A month and a half passed in a flash, and the entire crew rushed to finish the last few scenes in mid-August. A heavy rain disrupted all plans, and the crew first filmed the part in the script where Gao Kun was seriously ill. In order to act, he once lost weight to a sickly figure of 120 pounds. Later, when the filming was about to be completed, he had to make up for the previous scenes. In addition to filming every day, Zhou Ziheng also worked hard to gain weight and exercise.
Xiao Luo took the steak and boiled eggs out of the lunch box, "Ziheng's body is about to turn into a balloon."
Zhou Ziheng felt sick seeing all this, but he had to continue for the sake of filming. "Forget it, at least I have the motivation to work out now. It will be too late to work out after the filming is finished, and I won't be able to shoot commercials or anything like that."
"You're quite good at comforting yourself." Xia Xiqing took his luxurious lunch box and sat down next to Zhou Ziheng, happily eating his sweet and sour pork ribs and Kung Pao chicken in front of him.
"Could you please be so kind as to stay away from me when I eat?" Zhou Ziheng was desperate when he smelled the fragrance of Xia Xiqing's lunch box.
In fact, in order to play Jiang Tong, Xia Xiqing's lunch boxes in the past few months were all fat-reducing meals, and he only had some good dishes when the filming was about to be completed. He picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs with chopsticks and put it to Zhou Ziheng's mouth, "You can eat a piece secretly, it's okay."
"Who said it's okay?" A powerful female voice came from behind. Zhou Ziheng immediately sat opposite her.
Xia Xiqing also put away his chopsticks, put the meat into his mouth, and ate it casually while laughing, "Sister Jiang Yin, you are too ruthless. He is your dear brother-in-law."
Jiang Yin also sat down, "He came here this way before." After saying that, Jiang Yin glared at Xia Xiqing, "He wouldn't have come here if you hadn't recruited him."
"Okay, okay, I'll deal with him." Seeing Zhou Ziheng nodding repeatedly behind Jiang Yin, Xia Xiqing also accepted it, "I'm done shooting today, I can't deal with him anymore."
As soon as he finished saying this, he saw Zhou Ziheng frowning at him, looking very unhappy.
Xiaoxiao poured a cup of tea for Jiang Yin, who took it and said thank you. She turned around and said to Xia Xiqing, "Speaking of wrapping up, shouldn't the crew celebrate for you tonight? This is your first time acting, after all."
"Forget it." Xia Xiqing thought of how Xi Hui contacted him the day before yesterday, saying that his grandfather was seriously ill, and after killing Qing he had to go back to the Xi family to settle the inheritance issue.
Although Xia Xiqing had no idea about Mr. Xi's inheritance, as Xi Hui said, he couldn't let something that originally belonged to his mother fall into the hands of others.
"I have some things to do in Beijing, so I have to go back after I finish the shooting."
Zhou Ziheng was so busy looking at Xia Xiqing that he didn't even bother to eat. Jiang Yin kicked him with the tip of her high heels, and he came back to his senses. "Okay, I have to go back in the evening. I'll ask my assistant to buy another ticket. Let's go together."
Xia Xiqing's last scene was on a bench in the corridor outside the ward, which was also the last scene that the crew rented in the hospital. He was wearing the clothes he wore when he worked part-time, and Guo Yang, who was wearing a suit, sat next to him. After the two of them finished rehearsing their lines for the last time, the camera was pushed over and aimed at Xia Xiqing's face.
"'Tracking' Scene 121, Shot 1, First Shot, Action!"
"Have some coffee." Cheng Qiming handed the paper cup to Jiang Tong and sat down next to him. "Have you just finished work?"
Jiang Tong nodded and took a sip of coffee, but still frowned because it was so bitter.
Cheng Qiming saw a stainless steel thermos bucket next to his legs, so he asked with concern, "Is it for him?"
"Bought..." Jiang Tong's condition has not been good recently. His vocal cords have been used in an abnormal way for a long time, and his voice is very hoarse. Cheng Qiming felt sorry for him and said, "Drink something hot."
Ever since Gao Kun was sent to the ICU, Jiang Tong quit his job at the convenience store and stayed with him in the ward every night. Occasionally, when Gao Kun was a little more awake, Jiang Tong would take care of him and talk to him for a while.
Cheng Qiming looked at the bruises under his eyes, turned around, took out a folder from his briefcase and handed it to him, "Take a look, this is what I told you last time."
Jiang Tong put the coffee on the floor, took the folder and opened it. It contained information about adult education. He read it for a while and then handed the folder back to Cheng Qiming without saying a word, just lowered his head and pursed his lips.
"You haven't looked carefully yet," Cheng Qiming sighed, "Don't you like painting very much? Wait until Gao Kun recovers," Cheng Qiming felt something was wrong after saying this, and changed his words, "I mean, when his condition stabilizes, you can go to learn painting. I have seen all these schools, you can apply for scholarships, and I will help you, you don't have to worry too much about money. And..." His voice was lower, "Don't get me wrong, I really just think you are very similar to my brother, I feel guilty about him, and I feel distressed when I see you. That's all."
After hearing this, Jiang Tong hurriedly took out a sticky note, wrote a sentence on it and handed it to Cheng Qiming.
[You are helping me by helping him. I am very grateful to you.]
Cheng Qiming couldn't help but feel a little angry. He and Jiang Tong were talking about his future, but he just wouldn't listen. "I've already said that I will help him, but you have to know that this is not an ordinary disease. Gao Kun is now almost in the worst condition. Some things can't be solved by spending money."
His tone was a little anxious, and he forgot to consider Jiang Tong's feelings. He regretted it as soon as he finished speaking, but he had already heard it, and there was no way to take it back.
Jiang Tong nodded twice, covered his face with his hands, and curled up like a skinny shrimp.
"You... you are, I know you are friends," Cheng Qiming tried to find a suitable wording, "but you have to think about yourself too."
After a long time, Jiang Tong raised his head, tears welling up in his red eyes.
He rubbed his nose, took out a sticky note and wrote a sentence. His shoulders were shaking, and his handwriting was crooked. No matter how he wrote, it didn't look good. He endured it for a long time, but finally a tear fell on the sticky note.
[He said that after meeting me, he didn’t want to die anymore, and I thought the same thing.]
Cheng Qiming took the paper, looked at it carefully for a long time, and finally could only nod.
"Okay. Let's talk about this after he stabilizes." Cheng Qiming put the convenience slip in his suit pocket and stood up. "I'm leaving first. I'll ask someone to send some fruit supplements tomorrow."
Jiang Tong stood up hurriedly and bowed deeply to Cheng Qiming. He didn't stand up until Cheng Qiming had left for a long time. He was busy all morning and didn't eat. He felt a little dizzy. He quickly sat down against the wall and took out a lollipop from his pocket.
Before, he forced Gao Kun to quit smoking, so Gao Kun could only go out and buy those lollipops for one dollar each and put them in his mouth, and occasionally he would buy some for him.
Jiang Tong lowered his head, his mind full of the healthy and energetic him before, repairing his bicycle and following him to take him to the night shift. He slowly peeled off the candy wrapper and put the crystal clear candy ball into his mouth.
Somehow, he couldn't stop crying. Jiang Tong glanced at the nurse in the corridor and quietly wiped away his tears. But soon after, tears started flowing again. Jiang Tong wiped them with his palm again, but he couldn't control them. He imitated Gao Kun and bit the candy ball into pieces. The candy was too sweet, so sweet that it tasted bitter.
With a mouthful of candy crumbs, Jiang Tong sat alone on a bench, crying so hard that she couldn't even raise her head.
The camera gradually zoomed out, taking in the entire hospital corridor. A long shot captured a small world of joy and sorrow.
"Pass!"
This crying scene was shot five or six times. The last time it was so good that the director even temporarily changed to a long shot.
"Okay, this one's passed. Jiang Tong, thank you for your hard work." Kun Cheng walked over from the other side of the monitor and patted Xia Xiqing on the shoulder, "Xiqing, thank you for your hard work, we finally finished shooting."
Many female staff members on the set were infected by Xia Xiqing's emotions, and they went up to him one by one to hand him paper.
"Xi Qing is so pitiful. Her crying made me want to cry too."
"Exactly. I don't even dare to watch the feature film. This is the most abusive group I've ever been a part of."
She cried so hard that she was a little out of breath. Xia Xiqing took a deep breath and turned around to see Zhou Ziheng. She was startled. Zhou Ziheng was holding a large bouquet of red roses in his hand and walking towards him with a smile.
This scene brought him back to the day when he and Zhou Ziheng shot a magazine together.
Xia Xiqing was stunned, "Where did you buy it..."
"Congratulations on wrapping up." Zhou Ziheng smiled gently and handed him the flowers. It was so big that he felt embarrassed to hold them. Xia Xiqing took it and immediately gave it to Xiaoxiao beside him. Unexpectedly, this guy hugged him. It was the wrapping up, and these were normal things in the eyes of outsiders, not to mention that the whole crew knew that they had a good relationship.
Taking advantage of the hug, Zhou Ziheng leaned close to his ear and whispered.
"My heart was broken by Brother Xiqing's crying."
Here it comes again, "You..."
"I want to kiss your eyes."
Xia Xiqing was completely helpless and could only wipe her tears on his shoulder.
In addition to Zhou Ziheng, several other main creators from the same group also came forward to hug him one by one. Everyone knew that Xia Xiqing still had things to deal with, and the crew was also very tight on time, so the wrap-up banquet had to be cancelled. Xia Xiqing paid out of his own pocket and ordered takeout for the entire crew at the most famous local restaurant, and bought a big cake before leaving.
After the plane landed in Beijing, Xia Xiqing had a good sleep, and the first thing he did when he got up was to dress himself up. When he was not with Zhou Ziheng, Xia Xiqing paid a lot of attention to his appearance. After all, he was an art student in the gay circle, so a pretty face and a good figure were both very important.
After the hair was styled, it finally didn't look weird anymore. All the hair in the front was blown up, and there was a small widow's peak on the forehead, which was not in the middle but tilted to the left, which was in line with Xia Xiqing's unruly personality.
Xi Hui drove to pick him up. Xia Xiqing exchanged a few pleasantries with him on the way, and then said nothing more. Xi Hui had been a bachelor all his life, never married and had no children. He had no interest in art and only wanted to do business. He had fallen out with Mr. Xi for this reason. His youngest son was unfilial, and his daughter died young due to bipolar disorder. The collateral relatives were eyeing the lifelong collection of the two elders, hoping to divide it up as soon as they were gone.
Arriving at Xi's house, Xia Xiqing followed Xi Hui upstairs and arrived outside of Mr. Xi's room. There were several young children standing at the door, most of whom were brought by relatives. Xia Xiqing rarely came to Xi's house. The last time he came was before he went abroad to study. Very few relatives knew him, let alone these children.
But he has recently become one of the most popular people on the Internet. These kids all know him. When they saw Xia Xiqing, they were stunned at first, and then they started whispering to each other.
Xia Xiqing half lowered his head and straightened the buttons of his shirt cuffs, pretending he heard nothing. He waited for the doctor to come out and walked straight into the room.
Mr. Xi's bed has become a family hospital bed. His old face is full of wrinkles, but he is still well dressed. Even though he is bedridden with a ventilator mask on his face, he still retains the last bit of character of an old artist.
Next to him stood a man in his forties, dressed in expensive clothes. He glanced at Xia Xiqing and said unceremoniously, "Who is coming in again? Butler, please ask him to leave."
Xia Xiqing smiled and turned his head to look at Xi Hui. Before he could say anything, Xi Hui explained, "This is Dad's cousin."
"Nephew?" Xia Xiqing glanced over and said in a leisurely tone, "I thought I had a new uncle."
The other party was obviously stung by these words, and his eyes moved between Xia Xiqing and Xi Hui. Xia Xiqing was too lazy to give him face, so he pulled a chair and slowly walked to the window, sitting down openly.
The bedridden old man seemed to hear the noise, opened his eyes, saw Xia Xiqing's face, and in a trance seemed to see his own daughter.
"Xin'er...Xin'er is back?"
Hearing his grandfather calling his mother's nickname, Xia Xiqing felt a pang in his heart and reached out to hold his grandfather's hand.
Xi Hui watched from the side, then turned to look at the unaware nephew, "Cousin, if you have nothing to do, go down and have some tea. You've been guarding for these days, it's really hard for you."
"You! You are trying to steal the Xi family's property!"
"Mou?" Xia Xiqing looked up. "I am grandpa's grandson." He turned his head and glanced at Xi Hui. "This is grandpa's only son. Who are you?"
After being confronted by Xia Xiqing, the man's face turned pale and blue, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Xi Hui called some people and asked all the irrelevant and unwilling relatives to leave.
Mr. Xi’s lawyer also came to the house, and while he was still conscious, they counted all his collections, liquid funds and real estate.
Xia Xiqing knew Xi Hui's purpose very well. "I only want the collection and the art gallery. The rest of the funds and real estate will be given to you." Seeing that he was so direct, Xi Hui stopped hiding. Until the day when Mr. Xi passed away, Xia Xiqing had been accompanying him by his bed. He had never been with an elder for so long, and he didn't expect that the only chance he had would be like this.
On the day Mr. Xi passed away, he asked Xia Xiqing to push his wheelchair and take him to a room where there was a plaster sculpture of a pretty woman holding a beautiful baby.
"This is... I made it myself... when you were born..." Grandpa coughed several times and continued with difficulty, gasping for breath, "I should have given it to you a long time ago..."
Xia Xiqing felt a lump in his throat and touched the sculpture with his fingers.
In these short ten days, he seemed to feel the warmth of his family for the first time.
Even though it was too late.
After finishing all the affairs, Xia Xiqing temporarily put all the collections in the Xi family's safe, and planned to wait until the art museum opened before making any plans. On the day of the funeral, Xia Xiqing, as the grandson, stood at the front with Xi Hui to carry the coffin for Grandpa Xi. Xia Yunkai also showed up, but Xia Xiqing just pretended not to see him and didn't say a word.
After returning home, Xia Xiqing stayed in his house and drew sketches for several days. When he was taking a nap on the wooden table in the studio, he was woken up by the sound of WeChat. It was a message from Zhou Ziheng.
[Moral Role Model]: I’ve landed, where are you
Xia Xiqing rubbed his eyes twice. His hands were weak from just waking up and he was too lazy to type, so he picked up his phone and sent a voice message.
"I am home."
Zhou Ziheng on the other end of the phone came out of the chaotic and noisy airport pick-up scene and finally got into the car. He then put on his headphones and turned on the voice chat. Xia Xiqing's voice was much softer than usual, and sticky as if he had just woken up. Zhou Ziheng's heart melted when he heard it. He listened to the four-word voice chat more than ten or twenty times, and he couldn't even suppress the corners of his mouth.
"Why is Ziheng so happy?" The driver looked at the rearview mirror and asked Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo looked like he knew everything and responded, "Who knows?"
"Where are you going, Ziheng? Back to the company?"
"Go home, back to my apartment."
In late August, the summer heat in Beijing had not completely dissipated, but it was not as humid and hot as in the south. Zhou Ziheng was a little uncomfortable after suddenly returning from Wuhan.
As soon as he got out of the apartment elevator, Zhou Ziheng went straight to Xia Xiqing's house. He pressed the doorbell for a long time but no one answered. He leaned against the wall, sent a message, and then opened the door of his house with his fingerprint.
“Where have you been…” Zhou Ziheng muttered to himself as he changed his shoes, walked to the sofa in the living room and lay down with his head back.
The room was very quiet. Zhou Ziheng sent several messages to Xia Xiqing in a row. When he heard the WeChat notification sound, he stood up and looked around, and found that Xia Xiqing's phone was actually on the sofa.
"Where is he?" Zhou Ziheng stood up and went upstairs to look for him while calling his name. All the rooms were empty, so he had to go back to the living room.
"How old are you? You're still playing hide-and-seek with others," Zhou Ziheng walked to the French window tentatively and pulled open the curtain. "He's not here," he stepped back a few steps, leaned against the pool, and faced the French window. "Come out quickly, I know you're here..."
Before he could finish his words, a wet hand grabbed Zhou Ziheng's ankle and pulled it down. Zhou Ziheng lost his balance and fell backwards into the swimming pool.
Xia Xiqing emerged from the water, wiped the water off his face with his hands, pushed all his hair back, and pushed Zhou Ziheng to the edge of the swimming pool by pushing his palm on his chest before he could react, and pressed his shoulders forcefully and cunningly.
Zhou Ziheng looked at Xia Xiqing who came out of the water with his upper body naked. His fair and thin skin seemed to be covered with a layer of satin, and the light of the water sparkled. The light golden sunlight penetrated the French windows and shone on Xia Xiqing's smooth shoulders and back. He was dripping with water, and his skin was so thin that it was almost transparent. In the backlight, he was so beautiful that only a dazzling fish tail was missing.
"I've been waiting for you for so long that I'm almost dying," Xia Xiqing stroked Zhou Ziheng's face, stared into his fiery eyes for a moment, and then pressed herself against his chest, her lips close but not completely touching, with a subtle distance between them. Her slightly panting voice almost drew Zhou Ziheng's soul away, "Give me artificial respiration."
Zhou Ziheng stretched his arms and legs, hugged him tightly and turned him over. The situation immediately turned upside down. He grabbed both of Xia Xiqing's hands and pressed them on the marble floor outside the swimming pool, then leaned in and kissed him.
The moment the wet and soft tongue tips touched, the thunder from heaven ignited the fire from earth, and the fire spread across the prairie in an instant.
After the kiss, Zhou Ziheng pinched Xia Xiqing's chin and kissed the tip of his nose, "Who asked you to come in for a swim?"
A pair of long white legs swung in the water, hooking around Zhou Ziheng's calves. Xia Xiqing smiled and hugged his neck, tilting his head.
"Who said I came here to swim?"
Zhou Ziheng let him hug her and said, "I heard the voice call and thought you were asleep?"
Xia Xiqing rubbed Zhou Ziheng's chin with the tip of his nose. His voice was even softer than the previous one, and Zhou Ziheng's ears softened.
"I feel sleepy now."
The author has something to say: Who can withstand this
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