I Rely on My Versatility to Reach the Top of the Entertainment Industry [Ancient Times to Modern] - Chapter 48

Lu Yuzhi thought to himself as he watched Jing Yi close the webpage, comforting him, “Don’t be sad, there will be more opportunities.”

Jing Yi glanced sideways and smiled, “I’m not sad.”

The well-behaved young man’s eyes truly held no trace of sadness, his gaze still clear and lovely.

Lu Yuzhi didn’t say anything more, setting down the hairdryer. “Alright, you rest first. I’m going to take a shower.”

Jing Yi nodded and placed his phone on the bedside table.

By then, Lu Yuzhi had already taken his clothes and entered the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water came from behind the glass door.

Jing Yi’s hearing had always been sharp. After staring at the bathroom door for a while, he silently lowered his head and raised a hand to touch his cheek.

—It really was warm.

Back at the temple, his fellow disciples had never been shy about bathing in front of each other. So why was it that now, just the thought of the shadow reflected on the glass being Lu Yuzhi made him feel… shy?

Sinful.

Jing Yi crossed his legs and began chanting the calming mantra in a soft voice.

The gentle recitation of scriptures masked the sound of running water until the bathroom door opened.

Lu Yuzhi emerged wearing a bathrobe, the half-open front revealing the distinct contours of his chest muscles.

Jing Yi’s gaze lingered there for a moment before he quickly looked away, pulling the covers over himself in a flash.

Lu Yuzhi tilted his head slightly, water droplets from his messy, damp hair sliding down his perfectly sculpted jawline and dripping onto the floor.

He curled his lips into a smile as he looked at Jing Yi, who was completely hidden under the covers, and said softly, “Going to sleep already? I was hoping you could help me dry my hair.”

Jing Yi blinked.

That’s right—Lu Yuzhi had dried his hair for him, so he should return the favor.

“Not yet,” Jing Yi sat up again. “I’ll help you.”

Lu Yuzhi sat on the chair with his back to Jing Yi, a sly glint in his amber eyes as his plan succeeded.

Unable to see Lu Yuzhi’s expression, Jing Yi diligently dried his short hair and reported, “Yuzhi, it’s done.”

“Mm.”

Lu Yuzhi stood up, took the hairdryer from Jing Yi, and put it away in the case. When he turned back, the lights were off.

Moonlight streaming through the window faintly outlined the bed.

Lu Yuzhi shook his head in silent amusement and slipped under the covers of the double bed.

The slight movement made Jing Yi’s body stiffen slightly.

At Lu Yuzhi’s home, Lu Yuzhi would often reach out and hold him while they slept, though their bodies never made much additional contact.

Jing Yi had already prepared himself to be held by Lu Yuzhi again, but after a long while, there was no movement from Lu Yuzhi’s side.

It seemed… Yuzhi had changed his habits today.

Jing Yi closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Just as he was drifting off, a warm arm wrapped around his waist.

He froze for a moment, then turned over.

Lu Yuzhi was taken aback.

The young man had turned over directly into his embrace.

This had never happened before.

Patting the young man’s back, Lu Yuzhi whispered, “Sleep now, be good.”

“Mm,” Jing Yi replied in a soft, drowsy voice before falling into a deep sleep.

…

Due to his role as the secondary antagonist, Jing Yi’s scenes soon reached their conclusion.

In the drama, Song Yu’s carefully laid plans had only managed to defeat the Song family but failed to bring down his half-brother, Song Qi. The two engaged in a fierce battle on the church rooftop, transitioning from a gunfight to hand-to-hand combat, until the female lead arrived with a group of people.

Knowing he couldn’t escape, Song Yu looked at his beloved elder brother, who had grown up showered with affection, threw his head back with a maniacal laugh, and leaped from the tall building.

Once again, Gu Chen found himself mesmerized by Jing Yi’s performance.

The falling scene was captured using a drone follow-shot.

The young man with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth had eyes filled with madness, anticipation, and liberation.

Multiple emotions swirled in those eyes, ultimately dissolving into nothingness.

The actor playing Song Qi was Sheng Xiaguang.

Watching Jing Yi fall gracefully, Sheng Xiaguang reached out a hand, his eyes tinged with a trace of pain and regret.

Jing Yi’s expression was so infectious that in that moment, he couldn’t distinguish whether the one falling was Song Yu or Jing Yi himself.

Both lead actors had perfectly conveyed the emotions for this scene, leaving Gu Chen quite satisfied.

He walked over to Jing Yi, who was having his harness removed, and handed him the pre-prepared red envelope to ward off bad luck.

Knowing the tradition, Jing Yi accepted without refusal.

Just as Gu Chen was about to speak further, Lu Yuzhi’s voice came from nearby: “Are you tired?”

Jing Yi’s gaze instantly shifted: “Not tired.”

“I ordered milk tea for you.” Lu Yuzhi brought the cup to Jing Yi’s lips. “Specially bought to celebrate your wrap. After drinking it, we’ll go home and do a few extra sets of exercises.”

Jing Yi kept his eyes fixed on the milk tea as he replied: “Okay.”

Gu Chen swallowed the compliments he had prepared and said conventionally: “Mr. Jing, I hope we’ll have another chance to collaborate in the future.”

“Yes, there will be opportunities.” Lu Yuzhi responded on behalf of Jing Yi, stepping forward to face Gu Chen. “Director Gu has surpassed his mentors. When you have good projects in the future, you must think of our Jing Yi first.”

As he spoke, he moved forward, completely blocking Jing Yi from view.

Gu Chen had no choice but to engage in polite conversation with Lu Yuzhi before bidding farewell.

With his scenes completed, Jing Yi had no reason to stay. Lu Yuzhi, who had been staying there as Jing Yi’s assistant during this period, had even less reason to remain.

“Let’s treat the crew to milk tea too.” Jing Yi said around the straw, his eyes sparkling. “I have money now.”

Lu Yuzhi tucked the red envelope back into Jing Yi’s hand: “Already arranged. Someone will deliver it soon.”

“Oh, then I’ll go say goodbye to everyone before we leave.”

“I’ve already said our goodbyes for you. How about we visit Jialan Temple?”

“Great!”

The crew members receiving their milk tea overheard their conversation and commented to each other: “Jing Yi and Film Emperor Lu both have such good personalities.”

“Yeah, yeah! Our Yi-zai is so adorable saying he’ll treat us while drinking milk tea!”

“Haha, so you’re finally dropping the act as a Jing Yi fan?”

“I wasn’t acting, okay? It’s just that I’ve been fed so much dog food these past few days, I’m completely stuffed.”

Nearby, Sheng Xiaguang watched their retreating figures while having his makeup touched up, momentarily lost in thought.

“Don’t look.” Ji Lin’s voice sounded beside him. “No point.”

Sheng Xiaguang glared irritably at Ji Lin: “Shorty, watch your words.”

Ji Lin raised an eyebrow slightly and stepped on Sheng Xiaguang’s foot.

After delivering the step, he walked away without hesitation.

Sheng Xiaguang’s face twisted in pain as Ma Tianhua approached: “Sorry, sorry. Our Ji Lin doesn’t like people calling him short.”

“Hmph.” Sheng Xiaguang gritted his teeth. “You shorty duo should leave now that your scenes are done.”

Ma Tianhua shrugged, having no retort.

He really was short.

…

The official Weibo account of “Northern Night City” was very active and fair, basically posting about each cast member for one day in rotation.

Coincidentally, today featured the behind-the-scenes photo of Jing Yi practicing calligraphy, showing only his hands and the peculiarly shaped character for “love.”

The leading actors are all popular stars, and the director is handsome and talented, so the official account has gained immense popularity, with followers numbering in the tens of millions. As soon as netizens saw the calligraphy on the desk, they immediately launched into a discussion.

“I’ve studied this—the character for ‘love’ is written in regular script!”

“It’s definitely regular script, but the final stroke is just too strange.”

“The person who wrote it must not have learned it properly, right?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, you all. I think it was written this way for the sake of the plot. Doesn’t it suddenly give the character a sense of killing intent?”

Beneath the discussion about the calligraphy style, there was a comment criticizing the official account.

“Our Yi’s hands are so beautiful! How could the official account be so inconsiderate and not post a full-body photo? Ahhh!”

“I want to see the well-behaved young master from the Republican era every day. Official account, it’s time to grow up and post more photos on your own.”

“Our Yi must be the adorable puppy-like second male lead, right? His position in the promotional photos looks great. Sigh, it makes me sad to think that Yi will be heartbroken over a woman.”

Northern Night City is an original script, and netizens know nothing about the plot. They can only speculate about each character based on the few promotional photos released.

Netizens have logically deduced that Xiaguang and Zhao Mengyu are the male and female leads, while Jing Yi and Ji Lin are supporting characters. Other veteran actors in the entertainment industry, such as Zhou Nan, play minor supporting roles.

Among them, the actresses playing Madame Song and the male lead’s mother are both frequent stars in Republican-era dramas. The luxurious cast and the inclusion of popular new-generation actors ensure that the film’s quality won’t be too shabby.

Netizens, eagerly anticipating Jing Yi’s role as someone who competes with Xiaguang’s male lead for the female lead’s affection, have heatedly discussed this part of the plot. Some have even linked the oddly written character for “love” to the female lead.

Regardless, this is Jing Yi’s first film.

Jing Yi’s fans are sharpening their knives, ready to enthusiastically promote their little star’s cuteness and talent to casual viewers once the film is released.

A few days later, the production team released more stills, again only showing Jing Yi’s hands.

This time, instead of calligraphy, there was a color ink painting on the desk.

The painting depicted a lifelike tiger.

“Lu Yi! It’s Lu Yi! Yi painted his tiger son!”

“It looks so real! I’d love to get a pillow with the original image.”

“Speaking of which, since Yi isn’t signed with an agency, we can’t buy any of his merchandise.”

Just as fans were thinking this, they suddenly saw a new post on Jing Yi’s Weibo account.

Jing Yi had recently been using a newly launched short video app.

The videos on it ranged from fifteen seconds to one or two minutes long.

Lu Yuzhi had recommended it to him, suggesting he try posting some videos of his painting process and finished works, as it might help with fundraising.

Jing Yi agreed and has been diligently painting every day. He even completed the paintings he promised to Lu Yuzhi’s father and older brother and sent them over.

Amid his painting, the day of the adult college entrance exams arrived.

Jing Yi paused his short video updates to do some last-minute review before confidently heading to the exam hall.

And on the very day he was focused on his exams, one of his lotus paintings on the short video app was pushed to the trending section, with the title: “About Jing Yi’s painting looking strikingly similar to the first-place winner of a calligraphy and painting competition!”

The person who posted the video was also a Chinese painting content creator. Using his own expertise, he analyzed two landscape paintings of the same scene and seriously concluded: “I dare say this ‘Late Lotus’ by Wen Qing is definitely related to Jing Yi. Moreover, the paper used for ‘Late Lotus’ is clearly smaller than standard paper.”

After watching the creator’s analysis, netizens widely shared the video and spontaneously tagged the official Weibo account of the National Calligraphy and Painting Association, hoping for a reasonable explanation.

While waiting for a response, they educated confused netizens about the situation. Then everyone noticed a particularly eye-catching account that kept liking their posts supporting Jing Yi and would even reply to them.

The netizens who received replies were stunned.

Some of Jing Yi’s fans used IDs like “Yiyi, Mommy loves you,” “Yiyi, Sis loves you,” and “Master Jing, teach me to crack walnuts” to highlight their identities. But they had never seen a fan with an ID like: “Yiyi, my good grandson, Grandpa loves you ❤️.”

Had they fallen behind the times? Besides boyfriend fans, girlfriend fans, and mom fans, were there now grandpa fans too?

So, Grandpa, who are you?