Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

An hour later, Xiao Baijun changed his clothes, brought breakfast up from the restaurant, and used Zuo Qiu’s room card to open the door directly.

Zuo Qiu was still sound asleep. Xiao Baijun checked the time and realized it was almost time to go to the set, so he woke Zuo Qiu up.

“Get up, time to start work.”

Zuo Qiu groggily opened his eyes and slowly came to his senses when he saw Xiao Baijun standing in front of him. He stood up, rubbed his eyes, and headed to the bathroom.

Xiao Baijun found his dazed look amusing. After seeing him enter the bathroom, he set out the breakfast: fried noodles, preserved egg and lean pork congee, fried dough sticks, and soy milk. It was quite a feast.

After Zuo Qiu got ready, he came out and saw the table full of various breakfast items. He smiled, walked closer, and teased, “This is the first time being served by the Second Young Master of the Xiao family. I am overwhelmed with flattery.”

In the past, he was the one who usually brought food to Xiao Baijun in school. Xiao Baijun had never bought food for him. Later, when they lived outside, it was even more so; Zuo Qiu practically took care of all of Xiao Baijun’s three meals a day.

Xiao Baijun handed the chopsticks to Zuo Qiu. “No need to be overwhelmed. I’ll always serve you from now on,” he said, then glanced at Zuo Qiu and emphasized, “In every sense of the word.”

Zuo Qiu’s face blushed against his will. “In the morning, I just want to eat vegetarian. Put away all the ‘meaty’ stuff.”

Xiao Baijun nodded in agreement. “Alright. We’ll take them out again tonight.”

Zuo Qiu couldn’t hide the smile on his lips as he laughed and ate.

After breakfast, the two went to the set. After getting their makeup done, Zuo Qiu started filming. With Teacher Xiang’s guidance last night and the confirmation of his relationship with Xiao Baijun, Zuo Qiu was in excellent form today. His scenes were quickly approved by the director, while Dai Ni was constantly stopped.

During a break, Dai Ni couldn’t help but ask Zuo Qiu, “What kind of miracle drug did you take last night? You’re filming like a pro today.”

Yesterday, both rookies were called “Cut” by the director. With a comrade in the same trench, Dai Ni felt relatively at ease, but today was different. She was the only one being scolded, and almost the entire crew was watching her, which made Dai Ni a bit self-conscious.

Zuo Qiu smiled. “I guess I rested well. When a person is refreshed, their state improves.”

Luckily, no one caught a cold from the water scene last night, or it would have delayed the crew’s progress.

Dai Ni scratched her head, thinking about how she went straight to bed after class last night and slept until she was almost late. Her sleep quality was excellent, so why wasn’t she “on fire”? Could it be that she slept too much?

Zuo Qiu felt like laughing at Dai Ni’s expression. Despite her persistence in clinging to Xiao Baijun, Zuo Qiu didn’t dislike her. After all, she was the type that even guys liked, so girls probably found her hard to resist too. Why should a woman make things difficult for a woman… Ptooey! Why should a love rival make things difficult for a love rival!

Zuo Qiu walked over to Xiao Baijun and Zhao Zhixian. Xiao Baijun handed him a cup of warm water. “What were you two talking about?” How could the two love rivals be chatting and laughing? What kind of world was this?

“Nothing much,” Zuo Qiu replied after taking a sip of water.

Xiao Baijun glanced at Zuo Qiu, feeling he wasn’t telling the truth. He wanted to press the issue but felt he was being overly sensitive, so he kept quiet.

“Hey, Xiao Baijun, do you know what Zuo Qiu did last night for his acting to explode today? Was it really just good sleep?” Dai Ni asked Xiao Baijun the same question.

Zuo Qiu almost spat out his water. It was okay to fool Dai Ni with this in private, but to say it openly, especially in front of Xiao Baijun, who knew the inside story, was truly embarrassing.

Xiao Baijun heard this and glanced at Zuo Qiu. “Yes, not only did he sleep very well, but he also ate something good.”

Zuo Qiu looked at Xiao Baijun with confusion. What did he eat?

Zhao Zhixian, standing on the side, had his imagination soaring. Aiyo, the Second Young Master is so vulgar!

“Really? What did he eat? I want to eat it too.” Dai Ni, whose acting was poor, desperately wanted to find a simple and crude way to quickly improve her skills, so she was eager for the answer.

Zhao Zhixian heard Dai Ni say she wanted to eat it too. He wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, struggling to hold it in.

Xiao Baijun glanced at Dai Ni. “You’ll never get to eat it.”

Dai Ni cried out, “Why? Why can Zuo Qiu eat it and I can’t?”

Xiao Baijun ignored her.

Just then, Dai Ni’s assistant came looking for her, saying it was time to change clothes and go to the makeup room.

As Dai Ni walked away with her assistant, she didn’t forget to instruct Xiao Baijun, “You must tell me later!”

Once Dai Ni was gone, Zuo Qiu looked at Xiao Baijun. “Why don’t I remember eating anything last night?”

Xiao Baijun leaned closer to him. “You took a ‘calming pill’ (meaning settling his mind), didn’t you?”

Zuo Qiu thought about it. Okay, he really did take a calming pill. His heart was open, and many problems were solved.

Zhao Zhixian was still deep in thought on the side. That thing has another name? The Second Young Master’s imagination is excellent!

…

After lunch, Zhao Zhixian prepared to return to B City. Before leaving, he specifically went to instruct Director Zhao again. “These two are still inexperienced. Please teach them patiently. If anything happens, call me. Not just me, the boss above is also very concerned about them.”

Director Zhao quickly said, “You can rest assured a hundred percent with them following me. I’ll handle any issues for you.”

Zhao Zhixian had told Director Zhao about Xiao Baijun’s identity the first night he arrived. Xiao Baijun and Xiao Bailin’s names differed by only one character, and they looked somewhat alike, making it easy for people in the industry to make connections, so there was no need to hide it from them.

Director Zhao was a well-known, sensible director in the industry. Aside from Baile investing in his drama and being his sugar daddy, the two young men had been completely cooperative since joining the crew. Especially Xiao Baijun, he didn’t put on any airs of superiority. Based on this alone, he would treat them well.

After instructing Director Zhao, Zhao Zhixian pulled Xiao Baijun aside and tactfully hinted at him: Although meat is delicious, don’t overindulge. For the sake of their budding careers, they must be low-key, low-key, and more low-key. Oh, and most importantly, don’t injure Zuo Qiu, or his reputation would be ruined if it got out, blah blah blah.

Xiao Baijun’s face darkened. Was he such a beast that he would disregard Zuo Qiu for his own selfish desires? Although he indeed wanted to “eat meat” sooner, he also understood the principle of timing, location, and harmony!

“You can get lost!”

Xiao Baijun, who had originally kindly decided to follow Zuo Qiu’s suggestion and see Zhao Zhixian off to the airport while he had no scenes, now thought: He can find whoever he wants!

Zhao Zhixian looked at Xiao Baijun’s retreating back, wanting to cry. He slapped himself hard. Serves you right for talking too much! For not controlling yourself! Now what? He said a few nice words for the future “boss’s wife” and ended up offending the future boss!

…

When Zuo Qiu was preparing for his scene, he saw Xiao Baijun return and asked in surprise, “You didn’t see Brother Zhao off?”

The crew’s car was being repaired, so Zhao Zhixian had to take a taxi to the airport. Zuo Qiu couldn’t leave because he had scenes, so he asked Xiao Baijun to send off Zhao Zhixian, who had several boxes of luggage. It had only been a few minutes; Xiao Baijun clearly hadn’t made it to the airport.

Xiao Baijun didn’t want to admit his pettiness in refusing to send Zhao Zhixian, so he made up an excuse. “He said someone else from the crew was also going to the airport. He went with them, and since he had someone looking out for him, I didn’t need to send him.”

Zuo Qiu didn’t doubt him and continued reading his script.

While Zuo Qiu was filming, Xiao Baijun also started reading his script. Although his role was the second male lead, his scenes were significantly less than Zuo Qiu’s. Fortunately, he didn’t mind. It was better to have fewer scenes. He preferred sitting and watching Zuo Qiu film over acting.

The original author of this drama had a very peculiar imagination. Xiao Baijun’s character, You Yi, was a campus bully who liked the female lead. Initially, because the female lead showed special favor to Qian Xuduo, You Yi was annoyed and sought an opportunity to teach Qian Xuduo a lesson, but ended up being taught a lesson himself. Later, You Yi stopped liking the female lead and instead became good friends with Qian Xuduo.

Zuo Qiu felt this anti-trope was somewhat difficult to accept. The melodrama was second only to “my ex-boyfriend and ex-ex-boyfriend are dating.” However, Xiao Baijun said it suited him perfectly. He didn’t like emotional scenes involving desperately pursuing a girl. He was happy to have continuous scenes with Zuo Qiu.

The two would have their first scene together tomorrow. Xiao Baijun decided to practice with Zuo Qiu back in the room tonight.

…

After dinner, when the two knocked on Teacher Xiang’s door, they were surprised to find Dai Ni opening the door for them.

“Why are you here?” Xiao Baijun was a little displeased. He had been avoiding Dai Ni all day, but she was haunting him, even blocking him here.

Dai Ni: “I came to audit the class.” Since she couldn’t trick the miracle drug out of Xiao Baijun and Zuo Qiu, Dai Ni decided to join them to learn about acting.

Xiao Baijun couldn’t really refute this reason, especially since he was the one who personally brought her here yesterday.

Zuo Qiu saw Dai Ni walk into the room, nudged Xiao Baijun with his elbow, and gently reminded him: “Don’t overreact. Maybe she really came to listen to the lecture.”

As the two walked in, they saw Dai Ni sitting opposite Teacher Xiang, listening attentively, a completely different demeanor from last night when she was only focused on clinging to Xiao Baijun.

Teacher Xiang had been a teacher all her life. For her, teaching two or three students made no difference. She was happy to help students, especially when they were serious.

Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun also sat down, surrounding Teacher Xiang, and listened to her lecture.

Xiao Baijun listened seriously for half an hour before starting to drift off. When no one was looking, hidden by a pillow, he secretly took Zuo Qiu’s left hand.

Zuo Qiu was startled and quickly glanced at Xiao Baijun. He tried to pull his hand away, but Xiao Baijun’s grip was strong. He tried a few times but failed. Zuo Qiu worried that too much movement would draw attention, so he finally had to let it go.

The two didn’t let go until Teacher Xiang announced the end of the class. Zuo Qiu’s palm was sweaty, and he didn’t dare to wipe it.

The three walked out and headed toward their rooms. Dai Ni was probably genuinely worried that her poor acting would hold up the entire crew, so she didn’t bring up anything else and prepared to return to her room to review. She saw Xiao Baijun follow Zuo Qiu into his room and asked in confusion, “It’s so late. Are you two still rehearsing?”

Zuo Qiu’s eyes darted away, and he said, “No, we still have some work-related matters to communicate.”

Dai Ni didn’t think much of it and walked ahead past them.

…

After closing the door, Zuo Qiu started to complain to Xiao Baijun: “You were too bold today. How could you hold my hand in front of the teacher and Dai Ni? What if someone found out?”

Xiao Baijun said, “But no one found out, did they?” Seeing Zuo Qiu’s expression of disapproval, he immediately softened his stance: “Alright, alright, I’ll try my best to restrain myself in the future.”

Zuo Qiu’s expression eased, but he still said, “You sleep in your own room tonight.” Two grown men sleeping in the same room every day would inevitably arouse suspicion.

“Okay, then you come with me.”

“I mean you sleep by yourself.”

Xiao Baijun, who was sitting on the small sofa in the room, was being stubborn: “I refuse.”

Zuo Qiu crossed his arms and looked at him. “What did you say yesterday?”

Xiao Baijun rubbed his nose. “Then every other day is fine, right?”

Zuo Qiu shook his head, his attitude firm: “Twice a week at most.”

Xiao Baijun sighed, stood up, and immediately pushed Zuo Qiu onto the bed, then pressed down on him.

“What are you doing?” Zuo Qiu felt like a weak chicken in front of Xiao Baijun, completely defenseless.

“I’m leaving soon, so of course, I have to kiss enough to make it worth it.”

With that, Xiao Baijun sealed Zuo Qiu’s mouth with a kiss. He wouldn’t stop until Zuo Qiu’s lips were swollen like sausages!

In the end, Zuo Qiu’s lips didn’t turn into sausages, but Xiao Baijun had to stop because a certain part of him was about to explode. He reached out and pulled Zuo Qiu’s hand towards himself. His intention was clear: do the same thing as yesterday.

But Zuo Qiu refused. “Too frequent is not good.”

Xiao Baijun gave him a mournful look. “Then what should I do?”

Zuo Qiu pointed at that bulging part of him. “A cold shower can fix it.”

Xiao Baijun: …

Was it that hard to get a satisfying meal? When would he be able to live a life of doing as he pleased?