Change your stage name

Ji Rongyu did not sleep well that night. When he woke up in the morning and saw the dark circles under Lu Xinyang's eyes, he pretended not to see it and lowered his head to continue folding the quilt.

The more he didn't speak, the more uncomfortable Lu Xinyang felt, although he still didn't understand why he felt uncomfortable.

Lu Xinyang slowly packed up his quilt and pillow, slowly put on his clothes, packed himself up so that not a hair was left behind, and then slowly left.

Once the door was closed, it was as if he had never been there at all.

But Ji Rongyu still felt that his room was filled with dandelions.

He especially could not forget the lost and uneasy look in Lu Xinyang's eyes before he left. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. He urgently wanted to do something to divert his attention, such as washing the quilt cover, pillowcases, sheets, and floor... But in fact, he still sat there motionless, as if he had just woken up and felt sleepy again.

He opened the computer aimlessly, clicked on Weibo, and exited; clicked on the document, and closed it again; then clicked on WeChat. It was so early in the morning, and he didn't know if there was anyone online. He clicked on the red numbers next to the dialog boxes one by one, and glanced at them. Those boring and trivial messages on weekdays now became like garbled code and he couldn't understand them.

His eyes gradually lost focus as he looked at the screen, his thoughts drifted and he got stuck with the dandelions again... Ji Rongyu's fingers on the keyboard tapped a few times unconsciously, and a person's name popped up as the cursor flashed. Then the door slammed shut, and Ji Rongyu slammed his laptop shut. The speed at which he stretched out his hand was almost as fast as his heartbeat.

The still heavy air in the room and the rapid pounding sound in his chest made Ji Rongyu realize belatedly that he had misheard. This hotel had poor soundproofing, and the noise hadn't come from his own door, but from the one across the street.

Lu Xinyang came out of the house opposite. He walked to Ji Rongyu's door in just two steps, reached out and touched the door frame, and then said something in a very low voice. If Ji Rongyu had not been concentrating enough, he probably would not have heard it.

What he said was: "I'm leaving, I... I'm going to the set, you can continue to rest in the room, but don't rest too much."

Ji Rongyu remained in his original position, not moving. Through the wall of the door, he heard him say something to Tang Lin, but the words were blurry and he couldn't hear clearly. Then, the footsteps gradually faded away, and after a while, he could see from the window that familiar car drove up to the downstairs and took Lu Xinyang away.

The room seemed to have become even quieter, and the quietness was a bit annoying. Ji Rongyu lowered his eyes slightly and muttered to himself, "I thought you were going to say something..."

He turned on the computer again and entered the unlock password. The screen changed and the three words "Lu Xinyang" were prominently displayed on the group chat page of his junior high school classmates.

Ji Rongyu: “!!!!”

Oops, I think I accidentally hit the enter key and sent the message...

It was rare to see a few classmates checking WeChat so early in the morning. I asked a few questions out of boredom.

Who is this?

[I don’t know him, he’s not from our class]

【Is there gossip?】

Ji Rongyu quickly withdrew the message and pretended to be calm, explaining that he had accidentally sent it to the wrong person.

He held his breath and waited. After a few minutes, someone posted an emoticon, which seemed to replace a period, and then the group became completely silent.

No one asked who Lu Xinyang was. No matter how good-looking he was or how likable his personality was, he was just a big star known only to a few people.

In front of people other than Ji Rongyu, the three words "Lu Xinyang" could only cause a tiny ripple.

So Ji Rongyu's heart seemed to be trapped in that small ripple, and he became dazed and depressed.

Until a WeChat floating window popped up, reminding him that he had received a private message from Ke Yule.

Ke Yule: "What did you withdraw in the group? You're not sure if I haven't paid you back yet, so you're publicly demanding payment."

Ji Rongyu blinked, gathering his scattered thoughts, and replied to her slowly while typing on the keyboard: "Don't be so sensitive. I'm not the kind of person who only cares about money."

Ke Yule: "Really? Swear on it, on the innocence of that friend who slept in the same bed with you in your house during the New Year."

Ji Rongyu: “…………”

Ke Yule pressed the issue, "Why aren't you talking? Was I wrong? Are you two more than just friends anymore? Have you proven his innocence? Congratulations."

Ji Rongyu: "...Who is he?"

Ke Yule: "Lu Xinyang, is that his name?"

She asked the question even though she knew the answer. Ji Rongyu could imagine how teasing her tone was through the text bubble.

He typed expressionlessly, "I don't know who Lu Xinyang is."

Ke Yule replied immediately: "Really don't know him? You just called his name in the group."

…Damn it! He’s asking questions even though he already knows the answer!! He already knows it!!

Ji Rongyu gritted his teeth in front of the screen for a long time, but in the end, he could only awkwardly send dozens of emojis to dispel the message above, and then abruptly changed the subject: "You are still drawing female celebrities now? How do you draw them? Cats, dogs, or oranges?"

"None of that," Ke Yule replied. "A female celebrity just talked to me a few days ago. She said she just wanted someone to draw her photo, but I made her look very special. 'It's her face, but with a lot of unfamiliar aura.' Those were her exact words. Was she complimenting me? Probably!"

Ji Rongyu: "...So she gave you more money?"

Ke Yule: “No.”

Ke Yule: "She fired me."

Ji Rongyu: “???”

Ke Yule: "Anyway, she felt that I couldn't really show my true potential by just drawing photos (thinking emoji), so she asked me if I had my own original characters. I said of course I did. She then asked if I had a complete character story. I said I almost had one. She said, "Then go ahead and draw. Submit a 20-page manuscript to me within a month. If you can impress me, I'll find someone to help you manage the IP."

"If the operation is successful and the market feedback is good, she will buy the copyright of the film or TV series, form her own team and shoot it herself. She has the final say on everything in the crew."

Ji Rongyu was silent for a long time, then typed seven words with a look of shock on his face: "You are so lucky!"

"What blessing? I just feel so much pressure!" Ke Yule retorted excitedly, "I'm dying of exhaustion! The manuscript is due in just over 20 days and I'm only on page 15! What am I supposed to do?! Ah!!!"

...Oh, I've finished three-quarters of the painting so quickly, and you're still asking me what to do?

Ji Rongyu simply couldn't bear to think that while she was typing and chatting with him with her two hands, she had secretly grown eight hands behind her back to draw, draw, draw, draw.

"How much energy have you been holding back?" He was so shocked he barely dared to speak out loud. "Wasn't it unfair for you to only draw those little doujinshi?"

Ke Yule was still crying: "No, I don't feel wronged. I feel really wronged now because I'm so tired, sob…"

But Ji Rongyu no longer wanted to listen.

It felt like this person was so happy that he went crazy and started talking nonsense.

"Keep going, I believe you can definitely use all ten of your hands to catch this overwhelming career luck."

"Wow, I don't have any career luck," Ke Yule added, "I just spent the time you withdrew the message on painting."

Ji Rongyu took a deep breath, closed the dialog box, opened the document and started typing.

Yes, Ke Yule was right. He must not have slept well last night, so his mind was a little unclear today, which is why he spent his precious time daydreaming and daydreaming.

He clearly has a lot of things to do, the serial hasn't been completed yet, the signatures haven't been signed yet, and the editor from the publishing house is urging him to submit the manuscript for the new sequel. What is this all about? It's money!

He actually wasted precious time retracting the message. How could he have been so unjustified?

Ji Rongyu rolled up his sleeves and typed the first word on the document with high morale. Then Director Gao called: "Hey, are you up yet? Good to be up. Come to the set and help revise the script."

Ji Rongyu: "I was just about to..."

"It wasn't me who changed it. Someone used connections to get someone in here who looked good," the director said, clearing himself of the blame before adding, "Come on, they said you can pay extra."

"I...I understand," Ji Rongyu let out all the breath he had just gathered, and said listlessly, "I'll be right there."

Although you can make money by revising scripts, it's hard to make people take the initiative...

Ji Rongyu closed the computer again and went out unhappily.

-

"Yes, Sister Chang, we are ready to go... You and the photographer are almost there? Okay, okay, what? Oh... Then I'll talk to Brother Lu."

Putting down his phone, Tang Lin looked at Lu Xinyang hesitantly: "Sister Chang said they will be here soon, but she also brought someone else with her, a male celebrity who just came to her."

Two months ago, Chang Xue had mentioned she wanted to take a photo shoot for Lu Xinyang. They finally secured a date and lured the photographer over, but Lu Xinyang insisted it couldn't interfere with filming, so they had to shoot on set. Plus, Director Gao only gave them half a day off, so time was limited, and the photographer's creative space was squeezed to a pitiful amount...

"...So Sister Chang brought that guy over and asked him to come along for a photoshoot," Tang Lin said. "There are thousands of photos anyway, so you probably won't be able to finish them all."

"Yeah, I also felt like I couldn't finish filming," Lu Xinyang said, "so I called Wen Zhuo, Yu Han, and a few other teachers who had more scenes, and we filmed together."

"Alright, you're more generous than I thought," a surprisingly female voice came from the phone. "Then it's settled."

After she hung up, Tang Lin put his phone away and tried to get Lu Xinyang's coat, but Lu Xinyang said, "We can go by ourselves. You can rest for a while and have a meal first."

There were so many chores on the set today that even Tang Lin was asked to help out, and he didn't even have time to eat breakfast.

"Okay, I'll take my paid vacation." Tang Lin was indeed hungry, so he sat down and ordered takeout, watching Lu Xinyang walk away without looking back.

Well, he walked very cleanly and looked like a normal person from behind.

But he was not like that this morning. Even after Lu Xinyang had left the hotel, he still tried hard to turn back and look for Ji Rongyu's room, muttering as he searched:

"Don't rest too much. It's stuffy in the room and you'll feel dizzy. Besides, I have to sleep with you at night."

"What if you sleep too much and are no longer sleepy? It would be so boring for me to be alone."

"Not only is it boring, it could also be dangerous. Do you think he won't secretly beat me while I'm sleeping? Or what if I wake up and find he's thrown me out? I'll lie alone on the cold floor and open my eyes. Sigh, what a cruel scene..."

"He wouldn't be so cruel to me, right? What do you think? Speak up."

Tang Lin didn't want to say anything.

You people who have fallen into the gay river are really nagging, even dogs will be annoyed by you.

The detested Lu Xinyang was also feeling anxious. It wouldn't be a big deal if Ji Rongyu just stayed in and slept all day, but Lu Xinyang was more worried about whether he'd just quit and run away... Didn't you hear what he said last night? Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours, and he'd only spare a few hours to have a meal with someone from the entertainment industry!

It's all the entertainment industry's fault! It hurt him so deeply! He wants to isolate us all!

The more Lu Xinyang thought about it, the more anxious and angry he became, but he quickly comforted himself, it doesn’t matter, others are others and I am me, we have slept together so many times, we have such a good relationship!

As long as I please him and keep pestering him, I'll strip off and chase him as soon as he leaves. He'll definitely not want me to get cold, so he won't leave! He'll definitely stay and be responsible for me (our show)!

Yeah, let's get started! As for that photographer, let him take more pictures of other people. I'll pose and he'll take the shutter. It'll take at most ten minutes. After we're done, I'll go back to find Ji Rongyu!

He thought as he walked forward with his head down, and almost bumped into someone when he was not paying attention.

"Oh, sorry," Lu Xinyang apologized quickly. He looked up and found that the person who was bumped into was none other than Wen Zhuo. Lu Xinyang smiled warmly, "What a coincidence! Didn't you look at the road when you walked?"

"...Yeah." Wen Zhuo subtly hid his phone behind his back, but Lu Xinyang had already seen it: "Oh, you are chatting with your wife, do you want her to come over and take a photo together?"

Wen Zhuo was silent for a moment, then reminded him sincerely, "My wife is almost eight months pregnant."

"She's amazing!" Lu Xinyang also sincerely wished him well, "Then you can take your wife and children with you to film your next movie!"

"Hmm..." Wen Zhuo opened his mouth, then closed it again and said, "Thank you, your suggestion is very good. I will talk to her about it."

After saying that, I couldn't help but look at him twice more. I had never noticed before, is this person so attached to his family?

"Yeah, you two must agree on this," Lu Xinyang continued to actively offer advice. "Then the new crew won't have to give you boxed lunches. You can just go buy groceries after work, cook, and take care of the kids. What a happy family of three you'll be!"

Wenzhuo thought, No, it sounds like my workload has just increased dramatically.

He quickly explained, "Actually, we had already discussed this before we got married. After the baby is born, the grandparents will take care of it for six months. She and I will each handle our own work, and we will bring the baby back to take care of him when we are on vacation. So they won't be staying on the set with me. Also, my wife is a travel blogger, and she's not used to being on the set with me. It would affect her work too much."

"Oh," Lu Xinyang suddenly understood. "Yeah, it's a bit too cheesy for two people to be together every day. Thinking about each other all the time does affect work. I totally understand."

"Hmm..." Wen Zhuo was a little lost for words. He looked around. Where was Assistant Xiao Tang? Where was Teacher Ji? Where did you all go? Why did you suddenly leave me alone to face him?

Wen Zhuo couldn't laugh anymore, but Lu Xinyang found a new interest in this topic and continued to ask, "Do you think it's easy for two people to quarrel when they are together every day? What should we do if we quarrel? If we give gifts, we don't know what the other person likes. What if we give the wrong one? Wouldn't that make them even more unhappy?"

"Ah..." Wen Zhuo looked up at the sky, feeling that the topic had nothing to do with him. "You really don't know anything at all?"

"Ahem, I do know a few things. For example, I found that he is very picky and has no curiosity. He doesn't like to change things he is used to..." Lu Xinyang suddenly felt embarrassed for some reason, and his voice was so low that he hummed.

But at the same time he felt embarrassed, he also had a flash of inspiration.

Yes, Ji Rongyu even uses the same detergent as the one at home, and even brings the bed sheets from home. I think this habit is called... Oh yes, nostalgia!

I hadn't thought of any good way to please Ji Rongyu, but now a good idea has come to me! God help me!

"Then I'll change my stage name," Lu Xinyang said to himself, "From today on, my name is Lu Jiuyang."