89: Home with Kids

On the third day after returning to Jingcheng, he headed to the set of home with kids.

"Hello, Director Lin Cong, I am Li Xiuwu."

"Come and sit." Lin Cong sized up Li Xiuwu; he was young, handsome, and very good-looking.

"These are Gao Yalin and Song Dan." The director introduced the two leads.

"Hello, teachers. Please guide me." He smiled and greeted the two of them.

"The young man is really handsome." Song Dan complimented him. Gao Yalin nodded with a smile.

Li Xiuwu was only playing a role for two episodes, so their collaboration wouldn't be deep. The two of them just greeted him politely and didn't take him to heart.

Liu Xing came over swinging a rubber band. After seeing Li Xiuwu, his eyes lit up, and he ran over in surprise, cupping his hands: "I wish you prosperity."

"I wish you brilliance." Li Xiuwu also cupped his hands and replied.

"Haha, idol, you're so cool! Six Meridian Divine Sword, swoosh swoosh swoosh." Liu Xing gestured with both hands.

"Do you want me to give you an autograph?" Li Xiuwu said with a smile.

Zhang Shan was just a kid now, with an extroverted and somewhat quirky personality.

"Sign it, sign it on my clothes." He pulled at his shirt.

Just then, the other two child actors came over, Yang Zi and Haoran. Perhaps because the crew had just formed, the two of them were a bit restrained. Yang Zi clearly recognized Li Xiuwu as well, but she didn't take the initiative to come over and say hello.

"Hello, everyone." Li Xiuwu waved to them.

"Hello, I am Yang Zi." She introduced herself but didn't come over.

"Since everyone is here, let's talk about today's scenes. Li Xiuwu only has a role in two episodes, and not many shots, so we'll film his first today." Lin Cong took out the script.

home with kids was a sitcom, which was simpler than the TV dramas Li Xiuwu had filmed before, with relatively fixed and singular camera shots.

"Li Xiuwu, go through it once with Xiao Xue first," Lin Cong said to Li Xiuwu.

Although Li Xiuwu's acting was good, he still had to see it with his own eyes to be mentally prepared.

"Okay." Li Xiuwu didn't refuse. He put on the clothes provided by the crew; with a head of wine-red hair, he looked a few years younger.

Li Xiuwu and Yang Zi stood behind the hallway and walked out. Yang Zi was a bit nervous.

"Don't be nervous, just treat it like going out to play with a friend." Li Xiuwu put on his hat and said to her.

"Mm." Yang Zi nodded. This wasn't her first time acting, but she was still nervous.

"Start." Since it wasn't a formal shoot, the Assistant Director was in charge.

"Let's go, don't worry, the camera isn't on." Li Xiuwu gently nudged her shoulder.

"I'm not nervous." She looked up at Li Xiuwu, turned around, and walked out with her backpack on.

Li Xiuwu pressed down his hat and followed her into the frame.

"Alright, we're home. Why don't you take off your hat?" Yang Zi turned around and said to Li Xiuwu, who was following behind.

Li Xiuwu played a rather restrained triple-A student, very uncomfortable with this outfit, especially the hair.

He spoke with a bit of hesitation: "Take it off now?"

"Page forty-eight, lines three to sixteen." Yang Zi said her lines.

Hearing this, Li Xiuwu took off his peaked cap and covered his hair with his other hand.

"Can it be washed out before school tomorrow?"

"Cut." The Assistant Director called out.

"Yang Zi, why are you so nervous? You weren't like this yesterday." The Assistant Director walked over; one had to guide child actors with patience.

Yang Zi shot a quick glance at Li Xiuwu and then lowered her head.

"Is it my fault?" Li Xiuwu also noticed Yang Zi's movement and pointed at his own nose in bewilderment.

"No, no." Yang Zi shook her head.

"No rush, we'll try again in a bit. Come here, Yang Zi." Lin Cong had been watching from the side and now spoke up, calling Yang Zi over.

Li Xiuwu walked toward the Assistant Director, feeling a bit dazed.

"I didn't do anything." Li Xiuwu felt a bit wronged. He hadn't entertained any ideas about Yang Zi, nor had he taken the initiative to approach her. She was just a kid; if he touched her, it wouldn't just be a three-year sentence.

He hadn't even said more than a few words to Yang Zi. Coming to the home with kids crew was just to relive his old memories.

"Little girls have complicated thoughts. We'll talk about it later." The Assistant Director clearly had experience and didn't mind.

Before long, Lin Cong had someone call him over and sized him up.

"Director, is there a problem?"

"You're too handsome and too famous. The little girl is a bit nervous facing you," Lin Cong said with a smile.

"I feel like I'm very approachable. Look, Liu Xing likes me a lot." Li Xiuwu was a bit helpless.

"How can that be the same? Little girls are shy." Lin Cong said, "In a while, take Zhang Shan and Yang Zi to play for a bit to build a rapport first. We'll film Gao Yalin and Song Dan's scenes first."

"Alright." Li Xiuwu was a bit speechless. To act in a TV show, he even had to coax children.

"Big brother." Zhang Shan ran over, followed by Yang Zi. The two of them were classmates.

Zhang Shan's personality was too extroverted; after knowing him for a short while, he had already acknowledged him as his big brother.

"Yang Zi, come and call him big brother." He spoke to Yang Zi with the air of a little street hoodlum.

Yang Zi looked very resistant, with a sense of defensiveness.

She wasn't just like this toward Li Xiuwu; except for Zhang Shan, she wasn't close to the other actors either. Li Xiuwu noticed that even in front of the camera, she resisted Song Dan's closeness.

"Big brother." Under Zhang Shan's various persuasions, she very reluctantly called him big brother.

Zhang Shan didn't pay her any more attention and instead stood beside Li Xiuwu. This young boy loved finding a big brother to hang out with.

"Big brother, your songs are so good. I listened to them every day during the New Year. Can you sing one for us?"

"My singing is nothing special. How about I teach you guys a song?"

"Great, great!" Zhang Shan jumped up happily. "Yang Zi, hurry over, big brother is going to teach us a song."

Hearing about singing, Yang Zi indeed walked a bit closer.

"I'll sing a line, and you guys repeat it." Li Xiuwu cleared his throat:

Your childhood, my childhood, they seem to be the same.

Small shoulders, big schoolbags, off to school we go.

Zhang Shan started learning first. Li Xiuwu looked at Yang Zi: "Yang Zi, you guys do it together."

Singing was a very interesting thing for the two of them, and both followed along seriously.

Li Xiuwu taught them line by line. Yang Zi began to smile at Li Xiuwu and took the initiative to greet him.

Little brats are really troublesome.

After finishing lunch, Li Xiuwu sighed. Lin Qian, sitting not far from him, smiled and didn't reply.

After the meal, Zhang Shan couldn't stay still at all and kept singing the song.

"Wait, Zhang Shan, what song are you singing?" The Assistant Director heard the song Zhang Shan was humming. He felt the song was very interesting—positive and full of joy. It wasn't a nursery rhyme, yet it wasn't a typical pop song either. He had never heard it before.

"My big brother taught me." Zhang Shan lifted his head, very proud of having acknowledged a big brother.

"Big brother, Li Xiuwu?" The Assistant Director had heard Zhang Shan calling Li Xiuwu big brother in the morning.

"Sing it again from the beginning."

Your childhood, my childhood, they seem to be the same.