Chapter 15

Xu Ling closed her eyes peacefully.

The only comfort was that she was the only one who could hear Ning Luo going crazy.

She clasped her hands together and prayed.

This humble believer was willing to eat only nine meals over three days in exchange for Lu Tingzhou never hearing Ning Luo's inner thoughts for the rest of his life.

Lu Tingzhou lowered his eyes to look at the young man before him and remained silent for a long time.

Ever since he had become famous, few people had spoken to him like this.

Because of his silence, the air fell quiet.

Ning Luo instinctively felt that Lu Tingzhou seemed a little angry, but he did not know why. After thinking it over, he could only conclude that his response about looking scary had dissatisfied Lu Tingzhou, who thought he was being perfunctory.

Fine, it really had been perfunctory. How could he merely shake his head in denial when facing such a handsome man?

Lu Tingzhou's looks deserved an eighty-thousand-word thesis from him, beginning with Cangjie's creation of Chinese characters to demonstrate what an angel descended to earth, a walking David, a gender-swapped Mona Lisa, and an armless Venus truly meant.

Then he would spit at his advisor, accuse him of polishing a turd, toss out a suave "You don't understand art," and leave.

Ning Luo hurriedly comforted him. "You don't look scary. Brother Tingzhou is very handsome. I think you're the most, most, most handsome of all—more perfect than even the artworks in the Louvre!"

This completely hit his xp. Before he met another husband who suited his tastes, Lu Tingzhou was his official wife.

Official wives could not be wronged!

Lu Tingzhou tugged slightly at the corner of his mouth but did not respond.

Ning Luo pressed on with another wave of rainbow farts. "Do you know why the dinosaurs went extinct? Their forelimbs were too short to applaud your beauty, so they died of sadness."

"Just like me. If I go one day without seeing Brother Tingzhou, I'm so sad I cry. My tears irrigated the karez and ended droughts in the northwest, replaced the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to redistribute water resources, and turned the Sahara from a desert into humid southern weather!"

His rosy little mouth opened, and he started firing off words like a machine gun.

No technique, only emotion.

"Pfft."

"Hahahahahaha!"

The onlookers who had no idea what was going on began to laugh at his words. At first, they held back for Ning Luo's sake and did not dare laugh aloud, but someone midway through let out a pig-like snort, instantly setting off the atmosphere.

Everyone clutched their stomachs, laughing until their bellies hurt.

Nie Wentao laughed until tears came out. One hand slapped his thigh while the other thumped repeatedly against Ning Yang's secretary's back. "So Ning Luo is actually like this in private? Hahahahaha! This is too funny! Hahahaha!"

The secretary staggered from the slaps, adjusted his glasses, and looked gratified. "It's been a long time since I've seen the young master like someone this much."

He began seriously considering the possibility of abducting Lu Tingzhou back to become the Ning Family's second young madam.

Hmm. He would mention it to the president when he got back.

Only Xu Ling wore a look of despair.

She could not take it anymore. How had the world gone this insane?

She said weakly, "Ning Luo... shut up. I'm begging you."

Amid everyone's laughter, Ning Luo realized half a beat too late that he seemed to have gotten carried away and made a fool of himself again. Blood rushed to his face, even his eyelids burning red. He did not dare meet Lu Tingzhou's eyes and frantically avoided them.

[Damn it! What are you laughing at? What's so funny? Ahhh, you're still laughing! Stop laughing and shut up!]

The little person in his mind punched and kicked, smashed his head against the ground, and grieved like a bottom who had dated eight male models only to discover that none of them were compatible.

If someone wrote Ning Luo's biography, it would definitely be titled Sorrow Flows Against the River, with the inscription on the title page: "Throw fewer tantrums and eat more vegetables; don't fall too hard for a turtle climbing onto the kang."

Ning Luo was already considering methods of death when he suddenly heard a soft chuckle beside his ear.

"Heh."

The sound was light and gentle, like a feather brushing across his heart.

He gathered his courage and turned his head, meeting the lingering smile in Lu Tingzhou's eyes, like tender grass breaking through stone or spring snow melting away.

Ning Luo looked for one second before uselessly turning away, unwilling to meet his gaze.

[The word "heh" sounds so wonderful, as though it carries the tipsy breeze of March, the grandeur of a June dusk, two parts gentle moonlight, and five parts untouched by worldly dust.]

Lu Tingzhou: "..."

He was so exasperated that he laughed.

Sometimes, he truly wanted to crack open Ning Luo's head and see how it was constructed. Why was he so unpredictable, with such bizarre thought processes?

He was no longer angry, but as Lu Tingzhou looked at someone who had curled himself into a ball as though he had made a terrible mistake, while inwardly screaming wildly that he would dare do it again next time, he felt that some punishment was necessary.

He stared at Ning Luo's profile for several seconds before lifting him up. "It's a little dark in this cave. The lighting isn't good."

He curled his lips into a gentle smile. "Let's go somewhere with better lighting."

Ning Luo froze. "Huh? Oh, okay."

He was led out of the cave.

The cameraman looked at the lighting equipment all around them, which had illuminated the cave as brightly as day, swallowed his doubts, and followed the two of them.

Lu Tingzhou led him to a massive rock extending outward beside the waterfall. "Here."

"Here?" Ning Luo could not believe it. He shakily leaned out a little, then immediately recoiled, his speech becoming unsteady. "Isn't this a little too h-high?"

"Are you scared?" Lu Tingzhou asked.

If he was scared, he could naturally go back down.

But Lu Tingzhou had underestimated how stubborn Ning Luo's mouth was.

Ning Luo lifted his chin. "How could I be? I'm least afraid of heights. I go bungee jumping, skydiving, and riding giant swings all the time for fun."

"This little distance," he said through gritted teeth, "is nothing."

The cameraman had barely come out when he heard that line. He looked around, tested the framing, and nodded in satisfaction. "Then we'll shoot here. Ning Luo, move a little farther out."

Ning Luo: "..."

What cold and detached aura? All he knew was shattered fragility.

He was about to shatter.

With the composition, lighting, and subjects all okay, the cameraman moved quickly, constantly telling them to lift their chins or turn their faces, working at high speed.

At that moment, Ning Luo comprehended relativity and felt like a giant of physics.

[What does every second feeling like a year mean? I feel as exhausted as if I'd carried buckets of manure to irrigate fields for ten miles, only to discover I'd watered the neighbor's land.]

Was he really that scared?

Lu Tingzhou glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Although Ning Luo's expression was tense, his eyelashes trembled constantly like wet butterfly wings.

He looked rather pitiful.

Like the unweaned kitten at their house.

[Oh my god, is this angle giving me benefits? Husband, your collar isn't done up properly. Wow, those collarbones, those lines, that cool pale skin—I'm drooling.]

Ning Luo secretly glanced upward to the right from the corner of his eye, looking once after another.

[What a pity...]

[I can only look but not touch. It feels as powerless as a eunuch visiting a brothel.]

He even clicked his tongue mournfully, proving just how deeply regretful he truly was.

Lu Tingzhou instantly strangled the rare softness in his heart.

After the shoot, he watched Ning Luo skip away to find Xu Ling and let out a deep breath.

"You really don't learn."

Once they had finished shooting all the material and were preparing to head down the mountain, Nie Wentao came over. "Do you seriously think the lighting inside was bad?"

Lu Tingzhou glanced at him without speaking.

Nie Wentao said, "I keep feeling like you did it on purpose, but no matter how I think about it, that kid didn't offend you. There was no need."

Lu Tingzhou finally spoke. "What kind of image do I have in your mind?"

Nie Wentao perked up at once. "Petty." After saying it, he felt it was not accurate enough and added a qualifier. "Super invincible, number-one-in-the-world petty. You get revenge on the spot, and if you can't, you write it down in a little notebook and settle the score later."

Lu Tingzhou thought he had misheard. He stopped adjusting his collar, raised his eyes, and slowly repeated, "Me? Petty?"

Nie Wentao looked everywhere except at him.

"Fine." A smile with little emotion appeared at Lu Tingzhou's lips. "Hasn't someone recently wanted me to join a variety show? Go inspect the location tomorrow."

Nie Wentao said, "But you're not even going on the show, and it's so far from B City. A round trip will take me three or four days. Wouldn't that be pointless?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Lu Tingzhou said with a smile. "Who told me I was petty?"

Nie Wentao: "..."

Damn it, would someone speak up for him?

Lu Tingzhou lowered the hand that had been adjusting his collar and suddenly realized that being able to hear Ning Luo's thoughts was not so bad.

At least he was not hearing Nie Wentao's thoughts and listening to all the different ways he cursed him in his head every day.

So, comparison really did make people appreciate things.

Ning Luo even gave him rainbow farts.

Nie Wentao refused to accept this and tried to talk Lu Tingzhou out of it, but when he saw Ning Luo approaching from afar, he shut his mouth.

"Brother!"

Ning Luo called out from far away, deliberately dropping the first two words to make it sound more intimate.

Nie Wentao smiled. "Oh, the kid who gives you rainbow farts is here."

Hearing his teasing, a faint blush spread over Ning Luo's fair face. He scratched his cheek and forcibly changed the subject, showing Lu Tingzhou something. "You were right. The photos we took outside are much better-looking. The lighting is great too—the sunlight looks more natural."

He held his phone right beneath Lu Tingzhou's eyes, but Lu Tingzhou did not look at it. His gaze fell instead on Ning Luo's smiling, happy face.

When he did not speak, Ning Luo gradually fell silent. "They don't look good? Was my performance not very good?"

"No, you did very well." Lu Tingzhou paused before asking, "Do you really think the lighting inside was bad?"

Ning Luo was even more confused. "Huh? Didn't you say so?"

Nie Wentao looked at him with pity in his eyes. Foolish child, he was obviously lying to you.

Lu Tingzhou was silent for several seconds. "Yes, I said that."

He bent down slightly and gently ruffled Ning Luo's hair. "You have a lot of spirit. I had a great time working with you."

Low emotional intelligence: crazy and noisy.

High emotional intelligence: full of spirit.

He straightened up and smiled. "I look forward to working together next time."

-

Xiao Song drove on the way back.

Ning Luo looked out the window, seemingly lost in thought. One moment he was smiling foolishly, the next he was blushing, busily biting his finger.

Xu Ling did not know why, but she said nothing either.

Xiao Song was not talkative, and the car was utterly quiet.

Half an hour later, Xu Ling broke the silence.

She had many things she wanted to ask Ning Luo, but she chose the most important one. "Ning Luo, your acting seems much better than before."

"Huh?" Ning Luo snapped out of his happiness at getting close to his idol. "Really? Director Wang said the same thing."

He seemed delighted by the praise, his eyes sparkling.

"Director Wang said I've finally gotten the hang of it and will only get better from now on. I thought he was lying to me, but since you say so too, Sister Ling, I'm relieved."

Xu Ling scrutinized him carefully but could not find anything suspicious. "That's a good thing. It seems you've changed a lot in the months I was gone and learned to work hard."

She took a sip of water.

Ning Luo clenched his fist, full of fighting spirit. "Of course. I'm going to become the Best Actor!"

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Xu Ling instantly choked and coughed miserably.

Ning Luo hurriedly pulled out tissues for her. "Sister Ling, what's wrong?"

[I'm being so ambitious. Did I move you that much?]

Xu Ling wiped her mouth. "..."

No, she had misunderstood.

"Ning Luo, do you like Best Actor Lu very much?"

Ning Luo's eyes lit up, and he answered instantly, "I do!"

Xu Ling found it somewhat difficult to handle. There were plenty of people in the industry who liked Lu Tingzhou, but there had never been any scandals around him. In his early years, some people had entertained improper thoughts, but later, they had never appeared in the industry again. After several examples were made, no one dared try getting close to him anymore.

Lu Tingzhou appeared gentle and easygoing, but Xu Ling knew in her heart that he was not someone easy to deal with. Someone like Ning Luo was not even enough to serve him a dish.

She probed indirectly. "What level of liking are we talking about?"

Ning Luo twisted shyly. "I covet his beauty."

Xu Ling: "...Fine, then there's no problem."

After a moment of silence, she added, "I'll log into your Weibo and post the photos from today. You haven't updated in so long that your fans are nearly gone."

As she spoke, she opened Weibo. "I also need to find you another assistant to manage your personal account."

Ning Luo nodded and said okay.

Filming had been exhausting, and sleepiness quickly washed over him, his eyelids fighting each other.

He was about to fall asleep.

Xu Ling's shout jolted him awake. "Ning Luo! Why the hell are you going crazy on Weibo for no reason?!"

Ning Luo opened his eyes to find a phone shoved right in front of his face.

Xu Ling's tone was sinister. "Look at what you've done."

#Ning Luo's Beautiful Mental State# had topped the trending searches at three in the afternoon, with tens of millions of reads.

The top comment on the post read:

[Bro, you're really insane.]