CH 11

Genuine or Fake

He Hua felt that Xie Yan has been quite eccentric lately. Although he didn’t like eating meat, he wasn’t picky with other things. He would always eat whatever there was, let alone bringing a chef to set. But now, he’s actually particular about what he ate?

“Okay.” He Hua suspiciously looked at him.

…

The weather was super hot. Su Shen rolled up her sleeves and sat on the soft couch waiting for shooting to start while relieving the breeze from the small electric fan. When she was scrolling through her phone and saw the number one hot search, she was shocked.

[Qu Wen exposed for hooking up with internet celebrities! Xie Yan liked a post saying that he should be exposed?!”]

Netizen A: Forgive me, but who’s Qu Wen???

Netizen B: Just searched around and found that this repulsive man’s diehard fans are still trying to save his reputation on Baidu Tieba. Where have their ideals, values and ideologies gone to?

Netizen C: Our Yan ge must’ve slipped his hand!

Netizen D: If it’s someone else, I’ll definitely don’t believe that it was just a slip of hand. But if it’s Xie Yan, then his hand must’ve definitely slipped. After all, Xie Yan’s not bored enough to go and give an 18th-tier web drama actor a hard time. There’s too much of a difference between them, simply a loss of face for that 18th-tier actor. 

Netizen E: Just saw that many people are exposing him on Baidu Tieba, I didn’t expect that this person would get addicted to casual sex. So disgusting, no wonder why he’s not popular [vomit]

Netizen F: Honestly, if it wasn’t Xie Yan, I wouldn’t even know who this person was?

Netizen G: I just found out that Xie Yan actually uses Weibo?! Can you satisfy the wishes of all fans and post a selfie?! Just one!!!

Qu Wen’s hot now, but it was because of the attacks on him. Originally, it was just a small storm but now, it has become a tempestuous wave. His fans were drowned out in the crowd with no trace of them being seen.

Su Shen’s feelings were quite mixed. Unless he was a popular artist or had a strong background, no directors would seek him after this kind of scandal. Moreover, executives already had strict regulations for artists who had scandals. For Qu Wen, a web drama actor, he would stay low for quite a while. 

It wasn’t none of her business anyway. There weren’t any secrets in this industry. If you’ve done it, then don’t be afraid of it being known.

Su Shen was about to scroll through the other comments when she saw Wang Cheng coming over with a bowl of stinky tofu. Then, he sat down next to her and ate a piece of stinky tofu, “When are you gonna invite me over to your house for dinner?”

He was wearing his thick imperial robes with sweat all over his forehead yet he was still eating such hot stuff. His handsome face was flushed due to the spice. How was he like his image of being a bright and clear idol?

“Five million for a meal, still wanna eat?” She glanced from the corner of her eye.

“God damnn, is your meal made out of gold?!” Wang Cheng’s eyes widened and seemed to have remembered something. He suddenly took a tissue from his assistant and peered over, “I’ll introduce you to an opportunity and in exchange you’ll treat me to dinner?”

Su Shen frowned and didn’t expect for him to be so persistent about her cooking.

“In half a month, I’m gonna enter my next production. It’s also a xianxia* drama adapted from a game. There’s a lot of investments and the production team is also top-notch in the industry. You should know that as long as the script isn’t bad, it’ll be popular. If you want, I can introduce you to the director, there should still be some roles that haven’t been determined yet.”

xianxia – fictional stories featuring magic, demons, ghosts, immortals, and a great deal of Chinese folklore/mythology

Su Shen couldn’t help but change her expression after hearing his words, “Road to Immortality?”

The popularity of this drama has been high ever since its adaptation to casting announcement. As one of the four big idols, it wasn’t strange that Wang Cheng was casted as the main lead while the female lead was Yang Zhi who had the best acting among the Four Dan actresses and was also very popular. This drama could be considered to have trended even before airing. The second female lead was also a new and rising actress and the others were either veteran or emerging actors. This lineup was already set to make the drama explode.

“Yea, your appearance is no worse than that of Yang Zhi. As long as you choose a good role, it’ll be easy for you to get noticed. After all, all you’ve done before were web dramas with a small range of audience and the drama with you and Qu Wen… seems like it’ll be a flop.” Wang Cheng seemed to have known about the matter with Xie Yan’s like.

Su Shen fanned herself with her script while having a moment of contemplation, “This… I’m not sure yet. You’ll be going on set next month but I’m auditioning for a drama invested by Jiang He TV soon. It’ll be bound to have a schedule conflict and I don’t want to mess up my acting.”

It was easy to get confused and harder to get into character when shooting two dramas at the same time. She didn’t want that.

“Oh, you’re talking about that drama by Jiang He TV. They looked for me before but I accepted Road to Immortality and rejected that one, mainly cause they wanted to invite Mu Yao. She loves to hype up a cp so you could say I ran away cause of it. Anyways, you haven’t even auditioned for it yet. Honestly, with your reputation, you’re not even her opponent. Why don’t you just follow me? Although it’s not the female lead, the supporting female character is also quite notable.” Wang Cheng squatted on the ground with his bowl of stinky tofu and began to eat again. From time to time, he looked up at her. 

Su Shen helplessly laughed a little, “We’ll see, I’ll take a look at the situation with this drama first.”

“Then, my dinner…” Wang Cheng looked up, all he cared about was his dinner.

“None.” She frowned and continued to look at her script.

The latter immediately jumped up and persisted in asking her to invite him over to dinner.

Su Shen didn’t relent and was actually just teasing him all this time. Wang Cheng was frank and straightforward and he didn’t put on any airs. To be friends with this kind of person, she didn’t need to be cautious or use any tricks.

After filming two more scenes with Fan Meng getting cut for half of the day, the Director finally got a bit mad. Suddenly, it started raining. Thus, the Director had to let everyone off work early. After all, it was almost six or seven.

Wang Cheng and Li Hao went for bqq again. Su Shen, however, called Liu jie in the dressing room and in passing, mentioned the matter with Wang Cheng.

“There’s news from your sister’s side, telling you to go audition the day after tomorrow. Although your popularity and fame isn’t on par with Mu Yao, you’ll have to compete with her on value and with your remuneration being lower than her’s. As long as you perform well during the audition, then you might still have a chance. As for Wang Cheng’s side, don’t reject it. That drama is definitely going to be a hit. Even if it’s a small role, as long as the role is sufficient, it’ll still be notable.” Liu jie said earnestly.

Su Shen sat on the director’s chair with her phone in hand and listened to the pattering of rain. She indifferently said into the phone, “I know, I will tell him.”

“Then I’ll pick you up the day after tomorrow.” After this, Liu jie changed the topic and said, “Oh right, what happened to Xie Yan? Was it really just a slip of hand?”

Liu jie’s tone was full of doubt. Obviously, she didn’t believe that it was such a coincidence.

Su Shen laughed, “If not, what? He doesn’t know Qu Wen and I also don’t know him that well. If it wasn’t an accident, you think it was on purpose?”

Also, at first glance, Xie Yan wasn’t the type to like tearing apart a person.

“Okay then, you don’t need to worry about this matter. Qu Wen sought his own death. At the pivotal point, I’ll have someone expose more of his news. Rest assured and film well.” Liu jie didn’t seem to think that it was despicable to step on someone when they’re already down.

Su Shen felt the same because she had wanted to do this a long time ago.

After hanging up the call, Xiao Zhou came over and curiously asked, “Su jie, do you really think Xie Yan’s hand slipped?”

Su Shen couldn’t help but arched a brow when she saw how curious she was, “You think he did that on purpose?”

As she said this, she looked out the door again. “This rain isn’t becoming smaller, go and see if there’s still any umbrella left on set.”

Xiao Zhou immediately went straight to the door and the moment the door opened, the sound of the rain became louder.

Su Shen scrolled through her phone and found that Qu Wen could be said to be a wall that was about to collapse soon and everyone gave it a push. There were more and more allegations that testified against his previous dirty conduct. His company’s statement of false accusations against their artist was also completely meaningless. His fans meaninglessly struggled, drowned amongst the vast outlookers without a sight to be seen.

After scrolling through the comments for a while, Su Shen went out of the dressing room and came to the front of the corridor to wait for Xiao Zhou. At this time, there were still some staff in raincoats putting away the props whereas the director and the rest of the crew left already.

Xiao Zhou still hasn’t returned yet. Su Shen saw a staff member holding two umbrellas and just as she was about to brave through the rain to go borrow one, she saw Xie Yan and Zhao Tong walking through the corridor toward her way. It seemed like they were going back to the hotel.

He wore a long black coat and had a script in his hand, seemingly not aware of Zhao Tong speaking beside him. 

Su Shen suddenly remembered the matter of his accidental like today when she saw him and didn’t understand how Xie Yan managed to come by that post about Qu Wen on Weibo.

“Huh, Su Shen, you still haven’t gone back?” Zhao Tong greeted when he saw her.

Su Shen pointed at the rain and smiled, “No umbrella.”

“Ah? We have two umbrellas here, I’ll give you mine. Hurry up and go, otherwise it’ll be hard to call for a taxi later when the rain gets heavier.” Zhao Tong gave his umbrella to Su Shen as he spoke while looking back at Xie Yan to see if he would object.

“Wouldn’t it be a little cramped for you guys to share an umbrella? I’ll wait a bit more, my assistant has already gone to borrow an umbrella.” Su Shen didn’t receive it and took two steps back to avoid being splashed by the rain from the eaves*.

eaves – the part of a roof that meets or overhangs the walls of a building.

Zhao Tong was even more enthusiastic when he saw that Xie Yan didn’t object and insisted on giving her the umbrella, “It’s okay, our driver is already waiting outside. I’ll just give him a call to have him send another one over.”

Su Shen hesitated for a bit. As she saw that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, she finally received it, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Zhao Tong very much liked Su Shen’s cooking. It was just a pity that Hua ge didn’t allow them to get too close to her.

Xie Yan closed his script and glanced at the downpour within the pitch black darkness and insipidly said, “I’ll send you.”

Zhao Tong abruptly turned back, eyes-widened and looked at the da ge in front of him.

Su Shen was also startled. Their eyes met and she then shook her head, “Thank you but no thanks, I can just call a taxi.”

Xie Yan indifferently said, “It’s on the way.”