Chapter 36 Cannon Fodder Assistant 1 I'll leave the steps here.
"Brother Yu? Brother Yu!"
Inside the dressing room on the sixth floor of Xingyu Entertainment Company, a black-haired young man who was nestled in a beanbag chair suddenly raised his head. At the same time, he discreetly shoved the phone he had been holding behind his back.
"Oh, I'm here, what's up?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you what's wrong, Brother Yu..."
Assistant Zhang glanced behind Chu Yu, his eyes filled with suspicion, and said:
"Brother Yu, what were you doing just now? I called you so many times, but you didn't hear me."
"I didn't look at anything, just... just browsing." Chu Yu said, hiding his phone behind his back again, and putting on an indifferent expression.
His acting skills are actually very good. His indifferent expression, combined with his handsome yet somewhat sharp appearance, makes him look quite intimidating.
However, as his assistant who had been by his side since his debut, Xiao Zhang was extremely familiar with Chu Yu's various little gestures and expressions.
He then watched as Chu Yu unconsciously stroked the sofa cover with his fingers and let out a hum.
"You might fool Sister Lan with that, but I don't believe you! Tell me the truth, bro, were you checking Weibo again?"
Chu Yu: "..."
Sometimes, having a junior assistant who has been with you since your early days isn't necessarily a good thing.
Chu Yu couldn't help but mutter to himself, while Xiao Zhang on the other side was openly complaining.
"Didn't Sister Lan tell you before to spend less time on Weibo?"
Especially recently, after Chu Yu Studio and Qin Yanyun Studio jointly announced their participation in the variety show "Let's See the World Together," the comment sections under the two actors' Weibo posts became even more chaotic and unreadable.
It's not that these two people are rivals or that their fans are arguing.
The main reason is that the two of them recently co-starred in a military drama series, playing childhood sweethearts who were close since they were young, and later joined the army together and were assigned to the same platoon.
The two initially supported each other, but eventually their thoughts diverged, leading them to go their separate ways and embark on different paths.
They were supposed to be a pair of genius twins in the military camp, but in the end they stood on the opposite side of the enemy.
Things had changed, and they even turned on each other with guns.
The TV series mainly tells a story about maintaining one's original intention and persisting in one's dreams. The two actors also portrayed the theme of "choice" very well, and the plot of the TV series is also very serious.
The problem is that male beauty is now highly valued in society, and with the rise of fan-made content, fans used to just edit their own content, and what appeared on various video platforms were only images of the male lead looking good.
As a result, some brilliant editor somehow managed to merge the two characters together during the editing process. Despite being completely unrelated storylines, the editor made it seem as if they were actually secretly in love with each other.
Especially at the end of the story, when Chu Yu committed suicide by shooting himself and slowly fell down on screen, Qin Yanyun's involuntary twitching little finger went viral among netizens.
Childhood sweethearts, supporting each other, then parting ways, amidst a sea of hatred and love, yet still retaining a sliver of true affection for you...
In addition, both actors are very good-looking, and for a time, at least four out of eight videos on the homepage of major video platforms were clips featuring the two as a couple.
If netizens were just shipping the on-screen couple, that wouldn't be unacceptable for Chu Yu. The problem is that some die-hard fans followed the clues to find out in real life that Chu Yu and Qin Yanyun were actually childhood sweethearts who grew up together.
The two of them were in the same school and the same class from kindergarten all the way to high school graduation.
Among the graduation photos posted in the comments section, two handsome guys standing in the very center of the last row stand out amidst the blurry portraits.
[My God, this is like a novel plot coming to life!!!]
Have you noticed? They've been taking pictures together ever since kindergarten! They must have a really good relationship!
[This is so cute! Two handsome guys with cold faces, both looking displeased when they look at the camera, but their hands must be sweating from holding each other underneath, hahaha]
...
There are countless comments like this.
If Chu Yu and Qin Yanyun really have a good relationship, then he naturally wouldn't reject these comments.
It could even be said that as long as their relationship wasn't in such a bad state, Chu Yu would have been happy to see this happen.
After all, when a couple becomes popular, the individual also gains popularity.
No one will complain about becoming more and more popular.
The problem is that their relationship isn't as good as people say online; in fact, it's quite bad, so bad that Chu Yu feels uncomfortable when they're alone together in a room.
When Chu Yu first started filming the military drama with Qin Yanyun, he even developed large patches of urticaria.
These physical reactions are never fake.
He'd hated being associated with Qin Yanyun since he was little, so naturally he couldn't accept netizens pairing them up as a couple, especially since he was the bottom in their pairing!
On what grounds?!
Xiao Zhang still remembers the day Chu Yu first learned that he was the subordinate in his CP with Qin Yanyun. The leading man of Xingyu Entertainment Company had a cold face and chopped 20 kilograms of carrots in the company kitchen.
The round carrot chunks rolled off the cutting board, and for a moment, Xiao Zhang even wondered if Chu Yu had mistaken them for Qin Yanyun's head...
That day, the dishes in the company cafeteria presented a beautiful orange-yellow hue.
From that day on, Chu Yu's manager, Sister Lan, forbade Chu Yu from surfing the internet, especially from following the CP (couple) supertopic between him and Qin Yanyun.
Because, Lan Jie hates carrots the most!
Thinking of this, Xiao Zhang's mouth tasted of carrots. Looking at Chu Yu, who was sprawled on the beanbag chair, eyes downcast and silent, he couldn't help but sigh and advise:
"Look at you, bro. You clearly don't like seeing those comments that link you and Qin Yanyun together, so why are you making yourself uncomfortable on Weibo now?"
"Who's making themselves uncomfortable?!"
Chu Yu couldn't help but retort, "I didn't even look at the supertopic!"
"What are you looking at?"
"I was looking at—" Chu Yu stammered.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhang revealed a "I knew it" expression, and then spoke again, earnestly explaining:
"Actually, Yu-ge, you know Sister Lan. She said she didn't want you to look at it, but she didn't stop you from logging into Weibo, right? The main reason she wants you to look less is because those posts and comments always make you unhappy. We're just trying to make you feel better—"
"I told you, I didn't check the super topic!"
Before Xiao Zhang could transform into Tang Sanzang again, Chu Yu interrupted him.
"I just glanced at it..."
Thinking of a certain photo he had just read, Chu Yu unconsciously bit his lip, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down twice, before slowly uttering the second half of his sentence.
"Just glanced at the private messages."
"Oh, it's a message from a fan!"
"Hmm..." Chu Yu responded vaguely.
Xiao Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. "You can check out the fan group. If you have time, reply to them a few times. After all, everyone gathers here because they like you, and we should reciprocate their love."
"Do you need to teach me that?" Chu Yu rolled his eyes.
Xiao Zhang chuckled a few times, then, as if remembering something, added,
"But bro, you have to be careful when replying to messages. Some sasaeng fans will try to get attention by mixing in with you. Don't pay attention to these people, especially the psychopaths and the extremely extreme ones. It's best not to even look at their messages!"
Chu Yu: "Then how do I know if the person who sent me the message is a stalker?"
"I don't know about that," Xiao Zhang said, tidying up his clothes as he pondered.
"It's best to reply to fans from the fan group. Don't look at the private messages sent to you individually, especially those that start with just a picture. Never click on those!"
Chu Yu: "...Why?"
"Hey bro, what's wrong with you today? Do I really need to explain this to you?"
Xiao Zhang gave Chu Yu a strange look. "Have you forgotten when you first debuted, you played a minor villain and someone sent you a ghost picture via private message? And there was another time later, a yellow one..."
“…How could I forget?” Chu Yu rubbed his nose. “I just think that not all fans who post pictures are bad fans.”
It's mainly that hand that's beautiful.
No one knew that Chu Yu was an extreme hand fetishist, to the point that he would look at the details of the model's hands in the first picture before buying anything—a truly terrifying level.
The hand he had just clicked on was slender and long, with distinct joints, and with specks of glistening white liquid on it—it was exactly the hand of his dreams.
Chu Yu's Adam's apple bobbed twice, his thoughts drifting far away along with that hand.
Beside him, Xiao Zhang was still rambling on and on.
Chu Yu didn't hear clearly, but he vaguely knew that the other person seemed to be talking about a fan in the fan group who was very crazy and, like him, did not accept that he and Qin Yanyun were associated together. The fan even said that he was going to go undercover in Qin Yanyun's group to dig up dirt on him.
"The messages he sent in the group were very explicit and extreme, making me feel uneasy. It felt like he considered you his boyfriend. He even asked for your phone number in the group, wanting to call you and ask why you weren't responding to him..."
"Probably a stalker."
Chu Yu tapped the screen without even lifting his eyelids, only replying perfunctorily.
"Just kick him out of the group and block him; don't let it affect the mood of other fans."
"I already kicked it, but... never mind, I'll try kicking it again now."
Xiao Zhang acted immediately, and just as he joined the group, the fan he mentioned popped up with a comment.
Today was another day I was so eager to get an erection from Ah Yu. I wonder when Ah Yu will actually help me out. I'll take care of it for you this time, you have to make it up to me later~
Xiao Zhang frowned in disgust, subconsciously raised her pinky finger, and carefully clicked on the fan's avatar to remove the person from the fan group.
Actually, this kind of work shouldn't have required him to do it manually, but this fan somehow managed to make him appear in the group with the same ID and avatar at the same time the next day, sending some inexplicable messages, no matter how many times the system removed him or reported him.
Xiao Zhang decided that if this fan still appears at this time tomorrow, he will report it to Weibo's official channels.
It's okay, even if Weibo officials come, they still can't get rid of me!
888 Chao Liqing said smugly: "The system of this small world is still no match for me, 888!"
Upon hearing this, Li Qingran chuckled softly and echoed:
"Of course! Our Little 8 is a high-level system; how could these mindless metal contraptions possibly compare?"
888's tail curled up even higher.
【but,】
After praising 888, Li Qingran paused, then continued, "[Let's not go too far beyond the rules of this world. I'm afraid it will affect the plot. It doesn't matter if I don't complete the mission, the main thing is that you can't get hurt, Little 8. I still want you to stay with me.]"
[Host...] Upon hearing this, 888 was so moved that it felt a slight electric current running through it, and immediately stopped its attempt to modify the program again to enter the fan group.
Don't worry, host! I will absolutely not let anything happen to myself! I want to stay with you forever...
Li Qingran smiled upon hearing this. "Then the fan group..."
[I'm not adding any more; I've already sent enough messages.]
In the original storyline, the cannon fodder character would be kicked and blocked every time he spoke, and it would take a lot of time to apply for a new account and complete real-name authentication, so he didn't send messages to the fan group very frequently.
888 has been online and sending messages on time every day for the past few days, and has basically completed the harassment message plot for Li Qingran.
【That's good. 】
The smile in Li Qingran's eyes deepened, and at the same time, she breathed a sigh of relief in a place unnoticed by 888.
The photos were already embarrassing enough, but adding a lewd remark every day was really too much for Li Qingran to handle.
Fortunately, 888 has stopped now.
With one worry gone, Li Qingran felt much lighter and her mood improved considerably.
He carefully washed his hands, rinsing off all the ice cream, and then, urged by his assistant Xiaowen, walked towards the dressing room at the other end of the corridor.
In the past, the atmosphere in the dressing room was not as quiet as it is portrayed in some TV dramas. After all, the makeup artists were all familiar with each other, and it was normal for everyone to chat and joke around occasionally.
But today, when Li Qingran pushed open the door and entered, the entire dressing room was quiet. No one spoke. Everyone kept their heads down and tiptoed around doing their own thing, while their eyes unconsciously drifted toward the figure sitting in front of the makeup mirror, looking down at his phone.
Qin Yanyun had a magazine photoshoot today. He was wearing a black patterned shirt for the shoot, with the top two buttons undone and a black tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looked like a playboy, but on Qin Yanyun, it gave off a strangely contradictory feeling of being both dashing and ascetic.
Li Qingran guessed that the main source of this feeling was Qin Yanyun's indifferent expression, which seemed to disregard everyone, and the icy aura that kept people at a distance.
When Li Qingran came in, he was looking down, scrolling through his phone listlessly. Next to him, the makeup artist was carefully applying lipstick to him with a lip brush.
Hearing the door open, Qin Yanyun lifted his eyelids and glanced at the doorway. Their eyes met, but only for a second. Li Qingran watched as Qin Yanyun lowered his eyelashes again, and then, until the makeup was finished, she didn't look in his direction again.
His indifferent demeanor made it seem as if Li Qingran was just an insignificant person, and that it wasn't Qin Yanyun who was repeatedly asking his assistant where Li Qingran had gone.
Li Qingran didn't ask Qin Yanyun what he wanted to see him about. Since the other party ignored him, he went to another assistant, Xiao Wen, to help him organize the clothes he needed for the upcoming work.
The clothes hanger, placed on the iron clothesline, inevitably made a clanging and clattering sound.
An impatient "tsk" sounded behind me, followed by a loud thud as my phone was thrown onto the table.
Li Qingran ignored it, but Xiao Wen next to her stiffened, then cautiously glanced back twice, before freezing again. Several seconds later, under their boss's death stare, she slowly turned back, her fingers gripping the clothes hanger tightly without her noticing.
"Brother Li..." Xiao Wen said in a low voice, "Why don't you go and coax him?"
Li Qingran remained expressionless, continuing to hang clothes on the rack, and said calmly:
"How do I appease him? Do you know why he's angry?"
"I just don't know why Brother Qin is angry and that's why he asked you to coax him," Xiao Wen said with a bitter face.
Actually, it wasn't just him; everyone in the dressing room had no idea what was wrong with Qin Yanyun today. From the moment he picked him up from school this morning, he had been acting like a low-pressure person who wanted to keep strangers away and even acquaintances to stay away.
However, this kind of low-pressure atmosphere usually doesn't apply to Li Qingran. There have been several times before when Qin Yanyun had a cold face, but after Li Qingran came over to him and whispered a few words, his expression would immediately turn from gloomy to sunny.
I wonder what kind of magic this newly appointed assistant, who has only been in office for two months, possesses that has managed to appease Qin Yanyun, this great devil.
Xiao Wen unconsciously looked at the young man next to him, whom he initially called "Xiao Li," but who automatically became "Brother Li" a few days later.
To be honest, Li Qingran's appearance is truly undeniable. Even Xiao Wen, who has been in the entertainment industry for a long time and has dated countless handsome men, was stunned by Li Qingran's dashing appearance when they first met. He subconsciously thought that Li Qingran had gone to the wrong place for the job interview and even thought of personally taking him to the actors' department next door.
Unexpectedly, a young man with such good looks that he could rank at the top of the entertainment industry didn't become an actor. Instead, he wanted to settle down with Qin Yanyun as a lowly assistant, earning only a few thousand yuan a month.
Xiao Wen didn't understand, but this wasn't the time for him to understand Li Qingran's series of thoughts. The most important thing now was to smooth down the hair that was standing on end on Qin Yanyun's body!
The bad atmosphere in their dressing room is a minor issue; the real problem is that if he continues to look like this after filming begins, and someone with malicious intent posts it online, then he's doomed.
Qin Yanyun has a drama coming out soon, in which he plays a naive, kind, and sunny young man, so it's absolutely crucial that he's not photographed with a cold and gloomy expression at this time!
Xiaowen looked at Li Qingran pleadingly. The latter pursed her lips, finally sighed, and hung the last coat on the rack.
"Okay, I'll go out for a bit."
"You just came out and you're already leaving? What do you take my Qin Yanyun's dressing room for?"
Before Li Qingran could even put his hand on the doorknob, Qin Yanyun's irritable voice rang out behind him.
For a moment, everyone in the dressing room held their breath, except for Li Qingran, who, upon hearing this, did not turn her head or say anything, and simply pushed the door open and left.
"Damn it!" Qin Yanyun jumped up upon seeing this, instinctively wanting to chase after Li Qingran, but Xiao Wen quickly grabbed him.
"Brother Qin, don't worry. Brother Li just told me that he saw your lips were chapped and wanted to go out and buy you a bottle of water. He wasn't going to slack off, so don't be angry. He'll be back in a bit!"
It's fine to go crazy in the dressing room, but you can't go out!
Fortunately, Qin Yanyun wasn't particularly stubborn. Perhaps he simply found Xiaowen's reason appealing. In any case, after all the back and forth, Qin Yanyun sat back down with a cold face.
But after sitting down, he suddenly asked Xiaowen a question, "Who do you think is better looking, me or Chu Yu?"
"Huh?" Xiaowen was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what she meant and replied:
"That's for sure—"
Before Xiaowen could even utter the word "Qin," Qin Yanyun interrupted her, saying, "Never mind, I don't want to know."
As he spoke, he chuckled again, it was unclear whether he was referring to Xiaowen or himself.
"What level is he in? How can he compare to me!"
Xiaowen: "..."
never mind.
It's probably because of that travel variety show that the Qin Chu CP has become popular again online, and naturally there are comparisons between the two fan groups. His boss probably acted crazy because of this.
Xiao Wen breathed a sigh of relief for Li Qingran, since emotional problems like Qin Yanyun's caused by online comments were relatively easy to handle.
P.S.: The "easy to handle" only applies to Li Qingran.
Unfortunately, Xiaowen may have relaxed too soon this time.
When Li Qingran returned, Qin Yanyun was the only one left in the dressing room.
The other person was even colder this time, and didn't even look up at him when they heard the door open.
Li Qingran didn't mind, walked over to Qin Yanyun and placed the yogurt he had just bought from the convenience store in front of Qin Yanyun.
“You haven’t eaten much today. We’ll be filming for at least two hours. Have some yogurt to tide you over.”
Qin Yanyun glanced at the yogurt, then smoothly shifted her gaze to Li Qingran.
Li Qingran rested one hand on the back of the chair behind Qin Yanyun, looking down at him.
Don't be angry.
Qin Yanyun twitched the corner of his mouth upon hearing this, but still remained silent.
Seeing this, Li Qingran was neither as panicked as Xiao Wen, nor as impatient with Qin Yanyun's agent, Brother Zhang, regarding his bad temper. She simply said calmly:
"Putting aside the fact that there's only one photo of Chu Yu in that album, even just that one photo has a quarter of you in it, doesn't it?"
Although the cannon fodder must have kept the photo because of Chu Yu, that doesn't stop Li Qingran from blatantly lying.
"I saved that photo because you looked good in it. If you don't believe me and try to label me a fan of Chu Yu and fire me because of it, then I have nothing to say."
As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Yanyun suddenly raised his head, "What do you mean?!"
"It means, I've already offered you this much of a way out; are you going to take it or not?"
As Li Qingran spoke, she reached for the yogurt, opened it, poured in the jam, stirred it, and then scooped out a large spoonful to Qin Yanyun's lips.
"Want some or not?"
"……eat."
-----------------------
Author's note: Xiaoyun: So, you really saved that photo because of me?
Pear: Of course... it's fake! [heart emoji]
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