Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

That night, Xiao Baijun looked at Ou Sheng’s Weibo online. After reading five or six posts, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He got goosebumps on his arms and felt the dinner he ate churning in his stomach. He had never heard of such an overly sweet gay couple in the entertainment industry!

For example, today, Ou Sheng posted a picture of oil-splashed noodles on Weibo and said they were delicious, and then his “husband” replied, “Not as delicious as you.” Oh, how did Xiao Baijun know this person’s identity? It was simple, because that person’s Weibo name was not subtle at all: it was “Ou Sheng’s Husband.” Below, a pile of fans started liking and commenting, saying things like, “Daily dose of sweetness starts again,” “Time for our daily dog food,” and “After eating this bowl of dog food, I’m instantly refreshed.” The style was remarkably consistent.

Xiao Baijun had to admit that seeing Ou Sheng and Ou Sheng’s man being blessed by so many people made him feel both jealous and envious. He couldn’t help but think about himself and Zuo Qiu. When could he declare to the world that he was Zuo Qiu’s husband? When could he flirt openly with him? More importantly, when could they achieve the great harmony of life?

Well, Xiao Baijun sighed deeply, he had a lot of things to do before that could happen.

In the room next door, Zuo Qiu was also willingly consuming the “dog food.” Zuo Qiu had always followed Ou Sheng’s Weibo, but he only ever read and never commented. After finishing his daily dose of dog food, Zuo Qiu opened a movie Ou Sheng had previously filmed and began to study it. Before, he mostly paid attention to the tone of Ou Sheng’s lines. Now, he focused more on Ou Sheng’s body language: facial expressions and the expressions of various body parts.

It was only after this serious observation that he realized the saying, “A good actor acts with their whole body,” was absolutely true.

The next day, at four in the morning, Zhao Zhixian brought the two to the set early. The set was brightly lit, and the staff were bustling. Director Gong’s assistant, Little Chen, saw the trio and immediately led them to a private dressing room.

“You two rest here for a bit; the makeup artist will be here shortly,” Little Chen said before leaving to take care of other things.

Five minutes later, a female makeup artist named Wang Mai entered the room. The director had specifically instructed her, so after greeting the two newcomers warmly, she quickly applied their makeup.

Today’s scene was mainly about the “Eagle” unit discovering that Z-country hostages were being held by a hostile organization in a civilian house in H-country. They planned a forced entry to rescue the hostages at dawn when people were most exhausted, but upon approaching the house, they ran into the Cao Xi and Cao Yang brothers. With no clear knowledge of friend or foe, the two sides clashed, and Xiao Baijun first got into a fight with two tough guys from the “Eagle” unit.

Therefore, Xiao Baijun’s attire for the day was black combat gear: a black tight-fitting T-shirt, black pants, black military boots, and a black leather jacket. The makeup artist combed all his hair up, making him look sharp and neat. Zuo Qiu’s outfit was more like a boy next door: a plaid shirt with a white sweater vest, washed jeans, and white sneakers, with his heart-shaped fringe kept as it was.

Wang Mai nodded in satisfaction at the two dressed actors. Their facial features were naturally excellent, and being young and full of collagen, she didn’t unnecessarily apply heavy makeup. Thus, the two looked very natural at the moment. Even so, Wang Mai, who had been in the business for nearly ten years, couldn’t help but sigh that they were truly blessed with good looks and were born to be in the entertainment industry.

After Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun changed, a staff member led them to the shooting location.

“Your action scene should be fine later, right?” As Cao Xi, who had overwhelming fighting power, had very few lines but multiple action scenes, Zuo Qiu was a little worried.

“It’s fine. I’ll just follow the director’s instructions later,” Xiao Baijun said dismissively. He had trained for many years, and his moves were real skills. In recent years, he had rarely encountered anyone who could hurt him. Besides, the superficial fighting in the entertainment industry was beneath him.

Zuo Qiu: “I mean, remember to go a little easy and not accidentally hurt anyone.” Zuo Qiu, who had witnessed Xiao Baijun fighting multiple times, clearly had a full understanding of his combat strength. He wasn’t afraid of others hurting him; instead, he was worried about him accidentally injuring his opponent.

Xiao Baijun, who was reading too much into it: “…”

Director Gong looked at Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun as they approached and said to Ou Sheng, who was sitting next to him, “Don’t you think Zuo Qiu’s aura is very similar to yours when you first debuted?”

Ou Sheng narrowed his eyes, assessing Zuo Qiu. In fact, the first time he saw Zuo Qiu, he felt like he was seeing his younger self from high school.

Before the official shoot, the director explained the scene to the group. After the action scene participants rehearsed their moves, the run-through began.

In a dark, quiet village, there were only a few sparse houses. The house where the hostage was hidden was in the farthest corner of the village, with no other house visible within a hundred meters.

The leader, Cheng Feng (played by Ou Sheng), was leading nine subordinates, hiding not far from the house. Cheng Feng gestured, and two team members silently approached first, intending to investigate the situation at the best entry point they had scouted earlier. But when they reached the spot, they found two young men about to climb over the wall.

After a minute of standoff, the Cao Xi and Cao Yang brothers exchanged looks. The older brother, Cao Xi, stepped out to fight, taking on two men alone.

“Cut!” the director yelled. “We’ll do this scene one more time with the same feel.”

As soon as Xiao Baijun heard the director, he immediately headed toward Zuo Qiu to return to their starting position. However, he hadn’t walked two steps when one of the men he had just fought stopped him.

“Bro, when we shoot it for real later, remember to go easy. My shoulder is almost dislocated from your hits,” the actor who stopped Xiao Baijun, named Yi Xu, said, rubbing his shoulder and smiling at Xiao Baijun.

Xiao Baijun nodded and said okay. Zhao Zhixian, who rushed over to hand Xiao Baijun water, heard Yi Xu’s words and quickly handed Yi Xu a bottle of water as well. “He’s still a newcomer and doesn’t know his own strength. Please bear with him.”

Yi Xu good-naturedly agreed. Since the director treated these newcomers with courtesy, they were likely not ordinary newcomers. The perceptive Yi Xu would, of course, be accommodating.

At this moment, he walked over to the person he had just fought with. The person asked him, “Are these two newcomers a big deal?”

Yi Xu shook his head. “I don’t know, but having a famous agent in the industry serving them water and tea suggests they are not simple.”

His companion nodded, immediately classifying Xiao Baijun and Zuo Qiu as “newcomers who shouldn’t be easily offended.”

When the shot resumed, Zuo Qiu felt his movements were much more natural.

At this point, Cao Yang stood not far away, watching his brother fighting fiercely with the others. He slowly moved into the shadows, then pulled a gun from his pocket and took aim. Now, he just needed to wait for his brother’s signal to shoot.

But before he could fire, a sharp dagger was pressed against his neck.

Cao Yang knew he was no match for the person behind him. He immediately dropped the gun and put his hands over his head, his mind racing for a way to escape.

“Older twin brother, Cao Xi, a student majoring in Armor at B University. Younger brother, Cao Yang, is outwardly a student in Life Sciences at B University, but is actually a core member of the national secret organization C. Did you two secretly come abroad this time to save your father?”

Cao Yang heard the person behind him speak their mother tongue, revealing the truth about him and his brother, and even his hidden identity. His body involuntarily tensed up. Was this person friend or foe?

“Don’t be nervous. I am also a Z-country citizen. My name is Cheng Feng, and my goal is the same as yours.” The person behind him retracted the dagger and released his hold on Cao Yang.

Cao Yang turned to face the person and quickly stepped back a few paces. There were eight other men in camouflage uniforms in front of him, but he didn’t easily trust anything the man who called himself Cheng Feng said.

At this moment, Cao Xi, seeing his brother was in a bad situation, immediately ended his fight and quickly returned to Cao Yang’s side.

“How do you prove what you’re saying is true?” Cao Xi asked.

The man named Cheng Feng smiled, took a small national flag out of his bag, unfolded it, and asked, “Will this do?”

“CUT! That’s excellent, we’ve got it!” Director Gong shouted loudly.

When Zuo Qiu heard the director say they passed, he was as happy as a student who scored a hundred on a test. He excitedly pulled Xiao Baijun and said, “We’re amazing! We passed on the first take for our first time acting!”

Xiao Baijun didn’t mention that it was thanks to the director tirelessly answering Zuo Qiu’s questions and basically teaching them hands-on. Instead, he stroked Zuo Qiu’s head and said, “You are truly amazing!”

Zuo Qiu blushed. “You’re amazing too!”

Standing aside, Ou Sheng looked at the intimately interacting pair and smiled meaningfully.