Vase cannon fodder is pampered by the group again

Chapter 77.1

Editor: Princess

The predicted rainfall time was three o’clock in the afternoon. At the foot of the mountain, sunshine still gleamed brightly while the sky remained azure blue.

The weather was pleasant and mild. Moreover, this mountain had been developed quite maturely for tourism. The local tourism bureau had specifically conducted advance inspections, ensuring maximum safety guarantees.

The group rested once midway through their journey. Then after climbing for just over two hours, they reached the mountain peak. The crew had already set up camp earlier.

From a distance, they could see crowds of people bustling about in the campsite. Massive cameras and jibs were wrapped in plastic sheeting, towering conspicuously overhead while crew members from various departments busily arranged the set.

“Finally made it…”

When approaching the campsite, Shen Ci finally could not hold on any longer. Gasping for breath, he found a flat boulder and plopped down onto it heavily, exhausted to the point where his eyes rolled.

A crew member with good observation skills immediately rushed over with a sports drink and towel.

Shen Ci weakly expressed his thanks, lifting his sweat-dampened hair to wipe his skin, too lazy to exert effort twisting the bottle cap.

Brother Zhang followed over and casually twisted open the drink before handing it to Shen Ci, laughing mockingly.

“Oh my, Ci Bao’er’s weakling physique… If you knew this would happen, why did you insist on being stubborn? When you couldn’t climb anymore, you should have given me your backpack instead of stubbornly carrying it yourself, hahaha…”

Brother Zhang was carrying a gigantic hiking backpack that could equal four of Shen Ci’s small packs. However, after reaching the summit, he acted as if nothing had happened, remaining leisurely and even regretting that the mountain was too short since he had not climbed to his heart’s content.

Shen Ci gulped down several large mouthfuls of the drink before giving him a thumbs up weakly. “I’m convinced. Is this the world of the strong…?”

Brother Zhang burst into hearty laughter, set down his heavy hiking pack, and hummed a tune while arranging Shen Ci’s disheveled hair.

Shen Ci had spent a long time carefully tying his hair that morning. However, his skills were too poor, so by the time he climbed halfway up the mountain, half of it had come undone. Now even the hair tie had disappeared somewhere.

Brother Zhang felt around his pants pocket and pulled out a simple black hair tie.

Shen Ci always forgot things and rarely brought spare hair ties when going out. After people around him got used to seeing him tie small hair knots, they habitually kept extras in their pockets for him.

After stroking his chin and examining Shen Ci for a long while, Brother Zhang decisively pulled all of Shen Ci’s hair upward, tying it right at the top of his head into a skyward braid. The soft, curved hair bounced up and down like a large cowlick.

The new hairstyle immediately made Shen Ci feel much cooler. However, before long, the hair at the back of his head slowly slipped out from the hair tie, drooping limply against his neck again and creating sticky, sweaty dampness.

“Wait here. I’ll go get some hair clips.”

Brother Zhang turned around to find the makeup artist. After a while, he returned carrying a… pink, tender butterfly bow?

“…” Shen Ci’s mouth twitched. This thing was not going to be placed on his head, was it?

Brother Zhang looked helpless. “The makeup artists are all busy. I met a kind-hearted crew member girl who gave you the one from her own head. There’s no other choice. Xiao Ci, just make do with it.”

Shen Ci said, “…But I feel like you’re laughing wildly.”

Brother Zhang almost could not hold back his laughter and coughed seriously. “Stop talking nonsense!”

His protest proved ineffective. Shen Ci was forced to wear the pink hair clip and grudgingly carried his backpack toward the camp.

The large cowlick on top of his head bounced with each step he took. The girly butterfly bow at the back of his head was excessively eye-catching. People passing by burst into laughter one after another, creating a cheerful atmosphere.

“Teacher Xiao Shen is so cute! But he looks so silly, hahaha…”

“Baby, look at the camera and let us take a picture!”

“When watching variety shows, he was already making me die of laughter. He really lives up to his reputation.”

The photographer even urgently turned on his camera specifically to shoot behind-the-scenes footage, persistently chasing him across half the campsite.

“Is this really necessary…?”

Shen Ci felt extremely gloomy, thinking that if he were Lu Xiao, one glance would be enough to scare anyone who dared mock him.

However, it was indeed quite cool. The refreshing mountain breeze blew against his exposed, sweat-dampened neck. If they weren’t filming, this would definitely be a pleasant mountain climbing trip.

Walking closer to his assigned camping area, he saw that Lu An was already busy organizing things there with three or four crew members helping.

After scanning around several times, he didn’t see Yu Yang. He set down his backpack and casually asked about it, only to learn that Yu Yang had not come up the mountain.

Lu An probably made this decision because he was afraid more unpleasantness might occur.

Brother Zhang sighed. “Later we’ll need to find a reason to dismiss him. Having him around you two really makes people anxious…”

Shen Ci deeply agreed. “Exactly! He even climbed on top of Xiao An to lecture him! If Xiao An had an agent, they would slap him directly!”

A great advertising opportunity presented itself. He threw a flirtatious glance toward Lu An. “That’s why, Xiao An, quickly come to our Great Yunxiao! Good-tempered, gold-medal agents are available for you to choose from! The treatment is extremely good with tons of resources!”

Lu An said calmly, “You want to recruit me to work for Yunxiao? Are you saying this as Yunxiao’s boss lady?”

Shen Ci: ???

This was his well-intentioned recommendation as a friend!

Brother Zhang laughed while chiming in. “You really got that right. My boss is just a big spendthrift who throws money around every day to make his sweetheart happy, so of course the boss lady needs to work harder to supplement the household income.”

“…” Shen Ci’s face instantly turned red. “What nonsense are you spouting… I’m going to get my makeup done!”

Brother Zhang’s mouth running wild was one thing, but how had Lu An also learned to be mischievous?

After Shen Ci muttered a few words embarrassedly, he turned and ran, nearly tripping in his panic, causing Brother Zhang to burst out laughing.

He pattered off alone to the temporarily erected makeup tent. Brother Zhang quickly followed and dutifully stood guard nearby, suppressing his laughter while watching him.

“Teacher Xiao Shen’s face could cook eggs now. What did you just do?” The makeup artist laughed while teasing him, applying moisturizer to Shen Ci while secretly poking his delicate, fair skin.

Shen Ci stammered incoherently, unable to speak. The makeup artist noticed the skin under her hands growing even hotter and said with a mix of laughter and tears, “I won’t ask anymore. Xiao Shen, calm down.”

The makeup artist spent nearly an hour giving Shen Ci basic makeup. More detailed work would be added before filming in the afternoon.

Soon it was lunch time, and the crew stopped working.

Delivering meals up the mountain was not easy. The crew’s lunch boxes consisted mostly of self-heating foods, but most actors brought their own meals.

Besides high nutritional requirements, ensuring good condition for afternoon filming was also an important reason.

Shen Ci, who had been prevented from eating self-heating hot pot, wilted dejectedly. He sat in the open space outside the makeup area, his head down, picking at the food Brother Zhang had brought.

The food came from a certain local high-end private restaurant. Its enticing aroma drew sidelong glances from people around them, their Adam’s apples sliding in unison as they swallowed saliva.

Yet the person eating it sighed and groaned.

“Brother Zhang, look how beautiful this green vegetable is. Yet it can’t swim freely in hot pot.” Shen Ci picked up a green vegetable. “So regrettable. I really want to fulfill its life’s wish.”

Brother Zhang who was peeling shrimp for him stuffed it into Shen Ci’s mouth coldly. “Stop fantasizing and eat your food quickly.”

“Mmm…” Shen Ci chewed the shrimp meat glumly while beginning to fantasize about the beautiful scene after his hot pot restaurant opened.

“Huh? Are those tourists? There are quite a few of them.”

“That’s not right. Director Min should have arranged to reserve the entire area, shouldn’t he?”

“Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be any tourists. Let me go ask.”

“…”