Chapter 56
Why……
This question went around He Tong's mind for a while, and finally made him come to his senses.
He opened his eyes and looked at Ye Yuze, but there was no strange expression on the other person's face, as if the question just now was just a casual chat.
He Tong blinked, pretending to be half awake: "Are you unhappy acting?"
"It's okay, quite interesting," Ye Yuze replied casually. "But you've never shown any interest in this area before. What sparked this interest? I'm curious."
Many thoughts flashed through He Tong's mind in an instant.
In truth, he didn't have to hide his rebirth. But he didn't want to talk about Ye Yuze's past life anymore. He always told himself it was just a nightmare. Now that he was awake, he didn't want to let the Ye Yuze before him, who was fully alive, able to walk and smile, be tarnished by even a little bit of the shadow.
Ye Yuze didn't see him answer, so he asked again: "Can't tell?"
"It's not impossible..."
There was actually a reason why he wanted to enter the entertainment industry. If it weren't for that, with Ye Yuze's ability to keep secrets, He Tong wouldn't have discovered his interest in acting in his previous life. He Tong didn't want to talk about his previous life, but he could share this one.
He Tong took Ye Yuze's hand, interlocked their fingers, and then slowly said, "I'm just afraid that telling you will bring up your sad memories..."
Ye Yuze raised his clasped hands and gently kissed the back of He Tong's hand: "It's okay, you're with me."
He Tong was delighted by his brother Ye's rare display of dependence, and he leaned over to kiss the back of Ye Yuze's hand.
"You still remember 'Secret Fragrance', right? Actually, I saw it when it was released that year. My mom dragged my dad and me to see it."
"Secret Fragrance," the film for which Ye Yuze's mother, Fang Jinglei, won her first Best Actress award, is a spy film set in the Republican era. The heroine, seeking revenge for the murder of her family, ventures alone into the foreign lands. She is taken in by the owner of a theatrical troupe and transformed into a famous actress. This owner, in fact, is an underground Communist Party member, using his acting as a covert means of gathering intelligence. Though the heroine discovers this, she continues to help him, driven by a desire for swift revenge.
Ye Yuze, who was ten years old at the time, also participated in the play, playing a child in the troupe who helped pass on information and finally sacrificed himself to cover the heroine's retreat.
That wasn't Ye Yuze's first acting career; as a child, he often appeared in guest roles in Fang Jinglei's films. After all, he was handsome and mature beyond his years, having been raised by his grandfather, a renowned opera performer, and his grandmother, a master of calligraphy and painting. His calm, reserved demeanor, combined with a certain charisma, made him a favorite with directors.
He Tong smiled and continued, "Actually, I was fascinated by you back then. Later, my mom told me that the little brother in the movie was the amazing kid she and my dad took care of. So I thought, I wish I could be as amazing as you, so I could be your good friend."
He Tong's parents had been responsible for picking up and taking care of Ye Yuze during the day since he started elementary school. Besides attending school, Ye Yuze also hired numerous one-on-one tutors. At the time, He Tong's mother handled all of his chores. He Tong's parents would only leave in the evenings after dropping him off at his grandparents' home.
"During that time, I often pestered my parents about you, and my mom told me that you learned a lot. I looked up all the courses you took and found that they were all incomprehensible. I felt that acting was the only thing I could catch up with. So I insisted on learning acting, and my parents had no choice but to enroll me in a drama interest class. I was quite persistent and studied for several years and even performed on stage several times."
He Tong laughed out loud as he spoke. If Ye Yuze hadn't asked him about those past events, he wouldn't have remembered them. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had actually set a goal and taken action long ago.
"Later... you took me home. When I came back to my senses, I thought your mom was an actress and that mentioning acting would probably upset you, so I didn't bring it up. Two years ago, after filling out my college entrance exam application, I flipped through all the options and felt like none of the majors were interesting, so I thought back to that time.
"I see you haven't been interested in going to work at Zhilei, and I've seen you watching Aunt Fang's movies. I think you might be interested in acting, so I wanted to get you to try it. Luckily, I have some talent in acting, otherwise I wouldn't have the nerve to attack you."
Ye Yuze didn't laugh along, but instead kissed the tip of He Tong's nose: "It was my negligence at the time. I didn't understand it clearly."
"Don't say that." He Tong nudged him. "Given my condition at the time, it was good enough that I could still go to school normally. Thanks to you for picking me up, otherwise I would probably have degenerated into a street thug."
"Now that I think about it, I've taken up too much of your parents' time..."
"It was work, too. I had classmates whose parents were busy with work. And when they were too busy, they would send me to the director's grandmother's house. It was lively there, and I had a pretty free and happy childhood."
Ye Yuze then smiled softly and changed the subject: "Being able to recall the past, it seems that he has fully recovered."
He Tong raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Of course! How could I touch you if I didn't drive the 'others' away? Even if it's a role I played, I can't tolerate it. You are mine alone!"
Finally, the words ended between their intertwined lips...
◇◆◇
The crew of "Stripping" moved to L City, Country M and continued filming for almost a month, officially wrapping up on July 18.
He Tong and Ye Yuze didn't stay long and boarded a plane back home that night.
"Bladeless Blade" is scheduled to be released on July 25 during the summer vacation. As the second male lead, He Tong has to work non-stop for half a month on the roadshow as soon as he returns.
Although Ye Yuze also participated in the performance, Liu Ke wanted to hide him until after the premiere for promotion, and He Tong felt sorry for his brother Ye and didn't want to tire him out, so the promotion method in Ye Yuze's contract was the same as that of "Tian Yao". In addition to participating in one variety show online, he only participated in one variety show.
This time, the two schedules coincided, and He Tong didn't even have time to go home. He had to connect and fly out directly after getting off the plane at Yancheng Airport. Ye Yuze originally wanted to go with him, but he persuaded him not to.
"We have to change cities every day for six days, for a total of eight roadshows. Although each show only lasts an hour, the rest of the time is basically spent on the move, so there is no way to rest well. You should just rest at home. There is no need to suffer with me."
Ye Yuze thought about it and felt that if he went with him, it would distract He Tong to some extent, so he nodded and agreed.
"Have the nutritionist and Chef Sun continue to follow you. Eat well and get enough rest, and make sure you get enough nutrition."
He Tong listened happily to his brother Ye's detailed instructions and agreed to them one by one.
The two stayed in the VIP waiting room until He Tong was about to board the plane, and then they reluctantly parted.
Fang Chen couldn't bear to see them being so clingy, so he pushed He Tong onto the plane while muttering, "What are you talking about? It's not even a week yet, and you're going back to Yancheng on the 25th."
He Tong rolled his eyes: "How can a single person like you understand the pain of missing someone from afar?"
Fang Chen glared back at him: "Shut up, you bastard! This isn't the past where we could call or video chat anytime. You'll be miserable if we're apart for a few days."
When we arrived at the destination, we happened to meet the crew of "Bladeless Blade" who had just flown over after a show in the morning.
Liu Ke and Chen Zheng were both shocked when they saw He Tong.
"You..." Liu Ke looked him up and down, "How come you're so thin? How much weight have you lost?"
"I lost 28 pounds before," He Tong said with a smile, "and I've gained a lot of weight back this month. You just haven't seen me for a long time, so I look so thin at first glance."
Liu Ke patted his shoulder appreciatively: "Not bad! You're willing to work hard, and you have a promising future."
He Tong said a few humble words, then turned to Chen Zheng: "Brother Chen, we will work together again on the next drama, please take care of me."
Chen Zheng smiled and shook his hand: "You are the protagonist, I should ask you to take care of me."
He Tong also said with a smile: "No, no, it's really a great honor for me that you can act in the web drama."
Liu Ke asked, "Are you going to act in a web series? Web series are developing very well now. With the volume of webcasts in recent years, the popular web series are no less popular than TV series on satellite channels. 70% to 80% of young people watch web series, and with smart TVs now becoming commonplace in households, even many middle-aged and elderly people are gradually turning to web series."
He Tong briefly told him about the supernatural drama.
Liu Ke nodded. "I know Liu Yuci. When she was studying for her master's degree, she had the same advisor as Yan Dajiang, who also had a good relationship with my advisor. So she's kind of a junior sister to me and Old Yan. I even helped her a little when she was filming her graduation project."
He Tong sighed after hearing this: "This world is really small."
Liu Ke was also quite happy: "That's not what I said. Back then I thought she was a genius when it came to mystery themes. If you guys work hard on the show, maybe you can produce another big hit drama."
Over there, He Tong met up with the crew of "Bladeless Blade" and started to get busy. Here, Ye Yuze returned home and asked Zhilei for her promotion plan for "Bladeless Blade".
Even if it's purely to save the chairman's face, Zhilei has to actively promote films that Ye Yuze has invested in and starred in. Jin Ming is quite self-aware of this. Furthermore, after the success of "The Painter," the board of directors also values the commercial value of Ye Yuze and He Tong. Leveraging their relationship with Ye Yuze, they often manage to invest in their films, so now promoting them is also a way to make money for themselves.
This time, Zhilei Video Network set up a special section on its homepage for "Bladeless Blade" and contacted contracted big anchors from all over the country to conduct a live roadshow. Normally, promotional videos and interview videos are played in a loop.
After reading the plan, Ye Yuze didn't find any problems, so he waited patiently to watch the live broadcast the next day.
Roadshows, as a form of publicity, can attract many passersby, but most of those who watch the livestream are die-hard fans of the actors. However, "Bladeless Blade" has been on Zhilei's homepage for a while now, so some passersby who are interested will check it out.
Before the broadcast started the next day, many fans of He Tong who had seen the trailer had already come to the live broadcast room to wait. Barrages of comments with customized small icons of "With You Tong Ze" kept flashing by, and some of them had special pendants on them, which looked really impressive at first glance.
【Tongtong is finally back, let’s celebrate! 】
[I had to go on a roadshow right after I got back. It was really tiring.]
【Guess if we can meet Master Ze? 】
[It's hard to say. Tongzai just said he would go.]
[Zezi only has a guest appearance at the end of the promotional poster, presumably just a minor role, and probably won't be participating in the roadshow.] [Sigh, it's been ages since I saw them together. I hope Tongtong can quickly return to his former workaholic self after filming.] [Hope + ID number.]
[I'm almost starving without any new sweets, please give me some dog food quickly!] Ye Yuze, who was also waiting, couldn't help but smile when he saw these comments.
Before, he only did business because he saw He Tong happy, so he followed suit to make his lover happy. Now that they are not together, he read these fans' comments again and suddenly understood He Tong's enthusiasm for business.
The livestream began quickly, and the number of comments suddenly increased several-fold. Tongze fans, who hadn't seen He Tong in a while, were incredibly excited to see him. Some screamed, some greeted him, and some expressed their sympathy for his weight loss. Then, Chen Zheng fans, feeling overwhelmed, also began flooding the screen with comments, filling the screen with layers of comments.
Ye Yuze frowned, turned off the barrage, and began to watch the live broadcast carefully.
In fact, these roadshows basically follow the same routine: the director and the leading actors talk about the film to arouse some curiosity, then they conduct media interviews, answer questions from the audience, and then it's over.
For the director and the actors, it's just the same old thing over and over again. For the casual observer, it's just a one-time watch to satisfy their curiosity. Only die-hard fans can watch the live broadcast every day without missing a beat.
Ye Yuze hadn't imagined at first that he would end up watching the livestream like a die-hard fan. Every time he saw He Tong appear on the screen, he felt a warm and swell feeling in his heart, and every time the livestream ended, a sense of loss gradually built up.
Even though the two of them video chat several times a day and the messages on WeChat never stop, the feeling of emptiness of having someone missing is getting worse day by day.
When Ye Yuze lay down on the bed alone for the fourth time, he tossed and turned for half an hour but couldn't fall asleep.
He sat up a little irritably and looked at the pillow beside him helplessly - since he started sleeping alone at the age of six, this was the first time he found that a double bed could actually feel empty.
Ye Yuze picked up his phone and opened He Tong's WeChat interface.
The one above is the good night GIF from before, which is also an emoticon package made by fans using the scenes of He Tong in "The Painter".
Ye Yuze reached out and gently stroked the face on the emoticon pack, and couldn't help but smile slightly.
Then he found Xiao Zheng's phone number and called him.
"...It's me... Which city are you guys going to tomorrow... Please book me a flight from Yancheng that arrives earlier..."
After a pause, he added, "Don't tell He Tong yet."
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel "aug" for the mine~~
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