I’ve Got this Cannon Fodder’s Back

Chapter Ch54.1 - I’ve got this Celebrity’s back (14)

Chapter 54: I’ve got this Celebrity’s back (14)

Gu Xi looked at him.

Lu Qingzhou stood up straight under the light of the sun. He had his lips pursed so tightly, they had turned pale. But the light in his eyes was bright. The sunlight in the mountains was not quite as dazzling. Light and shadow fell through the layers of branches and leaves, clearly illuminating the soft down on his ears, making him appear terribly beautiful.

Film Emperor Gu suddenly felt that everyone else were particular eyesores.

Director Liang the eyesore, couldn’t make heads or tails of this sudden inexplicable disgust. He raised his hand and waved it a couple of times in front of Gu Xi’s face, which Gu Xi casually pushed aside.

Gu Xi couldn’t kiss him in front of others but as before, Gu Xi still gave him a little smile. His eyes followed the delicate contours of his face. Like every kiss, it lightly touched the corner of Lu Qingzhou’s lips. He raised his head to meet his dark eyes. “You can.”

How can he not?

To praise, one must first disparage. He had originally planned to hold back for a few more days, let things bottom out and then strike back.

But his little paparazzo was willing to accompany him.

Lu Qingzhou didn’t like strangers, didn’t like the camera. He was bullied just now but despite not even knowing whether he would be bullied again, he was willing to accompany him.

He could be wronged but his assistant couldn’t.

Gu Xi still hasn’t tried on the ‘throwing-his-weight-around’ arrogant persona and now he was very much in the mood to try it. He went through in his mind the script he had taken. Half-jokingly, he turned to Liang Yuan. “Director Liang, I can see that the crew is also suffocating to death here. You wouldn’t mind if I take a couple of your cast to give them a bit of exposure, do you?”

This kind of media excursion was usually for just one person. Now that they couldn’t enter the filming area, they had no choice but to set up their cameras in the specially set up interview area. The protagonist of this interview was quite generous by taking two other people with him. These actors could use this interview to show their face, which could also be considered as exposure.

Liang Yuan’s filming project was strictly guarded against the media. Cast and crew are stuck in this remote mountainous area for months on end. For a celebrity who was serious about attracting traffic, not being able to show his face for a few months was undoubtedly a tortuous loss. Hearing of this opportunity, many people’s eyes lit up.

What ‘take a couple of your cast’?

Even at a time like this, Gu Xi still didn’t know better to worry.

Liang Yuan frowned and was about to lecture him about not knowing how to handle proper business when he was momentarily stunned by Gu Xi’s unsmiling look. His heart suddenly jumped. “Come back!”

It seemed that Gu Xi had known earlier on that he would speak. He grabbed Lu Qingzhou to stop and he calmly turned around.

Liang Yuan’s face darkened.

It had happened so suddenly. Liang Yuan hadn’t made many commercial films and it was his first time experiencing this kind of thing. He was a little muddled at first but Gu Xi had reminded him with his feigned joking manner.

There was a mole in the crew.

The reporters had come just right on time. Their timing was perfect but Gu Xi had been sitting on the sidelines for less than half an hour. They had come here like they had caught on his scent, indicating that this happened not because Gu Xi was careless and exposed his whereabouts, but because someone on set had tipped them off.

While it might not be certain that some people were going mad from lack of exposure, it was abundantly clear that someone had taken this chance to trip Gu Xi once again.

Gu Xi wanted to find this person and Liang Yuan wanted that even more. Rules were necessary in a crew. They had all clearly signed non-disclosure agreements but reporters were deliberately attracted here at this sensitive time. Whether it was a crew member or an actor with ulterior motives, any future cooperation needed to be reconsidered.

The more he wanted to know the actual situation the more he couldn’t speak up. Liang Yuan suppressed his anger and said solemnly to his assistant, “Mr. Gu is not here for a visit. I invited him here to play a guest role. If they insist on coming in for an interview then they should come in and film the day to day operation of the crew. What do they mean by just interviewing a single person?”

There hasn’t been a reporter among the crew in two months. As soon as he said that, many eyes suddenly lit up on the sidelines. A lot of people even immediately began to tidy up their appearance. In contrast, not many people were curious about Gu Xi’s cameo.

The cast has been left up in these mountains for two months. They had to leave their Weibo accounts to be managed by their agency’s team. There were many, many people who want to take advantage of this opportunity to show their faces. Even if he tried to search this way, he might not be able to find which one of them was the mole.

Liang Yuan felt a headache coming on and sighed lightly. Just as he was about to let Gu Xi pick some passerby character to perform, Gu Xi had already walked over and reached out for his script.

After a momentary stalemate, Liang Yuan resignedly handed over the script.

*

The reporters were brought in and it didn’t take long for the sidelines to be packed.

Although they all knew, by tacit understanding, that they had all come here for Gu Xi, they couldn’t not give the cast and crew face. Now that they’ve been told that they should film the crew’s daily activities, the reporters could only diligently, by order of seniority, give each and every one of the other people their screen time as they waited for Film Emperor Gu’s “let’s talk after I’ve finished business.”

Gu Xi stood at the sidelines, listening to Liang Yuan explain the scene. He noticed the flashing light on his side and he pulled Lu Qingzhou to the side. Quietly protecting him, placing him easily within his reach.

Seeing him guarding the little assistant like a fussy mother hen, Liang Yuan found it both infuriating and funny. Helplessly, he rolled up the script. “I’ll watch him! I’ll help you watch him! Film Emperor Gu, why don’t you just tie a bell around him and carry him with you?”

He had merely said it in jest but Gu Xi raised his eyebrows slightly and an expression like his interest had be piqued appeared on his face.

Liang Yuan: “……”

Liang Yuan shut his mouth and prepared a folding stool for Lu Qingzhou on the sidelines, behind the camera. He placed him in the shaded tent. “Fine, fine. I’ll hide him for you. Which role has Film Emperor Gu taken a fancy to?”

Most of these roles were done after one or two scenes. The crew had borrowed a lot of extras from the army. Liang Yuan originally planned to pick among them for these roles. He was going to see if they could find one or two that were good in front of the camera to train up. Being able to pick up Gu Xi was undoubtedly an unexpected stroke of good luck. Having him act out any of the roles would never be a loss.

Even if it’s just a cameo, Gu Xi wanted to give a spectacular show for his little paparazzo. He held the script in his hand and made a show of earnestly considering this question.

He was being given a Film Emperor level guest actor for free. On top of that, because of a mole in his crew, this guest actor had been blocked in by reporters. Liang Yuan was too embarrassed to hurry him up. He held back his temper and accompanied him, instructing the field crew to bring two lunch boxes so that they could have their fill first.

Each character had their own advantages. Gu Xi looked through them and made idle conversation with him. All the while, Gu Xi was paying attention to the movement on the sidelines from out the corner of his eyes.

He wasn’t surprised that someone in Liang Yuan’s crew had tipped off the media.

He was normally very well-intentioned towards others and was never one to start stirring up trouble. He hadn’t provoke a lot of people and there were even fewer who could put in such effort and money to blacken him. As it happened, there was one in Liang Yuan’s cast.

Ning Feiping, one of the actors that had been brutally admonished right in the face by Liang Yuan just now.

Unlike the others, Ning Feiping was also one of the representatives of “If I don’t make it here, I’ll go back and inherit the family business” group within the circle. He debuted using a noble young master persona. He didn’t even have any affiliation with any agency. He had opened his own personal studio. He spent money left and right to pave his way. The only role he wanted but failed to get was Fang Zhengyan in “The Journey”.

This role belonged to Gu Xi.

Gu Xi’s acting was almost developed enough. The role was a good one but it really wasn’t challenging. In fact, he had no intention of fighting him for it. It just so happened that the two of them had ran into each other by accident during the audition. Gu Xi had performer first. When it was Ning Feiping’s turn, the old director who was over sixty-years-old couldn’t help but sigh, “After pearls and jade.”

Ning Feiping bore a grudge against him because of this one statement.

From there on after, whenever they ran into each other at shows, Ning Feiping would always try to secretly trip him up. Unfortunately for him, Film Emperor Gu had experienced a great many storms, playing Taichi was almost second nature and he very easily deflected them. He even didn’t take it very seriously.

Although he hadn’t thought that the other party would make trouble with him just because of a role, the convergence of so many things made Gu Xi’s thoughts turn in his mind.

There were some things that he didn’t care about but other people might. Ning Feiping’s career was up in the air. He was relying on brilliant roles from these past few years and the abundant resources he had in his hands to garner roles that matched his personality. All this time, he loitered around the first and second tier of the industry and has garnered quite a number of fans. Only that he was missing that chance to break out.

Without Gu Xi, this role probably would have been his.

The lunch boxes were delivered. Gu Xi was occupied by several scripts and couldn’t accept them. Lu Qingzhou got up to take them. He carefully laid them down on the small table; every bit like the decent assistant.

The unhappiness in his chest was swept clear away. Gu Xi’s expression turned warm and threw all other thoughts to the back of his mind. He was about to get up to tease the little paparazzo, only to find that Liang Yuan’s expression was a bit wrong.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Have your lunch first. I’ll go and tell them to hurry up with the set—”

Seeing him look over, Liang Yuan spoke quickly and kept trying to push him out. Instead, Gu Xi stopped, rolled the script in his hand and blocked Liang Yuan’s arm.

“…I’m on the crew and this is just hearsay. What I know might not be accurate. But that Yixing tea set is a very precious antique indeed. This much I understand.”

“Yes, I’m ashamed to say it but actually, I saw the Yixing tea set first. At that time, I was competing against Teacher Zhou at the auction but I couldn’t outbid him. This for me is just a bit of a hobby but he really likes this thing.”

“That was a quality item indeed. It’s natural to be tempted by it. That crew member must have some financial difficulties or maybe she was just young and naïve. She must have taken a fancy to it and not knowing how expensive it was, she just couldn’t help it…”

Ning Feiping stood on the sidelines, even-tempered and good -humored, his words suitable for the occasion. Gone was the sorry figure he had cut when Liang Yuan had berated him before.

Gu Xi’s expression sank.

“Don’t be stubborn! It’s not difficult to explain this. Does he have any say in all this? Just bear with it for now…Didn’t you say before that you were going to slap their faces later on!”

In any case, Gu Xi was now plagued by negative scandals. Liang Yuan was afraid he wouldn’t be able to bear it and so, he lowered his voice to remind him and also dragged him back.

The news didn’t say whether the crew member had been a man or a woman and because they had used the implication-laden phrase ‘pretty face’, most people were probably like Liang Yuan, who got the wrong idea. Their thoughts strayed to hints of unspoken rules afoot.

Ning Feiping was brimming with confidence. He tried his best to support Zhou Tong without mentioning Gu Xi. But little did he know that even if he smashed this matter to the ground, at most, Gu Xi would be branded as rash; he might even gain a reputation of being loyal, knowing to recognize kindness and seeking ways to return it. In the eyes of ordinary people, they wouldn’t think much of it.

As long as Gu Xi was willing to bear it for now. He just needed to bear with it for now.

Liang Yuan dragged the person to the side of the camera, making sure that he couldn’t hear anything anymore. He pushed him to sit down, “It’s alright. You should eat first and I will deal with it—”

His voice suddenly stopped.

Lu Qingzhou had already finished eating and he had already put away his lunch box. Gu Xi’s lunch box obviously didn’t have just a single portion of meat. The soy-braised shredded pork was crammed full into the lunch box and the shiny red-braised pork was poured over the rice so carefully that the lunch box almost couldn’t be covered with the lid.

The little assistant sitting at the table obviously didn’t know the portions of the crew’s lunch boxes. He even thought that he wouldn’t be found out, his dark eyes clear and bright. He had carefully hidden away the light in his eyes showing how proud he was of himself. However, he couldn’t hide it from eyes of a seasoned director who spent all his time on shooting sites and a specialized actor.

Liang Yuan opened his mouth, suddenly unable to say anything. He only whispered to him, “Old Gu…”

‘Bear it’, my ass.

Gu Xi didn’t look at him. He turned the script to a page and slapped it against his chest. “I’ll play this. Go and set the scene up.”

Liang Yuan didn’t speak much. He took the script and left. Gu Xi took a deep breath. Using the edge of the table for support, he leaned over and took Lu Qingzhou into his arms.

His hands were shaking.

Lu Qingzhou had been sitting too far away and didn’t know what had happened. He quickly raised his hand to receive him. “Do you feel hot? Sit down, I’ll get water…”

Gu Xi’s chest ached. He pressed the person into his arms and his voice was hoarse, “Have you eaten?”

“I’ve eaten……”

Behind the camera was the sun-shade tent away from other people. It was enclosed on three sides and people inside couldn’t easily be seen. Lu Qingzhou hugged him back and sat down, thinking he had been wronged. He held him gently and handed the chopsticks over. “Are we going to the interview already?”

“No hurry. The interview will be after the shooting.”

Gu Xi took the chopsticks and held it in his hand, unwilling to refuse the little paparazzo’s kindness. He nuzzled against his cool cheek and pressed down the sourness in his heart.

“Qingzhou…that move you taught me that day; that move that looks like I’m not exerting any effort but is actually really painful. Can you teach it to me again?”