Chapter 072
As the date approached, Xu Jingning and Xiang Yuan made a date plan for the whole day.
"For a date, there's no need to do anything fancy. First of all, it has to be comfortable and cozy. This hot spring center may not be that famous, but it has good service and a high level of privacy. You two will definitely be able to completely relax there. No need to thank me." Xiang Yuan proudly sent the address to Xu Jingning. "It will be so nice to have a drink after soaking in the hot spring. Once the atmosphere is right and you confess your feelings, it will be convenient for you to do whatever you want~"
Xu Jingning ignored Xiang Yuan's somewhat ambiguous look and accepted the message: "Thank you."
The hot spring center is located in Pingjiang. Although Pingjiang has not yet completely turned cold, soaking in the hot springs on a cold and wet night is indeed relaxing for the body and mind.
After preparing the rest of the day's itinerary, Xu Jingning planned to extend an invitation to Yan Xun.
Before he could send it out, he unexpectedly received bad news: there was work to do during Christmas.
"Director Fang has notified us that the film has passed the preliminary review. If we catch up on the progress, we may be able to participate in the film festival in March next year." Xu Xingcheng said as he pulled out the information, "Yan Xun's team took the opportunity to propose to build momentum for the film. The best option at the moment is still to sell the CP of you two."
Looking at the sales data on the PPT, Xu Jingning was stunned: "But I don't think shooting this fashion magazine has anything to do with the movie."
Since Epura officially signed Xu Jingning to endorse its men's perfume series, many fashion brands have been vying to extend olive branches of cooperation.
In addition, several major magazines were also eager to invite Xu Jingning for an interview, but due to schedule conflicts, the earliest appointment could be made was after the beginning of the new year.
And now, Yan Xun took the initiative to invite, and chose "INKE", which he loves to cooperate with the most traffic.
The excuse he gave was reasonable: "INKE is good at shooting double-star covers. In recent years, popular TV series have cooperated with them to sell CPs. If we want to expand the popularity of CPs, they are the most suitable choice."
Some netizens even listed a guide to whether a domestic entertainment CP is qualified, one of which is whether "INKE" has taken "wedding photos" for them.
Xu Jingning: "...but today is already the 20th. What topic did Yan Xun mention?"
Xu Xingcheng: "Christmas special."
No matter how you think about it, this is impossible to catch up, right?
Seeing his worry, Xu Xingcheng comforted him, "Don't worry, the filming will be completed before the 24th, and the follow-up work will be completed by professionals. Since they can take it, it means it's still in time."
This is what Xu Jingning is afraid of.
As far as he knows, if INKE wants to release a Christmas special, it must be completed before 8 pm on the 24th at the latest. This time is too tight and no normal person would want to work overtime.
The only reasonable reason is that Yan Xun spent money to buy favors, handled private matters as official matters, and lied to him that he was going out for a trip.
Oh yes, in order to find an atmospheric filming location, they have to go abroad for a week.
The country has just begun to feel the arrival of winter, but another country across the ocean has already seen several heavy snowfalls.
As soon as Xu Jingning got off the plane, Yan Xun pulled her to put on more clothes. Although she knew how to do it without being reminded, Xu Jingning felt a sense of satisfaction when she saw the man in front of her concentrating on tying her scarf.
As they left the airport, they were greeted by a bone-chilling cold wind. The assistant, whose clothes were not tucked in tightly, shivered and immediately found the car that came to pick them up: "Teacher Yan, Teacher Xiao Xu, this way!"
The place they stayed in was a high-rise apartment that Yan Xun had cleaned in advance. The three floors were all under Yan Xun's name, and it was enough for the people brought by their two teams to stay temporarily.
Yan Xun bought the apartment on short notice. When Xu Jingning found out about this, she complained about his wasteful spending, but he smiled and explained, "You can never have too much real estate. You can't guarantee that you won't go abroad in the future, right? Living at home is always more comfortable than a hotel."
"I usually stay in a hotel every day when I'm filming. I hope that if conditions permit, you can relax a little more, otherwise vacation will be no different from work."
You're not going to pretend anymore, are you? Just confess that you're taking a vacation this time under the pretext of work.
Xu Jingning couldn't argue with him. Anyway, the house had already been bought and they would be living there for quite some time. So, they might as well enjoy it.
Before going to the apartment, the driver took them to the "INKE" branch. On the first day, they confirmed the shooting plan they provided before deciding on the itinerary for the next few days.
There were three shooting plans submitted for "INKE", which were actually similar. In essence, they were all for highlighting the CP feeling and tension. After a brief discussion, Yan Xun and Xu Jingning chose the one with a more daily and warm style.
This project will shoot three scenes: a Christmas snow scene, one shopping in a supermarket, and another one celebrating Christmas at home.
Snow scenes are the easiest to photograph. The weather forecast shows that it will snow every night in the next few days. Find a busy small park and you can do it in one night.
Celebrating at home was also very simple, the scene was set up in advance. Yan Xun was wealthy and really bought a Christmas tree and a bunch of gifts. After the shooting of the day was completed, he called all the staff and allowed them to choose their own gifts.
Everyone was surprised and delighted, but they were too embarrassed and only took the outermost part of the gift box. What they opened were either shopping cards or gift certificates, each worth no less than five thousand.
Facing everyone's surprised expressions, Yan Xun smiled and said, "Christmas is also considered the New Year. Thank you for troubling everyone to come out to work. You can use these to buy something for your family or something you want. Thank you for your hard work."
A good boss is one who gives money during festivals, and everyone expressed their gratitude.
Xu Jingning's eyes fell on the remaining gift boxes of varying sizes, and she teased Yan Xun, "Boss Yan is rich, where is my gift?"
Yan Xun smiled and said, "The rest is yours."
Hearing this, Xu Jingning became interested and started to dismantle them one by one. Surprisingly, he actually found something different.
That was the gift box placed at the back, the most conspicuous and the largest in size.
It was not heavy to lift, so Xu Jingning became cautious. He carefully opened the package and found that it contained a bundle of... bank cards.
Seeing the surprised expression on the man's face, Yan Xun probably guessed it, and said softly: "All my liquid assets are here. Do you like this Christmas gift, Teacher Xu?"
"The password is the same as my tablet's lock screen, you know."
How is this different from handing in your salary?
Xu Jingning opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say for a long time.
When people are stunned, their thoughts start to wander away: "It's in such a big gift box, aren't you afraid that the employees will take it away?"
"Oh, that won't happen. After all, they know that the best things should be reserved for the boss."
Xu Jingning's heart was pounding, as if she was waiting for Yan Xun to continue, but he politely stopped at that point, which made Xu Jingning feel itchy.
At this time, he completely forgot Xiang Yuan's advice and started to be stubborn with Yan Xun again.
Well, it depends on who can endure more.
He accepted the bank card. After all, since someone dared to give it as a gift, he naturally dared to accept it.
Time slowly came to the 24th, and there was only one last step left in the filming project - going shopping in the supermarket.
It is a bit troublesome to find a supermarket willing to let them film during holidays. It is different here than in China. Firstly, it will affect the daily shopping of local residents and may be reported to the police, so the difficulty of persuading supermarkets to cooperate has increased by several levels. Secondly, they are located near large shopping malls, and every inch of land is valuable. Even if one of them agrees, the investment cost-effectiveness is not worth it.
Although Yan Xun didn't care how much money he spent, he still followed Xu Jingning's teachings and tried to spend less money.
INKE had already agreed on a price with a small supermarket, but when the other party heard that the person coming to shoot the magazine was Yan Xun, the internationally renowned movie star, they immediately raised the price and stood up at the last minute. Everyone was a little anxious, after all, if they couldn't finish the shoot today, they would miss the opportunity.
"There is actually another way." The person who planned the shoot was a very experienced middle-aged woman. She found several supermarkets that were originally considered as candidates and successfully persuaded one of them to provide the shooting location at the original price. "But their condition is that the supermarket will not be closed, so local residents will watch."
Xu Jingning and Yan Xun didn't mind this too much.
Xu Jingning smiled and said, "It's just right for us to get some free publicity."
The two parties had no objections, and the planner breathed a sigh of relief and immediately called a taxi to rush to the supermarket over there.
It took more than two hours to walk out of the bustling commercial district and arrive at a small town.
At this time, every household has put on various decorations. Although it is not dark yet, Xu Jingning can imagine how shocking it will be when all the colorful lights light up at night.
There is a church in the center of the town with a very tall bell tower behind it. At this time, you can see many people going there to worship together.
An assistant couldn't help but exclaimed: "It's so beautiful here! And the Christmas atmosphere is much stronger than in the city!"
The supermarket was not far from the town entrance, and the arrival of a dozen people did attract a lot of attention from the public, but those looks were all of goodwill and curiosity, and did not make people feel disgusted.
After friendly communication with the supermarket owner, a small area was temporarily cleared out as a filming location, but it was not fenced off from outside and was open to residents to come and see.
Today, Xu Jingning was wearing a white hand-hook plaid turtleneck sweater with a furry but not fat-making beige coat on the outside. A deer antler wool hat in the same color was worn loosely on her head, revealing her messy bangs.
Yan Xun, who was standing next to him, wore a dark suit vest inside and a long coat outside, and his aura was revealed in his every move.
The outfits of both of them were simple and casual. If there were not several professional photographers around who kept teaching them how to adjust their positions, at first glance they would really look like a couple out to buy holiday supplies.
"Come on, Teacher Yan, turn a little towards me. Yes, yes, yes, that affectionate look. Keep smiling and don't move!"
"Teacher Xu, please raise your feet a little. Now Teacher Yan has taken away the snacks you just took, and you are in a hurry to grab them back... Right! Jump a few more times to take a few more photos!"
"Okay! Teacher Yan can put your hands around Teacher Xu's waist. Remember that you are a couple now, and these intimate actions will happen naturally."
Some residents took photos of them and uploaded them to the Internet. Because of their good looks and the romantic atmosphere, the photos went viral. As the photos were passed around, someone finally recognized them: Isn't this Yan Xun and Xu Jingning? Why did they go abroad?
So, the picture was uploaded into China again. Although it was not a holiday in China, it happened to be the weekend, and as expected, it set the Internet on fire again.
[Oh my god, did this couple go on a date abroad? Even this blurry photo can make me feel so sweet]
[I showed the photo to my mom who doesn’t use the internet much, and she said that these two standing together are just people who live together, hahahahahahahahahaha]
[There are a lot of photographers around here, so what kind of job do you have? ]
[Wow wow that makes sense! Better to work and wait for the high-definition pictures to come out! I'm going to buy it!!!]
A curious netizen took a screenshot of the first blog post published on the Internet, and added the translation of the comments of foreign friends:
[Ohhhh! These two people are very good-looking. Are they stars? ]
[My eyes tell me that this is a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, they are very sweet]
[No, no, no, I know them. They are actors and have participated in an acting variety show. But they are indeed a very loving couple. This is the result unanimously recognized by netizens in their country.]
[…Shit, I will die of laughter from the machine translation sooner or later]
[How come foreign friends are also so obsessed with it, hahahahahahahahahaha]
[My Xun Ning CP, now the whole world knows that they are in love, I laughed until I fainted]
The popularity on Weibo continued to rise, and the domestic official account of "INKE" quickly took advantage of the situation to post a Weibo, announcing that the Christmas e-special issue co-produced with Yan Xun and Xu Jingning would be available for unlimited sale on time at midnight on the 25th.
The two people who were far away in a foreign country only found out when they finished filming that a heavy snow had suddenly fallen in the evening, blocking the way back. Even if they kept shoveling the snow, it would take until the early morning to clear the way.
Everyone looked at each other, each expression uglier than the last.
The photographers of "INKE" are fine, after all, they have the equipment in hand. They are now working overtime to edit the photos, and there will be no problem in completing the e-magazine before midnight. However, they are destined to spend this Christmas Eve in a small town.
The question now is where can they live.
Noticing the group's dilemma, the supermarket owner came over and said that he had a small B&B at home and could accommodate them for a night without them having to pay.
Yan Xun expressed his gratitude, and the supermarket owner laughed and explained that because so many people came to watch this afternoon, the supermarket's turnover doubled. This was a very pleasant and cost-effective cooperation.
So the group followed the boss to his homestay. Each room was actually not small and was decorated very stylishly, but because of the limited rooms during the tourist season, they had to squeeze together to barely fit.
Xu Jingning naturally shared a room with Yan Xun. It was getting darker and darker. The boss prepared a sumptuous dinner for everyone, then wished them a pleasant night and left.
The exotic food made Xu Jingning's stomach, which had never been picky about food, protest for the first time. Two days ago when he was in the apartment, he could hire a chef to prepare Chinese food. But now he was living under someone else's roof and the boss was so enthusiastic. He didn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so he pretended to eat a little.
Being full definitely doesn’t mean you’re full, but you won’t feel hungry at night.
When he returned to the room, Yan Xun, who had come back early, had already prepared hot water in the bathroom. Seeing someone coming up, he asked him to soak for a while first.
"The weather is bad today, and there might be a draft at night. Wait until you are warm before coming out." Yan Xun actually discovered the reason why he was not in high spirits. "Have a good sleep. I will ask Lao Li to cook a meal according to your preferences when we go back tomorrow. Make sure you eat well by then, okay?"
Xu Jingning blinked: "I'm not that squeamish."
"I know. I want to take care of you."
Xu Jingning nodded and went to the bathroom in her pajamas.
Yan Xun had long discovered that Xu Jingning loved to hear such words. As long as he told him that he wanted to be nice to him, he would obediently do whatever he was told, even if he protested.
They asked him to soak in the bathtub for a longer time, and he actually stayed in there for more than half an hour without coming out. When they looked at the time, they felt something was wrong, so Yan Xun had to go in and call for help, only to find that he had fallen asleep in the bathtub.
Pinching the wrinkles on his fingertips, Xu Jingning apologized guiltily: "The heating is too strong, too comfortable..."
Yan Xun's face darkened as he blamed himself, but in the end, he just sighed: "Forget it, I asked you to go first."
"If you are too sleepy, just go to sleep. You can go back when you wake up."
Xu Jingning shook his head: "I just checked my phone. INKE said the e-edition is ready. I want to wait until midnight."
Yan Xun thought it made sense, and then he looked to see that it was already half past eleven, and he didn't need to wait much longer, so he let the person go and went to wash up.
When he came out again, he didn't see anyone in the room. After looking around, he found a small partition door in the bedroom. When he opened it, he saw an open-air balcony outside.
At this time, Xu Jingning was staying on the balcony, wearing only a coat over her pajamas. Yan Xun immediately frowned: "Why are you running outside in such a cold weather?"
Hearing the shout, Xu Jingning turned around, eyes sparkling: "I just saw snow!"
Hearing this, Yan Xun looked up and saw tiny white dots floating in the sky. The snow was falling very slowly, and even when it landed on his skin, he didn't feel any real chill.
Xu Jingning was reaching out to touch the snowflakes, watching them melt bit by bit in his hands, and couldn't help laughing out loud.
Yan Xun understood instantly.
For more than 20 years since he was born, Xu Jingning has rarely left Pingjiang. He occasionally went to other cities to film, but he never caught a glimpse of the snow.
But it rarely snows in Pingjiang. Sometimes in winter it is so cold that it can freeze people to death, but there may not even be a single snowflake.
Yan Xun had some understanding of the southerners' curiosity and obsession with snow, and Xu Jingning's childlike behavior suddenly came alive in his eyes.
He returned and took out a bottle of wine from inside the house, then came out carrying two glasses: "This is the red wine brewed by the boss himself, do you want to try it?"
Xu Jingning readily agreed.
So the two of them sat on the balcony, looking at the snowflakes dancing in the sky, chatting casually, drinking wine, and feeling very comfortable.
At some point, a cheerful tune came from somewhere. Xu Jingning listened carefully and found that it was the Christmas song that was famous all over the world.
The bell tower in the distance rang solemnly on the hour, and the sound of the bells spread from far to near, solemn and pious.
"During dinner, I heard from the boss that many people in the town go to the clock tower to make wishes on Christmas Eve, praying that their wishes will come true in the new year." Xu Jingning put down his wine glass and looked at the colorful lights lit up in every household, his eyes full of joy. "Do you think this custom is useful to foreigners?"
"Well, if you are sincere, your wish may come true." Yan Xun turned his head and looked at him with a gentle expression, "What wish do you want to make?"
"My wish..." Xu Jingning suddenly smiled, then raised his head and looked deeply at Yan Xun's face, with a solemnity he had never had before, "Happy New Year, Yan Xun."
"In the new year, I wish my partner all the best."
"Will you make my wish come true?"
Yan Xun's heart stopped for a moment.
Then, his brain seemed to explode. The simplest information could not be processed for a while. He heard his own heartbeat, as if what came to his ears was not the sound of the ancient building bell, but his heart beating against his eardrum.
After a long while, he finally asked with difficulty: "Xu Jingning, are you applying to become my partner?"
Xu Jingning didn't expect Yan Xun's reaction to be so intense.
In fact, the idea of confessing my love came to me suddenly. Just looking at the beautiful snow scene and the moving scenery in front of me, the words suddenly came out.
But at this moment, he nodded without hesitation: "Yes, do you want to?"
Xiang Yuan is right. As long as two people love each other and the atmosphere is right, some things will just happen naturally. Why bother about the time and place and have to arrange them so precisely?
Yan Xun hurriedly replied, "I do," and then his face revealed a joy that he could not hide. In order to divert his emotions, he drank the red wine in the glass in one gulp. The taste was so sweet that it refreshed his throat, but this did not suppress his inner excitement at all.
"Hey, that's not how you drink red wine." Xu Jingning was a little helpless, smiled and took the glass away, "Okay, it's past midnight, go back to sleep."
Why did you suddenly become stupid?
Forget it...I chose my boyfriend myself, so I have to accept him even if I’m stupid.
Yan Xun then slowly realized what he had done. He reached out and rubbed his face, then said awkwardly, "I'm going to go wash my face and sober up."
Xu Jingning looked at the fleeing figure with some amusement.
With nothing to do, he walked around the house. After making sure that every door was closed, Xu Jingning returned to the bedroom and saw Yan Xun lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
He approached quietly, lifted a corner of the quilt and slowly lay down on the other side of the bed. Unexpectedly, just as he lay down, an arm reached up and pulled him into its arms around the waist.
Xu Jingning subconsciously wanted to scream, but was frightened into silence by Yan Xun's hot breath spraying on the side of his neck.
Yan Xun murmured, "I'm so happy, Ningning, let me hold you for a while."
Xu Jingning let him hold him in this position, but he always felt his scalp tingling, and something was wrong. He slowly turned around and found that Yan Xun was not sleeping at all, but was staring at him intently and without moving.
Xu Jingning: “…”
Damn, I'm not really stupid.
He reached out and touched Yan Xun's face, and asked in a low voice: "Aren't you sleepy? Why don't you go to bed?"
Yan Xun chuckled: "I'm so happy that I can't sleep."
Xu Jingning: "What should we do? It's still a long time before dawn."
Yan Xun seemed to be waiting for him to say this: "Just do something to kill time."
Hearing this, Xu Jingning's brain started to ring with alarm bells, but before he could resist, Yan Xun had already kissed him.
With the slightly sweet taste of red wine still in his mouth, Xu Jingning secretly sighed and let the man take whatever he wanted from him.
It was not until those two restless hands began to touch around that he realized that the atmosphere today seemed a little different.
But it was too late. Their feelings were aroused. Not only Yan Xun, but Xu Jingning also wanted to get more.
He turned over and lifted the quilt, sitting astride Yan Xun, stroking his face with one hand, panting softly: "What do you want to do? Hmm?"
Many things were self-evident. Yan Xun just smiled, then reached out to the bedside table and took out a box of...plastic packaging.
Xu Jingning was stunned, his eyes widened, and shock was written all over his face: "Where did you find it from?"
But before he could get a response, he was grabbed by the waist by the energetic Yan Xun and pressed down...
A night of tenderness.
…
When I woke up the next day, it was already bright outside.
Xu Jingning hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she felt uncomfortable with the heat. She fumbled around, trying to turn over and move the arm around her waist. However, with the slightest movement, an indescribable feeling was transmitted through her nerves all the way to her brain.
Thinking of the chaotic Xu Jingning last night: "..."
Okay, totally awake now.
He adjusted his posture slightly and moved off the bed with difficulty. Turning around, he saw the culprit lying on the other side still sleeping soundly.
Feeling inexplicably angry, Xu Jingning threw back the quilt and threw the pillow at Yan Xun.
It didn't hurt when this thing hit him, but the force was so strong that it pulled Xu Jingning's own muscles.
Even more angry!
So when Yan Xun opened his eyes, he saw the boyfriend he had just gotten yesterday glaring at him, with a look on his face that said "I can't coax you anymore".
Getting down from the bed obediently, Yan Xun said without even thinking, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."
Xu Jingning didn't have time to argue with him, so she asked straight to the point, "Where did you get this trap?"
Yan Xun had many excuses for this, the best of which was that there was not much difference between a B&B and a hotel, so it was normal to prepare such things.
But just as he moved his lips, Xu Jingning, who knew this man's temper well, reached out and grabbed his neck, saying sternly: "You'd better answer truthfully. If you dare to lie to me..."
"Your boyfriend is gone."
Yan Xun: “…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
