Chapter 58: Boyfriend

Chapter 58: Boyfriend

The white veil covered his eyes, long white hair hung down and was blown up by the wind. Dappled light shone through the lush green leaves of the tree, landing on the snowy white tips of his hair.

It was like February snow, the warm light unable to melt the cold aura, easily penetrating into one's pupils.

The wind blew around them, the rustling of the courtyard's trees and leaves entered their ears, causing their eardrums to vibrate.

Chu Mingyuan sat in place, his gaze moving as he looked over.

"..."

Crossing the stone threshold, Chen Yibai was still being supported by his agent as they walked across the small bridge in the courtyard.

To be precise, it wasn't called support but rather restraint. The agent held onto his arm with one hand while lightly wiping the sweat from her forehead with the other.

As soon as this person got out of the car, he wanted to find Qian Jin. Because he could see the path more clearly, he shot off like a cannonball. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and held him back.

Her decision to not leave it to an executive agent and personally accompany him into the production was indeed correct.

If anyone less familiar with him had been slower to react, he would have disappeared the moment he got out of the car.

Being restrained by the agent, Chen Yibai could only walk slowly alongside her.

He couldn't go find his little buddy, so his little buddy came to him. The Qian-named little buddy even brought him a stool, incredibly thoughtful.

He graciously took his seat on the stool that his buddy had moved for him.

Finally settled, the agent wiped her sweat and let out a sigh of relief. The assistant nearby handed her a tissue.

Once he was seated, Qian Jin also sat down beside him and said, "What do you think this situation is like?"

Hearing this question, he knew Qian Jin had something to say. Chen Bai glanced sideways, only able to see a blurry figure, so he retracted his gaze and said encouragingly, "Please, go ahead."

"It's like," Qian Jin said, "a wicked landlord bullying a poor beggar, only for the beggar to transform into a wealthy man overnight, leaving the wicked landlord in dire straits, begging with tears in his eyes."

The play between the wicked landlord and the poor beggar continued, bizarre yet strangely plausible. Chen Yibai offered an objective suggestion, "You should become a screenwriter."

The wicked landlord found this reasonable. After a brief moment of thought, he said, "I'll go learn, and when I return, I'll have my father buy a drama for me to try."

He was a simple and unpretentious rich young master.

Chen Yibai: "Not bad."

Temporarily skipping over the topic of the wicked landlord, he asked, "Where are we now?"

Knowing he was asking about the filming progress, Qian Jin said, "It's still early. Chu Mingyuan has two more scenes before your scene with him."

Chen Bai nodded, indeed, it was still early.

Qian Jin curiously asked again, "Can you see the path? Do you need the wicked landlord to help you along?"

Chen Yibai propped his cheek with a smile, "I can see it. There's no chance for the wicked landlord to show off. You should tremble in fear waiting for the poor beggar's revenge."

The Qian-named buddy gave him another look, patted his straight heart, and sighed in relief once again, "Thank goodness I'm straight."

If he were gay, falling for this person, he wouldn't be able to get out of it for years.

In the nearly two months they had spent together, he had fully understood this person's determination to remain single. He felt a subtle sense of pity and said, "Those who like you are truly pitiful."

Chen Yibai lightly tapped his cheek twice and casually said, "Is there anyone?"

He seemed naturally immune to such matters. The last time someone mentioned wanting to be his boyfriend was in high school. Although people in his account's comment section enthusiastically called him husband or wife, it was all just talk.

His attitude was too sincere and open. Qian Jin looked at him again and sighed, "They really are pitiful."

The assistant, listening quietly on the side, silently nodded in agreement.

They sat under the shade of the tree for half a day. Chu Mingyuan worked quickly, mostly getting it right in one take. After the two scenes ended, the director squatted at the scene and then came over here, bringing his own small stool and sitting next to them.

The actor's eyesight was inconvenient, so he couldn't run around. Therefore, the director came over himself and, during the break, briefly explained his thoughts and expectations for the next scene.

This scene was one of the most important in the later part of the series.

When they found the hiding place of the traitorous minister's son, the swordsman and the swordsman had a conflict. The traitorous minister's son had already escaped earlier, changed his appearance, and used the gold and silver treasures he had taken from home to transform into a guest of honor in the city lord's mansion, where he was protected tightly.

After the conflict between the swordsman and the swordsman, under the meddling of the informant and some objective reasons, they cooperated again.

Their mission this time was to enter the city lord's mansion. With the help of the informant's forged identities, they changed their appearances and became reclusive martial arts masters. They entered the city lord's mansion without incident and were invited to attend a small gathering hosted by the city lord for his guests.

The action scenes would be filmed later. Today, it was mainly dialogue scenes. No fighting was required, but it wasn't exactly easy either.

Chen Yibai listened, nodding occasionally to show understanding.

With his excellent comprehension skills, things didn't need to be repeated. After the director finished speaking, he took his stool and went to discuss with Chu Mingyuan.

Approaching the time for the scene, the stylist came over to adjust his hair and clothes again, nodding to confirm there were no issues.

Although he could see the path, Chen Yibai still had the agent lead him to the scene. After leading him to Chu Mingyuan's side, she left, reminding him again to stand still and not wander after the scene was over.

The ground was full of equipment cables, uneven, and unclear through the cloth. If he ran around recklessly, problems could easily arise.

Chen Yibai nodded in agreement.

He nodded quickly, and his response was quick. The faster he responded, the less reassured the agent felt. She took three steps forward and two steps back as she left, staying close by with the assistant, always paying attention to the situation here, ready to intervene at any moment.

Although he couldn't see them, Chen Yibai could clearly feel the gaze on him. He turned to ask the colleague beside him, "Are they looking at me?"

The colleague confirmed that they were.

Without feeling the warmth of trust between people, Chen Yibai took two steps forward and squatted in a corner, sighing regretfully, "They really don't trust me."

"…"

His two steps were taken with such natural fluidity and without hesitation that Chu Mingyuan felt his agent's worries weren't unwarranted.

Fortunately, Chen Yibai knew some restraint. Before the official filming began, these two steps were the most heart-stopping he took; for the rest of the time, he was very honest and conscientious, squatting there watching the shadows of people moving around him.

The originally suave Film Emperor Chu squatted down beside him, and the two of them squatted side by side until the director called for them to stand up.

This scene depicted the beginning of a small gathering banquet after Sword Master and the Knife Wielder had experienced a minor setback and successfully sat down at the feast.

The city lord liked new people and events, so the guests were all sorts from all over the world. The banquet was extravagant, with distinguished guests filling every seat.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, the city lord suddenly spoke, saying he hoped to have the opportunity to see the abilities of the two new honored guests.

The others on the scene raised the atmosphere, laughing and cheering, also expressing their desire to see.

Not having found the criminal hiding here yet, they couldn't afford to cause trouble now. After only a moment's thought, the knife wielder stood up.

As soon as he rose, the others started to cheer again, but the city lord picked up his wine cup and drank it in one gulp, saying he wanted to see the other's skills.

The other was Sword Master, a completely blind man discernible even with the naked eye.

The scene seemed to quiet down for a moment, and the sound of clinking cups could be infinitely amplified in this space.

Holding the wine cup, the city lord did not change his mind.

Under everyone's gaze, Sword Master stood up.

Blind in heart and eyes, unable to see the path clearly, and without anything to hold onto, he walked straight through the crowd, stepping onto the staircase on one side of the courtyard, ascending step by step onto the dais where the city lord was, standing still at its center.

The city lord used a term of respect, asking what his specialty was.

Sword Master replied, "The sword."

Still sparing with words, because he spoke in monosyllables, no one noticed any difference in his tone compared to ordinary people.

So the city lord instructed a guard nearby to hand over a sword.

An ordinary long sword, sharpened, was gripped by Sword Master.

He was taciturn, not one for pleasantries or formalities, but when he held the sword, his aura changed. The transformation was subtle, indescribable, but one could sense something different about him.

Perceiving that this person seemed to have something special, those below the dais became interested and finally looked seriously enough, even the knife wielder glanced over.

Having traveled together for many days, this person always carried a sword, but he had never seen him truly use it; the long sword wrapped in rags had never been unsheathed.

The wind rustled the leaves, and a wine cup fell onto the table.

The hem of the man holding the long sword stirred slightly, and the hand holding the hilt lifted slightly.

"…"

"Clang—"

In the silence, the sound that came was the sword hitting the ground.

Those hands, which had long been unable to hold a sword, ultimately failed to grasp it. Pale fingers tightened and then relaxed, allowing the hilt to slip from his grasp.

Now it was utterly silent. The city lord's hand holding the wine cup paused, those below the dais didn't know how to react, and the knife wielder quietly gripped the curved blade hidden under the table.

A recluse who couldn't even hold a sword, realizing he had been deceived, the city lord stood up directly. Guards approached, and the guests fell into chaos.

…

The subsequent scenes were action sequences, separated for today, so they didn't need to be performed for the time being. This scene was considered complete.

The director shouted "cut," and the tense atmosphere relaxed instantly. The surrounding crew members began to move, makeup artists weaving through the crowd, looking for anyone who needed touch-ups.

Standing on the dais, Chen Bai saw the shadows of people constantly coming and going. Remembering his partner's repeated instructions, he remained stationary, but then he heard a voice not far below.

It was his agent's voice, calling his name. He could tell the other party was shouting as hard as they could, but the sound was drowned out by the surrounding noise, and he couldn't make out what was being said.

Unable to hear clearly, he decided to get closer to listen. Thinking there might be an emergency, he retracted his foot that was about to walk towards the stairs and turned to head towards the edge of the dais.

Glancing down roughly through the white veil, without much hesitation, he leaped directly downward.

Those standing around didn't have time to react. They only saw a white figure flash past the edge of their vision, and when they looked again, the person was already in mid-air.

Clothing fluttered, and the sound of air slicing through was fierce. Those below looked up to see the scattered white hem and white hair.

Chu Mingyuan stood not far away, next to the agent and assistant who had rushed forward first. Noticing the gazes of the people around him, he turned his head, catching sight of the figure that seemed to have fallen from the dais.

Eyes wide open, before his brain could process, he had already turned around and quickly crossed several steps, the sounds and figures around him blurring.

His actions were ultimately a step too slow.

The sound of fabric rubbing against each other echoed in his ears. He saw the white figure land just a step away, the hem sweeping the ground, the movements agile, and then smoothly rising.

As soon as he stood straight, the person noticed him, casually flicking the hair that had fallen in front of him behind his ear. As if he hadn't seen clearly, he tentatively called out, "Sister Qian?"

"…"

This was really not seeing clearly.

"I'm here!"

In this short span of time, Gao Qian and the two assistants quickly arrived. She manually adjusted the direction of the person's head, making him face her, then withdrew her hand, taking two deep breaths.

Catching her breath, she met the gaze of the impostor Qian Jie beside her, to whom she politely nodded.

The impostor Qian Jie paused for a moment before returning the nod. Deciding not to linger and disturb them further, she turned around and left.

Finally facing the real Qian Jie, Chen Yibai asked, "What did you call me over for, Sister Qian?"

The agent patted her wildly thumping heart. Hearing his question, she closed her eyes, wiped her face, and weakly said, "...I wanted to tell you to stay put and wait for us to come up and get you."

Instead, she heard a loud 'crack' as she watched him jump down without any hesitation.

To say it bluntly, there was a moment when she thought her heart would stop beating.

The message had failed to reach him perfectly.

Chen Moubai pondered for a moment before tentatively suggesting, "How about I go back up again, as if nothing happened?"

"..."

The agent told him it wasn't necessary. She looked at him once more, took a deep breath, and said, "With those skinny arms and legs of yours, how did you dare to jump down from there?"

Chen Yibai modestly smiled. "My body might not be in top shape, but my motor skills are still good."

If he hadn't been confident, he wouldn't have jumped down from that spot.

On one side, the agent was patting her chest, while on the other, Chu Mingyuan had returned to his resting position. He sat down on his seat, accepted the water bottle the agent handed him, and tipped it back to take a long drink. His breathing gradually calmed down.

The agent glanced at him and said, "Did you think someone fell down when you ran so fast just now?"

Chu Mingyuan tightened the bottle cap again and gave a simple response.

The agent chuckled. "With so many people watching up there, how could someone fall down? If they really did, there's no way it would've been completely silent."

If someone had truly fallen, the people around would have already started shouting. They wouldn't have had to react and look for themselves.

She mercilessly laughed and said, "You must have been scared out of your wits."

Normally quite rational, especially when it came to others' affairs, he had panicked in this situation. Someone who didn't know better might have thought...

"..."

The smile on the agent's face gradually faded. The sudden relaxation vanished, and she leaned closer to the person sitting next to her, widening her eyes. "You... You..."

She stuttered with a string of 'yous' but couldn't form a complete sentence. After patting her chest several times, she finally managed to blurt out, "You... You can't possibly be what I'm thinking, right?"

Chu Mingyuan turned to his assistant to fetch his bag. He pulled out a bottle of blood pressure medication and handed it to the agent.

This action was like an instant blood pressure raiser. The agent abruptly sat down beside him, popped the pills into her mouth, and washed them down with a gulp of water.

She had casually mentioned it, never expecting to uncover such a shocking revelation.

After taking the blood pressure medication, she lay back on the chair and shakily extended her hand. "That's why I kept saying how you've been spending so much time with him lately."

When he played, it was just playing, merely finding a friend. At the time, she had thought that it was better than running off to fall in love.

Turns out, finding a friend was indeed finding a friend, but this person wasn't looking for just any ordinary friend.

Because this person used to be a pure heterosexual, although sometimes she felt that the frequency with which he mentioned Chen Yibai seemed a bit high, she never considered this possibility. Naively, she assumed that this person admired his acting skills and personality, genuinely wanting to make friends.

Make friends, my foot!

This person had ulterior motives from the very beginning! And she had thought that this time, she could enjoy a peaceful life on set without any drama!

The agent struggled to sit up after lying down, leaning in and lowering her voice. "There are only two months left, brother. Do me a favor and don't stir up any trouble."

Just two months left, endure it, and it will pass. Accustomed to a peaceful life, she really didn't want to return to the days of frantically scrolling through the internet every night, checking for any leaked gossip.

Chu Mingyuan replied, "I'll try my best."

Then he asked, "Can I do whatever I want after filming wraps up?"

The agent rubbed her face. "It's not that simple."

She tried to reason with him, saying, "Don't let your feelings run wild here. What if he has a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

In this industry, few people remained single. Many claimed to be single publicly but secretly had multiple girlfriends. The only one who was genuinely single inside and out was Xu Sinian.

Chu Mingyuan said he had asked, and the answer was that he was single.

Even these details had been thoroughly investigated. The agent rubbed her face again, completely giving up on reasoning. She mechanically repeated, "Don't stir up any trouble until the movie is finished filming."

The bustling film crew was like snow in June, melting away the agent's worries.

Chang Yang had gone gray overnight, and she felt that if conditions allowed, she might also turn gray in a day.

Fortunately, this great actor respected her hypertension somewhat and didn't cause any major incidents. Days passed unexpectedly calmly amidst constant vigilance.

They spent two weeks in the city's Wangfu Courtyard, where their scenes were completed ahead of schedule. The rare urban excursion for the film crew brought them back to the small town.

During their two-week stay in the city, they had made a small contribution to cultural tourism. For instance, a conspicuous warning sign appeared near the high platform of the Wangfu Courtyard, stating "Do Not Jump," making a significant contribution to the safety of future visitors to the courtyard.

The first day in the city was like a small sweet bean before the axe fell, lulling everyone into a false sense of security. During the less than two weeks Chen Yibai spent there, apart from the first day being relatively relaxed, every subsequent day was filled with intense fight scenes. He fought until the sky grew dark and his limbs ached, resembling a spent man during the car ride back to the small town.

Even spent men needed to work. He changed back into his beggar costume and continued his story of the pitiful beggar and the wicked master with Qian Jin during breaks.

After working nonstop for half a month, they were once again approaching a break, this time nearing the end of the shoot.

Actors began wrapping up their roles one by one. The film crew was left with extras and a few lead actors, resulting in fewer lunch boxes being distributed each day.

As liberation approached, the film crew became more lively. Some actors even sold sunflower seeds, peanuts, and soda at the front row during breaks, leaving one unsure whether they were reverting to their true selves or simply letting loose.

Over another lunch, Chen Yibai, who had become numb from the continuous action scenes, was once again huddled with his buddies. The two teams sat in rows, eating their meals together.

After over a month of brewing, the recent temperatures had been dropping steadily. Wrapped in a warm jacket kindly provided by a good neighbor over his beggar's costume, Chen Yibai was chatting with his friends when he heard commotion from the other side.

It was the assistant director. He had pulled over a cameraman, holding what seemed to be a soda bottle bought from an actor, which he was using as a makeshift microphone. Acting as a field reporter, he was randomly selecting lucky individuals for interviews, having already questioned several actors who were eating.

This assistant director wasn't usually described as solemn, but he certainly wasn't this outgoing and cheerful either.

Qian Jin remarked, "Perhaps the anticipation of the holidays has caused him to undergo a drastic change in personality?"

Chen Yibai responded objectively, "Maybe he's just reverting to his true self."

Qian Jin glanced over a few more times before saying, "He probably won't come over here, right?"

Chen Yibai replied, "We're at opposite ends of the diagonal. There's no way, right?"

But the assistant director did come over, with the cameraman dutifully following behind him, camera in hand.

Even being at opposite ends of the diagonal couldn't save them. The assistant director seamlessly joined the meal, handing over the makeshift microphone. He started by asking Qian Jin, who was closest, a few simple questions about what they most wanted to do after wrapping up the shoot.

Chen Yibai continued eating on the side, occasionally glancing over at the back-and-forth questioning. Watching the liquid inside the microphone bottle sway back and forth, he anticipated a surprise when the assistant director would unscrew the cap.

After interviewing the buddies, the microphone was directed at him. Before the assistant director could ask his question, the talent agent, who had just finished eating and taken a sip of water, offered a brief suggestion: "If you really want to ask him, one question should suffice."

The assistant director didn't quite grasp the meaning behind these words. Upholding the spirit of journalism, he still extended the microphone, asking, "What do you want to do the most right now?"

Chen Bai promptly answered, "Play games with my friends."

The agent and the assistant, who could already predict what was coming, averted their gazes.

The assistant director pressed on, "And what do you want to do the most after we wrap up?"

Chen Yibai promptly replied, "Go find my friends to play."

With a slight twitch of his eyebrow, the assistant director asked again, "Then, who is the person you most want to see after we wrap up..."

Meeting his gaze, the assistant director preempted the answer, "...it's your friends, right?"

Chen Yibai nodded affirmatively.

The assistant director paused, suddenly understanding the agent's earlier words.

The agent put down his water cup, his eyes now calm and unflustered, and explained, "That's how it is. He's just friend-focused. Don't mind him."

Chen Yibai gave a modest smile, acknowledging the term 'friend-focused.'

Hearing this, a buddy turned around and asked, "If things are this good, why not upgrade to boyfriend status?"

He was bold enough to directly suggest such a modern escalation.

"But no," Chen Yibai waved his hand dismissively, "How could my friend possibly want to be a boyfriend."