Xiao Yi passed the script to him. Luzhou frowned deeply, and murmured several times before saying: "I don't know why, once I start acting my entire head will go blank, I couldn't even do a script simulation last night."
Xiao Yi said in consolation: "Don't worry, it's normal after you've taken such a long rest, it will slowly get better."
Luzhou walked back and forth along the corridor, and suddenly kicked the trash can, creating a loud noise. Xiao Yi said: "Don't be rash, Zhou Ge."
No one in the studio came out to check. Xiao Yi gave a glance and saw that the door was slightly closed inside.
Luzhou was exhausted. Xiao Yi stood in front of him, looking into his eyes. Luzhou's restless eyes gradually calmed down, and he took a deep breath.
"It's a bit cold outside." Xiao Yi said while picking up the trash can, "Let's go back in."
Luzhou and Xiao Yi sat at a corner. Ning Yaqing smiled and said: "I'm going off, male god, you can do it."
Luzhou nodded. Ning Yaqing gave Xiao Yi a bunch of heat packs. Xiao Yi wished he could stick his face onto them, and stuck some on Luzhou's shoulders and legs.
Luzhou read the script repeatedly, and got more and more irritable as he read on. He turned his head, intending to say something, but immediately laughed when he saw that Xiao Yi had stuck a heat pack on his head.
"Look." Xiao Yi said, "Zhou Ge, many fans are talking about you today."
Xiao Yi let Luzhou look at Weibo. Today was the start of the filming, a new urban idol drama was out as soon as Luzhou had recovered, and a chain of pastry shops called Casa Bread was the main sponsor of the drama. Weibo even launched a vigorous cake coupon campaign. There were comments below calling the male god handsome, the male god has finally appeared, etc.
Luzhou nodded, the next scene was Luzhou and the second male lead fighting in the studio, lifting a table, and trashing a coffee table. The second male lead did not dare to fight seriously, in fear that Luzhou's injury was not fully recovered. When he pulled Luzhou's collar and pushed him against the wall, both Xiao Yi and Luzhou's faces changed at the same time.
"You.......you....." Luzhou panted and flushed.
"I want to warn you." The second male lead gritted his teeth and said, "Don't get close to her again, keep your stinky money!"
Luzhou was furious, he tidied his shirt and tie, and shouted: "Someone come!"
The second male lead threw a stack of cash on Luzhou's face, dropping them all over the floor.
The director was not too satisfied, but he still okayed the scene.
The following scene was one where Luzhou went to consult a lawyer, and it had many lines. Xiao Yi laid the script on the desk and Luzhou crossed his legs, spinning around in the swivel chair, staring at his gold pen as if deep in thought. He occasionally glanced at the script, and was stammering a little.
There were four scenes in that afternoon. The streets of Beijing today could not be used due to the snow, the night scenes could not be filmed, and were temporarily cancelled.
Xiao Yi finally felt relieved. Before leaving, the director faced Luzhou and said: "Teacher Lu."
Luzhou nodded his head, his eyebrows still in a frown. The director seemed to be pondering, and Luzhou said: "No worries, you can say it."
"Although Li Guangming is a rascal, " The director said, "but even so he is cute, and make others feel both love and hatred, even if he speaks too out of the line to Ai Ning, it would still make others unable to hate him. After all, if men are not bad, women will not like."
Luzhou said: "I can't find my state recently, tonight I will go back and go through the script again seriously."
"If you have any problems give me a call anytime." The director made a gesture, and Luzhou came out with a tight grip on his script, got onto the car and left.
Xiao Yi smiled and asked: "What do you want to eat tonight? I asked the restaurant to stop sending meals."
Luzhou took a deep breath, then said: "Don't feel like eating, anything is fine."
Xiao Yi said: "Here are the cake coupons given by the producer. You see, it's free."
Luzhou looked at Xiao Yi, and with one hand he pushed his face aside and said: "Don't torment me, I have no energy to scold you."
Xiao Yi got off the car in front of a Casa Bread store, and went to redeem a few breads and cakes. After returning home, Luzhou spread out pages of the script that was to be filmed the next day, one by one, he laid them on the dining table.
"Go take a bath first." Xiao Yi said, "I will practice with you later."
Luzhou did not reply, and got up to take a bath. After both of them had bathed, Xiao Yi cut the cake and brewed some hot tea. There was a heavy snowstorm outside. The dining table was illuminated by a warm chandelier that was pulled down very low.
"What love?" Luzhou's mouth twitched and he said with a laugh, "You love me? This is love? Look at what horrible things you have bought, tell you what, I don't love you! I don't love you just means I don't love you! No matter how much more you do, I will never love you."
Xiao Yi raised his eyes and seriously said: "Yes, you are rich, you have a high status, you can feed dogs with the sincerity of others! But one day I will wait for you to end up serving them!"
Xiao Yi casually pointed at the poor, non-existent NPCs that were bullied by Luzhou and said: "You will know how unbearable that feeling is!"
While Xiao Yi was saying the lines he was thinking Damn it I am really not cut out for acting, someday if I have to act as a heroine in a tv drama, I think I won't have to wait for the audience to kill me, I will just jump off a building myself.
"Don't you think this is good?" Xiao Yi said, "You were just not in the state at first."
"Come on." Luzhou rubbed his face with his hands, and sternly said.
Xiao Yi looked at Luzhou expectantly.
"You....." Luzhou said.
"What love." Xiao Yi said.
"What love?" Luzhou faced Xiao Yi and said, "You.... you love me? Yes, you love me and I also love you or something...... I forgot."
Both of them sank in silence.
Xiao Yi said: "Again."
Luzhou repeated several times, and kept getting stuck. When that happened he would look at the script on the table. Xiao Yi did not comment, the two of them were like a pair of teacher and student in school, and finished memorizing the required lines.
Dumei called, and Xiao Yi went to pick it up.
"Yes.... still alright." Xiao Yi said, "Due to resting for a period of time, today did not go a little well."
Dumei asked: "Could it be a sequelae of the previous concussion?"
Xiao Yi eyed Luzhou, Luzhou was sitting in front of the dining table in a daze. Xiao Yi said: "Probably not, we need to find time and go for a check."
Dumei said: "Will it be possible to film tomorrow?"
"Possible." Xiao Yi said, "We are practicing now."
Dumei said: "Okay, I will go to the crew to visit you all tomorrow."
Xiao Yi hung up the call. There was a loud noise from the dining table area. Luzhou had swept everything to the ground, then went upstairs and slammed the door of his room.
The floor was filled with cake, even the walls had cake stained on them. Xiao Yi thought it was a waste, so he took a plate, and then scraped the cake off the walls to eat. Once he was full he started to clean everything, then went upstairs to knock, and said: "Zhou Ge..... time to eat....."
There was no answer from the inside.
Xiao Yi pushed the door and entered. He saw Luzhou assembling a puzzle on the table in the room.
Xiao Yi knelt on the floor, and let out a loud cry of pain. Luzhou was startled. When he turned his head to look, Xiao Yi laid his whole body down and began to roll around.
Luzhou: "......."
Xiao Yi rolled sideways to the edge of the room, bumped against the wall with a thud, then rolled back again with the help of the impact.
Luzhou: "You are crazy, doesn't it hurt!"
Xiao Yi laughed, then got up and said: "Time to eat."
Luzhou was feeling vexed, this matter was not trivial, it concerned his lifetime career. But it was also useless to get frustrated, and being hungry only made him more frustrated, so he could only fill his stomach first. Hence, Luzhou went downstairs. There was a bowl of noodles on the dining table, and Luzhou ate it.
"Give President Du a call." Luzhou said, "Return the deposit, let the crew replace me with Wu Henggu."
Xiao Yi: "......."
Luzhou collected his dirty utensils and went to the sink to wash them. Xiao Yi did not dare to call Dumei, and Luzhou did not rush him either. After finishing the noodles, Luzhou headed back upstairs to sleep, when Xiao Yi pushed open the door, he saw that the lights were off, and did not wake him up.
On the next day, Luzhou did not mention the matter of pushing the drama away. On the drive to the filming studio, Luzhou clutched the script and his hands shook with nervousness. It was the first time Xiao Yi saw Luzhou like that, and although he wished to help him he couldn't be of much help either. When they arrived at the studio, Dumei was waiting, and wanted to speak with Luzhou.
Luzhou mentioned not a single word, when it was time he simply went to film. This time Xiao Yi came prepared, he brought three small whiteboards, wrote the keywords with a marker, and took turns holding them up for Luzhou to see. However, when they were up against the big scenes, there were too many lines, and Xiao Yi hated that he could not transform into the Thousand Hands Buddha, he could not handle it no matter how he tried.
Dumei said: "Let these few help you, Xiao Yi."
Xiao Yi asked another assistant to buy small whiteboards, and after one scene, the entire set was surrounded by people holding whiteboards for Luzhou to see.
Nobody in the crew dared to voice out, Luzhou's scenes were not well filmed, that natural godly state was gone in an instant, his eyes erratic, trying to capture the words on the whiteboards at any time. Even so, Luzhou worked very hard, and still repeatedly ng quite a few times, because the words and short sentences written by Xiao Yi were not necessarily the ones that Luzhou could not remember.
Gradually, Xiao Yi adapted to Luzhou's rhythm. However, after shooting a scene, Xiao Yi was even more tired than Luzhou. Not only did he have to write the lines on the whiteboards, he also had to be careful not to bump into the staff holding the reflectors, and on top of that, it was very cold.
A day's filming ended after much difficulty, everyone pretended nothing had happened, no one asked Luzhou about it, and no one asked for a replacement either. Dumei sat in the studio, and watched the entire day of filming.
On the drive back, Luzhou and Dumei sat in the rear.
"You are the ratings." Dumei said, "Filming has already started, it's not possible to change actors, many people were already chatting about this on WeChat yesterday."
Luzhou said: "Do you think I can film in this state?"
Dumei said: "Today's acting was not bad."
Luzhou: "Stop coaxing me."
Dumei: "You can ask Xiao Yi."
"I think it's good." Xiao Yi replied, driving with his sight steadily forward, "It's the same as usual, in the beginning there was a little pause, afterwards you entered the state."
"Enter what freaking state!" Luzhou said in a rage, "I know it best in my heart, with this acting can this drama be watched?!"
"The audience will not mind." Dumei said, "I spoke with the director today, just stop if you forget the lines, then continue onto the next line after adjusting your mood, leave the rest to the editing team."
Xiao Yi thought that the omnipotent editing team really appeared again.
"We have already contacted them." Dumei said, "Now we just have to look for a personnel with good dubbing skills, and save it with some dubbing. Good dubbing can add a lot of points to the characters, and completely change the outlook of a character to the audience, this is not impossible."
Xiao Yi thought, another expert has entered, so it turned out that there was a dubbing personnel behind the scenes....
"There's only your problem left." Dumei was having a slight headache, she was pressing her temple with one hand, leaning against the car window, and said, "How do I find a hospital, I don't know if acupuncture would be effective or not."
Luzhou did not speak this whole time. Once home, he said: "No one is able to pick this drama up if I push it away? Wu Henggu is also unavailable?"
Dumei said: "He went to act in another drama."
Luzhou said: "As the main actor? Can't he come save this drama?"
Dumei said: "He's acting as Emperor Jing."
Luzhou was a little surprised, and said: "That kid is not bad, take good care of him, he will become famous."
Dumei said: "The role of Emperor Jing was supposed to be for you, but you have just recovered, the filming would be too tiring."
Luzhou gave a sound of acknowledgement. Once they reached the company, Dumei got off the car, and Xiao Yi turned around and drove back home.
Luzhou leaned on the backseat of the car, looking out of the window.
Xiao Yi said: "Zhou Ge, what do you want to eat tonight?"
Luzhou: "Xiao Yi, you head back to the company, from tomorrow onwards you don't need to follow me anymore."
Xiao Yi smiled, and did not say a word.
"Why?" Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows, looking at Luzhou from the rearview mirror with a smile.
Luzhou also looked at him through the rearview mirror, and said: "Because I am out of trend."
"You're not." Xiao Yi said, "Even if you are so what? You are still my male god."
"Go back to the company." Luzhou said, "Listen to me, let Dumei properly nurture you, I can help you once more with my name, after this drama, no one will ever recognize my name anymore. What is Wu Henggu? He can act as Emperor Jing? The ruler of Wenjing, he can hold the role of an eternal sage? Dumei showered him with all the resources she has on hand, in the future there would at most be another like me."
Xiao Yi held the whiteboards for him the entire day, his hands were still slightly trembling from that. While waiting for the traffic lights, he said: "I'm doing so much work for so little money, you really think I am out to just earn money, Zhou Ge?"
"If I wanted to be famous I would have ran away with Li Changzheng." Xiao Yi continued to say.
"You really had that intention before!" Luzhou shouted angrily.
Xiao Yi laughed loudly and said: "No, really never."
Luzhou did not continue to speak. Xiao Yi knew that at this moment, in his heart he must be feeling extremely upset, he might never be able to act again.
And if he could not act anymore, it was also equivalent to Xiao Yi being unable to sing. That feeling simply destroys a person's soul, ripping away the most important things in life. However, Xiao Yi also knew that at this moment, he could not reveal any sympathy, as it would only make Luzhou even more uncomfortable. He must pretend to be nonchalant, and divert his attention away with buffoonery.
"You really don't have to stay anymore." Luzhou said, "After completing this drama, I will make arrangements for you."
Xiao Yi said: "I'm not leaving."
"Objection invalid." Luzhou replied calmly.
"My love travels across the skies......"  Xiao Yi suddenly started to sing, "Ohhhh——my love keeps flowing..... ohhhh lover—— "
"My lover, when can I meet you again—— "
"Even though the fleeting years fly by, and my youth passes—— "
Xiao Yi shook his head, and sang as he drove.
When Xiao Yi parked the car in the garage, Luzhou sighed, then slammed the door and left.
"I'll always love you—— " Xiao Yi took out the car key, looking at Luzhou's back as he was leaving, he sang in a soft voice, "Just like before—— "
What if a person, because of some causes, could no longer freely do what he was good at, then what would happen? When Luzhou was having his scans at the neurology department, Xiao Yi kept thinking about it. It is basically equivalent to not being able to write a song.... No, he could not write any songs because he was useless, this should almost be like a writer without inspiration, a screenwriter who could not write plays, a director who had no direction, an actor who could not find the state.....
All these creations were granted by the heavens.
If one day, the heavens took away these subsistence skills, and the dazzling aura of a genius disappeared and became an regular person, turning into an ordinary commoner in this mediocre world, then wouldn't the person be in great pain?
Dumei, Lin Yao, Xiao Yi, and Luzhou, these four people were waiting for the doctor's report.
"There is no way." The doctor said, "He needs to recuperate and rest."
Luzhou knew it would be like this, he threw away the report once he got home, and had to accept this reality. And this drama, this was the drama that Xiao Yi suffered the most in, he had to lift the boards for Luzhou everyday, and he did it for more than two months, and finally reached the completion of the drama.
He specially went to the editing team to watch it once, it was terrible, and the director had even lost his patience when the filming was reaching the end, he felt that Luzhou could not act out the drama's character at all. But Luzhou seemed to know that this would be his last drama, he took it very seriously, and finished the drama in a not-in-his-state sort of state.
A week later after Xiao Yi started to follow after the progress, he listened to the dubbing by the dubbing expert, and instantly felt that the dubbing saved the character.
Too miraculous! The master who was hired with lots of money was indeed different, the whole character was instantly reborn and became different!
Xiao Yi kind of wanted to get Luzhou to try being a dubbing actor, and had even specifically gone to research about the salary. In the end, he felt that it was completely impossible, the gap was simply too big.
Dramas couldn't be filmed, movies also couldn't be filmed, even Dumei did not call Luzhou, and everything was temporarily left to a stop. Xiao Yi went to the company a couple of times, but it was almost the Spring Festival, Dumei said there were no dramas for the time being and that Xiao Yi did not need to come to the company, thus, Xiao Yi stayed at home to accompany Luzhou for his rehabilitation.
There was a feeling of helplessness. Winter that year was freezing, and the two of them did not want to go anywhere. Luzhou stayed silent all day, and watched cds at home. Xiao Yi tried a few times, but seeing that Luzhou was really not in the mood, he didn't dare to tease him.
When your girlfriend is in a bad mood, just accompany her, don't talk, it will only be annoying.
Thus, Xiao Yi surfed the internet everyday, searching for a solution to Luzhou's memory disorder. He thought bitterly for an alternative solution, so that Luzhou could continue acting. He did find a Chinese doctor for acupuncture, and brought Luzhou there for a while, but it was ineffective.
"Zhou Ge." Xiao Yi said, "Where are you going for the new year?"
Luzhou said: "My mother is coming back to the country to visit me, you head home, you don't have to stay in Beijing."
Xiao Yi said: "Which date is she coming back on?"
"28th." Luzhou pressed the remote control with a bored expression.
Xiao Yi suddenly realized that phone calls coming in for Luzhou had lessened, it seemed like those friends stopped asked Luzhou out to play. Maybe they wanted to let him recuperate in peace, or maybe.....
There was a news report on Tianya, it stated that Luzhou's concussion caused sequelae, he could not remember script lines, and could not act anymore.
This revelation immediately triggered another round of fights, but within three days, it gradually sank to nothing.
"You're still not leaving?" Luzhou said.
"Huh?" Xiao Yi said, "Isn't your mother coming back? Let me see if I can help....."
"Go home for your reunion." Luzhou said impatiently, "What are you staying here for? You're getting in the way."
Xiao Yi: "......."
In that instant, Xiao Yi felt so tortured by these words that his heart shattered. Before when Luzhou scolded or shouted at him, Xiao Yi wouldn't get angry no matter what. But now, Luzhou used such a bland tone to say these words, it really felt as if he hated him, and thought that he was getting in the way.
True, the mother and son are gathering, what am I doing here.
Like a little wife who got divorced, Xiao Yi booked a full-priced ticket on that very day, and before he left he said: "Zhou Ge, I am leaving."
"Oh." Luzhou answered, "Be careful on the road."
Xiao Yi was in a bad mood initially, but after hearing these words, he suddenly felt that Luzhou still cared about him. Although he too, did not know what to do, but his male god had always been a role model and an object of respect for everyone, his experiences since his debut were so inspirational, that even Xiao Yi felt that nothing in the world could defeat him.
Luzhou had enough money, if he couldn't act anymore and wanted to open a company, Xiao Yi could be his secretary. Mixing in the entertainment industry was very tiring, and it was also not the most profitable, it is still better to earn money through a business. Xiao Yi never mentioned the question of what Luzhou would do if he could not continue acting. Luzhou must have thought about this question numerous times, so he did not want to interfere.
Xiao Yi checked his bank balance at a cash machine by the roadside, there was a year-end bonus of 60, 000 yuan in it. (about ~8600 usd)
If he added his monthly salary, this year he received a total annual salary of 140,000 yuan after tax from Luzhou (about ~20,300 usd). Xiao Yi was quite happy, after he deducted the money that he had randomly spent last year, he still had about 100,000 yuan, he could buy a trench coat like the one Luzhou wore.....
He wanted to go back and talk to Luzhou, to thank him, and to let him know that he would always stay with him, no matter if he could act or not, as long as he didn't dislike him.
Thus, Xiao Yi dragged his luggage back. When he passed the garden, he heard music coming from the inside, and curiously looked in.
He looked in through the garden, and saw Luzhou sitting on the sofa with his back to the window.
On the screen was the mv that Xiao Yi had edited for him.
Luzhou leaned on the sofa, and sang along to the voice in the mv.
"Even if the butterfly cannot fly across.....the ocean, no one will have the heart to blame....." Luzhou's voice slowly sang.
Xiao Yi did not go in, he dragged his luggage and left Luzhou's house.
This spring festival, Xiao Yi only went back for five days. At the crowded, noisy train station he sent a WeChat message to Luzhou, to ask about this and that. On the 30th of that year, Xiao Dad and Xiao Mom asked him about his future plans. Xiao Yi said optimistically, Luzhou might change careers, but he would still follow him.
Xiao Dad constantly wanted Xiao Yi to come home, his age was no longer young, after the new year he would be twenty-seven, Xiao Yi has been following Luzhou for about a year plus now, and Xiao Dad has always wanted his son to get married soon.
On the night of the 30th, Xiao Yi gave Luzhou a call.
"Zhou Ge, happy new year." Xiao Yi said.
"Happy new year." Luzhou said, "What are you doing?"
Xiao Yi said: "I've just had dinner with my parents, and missed you, what about you? Help me send my greetings to your mother."
"Oh." Luzhou said, "You help me to send my greetings to your parents too."
It was a little noisy on Luzhou's end. When Xiao Yi heard his voice, he felt that Luzhou's mood seemed better, and simply said: "I will be back on the 2nd day of the new year."
"There's no rush." Luzhou said, "You can stay at home for a few more days, and properly celebrate the new year, it's not easy to go back home."
Xiao Yi left the living room and returned to his room. Holding a beer, he leaned on the balcony railing, drinking as he watched the fireworks from the nearby mall in the distance, and facing the mike on his headset he said: "Where are you? At home?"
Luzhou said: "Outside, hold on."
The noise calmed down on Luzhou's end.
Luzhou was all alone, standing in the crowd outside Lama Temple, wearing a thick trench coat and a scarf, with the hat pulled down to cover his eyebrows. He was holding incense in one hand, pointing diagonally to the ground, and in his other hand he was holding his phone, placing it in front of his ear, with a cigarette in his mouth.
Not far away, some girls were looking at the tall and broad Luzhou.
On Luzhou's phone, the chibi version doll keychain dangled down, swaying from side to side.
Xiao Yi said: "Zhou Ge, I am a bit worried about you."
Luzhou said: "I know, don't worry, are you coming back after new year?"
Xiao Yi said: "Of course, how can I not come back."
"I have thought things through." Xiao Yi finished his beer. It was a little cold outside, and he shrank from the coldness and closed the door. Lying on his bed, he opened his slightly drunk eyes and looked at the slightly glaring yellow light on the ceiling, and said to Luzhou, "No matter what your plans are, I will follow you."
Luzhou smiled, and he did not speak. Although there was no sound from him, Xiao Yi knew that he was smiling, purely because they got along together day and night, Xiao Yi could tell from intuition alone Luzhou's reaction over the phone.
"But I want to know, Zhou Ge." Xiao Yi said, "What are your plans for the next one year, will you continue acting, or switch to investing in business, can you tell me?"
Xiao Yi knew that many movie stars have changed careers, acting was tiring, and after getting older the body could not cope, so after earning enough money, most of them would switch to investing in other industries instead, to ensure they would not starve. There were also still those who have grown up in this field, and Luzhou was the kind of person who would be prepared for a rainy day, so Xiao Yi was not worried that he would not survive.
After the aura of a celebrity has faded, each one of us was an ordinary person.
"I'll talk about it when you come back." Luzhou said.
"Alright." Xiao Yi knew Luzhou did not want to discuss this issue.
Luzhou was silent for a moment. Xiao Yi thought he wanted to hang up, but Luzhou said: "Xiao Yi, Zhou Ge has something to say, you don't dislike it okay."
Xiao Yi: "Ah?"
Luzhou pondered a while, then said: "You are stupid."
Xiao Yi: "......."
"I am stupid." Xiao Yi said with a smile, "Everyone said I'm stupid."
Luzhou continued to say: "Forget it, there are good points about being stupid, don't need to be too smart, it's fine being like this, happy new year."
Luzhou hung up. The countdown to 12am came, the firecrackers outside were released, and the fireworks rose to the skies.
On the second day of the new year, Luzhou placed his own chibi doll in the passenger seat, and drove to the company. When he was driving, the chibi doll sat in the passenger seat, his head leaning against the window, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes looking out at the busy crowd on the road. The hustle and bustle of Beijing, as well as the hazy world filled with yellow smoke all over the sky, were reflected in its bright crystal eyes.