Chapter 5

At three o’clock in the morning, Su Xingyao boarded the plane to Y City.

Since the filming location for the drama was in a rather remote area, after he got off the plane, he had to take another six-hour ride before finally arriving at the set.

The long journey and the exhausting travel left Su Xingyao feeling completely drained. When he reached the hotel, he didn’t even have time to eat, he quickly collapsed into bed to catch up on sleep.

He ended up sleeping straight through until 6 p.m.

Waking up with difficulty, still feeling tired, he hastily ate a couple of bites of dinner before grabbing the script and getting to work.

Before this, he hadn’t even known what “Falling Flowers and Glass” was about.

He didn’t even know what role he was supposed to play.

Liang Yifan had told him he had accepted this role long ago, but the opening ceremony for “Falling Flowers and Glass” was tomorrow, and it was only today that his new assistant brought him the script.

It was clear that it was because of the phone call about the contract termination that Liang Yifan was intentionally messing with him.

Given the exhausting journey, if he had been too tired and had fallen asleep, not preparing anything, he could already imagine how badly he’d be scolded when he entered the set tomorrow.

Liang Yifan clearly wanted to add to his frustration, but Su Xingyao ignored his petty tricks. Instead, he lowered his head and focused on the script in his hands.

As an S-level project, “Falling Flowers and Glass” was currently one of the most popular and easiest to create traffic for among the market’s trending danmei dramas. The theme was also a fan favorite: Xianxia (immortal fantasy).

In the drama, the two main characters were immortal beings from the heavens, destined by fate to be together. After going through three lifetimes of love trials in the mortal realm, they finally reached a happy ending.

The story takes place after these three lifetimes of trials. The two immortals return to their immortal domain, and once the matchmaker deity ties the ^[1]“red string of fate” is a mythological belief that an invisible red thread connects two people who are destined to be together, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. It originates … Continue readingred string of fate, they will be united forever and live in mutual love and harmony.

However, this is where the twist happens.

During the moment when the matchmaker deity ties the red string, due to an accident, the immortals’ fates are severed.

Because of this mistake, one of the immortals falls in love with the Demon Lord and falls into the path of darkness, ultimately causing a disaster that leads to chaos in the heavenly realm.

After the immortals and the Demon Lord join forces to severely wound the celestial realm, the Jade Emperor, with no other choice, reopens the cycle of reincarnation. Time is reversed back to the last life of the three trials, and the two immortals and the Demon Lord are forcibly sent back to change the course of history.

In the drama, the character played by Su Xingyao was the antagonist Demon Lord, who had severed the protagonists’ destined bond.

He was a villain who had committed countless evil deeds, with a deeply twisted and perverse mindset. In the end, he was heartlessly killed by one of the main characters, who tore out his heart and dismembered him.

By the time Su Xingyao finished reading the script, it was almost 11 o’clock.

He gently closed the script, rubbed his slightly tired eyes, and began mentally sorting through the plot points he had just absorbed.

When Liang Yifan had told him about joining this production, he had already prepared himself.

In the past, he had been involved in so many controversial hot searches, and it was fair to say that his agent had played a huge role in that.

So Su Xingyao was well aware that the kind of production Liang Yifan had arranged for him this time would definitely not offer him a good role.

A character like Bai Xu, who was extremely extreme, no matter how well or badly he portrayed it, it would only have one outcome:

He would be cursed by the audience.

If he didn’t perform well, his acting and character would be torn apart.

If he portrayed the character too well, the audience would inevitably associate him with the role, assuming he was just playing himself.

Moreover, the character of Bai Xu, when portrayed as the Demon Lord, was even loved by one of the protagonists due to a twist involving the fate’s red string.

Once the drama aired, the shippers of the couple would surely tear him apart.

Thinking of this, Su Xingyao chuckled lightly.

In the past, he would have been influenced by the plot and his parents’ opposition to him entering the entertainment industry. Even though he was fully aware, he would have compromised and played the character as expected—passively portraying the brainless cannon fodder role.

But now, he had woken up.

Su Xingyao opened his eyes.

He was not discouraged by the unfavorable role. On the contrary, his eyes sparkled with a hint of excitement.

His slender fingers held a pen and quickly wrote down a series of small characters in his blank notebook.

He began to create a character profile for Bai Xu based on his own understanding.

This role, just like himself, had been set up by the author as a stereotyped antagonist to highlight the romance between the protagonists.

However, it was not without room for interpretation.

On the contrary, in the mortal realm segment of the plot, the contrast of Bai Xu’s character and the twisted personality formed by his tragic experiences actually made Su Xingyao feel that this character struggled with fate’s unfairness and had a strength unlike the typical righteous, good-hearted protagonists.

Such a character deserved to be portrayed with its own soul.

—

At 5 o’clock the next morning, Su Xingyao, who had only slept for five hours, was awakened by a call from his assistant, Xiao Yu.

The filming ceremony for the crew would begin at 12:08 p.m., and all the main characters would need to be fully made up for the event.

After hearing this, Su Xingyao, who was still obviously not fully awake, didn’t say much. He complied and got up early, heading to the designated makeup room with the crew’s car to get his look done.

Ancient costume makeup was always more complicated than modern styles, and since the director of Falling Flowers and Glass had high standards for makeup and styling, Su Xingyao spent more than three hours getting his look ready.

When he finally came out of the makeup room, two staff members nearly collided while staring at him.

The young man in black brocade was wrapped in a fox fur coat. Against the extreme black, his fair skin appeared even more translucent in the backlight.

Especially with the deepened eye makeup and Su Xingyao’s beautiful fox-like eyes, the effect was mesmerizing and captivating.

“Damn, Bai Xu is actually played by Su Xingyao…”

The crew had kept all character roles confidential, so the staff members were especially surprised by Su Xingyao’s arrival.

Soon, the news spread, and gossiping staff members began discussing it in every hidden corner.

But because he looked so stunning today, most of the discussions centered around his looks.

“To be honest, Su Xingyao is quite handsome. When he walked past earlier, I didn’t even dare to look him in the eye.”

“Yeah, he’s famously a pretty face with no talent. You can question his character and acting skills, but you can’t deny his looks. His face is not just for show.”

“I used to think Jiang Zihang was quite handsome, but after seeing Su Xingyao in person today, I realized his looks were completely overshadowed by Su Xingyao’s.”

Just as the staff member finished speaking, a figure in white flashed by.

He looked closely and realized it was the very Jiang Zihang he had just mentioned, the one whose looks were now being overshadowed by Su Xingyao.

Not knowing whether the person had heard him, the staff member quickly shut his mouth and moved away.

Jiang Zihang, who appeared unaffected on the surface, had actually heard every word clearly and was now fuming with anger.

Not only was he irritated because of the comparison of looks, but he also didn’t like Su Xingyao because he was a close friend of Shen Huaixi. Since his relationship with Shen Huaixi, he had never been fond of Su Xingyao.

It was already annoying enough to find out that this annoying person would be in the same drama as him, and now his fans were dragging him down by comparing his looks to Su Xingyao’s…

Jiang Zihang was utterly disgusted.

How could this kind of person even be compared to him?

Jiang Zihang, still fuming, arrived at the actor’s gathering point with a cold expression.

Just as he stood still, late as usual, he saw from a distance that the second female lead, Yu Sisi, was smiling as she pinched Su Xingyao’s cheek.

“No wonder you can charm the immortal. If I were Immortal Jinhua, I’d be addicted too.”

Yu Sisi’s words in the drama, praising Su Xingyao, felt like a needle piercing Jiang Zihang’s heart once again. He couldn’t hold back and rolled his eyes, feeling like his lungs were about to explode.

Jiang Zihang’s internal monologue and hidden frustration went unnoticed by others.

At exactly 12:08 p.m., the crew’s opening ceremony began promptly.

After following the usual ritual of offering incense and taking group photos, the director immediately organized a script reading session with all the cast.

Script reading is a process where the main actors sit together, immerse themselves in their roles, and rehearse their lines.

Many crews do this before filming starts.

One reason is to let the actors get to know each other better, avoiding awkwardness during filming due to lack of familiarity.

Another reason is to allow actors to better understand their roles and identify any issues that may need to be addressed, which can be promptly adjusted by the scriptwriters.

Before the script reading, Su Xingyao was called to take his costume photos.

The weather had been fluctuating between cold and warm recently. The costume was bearable in the morning, but by the afternoon, the temperature shot up to over thirty degrees. Although the crew had brought in air conditioning, everyone was wearing ancient costumes, and with the set being fully open, the air conditioning didn’t do much.

After finishing his stills, Su Xingyao immediately took off his fox fur cloak.

Yu Sisi, who had joked with him earlier, waved at him and immediately handed him a bowl of mung bean soup.

“Here, Xingyao, drink this to cool down. It’s from Linghe.”

Linghe, as Yu Sisi mentioned, was the male lead, Ji Linghe, in this BL drama.

Because of the heat, Ji Linghe had treated everyone in the crew to milk tea and mung bean soup.

As the newcomers were still unfamiliar with each other, Ji Linghe’s gesture undoubtedly earned him goodwill from everyone on the first day.

In contrast, Su Xingyao, who was not particularly liked by the crew, had hardly anyone approach him, except for the necessary work-related interactions.

If things continued like this, the atmosphere on set was bound to be awkward.

So, Yu Sisi, a smooth and tactful person, took on the task of initiating a conversation with him.

She placed the mung bean soup in front of Su Xingyao and winked at him. “This heat is really unbearable.”

After thanking her politely, Su Xingyao took the bowl but didn’t drink from it. Instead, he gave a slight, apologetic smile. “I can’t drink this.”

As soon as Su Xingyao said that, a hint of awkwardness flashed across Yu Sisi’s eyes.

She suddenly remembered the rumors circulating before—Su Xingyao was hard to get along with, very high-maintenance, and refused to eat anything the crew offered…

When she saw how polite and gentle he was after joining the crew, she had forgotten about these rumors.

But now, his comment made her remember them.

As Yu Sisi regretted her involvement, Su Xingyao half-jokingly explained to her.

“Sister Sisi, I’m allergic to mung beans. It could be deadly for me if I eat them.”

Yu Sisi’s eyes widened in surprise.

Deadly?

Yu Sisi, who had seen her fair share of ups and downs, quickly regained her composure. “Allergic to mung beans? That’s pretty rare.”

“Yeah, I have asthma, and I’m allergic to many foods.”

Upon finally understanding, Yu Sisi immediately empathized with him.

Asthma could indeed be life-threatening… no wonder he had such dietary restrictions.

Thinking back to the food restrictions her assistant had sent earlier, she kindly reminded him.

“Has your assistant informed the catering about your food allergies? I don’t think I saw your note earlier.”

Standing next to Su Xingyao, the new assistant, Xiao Yu, who was also surprised, immediately slapped her forehead upon hearing Yu Sisi’s implicit reprimand. “Ah… I forgot. Sorry, sorry.”

She had originally planned to say she didn’t know about it.

But realizing that could make it seem like Su Xingyao was lying, she quickly changed her words.

Having encountered this on her first day at work, Xiao Yu didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed and instead nervously looked at Su Xingyao.

She had heard that Su Xingyao was difficult to get along with. Although it was her first day on the job and not knowing everything was normal, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, worried that Su Xingyao might blame her for being careless.

After all, celebrities these days are quite demanding, and assistants are often the ones who bear the brunt of it.

However, the scolding that Xiao Yu had imagined never came.

Not only did Su Xingyao not blame her, but he quietly sent her a message.

He listed all the foods he was allergic to.

Tomatoes, rabbit meat, goose meat, soybeans, mung beans, shrimp, crab, oysters, and raw peanuts.

Xiao Yu looked at the list in disbelief, trying hard to remember everything while feeling incredibly sympathetic toward Su Xingyao.

Being allergic to so many things…

That’s really too tragic.

—

By three o’clock in the afternoon, after all the actors had finished their costume photos, the table read for the crew began.

At the same time, photos of the “Falling Flowers and Glass” crew’s opening ceremony were leaked by a highly connected fan.

As a result, the crew and the two leading actors quickly made it to the trending topics.

And Su Xingyao, who had disappeared for over a month and suddenly reappeared, also made it onto the trending list.