After several consecutive nights of filming, Xia Xiqing was severely sleep-deprived and in poor condition. Yesterday, while shooting a rain scene, he was drenched all night in artificial rain, and by the time he returned to the hotel that evening, he was completely spent. Today’s scenes were all scheduled for daytime. Xia Xiqing rose at five in the morning, downing three large cups of iced American coffee before shooting until 2:30 PM.
Finally done with his scenes, Xia Xiqing sat on the steps, staring blankly. The afternoon sun made his eyes blurry, and he felt like he was about to turn into a wisp of smoke.
“Xiqing, your dark circles are so pronounced. Should we have Cindy touch them up?” Xiaoxiao crouched beside him, holding a small fan to his face with a worried expression. “Are you still tired? Want something to eat?”
Xia Xiqing shook his head, propping his face in his hands, his voice weak. “Dark circles make me look more like Jiang Tong anyway. Cindy just makes me look worse when she does my makeup. Go sit in the car. I’ll rest a bit and then go up… Achoo!” He sneezed suddenly. Xiaoxiao asked anxiously, “Did you catch a cold from getting soaked yesterday?”
“Nope,” Xia Xiqing rubbed his nose and yawned widely. “Just sunburned.”
After repeated urging, Xiaoxiao finally left. Xia Xiqing stood up and stretched lazily. Zhou Ziheng was filming a scene, so he could only stand by and watch.
This scene depicted Gao Kun visiting a shady clinic after feeling unwell. The clinic was a tiny rented room in Hua’anli Community, set up to look like a small medical office. Inside sat several extras hooked up to IV drips. The entire room contained only an old ceiling fan that barely stirred any air, and with all the windows wide open, the stifling heat was unbearable.
Xia Xiqing stood beside the director, watching the monitor.
“It hurts when I swallow,” Gao Kun frowned, explaining to the clinic doctor across a small wooden table. “That scratchy kind of pain. My throat—right here in my voice box—feels swollen.”
The doctor, a middle-aged woman in her fifties wearing reading glasses and a white coat, reached out to feel Gao Kun’s throat. “Open wide.”
After examining him, she declared, “You’ve got blisters all over here.”
She stood up, rummaged through the medicine cabinet behind her, and tossed two boxes of pills onto the table in front of Gao Kun. “Take two of the blue ones daily, three of the green ones.”
“You won’t even tell me what’s wrong?” Gao Kun rubbed his neck, glancing at the two boxes of pills before looking back at the doctor.
“Heat toxicity.” The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes. Her bulky frame struggled to turn around from the narrow gap between the cabinet and the table before she sat back down. “Do you want these pills or not?”
Gao Kun’s brow remained furrowed. He reached for the medicine but pulled his hand back slightly, lifting his eyes to meet hers. “Seriously, just heatiness?”
“Are you here to see the doctor or me?” She pushed her glasses up with a sharp flick, her tone cutting. “What, heatiness isn’t good enough? You want a terminal illness instead?”
Gao Kun’s temper flared instantly. He slammed his hand on the table, drawing stares from everyone nearby. Even the child with the IV drip, who had been sleeping with eyes closed, opened them and began crying. The wails grew louder. He glanced back at the child, then turned away, forcing himself to ask calmly, “How much?”
“Sixty-five.”
“Sixty-five? Why don’t you just rob people?”
“Go ask around! You think this is expensive?” Her gaze sliced through Gao Kun like knives, as if she wanted to carve out chunks of his flesh. “If you can’t afford it, stop making a scene. Do you want it or not?”
Gao Kun had no choice. He fumbled a stack of bills from his pants pocket—money he’d earned from a temporary job last time. He counted the bills under the table, pulled out several, slapped them down, grabbed two boxes of medicine, and stormed toward the door, knocking the wind chime into a clatter.
“What are you playing at? If you’re so tough, go to a big hospital! You’ll be poor and sick your whole life.”
“Cut!” Kuncheng called out. “Break. That take was great, approved.” He turned to Xi Qing. “So, how’s it going? Getting used to the actor’s life?”
Xi Qing gave a wry smile. “I’m getting used to it, but I can’t really call myself an actor yet.”
“I think you’ve got real talent,” Kun Cheng remarked with a smile. The assistant director approached, accompanied by a young woman. Xia Xiqing turned to look. The girl seemed familiar, appearing under twenty, dressed in an orange tank top, paired with skinny jeans that revealed a slender, pale waist. She had a nice figure, her hair dyed a golden brown, and she wore two exaggerated large earrings that swayed like wind chimes.
“Director Kun, I just arrived at noon. Sorry about that.”
Kun Cheng stood up. “No problem. They got held up over here anyway. Your scene with Gao Kun is next.” He then walked over to the assistant director, and the two discussed other matters. The girl turned her face toward Xia Xiqing and flashed him a bold smile. “Hi, I’m Song Nian. I play Lingling.”
Song Nian? Xia Xiqing quickly recognized her. No wonder she looked familiar—he’d seen her before while scrolling through Zhou Ziheng’s acting compilations on Bilibili. She must be one of the actresses he’d collaborated with several times. He extended his hand with a warm smile. “I’m Xia Xiqing.”
“I know. I enjoy watching your variety show too.” Song Nian’s lips were painted a bright red, making her teeth appear exceptionally white. While not conventionally stunning by entertainment industry standards, her smile was genuinely endearing—a kind of comfortable, approachable beauty. “You’re really handsome. Even prettier than me.”
That compliment was a bit of a minefield for Xia Xiqing, but considering it was their first meeting, he simply smiled and said thank you. Before they could exchange many more words, Zhou Ziheng approached.
“Hey, Song Nian, you’re late…”
Before she could finish, the bubbly Song Nian dashed to Zhou Ziheng, jumped up, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Long time no see!”
Zhou Ziheng’s first instinct was to pat Song Nian’s arm while glancing at Xia Xiqing.
Xia Xiqing’s first reaction, however, was to turn his face away, tilting his head as he sneezed.
After the sneeze, he kept his head down, rubbing his nose while wondering why he’d turned away just now—making it seem like he didn’t want to look.
“Your hair looks cool dyed like that—just like Sakuragi Hanamichi,” Song Nian said, tiptoeing to touch his hair. “I should’ve dyed mine red too. Aren’t we playing a couple?”
A couple? We must be watching different scripts, Xia Xiqing thought inwardly. Song Nian’s character Lingling had met Gao Kun during a brawl when she first arrived in the big city. They’d developed mutual attraction and flirted for a while. It was Lingling who told Gao Kun about a quick way to make money, leading him to start selling blood.
But after learning Gao Kun had contracted AIDS, Lingling moved out overnight and vanished without a trace.
“That color looks pretty good on you. Better than red.” Zhou Ziheng took a half-step back, his eyes still fixed on Xia Xiqing. But Xia Xiqing ignored him, shielding his eyes from the sun with his palm. Just then, a makeup artist walked by. Xia Xiqing stopped her. “Xiaoyue, help me remove my makeup.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
Before Zhou Ziheng could respond, Xia Xiqing stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed the makeup artist away without a backward glance or even a casual farewell. Irritation surged through him. Song Nian chattered incessantly beside him, and his usual good manners proved useless in this moment.
“I’m going over there to rest. This heat is making me dizzy.”
Song Nian, mid-sentence, gave an awkward “Oh.” “Then… go ahead.”
Zhou Ziheng found a shady spot under a tree and sat down. He pulled out his phone to check the time and spotted a message from Zhao Ke.
[Kezi: Wanna duo queue? Can’t find anyone!]
Just reading it made him furious. Zhou Ziheng tapped out a snappy reply.
[Hengheng: Are you out of your mind? Think an actor filming on set has time to play games with you?]
Hardly had he sent it when Zhao Ke’s call came through. Zhou Ziheng answered with a curt “Hello.”
“Oh my oh my, who’s got our Heng-ge all worked up like this?” Zhao Ke’s voice was dripping with sarcasm, beating around the bush. “Looks like filming isn’t going smoothly for you, Heng-ge.”
“Fuck off.” Zhou Ziheng’s usual accent slipped away. “Aren’t you supposed to be gaming? Why’re you calling?”
“Gaming’s nothing compared to watching our Heng-Heng make a fool of himself. Hey, what’s really going on? You’re so pissed off I can feel the heat burning my ears through the phone.”
“Nothing…” Zhou Ziheng’s voice dropped, and Zhao Ke immediately sensed something was off. Though he was usually sharp-tongued and sarcastic, he genuinely cared about his childhood friend. Zhou Ziheng was an angel you’d never find even with a lantern—never angry or confrontational, rarely even showing a hint of moodiness.
The only person who could make him so furious he’d type without punctuation was probably just one person.
“So, you didn’t happen to get into a fight with Xia Xiqing, did you?” Zhao Ke ventured cautiously. Hearing the long silence on the other end, he felt certain. “No wonder you’re so worked up in the middle of the afternoon. Turns out you’re sulking over Xiqing.”
Zhou Ziheng gave a low hum in acknowledgment, saying nothing else.
“Why?”
Zhou Ziheng kept his head down, watching a line of tiny ants crawling toward him. He sighed quietly, the cicadas chirping behind him making his heart race.
Like a silent block of wood clutching the phone, Zhou Ziheng remained mute for a long while before finally speaking.
“I like Xia Xiqing.”
He braced for Zhao Ke’s outburst, but instead heard a sigh of exasperation from the other end.
“Hey, Zhou Ziheng, are you out of your mind?! I quit gaming and waited here forever just for this?! Who the hell couldn’t see you like Xia Xiqing?!”
This time, Zhou Ziheng froze. “Is… is it that obvious?”
“Super—duper obvious.” Zhao Ke was so annoyed his temples throbbed. “As obvious as a universe-beating, spinning Thomas 780-degree triple-and-a-half somersault landing first place.”
“…” Zhou Ziheng swallowed hard. “So do you think Xia Xiqing can tell?”
“…Dammit, I’m going to play games.”
“Hey, hey, wait a sec.”
Zhao Ke was thoroughly convinced. “So you two aren’t even dating? I thought you were using company funds to visit your hometown this time. You’ve got me so worked up. Xia Xiqing is so smart—how could he not see you like him? You’re practically head over heels.”
That made sense. As the little ant crawled closer, Zhou Ziheng lifted both feet. “Actually, I don’t want him to know. If he found out I liked him, he’d definitely avoid me. He only likes to tease people who aren’t into him yet.”
Zhao Ke fell silent for a long moment on the other end. “So what does he mean to you now? How far have you two gotten?”
“Far enough that we might not even be a couple yet.”
“Alright, never mind my question.” Zhao Ke slapped her own mouth. “Then what are you fretting about?”
“I feel like our relationship is weird now. I think he might have different feelings for me too, but I’m not sure. Just now, a female actress I worked with before came to see me, and he avoided her the moment he saw her.”
Zhao Ke perked up at this. “That doesn’t make sense! Given Xia Xiqing’s usual antics, he should be flirting with you. Maybe he really does have feelings for you.” He immediately switched to a scheming tone. “Why don’t you test the waters?”
“How do I test the waters?”
“Hey~ I just saw a WeChat public account post about this exact thing. I’ll send it to you.”
With a click, Zhao Ke hung up. Zhou Ziheng was left utterly baffled. The tiny ants on the ground had scurried away. Leaning against a tree, he tapped his head against the trunk a few times. His phone buzzed. He opened it.
[Kezi: Take him down! “The Art of Love” teaches you how to make your crush jealous and reel them in—your chance to finally get a date!]
What the hell… Zhou Ziheng frowned. What kind of random public accounts does Zhao Ke usually follow…
Might as well open it and see.
