Seeing Ye Qingzhou's reaction, the director knew his guesses had all been right. His lips curved. "Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, you can ask Teacher Chu."
Ye Qingzhou fell silent for a few seconds before saying unhurriedly, "The pay doesn't matter, but I have one condition."
The director smiled agreeably. "Go ahead."
"I still want to be paired with Chu Ci."
Hearing the familiar name "Chu Ci," the director's eyes nearly overflowed with amusement. "No problem. I'll just make up some excuse to keep you two paired up."
"All right."
Only after getting the director's agreement did Ye Qingzhou nod. "I agree to take part in filming the next episode."
After hanging up on the director, Ye Qingzhou looked around and finally spotted Chu Ci, who was lost in thought.
"Teacher Chu."
Ye Qingzhou slowly walked toward Chu Ci, dangling the car keys in his hand, his voice carrying unmistakable amusement. "Do you need me to drive you home?"
Chu Ci nodded without the slightest hesitation. "Yes."
It was only during his conversation with "Lele" just now that he had learned cars were the means of transportation in this world.
And the original owner of this body had been penniless.
Chu Ci had been worrying about how to get "home," only for Ye Qingzhou to come offering himself up.
Lele wasn't in very good mental shape, and its speech kept breaking off. Still, through their brief conversation, Chu Ci had essentially understood his current situation.
Simply put, he really had died in battle.
His body had indeed perished in that battle, but for some unknown reason, his soul hadn't perished. Instead, it had come to inhabit the present "Chu Ci."
The original "Chu Ci" had been in poor health, the proverbial medicine jar. When Chu Ci transmigrated into this body, the original "Chu Ci" had already been close to death.
But ultimately, Chu Ci had taken over this body, so he had an obligation to help fulfill its original owner's wishes.
The original owner had two wishes in total. The first was to become an excellent actor, and the second was to take good care of his grandmother.
Not long after his birth, the original owner had been dumped with his grandmother by his irresponsible parents. It was only thanks to her devoted care over the years that he had grown up safe and sound. His grandfather had died early, so he and his grandmother had grown up relying on each other.
This was also why Lele had asked Chu Ci to accept the director's invitation. This episode of "Let's Fall in Love" had done well, and the show would only grow more popular.
As "Let's Fall in Love" grew more popular, Chu Ci would become better known. Only then would directors come to him with good scripts, and only with good scripts could Chu Ci fulfill the original owner's first wish-to become an excellent actor.
"Teacher Chu, get in."
Ye Qingzhou considerately opened the passenger door.
"All right."
Chu Ci obediently got into the car.
"Teacher Chu, remember to fasten your seat belt."
Ye Qingzhou reminded him gently.
"Huh?"
Chu Ci looked a little bewildered. He wanted to ask Lele for help, but Lele had given him a great deal of information earlier and was currently dormant.
"Don't move."
Ye Qingzhou leaned toward Chu Ci.
A light, pleasant fragrance instantly surrounded Chu Ci. Looking at Ye Qingzhou's long, thick eyelashes, Chu Ci suddenly found himself thinking of the tasks they had done together.
During the "kiss through a candy wrapper for thirty seconds" task, Chu Ci had already thought Ye Qingzhou's eyelashes were long, but his attention had been on the task at the time, so he hadn't looked closely.
Now that he had the time, he realized that Ye Qingzhou's eyelashes were especially thick, fluttering like a butterfly beating its wings to take flight.
Ye Qingzhou placed his fingers on the seat belt.
Feeling Chu Ci's unwavering gaze, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly. "Please... please don't move..."
Chu Ci obediently answered, "Oh."
Fastening the seat belt required lowering his head. As the young man bowed his head, Chu Ci's attention shifted from his long, thick eyelashes to Ye Qingzhou's thin, beautiful lips.
When they had kissed through the candy wrapper, Chu Ci had discovered that his lips were very, very, very soft. Later, when they did the "share a chocolate stick" task, Chu Ci had truly experienced that softness.
Thinking of Ye Qingzhou's reddened earlobes, Chu Ci inexplicably felt his mouth go dry, and he awkwardly looked away.
"Is this comfortable?"
Ye Qingzhou raised his eyes to Chu Ci.
"...Hmm?"
Chu Ci froze for a second before responding. "Yes."
That wasn't a lie. Perhaps afraid of hurting him, Ye Qingzhou had been extremely careful while fastening his seat belt.
Only upon hearing that did Ye Qingzhou's lips curve into a smile.
It was also then that Chu Ci discovered two shallow dimples appeared when Ye Qingzhou smiled. Had they not been so close, Chu Ci would never have noticed them.
Chu Ci's thoughts drifted for a few seconds.
Wu Zhou also had two shallow dimples when he smiled.
But Wu Zhou had been so used to being bullied as a child that the number of times he smiled could be counted on one hand. Later, Chu Ci had taken Wu Zhou to the interstellar battlefield, teaching him strategy and martial arts in his spare time and occasionally bringing him back some novel trinkets. Only then had smiles gradually become more frequent on Wu Zhou's face.
Chu Ci had complimented Wu Zhou's smile more than once. After that, whenever they met, Wu Zhou always wore a smile, and two shallow dimples would always appear in his cheeks.
Once, while chatting with the soldiers, he had casually mentioned, "Wu Zhou loves to smile, and he looks especially good when he does." Who would have thought that they would all look at him as though they wanted to say something but were holding back?
Puzzled, Chu Ci said, "If you have something to say, say it."
Under the pressure of his gaze, they reluctantly told him the truth. "His Little Highness only likes to smile when he's with you."
So Chu Ci began secretly observing Wu Zhou.
Only then did he discover that, in front of others, Wu Zhou was still the same Wu Zhou: cold, indifferent, and unsmiling. Only in front of him would those two shallow dimples appear.
Chu Ci hadn't thought there was anything right about that.
After all, he had raised Wu Zhou himself, so it was only natural that Wu Zhou treated him differently from everyone else.
Interstellar residents generally lived quite long lives, around four or five hundred years. Wu Zhou had only been nine when Chu Ci took him in and began caring for him devotedly. It wouldn't even have been unreasonable for Chu Ci to call himself Wu Zhou's older brother.
"Teacher Chu, what are you thinking about?"
Ye Qingzhou's voice brought Chu Ci back to reality. He shook his head. "Nothing..."
Chu Ci's gaze lingered on the two dimples in Ye Qingzhou's cheeks for a few seconds before he said with a smile, "I just think you look especially good when you smile."