Chapter 41

  "No! How could you think that?!" Wang Mo's face was still pale with shock, "Jian Ye only pulled me into the nanny car because it was windy outside and we would have looked weird standing there talking - really, nothing strange happened while no one was looking... wait a minute, why do I feel like I'm getting more and more misunderstood... anyway, Jian Ge has never been in any scandals with female celebrities, but he shouldn't be into guys either!"

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Jian Ran: "......"

  "However, brother" has come out, Comrade Wang Xiaomo, what the hell are you nervous about?!?!

  At this time, the one who felt like he was about to suffocate was not just a timid hamster. When Wang Mo's hands were so tense that he didn't know where to put them, Jiang Chuan also patted him on the shoulder with a speechless face and casually threw out an irresponsible sentence: "Actually, I was just asking..." Wang Mo finally calmed down slightly, and at this time, the elevator had finally reached their floor. The two walked out one after the other, and at this time, Wang Mo, who was walking behind, seemed to have regained his composure and carefully savored the conversation in the elevator earlier. Then he discovered that something didn't seem right. He took three steps and caught up with Jiang Chuan, who was walking ahead: "Wait a minute, Jiang Chuan, what did you mean by 'also' just now? Could it be..."

  I think that if he ever comes out of the closet, it's definitely going to be Jiang Chuan or Fang Yu, those two big mouths, who will be pushing him from behind and kicking his butt out of the closet.

  Jiang Chuan's eyes went blank for a moment as he thought about it, then looked down and said seriously to Wang Mo, "No, my Chinese isn't very good."

  “……”

  "Besides, how could he possibly bully me?" Jiang Chuan curled up the corner of his lips and revealed a mysterious smile. "Who would be stupid enough to let themselves be bullied when they're already at an advantage?"

  “……”

  Wang Mo stared at Jiang Chuan's mixed Eastern and Western face for a while, then decided that compared to the terrifying setup of "being delivered to his doorstep and being oppressed by the newcomer", he would rather choose the phrase "Jiang Chuan is not good at Chinese". He patted Jiang Chuan's arm and sighed, saying "You really dare to say anything" before returning to his own room. Although he was accidentally labeled as "the one who gets oppressed" by Jiang Chuan and Wang Mo, Jin Yan's heart also landed solidly on the ground. He obediently squatted in the food bowl and was carried back to the hotel room by Jiang Chuan, who put down the hamster cage and sat down at the table with a wooden board, staring at the hamster through the transparent plastic board.

  One blink and it's already afternoon.

  Jiang Chuan seems to have a strong premonition that he wants to say something to it, such as talking about Yuan Jianran's bad things, but fortunately this guy held back in the end. Otherwise, Jianran cannot guarantee that he will not make another "flipping the food bowl directly on the owner's face" kind of principled mistake in a fit of rage.

  Jiang Chuan: "A Fei, have you ever felt that Yuan Jinyan is actually a weird person?"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Whether it's A Fei or Jin Ran, they both think: Can you be any weirder? Otherwise, let's sit down and have a good discussion about who that red-haired man is in the video you opened.

  "If he woke up..."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Hmph, don't you want to get to know me?

  Jiang Chuan: "I should probably keep a distance from him."

  Jǐn rán:“…………”

  Jian Ran finally couldn't bear the boring and humiliating conversation, turned around without hesitation to go back to his small wooden house to sleep. Looking at the back of his own hamster leaving freely, the man also went to take a bath and followed him to bed for an afternoon nap. In the evening when it was almost dark, Fang Yu knocked on Jiang Chuan's door to call him downstairs to prepare for dinner - this day was probably the most leisurely day for all the actors before the end of filming. This is also a habit of many crews, on the first night after the start of filming, let all staff have a good meal with plenty of food and drink, just like pigs are fed well before being sent to the slaughterhouse... then... the pig can be sent to be killed and eaten.

  So that night, close to eleven o'clock, when everyone was lying down with bloated stomachs and wide eyes, they heard Jiang Luocheng arranging the "killing of pigs" - the photographer, lighting engineer, and prop master's start time for tomorrow was 4:00 AM tonight, and no later than 4:15 AM must start work. Then, the makeup artist and actors who had scenes tomorrow must be seen at 5:00 AM sharp. After all preparations were ready, all members were refreshed, and no later than 7:00 AM started work.

  Everyone is drunk: still very spirited.

  They hadn't even had time to complain when the director on the side put down the high-gluten liquor in his hand, stood up and announced the rules for the elderly: before starting work, everyone must not forget the traditional projects such as burning incense, setting off firecrackers, and roasting suckling pigs. The director said that he had already asked the master to calculate it, and the most suitable time for worship was 6:30 tomorrow morning, so in order to catch up with Jiang Luocheng's start of work and also catch up with the director's auspicious time, all the preparation work seemed to need to be arranged again a little earlier in order to complete tomorrow's work plan smoothly.

  "Damn it! I totally forgot about this thing, should I still sleep or what?"

  "---- Less than that, what about the suckling pig? It's needed at 6:30 tomorrow, have you bought it yet? What about the firecrackers and incense?"

  "I'm going right now! Ahhh!"

  "Director Jiang, don't schedule us so tightly on the first day of filming, our prop team will have to get up at over 2 am!"

  This sudden and unannounced transition into work mode left everyone in the room in an uproar. Xiao Chen, the prop master, was sitting behind Jiang Luocheng and raised his wine glass to toast with his colleagues, saying...

  "After finishing this cup of wine, everyone can pack up and get ready to start work."

  The script in Jiang Luocheng's hand was rolled up into a ball as he turned around, making a gesture to scold Xiao Chen. A group of prop men were snickering and teasing him on the side, but everyone knew that saying "time is not pressing" was just lip service. Once the camera started rolling, every minute and every second was burning budget money... Renting the location cost money, temporary workers cost money, and the crew had to eat, so the thousands of meal boxes also cost money. If the actors were in a bad state and couldn't finish filming on time, the rental period would be extended, temporary workers would have to continue working, and meal boxes would have to continue being bought... Many problems arose... What was even more miserable was that, apart from Wang Mo and Xu Qianqian, this time there were many new actors who weren't easy to work with. Jiang Luocheng was originally a demanding and meticulous person, so delaying the shoot had already become an established fact. Therefore, in order to minimize extra expenses, they could only cut corners on these poor grassroots crew members' working hours.

  Thinking of this, the crowd teased and could only resign themselves to their fate. Assistant Xiao Yu, who was in charge of logistics, hastily found a hotel to roast suckling pigs for tomorrow's opening ceremony. The others returned to their rooms in twos and threes, grabbing some sleep while waiting for the start of filming the next day.

  Sitting at the edge of the table, slurping noodles while listening to the surrounding staff's wailing and howling, Jian Chuan's face was expressionless. After a moment, he stretched out his hand and patted Fang Yu's shoulder: "Later, you go buy some face masks for me at the convenience store."

  Fang Yu: "......?"

  Jiang Chuan: "Aren't we in a hurry? Wearing a face mask would be better for putting on makeup."

  Fang Yu: "That's right, who told you?"

  Jiang Chuan: "Makeup artist sister."

  Fang Yu: "You really are quite down-to-earth, I'm begging you to put on a bit of a celebrity airs, okay?"

  "She was talking non-stop beside me, I couldn't just cover my ears and not listen, she also didn't let me move around." Jiang Chuan glanced at Fang Yu, seemingly thinking his complaint was absurd. "Face masks shouldn't have hormones, shouldn't be too expensive, best if they don't have a strong fragrance, this will make me feel like I'm very girly."

  Fang Yu snorted: "He's got a lot of nerve."

  Jiang Chuan picked up the bowl and drank a mouthful of noodles, then patted his belly to find that he was full. He let out a satisfied sigh: "Besides, I don't have any money, you pay first."

  Fang Yu shut her mouth, and all that was left in her mind was one word: Get out.

  It seems that Fang Yu's face was a bit smelly, so Jiang Chuan simply closed his mouth and didn't say the many requirements he still wanted to mention. At this time, it was Loni who originally followed Xu Qianqian and heard their conversation, turned her head, looked at Jiang Chuan up and down, and then smiled slightly: "Brother Chuan, if you want a face mask, I have one here, can I bring it to you tonight? The cheap face masks from the convenience store are not good, be careful of getting a rotten face."

  Jiang Chuan seemed to think it was strange that someone called him "Brother Chuan", and he slowly turned his head to look at the little girl beside him - while the other person seemed very happy that he had turned his head to look at her, she smiled with narrowed eyes: "You haven't forgotten my name yet, have you? I'm Luoni, the one who plays the role of a maid by the side of the rich young lady, and tomorrow we still have scenes to shoot together."

  "Oh," said Jiang Chuan, "I know yours."

  Loni let out a pleasant laugh, and then appropriately stopped talking to him, turning her head to continue chatting with Xu Qianqian in high spirits - apparently they were discussing some new luxury handbag that had just come out, and Loni happened to have bought it, so she was exchanging opinions with Xu Qianqian.

  Jiang Chuan stared at her back for a while, then turned his head, picked up the chopsticks on the bowl, and poked the agent Mr. beside him with the end that didn't have oil: "Is this okay?"

  "Go on, how can it not work?" Fang Yu said seriously, "Not using my wallet is really the best deal - and this girl's dad has a lot of money, so he must be using high-end stuff. Enjoy yourself!"

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  The man had a bewildered expression, as if it was extremely strange that he would be so amused by a sheet mask.

  When the wine party was over, Jiang Chuan returned to his room to wash up. Before long, Ronnie really came knocking on his door with a box of face masks. At that time, Jin Yan was in the midst of letting out air and wandering around on the table. Hearing the knock on the door, he thought it was Fang Yu coming to check on Jiang Chuan again - who knew that when Jiang Chuan opened the door, Jin Yan unexpectedly saw a beautiful little girl standing outside, dressed in casual home clothes, only reaching the chest of the man.

  Loni's long black hair fell behind her back, wearing a pink sportswear set from a certain famous sports brand - this sportswear is very particular about figure and skin tone, although she is not tall, but has everything that should be there, her legs are also long and straight enough, so this tight-fitting outfit looks great on her.

  The hamster behind Jiang Chuan's back suddenly turned its green bean eyes into inverted white triangles.

  "This human female seems quite attractive," Jian Yan heard a faint voice behind him, "She has mating intentions towards our master."

  Suddenly hearing the words, angrily raised his paws - lifted his head to take a look and found that he was holding an apple that had been gnawed in half in his paws. The hamster made a 90-degree turn and violently threw the apple back into the food bowl. Putting aside what "mother human" is for now, even a hamster can see that this woman wants to **with you, Jiang Chuan!!! You're still wearing only the top half of your clothes and opening the door for me with a big smile on your face!!!!! Haven't you seen that her eyes are stuck on your abs and can't move away!!!! Ahhh, there's still water dripping from your body!!!!! How sexy and charming do you look now, making "mother human" want to **with you!!!!

  You must be kidding!

  You stupid public servant!

  Didn't I say it's my exclusive privilege to see your figure?!

  ！！ok？！！！

  The hamster slammed its paws on the table in anger, as if it wanted to jump up and put the bathrobe hanging on the clothes rack over his head. Meanwhile, two humans nearby were having a friendly conversation: "Ding ding ding! Brother Chuan, you're still not asleep? I brought you face masks! Brother Chuan, I'm telling you, this face mask is super effective, one piece can keep your skin hydrated for two days, and it's also great for makeup. My agent had to line up for a long time to buy it for me!"

  "Oh." Jiang Chuan took it over and casually put it aside without even looking at it, "Thanks."

  Loni smiled sweetly and said: "If there's anything else you need help with, don't forget to tell me!"

  "Oh," Jiang Chuan thought for a moment and then replied seriously, "It's nothing, you should get some rest early."

  That attitude is good... He suddenly inhaled a mouthful of cool air, almost suffocating. At this moment, he felt Xiao Hei stretch out his paw and grab a handful of his fur. He turned around angrily: "What's wrong!"

  Xiao Hei: "What do you think of that human mother?"

  "I resolutely summarize: 'The mother species that speaks Hong Kong-Taiwanese and the male hamsters that speak translationese are equally disgusting.'"

  Xiao Hei blew away the fluff on his paw and glanced at the chubby milk tea in front of him: "Chubby, your attitude is not good."

  "Right," said Jian Ran, "I'm mentally abnormal, but can I be as abnormal as humans? Look at our boss, opening the door for a strange woman in the middle of the night without even wearing clothes, is that normal?! Doesn't he know how to avoid suspicion? There are many people in the crew who like to gossip, if someone sees this and posts it online..."

  "That's human business."

  With a stern expression and head held high: "I have a duty to protect my master's chastity."

  Xiao Hei coldly laughed and turned back to crawl into his cage, leaving behind a chilling sentence:

  "That depends on whether he has it."

  ……

  The next day, just before dawn.

  Last night, a hamster with strong dissatisfaction towards its owner was awakened by the rustling sounds coming from outside the cage.

  Open your eyes, wipe away the eye discharge, remove the cotton wrapped around your head as a sleeping cap, and the hamster poked its head out of the wooden house - under the dim orange-yellow light of the desk lamp, it was seen that Jiang Chuan had already gotten up and started washing.

  The electronic display on the bedside table read "4:36am".

  Realizing that it's now just a cute and lazy hamster, it dazedly shrinks its head back in, thinking it can sleep for a while longer.

  But it didn't sleep for long, and soon heard the sound of the cage door opening, a cold big paw reached in and directly scooped it out from its warm nest: "Ah Fei, time to start work!"

  Jian Ran: "……………………"

  Awesome!

  Mind your own business!!

  And by the way, we are still in the Cold War, have you forgotten? I won't bother with you until you recognize your own mistakes!!!!!

  Hamster's wake-up gas is terrible, let me go quickly!! ---- Ahhh, scratching the chin doesn't work either, I'm a hamster with principles!!!

  Jiang Chuan easily stuffed the milk tea that was still bubbling in his hand into his pocket, then bent down to ask: "Xiao Hei, want to come together?"

  The milk tea stuffed into the pocket suddenly popped out and said: "Squeak!"

  What the heck, I'm not taking it with me! It's better off without me!

  ……

  The city is the largest film and television shooting base in China, with about 80% of films completed here. From ancient to modern, from traditional Chinese style to European style, all kinds of architectural landscapes are integrated here. On ordinary days, some sets are open to tourists as scenic spots, while only those rented by film crews are isolated. In this bustling film and television base town, people living in the city have long been accustomed to the occasional appearance of stars.

  "The Republic of China's Strange Tales" This time, the rented area is a large piece of cloth scenery, including a lotus pond surrounded by mist, a long bridge and streets and buildings with a strong Republic of China flavor. The entire prologue of "The Republic of China's Strange Tales", that is, the mouse spirit coming to the foot of the mountain, meeting and falling in love with the rich family's daughter, getting married, until the Taoist priest Huajin bursts into the wedding scene and mistakenly kills the rich family's daughter, all these scenes will be completed in this scenery.

  It was still dark when Jiang Chuan brought him to the scene, although it was early spring, but it was still cold and scary. In the cold wind, almost all the staff were in their positions, and the actress had already put on a thin layer of makeup standing aside - in the center of the set, there was an old wooden table that didn't match the style at all, with incense burner, fruits and a huge roasted suckling pig on it.

  A kitchen knife with a red ribbon tied around it was placed next to the roasted suckling pig.

  When Jiang Chuan arrived, Jiang Luocheng impatiently called him over - before the former could react, he grabbed a knife and handed it to him: "Hurry up and cut, where's Wang Mo? You come over and cut with Jiang Chuan together."

  Jiang Chuan: “……What's going on?”

  Wang Mo walked over with a smile, put his arm around Jiang Chuan's shoulder, and grabbed the kitchen knife together: "It's just to worship and bless the smooth shooting, keep the evil spirits away, it's the same reason why you guys pray to Jesus before filming abroad."

  Jiang Chuan: "......No one abroad makes a movie before worshiping Jesus."

  Wang Mo raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

  The hamster squatting in Jiang Chuan's pocket was also drunk after hearing this conversation. People say that the cultural level of those in the entertainment industry is generally low, and it's indeed because of people like Wang Mo that the average value is lowered, causing others to be affected as well.

  But Wang Mo was still embarrassed and hadn't had enough.

  He nudged Jiang Chuan with his elbow: "Hey, I'm telling you."

  Jiang Chuan: "What's going on?"

  Wang Mo: "Did Luo Xiaomei come find you last night?"

  "Deliver face masks."

  "Oh," Wang Mo said with a mischievous face, "Sending masks in the middle of the night, what a delightful conversation! I'm too embarrassed to even get up and go to the bathroom."

  Jiang Chuan: "Your room doesn't have a toilet?"

  Wang Mo: "......"

  "Why do you two talk so much?"

  At this time, the director teacher also seemed to be listening behind him and couldn't bear it anymore. He slapped Wang Mo and Jiang Chuan on the back of their heads, then walked up, lit the incense, read the words and bowed to the sky, and finally inserted the three incense sticks into the incense burner... Accompanied by the swirling green smoke, Jiang Chuan was also confused and brought by Wang Mo. The two male protagonists used a kitchen knife to cut the suckling pig together, which was roasted until it was crispy and golden yellow, making a "crack" sound. Secretary Little King lit the firecrackers, and the crackling sound of the firecrackers exploded not far from them, the whole scene was chaotic and extremely lively.

  Jiang Chuan's face was full of inexplicable confusion.

  Wang Mo finished cutting the suckling pig, put down the knife, stared at the incense that was burning quickly for a while, and then turned his head to say auspicious words to the director with a smile: "Teacher, this incense is really well-burned, it's hard for us not to have a smooth journey!"

  "This time there are many newcomers, how can it be smooth sailing! You old actors should take good care of them, don't look down on the newcomers, and don't make Director Jiang so angry that he can't sleep at night, I'll just say amen to that."

  Wang Mo heard the words and smiled, the director glared at him, but after hearing the auspicious words, the old man seemed to be quite happy too. Other staff members also came up to say some auspicious words, then the director took out a red envelope and distributed one to each of the staff members present, Jiang Chuan also received one, opened it and saw that there was only one dollar inside.

  "Just for good luck," Fang Yu chimed in, sympathetically explaining to the completely bewildered foreign friend, "Just pretend, with Master Jin's protection, evil spirits won't invade, and you'll be spared from being scolded and injured during rehearsals... and what was it again? Ah yes, act well! Although Jiang Luocheng is a bastard, if you do his play well, when you come down, you'll at least be a second-tier star."

  "Oh."

  Fang Yu blinked and said, "It's also good this way. I remember when I brought Jian Ran to film his first play here too. He was just an extra, a minor role with only one line of dialogue. That fool was so happy, he wanted to translate that one line into eighteen languages..."

  Jiang Chuan thought for a moment and seemed to find that scene quite interesting. He let out a lazy laugh, "Heh".

  "He wasn't as lucky as you, he started out as the leading man in a big director's production, but he was just average, going from playing supporting roles in bad movies to starring in bad movies, and then eventually becoming a supporting actor in slightly better TV dramas... step by step. Fang Yu took out a cigarette, lit it, and narrowed his eyes as he took a deep drag. "Before you knew it, so many years had passed, and just when I thought I was finally going to make it big, I got knocked back down to the starting line... He's lying in the hospital, and I'm back here bringing in new talent."

  Cautiously crouched in Jiang Chuan's pocket, he lifted his hind legs and scratched his face.

  Jiang Chuan put his hand into his pocket and stroked the hamster's ear.

  The hamster's body shook with excitement.

  At the same time, he heard Jiang Chuan say faintly, "He will wake up, and by then it won't be too late."

  "Hmm," Fang Yu extinguished his cigarette, "It's best that way."

  After finishing speaking, he stretched out his hand and pushed Jiang Chuan: "Hurry up and change clothes and make-up, go, go, go. If you're late again, Jiang Luocheng will scold you. Keep the red envelope well, don't throw it away, it's auspicious."

  Jiang Chuan let out an "oh" and turned around to leave.

  As the man walked further and further away, the hamster in his pocket suddenly poked its head out, looking back from the edge of the pocket. The hamster's night vision was quite good, but all it could see was Fang Yu standing alone on the spot, shrouded in shadows. People were passing by around him, but he didn't know what he was thinking about. He paused for a moment, then lit another cigarette, with sparks flying from between his fingers.