"Why did you come back just now? The lunch boxes have all been distributed!" In a corner full of props, Da Mao and Xiao Pang squatted in the shade of the corner, waving at Tao Mu and said with a smile: "Fortunately, we got you a lunch box."
Xiaopang handed Tao Mu a takeaway box with a five-star hotel logo, and his chubby and round face was full of joy: "Today is also the little prince's birthday. In order to celebrate his birthday, his family specially asked the crew for a day off. The little prince also asked his agent to order high-end takeaway from the five-star hotel, and even us extras have deluxe boxed lunches to eat."
The Little Prince is the nickname given to the male lead of this drama, Shen Yu. Because he is a genuine prince who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with exquisite looks, elegant manners, and most importantly, his personality is as pure, kind, lovely and likable as the prince in the fairy tale.
To use the words of the Shen family in the previous life to evaluate, compared with Tao Mu, who has a hot temper, is unreasonable, scheming, and has a perverse personality, they are basically two extremes.
Tao Mu stared at the lunch box in Damao's hand expressionlessly. He had been having a particularly bad time in recent days. Especially when sleeping, all kinds of images and sounds always pop up in my mind for no apparent reason. It almost drove him insane.
Tao Mu's expression made Damao feel uneasy. I thought Tao Mu was thinking about his life experience again. I couldn't help but laugh and joke, "Come to think of it, today is also our brother Mu's birthday. I hope the crew won't shoot too late tonight, so I can help you arrange it. How about we go to a bar tonight? I've asked around, there's a bar street near H Film City, it's said to be pretty good."
Damao, whose real name is Wang Ye, was given this nickname by his classmates because of his high testosterone, thick body hair and muscular build. My father was a coal boss. To use a joke from later generations, he was a rich second-generation whose family owned a mine.
However, this rich second-generation whose family owns a mine was now squatting in a corner eating a box lunch while wearing a dirty extra costume. There is also the fat guy Pang Yue, who is obviously most afraid of heat, but in order to share the joys and sorrows with his buddies, he would rather carry Pang’s father’s teaching stick and Pang’s mother’s feather duster and follow them to H Film and Television City.
Tao Mu stared at the two childhood friends squatting in the corner. What lingered in my mind was what I had dreamed about these days: the scene where Wang Ye knelt in the morgue and cried bitterly when the Wang family went bankrupt and Wang Ye's father jumped off the building. There was also the blood-stained face of Xiaopang before he died. Then came all sorts of “book reviews” that inexplicably appeared in my mind.
The smiling Da Mao, the pained Da Mao, the bloodied and blue-faced Xiao Pang in the morgue, the Xiao Pang squatting in the corner eating, and those inexplicable noises...
Different scenes and different faces kept alternating before his eyes. Tao Mu closed his eyes dizzy. After having this dream for seven days in a row, he had the illusion that he had lived a lifetime, committed suicide, and then lived his life again. The scenes in his dream seemed particularly real to him, whether it was the violently turbulent emotions, the excruciating pain, or even the desperate suicide by jumping off at the end of the dream, all made Tao Mu feel a frightening sense of reality. So much so that every time I see Da Mao and Xiao Pang, I always feel a sense of trance and fear, as if things have changed and people have died, laughing and cursing in front of me. What frightened him even more were the inexplicable voices that appeared in his mind from time to time.
Until today, to be exact, between 10 and 11 am on July 7, 2008, the dreams that had troubled Tao Mu finally came to an end. It was as if the broken pieces of glass finally pieced together a complete mirror, and Tao Mu suddenly recalled that he had really died once, and was reborn to a time when everything had not yet begun.
Seriously speaking, today is indeed his seventh day. Tao Mu, who was deserted by his friends and relatives and committed suicide in despair, has come back to life.
"Brother Mu?" Noticing that something was wrong with Tao Mu, Da Mao, who was flattering, and Xiao Pang, who was eating, raised their heads in confusion: "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." Tao Mu lowered his eyes and shook his head calmly: "I'm going out to smoke a cigarette, you guys eat."
Da Mao, who was squatting at the foot of the wall, was slightly stunned, and looked thoughtfully at Tao Mu's slender back as he slowly left.
The fat boy holding the lunch box frowned: "When did the boss learn to smoke?"
After a pause, he asked again, "Did the boss remember his life story again?"
The two of them had been classmates with Tao Mu since childhood, so they naturally knew that Tao Mu was an orphan. It was said that he was thrown into a rental house by his biological mother when he was still breastfeeding. If he hadn't cried so loudly due to hunger that attracted the attention of the neighbors, and the neighbors hadn't called the landlady to open the door, Tao Mu would probably have starved to death in the rental house.
Later, the landlady sent Tao Mu to an orphanage. It was said that it was evening that day, with the sun setting in the west and dusk falling. Director Tao of the orphanage gave Tao Mu the name Xiao Mu, which took the director's surname. That's how Tao Mu got his name.
"Ah! That's why they say the same person has different fates! The little prince was born on the same day as our brother Mu. Look at what kind of life he had. He was pampered by his family, and his birthday was celebrated with such fanfare. Even his name is very elegant and graceful."
In comparison, it’s no wonder that Brother Mu feels so unhappy.
"Just shut up!" Da Mao glanced at Xiao Pang with disdain: "You can't even shut up when eating! No wonder you're so fat!"
What's the logic behind this? ! Xiaopang looked innocently at Wang Ye, who was tall and mighty and several times stronger than himself, and lowered his head to eat silently - and did not forget to open Tao Mu's lunch box!
"I think the boss doesn't want to eat anymore. I'll eat it for him to avoid waste!" The luxury lunch boxes in a five-star hotel are quite expensive!
* * * * * *
"...I've been looking for you in the crew for a long time, and it turns out you were hiding here!" Ye Yao was holding a small cake in her hand, looking at the boy smoking against the antique blue brick wall, with a gleam of surprise in her eyes.
The scorching sun of midsummer is like fire, and the sunlight pours down freely, penetrating through the mottled leaves and casting spots of light. The handsome man in white was leaning lazily against the antique city wall. The way he smoked carelessly had a kind of indifferent sexiness in the hazy afternoon sunlight, which made people suddenly have the urge to... move forward, take away the cigarette and kiss his lips.
Ye Yao's cheeks flushed slightly, and she handed the small cake in her hand to Tao Mu: "I heard that today is also your birthday. Happy birthday to you."
Tao Mu held a cigarette in his mouth and looked at Ye Yao casually. Ye Yao's figure was clearly reflected in the dark eyes, and that casual gaze gave people the illusion of deep affection. Ye Yao just felt a little dizzy, and was completely immersed in Tao Mu's masculine charm.
It turns out that there are really people who can be this handsome!
Ye Yao coughed shyly and tried to find a topic: "I heard that you were admitted to the Beijing Film Academy and will start school in September. You came to H Film City to train during the summer vacation. You have a lot of ideas!"
Coming to H Film and Television City to be a stunt double, learning how to move and practice camera sense from the director, is indeed a very interesting idea for an unreported freshman who has just been admitted to Beijing Film Academy and has not yet learned how to act. What's more, Tao Mu not only has ideas, but also has great looks and beautiful martial arts moves. Ye Yao felt that Tao Mu would definitely have a bright future, so she was willing to lower her posture and take the initiative to show her goodwill.
[Green tea turns black. Green tea bitch. Her level is not particularly high, but her methods are disgusting! 】
here we go again!
Tao Mu lowered his eyebrows, smoked with a headache, and didn't want to pay attention to anyone.
Ye Yao didn't mind: "I'm applying for Yanying, and I'm a junior this year, so I'm your senior, right? Do you want to call me senior?"
Tao Mu glanced at Ye Yao and said, "Little girl, are you trying to take advantage of me?"
Tao Mu's voice is very special. He grew up in Beijing and speaks Beijing dialect. But after returning to the Shen family in his previous life, he stayed in Shanghai for nearly ten years, so there was still a hint of the softness of Shanghai dialect in his accent, which sounded lazy and seductive, yet also a bit cynical.
Ye Yao's ears felt hot when she heard this, and she said with a smile: "How can that be? I am older than you anyway."
Pause. He made small talk again: "I noticed that you have a good talent for languages. After being in H Town for a few days, your Beijing accent has become distorted!"
Tao Mu put out his cigarette with a lack of interest. When he smokes, he doesn't like to be in front of people, and he also hates it when people talk to him. The former is politeness, the latter is a problem.
Of course Ye Yao didn't know this. Seeing Tao Mu put out his cigarette, I thought Tao Mu was very gentlemanly. The interest in the conversation became even stronger: "Speaking of which, you and Shen Yu were born on the same day of the same month of the same year. From the perspective of numerology, your fates should be similar..." However, in reality, Tao Mu is just an orphan. In order to gain some experience, he had to come to H Film and Television City to be an extra after graduating from high school. However, Shen Yu is the youngest and most favored son of the Shen family. He just entered the circle for fun, and his family also set up an agency to invest in TV dramas and play the leading role for him.
As if realizing that this topic was inappropriate, Ye Yao stopped talking awkwardly. Looking at Tao Mu eagerly, "What I mean is, you are so beautiful, and you were admitted to the Beijing Film Academy. You will definitely be very famous in the future."
That is true. However, after becoming famous, he was forced out of the entertainment industry by Shen Yu's admirers because of his own bad behavior.
Tao Mu chuckled, his careless and lazy sexiness made Ye Yao's eyes light up.
No matter what time it is, the combination of handsome men and beautiful women is always pleasing to the eye.
But in the eyes of some people, this scene makes people angry.
"What are you doing?" Mu Huating, who played the third male lead in the play, ran over. He saw the small cake Ye Yao was holding, and asked jealously: "Isn't today Shen Yu's birthday? Xiaoyao, why are you giving this kid a cake?"
"Don't call me so affectionately. I'm not that familiar with you." Ye Yao frowned and said coldly.
In this drama, the third female character played by Ye Yao and the third male character played by Mu Huating are a couple, and Mu Huating's agency seems to be interested in using the relationship in the drama to stir up a scandal. For stars who debuted as idols, this kind of operation is commonplace, and even fans of both sides don't take it seriously. It can attract attention without too many worries. It was supposed to be a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, Ye Yao didn't like Mu Huating very much - mainly because Mu Huating's face, which barely passed the passing line after removing makeup, was really not to Ye Yao's taste, so Ye Yao usually spoke coldly to Mu Huating when she saw him. This made Mu Huating, who was very popular with fans since his debut, feel very unfair. Today, he saw Ye Yao, who had ignored him before, actually showing great courtesy to a small extra in the crew. This made Mu Huating, who had been doing well since his debut, even more unbearable.
"Xiaoyao, you are not interested in this extra, are you?" Mu Huating puffed out his chest proudly, looked down at Tao Mu, and persuaded him in the tone of an experienced person: "This kind of person has nothing but a face. Don't be so naive, he and we are from two different worlds. You two are not suitable at all."
Having said that. Mu Huating knew very well that in this circle, appearance is often the key. What's more, Tao Mu not only has a good look, but also was admitted to the Beijing Film and Television Academy, and is a professional graduate. Unlike him, who debuted through a talent show last year, his qualifications are not recognized by people in the industry at all.
Thinking of this, Mu Huating looked at Tao Mu's handsome and aggressive face with envy and jealousy, and couldn't help but said: "Xiaoyao, if you are still so confused, I will call Sister Hong."
Sister Hong’s real name is Wan Meihong. She is Ye Yao’s agent and is very strict in managing her artists. Therefore, when Ye Yao heard Mu Huating's words, her face changed, and she immediately explained: "Don't meddle in other people's business. Today is Tao Mu's birthday. I just want to wish him a happy birthday."
"Really?" Mu Huating raised his eyebrows: "What a coincidence, Shen Yu's birthday is also today."
As he spoke, he looked up and down at Tao Mu, who had remained silent the entire time, and sneered, "They all have the same birthday, but some are born with a golden key, and some are orphans who are not wanted by their parents. No wonder the saying goes that people will die if you compare them to others, and goods will be thrown away if you compare them to others."
That's going too far. Ye Yao immediately frowned and said angrily: "How can you talk like that? Apologize to Tao Mu quickly."
"Who is he? Why should I apologize to a minor actor——"
"That's not right." Tao Mu flicked the cigarette in his hand into the garbage pile beside him: "It's all angry words to say that people will die if they compare themselves with others, and goods will be thrown away if they are compared with others. The reality is that people will live if they compare themselves with others, and goods will be kept if they are compared with others."
Tao Mu said this, and looked at Mu Huating casually, with a hint of playfulness in his dark eyes: "Just like some people, they are not good-looking, their acting skills are not good, and their IQ is not good, but they are daydreaming here every day, and their lives are quite dreamy."
Anyone with a brain could tell that Tao Mu was mocking Mu Huating. Mu Huating, who debuted with his face and regarded himself as a flower boy, was furious when he heard this and pointed his finger at Tao Mu's nose: "What did you say? Ahhh——"
Tao Mu held Mu Huating's fingers and twisted them hard, and taught him casually: "Don't point at people when you talk, what if you get hurt?"
"Let go!" Mu Huating hugged his red and painful fingers and took two steps back, staring at Tao Mu in shock and anger: "Barbaric!"
Tao Mu sneered, glanced at the timid Mu Huating, then turned and left.
Not wanting to eat the birthday banquet that Shen Yu had arranged for the crew, including the extras, Tao Mu casually ate a bowl of beef noodles outside the film and television city. He almost choked to death from the chef's cooking, and then drank two bottles of mineral water. Seeing that it was almost time, he returned to the crew. He also has two wirework scenes in the afternoon where he will be the stand-in for the male lead Shen Yu.
After being reborn, the person Tao Mu hates the most is Shen Yu. He originally wanted to cancel the contract - he was really fed up with the days of entanglement with Shen Yu and the Shen family in his previous life, which made him almost go crazy.
Unfortunately, when he was interviewed, Shen Yu was particularly satisfied with his martial arts moves and gave him a very high salary, so the penalty for breach of contract was relatively high - in order to ensure that Tao Mu would not give up halfway, the penalty for breach of contract was ten times the salary.
The drama "Zixiao" is a fantasy costume idol drama adapted from an online IP. It was originally planned to be a series of 40 episodes, of which the male lead had roles in 32 episodes, and among these 32 episodes, at least 20 were fighting scenes. According to the contract, the crew had to pay Tao Mu, the stunt double, 50,000 yuan, which was several times higher than the market price. Mainly because Shen Yu was particularly satisfied, and Tao Mu's martial arts moves were smooth and flowing, especially in the camera, it looked particularly tense and beautiful. Shen Yu's agency probably wanted to show their appreciation for Tao Mu, so they were so generous.
In addition, Shen Yu, the kind-hearted little prince, felt pity for Tao Mu after learning about his life experience, so he raised the price extra - according to the little prince's wishes, he originally wanted to increase it to 100,000 yuan. But Shen Yu is a kind-hearted person, and his agency is not a charity. In the end, both sides took a step back and gave 50,000 yuan. Ten times the penalty is five hundred thousand.
Although Tao Mu still had some money in his pocket after living a new life, it was definitely not half a million. Of course, even if he had, he didn't want to waste it on Shen Yu. So after thinking it over, Tao Mu still patiently did it - he was like this, as long as the benefits were enough, he could endure it even if he was humiliated.
Therefore, in his previous life, the people in the Shen family thought that he was cunning and spineless, and was not as good as the white lotus they raised since childhood.
My heart skipped a beat, as if it were pricked by a needle. Tao Mu retracted his thoughts and walked back to the crew expressionlessly, and heard a noise from a distance.
"What's going on?" Tao Mu frowned as he looked at the group of people gathered in the rest area of the studio.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang, who had watched a good show outside the crowd, came over and gossiped quietly, "Another investor of this play came to visit the set. I heard that he was Ye Yao's boyfriend. He ended up being hooked up with Duan Qingqing. The two were flirting while sitting on a lounge chair, and Ye Yao saw them."
Duan Qingqing is the heroine of this play and she is twenty years old this year. He is a junior student at the same film and television academy as Ye Yao. Because of their similar images and the same star paths, the two have been competing since their debut, and they also compete openly and secretly in the crew.
"Ye Yao started to make a scene, calling Duan Qingqing shameless, and rolled up her sleeves to hit her. The man tried to stop her, but Ye Yao said she wanted to break up and slapped the man. The man got angry too, and said that it was okay to break up, but Ye Yao was able to get into the show as the third female lead because of his connections. If Ye Yao really wanted to break up, she should quit the crew."
Several people were quarreling so fiercely that even Ye Yao and the heroine Duan Qingqing's agent came over. While persuading Ye Yao's boyfriend to calm down, she also had to find a way to control the situation - at least she couldn't let what happened today get out.
In order to resume filming as soon as possible, even the chief director Chen, who usually doesn't interfere in the crew's affairs, had to step forward to persuade them. Seeing that Ye Yao's boyfriend's anger had subsided immediately, Mu Huating, who had been standing by and watching the excitement, suddenly saw Tao Mu in the crowd. He immediately stretched out his still aching finger, pointed at Tao Mu's figure and said to Ye Yao's boyfriend: "Mr. Luo, the reason why Ye Yao wanted to break up with you was because of that boy. She saw that the boy was good-looking, so she fell in love with someone else. You are busy with all kinds of things and rarely pay attention to the crew's affairs. Don't be fooled by them."
Tao Mu, who was hiding in the crowd: "..."
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