Chapter 9

Xia Xingcheng immersed himself in the bathtub and allowed the water to cover over his head. Soon, his lungs ran out of air, and the suffocation made his chest feel tight. Unable to hold his breath any longer, he abruptly stuck his head out of the water and gasped heavily.

The water flowed down his wet hair, and he raised a hand to wipe the water away from his face. Leaning back, he put his head on the edge of the bathtub and closed his eyes.

When Xia Xingcheng came out of the bathroom, he saw Huang Jixin smoking on the sofa.

"You haven't left yet?" He pulled the towel off his head and sat by the bed in his bathrobe.

Huang Jixin said, "Aren't you relieved? I'll be staying with you for two more days."

Xia Xingcheng said nothing and fell back on the bed, a sigh escaping his lips, his fair slender legs stretched out from under the bathrobe.

Huang Jixin stood up with a cigarette in his mouth and walked to the bedside, looking down at him. "What's wrong? You look dejected."

Xia Xingchen, who could hardly ever tell the truth in front of Huang Jixin, said, "I'm under a lot of pressure."

"Hey man, it's the first day of filming, okay?" Huang Jixin said. He didn't understand. "You performed really well today, and He Zheng wasn't too demanding. As a result, your work finished so quickly."

XIa Xingcheng raised his hand to cover his face. "It wasn't because I acted well."

Huang Jixin said, "I know it was Yang Youming who acted well, but didn't he still need your cooperation?"

Xia Xingcheng shook his head and didn't know how to explain to him.

Huang Jixin stretched out his foot and kicked Xia Xingcheng's shin. "Cheer up, don't give up on the first day. This movie will take a long time to film. You don't come across this kind of opportunity every day, so just make the best of it."

Xia Xingcheng said, "I know."

When Huang Jixin left, Xia Xingcheng laid aimlessly in bed for a while. He finally recalled something and turned over to grab his cell phone on the bedside table, then dialed Xiao Yu's number.

The phone rang several times but Xiao Yu didn't answer.

At the end of the automatic dial tone, Xia Xingcheng received a message from Xiao Yu, saying, 'It's no good anymore. Let's just forget about it.'

Xia Xingcheng stared at the words for a moment. He knew this day would come, but he didn't expect that Xiao Yu would be the one to say it first, so he replied, 'I see. Wish you all the best.'

Xiao Yu never replied to him again.

Xia Xingcheng blanked out for a while, then opened Weibo.

Instead of looking at his Weibo reposts, he searched for Yang Youming's Weibo. He clicked on his home page and found that it had been updated today.

Yang Youming posted an image of Fang Jianyuan's room, with the single bed, desk, and the incoming sunlight that filtered through the glass windows.

It was a very ordinary picture, but when he saw the bed, Xia Xingcheng couldn't help getting flustered, recalling what had happened on that bed today.

There were a lot of comments from Yang Youming's fans at the bottom of the picture. The first hot comment asked him, "Is this for a new film?"

He Zheng's film hadn't been announced to the general public, but there had been a lot of speculation and leaks on the internet, and some paparazzi even took pictures of Yang Youming on set.

Yang Youming would certainly not answer this kind of question. His Weibo consisted entirely of photos, and there wasn't a single word post in sight. It seemed that he only wanted to post pictures, rather than share about his private life with fans; he'd always been a bit distant online.

But this didn't affect the fans and the audience's love for him. Even if he didn't maintain a certain level of exposure, his career wouldn't be hindered at all. On the contrary, Xia Xingcheng was someone who had to keep filming and appear in the public eye from time to time so the audience wouldn't forget him and his fans wouldn't leave him.

He needed to put out good work and gain public recognition to establish his status in the industry, rather than relying on his good looks.

Xia Xingcheng looked at the picture for a while, and when he came to senses, he realized that he had accidentally liked Yang Youming's Weibo post.

He paused for a moment in a daze. It was impossible to take it back, so he simply followed Yang Youming's Weibo account. In any case, he was a part of the younger generation. Even if Yang Youming didn't respond, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

He then exited Weibo and laid in bed, flipping through the script to prepare for the next day of filming.

There would be no more bed scenes tomorrow.

What He Zheng wanted to shoot was Fang Jianyuan and Yu Haiyang's first meeting.

•••

In the morning, when Xia Xingcheng was done with his hair and makeup, he opened the door to the lounge and ran into Yang Youming. Yang Youming had changed his outfit, and was currently dressed in a shirt and suit pants. He put his hands in his trouser pants and gazed at Xia Xingcheng.

Xia Xingcheng suddenly became nervous and called out, "Ming—Ming ge."

Yang Youming smiled and walked past him.

Xia Xingcheng felt a little embarrassed. He tugged on his hair and walked out.