Jiang Chuyi sat on the set in Hengdian waiting for the whole morning. After being forced to listen to the extras around her chatting about their daily lives for several hours, she finally welcomed the late female lead after lunch.
Ten minutes into the show, with the director's "Cut", she finished her scene.
I packed my things silently and was hurriedly dragged away before I had the chance to have a meal with the crew.
Jiang Chuyi pulled down her baseball cap, put on her mask, and handed the suitcase to her assistant.
The car was about ten minutes away. The assistant had just confirmed the location with the driver when she turned around and saw Jiang Chuyi folding her arms, looking down and thinking about something. She couldn't help but wonder, "Sister, why are you so mysterious today? Are we that famous?"
Jiang Chuyi reached out and patted her on the forehead, "How can you talk to your boss like that?"
The assistant chuckled twice.
If we talk about being famous, Jiang Chuyi is definitely not one of them. But she has indeed been having a rough time recently.
The costume drama "Blade of the Mirror" launched by iFlytek has been very popular recently. It is a large ensemble drama with many big names in it. Jiang Chuyi is just a green tea maid who has a miserable end.
He doesn't have many scenes, but he is particularly hateful.
Although being a star requires a certain level of psychological quality, she has been lukewarm over the years and is used to being a marginal figure, so much so that she is a little uncomfortable with the sudden increase in the number of people scolding her in the past two days.
Drive from Yiwu to Shanghai.
It started raining as soon as we got on the highway. Jiang Chuyi curled up into a ball and huddled in the chair.
There were several night shoots this week, and she could not close her eyes and sleep for more than five hours. Her head started to ache again.
Jiang Chuyi looked a little tired, "Where are we going?"
Gao Ning was on the phone, shaking the tickets in his hand: "There will be an event later."
Jiang Chuyi took it and looked at it from front to back.
Fierce CN 2020.
Electronic music festival
Jiang Chuyi was puzzled: "What kind of activity is this? Why didn't anyone tell me in advance?"
Gao Ning smiled mysteriously, "Lao Qin gave you the ticket and will take you to meet someone."
Jiang Chuyi opened her phone to check the time, then thought about it and asked, "Will we get a makeup done when we get to Shanghai? I have to go home."
"how?"
She answered honestly, "Go see Ruby."
"… "
Gao Ning's eyelids jumped, and she felt a little suffocated. "Why do you always think about your broken rabbit wherever you go?"
Jiang Chuyi looked depressed. After a while of silence, he couldn't help but say, "My sister said that he has a poor appetite recently and hasn't eaten much."
Gao Ning was simply impressed by her. "You are a female star after all. Can you think of something serious to do all day long?"
As an unknown person, it is almost common knowledge that Jiang Chuyi likes rabbits. The only thing that has made her popular is probably her unusual hobby - eating, sleeping and playing with rabbits.
Maybe there is a new one recently - a cunning and treacherous foot-washing maid.
*
The rain stopped when they reached Shanghai, and the assistant accompanied Jiang Chuyi home.
Although Jiang Chuyi was not the main guest at the electronic music festival in the afternoon and was not very well-known, she has always respected her profession and never showed her sloppy side to others.
After feeding Rabbit, Jiang Chuyi applied a facial mask, put on makeup carefully, curled her eyelashes, took out a beige knitted T-shirt and denim shorts, put on a mask and sunglasses before going out.
Jiang Chuyi and her assistant took a taxi to the address Gao Ning sent them. They found it was in an underground club, which was hidden away. They searched for a long time before finding it.
You can hear waves of noise before you even enter the venue. Looking around, it's a completely different dark world: the walls are full of messy and weird graffiti, posters and Cuban necklaces, as well as various skulls sprayed with colorful paint in various strange shapes, directly highlighting a bold hip-hop style.
Following behind them to check tickets was a group of young men. They gathered together, smoking cigarettes, wearing small gold chains and big black sunglasses, and occasionally singing a few inaudible lines of West Coast hip-hop.
Jiang Chuyi turned her head and took a glance, and happened to see a big brother with a mouth full of shiny diamond-plated porcelain teeth.
"… "
She looked away calmly.
I don't know if there were too many people in the queue or if something went wrong, but after waiting for a long time, the line in front of me didn't move at all. After finally getting in, a young lady checked her ticket. She was one of the few people here dressed normally, which made Jiang Chuyi feel a little safer.
The lady reminded: "You need to take off your mask and sunglasses."
Jiang Chuyi did as she was told.
"Hey, how old are you?" The young lady obviously didn't recognize Jiang Chuyi, and took a closer look at her ID card to confirm, "Minors are not allowed to enter."
"I'm in my twenties." Jiang Chuyi put on a mask.
"Oh, you look too young." The young lady smiled softly, returned the things to her, and asked, "Are you single?"
"yes."
The young lady handed her a bracelet and said, "Write your contact information and name on it."
Jiang Chuyi picked up the pen on the table and did as she was told.
Seeing that she had finished writing, the young lady helped her put on the bracelet and smiled mischievously, "You can exchange the bracelet with your new friend. I wish you have fun."
…
…
The club has started to heat up, and Jiang Chuyi sent a message to Gao Ning.
The person who had been urging her to arrive on time just now was no longer in a hurry. Ten minutes later, he replied, "Have fun for a while. I'll find you if I need anything."
She stood there and looked around.
The young assistant was eager to move and couldn't contain his excitement. He just waited for Jiang Chuyi to nod, then immediately floated away and merged into the dark crowd.
The electronic music that was crackling in her ears seemed to be dancing wildly on every nerve in her body. Jiang Chuyi felt a little breathless after staying there for a while. She found a relatively quiet corner, picked up the champagne and drank it, trying to make herself feel better.
As a heavy drinker, no one was watching. It was rare for Jiang Chuyi to indulge herself like this, and after a few drinks, she soon became a little tipsy.
After sending away the two people who were trying to chat her up, she had just put down her wine glass when water was splashed on her head.
I looked up and saw some underground rapper on the stage, but he looked like a veteran clubber - his arms were covered with tattoos and his hair was dyed in a mess. He was having a lot of fun, shaking a half-spilled bottle of mineral water in his hand.
The lights in the venue flickered on and off, making people dizzy. Jiang Chuyi followed the sign, staggered to the stairwell, pushed open the door and went in.
There were few people coming and going here, and there was no surveillance. She sat down next to the horizontal bar of the electric well box, took out a tissue from her bag, and wiped the wet area.
Jiang Chuyi's eyes were blank and he rested for a while with his back against the wall.
Suddenly, a faint female voice came from his ear. Jiang Chuyi leaned forward slightly and stuck his head out.
Two people, a man and a woman, came in one after the other.
A few steps away from her, the man was wearing a loose dark short-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap, leaning against the door of the stairwell.
He lowered his head slightly and lit the fire with one hand, his posture somewhat lazy.
Soon, the scarlet light flickered.
With two clicks, the lighter closed.
The woman clenched her hands behind her back and whispered something.
He pretended to be calm, yet was obviously shy and nervous.
The other person, however, was smoking a cigarette without much interest, and naturally, light smoke flowed out from his lips.
It's not bright enough here, and the blocked light casts a dark color, making this unclear picture inexplicably attractive.
It's a very strange feeling.
Perhaps he noticed the inappropriate third party, so the man quickly raised his eyes. Jiang Chuyi was unable to react in time and happened to meet his gaze.
The cigarette was held between his lips, and his face was blurry and cold. In just a few seconds, Jiang Chuyi sat up straight.
Taking out his cell phone and checking the time, Jiang Chuyi hugged his knees with his hands and continued to lean against the wall waiting.
This kind of thing is common, and she is not too interested in gossip. But this is a dead corner where the electric meter is installed, and there are sundries piled up. The way here is occupied by those two people, so she can't leave even if she wants to.
A few minutes later, the sensor light in the stairwell went out. Jiang Chuyi guessed that the two men should be done.
WeChat kept vibrating, and Gao Ning sent more than a dozen WeChat messages asking her where she was.
Jiang Chuyi quickly stood up, lowered her head and walked out while replying to the message. After taking only two steps, she suddenly stumbled.
She cried out reflexively.
The lights in the hallway came on, the man put out his cigarette, and stood up a little straighter. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
The sound is neither light nor heavy, and the tone is low and gentle.
Jiang Chuyi looked at him blankly as he put on the mask.
My first reaction was that he had a really nice voice.
She took two steps back, and there was a distance of more than one meter between them. In just a few seconds, Jiang Chuyi regained her composure and looked behind him.
The girl who had just confessed her love seemed to have left, but there was another person. This person was dressed in a suit and had a headset, like a bodyguard.
Jiang Chuyi understood immediately after hearing this, "You misunderstood, I'm not a paparazzi, I only have a cell phone on me."
Jiang Chuyi's gaze returned to the man, slowly moving up from his shoulder against the wall, and briefly examining him.
Standing against the light, the man had broad shoulders and was tall and thin, with the remaining half of his face shadowed by the lowered brim of his hat.
The light in the stairwell was dim, and she could only see the pair of slightly upturned eyes, dark as if they were dipped in ink, half-closed, staring at her, and there was actually a kind of bitter, speechless temptation.
I guess he is another colleague who is out to fool around, he is very cautious.
The bodyguard smiled apologetically, "Would you mind letting me see your phone?"
"Sorry, I mind."
For some reason, the alcohol slowly started to take effect again, and she stared at the masked man.
Seeing that she was looking at him silently, the man leaned against the wall and took the initiative to ask: "Do you know me?"
Jiang Chuyi frowned: "Don't worry, I didn't see who you are clearly, and even if I saw you clearly, I might not recognize you."
He hummed and silently pulled the corners of his mouth.
As she was talking, Gao Ning received two more calls, accompanied by a bombardment of WeChat messages. She immediately felt something was wrong and prepared to leave.
But the bodyguard stopped her again: "I'm sorry, miss—"
Jiang Chuyi shrank back, and her cell phone slipped and hit the tiles, making a crisp sound.
She took two deep breaths and controlled her anger. "I repeat, I am not a paparazzi, and I did not take any secret photos."
"I have something to do now." Jiang Chuyi took off the bracelet and threw it to him. "Here is my contact information. If you have any questions later, you can contact me at any time, or I can call the police directly and let them handle it later."
After saying that, Jiang Chuyi bent down to pick up her phone, but someone had already taken action, so she retracted her hand.
He leaned down slightly, put one hand on the horizontal bar, picked up the phone on the ground and handed it to her.
The two looked at each other.
Jiang Chuyi hesitated for two seconds, took it with a stern face.
The bodyguard looked at the other man hesitantly.
The man was silent for a moment, "Your phone screen seems to be broken."
"Ah?" Jiang Chuyi looked down and said casually, "It's okay, just take it and get it fixed."
He reached out to the person next to him: "Give me a pen."
The man glanced at the bracelet briefly and confirmed with her, "Little Miss Ruby? Is that her name?"
"Yeah." Jiang Chuyi answered with a weak tone.
The man nodded, wrote something on the back of the bracelet, and handed it to her. "My phone number is on it. If you need to change your phone, you can always contact me. I'm sorry about what happened tonight."
Jiang Chuyi's anger subsided a little.
When people drink too much, they tend to be a little stupid. She said slowly, "You are a celebrity, right? Be careful when you go out to play next time. Don't cause trouble to innocent passers-by in public."
The man paused as he put the pen cap on and looked at Jiang Chuyi quietly. Then he smiled and said, "I understand.
*
Gao Ning called Jiang Chuyi twice but no one answered. He and his assistant searched half a place and finally caught him in a corner.
"Where have you been?" Gao Ning was furious. "I almost wanted to call security to find someone."
Jiang Chuyi said, "Go to the bathroom and sober up."
Seeing that she was still conscious, Gao Ning took a deep breath and threatened her coldly, "I'll break your head if you don't answer the phone next time."
Jiang Chuyi's expression remained calm. She looked around and said, "Oh, right, aren't you going to meet someone?"
"Don't worry, wait a moment." Gao Ning raised his chin, "It's about to start."
The host was introducing the mysterious guest's airborne segment on the stage, and halfway through his speech, all the lights suddenly went out. As if they had a premonition, the whole audience tacitly fell silent, and then there was a rustling sound, accompanied by thick white smoke, and the uncontrollable restlessness began to spread.
Gao Ning's voice was full of interest: "Here we go, the highlight of the night."
As soon as the words fell, the next second, a black and red logo slowly appeared on the LED screen in the center of the venue. The host had quietly left the stage without knowing when. Everyone on and off the stage, almost everyone, burst into cheers the moment the logo became clear. The endless, ear-piercing screams could not be stopped.
The assistant was startled and excitedly grabbed Jiang Chuyi's arm, stuttering: "It's actually Xibao!!!"
"Xi... Bao?"
Jiang Chuyi didn't understand what was going on and didn't react.
The assistant was full of surprise: "BloodXGentle, the thugs in suits, you wouldn't be unfamiliar with him, Mr. Jiang?"
Jiang Chuyi thought for a moment: "Oh, it's them."
How could she not know him
The boy band launched by IM, the leader in domestic entertainment, is also the company's most powerful money-making pillar.
Three years ago, BloodXGentle came out of nowhere.
Four people whose names had never been heard before became famous in a very explosive way in a short period of time. They set off a wave of idol craze, attracted many fans who were very loyal, or even not loyal, but a kind of morbid madness. They naturally fought their way out among many stars and landed on the front line.
It happened without any warning, like a huge thunderbolt exploding out of nowhere in the domestic entertainment industry, causing extreme blood and gore, turning the industry upside down.
It is no exaggeration to say that it is a step to heaven.
Jiang Chuyi was busy filming before and didn't pay much attention to it. In addition, she had little interaction with them and only heard about it from others.
This hearsay mainly came from her cousin, a die-hard fan of Xibao.
The catchphrases at home can be roughly divided into: "The emergence of the plague chicken group Bichaji is the beginning of misfortune for the domestic entertainment industry", "Being a fan of them will bring you lifetime bad luck", "All of Zong Ye's fans are criticizing him, he is simply the No. 1 cancer in the domestic entertainment industry, unprecedented and unrivaled"... and so on.
Jiang Chuyi felt crazy just by listening to her description, not to mention that from time to time, female stars in the same field were scolded by radical fans and became trending searches, with all kinds of disgusting words used. She didn't know how she provoked them, and they directly slaughtered the square with one-stop service arrangements.
The bloody scene was too much for a nobody like Jiang Chuyi to bear, causing her to keep her distance from them from the bottom of her heart.
When the music started, the lights suddenly came on and people around took out their phones and pointed them at the stage.
Different from the lyrical style of most traditional singers, the westerly typhoon is wild and fierce, and when it hits you, it gives you the feeling of eight words: I am the best in the world.
A few strong lights were refracted, and in just two or three minutes, these people almost blew up the place.
The lead singer is Fu Cheng, who has his hair dyed a naughty grey. He put one foot on the speaker, turning the microphone quickly in his hand, singing and passing the chorus to others. The people in the audience were close to each other, swaying anxiously to the rhythm.
Jiang Chuyi has always known that Xi Baohong is popular, but she has no specific concept. After all, she has been in the industry for too long and has long been accustomed to seeing flowers bloom and fade, and people leave and the tea is forgotten.
Now you can experience in person what it means to be the top star in the circle and why one can become famous overnight.
"Who is the most popular member of their group now?" Jiang Chuyi fixed her eyes on the stage and asked the assistant next to her.
Assistant: “They are almost the same!”
"I like that one." The assistant pointed to her, "The one that plays the bass, second from the left."
Just at this moment, the big screen switched to those people.
The facial features of these men are superior to those of ordinary people, with deep brow bones. Standing together, they are so handsome that it is very impactful, even giving people a sense of unreality.
The person the assistant was referring to was Zong Ye.
A spotlight hit him right on top.
Hearing the sudden increase in the voices calling his name, he tilted his head and raised his eyes slightly.
Mi Huan was going crazy in the backstage, with pieces of paper flying everywhere, and everyone was screaming for the name "Song Ye". But he was particularly nonchalant, looking lazily down at the audience, and no one knew where he was looking.
It was just those few glances, but it's no exaggeration to say that they were captivating.
Jiang Chuyi was about to say something, but she was stunned.
"What's wrong?" The young assistant noticed her abnormality.
Jiang Chuyi stared at him closely through many people.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... maybe it's an illusion.
It must be an illusion, she thought.
He was looking back at her.
No one could notice that, hidden in the noisy crowd, Jiang Chuyi and he made eye contact.
Jiang Chuyi was almost sober by now.
She turned her wrist belatedly to reveal the other side of the bracelet. She tried to focus her eyes and look at the contact information again.
The handwriting is illegible and very difficult to read.
Jiang Chuyi raised his arms above his head, facing the light, and tried again and again to find the angle.
Finally, when the white light came on at the end of the stage, all the burning sparks gradually calmed down, and she recognized the name that she had never understood:
—Mong Ye/Tel: 133xxxx0209
(End of this chapter)