Chapter 48: The Prince, the Actor, and the Text
Inside the film crew’s dressing room.
Gu Tang sat in front of the mirror with his little head tilted up and his eyes squeezed shut, making it easier for the makeup artist to work on his face.
To keep the costume from getting stained, he also had a small towel wrapped over his shoulders.
At a glance, he looked obedient and adorable.
“His skin is so good, and he’s so handsome. I barely even need to do anything!”
Even the professional makeup artist, someone used to seeing celebrities, could not help praising him.
The costume stylist, who was currently adjusting the accessories on Gu Tang’s costume beside him, chimed in, “His figure is excellent too. He looks good in anything.”
Gu Tang was embarrassed by all the praise. He kept his eyes shut and said nothing, though the tips of his ears turned slightly red.
The makeup artist asked curiously, “Where did the director find this little actor? Has he really never been on camera before? That doesn’t seem possible…”
With this boy’s looks, if he still had not entered the industry by now, that could only mean the talent scouts at all the entertainment companies were incompetent.
Completely useless.
Gu Tang did not need to answer for himself. The costume stylist leaned over and, without avoiding him at all, directly told the makeup artist, “Tangtang belongs to the producer’s family. The former Best Actress Shen’s.”
The makeup artist froze for a moment, then suddenly understood. “Oh! Well, that explains it… powerful genes really are different!”
Gu Tang did not deny it.
When he had first arrived on set, Auntie Shen had taken such careful care of him that many people in the crew assumed he and Auntie Shen were biological mother and son. He had wanted to explain, but Auntie Shen told him that people in the industry loved gossip too much and there was no need to explain everything so clearly. So Gu Tang had no choice but to let it go.
Just as the makeup on his face was finished, he pursed his lips and smiled at the makeup artist and the costume stylist. “Thank you, teachers.”
Gu Lin had told him before that in the entertainment industry, if you met someone and did not know how to address them, you should just call them “teacher.”
Gu Tang had remembered that and politely called everyone around him “teacher.”
Hearing the boy’s sincere thanks, both the makeup artist and the costume stylist felt pleased and touched. They had not expected the Gu family’s young master to be so polite and gentle. In comparison, many people in the industry who had even a little status acted arrogantly toward others.
Once you saw enough people, comparisons naturally appeared.
The makeup artist and costume stylist became even more attentive to Gu Tang’s appearance.
They kept fussing over him for another half an hour.
Gu Tang: “…”
Yes, the teachers were just a little too enthusiastic!
Only after the two of them finally finished and left did Gu Tang have time to pick up his phone.
Young Master Gu had left in a hurry, and he had even abducted his little bear with him.
That night, when Young Master Gu had come into his room, Gu Tang had still thought it was a dream. Then the next morning, he learned that Young Master Gu and Papa Gu had already flown overseas.
In a daze, Gu Tang had completed the key plot mission “Force the Male Lead to Go Abroad,” gaining 100 life points and a full ten plot coins.
The rewards were definitely satisfying.
But no matter how much he thought about it, Gu Tang still could not understand.
He had not done anything at all, so how had Young Master Gu still gone abroad exactly like in the original plot?
Fortunately, this time Young Master Gu was not alone. Papa Gu was with him the entire time.
Later, Auntie Shen told him that Young Master Gu was meant to inherit the family business in the future. Under normal circumstances, following his father to learn how to become the head of the Gu family was also a required course. Sixteen was a little early, but not ridiculously early.
Gu Tang asked worriedly, “Then when will Niannian come back? What about his studies?”
“Academics are important too, but if he cannot handle both his studies and the family business, then he may as well not be the family head at all.”
That was what Auntie Shen had told him.
Gu Tang shuddered when he heard it.
He had always known that Young Master Gu was under a lot of pressure, but he had never realized it was to this extent.
Compared to that, Gu Tang, who spent every day eating, playing, and relaxing, suddenly felt a little guilty.
But only a very tiny bit guilty.
Gu Tang had no grand ambitions. He just wanted to go with the flow. Before the plot point where the male lead would crush him happened, all he needed to do was stay obediently tucked away in the Gu family.
That was also the role of the cannon-fodder fake young master.
Gu Tang leaned against the sofa in boredom, his finger sliding across the phone screen.
His chat history with Young Master Gu was still stuck at three days ago.
The last message was one he had sent. It was not anything important, so Young Master Gu had not replied. Gu Tang did not even know if he had seen it.
“So busy…”
Gu Tang muttered to himself.
Knowing that the other person was busy, and that there was a time difference between the two countries, Gu Tang did not dare call for fear of disturbing Young Master Gu’s sleep.
The messages he sent often just sank without a trace.
Sometimes, after a very, very long time, all he would get back was a single “mm.”
Thinking back to what Young Master Gu had said that night, Gu Tang puffed up his lips unhappily. “How can there be such a thing as making someone miss you one-sidedly?”
Young Master Gu had not only stolen his little bear, he had repeatedly told him that he absolutely had to miss him.
And he had.
But Young Master Gu ignored him.
Gu Tang glared at Young Master Gu’s profile picture on the screen—it was still a photo of the white jade little gourd on his own wrist.
He raised his hand and jabbed the “little gourd” twice with force.
The chat box displayed: “Gu Tang” patted “Niannian” on the head.
Even so, there was still no response from the other side.
Gu Tang: “Hmph.”
[Host, what happened? Are you in a bad mood?]
The system, which had been gone for several days, suddenly spoke inside his head.
This one was heartless too.
Gu Tang huffed angrily, “Looks like you had a great time.”
[Hehe, vacation was amazing!]
[It’s all thanks to how hard you worked on your tasks, Host. You completed the important phase mission “Force the Male Lead to Go Abroad,” so the main system rewarded me with a few days off! Thank you, Host!]
The system had a sweet mouth, and Gu Tang never held grudges for long, so they quickly made up.
Gu Tang grew curious about the system’s life. “Where do systems go on vacation?”
[Virtual themed spaces! Senior even came with me! Senior is so nice!]
The moment the system mentioned that senior, Gu Tang’s brow twitched. “What kind of virtual themed space did you go to?”
[A little dark room. It was super exciting!]
Gu Tang: “?!!!”
He suddenly felt like his cannon-fodder little system might have been tricked by that deranged yandere senior system…
But the system did not think so at all. It was still basking in the joy of its vacation.
[Do you want me to tell you all about it?]
Gu Tang refused decisively. “No need!”
He had no interest in little dark rooms.
At that moment, Fang Chi came back with lunch, carrying a big pile of food as he squeezed into the dressing room.
“Little Director…”
Gu Tang turned to look at him, and Fang Chi immediately changed his wording. “Tangtang, there’s shrimp. Do you want some?”
Gu Tang loved shrimp, but he was wearing a heavy and complicated costume, and he was afraid peeling shrimp would dirty it, so he shook his head.
Fang Chi slapped his chest. “Don’t worry, just eat. I’ll peel them for you.”
Gu Tang felt a bit embarrassed. “Wouldn’t that be too much trouble…”
“Not at all, not at all!”
Fang Chi washed his hands spotlessly clean and even put on disposable gloves before beginning his great shrimp-peeling mission. “The student council president ordered this shrimp. He told me there’d be a bonus if I peeled shrimp for you. Hehe.”
Gu Tang: “?”
“Niannian contacted you?”
Fang Chi nodded openly. “Of course he did. He sent me a whole long list of your daily habits—what you like to eat, what you don’t like to eat, what time you go to sleep, everything crystal clear. Thanks to the president, I’ve been taking perfect care of Tangtang these past few days.”
After Gu Tang decided he wanted to play the Ninth Prince, Shen Ningqing and Gu Lin had both been delighted.
They immediately said they would arrange an assistant for him.
When Gu Tang heard that assistants were paid well, he thought of Fang Chi, who was doing work-study, and asked whether he was interested.
Fang Chi had accepted eagerly, saying over and over again, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
What Gu Tang had not expected was that Young Master Gu had also been contacting Fang Chi behind the scenes.
In an instant, Gu Tang felt a little unhappy.
If Young Master Gu had time to tell Fang Chi how to take care of him and feed him, why did he have no time to talk to him?
But… the shrimp was so delicious, sob sob sob…
Gu Tang chewed the fresh, tender, springy shrimp meat, and that tiny bit of unhappiness quickly vanished into thin air.
To protect the costume, Fang Chi even turned the little towel draped over Gu Tang’s shoulders to the front and tucked it in carefully, making it look like a little bib.
It was not very stylish, but it made eating much more convenient.
“Fang Chi, you’re really good at this!”
Gu Tang praised him.
Back in his previous life, before he was about to die, there had been a long period when he was too weak to leave his bed. At that time, everything had depended on the hospital caretakers.
Now, Gu Tang realized that many of Fang Chi’s movements when taking care of people actually looked quite professional.
“Of course!”
Fang Chi puffed out his chest proudly. “I studied professional nursing!”
Gu Tang was surprised. “Just how many things have you studied besides school?”
Fang Chi smiled shyly. “The more skills you have, the more ways you have to survive.”
He was very grateful he had learned so much, because now he could personally take care of the little director.
And the pay was not bad at all.
It was far better than doing odd jobs outside. It was basically a dream job!
Since Gu Tang had spent so much time in the hospital, he grew curious. “What kind of nursing did you study?”
Fang Chi answered bluntly, “Specialized care for paralyzed patients!”
Gu Tang: “……”
He lowered his head and looked at the little bib tied over his chest, then glanced at his hands and feet hidden beneath the costume, hard to take out.
Gu Tang said nothing more.
He just lowered his head and kept eating shrimp.
And continued being his “paralyzed patient.”
After they finished eating together, they started doing winter break homework.
Yes.
Gu Tang still had winter break homework to do.
Students had to focus on studying, so even though he had come to act in a film, the winter break homework could not stop.
He had no idea how Young Master Gu was handling his homework, but just imagining him in a proper business suit, seriously talking through work matters, and then going back to the hotel to do winter break homework afterward was…
really funny!
“Pfft—”
Gu Tang burst out laughing and took a glance at his phone.
Well done.
Still no reply to his message.
Gu Tang fumed, “If I send him another message, I’m a pig.”
The system immediately spoke up excitedly.
[Host, I recorded that!]
Gu Tang did not know what the system was so happy about. In any case, he definitely was not going to miss Young Master Gu anymore, hmph.
Gu Tang tossed his phone aside and threw himself into the embrace of winter break homework.
Homework was the kind of thing that felt especially painful when you first started the first problem, but once you really focused, it actually went quickly.
By the time Fang Chi was still scratching his head, Gu Tang had already finished his.
“I’m going out for a bit. If there are any problems you can’t solve, leave them. I’ll teach you when I come back.”
Gu Tang patted Fang Chi on the shoulder, then lifted the dragging hem of his costume and walked out of the dressing room.
Normally, a tiny role with absolutely no status like his would never have had a private dressing room.
But this had been arranged by Shen Ningqing and Gu Lin, and Gu Tang could not refuse it, so he simply accepted.
At first he had worried that this special treatment would make the other actors in the crew unhappy, but to his surprise, the atmosphere on set was quite good. The other actors could understand that a high school student needed a quiet environment to do homework, and so a private dressing room was nothing much.
Besides, the room had been set up with their own family’s money.
What was there for others to complain about?
When Gu Tang stepped outside, they were filming a scene between the male lead Crown Prince and the Empress.
It was a scene full of conflict, packed with tension, and very difficult.
The actress playing the Empress was Best Actress Li Weiwei.
For more than ten years, Li Weiwei had carefully honed her acting skills and firmly secured her status as Best Actress. With Shen Ningqing having retreated behind the scenes, there was no actress of the same generation who could really rival Li Weiwei anymore.
Gu Tang was not worried about his godmother at all. He believed Li Weiwei could absolutely hold the scene.
So he turned his gaze toward the other actor in the scene—
the male lead Crown Prince.
This film was a male-led drama, and the actor playing the Crown Prince was carrying the entire story.
Gu Tang had heard people on set discussing him before. They said he was a newcomer strongly promoted by Xinglin Media, and that his very first role was already a male lead. His billing even ranked above Best Actress Li.
But Gu Tang had also clearly heard his little uncle say that the person playing the male lead was crazy and perverted.
In any case, it was not praise.
His little uncle did not like him, and yet he still promoted him heavily.
That was too strange!
Gu Tang was curious to see what kind of person he really was.
On set, the Empress gave a cold laugh. “You’ve doted on Ninth all his life, so I insist on making him fight you for the throne. Let’s see whether you can bear to strike him down.”
The Crown Prince lowered his long lashes, holding a teacup in his hand. “He is your biological son.”
The Empress raised a brow. “So what? Aren’t you his biological older brother too?”
“Crash—”
The teacup shattered.
The very next second, the hand holding the cup had already closed around the Empress’s throat.
“Cut————”
“Pass!”
The moment the director called it, a burst of support cheers came from nearby. “Yu Yang! Yu Yang!!!”
Gu Tang froze when he heard the name.
That name…
felt a little familiar.
Looking more carefully, this man called Yu Yang looked somewhat familiar too, but no matter how he tried, Gu Tang just could not remember where he had seen him before.
Before he could think harder, someone suddenly pulled him into a hug.
“My precious baby, godmother missed you so much!”
Best Actress Li wrapped him in a hug and vigorously rubbed his fluffy little head.
Fortunately, he was only wearing the costume and had not yet put on the wig.
Otherwise it would have been rubbed right off.
Gu Tang obediently called out to her, which only made Li Weiwei hug him tighter.
He was not sure whether it was just his imagination, but Gu Tang felt as though Yu Yang glanced their way. However, when he lifted his eyes to look, all he saw was the other man’s long back.
The loose, trailing costume hung from those straight shoulders.
He really did look like a lonely emperor.
This film told the story of the Crown Prince’s path to the throne. Though he ultimately stood at the peak of power, he lost the person he loved most, and also the younger brother who shared his blood.
Gu Tang thought Yu Yang’s aura suited the role very well.
As expected, Auntie Shen and little uncle had excellent taste in casting.
Seeing Gu Tang staring blankly, Best Actress Li rubbed his head again. “What are you looking at? Godmother asked you—did you get your birthday present? Do you like it?”
Gu Tang answered properly, “You still can’t drive at sixteen.”
Every year, Best Actress Li sent expensive gifts, and Gu Tang could not refuse them even if he wanted to.
This year, she had actually had a sports car delivered directly to the Gu house.
Best Actress Li smoothed her hair back. “Really? Well, it won’t be long.”
Then she muttered, “Oh dear, in two years that model will be old. I’ll buy you a new one then.”
“No, no! I really like it! There’s no need to replace it!”
Gu Tang waved his hands frantically, afraid she would spend money recklessly again.
Best Actress Li clicked her tongue and tapped him lightly on the forehead. “Godmother is helping you keep up appearances. Whether the Gu family treats you well or not is another matter, but godmother will always be your safe harbor.”
Gu Tang pursed his lips and smiled obediently. “Thank you, godmother.”
Maybe heaven had pitied him for not having a mother’s love in his previous life, so in this life he had suddenly been given two mothers at once.
“Oh right.”
Best Actress Li suddenly seemed to remember something and rubbed her neck. “Later, when you do scenes with that lunatic, be careful.”
The lunatic was Yu Yang.
Gu Tang looked confused. “What happened?”
Best Actress Li lifted her chin for him to see. “Look what he did to my neck! I’ve seen crazy people before, but never one this crazy. Last time there was a kneeling scene, and there were still shards of broken porcelain on the ground. He just dropped straight to his knees with a bang. It scared me half to death…”
Minor injuries and bumps while filming were unavoidable, and some directors even demanded real physical contact in pursuit of realism.
“But someone who’s that ruthless toward himself is really rare.”
Best Actress Li took Gu Tang’s hand worriedly. “Don’t you have a pretty intense scene with him? Pay attention to your safety.”
Gu Tang nodded. “Mm-hmm, got it.”
“Alright then, next scene I’m going to enjoy playing the real mother!”
Best Actress Li happily took Gu Tang’s hand and led him toward the set.
The Ninth Prince Gu Tang played was the Empress’s biological son. He had a soft and adorable personality. In public, he respectfully called her “Royal Mother,” but in private he called her “Mother” over and over again. Best Actress Li enjoyed it immensely and took the opportunity during filming to feed Gu Tang all kinds of little snacks, completely indulging in the joy of motherly love and filial piety.
Because she was acting with such genuine emotion, and because her expression was so perfect, Gu Tang’s scenes with Best Actress Li basically passed in one take.
The director praised them endlessly, though Li Weiwei herself was still a bit dissatisfied.
“Director, should we do a few more takes?”
The famously hardworking Best Actress Li, who usually despised retakes, actually volunteered for one, but the director ignored her completely and just shut off the monitor and walked away.
Best Actress Li clicked her tongue. “Tch!”
What was wrong with wanting to hear “Mother” a few more times!
After a full day of filming, Gu Tang felt more confident too.
He had never acted before, and he had always worried that he would perform badly and make the other actors retake scenes because of him.
He had not expected it to go so smoothly!
When he returned to the dressing room, Fang Chi felt sorry for him after seeing him wear that heavy costume and film for so long, so he stepped forward to help him take it off.
Gu Tang waved him away. “I’ll do it myself.”
Fang Chi answered and went out to take care of something else first.
Standing before the mirror, Gu Tang looked at himself.
Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he took out his phone and snapped a selfie at the mirror.
Then he immediately sent it to Young Master Gu.
[Niannian, does my costume look good?]
Even though he was asking about the costume, Gu Tang was smiling sweeter than ever, his small face rosy and soft.
The system’s dissatisfied voice sounded in his head.
[Host, didn’t you say you weren’t going to message him anymore?]
Gu Tang played dumb. “Huh? I forgot.”
[…]
The system immediately played back the recording for him.
“If I send him another message, I’m a pig!”
“If I send him another message, I’m a pig!”
…
Gu Tang said, “Turn it off. We’re still friends.”
Under the host’s tyranny, the system could only shut off the recording resentfully.
[Hmph. Men.]
Gu Tang ignored the system completely. His finger poked Young Master Gu’s profile picture again and patted it once more, while he pressed his lips together and smiled.
“Sending messages to your girlfriend?”
A male voice suddenly came from behind him.
“Niannian isn’t a girl…”
He had only gotten halfway through the explanation before he suddenly reacted.
Turning around, he saw Yu Yang, already done with makeup removal, leaning against the dressing-room doorframe with his arms folded.
“Sorry. I saw the door was open, so I came to take a look.”
Yu Yang’s brows curved, and the corners of his mouth curved too, but off-camera, his smile looked very fake, like he was wearing a mask over his face.
Staring at that face, Gu Tang froze for a moment.
That fake smile felt very familiar, but he still could not place it. He pointed at the other man and opened his mouth.
“You don’t recognize me?”
Yu Yang raised a hand and covered the upper half of his face. “What about like this?”
“The silver ski suit!”
Gu Tang blurted it out.
At the ski resort, when he had first seen the man in the silver ski suit, the goggles had covered most of his face, leaving only the lower half exposed. Later, when they met again at night, the lighting had been too dim, so Gu Tang had only seen a vague outline of his features.
That was why he had not recognized him right away earlier.
Seeing that Gu Tang finally recognized him, Yu Yang curved his lips.
This smile finally looked a little more genuine.
Gu Tang tilted his head. “But why does your name sound so familiar?”
“Does it?”
Yu Yang looked in a very good mood. “Maybe we’re just fated.”
After saying that, he smiled at Gu Tang and turned to leave.
Gu Tang called after him, “Wait.”
Yu Yang turned his head. “Hm?”
“You’re hurt.”
Gu Tang took disinfectant and bandages out of a drawer, walked over to Yu Yang, and took his hand. “This happened when you crushed the teacup just now, right? You didn’t notice it yourself?”
There were a few cuts on Yu Yang’s fingers.
Ten fingers were connected to the heart, as they said. Just looking at them hurt.
Being held by the boy’s soft fingers made the smile on Yu Yang’s face stiffen for a moment.
But he quickly controlled his expression and let Gu Tang bandage him.
When he saw Gu Tang frowning, Yu Yang lowered his head and said, “No need to worry. The cuts are shallow. They might even heal before you finish wrapping them.”
Gu Tang: “……”
These wounds would not heal in a week!
He suddenly understood why little uncle had said this person was crazy and perverted.
Yu Yang really seemed unable to feel pain himself.
After the bandaging was done, Yu Yang lifted the wrapped hand and waved it lightly at him as he slowly walked out of the dressing room.
Only then did Gu Tang suddenly remember.
He grabbed his phone and flipped through the family group chat records in “The Loving Gu Family.”
Very quickly, he found the name “Yu Yang.”
It was the exact same person who had slipped into the family group before and sent birthday red packets to him and Gu Qinian.
“Yu Yang is Little Auntie???”
Gu Tang’s face was full of confusion. Then after thinking it over, he shook his head.
That was not right at all.
How could Little Auntie be a man?!!
No, this was important! He had to tell Young Master Gu!
[You just want an excuse to send him a message…]
The system mercilessly exposed its host.
Gu Tang’s face went red. “Shut up!”
[Hmph. Men.]
—
In the faraway country of S.
Gu Quan had just finished discussing an acquisition deal and turned to look at his son in his suit. “I really didn’t expect you’d be willing to come along.”
After all, the father-son relationship was usually icy.
When his wife had suggested that he bring their son out to gain experience, he had actually worried that Gu Qinian would refuse.
Yet unexpectedly, he had come along obediently.
After observing him these past few days, Gu Quan had been delighted to discover that Gu Qinian was even stronger than he himself had been at the same age, truly showing signs of surpassing his father.
Gu Quan felt reassured.
The Gu family had a worthy successor.
With his son’s abilities, perhaps he really could retire early and take his wife traveling around the world.
Still, Gu Quan could not understand one thing. “What suddenly made you interested in the position of head of the Gu family?”
Gu Qinian lifted his eyes to look at his father and did not answer the question directly.
Instead, he asked, “Back then, when Grandpa married Grandma Mei, the family opposed it, didn’t they?”
Gu Quan did not understand why his son was bringing up such an old matter.
But he still answered, “Because Mei had once worked as a croupier, and some of the more old-fashioned people in the family felt that profession wasn’t respectable. But at the time, your grandfather was already the family head, so no matter how many voices opposed it, it was useless.”
Gu Qinian nodded, then asked, “And when you married Mom, people didn’t think well of it either, right?”
Gu Quan gave a cold laugh. “Those Gu collateral relatives were bored out of their minds. They dared to call your mother an actress as an insult. By then I was already the family head, so I uprooted all of them completely. That way, since they were eating too well, at least they couldn’t keep running their mouths.”
Gu Qinian nodded deeply. “I understand.”
Then he turned and left.
Gu Quan: “???”
Wait.
Why did he suddenly feel like the seat under his own butt was becoming unstable?
And also! Had his son fallen for someone the family would oppose?!
Gu Qinian did not speak much with his father.
He went all the way back to the hotel room, loosening his tie halfway there.
Country S was a passionate and uninhibited place. Seeing a tall, handsome, exquisitely beautiful Eastern boy walking toward them, some girls stepped forward to ask Young Master Gu for his contact information and invited him out.
Gu Qinian did not even spare them a glance. “No time. I have winter break homework to do.”
Girls: “???”
A boy this outstanding was actually underage?!
Back in the hotel room.
Gu Qinian’s gaze landed on the sofa.
The little bear he had kidnapped from Gu Tang was still lying there with its butt sticking up, sprawled over his winter break homework.
He lifted his wrist and checked the time. On Gu Tang’s side, it was already deep night.
He wanted to contact him, but did not want to wake him.
Gu Qinian sighed, sat down beside the little bear, and touched the bear ear that Gu Tang loved nibbling on. Then he pulled out his phone and began the happiest part of every day—checking whether Gu Tang had sent him a message.
Today, not only was there a message.
There was even a photo!
Young Master Gu sat up slightly straighter.
In the photo, the refined and adorable boy wore long hair with a jade crown. His black robe embroidered with hidden gold looked both noble and beautiful. His expression was lively and bright, and his cheeks were rosy, as though a little prince untouched by the world had jumped straight out of a storybook.
When he took the photo, he had leaned forward slightly, and the costume collar sat a bit too low, exposing a stretch of pale white neck and elegantly shaped collarbone.
Gu Qinian suddenly felt his throat go dry.
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
He reached out, grabbed the little bear lying beside him, and inhaled deeply.
***
Author’s Note:
Gu Niannian: One deep inhale of my wife’s little bear, and I’m alive again!
