Chu Xinghui sat in the car on his way home, scrolling through the comments under the official account's post. When he saw what the commenters were saying about Fan Weicai, the corner of his eye twitched.
Delicate and frail? Fan Weicai?
The guy whose handshake practically crushed bones?
And who kept frantically showing off his jawline?
Refusing to believe it, he tapped into Fan Weicai's Weibo page.
[Fan Weicai: Joining the cast today!]
[Fan Weicai: Sob, sob, I was carrying a wooden board just now, and I didn't expect it to have a splinter. I accidentally cut myself (aggrieved.jpg)]
Attached was a photo of a cut that Chu Xinghui couldn't even see without enlarging the image.
The fans below really pulled their weight too, each sounding more aggressive than the last.
[What is his manager even doing?! Making our Older Brother carry wooden boards!]
[Such a huge cut! Caicai must have cried from the pain. Don't cry, Caicai, Mommy will pat you!]
That comment even got a reply from Fan Weicai.
[Fan Weicai: Mm-hmm (wiping tears)]
?
Chu Xinghui's vision went dark. He put his phone away and took a moment to recover, then opened his eyes and tapped into Weibo again, deciding to leave Fan Weicai's page and open his own.
[Chu Xinghui: @Please Love Me a Little More Thank you to the lovely official account for the mention! (finger heart.jpg)]
Comments appeared underneath as soon as he posted it.
[Thank~ you~ to~ the~ lovely~ official~ account~ for~ the~ mention~ (Deng Chao mocking face.jpg)]
[@Please Love Me a Little More Don't be fooled by Chu Xinghui's well-behaved appearance. Director, keep calling cut. Our Huihui needs some toughening up.]
[@Please Love Me a Little More Director, don't hold back on the criticism. Even if Huihui's styling looks good this time, if his acting is still shit, I'm still giving it one star.]
[@Pei Hanmo Why aren't you doing something about this? Is Chu Xinghui really going to be okay playing Hui? He only just signed with you. Start him off with a role that suits him better.]
That was right. These fans were entirely responsible for the low ratings on Chu Xinghui's previous dramas.
After he signed with Universal Entertainment, they had even thoughtfully informed Universal Entertainment that Chu Xinghui couldn't act and needed more acting coaches.
Chu Xinghui: ...Why don't I ever get comments offering kisses, hugs, and a lift into the air?
Gu Kai leaned toward Chu Xinghui, saw the comments on his phone, and laughed so hard his stomach hurt, practically ready to clutch his belly and lie down in the car.
"Hahahahaha, Huihui, it's okay! You acted really well today!"
He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and patted Chu Xinghui's shoulder.
"Seriously, Huihui, watching you act today really drew me in! I almost cried!"
"Then how did you watch my acting before?"
"Uh..."
At the mention of his previous dramas, Gu Kai awkwardly returned to his seat.
He couldn't exactly say that every viewing made him cringe hard enough to dig out a magical castle with his toes, could he?
On WeChat, the director of Let's Travel Together sent a message.
[Wang Xiao: @Everyone Our next stop is an ancient town. Get ready, everyone~]
Wang Xiao had created a group with all the guests in it, bypassing their companies to notify them directly.
[Chu Xinghui: Got it.]
[Man Feiluan: Are we going to wear hanfu?! I love hanfu! I want to wear it!]
[Hua Zhiyuan: Me too.]
[Wang Xiao: Of course you can. You can each bring your own hanfu, or wear the ones provided by the production team.]
[Wang Xiao: A guest star will be joining us next episode, so it'll be a trip for nine.]
A guest star?
Chu Xinghui remembered that the show had featured them before, but there had only been six people back then. Now that there were eight, they were still bringing in a guest star?
They really weren't afraid of making things messier for the sake of a spectacle.
"Fan Weicai! You've only just met Hui, and you don't know about the relationship between those two yet. Don't be so hostile!"
The director sat in his director's chair. This was the ninth time he had called cut that morning. He rubbed his tightly furrowed brow.
He didn't know whether he had praised him too much, but Fan Weicai was now treating Chu Xinghui entirely as an enemy and couldn't get into character at all.
Every time he saw Chu Xinghui, an arrogant look inevitably appeared on his face.
"Director, what exactly am I doing wrong? What's wrong with acting like this?"
Yet Fan Weicai still couldn't understand. He stared angrily at the director, questioning his professional competence.
The director took a deep breath and reminded himself:
He has a lot of fans. Don't provoke him. He has a lot of fans. Don't provoke him...
Then he looked up and put on a perfect smile.
"No major problems. Shall we try again? This will definitely be the last time."
Fan Weicai snorted through his nose and reluctantly returned to his previous spot to wait for filming to start.
On the last take, the director reluctantly let Fan Weicai pass.
As he watched the footage, his heart bled.
If this aired, it really would only look good in fits and starts.
The next scene was between Ye Jing'er and Fan Weicai. Chu Xinghui sat off to the side and picked up his phone.
[Boss (moneybag edition): What are you having for lunch?]
[Chu Xinghui: ? Why?]
[Boss (moneybag edition): I heard you haven't been eating lunch these past two days?]
Because Let's Travel Together was about to start filming, the director here was trying to shoot as quickly as possible to free up time for Chu Xinghui.
So Chu Xinghui usually didn't eat much at noon and kept filming until work ended.
But only people on the set should have known that, right?
How did Pei Hanmo know?
He turned his gaze to Gu Kai, who was playing Happy Match beside him.
Gu Kai jolted and turned around, meeting Chu Xinghui's gaze.
"H-Huihui? What's wrong?"
"What has Pei Hanmo been asking you to tell him?"
Chu Xinghui asked.
"Huh?"
Gu Kai hadn't expected Chu Xinghui to guess. Thinking Pei Hanmo had sold him out to save himself, he froze, not knowing what to say.
[Boss (moneybag edition): Why aren't you replying? I'm already at your set.]
[Boss (moneybag edition): Older Brother, even if it were one of my other employees, I'd still feel bad if they skipped lunch (crying.jpg)]
Gu Chupei sat beside Pei Hanmo and watched him send the messages, scoffing inwardly.
Feel bad?
He'd love for me to stay on call at the studio twenty-four hours a day without eating, drinking, or taking a dump.
Now that it's Chu Xinghui, it's all "I'd~ still~ feel~ bad~"
He even sent a crying reaction image.
What an act.
After getting out of the car, the two bought some takeout and went straight onto the set.
"Cut-"
They had barely taken a few steps when they heard the director's voice from inside, suppressing his anger.
Could that be because of Chu Xinghui?
Gu Chupei turned to sneak a glance at Pei Hanmo.
Seeing no particular expression on his face, Gu Chupei relaxed.
At least Chu Xinghui's acting hadn't angered the director.
That was a step forward!
"Chu Xinghui... your makeup needs changing..."
The makeup artist came out of the makeup room, looked at the notes in her notebook, and raised her head.
She happened to spot Pei Hanmo walking toward them.
"!"
She followed Pei Hanmo's gaze to Chu Xinghui, who was replying to Pei Hanmo's messages.
"!!!"
She let out a squeal and bounced on the spot, then darted back into her makeup room and opened Weibo.
[Girls!!!!! Listen to me!!! I can guarantee Xinghan is absolutely real. I can't give details, but it's absolutely real!! Trust me!]
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