Chapter 28
Shi Qing was dying of laughter on the inside.
Of course, his face was still serious. He immediately reached out and threw off the hand that Jing Yuanqi had on his waist as he got up to adjust his clothes.
Seeing that the fatty piece of meat in his mouth was about to run away, Jing Yuanqi put aside the question of ‘who was on top’ for now. He stood up and clung bonelessly to Shi Qing.
The elongated rumble of his voice was sickeningly sweet: “I don’t care about that you know. It’s the same no matter who’s on top.”
That was 100% a lie. Ever since he became interested in the film emperor, he has wanted to push this person under him and do various things to him.
Of course, he also gave some consideration to the things Shi Qing could do if the other man sat on him instead.
But was there a rule that said you had to be truthful about what was on your mind?
He’ll lead Shi Qing to bed first. Who could say for certain what would happen afterwards?
The scheming Jing Yuanqi appeared submissive on the outside. Sweet nothings poured freely out of his mouth: “I’m okay with anything Shi-laoshi wants.”
Shi Qing turned around and said lightly: “Anything, you say?”
Jing Yuanqi was joyful.
The young man rubbed his face ambiguously against the film emperor’s shoulder.
“Yep. Anything. I’ll follow Shi-laoshi’s every order.”
Shi Qing: “Take your hand off me then.”
Jing Yuanqi: “……”
Shi Qing: “You said you would be obedient. Now keep your hands to yourself.”
The young man took his hand away in silence.
He acted like a feline and rubbed his head unwillingly against the film emperor.
Shi Qing’s heart was made of steel: “Head too.”
“You’re too cruel Shi-laoshi.”
Jing Yuanqi finally stood up straight. He was pouting as if he had been wronged: “Even an idiot like Cui Yunqing can see through our relationship, so who are you trying to fool?”
“Don’t call Yunqing that.”
The film emperor frowned and disagreed: “He’s just young.”
The corners of Jing Yuanqi’s mouth twitched. He wasn’t in the mood to pester him anymore: “Shi-laoshi, is it just me or are you really treating Cui Yunqing a lot better than me?”
Shi Qing’s hands paused from where they were tidying his clothes. His eyelashes fell down and he spoke a little faster. The young man heard the guilt in his voice:
“You are both my juniors. I treat you two the same.”
Even if his tone was even, Jing Yuanqi was still not happy.
He clung to this guy everyday whenever he could. He even had to eat devil’s peppers. But according to Shi Qing, he was just on the same level as that d.a.m.ned Cui Yunqing??
It was rare for the young man to replace the wild smile on his face with a sneer: “Are you saying that you would allow Cui Yunqing to do these things to you as well?”
The film emperor who finished arranging his clothes turned to stare at Jing Yuanqi in a surprised fashion.
When Jing Yuanqi thought he was going to just ignore him like before, Shi Qing spoke:
“Don’t smile like that. It doesn’t suit you.”
Jing Yuanqi raised his eyebrows. He’s known for a long time that Shi Qing liked to see him smile.
Shi Qing never did say why, and he never bothered to ask.
His goal was just to enjoy the thrill of the hunt. In the end, like unwrapping a big present, he’ll devour the deceived Shi Qing whole.
This was just noted down as one of Shi Qing’s weaknesses.
The juvenile snake wrapped itself around the man: “If Shi-laoshi likes to see me smile, then what do you like about Cui Yunqing?”
Shi Qing gave an honest answer: “His eyebrows.”
Jing Yuanqi never thought the film emperor would actually respond to his question.
In his opinion, Shi Qing was hard on the outside and soft on the inside. He probably took care of Cui Yunqing because of his smile as well.
But then the answer came out.
The sunny smile that just emerged on Jing Yuanqi’s face clouded over again.
Eyebrows?
He recalled Cui Yunqing’s face that was as weak as a little bunny rabbit.
Unlike Jing Yuanqi’s sharp eyebrows, Cui Yunqing’s eyebrows were fine and delicate.
“You like his eyebrows? That’s your type?”
Shi Qing didn’t deny it. He made a soft noise of agreement.
Jing Yuanqi was even more upset now.
Although he wasn’t serious about this, he still wasn’t willing to stand Shi Qing thinking about other people while looking at him.
What made it worse was it was that little fool Cui Yunqing.
How could Shi Qing like him?!
Jing Yuanqi’s heart was bubbling with resentment, but he pretended to be saddened as he stuck to the film emperor: “You hurt my feelings. I only have Shi-laoshi, so why do I have to share with Cui Yunqing? This is so unfair.”
His words were very aggrieved, like Shi Qing was a sc.u.mmy man with his feet planted on two boats.
The film Emperor ignored him outright. He pulled the young man’s hands off his waist. “Yunqing said just now that there would be fans visiting. I’m leaving then.”
Shi Qing ruthlessly walked away, leaving Jing Yuanqi alone in the dressing room.
As the door closed, the grievance on the young man’s face gradually transformed into gloom.
He stood deep in thought for a while. Then, like he figured out something, his peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly. A pleased expression returned to his face. He wiggled his eyebrows, opened the door and stepped out.
***
This was Cui Yunqing’s first time filming since he became an adult. It was also the first time he saw fans come to visit the set.
He wasn’t famous, so he was both very curious towards and desiring of fans. He asked an artist that happened to be pa.s.sing by: “Ge, whose fans are these?”
“They’re not here for the actors. These are all fans of the original novel this TV series was adapted from. There’s even a verified user here. We’re almost finished taping, so the director invited them here for a live performance to get some free publicity.
Cui Yunqing suddenly understood what was going on.
His teacher had told him when he came to audition that this film was based on a wildly popular novel. For the actors, this had its advantages and disadvantages.
The benefit was that each character was well defined and appealing to the public.
The drawback is that if their performance was lacking, the novel fans would probably tear that actor to shreds with their bare hands.
Cui Yunqing’s role was minor, but it was also a fan favourite in the novel. His teacher emphasized to him how important it was to review the original work multiple times. This could be considered his debut as an adult, so he must not mess it up.
Once he learned that it was the novel fans who were coming, Cui Yunqing wanted to hide in a corner.
What if the fans weren’t satisfied with him?
He was about to slip away after greeting his seniors, but he was soon caught by Jing Yuanqi.
Jing Yuanqi seemed to be in a good mood. His peach blossom eyes crinkled as he smiled at Cui Yunqing and asked gently: “Little Cui, where are you going in such a hurry?”
Cui Yunqing hesitated for a moment when he saw him.
After all, he just saw this sunny senior of his weakly crumpled under Shi-laoshi not long ago.
But after listening to Jing Yuanqi’s words, his secondhand embarra.s.sment was completely forgotten. He explained what was worrying him without sparing a single detail.
“Oh, so you’re afraid of that.”
Jing Yuanqi was still smiling. He offered some perspective, “I think you’re doing very well. There’s no reason to worry about the fans being angry when they see you.”
Cui Yunqing was still unconvinced: “But I barely have any scenes today. I’m also wearing regular clothes with my short hair instead of the full costume. Won’t they be disappointed by how different I look from my role?”
“It’s fine. Your face is the most important thing to these fans.”
The young man kindly patted Cui Yunqing on the shoulder. He pretended to give him an once-over before frowning slightly.
Cui Yunqing was startled by his worried expression. He quickly asked: “Jing-ge, is there something wrong with me?”
“Wrong isn’t the word I would use, but……”
The more reluctant Jing Yuanqi acted, the more nervous Cui Yunqing became. He urged: “Jing-ge, please just tell me. How can I fix it if you don’t say anything?”
“Well since you’re so eager, I’ll be honest with you.”
The young man that had no choice but to speak sighed: “Your facial features and body shape are all pretty good. It’s just that your eyebrows are a tad too delicate.”
“Eyebrows?”
Cui Yunqing dumbly reached up and touched his eyebrows.
Jing Yuanqi nodded his head very seriously. “Think about the character you’re playing. He’s a young sect master and a cultivation genius. How can someone like that have soft eyebrows?”
He coaxed him along: “Your eyebrows are too thin, plus they curve down gently. When you apply makeup, doesn’t the makeup artist thicken your eyebrows and use eyeliner to lift it?”
Jing Yuanqi has never paid attention to Cui Yunqing’s makeup.
But he’s been in the entertainment circle longer than him. In general, women’s eyebrows were drawn to be delicate while men’s were drawn to be thick.
Going up was normal. It was currently popular to raise eyebrows regardless of gender and genre.
Cui Yunqing didn’t know this. It made more sense the more he thought about it. He nodded repeatedly: “Yes, the makeup artist did draw it that way for me.”
“See?”
Jing Yuanqi’s face was like ‘you know I’m right’ and ‘it’s not a big deal’. He fed Cui Yunqing some more lies as the kid covered his eyebrows in confusion.
“Eyebrows aren’t a major thing to worry about. The rest of you looks good so those fans probably won’t be bothered by this alone.”
“No no. This is my first time being on a livestream. I should take it seriously.”
The little fool held his eyebrows with a pained expression. “Jing-ge, do you think the makeup artist will help me trim my eyebrows right now?”
Jing Yuanqi tutted at him: “You, the makeup artists are eating lunch right now. Are you so arrogant as to interrupt their break?”
“I, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t.”
Cui Yunqing’s face drooped, “Maybe I’ll fix it myself……”
“Do you have any experience? If not you might just make it worse. ”
Cui Yunqing: “……I don’t.”
The little fool became very fl.u.s.tered. He pulled on Jing Yuanqi’s shirt with teary eyes: “Jing-ge, what should I do? What if I run into those fans when they’re streaming? I can’t have my face shown to everyone when it’s like this.”
Jing Yuanqi subtly shrugging off Cui Yunqing’s hands in disgust. He said with some hesitation: “I actually trim my own eyebrows a lot, but I’m no professional.”
Cui Yunqing immediately grabbed on to this live-saving straw: “Jing-ge, Jing-ge, please help me out here.”
Jing Yuanqi: “That’s probably not a good idea. I’ve never fixed other people’s eyebrows before.”
“Please, Jing-ge. Please just fix it for me. They’re almost here.”
The young man’s peach blossom eyes narrowed a fraction. He seemed unwilling.
“Fine. Since you seem desperate, I’ll fix it for you. Go to Laoshi’s dressing room. There’s no one there.”
***
Shi Qing was just requesting that Gao Zhi call over his security detail.
The reason the original owner had a reputation for being overbearing was because of these guys.
All of them were in suits with sungla.s.ses on. That’s 10+ tall and strong looking people.
Other than when he was filming, the original owner always had his bodyguards with him at all times.
Interview? Surrounded by bodyguards.
Advertis.e.m.e.nt? Surrounded by bodyguards.
Washroom? Still surrounded by bodyguards.
The reason why the original owner did this was very simple.
He just wanted to show off his ident.i.ty as a film emperor.
He wanted to demonstrate how untouchable he was.
At the same time, he’s also done many bad things that made him fear for his life. He was worried that someone he casually stabbed in the back might come back later for revenge.
Someone once took a ridiculous picture.
On an empty street with two or three pedestrians minding their own business, at least a dozen bodyguards surrounded the film emperor on all sides.
As soon as the photo was posted on the Internet, it immediately sparked heated discussions.
You have more bodyguards than there were pedestrians, so why act so paranoid? They weren’t even paying attention to you. How pathetic.
The internet was filled with ridicule. This overbearing film emperor wielded a stone hammer.
However, the backlash had no significant impact even if there was enough to reach up to the sky. As long as the film emperor still had his family to back him up, he would continue to be the high-profile film emperor in the circle.
In his heart, Gao Zhi wanted to refuse when he was ordered to call the security detail over.
He didn’t see a hint of Shi Qing’s infamous temper the past few days they’ve been together. His boss was just a private person that enjoyed eating devil’s peppers. Although he didn’t have much to say, he was very generous when it came to Gao Zhi’s salary and bonuses.
Gao Zhi felt that it was pretty good to follow such a celebrity.
Since he got to know Shi Qing a bit better, Gao Zhi was willing to think in his employer’s best interests. When he heard that Shi Qing wanted to summon his bodyguards, he advised: “Shi-ge, it’s just a few fans touring the set. Is it really necessary to call them all over? People might mistake you for being overbearing. How about we stick together when the fans come? I’ll protect you.
Shi Qing was unmoved by his well-intentioned offer.
“Call them over,” he said in a low voice.
Gao Zhi could only sigh as he took out his phone.
His security detail was staying in a nearby hotel. Since the production crew was usually filming, they patrolled nearby so that they could quickly a.s.semble when their employer called.
These well-trained bodyguards could arrive on set within five minutes.
Gao Zhi was worried about what the internet would say about Shi-ge when those fans put these bodyguards on their stream. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
It was Cui Yunqing.
Due to learning a lesson from the trauma of seeing something he shouldn’t have the last time he entered after knocking, he shouted from outside:
“Is Shi-ge in there? This is little Cui. Can I come in?”
Gao Zhi turned to look at Shi Qing. He opened the door after a nod from the film emperor.
Cui Yunqing skipped into the room happily.
He asked the seated Shi Qing with an ecstatic expression on his face:
“Shi-ge, do you think my new eyebrows look good?”
The film emperor raised his head to take a look.
Cui Yunqing’s eyebrows were pretty, but they were not the same as before. He paused.
He lowered his head and looked up again.
After confirming it was not an illusion, a puzzled look slowly appeared on the film emperor’s face.
The door was opened again. Jing Yuanqi came in.
The young man had a pleased smile on. He waved his eyebrow razor at Shi Qing.
“I fixed it for him without charging a cent.”