Chapter 1 Chapter 001
Songhe Villa.
Xiao Liu, a young new photographer, was sitting on the sofa in the living room, drowsy, with his head propped up.
The camera on the tripod next to him was always in working condition, diagonally facing the study room on the side of the living room. The study room was a two-story design with bookshelves filled with books in various fields on both sides like a vast ocean, and a huge floor-to-ceiling window in the middle.
A young man was sitting under the window reading a newspaper.
The young man was wearing a simple cotton and linen home suit, leaning back in a chair in a relaxed posture, holding a newspaper in his right hand and casually placing his left hand on the armrest. His fingers were long and slender with distinct joints, and he wore a silver wedding ring on his ring finger.
The pine trees outside the window are tall and green. The wild white cranes in the mountains are perched among the branches without being startled away. The spring breeze brings the sound of pine waves. The shadows of the trees and a few rays of bright spring light scattered between the shadows of the trees pass through the floor-to-ceiling windows and fall on the young man standing under the window.
He has fair skin, clear profile, and long eyelashes that hang down, each one clearly visible in the light and shadow. Shrouded in such beautiful and misty light and shadow, his whole body seems to be glowing.
Photographer Xiao Liu, who was dozing off, raised his heavy eyelids and saw the picture of pine and crane. He couldn't help but mutter in his heart: No wonder this place is named Pine and Crane Villa. The owner of the villa has a leisurely and elegant demeanor and style, which is completely worthy of the pine and crane.
But this is already his third day of filming here, and the life of the protagonist he filmed - Mr. Gu Chen, who lives in this villa in the mountains, is really... boring!
Oh, no, health.
At 6 o'clock in the morning, he got up and followed Mr. Gu up the mountain to start filming, but after three days, what did he capture? He only captured him exercising, day after day, rain or shine.
After coming back and having breakfast, Mr. Gu sat there and started reading the newspaper, which was also a must-do item every day.
He got up so early every day and couldn't hold on any longer, so he had to doze off while sitting there.
It was so quiet here that the only sounds were the chirping of birds in the mountains and the sound of Mr. Gu flipping through the newspaper.
Xiao Liu yawned again.
He had indeed been filming for almost three days, but he still hadn't figured out the background of this mysterious Mr. Gu.
Although Mr. Gu was gentle and polite to others, and his attitude was lazy and peaceful, his aura was indeed strong. Just like now, he always felt that what Mr. Gu was flipping through should not be a newspaper, but a group report.
When Xiao Liu was about to fall asleep, Gu Chen finally stood up. Xiao Liu's head dropped and he quickly woke up. What he saw was Mr. Gu's long legs.
He just put the newspaper back on the newspaper rack and asked, "Xiao Liu, would you like some tea today?"
The young man's voice has a clear timbre, reminding people of a spring day after a rain in an empty mountain, cool but not freezing; but his tone is lazy and relaxed, and the change in intonation reminds people of the first clear day after the rain, full of vitality.
Xiao Liu scratched his head and said, "Well, coffee or tea is fine, I'm all the same, they're all just drinking water." Speaking of which, although Mr. Gu has a strong aura, he is not very old. When he spoke in such a lazy tone, he dispelled the aura that he had when he was reading the newspaper just now, and brought him closer.
Gu Chen nodded and said, "Okay, just have a cup of tea then."
Xiao Liu followed him and moved the camera to the tea room, thinking: Outrageous, it started again! It started again! Drinking tea takes more than half an hour every day!
The tea room is on the other side of the living room. There are orchids under the window and an ebony tea table. On the shelf behind it are various kinds of tea stored in different ways and utensils of different materials.
Gu Chen boiled some water, picked up two white porcelain bowls from the shelf, and then took out a tin bottle from the refrigerator, which contained sealed tea leaves.
Xiao Liu found it pleasing to watch Gu Chen making tea in an orderly manner, but when he looked at the time, it was not yet 9 o'clock, and he suddenly felt dizzy.
Starting at 6 o'clock in the morning, I come back from exercise and have breakfast. It is not suitable to drink tea after breakfast, so I read the newspaper that has just been delivered, and then start to make tea... So many things happened in the morning, and it is not even 9 o'clock yet... Time goes by so slowly when I don't play with my mobile phone.
He was so bored that he almost went crazy, and he doubted whether such boring, daily-themed material could really be used.
Gu Chen was brewing tea leisurely, but he was in a happy mood. He thought it was the right thing to do to choose this world to spend his retirement. The original owner's identity and plot setting were indeed transparent enough.
His father was a famous businessman in the south. He was the son of his father's second wife. After his parents divorced, he first lived with his mother, but his parents both formed new families and had new children. His mother just sent him to boarding school and hardly asked about him. Apart from paying child support, his father didn't even call him.
My father had four wives in total and raised many outstanding children, so there was no shortage of heirs; my mother was clear-headed and married into a new large family, supporting her husband and youngest son to control part of the family business.
This experience made him introverted, cowardly and unsociable. In both his mother's and father's families, he could be said to be a invisible person who was ignored, had no achievements and was a waste.
But although he is inferior, mediocre and unremarkable, he has some advantages in appearance.
It just so happened that the northern giant Li family, after its young heir came to power, actively explored the southern market and reached in-depth cooperation with the Gu family entrenched in the south.
So his irresponsible father who only paid child support took him back and made full use of him by marrying him into the Li family.
Neither the Gu family nor the Li family cared about his feelings. They only sought cooperation. So after marriage, his father and husband continued to develop their careers, while he continued to be a transparent person and still had no sense of existence.
But when his former roommate at boarding school became a star and was full of energy, he found out that Gu Chen, who was bullied at school and mediocre and dull, married into a wealthy family, which made him extremely unbalanced. So with envy and jealousy, he "invited" Gu Chen to participate in this popular marriage and love variety show in the first two episodes.
So in the variety show, her neglected life by her husband, her silent and lonely life, and her extremely boring life became the control group to highlight the sweetness and happiness of the main characters.
In the program crew, he is a marginalized and invisible person. Although it is a marriage and love variety show, the husband does not give any face at all, does not even show up, let alone cooperate with the filming.
In the end, due to the pressure from his friends, all the scenes where he showed his face were cut. After the variety show was broadcast, no audience noticed him, no one knew his name, and no one knew what he looked like. He was just a passerby who slightly pushed the protagonist's plot forward.
It was not easy for Chuanshuju to find him such a passerby role who has no worries about food and clothing, lives a rich life, does not even need to show his face, and is transparent from beginning to end.
The tea that Gu Chen brewed this time was indeed very simple. He handed the covered bowl to Xiao Liu and said, "Just drink it as ordinary tea. If there is no more, just add water yourself."
Xiao Liu quickly took the teacup with both hands, fearing that it would break. He had observed that the teacup was as white as jade, as bright as a mirror, as loud as a chime, and as thin as paper. It was obvious at first glance that it was not an ordinary item.
He blew on it hard and found it was too hot, so he added some cold water and took a big gulp, just to refresh himself. He carefully put the teacup back on the table and hesitated for a long time before finally asking, "Is this an antique?" But after asking this question, he felt stupid. The things in a big boss's house should be antiques or something, right?
Gu Chen replied naturally: "No, this is a modern craft."
Modern crafts? There's no need to worry about it breaking. Xiao Liu finally seemed to be relieved, and he easily picked up the teacup and took a big sip.
He recalled the sports watch on Gu Chen's wrist when he raised his hand to make tea. Why was it an ordinary sports watch? With Mr. Gu's temperament, he should at least wear a million-level watch to make tea, right? However, the sports watch and modern crafts also show that Mr. Gu is indeed young.
Xiao Liu tried to find a topic again and asked, "Mr. Gu, what kind of tea are you drinking today? It tastes quite good."
Gu Chen replied: "Wuyi Mountain Dahongpao."
"Oh..." Xiao Liu actually didn't know what this was, so he just nodded in confusion.
Gu Chen took a sip of tea, put the teacup aside, and spread out the rice paper with a paperweight.
Xiao Liu didn't get a word in for a while, but now he saw that Gu Chen had already started grinding ink and practicing calligraphy. He was already numb. Would he practice until lunch again?
Bored and sleepy Xiao Liu began to doubt himself. Was he filming a dating variety show or a documentary?
Yes! A dating variety show! He slapped his head.
In fact, when they met on the first day, he asked Mr. Gu: "The material we need to shoot in these three days is mainly the daily life of the couple alone. Where is your husband?"
Mr. Gu answered nonchalantly, "Oh, he's on a business trip." His attitude was so natural... as if it wasn't strange for the other half to be absent when filming a marriage and dating variety show, and Mr. Gu had no intention of explaining at all.
So, he thought that Mr. Gu’s other half would be back from his business trip soon, so he didn’t have the courage to ask. But it’s already the third day, and the preliminary shooting is about to end. Mr. Gu’s other half hasn’t come back yet?
Xiao Liu hesitated for a moment, carefully choosing his words, and asked, "Mr. Gu, when will your wife come back from her business trip?"
"My wife..." Gu Chen suddenly laughed when he heard the voice. His eyebrows were bright and his face was so beautiful that Xiao Liu was stunned.
Xiao Liu originally wanted to use more colloquial words to bring them closer together, but why was Mr. Gu's reaction so strange?
However, Gu Chen did not correct anything. Instead, he smiled and said, "My wife...will probably be on a business trip and won't be back until next year." In the original plot, the marriage partner named Li Tingqin's work focus this year is overseas. He will personally go to the business unit in Country A to take charge. He will indeed not be back until next year, and they have hardly met each other.
Xiao Liu: “???” So the business trip he mentioned at the beginning means that he will be on business until next year? Xiao Liu almost cried. Is Mr. Gu sure that he is filming a marriage and romance variety show?
Xiao Liu began to worry. The three days were almost over and he hadn't shot any useful material to begin with. Now he couldn't even capture the shadow of Mr. Gu's other half. How would he know how to edit the film when the time came?
Moreover, Mr. Gu is an amateur guest and the program team can only give him limited time. If he spends those precious few minutes drinking tea and reading newspapers boringly, I'm afraid no audience will be willing to watch it.
It's okay, Xiao Liu comforted himself, at least Mr. Gu's appearance is good, even in the entertainment industry, he is top-notch. Even if his daily life is boring, there will still be a lot of fans who like him.
Thinking of this, Xiao Liu drank hot tea and warmly comforted Gu Chen: "It's okay, Mr. Gu, don't be sad that your wife can't come home. You can still attract a lot of fans with your looks."
Gu Chen slowly dipped the tip of his pen into ink, cooperated with a comforted expression, and said, "Well, thank you, Xiao Liu." It's rare to have a role where you don't even need to meet the person you want to marry.
Xiao Liu: "..." Ah, this... He really doesn't look sad. I can only say that Mr. Gu has entered into a new kind of marriage.
After a long and boring period, Xiao Liu finally finished the three-day shooting in the afternoon.
Since Gu Chen lived in the mountains and was an inconspicuous amateur, the hard job of going into the mountains to take photos fell on a new photographer like Xiao Liu, and he didn't even get a photography assistant.
In order to get down the mountain and go to the city in time to catch today's flight, Xiao Liu had to leave early after lunch: "Mr. Gu, I'm sorry to disturb your vacation these days, I will come to bother you next time." However, he doubted whether Mr. Gu and "this couple" would have a next time.
"Don't bother me." Gu Chen shook hands with him, "Uncle Xu, please take Teacher Liu down the mountain."
Xiao Liu said in surprise: "Ah, thank you." It was great that the mountain villa had a driver. He almost suspected that the program crew had forgotten him in the mountains and didn't even arrange a driver to pick him up.
Xiao Liu was really conflicted. On the one hand, it was really like being in spring breeze to be with such a cultured boss like Mr. Gu; on the other hand, this boring filming process was really a torture, and if the broadcast effect was not good, his work this time would be considered to be fruitless.
Xiao Liu thought seriously in his heart that he must have a good talk with the editing teacher when he got back and watch him edit so as to bring out Mr. Gu's stunning beauty. Needless to say, he did capture enough material in terms of his appearance!
Although exhausted from the long journey, Xiao Liu was still full of energy when he rushed back to the program crew in the evening. The staff of the program crew were also still working overtime, waiting to cut out the materials of the past three days.
He eagerly removed the memory card from the camera and imported the footage into the computer. After waiting for a long time, he finally waited for the assistant director to be slightly free and asked him to come over to take a look.
The assistant director casually flipped through the footage while scrolling along the progress bar, frowning and asking, "What did you shoot? Where's Gu Chen's husband? Do you think you're shooting a static landscape?"
Xiao Liu quickly explained: "Director Qian, Mr. Gu's family member is on a business trip and is not at home. Can you take another look? I think Mr. Gu's appearance is also very outstanding, in fact..."
"He's on a business trip?" Assistant Director Qian interrupted. "He's on a business trip. Don't you know to ask this Gu Chen to pay the penalty? Don't you know to ask him to call his husband? Make a video call? Ask him to ask his husband to come back? This is a marriage and love variety show! What do you do for a living?"
"I thought..." Xiao Liu was too embarrassed to say that he was mesmerized by Gu Chen's aura, so he looked at the screen and changed the subject, "Director Qian, look, this Mr. Gu actually looks really..."
"Alright, this is not important." Director Qian was impatient to listen and said indifferently, "Someone above has already warned us not to let this Gu Chen show his face. He is an amateur anyway, so it doesn't matter..."
He made the decision without thinking, and turned to the editor, saying, "Just cut it to two minutes, maximum. Remember, don't show your face."
However, he couldn't help but take a few more glances at the handsome young man on the screen, muttering, "He's really good-looking."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
