Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 76: Filming Starts

Following this yell, others started turning towards where Chen Yi was standing, with faces of happy surprise.
As they flipped their signs that very clearly stated his name over to face him, Ling Dang said, 

“Xiao Yi-Ge, it looks like they are your fans.”

 

Hearing this, Chen Yi was silent for a moment before saying, 

“…… Anti-fans?”1

Ling Dang held in her laughter and said, 

“Although they are dressed quite dark and moodily, they should be real fans.”

 

Following Chen Yi stepping closer to them, the fans who were just enthusiastically yelling his name suddenly felt like they had overstepped their boundaries and all of them started to quiet down.
Only using their pairs of shining eyes to watch him.
There were even some who had brought professional cameras over to take photos of Chen Yi.

“Yi-Ge! Do your best! Jia You!2 You’re the best!”

“We’ve been waiting here since very early this morning.
Thankfully we were able to see you.”

 

“Acting in period dramas in this kind of weather can be very hot.
Make sure to take care of yourself.
I bought you a small fan and some ice cold temperature stickers!”3

A fan took a small bag out of her backpack to give to Chen Yi, but perhaps she was a bit too nervous or perhaps her hands were too slippery as her phone flew out of her backpack when she reached in.
Just as her eyes noticed it falling out and about to hit the ground, a hand suddenly caught it right in its palm.

“Here.
Hold it well.”

Chen Yi flipped his hand over and returned the phone.
Underneath his cap, his eyes still held a bit of that coldness, and the fan who was still out of her senses, immediately blushed bright red up to her ears upon meeting his eyes.
She passed the bag of gifts over as she accepted her phone back, 

“Thank you, Chen Yi.”

Chen Yi hummed an acknowledgement.

He was all too used to other people’s malicious actions and so at this moment, he really didn’t know what kind of attitude he should be displaying to his fans.
But regardless of his exterior attitude, he was very accommodating to their requests.
Those who wanted a picture, he took a picture with.
Those who wanted an autograph, he gave his signature.
Those who wanted to play rock, paper, scissors, he went to battle with them.
This made the group of fans yell out in their hearts, what an unexpectedly cute personality underneath his stoic exterior!!!!

When Chen Yi finally reached the hotel after his flight, it was already almost evening.
The filming crew had someone pick him up and when he was given the keys to his room, he checked the room number first.
Finding that Fu Xiu Nian was just right beside him, he immediately became overjoyed.

Fu Xiu Nian had arrived earlier than Chen Yi by about half an hour and he was currently kneeling by his suitcase on the floor, taking things out and organizing them.
When his room door was knocked upon, he could tell who it was from the rhythm and the strength of the knock and quickly went to open the door.

The door had only been opened a tiny inch, and before Fu Xiu Nian could even look at the person outside in the face, he was being hugged.
Chen Yi used one hand to wrap Fu Xiu Nian into his embrace and the other to shut the door closed.
Hiding him as he moved further inside, Chen Yi bombarded him with a show of actions that was just as arrogant and dominant as he usually was.

“You arrived quite early…… And you’re still organizing your clothes?”

Fu Xiu Nian laughed as he knelt back down on the floor.
When Chen Yi didn’t let go of his waist and even started to tickle him, he quickly said,

“Stop tickling me.
I’ll help you unpack a bit later.”

“I don’t need your help.
I know how to fold clothes myself.”

Chen Yi picked him up from the floor and threw him right onto the bed.
Then he went to tickle him harder, making Fu Xiu Nian laugh until tears were rolling down his face.
He tried struggling and flailing but he still couldn’t get out of Chen Yi’s hold.
In the end, to save himself from this attack, he quickly grabbed the blanket on the bed and rolled himself into a ball, 

“Mhmm……Chen Yi, don’t always bully me……”

Chen Yi pressed him down through the blankets and gave him a wicked smile, 

“I want to bully you.
What are you going to do about that?”

Hidden in the blankets, Fu Xiu Nian gave him a look.
And yet the more he stared upon Chen Yi’s face, the more there seemed to be a gentleness surrounding Chen Yi.
Underneath the warm tones from the skylights on the ceiling, with the orange colored lights showering down, Chen Yi’s sharp and handsome face was layered with an unusual gentleness, softening his usual cold exterior and making him feel so very comforting and warm in this moment.

A feeling of tenderness overcame Fu Xiu Nian then, and escaping out of the blankets, he wrapped his arms around Chen Yi.
The corners of his mouth hooked up as he whispered into the other’s ear, 

“Remember this.
I only allow you to be the one that can bully me like this.”

Chen Yi held onto Fu Xiu Nian’s chin at these words and ducked his head to kiss him hard.
But as there was a dinner later with the film crew, he didn’t do anything else, and so the two of them lay in bed, talking with each other instead.

Fu Xiu Nian was currently lying on top of Chen Yi as he played games on his cellphone.
He seemed to have seen something as he suddenly grasped onto his stomach in laughter.
He passed his phone to Chen Yi as he said, 

“Look.
Your fans are trending on the charts.”

Hearing him, Chen Yi took a look at his phone and found that the top trending picture was of the fans who came to send him off today.
But this should have been taken when he hadn’t arrived yet as they were all sitting in the resting area, in their all black ensemble.
Some of them were even quite beautiful girls done up in elaborate makeup, elevating the scene quite a bit.

The original poster had given three bitter smile stickers with the caption: Today I went for my flight at XX airport and I came across this “family community gathering”.
I was so scared that I didn’t dare look closer, but I found out later that these were all fans sending off their celebrity.
All these beautiful ladies are so cool and fashionable (big thumbs up) (big thumbs up)

This post was getting quite a lot of attention and had even started to trend outside of the community group.
And because the fans had put their signs by their feet, some laser sharp-eyed netizens quickly pinpointed which celebrity they were fans of.

>> Hahahahahaha these are no doubt Chen Yi’s fans.
He and his fans are like peas in a pod, each of them so alike.

>> hoh feels like a mafia boss coming out of his territory.
Other fans use either sky blue, white or even red as their support colour.
Black is very rare indeed.

>> Yi Ge likes black.
What, we aren’t mental, our fan support color is this.

>> Puhahahahah I am actually on camera.
Today I had been quite afraid to even gaze upon Yi Ge in person at a distance.
But I asked if I could take a photo and he said ok.
I said can I use some weird filters, he said ok.
I said can we play rock paper scissors, he said ok.
Waaaaaaaaaaa I felt like I was being pampered to death by a dominant and alpha ceo.
I could die happy!!!

Chen Yi was reading all the comments very seriously and Fu Xiu Nian leaned against his shoulder as he read along with him.
After a while, he poked Chen Yi’s cheeks, 

“Didn’t think you were quite this kind and gentle.”

Perhaps Chen Yi was not 100% a good man, but he has never erred those who were good to him.
And this point, Fu Xiu Nian has seen and experienced very clearly himself.

Because the sponsor for the project had been quite generous, the film crew booked an entire high class hotel.
And tonight, everyone gathered at the restaurant for dinner.
The main actors, the director, and the producer had all reported on time, but the one person missing was the investor.
Cen Qing sat right across Fu Xiu Nian, looking at him contemplatively as his eyes kept flickering between Chen Yi and him.

Where others couldn’t see, Fu Xiu Nian gave him a cold hard stare back, a stare that said to mind his own business.
In return, Cen Qing could only give a smile.

After the dinner was over, everyone headed back to their rooms.
When Chen Yi got back to his own, he grabbed his script before heading straight to Fu Xiu Nian’s, spontaneously deciding to practice his lines with him.

Fu Xiu Nian had just finished with his shower when Chen Yi came over.
So when he saw Chen Yi sitting on the sofa and memorizing his lines all so very seriously and attentively when he came out of the bathroom, he speechlessly pulled on Chen Yi’s sleeves, 

“If you’re going to memorize your lines, just do it in your room.
Why are you here?”

Chen Yi looked at him knowingly, 

“You want to do something else? Sure.”

Fu Xiu Nian started to blush up to his ears from the intensity of Chen Yi’s stare, but he shook his head, 

“Better you memorize your lines as Director Kong is quite strict.”

Kong Qiao was a well known director within the industry and his bar for the performance of the actors was quite high.
He was also bullheaded and stubborn where even if he was running out of time, he wouldn’t lower his head for the investors.
For Chen Yi to be able to be offered a role in this, there was a huge relation to himself.

Perhaps, like others had said, there was no one better than him to play Meng Yu.

 

The morning right after, bright and early, the filming location was set to be in the imperial palace of Hengdian World Studios4 and Chen Yi was already slated to be in the first scene.

A dragon has nine sons, each of them different.5 The Emperor was aging, already having passed his prime.
And so his sons were antsy, starting to covet the seat even more than they had before and fighting above and below the surface with each other even more aggressively.
In particular, the ninth prince, Meng Yu was the leading contender in this war, but he was used to acting as the wolf in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be mundane and dumb, such that his shrewdness was not easily shown in front of others.

The first scene was mainly to establish the power dynamics of the imperial court, where the crown prince and the other princes would be showcasing their mastery of the sword before the Emperor.
Because the Emperor was watching them, they were using everything they had to show that they were better than any other.
Yet Meng Yu purposefully lost to the crown prince, letting others believe that his skills were so terrible that it would make them drop their guards around him.

The actor playing the crown prince was called Wang Yan and he was a very open hearted, extroverted kind of guy.
He was an actor based on his martial arts skill and so the first scene wasn’t much of a difficulty for him.
The director said to Chen Yi, 

“For this scene, you and Wang Yan will fight for about ten, twenty rounds and then you will lose immediately.
The actions should be fairly straightforward and simple.
You can practice with him and if there’s no issue, we can start filming then.”

Chen Yi didn’t say that he knew martial arts and followed his orders to practice with Wang Yan.
His actions however made the other a bit surprised, 

“Ack, Chen Yi, you seemed to be well versed in this.”

Chen Yi didn’t explain other than saying, 

“I’ve learned a bit before.”

No more words were exchanged between them as they went to their positions and the filming began.

Wang Yan immediately got into character, and he smiled at Chen Yi in the middle of the fighting arena as he said, 

“You usually stay within the boundaries of your home, never taking a step out.
Today you and me, as brothers, we should really battle it out for once.
Since our Father has set the bar and set the prize pool today, we must fight to the best of our ability.”

Chen Yi held his sword, laughing out of embarrassment as he said, 

“I ask for the crown prince to reign in his strength, as your brother is really not skilled at fighting.”

The actor playing as the Emperor was an actor with a kind face, and he signalled for them to start.
Wang Yan acted fairly fast, striking a sword at him immediately at the signal.
Chen Yi reflexively wanted to avoid it, but he followed what was supposed to happen and blocked the sword, letting Wang Yan force him back.
A few ten or twenty blows later, he was finally beaten down.

Wang Yan lifted a fist to his palm, showing quite the magnanimous attitude, 

“Concede.”

Chen Yi smiled at him. 

“No, as the crown prince, your skills are too strong, so I am ashamed otherwise.”

And then twirled his wrist, sheathing his sword in one smooth motion with a “qiang”, faster than a second could pass.

This kind of small detail was caught by Director Kong, and he couldn’t help but nod his head silently.
For the first few episodes Meng Yu was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the truth was that he was way smarter and had skills that were more excellent than any other.
He normally would hide it quite well, but a few small details would definitely be exposed.
So this kind of sheathing, this kind of action acted out by Chen Yi, was quite beautiful and true to the character.

Except for a few angles and shots that weren’t captured that were patched up by the two redoing the scene a few times, Cen Qing’s part was up next.
Chen Yi rested on the side, moving a stool to sit next to Fu Xiu Nian, 

“It will be our scene up next.
Have you memorized your lines yet?”

Fu Xiu Nian used his script to hide his face and glared at him discreetly, 

“Do I look like I’m the kind of person that does not do their homework?”

The weather was hot and many mosquitoes were crowding around.
The sun was barbecuing everyone into walking smoke and here, the difficulties and struggles of acting in a historical period drama were appearing.
The actors were wearing layers upon layers, as if they were in a steaming basket, and their heads were also wearing wigs.
It would be a lie to say that they were not being baked by the heat.

And it was at this time that Fu Xiu Nian saw Chen Yi pull out a small pikachu fan and turn it on to blow at his face.
Seeing Fu Xiu Nian look at him like that, Chen Yi passed the fan to him afterwards.

Fu Xiu Nian received it to take a look and felt that the image of this fan and Chen Yi was too strange and different that he asked, 

“You bought this?”

Chen Yi said, 

“No, gifts from my fans.
And there’s still quite a lot too.”

He didn’t know if this was him overthinking, but Fu Xiu Nian felt like he could hear a bit of conceitedness in Chen Yi’s tone.
He held in the laughter bubbling inside of him and nodded his head on the surface, 

“That’s quite good.
Your fans are really good to you.”

The two of them rested as much as they could then as the next filming session would have the both of them.
For their scene, the location was switched to the ninth prince’s book room and because the character almost perfectly matched himself, Chen Yi was basically slipping into his character fairly quickly.

The moment the cameras were ready, the director called out “action!”

Chen Yi was sitting behind a desk, slowly polishing his longsword.
His eyes were deep in contemplation, unlike the dumb idiotic appearance he displayed at the fighting arena today.
He had a bit of hesitance as he looked at the man dressed in white before him, 

“Today this imperial prince has followed your orders, lost to the crown prince, even getting mocked by my other brothers.”

“Your highness, why would you lose sight of what you want because of something like this,” 

 

Fu Xiu Nian slightly smiled, gentle as the warmest jade yet somehow feeling as if you could never catch him and his thoughts.
He swirled his finger around the tea cup and warmly said, 

“Trees that grow beyond their peers, wind must blow them down……”6

 

 

Notes:

 

*1 Anti-fans: What we call “antis”, the word in Chinese is actually “black” so here he’s making a reference that they are antis/”black” fans because they are dressed head to toe in black.

 

*2 Jia You: This is a very common phrase to use to support someone, give them energy to go on, cheering them on.
It translates to “add oil” which may also be a more well known phrase now too 

*3 ice cold temperature stickers: I’ve only really used them when I have a burning fever, but they are like gel like stickers that you usually stick on your forehead to cool down your body and it kind of “sucks” all the hotness/burning sensation into the sticker itself (feels great when you are burning hot from a fever, but it’s not like a brain freeze cold/is a sticker, no mess no hassle kind of sticker, easily peeled off too).

 

ice cold temperature stickers (冰涼貼)

 

*4 Hengdian World Studios: The largest filming studio in the world apparently but it’s basically an entire studio that encompasses a large area of indoor and outdoor sets such as palace set ups, buildings, walkways, etc.

 

*5 dragon’s nine sons: I believe you can search this up with “the legend of the dragon’s nine sons” but briefly here: a mystical dragon gives birth to nine sons that are not actually dragons, all diff creatures, but the special part is that he birthed nine.
Nine is a very special number associated with the emperor as it means longevity (the sound of 9 is like the word for “a long time”) and is considered quite an elegant number.
In old references, it is usually considered/associated with royalty (also dragons are great mythical creatures, also associated with royalty only, for the emperor).

*6 I thought I escaped historical genre poetry, but here you have another terrible attempt of mine.
This poem is to mean that those who are always above others or show to be better than others will always be envied and so then be the source of a target of attack.