“Huh?” Xiao Can was momentarily stunned, “Are you planning to come?”
“Just asking casually,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can was still doubtful, so he continued, “Why do you want to come?”
“I just asked casually,” He Xingzhou said, “Do I need to be so specific?”
“I won’t tell you,” Xiao Can said, “Since you asked so casually.”
He Xingzhou didn’t mind: “Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll find out.”
Xiao Can couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.
The last time he met He Xingzhou was two months ago.
Since their last encounter, he had been extremely busy. Even during his occasional breaks, he was too preoccupied with recovering his energy to spare time for a hospital visit, let alone meeting He Xingzhou.
If asked whether he wanted to see He Xingzhou, of course, he did.
But now was not the right time.
He had just joined the crew and was new to the scene. It was better to keep a low profile. If He Xingzhou were spotted visiting him, it would surely cause misunderstandings. It wouldn’t sound good if rumors spread, so Xiao Can had to remind him.
“If you dare to come over, then, then…” He wanted to threaten, but after struggling for a while, he couldn’t think of anything threatening to say to He Xingzhou.
“Then what?” He Xingzhou asked.
“Then… then I won’t eat the dishes you cook anymore!” Xiao Can finally blurted out.
It sounded like a joke, but it had a strong deterrent effect on He Xingzhou.
“That’s too much,” He Xingzhou muttered, “You’re exaggerating.”
“Why do you want to come anyway?” Xiao Can asked awkwardly, “It’s not like you miss me or anything…”
“I didn’t say I’m coming,” He Xingzhou said, “I have no plans to come.”
“…”
“Don’t worry, I really won’t come,” He Xingzhou emphasized, “Unless there’s something serious.”
“What serious thing?”
“No serious thing, so I won’t come,” He Xingzhou said.
Feeling annoyed by the failed attempt to probe and irritated by He Xingzhou’s roundabout answers, Xiao Can’s mood turned unfriendly: “It’s up to you; just don’t cause trouble for me.”
“If Tan Zhen said he wanted to come, would you have the same attitude?” He Xingzhou asked.
Of course, that would be impossible.
If Tan Zhen came to see him, even if he said “there’s no need to make a special trip,” he would be ecstatic. Even if he had to squeeze time, he would still want to have a good meal.
“At least you don’t hate me now, right?” He Xingzhou asked again, “Can you check my score now?”
Xiao Can wondered, where did this scoring system come from?
But communicating these things with He Xingzhou would probably be troublesome, so he replied irritably, “Zero points.”
Unexpectedly, He Xingzhou readily accepted this score: “Oh, I see.”
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Can found that Tan Zhen had replied to that photo again.
——After looking at it for a while, you’re still quite cute [heart]
It seemed that even with this slight uglification, Xiao Can couldn’t win against Tan Zhen’s deep-seated filter for him. He chuckled and felt a slight relief at the same time.
He was always confident in his appearance. Although he had mentally prepared himself, appearing in public like this was still somewhat uncomfortable.
There were many actors who had played ugly roles on screen, but most of them had already achieved fame and undeniable beauty. They didn’t have to worry about ruining their image.
But Xiao Can, despite his high profile, was still an “internet celebrity.” Appearing in this makeup from the start would likely invite criticism, and if word got out, it wouldn’t sound good.
If he had known in advance about the special makeup, he might have refused this opportunity.
But now that he was already in the crew, there was no turning back. He could only hope that his performance would make this character more endearing, and hopefully, the audience would see some cuteness in his bushy eyebrows.
The next morning, shooting officially began.
Xiao Can soon realized that this role was actually quite suitable for him in a way.
In the past, during acting classes, his teachers often criticized him for being too forceful, sometimes his expressions and actions were overly exaggerated, like performing skits at a party.
This was a bad habit left over from his days of making comedic short videos on social media.
Now, in front of the camera, he consciously restrained himself, but the director corrected him, feeling he wasn’t being open enough.
After all, the character he played had a comedic element, and his words and actions were supposed to be more exaggerated than others.
So Xiao Can adjusted to his most comfortable performance state, and immediately received high praise, feeling like a fish in water.
After that, everything went surprisingly smoothly.
As the only amateur among the leads, he performed better than the other two newcomers.
The actor who replaced him found it hard to adapt.
This seemingly foolish college student was the only son of the wealthy CEO, who harbored dreams of performing arts. His family invested in this drama just to indulge their son.
The actor, Ying Qiwen, was completely unaware that he had taken someone else’s role. He simply said, “I want to play this role,” after reading the script, and the production team had no choice but to go along with it.
Xiao Can couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated after listening.
Ying Qiwen was completely unaware of Xiao Can’s inner turmoil. He had a gloomy expression on his face as he complained to Xiao Can, blaming himself for his poor performance.
The day before, a scene involving many cast members had been delayed for a long time because of him. The atmosphere on set was tense. The lead actress, Hua Linling, had been suspended on the wire harness multiple times, unable to bear it any longer, she finally requested a break.
Due to changes in the weather afterward, the scene had been put on hold and remained unfinished until now.
Afterwards, Ying Qiwen had secretly shed some tears in a corner. Xiao Can happened to see it accidentally, and he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy.
During the break, he comforted him a few times, and Ying Qiwen was deeply moved, pouring out his heart to him.
“I’m actually fine. Sister Linling was really tired yesterday. You should apologize to her if you have the chance,” Xiao Can said.
“I’ve already apologized. She comforted me and said it’s okay,” Ying Qiwen sighed. “She’s really nice. You all are really nice.”
Hua Linling, as a senior, always behaved very gracefully in front of them. Although she wouldn’t actively approach them privately, she wouldn’t put on airs either. Xiao Can thought, even if she had complaints in her heart, she wouldn’t voice them out loud.
“That’s good then. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, just relax a bit,” Xiao Can comforted him nonchalantly.
Ying Qiwen nodded vigorously. “I’ll work hard!”
Xiao Can smiled at him.
Suddenly, Ying Qiwen’s face turned red. “Why did they give you these thick eyebrows? You’re so handsome, it doesn’t suit you.”
Xiao Can thought to himself, maybe the problem lies with you.
These days, Cai Yawen had been accompanying him. In private, she would sigh and say that Ying Qiwen, with makeup on, looked like a delicate little beauty. But appearing together on camera, the contrast was simply too stark. Anyone would think that something was wrong with the setup.
Xiao Can didn’t want to discourage the kid, so he just smiled and said, “Thank you for the compliment.”
As he was about to bid farewell to Ying Qiwen, Xiao Can planned to go to the makeup room. Just as he turned the corner, he bumped into Luo Yinan, who was resting.
Seeing Xiao Can, Luo Yinan immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.
There were about ten meters away from the nearest crew member, close enough to see the two of them interacting but too far to hear their voices clearly.
Xiao Can was careful not to arouse suspicion when interacting with Alphas, deliberately keeping some distance when stopping.
“Have you finished shooting?” he casually asked.
“Yeah, I came over to wait for you,” Luo Yinan said, taking a step closer. “Do you have time? Accompany me to go over some lines.”
They had a lot of scenes together, and Xiao Can was paired with him for half of his scenes. Luo Yinan would often find Xiao Can to rehearse lines in private, and Xiao Can couldn’t refuse.
“Sure,” Xiao Can stepped back and sat on a nearby beam. “Which scene?”
Luo Yinan held his script and flipped through it while saying, “The young master was complaining to you just now?”
Xiao Can smiled but didn’t say anything.
“He’s really oblivious,” Luo Yinan also smiled, with a hint of mockery in his tone. “Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, how could he understand the hardships of the common people? Don’t take it to heart.”
“Huh?” Xiao Can pretended to be clueless. “What would I take to heart?”
Luo Yinan shrugged, not saying anything.
“Or… did you misunderstand something?” Xiao Can asked.
“Maybe,” Luo Yinan awkwardly smiled and explained, “He stood next to you like a log, and I felt quite indignant for you.”
“He’s young, he can’t loosen up yet. He’ll get better slowly,” Xiao Can smiled, “I’m leaving if there’s nothing else. I need to redo my makeup for the afternoon scene.”
Luo Yinan hesitated, nodded, and said, “Okay.”
Xiao Can quickly left.
He wasn’t a particularly noble or generous person, and he had complained about Ying Qiwen to Mu Nianwen in private before. But he would never say those things to a semi-stranger Alpha.
Shallow relationships, deep talks – that’s not naive, it’s malicious.
Luo Yinan was indeed attractive, even more so in person than on camera. But in Xiao Can’s heart, he silently compared and felt that He Xingzhou’s temperament was more charming.
In the dressing room, Cai Yawen was already waiting for him.
“I got delayed for a bit,” Xiao Can said. “Where’s the makeup artist?”
“He had something come up suddenly, he said he’ll come over later,” Cai Yawen said with a strange expression. She walked over to him and lowered her voice, saying, “Have you contacted He Xingzhou recently?”
Xiao Can shook his head.
The last phone call had been a week ago, and since then Xiao Can had been busy shooting, too occupied to even send a message.
“What happened to him?” Xiao Can asked anxiously.
Cai Yawen furrowed her brows slightly. “I think I just saw him.”
