As for advancing, he had some say as a guest mentor, but he stayed silent on professional matters and never interrupted. If the judges said his younger brother wasn't good enough and passed on him, he wouldn't plead on Xu Jin's behalf either. Still, even if he said all that, no one might believe him.
"Brother Chun."
After leaving the studio that day, Xu Chun walked briskly toward the elevator, his face clouded with worry. During the recording, that young man had tripped Xu Jin up again, deliberately setting a trap to lead him into saying the wrong thing. Fortunately, Xu Jin had taken the hint from Xu Chun's expression and stopped himself in time.
But things couldn't go on like this.
He pressed the elevator button, and just as the doors were about to close, a long leg stepped inside. Xu Chun's gaze slowly traveled upward. Seeing that it was Xie Jianyuan, he paused, then smiled and greeted him warmly.
"Brother Chun," Xie Jianyuan said with a smile. "Why were you so distracted today? Did something happen?"
So many people had met Xu Chun, yet only Xie Jianyuan could tell at a glance that something was wrong.
Xu Chun didn't want to talk about it, so he could only give a vague answer. "It's nothing."
To his surprise, Xie Jianyuan perceptively asked, "Does it have to do with your younger brother?"
His thoughts exposed, Xu Chun nodded helplessly and sighed.
Xie Jianyuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Your younger brother is good at finding trouble, isn't he?"
"That's not true," Xu Chun protested listlessly. "He's very well-behaved."
Xie Jianyuan paused, then chuckled softly. "Well-behaved?"
"Yes." Xu Chun grew a little wistful as he recalled the past. "I'm not his biological older brother, but even though he was younger than me, he was always the one looking after me when we were little. He was afraid I'd get lonely, so he always pulled me along to play."
"I see." Xie Jianyuan smiled without betraying his thoughts. His final words were barely audible. "So they're not blood brothers."
Xu Chun didn't catch his last words, but even if he had, he wouldn't have thought much of them. Although he and Xu Jin weren't blood brothers, he genuinely treated Xu Jin as his own younger brother.
Even now, he didn't know whether letting Xu Jin enter the entertainment industry had been right or wrong. After all, Father and Mother Xu had always been firmly opposed to Xu Jin becoming a star.
Thinking of Father and Mother Xu made Xu Chun's head ache even more.
For some reason, the production team wanted to tug at the audience's heartstrings. They were bringing the contestants' parents to the set for the next episode, and a tearjerking emotional spectacle had already been arranged.
But given Father and Mother Xu's tempers, if the two of them didn't put on a display of mixed doubles at the scene, it would hardly do justice to all the trouble Xu Jin had been courting lately.
Xu Chun was half right. At the shoot, Father Xu gave Xu Jin a thorough scolding, starting with how he'd dropped out of school and insisted on forming a band, then moving on to how he hadn't come home for months, and finally adding that he was always causing his brother trouble. He berated Xu Jin from head to toe.
All the other contestants were playing up their hardships and trying to bring people to tears, doing their utmost to talk about their families' difficulties and their parents' support. But when it came to Xu Jin, the whole tone changed.
After the variety show finished recording, Xu Jin and Xu Chun walked together.
"Make sure you apologize properly to Mom and Dad later."
"No." Xu Jin refused immediately.
Xu Chun shot him a sideways glance, a little displeased, but he suppressed the urge to beat the troublesome kid and gently tried to persuade him.
Only then did Xu Jin reluctantly nod.
As they walked side by side, Xu Jin suddenly slung an arm around Xu Chun's shoulders and compared their heights. "Bro, I think I've grown taller again," he said with satisfaction.
Xu Chun glanced at him and shook his head, torn between laughter and exasperation, a hint of indulgence in his eyes. He was this grown up, yet still like a child.
Suddenly, Xu Jin's incessant chatter came to an abrupt halt. Xu Chun turned to look at him in confusion and saw him staring straight ahead, his eyes wide.
Xu Chun followed his gaze and saw Xie Jianyuan walking toward them. He was slightly startled, but once he recovered, he smiled and nodded at him.
"Finished recording?"
"Yes."
Xie Jianyuan's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Xu Jin's hand resting on Xu Chun's shoulder. His eyes darkened slightly, though his face betrayed nothing.
Xu Chun was just about to speak when the weight on his shoulder lifted. He saw Xu Jin lower his hand, looking a little awkward.
"What is it?" Xu Chun was puzzled.
Xu Jin rubbed his wrist and, after a long while, managed to say, "Nothing. My hand suddenly started hurting."
Xu Chun said, "...All right."
Chapter 27: Gaygay
Not long after this talent show aired, Unexpected Joy, the project he had previously agreed to do for Director Chu, was also about to begin filming.
After the opening ceremony, Xu Chun packed his luggage and joined the crew. The filming conditions weren't as tough this time, and Su Li still assigned him plenty of assistants. After all, Lu Xian was essentially washed up now, and Xu Chun was the only presentable talent she had left. It would also take time to build up another newcomer.
Within a few days, Xu Chun had gotten to know the crew well. He was easygoing by nature. People with some standing in the industry tended to have a temper to some degree, but he had almost never lost his.
The temperature had gradually risen over the past few days. The scorching sun baked the earth, and the shade of the trees formed pretty silhouettes on the concrete.
Xu Chun wore a white T-shirt and black pants, with a mask on because he had a cold, as he chatted with the crew. His clothes were very simple, and he was easygoing. At a casual glance, no one would have guessed he was Xu Chun, the hottest A-list entertainer of the moment.
"Are you blind?"
Xu Chun was talking to a crew member when he suddenly felt someone bump into his back. Before he could turn around, he heard a woman behind him deliver a merciless, icy rebuke.
Xu Chun paused, then turned to see a young woman.
An Huiru?
Speaking of An Huiru, she and Bai Lingling were actresses who had debuted around the same time. Bai Lingling wasn't even dating yet, but An Huiru had already married an actor in the industry who was more than ten years her senior
and had a child.
The couple flaunted their affection for the cameras in public, but in private, they each did their own thing.