Chapter 2.4

The male lead-daren did not play his cards in a conventional way. He not only made his move in such a way that caught Fan Yuan completely unprepared, but the female lead Tan Ling was also frightened to tears.

What kind of blow has greater impact than being severely censured by one’s idol! And this particular idol was usually magnanimous and elegant, a gentle and courteous gentleman (big misunderstanding), but for him to be publically angry in the studio—it was all her fault! If she was a little more useful, the male god wouldn’t have gotten this angry! How could she make her idol lose face?! There’s no way she could do that!

The inner fire in Tan Ling’s heart was kindled as she held back her tears. Drumming up her courage, she raised her head to look at Fang Xu and earnestly assured him, “Fang-qianbei, please give me another chance! I definitely won’t disappoint you and I’ll prove to everyone that you didn’t make a mistake!”

Fang Xu declined to respond to her great determination and only replied indifferently, “Your makeup’s ruined. Go fix it. Be back on the set for this scene in ten minutes.”

Tan Ling immediately regained her vigor and bowed at a ninety-degree angle. She deferentially said, “Yes! Thank you Fang-qianbei for your guidance!”

Then with a shy smile, she turned and trotted into the dressing room.

……………………

Fan Yuan, however, was already dumbstruck by the turn in the male lead. He muttered to himself, “……I can’t understand the direction the plot is taking. The female lead is actually a trembling M. No wonder she’s fallen for the male lead. A masochist and a pervert is simply a match made in heaven.”

Xiao Wu silently expressed its approval.

While he was blanking out, Fang Xu had come up to him and gave him a slightly disgusted glance. His voice was unfriendly as he said, “Why are you always looking at her? Could she be as good-looking as I?”

(⊙v⊙)？？？

Why the heck did he hear a trace of jealousy in the male lead’s words? He’s overthinking it…right?

Right, right, right. Celebrities seem to care about their image quite a bit. Male stars are no exception. Although competing with the female lead to see who was better looking was kind of immature, who made him the extraordinarily headstrong male lead-daren, hm? After today’s situation, Fan Yuan finally got that this God of Cinema Fang was truly a deity. Nothing he did would surprise people!

He lightly coughed twice. He said with slight discomfort, “No way. You’re way better looking than she is.”

At this, Fang Xu nodded in satisfaction. He loosened his slightly tight bow-tie and frowned, complaining, “The bad thing about these films is that the clothes are cumbersome and conservative, uncomfortable to wear, and inconvenient to move in.”

In this film, the male lead held the position of a spy. In order to highlight the male lead’s refined elegance and also to ensure Fang, the Emperor of Cinema, would be comfortable in his clothes, the formal Republic of China-style dress that he wore to the wine reception to meet up with Woman Two had been made by hand by a particular European master who had been specially invited by the crew. Reportedly, the cost of the construction of this garment was considerable. Despite all this, the male lead-daren was still not satisfied!

Since the male lead was so clumsy he could never put on his costume properly, Fan Yuan naturally kissed up to him and helped him straighten his clothing. He also took the opportunity to re-tie the male lead’s necktie. This was simply a 5-star, considerate service offered to His Majesty that was definitely worthy of a good review. The male lead-daren showed a rare smile in response.

“We’ll be filming a few scenes in succession this afternoon. You don’t have to wait here. Just come get me when it’s time for dinner.”

Saying this, he helped Fan Yuan adjust his slightly slipped glasses. His fingertips lightly brushed his cheek. Fan Yuan felt his face tingle as if it had fallen asleep and unconsciously ducked away from his hand. Fang Xu paid no attention to that and turned, walking towards the set they would be filming on.

Fan Yuan watched his retreating back. He remained motionless, locked in the same position. A strange feeling arose in his heart, but he was unable to catch hold of it. When he examined it more carefully, he couldn’t help but feel slightly jittery.

“Xiao Wu, what’s our current progress on the development of the plot?”

“Ding. The plot’s progress has been very smooth. At this point, it has progressed ten percent.”

Fan Yuan silently let out a breath. In a state of trepidation from the previous trauma, he said, “Fortunately, the female lead puts in a lot of extra effort. Otherwise, according to the male lead’s tendency to occasionally throw a wrench in the works, advancing the plot would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens!”

“Ding. The relationship between the male and female leads of this world is the type that develops through close contact. Both of their feelings evolve through the course of the filming of this movie. Master need not be anxious.”

Fan Yuan nodded thoughtfully and went out. He was just about to open the car door when he heard a ringtone. He took out his cellphone and glanced at the caller ID. It was a number he didn’t recognize.

Although it was an unfamiliar number, he knew who it was.

Pressing the answer button, he calmly opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat, silent and motionless.

After a long pause, the other party finally spoke. An incredibly graceful and mellow voice unhurriedly uttered: “Tang Yuan. It’s me.”

The supporting female character—Gao Menghan.

Fan Yuan learned back against the seat and slumped listlessly, a rare sight for the always meticulous and put-together man. In contrast to his posture, the expression on his face became cold. “I knew it was you. When I heard the news that you were coming back a month ago, I was wondering how many days you would hold back for. Unexpectedly, you managed to hold back and endure for a full month this time. You’ve really matured.”

Gao Menghan ground her teeth. “Tang Yuan, don’t be so sarcastic! What’s up with Fang Xu and that little actress Tan Ling? How was a Z-list actress able to appear in one of Director Lin’s productions? There is no way would I believe it if you were to tell me that there wasn’t anything fishy about this. Did Fang Xu pull some strings? Why would he do this? Are they together? Don’t tell me you don’t know, you know everything that has to do with him.”

It was so rare to come upon someone who actually followed their scripted lines, Fan Yuan was a little caught off guard. Following that plot-hole digger Fang Xu day in and day out, he was quickly becoming accustomed to doing his own thing and freely improvising everything.

Fan Yuan searched his memory for a moment and found the correct lines: “What does me knowing everything have to do with you? Regardless of what I know, I won’t tell you anything. Don’t forget, you two already broke up. Don’t you know you’re an eyesore, still clinging onto him like this?”

“I didn’t agree to break up and I definitely won’t agree to it!”

Fan Yuan let out a cold laugh. “Breaking up isn’t like getting a divorce—your opinion doesn’t matter. You and I both know what kind of person Fang Xu is. The crazier you act, the more he will loathe you. Don’t completely wear out his patience or I’m afraid your days won’t go as smoothly after that point.”

“Tang Yuan, are you threatening me? Do you know who I am? I’m Gao Menghan! Have you ever known me to fear anything? I tell you, Fang Xu is only confused right now. In the end, he’ll definitely come back to my side!”

Fan Yuan silently held the phone farther away from his ear. He heaved a sigh in his heart. He didn’t know if he should call this kind of woman muddled by love pitiable or if he should call her contemptible. Although he felt pretty sympathetic towards her, as the gay male side character who is head over heels in love with the male lead, he was the secret love rival of the female side character and the female lead. Not saying a few cruel words would mean his painstaking efforts and investments over the previous month or two were for nothing!

He tightly clenched his cellphone. In a wintery voice he said, “I’ll offer you a bit of advice. Don’t mess around or else you won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

The other side did not say anything more and directly hung up the phone. Looks like she would not be willing to take things lying down. Fan Yuan tossed the phone aside. Disinclined to go out and walk around, he just went to the car to catch up on his sleep—these days he was tormented by Fang Xu to an unbearable degree.

Who could have expected that he would sleep the whole day right on til dusk.

Dazed, he seemed to hear Xiao Wu calling him, so he opened his eyes a crack. As he shifted, he felt a piece of clothing sliding off of his body. He quickly reached out and grasped it. It was Fang Xu’s clothing. The scent of the cologne that he liked to use clung to its surface.

He tilted his head slightly. Because his glasses had disappeared without a trace, he could only see a fuzzy shadow sitting in the front passenger seat. It appeared to be looking in his direction.

“Is it Fang Xu?” Because he had just woken up, he was still hazy and sleepy. His voice was groggy, something seldom heard in Fan Yuan.

Fang Xu answered affirmatively, “Mhm.”

“What about my glasses? Did you take them?”

Fang Xu laughed in a low voice. He leaned over Fan Yuan. Just when Fan Yuan was about to push him away, he suddenly stretched out a hand. Fang Xu plucked the disappeared pair of glasses off of Fan Yuan’s head and then easily helped him put them on.

The world became clear in an instant—including Fang Xu’s infuriatingly smiling face.

Fan Yuan: “…………”

So he had actually carelessly pushed them up when he was sleeping. So f*cking disgraceful! Fan Yuan kept his head down in an effort to suppress the urge to facepalm. He tried hard to maintain the original host’s self-restrained, outwardly cold but inwardly passionate character. Stiffening his face, he said, “Thank you.”

“Xiao Wu! When did the male lead get here! Why didn’t you call meeeee?!”

“Ding… The male lead came back over ten minutes ago. Master was sleeping like the dead. Xiao Wu tried his best.”

“Okay, fine. I only have myself to blame /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~”

Fan Yuan took a full three minutes to completely recover his composure. In a deadpan voice, he said, “I apologize. I carelessly overslept. I didn’t make you wait too long, right? Now, where do you want to eat? Or should we just go home and I’ll make dinner?”

Fang Xu rested his chin on his hand, his arm laid on the edge of the window. With a sideward glance, he looked Fan Yuan up and down. Fan Yuan’s heart was a little apprehensive, but on the surface, his expression didn’t change as he was sized up. After a short while, he heard Fang Xu leisurely spit out two words.

“Glasses store.”

Fan Yuan (expressionless AKA completely dumbfounded face): “What are we doing going to the glasses store?”

Fang Xu snorted a laugh. “Because I thought of something amusing.”

Fan Yuan: “……” This definitely couldn’t be anything good →_→

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

When they arrived at a nearby glasses store, Fang Xu put on the mask that had been newly disinfected that morning and the newsboy cap, then dragged Fan Yuan inside.

A young saleswoman wearing a uniform saw them come in, her eyes fixed on Fang Xu. It was unclear whether she thought he was strange or if she had recognized him.

Fan Yuan displayed utter loyalty and stepped up to do his duty by approaching her, obstructing her view of Fang Xu. That young woman’s face turned cold when she saw him. She embarrassedly let out an awkward laugh or two and asked, “What can I help you with?”

Fan Yuan looked behind him to see Fang Xu looking at him, laughter in his eyes. There was an unspeakable implication in that glance. Fan Yuan rubbed his face, feeling strange. He thought, it couldn’t be that he had drooled on himself while asleep?

Fang Xu took his hand and hauled him forward two steps. He, whose words were as rare and as precious as gold, actually spoke to the saleswoman.

“Hello, please help fit him with a pair of contact lenses.”

Fan Yuan: “………………”

#How should the character design on the verge of collapse be saved _(:з」∠)_#

#Can I not be penalized for being forced into OOC QAQ#

#Male lead-daren, you should take some medicine!!!#