Xia Xiqing was so tired that he pulled out the recliner and lay down on it as soon as he entered the dressing room. The makeup artist gently removed his makeup but found that he had fallen asleep. She could only quietly close the door and let him rest for a while.
He woke up later because of the heat. He didn't know how long he had slept. His throat was dry and itchy. He rubbed his eyes and got up from the chair. He drank the bottle of water on the dressing table in one breath. Somehow, he was covered with a thin blanket.
Maybe it was Xiaoxiao who covered it. Xia Xiqing lifted the blanket. The room was stuffy and hot. He pulled up the hair on the back of his neck and tied it into a small bun, then pushed the door open and went out. The studio was not far away, and it was only about 200 meters away.
As soon as he approached, Xia Xiqing heard the voice of the field attendant shouting. Xiaoxiao saw him from a distance and ran towards him, "Xiqing, are you feeling okay? I just got you some candy to replenish your energy. Here you go."
Xia Xiqing glanced at the raspberry-flavored lollipop in her hand and asked, "Where did you get it?"
"It's in Xiao Luo's car. The small refrigerator in their nanny car was full of candies, so I took a few," Xiaoxiao peeled off the candy wrapper of the lollipop and handed it to her. Xia Xiqing didn't refuse and took it and put it in his mouth.
"Ziheng and the others are almost done and are about to move on. Do you want to wait for him?"
It was so sweet, so sweet. Xia Xiqing was a little dazed in her sleep, and now she recalled how Zhou Ziheng and Song Nian had just been clinging to each other, and she felt like a small stone was stuck in her heart.
"Why am I waiting for him?"
"Eh?" Xiaoxiao was a little at a loss. Didn't they get together every day before? What happened... She observed Xia Xiqing's expression and said, "Now... How about you get in the car first and let's go and enjoy the air conditioning?"
Just after he finished speaking, Xia Xiqing sneezed again, "No, I'm not hot, you go turn on the air conditioner." After saying that, he walked straight to Director Kun with a lollipop in his mouth, pulled a stool and sat next to him to watch the screen.
This scene is a flashback, it depicts the previous encounter between Gao Kun and Ling Ling.
On the screen, Lingling and Gao Kun sat side by side on the grass beside a tunnel. The camera was facing the profile of the two people, and a car whizzed past them. Lingling held a cigarette between her fingers, took a big puff, and exhaled gray smoke. Her face began to become unclear in front of the camera, like a silhouette. The camera moved slowly, and Gao Kun's profile gradually became complete.
Lingling held a cigarette in her hand and tilted her head to smile at Gao Kun. There was a hint of flirtation in her smile, and her eyes and eyebrows were full of charm.
Xia Xiqing also admires Song Nian's acting skills. Although he looks young, his acting is quite flavorful.
"Do you smoke?"
Gao Kun glanced at Lingling, nodded belatedly, and said, "Pull it."
"Here." Lingling held out her hand with the cigarette to Gao Kun. Gao Kun reached out to take it, but she took her hand back, as if teasing him, with a smile on her face. Gao Kun couldn't hold back his face and was about to reach out to grab it, but Lingling directly put the cigarette to his lips, and her fingertips with bright red nail polish rubbed the corner of his lips intentionally or unintentionally.
Gao Kun reacted slowly and held the cigarette in his mouth, staring blankly at Lingling's smiling face. The smoke went straight into his lungs like a snake, choking him and making him cough repeatedly. He hastily withdrew his gaze.
Lingling laughed, and her laughter became louder and louder.
The more he watched this scene, the more familiar it became. He couldn't help but start to think about Xu Qichen's intention in writing this character.
Xia Xiqing felt heavy in his heart.
"Cut!" Kun Cheng took off his headphones and waved at the other end. "This one is pretty good. It seems that old partners are different. They have a great tacit understanding. It seems that we can call it a day today."
The slowly melting lollipop seemed to corrode the mucous membrane lining the mouth. Xia Xiqing took it out and turned it around in his hand. He licked the side that was pressed by the candy with the tip of his tongue, feeling the rubbing.
Zhou Ziheng and Song Nian came over. Song Nian was jumping around like a rabbit, while Zhou Ziheng was as steady as ever, following slowly behind. For some reason, Xia Xiqing looked at them and thought they were a good match.
In fact, he had thought more than once whether it would be too cruel to treat Zhou Ziheng like he had treated his previous lovers. After all, Zhou Ziheng was such a good person, there was no reason for him to tolerate his morbid personality. Although the relationship started entirely because of his unwillingness to admit defeat, it was almost over by now, so it was better to part ways amicably.
Just treat it as a dream.
After waking up from the dream, everyone lives their own life and no one is responsible.
"Director Kun, let's have dinner together tonight. I just heard from the assistant director that tonight's night scene was cancelled, right?" Song Nian squatted in front of the director with a smile. Director Kun also said, "Yes, I almost forgot. There was a problem with the venue we rented tonight. It will take tomorrow to fix it."
"I heard that our group hasn't had a gathering yet. How boring! Let's go eat hotpot together and sing some songs?"
"Okay, you arrange it with Lao Zhou."
Xia Xiqing originally thought that Zhou Ziheng would come over to talk to him, but he didn't expect that he just came over and stood there, with his hands in his pockets, and didn't even look at him. Seeing Zhou Ziheng like this, Xia Xiqing didn't say anything either. He sat quietly on the stool, like a mollusk whose strength had been drained.
"Great, I'll make the arrangements." Song Nian stood up and grabbed Zhou Ziheng's arm. "What do you want to eat? I'll search online for good food nearby and find a KTV. How about that?"
Zhou Ziheng did not hide this time. With a smile on his face, he said, "It's all fine. I'm not picky." This look of letting Xia Xiqing arrange everything for him was seen as a sign of complete doting.
"I heard Xiqing is a local." Song Nian looked down at Xia Xiqing and smiled, "Why don't you come and organize the party? I don't even know where to find good food."
Xia Xiqing raised his head at this moment, took out the lollipop in his mouth, and smiled gently, "I won't go. I'm a little tired today and want to go back to the hotel and sleep early."
"How can that be!" Song Niansheng pulled Xia Xiqing up, "How can the landlord leave first? Anyone can escape today, but you can't." After saying that, she turned around and asked Zhou Ziheng for help, "Right, Ziheng?"
Xia Xiqing raised his eyes to look at Zhou Ziheng, and seeing that he agreed with a smile and did not ask him to rest, he could not help but lick the inner wall of his mouth that was wrinkled by the sugar with his tongue again. When Song Nian turned his head again, he raised the corners of his mouth and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
He has already given Zhou Ziheng a chance.
They finished work early, and the six people, including the four leading actors, the director and the assistant director, went to a well-known local restaurant to eat crayfish. Although everyone was fully armed, Zhou Ziheng's height was really eye-catching, and he was recognized by several girls sitting in the hall as soon as he entered the door.
"Hey, is that Zhou Ziheng?"
"What the hell! Zhou Ziheng!?"
"Is Xia Xiqing here?"
"It seems... Oh no, it's at the end!"
The two were not inseparable as the study girl had expected, but instead were at the beginning and the end. Although it was not as expected, these passers-by who had a rare encounter with the stars still posted the hastily shot video on Weibo, which was quickly forwarded crazily by the two's fans and the study girl.
[Self-study girl celebrates Chinese New Year every day]: Ahhhh, the food is released!!!
[I love studying on my own]: Ah, Zhou Ziheng’s profile is so good, and Xi Qing is so fair and beautiful without makeup!
[We can be friends if you study on your own]: Have my geese finally learned to avoid suspicion, hahahaha.
[sweetieq]: Next to Zhou Ziheng is Song Nian who plays Yun Yi. They have a good relationship and they have been chatting since they entered the door in the video.
[Nian Nian Bu Wang]: Nian Nian looks great today too! Is this a crew party? The director is here too.
[Lemon Essence]: Suddenly I get the CP feeling between Zhou Ziheng and the girl, the height difference is so cute.
Because of this chance encounter video, fans and passers-by began to speculate about the private relationships of these people. Most of the fans said polite words to control the comments, while some toxic fans who were used to fighting with CP fans took this video as solid evidence, saying that self-study was just business and that the two people killed had nothing to do with each other.
Soon, the small-scale quarrel began to ferment, and the hot words [Meet Zhou Ziheng and Xia Xiqing] also became a hot search. Of course, the parties involved were completely unaware of what happened on the Internet. Zhou Ziheng had just sat down next to Director Kun, and Song Nian sat in the empty seat to his right. Xia Xiqing and Yang Bo, who came in later, sat down in the empty seat, diagonally opposite Zhou Ziheng.
Yang Bo is a real Northeasterner who doesn't eat much crayfish. Xia Xiqing ate three shrimps in the time it took to peel one. He saw how strenuous it was, so he nudged Yang Bo's shoulder with his plastic-gloved hand and grabbed a shrimp, "I'll teach you how to eat it."
He deftly twisted the shrimp head, held the shrimp tail and pinched it with his thumb and index finger. The shrimp shell opened in the middle, and then he peeled off both sides, and a whole piece of shrimp meat came out.
"Have you figured it out yet?" Xia Xiqing turned her head and saw that Yang Bo still hadn't peeled the shrimp well. She made a "tsk" sound and threw the shrimp in her hand into his bowl. "You have such a clumsy hand."
Yang Bo chuckled twice and stuffed the shrimp he peeled into his mouth, "Delicious."
Xia Xiqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry, not knowing that Zhou Ziheng saw it all. Song Nian was the loudest at the dinner table. He had just been chatting with Director Kun about his hometown in Yunnan, but now he started to expose Zhou Ziheng's secrets.
"Director Kun, you don't know that when I first met Ziheng, I was very scared of him. He looked like he had a bad temper, and he played a grumpy middle school student." Song Nian smiled so brightly, "I didn't even dare to talk to him at the time."
"Then how do you two talk to each other?"
Song Nian, who was wearing a vest, bumped Zhou Ziheng with his shoulder and fell over. "You say."
Zhou Ziheng subconsciously glanced at Xia Xiqing, then looked away as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile, "You go ahead and say it."
The assistant director sitting next to Director Kun was sweating from eating spicy shrimps. "You two are still giving in. Why are you being so pretentious? Just say it!"
Zhou Ziheng wasn't deliberately playing push-pull with her. In fact, he really didn't remember the scene of his first conversation with Song Nian. Not to mention the first time they talked, even the first time they worked together was a blur to him.
"I had just finished filming a running scene and was sweating all over. He came over to me from a distance and said," Song Nian began to imitate Zhou Ziheng's mature appearance, "Your back is wet, and the straps are a bit obvious. Put on a coat." After saying that, she began to laugh, "You don't know how embarrassed I was at the time. After all, I am a girl."
Yang Bo, who was busy peeling shrimps, also interrupted the topic, "At a time like this, you should just take off your coat and put it on the girl. It's a standard idol drama scene." He even raised his eyebrows twice in a deliberately funny way.
All of a sudden Zhou Ziheng became the target of ridicule at the dinner table. Even Director Kun started to joke, "It's obvious that Ziheng has never been in a relationship. He's too direct."
The assistant director said, "Ziheng is single now. Even Ziheng is single?"
These two questions made Zhou Ziheng feel a little embarrassed. He subconsciously glanced at the person diagonally opposite him, but that person didn't even look at him. He was concentrating on eating shrimps and talking to Yang Bo in a low voice. The volume was very subtle, not too low for Zhou Ziheng to hear, but not too loud that he couldn't hear what was being said.
"Hey, how about we change the script for you two, so that you and Lingling are together, hahaha." The assistant director immediately explained, "Just kidding, it will be a mess if you change it."
Kuncheng was a good-tempered person. "The script cannot be changed. What's the point of falling in love in the play? You two can try it outside the play. The ages are suitable."
Zhou Ziheng subconsciously wanted to refute, but when he thought of what Zhao Ke said, he swallowed his words back, thinking that Song Nian would also refute, but Song Nian replied generously, "I'm not afraid of the test, the key is whether Ziheng thinks highly of me."
The matter was thrown to him again, which was like a hot potato. Zhou Ziheng didn't know what to do.
At this time, another person joined in this "forced love" drama.
"I like her." Xia Xiqing said, restraining his frivolousness in front of Zhou Ziheng, leaving only a bit of gentleness, but still lazy, "Zhou Ziheng said that he liked a girl in a white dress before. If you wear a white dress tomorrow, maybe this matter will work out."
He never expected that Xia Xiqing would make fun of this matter, and he felt more and more uncomfortable.
Zhou Ziheng originally had a very vicious face, with high brow bones and deep eye sockets, which made his eyebrows and eyes look extremely deep. Xia Xiqing was used to seeing this man greeting him with a smile, and knew that he actually had the best temper and character in the world. It was rare to see him with such an ugly expression now, and there was a sharp look in his eyes when he looked at him.
Xia Xiqing took his time to pick up the wine glass, waved it at him across the table, and apologized with a smile, "I have revealed all the details about your first love, please don't blame me, I am also worried about your big affairs."
Seeing him like this, Zhou Ziheng couldn't describe the feeling in his heart. It was like he had fallen into a thorn bush. No matter how he dodged, he would be stabbed and bleeding. He might as well end it all. Anyway, he didn't want to continue playing this game with no ending.
At the end of a game, there is always a winner and a loser.
"How could that be?" Zhou Ziheng also laughed, the hostility in his eyes gradually faded, "But that wasn't my first love, it's just that I've liked someone unilaterally for many years, and we've never been together."
"Oh?" Kun Cheng was also a little curious, "What kind of girl can make you love her for so many years?"
"Actually, I've only met her once, and it was during our first filming. If you ask me, I actually don't remember what she looked like. It's just that I was afraid of the camera at the time and kept crying. I cried so much that I ran out of the set, and then I met her. She comforted me and stayed with me all the time." Every time Zhou Ziheng talked about this, his expression would unconsciously become soft.
This subconscious softness was like a thorn piercing the palm of Xia Xiqing's hand.
It seems that saying that you don't like her anymore is all nonsense. Which man will forget the white moonlight and white rose in his heart
What you can't get is the best.
Song Nian nodded. "So the reason you kept filming was because of her?"
"In the beginning, yes. I couldn't find her, so I thought if I kept filming until everyone knew me, would she see me in a movie, TV or on the Internet one day and remember that I was that boy. It's like when people look up at night, the brightest star will definitely be remembered."
Zhou Ziheng lowered his head and took another sip of tea. "But I've given up on this idea. I think filming is actually a way of expression for me, and it has a more important meaning."
After talking for a long time, Zhou Ziheng did not mention his change of heart. It was not that it would destroy his image of being infatuated, and it was difficult to say it, but he just wanted to stick to himself and Xia Xiqing.
Song Nian sighed a few times after hearing this, "What a good man." She drank some wine, and a blush appeared on her pretty face. She put her wrist on Zhou Ziheng's shoulder and leaned over.
Zhou Ziheng did not push her away. He felt Song Nian's frequent advances. Even a fool could sense that, otherwise the director would not have spoken for her.
The smell of women's perfume made him dizzy, and Zhou Ziheng shifted his gaze to Xia Xiqing.
At this time, Xia Xiqing had obviously withdrawn from the topic of first love. He coughed a few times, then turned his head to talk to Yang Bo, "You didn't eat much, I'll peel it for you." Yang Bo felt embarrassed, "No, no, no, you eat it."
"I'm full. I have a headache and can't eat too much." Xia Xiqing lowered his head and peeled shrimps carefully, with two thick and long eyelashes hanging down, covering his eyes.
Song Nian and the directors' voices were in his ears, but Zhou Ziheng's eyes were fixed on Xia Xiqing's hands. Those slender hands with distinct joints, the hands that had painted for him, were now peeling shrimps intimately for another man.
"Headache?" Yang Bo also noticed that Xia Xiqing had been sneezing, so he took off his gloves and put the back of his clean hand against his forehead. He also touched his own forehead for reference, "I think you have a fever. Do you have a low-grade fever due to a cold?"
Xia Xiqing shook his head, pushed the bowl of shrimp meat in front of Yang Bo, took off his gloves and threw them aside, "Eat it."
Yang Bo smiled like a child, "Thank you~ You are awesome."
"That's right. I don't even peel shrimps when I eat them. I just put them in my mouth and spit out the shells."
Zhou Ziheng watched the two people fighting back and forth, and his back teeth were about to break.
He felt that he had set a trap for himself tonight.
Xia Xiqing would not be jealous. In fact, he didn't care at all. He was the only one who was jealous to the point of going crazy.
After two hours of eating, Song Nian was clamoring to go to KTV again. Yang Bo said from behind, "Xiqing has a fever." But he was not confident enough and his voice was not loud, so no one heard him. Xia Xiqing also grabbed his arm and said, "It's okay, let's go to KTV and sit for a while, don't spoil everyone's fun."
In fact, he drank a little too much, and with a bad cold, his head was dizzy and his feet were light-headed. A few people opened a private room, which was very dark. As soon as Zhou Ziheng entered, he asked the waiter to turn on more lights, but Song Nian, who sat next to him, teased him, "Why, are you afraid of the dark? Such a big screen is not bright enough?"
Zhou Ziheng said nothing, watching Xia Xiqing walk in behind Yang Bo and sit down in the corner, not seeming to have any discomfort. Song Nian was a lively person, singing several cheerful songs to warm up the crowd and then started to pull others along. Director Kun and the assistant director also sang two songs each, and even Yang Bo, who claimed that he was not very good at singing, sang "Single Love Song".
"Hey, Ziheng, why don't you sing a song too?" Song Nian pushed his arm, trying to get close to him. Zhou Ziheng gave way without making a sound, "I can't sing. I'm naturally tone-deaf."
"It's always like this, so boring." Song Nian stretched his neck and set his sights on the other side, "Xi Qing? Why don't you sing a song?"
"I'm not very good at singing either." Xia Xiqing's voice was a little hoarse when he spoke, "You guys sing."
But Song Nian was a clingy person. He went up to Xia Xiqing right away and after much persuasion, he finally gave in and took out his cell phone to ask Xia Xiqing to order a song. Xia Xiqing felt that his fever was much worse than before and his eyes were a little swollen and painful. He reached out and swiped Song Nian's cell phone a few times, and selected a song he saw.
"You still say you can't sing. You're even singing Faye Wong's song and you still say you can't sing." Song Nian moved away from him and returned to Zhou Ziheng, leaving the microphone to Xia Xiqing.
Xia Xiqing felt dizzy, and the song happened to have a psychedelic tune, so he felt as groggy as if he had taken drugs.
This is a Cantonese song. The original singer's pitch was not low enough for a boy. Xia Xiqing only lowered the key by one key, and everyone was surprised when he opened his mouth.
Yang Bo slapped Xia Xiqing on the shoulder and said, "Gosh, you call this not being able to sing?!"
Xia Xiqing leaned back on the sofa, his head tilted back, his eyes fixed on the screen. The bizarre colors reflected on his overly beautiful face like glass. His slender neck had an elegant curve, with a fragile and delicate beauty.
Maybe it was because of the cold, his voice was a little nasal, and his Cantonese songs had a subtle and special flavor to them.
"Don't be superstitious about the beauty of sweat glands, and don't be pious until you know how to love the devil.
Leave the memory to the next life, don’t swear to others.”
The bass and drum beats seem to be deliberately following the heartbeat, hammering hard on the heart one after another.
The lyrics were so realistic that Zhou Ziheng couldn't listen to them from the first line. But Xia Xiqing sang so resolutely, so calmly, and even with a smile on her face, as if she was standing aside from the matter and looking superior.
"And who also remembers,
Don't allow him to be spoiled and don't become dependent on him.
Let him betray your feelings if you like Judas.
When expressing your love, you should not be too arrogant and don't worship too blatantly.
One word to remember. "
He sang these lyrics over and over again, his voice was soft and hoarse, the arrangement was enchanting and had a metallic chill. Everyone was immersed in the music, except Zhou Ziheng, who stared at the lyrics on the screen.
Every word hits hard in the heart.
Xia Xiqing sang with ease, as if he was warning infatuated men and women as a person who had experienced it, but he didn't know who he was singing these words for.
It’s okay to listen to it for yourself.
Wake up.
"For this and that, for pleasure,
Why did I endure it for him, for you?"
After the song ended, Xia Xiqing turned off the microphone and put it on the coffee table. Everyone else applauded, especially Kun Cheng, "Xiqing, you sang this song really well. Why don't you sing the theme song as well?"
"You're only at the KTV level. You made a fool of yourself once you entered the recording studio." Xia Xiqing smiled, his temples throbbing with pain. He lazily crossed his legs, supported his chin with his palm, and looked at Zhou Ziheng, curling his lips at him through the heavy darkness and the confusing light.
"Does it sound good?"
I sang it for you.
Seeing that he didn't say anything and didn't even look at him, Xia Xiqing just felt proud, as proud as a murderer who had carried out a perfect murder. He stood up and said, "I'm going to the bathroom. I drank too much just now. You guys continue to play." His feet were a little unstable, and Xia Xiqing walked out while holding on to the wall.
This KTV is a high-end entertainment venue and is quite expensive, so there are not many customers. The bathroom is large and bright, but there is no one in it. Xia Xiqing felt hot all over and felt much better after washing his face with cold water.
The self in the mirror looked a little disheveled. Xia Xiqing pulled out a face towel and carefully wiped the water droplets on his face in front of the mirror. Then he crumpled up the tissue and threw it into the trash can. Just as he reached the bathroom door, he was pushed in by a brute force. He staggered a few steps and almost fell. Fortunately, there was a wall behind him and his back was against the dryer, which hurt him a lot.
But Xia Xiqing quickly put on a relaxed smile, because he knew that there was only one person who would do such a thing at this time.
"Why are you so angry?" Xia Xiqing's eyes were full of teasing, "This is not like you."
Zhou Ziheng's thin lips were pressed into a cold and hard line. It was said that people with such lips were often cold-hearted and unfaithful. It seemed that face reading was not always accurate, at least in the case of the two of them, it was the opposite.
"What do you mean?"
Xia Xiqing wanted to maintain his composure, but when he heard Zhou Ziheng's words, which were obviously full of anger, he couldn't help but laugh, "What do I mean? Did I provoke you first? What are you planning? Do you think I can't see it?"
He didn't know who had bewitched Zhou Ziheng, and he just went with the flow and acted so well with Song Nian who was obviously interested in him, just for him to see. What did he want to see? Did he want to see him turn against Zhou Ziheng for him? To feel sad and resentful for him? It was crazy.
Zhou Ziheng overlooked the most important point. His opponent was the battle-hardened Xia Xiqing. Apart from being sincere, he would have no chance of winning with any strategy or trick.
Xia Xiqing took two steps closer, slowly approached Zhou Ziheng, and put his palm on his chest, which was extremely ambiguous.
But the next moment, his slender hand grasped Zhou Ziheng's clothes, and the eyes looking at him narrowed slightly, like a cheetah, revealing a dangerous signal.
"Zhou Ziheng, with your level, are you worthy enough to play with me?" The corners of his mouth were raised with disdain, and the pale skin under his ears showed a sickly flush.
"Have you forgotten who I am, huh?"
The author has something to say: This layer of window paper will eventually break.
I strongly recommend everyone to listen to and watch Faye Wong's "Love Commandment"! It's cool and psychedelic, and the visuals are great. This is my favorite song in my playlist.
ps: Judas was one of Jesus' twelve disciples. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, which led to Jesus being crucified on the cross. Judas symbolizes betrayal.
Xia family's additional skills: singing~
The next chapter won't be sad, and it won't be the end. I'll tell you when it's almost the end.
I want to say here what I said in the comments section. I know everyone likes sweets, but to be honest, the setting of this article is bound to have some difficult parts.
Their relationship seems sweet on the surface so far, but this illusory sweet illusion can't last long. As time goes on, Zhou Ziheng's possessiveness will become stronger, and he simply can't stand not being able to truly own Xia Xiqing. Xia Xiqing will also become more and more inferior, and feel that there is no need for Zhou Ziheng to continue to tolerate someone like him. He even compares himself to Judas. This kind of relationship is only peaceful on the surface and will collapse one day, so there must be a breakthrough between them.
I didn't write these scenes for the sake of torture. Characters cannot be portrayed only through flirting and ambiguity.