Chapter 134 – A red mark at the corner of his mouth

Translator: ChuRen/ YuQiChen

After Lu Zeyu left, Gu Minghao reassured Tang Qing, saying, “Don’t worry, that’s just his temper. Even if the emperor himself showed up, he’d still wear a scowl.”

Tang Qing nodded and then mentioned to Gu Minghao that he had a few friends who wanted to join as extras. Naturally, Gu Minghao agreed.

The two chatted for a while, and Gu Minghao shared his understanding of the play and some details with Tang Qing.

The play was a period drama, with Lu Zeyu playing a meticulous and dignified emperor.

“Wow, the film emperor is here.”

Tang Qing turned to look and saw that Lu Zeyu had changed into his costume and come out.

The moment Lu Zeyu stepped out of the dressing room in his costume, he looked like an extraordinary ancient monarch stepping into the present.

Dressed in deep red robes with a black brocade cloak, a cloud-patterned jacket shining with gold threads, a green silk and white jade belt around his waist, and a dark and shiny headdress framing his handsome, chiseled face. His towering figure was like a drawn sword, exuding a majestic aura, with a hint of disdain for the world between his brows.

Tang Qing couldn’t help but stare in amazement.

Truly worthy of being Lu Zeyu, the pinnacle of looks in the entertainment industry.

The female lead was a newcomer actress named Zhang Yiyi. She too had changed into her costume and stepped out, and despite having seen many handsome men and beautiful women, even she couldn’t help but widen her eyes upon seeing Lu Zeyu.

Lu Zeyu, however, remained expressionless, already accustomed to being the center of attention.

The scene they were filming depicted the male lead’s unbearable grief upon learning that his best friend died because of him.

“Action!”

As the assistant director’s voice rang out, Lu Zeyu quickly adjusted his facial expression.

His expression instantly contorted into a strange shape, filled with intense sorrow. His eyes widened, the eyeballs slightly bulging, bloodshot eyes, his whole being consumed by immense pain.

With a loud crash, all the cups and dishes on the table were swept to the floor by Lu Zeyu, his emotions exposed and uncontrollable, as he angrily berated the maid playing opposite him, “Get out! Get out of here!”

Gu Minghao nodded in satisfaction and loudly declared, “Cut!”

Tang Qing felt that Lu Zeyu truly deserved to be the film emperor, displaying such effortless control over his expressions and emotions.

But there seemed to be something off.

Lu Zeyu didn’t walk away as usual but instead looked towards Gu Minghao, saying, “I feel like this expression is a bit exaggerated.”

Gu Minghao flipped through the script, read for a while, and replied, “This part is where the male lead’s emotions burst forth. It’s also described like this in the original novel. I feel there’s no issue.”

However, Lu Zeyu said, “Let me try again. I feel the male lead, now an emperor, shouldn’t be so emotionally expressive.”

Gu Minghao nodded, “Alright, thanks everyone. Let’s do it again.”

“Action!”

Lu Zeyu’s expression instantly darkened, the light fading from his originally bright eyes, replaced by a burning pain. His face changed drastically, as if drained of all color, pallid as snow. His brows furrowed tightly, waves of regret and self-blame flooding through his expression.

He clenched his fists tightly, his mouth drooped, teeth clenched, yet the painful groans inside could still be heard, like the cry of a wounded beast.

Intense self-blame and regret alternated on his face, the uncontrollable emotions flickering with his breath, heavy and shattered.

“Cut!”

Gu Minghao said, “Movie Emperor Lu, your interpretation is flawless. The male lead’s character at this stage dictates that he wouldn’t explode in anger. But in this scene, the original interactions, the sound of glass breaking, all of that is missing. The entire scene lacks much of its impact.”

Tang Qing understood Gu Minghao’s point.

Even though extreme pain is silent, when people sit in a movie theater watching a film, they still seek sound effects, special effects, and slightly exaggerated scenes to make it more impactful.

Otherwise, they might end up falling asleep while watching.

Commonly known as too many “bathroom breaks”.

However, as a professional actor, Lu Zeyu had a deep understanding of his character and his interpretation.

The two of them began discussing this and the conversation seemed to be getting more intense.

Gu Minghao, shedding his previous warm neighborly demeanor, exclaimed loudly, “For box office success, we have to film it this way!”

In contrast, Lu Zeyu remained much calmer but firm, “The male lead looks like he’s schizophrenic. If you want it shot your way, do it yourself!”

Seeing the two about to argue, Tang Qing timidly interjected, “Um, I have a suggestion.”

The two of them impatiently looked at him, as if they had no intention of listening to what he had to say.

Tang Qing still spoke up, “How about this, Movie Emperor Lu’s part can still be interpreted in his way, but we can focus more on the female lead’s scenes.”

“For example, when the female lead hears the news, she’s polishing a vase, and she’s so shocked that the vase slips from her hands and crashes to the ground, making a loud noise. Then, she anxiously kneels down to apologize, but the male lead pays no attention to her.”

Gu Minghao’s eyes lit up instantly, he pondered for a moment and said, “Okay, let’s give Tang Director’s suggestion a try.”

So, the whole crew started shooting again.

However, due to the female lead’s average acting skills and the additional scenes given to her, this particular segment took quite a while to film.

The final result, however, was unexpectedly good. It retained Lu Zeyu’s requested interpretation while adding more visual impact.

In the end, Gu Minghao happily patted Tang Qing’s shoulder, praising, “Tangtang, it seems like you’ve learned a lot during your years of studying abroad.”

Tang Qing was also happy to have contributed and smiled, his round almond eyes shining as a cute dimple appeared on his cheek.

Lu Zeyu remained silent, glanced lightly at Tang Qing, showed no particular expression, and then headed to his dressing room.

Tang Qing watched enviously in the direction Lu Zeyu left.

On this set, only Lu Zeyu had a separate and luxurious dressing room.

“Careful!”

A prop crew member carrying dry ice for the shoot passed by, accidentally slipped, bumped into Tang Qing, and spilled some dry ice.

He apologized profusely to Tang Qing, “Director Tang, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Tang Qing waved his hand, “It’s okay, no problem. You can go back to work.”

Seeing that Tang Qing wasn’t upset, the crew member hurried back to continue setting up the scene.

Tang Qing brushed off the dry ice that had fallen on his thigh and went to the public restroom to get some tissues¹let us ignore the fact that you’ll get ice burns when you make contact with dry ice. ITS ALL FOR THE PLOT. GUYS ITS ALL FOR THE PLOT..

Tang Qing’s assistant, who was originally a crew member in his previous drama, Cang Xiaoshu, looked nervously at Tang Qing’s wet pants and said, “Tangtang, what should we do?”

Cang Xiaoshu, originally a cute white hamster, was equally adorable as a human, with a small face and meticulous in his work.

Being furry animals, he particularly disliked getting wet.

Tang Qing looked at his wet thigh helplessly and said, “I don’t have any spare pants to change into right now. Let’s just use the towel to dry it off for now.”

Cang Xiaoshu half-squatted down and reached out to take off Tang Qing’s pants.

Tang Qing hurriedly said, “Wait, first close the door.”

He knew Cang Xiaoshu well, a lovely child, but a bit absent-minded like other small animals.

Cang Xiaoshu, confused, nodded and walked over to close the door. Since the door couldn’t be locked, he just closed it halfway.

He didn’t understand why humans had to wear clothes, and why they needed to close the door to change clothes. Yet, when they went to public bathhouses, everyone could bathe together without clothes or closed doors. Humans were truly complex.

He rolled the towel into a small ball, held it in his hand, half-knelt on the floor, and began wiping Tang Qing’s thigh.

“Ouch…”

Tang Qing winced as Cang Xiaoshu accidentally scratched his tender thigh meat with his nails, causing his face to twitch in pain.

“Xiaoshu, how long has it been since you trimmed your nails?”

Cang Xiaoshu, embarrassed, replied, “I’ll do it as soon as I go back.”

He really disliked cutting his nails; each time it felt like a life-or-death situation. Sometimes, Tang Qing had to wait until he turned into his rodent form, hold him down, and use force to trim those unruly nails.

The instinct of a hamster to keep its nails as weapons was truly exasperating.

After Lu Zeyu finished resting and walked back to the set, passing by Tang Qing’s dressing room, he heard a crisp male voice saying, “Ouch, be gentle…”

He casually glanced at the partially closed door.

Without looking too closely, from his angle, he could only see two people inside.

One was a slender young man half-kneeling on the floor, his head positioned right at the other person’s hip level.

That other person happened to be the frivolous young director.

He had unzipped his pants and stood to the side.

The kneeling young man asked, “Is this intensity okay?”

Tang Qing, feeling a bit nervous from being scratched earlier, blushed slightly and softly said, “You can press a bit harder.”

Unable to clearly see what the kneeling young man was doing, Lu Zeyu saw his head tilting slightly, moving closer to Tang Qing’s lower body.

Turning his head away, Lu Zeyu walked off, not wanting to witness such a filthy scene.

“Xiaoshu, what are you looking at?” Tang Qing noticed Cang Xiaoshu tilting his head and looking very closely at his thigh for a long time.

“Tangtang, I’m looking at your skin. It’s so tender; when I scratched it, it turned red,” Cang Xiaoshu replied.

Knowing Cang Xiaoshu lacked gender awareness and that curiosity between rodents could lead to sniffing each other, Tang Qing found their position odd, with Cang Xiaoshu being so close. Nevertheless, no one else saw it, so it didn’t matter.

“Xiaoshu, what’s going on with the corner of your mouth?” Cang Xiaoshu’s skin was very pale, yet there was a slight redness at the corner of his mouth, quite noticeable.

Embarrassed, Cang Xiaoshu lowered his head without replying.

Tang Qing guessed, “I’ve told you so many times, now that you’re a human, you can’t keep eating sunflower seeds all day. It’ll cause inflammation.”

“Human sunflower seeds with salt are more likely to cause oral problems.”

Cang Xiaoshu sheepishly nodded, though Tang Qing doubted he truly listened.

After a while, they returned to the set.

Lu Zeyu looked at the assistant the frivolous young director brought, a fairly cute and delicate-looking young man with a pale and tender face with a noticeable redness at the corner of his mouth.

His head was drooped, looking listless.

Combining this with what Lu Zeyu had vaguely seen earlier, it wasn’t hard to imagine what might have happened in the dressing room.

This frivolous young man’s private life was truly inappropriate.

Decadent and disorderly.

And quite fast.

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  let us ignore the fact that you’ll get ice burns when you make contact with dry ice. ITS ALL FOR THE PLOT. GUYS ITS ALL FOR THE PLOT. ↩︎