Heart has Ling Xi

Chapter 12 Li-ge

"Ruifeng, did you get the feeling this time?" With an awkward expression, the deputy director approached An Ruifeng and inquired. A large group of agents and assistants stood behind An Ruifeng, looking more intimidating than any actor in the room.

When the assistant director went to "invite" him personally, the other actors cast a faintly discernible obscure glance at him. Some of them were standing in groups of three or five, while others sat alone in a corner. An invisible wall appeared to divide the entire set into two teams of incompatible people.

An Ruifeng had been leaning on the recliner with his eyes closed, trying to figure out the character's mood. He clutched the script with both hands. He quickly opened his eyes and sat upright after hearing the deputy director's voice.

He took a brief pause before opening his mouth and saying, "Almost."

Upon hearing his response, several actors nearby exchanged snide smiles. Xu Zhiqiang, who was standing behind An Ruifeng, noticed the small movements between them, and his face was very ugly. Everyone here had debuted for a lot longer than An Ruifeng. For An Ruifeng, a semi-newcomer who had recently transitioned from the TV drama circle to the movie circle, everyone was a senior he had to work hard to catch up with.

"Then let's do it again." The deputy director spoke quickly. An Ruifeng nodded and walked to the center of the set, saying, "I'm sorry to bother you." He was dressed in all black from head to toe, and his muscular body was emphasized by the tight clothing. Despite the fact that he was in the dark[1], he was so dazzling that he couldn't be ignored.

In comparison to him, the man who stood opposite him to enact the scene with him was unremarkable. He was the film's second male lead, and his name was Wang Li Li. When each word was considered individually, this name was very masculine, but when put together, it was extremely embarrassing[2]. As a result, everyone had a tacit understanding of calling him "Brother Li". Li-ge was a well-known golden male partner. He was in his forties, but he appeared to be in his early thirties. He was "down to earth". In his first few years in the film industry, he could only play insignificant minor roles. He had grown in popularity in recent years, but due to his true age, he could only play supporting roles.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, Li-ge." An Ruifeng greeted him with humility.

"En." Li-ge remained silent.

"Heroic Thief Saga" was a thoroughly "macho" film with a plethora of male characters. The story was set in the late years of the Republic of China. War was raging at the time, and people's lives were miserable. Some Academy of Classical Learning students were concerned about saving the common people, others were unwilling to face the gunfire directly, and still others were enjoying the pleasures of life as the descendants of warlords and moneybags... It was in this small academy that various personalities and points of view were born, who fought openly and secretly. The story was thrilling.

An Ruifeng, who played the male lead, was originally an impoverished student with excellent grades. He was dissatisfied with China's social status quo. Every night, he became a phantom thief, robbing the rich and helping the poor. On one of his nightly adventures, he accidentally stole a military secret order from a prostitute's benefactor, which led to his death...

The second male lead played by Li-ge was a small team leader under a certain warlord. He was a typical rural student who was sent to the Academy to study "at public expense[3]." He met and quickly became friends with the male protagonist. However, after two days of peace[4], he received an appointment letter from the top. He was given a team of soldiers and told to apprehend the phantom thief in the city.

In the nighttime scene being filmed, the team leader blocked the thief in the theater. After a fierce battle, the thief inflicted a large wound on the team leader's chest due to his superior skills, but instead of pursuing victory, he chose to turn around and flee. Before escaping, the thief turned around and gave the other party a long look before departing solemnly.

It was during this scene where the thief turned and looked back, An Ruifeng NG fifteen times. The scene had no dialogues. It was entirely based on body language. An Ruifeng thought he was well-honed, but he couldn't express the right emotions in this scene.

An Ruifeng had been completely suppressed and beaten by Li-ge at the start—we're not talking about the action scenes here, but rather the emotional ones. Li-ge used to be a drama[5] actor, and neither his dialogue delivery nor his acting abilities could be matched by An Ruifeng. He rarely spoke during the day, but as soon as he was in front of the camera, he transformed into a completely different person.

An Ruifeng's daytime scenes depicted a carefree young man who was a ray of light at the academy. This was very close to his original image, and acting was a breeze. But at night, he transformed into a heroic thief filled with hatred towards society. This level of maturity and depth was beyond his years, and he struggled to keep it under control.

And he happened to meet Li-ge, who was a fantastic actor. He practiced extremely hard but had little success.

He failed to express the right emotions again, and the scene was another NG. The director was enraged and went to take a rest. Before leaving, he told the deputy director harshly, "If you can't shoot this scene tonight, no one is allowed to sleep."

The other actors only had a few lines and actions. They could find a place to take a quick break in the gap between NGs, but An Ruifeng and Li-ge, as the two protagonists of this scene, couldn't rest at all.

Li-ge accompanied An Ruifeng's NG sixteen times before finally finishing the scene. He didn't complain from start to finish. When the other actors realized they could go back to sleep, they almost dispersed as if fleeing. Only Li-ge smoked while leaning against the corner. The cigarette butts at his feet had been dropped while he was smoking in between takes.

An Ruifeng rushed over to speak with him when he saw this. He'd been on the crew for more than a month, but he didn't know anyone. He was aware that the other actors whispered behind his back that he was reliant on his looks and popularity to land the role. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for a TV idol like him, who could only play "handsome guy," to land the lead role in his first feature film. These words were overheard by the little assistant who was standing in a corner. Xu Zhiqiang initially refused to let her say it, but she still told An Ruifeng in private. She was young and smitten with actors like a religious fanatic, so she couldn't stand even a hint of their slander.

Li-ge was the only one who had never taken part in the gossiping behind their backs.

He was quiet and never argued. Xu Zhiqiang concluded that he was a very decent person and deserving of An Ruifeng's friendship.

When Li-ge saw An Ruifeng approaching, he tossed the cigarette butt in his hand and carefully stamped it out with his feet, knowing that Ruifeng didn't smoke and wasn’t allowed to smell the smoke[6]. He paused for a moment before pulling a piece of toilet paper from his pocket, squatting down, and carefully picking the cigarette butt into the tissue.

An Ruifeng knelt down to assist him. Li-ge had just finished a full pack of cigarettes. By the light of the phone screen, the two of them looked for a while, and after collecting all of the cigarette butts, Li-ge rolled the tissues into a ball and tossed them into a nearby trash can.

Li-ge didn't like to talk, and An Ruifeng couldn't pique his interest after a long search for a topic. After a while, realizing there was no way, An Ruifeng simply praised Li-ge’s acting abilities.

Li-ge finally responded this time. He glanced at An Ruifeng indifferently and gave an irrelevant response: "Do you know why I'm so good at acting?—You might think I've only played supporting roles in movies for the past ten years, but each of my roles is cut out separately. Each one is longer than any series you've ever appeared in."

    ※※※

Despite the fact that he had only been on the set for half a month, An Ruifeng was more exhausted than after filming an entire TV series. He had debuted in a TV series. Aside from middle-aged aunties, the TV series' target audience consisted of young girls. He didn’t need much acting skills. He could easily gain fans as long as he looked good and projected a positive image. He was from a well-known entertainment company, had a fantastic agent, and had the most popular mixed-race appearance. In the three years since his debut, he had received very few negative comments. He was the center of attention no matter which crew he joined.

But now he was inferior to these actors who had honed their craft on the movie set.

He stated that he wanted to challenge himself and subvert the image of the domineering president, handsome student, period costume Mr. Perfect...etc., so he requested that he play a heroic thief with a background in the Republic of China. But unfortunately, he was a terrible actor. Xu Zhiqiang asked him to calm down, but he became increasingly agitated.

It was late at night and he was exhausted, but An Ruifeng lay in bed unable to sleep.

He was gazing out the window at the moon when the phone beside his pillow rang. The sound was very clear in the quiet room. He checked his phone and saw that the words Ling Xi were clearly written in the sender's column.

Ling Xi: It's so late, you should have fallen asleep? I have a surprise for you. I keep my promises╰(*°▽°*)╯

An Ruifeng laughed as he saw the lively expression at the end of the sentence. He imagined the cute expression on Ling Xi's silly face, which made him feel very good, and the frustration he had just received was pushed to the back of his mind.

When he pulled the message down, he saw Ling Xi's text message, followed by a photo of salmon sushi. The white meat layered with fat had a clear and distinct boundary on the light orange fish. The flesh was bright and clean, and it contrasted beautifully with the background light. It made people move their mouths to feed just by looking at it.

An Ruifeng: What exactly is this? Late-night newspaper[7]?

He portrayed a phantom thief who was a poor student during difficult times. His character was thin, so he went on a diet before filming. He couldn't afford to gain any weight now that the crew was officially filming. Now that he had seen such a mouth-watering food photo from Ling Xi, his stomach let out a very inconsiderate growl.

Ling Xi: Σ(っ°Д °;)っ You haven’t fallen asleep yet?!

An Ruifeng: Ah! No, I just finished shooting the nighttime scenes. How about you? Did you just finish your meal?

Ling Xi: No no no... Look at it again.

He sent another picture. When the salmon and caviar sushi were placed side by side in the photo, the temptation was doubled.

An Ruifeng: Oh! They are ready? Ling Xi, you can switch to mass production. You'll undoubtedly outperform your hard-earned album royalties.

Yes, the two sushi in the photos were created by Ling Xi himself as simulated sushi suitcase covers. An Ruifeng praised Ling Xi in front of the camera when they first met, and joked that Ling Xi would design a suitcase cover for him. Later, when he was preoccupied with other matters, he abandoned the matter. Ling Xi had unexpectedly kept it in mind, and had even worked late into the night for the suitcase.

Ling Xi: No, as a dignified sushi master, I only make sushi for people I admire √

An Ruifeng: So I’m the person you admire?

Ling Xi: More than that, people admire us.

An Ruifeng returned a message with a bitter smile: If you know how I've been feeling in the crew recently, you won't admire me...

He told Ling Xi about the setbacks he had encountered in his work, such as how he felt pressured in the face of his seniors, and how it was said he relied on his looks and popularity to get the lead role, how he worked hard to try and catch up, and how he worried that he would never catch up......

An Ruifeng: Do you still admire me?

Ling Xi replied: Of course! People who are willing to work hard are certainly worthy of admiration ah.

An Ruifeng's heart warmed up as he read this sentence on the screen. He received a cold reception from the crew and was acutely aware of the disparity between himself and others. Ling Xi, on the other hand, saw him as a shining star and enthusiastically followed him. Ling Xi, An Ruifeng felt, was like a little sun full of positive energy at this time. He wished he could hold it in his arms and feel the warmth it brought to his heart.

Ling Xi: By the way, I don't know what the theme of your movie is.

An Ruifeng: This time I'm acting in a movie about a thief…

In a few words, he set the scene for the story.

Ling Xi: The protagonist is a student by day and a phantom thief by night? His classmate is the one responsible for arresting him?... Why does this setting feel like a Sakura Country[8] manhua[9]?

An Ruifeng: When you say that, it's true that it's a little similar.

Ling Xi: Speaking of which, the manhua's protagonist was my first love. I had to pause and kiss the robber's face every time the scene of the thief appeared on TV.

An Ruifeng’s heart was suddenly in a mess: That phantom thief is your first love?

He was a handsome man in the entertainment industry. He’d heard all kinds of hints more than once. He used to be able to talk and laugh without changing his expression. This time, however, he felt a little hot and impatient.

Ling Xi: Yes. Are you very surprised?

An Ruifeng: I’m really surprised.

He had no idea Ling Xi would have the courage to come out to himself so openly. However, there were very few straight men in the entertainment industry. Ling Xi's personality was not suited to caring for girls, but rather to being cared for by men. [tl: Author-sama, this is way too much of a generalization. And why can't a woman take care of Ling Xi? ] 

Ling Xi: Isn’t "Mysterious Thief Saint Tail[10]" the first love of many elementary school boys?

An Ruifeng: ...

He silently deleted the words "Phantom Thief Kid[11]" on the screen.

What hint? He was the one that really thought too much.

Footnotes:

[1] In a difficult situation. While hei and hei se both mean black, hei an means dark/darkness. The sentence “he was in the dark” is a word play. Kinda like saying “He was in black”. “In black” refers to being dressed in black, but it can also be read as “inside darkness”.

[2] The name translates to “King Lili”. Lili makes one think of “Lily”, right? Lili is generally a name for girls with the character 莉=jasmine or 丽=beautiful. 

As for Wang Li Li, Wang=King. The two “Li” characters are different. First character is 立 which can mean to stand; to set up; to establish; to lay down; to draw up; at once. The second character is 力 which can mean power; force; strength; ability; strenuously. All the characters are associated with masculinity.  

[3] Scholarship.

[4] Not literally. A short time.

[5] Drama here refers to theater. Example - Broadway.

[6] He’s probably allergic.

[7] An internet buzzword. It refers to late night food shows accompanied by a variety of food pictures, making people drool… also called “revenge society”. I'm looking at you, YouTube! You're the devil incarnate, recommending food clips late at night! Do you know what eating chips and chocolate before bedtime does?! 

[8] Japan.

[9] Japanese manga.

[10] A manga and anime series.

[11] Also a manga and anime series. I don’t know if the character is gay. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯