Chapter 15 - What Was That Look? ("So that man was the real reason that she accepted 'Blossom'? It has nothing to do with the Mu's after all?") (1)
Two days later, Xu WanZhi received that notification from Fang Lin, her agent, that the timing for "The Blossoming Us"'s opening ceremony was set and that she needed to join the filming crew on the date of.
"Blossom" was a period show, mainly about students' life after the 70s. The shooting locations were mostly inside a classroom or in residential areas, so they picked a studio that was somewhat close. It was located in a studio converted from an abandoned factory for period shows.
The opening ceremony was set to be held at the conference hall in a hotel near the studio.
The production crew had arranged a photoshoot for the wardrobe before the first rehearsal. As the female lead, Xu WanZhi did not make her entrance but arrived early at the location for her makeup.
Halfway through her makeup, a young actress walked inside the dressing room and started greeting the others in a shrewish manner.
The incomer walked all the way to the back until she was finally standing next to Xu WanZhi. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror and said, "Hi WanZhi, I am Chang XiaoYa. It is nice to meet you."
Hearing that name, Xu WanZhi was a bit surprised. Before she could say anything, the other girl continued, "New show. Better work hard on your acting skills. Don't let me outshine you as the second female lead." Having said that, she gave Xu WanZhi a polite smile and said, "I am just kidding. Don't mind me."
Xu WanZhi immediately put her guard on.
Chang XiaoYa, the girl who'd be playing the role of second female lead, was a college classmate of the male and female lead. She was, in fact, the female lead's best friend.
Chang XiaoYa was a second-tier actress. In the novel, she was the one who let Qin Sheng know about Liang ZhiQuan's family situation. Which was why Qin Sheng knew to put his schoolwork on pause and return back to the country to save Liang ZhiQuan. She was also the one who, during the worst time of the Liang's, generously used her own royalty earnings to help out Liang ZhiQuan. Chang XiaoYa was arguably the most vital character in pushing forward the relationship between Liang ZhiQuan and Qin Sheng.
Except that, as far as Xu WanZhi could remember, Chang XiaoYa had only acted in ancient xianxia movies. She didn't know why she turned to taking a role in "Blossom". She quickly had Xiao Yuan go check it out and found out that the original female lead of "Blossom" went onto accept a role for a different show after losing the role to herself. That was the one that the second female lead, Chang XiaoYa, was supposed to be in. Now that her role was taken, she had come here to take the role of second female lead.
An interesting butterfly effect that sent Liang ZhiQuan's best friend to her side. She could already smell gunpowder – she figured that Chang XiaoYa had already found out about the relationship between her and Mu ZhenYu by now and couldn't wait to stand up for Liang ZhiQuan.
Luckily, Xu WanZhi hadn't had a lot of work to occupy her time the last few days, and she was able to get very familiar with the script. That, plus the natural born talent of the fox clan in playing the roles of all sorts of beautiful women, she was able to get into shape and into her role in no time while taking the stills.
Chapter 16 - What Was That Look? ("So that man was the real reason that she accepted 'Blossom'? It has nothing to do with the Mu's after all?") (2)
Not only did the retro style of loose-fitting uniform not hide her natural beauty, in fact, it made her appear even more pure and refreshing. Every line and every curvature on her face was perfect. It had taken her to a whole new level from the completion day of her last show.
The thick sense of a young girl complimented her perfectly. The role seemed to have been made with her in mind. A little more would be too much, a little less would be deficient.
Her solo photos took three of the nine spots in the set of photos for the official website.
As for Chang XiaoYa, she only has one far away shot in the very last one.
Xu WanZhi smiled but didn't say anything. Next time they rehearse, she must ask Chang XiaoYa to her face, is your face hurting?
Fang Lin, her new agent, was no spring chick. As soon as the wardrobe stills were up, she already had the marketing team on standby. Before the black fans could even start bashing her about plastic surgeries and playing games of manipulations, the fans' comments already took over half of the commenting section.
In addition, they have released pictures of Xu WanZhi from her childhood to adulthood with the comment.
[For the rest of your life, let us accompany you as you grow prettier every day. It was obviously targeting those who accused her of having plastic surgeries.]
After that was posted, the marketing team immediately clicked it to the top, and it overtook all of Chang XiaoYa's fans.
All the usual vituperations were still there, but they were overshadowed. In addition, a few positive comments also popped up here and there in the comment section.
[Little sister is so incredibly pretty. Perhaps, her makeup had always been too heavy. It seemed that she had finally found what was suitable for her!]
[I think I am in love with this period already.]
[Alright. Alright. I'll admit that I am a fan now. School uniform goddess is mine!]
After the rehearsal, the data analytics team provided Xu WanZhi with a set of analytical data. Inside of it, there were the likes and comments posted by the marketing team along with the total numbers of likes and comments. Comparing the two, they were able to obtain the number and list of her "wild" fans – her overall reviews were going from negative to positive at a noticeable speed.
***
Mu ZhenYu, at the same time, was taking off from the commanding center of Project Falcon. Project Falcon was a project geared toward prediction and prevention of crime. It had just opened up a few test sites within the country and had yet to reach a larger area. Now that Huanyu had gone bankrupt, its cooperation with Project Falcon had also come to an end.
Nevertheless, not only was Mu ZhenYu not feeling down about it, he was, in fact, in a very good mood. He was casually flipping through his cellphone. One of the screen was the wardrobe stills of "Blossom" that had just been sent to him via WeChat.
In the picture, there was Xu WanZhi's side profile. Her eyes were half closed and her long eyelashes were curled up slightly. The warm sun was casting down on her and reflected a very warm and tender light.
A setting sun, a playground, and a girl that was ridiculously young sitting in the middle of the running track. Under her serene and comforting look, there was vigorous vitality.
Just like the name of the show, this was the blossoming time of her life.
Mu ZhenYu raised his brows and scrolled down on his screen.
His face darkened immediately.
An actress by the name of Chang XiaoYa reposted the Wechat comment and added below it.
[The opening ceremony for "The Blossom Us" was a wrap! I was so lucky to be able to work with both senpai Xu WanZhi and Jiang YueXian at the same time. The melon-eating crowd expressed that they are very lucky!]
Jiang YueXian... That name made Mu ZhenYu frown.
So that was the real reason that she accepted "Blossom"? It has nothing to do with the Mu's after all?
He sneered and tossed his cellphone aside.
Chapter 17 - What Was That Look? ("So that man was the real reason that she accepted 'Blossom'? It has nothing to do with the Mu's after all?") (3)
Mu ZhenYu arrived home very early that day. As soon as he stepped inside the door, he saw two big boxes of unopened coconuts piled up there in the narrow hallway.
They appeared very out of place in this small but delicately decorated apartment.
Just when he was about to ask her what was going on, he heard a loud BANG! coming from the kitchen – as though someone had just smashed a hole in the wall with a sledgehammer.
Was someone trying to take apart the apartment here? Mu ZhenYu frowned and walked into the kitchen briskly. He saw Xu WanZhi with a cleaver in her hand. The blade of the cleaver was halfway embedded into the coconut. She smashed it against the cutting board with all her might.
BANG! BANG! BANG! She looked like she wanted to smash the cutting board into pieces.
Hearing his steps, Xu WanZhi immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around. Seeing that it was him, she quickly hid the cleaver and the coconut behind her back.
"Boss Mu...." She greeted him softly. Her head slightly lowered, her eyes filled with unjust and looked guarded.
Mu ZhenYu was in a very foul mood early, but her tender voice immediately made him feel much better. Pointed at the direction of the entrance way, he tried to ask her patiently, "What was going on over there? What's with all the coconuts?"
"I bought them online. They were on sale today." She blinked at him. Her eyelashes looked like two butterflies. She looked very proud of herself, "We are going through hardship right now, so we should save where we can. It's much cheaper to buy two boxes at one time instead of one individual fruit at a time at the fruit stand outside our house."
Mu ZhenYu walked over to her and snickered. She made that sound so justified.
"Who cracks open coconuts like that?" With the same austere tone, he reached out his hand to her and said, "Hand it over."
Xu WanZhi cussed him out to herself. She could have easily opened up the coconuts and eaten the meat had he not come home suddenly. Now that her magical power was all gone, she had no choice but to use a cleaver. She hoped that she could get it all done before he came now, now it was all for naught.
Mu ZhenYu looked somber, and she had no abilities. She worried that if she kept antagonizing him, it'd be her head that was cracked open. Reluctantly, she handed the coconut over to him. "Don't be mad. I won't eat it anymore."
Mu ZhenYu glanced over at her, took off his cufflinks, rolled his sleeves up, and reached for a sharp paring knife. He quickly peeled the coconut, then finding the thinnest spot and with a slice and a twist, cracked open the coconut into two equal halves.
His entire operation was so smooth and ghastly that he looked like a crazy psychotic who just chopped up a body.
He tossed the knife in the sink, grabbed a spoon, handed both the spoon and the coconut over to her and asked, "What's that look? Did I say you can't have it?"
Xu WanZhi remained standing where she was, stunned.
"Take it," repeated Mu ZhenYu impatiently.
She had no choice but to take the coconut from him and thank him.
She could tell he was unhappy and was trying very hard to suppress his anger.