Spilling the Tea on the Movie Star Who Won't Leave Me Alone - Chapter 32

As soon as Xu Chi returned from the film crew, the company crammed him into several public appearances and arranged for him to bring a newcomer to the latest Fashion Week.

“Brother Lin, when are we going back home?” On the second day of Fashion Week, Xu Chi broke out in a rash. It was a dense patch on the left side of his jaw, making him too self-conscious to go out and see anyone. He spent all day huddled in the hotel, surviving on the movie stills Gu Jingxuan had sent him.

With Gu Jingxuan’s song playing in his headphones, Xu Chi lay in bed reading fan fiction from a major Tieba author. Aside from not being able to see Gu Jingxuan in person, his life was actually quite comfortable.

Once the unedited photos from Fashion Week were released, Xu Chi trended on social media once again.

Lin Tao looked at the photos of Xu Chi’s fair, tender face on his phone, sighing as he munched on potato chips. He wondered what kind of constitution Xu Chi had; anything that happened to him resulted in a trending topic, yet his range of roles remained the same old thing.

The phone rang while Xu Chi was half-asleep listening to music, making him bolt upright in bed. When he saw the caller’s name, he sat back down obediently, clearing his throat to make his voice sound more pleasant.

Standing nearby, Lin Tao rolled his eyes at the sight of him. He gave the seemingly lovestruck Xu Chi some private space, but didn’t forget to toss a comment his way: “Look at you!”

“Hello, Brother Gu.”

Gu Jingxuan had just finished a night shoot and had recently come down from the wire harness. He called Xu Chi before he even had time to remove his makeup. He had seen the trending topics today; in the photos, the red patch on Xu Chi’s jaw was clearly visible. He had waited from morning until night before daring to call.

“Yeah. Have you had lunch?”

Xu Chi thought about the light, bland dishes he’d had for lunch and wondered if he should answer truthfully.

“It was alright, just a bit bland.” Xu Chi checked the time; it was only around noon for him, which meant it must be late at night for Gu Jingxuan. “Brother Gu, did you have a night shoot today? You’re still on set this late?”

Gu Jingxuan tilted his face up to let the makeup artist remove his makeup. “Yeah. We’ll wrap in a few days. I didn’t get a chance to give you your wrap-up gift from last time before you left for Europe.”

After saying that, Gu Jingxuan realized the topic had drifted quite far from what he actually wanted to ask. He cleared his throat and waved the makeup artist away.

“What happened to your face?”

Hearing this question, Xu Chi blanked for a moment, not realizing what Gu Jingxuan was referring to.

“My face?”

“There were photos of you on the trending topics today. What’s with that red patch on your jaw?”

Xu Chi hadn’t expected that attending a single Fashion Week would land him on the hot search list again. He reached up to touch his jaw with his fingertips, the irritation making him hiss in pain.

“The doctor said it’s just me not being used to the local environment. I’ve been applying ointment these past few days, so it should be fine soon.”

Xu Chi didn’t usually have any specific allergens and was generally healthy. The hospital visit hadn’t revealed anything specific, so he figured it was just the change in climate and water.

Before Gu Jingxuan could offer any sympathy, Xu Chi beat him to it.

“Brother Gu, I don’t think the food in Europe is as good as back home. Even though I’ve been here many times, I still feel like domestic food is more filling. I’m too embarrassed to eat too much abroad; even Brother Lin says I’ve lost a lot of weight lately.”

Gu Jingxuan laughed at that. “Losing weight is good. Director Jiang needs you to continue dieting for the next film. It’s perfect that you’re slimming down in Europe; it’ll save you some suffering when you get back.”

Xu Chi’s face fell instantly. “Huh? I have to lose more weight? I barely have any body fat left as it is. What kind of scripts is Director Jiang writing? Does he even want us foodies to live?”

You couldn’t blame Xu Chi for his appetite. The roles he’d taken in previous years were all “romance idols”—as long as the face was good and the body wasn’t bad, it was fine. Director Jiang’s films featured romantic, elegant scholars who were all thin and wiry. Xu Chi had never had to diet before. He was suffering through every bit of the weight loss for Director Jiang; now, just the sight of chicken or eggs made him want to gag.

“By the way, Director Jiang said he sent you the script. He wants you to take a trip to Jiangnan once you’re back to experience the atmosphere of the region described in the script.” As much as Gu Jingxuan felt for him, his attitude toward acting remained firm.

“The crew officially wraps in a few days. Director Jiang said we’ll start filming this one after a week’s break. You should prepare well and study the character’s emotions. Especially… in that regard.”

Gu Jingxuan spoke suggestively, making Xu Chi’s face flush.

“Yeah, I’ll check my email later.” Xu Chi wanted to find more things to chat about, but hearing the trace of exhaustion in Gu Jingxuan’s voice, he pushed him to go back to the hotel and sleep.

“Alright, I’ll hang up then. Have fun in Europe, and watch your diet.”

“Bye, Brother Gu.”

Xu Chi waited until Gu Jingxuan hung up before reluctantly putting his phone down.

He called Lin Tao in and found the script Director Jiang had sent a few days ago buried in his crowded inbox.

“Brother Lin, Director Jiang said he wants me to wander around Jiangnan when we get back. Could you book the tickets later?”

When he didn’t hear a response from Lin Tao, Xu Chi remembered he hadn’t actually told him about accepting Director Jiang’s new project yet.

He bit his lip and looked at Lin Tao piteously, his tone sincere and aggrieved: “Brother Lin, I was wrong. I should have told you earlier. I’m sorry, please forgive me, okay?”

Lin Tao looked like he wanted to throttle him. “The company already found your next script for you. If you do this, the company is going to destroy you. Do you even realize that?”

At the time, Xu Chi hadn’t thought that far ahead. As soon as he heard Director Jiang wanted him for a film, he had agreed without a second thought.

Hearing Lin Tao’s words, his eyelids drooped, looking quite pathetic.

“Then what do I do? I can’t take two roles at once. And Director Jiang’s film is way more valuable than some melodramatic romance, isn’t it?” Xu Chi didn’t know what the company was thinking; the roles they arranged for him offered no breakthrough and were starting to pigeonhole him completely.

Lin Tao recalled a scene he’d witnessed at the company a few days prior and suspected the manager was behind this.

“I’ll go try to plead your case with the company. You took Director Jiang’s role on your own authority; if we piss off the higher-ups, we’re both in for it.” Lin Tao didn’t like the company’s arrangements either, but at the end of the day, he was an employee who relied on his paycheck. He couldn’t exactly ignore their orders.

He thought for a moment, then felt something was off. “For Director Jiang’s last audition, did Zeng Shuqi go too?”

Xu Chi didn’t understand why Lin Tao suddenly mentioned him and nodded in confusion. “He was cut in the first round. He couldn’t even go to the later auditions.”

Alarm bells rang in Lin Tao’s mind. Connecting it to that scene he shouldn’t have seen a few days ago, he felt like something was about to happen.