APR 59

Having personally experienced numerous fights and beatings, Zhong Su knew better than anyone how dull the sound of a glass bottle shattering against the head could be, and how sticky the sensation of a blade piercing the arm felt.

In truth, whether it was bruises or knife wounds, they didn’t cause excruciating pain but rather evolved into a burning numbness.

So, he could endure it.

Thus, as written in the script, Zhong Su endured the performance of being subdued by Lu Zhiyi, covering one side of his face and kneeling halfway to the ground.

Lu Zhiyi threw another punch.

Thud—!

The back of Zhong Su’s hand flushed with a large patch of pink. Even though he had blocked quickly, his fingers still trembled uncontrollably.

Lu Zhiyi glanced at the shadow hidden behind the car, a corner of clothing brushed past the edge of the vehicle. He withdrew his punching motion and smiled gently, saying, “Alright, that tail is gone. Get up.”

He leaned down to help Zhong Su up, one hand not captured by the camera, secretly and restlessly sliding from Zhong Su’s back all the way down to his tailbone as he lifted him.

The lights on set suddenly brightened.

“Cut—that’s a wrap.” Jiang Xun called for a stop. “Everyone’s worked hard. I’ve ordered late-night snacks for everyone. Take a break, and we’ll finish the final scenes afterward! The snacks are already on the table over there, enough for everyone!”

The atmosphere at the filming site instantly became lively, with everyone chattering noisily.

Lu Zhiyi’s tone was filled with pity, as if he wanted to pull Zhong Su’s hand away from his face to check the injury. “Sorry, Zhong. I think I got a little too excited. Let me see where you’re hurt?”

Before he could finish, Zhong Su had already lowered his hand, revealing the bruised and crimson corner of his mouth, looking utterly pitiful.

He emotionlessly tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a cold smile. “Are you done talking?” Then, he lifted his foot and kicked Lu Zhiyi hard in the knee.

He had wanted to do this earlier. Never having suffered such a silent loss, the anger in his heart had long been unbearable.

Lu Zhiyi was staring absentmindedly at the injury on Zhong Su’s mouth, still thinking he had been a bit too heavy-handed, a flicker of regret passing through his mind. He hadn’t expected Zhong Su’s kick at all.

“……!” His expression twisted briefly, a sharp pain shooting through his knee as if his ligaments were tearing.

Before he could recover, Zhong Su had already grabbed his collar and ruthlessly slammed him to the ground. Then, he straddled him and punched him in the face again. “Screw you, you damn psycho!”

“They’re crazy! What’s going on? Hurry, pull them apart!” The others were startled and rushed over to separate Zhong Su and Lu Zhiyi.

“Get off!” Zhong Su shoved away one of the people trying to grab him.

Lu Zhiyi let Zhong Su hit him without fighting back, taking several solid punches to the face. His head was knocked to the side, his hair disheveled, and the soft flesh inside his mouth was torn.

Finally, Zhong Su was pulled away, with some people restraining him to keep him from moving and others quickly helping Lu Zhiyi up.

Lu Zhiyi opened his mouth slightly, inserted his fingers, and touched the soft flesh inside. His fingertips were covered in bright red blood.

Looking at the still-warm blood, he suppressed his emotions again and again to keep himself from laughing out loud, how fascinating. How could there be someone like this?

Wearing a mask for too long, he had almost forgotten when he last felt this kind of blood-boiling sensation.

"Don't anyone stop me."

Lu Zhiyi looked at Zhong Su, smoothly making a surrendering gesture, raising both hands with a hint of a helpless smile: "It was my fault. I got too into the acting and didn't control my strength, injuring you. I deserve to be hit. Zhong, don't be angry, you'll hurt yourself."

With his words, everyone thought Zhong Su was dissatisfied with being hit during filming, and skeptical, hostile gazes instantly fell upon Zhong Su.

"In action scenes, of course there will be bumps and bruises. If you can't handle it, why not say so earlier? It's not like there aren't stunt doubles. Resorting to violence over a disagreement is unacceptable."

"His face is injured, how are we supposed to film the rest tonight? It's going to delay the schedule again. Everything's been thrown into chaos."

Zhong Su seemed completely deaf to the surrounding chatter, his hazel eyes sweeping over the wound on Lu Zhiyi's face as he silently wiped the corner of his mouth.

Jiang Xun arrived at that moment, with Xiao Lao Dao and Zhou Kaiwen following behind him.

Seeing the situation, Jiang Xun immediately shrieked like a rooster with its neck wrung: "What's going on here? How did this happen?!"

His promising newcomer and the most important lead actor in the movie were fighting, what kind of mess was this?

Someone immediately said: "Director Jiang, the newcomer got hit during filming, so he retaliated by hitting back. We all saw it."

"Oh my god, Senior Lu, you're badly hurt! Can someone call an ambulance? Bring band-aids and gauze!" Zhou Kaiwen exclaimed loudly at the sight of Lu Zhiyi's injury, practically wanting to press himself against the wound to blow on it.

He turned his head, deliberately speaking sarcastically to Zhong Su: "A newcomer acting like a diva already? Today he dares to hit Senior Lu, who knows if he'll hit the director tomorrow? Everyone else films like this, but you, a newcomer, are so precious you can't take the slightest grievance?"

As he said this, he had no awareness that he himself was the biggest troublemaker on the filming site, instead putting on an arrogant, overbearing attitude with full confidence.

Zhong Su shot him a cold glare. Zhou Kaiwen only knew how to fan the flames but didn't dare actually cause trouble; under such a stare, he reluctantly shut his mouth.

Xiao Lao Dao, unusually quick-witted for once, brought a wet wipe to clean the blood from Zhong Su's face and cautiously asked: "Zhong Su, are you okay?"

Zhong Su pressed the wet wipe to the corner of his mouth, his expression terrible: "No, it's awful."

He looked as if he still wanted to give Lu Zhiyi a few more punches, to turn that pretty face into a swollen mess.

At this point, Lu Zhiyi instead spoke up gently to reassure everyone: "That's not the case. Zhong is a newcomer, unfamiliar with the various situations during filming. It was my fault for not handling it well."

He smiled warmly at Jiang Xun and said: "Director Jiang, the injury on my face isn't serious. With a bit of makeup, it won't be noticeable. It won't delay the filming."

Jiang Xun looked at Lu Zhiyi, then at Zhong Su. He couldn't afford to offend either side and, for once, didn't utter a single curse, only letting out a long sigh as if he had aged many years in an instant: "Can you two still film today?"

Lu Zhiyi: "Zhong's mouth is bleeding, so let's rest for today…"

"I can film." Zhong Su said expressionlessly. Right now, he just wanted to finish filming this scene and not have to watch this madman hypocritically pretending to be a good person.

Jiang Xun grabbed his bangs, waved his hand, and called out: "Get the makeup artist over here. Touch up their makeup and cover the bruises on their faces."

When the lights were set and the camera angles adjusted, the injuries on their faces weren't too noticeable, allowing them to continue filming.

Zhou Kaiwen stood at the edge of the set with his arms crossed, watching Zhong Su and Lu Zhiyi act. A knot of frustration tightened in his chest, he simply couldn't stand the sight of this arrogant newcomer, Zhong Su.

Just a rookie. It was one thing for that talentless director Jiang Xun to be blind, but why did even Senior Lu treat this guy with such special regard?

"Kevin, would you like something to eat? There are shrimp dumplings and fried noodles in the late-night snacks over there." Agent Sister Lin walked over, holding a box of snacks and eating as she spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"Am I a pig? Why would I eat at night? Do you want me to get fat and ugly?" Zhou Kaiwen snapped without even looking at her.

Sister Lin, still chewing her food, was left unsure whether to swallow or keep chewing. She awkwardly set the box down and said, "Alright, then don't eat."

"Would you like to look over the script? You could familiarize yourself with the upcoming scenes in advance."

Wait, upcoming scenes?

As if struck by an idea, Zhou Kaiwen called out to his agent with a sinister tone, "Sister Lin, bring me the script to take a look."

Sister Lin quickly fetched the script and said, "Kevin, this is the latest version."

Zhou Kaiwen flipped straight to the back, scanning the written descriptions of the high-altitude chase scene. A smug smile spread across his face.

To him, Zhong Su's presence was like a thorn in his side, not only stealing his spotlight but also acting so arrogantly, completely disregarding him.

How dare he humiliate him in front of everyone and glare at him like that? This wouldn't end with just a minor scuffle.

The final shot wrapped up smoothly, and Jiang Xun announced that the production crew would take two days off. Everyone was to enjoy a proper break, with special mention for Zhong Su and Lu Zhiyi to manage their emotions and adjust their state before returning to work.

Lu Zhiyi, unusually quiet, only exchanged a meaningful glance with Zhong Su before leaving.

Xiao Lao Dao, as expected, had already gone ahead to get the car. Zhong Su turned on his phone, and the screen lit up with several missed calls from Chen Huan. He didn't call back, instead tapping directly on the red notification dot in his email inbox, another batch of messages from Chen Huan sent during his work hours.

Chen Huan: 【Su Er, what would you like to eat tonight?】

Chen Huan: 【If you're done with work, remember to come home early.】

Zhong Su's fingers paused over the keys, his gaze lingering on that strangely tender keyword.

Home?

He wasn't a fool; he couldn't miss the intention behind Chen Huan's deliberate choice of words. The wound at the corner of his mouth twitched faintly, an indescribable prickling sensation.

Zhong Su pressed his lips together briefly and replied with a short message: 【I'm going back to my own place. I have things to do tomorrow.】

Whether out of concern for his injured mouth or to avoid Chen Huan's blatant probing, he didn't think meeting Chen Huan tonight was a good idea.

The moment the message was sent, it showed as read. Chen Huan's call came through the next second, his voice low and gentle as he asked, "Su Er, have you just finished filming?"

"Pretty much." Zhong Su flexed his fingers and looked up to see Xiao Lao Dao already standing by the car, waving at him. He walked over while still on the phone.

"What do you have to do tomorrow?"

Zhong Su opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. The handle clicked shut as his eyelashes fluttered. He replied as calmly as possible, "I'm going to the hospital to have the ring removed. Did you call for anything else? If not, I'll hang up now."

He had delayed removing the ring for so long because he couldn’t bring himself to face the embarrassment of undressing in front of a doctor. But after Chen Huan’s teasing, even if he still felt awkward, he had to go and get it taken out.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, followed by what sounded like a suppressed laugh. Chen Huan couldn’t stop chuckling.

"Good, go ahead." Even over the phone, Chen Huan could sense Zhong Su’s thinly veiled embarrassment and irritation. He chuckled softly, "Though I’d prefer to remove it for you myself, you’re too shy. I’m afraid you’d struggle and get hurt, so it’s better to let a professional doctor handle it."

"Remember to call me tomorrow after the procedure. I’ll come pick you up."

Without waiting for Zhong Su to refuse, he hung up the phone.