Reborn as a Substitute

Ji Yueming was serving food in the kitchen, looking back now and then to laugh.

All three young men at the dinner table were a little absent-minded. Except for Ji Sheng who responded from time to time, Xie Xuanming and Sheng Kongzhi were silent, their minds full of hot search entries.

#Ji Sheng don’t make me act#

#Sheng Kongzhi acting idol#

The comments under the two hot searches were very exciting. Sheng Kongzhi’s fans and Ji Sheng’s fans had been tearing each other apart for many days, openly and secretly accusing each other’s idol of grabbing the rumoured resources for the “web drama production”.

Now that Ji Sheng’s recording came out, denying the possibility of him taking the role, coupled with the hot search hints with Sheng Kongzhi’s name, Sheng Kongzhi’s fans breathed a sigh of relief and immediately started taunting.

[Ji Sheng’s fans are still licking the pie, you guys said something about being hot, don’t make me act, right, respect the right idea and see you later!]

[The second place is not as good as the first place, so  just play drums honestly for the rest of your life, haha, laughing to death]

[Ji Sheng makes it sound like he can act if he just wants to, but with his looks, who would want him?]

Ji Sheng’s fans naturally couldn’t swallow it, so after a short period of depression, they rallied up and fought back bravely.

[Listen to the recording, he (loud and clear) rejected the resources delivered to his door. My baby has a clear goal. Instead, look at Water Army King Sheng, picking up the resources that others didn’t want. Don’t you think it’s low?]

[Ji Sheng knows what is called the spirit of the contract. Acting and touring collide, so he chooses the tour. On the other hand, a certain water army emperor on his way to become a third-rate actor, does he still remember that he is a musician? Is the band easy to use as a springboard? What does he take other members for?]

[……]

The two sides argued and ranted, the battle spreading endlessly, but was temporarily isolated from the dining table at Ji Sheng’s house.

Or perhaps not.

Ji Sheng lowered his head and replied to a few messages from the company.

Naturally, it was impossible for Li Tan to leak the recording on hot search, so it could only be telephone wire.

The police were involved in the investigation, and Qingchu also issued a statement.

However, in the past two days, the news had been pressed to the bottom of the hot search, far from keeping up with the popularity of the recording, and not even a fraction of the buzz going in Sheng Kongzhi’s hot search.

Ji Sheng clicked on Weibo and took another look at the hot search list.

#Sheng Kongzhi acting idol#

Sandwiched between the advertising space and the announcement of a celebrity romance, it looked particularly boring.

At this point, this kind of topic was obviously bought.

Everyone knew what the meaning behind it was.

Ji Sheng rubbed his fingers on the phone screen twice and opened his mouth to speak, but was suddenly interrupted.

“Xiao Sheng, come here and help!” Ji Yueming shouted from the kitchen. 

“Coming!” Ji Sheng put down his phone, turned around and hurried over.

Only Sheng Kongzhi and Xie Xuanming were left at the dining table.

Xie Xuanming was originally looking at his mobile phone, but after Ji Sheng left, he gently placed the mobile phone on the table.

There was a soft sound, as if a curtain of false peace was completely torn off.

“Why does Xiao Xie come to Xiao Sheng’s house for dinner?” Sheng Kongzhi smiled, taking the lead, “I didn’t know you were actually such a clingy type.”

“Just coming to a friend’s house to have a meal.” Xie Xuanming said lightly, “I also didn’t know that you were this type of person who likes to pick up the leftovers.”

He repeated sarcastic words of Ji Sheng’s fans and Sheng Kongzhi’s smile faltered slightly.

Xie Xuanming looked at him coldly: “That web drama that originally approached Ji Sheng, you’re going to take it, right?”

Sheng Kongzhi stopped smiling: “What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean much. Brother Ji doesn’t want to act, but Li Tan certainly isn’t willing to give up the resources he has. You are the only two famous artists in Qingchu, and the role fits you…” Xie Xuanming said, raising his eyes to stare at Sheng Kongzhi, “It’s just that I didn’t expect you would make such a big show in order to take over this drama.”

“I didn’t buy the hot search.” Sheng Kongzhi’s face looked unsightly.

“So you know this thing about the hot search?” Xie Xuanming said through the gritted teeth.

“……” Sheng Kongzhi’s expression sank, “It’s none of your business.”

He confronted Xie Xuanming sullenly, the usually gentle light in his eyes becoming sharp, cutting like a laser. For his part, Xie Xuanming’s eyes were wide open, his pitch-black pupils like black holes, receiving all the attacks without a ripple.

“Dinner’s ready! Dinner’s ready!”

Ji Yueming and Ji Sheng came out one after another with the plates; Sheng Kongzhi lowered his eyes while Xie Xuanming leaned back on the chair, and the tit-for-tat atmosphere quietly melted away.

“What’s for dinner  today? It smells so good.” Sheng Kongzhi raised his head and asked Ji Yueming with a smile.

Xie Xuanming also said to Ji Sheng, who put down the dishes and chopsticks, “Thank you.”

The two of them tacitly buried their contradictions.

The meal went well. Ji Yueming and Ji Sheng were both talkative people, so they chatted back and forth non-stop. When it came to funny points, Sheng Kongzhi and Xie Xuanming would also smile cooperatively. The atmosphere at the dinner table could be regarded as harmonious.

When the plates were almost empty, Ji Yueming went out to answer a phone call and the three of them were left at the table. Ji Sheng told a joke. Xie Xuanming and Sheng Kongzhi supported him as usual. After they finished laughing, the dinner table fell silent again.

Sheng Kongzhi was quiet for a while, then said to Ji Sheng, “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Xie Xuanming raised his eyes, scanned him sharply for a second, then turned to look at Ji Sheng.

Ji Sheng chewed on the ends of his chopsticks, not looking at anyone.

“There’s something… you want to go into acting?”

“I want to.” Sheng Kongzhi replied without much hesitation, and added, “I really want my parents to see me on the screen.”

Sheng Kongzhi’s parents divorced when he was a child and didn’t even see him during the New Year holidays. Their attitude towards Sheng Kongzhi was lukewarm. However, the two of them were surprisingly consistent in their attitudes towards Sheng Kongzhi’s career planning —— they did not approve of him taking the path of the entertainment industry.

Ji Sheng let out a “hmm” and buried his head in drinking his soup.

Sheng Kongzhi watched Ji Sheng absent-mindedly chew on non-existent food, thinking that he was going to ask questions like “What about the tour” next… But he didn’t, in the end.

Ji Sheng swallowed the soup, rubbed his stomach and said, “Then go.”

Sheng Kongzhi smiled, and this time his smile reached to the bottoms of his eyes. He stretched out his hand and rubbed Ji Sheng’s head: “Okay.”

Xie Xuanming looked away, quietly chopping the shallow layer of rice at the bottom of his bowl.

The warm atmosphere between Sheng Kongzhi and Ji Sheng was maintained until Ji Sheng received a phone call from Li Tan just after the three of them had said goodbye to Ji Yueming and Ji Sheng had closed the door.

“You are really doing something stupid now!“ Li Tan was obviously pissed off. Even though it was not Ji Sheng’s responsibility, he still scolded him, “This is a hot search. Which movie will be happy to invite you in the future? You are considered useless in acting!”

“Did I want to be on the hot search? Did I release the recording?” Being shouted at, Ji Sheng was also angry, “I didn’t want to act in the first place…”

“Childish!” Li Tan angrily scolded, “I usually spoil you too much, which star in the domestic entertainment does not act? How can you earn money if you don’t act! You’re twenty-two! Think about how long you can survive munching off your fans. You are on your own!”

Li Tan hung up the phone.

Ji Sheng held the phone in his hand, silent for a long time.

The corridor was quiet. Xie Xuanming and Sheng Kongzhi listened to the conversation between the two.

Sheng Kongzhi took a step forward, put his hand on Ji Sheng’s shoulder and whispered, “Go back to the company tonight and apologise to Brother Tan. Brother Tan is just talking fiercely, he won’t actually abandon you.”

“Where am I wrong?” It was a rare occasion for Ji Sheng to be choked on words, “Was I wrong for not foreseeing that someone was eavesdropping? Or was I wrong for truthfully expressing my thoughts?”

“That…” Sheng Kongzhi hesitated for a moment and added in a low voice, “Anyway, you should go back to the company and explain to Brother Tan. It’s good that you haven’t made any arrangements for tonight…”

“Brother Ji, do you want to go to the filming site to have a look?” Xie Xuanming, who had been watching from the sidelines, asked unexpectedly.

“Filming site?” Both of them were attracted by his words and turned their heads to him.

“Why do you want to go to the filming site? Is there a reason to disturb people filming in the middle of the night?” Sheng Kongzhi’s face didn’t look good.

“Nothing to disturb, we’re filming a group scene today. Brother Ji, if you want, you can join a group scene.” Xie Xuanming ignored Sheng Kongzhi, looking straight at Ji Sheng, “Brother Ji, you have no plans for the evening. It’s better to go out and take a break, and wait until Brother Tan’s anger subsides before going back… What do you think?” 

Ji Sheng hesitated.

He was in a very irritable mood and didn’t want to go back to the company immediately, and he didn’t even want to face Sheng Kongzhi.

Ji Sheng considered it and nodded: “Okay.”

“Then Brother Sheng, go back by yourself.” Xie Xuanming smiled lightly and looked at Sheng Kongzhi, who was wearing an ugly expression, “Someone from the crew will come to pick us up, so we won’t delay you, Brother Sheng.”

The filming site was in the suburbs, and today’s shoot was a location shoot, in a small bar.

Ji Sheng listened absent-mindedly to Xie Xuanming introduce the crew, only to ask in the end: “Where is the director?”

“Huh?” Xie Xuanming was a little confused.

“The one who was on the hot search with you before.”

“Brother Ji has seen it.” Xie Xuanming scratched his head embarrassedly, “He is not here today.”

“Oh.” Ji Sheng said.

It’s a pity, he wanted to take a closer look at Xiao Xie’s “object of gossip”.

The scene filmed today was not difficult, just a few group shots. Xie Xuanming went to ask; the group shots were just short of people and the assistant director agreed that Ji Sheng and Xie Xuanming would play passers-by, a small easter egg for the audience.

Although Ji Sheng had no intention of being a lead actor, he was very interested in this novel acting experience and was very serious when he listened to the request.

“Let’s just sit at the bar and talk…” Xie Xuanming was talking to Ji Sheng in a low voice when he suddenly heard the ringing.

The sound came from Ji Sheng’s pocket.

“Wait a minute.” Ji Sheng fished out his phone, looked at it and picked it up, “I’ll take the call.”

Xie Xuanming saw the words “Lao Sheng” on the screen and let out a soft “en”.

Ji Sheng picked up the phone in front of Xie Xuanming: “Hello?”

“I explained it to Brother Tan for you…”

“En.”

“…When are you coming back tonight? Going back to the dorm at this hour might be filmed to make some news. I’ve got a room from the company. After you finish filming, come there and sleep.”

Sheng Kongzhi’s voice was clearly heard from the speakerphone.

Ji Sheng also realized how loud the sound was. He smiled at Xie Xuanming apologetically, jumped off the high chair and walked out.

His figure disappeared behind the door, hidden by light and shadows.

Xie Xuanming turned his head back, his eyes dropping on the prop whisky used for the shooting in front of him.

Ji Sheng came back five minutes later; Xie Xuanming finished drinking his third glass as the shooting started.

Ji Sheng hurriedly sat down. Xie Xuanming put his hand on the back of his neck and pressed his head down with some force.

“Hmm?”

“What did Sheng Kongzhi say to you?” Xie Xuanming’s palm was cool from the glass and his breath was carrying the strong smell of alcohol as he spoke.

“Huh?” The presence of the palm on his neck was very strong. Ji Sheng turned his head uncomfortably. The camera was already filming, and he said in a low voice, “He told me that Qingchu was discussing PR.”

“PR for what?”

“The recording. I don’t know who made it, but it’s a big story that needs PR.”

“Oh.”

The smell of alcohol was exhaled onto his face, making him feel a bit itchy.

Ji Sheng struggled and protested quietly: “Do you have to sit so close?”

Xie Xuanming ignored him and only said in a low voice: “Do you know that the best way to cover up a hot search is with another hot search?”

“Huh? I have never heard of this kind of public relations method.” Ji Sheng inquired between struggles.

They were playing a same-sex couple. At this moment, the two of them were leaning against the bar intimately, with their heads next to each other, their hair entangled ambiguously, as they looked very dedicated.

“Don’t you think now, if a reporter filmed us from behind, it would look like we were kissing?” Xie Xuanming had a lot of strength; Ji Sheng couldn’t move under the pressure of his hand.

Xie Xuanming was so close that he easily crossed the safe distance line.

Ji Sheng could see his long thick eyelashes, could smell alcohol mixed with the faint fragrance of the body wash.

“Would it?” He smiled and joked, “Then I have to stay away from you…”

Before Ji Sheng finished speaking, the hand on his neck suddenly pushed his head forward.

Xie Xuanming pressed the back of his head and crashed into his lips.

The author has something to say:

As you can probably tell, Xiao Xie’s drinking capacity is quite bad.