27: Chapter 27 Brother

Lin Chuyan began his days of filming every day.

He had many scenes, and he had to keep his period costume on without taking it off.

Li Mujian specifically instructed him, saying that since he was still in costume, he should treat himself as Prince Xiao Ran; he didn't need to be fully immersed in the role, but he could imitate the character's daily behavior and mannerisms.

In reality, Lin Chuyan had the system with him, so he didn't need to do this to build a sense of belief.

But he still decided to listen to his teacher, not wanting to rely too much on the system.

Thus, in the crew, he maintained an indifferent, aloof appearance to everyone, just holding his script and reading it every day.

Then the girls on the crew went crazy.

At first, they just watched from afar, not daring to strike up a conversation, but later, seeing that he didn't pay any attention to anyone, they became bolder and started grouping up to tease him every day.

"Teacher Lin, how old are you? I'm 20."

"Lin Chuyan, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Brother Chuyan, why won't you pay attention to me?"

"Prince Xiao Ran, are you hungry? Should I cook you a bowl of noodles?"

Listening to these outlandish remarks from the chattering girls, Lin Chuyan had black Lines all over his head, and only when someone called out Prince Xiao Ran would he reply indifferently.

"I've eaten, thank you."

The girls didn't mind; as the saying goes, rarity makes things valuable, so getting such a reply occasionally only made them more excited.

...

During this time, Lin Chuyan also met the legendary male lead, Zhou Qi, who was heavily backed by the investors. This guy really didn't give him a friendly look.

However, Lin Chuyan understood.

Anyone would feel uncomfortable seeing the second male lead look so good.

Plus, with this second male lead being surrounded by a group of girls every day, it was perfectly normal for him to be annoyed.

Zhou Qi was actually quite handsome, a former model with a good physique; otherwise, he wouldn't have been pushed by capital to be the male lead, but who could have expected Lin Chuyan to come out of nowhere?

Zhou Qi hadn't failed to try whispering to the higher-ups to get Lin Chuyan replaced, but unfortunately, Director Yang Yang was a newly signed director for Bilibili, and there were several other projects waiting for him to helm; it really wasn't worth causing conflict over this—the filming was already halfway through, so it wasn't easy to bring it up.

Most importantly, this really was just a low-budget drama.

It wasn't necessary; it really wasn't necessary.

Lin Chuyan didn't know about any of this nonsense, but he didn't really want to interact with Zhou Qi either; the guy just messed up his takes too often.

His acting was actually passable, but his Lines were really stuttery.

Lin Chuyan was famous on set for getting it right on the first take, so having to be interrupted by "Cut" several times every time he acted opposite Zhou Qi really took some getting used to.

Seeing Zhou Qi like this, Director Yang Yang eventually gave up a bit; bad acting could be taught, but how do you teach someone who can't memorize their Lines?

He figured it out; he'd just use post-production dubbing anyway.

As for Shi Shilan, who played the female lead in the drama, Lin Chuyan hadn't seen her even once after filming for so many days...

The biggest reason was, of course, that Director Yang Yang had moved his and the female lead's scenes to the end, and secondly, the two of them weren't even filming in the same unit right now.

But none of that mattered; his biggest trouble right now was actually losing weight.

The life of filming while losing weight was truly miserable.

Fortunately, there was Ruan Xingyu.

Ruan Xingyu wasn't losing weight, but she ate even healthier than him; every time he saw the three meals a day she sent him, it didn't seem so hard anymore.

In the past few days, besides chatting by text every day, the two of them would occasionally send voice messages.

The reason was simple: Lin Chuyan would frequently send the other party voice messages over 30 seconds long... clicking on them revealed his own a cappella Singing, followed by some questions regarding Singing Ability.

It was quite excessive.

However, Ruan Xingyu seemed to enjoy it...

She would occasionally have to hide from her assistant to listen to them secretly, which was kind of exciting when she thought about it.

Lin: "[File]"

Lin Chuyan found some time to record the full version of "I Am a Fish" and sent it over to her.

His Singing Ability had originally been at 17 points, and he had added another 3 points over the past few days, so his Singing was already sounding decent.

Lin: "Teacher Ruan, please, could you help me listen when you have time? ~ Grateful ~"

Xingxing: "[31']"

Xingxing: "[43']"

Lin Chuyan clicked and listened for a while, but he still didn't quite understand; it was really hard to deal with this without a teacher to teach him personally.

Lin: "How about we have a phone call? I feel like it would be easier to explain. No rush, we can talk when you're free... Is that OK?"

There was no reply for a long time.

...

Ruan Xingyu was currently half-lying in her blanket, staring blankly at this message.

She held her phone and thought for a long time, typing out several excuses, but then felt they sounded fake, so she deleted them.

It wasn't that she didn't want to; she was just nervous.

Then, thinking that the other party could see "Typing..." above the message box, she felt a bit frantic.

She lay back down, buried her head in the blanket, and spent a long time mentally preparing herself before finally making up her mind.

It's just a phone call, isn't it? Ruan Xingyu, oh Ruan Xingyu, what is there to be afraid of?

She carefully avoided the "Video Call" button and tapped "Voice Call".

The call connected.

"Hello~"

Ruan Xingyu's crisp and gentle voice came from the other side of the phone.

Lin Chuyan had originally felt fearless, thinking that making a phone call or whatever was just for learning.

However, when he heard this voice, his heart shamefully started racing.

His brain couldn't quite function either.

So, without thinking, he blurted out: "Your voice is really pretty."

As soon as he said it, he wanted to slap himself.

Ruan Xingyu had also been nervous, but hearing this, she couldn't help but laugh: "I haven't even said anything yet!"

"Well, the 'Hello' sounded really pretty."

"Liar."

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"No, I'm most free at this time every day; this is my exclusive 'lying in bed playing on my phone' time."

"Are you very busy lately?"

"Let me think... there's an album signing, two interviews, a photoshoot, and later there's a brand endorsement event; that's all for now."

Ruan Xingyu spoke a bit slowly, which sounded very comfortable and vivid; Lin Chuyan could almost imagine her counting on her fingers.

The most important thing was...

After chatting for a few sentences, it seemed that in each other's hearts, their images had become more three-dimensional!

At this moment, Lin Chuyan had only one feeling in his heart:

As expected!

A thousand Lines of text chat are sometimes not as good as a single phone call!

Is this how relationships slowly get closer?

"Then you're busier than me."

"Not really, you're filming every day, and you have to practice Singing at night... and, you've read so many books."

Ruan Xingyu quite admired Lin Chuyan; she knew he was truly hardworking.

"No choice, if I don't read more books to enrich myself, I might not be able to win against the Haters online in the future."

Ruan Xingyu laughed again: "You're the first idol I've ever met who fights with people online."

"Actually, it doesn't really count as cursing; I've never used foul language with them... Besides, as the saying goes, 'endure for a moment and you'll get angrier the more you think about it, take a step back and you'll lose out the more you think about it.' There's really no need to spoil them. Do you think this counts as the benefit of not having a company managing me?"

"It's not! You were fighting with them even before you left the company."

"??? You snooped on my old Weibo."

"...Just a little bit."

"Was it good?"

"...Hmph!"

It didn't sound like she was angry, but rather acting coquettish.

Hallucination, it must be a hallucination.

"Alright, actually I've also been secretly looking at your Weibo; we're even."

Ruan Xingyu counterattacked: "Was it good?"

Lin Chuyan wasn't shy: "It was good, mainly because the person is good-looking."

"...Photoshop."

"Hehe."

"What are you laughing at? You're not allowed to laugh."

"You're quite bossy, aren't you?"

"Of course, I'm the older sister!"

Ruan Xingyu's tone sounded a bit smug.

"But I look older."

"Hahahaha!" Ruan Xingyu couldn't help but start laughing again.

Only, after laughing, she sighed softly: "Thank you, Lin Chuyan; chatting with you is really happy."

Lin Chuyan heard something off: "What's wrong, are you in a bad mood?"

"I was before. I don't feel that way now."

"Oh? It wouldn't be because of me, would it?"

"You're so narcissistic, Lin Chuyan." Ruan Xingyu laughed again, "But... it actually is."

Because of the new album, which had been a hassle for too long, and the constant voices of doubt from the outside, her pressure was mounting, and coupled with petty people spreading rumors inside the company, she really hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Until Lin Chuyan appeared.

Whether it was the new album's title track or the chats over this period, it seemed they all revolved around this man.

Slowly, it seemed the two of them had endless things to say every day, and the other person's weight in their heart grew heavier and heavier; it seemed the number of times they thought of him in daily life was also increasing.

Lin Chuyan didn't know how to comfort people, so he just rambled on: "Think about it, you're so young, so beautiful, you sing well, and you're famous. I've heard your Xingxing, what was it? Right, 'The Prettiest Star.' Many people must be jealous of you, but as long as we act upright and behave ourselves, we don't need to be afraid of any monsters or demons. Also, having some pressure is normal; just think more about happy things. If chatting with me can make you happy, then come find me more often, hahaha."

Ruan Xingyu's lips curved, and she listened silently to the end, though it was unclear if she had taken it in.

"Hmph, Lin Chuyan... do you like hearing me call you Brother?"

"Emmm... you just look younger than me."

No more pretending, I just like hearing it, I'm showing my cards!

Ruan Xingyu suddenly stopped talking on the other end.

Lin Chuyan waited for a few seconds, and just as he was about to break the silence, he heard a soft, gentle voice come from the other end of the phone:

"Brother."

...