Chapter 36: The summer solstice is really a very pretentious time.
Xia Huanming straightened his body unconsciously, with his knees tilted towards Chen Xing.
He was actually curious about this. Someone like Chen Xing must have many friends in college, and there are many people like him who covet him. What would Chen Xing's first love be like? What kind of woman would he like... Maybe, maybe men would be able to do the same?
He hesitated to ask because he was afraid of hearing an irreversible answer; and he really meant it, so his heartbeat rose to his throat as Chen Xing opened his mouth.
"Partner?" Chen Xing didn't know why Qi Yinrui was curious about this kind of thing. "No. I'm not popular, and he hasn't said he wants to talk to me about anything."
Zhao Xingyu's eyes widened, he grabbed Chen Xing's shoulder, and asked in shock: "No way, no one asked you for your contact information?"
Chen Xing answered firmly: "No."
Zhao Xingyu held up Chen Xing's face and examined it from left to right, feeling upset as if he had just broken up with his lover: "What happened to your class? How high were your standards? Wow, what a handsome face."
Qi Yinrui glanced at the tall man standing behind Zhao Xingyu and saw that he was nodding silently while Zhao Xingyu was speaking.
It's really a bit too funny.
Qi Yinrui pursed his lips, suppressed his smile, and asked Chen Xing: "Have you ever participated in any social gatherings?"
Chen Xing thought for a moment and replied, "Does it count if our band has dinner with the student union after performing at another school?"
Zhao Xingyu rubbed Chen Xing's face and asked, "Will you perform at other schools?"
Chen Xing nodded: "Yes, sometimes I go to small theaters abroad to perform. I went to Italy in my freshman year, and to Norway and Portugal in my sophomore year."
"It's so good, and it's a government-funded trip!" Zhao Xingyu envied him. "At most, we can go to the theater to perform a play. Hey, which place is fun?"
"In fact, they are all very beautiful. When I went to Mexico, it happened to be the Day of the Dead. At night, the candlelight spread all the way, which was very shocking." Chen Xing gestured with his hands to show the shape of the candles.
This is a shocking feeling that cannot be described in words.
When the midnight bell rang, everyone held candles and joined the procession. The locals' faces were painted with white skulls. They were like rustling dandelions, swirling up on the river of light and winding into the cemetery at the end.
He turned and looked back. The wall, which was made of a sun pattern made of colored pottery fragments, emitted a shimmering golden light. Countless marigolds were inserted on the sandstone archway carved with a Quetzalcoatl mask, and the candlelight trembled in their eyes.
"Is it useful for us outsiders to participate in this kind of festival?" Zhao Xingyu asked.
"Someone asked me the same question as you did back then, and I think it should be useful," Chen Xing gave the same answer as then, "As long as you miss the other person, praying at any time will be useful."
Chen Xing's voice suddenly became very soft. This matter seemed to be a very pious matter to him and needed to be spoken seriously.
But it is not suitable for the current noisy and lively scene.
Qi Yinrui smiled and touched his head: "Why are we suddenly talking about this? Weren't we just talking about you?"
"Oh, right." The culprit, Zhao Xingyu, slapped his head, "Sorry, I got off track. What were we talking about just now... Oh, socializing. If you haven't been to a socializing, there will always be someone calling you to go out and play."
"Of course there have been..." Chen Xing's eyes lit up, as if he suddenly remembered something. He clasped his hands together and spoke excitedly, "Oh, if what you mean by socializing is - a few acquaintances and a few strangers go out to play together, and in the end everyone says that they forgot to turn off the gas, leaving the two strangers to go somewhere else! Then I have had it! Three times!"
Xia Huanming: “…”
Zhao Xingyu asked in surprise: "Can you use gas in your dormitory?"
Qi Yinrui: "…Is this the point?"
Xia Huanming pursed his dry lips, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally spoke: "Is there no one in there that you are interested in?"
"Of course not. They always say some inexplicable things, which feels so weird. We haven't been in touch since then." Chen Xing took out his mobile phone from his pocket.
"Strange words?" Xia Huanming asked.
"For example, there was a person from the aerospace department who told me something like 'We are like the main sequence stars in a binary star system, rotating together for 4.6 billion years under the gravitational constraint. When the hydrogen nuclear fusion is exhausted, the expanding atmospheres of the red giants will eventually merge with each other.' This kind of thing. Isn't it weird?! Later, a few other people also spoke strangely. I wrote them all down on WeChat at that time."
Chen Xing turned to the historical records of 2016 and showed them to Qi Yinrui first, then gave the phone to Zhao Xingyu and asked them to look at it together.
Xia Huanming leaned over and saw a message posted on September 13, 2016 that was visible only to him. It contained several similar sentences, such as: The Walker Circulation is still heading westward, just like me crossing the equatorial countercurrent of the Peruvian cold current.
Xia Huanming: “…”
The three of them looked at each other silently and fell silent.
Only Chen Xing, who was puzzled by the matter, complained: "How is it? Isn't it weird? I feel like I have become stupid from memorizing the book, and my speech is a bit weird."
Zhao Xingyu returned the phone and said cautiously, "Well, if I'm not mistaken, these should all be love words, right?"
Chen Xing was stunned for a moment, then waved his hands and laughed, "Impossible, how can anyone say such love words? How can you suddenly say such pretentious words when someone is drinking milk tea?"
No wonder Chen Xing said no one talked to him.
He had no idea what the conversation was about.
Qi Yinrui said pointedly: "It seems that you don't buy this? Many people like this kind of words that show the other person's erudition."
Chen Xing looked at the text on his phone and said, "Maybe, but I'm not."
In fact, looking back at this passage, it is indeed full of the romance of a science student.
But it is limited to watching from the perspective of a bystander.
If he were to go back to that time, he would still refuse, because he only ordered a cup of bubble milk tea for 6 yuan, and the other party suddenly started to talk like this, and he was patient enough not to spit out the milk tea.
"It depends on the communication channel. If you think about it carefully, it would be quite romantic if it was written in a letter, but I didn't ask you. I was just drinking milk tea and watching a movie. It's really strange to suddenly say such a thing at this time," Chen Xing looked at Qi Yinrui seriously, "I was chatting with you and suddenly started talking about Multitrack Recording and Synthesizer. You would think I was pretending, right?"
"That's true," Qi Yinrui's voice suddenly became louder, "It seems that the next person who confesses to you should be careful and not talk like that—"
Xia Huanming glanced at him, and Qi Yinrui gave him a businesslike smile, his hands still rubbing Chen Xing's hair.
Xia Huanming's jaw was tautly drawn into a straight line, but Qi Yinrui smiled even more easily.
Xia Huanming knew that Qi Yinrui had done this on purpose, and he bet that he would endure it for the sake of human kindness, just to see his expression like this.
Old fox. I must have a good chat with him after this.
"Okay, everyone has talked enough, right?" Gu Yirou came back from backstage to change pants, "let's officially start the class."
The contestants who sat around obediently answered collectively: "Okay——"
"Sometimes I look at you like kindergarten kids." Gu Yirou also sat on the ground like them.
She looked around and asked, "So, is there anyone who can share their experience in crying scenes?"
Someone raised his hand and answered: "It may be that the scene brings back emotions. The story I am acting in reminds me of my own experiences, and then I can cry."
Most of the contestants nodded.
"Very good, but what if the director wants the kind of crying where the tears are clearly visible? Or red eyes?" Gu Yirou said slowly, scanning the crowd, and finally her eyes fell on Chen Xing who was blinking. "Chen Xing, you are the only one here who has just started acting. After filming two episodes, have you ever acted in a crying scene?"
Chen Xing shook his head: "No, I just feel like I have died without regrets, and I am also angry."
"Then I hope today's class will be helpful for your future filming." Gu Yirou turned to Xia Huanming again, "Xia Huanming, what do you think about filming crying scenes?"
The people Gu Yirou chose happened to be at two extremes: a novice in acting and a newcomer whose acting skills were close to maturity.
"If the tears are clearly visible, I will let them brew for a while. When the tears gather, I can take a clear picture when they fall. If the eyes are red, I will breathe quickly or hold my breath to make my face congested, which will indirectly cause the eyes to turn red. In fact, you can also bite something with your teeth before shooting to force yourself to feel pain. The easiest way is to rub your eyes..." Xia Huanming said smoothly. When he said this, he suddenly stopped, leaned forward, and fixed his eyes on Chen Xing. "But I don't recommend that novices use the latter method. If you don't control the strength well, it's easy to hurt yourself. Now there are superb makeup techniques that can directly achieve that effect."
Chen Xing listened carefully, staring at the floor and nodding thoughtfully.
Xia Huanming then breathed a sigh of relief and sat up straight with peace of mind.
Gu Yirou applauded Xia Huanming's sharing, repeatedly praising him for speaking well, and then talked about the next process: "Next, let's all close our eyes, take a deep breath, and see who can cry the fastest. Remember, don't laugh while thinking, or you'll be out."
It would have been fine if Gu Yirou hadn't said the latter sentence, but once she said it, several people couldn't help but think of it in a funny way, and Chen Xing was one of them.
Within ten seconds, there were several sounds of snickering, and people were eliminated one after another. Chen Xing couldn't help it and was also eliminated.
Finally, it was Huang Canni who cried the fastest. Gu Yirou called her to the middle and showed her tear marks from all directions like a mannequin in the classroom, using her eyes as an explanation.
You should know that in the second episode's script, Huang Canni plays a little girl who is the group's favorite and has a temperament completely opposite to hers. She is the funny person in the whole script and she is either hunting for treasures or making everyone laugh on the way.
Chen Xing heard Zhao Xingyu tut his tongue twice: "Our sister Ni didn't blush like this when she played that little girl. It's quite embarrassing to win. Fortunately, we were eliminated."
"That's it..." After Gu Yirou finished speaking, she asked Huang Canni to leave the stage, and then pointed at the eliminated people, "You guys, share why you laughed just now. Chen Xing, you are the first one to laugh, you speak first."
Zhao Xingyu urged him with a gloating look: "I'm calling you, hurry up and answer."
Chen Xing stood up straight and confessed everything in a clear and loud voice: "I remembered that I played Plants vs. Zombies with Zhao Xingyu a few days ago. Zhao Xingyu said that sunflowers were cheap so they should be placed in the outermost row. Then the sunflowers were eaten, resulting in no sun at the beginning of the second level. He died in one minute."
Zhao Xingyu: “……???”
The crowd chuckled a few times.
Dong Jiahao, who was standing beside Xia Huanming, kindly said, "At least we have reached the second level."
Xia Huanming replied calmly: "Because the first level is a teaching level without sunflowers."
Xia Huanming's words were like a stone thrown into the originally quiet hall. Those who were trying to hold back their laughter could no longer hold it back and burst into laughter.
No matter who said this, it would not be as effective as Xia Huanming's cold complaint.
"I'm sorry, Xingyu, I don't want to laugh, but you are such a talented person, hahahaha——"
“Hahahaha I can’t stand this. If it were me I would die of laughter too. Hahahaha——”
"Hahahahaha, Zhao Xingyu, you said you were a game expert, I think you are indeed a talented person——"
…
What can Zhao Xingyu do? Can he settle the score with Chen Xing? Or he asked Chen Xing to speak boldly.
Zhao Xingyu could only swallow his anger and helplessly turned to Gu Yirou for help, hoping that their upright mentor could maintain order and protect his image.
As a result, when he looked towards the middle, he saw Gu Yirou smiling at them with her back to them.
Zhao Xingyu: “???”
After laughing, Gu Yirou cleared her throat, asked Chen Xing to sit down, and went straight to the next step.
Two hours later, the morning class ended.
Everyone performed with great enthusiasm and was sweating profusely.
Gu Yirou clapped her hands, asked everyone to gather together again, and announced two things:
"The first good news is that the first production review will be held next Monday. Contestants who are free are welcome to come and watch. The second good news is that tomorrow night, the pilot episode of our show will be aired!"
Gu Yirou took the lead in applauding, and the contestants followed suit, creating thunderous applause.
Although Chen Xing had seen the program's announcement the day before, he was still excited after hearing it again: "Wow - I'll be able to see other groups' performances on TV soon."
Xia Huanming was standing next to Chen Xing again without realizing it. He asked, "What? Don't you want to watch your performance?"
Chen Xing smiled sheepishly: "The performance was a bit awkward, I don't really want to watch it."
Xia Huanming was puzzled: "What's so embarrassing? Didn't you perform very well?"
"Have you seen it?" The bright light in Chen Xing's eyes dimmed in an instant, "No, you were in the waiting room when I went on stage, and you couldn't see my performance at all."
"I guessed," Xia Huanming quietly hooked Chen Xing's finger, "Is it not okay?"
Chen Xing completely regarded this action as Xia Huanming comforting him, so he held Xia Huanming's hands with both hands, like an old grandfather comforting a child, and said earnestly: "Thank you, don't comfort me at this time."
Xia Huanming wanted to deny it, but in the end he didn't say anything.
The team disbanded under Gu Yirou's instructions, and everyone returned to their own groups to eat in the cafeteria.
Chen Xing scooped up another big bowl of egg fried rice and ate it with grunts, while reading the comments on Weibo.
[@AngieGill]: Ahhh, we can see the piglet’s performance soon, what a great time!
[@Eat piggy buns every day]: I rushed over to support immediately! ! !
[@阿菲学姐]: Xiaozhu, please don't quarrel with others. We can't beat them.
[@小张永不emo]: Husband, take care of your stomach. We may not be good actors but we can eat more TT
Chen Xing quickly took a photo of his own plate.
[@陈醒Theo] replied to [@小张永不emo]: How did you know I got another big pot today [picture] (OUQ;)
[@小张永不emo] replied to [@陈醒Theo]: Oh my god, it’s really a whole pot???
[@天天泽泽子] replied to [@陈醒Theo]: I laughed so hard, I feel relieved to see that you have such a good appetite, which proves that no one is competing with you for food.
Chen Xing would reply to a message after taking a few bites. After he was done eating, he felt someone poked his hand twice. He looked up and saw that it was Xia Huanming.
Xia Huanming frowned, but his voice was still gentle: "Come back after you finish eating, the food is getting cold."
Lu Qing and Xiao Wu were not around, and no one had said this to him for a long time. Chen Xing quickly put his phone away and started eating.
Twenty minutes later, he held up the empty plate to show everyone. After receiving Xia Huanming's praise, he straightened his back and looked at his phone again.
There is new message on WeChat.
Chen Xing clicked it and found that it was sent by Xu Yuancai.
[Princess]: I call my fans to come and support you
【Chen Xing】: Princess ah
[Princess]: Wake up, baby!
【Chen Xing】：Moved
[Princess]: It’s okay, there will be more touching things later.
【Chen Xing】：Eh? ?
[Princess]: Hush
Chen Xing didn't understand what Xu Yuancai meant by "afterwards". Was she going to give him money again? That wouldn't work.
As Chen Xing was typing away, the person next to him pulled out his chair and stood up.
Wang Baiyue asked: "Are you leaving?"
Xia Huanming nodded: "Well, I'll leave for a while, I have something to do."
Chen Xing looked up and asked him, "Will you come back later?"
"Will you save a seat for me?" Xia Huanming frowned, and his voice sounded a little aggrieved, "I don't want to sit in the corner."
Look, he said that their captain was shy and alone in the corner, how pitiful.
Chen Xing immediately patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry, you can sit next to me when the time comes."
"Okay, I'll come find you then." Xia Huanming picked up the lunch tray and left.
Xia Huanming threw the plate into the special recycling basket and walked out the door.
Following the location sent on WeChat, I walked around to the back door of the house and saw Qi Yinrui standing there looking at the sky with a freshly lit cigarette in his hand.
The edge of the sky was a pale blue like thin porcelain, the shadows of the trees swayed in the shape of swimming fish, and Qi Yinrui's blue shirt was very conspicuous against the sea cucumber gray wall.
Qi Yinrui heard footsteps, put out his cigarette and threw it into the ashtray on the trash can next to him.
Xia Huanming put one hand in his pocket and asked him calmly, "How did you find this smoking spot?"
"Ask the staff." Qi Yinrui leaned against the wall, his posture relaxed. "I guess you want to talk to me. If you want to talk, then choose a place where I am comfortable."
As he spoke, his eyes wandered over Xia Huanming.
Xia Huanming returned to the same unfamiliar sense of distance as before and drew lines of demarcation. Even if there were only two of them here, Xia Huanming would not take another step closer.
She has a figure and a face that are naturally popular, but she is having a secret crush here?
Qi Yinrui couldn't help but laugh and asked, "When did you start to like him?"
Xia Huanming didn't want to talk to him any more, so he asked briefly, "Am I obvious?"
Qi Yinrui shook his head: "You are a professional actor, you act very well, most people can't tell."
Xia Huanming stared at Qi Yinrui's fox eyes and retorted: "But you figured it out."
"That's my problem. I'm a very perceptive person. When I was in school, I was the first to notice if there was anything wrong with anyone in the class, even with the teacher. Your feelings are obvious to me, it's hard for me not to understand." Qi Yinrui said and laughed.
Xia Huanming did not laugh along.
"Let me guess why you kept it a secret from him. Are you afraid that he doesn't like men? Or are you afraid that you're not his type? Or, do you have no confidence in yourself?" Qi Yinrui seemed to sense something from Xia Huanming's face and stopped at the last question, "How could you not have confidence in yourself?"
Since you've already guessed it, why are you pretending to be shocked?
Xia Huanming turned and left, and then heard Qi Yinrui muttering to himself: "As far as I remember, you haven't acted in a romance drama."
Xia Huanming stopped and looked back.
As the leading actor in several romance dramas, Qi Yinrui naturally has the most say, but why did he suddenly talk about this?
"Do you know what the audience cares about most when two people are in love in a romance drama?" Qi Yinrui pointed his finger at the wall, as if feeling the rough particles on the wall.
"What?"
"It's this," Qi Yinrui raised his hand and pointed to the corner of his eye, "Have you ever noticed the way you look at him?"
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