Chapter 253

Gu Cheng was somewhat absent-minded during the subsequent activities, but he didn't show it to the outside world, and his stage movements were all completed perfectly.

Especially during the flash mob events; three of the large shopping malls were extremely crowded. After the performances ended, March Sky had to use their wits against the fans, running quickly through corridors and weaving through various small paths.

Everyone else was discovered by fans; only Gu Cheng hid extremely well.

By the time the others finally managed to shake off the fans and get into the car, Gu Cheng had already arrived long ago, making one have to marvel at his escape speed.

However, his teammates who spent every day with him still noticed that he was not in the right state of mind.

Sometimes Gu Cheng would be talking, and then his voice would just trail off. When you looked up, he was distracted.

Chen Lin asked him to grab something that was right next to him, but he had to call Gu Cheng's name several times before he would respond.

During the lunch break, Luo Yi and Yan Yan Xingdong both felt that Gu Cheng's state was going to be bad.

Fortunately, the afternoon performance had no errors.

Now that the flash mob event was over, even the most thick-skinned Chen Lin noticed that Gu Cheng was a bit off.

Chen Lin quietly sent messages to Yan Yan Xingdong and Luo Yi.

【Do you guys feel like Gu Cheng has something on his mind today?】

Yan Yan Xingdong: 【Don't talk, he's annoyed.】

Luo Yi: 【Don't do anything unnecessary, just shut up and be quiet.】

Chen Lin: 【...】

After learning that the so-called love contract had been leaked, Gu Cheng's first reaction was to explain it to Jin Li.

But once he picked up his phone, he didn't know where to start.

He couldn't control what other celebrities wanted to collaborate with him on in private, and it wasn't like he begged Li Li Xunfang to sign a fake love contract with him; it was actually Li Li Xunfang who had requests of others.

But for some reason, he just felt a bit guilty inside.

It was as if he wanted to leave a good impression in front of someone, but didn't expect that person to find out about his past gossip regarding relationships.

Although this gossip wasn't even a real relationship, it was just a bit awkward.

Everyone wants to maintain a perfect image in front of the person they like.

In the evening, March Sky attended the fan meeting hosted by Yu Lin Ling.

Even as top-tier traffic stars, March Sky couldn't avoid the norm; they had to personally sell products and interact with the wealthy fans who liked Yu Lin Ling.

That night, the sales orders for Yu Lin Ling's high-end ready-to-wear clothing climbed steadily. March Sky took photos and shook hands with almost every fan at the scene, their professional attitude fully maximized.

Even the fans who saw it couldn't help but exclaim that they were truly hardworking.

Maintaining a smile for at least three hours, their cheeks were probably stiff, but March Sky showed not a hint of impatience.

The job ended.

March Sky took the nanny van back. Brother Guang wasn't there, so the driver took them back to the dormitory.

Gu Cheng still had scenes to film tomorrow, so they dropped him off at the set first.

Chen Lin had received pointers from his other two teammates and knew that he had been too casual that morning, unintentionally leaking his teammate's privacy.

He spent the whole night building up his mental courage and sent a message to Gu Cheng.

Chen Lin: 【Orange, are you okay?】

Chen Lin: 【Whatever you're hiding in your heart, just tell me. If you don't say anything, I'm starting to panic!】

The phone vibrated a few times. Gu Cheng immediately picked it up to look, staring at the content Chen Lin sent, lost in thought.

This was his first time liking someone, his first time having a crush. He had never pursued a girl before; he had only ever been the one pursued.

But Chen Lin's words reminded him that if there's any doubt, he shouldn't hide it; it's better to just speak openly.

Since he didn't know how to pursue someone, he could only rely on sincerity.

Smart people have smart people's methods, and clumsy people have their own secrets.

So Gu Cheng sent a message to Jin Li.

Gu Cheng: 【Finished filming?】

Jin Li had just finished showering and resting, planning to do a set of practice papers to hypnotize herself into sleep.

Recently, the production team was rushing the schedule, and she had to work overtime filming at night. She hadn't written any papers for a while, let alone started a live stream.

Jin Li insisted on spending half an hour to an hour studying every night before bed. When she had memorized the knowledge points, that was also when she entered dreamland.

Jin Li: 【Finished, just resting. How about you?】

Jin Li glanced at the time; it was already 10 PM.

Jin Li: 【You didn't just finish work, did you?】

Gu Cheng: 【Guessed right. I'm on my way back to the set. I participated in flash mob events in several cities today, and I secretly went to a bookstore along the way.】

Gu Cheng: 【I discovered that the supplementary textbooks used in these cities are all different. I bought some of each; want to do them together later?】

Jin Li: 【Sure!】

Preliminary probing, full marks!

Gu Cheng then proceeded to the next step of probing.

Gu Cheng: 【How did you feel about attending the Yu Lin Ling press conference today?】

Jin Li: 【Pretty good. The scale was huge, and I saw many first-tier stars. It's a pity I didn't stay long before leaving.】

Jin Li: 【When I was leaving, I ran into the designer for Yu Lin Ling. He said he would invite me to try on the new autumn collection next time. It feels like it matches my style well. Do you think the designer was hinting at something?】

Gu Cheng didn't know about this. He pursed his lips slightly, looking at his phone with a very serious expression.

Gu Cheng: 【Not sure. How about I ask the designer for you? I have his WeChat.】

Jin Li: 【Forget it, forget it. Maybe he was just mentioning it casually. If I go asking so eagerly, it might give people a bad impression.】

Chen Lin, who was on the side, saw Gu Cheng's serious expression while looking at his phone. His heart skipped a beat, and he stared down at the chat box with Gu Cheng.

It kept displaying 【The other party is typing...】.

Chen Lin:...

It's over. Orange seems very angry; he's actually going to type such a long message to him.

Is it too late to faint from reading long text?

How should he save his own life?

Chen Lin was sweating with anxiety. Just then, Qi Guan Mingzhu sent a message asking if he was done. Chen Lin's eyes lit up, and he quickly sent a message over, begging Sister Zhen Zhu for help!

Qi Guan Mingzhu: 【Love contract?】

Qi Guan Mingzhu: 【Actually, don't worry. This is all stuff we've played with before. The company previously made us...】

"Love contract?"

Jin Li looked at the few lines of text on her phone and couldn't help but be amused.

She guessed that Gu Cheng must have learned about what Chen Lin leaked, so he specifically came to ask her, but he wasn't comfortable asking directly if she knew, so he chose a roundabout method.

Gu Cheng: 【What's your take on love contracts?】

Jin Li: 【No particular feeling. It's considered normal in the industry. In the past, stars didn't dare to date, but in recent years, netizens suddenly started enjoying "shipping" couples, so there have been many fake couples in the industry.】

Fake couples come in two types. One is telling the public they are dating to let netizens ship them. This involves long-term binding of the two people, usually for over a year.

The other type is for professional needs.

For example, when a drama is airing, the male and female leads will "operate" under the name of a couple, participate in variety shows together, and interact intimately.

But the moment the drama finishes airing, the two will decouple and intentionally avoid suspicion, trying their best not to appear in the same place.

Some stars get too deep into their roles while filming and get the feeling that the other person is their destined lover.

But in reality, this feeling is entirely bestowed by the script; it is fake.

Stars are just shaping that character according to the character image in the script. Even if you fall for the other person, it's just liking the character, not necessarily the star themselves.

To break away from this state of imaginary love, many stars choose to fly somewhere else to travel for two or three months after filming to let their thoughts calm down.

This is being responsible to oneself and responsible to one's acting career.

If a star follows their feelings and becomes a couple with the other person while filming, falling into a passionate romance, that is being irresponsible.

After the passion fades, discovering that you don't actually love the other person will only leave a mess behind.

Gu Cheng read Jin Li's message repeatedly and made a decision amidst his hesitation and struggle.

Gu Cheng: 【A star once asked me if I wanted to hype up a romance, a contract relationship, to be a public screen couple.】

He originally thought Jin Li would ask who it was, but he didn't expect...

Jin Li: 【What a coincidence, me too. I was the one who invited others to see if we could hype it up together. The company made me invite them. They asked for my opinion, and I said okay.】

Gu Cheng:!!!

He had some insomnia that night.

Returning to the hotel booked by the production team, he went online to check the old news about Pink Girls.

The six members of Pink Girls were all very popular at the time, but because Jin Li's health was poor, she didn't accept many interviews.

The media liked to call her "Sick Xi Shi" and spread three rumors of romantic relationships, but Gu Cheng read the news carefully, and those media outlets were just playing word games.

Just because they saw Jin Li was physically weak and helped her up, the media considered it "suspected passionate romance."

And in those few years, Jin Li never publicly revealed who her lover was, nor did she reveal her ideal type to the outside world.

On the contrary, Ji Ji Qinglian and Xi Sister Meng Ze were the ones with more gossip involving male stars.

But Gu Cheng knew that at the very least, they had been single since last year.

The next day.

Gu Cheng arrived at the set with dark circles under his eyes. His skin was fair, making the dark circles look very heavy. The makeup artist covered them with several layers of powder and kept saying to him:

"Young people should also pay attention to their health. Don't push yourself too hard; it'll be a disaster if you ruin your health."

After the male makeup artist finished the makeup, he stepped back a few paces to look at Gu Cheng and couldn't help but shake his head:

"The powder is very heavy. Fortunately, you're just a background board today. Even if you're on camera, it's just long shots; there are no close-up scenes, otherwise, this makeup wouldn't work."

Gu Cheng's expression turned solemn, and he straightened his attitude, saying: "I will adjust my state as soon as possible."

The male makeup artist said again: "I see you've lost weight recently, and your dark circles are heavy. Do you have a habit of drinking? How about taking some kidney supplements or drinking Chinese medicine to clear the heat?"

Gu Cheng quickly shook his head: "I don't drink much; maybe it's just that there have been too many jobs recently."

The makeup artist patted his shoulder: "Alright, I've applied the makeup for now. Let's stop for two hours; I'll see how it adheres and how much oil it produces, then I'll think about how to save it."

This makeup artist was very good at touch-ups; the state of the makeup right after application couldn't compare to the state after his touch-ups.

Gu Cheng also felt his dark circles were a bit heavy, so he sought him out for makeup earlier than before to let him work his magic.

Before the makeup artist left, he thought of something, turned his head back, and said: "If you don't want to drink Chinese medicine to clear heat, just soak goji berries in your thermos and add a few petals of Hangzhou white chrysanthemum. It's very effective for clearing heat."

"Don't you dare get acne on your face because of staying up late and causing internal heat. No matter how good the foundation is, it can't cover the bumps on your face."

Gu Cheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He only stayed up late that one time yesterday.

Sure enough, after becoming a star, a star's body isn't necessarily their own anymore.

He previously saw a news story about a "face genius" from Country H, a star known for his visuals, who got a pimple because of internal heat.

Fans were furious, questioning why he didn't manage his body and skin well, and how he could let a pimple appear on his flawless face.

In the end, it led the star to tear up on the spot, bowing and apologizing for failing his fans.

Gu Cheng didn't feel he had failed his fans, but if he really got a pimple, he would feel he had failed the makeup artist.

"Action!"

Following the director's command, the production team began to operate, and the actors quickly entered their state.

In the bright classroom, the weather was hot, and the ceiling fan hanging above rotated weakly.

Suddenly, a girl slammed the table hard and kicked the table leg with her foot. With a bang, the table fell to the ground.

It was lunch break, and the girl made such a big scene that the drowsy students all raised their heads to look at her.

Only Li Feifei's expression remained unchanged, her head lowered as she continued to do her homework, as if everything was within her expectations.

The girl stood up abruptly and stared fiercely at Li Feifei: "Alright, thinking that just because someone is covering for you, you can ignore people, huh?"

The girl walked over.

Gu Xiude wasn't there. Li Feifei sensed something and quickly hugged Gu Xiude's schoolbag to her chest.

The furious girl saw this, her expression becoming very ugly, but she stopped her steps.

Gu Xiude had declared yesterday that he would protect Li Feifei. The girl didn't dare to hit Li Feifei, only daring to threaten her:

"Do you think you're important to him? He just pities you. Once no one pities you, that will be the end of your world. I will definitely make it so you can't stay in this school!"

"Cut!"

Yan Yan Jianqiao checked the camera shot; the actors' states were all quite good, so he called it a wrap.

They immediately filmed the next scene.

The scenes filmed in the last few days were all transitional, with relatively gentle content.

In the previous month, the production team had finished filming all the intense conflicts. This month, they began transitioning to gentle drama scenes.

Yan Yan Jianqiao had originally been worried that Jin Li might not be able to adapt, but he didn't expect Jin Li to perform even more brilliantly in the gentle drama scenes than before.

That made sense; her personality was naturally peaceful, she was meticulous, and she was good at seeing the big picture through small details.

And in the gentle drama scenes, Gu Xiude, played by Gu Cheng, had more screen time.

Under Li Feifei's repeated attempts to please him, Gu Xiude decided to show her some kindness and announced to the outside world that he would protect her, letting others choose other students to be the "clown."

Gu Xiude didn't love Li Feifei, nor did he pity her; it was more of a mindset of a child teasing a small animal.

He was just purely curious, wanting to see how far Li Feifei could go on her own, or how long she could stay safe in school.

He was already bored with the clown game; he planned to use Li Feifei to play a brand-new game.

The abuser turning into a protector, violence and justice switching at any time—this feeling of walking on the edge, neither black nor white, made Gu Xiude obsessed.

While he was still interested, no one really dared to beat Li Feifei; at most, they would just ostracize and target her.

Because the filming schedule was tight, everyone in the production team was busy, and the usual leisure, chatting, and gossiping activities were all gone.

Gu Cheng had originally wanted to find Jin Li to ask questions during his free time, but he didn't expect Yan Yan Jianqiao to be even more ruthless, giving everyone only two or three minutes of rest after filming each segment, keeping the invisible pressure line in everyone's heart very tight.

In this situation, if you were more leisurely and relaxed than others, you were just asking for trouble.

So Gu Cheng was also focusing on preparing for his scenes, without chatting.

"Action!"

The sound of the clapperboard rang out in the classroom again.

This time it was Gu Cheng's scene. He sat behind Li Feifei, bored, kicking her chair from time to time.

Li Feifei was writing something. Gu Xiude was curious and wanted to see, so he poked his head out.

Li Feifei quickly covered it up.

Gu Xiude interacted with her, snatched the notebook away, and only then discovered she was writing down accounts.

Gu Xiude curled his lips, threw the diary back, and said: "Boring."

He walked forward, not knowing what he was thinking, and turned his head to say: "Don't you have no money to eat? Keep up."

Other students in the classroom looked over with strange eyes. Li Feifei shrank her body, lowered her head timidly, and walked out with him.

"Cut!!"

Yan Yan Jianqiao repeatedly looked at the image in the camera, saying neither good nor bad, his expression somewhat solemn.

After a long while, he said: "Rest for two minutes, continue filming the next scene."

This meant it passed in one take.

But because the expression on his face was too solemn, it made the staff and Gu Cheng feel a bit nervous.

Perhaps it was filmed too briefly, so he couldn't judge whether it needed to be re-filmed and planned to film more to see?

This filming went on for ten consecutive scenes of campus settings. Gu Cheng and Jin Li seemed to influence each other, their efficiency was incredibly high, and the staff became more energetic as they worked.

When they were setting up the scene, they suddenly thought of one thing: at this rate, they shouldn't need to work overtime tonight.

Thinking of this, everyone worked even harder.

"Cut!!"

It wasn't until the sunset glow descended on the classroom, no longer suitable for the background in the segment, that Yan Yan Jianqiao stopped filming.

He held a megaphone and shouted: "We can wrap up! Everyone put all the props away, no overtime tonight!"

As soon as these words were out, joyful smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

It's been too hard!

This is the first time in over a month of filming that they haven't had to work overtime.

"Gu Cheng, come here for a second."

Yan Yan Jianqiao called him over, and his first words were: "You aren't very nervous today, and your performance is very natural. Did you find the trick?"

Gu Cheng was somewhat bewildered.

He didn't know if his state was good or bad; as a new actor, he couldn't judge at all.

He just felt that the director rarely cut his scenes during today's filming.

Yan Yan Jianqiao saw him like this and understood that he had just stumbled upon it.

He urged: "Maintain today's state. Don't be as nervous as before, always overly concerned with Jin Li's performance. You used to look at her every time you finished acting, wanting to get her approval, but today's performance was very good."

"Very good?" Gu Cheng asked back.

Yan Yan Jianqiao nodded: "At least you aren't paying so much attention to Jin Li anymore, and you've put more of your heart into the performance."

"Jin Li's acting skills are certainly better than yours, but you can't be too humble and learn everything from her."

"Before, when you acted with Jian Jian Liting, you didn't care about her at all, full of arrogance. I was thinking at the time, what if you two don't have any sparks in your emotional scenes?"

"This is, after all, a hidden plot line; the audience might not get it, but the script needs to be filmed. Later, when it changed to acting with Jin Li, you had chemistry, but you also lost that arrogance."

Yan Yan Jianqiao let out a long sigh of relief, "It seems taking a day off to rest was useful. Even though you were busy running around for jobs, your state has adjusted. Keep it up in the future."

Gu Cheng stayed where he was, pondering today's state.

Actually, he still cared quite a bit about Jin Li. The director was right; he wanted to get Jin Li's approval regarding his acting skills.

But because he cared more about the love contract incident, his mind wasn't entirely focused on acting.

But was it because of this that his acting state became even better?

Is excessive concern not as good as appropriate relaxation?

Gu Cheng vaguely understood something.

Returning to the hotel to rest at night, he took the initiative to video call Jin Li.

No filming tonight, they finally had some time to study.

But compared to studying, Gu Cheng wanted to know who Jin Li had sent a love contract invitation to, and did it succeed?

He didn't find it in the news, so it probably didn't succeed, but Gu Cheng wanted to confirm it again.

Hearing Gu Cheng's question, Jin Li glanced at him, as if she could see the thoughts in his heart through the phone screen.

Gu Cheng's expression didn't change, but his fist was quietly clenched, and his heart was beating a bit fast.

In the silence of the atmosphere, Gu Cheng said: "If it's not convenient to tell me, then forget—"

A hint of a smile flashed in Jin Li's eyes, and she said unhurriedly: "Your expression was very serious when you connected the video. I thought something had happened to you, but it turns out it's about the love contract."

She drew out her tone, teasingly, and then quickly delivered the final verdict.

"There's nothing inconvenient about it. The company sent out a love contract invitation on my behalf, wanting to advance my fame, but it was rejected by the other party."

"That male star was also in the rising stage of his career and didn't want to hype up scandals. I won't reveal who it was specifically. The Pink Girls at that time had no choice; the company did many things to make us popular."

"If we had too many ideas, we would only be quickly abandoned. The reason we were able to become popular back then was precisely because we were obedient enough, working hard without complaint while being exploited."

Many young artists today just have too many ideas.

They haven't even debuted for two years, filmed an idol drama that became a minor hit, and they want the company to pile resources on them.

Fantasizing about beating the veterans and kicking the newcomers, dominating all top-tier resources, leaping to become the top star, with the entire entertainment industry under their feet.

But ask them to do something, and they think it's beneath them; ask them to participate in a job, and they think it's not high-class enough; ask them to hype up a scandal, and they think the woman isn't popular enough...

As long as the methods are legal, they are all ways to achieve success.

But if you are picky about those methods, don't blame the company for not giving you opportunities.

The company actually doesn't mind if an artist is stupid; they are just afraid the artist has too many ideas.

Gu Cheng said: "I thought you would be repulsed by contract relationships and wouldn't like hyping fake CP."

Jin Li: "I indeed don't like it, but the team needed popularity at that time, and appropriate scandals could increase exposure."

"We were very short on popularity when we first debuted. We didn't sell many copies of our first record, and it wasn't until our second record that things got better."

"The current environment is also much more tolerant than in the past. In the past, when hyping scandals, netizens would watch and scold, but now some stars date, and there are still a bunch of people shipping them."

"Actors are no longer limited to being married or unmarried; some married stars can still film idol dramas just the same. The current era is quite good."

Gu Cheng recalled the news he searched for yesterday; the rise of Pink Girls wasn't smooth, and they had also experienced being ignored by everyone.

After becoming famous, they were even more entangled by paparazzi, and because the paparazzi followed their car too closely, they almost got into a car accident.

He said earnestly: "The era is getting better and better, Jin Li, and you will also get better and better."

Jin Li raised her eyes to meet his dark, deep eyes. That face was extraordinarily handsome, and his expression was focused and firm.

She couldn't help but laugh: "Mm, we will all get better and better."

Jin Li paused and continued: "In order to better contribute to the country, shall we write a few sets of papers tonight?"

Gu Cheng took a breath, then quickly let it out.

He pretended to be fierce and said: "Fight to the dawn!"