The Eleventh Star
Zong Ye gave a perfunctory “hmm”, lowering his head slightly. “Then I must have misheard.”
Feng Cheng: “…”
Seeing his unresponsive attitude, Feng Cheng’s face remained taut, his expression clouding over a few more degrees.
Jiang Chuyi held up her phone towards them, signaling Zong Ye to check the message: “Is Feng Cheng still upset?”
Zong Ye: “He’s fine.”
Jiang Chuyi continued typing: “That’s good then! Also, about crashing the livestream the other day, it didn’t cause you guys any trouble right? I just saw it trending again. I really don’t know how to thank you properly.”
Zong Ye: “It’s not a big deal. If you want to show thanks, you can treat us to a meal when we’re back.”
Jiang Chuyi stared at this message, suddenly feeling that Chen Yi was right about her.
She really had a lot of face with them.
So many people wanted to meet BloodxGentle but had no chance; yet one day, she’d get to treat them to a meal?
Whether he was just being polite or not, Jiang Chuyi was truly grateful and replied: “Okay, when you’re all free later, let’s have a meal together. My treat.”
Just as she was engrossed in texting, Xin He suddenly said coolly, “Still smiling huh, your sense of humor is really bad.”
“Huh?” Only then did Jiang Chuyi belatedly realize her mouth was still curved up. She explained, “I wasn’t laughing at you and Feng Cheng.”
“Then what were you laughing at?” Xin He suddenly leaned in closer.
Caught off guard, Jiang Chuyi couldn’t hide her chat with Zong Ye.
“Oh? You and Zong Ye?”
“Shhh!” Jiang Chuyi glanced around. Luckily no one had noticed the movement here. “Keep it down.”
“Feeling guilty about what?” Xin He gave a disdainful snort, leaning back against the chair. “You two are pretty close. You’ve even added each other on WeChat.”
“We’re alright.”
“Who added who?”
Jiang Chuyi told the truth. “I added him.”
“Just alright? I’ve known him for 5, 6 years and we haven’t even added each other. And why were you giggling while chatting with him, don’t tell me you like him?”
“No no no.” Jiang Chuyi was startled by this and immediately denied it. “You can’t say things casually like that.”
After observing her expression carefully for a while, Xin He seemed reassured and lazily said, “Then that’s fine.”
Jiang Chuyi wasn’t the type to pry into others’ privacy. Yet for some reason, sensing the implications in Xin He’s words made her unable to resist her curiosity, and she asked more, “How so? Does Zong Ye have a girlfriend?”
Xin He: “No, he’s been single.”
She set her cup down and crooked a finger at Jiang Chuyi.
Jiang Chuyi obediently leaned in.
Xin He moved next to her ear and whispered, “I heard from Feng Cheng that Zong Ye has liked a girl for many years. She’s probably not someone from our circle, more likely a classmate? I haven’t heard him mention her much though.”
Jiang Chuyi: “You’ve never met her?”
“Nope.” Xin He straightened up leisurely. “I bet, just like in novels, that girl got into a car accident or died of cancer, so he locked up his heart, never to love again! Otherwise with Zong Ye’s status now, he would’ve pursued her long ago. How could he still be single?”
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
Though said jokingly, for some reason hearing this made Jiang Chuyi feel stifled inside. She changed the topic, “You’ve all known each other for a while?”
“Yeah, I met him and Feng Cheng when they first entered IM as trainees.”
Speaking of which, Xin He suddenly recalled the first time she met Zong Ye, before BloodxGentle had debuted. Feng Cheng brought his teammates out to eat with her.
The first time she met Zong Ye, he wore a pair of faded jeans. She thought then that he didn’t look bad, taciturn and more well-behaved than the other guys, very polite. A delicate, clean-cut face, dressed simply too. He silently helped pass dishes and pour water. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was a server who had slipped in.
Xin He also debuted quite early, apart from production assistants on set, she rarely interacted with this kind of person, so she was a little curious and snuck a few more glances.
Right as she was looking, she suddenly heard Feng Cheng ask, “Handsome?”
Xin He felt embarrassed being caught peeking and her little face flushed red. “More than you, so what?”
Feng Cheng coldly said, “What, want me to get his WeChat for you?”
This guy had such a nasty mouth.
Xin He ignored him and ate silently.
The two of them bickered from when they were young till now. With Feng Cheng’s awful temper, Xin He really didn’t know how she endured until the present.
She was furious.
Hearing their bickering, Ji Kai and Wang Tan both laughed.
Ji Kai deliberately said, “Feng Cheng’s not jealous, is he?”
Feng Cheng threw a pair of chopsticks at him. “Screw off.”
They were all joking and laughing. The person who was the focus of the conversation was the quietest. Zong Ye had been calmly eating the entire time.
Xin He guessed he probably wasn’t very familiar with them yet, so he was more reserved.
But also because of this, she still hadn’t added Zong Ye on WeChat until now, to avoid Feng Cheng the petty man finding out and harassing her!
Preparations on set were ready.
Since filming wasn’t in chronological order of the storyline, Er Er specially briefed them on the scene. They had a segment to film together tonight – Jiang Chuyi, Zong Ye, and Xin He.
Jiang Chuyi’s character Fang Qing secretly harbored feelings for Lin Xiangyuan. By chance, she secretly saw the sleeping Lin Xiangyuan. Hesitating for a long time, she quietly went to his side, squatted down, and just gazed at him in a daze this way. Then she grabbed his hand and held it.
At the same time, this scene was witnessed by her good friend Xiao Xueling.
The segment was short and simple, but because it was the crucial turning point causing Xiao Xueling to distance herself from Lin Xiangyuan, the deputy director and screenwriter gave instructions multiple times on how to act it out, what to think internally, how to emote facially.
When preparations were ready, the clapper boy clapped the slate.
“<Catching a Star>, sequence 10, scene 3, take 1, action!”
Multiple cameras started rolling, red lights flashing. Jiang Chuyi walked to Zong Ye’s side and had just squatted down without doing anything yet when the director yelled “Cut!”
“Jiang Chuyi, are you rushing to a village market? Huh? You’re secretly watching the person you have a crush on sleeping, not some random passerby or an ant! Look at Lin Xiangyuan with that kind of mentality!” The director shouted at her through a megaphone. “Pretend you’re a toad gazing up at the moon in the sky!”
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
Repeating it again.
Jiang Chuyi stared at Zong Ye, slowly getting into character.
If she was peeking at someone she yearned for yet couldn’t have, then looking at him was a cruelty to herself.
Both looking yet restraining herself. Afraid of waking him, knowing she shouldn’t linger yet unable to leave.
Immersed in such contradictory emotions, her surroundings gradually quieted down. Jiang Chuyi watched Zong Ye intently.
She did her best to emulate the director’s instructions, gazing at his face as if reluctant to part, her covetous eyes shifting inch by inch.
Until—
Jiang Chuyi met Zong Ye’s eyes.
She gave a start, instantly falling out of character.
Why was he awake??
Almost simultaneously, the director shouted out the question in her mind for her, “Zong Ye, why did you open your eyes??!!”
“Sorry, director. I thought the camera wasn’t on me.”
“Not on you? The camera is mounted on your head? You think we’re filming air? You opening your eyes like this can easily affect other actors’ immersion!”
Zong Ye: “I understand now.”
Hearing the director relentlessly scolding him, the onlooking crew didn’t dare make a peep, even the executive producer and coordinators had pained expressions.
A famous director was a famous director after all, they didn’t need to give face to anyone.
Even the higher ups at IM probably wouldn’t even dare to speak loudly to BloodxGentle. Yet here on set, Zong Ye was lectured like a grade schooler.
Jiang Chuyi got back into character very quickly. After they finished filming the scene, they were called over to the monitors for a review.
Watching for a while, the director suddenly pointed to one of the split screens showing the full shot.
That camera angle had clearly captured Zong Ye opening his eyes the entire time.
He opened his eyes extremely slowly, lashes faintly fluttering, before opening after a few seconds.
The director leaned forward to study it for a bit, then said: “Chuyi, learn that feeling from him next time.”
She was confused. “What feeling?”
“How to be a toad.”
The surrounding people laughed at the director’s sudden humor.
Everyone assumed he was joking, not taking it seriously. But Jiang Chuyi had an earnest personality when it came to acting. She seriously studied this segment that was only a few dozen seconds, watching it repeatedly.
To be honest, she didn’t really see anything special.
But since the director had said so, he must have his reasons.
Jiang Chuyi obediently continued observing and analyzing it. Going over it a few times, she did manage to sense a trace of deep emotion.
Finally, Jiang Chuyi came to a conclusion.
– Zong Ye’s eyes could exude passion even when looking at a wooden post.
Especially when focused on looking at a woman, also mixed with the fragile feeling of “you can hurt me however you want”.
Very suitable for playing lovesick cannon fodder male roles in TV dramas.
Jiang Chuyi actually enjoyed working with directors like this.
Although everyone knew this was just a commercial production that would mostly rely on BloodxGentle’s fans buying tickets, the director still demanded dedication, not allowing any mistakes from them regardless of acting background. He took responsibility for his own work, as well as for the future audience.
After discussing this shot some more, they finally moved on to the next part – Fang Qing secretly going to hold Lin Xiangyuan’s hand, caught by Xiao Xueling.
When the clapperboard sounded, Jiang Chuyi slowly raised her hand, reaching for Zong Ye’s hand hanging off the lounger.
Her hand hovered midair, first carefully testing with the back of his hand.
The moment she lightly grasped his fingers, along with the cool sensation, she felt his fingertips twitch slightly.
Right then, the director suddenly yelled “Cut!”
“Xin He? What are you spacing out for? Do you even know how to show a proper expression?”
They had to stop rehearsal several times in just two or three scenes.
Xin He was a little off today. Messing up a take over and over, even after the director came to personally guide her a few times, they still hadn’t captured the desired effect. He grew so impatient he started cursing in Cantonese.
It was common for the director to chew people out on set, but Xin He had always coasted along smoothly, coddled wherever she went. She rarely experienced this and was clearly somewhat at a loss after being yelled at.
No one else dared make a sound, afraid of incurring the director’s wrath onto themselves.
Jiang Chuyi didn’t dare move either.
Possibly because of certain childhood experiences, she was very fearful of a director losing his temper on set.
After berating Xin He some more, the director grew fed up and notified the lighting crew to prepare for the next scene, leaving her with: “Reflect on it yourself for now, don’t waste everyone’s time and effort.”
Jiang Chuyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Coming to her senses, she realized Zong Ye was looking at her.
Jiang Chuyi asked puzzledly, “What is it?”
After holding eye contact for a few seconds, Zong Ye’s lashes fluttered down as he gestured for her to look.
Jiang Chuyi lowered her head, only then noticing she was still tightly grasping Zong Ye’s hand. Like she had been electrocuted, she promptly let go. “Sorry, I spaced out.”
“It’s fine.”
Though it was only acting, she still frequently had physical contact with other male co-stars over the years. Yet for some reason she felt embarrassed now. To diffuse the awkwardness, Jiang Chuyi added, “I have some tissue here, it seems your palm is sweaty, want to wipe it?”
“Thanks.” Zong Ye sat up and agreed, “My palms do tend to sweat easily.”
Jiang Chuyi nodded in understanding and took out the tissue to hand to him.
Zong Ye accepted it, leaning forward to wipe while casually remarking, “It could also be because I was too nervous.”
Jiang Chuyi froze.
He laughed softly. “It was my first time holding hands with someone for so long.”
