The Second Star
Jiang Chuyi stood there and thought calmly for a minute.
This person turned out to be Zong Ye.
This person was actually Zong Ye…
The crowd was bustling. Gao Ning took a step, looked back three times, and gestured for them to follow.
On the way backstage, Gao Ning said, “We’re going to meet Director Li in a bit.”
“Director Li?” The assistant recalled in her mind, “Isn’t he from IM?”
“That’s him,” Gao Ning whispered and speculated, “BloodxGentle has recently started preparing for a new album, and they plan to make a derivative movie for the theme song—”
Before she could finish, the assistant exclaimed excitedly, “What?! We’re going to collaborate with BloodxGentle?”
“Keep your voice down!” Gao Ning scolded her, “What collaboration? It’s not even settled yet.”
Jiang Chuyi finally came back to her senses.
The entertainment industry was indeed magical. The renowned Zong Ye turned out to be a playboy in private. However, it was also within expectations.
He looked like the kind of gentle bad boy playboy. He was quite polite. Even if she lectured him a bit, he shouldn’t hold a grudge, right?
Jiang Chuyi suddenly felt the bracelet she was wearing weighed a thousand pounds.
She didn’t know if he had recognized her just now. Hopefully not.
Not to mention the vast difference in fame, for a small actress like her, getting involved with people like them was simply a disaster.
*
When they reached backstage, the staff led them to a lounge.
After sitting on the sofa for half an hour, Director Li finally arrived.
Gao Ning had some connections with Director Li, and the purpose of bringing Jiang Chuyi here was already clear to him. The two of them chatted casually with a tacit understanding, discussing industry gossip, future prospects, whose pay had been downgraded, which new artists the company had recently signed, who they planned to promote, and who had snatched whose pie.
After beating around the bush and going through the formalities, Gao Ning finally took the opportunity to broach the subject, “By the way, what’s the situation with your recent movie?”
Director Li glanced at Jiang Chuyi, who was standing aside, and hinted, “The script is done, and we’ve contacted a few actresses for the lead role. It’s almost settled.”
“You don’t say,” Gao Ning laughed, “I wouldn’t dare to think about the lead role in your movie. I’m asking if there are any other roles that could include Chuyi.”
Director Li raised his eyebrows.
Gao Ning said, “Oh right, I remember you asked about Cheng Xi’s beverage endorsement? I’ve already contacted her manager for you. There’s no issue with the schedule, and her previous contract is about to expire. I’ll introduce her to you tonight.”
Director Li’s appraising gaze fell on Jiang Chuyi.
As they talked, the young girl had been standing quietly beside them, waiting for so long without any impatience.
When it came to actresses, people generally associated them with words like “glamorous,” but her features were delicate and not at all related to being glamorous. She wasn’t the type of sweet and cute either, but rather on the edge of men’s aesthetics, with a slightly plain and elegant appearance.
In terms of popularity, she indeed couldn’t rank high in the industry, but she was quite likable. Having debuted for so many years, her reputation in the industry was relatively good, with few scandals and a relatively clean background.
After pondering for a while, Director Li spoke, “Well, there is indeed another role. It’s not the lead, but it has some scenes and exposure. I can’t make the decision alone, but I can recommend taking a look. You can send me Chuyi’s information later, and you two can go for an audition first.”
“Okay, no problem,” Gao Ning readily agreed.
*
After socializing with Gao Ning until nearly midnight, Jiang Chuyi returned home and collapsed on the sofa.
Hearing the movement, Ruby ran out from its nest and rubbed against her feet. Jiang Chuyi felt a bit ticklish and laughed, grabbing its scruff and hugging it.
Suddenly remembering something, she opened her bag and took out the bracelet from the inner pocket.
Examining the name and phone number on it, Jiang Chuyi spaced out for ten minutes as usual, and finally stuffed it into the corner of the drawer.
After consecutive days of staying up late, plus drinking a bit of alcohol, Jiang Chuyi’s head really hurt. She took a shower, removed her makeup, heated some milk, and lay on the bay window in the bedroom to dry her hair.
She replied to WeChat messages while browsing Xiaohongshu, playing with her phone from time to time. In her idleness, recalling today’s encounter, Jiang Chuyi opened Weibo and searched for Zong Ye using an alt account.
As soon as she typed the name into the search bar, many terms related to Zong Ye popped up.
Zong Ye, Xin He.
Xin He?
Jiang Chuyi didn’t have much private interaction with Xin He, but since they were close in age, when netizens compared the development of young actresses in each age group, they were occasionally put together for comparison.
Of course, every time, she was the one being put down.
With a bit of gossipy curiosity, Jiang Chuyi clicked on a headline article recently published by a familiar marketing account—”The Glamorous Young Actress Xin He, a Woman Even Zong Ye Loves but Cannot Have.”
The title alone was quite sensational.
Unsurprisingly, the comment section was a complete massacre. Although Xin He was already one of the top young actresses in terms of popularity, she was still ruthlessly crushed in the face of absolute popularity. The top comments were all a vast ocean of curses.
“I don’t understand. Nowadays, fans like to force the top star to love your idol but cannot have them? Drug chicken fans really have no heart.”
“A certain actress is really determined to cling onto him. My brother can’t escape no matter how he tries to avoid her.”
“The world is vast, but not as vast as the two taels of meat on your sister’s face.”
These fans were indeed very vicious when it came to cursing others.
Jiang Chuyi scrolled down and saw a photo of Zong Ye.
As she looked at it, her mind wandered… A strange sense of familiarity rose in her heart.
Especially those eyes, the slightly curved arc when he smiled, suddenly brought out some vague fragments in her mind.
But when she tried to grasp and think about them, these fragments disappeared like a fleeting shooting star, turning into a flash of white light.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall where she had seen him before.
However, she quickly let it go.
Although BloodxGentle had only debuted a few years ago, their rapid rise to fame was well-known, and there were huge posters of them everywhere.
Even when secluding herself in a remote place like Hengdian, Jiang Chuyi could occasionally hear news related to them.
This inexplicable familiarity with Zong Ye probably stemmed from the slight impressions left by occasional glimpses.
Zong Ye’s Weibo was a typical battleground between fans and haters: all kinds of rumors of unknown authenticity, artificially photoshopped black materials, heavily edited divine pictures posted by sasaengs, and achievement charts of various BloodxGentle members battling each other.
Jiang Chuyi didn’t know much and wasn’t particularly interested, but a popular Weibo post by a big V blogger caught her attention:
@Little Watermelon: What does it feel like to see Zong Ye in person in real life?
The comment section was filled with various responses, from gentle and hooking handsome guy to killing with looks. Jiang Chuyi had nothing better to do and read for a while, then objectively replied:
@The First Day of the Month Is a Good Day (tl: First day is read the same as her name, Chuyi): He is quite polite. His appearance in the entertainment industry probably belongs to the level of “not knowing how one could look like that.”
Unexpectedly, within a minute of posting, an alert fan immediately sent her a private message: “Are you a sasaeng?”
Jiang Chuyi was the type to avoid getting into trouble. After thinking for a moment, she replied, “Not a sasaeng. I picked him up at the airport before.”
The other person was half believing, half doubting.
Jiang Chuyi added in an attempt to cover up, “I’m just an ordinary fan. I only took a glance from afar at that time. There were a lot of people, and I almost got crushed.”
This seemed to dispel the other person’s suspicions. The girl on the other end of the internet empathized, “Yes, there are always a lot of people at offline events. It can’t be helped. BloodxGentle is just very popular. Be careful and stay safe next time!”
Jiang Chuyi responded politely with a few perfunctory words, but the girl seemed to have a feeling of finding a kindred spirit and enthusiastically shared various candid photos and stunning stage cuts of Zong Ye with her. Jiang Chuyi symbolically showered a few compliments.
Back and forth, the girl felt like she had found a kindred spirit and wanted to add Jiang Chuyi on WeChat to continue chatting.
Jiang Chuyi felt a bit overwhelmed and used the excuse of it being late at night to bid farewell for the time being, quickly leaving the non-peaceful place that was Weibo.
*
She slept until noon the next day before waking up. Jiang Chuyi habitually reached for her phone and opened the work group on WeChat.
Gao Ning had just forwarded a few audition requirements.
Jiang Chuyi clicked on one of the long images, which introduced the production team for the BloodxGentle movie this time. From top to bottom, the producers, supervisors, and directors were all familiar names, all top players in the industry.
Mobilizing such a large force for an album’s derivative movie? Bringing in a lineup that could almost rival a top-tier theatrical film?
This was the first time Jiang Chuyi had seen such a big investment, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.
She sat up and sent a message to Gao Ning on WeChat: [IM values it so much?]
Gao Ning: [Are you kidding? This is the fifth anniversary commemorative album. It should be the last official album with BloodxGentle together before they go solo. The attention it will receive will definitely be high.]
BloodxGentle was now famous across half the country, and everyone, human or ghost, wanted to hitch a ride on their popularity. As the production company, IM’s original plan was to handle it internally.
When the news first came out, the coordinators did receive a large number of resumes, but more than half were directly screened out in the first round, leaving almost only female artists under IM.
However, the director was from Hong Kong and had made several movies that were popular throughout the country in his early years. He was very proud and had extremely picky tastes.
After rounds of screening, the director was still not very satisfied, so he and the assistant director decided to conduct another round of interviews at the last minute.
This time, Jiang Chuyi could be considered lucky, managing to squeeze in as one of the candidates through Director Li’s connection.
The audition was a week later.
Gao Ning took Jiang Chuyi to the designated hotel. After entering the lobby and registering at the front desk, they got their access cards and went upstairs.
The entire 27th floor of the hotel was booked. Reception staff led the way and informed them that the morning batch of people had finished their auditions, and the afternoon auditions would start at three o’clock, with Jiang Chuyi being the last one.
When the second-to-last audition was halfway through, someone came to notify them.
The assistant stayed in the room to go over next month’s schedule with Gao Ning, while Jiang Chuyi was led to a separate suite.
There were quite a few people in the living room of the reception suite, rushing in and out.
She sat on the sofa, and someone took a break to bring her a glass of water. Jiang Chuyi smiled and said thank you.
She sat there alone, waiting.
After reading through the two-page script in her hand a few more times, there was suddenly movement beside her.
Jiang Chuyi turned to look.
The previous auditionee was being ushered out with people in front and behind. Judging from her expression, the audition just now must have gone very smoothly.
Jiang Chuyi recognized her.
Wasn’t that Xin He?
The busy people in the room also stopped what they were doing and went over to greet her.
Xin He maintained a reserved and polite smile the whole time, looking to be in a good mood, not affected by the online public opinion at all.
The liveliness in the distance and the coldness around her formed a stark contrast.
Jiang Chuyi didn’t feel any sense of disparity in her heart. Flattery and contempt were the norm in this circle, and she had long been used to this kind of treatment.
As a new generation artist heavily promoted by HuaRui, Xin He’s recent popularity was unmatched among her peers, and her future looked bright, so naturally, she received more attention than others.
After finishing the water in the cup, a girl ran over in a hurry, “Ms. Jiang, the assistant director is calling you to go in and prepare.”
“Oh, okay.”
Jiang Chuyi stood up and followed her in.
It was a conference hall divided into inner and outer rooms. The assistant director was sitting outside, smiling and waving at Jiang Chuyi, “Little Yi, come over quickly.”
Jiang Chuyi was a bit surprised and walked over briskly, “Auntie Lin.”
“Long time no see.” Lin Gongqiong pulled her to sit down, “How has Old Qin been lately?”
Lin Gongqiong and her mentor Qin Tong were good friends for many years. Jiang Chuyi had encountered Lin Gongqiong a few times when they attended banquets together.
When she was 8 years old, she had the opportunity to be noticed by Qin Tong and acted in a movie he directed, thus stepping into the entertainment industry.
Qin Tong could be considered to have watched her grow up, and over time, he also became her guide. The circle of veteran seniors who had a good relationship with Qin Tong often took care of her for his sake.
No wonder Director Li was so agreeable this time. He was probably going with the flow and doing a favor.
Jiang Chuyi replied, “His health has improved a lot recently, and he often mentions you to me.”
Lin Gongqiong smiled, “Next time you return to Beijing, let’s have a meal together at my house. I’ll cook personally.”
Jiang Chuyi responded with “Sounds good.”
Lin Gongqiong raised her hand and called out, “Come over and get acquainted.”
Following her words, Jiang Chuyi turned her head and only then noticed two people sitting in the corner.
The one on the left was sprawled comfortably on the sofa, chewing gum with legs crossed. Upon hearing the words, he didn’t move but glanced over obliquely.
This person had an extreme cyberpunk style. His hair was dyed with a few streaks, his ear was studded with exaggerated earrings, and he wore a silver ring on his right index finger.
When he made eye contact with Jiang Chuyi, he smiled at her, blowing a bubble with his mouth.
Slender single eyelids, enchanting and charming, very bewitching.
Jiang Chuyi pondered for a few seconds.
If she guessed correctly, this should be Wang Tan.
As for the other person beside Wang Tan… Jiang Chuyi had already seen him before, so her gaze slid over hastily and withdrew.
As Zong Ye was about to stand up, Wang Tan lazily patted his clothes and stood up first, walking towards Jiang Chuyi.
He propped his elbow on the edge of the table with one hand, his beautiful and delicate face leaning close to her, blinking, “Hi.”
“…Hello.”
“I’ve long admired your great reputation, senior.”
Jiang Chuyi felt his tone was a bit strange and scooted back a little, “You’re too kind.”
She really couldn’t accept being called senior by him with a straight face.
“I grew up watching your movies since I was a child,” Wang Tan smiled, “You’re my childhood idol.”
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
She didn’t believe him at all and reluctantly smiled, “Thank you.”
How could he even use the respectful “you” reserved for elders… and childhood idol. Even though he looked quite young, she had only debuted early, which made her a bit more seasoned. She shouldn’t be much older than him, right?
She was thinking to herself when the chair to her right was pulled out. Jiang Chuyi looked over unhurriedly, and the person sat down.
Seeing that it was Zong Ye, Jiang Chuyi subconsciously sat up straight but didn’t speak first.
He said in a low voice, “Hello, I’m Zong Ye.”
“Hello.” Jiang Chuyi cautiously extended her hand, “I’m Jiang Chuyi.”
Her fingers were slender and the back of her hand was very white. Her nails were painted a slightly transparent pink.
After a moment of silence, Zong Ye composedly returned the handshake, “I know.”
Zong Ye didn’t seem to be surprised seeing that the last auditionee was her.
Based on the principle of the less trouble, the better, since he didn’t “recognize her,” Jiang Chuyi also breathed a sigh of relief and pretended to forget their past encounter.
*
Soon, a staff member came to notify Jiang Chuyi to go in and wait.
Everything had gone smoothly so far, and there was only the last part left, which required acting out a scene with someone else, a scene from the movie’s subplot.
On her birthday, the female protagonist bought a cake by herself. On the way home, while waiting at a red light, she was attracted by a street busker playing guitar on the roadside. After stopping to listen to a song, she walked up and struck up a conversation.
There were a few fixed lines, and the rest relied on improvisation, which wasn’t difficult for Jiang Chuyi.
The director casually pointed at someone, “Go.”
Zong Ye seemed to have been assigned similar tasks many times before. Upon hearing the order, he skillfully sat on the chair in the audition area, with one leg slightly bent and his foot resting on the crossbar, placing the guitar horizontally on his knee to tune it.
After tuning, he looked up at Jiang Chuyi.
She silently prayed in her heart that Zong Ye would not give her a hard time at this moment.
The two got into position, and the camera lens pointed at them. The director signaled that they could begin.
The entire set quieted down.
A somewhat soothing tune began to play.
Zong Ye’s posture while holding the guitar was very casual, with his arm leaning on the body of the guitar, using his index and ring fingers to press the strings and adjust the pitch.
Jiang Chuyi couldn’t help but get a little distracted.
She had heard before that their stage presence was explosive, giving people the impression that they were not to be messed with. She didn’t expect him to be playing this song.
After the music ended, she silently counted to ten in her heart, controlled her expression, and slowly walked towards Zong Ye, “This song is really nice.”
“Thank you.”
“May I ask what it’s called?”
Zong Ye sat there quietly and gave the answer.
It was an English word.
Jiang Chuyi: “<<Creep>>? Daniela Andrade’s version?”
Zong Ye: “Mm.”
“I used to love listening to this song.”
He wasn’t particularly surprised and was silent for a moment before saying, “Is that so? What a coincidence.”
This was the first time she had seen Zong Ye in a well-lit place.
He was leaning slightly on the back of the chair, his eyelashes half-lowered, the contours of his face like lines carefully drawn with a brush, smooth yet sharp in the rise and fall. Only his eyes were the sole non-cold part of his features. Even if he glanced at someone unintentionally, they seemed affectionate.
Since Zong Ye and she didn’t have any mishaps, the last segment was completed smoothly in almost one take.
After the director called “cut,” she was called over. They had to clear the space for BloodxGentle’s magazine shoot soon and didn’t have much time to chat. The director seemed quite satisfied with her and only asked a few symbolic questions.
The audition was declared over, and the set began to prepare to wrap up.
In a corner not far away, Zong Ye was alone, putting the guitar into its case.
Jiang Chuyi packed up her things and returned the props to the on-site staff. When she passed by Zong Ye, she paused and stopped to politely greet him.
Seeing that it was her, Zong Ye stopped what he was doing and turned his head slightly.
She smiled politely, “Good work.”
Zong Ye: “You too.”
Seeing his calm reaction, Jiang Chuyi suddenly realized that she seemed a bit overly familiar.
Jiang Chuyi didn’t continue the conversation and said goodbye tactfully, “Well, you go ahead and work. I’ll be going.”
Zong Ye originally wanted to say something but paused for a few seconds and smiled at her very lightly, “I hope I didn’t cause you any trouble today.”
Jiang Chuyi was stunned.
[You’re a celebrity, right? Be careful when going out to play in the future and don’t cause trouble for innocent passersby in public places.]
The scene from a few days ago flashed quickly through her mind. She had lectured the top star in the industry in front of her with a righteous tone, impatiently, and even threatened to call the police. Jiang Chuyi suddenly felt a bit regretful for drinking so much and not having a filter on her mouth. Now there was no changing the past.
She couldn’t figure out if Zong Ye was hinting at her or what. She paused for two seconds, as if she didn’t understand his words, and said in confusion, “How could that be? Your performance today was outstanding.”
When Zong Ye picked up the guitar case and brushed past her, he said, “That’s good then.”
For some reason, Jiang Chuyi felt a sense of profoundness in these three words.
She silently watched him walk away, feeling a strange calm before the storm.
Jiang Chuyi suddenly remembered her cousin’s advice to her.
\- “Sis, whatever you do, don’t get involved with Zong Ye and them.”
\- “What if I do get involved?”
\- “Then you’re in for a grand affair.”
