Editor: Yumilnoue
Chapter 2
Early the next morning, Xu Luoyang was awakened by the ringing of his mobile phone. He put the phone to his ear in a daze, “Hello” twice, and then belatedly realized that he hadn’t pressed answer.
— That idiot just now must not be me!
After a few words, he suddenly heard the agent on the other side of the phone mention Qi Chang’an, Xu Luoyang sobered up in a second, “Brother Zheng, don’t worry, Qi Chang’an is very nice, his personality… He’s very nice, good-looking and has great acting skills! … He has a big heart and can accommodate the four corners of the world. There is no inferiority complex, jealousy or hatred…..”
He scratched his hair sleepily. It was almost eight o’clock, so Xu Luoyang simply pressed the speakerphone and got out of bed and went to the wardrobe to find something to wear.
He hung up the phone only after his agent had been reassured, opened the bedroom door gingerly, and yawned with his mouth wide open without the burden of an idol. When he saw a man sitting on the sofa, his yawn got stuck in the middle of his mouth and his f**king jaw almost dislocated.
He reached out to cover his mouth, and when he saw Qi Chang’an looking over, he instantly put his hand back down, showing his standard smile, “Good morning, didn’t you sleep more?”
“Good morning.” Qi Chang’an returned the smile, “I woke up at the right time and couldn’t sleep, so I just got up.”
He said, “You have a strong biological clock, but I don’t. Every morning when I wake up I feel like I have not slept much every time, so I fall back into bed when I’m not paying attention.”
“Maybe it’s because of gravity?” Qi Chang’an still had a faint blue shadow under his eyes, but it was much better than last night. He tilted his head to look at Xu Luoyang, the corners of his pale lips curved slightly, the tail end of his words lilting, sounding particularly attractive.
“Yes! No wonder I have to rely on my explosive power to get up every morning!” Xu Luoyang decided to write it down – one more good reason to deal with his agent!
His line of sight fell on the twitching corners of the other side’s smiling mouth for a moment, and Xu Luoyang thought to himself that he really wasn’t lying to Zheng Dong just now. His roommate, at least on the surface, seemed really nice to be around, so he relaxed his tone a little more.
“Do you want to use the bathroom? If not, I’ll go wash up.”
“I’ve already used it, you go ahead.”
Qi Chang’an’s speech was unhurried and pleasant to the ear. He sat in a relaxed position, but his back was straight, and a rough ceramic cup was placed in front of him.
Xu Luoyang took a glance at the cup as he passed by, and noticed that the cup was half full of green tea leaves, and his mouth automatically became bitter. But Qi Chang’an’s finger was on the handle of the cup, and the ceramic cup immediately went from a 5.50 yuan disposable product on the roadside to a 500.50 yuan high-end product.
Sigh, looks really saved the day!
After boiling two eggs for breakfast, Xu Luoyang saw Qi Chang’an flipping through a stack of A4 papers in his hand, and didn’t avoid him, so he asked in passing, “What are you reading?”
“The script.”
“?” Almost choked by the egg yolk, Xu Luoyang hurriedly took two sips of water, subconsciously ready to go over and read it, but immediately stopped moving, “The script of the movie we’re going to make? The new version?”
“Mn, there was a knock on the door this morning. The person ran away as soon as the door was opened, leaving a blue plastic bag hanging on the door handle.” Qi Chang’an handed another copy to Xu Luoyang, “I saw on the cover it’s marked ‘Script 9.2’, so it’s not the same as the one we received before.”
“The last one I received was version 7.1, it’s so up-to-date!” Xu Luoyang finished the boiled egg in a few bites, and flipped through it hastily, “Even the age of the main character has been changed, tsk, the scriptwriter must have been abused by Director Zhang a hundred times again.”
Then, both of them fell silent, and the only sound left in the room was the flipping of papers.
“It’s more layered than the last version of the character.” Qi Chang’an took a sip of his strong tea and his smile deepened, “Director Zhang’s style, cutting from small places and small characters, is brilliant.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Xu Luoyang finished watching, his whole body was excited, he looked at Qi Chang’an with great interest, “So… Practice the lines?”
Qi Chang’an didn’t say whether he was okay with it or not, but once he spoke, his tone and voice changed significantly, “Qin Chao, you see I’ve been doing woodworking for two hours.”
When he said this, Qi Chang’an’s sitting posture changed, his legs were slightly apart, as if he had some kind of tool between his knees. His expression was wooden, his back was bent, and he appeared to be in a hurry, but underneath his usual flat tone, there was a hint of worry.
As soon as he heard this opening, Xu Luoyang realized that Qi Chang’an had chosen the middle of the third scene, in which Qin Chao, who had been a policeman for several years, left his job and returned to the town, where he met Xu Zhan, whom he had grown up with.
Looking at his opponent’s posture and attitude, his nerves felt like electricity – the thrill of having found a good rival!
With his legs splayed, Xu Luoyang’s movements were a little rough, his fingers were in the position of a cigarette, and he replied casually, “Time flies when you’re doing woodwork.”
He tugged at the corners of his mouth, but didn’t succeed in smiling, the curve of his mouth withdrawn, revealing some disillusionment. Twisting his thumb and forefinger, ‘Qin Chao’s’ voice was deep, “Ah Zhan, do you think being a carpenter is harder than being a policeman?”
Zhan shook his head gently, still mumbling, but the worry in his eyes was more obvious.
Qin Chao’s smile was fleeting, his voice was a little lighter, his tone indifferent, “Then I’ll learn carpentry from you, to earn a living, not to become a police officer, do you think you can take me as a disciple?”
Looking at ‘Qin Chao’ for a moment, ‘Ah Zhan’ tilted his head in a small way, pursed his lips, and took a moment to reply, “No, you can’t be a carpenter if your heart is not quiet.” The voice was small, but firm.
‘Qin Chao’ stared at the man in front of him, his eyes piercing, his nostrils flared, as if reaching a critical point, he suddenly stood up and roared in a low, repressed voice, “You fucking despise me too, don’t you? Huh?”
Blue veins stood out on his temples, like a trapped beast in an iron cage, unable to vent his anger, ‘Qin Chao’ kicked the coffee table with a ‘thud’, a dull thud.
“I don’t.” In a very low voice, ‘Ah Zhan’ only said this, looking up at the fierce man quietly, then lowering his head and continuing with his woodwork, leaving a silent side face.
After ten seconds had passed slowly, Xu Luoyang suddenly noticed that Qi Chang’an’s aura had changed again, like a pool of corrosive black water, and his originally light brow was like a knife’s edge, making his heart tighten.
He could sense that it was a change of scene again.
“Surprised?” Qi Chang’an, no, ‘Ah Zhan’ looked at ‘Qin Chao’, the smile at the corner of his mouth lightly mocking.
Swallowing, “Yes.” Xu Luoyang quickly got into the scene, ‘Qin Chao’ voice was hoarse, his hand clenched into a fist and slammed it on the table twice to ease his emotions, but he couldn’t keep it down and raised his voice violently, “Can’t I be surprised? You’re my fucking brother, we grew up together! How the fuck did you turn into a–“
“A murderer.” ‘Ah Zhan’ took the words from him in a flat tone, saying the words that ‘Qin Chao’ dared not say, and stood up.
Xu Luoyang subconsciously took a step backwards, his back shivering.
He saw Qi Chang’an step closer to him, and then, their body temperatures touched, and his warm breath and cold words were in his ears, “Qin Chao, I’ve killed people, and not just one.” And then, with a low laugh, “But… can you find proof? Hmm?”
The tone of his voice was pleasant.
At this moment, ‘Qin Chao’s’ breathing calmed down, and he slowly raised his hand, his five fingers were strong, and he tightened his arms around the other person, and also put his voice close to the other person’s ear, and his breath was squeezed out through his teeth, “If I can’t find the proof, the son I give birth to will have your surname!”
Sensitive to the fact that when his hand was on Qi Chang’an’s back, he stiffened for a few seconds, Xu Luoyang quickly withdrew his hand, and his fierce aura dissipated in an instant. He fell back onto the sofa on his side, clutching his foot and screaming, “Ouch, ouch, ouch…”
The tears he had been holding back filled his eyes, and Xu Luoyang’s face crumpled like a rag, “I would have faked kicking the coffee table if I had known it was so hard! It hurt so much that the spiral exploded and flew up!”
Qi Chang’an was amused by the way he jumped on one foot, and his body relaxed slowly.
His toes were still sore, but when Xu Luoyang looked at Qi Chang’an, who was sitting back in his original position, he suddenly understood why he couldn’t get tired of watching [Snowstorm] more than ten or twenty times. Why did he win the Best Actor award at the Wells International Film Festival just because he was a newcomer to show business?
He really has a wonderful attraction. No, he was definitely on a roll!
In those few minutes, Xu Luoyang felt that he was really facing Xu Zhan, the young carpenter in the small town who was so wooden but hiding so deeply. Admittedly, although his own scene was more emotionally charged, he was being led by Qi Chang’an from beginning to end.
But it was so good, he felt like he could be in heaven in the next second!
Xu Luoyang didn’t know how to describe this excitement, so he simply took a wet towel and wiped his hands, then reached out to Qi Chang’an and took a deep breath, “Happy cooperation!”
After staring at Xu Luoyang’s hand for a while, Qi Chang’an also stood up and put his hand on Xu Luoyang’s, “Happy cooperation.”
The wet wipes were green tea scented, making the air around them smell like this.
Finding that Qi Chang’an quickly withdrew his hand, Xu Luoyang sat down and helplessly took a wet tissue and handed it over, “I know you don’t like that my hand just touched my foot.”
Qi Chang’an did not deny it, but naturally followed it, not even missing his fingertips.
Xu Luoyang laughed as he watched Qi Chang’an wipe his fingers again and again, “That’s enough, can you not do it in front of me? It hurts my pride!”
“Okay.” Qi Chang’an’s expression was quite relaxed, and he looked up at the person sitting lazily across from him, “Then as compensation for hurting your pride, I’ll buy you dinner?”
“Go out to eat?” Xu Luoyang sat up straight with his pillow, rubbed his chin and suggested, “It’s no fun going out to eat, how about this, cook at home! Wish us success and happy living together!”
Qi Chang’an was fine with it, but, “I can’t cook, can you?”
“Then you must know! It’s a necessary skill for a good family man in the new century, right? Let me show you!”
For the rest of the morning, Xu Luoyang closed the kitchen door and wondered what was going on in there. Qi Chang’an sat on the sofa and continued to read the script, very calm and collected.
At twelve o’clock, the kitchen door opened and Xu Luoyang stood in the doorway, making a ‘forbidden’ gesture towards Qi Chang’an, mysteriously, “Don’t move, you can come back when I’m done serving the food.”
Qi Chang’an was very cooperative and sat back down again with the script.
Five minutes later, Xu Luoyang stood next to the table and greeted, “Okay, you can come and enjoy my masterpiece now!”
When Qi Chang’an stood at the table, Xu Luoyang pointed to the fried vegetables on the plate and introduced them, “This is scrambled eggs with tomatoes,” and then pointed to the soup, “This is tomato and egg soup.” After saying that, he looked at Qi Chang’an with an expectant face, if he had a tail, he would have started to wiggle around with glee.
Qi Chang’an looked at the soup and the dishes on the table, and all the compliments he had thought of before were not quite applicable, so in the end he could only give a simple compliment, “Very impressive.”
But this compliment was a great comfort to Xu Luoyang’s cracked heart, as he took out his phone to take a picture, and then quickly posted it with the text, “Amazing, right? I want to be proud for 50 days!”
After posting his Weibo and friends circle, Xu Luoyang sat down contentedly, “My manager always says I’m too diligent in posting Weibo, there’s no mystery, but I don’t understand how to post one Weibo in six months, I feel like I can’t show my talent if I don’t post Weibo for one day!”
Qi Chang’an belonged to the group of people who ‘never posted’, he thought about it, “Maybe those people think that there is nothing interesting in their lives to share with others.”
“Why not? There’s a lot of interesting things, eh, let me show you this!” Xu Luoyang handed over his phone, and the topic ran a hundred meters, “A fan flipped it out, this is my look when I debuted when I was nineteen, when I still had pure black hair. See if my hair is particularly black, like pure sesame seeds born from black sesame and black sesame seeds, black and shiny, unfortunately later on, my natural beauty was covered up by hair dyes, sigh!”
Qi Chang’an looked at the obviously smaller Xu Luoyang in the photo and commented heartily, “You were very pretty back then.”
His skin was white, his eyes were focused, and his smile was particularly bright, with a sense of openness and youthfulness.
“That’s right, back then, I was one of those little wolf-dog types that are so popular now, but now,” he tsked, sighing quietly, “I’m an old, single, empty-nester, and my agent is worried that I’ll lose my job one day, and my hair will fall out.”
“Then I’m a single, empty nester too.” Qi Chang’an took a piece of scrambled egg, it was a bit salty, but he had a good appetite, even eating white rice tasted good.
After thinking about it and putting down his chopsticks, Qi Chang’an sounded quite serious, “But I think you’re quite good now.”
“I think so too!” Xu Luoyang nodded his head a few times in agreement, and praised her sincerely, “You’re also very good, good-looking, and your acting skills are particularly good!”
After saying that, Xu Luoyang bit into his chopsticks and smiled – it seemed like he had succeeded in doing the ‘business flattery job’ so naturally?
In the evening, Qi Chang’an was reading a script in his bedroom. The phone screen lit up, he picked up the phone, “Liang Qiu?”
“Young master Qi,” Liang Qiu’s voice was the usual respectful one, “how are you getting on with your stay? If not, I can negotiate with the crew for a better place.”
“No, it’s fine.” Qi Chang’an refused without even thinking about it.
Liang Qiu was a bit surprised, the place where Qi Chang’an lived, he had gone to see it with Xu Luoyang’s agent Zheng Dong in advance, it was clean, but it was an old building, it didn’t even have a lift, not even close to ‘very good’.
As if knowing Liang Qiu’s doubts, Qi Chang’an gave a rare explanation, “The people are very nice.”
Liang Qiu immediately understood – the place he lived in was not good, but the people he lived with were very nice. He was just starting to recall Xu Luoyang’s profile in his head when he heard Qi Chang’an continue, “He’s very interesting.”
Interesting? Liang Qiu froze, he had been with Qi Chang’an for two years, this was the highest comment he had ever heard from Qi Chang’an! He was so surprised that he didn’t even know how to answer.
After waiting for a while, there was still no sound from the phone, Qi Chang’an still said ‘goodbye’ before hanging up. Rubbing his fingers against the screen, his eyes dropping in thought for half a minute, he closed the script and downloaded a software.
He waited patiently for it to install, entered his login password, typed ‘Xu Luoyang’ into the search box, and finally clicked on Xu Luoyang’s Weibo page.
He immediately recognized the top post, a picture of the tomatoes and egg soup he had eaten for lunch, and Xu Luoyang’s caption, “Amazing, right? I want to be proud for 50 days!”
Qi Chang’an clicked on the retweet, thought about it, and then commented, “Very impressive.”
When he turned off his phone, his Weibo followers had gone from 0 to 1.
Qi Chang’an went to sleep, but the others exploded.
Zheng Dong: Xu Luoyang didn’t follow him right away? No, no, I have to call and ask!
Liang Qiu: How can young master Qi still remember his Weibo password? No, I thought you never posted? This doesn’t seem right?
Fans: Qi Chang’an and Xu Luoyang! I… We need to slow down!!!
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I think in the last para, it’ll be following instead of follower