visit the set of The Legend of Imperial Concubine Rou the next day.
So he texted the young lead actor he knew in advance: I’ll come to visit you tomorrow.
Then, his WeChat was bombarded by messages from the young lead actor.
Chi Zijun: “????”
Chi Zijun: “Big brother, are you crazy?? [shocked.jpg]”
Chi Zijun: “I’m just the minor role of an eunuch by the Emperor’s side… my entire script doesn’t even add up to more than three lines. And you want to visit my set? [a_raging_pippi_shrimp.jgp]”
Chi Zijun’s WeChat profile picture is a large pot, and inside the pot it looks like there are a lot of unidentifiable skewers simmering inside.
He debuted around the same time as Shao Si, but unfortunately, his acting skills weren’t that good. He ended up being taken advantage of by Qi Ming, who got him drunk and sent him to the bed of an investor.
In order to defend him, Shao Si pinned down Qi Ming and gave him a rough beating.
Because of this incident, Chi Zijun more or less left the entertainment industry and started a business selling malatang. But occasionally, he would take on some minor supporting roles.
…Like this role, a little eunuch by the Emperor’s side.
Shao Si: “I was just taking a shower, hold on, brother will be right there… what’s wrong with being an eunuch? Don’t look down on eunuchs.”
Chi Zijun: “…tsk.”
But when Shao Si arrived at the set, Yang Yinyin had already left.
“The female lead isn’t here?” Shao Si squatted by the flower bed, in disguise wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses. The oversized black hoodie he currently had on made him appear even more slimmer than usual. He carefully scanned the set again and indeed didn’t spot any sign of Yang Yinyin.
Chi Zijun had delicate features and was dressed in typical Qing dynasty palace eunuch attire. He squatted on the ground beside Shao Si, and their two heads were close together. “Are you talking about Yang Yinyin?”
Shao Si replied indifferently, “Yeah.”
Chi Zijun glanced around left and right to ensure no one was nearby, lowered his voice down a few degrees, and whispered, “She suddenly had an emotional breakdown while she was acting today. Her manager had to come out and stop the filming, and they asked for leave and left.”
“Emotional breakdown?” Shao Si questioned while removing his sunglasses, revealing his iconic cold and inquisitive eyes.
“Bro, you need to be more careful and make sure to cover up properly. Today the program The Entertainment Live Show came here for an interview because of Yang Yinyin’s situation… it would be troublesome if they caught you.” Chi Zijun quickly helped him put his sunglasses back on, then paused before continuing, “At first, she didn’t look too good, she first started sweating and kept reapplying her makeup. Then after a few hours… she started vomiting. But her manager and assistant were there to stop the filming to take her away.”
Sweating and vomiting?
Is she simply not feeling too well, or is she… pregnant?
System: [Pregnant… did she get ass*ulted?]
Shao Si: […]
The System took in a sharp gasp of cold air: [The secrets of the entertainment industry, the film empress getting r*ped, I think I may have figured out the truth.]
Shao Si retorted, […What the hell do you know? Last time with that Chen Dongxu, he’s a male yet you also claimed he got r*ped, but it turned out he just had hemorrhoids. Why are you so dirty-minded?]
While Chi Zijun was happily talking with him, Shao Si secretly sent a message to the private investigator, asking about Yang Yinyin’s current whereabouts.
Chi Zijun had a lively personality, and his eyes would smile whenever he would smile. “Bro, my malatang business is booming! I use a healthy bone broth base, and there are long lines of queues everyday! I’m not far from making a family fortune, and these days I’m also planning to open another branch in the city center. What do you think?”
“Sure, then open it.”
Shao Si lowered his head and casually responded without much thought.
While he had his head lowered, his cap covered most of his face. His fingers were slender and long as he tapped the screen a few times. After sending the message, he turned off his phone, looked at Chi Zijun, and realized belatedly, “…You’ve made me a little hungry.”
Chi Zijun fell silent for a moment, “Actually, I made myself hungry too.”
Shao Si put his phone back in his pocket and stood up. From Chi Zijun’s perspective, his legs looked incredibly long. Shao Si furrowed his brow and asked, “How many more scenes do you still have?”
Chi Zijun became really happy when he heard this question. “With Yang Yinyin absent, I don’t have much to film today! I’ll be done in about half an hour! Wait for me, I’ll treat you to some malatang! The kind where I’ll reserve the whole place and kick everyone else out!”
Chi Zijun is the most innocent person that Shao Si has met in the entertainment industry after years of being in it, so innocent to the point where his EQ is somewhat concerning.
Like what he just said, he genuinely just wanted to treat Shao Si to a meal. He was direct and didn’t think that asking an a-lister actor to stand and wait for him for half an hour might be inappropriate.
But Shao Si didn’t mind at all. He felt that this kind of interaction between ordinary friends quite suited his taste. There was no gap between them as a “top celebrity” and a “small-time actor.”
While waiting for Chi Zijun to finish work, Shao Si didn’t idle around. He had learned from the private investigator that Yang Yinyin had returned to her company.
…Why did she return to her company?
She didn’t go to the hospital or even return home?
Shao Si couldn’t figure out why, but he vaguely felt that this matter wasn’t that simple.
He sat on the flower bed and pondered, his gaze gradually drawn to Chi Zijun.
After watching him for a while, Shao Si couldn’t help but stroke his chin, and sighed. His acting skills were still as… poor as usual.
That year they had joined the company around the same time and were both under Qi Ming’s management. When they received their personal branding designs, they were both distributed in the same meeting room. After receiving their assignments, they went their separate ways.
But after Shao Si went to the restroom to wash his hands and was about to leave after drying them, a random stranger rushed over, grabbed his arm, and refused to let go.
Chi Zijun asked, “Hello, classmate. I’d just like to ask, what did Big Brother Qi mean just now? I didn’t understand… what does OOC mean? Also, on my character sheet, it says “controversy magnet.” What does that mean?”
Shao Si admitted that his initial friendship with Chi Zijun was purely because of Chi Zijun’s “controversy magnet” character, which seemed even more absurd than his “ice and snow youth” character.
The author has something to say:
I have something to confess. In my outline, this chapter was supposed to be about Sushi and the film emperor “getting married.”
……
But then these over 3,000 words…
I don’t even know how it turned into this, just PERFECTLY avoiding my outline. I couldn’t control it at all.
Maybe it’s all because of that little chilblain that grew on my pinky recently (.)
T/N: Sorry for the very late update… I got very lazy this month, but today 9/24 is my birthday! I know it’s going to appear as 9/25, but I’m in EDT haha
Happy birthday! Enjoying the story so far!
Belated happy birthday! Thanks for the chapter!
Happy Birthday! 🎂
Thanks for the chapter
Happy birthday