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Chapter 46: Sudden Burst
After arriving on the set, everyone was concerned about Shen Jintai’s condition.
“Are you alright?” Bai Qingquan asked him.
“The fever had subsided.” Shen Jintai said: “It’s just my mouth is sore, and I can’t taste anything when I eat.”
Bai Qingquan smiled and said: “It’s like that when you are sick. Just wait a few days and it’ll get better.”
“I haven’t thanked you yet,” Shen Jintai said: “If you hadn’t given me a hand, I don’t know what I would have fallen into.”
“It was very scary. I’m glad you’re okay.” Bai Qingquan said: “I wanted to go to see you yesterday, but it was past midnight after I finished filming. I was afraid that it would affect your rest, so I didn’t go.”
It wasn’t easy for Bai Qingquan to care so much about him. He’s so kind-hearted. Bai Qingquan gave him a smile when he saw Shen Jintai looking at him, causing Shen Jintai to laugh as well.
Director Guo was afraid that Shen Jintai would not be able to bear it, so he moved today’s emotional scene to tomorrow. Shen Jintai only a few scenes today.
The most heartfelt scene was a shot of Shen Jintai getting dressed. As he unbuttoned his robe, he smiled and said to Director Guo and the others: “Am I the man in charge of our crew now?”
The crew laughed for a while, and Guo Rui chuckled and said: “Don’t waste your good figure.”
Shen Jintai’s figure was really good, and it was very suitable for the camera.
As actors, the more they tend to be neutral, the higher their plasticity. It’s easy to stereotype both the sun and fresh meat*.  Shen Jintai’s body was young and smooth, and he can show different body language in different states. It can be very tough and upright but can also be very attractive.
*Translation help: (做演員的, 越趨向中性化, 可塑性越高, 太陽剛和太鮮肉, 都容易被定型) Not sure what it’s trying to say.
It was a shame that the scale of TV dramas was still relatively strict so not much exposure could be filmed. It made this particular kind of scene difficult to shoot. Shen Jintai grabbed his clothes with both hands as multiple shots captured him. The pictures were taken from different angles, reminding him of his experience of the underwear advertisement shoot.
In the end, the effect was very good. The moment the robe covered his body, he vaguely caught a glimpse of his smooth and graceful shoulders. The camera followed his hand as it captured his thin fair fingers tying a belt. Hearing someone calling him, he turned his head around.
His long hair was scattered, and his clothes were loose. He was dressed in a romantic style costume, but his facial expression showed only gloom. His cheeks and lips were paled, as if it was covered with frost.
Li Xu had proceeded to blacken.
Guo Rui had began to appreciate Shen Jintai more and more. He felt that Shen Jintai’s had a unique charm. He was handsome and thin, with bright rosy lips and clear eyes. His skin was very fair, and he had a bright complexion. His temperament was a bit rigid and wasn’t soft at all, so he looked a little cold when he’s not laughing. When he smiles, it was like he had completely transformed and became another person, with or without makeup on. These two contrasting feelings, this kind of temperament, really molded into Li Xu on screen. He didn’t cast this charming little eunuch to be a little beautiful baby.
This kind of feeling that was emitted on the screen was particularly pleasing. Whether it be a straight man or woman, they will like it, and the older generation will not be disgusted when they see it.
Not everyone can control this scale well when acting and not everyone has this characteristic. Acting skills and personal conditions are indispensable, which made casting him in Li Xu’s role very reasonable.
Guo Rui was even a little proud. When he chose Shen Jintai to play the second male lead, he was under a lot of pressure and many people weren’t optimistic. He glanced back at Zheng Siqi next to him and joked: “Our Royal Highness is stunned.”
Everyone around laughed, and Zheng Siqi stood up with a smile.
There had been no announcement from him in the past two days, but he, a newcomer, has no other job at the moment, so since he was free, he would come to the set to watch Shen Jintai and the others act.
He also wanted to cultivate more feelings with Shen Jintai.
He was a novice. This was the first time he ever acted in an emotional drama. It was so intense. When he acted with Shen Jintai, he was always afraid that he would not be able to keep up. The solution he found was to enter the act and empathize with Shen Jintai. He visualized the crown prince’s feelings for Li Xu. Each time he gazed at Shen Jintai, he would brainwash himself until he couldn’t think straight. The more he looks at Shen Jintai, the more attracted he felt.
Zheng Siqi was especially excited today. Tian Wenwen had told him yesterday that Shen Jintai had signed with their company. This was his debut drama that he filmed together with Shen Jintai so he had a good working relationship with him. He was happy for Shen Jintai.
After Shen Jintai finished filming, he followed Shen Jintai back to the hotel. Bai Qingquan couldn’t help but glanced at Zheng Siqi again. Zheng Siqi was still relatively reclused at the beginning. Overtime, he had adapted to the environment and that cramped withheld feeling in his body had disappeared and he became more confident, clean, and undaunted.
Zheng Siqi and Shen Jintai had quite the CP. They stood together, with their heads within a few centimeters apart. When Zheng Siqi talks to Shen Jintai, he still had the feeling of intimacy like a lover would. His eyes were completely focused on him.
They’re not going to make love, are they?!
Bai Qingquan looked at Yang Lizhi, who was about to play against him, and sighed silently in his heart. He also wants to have a sweet relationship with a handsome guy. Even if it can’t be negotiated in reality, it was acceptable if it was just fake on screen. He didn’t know what it feels like to be hugged tightly by a handsome guy.
“Stunned?” Yang Lizhi said with a low smile.
“What?” Bai Qingquan frowned.
“I have a lot of gay honeys. You can’t hide it from me.” Yang Lizhi leaned into his ear as she chuckled softly: “The way you look at a man can’t deceive people.” From a glance she could tell he was a little 0 beauty lacking love.
Bai Qingquan was taken aback. His eyes were too straightforward! His brow frowned as he said: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Yang Lizhi didn’t argue with him. She just mischievously remained smiling and looked at Shen Jintai and Zheng Siqi who were far away. She wasn’t sure who Bai Qingquan was looking at. Either of them wasn’t bad.
Recalling her thoughts, she remembered that Shen Jintai was a well-known gay, yet she could never see through him. She felt his attributes were very fascinating. Sometimes he showed some attacking traits, other times he could be a receiver, and on occasion he could be just plain straight*.
*Clarity: she’s saying he’s not your stereotypical gay. He sometimes has gong aura, shou aura, or straight guy aura.
Most of the scenes filmed today were rival scenes of male and female protagonists. Under Li Xu’s arrangement, He Lanbi finally met Zhou Jing. As the two lovers met, jealousy started to brew and the drama of falling in love and killing each other was about to commenced.
They filmed late into the night. Bai Qingquan was exhausted after filming and wanted to sleep while sitting in the car.
“I heard from people in the company that Sunshine seems to be signing Shen Jintai.” Wei Ge said suddenly.
Bai Qingquan immediately opened his eyes: “What?”
Wei Ge: “Shen Jintai used to be a lone wolf. Now that he wants to open for business, a large company is required. He’s very popular now. Many companies have been vying for him, including Sunshine Media.”
Bai Qingquan was surprised: “Isn’t he and President Yan always at odds?”
“If President Yan couldn’t separate public from private, he would’ve never agreed to let him play the second male lead. Liu Hui would’ve grabbed that role instead, but President Yan intervened and fought for him. What had happened is all in the past. If you been paying attention to Shen Jintai’s series of performance these days. You obviously have let go as well.” Wei Ge said: “He’s an interesting man. To give up his career for love, not even girls nowadays would do such a thing.”
Bai Qingquan sat up: “Then, did he sign?”
“I don’t know the details. It seems he hasn’t selected anyone yet.” Wei Ge said: “I would know if he signed with us. They’ll tell me since they know you’ll definitely be angry. After all, having two rivals in the same company, the company will care about your feelings.”
“I don’t want to be in the same company as him.” Bai Qingquan said, “I can’t compete with him. I want to be a big brother. I don’t want to be second in line.” With the exception of his debut in the draft where he became second, he had always been first in everything else.
Wei Ge: “I found that since Shen Jintai made his comeback, your strength, which I considered is the best in the world, has disappeared again.”
“In terms of strength and popularity, I am not a match.” Bai Qingquan turned his head and looked out the window. The light and shadow hit his face making him look somber: “He will overtake me sooner or later. I just know it.”
“Don’t say that kind of thing.” Wei Ge said: “Cheer up. I will continue to work hard. If you really want to compare yourself to him, it’s not guarantee that you’ll lose. Don’t forget the tens of millions of moonlight powder behind you. You’re willing to let yourself be suppressed by Shen Jintai? Do you think the moonlight powder can stand it? How uncomfortable they’ll feel. Don’t let those who love you down so easily. You have seen how terrifying it is to have your powder turn against you.”
Bai Qingquan turned his head and said nothing.
After he returned back to the hotel, he took a shower. When he was about to go to bed, he received a call from Wei Ge: “I have inquired about it. Shen Jintai rejected Sunshine Media.”
“Huh? “Bai Qingquan was surprised.
“He signed with Monsoon Entertainment.” Wei Ge said: “You can rest assured. You can fight him steadily in the future.”
Bai Qingquan pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. Shen Jintai didn’t choose Sunshine Media and went to Monsoon Entertainment. Their CEO is President Yan’s arch-rival.
This was shaping up to be a real right. He can’t lose. It doesn’t matter if he loses. He just can’t embarrass Sunshine Media who’s backing him up.
He was really impressed with Shen Jintai. What kind of person Shen Jintai has become now, even he may not be able to see through it. He was able to end his emotional entanglement quickly with no muddy waters left behind. His business skills were solid, desperate, and motivated.
This god damn person is what he dreams of becoming. Thinking about it made him so embarrassed. He secretly poked his heart looking forward to the day he become a top star filled with sweet love.
Suddenly with a ding dong, Xiao Mei came online: “Congratulations, your favorability has increased by three points.”
Shen Jintai jumped up from the bed abruptly. Before he could react, he heard a beep and Xiao Mei had gone offline.
What happened? What did he do? In the middle of the night, why did Bai Yueguang suddenly increase his favorability for him?
Feeling utterly confused, he began to miss Xiao Ai!
—
“Report! The latest news is not true, Shen Jintai is going to the same company as Bai Qingquan!”
“I also saw it in Group 8, saying that Shen Jintai signed with Sunshine Media?”
“Oh my god, this melon* is too big. It surprises me more than the two of them acting together.”
*Melon = gossip.
“Isn’t Yan Qiuchi the boss of Sunshine Media? The one that Shen Touhua was chasing but couldn’t catch? So had Touhua caught him now?”
“No, I just think that Shen Touhua is now a person who has changed his face. He seems very reasonable now.”
“The Touhua team is like that. My mind’s not clear so it’s really hard to say.”
When the gold powder got the news, they were almost blew up. Even the old fans of the “Gold Powder Family” were not calm anymore, so they hurried to ask Xiao Tang in a private message.
Xiao Tang consulted for Li Meilan’s opinions before replying: “Fake!”
“I’m relieved. It really scared me to death.”
“Really, I was about to cry when I first got the news. Brother, don’t sign with Sunshine Media. Not only is Bai Qingquan there, there’s also Yan Qiuchi!”
“You ignored me yesterday, but today I’ll make you unable to climb high*. This is Xiao Jin’s personal motto.”
*You ignored me yesterday, but today I’ll make you unable to climb high = basically saying don’t look down on people.
“That’s it! I want to see my brother walk the flower road* with all my heart. Let Yan Qiuchi regret his decision. Brother will grab the throne back first. I want to watch the moonlight powder cry with a smile!”
*Walk the flower path (走花路) = buzzword which means walk a beautiful, smooth road. The full term is “walk the flower road together” (aka Hope everything goes well for you).
“My sister, you said what’s in my heart. Brother Jin, you can do it!”
“Hahahahahaha, I think the moonlight powder can’t laugh anymore.”
The moonlight powder had been quiet recently. It was fine to just brush the beautiful picture of Bai Yueguang and nibble on the prosperous beauty of their brother, so they didn’t bother with blackening Shen Jintai anymore.
It was impossible anyways. No matter how many fans there were, they couldn’t match the number of passersby. Except on Weibo, where comments can be controlled, they were powerless in other places.
Whenever the topic of <The East Palace> comes up, no matter what the original topic was, it will all eventually become home to “Jintai Qiongying”.
These CP fans were so stupid and scary. They could only guard one acre and three-quarters of land* alone. Moonlight powder, who has always been invincible in the entertainment industry, tasted frustration for the first time.
*One acre and three-quarters of land (一畝三分地) = refers to one’s sphere of influence.
“It’s not worth it for my brother to pick up this drama.”
“Don’t say that. Many people like to see their elder brother’s costume. What a fairy.”
“Is our group having more deserters? I just checked the number of fans. It’s like hundreds less?”
“Don’t mention those traitors. Those people are wall grass*. They turned out to be gold powder. Later, they climbed the wall for our brother, and now they have climbed back again!”
*Wall grass (墻頭草) = metaphor for people who are good at changing their positions according to the situation.
“Is Qianqian Caoqing* also a gold powder? I can talk to her quite well, alas.”
*Translation help: (芊芊草青) I have no idea what this is referring to or who. I don’t think this is a character that’s been introduced yet.
“They are waiting for their faces to get slapped. For the latest news, Touhua had also signed with Sunshine Media. Let’s wait for him to be a foot wash maid*!”
*Foot washing (洗腳婢) = refers to a member of the group who is relatively low in popularity and has poor resources.
“Touhua is coming to Sunshine? He won’t take away all our brother’s resources, will he?”
“What are you thinking? My brother is Sunshine’s biological son. Shen Jintai is a piece of halfway goods. How could he possibly grab our brother’s resources? He can only pick up the junk that his brother doesn’t want!”
“Sign it, sign it, come to Sunshine to be the second brother. When he debuted that year, he was originally the second brother, and he grabbed the C position of his elder brother, and now he should return it!”
No one knew where the rumors about Shen Jintai signing with Sunshine Media came from, but it created a lot of noise. Moonlight powder liked it, gold powder firmly denied it, and passersby ate melons* and watched.
*Eat melons = an activity of consuming gossip without taking sides or expressing any particular opinion.
<The East Palace is Coming> was in it’s third week broadcast. The flogging scene came online followed by the scene of Li Xu being thrown into the ditch and the crown prince jumping in to save him saying the lines: “I will never doubt you again.” This cause Jintai Qiongying to reach it first emotional climax.
After the episode finished, the official blog super topic was posted as well as video clips. As the drama became more popular, the number of highlights increased dramatically. Some of the highlights were even better than the main series. They not only allowed the audience to see clips that were not shown in the broadcasted version, it also satisfied the curiosity of ordinary viewers about the filming process.
For example, the tidbits posted by official blog today were when Shen Jintai couldn’t control his crying. The director had already shouted “cut” but Shen Jintai was still hugging Zheng Siqi as tears were flowing.
The quality of the tidbits was not as high as that of the main show. It was filmed vaguely and very shakily giving a documentary vibe to it. In the video, Director Guo Rui stood up and said: “Jintai, dry your tears.”
My god, this line made the fans of “Jintai Qiongyuan” tear up uncontrollably.
—
“Oh my god. Is this in the drama? I feel like it’s more touching than the main series.”
“I couldn’t hold back my tears when I saw Touhua crying. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. My Jintai Qiongying. My Li Xu and Zhou Ying!”
Especially after the director shouted this sentence, Zheng Siqi let go of Shen Jintai, and the two looked at each other. Shen Jintai smiled, but the tears fell even more fiercely.
“Sorry. Give me a minute.” He raised his hand, then lowered his head to cover his eyes.
The director said: “Calm down. We’ll shoot it again.”
Shen Jintai wiped his eyes and said: “I just thought of this line… Ah. He couldn’t remember anything. Only one thought came to his mind, A’Ying.”
Though the sound quality wasn’t very good, this sentence could still be heard clearly. The official blog also included subtitles and music to “Moths to a Flame”. The melody at the end was full of sadness and sorrow.
“Ohh ohh, that hurts!”
“I know what he said! The white-haired Li Xu was there, sitting madly and saying to Zhou Ying. Ah, ah, ah, I’m dead!”
“This one is really better than the main series. Oh, my god, I have goosebumps when I heard those words.”
“Touhua, don’t cry. This sister will put you on the wall in the future, and I will never hack you again!”
“Come to Mom’s arms. Mom loves you!”
“Hahahaha, does the eunuch have no girlfriend fans*? I think they are all mother* and sister* fans.”
*Girlfriend fans (女友粉) = refers to female fan who regards herself as the girlfriend of a male celebrity.
*Mother fans (媽媽粉) = refers to fans who have given birth to children or older female fans.
*Sister fans (姐姐粉) = refers to fans that are older females.
This wave of operations was too fierce that it overpowered the main drama series. That night <The East Palace Tibits> was hotly searched. Jintai Qiongying CP completely exploded.
The hot search remained for over a day and a night. By the third day, the heat was still hot. Monsoon Entertainment posted on Weibo:
[We welcome @ShenJintai to join the big family of Monsoon Entertainment. Next, Monsoon Entertainment will give Shen Jintai full support in all direction and conduct an in-depth cooperation in many fields such as film and television dramas, singing and dancing, variety shows, ect. The wind will rise from Jintai and the future will shine!]
Monsoon Entertainment planned to hold a grand signing ceremony this weekend with unprecedented splendor.
—
Black powder: “My face doesn’t hurt!”
Gold powder: “Monsoon Entertainment is the enemy of Sunshine Media. Brother, I love you! Don’t be polite if you’re slapping faces!”
Moonlight powder: “What the hell? I said to go to Sunshine to be the second brother! Shen Jintai combined with Monsoon Entertainment will cover the hot searches in the future!”
Passerby: “As soon as people become popular, the real momentum comes. There’s been wave after wave of Touhua leaving behind a feeling of prosperity. No one can stop it!”
Momentum was really important. When the momentum comes together, passersby gets excited when they look at it. It makes people feel that this person’s luck was uncontrollable and getting out hand.
On the fourth day on set, the male and female protagonists stood in front of the lighting board ready to shoot their first scene.
Yang Lizhi was browsing on her phone when she said: “Shen Jintai is on the hot search again!”
Bai Qingquan froze when he heard those words and asked: “Because of what?”
Yang Lizhi raised her head: “Underwear advertisement.”
Bai Qingquan immediately took a look at his phone. Before he clicked on the advertising video, he saw the first hot comment: “OH MY GOD!!!”
The author has something to say:
Popular people always explode in every series.
Kinky Thoughts: Hmm… is the author going to do a Bai Qingquan x Zheng Siqi ship?
Lol. Ying Lizhi gaydar is on point. She’s surrounded by gays!!!