A stage play takes several months to rehearse. During that time, actors only get a small basic salary and a few allowances. Even after the official performance, the appearance fee is nothing compared to what film actors earn.
Yu Shiqing must truly love this profession to keep acting. He had once stood at the peak of success in film but was forced to leave the big screen. He clearly had a bright future, yet now he was stuck on the stage, far from where he truly belonged.
Is he really willing to accept this?
Jiang Yu looked at him.
“Why don’t you take this chance to come back completely? The best scripts and teams are in the film industry. They match your talent.”
“The best scripts and teams?”
Yu Shiqing’s smile faded. He picked up the hair dryer from the table.
“Let’s not talk about that. Dry your hair first.”
The sound of the dryer started again. He still carelessly moved it around Jiang Yu’s head.
But the mood in the room had changed completely.
Jiang Yu half-closed his eyes, his gaze naturally falling on a photo on the bedside table.
He still remembered what happened at the hotel. Huaze had helped Du Han steal the role that should have belonged to Yu Shiqing. According to Ren Bai, Du Han had basically begged for that role, while Yu Shiqing could’ve gotten it easily if he had just asked.
That means Huaze’s attitude toward Yu Shiqing is more complicated than it looks. He trusted him enough to hand over a film with huge investment, but then turned cold and tossed him aside once he was no longer useful. Giving him a throwaway film like Doomsday Rescue was proof of that.
If that’s the case, why hasn’t Yu Shiqing ended his contract with Huaze?
Does Huaze have something on him?
“Alright.”
Yu Shiqing’s voice broke Jiang Yu’s thoughts. He placed clean clothes by the bed.
“I’m right next door. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay,” Jiang Yu replied.
Yu Shiqing put the hair dryer back on the nightstand, nodded at him, and turned to leave. As he opened the door—
“It’s because of Huaze, isn’t it? He’s limiting your career.”
Jiang Yu suddenly spoke. He looked at Yu Shiqing’s back and said seriously,
“If you want to terminate the contract, I can help you.”
Yu Shiqing paused, his hand still on the doorknob.
He turned to look at Jiang Yu. Seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Yu Shiqing slowly smiled.
“Thanks.”
But all he said was:
“Go to sleep.”
Then he left the room.
Click.
Yu Shiqing closed the door behind him but didn’t walk away.
He looked at the mirror on the wall.
“Help me.”
Jiang Yu’s words brought back memories.
Yu Shiqing chuckled softly.
In the mirror, his smile faded and his eyes turned cold.
He quickly looked away and walked into the study.
Worried that Jiang Yu might need something, Yu Shiqing waited half an hour after reading the script before going to bed. But the room next door remained quiet all night.
Early Morning.
When he got up, Jiang Yu was just heading out.
Hearing the noise, Jiang Yu greeted him.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” Yu Shiqing replied, turning to look at him—and couldn’t help but laugh.
“What did you do last night?”
“What?” Jiang Yu asked, then caught a glimpse of the mirror nearby—and his face froze.
In the mirror, his hair was a complete mess, like a bird’s nest. The right side was flattened, with curls sticking out in all directions.
Jiang Yu tried to smooth it out, but no matter how many times he tried, it didn’t help.
Bird’s nest was still a bird’s nest. Stray hairs were still standing up.
Yu Shiqing tried not to laugh.
“You slept on your right side. That’s a healthy sleeping position.”
Jiang Yu clenched his fist.
“And whose fault is that? You’ve got the nerve to talk!”
Whenever he needed Yu Shiqing’s help, there were always some… annoying consequences.
Yu Shiqing cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Go wash up. Ren Bai brought breakfast. He’ll be here soon.”
Then he ducked into the bathroom.
Jiang Yu tried again to fix his hair. It didn’t work. Gritting his teeth, he followed.
After washing up, the doorbell rang.
Yu Shiqing was still in the study, so Jiang Yu opened the door.
As soon as Ren Bai saw him, he burst out laughing.
“Jiang Yu, your hair—”
But when he saw Jiang Yu’s glare, he quickly shut up.
Jiang Yu said coldly,
“What about my hair.”
Ren Bai coughed.
“Looks good. Matches your handsome face.”
Just then, Yu Shiqing came out of the study with a hat in his hand.
“Yu Shiqing!”
Ren Bai waved at him, almost saying Save me! but changed it to,
“Let’s eat!”
Yu Shiqing walked to the table, handed the hat to Jiang Yu, and sat down.
After breakfast, the three of them got ready to head out.
Yu Shiqing suddenly remembered something. He rolled up the script, stuffed it into his pocket, grabbed some dumplings from the fridge, and said,
“Let’s go.”
“Your mom came last night?” Ren Bai asked, seeing the food. He quickly figured it out.
Yu Shiqing said,
“Yeah.”
Ren Bai held his car keys, hesitating for a moment, but didn’t say anything.
Since it was a 1.5-hour drive to the set, Jiang Yu called Tan Yanfei on the way and asked him to request leave in advance.
After hanging up, he remembered what he said last night about investigating the real culprit. He looked at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing understood and briefly explained the situation to Ren Bai.
“Do you know anyone who can do this kind of work?”
“I actually do. He has a studio that handles this kind of thing.” Ren Bai said.
“I’ll give you his number later.”
Jiang Yu said,
“If it’s convenient, I’d like you to help me make contact. I’ll give you 10% commission.”
“Oh, come on!” Ren Bai waved it off.
“It’s just a favor. No need for money. I’ll ask him for you.”
Then he asked curiously,
“But why not ask your agent Tan to do it?”
Yu Shiqing answered for him,
“He’s not the right person.”
Even if Jiang Yu didn’t say it, Yu Shiqing could guess his reason.
They were investigating someone Tan Yanfei had let go. Even if Jiang Yu didn’t suspect anything, Tan might overthink it. Better to keep him out of it.
Ren Bai didn’t ask further.
“Got it. I’ll let you know once I hear back.”
At the set, Ren Bai went his own way.
Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu each went to their dressing rooms to change.
Today’s training was more intense than before. They had to wear exoskeleton armor for basic movement training.
Even though most of the fight scenes would use special effects, they still had to get used to the heavy suits early.
After changing, all the actors had to take new character photos.
During makeup, Director Yan Hongyun was also present.
He paced behind Yu Shiqing for a while, then suddenly asked,
“Mr. Yu, how about a haircut for the role?”
The other actors exchanged looks and turned to watch.
“Sure,” Yu Shiqing said calmly.
Yan Hongyun smiled and called in the hairstylist waiting outside.
The stylist took out his tools, sprayed Yu Shiqing’s hair, and gave him a short military-style haircut.
Everyone looked at the fallen hair around Yu Shiqing’s chair in silence.
With his looks, Yu Shiqing was handsome with long hair, and now with a buzz cut, he looked even more striking. His sharp features stood out like a blade, his entire aura commanding attention.
But for ordinary people like them, a haircut could ruin everything!
Well… maybe they weren’t that ordinary.
Just too scared to say no.
No one dared to speak up.
Yan Hongyun then looked at Jiang Yu.
“Mr. Jiang, would you like a haircut too?”
Jiang Yu was the lead actor of Doomsday Rescue and also its main investor. Yan couldn’t force him to do anything.
He had asked Yu Shiqing first because he knew Yu would agree for the sake of the role, hoping that would encourage Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu’s eyes had just left the mirror in front of Yu Shiqing.
Hearing the question, he casually looked at Yu Shiqing’s sharp profile, then said,
“Cut it.”
“Director, I’ll cut mine too!”
“Me too!”
Once Jiang Yu agreed, the rest of the cast had no choice. They all offered up their heads to the merciless stylist.
Yan Hongyun nodded in satisfaction. He looked around and then frowned at the empty seat next to Jiang Yu.
He asked the assistant director in a low voice,
“Yu Rong’s still not here?”
The assistant shook his head.
“Said he hurt his foot and can’t join the training.”
“Call the producer. Have him handle it.” Yan looked annoyed.
“Yu Rong is from Qingyuan, and they’re one of the biggest production companies. Even the producer can’t pressure them.”
Hearing the name Qingyuan Entertainment, Yan looked at Jiang Yu and smiled.
“So what? Is Yu Rong a bigger star than Jiang Yu?”
“What do you mean, Director?”
Yan didn’t answer. He walked straight to Jiang Yu.
“Mr. Jiang,” he said while signaling the makeup artist to continue.
“Your colleague Yu Rong still hasn’t shown up. We can’t reach him. He’s missed training and character setup. We can’t wait until shooting starts to fix the costume, right?”
Jiang Yu gave him a half-smile.
“You want me to contact him?”
Caught off guard, Yan laughed nervously.
“No, no! I just wanted to know if you have his number.”
Jiang Yu didn’t expose him.
“If you can’t reach him directly, maybe try contacting Qingyuan. As far as I know, they’re very optimistic about this film. They won’t let him mess around.”
Hearing that, Yan was thrilled.
“Really? I’ll call them right away.”
Less than two hours later, a whole group arrived on set—
Two bodyguards, four assistants, and Yu Rong’s manager.
Yu Shiqing was warming up and could already see Yu Rong apologizing nonstop to Yan from afar.
“Who’s that?” he asked.
Jiang Yu looked at him.
“You don’t know Yu Rong?”
“Yu Rong?” Yu Shiqing thought for a bit.
“Is he famous?”
“He’s an idol singer who sings and dances. Pretty famous. Lots of fans.”
Jiang Yu explained, then asked casually,
“You don’t know Yu Rong, but you know me?”
“I’ve heard your album.”
Yu Shiqing stopped moving and drank some water.
Jiang Yu walked over, picked up a cup, raised it like he was going to drink, but didn’t.
“What did you think?”
Yu Shiqing said,
“It sounded good.”
“At least you’ve got good taste.”
Jiang Yu smiled and finally took a sip, hiding his grin behind the cup.
“I’ll send you one next time.”
They continued chatting casually.
Soon, Yan brought Yu Rong over.
After saying a few words, Yu Rong reluctantly had his manager send away most of his people, keeping only one assistant.
Then they walked toward Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu.
“No need for introductions. You’re from the same company. You know each other better than I do,” Yan said, then turned to Yu Shiqing.
“Mr. Yu, this is Yu Rong.”
Yu Rong had sharp, pretty features and a bit of pride in his expression.
When he first saw Yu Shiqing, he was stunned for a second and took a few extra glances before curling his lips and, at Yan’s signal, reached out a hand.
“Hello, senior. I’m Yu Rong.”
Yu Shiqing shook his hand.
“Hello, I’m Yu Shiqing.”
Yan said,
“Yu Rong hurt his foot before and couldn’t join training. Please help him out.”
Yu Shiqing looked at his feet.
“Injured?”
His walking seemed completely normal. Didn’t look hurt at all.
“Yeah, too busy with other work,” Yu Rong shrugged.
“Not like you, senior—only filming one movie a year. Must be nice and relaxed.”
He didn’t respect Yu Shiqing, who was once a top star but now faded. If not for Yan, he wouldn’t have bothered greeting him.
Jiang Yu finally spoke.
“What did you say?”
Yu Rong suddenly remembered he was there and said awkwardly,
“Jiang Yu-ge…”
Jiang Yu said coldly,
“Since you’re so busy, it’s perfect. I’ve been thinking of talking to Director Yan about changing the script.”
Yu Rong got nervous.
“Change the script?”
Yan also looked confused.
He glanced at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing asked,
“What do you want to change?”
Jiang Yu said,
“The character Ji Ming—I think there’s more we can add.”
Yu Shiqing looked at him. Ji Ming was his role.
“I thought so too. But if we add more, there won’t be enough time,” Yan said.
Jiang Yu replied,
“Then we can cut some of Yu Rong’s scenes.”
Yu Rong was furious.
“Why?!”
Jiang Yu narrowed his eyes and smiled,
“You’re too busy. If you don’t have time, the writers can help you by lightening your load.”
