Secret Crush? Let’s Try It

At that thought, Li Xingqing pressed her tongue to her cheek.

Whatever needed to be said, Director Ke Wei had probably already said it. What more was there for her to add?

After thinking for a long while, Li Xingqing suddenly came up with a good analogy.

“Teacher Zheng Yuyu, could you try imagining this: after this scene ends, if Teacher Bai never speaks to you again, and everything before this was just an act, what would you feel?”

At Li Xingqing’s words, Zheng Yuyu’s brows drew together, as if she had just described the most horrifying thing in the world.

“Never speak to me again?”

“Just as an example, say he doesn’t like you at all, maybe even hates you to death, and you’ll never see each other again. What would you do?”

“...” Zheng Yuyu said nothing, as though he were genuinely considering the possibility. “Sad, and excited?”

Li Xingqing: ???

“Huh?” Bai Mo, standing nearby, heard that answer and his eyes flew wide. “Why would you be excited?”

“Because if you’re deliberately talking to me, it means I’m in your heart,” Zheng Yuyu explained calmly; his logic was as solid as a wall of iron and bronze.

Li Xingqing felt that taking Zheng Yuyu’s route was not going to work. She simply didn’t understand this person well enough. So she had to shift the topic back to Bai Mo.

“Then what about Teacher Bai? If you personally killed your enemy, only to suddenly realize your feelings for them had already gone beyond what you’d imagined, how would you react?”

“I’d hate myself?” Bai Mo answered tentatively.

“And what else?” Li Xingqing prompted.

“I’d reexamine my feelings?”

“Yes. So after Yu Qing reexamines himself, in order to wipe out that flutter in his heart, he’ll pin it all on the effects of his glands. And the reasonable basis for all of this is the line, ‘I hate bitter almond scent the most.’” In truth, Yu Qing did hate that smell. But after becoming an Omega, he had begun to accept it. So he could only comfort himself this way, tell himself he hadn’t changed his heart.

But if that logic held, then it would in turn tell Yu Qing that the person he loved might fall for someone else; that would always be a paradox.

Li Xingqing stopped there and gave the space back to Bai Mo and Zheng Yuyu.

No matter what anyone else said, in the end it was still up to the two of them to understand the characters and bring them to life.

Having slept pretty well just now, Li Xingqing stretched, and seeing the rare bright sunshine, her mood improved a little too.

Just as she walked to a less busy spot, she spotted Xi Zhen on the phone.

They were a little far apart; Li Xingqing couldn’t hear what Xi Zhen was saying, but from her body language she could vaguely tell that the conversation between the two sides probably wasn’t very pleasant.

Li Xingqing didn’t have a habit of eavesdropping; she had simply run into it by chance. She stood where she was and watched Xi Zhen quietly from a proper distance.

Indeed, there was far too much that was off about this person.

From Xi Zhen’s various actions, Li Xingqing pieced together a surprising yet somehow very reasonable conclusion: Xi Zhen probably had feelings for her?

And this really wasn’t Li Xingqing being full of herself. From childhood to adulthood, with this face of hers, she had received quite a bit of goodwill during her school years.

Boys, and of course girls too.

It was just that what happened when she was fifteen left Li Xingqing with no time to care about such things. Added to that were Yin Yi’s words, the kind that made her head ache the moment she heard them but that she couldn’t help admitting were true; she had simply never had the mind to focus on this.

And now... Li Xingqing thought about how she had practically defected all the way from City A to City D. She had already gone so far off the rails that it didn’t seem like this one thing would make much difference.

What mattered most, after all, was that she herself also had a very good impression of Xi Zhen.

Once Li Xingqing figured out her own train of thought, Xi Zhen had already finished her call. Her expression was not great; her features already had a distinctly exotic quality, and with her face now cool and composed, she only became even more alluring.

“What are you doing here? Is it going smoothly inside?”

As usual, Xi Zhen exchanged pleasantries, and the two of them tacitly ignored the call Xi Zhen had just taken.

“I’m still trying to find the emotional point. Director Ke isn’t very satisfied,” Li Xingqing answered honestly.

“Director Ke has high standards; it’s only right to let them know what it means to keep improving,” Xi Zhen said with a smile, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Then she changed the subject. “Did you sleep well? Bai Mo has a little folding bed somewhere...”

“It’s fine, I was only taking a nap anyway.” Li Xingqing declined and followed her back into the set. “Thanks for the jacket, Sister Zhen. I’ll wash it and return it to you?”

“No need, just give it back to me directly. I don’t mind you.” Xi Zhen stopped, shook out her curly hair. “Come on, let’s go get your clothes?”

“Oh, okay.” Li Xingqing seized the chance to walk around in front of her and picked up the shirt that had originally been folded on the folding chair, handing it over. “Thanks, Sister Zhen.”

Hearing her thank her again, Xi Zhen revealed a helpless, indulgent expression. “You really are a kid who loves saying thank you.” She took the clothes and sat down nearby to fiddle with her phone; she was probably sending messages, her fingers tapping across the screen.

This scene kept filming until two in the afternoon, with no break in between. The crew took turns going to eat boxed lunches. Ke Wei sat in front of the monitor, staring the whole time and not even getting around to lunch, and the two leads were even more so.

After grinding for six hours, they finally got a result Ke Wei was satisfied with. There was another scene in the afternoon, and they had to finish filming it while the light was still good. Everyone ate a few mouthfuls in a hurry, then started the next scene.

Fortunately, the afternoon scene was much easier than the morning one. Borrowing from the emotions they had already built up, Bai Mo finally managed to bring Yu Qing to life in full.

After the director called cut, the whole set burst into cheers; maybe they were happy they had finally bitten through this hard bone, or maybe they were cheering for the high-quality work they could already foresee.

But after finishing the scene, lead actor Bai Mo couldn’t quite bring his emotions down. He ended up slumped on the floor. Anyone would probably find it hard to suppress their sadness after spending the morning playing the killer of the person they loved, then the afternoon facing that loved one’s death.

This scene didn’t actually have Chi Zengshen in it, but he didn’t leave first. After removing his makeup, he stayed on set. At this moment, he walked over and crouched in front of Bai Mo.

“It’s just acting; stop crying.” It was a very stiff kind of comfort, but Bai Mo was past caring. When he suddenly saw the “Chi Zengshen” he had personally finished off that morning, he lunged into the other man’s arms.

Though Zheng Yuyu’s pupils shrank slightly, he still held him steadily.

Nearby, Xi Zhen had originally been worried by Bai Mo’s state and was about to comfort him, but just as she finished saying something to Ke Wei and turned her head, she discovered that Bai Mo, who had looked so isolated and helpless sitting on the floor, was now already being held.

She stopped moving, looked at the two people on set, then turned back to Ke Wei and said, “Director Ke, why not film a behind-the-scenes clip of this?”

Ke Wei had captured the shot she wanted and was in a great mood. Hearing Xi Zhen say that, she immediately replied, “Film it, film it; record all of it. It can be a bonus feature later.”

Bai Mo, who had just been crying so hard he could barely catch his breath, heard that someone wanted to film his embarrassing state and immediately covered his face again.

“Don’t film it, don’t film it.” He buried his face in Zheng Yuyu’s chest, not wanting anyone to capture how he looked right now. Zheng Yuyu, this temporary shield, was also doing his duty to the fullest, letting Bai Mo do whatever he wanted; but little did he know, the more the director saw, the more satisfied she became.

Good, good. These two really do have their own barrier.

Things had gone well today; the crew had wrapped before ten. While Bai Mo was removing his makeup, he even sent a message in the group chat asking whether they should go out for a meal together.

There weren’t many people in the group chat. Besides the two leads and their assistants, Xi Zhen and Zhang Weiyi, the director had been added too; even Li Xingqing had been pulled into the chat. She just didn’t speak much and mainly watched everyone else talk.

Talkative Bai Mo had already completely adjusted his emotions. He couldn’t say he was instantly out of character, but at least he wouldn’t cry uncontrollably anymore.

The moment he spoke, Ke Wei responded right away.

Keke Coco: [Dinner, definitely dinner. My treat today.]

Bai Mo: [Director, generous as always [little brother worship worship.jpg]]

Zheng Yuyu: [What are we eating?]

Bai Mo: [Anything’s fine with me. I’m not picky.]

Keke Coco: [How many people are going? Let me count.]

Bai Mo: [Raises hand]

Zheng Yuyu: [Me]

Xi Zhen: [@Bai Mo, eat less, you’ll bloat tomorrow.]

Bai Mo: [.......Save me, Director, look at her~]

Keke Coco: [Xingqing @Li Xingqing are you going?]

Li Xingqing: [I can.]

Keke Coco: [Alright, six of us. How about hotpot? I’ll book a table.]

Bai Mo: [Yay!]

Keke Coco: [You guys head out first. I still need to stay here and take another look.]

Bai Mo: [Then should the rest of us call a car first? @Xi Zhen, Li Xingqing, Zheng Yuyu, Zhang Weiyi]

Zhang Weiyi: [Okay. The nearest one? I’ll call a car.]

Keke Coco: [Yep.]

Xi Zhen: [I’ve got something to do too; you guys go ahead.]

Bai Mo: [OK, see you in a bit!]

After removing his makeup, Bai Mo changed into his own clothes and happily joined up with the small squad he had temporarily assembled.

The set cleared out all at once. Ke Wei was still repeatedly checking the footage, and Xi Zhen walked over and sat down beside her.

“A Ke, how much longer until we can finish filming?”

“Hm?” Ke Wei hadn’t reacted at first, but hearing Xi Zhen’s tone, she couldn’t help but take it seriously as well.

“Conservatively, about half a month?” It was almost National Day now, and they had been filming for roughly two weeks already. The original schedule was more than a month, so for Ke Wei to say there was still half a month left was already pretty fast. She turned her eyes to Xi Zhen beside her; outside it was pitch black, and there were only a few lights on inside the set.

Xi Zhen seemed to be soaked through by the darkness. After hearing that, she said nothing, only took a metal lighter out of her pocket. With a soft click, a flame sprang up, licking at the end of the cigarette.

“What’s wrong?” Ke Wei sensed something was off. She knew Xi Zhen smoked, but she rarely saw her actually do it. Xi Zhen seemed almost not to have an addiction; for her, cigarettes were merely a tool for socializing and passing the time.

Xi Zhen took a deep drag, then slowly exhaled. “Prism called. They said this location has already been booked out after National Day.” Her voice was somewhat hoarse, carrying a trace of fatigue.

“How could that be? Didn’t the contract originally say...” The contract had clearly stated they were signed through the twentieth.

“Someone offered a higher price.”

“Isn’t that a breach of contract? That’s what Prism said?”

“They’ll pay the penalty. They’re following procedure for everything.”

By this point, Ke Wei understood. Prism probably hadn’t wanted things to turn out this way either; it was obvious someone was deliberately trying to mess with Seal the Heart.

But how could such a small, obscure production possibly be in someone’s way enough to make them spend this kind of money just to target it?

Unless...

Ke Wei glanced at Xi Zhen, who was silently smoking. In the darkness, the ember glowed even brighter, casting light and shadow across her face. Her deep brow bone only made her seem sexier; her curly hair fell loose at random, and between her brows lingered an unshakable gloom and... hatred.

“Sister Zhen, there’s still time before National Day. Finishing it... isn’t impossible.”

“Mm. Knowing you can think that way makes me feel better.” Xi Zhen had learned about it in the afternoon, but she hadn’t known how to bring it up. In truth, she knew very well that Ke Wei valued this drama too; but now, because of her, even the location couldn’t be guaranteed.

“Haha, I’ve been through storms before. What haven’t I faced? Don’t forget, my surname is Ke—the Ke in overcoming hardship.”

Author’s Note:

Xi Zhen: Confessed to countless times since childhood?

Li Xingqing: ...You haven’t? (genuinely puzzled) That can’t be right.

Xi Zhen: ......Is that the point? Shouldn’t she be the one getting jealous next? How did the roles reverse?