Xiao Can took a breath, exhaled, but unfortunately couldn’t hold it back.
“He Xingzhou, I warn you, don’t push your luck,” he said fiercely.
He Xingzhou stayed quiet for a while, muttering, “I didn’t say anything too much, did I…”
Anyone who could maintain a good expression in front of this guy must be a saint, right?
Xiao Can couldn’t bear to make himself so miserable, so he began his usual attack mode: “You’re always so annoying! Is there anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”
“Do you have time now?” He Xingzhou asked, “Has today’s shooting finished?”
“…Today’s a day off,” Xiao Can didn’t really want to hang up either, so he continued the conversation, “I’ve been lying in the hotel all day.”
“I saw you posted a video,” He Xingzhou said.
“You’re following me?” Xiao Can asked.
He Xingzhou answered frankly, “Yeah.” Then he added, “See, it’s not just me saying this hairstyle is bad, your fans don’t like it either.”
Xiao Can thought to himself, I didn’t accept this role because I liked this hairstyle.
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said, “It’s more suitable for the role, and besides, I’m already halfway through shooting.”
“I saw someone use AI to restore your original eyebrows,” He Xingzhou said, “It looks pretty good.”
“Huh? You can do that?” Xiao Can was surprised.
“I’ll send it to you,” He Xingzhou said, his voice fading slightly, indicating he was operating his phone, “They even removed the mole.”
The chat interface quickly received the video he pushed over. Xiao Can opened it and was amazed, unable to close his mouth.
The Vlog he uploaded not long ago was about eight minutes long, with a lot of behind-the-scenes footage from filming and resting, mostly with makeup on.
The person who made this video extracted all the close-up shots of his face from the Vlog and used AI technology to modify his eyebrows and mole. The effect was seamless, and if it weren’t for the special note in the title, there would be almost no difference from the actual filming.
In addition to these obvious changes, the video creator also secretly adjusted the brightness and contrast of the footage, making his face appear even fairer and more translucent, as if he were glowing.
The comments section were filled with praise, praising the creator, accurately restoring Xiao Can’s original beauty. Some even joked about accumulating good karma in their lifetime to appreciate such a great face.
Occasionally, someone passing by would say, “Who’s this? He’s so handsome,” and immediately, fans would rush to promote him while simultaneously criticizing the production crew. Some would even express their sympathy, saying, “The kid is too kind, that’s why he’s always bullied.”
“So amazing…” Xiao Can watched it twice, feeling deeply impressed, “There’s not a single flaw.”
“If only all shots were like this,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can thought, If the shots were really like this, it would be completely incompatible with the role he was currently playing.
But if he could appear beautifully in front of the camera, he didn’t care much about others’ lives.
“Could we just AI the good parts of the shots?” He Xingzhou suddenly had a strange idea.
Xiao Can thought for a moment. “No, when acting, eyebrows are still very important. There aren’t many expressions in the Vlog, so you can’t tell, but my character exaggerates expressions a lot when I’m acting, so it would be weird.”
Playing ugly is only temporary; he didn’t want his performance to be discounted, that would be a real flaw.
“Let’s not talk about this,” Xiao Can said, “Did that Luo Yinan guy talk to you again?”
“Why do you care so much about him?” He Xingzhou was dissatisfied.
“How could you be so stupid!” Xiao Can couldn’t help but scold him, “Can’t you see what I care about?”
“Is it me you care about?” He Xingzhou asked.
“That guy obviously wants to butter you up,” Xiao Can said, “I want to see him make a fool of himself.”
“…Isn’t it about me?” He Xingzhou unwillingly asked.
“Also, also care about you,” Xiao Can remembered his sweet persona at this moment, nervously said, “Is it wrong to care about you?”
He Xingzhou’s voice sounded amused, “Let me see.”
“Ah? See what?” Xiao Can was puzzled.
“Oh… he did send me a message,” He Xingzhou muttered, “He said it’s a pity he couldn’t treat me, and suggested having dinner together sometime.”
Before this, he had completely ignored the messages on his phone and didn’t pay any attention.
“Are you going to reply to him?” Xiao Can asked eagerly.
“No, I won’t,” He Xingzhou said, “There’s nothing worth replying to.”
Xiao Can was afraid of missing out on opportunities, “Just reply something!”
“What should I reply?”
“Let me think,” Xiao Can rubbed his chin, started giving some bad advice, “You should ask him if publicly giving flowers was a bit too bold? Did you cause any trouble for him?”
“I won’t ask,” He Xingzhou replied decisively, “What’s bold about it, I’ve already given them. If he’s not satisfied, he can tell me face to face.”
“You’re a respected senior, who would dare?” Xiao Can said.
“You dare,” He Xingzhou laughed, “You even dared to threaten to kill me.”
Xiao Can blushed, “That’s being straightforward! Look at you, accusing me of being hypocritical, now you see how straightforward I am?”
“Okay,” He Xingzhou responded, “You have a lot of good qualities.”
Xiao Can blushed even more intensely, “Why are you suddenly praising me… could it be you suddenly realized how good I am and want to pursue me?”
He Xingzhou was unnaturally quiet for two seconds, making Xiao Can panic, thinking he had said something wrong, regretting and feeling unwilling, about to become angry out of embarrassment.
“I’ve been pursuing you all along,” He Xingzhou finally spoke, his voice filled with confusion, “Isn’t it obvious?”
“…”
Xiao Can was confused for a moment, but after a while, he finally came to his senses and realized that He Xingzhou’s “pursuit” might refer to constantly suggesting being in a relationship.
“You’re not pursuing very well,” he whispered, “You could be more proactive.”
“Okay,” He Xingzhou paused, “I’ll come see you again in a few days, is that okay?”
It sounded tempting, but after thinking it over, Xiao Can calmly refused, “Coming again would be too obvious, so no, thanks.”
“You care too much about other people’s opinions,” He Xingzhou said.
“I do care,” Xiao Can said, “If you’re not satisfied, go pursue someone else.”
He Xingzhou sighed in his ear.
“I’ll be wrapping up next month,” Xiao Can told him, “You should come with Charlie then. Oh, by the way, I just bought some treats for him. Remember to collect them.”
“You only bought for him?” He Xingzhou asked.
“…I can share some with you,” Xiao Can said, “Film a video when you feed him, I want to check.”
Three days later, Xiao Can received a video of Charlie eating raspberries.
In the video, you could see He Xingzhou’s hand and a whole bowl of cleaned raspberries.
Xiao Can watched and counted, Charlie had eaten half, while He Xingzhou had eaten eight.
-You even snatch Charlie’s treats???
Xiao Can couldn’t believe it and sent a questioning message.
He Xingzhou’s reply was sincere but also speechless.
-It tastes like you, very sweet, couldn’t resist.
Xiao Can really wanted to reply: You resist when I’m in front of you though.
It would be better if you didn’t resist, eat more if you want.
Over a week later, Xiao Can received an urgent express delivery of fresh food.
The sender’s name was neatly printed: He Charlie.
Xiao Can was extremely surprised, he didn’t expect Charlie to have a full name.
Opening the foam box, there were a bunch of ice packs and six fresh-keeping boxes inside.
Xiao Can, full of anticipation, opened each one, inside were some braised snacks and drunken goods, and surprisingly, there was also a box of pork jerky.
After opening a box of drunken goods, it looked a bit soft, Xiao Can took a bite and realized it was dismantled crab meat.
He took photos one by one, excitedly posted them on Moments without setting them to a specific group.
About half an hour later, he received a message from He Xingzhou.
-Received?
Xiao Can was enjoying the pork jerky, and proactively replied with a call.
“Received, currently eating,” he told He Xingzhou, “I can dismantle crabs, you know.”
“It’s more convenient for you to eat them dismantled,” He Xingzhou said, “I slightly modified the sauce recipe, can you taste the difference?”
“It seems like there’s a bit more sweetness,” Xiao Can said.
“I added some raspberry jam,” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can was shocked: “Huh?”
“Just trying it out, didn’t expect it to taste good,” He Xingzhou said, “What do you think?”
The finished product didn’t have a distinct raspberry flavor, so the amount added was not much.
Xiao Can picked up a bit with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, and tasted it carefully, seeming to really taste a unique flavor that was hard to describe.
“It’s strangely good,” he said, “Surprised you came up with it.”
“Now, I should receive 70 points, right?” He Xingzhou said.
Xiao Can was surprised: “Where did that come from?”
“A box of drunken shrimp is ten points… oh no, nine point five, this times six boxes, should be fifty-seven points.” He Xingzhou meticulously calculated, “Even if it’s not seventy points, it’s still sixty-seven points.”
“That’s not how it works,” Xiao Can countered with a suppressed laugh, “My scoring system only records the number of times, not the quantity. Each time is worth ten points, plus five points for it being sent by Charlie, so a total of fifteen points.”
“…” He Xingzhou was annoyed, “Why didn’t you say earlier?”
“If I said earlier, would you have only sent one kind?” Xiao Can pretended to be dissatisfied, “That’s a deduction.”
“If you said earlier, I would have split it into six deliveries,” He Xingzhou said.
“Taking advantage of loopholes, also deduct points.”
“Don’t,” He Xingzhou sighed, “Forget it, fifteen points is fifteen points, take it slow.”
“You can even make pork jerky, impressive.” Xiao Can couldn’t help but praise him, “Is it roasted?”
“Yes, with an oven. It’s my first attempt, guessing your taste is on the sweeter side, so I added a lot of honey,” He Xingzhou said.
“Very good, send more next time,” Xiao Can shamelessly ordered some dishes, “Too little, not enough to eat.”
“Add five points,” He Xingzhou bargained with him.
Xiao Can pretended to hesitate for a while, then reluctantly replied, “Well, let’s just add it for now.”
He Xingzhou was greatly encouraged: “Is there anything else you think is good?”
In fact, each one was delicious, but He Xingzhou knew so many, Xiao Can still wanted to try more new varieties.
“I want to try something warm next time,” Xiao Can said.
“It’s not convenient for you to heat up there, and reheating affects the taste,” He Xingzhou said.
“Does that mean I can only come to your place to eat?” Xiao Can asked.
“I can also bring my own ingredients for on-site service.”
“Okay, it’s a deal?” Xiao Can smiled, “I’ll be back next week.”
