I Transmigrated Into A Fanfiction And Got Pregnant With The Movie Star's Child - Chapter 7

He Chenchen strode back to his lounge, walking straight in to find Pei Yun sitting on the sofa, engrossed in a book. Glancing briefly at the textbook on television art, He Chenchen couldn’t be bothered to expose his friend’s transparent act.

“What took you so long?” Pei Yun asked.

“The door is right over there.” He Chenchen pointed toward the lounge exit.

Abandoning any pretense, Pei Yun tossed the book onto the coffee table and gave He Chenchen a slow round of applause.

“Spit it out if you have something to say.” He Chenchen’s tone was sharp.

“Question: in how many steps do you rescue a bullied underdog? Our magnificent Teacher He provides the answer.” Channeling his inner dramatic actor, Pei Yun adopted a standard broadcast announcer voice. “Step one: pluck the person out of the situation. Step two: change the subject. Step three: bait the enemy into joining your camp. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Teacher He deployed maximum leverage with minimal effort today!”

“Stop misusing buzzwords you just picked up.”

“Be honest now, do you two have something going on?”

Finally unable to help himself, Pei Yun cut straight to the point. Having watched the entire scene unfold from the doorway earlier and eavesdropping on the conversation between Ji Xing and He Chenchen near the corridor corner, his soul was fully ablaze with gossip.

“Who are you two?” He Chenchen retorted.

“Don’t play dumb. You and that kid, do you two have something going on?”

“What kind of thing are you referring to?”

“Shady things, obviously.”

He Chenchen shot him a sidelong glance, a complicated look in his eyes, before casually admitting, “If you think there is, then there is.”

“Admitting it so fast without even trying to hide it means there definitely isn’t anything,” Pei Yun analyzed with a straight face. “Since there’s nothing going on, why does it feel so weird when the two of you interact?”

Raising an eyebrow, He Chenchen asked, “What’s weird about it?”

“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it just feels like your relationship isn’t pure.” Pei Yun stared at He Chenchen in thought for a long moment before a lightbulb went off. “I get it. Since there’s nothing between you two, then the problem is you. Confess, do you have feelings for him?”

He Chenchen offered a faint smile, looking as though he had no intention of taking the bait.

Pei Yun was the same age as He Chenchen and had been his classmate in the performance department. From college until now, Pei Yun changed partners nearly once a year, sometimes even twice. He Chenchen, however, had remained single up to the present day; if Pei Yun hadn’t once stumbled upon adult gay films on his computer, he might have suspected He Chenchen was asexual.

“You’re not getting any younger, it’s about time you fell in love. But I wouldn’t advise dating someone in the industry. Too much drama, too much hassle. Being an artist is exhausting enough; put two of them together, and it’s exhaustion squared.” Pei Yun enthusiastically propagated his dating philosophy to his good buddy.

“Isn’t your current partner in the industry?” He Chenchen pointed out.

“I’m different from you. We’re just keeping each other company to pass the time. But you, an iron tree blooming after a millennium, having your very first romance, I suggest finding someone with a simple background so it doesn’t turn into a messy endgame.”

Noncommittal, He Chenchen picked up a piece of chocolate from the fruit platter on the table and tossed it to Pei Yun, effectively sealing his mouth.

Meanwhile.

Ji Xing was sitting on pins and needles, tormented by He Chenchen’s ambiguous remark.

Several days had passed, and he had assumed that since He Chenchen hadn’t questioned him, the matter was buried and done with. Yet looking back now, things didn’t seem nearly that simple.

What did that man’s words actually mean?

Was he hinting that Ji Xing should confess proactively?

Or was he trying to issue some sort of warning?

Just as he was at his wit’s end, Xiao Lin arrived. Having heard about what happened in the lounge earlier, Xiao Lin had initially been quite worried about Ji Xing, but upon learning that He Chenchen had stepped in to clear the air, he actually looked rather excited.

“Teacher He is genuinely cool,” Xiao Lin evaluated sincerely.

Ji Xing sighed, looking thoroughly distressed.

Witnessing He Chenchen hold court in the lounge earlier, he had felt the same way, even starting to look forward to learning a lot more from the man during the show.

Yet that single ambiguous sentence from He Chenchen dragged him right back to reality.

“I suspect he’s known all along,” Ji Xing said.

“Known what?” Xiao Lin looked puzzled.

Ever since the incident, Xiao Lin had deliberately avoided bringing it up, fearing it would upset Ji Xing. Feeling awkward, Ji Xing avoided mentioning it unless necessary, meaning the two of them had never properly discussed the matter.

“Just what happened that night. I keep feeling like he probably knows it was me.”

“Ah, actually, I’ve always thought it was impossible for him not to know. A man can’t possibly do something like that with zero awareness. I didn’t say anything before because I didn’t want to add to your pressure.”

Hearing this, Ji Xing’s last remaining shred of wishful thinking shattered.

“Brother Ji, I was afraid your mood would take a hit these past few days so I didn’t dare ask. But if it was just a drunken mistake between you two, once you clear things up with him, he shouldn’t make things difficult for you, right? Why are you so terrified of facing him?” Initially, Xiao Lin assumed Ji Xing’s reaction stemmed from awkwardness or psychological trauma.

Yet after observing for the past few days, he realized things weren’t as simple as he thought. If coercion had been involved that night, Ji Xing’s reaction toward He Chenchen should have carried disgust or similar negative emotions alongside fear. Since Ji Xing didn’t display those, it strongly suggested that night was indeed a drunken fumble.

So what was Ji Xing hesitating about?

“I…” Ji Xing thought about it, but ultimately decided against revealing the book-transmigration secret. Such a bizarre premise would likely get him locked up in a psychiatric ward.

“I’m afraid he’ll make things hard for me,” Ji Xing fabricated an excuse.

“With Teacher He’s personality, if he wanted to make things difficult for you, he wouldn’t have waited until today. After all, several days have passed and all the evidence is gone.” Convinced Ji Xing was simply borrowing trouble, Xiao Lin offered reassurance. “Instead of sitting here terrified, you might as well adopt a screw-it attitude.”

Startled, Ji Xing asked, “What does a screw-it attitude mean?”

“He’s a movie emperor, and we’re just bottom-tier nobodies. No matter which direction this thing goes, if it blows up, he stands to lose a lot more than you do. So logically speaking, he should be the one worrying.”

Fair is fair, Xiao Lin’s logic made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, he had no idea the original novel had slapped a forced-love buff onto He Chenchen and Ji Xing, rendering ordinary logic completely useless when trying to second-guess He Chenchen.

“In my opinion, don’t be afraid of him. Just act natural, do whatever you’re supposed to do, and respond to all changes with constancy,” Xiao Lin analyzed systematically. “If he really comes looking for trouble, we’ll figure out a way then. Who knows, if he sees you acting completely unfazed, you two might reach a tacit understanding and just pretend the whole thing never happened.”

Listening to this reasoning, Ji Xing found it remarkably sound.

Ever since transmigrating into the novel, he had been walking on thin ice, yet nothing had changed, and things were starting to backfire. Rather than continuing like that, he might as well follow Xiao Lin’s advice and remain steady against whatever came his way.

That evening, Ji Xing spent a long time building up his mental fortitude.

Yet he never expected that when they crossed paths the very next morning in the corridor outside the makeup room, He Chenchen would bring the matter right back up.

“Have you figured it out yet?” He Chenchen’s tone remained gentle, his gaze mild as well.

Yet Ji Xing didn’t even have the courage to meet his eyes, lowering his head to mumble, “Not yet.”

Passing trainees politely greeted He Chenchen, who nodded in response while keeping his eyes locked firmly on Ji Xing. He stared at the younger man for a long stretch, as if trying to peer straight through him. Fortunately, Xiao Lin appeared just in time to call Ji Xing inside for makeup, granting him a hasty escape from the interrogation.

With the three-day safety training finally wrapped up, today marked the official post-grouping recording. When Ji Xing finished his hair and makeup and arrived at Studio One, it was already packed with trainees and crew members.

The seating arrangements for each mentor’s team were organized by group, with six trainees per group lined up sequentially from front to back. Ji Xing hadn’t arrived particularly early, but for some reason, his seat had been assigned to the very front row, mere steps and a single table away from his mentor, He Chenchen.

The moment he lifted his head, he would lock eyes with He Chenchen. Yet if he kept his head lowered, the cameras would capture him looking disrespectful to his mentor, or worse, asleep on the job.

This time, Ji Xing truly understood what it meant to sit on pins and needles.

Today marked the first official recording post-grouping. Once the first-stage tasks were announced, they would begin group rehearsals with their respective mentors. In a typical reality show, such practice blocks lasted only a day or two, given how packed celebrities’ schedules were, making it impossible to devote massive chunks of time to a single show.

Yet Actor Training Camp once again demonstrated the original author’s bold imagination by stretching the first-stage group rehearsal window to a full half-month, which explained why a single variety season required months of filming.

The core training for the first stage involved rehearsing classic film and television segments, with the five mentors each selecting classic clips and assigning roles to their trainees. Half a month later, each group would stage a presentation performance broadcast live online, allowing internet viewers to vote and score the performances directly.

At that point, the highest- and lowest-scoring trainees from each group would earn a chance to switch teams. High scorers could choose to enter another mentor’s team, while low scorers would be drafted out by random draw from the remaining mentors.

Ji Xing paid little attention to the earlier rules, but the moment he heard that both top and bottom scorers could switch teams, a sudden wave of motivation hit him. He desperately needed an out, so he resolved to fight for first place, or failing that, dead last would do just as well.

Once the rules were fully explained, the five groups dispersed to their respective exclusive studios.

The film and television segments chosen by He Chenchen were genuine classics: one was an excerpt from a weird tales novel, and the other was a dramatic showdown from a palace intrigue drama. Ji Xing found both scripts fascinating and would have gladly tackled either role.

“The scene I selected has only five roles, but we have six members in our group, which means one person won’t receive a character. Therefore, I plan to select one person to serve as my teaching assistant for the next half-month. The chosen person won’t earn performance scores, but they won’t get reassigned to another group either.” He Chenchen’s gaze swept across the six trainees. “Any volunteers? Please raise your hand.”

The moment he finished speaking, every single trainee raised their hand instantly, with the sole exception of Ji Xing, who sat completely still.

“Five people raised their hands, which makes things a bit tricky.” He Chenchen feigned hesitation for a brief moment before announcing, “To avoid playing favorites, I won’t pick any of the five of you. Let’s have the student who didn’t raise their hand take on the assistant role.”

Ji Xing, the only person who hadn’t raised his hand: