Jiang Tingyuan’s cold hand stroked Ye Zhou’s head. His obsidian eyes, now tinged with frost, glanced over Ye Zhou and settled on Xie Gefei nearby.
“I just happened to be in the area, so I came by to visit the set.” Although Jiang Tingyuan spoke in a calm tone with no obvious emotion, it still made Xie Gefei shudder.
Xie Gefei instinctively took two steps back, retreating to a safer distance.
Jiang Tingyuan was obviously satisfied with his reaction. He calmly withdrew his gaze, nodding briefly at his assistant.
Understanding the cue, Jiang Tingyuan’s male assistant hurried over and began introducing the offerings. “Director Ye, Mr. Jiang has arranged for some sweets and chilled teas from Su Tao Teahouse.”
As he spoke, the assistant started arranging the items on a nearby empty table. At the same time, three or four bodyguards entered, each carrying large bags full of food – at least 50 or 60 portions, clearly meant for the crew. The production team quickly came over to help the bodyguards set out the sweets and chilled teas.
Ye Zhou looked at the crowded table, then at the expressionless boss next to him, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say.
On wealthier productions, it was common for the director or lead actor to treat the crew to a meal after the first scenes were successfully filmed.
Firstly, it helped to eliminate the unfamiliarity between each other and get the crew familiar with each other as quickly as possible, so that the crew could get up and running quickly. It also helped to win over people’s hearts, gain a good reputation among the staff, and create a good relationship.
These things were usually done by the leading actors, but the situation of the leading actors in Ye Zhou’s crew was not particularly good, and it was not easy to make some money, so he specifically told the leading actors that there was no need to treat them.
It was not a big deal, and Ye Zhou had not given it much thought. But the busy Jiang Tingyuan had remembered. Not only did he remember it, but he also made time to come over and do favors for him under the guise of a visiting he crew.
Ye Zhou appreciated kindness and never forgot favors. Whenever someone treated him well, he could not help but want to repay it ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times over.
He reached out and lightly tugged Jiang Tingyuan’s sleeve, meeting his gaze earnestly. “Jiang-ge, thank you.”
Jiang Tingyuan’s eyes fell first on Ye Zhou’s hand grasping his sleeve, then slowly lifted to his face. The young director’s eyes curved with satisfaction, long lashes fluttering like tiny brushes streaking ripples across the boss’s tranquil heart.
“You’re welcome,” Jiang Tingyuan murmured, his elegant hand passing by Ye Zhou’s face.
Expecting Jiang to ruffle his hair again, Ye Zhou instinctively closed his eyes. When nothing happened, he blinked them open to see an open container of red bean double-skinned milk in front of him.
Flustered, he accepted it and dug out a spoonful, nodding enthusiastically as he ate. “It’s delicious!” Remembering his manners, Ye Zhou didn’t forget to get a portion for the boss.
Jiang Tingyuan didn’t like sweets, so Ye Zhou specially picked out the pear cream and gave it to him. However, when he handed it over, he remembered that the boss seemed…a bit mysophobic.
Although the environment on their set is not bad, after all, the filming place is not that clean either. Subjecting Boss Jiang to eating here would be difficult for him. Ye Zhou froze awkwardly, caught between retracting his hand and offering the treat.
“I’ll, uh, eat this later…” Ye Zhou gritted his teeth and was about to find an excuse to withdraw his hand, but unexpectedly, as soon as he pulled his hand back a little, he felt a warm touch on his wrist.
Jiang Tingyuan’s sharp-jointed hand held Ye Zhou’s wrist, silently stopping his retreat, and drew it to himself. While Ye Zhou was stunned, he calmly opened the box and ate a spoonful straight from Ye Zhou’s hand as the young man gawked.
“It’s a little sweet,” Jiang Tingyuan remarked.
Still stunned, Ye Zhou automatically dug out a bite with his own spoon and tasted it, and said with a blank look on his face. “It’s not sweet. There shouldn’t be any sugar.”
Boss Jiang gazed at him silently and said nothing.
Ye Zhou was stared at by him so much that he couldn’t help but start to doubt his own taste, and there was a bit of uncertainty in his voice: “I guess, it’s a bit… sweet?”
Just as the words left his lips, Ye Zhou saw the usually expressionless Jiang Tingyuan’s mouth curved ever so slightly, an inscrutable smile entering his dark eyes.
Before Ye Zhou could figure out the meaning of his expression, Jiang Tingyuan’s phone rang. Whatever the caller said wiped all traces of that rare smile from his face, and was once again covered with a chill that could never be seen from a thousand miles away.
After ending the call, Jiang Tingyuan left the set as abruptly as he had arrived.
Ye Zhou watched his car disappear into the distance, then gathered everyone to finish eating quickly so they could resume filming.
Until he left, he never did figure out the meaning behind the boss’s extremely abnormal behavior that day.
But someone else understood the boss’s message clearly. Having witnessed their entire interaction, Xie Gefei finally realized the gentleman just now must have come to stake his claim.
Xie Gefei could think of only one reason to provoke such territorial behavior from the big boss – he must have stood too close to Director Ye while discussing the role earlier.
Xie Gefei sighed wearily. Who could have expected that some big guys look serious on the outside, but turn out to be a jealous vinegar jar1“大醋精” literally means “big vinegar essence”, which is a humorous way of saying someone is very prone to jealousy. The origin of this slang comes from a story in Chinese history, where a woman drank vinegar to prove her loyalty to her husband and prevent him from taking concubines.?
His life was difficult indeed.
…
After Jiang Tingyuan left, Ye Zhou swiftly got the crew back to work on the next scenes.
As he expected, Xie Gefei was a gem, and filming progressed smoothly after the initial adjustment period. Aside from a few tricky shots, Xie Gefei limited his NGs to three or fewer most of the time.
Even better, his acting wasn’t rigidly trying to copy the character from the novel. He occasionally injected his own understanding of the role through subtle expressions or timely gestures.
Such subtle changes really brought the originally flat character to vivid life. After a day of collaborating, Ye Zhou could confidently say that Xie Gefei was a gifted actor who would impress any director.
Oddly though, ever since the snack break, Xie Gefei seemed to be deliberately keeping his distance from Ye Zhou – a full meter apart even when discussing the scenes.
Well…that’s literally what it means.
Even when discussing the scenes, there was still distance of one meter between them.
Author's Note:
Jiang Tingyuan: This young man is very wise. 🙂
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