I Transmigrated Into A Fanfiction And Got Pregnant With The Movie Star's Child - Chapter 10

He Chenchen usually dressed quite casually on set, rarely donning suits and ties. His appearance in formal wear today was likely because he had just come straight from attending some event without even having time to change.

The man possessed a tall, commanding frame. Wearing a suit only heightened his chilly, sharp aura, making the pink stuffed rabbit he carried look thoroughly out of place.

“Teacher He, why is it you?” Although Ji Xing and He Chenchen lived right across the hall from each other, this was the first time the man had ever knocked on his door.

He Chenchen’s gaze landed on Ji Xing’s reddened, tired eyes as he asked, “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“No, I did.” Ji Xing denied it instinctively.

“Good if you did. In half an hour, accompany me for breakfast; we have some work matters to discuss.” He Chenchen handed the pink rabbit he was holding to Ji Xing. “Someone gave it to me as a gift when I bought things at the airport, but I don’t like it. You can have it.” With that, he swiped open his door and stepped inside.

Ji Xing looked down at the pink rabbit in his hands, feeling rather astonished.

Had it been anyone else, receiving an unwanted freebie while shopping would likely lead to an immediate rejection. Yet He Chenchen had actually carried this pink rabbit all the way back from the airport, despite the airport being quite a distance from their hotel.

Ji Xing couldn’t help mentally picturing He Chenchen dressed in a sharp suit, hauling a stuffed rabbit all the way back. It seemed rather amusing. He tossed and played with the rabbit for a bit. Perhaps because the toy was crafted from exceptionally soft material, his previously tense mood relaxed quite a bit.

Before long, Xiao Lin arrived. Expecting Ji Xing to be utterly devastated, he was surprised to find the younger man looking quite spirited after finishing his wash and changing into a fresh outfit.

“Do you want me to come with you for breakfast?” Xiao Lin asked.

“No need. I’m going with Teacher He in a bit.”

Going to breakfast with He Chenchen?

Xiao Lin stared at Ji Xing for a moment before swallowing back whatever words had been on the tip of his tongue.

From his perspective, growing closer to He Chenchen carried a hundred benefits for Ji Xing and zero drawbacks. Although Ji Xing had previously shown a strong aversion, Xiao Lin felt that He Chenchen wasn’t nearly as difficult to get along with as rumors suggested.

If he had the movie emperor watching his back, even if only as a friend, his Brother Ji wouldn’t have to worry about being bullied by production crews like that ever again.

The moment the promised half-hour mark hit, Ji Xing opened his door to find He Chenchen already waiting in the corridor. The man had changed into casual attire, yet his gaze carried an intense, overwhelming sense of oppression the moment it landed on Ji Xing.

Ji Xing had expected He Chenchen to at least bring up the trending searches, and he was even mentally prepared to face an awkward confrontation. Instead, the man acted as if he hadn’t seen the internet storms at all, behaving with absolute normalcy, which allowed Ji Xing to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t keep an eye on them for a single day, and who knows what their rehearsals look like now,” He Chenchen said in his usual all-business tone. “Once we get to the set, let’s have them run through the scene once to see how it looks.”

“Okay.” Seated across from He Chenchen, Ji Xing mumbled his response while burying his head in his breakfast.

He Chenchen’s relaxed attitude triggered an immediate shift in Ji Xing’s mindset. He suddenly realized how trivial those internet rumors truly were. As long as he refused to let them matter, those hateful words held zero power to hurt him.

Having figured that out, Ji Xing found his appetite returning in full force.

“In a moment, you…” He Chenchen lifted his gaze and caught sight of Pei Yun not far away, holding up his phone and recording video or taking photos of him and Ji Xing. Without stopping Pei Yun’s antics, He Chenchen looked down at the small pastry on Ji Xing’s plate, used his fork to spear a piece, and popped it into his mouth.

Ji Xing watched in surprise as He Chenchen swallowed the pastry with a furrowed brow.

“Saw you took a few pieces and got curious about the taste. You don’t mind, do you?” He Chenchen asked.

“Not at all. If you like them, I can go grab a few more for you,” Ji Xing blurted out hastily.

He Chenchen waved a hand, clearly unenthused by overly sweet desserts.

At that moment, Pei Yun strolled over with his phone in one hand and his breakfast tray in the other, seating himself naturally right beside Ji Xing.

“Morning, Teacher Pei,” Ji Xing greeted him.

“Morning, little snail.” Pei Yun slung an arm over Ji Xing’s shoulder, his eyes sweeping across the younger man’s plate. “So many sweets. Can I have a taste too?”

Missing the teasing undertone, Ji Xing was just about to nod when he saw He Chenchen reach across, pick up Pei Yun’s tray, and set it on the opposite side of the table. Looking thoroughly disgruntled, Pei Yun released Ji Xing and obediently walked over to sit on the other side.

Ji Xing didn’t dare cross swords with either of these two men. Eager to preserve his own safety, he quickly stuffed the rest of his food into his mouth, stood up, and told He Chenchen, “Teacher He, I’ll go ahead to the studio and wait for you.”

“Okay,” He Chenchen gave a slight nod.

Feeling granted a pardon, Ji Xing bid farewell to Pei Yun and scurried off in a hurry.

“Tch, he runs away the second he sees me. Am I really that terrifying?” Pei Yun feigned grievance.

“What did you just take pictures of?” He Chenchen asked.

“You don’t even know what I was snapping, yet you had time to steal food off someone else’s plate?” Pei Yun pushed his phone over. He Chenchen glanced at the screen, offered no further comments, and tacitly accepted the stealthy photos.

Pei Yun tapped his screen a few times before locking it and tossing it aside.

“Consider this time an IOU. You owe me a favor, remember to pay it back,” Pei Yun said.

He Chenchen remained silent. Just as Pei Yun assumed he wouldn’t reply, the man uttered a single word: “Yeah.”

Shock flashed across Pei Yun’s face; he clearly hadn’t expected He Chenchen to acknowledge the debt so readily.

Meanwhile, when Ji Xing arrived at the studio, three of the five members from his group were already present.

The group had been chatting amongst themselves, but they all fell silent the moment Ji Xing walked through the door. Indifferent to their coldness, Ji Xing greeted all three. Chen Feng, the trainee playing the scholar, still carried a trace of hostility and ignored his greeting entirely.

The other trainee, who was playing the fox demon, remained reasonably friendly toward him.

“I saw the hot searches from yesterday. The production team is unreal with their malicious editing. If I hadn’t been there in person, I almost would’ve believed it.”

“They wanted talking points, I just happened to be the first one they picked,” Ji Xing said with a helpless sigh.

“They just figured you were an easy target. If you were signed with a massive talent agency, just watch if they’d ever dare pull something like that.” She offered words of comfort. “Don’t take it too hard. Netizens have the attention span of a goldfish; in a couple of weeks, they’ll be busy tearing into someone else.”

If someone had brought this up first thing in the morning, Ji Xing would have died of embarrassment. But after sharing breakfast with He Chenchen, his emotional state had largely recovered, allowing him to discuss the topic with complete ease.

“Thanks, Sister Lan, I’m okay.” The actress playing the fox demon was two or three years older than Ji Xing, so both he and the other male trainee in the group called her Sister Lan.

Lowering her voice, Sister Lan didn’t dwell on the controversy, instead taking on a mysterious tone. “I heard from some people that Tiger is here with the crew.”

“Tiger?” The nickname sounded straight out of a martial arts underworld novel, making Ji Xing momentarily mistake it for some crime boss before a reminder cleared things up. It was the name of one of the industry’s most influential and powerful artist managers.

And his most prominent, high-earning client was none other than He Chenchen.

“Teacher He’s manager came to the production set?”

“Not just him. I heard the best actress’s manager is here too.”

“Why did they all show up suddenly?”

“My guess is that after the first episode aired, some of the mentor teams had issues with the show’s content or editing style, so they came down to negotiate with the production staff.” Having more seniority than Ji Xing, Sister Lan had likely witnessed similar situations before.

Ji Xing thought it over and found her logic sound. A guest of He Chenchen’s stature gracing the show with his presence was already a massive favor to the producers; it was impossible for him to let questionable editing slide without demands.

Unlike him, whose commercial value was far too low. Not only did his manager not come to bat for him, but the man had practically sold him out to the producers.

What the movie emperor and best actress managers actually discussed with the production staff remained unknown to outsiders. However, Ji Xing soon noticed that their sub-group director had been replaced by a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old short-haired young woman.

The new group director spoke very little and rarely interfered with their rehearsals. During the subsequent behind-the-scenes interviews, Ji Xing was never once hit with strange or leading questions.

Thinking the director swap was already a major event, Ji Xing was even more surprised when he learned another piece of news that evening after work.

“Brother Ji, check Weibo,” Xiao Lin urged with undisguised excitement.

Remembering the toxic comments from the previous night, Ji Xing hesitated, but Xiao Lin simply bypassed his reluctance by thrusting the phone directly into his hands.

“This is… Pei Yun’s Weibo?” Ji Xing asked in surprise.

“Yeah, Teacher Pei posted it this morning. Look at the comments section.”

The caption on Pei Yun’s post read, The early bird catches the worm, accompanied by an image of He Chenchen eating breakfast in the dining hall. Because the two men were close friends off-screen and filming the same variety show, a casual interaction between them looked completely natural.

At first glance, the post appeared to be nothing more than playful banter between colleagues on the same team.

The unusual part was that the photo included someone else besides He Chenchen. That person sat with their back to the camera, wearing a red printed T-shirt, possessing a slightly lean build with straight shoulders and a slender, fair neck that gave off an undeniably striking aura.

The movie emperor was naturally detached and rarely fraternized with casual acquaintances; anyone sharing a meal with him at the same table clearly held an extraordinary relationship.

The comment section immediately erupted into wild guesses regarding the mystery person’s identity. Using the process of elimination, netizens quickly ruled out He Chenchen’s manager, his assistant, and Pei Yun himself, leading everyone to the unanimous conclusion that the person had to be a trainee from the show.

People couldn’t help wondering which trainee was lucky enough to land that spot.

[That guy is so lucky, share some of that luck with me please.] [Just wanting to eat with my Emperor He takes more than luck alone.] [The handsome young man’s got game, getting Teacher He to keep him company for a meal.] [Is it possible the restaurant was just packed and seating was tight?] [Right, someone probably just squeezed in shamelessly, it’s not like Teacher He could kick them out.] [I bet they aren’t even that close, stop letting your imaginations run wild.]

Scrolling further down, Ji Xing caught a comment boasting an exceptionally high engagement rate:

[Is it just me, or is Teacher He using his fork to spear a piece of cake from someone else’s plate?] [Oh damn, he totally is!!] [Detective in the chat, you spotted the hidden detail.] [So much for a random stranger sharing a table, they’re eating off the same plate!]

He Chenchen had eaten food right off someone else’s plate.

With that realization, nobody dared claim the person sitting opposite He Chenchen was a random passerby anymore.