AS c29

29.

 

Filming so many NGs this afternoon was really tiring. Zhuang Qin put hot water in the bath and took off his clothes to soak inside. The faint scent of incense was relaxing.

 

In the room beside his, Li Mu was also bathing naked in the bathroom.

 

Only now did Zhuang Qin have time to reply to Xiao Dao: “Why did you send so many messages, I said to wait for a minute.”

 

“You suddenly hung up the phone! Of course, I was worried that something was wrong with you.”

 

Xiao Dao: “Just what was so important?”

 

Zhuang Qin: “It’s nothing.”

 

Xiao Dao: “Don’t hide anything from me. Did someone bully you on the crew? Don’t hide it!”

 

Zhuang Qin: “What are you thinking? I’m fine on set.”

 

Xiao Dao inevitably remembered the look in his brother’s eyes when he last saw him.

 

It was clear that he’d been deeply hurt. Xiao Dao thought that although his brother liked acting and was acting as he wished, he wasn’t happy.

 

He clicked the video call button. Zhuang Qin was taking a bath and the call tone was very loud. He immediately answered it, his hand covering the camera as he changed over to audio: “Xiao Dao, what are you doing?”

 

Li Mu, who was separated by a wall, couldn’t help but hear his voice.

 

Xiao Dao asked, “Is it inconvenient for you to talk on the phone? Are you living with someone else?” He thought of those messy things in the entertainment circle and was worried that his brother might have encountered such situations.

 

“I live alone.” Zhuang Qin’s voice was very low, “But there are other actors in the next room, I don’t want to disturb them.”

 

The material of the wall was very thin, Li Mu, who could hear everything felt very awkward and wanted to get up but he was afraid that Zhuang Qin would hear and think that he was eavesdropping. But by not doing anything, he really was eavesdropping.

 

Xiao Dao said, “Is the sound insulation of the hotel that bad? I thought you weren’t in a hotel?”

 

Zhuang Qin casually lied to him: “I’m not in the original one. I shot at another location today and so stayed in another. Alright, I’m hanging up…”

 

“Don’t, Don’t, don’t hang up yet. As long as nothing happened that’s good. Brother don’t mind me, I’m just worried about you. I’m afraid that you won’t tell the family if anything happens to you…”

 

Zhuang Qin sighed, “I know you’re worried about me. Everything is fine, the crew is very good. There aren’t any of those things you’re thinking about, it’s very clean.”

 

“How’s the director? How about the actors you act with?” Xiao Dao didn’t know what kind of movie he was making. All he knew was that he was currently in Southeast Asia.

 

“The director is very kind to me, and the actors are also very good. Don’t worry, I will never be bullied in this crew. I can secretly tell you that I’m the biggest actor in this crew, so everyone is very kind to me.”

 

“But you don’t have any background at all.” Xiao Dao said, “Before on that shitty variety show, weren’t you embarrassed by the program team and made to eat lots of wasabi…”

 

He watched the program. Zhuang Qin ate with tears falling down but the host was still haha ha-ing over there. Another artist on stage handed him a tissue. He said he was fine but turned his back to wipe his eyes.

 

Xiao Dao watched it and cried. He still didn’t dare tell his parents how much his elder brother was bullied in the circle. He’s only seen that, but what about the ones he hasn’t seen?

 

“Eating lots of wasabi was the game penalty,” That was a long time ago. Zhuang Qin didn’t feel much when he remembers it now, but he wouldn’t ever eat wasabi again with Japanese food. “I had just debuted. It won’t happen now.”

 

“Then when you fainted some time ago, wasn’t that because you were bullied!”

 

“I’m a star. I play games for the audience to be happy. Only when the audience is happy can my career be relevant.” Zhuang Qin soaked in hot water while explaining in a low voice, “The fainting at that time had little to do with the program team. I just didn’t have a good rest before…”

 

Xiao Dao still complained: “If you didn’t have a good rest before, wasn’t it because you were overworked. Your company has taken so many jobs for you! You are so good that you never protest it!”

 

Zhuang Qin had no way to explain that he was actually powerless to protest. Because he signed a contract, his relationship with the company required him to complete his share of performance.

 

“Not any more now.” That’s all he could say for now, “I signed a new contract with the company. I can take any film I want, and cooperate with my favorite directors and actors. I’m very happy now. Don’t be afraid, you have nothing to worry about.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

When Zhuang Qin finished talking on the phone, he drained the water out. He’d told Xiao Dao that he was going to bed. Then he washed the clothes he’d worn all day with shower gel and hung them up on the terrace where the temperature was more than thirty degrees at night.

 

He put on the disinfected bathrobe that Li Mu said no one had worn to sleep and after a while, fell asleep to the sounds of the waves rising and falling.

 

………………

 

Before Li Mu could wake him up, Zhuang Qin got up by himself. The clothes hanging outside had dried. He casually replied to Xiao Lian’s message: “I’m up. I’ll go straight to the set later. Do you have throat lozenges and Malva nuts?. Bring some to the set.”

 

The throat lozenges he brought were the ones he felt tasted the best after trying most of the brands on the market. The Loquat throat lozenges also had the best effect. Most of the time, he would recommend them to his co-hosts and the actor he worked with.

 

Zhuang Qin opened the door and went out. On the left side were the stairs and on the right side were large palm trees. He was about to go downstairs when he saw Li Mu running through the pathway outside with a towel around his neck and wearing sweatpants and sneakers.

 

Zhuang Qin saw him, and he also saw Zhuang Qin. His pace slowed down.

 

“Good morning.” Li Mu waved to him.

 

“Good morning.” The sun was so strong that Zhuang Qin couldn’t help squinting. The sun shone directly on Li Mu’s handsome face. He was sweating profusely so his top and pants clung to his figure and his short hair was wet with sweat. It was sexy. He leaned over the terrace and asked, “How long have you been up? Have you been running for a long time?”

 

Li Mu tilted his head and loudly replied, “I watched the sunset and ran for an hour.”

 

Zhuang Qin: “Have you fed the cat?”

 

“Yes.”

 

He beckoned Zhuang Qin to come down. “I’ll have the kitchen prepare breakfast now. Have you washed up? Want to come down and walk with me to the beach for a while?”

 

“Okay.” These days, he couldn’t exercise in the crew, so he could only stand upside down and kick his legs.

 

When he went downstairs, he saw Li Mu squeezing out sunscreen. Zhuang Qin looked at his sweaty body and glanced at the sweatpants that were attached to his flesh; the shape of his body under the sweatpants was clearly outlined. He wondered that if Li Mu was wearing underwear, would it be thrown away after he finished?

t/n: lol 😂

 

Li Mu saw him come down and handed it over: “Just in time, I squeezed a lot, you can take half.”

 

The people here were generally tanned due to the climate. The sun was too much. Li Mu was not afraid of tanning, but he still didn’t like to tan too much and get sunburnt.

 

Zhuang Qin took half from his palm: “Thank you. I was worried about sunscreen.” He carried a bag, but it only had the script and a notebook in it.

 

“Would you like some more?”

 

Zhuang Qin shook his head: “I’m only showing my face and neck. That’s enough.”

 

He didn’t look at a mirror but casually rubbed the white sunscreen together in his hand and placed it on his face. This method was very rough for applying sunscreen but Li Mu was also applying it that way. In addition to his face and neck, he rubbed it on his arms and legs.

 

Li Mu asked him if he wanted hot water: “The kitchen takes half an hour for breakfast to be ready. I just drank coffee. Do you like coffee?”

 

“Hot water is fine. I can’t sleep easily after drinking too much coffee so I use it as a booster during the day.” But he was so energetic today that he didn’t need to drink it.

 

Li Mu washed the cup and poured water for him: “I have nothing else here but yogurt and toast. Would you like some?”

 

Zhuang Qin: “No, no.” He refused the yogurt.

 

Li Mu handed him the water and noticed that the sunscreen on his face was not evenly applied, and there was a small piece of white on the tip of his nose. He couldn’t help raising his hand and gently rubbing the tip of his nose.

 

Zhuang Qin, who was drinking water, raised his eyes.

 

Li Mu pointed to his nose: “Sunscreen.”

 

Zhuang Qin: “Oh oh, you also have it on your face too.”

 

Li Mu: “Where?”

 

Zhuang Qin stretched out his hand and paused mid-air: “There on your chin.”

 

Li Mu saw him take back his hand and felt somewhat disappointed. He stretched out his hand and wiped his chin casually: “is it all right now?”

 

“You should wipe it again.”

 

After, Zhuang Qin looked at him and nodded: “yes, it’s okay now.”

 

Li Mu handed him his own sunglasses: “Let’s go for a walk on the beach.”

 

The beach sand just after a tide was soft and suitable for walking barefoot. Li Mu wore sneakers but took them off at the edge of the beach, and Zhuang Qin did the same.

 

Twenty minutes later, Li Mu received a call saying that breakfast was ready. Zhuang Qin picked up some beautiful shells and held them in the palm of his hand. The soles of their feet were sandy so they carried their shoes and walked back barefoot.

 

Li Mu turned on the faucet next to the pool to rinse his feet and asked Zhuang Qin to stretch his out too: “You rarely go out to have fun?”

 

He’d seen Zhuang Qin happily pick up shells.

 

“Rarely, I’m too busy with work.” After retreating from the circle, he stayed in the house and didn’t dare leave the house for fear of being recognized and scolded. Later, Xiao Dao came to pick him up, but Xiao Dao was busy with business and didn’t let Zhuang Qin go out alone. Zhuang Qin watched movies alone in his room all day long. He watched a lot during that time every day.

 

“Do you like this job?” Li Mu thought of what he heard on the phone last night.

 

“I like being an actor.”

 

Li Mu: “You don’t like being a star?”

 

There was a difference between the two and Li Mu could clearly understand what he meant.

 

Zhuang Qin rarely said these words to people. Maybe he was just too happy right now so he said whatever came to mind, “Being a star is uncomfortable, I like it when people compliment me but don’t like it when people scold me, but being in this business, there will be people who like me and some who don’t like me.”

 

The water washed his left foot clean and he swapped to his right foot to wash. His trousers were wet, but his voice was calm: “You can only accept all the types of voices: the praises and the criticism. There are some very negative things that were magnified in this industry that normal people can’t bear. So I learned not to listen to those voices. It’s exhausting to live in the limelight and having to smile at everyone.”

 

“But what can’t be helped is that in order to do what I like, I have to accept what I don’t like.” After saying that, he looked at Li Mu and smiled while asking him the same question: “What about you? Do you like being an actor or a star?”

 

Li Mu looked at his presently smiling expression: “I don’t like either.”

 

Zhuang Qin: “I assumed so.”

 

The two returned to the villa and had breakfast, It was already 11:30. Li Mu took a bottle of yogurt from the fridge and handed it to him.

 

Zhuang Qin’s expression instantly got bad: “You drink it.”

 

Li Mu took out another bottle, and naturally placed it in his bag where his script was: “I’ll take it to the set to drink.”

 

Zhuang Qin took it and said, “Alright, I’ll also take it to the set to drink in the afternoon. I’m full now.”

 

Li Mu opened the refrigerator with satisfaction: “I’ll get you another bottle to drink tonight.”

 

Zhuang Qin became nauseous: “…Okay.”

 

He threw the two bottles of yogurt into his bag: “When we arrive, let’s go to the dressing room and rehearse for a while.”

 

When they went out, Li Mu drove and Zhuang Qin sat in the co-pilot seat. He took out the script and read it.

 

Outside the set, Xiao Lian rushed up excitedly as soon as he saw Li Mus’ eye-catching car: “Brother Zhuang! You’re all right!”

 

“It’s fine. It’s not like I was kidnapped.” Zhuang Qin handed him the cat carrier.

 

Xiao Lian pulled him and looked him up and down, and then he looked at Li Mu, who wore sunglasses with an indifferent expression.

 

Xiao Lian pulled Zhuang Qin and left: “Brother Zhuang, why didn’t you knock on my door last night? You could have come to me to sleep. I’ll just sleep on the floor. Besides, I could have woken up the receptionist. Their hotel should have 24-hour service. How could they sleep so early when Director Guo booked up the hotel?”

 

“Don’t worry so much. Li Mu and I didn’t sleep together, it was two rooms.”

 

“Then have you eaten yet?”

 

“Eaten.” Breakfast was made by a Thai cook. Li Mu ordered it western style. It was toast with steak or something like that.

 

Zhuang Qin suddenly remembered something. He unzipped his bag, looked around, and secretly took out two bottles of yogurt: “For you.”

 

Xiao Lian: “…”

 

For some reason, he was nauseous.

 

Zhuang Qin shot for this brand in June last year. And since then, the advertisers have been sending the product to his home. Brother Zhuang didn’t like to drink it, so most of the yogurts had entered his and Sister Mins’ stomachs.

 

At first, Xiao Lian liked it very much and even took some home to his family but now his family was drinking so much that they were about to cry.

 

“Brother Zhuang… Where did you get this?” His legs trembled a little. Was the advertiser so vicious that he sent yogurt to Thailand for Brother Zhuang?

 

Zhuang Qin lowered his voice and said, “Don’t mention it! Take it quickly and hide it so that Li Mu doesn’t see it. He seems to like drinking this very much. Today, he even gave me two bottles. It’s not good for me to completely tear down the advertiser’s stage, right?”

 

Xiao Lian quickly hid yogurt in his bag and was a little excited: “Li Mu likes this brand? Then give it to him from now on!”

 

“That’s what I thought too!” Zhuang Qin and his assistant looked at each other. They both had the same idea in their minds.

 

On another side, Li Mu handed the yogurt to a passing Thai child while no one was paying attention: “For you, it’s a Chinese yogurt.”

 

The child immediately took it and ran away happily.

 

Zhuang Qin went to the dressing room, Li Mu was also there and they began to rehearse.

 

On set.

 

Xiao Lian saw Brother Zhuang go to the dressing room to rehearse, and thought that he should not finish for a while. He immediately ran to Director Guo: “Director Guo. Director Guo!”

 

“Eh? Xiao Lian,” Director Guo was analyzing the day’s scenes with Director Zhou, “What’s the matter?”

 

Xiao Lian secretly took out the bottle of yogurt from his bag: “This is for you.”

 

“Hey, isn’t this the yogurt endorsed by Teacher Zhuang? Did really you bring it from China?”

 

Xiao Lian: “yes yes, brought it especially for you.”

 

“Thank you.” Director Guo unceremoniously inserted a straw, “It tastes good.”

 

Director Zhou next to him saw it and joked, “Haha, Xiao Lian, how come it’s only for Director Guo? Are you giving him special treatment hmm?”

 

Xiao Lian excitedly opened his bag: “Director Zhou, I still have more here! I have enough!”

t/n: pffttt