Chapter 5

Chapter 5

At three in the morning, Su Xingyao boarded a flight to City Y.

Since the filming location was quite remote, after getting off the plane, he had to transfer vehicles for over six hours before finally reaching the set.

The late-night hustle and bustle left Su Xingyao completely worn out. Upon arriving at the hotel, he didn’t even have time to eat before collapsing to catch up on sleep.

He slept straight through until six in the afternoon.

Struggling against drowsiness, he woke up, hastily ate a bit of dinner, and then immediately began reading the script.

Before this, he had no idea what kind of story *The Fall of Colored Glass* was about. He didn’t even know which role he was playing.

Liang Yifan had mentioned taking on this project earlier, but with the opening ceremony of *The Fall of Colored Glass* scheduled for tomorrow, he only received the script from his new assistant today.

Clearly, this was a deliberate attempt to mess with him after the contract termination call.

With such a grueling schedule, if he overslept and showed up unprepared tomorrow, he’d definitely get an earful.

Liang Yifan intended to make things difficult for him, but Su Xingyao ignored these petty tactics and instead focused intently on the script in his hands.

As a top-tier project, *The Fall of Colored Glass* is currently the most popular and easily marketable boys’ love drama, with a storyline that resonates with the audience’s love for fantasy and romance.

The two male main characters in the drama are celestial beings destined to be together. After enduring three lifetimes of trials, they finally achieve a happy ending.

The story picks up after these three lifetimes, with the two immortals returning to their celestial roles. All that remains is for the Matchmaker to tie their red string of fate, ensuring eternal love and mutual radiance.

However, a twist occurs here.

While the Matchmaker is tying the red string, an accident causes their celestial bond to break.

This mishap leads one of the male immortals to fall in love with the Demon Lord and descend into demonic ways, ultimately causing chaos in the celestial realm.

After the celestial realm is severely damaged by the combined forces of the immortal and the Demon Lord, the Jade Emperor is forced to restart the cycle of reincarnation, turning back time to the last of the three lifetimes and forcibly sending both immortals and the Demon Lord back to alter history.

Su Xingyao’s role in the drama is the male villainous Demon Lord who disrupts the main characters’ destined love.

A malevolent, twisted character who is ultimately dismembered by one of the protagonists.

By the time Su Xingyao finished the script, it was almost eleven.

He closed the script, rubbed his eyes, and started piecing together the plot in his mind.

When Liang Yifan first told him about joining this crew, Su Xingyao had already mentally prepared himself.

Given how often he had been the subject of negative trending topics in the past, his manager had played a significant role in that.

So Su Xingyao knew any role in such a high-profile project wouldn’t be favorable.

Playing a character as extreme as Bai Xu, no matter how well he did, would only lead to one outcome: being mercilessly criticized by the audience for his portrayal.

If his performance was poor, both his acting and character would be trashed. If he nailed the role, the audience would assume he was just playing himself.

Moreover, this character, as the Demon Lord, was loved by one of the protagonists due to the entanglement of the red thread of fate.

After the drama airs, the CP fans will surely go wild over him.

Thinking of this, Su Xingyao let out a soft laugh.

In the past, influenced by the plot and his parents' opposition to his career in the entertainment industry, he would have chosen to compromise despite being fully aware. He would have passively played the role of a brainless cannon fodder, just as everyone expected.

But now, he has come to his senses.

Su Xingyao opened his eyes.

He was not disheartened by this challenging role; instead, his eyes revealed a hint of excitement.

His slender fingers held a pen, swiftly writing rows of tiny script on a blank notebook.

He began to craft a backstory for Bai Xu based on his own understanding.

This character, like himself, was set by the author as a one-dimensional antagonist to contrast the love between the main couple.

But that doesn't mean there's no potential for depth.

On the contrary, in the human world segment of the story, the contrast in Bai Xu's character before and after, and the twisted personality caused by his tragic experiences, stood out to Su Xingyao. He felt that this character had a unique struggle against the unfairness of fate, different from the pure and beautiful protagonists.

Such a character should be brought to life with depth and individuality.

*

The next morning at five, Su Xingyao, who had only slept for five hours, was roused by a call from his assistant, Xiao Yu.

The drama's opening ceremony was at 12:08 PM, and all major characters in the crew were required to be fully made up.

After hearing this, Su Xingyao, who was still not fully awake, said nothing and obligingly got up early, following the crew's car to the designated makeup room for styling.

Ancient costume styling has always been more time-consuming than modern styling, and the director of "Falling Flowers and Glass" had high requirements for makeup and styling, so Su Xingyao spent over three hours before finally completing his look.

When he came out of the makeup room, two passing staff members nearly collided while looking at him.

The young man in black brocade robes, wrapped in a fox fur coat, looked even more radiant under the backlight, his already fair skin accentuated by the extreme black.

Especially the deliberately deepened eye makeup, paired with Su Xingyao's beautiful fox-like eyes, was mesmerizing.

"Wow, Bai Xu is actually played by Su Xingyao..."

The crew had kept all roles confidential, so the staff were caught off guard by Su Xingyao's arrival.

Soon, the news spread, and in various inconspicuous corners, the staff who loved to gossip were quietly discussing.

However, because he was so strikingly handsome today, the focus of their discussions was almost entirely on his appearance.

"I have to admit, Su Xingyao is quite good-looking. When he walked by earlier, I didn't dare to make eye contact."

"After all, he's famously a 'pretty face with no talent.' You can question his character and acting skills, but not his looks. His face isn't just for show."

"I used to think Jiang Zihang was quite otherworldly and handsome, but after seeing Su Xingyao in person today, I realized his looks are completely overshadowed by Su Xingyao."

As soon as this staff member finished speaking, a white figure darted past.

He peered closer and realized it was Jiang Zihang, the one he had just said was overshadowed by Su Xingyao's looks.

The staff member didn't know if Jiang Zihang had heard, so he hurriedly shut his mouth and slipped away.

Outwardly, Jiang Zihang appeared calm and collected, but in reality, he had heard every word clearly and was now boiling with rage.

Not only because his appearance was being belittled, but also because he was a close friend of Shen Huaixi and, due to Shen Huaixi's influence, had always harbored resentment towards Su Xingyao.

Originally, the mere idea of having to act alongside this loathsome individual in the same drama was already irritating enough. Now, his fans began to mock his appearance...

Jiang Zihang was so repulsed that he was rendered speechless.

How could someone so inferior even be mentioned in the same breath as him?

Before Jiang Zihang could calm his anger, he arrived at the meeting point for actors with a frosty demeanor.

Just as he was about to steady himself after arriving late, he saw from a distance the female lead, Yu Sisi, playfully squeezing Su Xingyao's cheek while smiling.

"No wonder he could captivate the Immortal Lord. If I were Jin Hua Immortal, I'd be enchanted too."

Yu Sisi's praise of Su Xingyao, referencing the drama's plot, felt like a dagger stabbing Jiang Zihang's heart all over again. He couldn't resist rolling his eyes, feeling as though his lungs might burst.

Jiang Zihang's silent fury went unnoticed by all.

At exactly 12:08 PM, the drama's opening ceremony began promptly.

After completing the ritual of burning incense and taking group photos, the director promptly arranged a script reading session for all.

A script reading session is essentially when the main actors come together, get into character, and rehearse their lines collectively.

Many drama productions now follow this practice before filming starts.

Firstly, it helps the actors get to know each other, avoiding awkwardness and tension during filming caused by lack of familiarity.

Secondly, it gives the actors a chance to explore their characters more deeply during the reading, spot any problems, and enable the scriptwriters to make necessary changes promptly.

Before the script reading, Su Xingyao was summoned to take promotional photos.

The weather had been fluctuating between hot and cold recently, and the morning's outfit was still tolerable.

By the afternoon, however, the temperature had suddenly shot up to over 30 degrees Celsius. Despite the crew bringing in air conditioners, the actors were dressed in period costumes, and the set was fully open, making the air conditioners useless.

After finishing the promotional shoot, Su Xingyao immediately removed his fox fur cloak.

Yu Sisi, who had teased him earlier, beckoned him over and handed him a bowl of mung bean soup.

"Here, Xing Yao, have some to cool down. It's on Linghe."

The "Linghe" Yu Sisi mentioned was Ji Linghe, the male lead of this BL drama.

Due to the scorching weather, he had treated the entire crew to milk tea and mung bean soup.

As newcomers, the actors were still unfamiliar with each other, and Ji Linghe's gesture undoubtedly earned him goodwill from everyone on the first day.

In contrast, Su Xingyao, who was generally disliked by most, had little interaction with anyone beyond necessary work since joining the crew.

If this continued, the atmosphere on set was bound to become tense.

Thus, Yu Sisi, who was known for her tact and social finesse, took it upon herself to initiate conversation with him.

She handed the mung bean soup to Su Xingyao and blinked at him, "This heat is killing me."

Su Xingyao thanked her politely and accepted the soup she offered.

However, he did not drink it, instead offering an apologetic smile, "I can't drink this."

As soon as Su Xingyao finished speaking, Yu Sisi looked embarrassed.

She suddenly remembered the rumors circulating before that Su Xingyao was difficult to get along with, very demanding on set, and would not eat anything provided by the crew...

After joining the crew, she noticed that Su Xingyao seemed gentle and did not appear to have a bad temper, so she forgot about this rumor.

But now, his words made her remember it.

Yu Sisi was regretting her meddling when she heard Su Xingyao explain with a joke.

"Sisi, I'm allergic to mung beans. Eating them could be fatal."

A look of surprise flashed in Yu Sisi's eyes.

"Is it really that serious?"

Yu Sisi, having been through a lot, quickly regained her composure, "Allergic to mung beans? That's pretty unusual."

"Yes, I have asthma and am allergic to many foods."

Now that she understood the reason, Yu Sisi instantly felt for Su Xingyao.

Asthma really could be fatal... no wonder he had to be so cautious with his diet.

Thinking of the list of dietary restrictions her assistant had just sent over, she kindly reminded him.

"Did your assistant inform the crew about your food restrictions? I didn't see your note just now."

Standing beside Su Xingyao, the new assistant Xiao Yu, also looking surprised, immediately slapped her forehead, realizing her mistake upon hearing Yu Sisi's implied reproach, "Ah... I forgot, sorry sorry."

At first, she wanted to say she didn't know.

But afraid it might make others think that Su Xingyao was lying, she quickly changed her words.

On her first day at work, encountering such a situation, Xiao Yu didn't even have time to feel embarrassed; she was too scared and just looked at Su Xingyao.

She had heard before that Su Xingyao was difficult to get along with, and although it was her first day and it was normal not to know, she was inexplicably afraid that Su Xingyao would blame her for being careless.

After all, stars these days can be really tough to deal with, and assistants often take the heat.

However, the scolding Xiao Yu expected never happened.

Su Xingyao not only did not blame her but also quietly texted her.

He texted her a list of all his food allergies.

Tomatoes, rabbit meat, goose meat, soybeans, mung beans, shrimp, crab, oysters, raw peanuts.

Xiao Yu looked at these items in disbelief, doing her best to memorize them while feeling really sorry for Su Xingyao.

Being allergic to so many things...

That's really tough.

*

Once all the actors were done with their costume photos, the script reading started at three in the afternoon.

At the same time, photos of the "Flowers Fall on Colored Glass" set were leaked by savvy fans.

Thus, the crew and the two lead actors quickly started trending.

And Su Xingyao, who had been gone for over a month and suddenly showed up again, also started trending.