When the Stars Tremble

Chapter 27: Twenty-seven stars

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As soon as the director spoke, the set fell into complete silence.

There were countless cameras set up around the two of them. When she heard the call "Cut", Jiang Chuyi quickly withdrew from Zong Ye's arms.

She silently glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

Zong Ye still stood there, as if he was still immersed in the play and had completely forgotten what he should do.

The assistant director cleared his throat and came out to smooth things over, "Songye, how can you do this? We accept everyone who comes!"

The guy who was recording their music also laughed, and said in an ambiguous voice: "Fortunately, we are filming a movie. If Mr. Zong treated every girl like this in real life, how many people would be hurt."

Zong Ye was silent for a few seconds, and explained, "Sorry, I didn't react."

The director said angrily: "You still don't react? If I hadn't called cut, you would have kissed me! What are you thinking?"

"it's me… "

After saying these two words, Zong Ye paused, as if he didn't know how to answer the director's question.

Jiang Chuyi held her breath.

Although it had little to do with her, she felt a strange sense of guilt and worry.

Soon, she heard Souya say, "I overreacted."

After all, none of the actors in Xibao are professional actors, and they have not received any special training. Some emotions are delicate and require deep performance clips. It is better to let them give real reactions without knowing it, which is a simple and quick way to shoot.

Originally, in the original expectation, Zongye was suddenly hugged by the opposite sex, and this person even wanted to kiss him. The most basic reaction of a normal person should be to be stunned, then resist, or be embarrassed, but due to the filming, he didn't know whether to push away for a moment.

What the director wants to capture is these few seconds of instinctive reaction when the character interacts with reality.

Who knew that Zong Ye was neither embarrassed nor resisting. He was stunned for a few seconds and then took the person into his arms.

The emotions expressed by Souya in this scene obviously did not meet the needs of the plot, so it had to be re-shot.

Rest for ten minutes.

Zongye sat alone on the container, holding the new script in his hand. He lowered his head, his messy hair covering his expression.

Jiang Chuyi floated to his side, holding a thermos cup.

Noticing someone approaching, Souya tilted his head.

Jiang Chuyi said with a hint of apology, "Is it hurting you just now?"

"No," he whispered.

She nodded and repeated twice: "That's good, that's good."

What she actually wanted to ask was whether she scared him...

It was a bitter winter day, with the temperature several degrees below zero, and Zong Ye was only wearing a thin black sweater. While talking to Jiang Chuyi, he picked up the coat that was thrown beside him and covered his legs with it.

Sensing that he was in a bad mood, Jiang Chuyi stood a few meters away and stopped approaching. "Then think about the script again. Come on."

"good."

After giving encouragement, she floated away again.

Zong Ye looked at her back, then looked away and picked up a dry branch from the box.

Soon, the fragile dead branch broke into two pieces in his palm.

He repeated this mechanical action, breaking the broken twigs again.

Wang Tan coughed heavily.

He came back to his senses.

Wang Tan put his hands in his pockets, sat down next to him, and asked casually, "What are you doing, brother?"

Zongye's expression was lacking, "Blow the wind."

"It's snowing so hard, you won't take off your coat even if the wind blows you? You just filmed a make-out scene, so you need to calm your mind a little, right?"

Zong didn't comment, threw away the broken branches in his hand and continued reading the script.

Wang Tan deliberately glanced down, bumped the coat on his legs, and said, "Ah," "It turns out that it's not just the brain that needs to be calm."

Zongye's expression was calm and he still didn't respond.

This was considered as tacit agreement. Wang Tan clicked his tongue and muttered, "It was just a hug, what's the big deal?"

This scene in the snow is the final scene for Jiang Chuyi and Zong Ye.

After the break, the second half of the shot was re-shot.

Jiang Chuyi let out a breath and hugged the person in front of her.

She put her arms around his waist and buried her head in Souya's chest, so she couldn't see his expression.

Jiang Chuyi couldn't let go until the director called for stop.

The snow was trampled underfoot, and the set was very quiet as the filming began. She could even clearly hear the heartbeat of the person in front of her.

She smelled the faint citrus scent again, mixed with the clean smell on Zongye's clothes. Perhaps it was because of the emotions of the character, or perhaps it was because his embrace seemed particularly warm in this cold winter, which made Jiang Chuyi feel reluctant to leave at a certain moment.

Souya's hands fell to his sides, not daring to move. His fingers curled slightly, but he didn't raise his hand to touch her in the end.

After half a minute, the director called cut.

Jiang Chuyi suddenly woke up, raised her head slightly, and felt the sunlight falling into her eyes.

Zongye remained silent and maintained his original actions.

She let go of him and took a step back.

Before the staff came over, Jiang Chuyi whispered to him, "Thank you for your hard work."

Suddenly, a strong wind blew, mixed with the sweat on his body, making Zong feel a little cold. He said, "Happy wrap-up."

Jiang Chuyi: "Yeah, you too."

After the show, Jiang Chuyi returned to her resting place and put on the down jacket that Xiao Zhong handed to her.

She packed her things and put the several scripts she had in her bag.

Some people came over to congratulate.

A staff member of the crew sent Jiang Chuyi a bouquet of white gentian, saying that he didn't know which fan ordered it, and Jiang Chuyi's name was written on the card.

Jiang Chuyi thanked him and took it.

After waiting for a while on the set, Xin He, Ji Kai and Fu Cheng finished filming their segments and the shooting was completed.

Zong Ye was listening to the director and the others talking.

Some extras came today, and they gathered together to discuss for a while. One of them went over and asked if they could take a photo together.

Zongye nodded slightly and agreed.

He is easy-going, not arrogant, and almost always welcomes everyone.

In this way, most of the people present, including some staff from the lighting and props team, took photos with Zong Ye.

Jiang Chuyi was still sitting in the lounge chair chatting with Xiao Zhong, but she suddenly shut up when she saw her.

Following the assistant's line of sight, Jiang Chuyi realized that Zong Ye had walked up to her without her noticing.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Would you like to take a picture together?"

This is almost a routine after the completion of every play. As long as the relationship between the actors is not too bad, they will always take pictures with each other to facilitate future work.

Jiang Chuyi immediately put down the warm baby in her hand and stood up, "Okay."

The person who took the photo for them was Souya's assistant, A Xi.

The two stood in the open space.

The moment Ah Xi raised his cell phone, Zong also raised his hand naturally.

She was startled and looked up at him.

Soon, realizing that she was being photographed, Jiang Chuyi looked back at the camera.

Fortunately, the sleeves of her down jacket were long enough for her to keep her clenched hands inside without being noticed.

His hand rested lightly on Jiang Chuyi's shoulder, and through the slightly thick clothes, he could feel her somewhat tense body.

Zongye smiled.

A few snaps and the picture is frozen.

Ah Xi took his time changing angles and taking several photos. Finally, he made an OK gesture to them, indicating that the photo was ready.

Zongye took his hand down.

Jiang Chuyi breathed a sigh of relief almost imperceptibly.

With staff members passing by, she lowered her voice and said, "Can you send me these photos on WeChat when the time comes?"

"OK."

*

On the third day, Jiang Chuyi, whose scenes had already been completed, did not have to go to the set. She only needed to wait until all the filming for the day was over and then go to a wrap-up dinner with the crew in the evening.

When I got up at noon, the snow had stopped.

Jiang Chuyi made an appointment to go out with the fan named Qu Zhun.

She took Jiang Chuyi to a nearby pedestrian street, and they had a meal in an old home-style restaurant at the end of an alley.

Qu Zhun was on vacation today, and after dinner, he went for a walk with Jiang Chuyi.

After Jiang Chuyi accompanied her to buy a cup of milk tea, he remembered something and asked, "Is there any souvenir shop nearby? I want to pick out some gifts."

Qu Zhun thought for a moment and told her, "I know there's a handicraft shop with some very exquisite little things in it. Would you like me to take you to have a look?"

"good."

The handicraft shop that Qu Zhun brought her to had a very retro decoration style. On the shelves at the door were some old records and cameras, as well as work pieces carved by the store manager himself.

Qu Zhun was curious: "Chu Yi, are you going to give it to someone in the crew?"

"Yes." Jiang Chuyi smiled and did not hide it.

She had been taken care of a lot by the crew this month, and she wanted to give them something before they parted ways. But they didn't need anything, so she could only choose a small gift to show her appreciation.

Jiang Chuyi walked around the store, picked out a picture album for Er'er, selected a desk lamp, eye mask and doll for Xin He, and got an exquisite microphone model for Fu Cheng.

Finally it was Souya's turn.

Recalling the cake he gave her when she was abroad, Jiang Chuyi stopped in front of a display stand, took out a box of postcards, and took it in her hand to look at it.

Jiang Chuyi packed all the things she had picked and went to consult the clerk.

Following the other party's instructions, she took the tools and walked to the handicraft area.

Qu Zhun sat beside her to keep her company.

She propped up her chin and watched the music box in Jiang Chuyi's hand gradually take shape. On top of the box, there was a little boy sitting on a bench, holding a guitar in his hands.

Qu Zhun guessed immediately: "Is this for Zong Ye?"

Jiang Chuyi concentrated on carving, blew away the sawdust, and hummed.

“I didn’t expect that you guys have such a good relationship…” Qu Zhun sighed.

Hearing that her tone was not right, Jiang Chuyi stopped what he was doing and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Qu Zhun bit his lower lip. "I don't want to gossip about your private affairs, nor do I want to say anything that will make you unhappy, it's just..."

"It's okay, go ahead."

"That's right. I've been following your updates for the past few years. I also saw the trending search of you and Zong Ye a while ago." Speaking of this, Qu Zhun said angrily, "Then many fans started to curse, and I felt so uncomfortable when I saw those words."

As he spoke, Qu Zhun looked around vigilantly, fearing that he would be heard by Xibao's fans.

Jiang Chuyi sighed. There were many inside stories that were inconvenient to talk about, so she could only comfort her, "We are friends, there is no match between us, the fans will scold us for a while and it will be over. In fact, Zong is also a very good and excellent person."

After finishing the music box, there was still time, so Jiang Chuyi went to get another set of tools and prepared to make one for Qu Zhun.

"Is there a share for me?" Qu Zhun was surprised.

"Of course." Jiang Chuyi smiled, "You are also a friend I met recently. Knowing that you like me so much, I am motivated to film the next drama."

Qu Zhun stammered, unable to express his emotion.

Her eyes gradually turned red, and she choked up and said, "Chu Yi, you are such a good person, you deserve to be liked. In the future, you will definitely be seen by more people, not only me, but also many people will like you."

"Okay." Jiang Chuyi took a piece of paper, wiped her tears, and promised her, "Then I will work hard. When I succeed, I will come to Beijing. Can you treat me to a meal again?"

Qu Zhun laughed and shed tears at the same time and nodded vigorously.

At the wrap-up party in the evening, Jiang Chuyi distributed the wrapped gifts to the crew members.

Later, she found that Zong was not there.

Ji Kai said: "He finished filming yesterday and went to Suzhou to participate in an endorsement event."

Jiang Chuyi said "oh" and couldn't help thinking, he was really busy, working non-stop all day long.

She handed the package in her hand to Ji Kai, "Then can you help me pass it to him when the time comes?"

"Okay." Just as Ji Kai was about to take it, his hand was opened by Wang Tan.

They both looked at him.

Wang Tan said calmly: "Teacher Jiang, it is more sincere to give a gift yourself. Zong will be back in the evening, and you can see each other for the last time in the hotel."

Hearing this, Jiang Chuyi could only take the bag back and said, "Okay."

"By the way, Mr. Jiang, why do you treat people differently?"

"What?"

Wang Tan raised the record in his hand and questioned, "I only have one record. Why does Zongye's gift have to be in a bag?"

"Yours is more expensive than his." Jiang Chuyi explained seriously.

"Okay, I won't tease you anymore." Wang Tan said, "Thank you for the record. I will keep it at home."

*

After returning to the hotel, Xiao Zhong immediately started to browse the work group and wrote down some important notices in the memo.

After finishing the arrangement, Xiao Zhong told her that they would join the crew in September, which would be after the Spring Festival, and would be filming in Xiamen.

Jiang Chuyi sighed: "Time flies, it's Chinese New Year again."

"Yes." Xiao Zhong was thirsty, so he ran to open a bottle of milk and added, "Xibao's tour this year is about to begin."

"when?"

"January 13th."

"January 13?" Jiang Chuyi felt it sounded familiar. After thinking about it for a while, she remembered that day seemed to be Souya's birthday.

"How long do their tours usually take?"

"About half a year." Xiao Zhong muttered as he drank his milk, "Tickets are too hard to get. Scalpers are simply driving up the prices."

After taking a shower, Jiang Chuyi sat down at the desk and turned on the desk lamp.

She took out a box of postcards she had bought this afternoon, opened it, picked one, wrote four words on it, and then stopped.

While she was sitting in the chair thinking hard, Gao Ning called her.

"Have you finished filming that movie?"

Jiang Chuyi: “Filming is finished.”

"It will take several months to complete the filming of your movie, including post-production editing. It will be released in the second half of the year at the latest."

Jiang Chuyi's hand slipped and the handwriting became messy.

She had no choice but to change the postcard and start writing again.

"I heard that IM has found a few sponsors and is planning to produce a reality show for Xibao, which will be used to promote your movie."

"Yeah." Jiang Chuyi responded casually.

Gao Ning suddenly said: "Maybe you can go up then."

Jiang Chuyi was suspicious: "Can I go?"

"Yeah, I said you're going to cooperate with the movie promotion, so you can barely be considered one of the leading actors."

"I'm being too reluctant." Jiang Chuyi didn't take it seriously. "For a variety show like Xibao, even if they want to invite guests, they should invite those who are popular."

"It's hard to say." Gao Ning sighed, "I heard that iFlytek is also very interested in this variety show and plans to put a few artists on it. I'll ask around then. It would be great if you can really go and record a few episodes."

"Let's talk about it later." Jiang Chuyi advised, "You'd better not hold your hopes too high."

After hanging up the phone, she took out her phone and flipped through WeChat.

Zongye just sent her a message.

Zong Ye: "I heard from Ji Kai that you have something for me?"

Jiang Chuyi: "Yes, are you back?"

Souya: "I'm back. I'll change my clothes first."

Jiang Chuyi's eyes fell on the table, looking at the half-written postcard, and replied to him: "No hurry, I have something else to do here, maybe fifteen minutes."

Muneya: "It's 12:57 now. I'll come over at 1:15. Is that ok?"

Jiang Chuyi: “Okay”

Jiang Chuyi put down her phone, bit her pen and thought. She asked Xiao Zhong for a piece of white paper, wrote a few drafts on it, checked the time, and finished writing the remaining half of the postcard.

Set aside to dry for a few minutes.

After everything was done, Jiang Chuyi put the postcards and music box into the bag.

At 1:15, the doorbell rang on time.

Jiang Chuyi ran over with something in her hand.

Seeing the door open a crack, Zongye took two steps back.

Jiang Chuyi stuck her head out first.

He seemed to have just washed his hair, his black hair was half dry and half wet, he wore thin silver-framed glasses, and his facial features were delicate and handsome.

Jiang Chuyi walked out sideways and closed the door gently with his backhand.

Zongye looked down at her.

She was wearing fluffy cinnamon dog pajamas today. The heating in the room must have been turned on high, and her face was a little red. She looked very warm.

Jiang Chuyi handed the bag in her hand to Zong Ye, "This is a gift for you."

Zongye took it, "What gift?"

"Isn't your birthday coming up soon?" Jiang Chuyi said after a moment's pause, "You guys should be having a concert by then, right? I'll give you the birthday present in advance, as a thank you for the cake you gave me in Italy."

Zong did not deny it, but just asked: "How do you know it was from me?"

"You wrote the words on that card." Jiang Chuyi looked at him, "Have you forgotten? I've seen your handwriting."

"so."

Zong didn't know what he was thinking of, so he smiled and said, "You don't have time on January 13th?"

"What?"

"On my birthday."

Jiang Chuyi: "I'm not sure, what's wrong?"

The two looked at each other, with Souya still smiling gently, "Do you want to go to the concert?"

Jiang Chuyi: “Ah?”

“The first one is in Shanghai.”

She doesn't speak.

Zong Ye seemed to know what she was thinking. After a while, he said, "You can go with Xin He. Besides you two, there should be many other people coming."

After a few seconds of hesitation, Jiang Chuyi nodded slightly, "Okay, if I'm free then, I'll definitely go and support you."

"good."

After finishing the discussion, Jiang Chuyi didn't want to waste any more time. She pointed behind her and said, "Then I'll go in first?"

Zongye hummed.

When she reached the door and swiped the room card, she looked back at him again.

Seeing him standing there motionless, Jiang Chuyi said goodbye again, "Bye."

Zongye nodded.

She squeezed the door handle and added, "Good night."

Zongye smiled and said softly, "Good night."

Jiang Chuyi didn't dare to look at him any longer and hurriedly pushed the door open.

He watched her go in, and after the door clicked shut, Souya stood there for a while.

He was in no hurry to leave, but leaned against the wall to look at the contents of the bag.

The long corridor, with him alone, returned to silence. Souya took out the postcard.

This is an orange-toned postcard with a large cloud pattern that resembles a sunset glow.

Through the wall, he could vaguely hear her chatting and laughing with her assistant.

Zongye turned the back over.

A few lines of words written in black pen, the handwriting is neat and beautiful:

Hello, Zongye:

I picked up the pen for a long time, but I still don't know where to start.

I originally wanted to write a few lines for you, but I don’t know which movie you knew me from.

So in the end, I decided to write you a birthday card. Does this count as a special signature

I hope you don't mind.

I accidentally learned a secret about you on that New Year's Eve.

Because you were drunk.

I'm not sure, I think I saw your tears.

Today, when I was shopping for gifts, a song was playing in the store and I suddenly thought of you.

The lyrics roughly mean,

There will always be a sunset falling on you.

There will always be stars to listen to your story.

Although I don’t know what you have experienced or what kind of unforgettable people you have met that make you so regretful.

But life is more than just regrets.

One day,

The sunset will fall on you, and you can be happy.

Jiang Chuyi/2021.1.6

(End of this chapter)