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Chapter 24
The school uniform worn by Cheng Xia happened to be given to him by the sponsor after the MV was filmed a few days ago. It wasn’t ‘washed white’ as described in the original novel but he felt that wearing a school uniform would be more immersive. After all, Qin Nian’s family was very poor and he didn’t have too many decent clothes. He wore a school uniform almost every day.
Liu Xueyi saw the young man in a school uniform and his eyes immediately became much gentler. Even if the acting was bad, at least the attitude was serious enough. Such a hard-working newcomer gave a much better impression than those who were nervous and forgot their words.
Liu Xueyi asked softly, “What scenes have you prepared?”
“Acts 37 and 56.”
Director Liu and the screenwriter exchanged looks. He coincidentally collided with Ye Mingqian. Still, this was good. A direct comparison was better to see who was more suitable for the role of Qin Nian.
Liu Xueyi nodded. “Okay, you adjust yourself before starting.”
Pei Shaoze sat on the far left. Cheng Xia inadvertently glanced at him and met Pei Shaoze’s eyes. The thing that surprised Cheng Xia was that Pei Shaoze wasn’t as indifferent, serious and scary as everyone described. Instead, he nodded at Cheng Xia gently as if to encourage him.
Cheng Xia took a deep breath and quickly entered the state.
He lay down on the desk next to him and closed his eyes. After a while, he was awakened by a nightmare and sat up abruptly. He formed a fist and knocked against his head vigorously only to feel a headache. After knocking for a moment, he recovered his senses and looked around suspiciously to find he was in a hospital. He immediately asked, “Qin Yue, why am I here?”
Qin Yue replied, “Brother, you passed out last night. I took you to the hospital.”
Cheng Xia was stunned for a moment. Then a careless, relaxed expression appeared on his face as he waved in a handsome manner to his sister. “It must be because I didn’t eat dinner. You don’t have to make a fuss. I am in good health.”
At this time, the doctor came in. Cheng Xia immediately sat up straight with a bright smile. “Doctor, can I be discharged from hospital?”
The doctor seriously told him the information.
Cheng Xia’s eyes widened before he suddenly laughed. “Hahaha, you must be mistaken! How can omega pheromones be detected in my body? Is there something wrong with your detector or is there another person called Qin Nian and you grabbed the wrong results?”
The doctor showed him the examination report.
Cheng Xia quickly stretched out a hand as if taking paper from the air. He stared carefully, using the index finger of his left hand to compare to the data column line by line. After seeing his identity number and the data, he finally believed the result. He scratched his head with a confused expression and whispered, “Differentiating at 18 years old, is this okay?”
He handed the results to his sister and touched the location of his neck glands with his right hand. “So I have omega glands at the back of my neck? I will go through estrus later? Damn, this is too troublesome. Doctor, can this thing be cut off?”
Everyone, “……”
The original author who was watching almost laughed out loud. Yes, this was the plot of the original novel! Qin Nian was a very cute person with an optimistic mentality. After knowing he was an omega, he wasn’t excited or sad like a normal omega. He just thought—It is troublesome! His estrus period would delay him working to earn money to support his sister.
The doctor was surprised by his crazy words and hurriedly said, “Glands are an important organ for omegas to secrete pheromones. If you remove them at will, it will affect your endocrine system and even your life span.”
Cheng Xia looked suspiciously at the doctor. Finally, he believed the other person’s explanation and scratched his head a bit irritably. “It can’t be cut out? Okay, then give me an inhibitor. I have to go home to study. I have a test tomorrow.” As he spoke, he started to pull the IV needle out of the back of his hand to get out of bed.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
His sister Qin Yue hurriedly pushed him back. Cheng Xia raised his head slightly and smiled gently at his sister. “Qin Yue, don’t worry about it. Am I not your brother if I differentiate into an omega? Look at my face. It is still the same as before. There is just an extra omega gland in my body. Who will know unless they cut it open?”
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A moment later, he added, “Qin Yue, go and eat. By the way, bring back some takeout for your brother.”
The doctor and his sister went out one after another and the room fell quiet. The smile on the teenager’s face gradually disappeared and very complicated emotions appeared in his eyes. There was doubt, disbelief, panic and the confusion of differentiating into an omega.
Qin Nian pretended to be relaxed in front of others but he actually didn’t want to accept this fact in his heart. Ultimately, Cheng Xia let out a sigh and a relieved smile appeared on his face as he spoke to himself, “An omega is an omega. If I don’t tell anyone, life will continue as usual. It will just be a bit troublesome to use inhibitors.”
He lay down on the hospital bed with a smile on his face, as if he had finally figured it out.
At the scene, Liu Xueyi was so excited that he couldn’t help clenching his fists tightly. He finally knew why he felt it was wrong when he watched Ye Mingqian’s performance. Ye Mingqian didn’t perform Qin Nian’s spirit and liveliness at all!
From every action, every line and the look in his eyes, Ye Mingqian only played a sunny Qin Nian. Meanwhile, Cheng Xia’s interpretation was the living Qin Nian from the book! Liu Xueyi looked at the smiling teenager lying on the ‘hospital bed’ and was so excited he forgot to call out to stop.
Then Pei Shaoze nodded appreciatively and said in a low voice, “Yes, the next scene.”
Cheng Xia quickly got up from the hospital bed, bowed to everyone and told them seriously, “Next is Act 56, the scene of Qin Nian writing in his diary.”
The bag he brought with him didn’t only contain the school uniform. There was also a diary, a pen and a high school math test paper.
Cheng Xia sat in front of the desk and opened his diary. He picked up the pen and wrote a few words. Then he suddenly thought of something and frowned. He scratched out what he wrote, turned a page and rewrote it. After doing this for several consecutive pages, he sighed and stopped writing helplessly.
The young man placed one arm on the table and the other hand held his head as he thought about something. After a while, he unknowingly changed to a posture of lying on the table in a daze. His soul seemed to have been pulled away as he lay softly on the table. Looking at this scene from the side, how cute was the dull teenager!
Director Liu clenched his fists tightly. This was Qin Nian. On the surface, he was cool and handsome but in private, he was a cute little guy that made people feel distressed.
Cheng Xia was in a daze for a few seconds before suddenly recovering like he received an electric shock. He thought about how he liked Lu Fengyang and he couldn’t help his ears turning slightly red.
The camera fully recorded his series of emotional changes. The teenager with red ears quickly sat upright, picked up the pen on the table and wrote a line of words seriously. Then he tore the page out of the diary.
The young man’s slender fingers flexibly folded the paper in half and then again. His fingers moved without any lag in the movements and he actually folded this piece of paper into a complicated boat in one go. The camera recorded this action and it seemed as beautiful as magic.
Liu Xueyi, “……”
On-site origami?
Qin Nian was an eccentric young man who could fold paper into various shapes!
After Cheng Xia folded the exquisite boat, he placed it on the table, glanced at it and poked it with a smile. Then he put away his smile, opened a test paper and started to concentrate on doing the questions. This time, he didn’t stop writing and looked extremely serious. As a top student, solving these math problems were simple for him.
The people at the scene thought that under the warm light, the young man’s pen flew and the empty questions on the test paper were filled up one by one. The moment when he was in a daze seemed to just be an insignificant episode in his daily homework process.
The scene ended and Cheng Xia stood up. He walked over and bowed to everyone. “I have finished. Thank you, Teachers.”
The redness of the young man’s ears faded and his expression returned to normal. The group couldn’t help clapping.
A smile flashed on Liu Xueyi’s serious face. “Well done. Have you read the original novel?”
Cheng Xia nodded. “Yes, I brought Teacher Lemongrass’s book and read it several times.”
A gentle voice was heard. “Can you do origami?”
It was the original author who opened her mouth. Cheng Xia immediately looked at her and politely explained, “It is because Qin Nian likes origami. I searched the Internet for tutorials and learned how to fold his favorite type of paper boat. I’m not proficient enough when it comes to plants and small animals.”
Lemongrass asked, “Can you show me the paper boat you just folded? What did you write in there?”
Cheng Xia handed the folded boat to the author and Lemongrass took it apart to take a look.
I want to be admitted to the same university as Lu Fengyang and for us to be together ever since.
This was the content of the origami that Qin Nian gave Lu Fengyang at the end of the original novel.
Lemongrass stared at this small line of words and didn’t know what to say for a moment. She was moved and her eyes became hot. In fact, she had been very nervous when she learned that her novel was going to be adapted. She was afraid that Tianxuan would find someone to inexplicably destroy her favorite character.
She had no idea that today an actor would take the fictional character Qin Nian so seriously. He put on his school uniform, brought a pen and book and even brought a high school math test paper.
He performed Qin Nian’s superficially sunny personality on the surface while inwardly having confused contradictions. He showed the handsomeness of Qin Nian and his dazed cuteness. He even folded the paper boat that Qin Nian gave to Lu Fengyang.
He was like the Qin Nian from her book. Hard working, cute and sunny. Someone who made people feel liked and distressed.
Lemongrass folded the boat back to its original form and handed it back to Cheng Xia, telling him softly, “Thank you for taking Qin Nian so seriously. Qin Nian is just a character I made up but today, you made him alive.”
There were so many bigshots at the scene and she shouldn’t say too much. The director and investor had the final say. However, Lemongrass really couldn’t help it. She looked at the young man in front of her and really felt like a character she created had come alive. She really liked Cheng Xia’s performance and wanted the people around her to acknowledge Cheng Xia.
Cheng Xia heard the compliment of the original author and bowed in a flattered manner. “Thank you, Teacher Lemongrass. I really like the character of Qin Nian and I also really like your novel. I am honored to be able to participate in this audition.”
Pei Shaoze raised the corners of his lips slightly as he glanced at Liu Xueyi and asked in a low voice, “Director Liu, what do you think?”
Liu Xueyi nodded. “It’s great. His acting skills are somewhat young but Cheng Xia’s understanding of the character is by far the most suitable for Qin Nian. His live interpretation is also very vivid. How to put it… this newcomer is very spiritual.”
Pei Shaoze wondered, “He is the last to audition. Can Director Liu determine it is him?”
Liu Xueyi frowned and thought for a few seconds. “Then Ye Mingqian…”
Pei Shaoze interrupted indifferently, “He can play the male supporting role if he wants. For the role of Qin Nian, I suggest it be given to Cheng Xia. I’m not someone who favors the artists of Tianxuan. Director Liu has seen Cheng Xia’s performance just now. He is very good, right?”
Liu Xueyi met Pei Shaoze’s calm eyes and nodded decisively. “Yes, then it is settled!”
He had a headache due to all the demons dancing around in the afternoon and thought he wouldn’t be able to choose a suitable actor. Cheng Xia was indeed the best overall performer and the original author also liked him very much. Liu Xueyi had no reason to refuse.
Pei Shaoze looked over at Cheng Xia and spoke gently, “Cheng Xia.”
Cheng Xia turned to look at President Pei, thinking nervously, ‘Will the next sentence be to go back and wait for the notice?’
As a result, Pei Shaoze suddenly stood up and reached out. “Welcome to the Folding Paper crew.”
Cheng Xia, “???!!!”
Did they decide? Could he really play Qin Nian?!
Cheng Xia was stunned hearing President Pei’s words. His dazed expression was cute and Pei Shaoze couldn’t help smiling slightly. “Aren’t you going to say thank you?”
Cheng Xia’s mind returned and he immediately ran over to shake hands with President Pei. “Thank you, President Pei!”
Then he remembered there were other people present and bowed again. “Thank you Director Liu, thank you Screenwriter Xu, thank you Teacher Lemongrass, thank you staff members!”
Everyone was laughing while Lemongrass smiled happily with an expression of ‘my mother found her son.’
As Pei Shaoze shook Cheng Xia’s hand, he found a layer of cold sweat on the young man’s palm. The entire palm was wet. Obviously, Cheng Xia had been very nervous. However, he had been preparing for a long time and the plot of the original novel was well memorized. This was why outsiders didn’t see his nervousness.
This little guy performed seriously in this state and even brought items over. Pei Shaoze softened and his voice became gentler. “After the Spring Festival, the shooting will start. I will inform your agent of the specific time.”
Cheng Xia nodded earnestly. “Yes, then I…”
Pei Shaoze let go and gestured with his chin to the back door. “Go back and have a good rest. Adjust your status.”
Cheng Xia picked up the props he brought, bowed to the group and turned to leave.
Pei Shaoze looked at the young man’s back and thought, ‘Today, Cheng Xia really made Tianxuan proud. I didn’t see the wrong person.’
Bonus ko-fi chapter