CH 62

The sky was now a deep purple. The lights in the ballroom had been turned on, but the lights weren’t very bright. Rather, it was a subtle sort of lighting, painting the venue with an ambiguous atmosphere.

Besides being a little bit quieter, the atmosphere of the ballroom was pretty similar to that of a bar. Corenzo stepped right onto the sofa. The guy with the dreadlocks and a few other people stood behind him. All of them were tough and well-built. It was obvious that they weren’t people you wanted to mess with. 

As soon as Slater caught sight of Corenzo, he was immediately struck with inspiration. He immediately started explaining his character dissection to Gu Qingchi.

He motioned for Gu Qingchi to take a look at Corenzo.

Gu Qingchi sort of didn’t know what was going on. When Corenzo came up to them, he reacted a little bit late. On the surface, it looked as though he didn’t react at all.

He was originally going to get up. Slater gestured at him, so, with a bit of hesitation, he turned his head to look at Corenzo. 

Slater was waving emphatically. He looked very excited.

“This is what you’re missing. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Let loose. Your parents have brought you up a little too well. Don’t hold yourself back according to the rules.”

“Imagine you’re a vine. You don’t need to think about anything. All you need to do is take in the sun. You can do whatever you want. If you’ve got money, spend it. If you’ve got time, squander it. Don’t think about the future.”

As he spoke, he started to furrow his brows.

“Although, that’s not entirely correct. Even if decides to throw himself into the dust, he should still be aloof and distant. Do you know Lucifer? Give me a pure yet wicked Lucifer.”

Corenzo hadn’t understood a single word that Slater said. He was at a complete loss. However, this didn’t matter.

Corenzo jumped right over the back of the sofa. He brushed against Gu Qingchi’s leg and landed next to him. Then, he went straight for the box of cigarettes on the table.

The dreadlocks guy whistled. 

Corenzo ignored him and sniffed the cigarettes. Of course, he didn’t smell anything suspicious. He shook the box a little bit. Then, he walked over to Slater, tore up the packaging, and threw the rest of the cigarettes into the trash can.

A dozen or so cigarettes were scattered into the trash can.

“Who cares if you’re Lucifer? You can’t do this kind of thing around here. Stay away from that kid.”

Gu Qingchi was sitting on the sofa. Behind him was the dreadlocks guy along with others, and in front of him was Corenzo. 

Corenzo and his group clearly were not the friendly type. They were decked out in leather jackets, jeans, and skull patterns.

Corenzo hadn’t planned to dance today. He was just here for a drink. He was wearing ripped jeans, sneakers, and an oversized hoodie.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingchi was wearing a black suit. The tailoring seemed to be British.

He even had a Windsor knot tied around his neck. His clothes were neat. The folds in the clothing came and went according to his movements. Anyone could tell that it was high-quality fabric. 

The rest of his body was clean as well. He didn’t really have any extra accessories on him. His hair was neat and tidy. He looked exactly like what you’d imagine a rich and leisurely young master to look like.

He looked rather out of place among Corenzo and his friends, yet they just so happened to have surrounded him.

Slater finally snapped out of it. He took off his hat and put it aside.

“Hey, kid, what do you think you’re doing? Are you looking for trouble? I’m not afraid of you.” 

As he spoke, he backed up a little and clenched his fists in front of his chest. He even bounced a bit on the balls of his feet.

Corenzo’s posse of friends exchanged a look. Then, they all burst into laughter.

Slater’s words might sound tough, but his body kept moving further and further away from Corenzo.

Slater didn’t forget to give Gu Qingchi a look as he retreated. Unfortunately, Gu Qingchi didn’t understand. He looked behind him at first. When he realized that Slater was looking at him, his face went blank. 

He tentatively spoke.

“Do you guys want a drink?”

Slater: …

Po atfs ufa klqfv bea atlr alwf, la’v yf yfmjerf tlr afjwwjaf kjr abb raeqlv. 

Vijafg kjixfv bnfg ab atf rlvf jcv qlmxfv eq atf tja atja tf’v qijmfv bc atf ajyif. Lf aemxfv la ecvfg tlr jgw jcv mbeutfv. Ktfc, tf rqbxf ab Xe Hlcumtl ogbw yftlcv Jbgfchb.

“It’s getting late. We should go.”

Gu Qingchi glanced at the dozen or so cigarettes that were scattered in the trash can.

His eyes flickered, but, in the end, he didn’t do anything. 

He gave a soft hum and obediently started to stand. He was just about to walk over to him.

Corenzo took a step to the side, blocking his path.

Corenzo was facing Slater. Behind him was Gu Qingchi.

“Go by yourself. He’s staying.” 

The dreadlocks guy whistled again.

“Don’t worry. We’ll send him back safely.”

Slater’s eyes widened as soon as he heard this. He’d always had a bad temper, and he was uncompromising when onset. The fact that he’d conceded just now was already a miracle.

He took a step forward. 

“Stay away from him. If you don’t leave, I’m going to call the police.”

The situation was very tense. Both sides had daggers drawn.

A nearby attendant had noticed the commotion and quickly made his way over.

He’d originally been hesitating about whether he should step in or not. He’d been watching the situation for a while. A colleague of his had already gone to find a supervisor. 

Everyone knew that, if Corenzo was going to teach someone a lesson, it was best to stay away.

However, he caught a glimpse of the person behind Corenzo, Gu Qingchi.

Thus, the attendant had no choice but to bite the bullet and try to persuade Corenzo.

“Corenzo, they’re not locals, so they don’t really know the rules around here. They came here to film a movie. The person in front of you is a famous director, and the person behind you is a famous actor. If something happens to him here, it might end up on the news.” 

Corenzo’s clenched fist loosened.

Corenzo: ?

His first thought was, “What director? What actor?”

His second thought was, “Fuck. It turns out the two of them were together.” 

His third thought was, “Let’s try this again. I really didn’t come here to pick a fight.”

It was awkward for a little bit.

Slater angrily sat down on the sofa. Gu Qingchi, who was next to him, was still a little confused.

Corenzo and his friends were on the other side of the sofa. Some of them were sitting, and some of them were leaning against the back of the sofa. 

The ballroom’s supervisor sat in the middle.

Slater had paid a lot of money to rent one of their ballrooms. He was one of their big customers. He could only imagine what kind of publicity they would get once the movie was released. It was basically a free advertisement.

There would be hordes of people rushing towards their business then.

As for Corenzo… 

The supervisor naturally knew of Corenzo. This local bully wasn’t someone that he could afford to provoke. Furthermore, the reason the ballroom was always in order was because of Corenzo. No one had the guts to cause a scene at the ballroom. Something like this was practically unheard of around here.

The supervisor couldn’t afford to offend either of them.

After mediating between them for a bit, the supervisor got both sides to sit down.

Corenzo was also more than happy to cooperate. 

“I was at fault this time. I owe you one.”

Slater heard this and huffed.

The supervisor saw this. Suddenly, he came up with an idea. He whispered to Slater.

“You mentioned earlier that you wanted a guide that was familiar with the area.” 

This area was a rather charming place. There would often be street performers singing along the streets and dancing up a storm.

Still, the area was undeniably chaotic. The film crew had been walking on eggshells, not wanting to get into any trouble.

However, Slater wanted more than that. He wanted to dive deep into the culture and lifestyle of this little town. He wanted to film the dark side of the town. He wanted to film how the people at the bottom lived.

However, even if they were accompanied by locals, there were still a lot of places that they could not go to because of security issues, let alone film. 

This was why Slater had been filming nothing but ballroom scenes lately. They couldn’t even get into the other places to film.

The supervisor had been considering several different candidates, but none of them were what he was looking for.

Now that he thought about it, Corenzo would be perfect for this role.

The supervisor spoke very tactfully. 

“Corenzo’s familiar with local specialties and customs. He’s the perfect candidate.”

Slater looked up.

“Don’t beat around the bush. Does he have a lot of say around here?”

“Is he a gangster? The kind that lives day to day on the streets?” 

His wording was a little too direct.

The others immediately frowned and stood up.

Corenzo, on the other hand, was calm.

“He’s right, but I’m not a guide. Let the girls show them around the garden or something.” 

Slater threw out a number.

“$1000.”

Corenzo was unmoved.

“It’s a tempting offer. There might be some kids who would take you up on it.” 

“I’ll pay you wages.”

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

“I’m paying a lot of money to hire you, so the job won’t be as simple as guiding us around town. I won’t need you right away. First things first, I’m handing him over to you.”

Slater pointed at Gu Qingchi. Gu Qingchi’s mind had been wandering off as they were talking, staring at the bottle of wine on the table. When he heard his name, he raised his head in confusion. 

“You’re in charge of integrating him into your group. Bring him along with you when you guys hang out or play around.”

Corenzo looked at his friends. The corner of his mouth twitched.

“Most of the time, people tell their kids to stay away from me.”

Slater cracked his neck. 

“Hmph, if it wasn’t because of this role, I wouldn’t want my actor to get close to you either. However, you’ve still got some good points.”

He looked at Corenzo.

“You don’t touch stuff you’re not supposed to, and you don’t let others touch it either. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let my actor interact with you. That would basically be ruining him. Of course, I still have my reservations about you.”

Filming was currently in progress. 

This scene included Gu Qingchi. It was his first scene, his first encounter with the male lead.

The character Gu Qingchi played was called Silva.

The classroom was loud and noisy, the only exception being Silva. He sat by the window in the very last row, chewing gum and staring out the window.

Even if the camera was filming the entire classroom, Silva still managed to catch the audience’s attention. 

He was just too eye-catching with his jet black hair and black eyes. His appearance and temperament far exceeded that of ordinary people.

The new music teacher opened the door and walked into the classroom. The classroom quieted down a little bit.

“I’m your dance, er, music teacher. For our first class, let’s try to get to know each other. Would anyone like to stand up and introduce themselves?”

It seemed that the students had already figured this new teacher out. The classroom started to get noisy again. 

The new teacher’s self-introduction ended up getting drowned out in the racket.

The only one who remained the same from beginning to end was Silva. It was as if everything else had nothing to do with him.

Then, Silva suddenly stood up. The back of his chair slammed into the desk behind him, causing a clattering sound to ring out.

It was as if a pause button had been pressed in the classroom. All sound died. Everyone was either staring at their desk or the board, but no one turned to look at Silva. 

He stood up and left through the back door.

Even after he left, the entire classroom remained silent.

The new music teacher was the one to break the silence. He tentatively made a suggestion.

“Why don’t we learn a new song?” 

As soon as this line was uttered, a staff member clapped the clapperboard.

“Cut!”

Slater was quite satisfied with this scene. Most of the emotional burden in this scene was on Allen. Gu Qingchi’s character didn’t have a lot of emotional expression here, but, even so, it was a good performance. Gu Qingchi’s natural temperament and attitude made the character seem to come to life all at once.

It was just that the remaining scenes wouldn’t be so simple. 

Slater pointed at Corenzo, who’d been waiting to the side, and spoke to Gu Qingchi.

“You’re done for the day. Go and play around with Corenzo.”

Corenzo stood up.

“Wanna head out?”