A Contemptuous Beauty

Cheng Yan locked himself up at home to read the script and the original novel.

He enjoyed reading books. In the past, as long as he was shooting an adaptation of a novel, no matter what kind of supporting role or extra he played, he would definitely read the original work. Not to mention, he had a leading role this time. That being said, though they called it a leading role, and the screen time for the four protagonists in the script were relatively even, Cheng Yan immediately understood that he was still a male supporting role after reading the novel. Although the number of lines wasn’t small, in terms of the ending–his secret love for the heroine failed to come to fruition–he still could not be considered a real male lead.

To summarize, he was playing a melancholy, pure-hearted character, gentle but slightly rebellious. Even though it wasn’t the first male lead, it was an appealing character. Cheng Yan completely understood why Yang-laoshi wanted to fight for this role–it was too attractive to women of all ages, young girls and aunts alike.

He read the script cover to cover several times. It wasn’t a difficult script, and within two days, Cheng Yan had already memorized many of his lines.

When the phone rang, he was lying on the sofa. His hand shook, and he almost tore the book.

It was Xia Shaoqian’s unique ringtone, and it was the first time it rang since he set it.

Cheng Yan hurriedly threw down the book, and waited for the ring to sound for another three or four seconds before picking up.

“Mr. Xia.”

“I heard that you got a lead role.”

Xia Shaoqian’s voice sounded even more… Cheng Yan didn’t know how to describe it.

“Ah…” Cheng Yan ruffled his hair, “Originally, I should have said thank you as soon as I got the news.”

“Then why didn’t you call me?” Xia Shaoqian’s question sounded very relaxed.

Cheng Yan was at a loss for words for a while. He didn’t know if Xia Shaoqian meant it as a joke, or if he really wanted him to call.

“Next time I will pay attention.”

Even through the phone, Cheng Yan felt a strong electric signal of contemplation — Xia Shaoqian’s silence must mean that he was thinking!

Cheng Yan felt a chill again.

“Don’t be so perfunctory toward me.” Sure enough, after the silence, Xia Shaoqian’s voice was a little tighter than before, “And don’t be so cautious. Was it Yang Shibin who told you to not take the initiative to contact me? Or do you like the fact that there’s always someone else between us?”

Cheng Yan was silent. But his silence was repressed slander[1], and he was sure that Xia Shaoqian couldn’t feel this kind of electric signal.

[1] 腹诽, lit. “abdominal defamation”. In the past (in imperial China), there was a law against this type of silent “defamation” against the Emperor, which was considered a type of lèse-majesté. An official could be executed if the Emperor thought they were criticizing the Emperor in their head.

Regardless of whether they were separated by another person or not, the reality couldn’t be changed. Don’t make it seem like they are actually dating, alright!

He mumbled a few words, promising to call Xia Shaoqian if there was anything else in the future, and only then did he muddle through this. Then Xia Shaoqian asked, “What are you doing?”

Cheng Yan rolled on the floor laughing.

If his ex-boyfriend was talking nonsense like that, he would have hung up on the phone long ago.

But the patron was different. The patron was the boss, he had to do whatever he liked.

In other words, he had to cater to Xia Shaoqian’s needs and act as a good lover.

Cheng Yan softly shouted in his heart, “One, two, three!”

Then he said, “I’m reciting lines”.

“Is it difficult?”

“Reciting lines? It’s not difficult, as long as you can memorize it, it’s fine. But performing is another matter.”

“I don’t understand at all.”

“The things you understand are more important.”

After three seconds of silence, Cheng Yan took the initiative to ask, “Do you want to hear a few lines?”

“Sure.”

Cheng Yan suddenly felt that he was very smart. He didn’t need to use his brain to talk, he could recite until Xia Shaoqian got tired of hearing it.

He dragged over the script, selected a few lines that he thought were good, and read them out, but Xia Shaoqian listened patiently and did not interrupt him.

“I will always treat you sincerely, in my own way…” This line is Cheng Yan’s favorite line, and when he said it, his tone unconsciously became a little softer.

“In what way?” Xia Shaoqian said suddenly.

Cheng Yan was stunned. He didn’t expect Xia Shaoqian to listen carefully, let alone ask the same question as the heroine.

“I will guard you silently and watch you from afar, as long as you can live well.” Cheng Yan read the next few lines. The artistic conception of this line was not as good as in the the novel. The answer here in the novel was “I can’t say”, maintaining the ambiguity from beginning to end. However, the screenwriter probably felt that in a TV drama, it would be more exciting to say it directly.

After hearing such a clichéd line, Xia Shaoqian must be disgusted! Cheng Yan thought in a slightly distorted way.

After a brief pause, Xia Shaoqian said in a calm voice–

“It’s good as long as you stay with me.”

There was suddenly thunder and lightning in Cheng Yan’s heart, what was he doing! What were they doing! Competing to see who could say more shameless lines!????????

Probably Xia Shaoqian also felt that it was too embarrassing, so he cleared his throat on the other end of the phone, “Why don’t you ask me what I’m doing?”

Cheng Yan immediately asked, “What is Mr. Xia doing?”

“I am in a meeting.”

“A meeting?” Cheng Yan glanced at the alarm clock, it was almost 11 o’clock.

“A five-minute break in the middle of the meeting, I wanted to find someone to talk to and relax.”

Cheng Yan suddenly felt something zap his stomach, and he asked in a low voice, “Then… have you relaxed?”

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Xia Shaoqian’s voice seemed to be smiling, “Yes. Thank you.”

After hanging up, Cheng Yan checked the call time. It was exactly five minutes.

He was stunned for a moment, threw away the script, threw himself on the bed, covered his head and fell asleep.

On the day of the development meeting, Cheng Yan put on a V-neck navy blue T-shirt, a casual white blazer, paired with jeans and sneakers, and he had a youthful look. Fangfang gritted her teeth while putting on makeup for him, “After taking photos today, let’s see who will still say you’re an old yellow melon painted green! You look much younger than that Lin Yinqi! That rough and burly[2] guy…”

[2] lit. “five big, three thick”, referring to five big, “big hands, big feet, big ears, wide shoulders, and wide hips”, three thick, “thick waist, thick legs, and thick neck”. Basically, a stout and burly person.

Fangfang was his other assistant, who always stood on the side of her own people unconditionally.

Lin Yinqi was the first male protagonist, with a relatively strong physique. His shoulder width, height, and overall measurements looked a circle bigger than Cheng Yan.

As for pretending to be tender, it was just people on the internet talking. Originally, Cheng Yan didn’t have a lot of diehard fans, and they couldn’t match the strength of the fans of the original work.

“That’s enough, that’s enough, don’t chatter stupidly. If it spreads out, how can Cheng Yan stay in the group?” Xiao Hu stopped Fangfang, taking a silver bracelet out from his bag for Cheng Yan to put on.

Cheng Yan comforted Fangfang, “Don’t take what others say to heart, it’s fine as long as we do our best.”

As soon as Fangfang left the dressing room, Xiao Hu said, “You pampered her like this before?”

Cheng Yan heard his overtones, “Before what?”

Xiao Hu shook his head, “Nothing.”

Cheng Yan didn’t mention it anymore. He actually understood what Xiao Hu meant– he didn’t tell Fangfang how he got the role, and his attitude towards Fangfang also became more and more easy-going, just because he didn’t want her to be disappointed after knowing the truth.

Assistants had a lot of turnover, and there were even fewer girls who could persist. Fangfang had been following him for the past few years. To him, she was no longer just a little assistant.

But facts are always facts, and it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered.

When the four leading actors finally appeared together in front of the stage, the cameras flashed together.

Cheng Yan smiled at the reporters.

Without any self-suggestions or reminders, he smiled very naturally. He thought all this would weigh heavily on him, but it wasn’t until he stood there that he realized that lifting his chin wasn’t hard at all, and lowering it wasn’t particularly easy.

As soon as he saw Xia Shaoqian that night, he took the initiative to rush forward, giving to him the most red-hot experience.

[1] 腹诽, lit. “abdominal defamation”. In the past (in imperial China), there was a law against this type of silent “defamation” against the Emperor, which was considered a type of lèse-majesté. An official could be executed if the Emperor thought they were criticizing the Emperor in their head.
[2] lit. “five big, three thick”, referring to five big, “big hands, big feet, big ears, wide shoulders, and wide hips”, three thick, “thick waist, thick legs, and thick neck”. Basically, a stout and burly person.