He was thinking about getting up to grab his bag from the compartment above when the next second he felt a soft face mask against his face.
The skin under his palm was delicate and soft —it felt extremely pleasing to the touch. Gu Yunchen paused slightly, let that indescribably pleasant feeling linger for just a while longer, and then, under the puzzled gaze of the young man, nonchalantly moved his finger away.
He then helped Mu Cai to hang the elastic straps of the face mask over his ear. The young man's ears were small and delicate, and even now he could still remember the sight of a thin coat of red spreading over those earlobes as blood rushed to them.
Like a small bright red gemstone.
Mu Cai was feeling a bit of warmth coursing through the side of his face when, suddenly, he felt his earlobes being pinched gently. Mu Cai opened his eyes wide and looked at the person sitting opposite him.
But all he saw was Gu Yunchen taking the lead to move his gaze away, his tone almost casual and indifferent as he said, "It's on now."
He'd covered himself up so well, it was already impossible to see the expression on his face clearly. Now as he pulled the brim of his hat down even further, his gaze was completely hidden.
Mu Cai didn't know why he did this. But truthfully, he was already used to being pinched like that by others, and maybe the other had done that accidentally while helping him put on the mask. Therefore, he didn't have any other thoughts at that moment, and just calmly said, "Thank you, Brother Gu."
Gu Yunchen gave a quick "Mhm" and didn't say anything else, giving the impression that he wasn't going to talk to him anymore.
Mu Cai thought the man wanted to avoid looking at him after realizing he had pinched someone he disliked. At that moment, the plane began to take off, so Mu Cai laid back down on the seat and fell asleep right away.
He had just wrapped up the recording of "Rookie Star" a few days ago, and started practicing the group's new songs immediately after. It'd been a tough journey for a long time now and so, these days, he would take any opportunity to sleep. In this moment, as he sat relaxed, in a comfortable seat with the space close to his ears quiet, except for the occasional sound of flipping pages, Mu Cai fell asleep in no time.
Only when he heard an extremely soft snoring sound coming from next to him, did Gu Yunchen turn around.
He stared for a while at the mask-covered person slumped on the seat, before ringing the bell to ask the flight attendant for a blanket to cover the young man. The part of Mu Cai's arms that were exposed were also extremely pleasing to the touch —Gu Yunchen had to combat his urge and restrain his hand from lingering any longer in case it disturbed the other person's sleep.
Mu Cai slept all the way until they reached their destination, where he was shaken awake by Gu Yunchen.
They walked through the VIP passageway together. Gu Yunchen waited until Mu Cai fully regained his senses before he said, as if it were a passing thought, "I think I promised you something before."
Mu Cai's eyes were still a bit hazy, and when he heard this sentence he felt his brain pausing altogether. "Huh?"
Gu Yunchen took one look at his innocent expression and knew that he'd forgotten everything. He couldn't help but grit his teeth as he said, "Before, when we were filming the theme song, I promised that if you could maintain your Class A grade, I'd give you an opportunity to audition for a casting."
Mu Cai suddenly recalled their promise, and hurriedly responded, "Thank you Brother Gu, but I…."
As the two of them walked out from the VIP exit, Gu Yunchen interrupted him, not giving him a chance to refute, with a cold expression on his face as he said, "There might be an audition in the next few days, I'll scan your WeChat QR code so I can let you know."
When Su Xingyun, who was there waiting for Mu Cai, saw this scene, he froze.
Their Cai Cai was truly amazing —his career had developed to a point where someone like Gu Yunchen would ask for his WeChat first???
Once Mu Cai got into the car, Su Xingyun, who sat in the co-pilot seat, asked as the light flashed on his glasses, "Did you exchange WeChat with Gu Yunchen just now?"
His expression was very calm and his tone, very natural. Only he himself knew just how nervous he was feeling in his heart, as if he was an old father about to witness his child's first love, a hundred different feelings were rushing in his heart.
Su Xingyun's poker face was very good, so Mu Cai was completely unaware of the other party's real thoughts. He nodded obediently, and confessed what had happened, "Brother Su, Brother Gu had told me before that if I maintained my A grade when we recorded the theme song, he would give me a chance to audition. Today, he told me that there might be a new opportunity, so he let me add him to WeChat to keep in touch."
When Su Xingyun heard this, a cold light was reflected on his lens, "Next time, you encounter such a situation, don't just give people your WeChat. I am your agent, the one managing resources for you. This is something that I should worry about."
Don't let irrelevant people take advantage of the situation!
Su Xingyun was very dissatisfied at the moment. He always felt that Mu Cai was like a fluffy chick in his nest, with a tender yellow beak, within a small group of chickens, and Gu Yunchen was the weasel eyeing at him just waiting, with a drooling mouth, for a chance to pay a visit to the nest.
Listening to his agent's indifferent tone, Mu Cai felt he was being blamed for making the decision. He couldn't help but say, "I know, Brother Su."
Su Xingyun looked at his little chick's wilted appearance and knew that maybe he 'the fierce old hen' might have frightened him. He cleared his throat and softened his voice as much as possible, "I'm just reminding you to pay attention. I am your agent. You don't need to worry about resources. Don't be fooled so easily."
Mu Cai, "…"
Mu Cai felt that, given Gu Yunchen's position, there was nothing to gain by lying to him. But for the sake of harmony on the topic, he still should not refute casually.
Seeing the young man in the back seat nodding obediently, Su Xingyun's mood also improved.
He let Mu Cai, who had just returned, relax for some time before continuing, "What do you want for dinner? Today you may eat liberally, your Brother Su is going to treat you."
Mu Cai's eyes lit up, "Really?"
He had just taken part in the recording of "Rookie Stars", where he stayed in the closed training venue for nearly two months and had been eating in the canteen of the set everyday.
Although the variety of canteen food was relatively wide, the taste could only be described as average. And Mu Cai hadn't eaten a big meal for a long time. Now that he doesn't need to be so cautious, he was naturally very happy.
Seeing the boy's excitement, Su Xingyun also showed a rare smile, "Of course."
A smile appeared on Mu Cai's face immediately, showing the two pointed little tiger teeth behind his lips, "Then I want to eat hot pot!"
After he had had enough food and drink for the day, he returned to the company dormitory to sleep early. When Mu Cai woke up the next morning, he only felt refreshed.
After washing up, eating breakfast, and waiting for a while by playing with his phone, he walked downstairs to the company dormitory at the agreed time. Su Xingyun had specifically called for a car to come over and drive Mu Cai to the location where the advertisement was going to be shot.
This time, Mu Cai would be shooting a promotional video for Pure love's new summer lip gloss. The Publicity Department's staff of Pure Love China Headquarters had been so surprised by Mu Cai's dressing room scene in "Rookie Star", that they selected him to shoot this promo.
Before he even entered the studio for shooting, the makeup artist had completed his base makeup and eyebrows in the dressing room, leaving only his lips unpainted.
The shooting of cosmetics commercials is relatively simple, having to shoot only a minor scene, unlike other commercials. Mu Cai didn't even need to do anything in the studio. Most of the time, the makeup artist held his chin, painted his lips, and then posed him at the camera for shooting.
There were a total of three new lip glosses in Pure Love's summer collection and they made Mu Cai try each one, sometimes even having him take the initiative to apply it in front of the camera. To prove the durability of the lip gloss, the staff also put a cup of coffee in Mu Cai's hand and asked him to drink in front of the camera while the photographer took pictures.
Fortunately, it had been a cup of mocha with a rich cream and chocolate taste. The staff even took one look at Mu Cai's face and added a few more sugar cubes so that he could drink it.
The shooting was not complicated, but because there were three lip glosses and the photographer was constantly looking for different angles to shoot, they were in the studio for over two hours.
After the color testing and introductory shots of all the lip glosses were done, Mu Cai walked two steps in front of the green screen. Under the direction of the staff, he finally sat down on a chair and read the lines prepared in advance. With that, the shooting of this whole commercial came to an end.
Seeing that the number of shots was enough, there was only post-production work left. Mu Cai waited until the makeup artist finished removing his makeup and returned to the dormitory. After having lunch, he turned on his mobile phone and planned to relax.
However, Mu Cai saw several WeChat messages as soon as he swiped the screen of his phone.
The messages came from Su Xingyun and the group chat of Seven Stars.
And there were also messages from Gu Yunchen.
Mu Cai checked the message sent to him by his agent first.
The man had sent quite a lot of pictures. He saw as he swiped, that they were all photos that had been taken separately, before shooting the commercial. Su Xingyun was asking him to post a few on Weibo every day for some time, making use of his pretty face to solidify his fanbase and also begin promoting Pure Love's new summer collection early. And, in about a week, their commercial would be ready for posting on Weibo.
After Mu Cai replied to Su Xingyun, he obediently saved the photos one by one before exiting the chat to check Gu Yunchen's message.
Gu Yunchen had only sent him a single line:
[Have you finished shooting the commercial? ]
Mu Cai thought that the other party might want to know when he was free and in order to discuss the audition with him.
So he immediately replied:
[Shooting is over. ]
Mu Cai originally thought that, given Gu Yunchen's position, his usual schedule would definitely be full. That, at that moment, the man had just taken the time to ask without knowing whether he would have the time to look at the answer and reply.
He was about to put down his phone to take a nap, when he saw the chat of Gu Yunchen quickly displayed "typing". In just a few seconds, the phone shook, showing the other party had replied:
[Do you have a photo? Let me see. ]
Although Mu Cai was a little surprised that the other party had asked for a photo himself, he still honestly shared all the photos that Su Xingyun had sent him.
The phone shook, and the messages came one by one.
Gu Yunchen was nestled on his fabric sofa, looking at the photos sent by Mu Cai.
There were quite a few of them.
The teenager in the photos was either standing, sitting, or even squatting. Whether he was looking at the camera or not, or smiling or not, his appearance looked very seductive.
His hair was as black as the night before dawn, and his skin was as white as the snow on a mountain top. His lips were bright red and shiny, producing a striking contrast with his white skin, as if they were red plums in the snow, adding a healthy glow to his whole person.
Gu Yunchen subconsciously reached out and tapped on the two perfectly shaped lips, which were neither thin nor thick. The picture viewing mode on WeChat immediately exited, making the picture in front of him disappear, and bringing him back to his senses.
Although Gu Yunchen often needed to wear makeup as a celebrity, he was not interested in makeup himself. Lipstick shades were almost all the same in his eyes, and he didn't know how lipstick sellers actually came up with so many different colour numbers.
But at that moment, he suddenly realized how Pure Love had been able to operate as an internationally renowned veteran cosmetics company, given the splendid skills they had.
At least these three lip glosses looked great on the lip.
Crystal clear, but still full of color. Those two lips looked extremely beautiful and eye-catching.
When this batch of new products comes out in the industry, I can ask Assistant Lin to get a few over. Even if I don't use them, they can be stored as a collection.
Thinking of this, Gu Yunchen clicked on the pictures again and saved them one by one.
After he finished all this, he sent a message to Mu Cai on WeChat:
[Not bad. ]
After he had sent the photos, surely, he thought, there would be no response for a while, and so far, the responses he had gotten were only 2 or 3 words. Mu Cai could almost imagine Gu Yunchen's cold and critical gaze.
Sure enough, the other party didn't like him at all.
While Mu Cai thought about it, he saw that the other had sent a file along with a message:
["Xiaoxue Jiangshan"'s information, you should have a look first. ]
Mu Cai instantly regained his spirits.
"Xiaoxue Jiangshan" was the work of the famous director Jing He, who had dominated the big screen for nearly three years. In the original plot, the original body owner had also gone to audition for this movie in order to get closer to Gu Yunchen.
Unfortunately, while the original body had tried very hard to recite the lines and figure out the emotional outbursts of the audition segment, he was finally rejected. And because it was Jing He's crew, not even Mo Hengqing could help the original body.
When Mu Cai tapped on the information, he saw the outline of the complete "Xiaoxue Jiangshan" movie. The plot as a whole was not very innovative, and the main storyline was relatively simple. It was probably a historical piece about the struggle of a poor male peasant protagonist towards the emperor.
But the screenwriter, Chang An, was indeed a well-known veteran screenwriter in the industry and had added many disputes and contradictions to that simple storyline. For example, the fatherly love and humanity of the former emperor, the helplessness and pain of good officials in the background of the dynasty's decadence, and the boiling blood of those who were oppressed.
The plot had many ups and downs, pulling at the heartstrings, and its emotional impact was very strong. After Mu Cai finished reading the long summary of the story, as well as the biographies of the characters, it took a long time for him to recover.
Although he was not a professional actor and had spent little time in the entertainment industry, he knew that this was a wonderful script and a very compelling story. Mu Cai used to be a solo violinist, so he could barely be called an artist.
However, when he saw such a moving film, he naturally wanted to take part in the acting.
Just as Mu Cai had this idea, messages from Gu Yunchen arrived as if in a hurry:
[The audition will begin at 8 a.m in the conference room on the third floor of Jiaxuan Hotel. ]
[I will pick you up. ]
The author has something to say:
Mu Cai: The protagonist is really indifferent.
Gu Yunchen: The commercials shot by Caicai really look as good as I imagined! (/ω＼*)
Although he had tried politely declining, ultimately it did not work. On the day of the audition, Mu Cai ended up taking Gu Yunchen's car to the location.
Ever since he had gotten the audition materials, the story of "Xiaoxue Jiangshan" had deeply attracted him. Both yesterday and the day before, Mu Cai had spent all day cooped up in his dorm room perusing the script thoroughly, trying to figure out the parts for his audition. It was not until late in the evening that he remembered to tell Su Xingyun about it.
At the other end of the WeChat message chain, Su Xingyun was really surprised to hear the news. He had thought that Gu Yunchen's proposal was, as the saying goes, "a drunkard's heart that did not reside in the wine"* —that he had ulterior motives for wanting to add MuCai on WeChat. Even if there had actually been an audition opportunity, he thought they would have had to wait a while for it.
He didn't expect Gu Yunchen to act with such haste and resolution, he'd arranged everything and made the connection so quickly! Although it was just an audition opportunity for a role, this was "Xiaoxue Jiangshan" with Jing He's team! Even a simple audition was not something anyone could have a chance to get.
Furthermore, the news of a casting call for "Xiaoxue Jiangshan" hadn't even been announced within the entertainment circles! He didn't even catch a whiff of any leaked news!
Gu Yunchen was quite sincere and deliberate in his actions, but somehow Su Xingyun felt inexplicably irked —like most parents in the world would feel with regards to their children. On the one hand, he was happy that Mu Cai got an opportunity like this. But, on the other hand, he was suspicious of whether Gu Yunchen was doing this with some other objective in mind.
After all, today he just happened to accompany a B-list "little fresh meat" celebrity he was managing on a flight out of the city, to take them to a filming location deep in the mountains. Evidently, he wouldn't be able to make it back before Mu Cai's audition.
Then, Wasn't their dear Caicai now a little chick left unattended? He was afraid this little baby bird would fall into the hands of the sneaky weasel who had long been coveting him.
As Su Xingyun thought of this, he couldn't help but get on WeChat to ask Mu Cai how he was getting there.
The other person replied quickly.
[Brother Gu said he's picking me up.]
Just as he'd expected!
Su Xingyun thought to himself, this really was like the saying, "the weasel greets the chicken with a Happy New Year"* —he did not have good intentions. He was just there waiting to coax the little chick to its doom.
He sent so many warnings through WeChat, but Mu Cai, on the other end of the messages, felt them a little laughable. When he saw texts describing self-defense and anti-predatory tactics appearing on his screen, Mu Cai quickly agreed to learn them just to stop his manager from imagining anything even worse. Only then did the manager give his approval.
Currently, Mu Cai was sitting in Gu Yunchen's car, holding a small rabbit doll and kneading it around in his hand.
This rabbit doll was white as snow, with a chubby carrot plushie between its arms. He wondered what material the doll was made of —it felt so soft and soothing against his skin. Mu Cai saw the doll as soon as he got in the car, and would steal glances at it repeatedly. Seeing this, Gu Yunchen shoved the rabbit doll into his hands.
Up until they got out of the car, as he saw how attached the young man was growing towards the rabbit, a look of longing on his face, Gu Yunchen had to restrain himself, over and over, from saying anything about giving it to him.
If he really gifted this to him, his little thought-out tactic would have been in vain.
Now that they'd arrived at the audition location, Mu Cai could only unwillingly place the rabbit doll back on the seat and get out of the car.
Gu Yunchen stood on the steps leading to the hotel waiting for him. Seeing Mu Cai closing the car door and walking up to him, Gu Yunchen said seemingly unintentionally, "If you like that doll, you can come and play with it often in the future."
Mu Cai, "……."
Where would they go to play often? In the car? Why would he get in Gu Yunchen's car for no reason?
Gu Yunchen saw the young man's conflicted expression, then as if he knew what he was thinking, he said with a cold look on his face, "If you pass this audition, we will be staying in the studio city* for three months. Then you can play with the rabbit as much as you want." (*T/N note: filming location where the entire city is a filming studio, all the buildings in the city are backdrops for scenes)
This rabbit was specially made, and so its fabric and filling were different from those other plushies. It was extremely light to hold, velvety smooth and soft to the touch. Three years ago his mother suddenly went through a girly period, and gifted this to him on his twentieth birthday.
Gu Yunchen had accepted it expressionlessly, then placed it in a cabinet somewhere to collect dust ever since. And now, this dumb-but-cute looking rabbit finally had a use – for Gu Yunchen to bring in front of Mu Cai as bait. He refused to believe that someone who slept with a cat doll would not fall in love with this rabbit!
Mu Cai undoubtedly felt his heart shake.
A look reflecting his internal conflict flashed across his face, but in the end it all turned into a look of resolve as he announced, "Ok, I will work hard!"
Gu Yunchen nodded his head, satisfied.
The two entered the Jiaxuan Hotel, went up to the third floor, and entered the lightly closed door to the meeting room. Only then did Mu Cai see the audition location in its entirety.
The extra tables and chairs had been removed to make room. In the open space created, someone had already begun performing, and behind a table sat two elderly men.
Most likely they were the director JIng He and the screenwriter Chang An.
The news about the casting call for "Xiaoxue Jiangshan" had not been released to the public, and so there were only very few people who came to audition. But from just a rough look, Mu Cai knew the two, three people present were all recognized for their acting skills on both the big and small screen.
Gu Yunchen grabbed Mu Cai's shoulder gently and said, "Go in."
Mu Cai was just about to take a step, when he suddenly remembered that according to the original plot of the novel, Gu Yunchen was the internally decided on lead actor in "Xiaoxue Jiangshan".
It was said that Chang An felt Gu Yunchen's appearance matched his own imagination of how the penned male protagonist looked, and Jing He had taken a fancy to Gu Yunchen's acting skills. The two found common ground immediately, and thus decided on the male lead internally.
Then why did he even come?
Mu Cai couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are you coming in too?"
Gu Yunchen nodded calmly, "Mhm, I'm going to say hello to the director and screenwriter, later I have to judge your performance."
Mu Cai: "……"
Turns out he was the judge!
Mu Cai lined up behind the few others quietly, and watched as Gu Yunchen silently greeted Chang An and Jing He sitting behind the table.
He took a deep breath, and started to recall the content of his own audition.
Mu Cai was auditioning for the third male lead Yi Sheng, because in the plot of the original novel his character was also auditioning for this role.
Yi Sheng was not a character that appeared in the early stage of the script, and instead was an advisor that only began supporting the male protagonist after his influence grew to a sizable scale. His identity was never directly revealed in the plot of the movie, but from a few clues, it's evident Yi Sheng was a descendent of the well-known Yi family that was destroyed entirely.
He was resourceful in his knowledge, resolute in his tactics and collected in his demeanor, and was no doubt the primary pillar of support in the protagonist's council that helped him seize the world. However because Yi Sheng was too ruthless a character, his personality turned to the extreme. In the end, due to disagreements with the protagonist, they parted ways and he retired hidden away from the public eye.
This character was somewhat similar in personality to his former body, but was completely different from Mu Cai. But through his own thorough reading of the script in the past two days, and his own understanding of the character biographies, Mu Cai felt he could grasp this character well.
While he was recalling his memories here, the people in front of him had all finished their performances and were stepping out one by one.
Chang An finally announced Mu Cai's name, and he hastily walked to the center of the cleared space.
The person standing in front of them looked very young, as if he had just reached adulthood, the soft lines on his face still childish looking. His skin was pale, the darks of his eyes rather large by comparison, his gaze seemed to be shrouded by a sparkling layer of water. His whole image seemed to have nothing in common with the tall in stature, handsome in appearance, cool and collected in personality, even heartless Yi Sheng in the script.
Chang An frowned imperceptibly.
On the other hand Jing He didn't show any special emotions.
In his opinion, actors are called actors precisely because they can play different characters according to what is needed, even characters that have nothing to do with them. It's just that some act well, and others do not act well. Things like appearance can only make up for a few shortcomings, but cannot completely determine a role.
And so Jing He looked at the roster at the side of the table and spoke first, "Mu Cai, is it?"
Mu Cai nodded.
Jing He said, "Why don't you perform the "Revenge" scene."
In the audition information provided, there were three scenes selected for the audition of Yi Sheng. "Revenge" talked about Yi Sheng leaving his position on his own accord when the protagonist's army broke through the palace gate, taking the lead to find the emperor on his last breath and taking his revenge on him.
This was also the scene with the most intense emotional outbursts, the most levels of depth to performance, and the most demanding of the actor's skills amongst the three selected .
If he could perform this scene well, then he should be able to grasp the other parts for Yi Sheng's role properly.
Mu Cai pursed his lips together, then closed his eyes gently.
When he opened his eyes up again, his expression and entire aura surrounding him changed.
He lowered his head slightly, but lifted his eyes up, staring intently at a certain place in the distance. A cold ray of light seemed to flash through his originally bright, glistening eyes.
Even though there was no one in that place, just from the look of his eyes, everyone knew that the emperor he hated down to his bones was there.
The people present in the room then heard him say one quick line, "It's me."
This voice was extremely soft, but the tone was very steady. He was answering the emperor's question.
"I never thought you'd still remember me," his voice was still calm, but a look of fierceness started to fill his eyes, "I thought you've killed so many people, that you've already forgotten how many souls lay dead under your sword!"
His voice suddenly changed as he said his lines.
穆采明明穿的是现代的长袖打扮，此刻却忽然一挥袖，空手一握，就以极快的速度猛地跪下来，手高高一扬，又狠狠一落。
Even though Mu Cai was clearly wearing a modern long-sleeve shirt, he suddenly swung his arms/sleeves back, his hands gripping an empty sword. He then kneeled down with an extremely fast speed and brought his arms high up before swiftly striking down.
Somehow, the three people sitting at the table felt a faint pinch of pain behind their backs.
Here, Yi Sheng quickly caught the old and frail emperor, and stabbed him mercilessly in the back.
The person opposite them had an obviously childish-looking face, but at this moment his appearance shocked them with how cold it seemed.
"This strike, I strike for all living under this sky, for the common people of the world!" Mu Cai gripped the sword, his eyes bulging with anger, "You are corruptly tyrannical, excessively indulgent. Those flooded by the Yangtze River in the south, you refused to save, floating corpses plagued the land; natural disasters hit the southwest, yet you spent heavily to build an extravagant pavilion, the bodies of those dead from starvation could form mountains; corrupt officials sit at the center of power, you watch idly and let cronyism run rampant. You deserve to die!"
As he finished saying this line, he , and struck down again, "This strike, I strike for my whole family! You are greedy and lustful, you listened to slander and paid no heed to right or wrong; you insulted my mother, deceived my father, and wiped out my family clan. You deserve to die!"
"And this last strike," Mu Cai said, the faint hint of a cry lacing his voice. When he looked up again, those eyes were all red, "I strike for me."
"Grandpa Emperor."
His voice as he said his last line was light and soft. Two thin streams of tears slid down his cheeks, as if he was deeply hurt through to his hurt, then as if he finally relieved himself from burden.