Chapter 8

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

The horror elements in 《Aspiration For The Throne》 were numerous. Tonight, the scenes Ye Chen and Shen Mofeng had to shoot were horror-themed. They tell the story of the Fifth Prince, who serves the emperor, discovering the emperor’s secret and suspecting that he himself has been parasitized. In his panic to escape the palace, he is rescued by the Third Prince. The Third Prince had long noticed many anomalies in the palace but pretended not to know, coaxing the Fifth Prince to speak.

“… You’re ignoring everything else, you’re running straight out of your father’s palace. You suspect that the strange thing crawled into your chest, and you’re terrified. You’re tearing at your clothes as you run, trying to pluck it out.” Chen Jing’an explained the scene to Ye Chen.

Before this scene began, there were a few minutes of preparation time. Ye Chen held the prosthetic face of the old emperor, crafted by the special effects makeup artist, gradually increasing his breathing rate, slowly immersing himself in the horrified emotions of the character…

As the clapperboard sounded, Ye Chen’s pupils contracted suddenly, tears welling up in his eyes as he fled helplessly into the eerie night. Due to extreme fear, his hands and feet wouldn’t obey him. In just this short distance, he fell twice in a row. However, each time he fell, he bounced back up as if he had been thrown onto a hot iron plate and continued running. He frantically tore at his collar, scratching futilely at his body, crying out, “Come out! Come out…”

Then, in a state of confusion, Ye Chen ran straight into Shen Mofeng’s arms, tightly held by a pair of warm, steady hands.

“What’s wrong, Fifth Brother?!” Shen Mofeng appeared loyal, his eyes full of surprise and concern.

The little prince under the moonlight looked distressed, his clothes disheveled, his collar drooping to reveal a large expanse of snow-white skin on his chest. The red scratch marks from his nails and the scattered disheveled hair made him particularly heart-wrenching.

“…” In the middle of filming, Shen Mofeng kept his emotions stable, remaining dedicated without whistling in his mind.

“Third Brother!” Seeing Shen Mofeng, Ye Chen felt as if he had been granted a pardon. However, at this moment, something chased after him along the path he had come…

“Cut!” Chen Jing’an waved his hand. “That’s it!”

In a split second, Shen Mofeng snapped out of character and mentally added a whistle.

Yet Ye Chen remained dazed. His mind still not fully recovered, he nervously turned his head, as if he couldn’t trust that there wasn’t something strange chasing after him.

But before he could even turn around halfway, his cheeks were supported by a pair of hands on the left and right. Then, his head was gently guided back by Shen Mofeng.

“There’s nothing chasing you,” Shen Mofeng sneered. “What’s the matter? Take a deep breath.”

“Shen Ge…” Ye Chen blinked hard twice and obediently took a deep breath. After a few deep breaths, his emotions calmed down a lot. He adjusted his wide-open collar and sat down on a chair outside the set with Shen Mofeng to rest.

The emotions in this wave of the scene were too intense, and switching quickly wasn’t easy. Fortunately, the next scene followed directly after this one. It was where the two of them sensed something chasing them from behind, hiding in the crevice of the artificial mountain, holding their breaths and remaining silent to escape unscathed. The emotions flowed smoothly.

“The crevice in the next scene is pretty narrow,” Shen Mofeng suddenly remarked, “I’ll have to reach in and cover your mouth… I might even get my hand stuck.”

“What…?” Ye Chen, bewildered, asked, “What should we do?”

“Just go with the flow,” Shen Mofeng chuckled, “It’s no big deal.”

With the preparations complete, the next scene began.

Ye Chen pulled the collar back to its previously wide-open state, then held the prosthetic monster face of the old emperor for a while, successfully immersing himself in the role, trembling with fear.

“…” Shen Mofeng couldn’t help but laugh helplessly as he watched his amateur fan struggle, he thought that this issue would have to be dealt with sooner or later.

But Ye Chen had entered the entertainment industry halfway through and hadn’t received formal training in acting… Shen Mofeng could use his toes to guess with eighty percent certainty the reason why Ye Chen was in such a rush to enter the entertainment industry. So, Shen Mofeng didn’t see Ye Chen’s lack of technical skills as a serious problem. Relying on emotional immersion alone could even be seen as a sign of talent, just lacking practice.

As the clapperboard sounded, both of them almost simultaneously glanced towards the path they came from. Upon seeing who it was, Ye Chen let out a short scream, while Shen Mofeng quickly covered his mouth, then with a swift movement, he dragged Ye Chen into the crevice behind the artificial mountain.

The crevice was indeed as narrow as Shen Mofeng had described. The two of them were squeezed face to face, with hardly any space between them. If it weren’t for Shen Mofeng’s hand covering the lower half of Ye Chen’s face, their lips would have almost touched.

This scene would require post-production special effects. The demonic creature, currently existing only in imagination, lurked around the artificial mountain. Its grotesque limbs wriggled and twisted on the surface of the mountain. Among the twisted limbs, Ye Chen saw a distorted hand, the hand of his long-lost mother, still adorned with her favorite jade ring. The demon had devoured her, falsely claiming she had been buried in a grand ceremony… Ye Chen’s eyes widened in despair, tears streaming down his face. Fear gradually turned into rage. He desperately struggled to break free from Shen Mofeng’s restraint, wanting to avenge his mother. But Shen Mofeng held him tightly, his right arm wrapped around Ye Chen’s waist while his left hand forcefully covered his mouth, preventing any noise.

This breath-taking scene lasted for a long time until Chen Jing’an finally mercifully called out, “Cut!”

Shen Mofeng turned his head, squeezing out from the crevice. His palm still retained the sensation of Ye Chen’s lips.

That sensation…

Was incredibly soft.

Old Rogue Shen thought.

His waist was…

Also incredibly slender.

Although it was just a fortunate coincidence, after two consecutive scenes of intense horror, Ye Chen’s emotions were not very stable. He always felt like there was a monster chasing him from behind.

After completing these two difficult scenes, they would have a relatively long break. To ease his fearfulness, Ye Chen logged into his alternate Weibo account and distracted himself with some giveaways. Then he opened up the “Apple Seedling Planting Steps” and continued learning about the later stages of the fertilization process, while also browsing Taobao for organic cake fertilizer and ammonium sulfate liquid fertilizer that the house didn’t have. He successfully got interested in organic cake fertilizer.

He was so immersed in learning about apple tree fertilization techniques that he didn’t notice the aura of a superstar emanating from Shen Mofeng since the last scene ended.

“Ye Chen,” Shen Mofeng suddenly called out.

“What is it, Shen Ge?” Ye Chen immediately locked his phone screen and obediently listened.

“How did you feel about that scene just now?” Shen Mofeng asked leisurely, holding a cigarette in his mouth.

Ye Chen hesitated, unsure of what to say. Finally, he cautiously stated an objective fact that couldn’t go wrong, “Um… the crevice in the rock was too cramped.”

Shen Mofeng replied leisurely, “It felt awkward to film, didn’t it? Didn’t like it?”

“No, no!” Ye Chen feared that Shen Mofeng might misunderstand and think he disliked the physical contact. Hastily, he flattered, “I liked it, really liked it. It wasn’t awkward at all.”

Shen Mofeng chuckled lightly and continued to focus on his phone.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen checked the time and once again logged into his alternate Weibo account.

A giveaway prize that Ye Chen had been eyeing was about to be drawn. Because he really wanted this prize, he had been interacting frequently with the giveaway host to increase his chances. Since there weren’t many retweets on this giveaway post, he felt optimistic. Now, he anxiously refreshed the host’s Weibo page, waiting for the results. Under the host’s latest post, he left a flurry of comments: “Beautiful and kind-hearted host, please notice me!”

As the draw time approached, Shen Mofeng suddenly disrupted the moment, “Ye Chen.”

Ye Chen reluctantly tore his eyes away from the screen and looked at Shen Mofeng.

Shen Mofeng glanced at his phone and coolly remarked, “Why haven’t you added me on WeChat?”

Previously, there was a group chat for the crew, where the assistant director would post daily updates. Both Ye Chen and Shen Mofeng were in the group, but Ye Chen had never added Shen Mofeng.

“I want to add you!” Ye Chen’s eyes widened in fear, speaking earnestly, “But… I was afraid you wouldn’t want to add me…”

—This was the conclusion Ye Chen reached after carefully analyzing his character’s personality and writing a character profile.

His character had matured beyond the impulsiveness of adolescence after more than a year in the entertainment industry. He was no longer the fervent teenager who would scream and confess love to idols. Moreover, now that he was also a celebrity himself, he could see the huge gap between himself and his male god Shen Mofeng. That’s why he behaved so subserviently around Shen Mofeng, even bordering on being a little humble. He felt content just to be able to talk to the male god during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He didn’t dare to hope for more…

At this moment, his nervousness, humility, and fear of rejection from Shen Mofeng were more in line with his character’s current personality and growth trajectory.

Yes, to portray the fake fan to the fullest, Ye Chen even secretly created a character profile for himself…

And he f*cking directed the drama himself!

After all, he had decided to take this secret to his urn, so he had no intention of exposing it.

Suddenly, the sound of a WeChat notification rang.

Ye Chen lowered his head and saw a friend request.

— “The other party wants to add you as a friend.”

The author has something to say:

Ye Qiongqiong’s account book today:

No income… QAQ

But there were also no expenses ah! ╰(*°▽°*)╯

[Mini Theater 1]

Shen Mofeng: Adding you as a friend doesn’t count as income? 🙂

Ye Qiongqiong hypocritically spins and jumps: Woc!!!!!! I earned a billion!!!!!!!

*woc – (wocao) what the f*ck

[Mini Theater 2]

Shen Mofeng: After filming that scene just now, I bet our little fan will be too excited to sleep tonight.

12 hours later…

Ye Qiongqiong: Zzzz……

Shen Mofeng: 🙂

The play within the play won’t be elaborated on; its sole purpose is to let Si Feng eat tofu… The old rogue is quite pitiful; let him have a few bites if he wants to eat…

*eat tofu – take liberties with a wo(man)

TN:

It’s my birthday month, so I’ll be uploading 2 chaps daily. They have not been proofread so if you spot any mistakes kindly inform me. I’ll re-upload the proofread versions once Cloudchip gets through them. She helps proofread my project on another site so she doesn’t have much time to spare. If I don’t post it’s probably because I couldn’t finish working on the chapters.