“Ah—” Mu Chen’s deep voice filled with magnetism sent the audience off-stage into a frenzy of emotion, to the point that they burst into unending shrieks.
“Hey, the wedding ceremony isn’t even over and you’re already entering the bridal room! Emperor, aren’t you too anxious as well!” Chu Qin went up and dragged the two people apart, his demeanor that of a traditionalist.
The audience burst into laughter, Zhong Yibin also accompanying them in laughter. Every time he watched Chu Qin below the stage, he always found him especially interesting. Chu Qin was completely different and off stage. When he was on-stage, he was a lot more lively and there was never anything he had no response for. But when it was just the two of them, Chu Qin’s face would turn red, he would be shy, and he would be unable to talk back…
This special Chu Qin was one only he would bear witness to. Zhong Yibin was incomparably satisfied as he thought about this. Someone like Chu Qin who was as dazzling as the blazing sun would obediently curl up in his embrace and let him do anything he pleased. A wave of heat filled Zhong Yibin as this thought came to mind. He involuntarily gave a dry cough, feeling that he was a little vulgar.
The program on-stage continued to proceed. Zhu Chang diligently played his role as the head eunuch while Chu Qin acted as the official in charge of the rites during the ceremony, controlling the rhythm.
“The first bow to Heaven and Earth!” Chu Qin chanted the rites in a loud voice.
Mu Chen dragged Qiao Su along. His bow was not directed at Heaven and Earth, but was instead an incongruous one that made it seem more like a modern wedding. Even then, Zhu Chang stepped forward and went up to offer an arm seriously, not forgetting to add lines to his script. “Emperor, quickly rise.”
The audience guffawed and let out ‘shh’ sounds, making fun of Zhu Chang for grabbing the limelight.
Chu Qin swiftly ran to his proper position, pretending to be the parent. Lin Xiaoxiao also hurriedly sat down beside him, pretending to be the empress dowager. “Second bow to the parents!”
Mu Chen and Qiao Su turned around. Seeing the two people seated at the masters’ position, they couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. Qiao Su pursed his lips up in laughter and obediently got ready to finish acting out the scene. On the other hand, Mu Chen refused to continue, hauling Qiao Su up and preventing him from bowing. “Teacher Chu, who are you acting as?”
Chu Qin said sternly. “Acting as your father!”
Mu Chen nodded slightly and turned around to speak to Qiao Su. “The former emperor had already passed on when we got married, right?”
The phrase ‘when we got married’ shocked the entire venue. During the later stage, this phrase was broadcasted twice repeatedly to good effect. Chu Qin hurriedly ran down from the master’s position and pointed a finger at Mu Chen. “You unfilial son, forgetting your father after marrying a wife!”
Lin Xiaoxiao was ecstatic. “Come, quickly come and bow to me, I’m the empress dowager!”
After bowing to the parents, the couple had to bow to each other. The two of them abided by the ancient etiquette they learnt during filming – both hands held in front of them, with their heads lowered as they bowed. In the background, music started playing. It was an extremely pleasant-sounding piece that was played during a part of the drama. On top of that, it was also the background music used when the empress in the drama fainted.
For a split second, Qiao Su became somewhat absent-minded, feeling like he had been transported back to their filming days. Mu Chen’s acting ability was too good; every time he glanced over, it was almost like he really became that stubborn yet deeply emotional emperor from a thousand years ago. Whenever he looked at him, there was always a smile in the depth of his eyes, as if he could never get enough of looking at him.
“All right, send them into the bridal room!” Chu Qin declared in deadly earnest. Zhu Chang pinched his throat and echoed Chu Qin’s words.
“Ai, shouldn’t the groom hug the bride! Emperor, quickly scoop the empress up!” Lin Xiaoxiao scuttled over to stir up trouble.
The audience followed along and stirred up a ruckus. Some girls were on the brink of fainting.
“What are you guys so excited about?” Zhong Yibin was somewhat surprised. The modern girl actually liked her male god to engage in ambiguous actions with another male?
Stunned, Qiao Su let Mu Chen embrace him. This was beyond what he had imagined. He glanced at Mu Chen with uncertainty. He knew that Mu Chen appeared gentlemanly and good-tempered on the surface, but was in fact extremely proud. Nobody could force him to do anything he disliked.
Mu Chen turned to smile at Qiao Su, asking him with his gaze if he could accept it. The film emperor was forever this sort of gentlemanly and graceful person, no situation would ever faze him. Conversely, Qiao Su was completely at a loss.
Without waiting for Qiao Su to say anything, Mu Chen took a step forward and enveloped him in a hug. In the midst of his agitation, Qiao Su hugged Mu Chen’s shoulders. The two people were plastered to each other closely, their hearts simultaneously rapidly beating.
This week’s program had already been broadcasted and the ratings blew up.
Father Zhong sat in the living room and watched the program with great interest, though he didn’t quite understand the source of the audience’s excitement. Having failed to snatch the remote control, Mother Zhong went upstairs to watch her soap operas. Father Zhong turned around and only saw empty space beside him. His eldest son had somehow appeared at the single-seater sofa at the corner, watching the screen with keen interest just like him.
“I saw the preview, Yibin also went on stage this week?” Father Zhong probed his eldest son with a stern face.
“En, Yibin went to the set and got dragged onto the stage as an audience member to participate in the game,” Zhong Jiabin replied expressionlessly.
As expected, at the end of the game section, the hosts and actors had ended up in a draw. For the sake of having a victor, they could only add a game on the spot. Lin Xiaoxiao came up with the idea, saying that they hadn’t seen enough of the film emperor hugging the hunk, so the competition was to do squats while hugging their teammate.
“But our group doesn’t have anyone as muscular as Chen-ge okay?” Chu Qin had a defeated expression on his face as he gestured at his own teammates – the weak and plump Zhu Chang, Lin Xiaoxiao who had on high heels, and the young Emperor Hongyuan, a five-year old child called Maomao.
In comparison, the actors had the sturdy Mu Chen and the actor playing Emperor Hongyuan, who had a good figure. They could have one of them carry Qiao Su, while the other carried an actress.
“Let Zhu Chang carry Maomao and you carry me!” Lin Xiaoxiao said happily.
Chu Qin had a ‘you’re kidding me’ expression on his face. “Big sis, you’re heavier than me and you want me to carry you!” He gestured at his narrow waist.
In fact, Chu Qin’s body was not weak. It was just that Lin Xiaoxiao was a little tall and leaned towards the plump end. When she stood beside Chu Qin, it was obvious that Chu Qin was the skinnier and weaker one.
The audience roared with laughter but was ignored by Mu Chen, who agreed to the competition with a wave of his hand.
It was very reasonable for the actor and actress to pair up. The actress was of the dainty and delicate type and didn’t even weigh ninety catty. Carrying her was a relatively easy affair. It was even less of a problem for Zhu Chang who had to carry a child. However, getting up from his squatting position was a very real problem. This was because Zhu Chang’s legs only had fats, not muscle. He couldn’t get up after squatting not longer than twenty seconds.
On the other hand, the actor on the opposing side was very relaxed, even watching him while squatting.
“Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two!” Chu Qin looked at Zhu Chang, who couldn’t get up after squatting, and helplessly announced that the actors had won the first round.
During the second round, Mu Chen was naturally carrying Qiao Su. Chu Qin was very unwilling to carry Lin Xiaoxiao. “Let’s just admit defeat.”
The audience burst out into peals of laughter. Lin Xiaoxiao was not pleased and reproached him in a loud voice, “We can seek aid from the audience! It’ll be fine if we get someone similar to Chen-ge to carry you!”
The minute her words escaped her mouth, Lin Xiaoxiao ran off stage and grabbed Zhong Yibin, who was seated at the front row. “Look who I found!”
The camera turned to capture Zhong Yibin’s handsome face, instantly stunning the audience in front of their televisions. They all started speculating on which hunk of a rookie actor he was and whether he was a newbie the program crew had arranged to be promoted.
Originally, Zhong Yibin wasn’t too happy hearing that Chu Qin had to carry Lin Xiaoxiao. Now that Lin Xiaoxiao had come over to drag him up, he was dumbstruck for a moment. After realizing that she wanted him to carry Chu Qin, he immediately revealed a smile. If placed within the entertainment industry, Zhong Yibin’s face would still be top-notch in terms of attractiveness. The faint smile carried the domineering steadiness solely possessed by Director Zhong, instantly enchanting the countless girls in front of the television.
“Let me introduce him to everyone, this is the boss of our Shengshi, Director Zhong!” Lin Xiaoxiao saw that Zhong Yibin was not angry, so she openly revealed his identity after softly asking about his opinion. “Director came over today to inspect our work and was caught by me!”
Zhong Yibin discretely put the LED board in his hand down and followed Lin Xiaoxiao up on stage.
“This is a chance for me to take advantage of the director. Director, have I successfully caught your attention!” Lin Xiaoxiao was still putting on a show, her demeanor that of taking unfair advantage.
Zhong Yibin smiled slightly, recalling the book he had seen two days’ ago in Yu Tang’s office. He deadpanned, “Very good, you’ve succeeded in catching my attention.”
This classical line of tyrannical directors sent the audience into fits of laughter.
“Go to the finance department to settle your bills after recording the program, you don’t have to come tomorrow,” Zhong Yibin continued as the audience laughed even harder.
“I don’t want that!” Lin Xiaoxiao immediately wailed. “I have elders and children to take care of, director!”
Chu Qin was a little dissatisfied that Lin Xiaoxiao had suddenly dragged Zhong Yibin up and even wanted Zhong Yibin to carry him as part of the game. But his expression did not divulge his feelings. After all, the program still had to be recorded, so he let Mu Chen carry Qiao Su before turning to speak to Zhong Yibin, “Director Zhong, I’ll have to trouble you to carry…ah!” He hadn’t finished his words when he was wrapped in a hug by Zhong Yibin. He reflexively stretched out his arms and tightly hugged Zhong Yibin’s neck.
“Ah—” The smitten girls who were seated beside Zhong Yibin hadn’t expected him to be Shengshi’s director and instantly became impassioned after seeing this scene.
Mu Chen also carried Qiao Su and raised an eyebrow at Zhong Yibin.
Zhong Yibin smiled in disdain. “Let’s start then.”
Carrying a male while squatting was no easy feat. Qiao Su was in Mu Chen’s embrace, the heaving of their chests following the undulations similar to that of a hand’s caress, causing his heartbeat to speed up. His body also couldn’t help becoming more and more stiff. Mu Chen steadily hugged his back and the curve of his knee, consoling him in a low voice, “Relax, it’s fine.”
On the contrary, the two people on the other side looked like they were taking a walk in the park. They appeared much more natural than them.
Zhong Yibin carried Chu Qin in his arms and Chu Qin automatically nestled himself in the most comfortable position. Their bodies were plastered against each other as they momentarily adjusted to an angle that would minimize effort.
“Luckily we trained in the standing position at home…” Zhong Yibin bit Chu Qin’s ear from an angle that the audience could not see.
Chu Qin’s ear immediately turned completely red.
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Mu Chen: This won’t do, you guys are cheating
Er Bing: We have a wealth of experience
Mu Chen: This won’t do, compete with something else
Er Bing: All right. Lasting power or dog waist, you choose one