Chapter 151 - A Stolen Kiss & a Fanboy
Chapter 151: A Stolen Kiss & a Fanboy
Xiang Wan knew what Bai Muchuan was talking about when he said “that person”.
“Yes,” Xiang Wan thought it over carefully. When her slender brows wrinkled, her serious look actually made her seem adorable. “Captain Bai, I think that those posts and threads with obvious intention of influencing public opinion are worth investigating…”
Bai Muchuan looked at her, his gaze slightly deepened.
A while later, he nodded his head approvingly.
“You’re worthy of being taught!”
“…”
The film crew seemed to have just finished shooting a fighting action scene.
When the three of them arrived, the filming scene was in a mess.
The one who received Bai Muchuan was still the same Assistant Director.
Having detectives visiting their film set made the Assistant Director nervous. This was because the case had not been solved yet.
“Detective comrade, you know due to the previous incidents, there had been quite a lot of delays which caused our funds to become tight. We have been rushing to shoot the scenes…”
He was implying—we are very busy, if you have things to ask, hurry up and get down to it. Otherwise, please don’t disturb us.
It was widespread knowledge that the cost of a single day of a film set could exceed the annual expenditure of a normal family. Wasting a day was equivalent to money flowing away like water… Therefore, Xiang Wan could totally understand why the film crew was nervous when they saw detectives coming again.
The only thing was, she did not know if Bai Muchuan had a purpose for coming to the film set.
After the crime had happened, all those people who could be questioned were questioned, and all those people who were investigated were being investigated. Was there anything else they might have left out?
“We’ll look around ourselves.” Bai Muchuan took a look at the Assistant Director. “Please don’t worry, go ahead to do your work! We have a dateline to solve this case, but currently, we need more clues. So we’ll just hang around, you don’t have to bother about us…”
The Assistant Director seemed more at ease when he heard that.
“Our detective comrades have been working hard. Why not go to our film set’s teahouse for a rest?”
“It’s alright!” Bai Muchuan put on an interested face as he looked at the crew performing their job. “I feel that filming is quite interesting. I want to stay here and take a look, is that alright?”
The Assistant Director looked awkward. “Of course, of course. Please look around.”
“Go on, don’t worry about us.”
Although he had said not to worry about them, how could they just leave them be?
The Assistant Director got a few helpers to get some chairs for the group of three to have a seat.
“So I’ll get to work then—Detective comrade, please call me if you need anything!”
“Okay.” Bai Muchuan gave a friendly smile and waved his hand.
The three of them were in plain clothes. They did not garner a lot of attention by sitting in a corner amongst themselves.
In no time, the crew members set up the film scene and were adjusting their cameras. A couple of actors and actresses were reading and memorizing their scripts, and the Director was also talking to them…
Everyone there was busy with their work.
Xiang Wan, on the other hand, was confused.
Could it be that Bai Muchuan brought them there to look at how the filming was being done?
“Teacher Xiang,” Bai Muchuan suddenly talked to her, “do you remember the storyline for this scene?”
Eh? Xiang Wan took a look at the notice board and shook her head. “I can’t really remember.”
“Your idol, Second Young Master Mu, is going to be sad!”
Bai Muchuan suddenly puffed a sigh and looked at her with a faint smile. “In this scene, it would be the first time the police will arrest Qin Shu, the antagonist… Try to recall?”
Ye Lun was the actor who was starring as the antagonist in “The Grey List”.
The scene of the first time where the police would be arresting him—what was the plot about?
Xiang Wan looked confused and her head was blank. “I couldn’t recall the details! Don’t tell me you actually remembered? Tell me then!”
Her expression told Bai Muchuan that she did not believe he could remember. He raised an eyebrow. “I can’t remember either.”
“…”
“Hi!” As the two of them were talking, they heard a sound coming from behind them.
The female lead of “The Grey List” arrived—Xie Wanwan.
She arrived much later than the rest of the actors and behaved more casually in the film set.
“How come you’re here?” Her assistant took a chair and placed it beside Bai Muchuan. Xie Wanwan sat down slowly and indirectly squeezed Tang Yuanchu to sit behind them. She casually put down the script onto a table. “Could it be someone died in the film set again?” she asked leisurely.
Xiang Wan: “…”
Bai Muchuan glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. “Don’t say such things!”
“Hurhur!” Xie Wanwan laughed, totally not bothered. “If no one died, then why are you here? It’s hard to believe you are here to look at people who are alive?”
Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh, ignoring her tone. “How many scenes do you have today?”
“Two? Maybe… Three?” Xie Wanwan turned to her assistant. After she confirmed that it was three scenes, she shrugged her shoulders. “Filming got delayed when I got hospitalized. Recently, the Director can’t wait to work me to death…”
The way she put it… was totally misleading!
The Director treated her like a princess with due respect, alright?
Her female assistant rolled her eyes quietly, as though she had not heard anything.
“However, Little Bai—” Xie Wanwan suddenly turned to Bai Muchuan and whispered very softly, “I have another intimate scene with Ye Lun later, sigh…”
“Hm?” Bai Muchuan still looked at her from the corner of his eyes, raising his eyebrow in doubt.
“I…” Xie Wanwan hesitated for quite a while. “I’m really nervous!”
Bai Muchuan looked at her quietly.
Xie Wanwan closed her eyes as though she had found something to save her.
“Little Bai… Can you help me out?”
*Help? *Bai Muchuan narrowed his eyes and studied her gaze. “How do I help?”
Xie Wanwan’s gaze slowly drifted past Bai Muchuan to Xiang Wan who was sitting beside him. “Lend me your girlfriend for a kiss or something to improve the atmosphere?”
Bai Muchuan pulled a long face. “It’s better that you should continue to vomit!”
Xie Wanwan: “… You have no sense of righteousness!”
Their whispers were really soft but loud enough for Xiang Wan to hear them.
Of course, if possible, she wished that she did not hear anything so she would not feel the numbness in her scalp…
*What exactly is Xie Wanwan’s sexual orientation? *Did she guess it wrongly after all?
To avoid being the butt of her jokes, Xiang Wan simply looked at her straight in the eye with a smile on her face. “Miss Xie, what is the scene that you are going to shoot later?”
Earlier on Bai Muchuan had said he did not know, surely Xie Wanwan would know?
“I don’t know,” Xie Wanwan directly replied.
“…” Xiang Wan was frozen on the spot.
How can she not know the scene she’s going to act in?
Xie Wanwan saw her unbelievable face and looked at her with a smile. “I’m too lazy to look at the script. Later on the Director will tell us what to do anyway!”
Oh my god! There are actually celebrities who are too lazy to look at their scripts.
Indeed, people who make a living depending on their looks and those who make a living depending on their talent are different…
She was speechless, while Xie Wanwan just smiled and passed her the script which she placed on the table earlier. “If you’re curious, you can take a look.”
“…”
All in all, Xie Wanwan was considered friendly toward her.
Even though Xiang Wan classified her as her number one love rival, she found it hard to dislike this woman.
However…
When Xie Wanwan was chatting with Bai Muchuan casually while Xiang Wan was looking at the script, she found it tough to get anything inside her head…
The script was written very clearly, yet she did not know what the content was about even though she looked through them several times. This was because her ears were focused on their chitchat.
D*rn! Why are women so sensitive? Or maybe she’s the only one like that?
Xiang Wan despised herself for being like this.
“What are you both talking happily about?”
Xiang Wan looked up when she heard the low-pitched chuckle and saw Ye Lun who was dressed up in a showy manner with both of his hands in his pockets.
It seemed that the film set had done make-up on him, for his eyebrows were sharper and colder than usual, drawing out the evil aura in him. He really did look like the antagonist, Qin Shu, in “The Grey List”.
The ancient saying that “humans rely on clothes and make-up” is true. By letting Ye Lun act as the antagonist, it was as though he was acting as himself.
“What business is it of yours?” Xie Wanwan retorted back in an unfriendly manner. But as she was also smiling slightly, it was difficult to tell if she had meant it or not.
As for Ye Lun, he was not angry at all. He directly walked over, pulled a chair, and sat beside Xie Wanwan.
“We have an intimate scene later. We can warm up in advance to get the mood!”
“Hurhur!” Xie Wanwan looked at him from the corner of her eyes. “If it’s another celebrity, maybe I can consider, but if it’s you…”
“You’re right,” Ye Lun continued the conversation, “it must be hard for you to get into the mood when facing a normal person like me, right?”
He had indirectly implied that Xie Wanwan was abnormal.
The two of them were harsh to each other, yet they were able to smile as they retort each other as though they were chatting like old friends. If they were being seen by people further away where they could not hear the content of their conversation, they would surely thought that their relationship were just as per what was said in the internet—that they got along harmoniously and were good friends .
Matters in the entertainment circle really should not be taken seriously. One should keep their eyes half-closed and not believe in it.
“Detective Bai, how did you get the time to come and visit us?” Ye Lun joked with Bai Muchuan, as though he was not affected by the negative online comments and the stress that the case had brought him.
In fact, from what Xiang Wan saw so far, Ye Lun was the only one who was extremely calm in front of Bai Muchuan.
“Work.” Bai Muchuan did not even turn to look at him.
“Oh?” Ye Lun did not mind Bai Muchuan’s cold and aloof attitude toward him. His eyebrows lifted. “You’re really working hard, huh?”
“We should, in order to protect your safety.”
Both of them were good in politically correct words.
Ye Lun laughed and shifted his gaze to Xie Wanwan. “Miss Xie’s not going to the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala tomorrow night?”
“As what you’ve heard,” Xie Wanwan replied indifferently, “you’re going?”
“Of course! How can I not go?” Ye Lun’s long eyes curved, smiling like a fox.
“Appearing in the gala doesn’t pay much,” mocked Xie Wanwan, “it’s so not your style to participate in charity events.”
“It’s good to show compassion from time to time. Right, Detective Bai?” Ye Lun could leap the conversation from one person to another effortlessly…
In his next sentence, he mentioned the male leading character of “The Grey List”, the actor, Yu Ning.
“Look over there, did you notice our male lead did not seem to be in a good mood today?”
At this moment, Yu Ning, accompanied by his assistant, arrived at the filming scene.
He had changed into his police costume and had his make-up done. He looked manly and valiant in the police costume, but it was true that he had a dark, brooding expression.
“Have you noticed? The one who acted as the police looked more like the police?”
Bai Muchuan did not care about the remark whereas Xie Wanwan glared at Ye Lun as though she was looking at a moron.
“Hur!” Ye Lun burst out laughing. “It’s the clothes that make the man. If I’m the one who wears that…”
“If you wear that, you’ll still look like a hooligan!” Xie Wanwan ridiculed him without qualms. “For goodness sake, he’s an A-List celebrity who is so well-known and popular all over the country. You should be glad that you could act beside him. Stop your daydream of being the male lead when you’re riding on his coattails!”
Xie Wanwan really criticized Ye Lun without holding back.
If it was another person, he or she would have left and burst into tears by now.
But Ye Lun was a weird person. No matter how Xie Wanwan reproached him, he did not seem to mind at all.
“Of course, how can I be compared to him?” Ye Lun stretched himself and smiled lazily. “After all, people like me depend on our looks to earn money. As for him, he depends on his body to make money!”
“…”
What kind of news is that?
Xiang Wan was so shocked that her heart was beating faster than usual.
She was thinking if Fang Yuanyuan got to know her idol was being gossiped in this manner, would she be in tears?
Due to Ye Lun’s words, she glanced toward the direction of Yu Ning subconsciously.
By then, Yu Ning had found himself a seat and sat down. The Director walked over to him and gave him a bottle of mineral water. When he talked to Yu Ning, it would seem that he was trying to ingratiate himself to him. However, Yu Ning did not seem like he was putting on airs…
Even within the same filming set, the celebrities were being classified into different ranks.
Xiang Wan was somehow able to understand why Ye Lun had been quite cynical toward the male lead.
Sigh!
Originally, she had thought that celebrities were glamorous and the places they stay should be considered paradise… Never did she expect it was no different from the mundane world: there were greed, anger, obsession, arrogance, and suspicion. These were all traits of the secular world.
“Just shut up!” Xie Wanwan sneered as she rebutted Ye Lun in a low tone. “You have no idea what kind of resources he has and you don’t even know when to shut your mouth up… You should retire and stop being a celebrity. Otherwise, you’re going to ruin yourself because of what you say…”
“Tch, you are concerned about me?” Ye Lun turned to her, his eyes smiling. “I think I’m in the mood now? Why not we tell the Director to start our kissing scene now?”
“Scram!” Xie Wanwan’s expression suddenly turned grim.
One could clearly see her rejection which made Ye Lun’s sarcastic remarks sound reasonable.
“I think the one who should retire from this circle is you. You’re an actress, yet doing a kissing scene is so difficult for you. It’s already so hard for you when I’m an actor with good looks and nice figure. If one day you were asked to do a kissing scene with a big fat, bald man with a pot belly, I can’t imagine what will happen to you?”
“You’re wrong!” Xie Wanwan chuckled and mocked him. “It’s because of you that I felt like throwing up.”
Ye Lun was obviously upset over the last kissing scene incident where he got slapped by Xie Wanwan. That was why he kept on satirizing her that she had a mental problem.
Xie Wanwan hated to be told that she had a psychological problem. Even if she really did have a problem, she didn’t want to be mocked like this.
Hence, she looked at Ye Lun provokingly and repeated herself. “It’s because it’s you, it’s you. Understand?”
Ye Lun’s lips formed a slight curve, revealing a sarcastic smile. “Why not you find one right now that you won’t vomit?”
Find one right now?
Ye Lun’s gaze was on Bai Muchuan.
Xiang Wan felt nervous. Her heart was as though in her mouth…
Frankly, she believed that Xie Wanwan was capable of kissing someone in public…
And Xie Wanwan’s gaze also landed on Bai Muchuan’s face strangely.
… Is she really going to do it? Xiang Wan was so nervous that she wanted to leave the scene when Xie Wanwan suddenly smiled.
“If we talk about looks, you, Ye Lun is indeed good looking, but if you talk about a nice figure… Hurhur…”
No one expected that after Xie Wanwan paused for a while, she laughed and turned to Tang Yuanchu who was sitting behind Bai Muchuan. “You can’t even compare to this young brother over here…”
Tang Yuanchu had never expected that he would be “made used of”.
He was stiff and looked like an idiot with a dazed expression when Xie Wanwan took his arm.
Xie Wanwan smiled as though nothing strange was going on and gave a light peck on Tang Yuanchu’s cheek.
“Young brother, you’re very handsome!”
“…”
Xiang Wan was dumbstruck.
Ye Lun was blown away.
Xie Wanwan was now back to her seat, looking at Ye Lun with a half-smile.
“Do you know why I can kiss him but not you? That’s because he is clean whereas you—you’re, so, dirty.”
“… If I’m dirty, that means you’re a cesspit!”
Gosh, that’s so wicked of him!
Their private quarrel totally turned Xiang Wan’s imagination upside down.
What was scarier was that in the next second when the camera turned and that the Director called their names, both of them instantly wore similarly friendly expressions…
Life is a drama, how far one goes depends on one’s acting skills!
“Everyone get ready to start filming!”
Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun had walked over to the Director together with their assistants. The Director began to tell them about the scene. Same as Yu Ning, the two of them also put on an appropriate smile that showed their seriousness and were focused on what the Director was talking about. Whether it was their body language or their expressions… nobody would have thought the two were just bickering earlier on.
“I’m really astonished! This is really an eye-opener…” Xiang Wan puffed a sigh. “If I have their skill, I certainly won’t be bullied by you!”
Bai Muchuan looked at her casually. “You… better forget it.”
Xiang Wan squinted her eyes unhappily at him. “Don’t look down on me!”
Bai Muchuan smiled. “You can depend on your talent and that will be enough. You don’t need their acting skills.”
The next moment, he changed the topic successfully by looking at Tang Yuanchu. “The one who needed their skills is still in a trance!”
“!”
So embarrassing!
It was clear that Tang Yuanchu had not gotten over the “shock”.
But then again, Xie Wanwan was really barbaric at that moment.
There was totally no warning at all as she directly kissed Tang Yuanchu.
Not only that, after she kissed him, she did not even bother to give an explanation. She totally ignored that poor fellow…
And so, Tang Yuanchu was being made used of just like that.
Xiang Wan looked at Tang Yuanchu sympathetically. “Don’t be sad, Detective Tang,” she comforted, “it’s just a peck on the cheek anyway. Treat it as a greeting…”
“She actually kissed me?” Tang Yuanchu looked at her strangely. “Teacher Xiang, did this really happen? I’m not dreaming, right?”
“…”
Oh my goodness! He must be a fanboy of Xie Wanwan!
Xiang Wan got reminded of the time when she followed Tang Yuanchu and saw Xie Wanwan at a hotel for the first time. That time, his eyes were as though shining when he saw her. Once again, she gained new understanding about men…
*This is too strange! *she thought.
It seemed that they only had one principle—they go for looks.
Fair skin, good looks, and long legs—that’s enough for them.
As for the character, personality, and behavior? Of course, that didn’t exist.
“I’m worried about him for nothing?”
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “The young man’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the ocean!”
“…”
“No, no, no!” Tang Yuanchu’s face was a little red from being abashed. “This incident makes me feel so stressed! What should I do if she wanted to marry me?”
Xiang Wan: “…”
…
The camera positions, background and lightings were ready.
All actors in respective positions—
Director: “Action!”
Production assistant: “‘The Grey List’, fifth scene, first take, camera A–”
It was totally quiet.
The time under the monitor started to jump…
A girl was sitting in a small teahouse by the roadside with a closed book in her hand. She was watching the view outside the lattice window. Her gaze was quiet, and she looked gentle…
“Wanwan!” Ye Lun walked over in big strides, looking slightly anxious. “Why are you still here? Quick! There’s not enough time—you have to come with me!”
Xie Wanwan did not turn her head. “Leave without me! I’m not going anywhere.”
Ye Lun’s facial expression got twisted. “The police is coming soon. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”
“Yes. He’s coming here soon. That’s great.”
The calm and carefree words of the girl totally infuriated the man.
He suddenly flew into a rage, grabbed the girl by the arm, lifted her up from her seat, and hugged her tightly as though he was hugging a frightened rabbit. His good-looking face now seemed hideous and terrifying.
“You hate me so much?”
“Hate you?!” Xie Wanwan laughed suddenly while looking at him. “You… are not worthy.”
The words “not worthy” were as though a knife that pierced through the man’s nerves. Ye Lun suddenly pushed her back to the rattan chair and lowered his head to kiss her—
The rattan chair squeaked due to the sudden movement. Xie Wanwan was gasping for air with a sudden pale face and was struggling!
It’s such an intense scene!
No one spoke outside of the scene!
They were so absorbed in their acting that Xiang Wan’s heart was tightly clasped while watching it.
Thump! At this moment, the door of the old teahouse was being kicked open. Yu Ning and two other policemen dashed in. “Qin Shu—what are you doing? Let her go!”
He raised his gun and pointed at Ye Lun.
Ye Lun laughed like a maniac and grabbed Xie Wanwan in front of him. He also quickly took out his gun and pointed at Xie Wanwan’s temple.
“Prepare a car for us, we want to leave this place!”
“Stop daydreaming!” Yu Ning had a stern expression as he closed in to Ye Lun, walking slowly step by step.
“Don’t move!” Ye Lun moistened the corners of his lips, a bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes. “Come closer again and I’ll shoot her right away!”
“… Let him be, let him shoot me!” shouted Xie Wanwan whose eyes were red. She seemed to have suffered a mental blow and was behaving as though she had lost control. “Qin Shu, shoot if you have guts. We’ll die together, die together!”
Ye Lun suddenly lifted his arm as though he was about to pull the trigger.
At this instant, someone bawled suddenly from behind the shoot.
“Stop! Don’t move!”
The sound came from beside Xiang Wan, who was dazed for a moment. She looked at Bai Muchuan, bewildered.
The crew on the set all turned to look at Bai Muchuan, who had gotten up from his seat when he shouted.
There were some who knew who he was, while some didn’t. Nevertheless, they were all puzzled.
They did not understand why he had to interrupt them from filming the scene.
Bai Muchuan did not explain but walked over with a cold face without looking at anyone. He directly took Ye Lun’s prop gun as well as Qi Ke’s prop gun where he passed them to Tang Yuanchu.
“Examine them!”