Chapter 18: Don't listen to gossip

Xi Zirui manages to go through that scene, and the following scene, without issue, but his demeanor towards Han Yu remains frosty.

He's overly conscious of the behind-the-scenes camera filming his and Han Yu's every interaction with the intent of producing the kind of content that will get fans even more rabid to watch the drama.

Han Yu keeps hamming it up between takes. He doesn't call him "didi" again, after Li Siqi's glare basically writes him a 'cease and desist' letter in a quick sequence of blinks, but he manages to work innuendo into every other sentence.

Xi Zirui's mood worsens throughout the morning and until Liao Min calls for a short break, likely so she can go smoke in peace and complain about him to Li Siqi.

He walks towards the craft service table to grab a water bottle, but Han Yu materializes at his side with one already open. "Here, Zi-di must be thirsty."

Xi Zirui takes the water bottle from his hands without a word, Han Yu's face falls. "What's the matter?"

Xi Zirui glares at him over the water bottle. He drinks almost half of it before answering. "Take a wild fucking guess."

Han Yu's brows knit in confusion. "I really don't know...was it something I did?"

He can't believe this guy. Xi Zirui finishes drinking the entire water bottle and crumples it against the side of Han Yu's arm. "I hate the fucking CP baiting bullshit."

Han Yu doesn't look any less confused. "But our agreement..."

Since Xi Zirui's stats are already fucked because of the whole Bai Mi debacle, he doesn't see why he should force himself to go through it. "I hate it, how could you have not understood that I hate when you act all nice with me when someone's watching, hoping a photo will make it to weibo. It's so...disingenuous."

Han Yu crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Every actor does that when they're promoting a drama, I know you don't have much acting experience, but this can't be news to you." He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "Ok, we can scratch the original idea of announcing a relationship, and stick to the usual CP stuff, but we need to do at least the bare minimum, the networks expect it."

That's not good enough, and to make matters worse there's the damn photo of the kiss floating around.

His company can probably put out an announcement that the photo is doctored or something, but the truth is that they'll only be interested in doing that until the whole "secret lovechild debacle" blows over, after that they'll be as eager to get back to business as Han Yu.

The truth is that he can't exactly explain himself, he isn't sure why the whole thing leaves such a sour taste in his mouth, either.

He likes teasing Han Yu when it's just the two of them, he likes the whole push and pull between them, so why is the damn CP baiting any different?

Han Yu clearly doesn't understand it either. "What is this really about, Zirui?"

"I don't like not knowing if you mean it or not," Xi Zirui says, not meeting Han Yu's eyes.

Han Yu's eyes widen as if understanding has finally dawned on him. Xi Zirui frowns at the small smile tugging at the corner of his lip. He's glad at least one of them understood what he was trying to say.

Suddenly it's as if all the air has been sucked out of the room, Xi Zirui can't handle being in the same space as Han Yu.

Having a rival is a lot of work sometimes.

It's a blessing then when Liao Min gets back and tells everyone to go back to their marks.

Which for Xi Zirui means pretending to sleep, while Han Yu, as Xiu Xianren, gazes longingly at him.

Even with his eyes closed Xi Zirui thinks he can feel Han Yu's intense gaze bore into him, it makes him squirm.

Liao Min berates him for that, and they have to run through the scene multiple times before it meets her exacting standards.

---

Xi Zirui leaves the set as soon as he can, his stomach is roiling with hunger but he's determined to lock himself in his own trailer to avoid running into Han Yu during the lunch break.

He's so focused on making his way there that he doesn't see Su Xueyi standing in front of him and runs face first into his chest.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he says, rubbing his nose.

Su Xueyi chuckles, the familiar twin dimples denting his cheeks, and shows him a bag of takeout. "I had a talk with Li Siqi and she agreed that we could eat in your trailer, as long we both got in together."

Xi Zirui had already accepted that his lunch would consist of microwaved noodles today, but the bag in Su Xueyi's hands and the delicious aroma wafting from the takeout boxes makes him glad for the change of plans.

He and Su Xueyi are walking towards the trailer when he spots Ji Limei walking around aimlessly.

"Ji-jie!" Xi Zirui says calling her over.

She turns to him with a smile and runs towards them, the silks of her costume fluttering behind her. "Xi laoshi I'm so glad I run into you! That issue I mentioned the other day, I think it's really important that I finish telling you about it."

Xi Zirui has to wrack his brain, but he eventually remembers Ji Limei trying to warn him about Bai Mi before being interrupted.

As much as he would rather not be involved into that whole mess, it would be probably in his best interests to hear what Ji Limei has to say.

"Does jiejie want to have lunch with us? We were just about to go into my trailer," Xi Zirui asks.

At his side, Su Xueyi stiffens almost imperceptibly. "Maybe that isn't-"

Ji Limei cuts him off. "I would love to!"

---

Lunch is awkward to say the least, Su Xueyi is giving off a very cold vibe, while Ji Limei is chatting animatedly about this and that, meanwhile Xi Zirui is stuck in the middle of their opposing energies, stewing in his own confusing thoughts about Han Yu.

"Here, this way it will be easier to eat," Su Xueyi says, setting a bowl of finely diced pork cutlets and noodles in front of Xi Zirui and giving him a spoon.

Xi Zirui looks down at bowl and a bubbling guilt crawls up his throat. Su Xueyi is always so attentive, why can't he allow himself to relax in his presence?

"Thank you," he says softly, dipping the spoon in the bowl and bringing some food to his lips. "It's very good."

Su Xueyi nods distractedly and focuses on his own meal, there's a downwards slump to his shoulders.

It's only then that Xi Zirui realizes that maybe Su Xueyi wanted to spend their lunch break alone.

Ji Limei, completely unaware of the charged atmosphere, eats her food with gusto. "Ahh delicious," she announces noisily, slurping her noodles.

It's amazing how someone so small and slim can put food away at such a speed, she finishes eating long before Xi Zirui and Su Xueyi do.

"As I was saying earlier, Zi-di, you have to be careful with Bai Mi, " she sighs and shakes her head. "I don't like saying this about fellow actors, but she isn't the kind of person that you can stand to cross."

Su Xueyi's eyes snap up to Ji Limei.

"How so?" Xi Zirui asks, wondering if perhaps Bai Mi is in love with Han Yu.

Well, she can have him for all he cares.

Right?

Right.

"I worked with hear on a production last year, I only had a very minor supporting role, so we didn't interact much," Ji Limei says, sounding as if she is grateful for that. "But others weren't so lucky. That drama was also based on an original novel, and Bai Mi played the main character, however there was a second female lead, who was also very popular among the novel's fans, some would say even more popular than the main character. The actress who played her was a newcomer, so no one expected her to overshadow Bai Mi in the drama."

"Did she?" Xi Zirui asks, oddly invested in Ji Limei's tale. She's a good storyteller.

At his side, Su Xueyi rolls his eyes. Xi Zirui wonders if he finds this gossip about colleagues trite.

It must all sound very shallow to him.

Xi Zirui has a sudden thought that if Han Yu was here he would be egging Ji Limei on, probably sharing some stories of his own, shameless as he is.

Ji Limei nods solemnly in reply to Xi Zirui's question. "Who would have thought that this newcomer was actually very talented?" her doll-like eyes go round as plates, making the surrounding features look even smaller in comparison. "The director loved her, the scriptwriter, who was with us on set, made some changes to the script to give her more air-time, it seemed like that drama would be her big break once it finally came out."

Xi Zirui snorts. "Let me guess, Bai Mi didn't like that?"

Honestly this is starting to sound like the start of yet another trashy webnovel. How does Xi Zirui keep finding himself in the middle of these situations?

"She was always courteous on set, never spoke badly of that actress at all, but online, some weird rumours started popping up. Ridiculous stuff at first that no one would believe, like saying the second lead actress was a prostitute, but it got people's attention. Suddenly everyone was interested in knowing more about her."

A chill crawls down Xi Zirui's spine, he thinks he's beginning to understand why Ji Limei wanted to warn him.

"Then the rumors started being more believable stuff, like this actress didn't pay her revenue taxes, she payed bribes to ensure roles, slept with higher ups for promotions and endorsements." Ji Limei sighs and shakes her head. "It got so bad that she had to not only deny every single rumour, as well as apologize for being involved in them in the first place. All this while the drama was still filming!"

An eerily similar situation to the one Xi Zirui now finds himself in.

"But how did you know Bai Mi was behind that?" Xi Zirui asks, trying to cling to the hope that this is all an unsettling coincidence.

"Bai Mi would never come out and say something obvious, she was even sympathetic when that actress complained about her bad luck, but sometimes she would say stuff like, 'such a shame, a promising career cut down so short', or 'meimei is very beautiful, maybe she can try modeling'". Ji Limei shakes her head in disgust. "She acted as if it was already certain that she wouldn't be able to recover from the scandals."

Xi Zirui sucks in his breath. "Did she?"

Ji Limei gives him a sad smile. "Has Zi-di ever heard of the drama, 'Lotus Pond Romance'?"

Xi Zirui hasn't, but then again, he didn't really pay attention to dramas before becoming an idol-turned-actor overnight.

He shakes his head.

"That's because it never aired. That's the drama I was in last year, with Bai Mi and that actress."

"But isn't that bad for Bai Mi as well?" Xi Zirui asks.

"She's a big name actress, what did she have to lose?" Ji Limei shrugs, despondent. "In the end, because of all the scandals the network thought it was too big of a risk to air the drama and it was shelved indefinitely. Many people blamed that actress and felt sorry for Bai Mi, because all her hard work was for nothing."

Does that mean the same could happen to 'Demonic Sect Leader, I'll make you fall in love with me!' if the online speculation gets too out of hand?

What does that mean for Xi Zirui? Ni Ni said he had to finish shooting the drama and deliver a good performance as Hai Yaomei. How can he do that, if no one actually sees him perform?

Does that mean he'll fail the mission and die?

A soft hand settles on his shoulder, bringing Xi Zirui back from the edge of hyperventilation. "Zirui, don't worry yourself with that kind of speculation, who's to say if that's what really happened?" The corners of Su Xueyi crinkle warmly. "You still have some time before the next scenes, why don't you relax a little and take a nap?"