"Although things didn't go smoothly at first, they're much better now." The director patted Xu Chun on the shoulder, a note of relief in his voice. Fortunately, he had stuck to his decision and hadn't cast Lu Xian as the lead. Otherwise, he would have missed out on a treasure like Xu Chun.
"Director Wang, let's save that for later. Brother Chun must be freezing right now." Xie Jianyuan walked over and noticed Xu Chun's condition, his brows drawing together slightly.
Director Wang wasn't angry at being told that. Who would dare get angry with this young master? After all, his family was the biggest investor in the film.
He also noticed the bedraggled state Xu Chun was in and waved a hand, telling him to go get cleaned up.
As soon as Su Li saw Xu Chun, she hurriedly sent Luo Yao to fetch a dry towel and bring over the hot water they had prepared earlier.
Xu Chun's black hair was still soaking wet, water dripping from it. Droplets slid down his collarbones and into the neckline of his clothes, finally disappearing from sight. The cold mountain wind swept past, sending another chill through him.
"Are you cold?" Xie Jianyuan's frown deepened when he saw him. "What is your assistant even doing? She didn't have any of this ready in advance."
Xu Chun gave him a somewhat helpless look at his words and tone. He was about to speak up for his assistant when another gust of mountain wind blew past. He couldn't help shivering and hunching his shoulders, and obediently closed his mouth.
A few minutes later, Luo Yao hurried over with the towel and hot water. She looked at Xu Chun and swallowed, then stepped forward and was just about to dry his hair when someone stopped her and took the towel.
"Let me."
Xie Jianyuan lowered his head slightly and gently dried his hair with the towel, his expression unusually intent.
Xu Chun had felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to move away, but then he heard Xie Jianyuan speak as if he had recalled something. In a teasing tone, he said he had helped someone else like this on a film set before.
Xu Chun paused as he was about to turn his head away, and his body gradually relaxed.
Although it was a little strange, Xie Jianyuan probably had a liking for this. If Xu Chun refused him now and caused him to lose face, it would be awkward.
Of course, Xie Jianyuan had just said offhandedly that he had dried someone's hair before. If he didn't fool Xu Chun like that, how could he sit here at ease and let Xie Jianyuan do as he pleased?
The black hair beneath his hands was soft and fine, wonderful to the touch. When he brought his fingers slightly together, he could feel the soft strands slipping through them, bringing to mind the smoothness of fine silk.
Xie Jianyuan narrowed his eyes in contentment.
He stared intently at Xu Chun's slender, pale neck. His vulnerable spot was exposed before him, completely undefended.
"Looks like I'll have to change clothes in a bit," Xu Chun murmured to himself with a slight frown, completely unaware of the look the person behind him was giving him.
Xie Jianyuan's gaze fell on a red mole on Xu Chun's neck. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he had, his heart itched unbearably.
The slightly sickly pale skin formed a stark contrast with the vermilion mole, making it even harder to look away.
Xie Jianyuan couldn't resist reaching out to touch it, rubbing back and forth as if absentmindedly.
"That tickles." Xu Chun felt what he was doing and frowned slightly, tilting his head away from his hand. "What are you doing?"
"Brother Chun, you have a mole here." The voice behind him was inexplicably a little husky.
Xu Chun didn't pay it much mind. Hearing him ask, he replied casually, "Oh, that? I've had it since birth."
"Has anyone else seen it?"
Xu Chun found the question a little strange and couldn't help laughing as he asked in return, "It's nothing special. Why would I show it to anyone else?"
"I see." The corners of Xie Jianyuan's lips curved up slightly, and he looked to be in a very good mood. He withdrew his hand, but his gaze remained fixed on the mole. Xu Chun was so sensitive to the lightest touch; he wondered what he would be like in bed.
When he came back to his senses, he couldn't help pausing in surprise. He had had another such crazy thought about Xu Chun.
"What's wrong?" Xu Chun noticed that Xie Jianyuan's hands had stopped moving.
"Nothing." Xie Jianyuan smiled faintly, lowering his lashes as he looked down at him.
"It's very pretty."
Xu Chun turned and looked at him in puzzlement, his face full of confusion, but in the end he suppressed the question in his heart.
That was weird.
Chapter 18: Birthday [Complete Version]
The crew continued filming deep in the mountains until around April. During that time, Xu Chun spent his birthday with the crew. He had originally planned to spend it with his family, but he hadn't accounted for work.
On his birthday, Xu Chun called his adoptive parents. The signal in the mountains was poor, so he walked around looking for reception while chatting about everyday matters with his family on the other end of the line.
When he heard that Xu Jin had changed girlfriends again, Xu Chun couldn't resist teasing him about it.
Mother Xu laughed along on her end, then asked half-jokingly and tentatively, "Xu Chun, when are you going to bring a girlfriend home for us to meet?"
Xu Chun froze for a moment, then a bitter smile appeared on his lips. He still didn't dare tell the two elders about his sexual orientation. In Mother Xu and Father Xu's eyes, he had always been an outstanding child who excelled at everything, and they boasted about him to everyone they met. If they found out that the son they were so proud of liked men, he didn't know how they would react.
"It's too early for that. I'm busy with work every day right now. If I found someone, wouldn't I just be holding her back?"
Xu Chun came up with a casual excuse to brush the subject aside, and the two elders of the Xu family finally dropped it sheepishly.
As soon as he hung up and turned around, he saw Xie Jianyuan standing behind him, giving Xu Chun a fright.
"Brother Chun." Xie Jianyuan seemed a little puzzled by how startled he was and raised a brow. "I called you several times."
Xu Chun said, "Sorry, I didn't hear you."
Xie Jianyuan smiled. "It's fine. Your manager asked you to come over."
Xu Chun looked a short distance away and, sure enough, saw Su Li waving to him beside the van.
Xu Chun headed in that direction with Xie Jianyuan. The mountain wind was piercing, and he couldn't help pulling his coat tighter around himself. The black coat he wore belonged to Xie Jianyuan and was a little too big for him, making his figure look even slimmer.