Tag: Chinese webnovel

Thank You CloudyWeather and Anonymous for your lovely donations! Chapter 72 (Part 1 & 2) will be a sponsored chapter and will be released sometime in the next few days.

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

After Rong Xu left the room, assistant Luo Qian immediately walked to his side and said indignantly: “How can that Ren Shuzhi be like that, Xiao Xu, she’s actually trying to seduce you!” Luo Qian was still quite smart, and had waited till there was no one else around to whisper to Rong Xu: “Her chest was about to latch onto your arm, Xiao Xu!”

Rong Xu walked calmly towards Director Yuan, and said indifferently: “You saw wrong, she just came to ask me about the script.”

Luo Qian froze for a moment before raising her head to look at Rong Xu. However, she only saw Rong Xu grin and wink helplessly at her. Luo Qian understood immediately, and she sighed heavily with a whisper: “Previously, I’d heard that this Ren Shuzhi was a very unrestrained and bold individual, often sleeping with male stars from the same film team. Fortunately, she is a singer and only filmed a few TV shows and a few movies, or else, I don’t know how many male stars would have been slept.”

Rong Xu was surprised. He’d never heard of this rumor before, and after thinking about it, he asked: “If I recall, a few years ago, did Ren Shuzhi collaborate with Deng Yiwen?”

Luo Qian was briefly shocked and then suddenly realized: “Yeah, she and Suppression Deng also had a scandal before. That year, they must have also gotten into bed before…… There really are such people in this circle who don’t care about anything, and just do whatever they want, bedding whichever handsome man casually?”

Rong Xu smiled without speaking.

During his many years in the entertainment industry in his past life, he had also seen such open celebrities. It was just that most of them were male celebrities.

Usually, filming a movie would take a few months, and many male stars couldn’t bear being alone and would take the initiative to hook up with a female star from the same cast. Everyone was single, ‘You chase, I’m willing’. It was just good fun for a few months of comforting each other. After the filming was complete, they’d part ways and still stay friends if they met in the future.

Rong Xu didn’t know how Ren Shuzhi ended up targeting him, but he never liked participating in such things.

He had always known that things within the circle were chaotic, but the number of clean and self-conscious people were never less than those who casually indulged in pleasure. Additionally, in his past life, Rong Xu was privy to a secret in the circle.

It was said that a certain Hollywood actor often went around making appointments with celebrities in the same drama, regardless of male or female, and was known in the circle as a famous double-sided plug. As a result, during one of his physical examinations, he suddenly found that he had contracted AIDS, causing a large group of Hollywood celebrities to fall off their horses (become frantic). Everyone hid the incident and no one dared to disclose it. No one knew for sure which celebrities also contracted AIDS, but it was revealed that at least ten first-tier celebrities had gotten it!

Anyways, after Rong Xu and Director Zheng finished discussing the filming details, he (RX) returned to the lounge and saw Ren Shuzhi sitting next to Ma Qi and giggling. It was unknown what the two of them were talking about. Ren Shuzhi was almost sitting in Ma Qi’s embrace, and Ma Qi’s hand was resting on Ren Shuzhi’s thin waist.

Rong Xu only took one glance before looking away, whereas Luo Qian’s eyes widened, and after a long moment of surprise, she whispered into Rong Xu’s ear: “That’s incredible, Xiao Xu, she tossed you aside so quickly…… “

Hearing this, Rong Xu frowned slightly, and said without knowing whether to laugh or cry: “What do you mean tossed me aside?”

Luo Qian quickly explained: “Anyway, it means that she won’t pester you anymore. It’s good, let her go and hook up with Ma Qi, humph.”

Rong Xu shook his head: “Everyone here is an adult, and interest between men and women is normal. Don’t be too opinionated with them.”

Luo Qian closed her mouth quickly and made a zipping-up-the-zipper motion.

Rong Xu’s words were truly quite accurate. There are many things that everyone in the circle knows, but didn’t talk about. Ren Shuzhi didn’t force Rong Xu, and neither was Rong Xu interested. Thus, she took the initiative to find Ma Qi. Ma Qi was obviously willing, and perhaps he was even pleasantly surprised. So, just let them be. They weren’t children anymore. This was just a simple physical need, and since they were both willing parties, then there was no need for others to stick their noses into it.

In the afternoon of the opening day, it was mainly Bo Xiwen’s scenes, but Rong Xu also had a few scenes.

The very first scene was the face-off between Rong Xu and Bo Xiwen. Director Yuan specially chose Rong Xu’s initial appearance as the first scene to shoot so that Rong Xu and Bo Xiwen could become familiar with and enhance their understanding of each other.

At the same time, on the Internet, the sensational “Lost Wings” charity event finally came to an end.

The total fundraised amount was 5.63 million!

The total amount of supplies was also countless. Only when a fan donated a whole warehouse were they able to store that many clothes and books.

Following the end of the fundraising event, Rong Xu’s fans will come together and form a team to directly enter the mountainous regions and personally deliver the supplies to the rural children. They will conduct live broadcasts to guarantee that not a penny would be embezzled, with the netizens as witnesses. This kind of live broadcast received unanimous praise from the netizens. 

In the past few months, Rong Xu’s Weibo fans skyrocketed by 9 million, and have now reached 16 million. Compared to other popular first-tier newcomers, his number of fans was only one-half, or even one-third of the others.

However, he had only debuted for a year.

Likewise, in the afternoon of the same day, Zhao Chuyun publicized the information regarding the “Lost Wings” CD donation event, and also provided a certificate of proof jointly issued by the Rongyun Foundation and the charity monitoring organization.

The tag, #RongXuCharity#, was immediately bumped up to second place in the trending searches on Weibo.

—

On the other side of the ocean, it was early into the morning hours, and the crew had finally ended a whole day of filming. A handsome and elegant man was searching Weibo under the tag of #RongXuCharity#. There was no expression on his face, but he looked extremely serious. He didn’t even notice when someone walked up next to him.

“Oh, Rong Xu? I’ve heard his name before.”

Qin Cheng raised his head and looked at the blonde Frenchman beside him: “Bertram, how do you know him?” His tone seemed indifferent, but the corners of his mouth had curved up silently, a trace of pride and admiration was suppressed in his voice.

The well-known French actor, Bertram, laughed and said: “Qin, this you don’t know about, but before I separated from Ren the other day, she told me that her new work was going be filmed with this Rong Xu. She said Rong Xu is very cute and also showed me photos. Oh, really is a cute and beautiful Oriental doll.”

The smile on the corner of his (QC’s) lips froze. The man narrowed his eyes slightly and asked lightly: “Who is Ren?”

Bertram said without hesitation: “Ren Shuzhi… Honey’s name is really hard to pronounce. When we were in bed the day before yesterday, honey kept forcing me to pronounce her name. I practiced for a long time before I got it right. She said it seems that in the crew, this Rong Xu is the cutest. Of course, same goes for me, too. I would also definitely like this delicate and beautiful Oriental doll.”

Qin Cheng: “……!!!”

A minute later, just as Rong Xu was about to go film, he suddenly received a text message.

[Qin Cheng: I will be finished in two days, then I will visit you at work. 】

Rong Xu was taken aback, but before he could react, he received another text message.

[Qin Cheng: No, I can finish by tomorrow, and I can visit you at work the day after tomorrow…… En, this was requested by my mother. 】

Rong Xu immediately retorted: [If you finish tomorrow, how will you come from the United States the day after tomorrow? Qin Cheng, have a good rest, no need to visit me at work. 】

Unexpectedly, 30 seconds later, Qin Cheng’s reply was quickly sent over——

[Qin Cheng: Tonight, I have something I need to tell you. When I call you……they are very private things. It is best not to have anyone in your room, no one is allowed. 】

Rong Xu: “……” exm? ! (“Excuse me”)

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

The author has something to say: 

Orange Qin: I really want to fly over, fly over, fly over! Baby trusts RongRong, but that bad person is not allowed to hook up with Baby’s RongRong! QAQ

RongRong: …… talking about private affairs at night? EXM? Meow Meow Meow?!

TL corner: Hehehe (Teaser!) Chapter 72’s Title is “Live ♂ Video ♂ Call ♂”

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{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

The cast of Maze City could be considered quite strong.

The Male Lead, Rong Xu, had entered the movie circle via Black Clouds and instantly became one of the most popular newcomers in the last year. The other Male Lead, Bo Xiwen, though he’d been less known in the circle, he had also participated in many large-scale films. His popularity was not high, but the box office numbers for his works had never been bad. Popular works, but not popular person.

And today, the Female Lead who had just returned from the United States, Ren Shuzhi, was Huaxia’s reputed Queen of Sexiness who secured a spot in Huaxia’s music scene through her spicy hot dance moves and fast-paced rock and roll songs.

 In regards to being an actor with good singing, or a singer with good acting, Ren Shuzhi acted in a youth romance film last year, and the resulting box office numbers weren’t bad, over 600 million. Thus, she took on Maze City this year. She didn’t ask for many scenes. As long as the ending box office numbers overcame her record, it was enough for her.

Ren Shuzhi wore a pair of wide sunglasses, and when she arrived at the crew, she just so happened to make it to the opening ceremony.

After the opening ceremony was over, she went around greeting the crew’s creative cast. This queen very straightforwardly gave everyone a big, warm hug. When she hugged Bo Xiwen, her red lips curved upwards as she said enthusiastically: “Tan Yangxuan! Brother Xuan! Come, come, come, give me a hug first. Let’s get familiar.”

Bo Xiwen stretched out his arms in a stiff manner, and gave the full-bodied actress a shy little hug.

Ren Shuzhi’s role was the sister of the seventh deceased victim – her elder brother died in a large public area. She is very emotional and has a lot of interaction with the role of Tan Yangxuan, participating in many of the police investigations. She is the female character with the most scenes in the movie, but in total, there is still no more than 20-minutes of screen time, so she can barely be regarded as a female lead.

After the hug, Ren Shuzhi walked up to Rong Xu. She pushed up her wide sunglasses to her forehead. Her long, wavy chestnut hair, and her bright, enchanting eyes carefully examined the boy in front of her.

When she was looking at Rong Xu, Rong Xu was also looking at her with a smile, calm and collected, without a trace of unease.

The next moment, Ren Shuzhi smiled happily and before Rong Xu even had a chance to open his arms, she immediately hugged him up: “Haha, I actually got to hug Rong Rong. If the fans knew, they would envy me to death.” While talking, Ren Shuzhi hugged harder and harder, without any indication of letting go.

Rong Xu was slightly startled, and then noticed in surprise that the other party’s full bosom seemed to be rubbing against him.

After the hug was over, Ren Shuzhi removed the sunglasses from her head and put them back on. Right before the sunglasses completely covered her gaze, an interesting light flashed through her soft, beautiful eyes. Her red lips curled up gently, and Ren Shuzhi calmly stroked across Rong Xu’s palm once.

The thoughts in his heart gradually cleared, but on the surface, Rong Xu quietly took a half step backwards and smiled: “Sister Ren, stop joking around.”

Ren Shuzhi spread out her hands innocently, her voice was low and soft, quite affectionate: “I’m not joking, your fans are extremely famous. Wasn’t there a charity event recently? Truly amazing.”

Rong Xu smiled calmly: “The album by Sister Ren from three months ago has also already accumulated over one million in sales.”

Ren Shuzhi covered her lips and smiled lightly: “It can’t compare to your “Lost Wings”.”

While saying that, she suddenly leaned forward and seemingly desired to rub against Rong Xu’s body. However, Rong Xu immediately turned to the side and smiled at the crew member playing male number three: “I remember Ma Qi said yesterday that he liked Sister Ren’s song very much, right?”

Suddenly, the smile on Ren Shuzhi’s face stiffened a little, but she quickly reacted and smiled back at the male number three in a very familiar manner: “Then I am really quite flattered. Ah Qi likes my song. I would have never thought……”

Though Ren Shuzhi entered the crew late, she was highly enthusiastic, so it didn’t take long for her to get along swell with other actors in the crew.

Except for the naturally shy and difficult to get close to Bo Xiwen, Ren Shuzhi, Ma Qi, Zheng Xiaosu and the others all got along rowdily. Whenever she spoke to Rong Xu, Rong Xu would also respond to her in a friendly manner. At first glance, she was similar to a social butterfly, wandering throughout the entire crew of Maze City.

Ren Shuzhi liked to “disturb” Rong Xu the most. Because she had just arrived to the crew and didn’t participate in the script reading meeting, when everyone was preparing to start the afternoon filming, she took her script book and walked to Rong Xu’s side, saying in a soft voice: “Rong Rong, can you help me go over the script? Although my scenes are very simple, I don’t want to delay everyone’s progress. Is that…… okay?”

At this moment, Rong Xu had already finished with his makeup and was sitting at the side for a break. When he heard her words, he turned his head and unexpectedly saw a span of snow white.

Ren Shuzhi had taken off her jacket and was only wearing a tight fitting, short sleeved T-shirt. Someone able to earn the title Queen of Sexiness naturally could not have a flat figure, and this thin t-shirt outlined her curvaceous good figure. Her slender waist contrasted with her plump bosom. A string of crystal beads hung down across her collarbone, casting shadows down the neckline of the shirt and fueling the viewers’ imaginations.

When most men saw this scene, they couldn’t help but feel their heart tremble.

This woman was beautiful and attractively moving. She has a superb body, and among all the actresses Rong Xu had seen in his two lifetimes, she could rank in the top five. When she spoke, there would be a slight nasal sound at the end of her words which made it even more charming.

However, Rong Xu’s gaze only slid across the string of crystal beads before he raised his eyes to look at Ren Shuzhi’s beautiful face, his gaze not even straying a bit further down. He smiled steadily: “Okay, but I’m going to film soon, Sister Ren. So, I may not be able to help you for long.”

Seeing the youth’s clear and calm gaze, Ren Shuzhi was slightly taken aback for a moment. She immediately followed up: “That’s fine, then teach Sister Ren first.” After she said so, she directly sat herself down next to Rong Xu. The crystal beads shook lightly in the deep shadows of her neckline.

But, this teaching session only lasted five minutes before being forced to end.

Rong Xu was called over by Director Yuan to discuss the shooting details of the first scene. Thus, he politely expressed his apologies to Ren Shuzhi, and Ren Shuzhi shook her head with a nonchalant expression. But, after Rong Xu turned and left, she grasped the crystal beads by her bosom, her chest moving up and down from panting.

It wasn’t until Rong Xu disappeared from sight past the room did she narrow her eyes and turn away.

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

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{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

The script reading meeting was held for an entire day. Everyone took out their own scripts, and the screenwriters analyzed the characters one by one, highlighting the important points in the movie. Among them, the two male protagonists naturally had the most scenes. The heroine of this move didn’t have many scenes and was pretty much just a flower vase role. The focus would be on the two male protagonists. Tan Yangxuan’s role was mainly in charge of the action scenes, whereas Xue Jiazhe was in charge of the academic scenes.

After analyzing Bo Xiwen’s character, the screenwriter looked at Rong Xu with the script in his hands, saying with a serious tone: “Xue Jiazhe’s character has a semi-antisocial personality. He is not really completely antisocial, but because of his childhood experiences, he came to hate the father who ran away and abandoned himself and his mother in the earthquake, and also hated the kind of parents who abandoned their children.”

Rong Xu wore a pair of plain glasses, smiled and nodded: “En, his hatred is clear, but he freed himself from sin. He knows he is committing a crime, but he doesn’t think that he is at fault. Thus, he can kill with peace of mind, and even place the blame on another at the end.”

The screenwriter was stunned for a bit before smiling and nodding: “Yes, he’s like that. What you have to pay attention to is Xue Jiazhe’s calmness and his strong mentality. He is a professor of psychology, so he understands people’s minds well. He’s very intelligent.”

The director interrupted from the side: “Tomorrow and the day after, Rong Xu, the crew’s arranged a university psychology professor for you. He’ll come over and provide you knowledge on psychology and help you better understand the fundamentals regarding this. Learn from him and analyze how to properly act out Xue Jiazhe.”

Rong Xu grinned: “Okay, Director Yuan.”

Maze City’s director, Yuan Ke, is a well-known first-tier commercial film director in Huaxia. The films that he directs all have common characteristics: their box office values would usually not be low (the lowest being no less than 500 million), and every year he would definitely get a Best Director award.

Yes, not Best Film Award, nor the Best Male or Female Lead Awards, only Best Director!

Regardless of whether it’s a first-tier award or a second-tier award, Yuan Ke was sure to get one. In the past seven or eight years, rain or shine, even if there were no film awards ceremonies being held that year, Yuan Ke would still surely win at least one Best Director Award from out of dozens of film awards worldwide. Thus, in the circle, Yuan Ke also had a nickname: The Director Yuan Award…

But this is just a tangent, no need to mention it for now.

After the script reading meeting, all the actors got ready to try on makeup and styling. The two male protagonists stayed to exchange their views on the role with Director Yuan.

Rong Xu closed his script book gently, and calmly analyzed: “Xue Jiazhe, because of the shadow from his childhood, came to hate parents who abandoned their children. After his mother died, he began to kill one by one. The reason he goes after their right hand is because of his father who (during the earthquake) had originally extended his right hand to the mother and son when he was young, but because he was frightened by the aftershocks, his father retracted his right hand and left both mother and son under the boulder.”

Director Yuan rolled up his script and propped his chin up, looking at the boy in front of him with interest. He smiled: “Continue.”

“Xue Jiazhe is not strictly a bad person, it’s just, based on what he said to the other patients, his heart is also ill, and has been ill for many, many years.”

A serene and gentle smile slowly bloomed on the handsome face. With clear eyes, Rong Xu continued calmly: “So, I think that when I am playing him, I will……”

The youth’s endless eloquence made the light of appreciation in Yuan Director’s eyes grow brighter and brighter, and next to Rong Xu, Bo Xiwen’s eyes showed more and more surprise. Once Rong Xu finished speaking and it was Bo Xiwen’s turn to analyze, Bo Xiwen was silent for a duration before spitting out a single sentence: “I am probably mainly there for plot support, to trust my friend and solve the case.”

Rong Xu froze for a moment, but Director Yuan laughed out loud: “Don’t force yourself, Xiao Bo, learn well from Rong Xu when you have time and your acting skills may improve by leaps and bounds.”

Bo Xiwen nodded honestly. After Director Yuan left, Rong Xu was packing his things to prepare for his styling when he heard a faint voice sound out beside him: “……Rong Xu, can you lend me your script book to look at?”

Rong Xu was slightly surprised and smiled at Bo Xiwen: “Is something the matter?”

Bo Xiwen turned his gaze away awkwardly, whispering: “I…I don’t really know how to do a script analysis. I want to borrow your script to see what it should be like. If you don’t want to, it’s fine. Troubling you.”

There really were all kinds of people in the entertainment industry. This was the first time Rong Xu has seen such a shy, first-tier male actor.

He looked at Bo Xiwen in deep contemplation and saw that Bo Xiwen had his head bowed stiffly as he was preparing to leave. 

At this moment, Bo Xiwen saw Rong Xu directly squeeze the script into his hands. The script was filled with notations and strokes, with various thoughts and points of attention written on it in delicate handwriting.

Bo Xiwen was stunned into a daze, and quickly raised his head to look at Rong Xu, only to see the youth  smiling back at him: “Anyways, I have to go study psychology with the professor before filming, so I don’t have much time to read the script. You can return it to me after we start. You already said you’d be ‘troubling me’, so how can I not let you trouble me for a bit?”

Bo Xiwen nodded quickly: “Thank you! I will definitely return it to you when we start filming. It will be in perfect condition! Really, thank you so much.”

 “It’s nothing much, no need for thanks.” After a pause, the youth added with a grin: “Oh yes, by the way, I enjoy coffee very much, especially latte.”

Bo Xiwen froze briefly and then suddenly understood. Half an hour later, just as Rong Xu was putting on his makeup, Bo Xiwen’s assistant came over and brought him a cup of coffee. Although it wasn’t a latte, it was still a very similar tasting mocha.

In the entertainment circle, it’s best not to owe anyone a favor. Thus, Rong Xu deliberately used this method to allow Bo Xiwen to pay back this favor. This was already considered giving the other party face^[1].

The assistant seemed to be as shy as his own artist. He lowered his head and spoke in a low voice to Rong Xu: “Really, thank you so much, Rong Rong……can you give me an autograph?”

Rong Xu received the other’s paper and pen, and said softly: “Of course.”

The little assistant was immediately starry-eyed and nodded excitedly.

The crew of Maze City has already gathered most of their main creative staff. Only the Female Lead had yet to join up with the group, and was still participating in a singing program abroad. All of the staff were wholeheartedly preparing for the starting of the filming process.

Luo Zhentao still stayed with the crew on the first day. Looking at such a busy scene, he couldn’t help but sigh: “Speaking in general, Xiao Xu, of all the film crews you have participated in, only the crew of Ambush was a bit worrisome.”

Rong Xu was noncommittal. He glanced at all the dedicated crew members: “En, everyone is very good.” 

Then came a pause as he smiled and added: “Bo Xiwen is also a very interesting person.”

Luo Zhentao was taken aback at first. Following that, he turned around to take a good look at the young actor who was currently working hard over Rong Xu’s script, and then exclaimed in agreement: “Yes, ah, such a serious and hard-working actor is a rare sight within the circle. Xiao Xu, I remember when you were filming Black Clouds, didn’t Qin Cheng rarely look at his script book? He seems to have a very good memory, and had memorized all his lines?”

Seemingly not expecting his agent to mention Qin Cheng’s name, Rong Xu, after a brief moment of surprise, recalled the scene of studying the script with that man a few days ago. He smiled and said softly: “Yes, ah, Qin Cheng is a very talented person, a born actor. But, I don’t dislike Bo Xiwen, this type of person, who works hard. People who work hard are also very precious.”

—

B City, Capital’s Airport.

A stern and tall man was about to board the plane but then suddenly sneezed.

Xu Jin turned around and said cheerfully: “Caught a cold? Who told you to wear so little. I already told you there’d be a cold wave in the last few days. When participating in the Golden Phoenix Award, you should’ve worn a base shirt under your dress shirt. You didn’t listen. Now, this is great. Caught a cold, huh. Want popularity, but not warmth. Your family’s person didn’t even participate in the Golden Phoenix Award ceremony. Do you think he’d watch your live broadcast?” 

Qin Cheng lifted his eyes and gave him a glance, asking with an indifferent tone: “You are glad I caught a cold?”

Xu Jin spread his hands: “I didn’t say it like that.”

Qin Cheng’s thin lips perked up: “Oh, I have a cold. The progress of the movie filming will be delayed. When you arrive in the United States, go have a talk with Director Liu. Maybe he’ll have a lot to say to you.”

Xu Jin: “……”

“You definitely must not ever catch a cold! If the progress is delayed even more, Director Liu will definitely pick a fight with me!!!”

The roar of the gold-tier agent gradually dispersed into the clouds. The plane flew steadily into the cloud layer, and soon disappeared into the clear blue sky.

Three days later, the female lead officially joined the crew, and the entire cast of Maze City was accounted for, signaling the start of the filming.

The author has something to say:

Sis Fu: Orange Qin, if you keep being so hesitant and secretive, be careful Rong Rong’s heart will be stolen away!

Orange Qin: Rong Rong will only love Baby. There is no one better than baby, humph ╭ (╯^ ╰) ╮

Rong Rong: Bo Xiwen is quite good. Hardworking and serious, and is even so shy.

Orange Qin: QAQ RONG RONG!!! DON’T LOOK AT HIM, QUICK, LOOK AT BABY!!! BABY IS BETTER THAN HIM 10,000 TIMES!!!

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TL Note: “The Missing City” will be changed to “Maze City”. I will be going back to change the previous chapters for consistency. 

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

Black Clouds has just been released in less than a month, and the cumulative box office has been close to 10 billion. With this movie, Rong Xu was boosted in both popularity and status, reaching the peak since his debut.

Rong Xu was able to obtain a lead role in his first movie, and even receive such terrifying box office values and reputation. It could be said that Rong Xu is the most popular newcomer in recent years.

After Black Clouds, Luo Zhentao carefully selected four works for Rong Xu, each being commercial dramas with popular themes and excellent scripts. The themes included romantic comedies, large-production fantasy films, and road films^[1] which was the recent popular movie trend. But in the end, Rong Xu read all the scripts and chose Maze City.

Maze City is a mystery detective film. Like many commercial criminal investigation films, this one had a dual male protagonist setting, filled with action and plot drama. As long as the script is qualified and the acting skills pass, the box office will not be low.

When Luo Zhentao learned that Rong Xu chose Maze City, he was quite surprised. “Xiao Xu, this movie has dual male leads. Didn’t you tell me before that you wanted to attempt a lead role and choose a commercial film to prove your appeal in the box office?”

 Hearing that, Rong Xu put down the script and asked with a small smile: “Brother Luo, since you know this is a dual male lead film, why do you show me the script?”

Luo Zhentao was struck dumb for a bit, and after a while, he shook his head and said: “It’s because it’s a good script……”

Yes, Maze City’s script was indeed quite good.

In the entertainment industry, there are two forms of cast selection processes for film and TV drama crews. The first is that there is no required audition for the actors. The director or investor would directly decide on the actor for the role. The second is via audition, where several actors with a suitable image are selected to participate in auditions at the same time, and afterwards, it is decided which actor will play the role in the film.

When the Maze City crew sent the script to Luo Zhentao, they straightforwardly gave Luo Zhentao a statement: “We are inviting Rong Xu to play the leading role of Xue Jiazhe.”

Not any other role, let alone a supporting character. Only Xue Jiazhe, it can only be Xue Jiazhe.

If Rong Xu is willing to take on the filming of Maze City, then he will directly act as Xue Jiazhe. If Rong Xu ends up unwilling to take on the filming of Maze City, or if he wants to play another role, the crew wouldn’t accept it and would directly go look for another actor. The spot that the crew of Maze City left for Rong Xu is only Xue Jiazhe. It was decided on by the director based upon Rong Xu’s image, and this time, he didn’t choose the wrong person.

When Rong Xu finished reading the script, he really only wanted to play Xue Jiazhe.

The entirety of Maze City revolves around a serial murder case. In the bustling and luxurious Hai Cheng^[2], a perverted serial murderer suddenly appeared. This murderer’s killing method wasn’t original, but the corpses were handled very cleanly, and the victim’s right hand was chopped off every time.

The knife’s edge was deemed to be flat and smooth, and the cuts were even and polished, avoiding all the large bones of the human body, and slicing right in-between the joints.

The police had suppressed the case for a year because the murderer showed no regularity in their actions. He killed six people in a year. But, other than cutting off the right hand, the murder locations, times and methods were all different. Even the ages of the victims ranged from 23 to 64 years old, indifferent of gender.

Only after the seventh victim appeared was the police finally not able to suppress it any longer  because this victim had died in a public space. The body was hung in the center of the busiest square in Hai Cheng, and suddenly, the whole port city was boiling.

The protagonist, Tan Yangxuan, is an elite police officer and the team leader for this case. After the case was made known to everyone, Tan Yangxuan, who was under great pressure, went to find his university friend, Xue Jiazhe, a university psychology professor who will be played by Rong Xu.

Xue Jiazhe analyzed the suspect’s psychological processes and helped Tan Yangxuan finally catch the criminal.

The whole of the plot is the chasing battle between the police and the murderer. With the arrest of the criminal and the sentencing of death penalty, everything was finally over.

Well, if that was the case, Rong Xu would definitely not be interested in this script nor take on this drama with dual male leads. It was all because, at the end of the movie, there is a huge plot twist.

Once the case was over, Tan Yangxuan went to find his friend for a chat and to celebrate. However, after Tan Yangxuan got drunk, he didn’t know…… that Xue Jiazhe dragged him into the bedroom to let him rest, but when Xue Jiazhe opened the closet to help his old classmate grab a change of clothes, in a deep corner of the closet, a glass bottle holding a human specimen was slightly exposed.

Inside the faint green formalin solution^[3], a right hand was suspended in the center with a gem ring hung on its thumb.

It was the relic lost by the fifth victim.

The movie ended here, but this reversal immediately complicated Xue Jiazhe’s character.

A young and handsome university professor loved by all his students, elegant and gentle, and was even good friends with the senior police officers from the police station. But no one would have known what laid hidden behind the silver glasses and genteel smile. What kind of beast was hiding behind that costume.

Rong Xu has never played this kind of gentle villain before, which made him very interested and wanted to give it a try.

In his previous life, he played mostly protagonists. In this year’s movies and TV series, the protagonists generally had positive images. Coming across a villain protagonist was already a significantly difficult occurrence. It wasn’t that Rong Xu had never played a big villain in the past, but he had never played a role where he was a good guy on the surface, but a big villain in reality.

A villain with high IQ and also possessed good manners and sophistication. This was why Luo Zhentao handed over the script of Maze City to Rong Xu.

As for Rong Xu choosing Maze City, it was because he wanted to try and surpass himself and taste a different style of living^[4].

In mid-May, Rong Xu arrived in Xiangshan Film and Television Town to meet with the entire crew. Other than him, the other male lead’s actor had also arrived, he was Huaxia’s named best film newcomer, Bo Xiwen.

The crew of Maze City rented out a modern filming zone in Xiangshan Film and Television City. The crew was super busy, and there were piles of unfinished props lying around everywhere. In three days’ time, the filming of the movie will start, and within these three days, Rong Xu, Bo Xiwen and the other actors will hold a script reading meeting, where everyone will come together to discuss the script in order to help the actors more deeply understand the plot and characters.

At first, there were still some barriers between everyone, and Bo Xiwen always kept a straight face, looking forever serious and solemn.

At the script reading meeting, Rong Xu sat beside Bo Xiwen. A staff member poured out glasses of water and handed them to everyone. Rong Xu helped Bo Xiwen receive his water, causing Bo Xiwen to be taken aback for a moment. After a while, he nodded stiffly and said: “Thank you.”

Seeing this, Rong Xu eyebrows quirked a bit, and the corners of his lips slightly curved up^[5].

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

TL Corner: Beginning of the new movie arc! It’s a detective mystery film, pretty intense. ^u^ YESSSSS! RX in an antagonist role. Just what I wanted ୧(๑• v •)૭

Also! The Translation Status Page is up. Updated weekly if anyone is curious about where I am on translating.

Thank You, IzoRen, for Beta edits!

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Thank You Anonymous for you Coffee (Ko-fi) donation >w</ Stay healthy and safe everyone!

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

Xu Jin: “Exactly what are you going to do! What do you want with my wife! Let me tell you, she doesn’t like you, she’s never watched your movies, and she absolutely doesn’t like Song of the Night. She also didn’t go to the cinemas to watch this year’s The Disciple, nevermind watch it three times! My relationship with her is not because she is your fan, it’s not!”

Qin Cheng: “……give me an address and a phone number.”

To prevent this man from mentioning his wife again, Xu Jin readily gave Qin Cheng an address and phone number. Originally, the phone number he provided was a male friend’s, but who knew that Qin Cheng asked for a female’s phone number. This made Xu Jin raise even more alarm bells, and he quickly made a call to a female friend who was outside of the circle.

Before hanging up the phone, Qin Cheng said in a slow and cold manner: “Don’t tell your friend about this situation, just say it’s you who wants to send something, and that it has nothing to do with me.”

 Xu Jin: “……Okay.” As long as he didn’t mention his wife, anything is fine!

At this point, this matter was technically considered resolved.

Luo Qian received the address and phone number, and she naturally relayed the number and address to Rong Xu and Luo Zhentao. Luo Zhentao wasn’t familiar with the other party, and Rong Xu also looked at it for a while, but the name wasn’t in his memories.

This person had never participated in the filming of Black Clouds. It could only be said that this is definitely a fake identity.

Rong Xu didn’t put too much attention on this address. He opened up Lotus Seed Paste and Orange Stuffing’s homepage and flipped through it again carefully. This Lotus Seed Paste and Orange Stuffing really did confess to him three times a day. Even if he forgot to eat, he’s afraid they wouldn’t forget to confess. Additionally, in recent months, she seemed to have become obsessed with his and Qin Cheng’s CP, often tagging #ChengRong# on Weibo.

In any case, other than being exceptionally wealthy and having his personal sleeping photo, this fan appeared to be just an ordinary fangirl, an ordinary CP fan…… Oh, wait. She was also very good at selling meng.

But, just as Rong Xu decided to give up and go work on other things, his line of sight suddenly caught a Weibo post from Lotus Seed Paste and Orange Stuffing from three days ago.

“Huh? It was sent at five in the morning?”

Vaguely aware in his heart that something was off, Rong Xu flipped through Weibo again and then discovered that, in the past few months, the timing of this Lotus Seed Paste and Orange Stuffing’s posts on Weibo were a bit strange. She used to post Weibo comments on time according to three meals a day. But, in recent months, her timing had become abnormal.

Last month wasn’t too off, only a few hours earlier than usual.

But, in this month! They were all posted on Weibo at very atypical hours!

The original eight or nine o’clock in the morning (08:00~09:00) became nine o’clock in the evening (21:00); noon (12:00) became one or two in the morning (1:00~2:00); four or five o’clock in the afternoon (16:00~17:00) became five or six in the morning (05:00~06:00).

Like there’s a time difference or jet lag!

“She had gone abroad recently?”

This idea flashed through his mind, and Rong Xu deliberated again before his eyes suddenly widened. He rushed to contact Luo Zhentao and asked the other party to check if Wen Xuan, Xia Muyan and the other actresses who had participated in the filming of Black Clouds had recently gone abroad for filming.

Although Luo Zhentao felt this was a bit strange, he still went to inquire and said that he would give Rong Xu an answer in a few days.

By the time Rong Xu finished all these affairs, it was already six in the evening. The faint golden sunset slowly descended into the west as the brilliant light dyed the sky red and created an enchanting color.

Rong Xu finally put down his phone and went out to eat dinner. As soon as he opened the door, he heard the sound of the door next to him also opening. Rong Xu turned his head in surprise and saw that Qin Cheng also appeared a little tired and was similarly looking at himself with slight surprise.

Rong Xu smiled slightly: “You didn’t rest well?”

Qin Cheng was silent for a moment: “……Mmm.”

Rong Xu nodded lightly: “I also didn’t get much rest, met with a small situation.”

Qin Cheng: “……I also met with a small situation.”

The youth glanced at the man in astonishment before he curled his lips and smiled: “Looking at your appearance, it seems that you have already taken care of it. What do you want to eat tonight? I kind of want to eat dumplings. Yesterday, I asked Sis’ Xiao Qian to buy some dumpling skins because I’d planned on wrapping some by myself……Oh, yes, Qin Cheng, can you wrap dumplings?”

The topic was thus diverted.

In the cozy and quiet kitchen, a warm yellow light enveloped the two men. Rong Xu picked up a black apron and Qin Cheng’s face suddenly stiffened. The smile on the youth’s face became brighter, and the man had no choice but to open his arms and let the boy place the apron on him.

This hug-like gesture made Qin Cheng’s ear tips turn a tad red, but Rong Xu didn’t seem to notice and actually moved closer! The man’s body became even stiffer. After tying the apron, the youth raised his clear eyes and said with a smile: “I’m not good at wrapping dumplings, so let’s just wrap them casually?”

Qin Cheng nodded with a calm facade: “Okay.”

Outside the window, the bustling and noisy city night could be seen, but on the other side of the window was currently an ongoing lesson where two men delved into the art of making dumplings together. The man’s handsome and profound face was stained with flour, while the youth’s hair tips were also stained with a hint of white. No one would have thought that a mega superstar and a popular newcomer would be working together to study how to make dumplings on this quiet night.

Of course, regardless of the process, and no matter how many times Rong Xu had laughed during this period, or how many times Qin Cheng’s ear tips had turned red during this period, the dumplings still made it into the pot an hour later.

After fishing them out, Rong Xu looked at his bowl of crooked dumplings while silently glancing to the side. 

He expressed with his eyes: You taste first?

Qin Cheng lowered his eyes, and also replied with his eyes: ……you can taste it first.

Rong Xu’s lips curled up: To thank you for your care this past year, of course, you have to taste it first.

Qin Cheng’s thin lips hooked: Mother wants me to take care of you, you should try it first.

You taste.

You taste.

You first.

You first.

Rong Xu: “……”

Qin Cheng: “……”

In the end, the two of them were forced into a helpless situation. Simultaneously, they both picked up a completely indiscernible to be dumplings and more round than a meatbun dough ball, and put it into their mouth. However, just after the dough ball entered their mouths, the two opened their eyes and looked at each other in surprise.

Rong Xu: “…It’s actually quite delicious?”

Qin Cheng nodded, and there was an imperceptible smile that crossed his eyes: “Yeah.”

That night, the two quickly resolved the lacking-in-selling-appeal but surprisingly delicious dumplings. Afterwards, Rong Xu began to study the script for his new work. Meanwhile, Qin Cheng looked through the script next to him and made some occasional comments.

The next day, the two remained at home and continued to study the script together. Sometimes, there would be disagreements about the plot analysis, but in the end, they would always come to a consensus. Upon coming upon a conclusion, Rong Xu would then take out a pen and carefully write down his thoughts on the sides of the script. During these times, Qin Cheng would lower his eyes to gaze at the young man.

The sunlight gently sprinkled upon the youth, making him appear as exquisite and beautiful as a fae.

The serious and focused appearance of the young man …… was even more beautiful than usual.

On the night of the Golden Phoenix Award ceremony, Rong Xu sat on the sofa in his pajamas and watched the live broadcast. A thick script lay on his lap, and on the TV, the stars were dazzling and the environment was lively.

Rong Xu kept lowering his head to examine the script, and he only raised his head when he heard the man appear. When his sight fell upon the other, he was stunned for a bit. The man’s cold and powerful aura passed through the cold TV screen unimpeded, passing through the eyes of every audience member. He stepped onto the red carpet with the crew of The Disciple, but within the entire crew, he was always the first person everyone noticed.

After watching for a duration, only when the The Disciple crew left the red carpet did Rong Xu raise the corner of his mouth and continued to study the script.

That night, the crew of The Disciple won six awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. Though this was a major male-lead focused film, the most important male lead didn’t actually win the Best Actor. However, this didn’t mean that Qin Cheng, who plays the male lead, was lacking. It was really that his opponent this time was too strong. He (the opponent) acted the glorious life of an athlete with a broken arm. In addition to his strong acting skills, there was also an empathy bonus.

When all members of the The Disciple crew walked onto the stage to receive the Best Picture Award, the audience members frantically called Qin Cheng’s name as if they were shouting out their faith with their life. The man on the stage also raised the Golden Phoenix trophy in his hand and smiled at them calmly.

Staring at the picture on the TV, Rong Xu gradually narrowed his eyes, and the smile on his lips deepened.

Two days later, Rong Xu left B city and headed to Xiangshan Film and Television Town in preparation of filming Maze City.

{Please read the original translations on SurrealSkyTranslations instead of supporting TL aggregator sites. Thanks!}

The Author has something to say:

Rong Rong: Speak logically. Is this Lotus Seed Paste and Orange Stuffing really my fan? Even colder than me……

Orange Qin: QAQ baby has a bitter heart

Dumplings google IMGS

Meatbuns Google IMGS

TL Notes: Psst, Qin Cheng, your tail is exposed.

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