Chapter 51
The milk tea shop is not big, with only a long table facing the street. The walls were covered with pink wallpaper and covered with many sticky notes of various shapes, all signed by customers.
Xiao Ziyu bent his knees and climbed onto the high chair, his long legs swinging back and forth. After a while, Yuan Heng came back with the order paper and sat on the one on the outside, squeezing everyone into the corner to block him.
"This is my first time in a milk tea shop," Xiao Ziyu commented seriously, "It really is a great place to relax and have fun."
"Where did you go this afternoon?" Yuan Heng asked suddenly.
Xiao Ziyu naturally wouldn't admit it, but he didn't want to lie either, so he said vaguely, "I have some personal matters."
At this point, most normal people would stop asking any more questions. But Yuan Heng didn't have the word "restraint" in his dictionary, so he said directly: "Running out in such hot weather, not only got lost but also almost got heat stroke, I don't think it's a good thing."
Seeing that he was about to suffer from the prince's illness again, Xiao Ziyu was also unceremonious: "It has nothing to do with you."
Yuan Heng nodded: "It really has nothing to do with me. It's not me who was sunburned like a tomato."
Xiao Ziyu's phoenix eyes widened slightly. He didn't expect the other party's attack method to be so childish and straightforward. He didn't know how to refute: "You are the tomato..."
Amid the tense atmosphere, the waiter brought up two cups of milk tea. Xiao Ziyu's Green Grape and Coconut Tea was elegant and aloof, while Yuan Heng's Watermelon Smoothie was noble and cool. The red and green together were a bit eye-catching.
Xiao Ziyu opened the milk tea and ignored everyone, but after just one sip, he squinted his eyes because of the sourness. The astringent taste of grape skin spread at the root of his tongue. He picked up the cup and looked at it suspiciously, not understanding why there was such a big difference between one milk tea and another.
He glanced at Yuan Heng, who had not touched the smoothie but was reading emails on his work phone. Xiao Ziyu bit the straw and asked as naturally as possible: "Is your cup delicious?"
Yuan Heng: “I don’t know.”
Xiao Ziyu didn't want to appear too greedy, but he was really curious: "The smoothie won't taste good if it melts. Let me try it for you."
Yuan Heng pushed the tray in front of him. Xiao Ziyu scooped a spoonful and tasted the sweet and cool taste. He said with half envy and half regret: "Yours is still the best."
Yuan Heng raised the corner of his mouth, not knowing why ancient people were obsessed with milk tea: "Then you have this cup."
"Really?" Xiao Ziyu looked up in surprise and decided not to care about what Yuan Heng said about his tomatoes. "Then you drink grapes?"
Yuan Heng picked up the green coconut in front of him, took a sip without changing the straw, and continued to focus his attention on the documents.
Xiao Ziyu finished a cup of watermelon smoothie with satisfaction. Rain began to fall outside. A pedestrian ran into the milk tea shop to avoid the rain and suddenly said in surprise: "Yuan Heng!"
This shout attracted more people on the street to look over, and soon the small milk tea shop was crowded.
"Damn it, I'd like to see Lin Buwei alive!"
"It's the Demon Lord!"
"Teacher Yuan, I really like your performance in "Murder", can you give me an autograph?"
"Wait, the person next to him seems to be Xiao Ziyu! The stand-in for Little Doctor Fairy!"
"Yes, that's right. The one who was trending on the Internet at that time, Wan Jian Hua, can also play the guqin!"
"She has such a good temperament. It's a pity to be a stand-in."
In just a few minutes, the milk tea shop was almost surrounded by people. Fans who couldn't squeeze in simply stood outside the shop in the rain and took pictures of them through the glass windows.
"Fan fiction shines into reality? The couple I support tries harder to show off their love than I do."
"The Demon Lord is drinking milk tea with the Little Medical Fairy. How romantic!"
"Wait, I'm concerned about why the two of them are together. Are they really dating?"
More and more people gathered, and it became even more lively than the selection of the most beautiful girl in the ancient opera garden. Xiao Ziyu had seen big scenes before, and he knew that spectators would often not care about anything when they got excited. The milk tea shop was next to the road, so danger could easily occur.
He jumped down from his high chair and shouted, "Everyone, please don't crowd!"
The fans were stunned and their screams almost broke through the roof. Xiao Ziyu didn't expect this to happen, and ordered the employees of the milk tea shop: "Please help evacuate. Gathering at the door may cause danger."
The shop assistants reacted and began to guide the crowd. Not long after, Qi Huai arrived with his bodyguards, squeezed through the crowd, and welcomed the two men into the business car.
Xiao Ziyu lowered the car window halfway and said to the fans who still refused to leave: "It's easier to catch a cold when you get caught in the rain in the summer, so everyone should keep warm."
The car started and gradually drove away from the surging crowd. Yuan Heng glanced sideways and saw that Xiao Ziyu's face was slightly flushed, his eyes were bright, and there was a bit more willfulness in his expression.
Artists who have just become famous are often overwhelmed by the compliments of their fans, and they lose their composure and manners, becoming elated and at a loss. Except for the initial surprise, Xiao Ziyu's reactions were all very calm. Not only did he know how to comfort his fans, he also knew how to find someone to control the situation. His calmness in his every move made him seem like a star who is used to being praised by everyone.
After they broke up in their previous life, Yuan Heng only knew that Xiao Ziyu came from the opera world and used the identity of a fake prince to sneak into Daliang as a hostage, but he didn't know what plays he had sung, what dances he had performed, or how many grand ceremonies he had witnessed.
For a long time, he was unwilling to believe anything Xiao Ziyu said. Later, their relationship eased, and the issue of their background became insignificant. The time they spent together comforting each other was much longer than when they were talking to each other.
This made Yuan Heng suddenly realize that he didn't know Xiao Ziyu as much as he thought.
He whispered, "You look more like a big star than I do."
Xiao Ziyu was slightly startled, and realized that he had gone too far, so he tried to make amends by saying, "I've seen some of them before when I went out with Meng Leyu."
Yuan Heng thought that Meng Leyu’s fans who came to support him probably wouldn’t come so many times, but he didn’t expose them: “You did a good job.”
In ancient times, after a play was over, everyone would just make a scene and shout. But in modern society, there are cameras. Xiao Ziyu has also seen the power of public opinion. He said with some concern, "We must have been filmed."
"Public opinion is uncontrollable. If it is posted on the Internet..."
"There is still capital in public opinion." Yuan Heng personally showed Qi Huai how dangerous the entertainment industry is. He instructed Qi Huai, "Go contact Zheng Hong and suppress the relevant topics and headlines. He knows how to deal with it."
Xiao Ziyu was shocked: "You are manipulating the masses."
Yuan Heng said arrogantly: "This is called making good use of resources. Otherwise, by tonight, people will find out how many spoonfuls of smoothie you have eaten."
Sure enough, with Yuantai’s intervention, the milk tea shop incident failed to make any splash on the Internet. The scope of dissemination was controlled within major groups and super topics, and CP fans directly called it the New Year.
Xiao Ziyu's cell phone rang. It was Luo Li calling. He probably heard the news. As soon as the call was connected, he got straight to the point and said, "Brother Xiao, are you with Teacher Yuan now?"
Xiao Ziyu hummed and avoided the main point: "I asked Mr. Yuan to help look at the business notebook."
Luo Li suddenly realized that Yuan Heng valued Xiao Ziyu and had to personally review the business announcement, so he hurriedly asked, "Are there any results?"
Xiao Ziyu said: "I am going to shoot the game promotion of "Jiang Hu Wu Yang"."
Luo Li exclaimed, obviously impressed by the script, "That's pretty good, a big company with a strong background. I thought you couldn't accept the plot."
Xiao Ziyu didn't study the script carefully, and subconsciously said, "What can't you accept?"
"Of course it's the mermaid look," Luo Li said. "That kind of mermaid makeup is more demanding on your figure, and the shooting requires wirework skills, which can just bring out all your strengths. What's more important is that we at Yuantai have invested in that game project ourselves!"
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Ziyu looked at Yuan Heng, as if he was going to settle the score: "Yuan Tai also invested in "Jiang Hu Wu Yan"?"
Yuan Heng admitted indirectly: "This IP is good."
Xiao Ziyu didn't know whether he should sigh at his cleverness as a businessman, using his own artists to promote his own products and thus saving some costs, or suspect that he had ulterior motives and had urged him to choose such an exaggerated and novel look.
Xiao Ziyu asked directly: "Do you want to save money, or do you want to see me pretend to be a fish?"
Yuan Heng smiled: "Both."
Xiao Ziyu used a new term: "Using public power for personal gain, capitalist style."
Yuan Heng said: "You have to admit that this is a good resource. You and I can kill two birds with one stone."
Xiao Ziyu didn't argue with him. He turned his head to look out the window and rolled his eyes at Yuan Heng's shadow on the glass.
Just two days after I rested at home, I received the news that the filming of "Xunsu" had started.
Xiao Ziyu didn't want to record the show while running around with his own announcements, so he simply contacted the game company and filmed a promotional video for "Jiang Hu Wu Yang" in advance.
The promotional video is divided into two parts. The first half shows an ordinary middle school student, while the second half shows the King of Mermaids in "Jianghu Wuyang".
The planners chose Xiao Ziyu, firstly because of his ancient costume appearance, and secondly because of his light and narrow body.
The most difficult role to play is a growing teenager. He grows taller but doesn't have many muscles. His broad shoulders make him look heavy and his tender face makes him look too childish. The kind of immaturity that is revealed inadvertently is the hardest to portray.
The makeup artist looked at Xiao Ziyu for a while, and finally just applied a simple base makeup. His long hair was tied into a high ponytail, with scattered hair on his forehead. He changed into a school uniform and sneakers, and the whole person looked more youthful and energetic.
Xiao Ziyu turned around in front of the mirror and was a little surprised: "Students nowadays all wear this kind of clothes?"
"This is the school uniform, brother," Luo Li suddenly realized, "You must have gone to an aristocratic school before, wearing a shirt and tie, so you can't feel the pain of us wearing blue and white synthetic clothes."
Xiao Ziyu has no memory of the previous experience, and only talks about the present: "I think it's beautiful."
"That's because you have a good figure," Rowley said. "This kind of clothes has no shape. It looks like a sack on a thin person and like a tights on a fat person."
He took a few steps forward and pulled down the zipper on Xiao Ziyu's chest, making his thin chest look more spacious. "That's right. This is just right."
They finished filming the classroom scenes in a makeshift classroom. Next, Xiao Ziyu had to run through the empty corridor and accidentally step into the fairy world at the corner.
Don’t turn on the computer the first time, just run it once to get a feel for it. The director instructed: "You need to walk briskly and have a smile on your face."
Xiao Ziyu smiled, with a hint of shyness on the corners of his lips, but the director was not satisfied: "Don't be shy, be more outspoken and bright. Think back to when you were fifteen or sixteen years old. You must have done radio gymnastics, right?"
Xiao Ziyu had never done radio gymnastics. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, he was already deep-minded, and his youthful spirit was suppressed under his dignified appearance. After NGing a few shots, he took the initiative to say, "Let me find the feeling."
"Brother Xiao, don't worry." Luo Li brought him a bottle of mineral water. "Just think about the happy things you had when you were a teenager, not necessarily on campus."
Xiao Ziyu closed his eyes and recalled that when he was a teenager, he practiced martial arts with his senior brother in the opera theater. The first time he went on stage, he won a standing ovation. I also remembered that when they were traveling in Shu, they would rest by the roadside when they were tired, standing or sitting, and beating rhythm with their feet and hands, singing melody back and forth, and passers-by would cheer.
Then, he thought of Yuan Heng. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince taught him riding and shooting, played chess with him, and took him from the south of the Yangtze River to the border. The two of them went out of the palace at night to watch the stream under the moon and the Milky Way in the sky.
Xiao Ziyu stood up and said, "Director, I want to try again."
He ran in the corridor, running through the age of childhood when he practiced martial arts, the age of traveling around, the age of twenty-eight when he rode and shot freely, and the age of being crowned with a red phoenix sedan chair. His youth was no less exciting than that of others.
"Okay, hold on," the director stared at the screen, recording Xiao Ziyu's condition frame by frame.
After shouting stop, Xiao Ziyu had no time to stop and staggered for a distance. A pair of leather shoes stepped on him at the corner. He braked hurriedly, but still couldn't control himself and fell on the man.
Yuan Heng looked like he had just come from the company, dressed in a suit and tie, as black as ink. The staff brought him to the shooting location on the rooftop, where he stumbled and fell into someone's arms.
The director froze with the microphone in his hand, and the staff member exclaimed "Mr. Yuan". With a plop, the mineral water in Luo Li's hand fell to the ground.
Xiao Ziyu raised his head, his face full of disbelief: "Why are you here?"
Yuan Heng brushed aside the strands of hair on his forehead: "Maybe, I want to see you in school uniform."
My dears, I am on a business trip this week and cannot update daily. I will take a break tomorrow and come back on Thursday or2
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