The Stand-in Side Character Only Wants to Make Money – CH88

Chapter 88: Another Cross-Dressing Alert

After half an hour of hard work, the makeup artist and stylist had completed their masterpiece.

The once-chatty Chen Yi Bai, who had gotten a little drowsy, finally opened his half-closed eyes and glanced at himself in the mirror.

It looked like him, but at the same time, it didn’t.

He couldn’t tell if the result was good or not after staring at his own face for too long, but judging by the expressions on the producer and the manager, it seemed to be fine.

Everyone spent some time discussing, and in the end, they agreed only to make minor adjustments to the hair. Everything else stayed the same.

That meant they were satisfied. For the film, he had three outfits, which he briefly tried on. There were no issues, no need for alterations, and everything was set.

The shoot had progressed faster than expected, so they wrapped up earlier in the afternoon. Before everyone else returned, Chen Yi Bai had already changed back into his usual white clothes.

He had woken up early that morning, so after he finished, the manager immediately sent him back to his room to rest.

From the window of his room, he could see the hotel entrance and the parking lot below. After heading back, he washed his face and even his hair. With a towel wrapped around his head, he stood by the window, drying his hair and gazing into the distance, as a form of eye care. He just so happened to spot the row of cars pulling up to the hotel.

The once mostly empty parking lot was now completely full. People were getting out of their cars, some crew members wearing vests were carrying equipment into the hotel. With the end of the workday, people seemed to be in high spirits, and in no time, the number of people in the parking lot had dwindled.

After wiping his hair a few more times, Chen Bai turned his gaze away and walked back into the room.

He heard footsteps in the hallway and glanced to the side.

After entering the hotel and parting ways with his assistant, Xu Sinian had taken the elevator alone. Exiting the elevator, he stepped into the hallway. The floor was quiet, with few people around, so even the faintest footsteps echoed loudly.

His pace was fast, and the sound of his black tactical pants rustling as they brushed together mixed with his footsteps.

As he neared the room, the sound of faint footsteps from another direction reached him. He glanced down at his wristwatch to check the time.

There were only a few light taps, but they were quick. In less than three seconds, they were followed by the sound of a door opening.

A light breeze carrying the scent of grass and wood swept past him from behind, and he felt a weight on his body as something strange tightened around his neck.

Chen Bai, who had been lying in wait inside the room, still had a towel on his head. Without missing a beat, he launched a surprise attack, attempting to chokehold Xu Sinian, hanging onto him, and using his body weight to add more force.

Xu Sinian didn’t dodge the ambush Chen Bai had so carefully planned. He stood there, taking it all in, and even raised a hand to hold the wrist crossed in front of him, helping him stabilize his grip.

Glancing at the messy hair just within his line of sight, he asked, “What did I do wrong?”

Normally, this person wouldn’t attack like this unless there was a good reason.

It was a valid question. Chen Bai tightened his grip and said, “You knew I arrived today, yet you came back this late.”

The other crew members had already entered the hotel ages ago, but his good neighbor had been the last to arrive.

He immediately started throwing accusations out of nowhere: “So, you don’t want to see me, huh? Okay, feelings have faded.”

In one sentence, he made two big accusations, not giving the other person any chance to argue in between—truly a master of hurling accusations.

Xu Sinian, whose feelings had indeed faded, didn’t bother to explain. He handed over the bag he was holding and said, “I went to buy a cake. Are you hungry?”

Having gotten up early with no appetite, it was easy to guess that this person hadn’t eaten much for breakfast, probably worked after a long bus ride, and hadn’t eaten anything by now either.

Chen Bai “…”

So, he went to buy a cake and came back late.

The situation took a sharp turn. Chen Bai had now become the villain who falsely accused someone who was just out buying cakes—a heinous crime.

His gaze shifted away, and the professional accuser, Master Chen, tried to quietly climb down from the person’s back. But both his wrists were firmly held, so he couldn’t get off. Instead, he was carried back to the room.

Once inside the room, with the door closed, he finally landed on his feet and saw the pink bag in his neighbor’s hand. The pink bag contrasted sharply with his all-black outfit.

Chen Bai, who really hadn’t eaten much, gratefully muttered a word of thanks to his kind neighbor.

With the arrival of his good neighbor, Chen Bai’s life had gone from just getting by to receiving top-tier treatment. He sat there eating cake while Xu Sinian, the professional hairstylist, helped blow-dry his hair from behind.

As he was biting into the cake, Xu Sinian asked, “When are you joining the crew next?”

Chen Bai paused slightly and cautiously replied, “In more than two months.”

He emphasized the word “more” to make it clear there was still some time between finishing his current shoot and joining the next crew.

Although the “more than two months” statement was a bit questionable, his good neighbor didn’t press further. Instead, he asked, “Did you have a makeup trial today?”

Another direct question, to which Chen Bai kept his answer brief: “Yes.”

Xu Sinian asked how it went.

“Not great,” Chen Bai said, taking another bite of cake. He turned his head and preemptively warned, “Don’t laugh when you see me tomorrow.”

Xu Sinian’s gaze swept over his eyes, and he agreed not to laugh.

That afternoon, after eating the neighbor’s lovingly bought cake and resting for a while, Chen Yi Bai went downstairs to participate in a small script read-through, limited to a few of the residents. He met the director and the actor playing his boyfriend.

The actor’s name was Lin Wanyu. He was tall and surprisingly shy, which was a stark contrast to the thug character he was set to play in the script. He was also very polite, bowing slightly when greeting him, which Chen Yi Bai immediately returned.

The read-through didn’t last long. Everyone had scenes the next day, so they needed to rest early. After half an hour, it ended. Just as he was about to leave, Chen Yi Bai was stopped by someone.

The actor who stopped him asked to exchange contact information. Adding someone’s contact was easy, so he nodded and pulled out his phone.

As a result, everyone around him ended up exchanging contacts. The last to add him as a friend was his shy co-star. After saving the contact, Lin Wanyu bowed his head again and said, “Thank you.”

It was just a quick scan and accept, so Chen Yi Bai waved it off, saying there was no need to thank him.

His night of freedom quickly came to an end as the second day of filming began.

Because his styling was complicated, he got up very early and guzzled black coffee with soy milk while getting dressed. Waking up early and finishing late, his role had the most challenging look to manage. By the time the others had left for the set, he was still sitting in the makeup room.

His agent went out to make a call and, upon returning, glanced at the time and said, “No rush, your scenes aren’t in the first few.”

Chen Yi Bai acknowledged this with a hum.

He had gotten up before sunrise, and by the time he left the hotel and got in the car, the sun was already bright, glaring in his eyes.

The set was in an old street dating back to the last century, located in the county. There were no residents on this street, and by the time they arrived, two scenes had already been shot.

The car pulled up at the side of the road, and the door opened. His agent was still putting on a coat and couldn’t stop Chen Yi Bai, who was already prepared to jump out of the car the moment it stopped.

Completely unaware of the fact that he was wearing a dress, Chen Yi Bai leaped out of the car like his usual self. The hem of his dress and his shoulder-length hair floated in the wind, drawing an arc before settling down.

The timing was perfect—they arrived just as the third scene started. Although the other residents from yesterday were nowhere to be seen, Chen Yi Bai noticed his good neighbor talking to the director.

To be precise, he first saw the director. The director was a head shorter, quietly standing on a step so he could barely match Xu Sinian’s height and communicate on equal footing. The bald patch on the top of the director’s head was more eye-catching than Xu Sinian’s face, visible at a glance.

Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, and with nothing else to do, Chen Yi Bai squatted under a nearby tree.

The director didn’t chat with Xu Sinian for long, as he needed to hurry over to check on the shoot. They exchanged a few words before the director left. Before walking away, he glanced behind and noticed a black figure not too far away.

With a widened gaze, he looked a bit closer and finally recognized who it was. Out of kindness, he motioned toward Xu Sinian and simply said, “Your friend is here.”

Xu Sinian turned around.

The person squatting under the tree had their dress trailing on the ground, one hand supporting their face, and was looking down at their phone. Long black hair hung down, covering most of their face.

As if sensing the gaze, the person lifted their head and looked over.

The sunlight filtered through the tree leaves, casting a greenish shadow. Dappled light fell on their pale face, creating patches of shade. The long, thin ties of the neck bow cascaded down the back, blending with the long hair draped over their slender frame.

Their eyes met, and the squatting person waved, their cool, indifferent features relaxing into a bright smile.

Xu Sinian “…”

For a brief moment, Xu Sinian’s fingers at his side twitched involuntarily.

With his tall frame and long legs, Xu Sinian crossed over to the shaded area in just a few steps. The person squatting down remained in place, waiting for him to approach. Once he got there, they stretched out a hand.

He reached out to help the person on the ground stand up, and with just a little pull, they were on their feet.

As soon as he borrowed the strength, Chen Bai quickly let go of the hand, metaphorically burning the bridge. After standing up, he squinted and took an extra glance at his good neighbor, focusing on the corners of his lips.

Good, there was no sign of laughter.

Feeling satisfied, he casually flipped his hair back over his shoulder and extended his hand in a leadership-like gesture, patting his neighbor on the shoulder. “Very good, Comrade Little Xu really keeps his word.”

He praised his neighbor with satisfaction, not noticing that Comrade Little Xu’s gaze hadn’t settled on him since that first glance. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look—he seemed more like he didn’t dare to.

Xu Sinian reached out to drape the coat he had been carrying over Chen Bai’s shoulders. Lowering his eyes, his lashes veiled the emotions beneath as he said, “The temperature is low; wear an extra layer.”

Chen Bai wanted to say that he already had a coat in the car, but before he could speak, his good neighbor had already quickly draped the coat over him.

So, he cooperated, stretching his arms out and successfully sliding them into the sleeves.

Once again warmed, Chen Bai raised his eyes to see the person in front of him lowering his head to help roll up the cuffs. He noticed something and asked with concern, “Comrade Old Xu, have you been standing in the sun for a while?”

Old Xu didn’t look at him, continuing to roll up the sleeves. “Hmm?”

Chen Bai, being straightforward, replied, “It looks like your ears got a bit sunburned.”

Although it wasn’t very obvious, he, being attentive, could still notice it.

Old Xu fell silent for a rare moment. After a brief pause, he simply said, “Hmm.”

Once the sleeves were properly rolled up, Chen Yi Bai’s agent and assistant, who had been a bit behind, arrived. The assistant had been about to pull out a jacket from their bag but paused upon seeing what was happening. They silently put the jacket back down.

Without lingering, Chen Yi Bai was whisked away by his agent to the filming set for a quick observation.

At that moment, they were filming a scene where the thug and the studious guy were arguing in the hallway because the noise had disrupted the latter’s studying. The middle of the hallway was clear, with people at both ends. Despite usually appearing short next to his good neighbor, Chen Yi Bai was actually quite tall and could see everything clearly from where he stood.

The timid guy he had seen yesterday was now gone. His scene partner, who had the most interactions with him, had completely transformed. With a shaved head and tattoos covering his entire arm, he looked at the studious guy with disdain and annoyance. He embodied a thug even more convincingly than a thug himself, while the studious guy, trembling but still arguing with conviction, held his ground.

It wasn’t just a difference—it was a complete transformation.

Seeing Chen Bai’s prolonged gaze, his agent whispered in a low voice that only he could hear, “The last time you won Best Supporting Actor, Lin Wanyu was one of the other nominees. He was standing right next to you in the group photo.”

Although Lin Wanyu had missed the mark that time and lost to him, there was no doubt that he had real talent.

Chen Bai, having no recollection of this, gave a simple acknowledgment.

His presence went unnoticed until a scene ended, and the assistant director called “cut.” A crew member accidentally glanced over and realized there were two extra people standing behind them.

Chen Yi Bai received the highest level of attention, with even the thug and the studious guy turning to look at him after finishing their scene.

Chen Bai “…”

He chose to smile.

He had a lot of scenes that day, and the next one was his. Without hesitation, he took off the coat that had barely been on for a few minutes. It was cold, but he could endure it, so he went straight on set.

Time was tight and there were many scenes to shoot. He spent the entire day filming multiple scenes, most of them with the thug character.

His good neighbor had already gone to another filming location with an actor playing a friend. Since all of their scenes for the day were shot there, no one was around to chat with him. After successfully completing several scenes in a row, Chen Yi Bai took a break, sat down on the spot, and pulled out his well-worn script.

It seemed like every movie he took part in had action scenes. No matter the role, there was always some fight scene. Even though the thug looked like the one who should be fighting, it was him who had all the action scenes.

Lin Wanyu, the thug character, didn’t have much to say either. He might’ve just been focused on improving, as he sat nearby quietly studying the script, which was covered with highlighted sections and annotations.

In contrast to his character, who was quick to curse, Lin Wanyu, with his tattooed arm, was very reserved. They sat together for half the day without him uttering a single word.

It wasn’t until dinner, when the crew brought over food, that the quiet thug finally lifted his gaze from the script and said, “Chen…”

But Chen Bai had already left his small stool, having spotted his good neighbor returning from filming. Lifting the bothersome hem of his dress, he jogged over and practically disappeared into the darkness, his voice calling out “Comrade Old Xu” still faintly audible amid the noise.

That evening, although Chen Bai didn’t have any scenes with his good neighbor, he got the chance to watch his filming on set.

From every angle, his good neighbor exuded an overwhelming presence.

Though he usually spoke calmly, his tone rather soothing, and his gaze gentle, when working, his dark eyes became bottomless, and a single glance could pierce right through a person.

Chen Bai “…”

While everyone around was still watching, Chen Bai quickly flipped through his script, landing on the well-thumbed fight scene.

He had a fight scene with the main character’s friend and another one with the main character himself.

The fight with the main character involved, but wasn’t limited to, an attempt to cut their throat and a sneak attack from behind.

Catching his agent’s gaze from the side, he glanced at the script, then at his good neighbor’s toned frame under his black outfit. His eyebrows twitched, and he pointed at his own arms and legs with wide eyes. “Cutting his throat? Me?”

The agent, thinking about the upcoming scene, patted his shoulder in reassurance. “At least that fight scene is at the end. We’re filming a different one first.”

Chen Bai fell into deep thought about how to stage the fight, contemplating all the way until he got into the car after the last scene. He was trying to figure out how his good neighbor could be positioned to allow him to complete the throat-cutting and sneak attack moves.

Before he could overthink it, his agent cut him off. Setting aside the unused jacket from earlier, she glanced out the window at the other crew members also preparing to leave. She asked, “How do you feel about acting with Lin Wanyu? Isn’t he quite good?”

“Pretty good.”

Chen Bai’s evaluation standard was simple and straightforward: as long as the scenes were filmed quickly, it was good. He finally stopped thinking about the “faking it” part. After a brief thought, he added, “But he doesn’t talk much.”

He noticed how seriously the other actor was reading the script, so he didn’t disturb him. For the first time, Chen Bai achieved the feat of sitting with someone for over an hour with zero conversation.

“Not talkative?” The manager glanced out the window and happened to see the “gangster” and “grad student” actors chatting on the side of the road. “I saw him chatting quite happily with the actor playing the grad student tonight. They seem to get along.”

Chen Bai leaned back and shrugged, “Guess we just don’t click.”

Making friends relies on fate. Not everyone can get along, and he didn’t force it.

His attitude was relaxed, so the manager didn’t press the issue. As the car started, she glanced at her phone and reported the latest news to someone who never paid attention to online updates: “Your show is now ranked number one in viewership, and the reviews are pretty good. You might even have a shot at being crowned the drama king this year.”

Knowing that he likely had no concept of what that meant, she rephrased it: “Basically, it means you’ll make a good amount of money.”

Since the show aired, the profits he would get from the bonus already far exceeded the portion of the salary he initially gave up. The earnings after the show finished would likely be substantial.

She added, “Congratulations, you’re one step closer to your big goal.”

Chen Bai smiled and acknowledged it.

The production was working to stay on schedule. After several calm day shifts, Chen Bai followed the crew’s original plan and faced his first major night shoot, which was also his first action scene.

The action sequence was a chase through the hallways and stairwells of a residential building. In May, it got dark early, so by dusk, the crew was already setting up. The narrow stairwell was crowded with equipment.

Though it was dark outside, the stairwell was brightly lit, almost like daytime. The space bustled with people, and Chen Yi Bai, wearing a jacket, went through the scene’s movements with the action director.

His scene was critical, so tonight’s shoot focused solely on this sequence. Normally, actors who weren’t needed could leave, but Lin Wanyu and the actor playing the grad student stayed to observe.

Xu Sinian also stayed, not for any particular reason—just to keep an eye on things.

“Okay, so you’ll vault over here, lower your center of gravity, and slide down. When you get to this point, prepare to jump and grab your friend by the neck.”

The action director walked through the scene step by step, then looked up at Chen Yi Bai standing on the stairs. “Got it?”

Chen Yi Bai nodded, and without hesitation, placed his hands on the railing, vaulted over it, and let go to give it a try.

“?”

His movements were so fast and decisive that no one had time to react. One moment, he was there, and the next, he was flying through the air. Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat as their minds went blank for a second.

He flew out—and then flew back.

He was caught and pulled back by Xu Sinian, who had been quietly standing nearby.

Everyone’s hearts were still pounding, and after a moment’s pause, the crew set about laying out additional safety mats around the stairs.

When the sky was fully dark and all the equipment was set up, the bright lights were turned off, and the stairwell took on a more natural, dimly lit appearance.

In the scene, the protagonist’s friend suspected something was off about the building but had no evidence. In the dead of night, he returned to investigate and encountered a tenant in a supposedly empty room on the third floor. Without hesitation, he ran for the stairs.

The hallway echoed with heavy breathing and frantic footsteps, which soon turned into the sound of running down the stairs. Using his quick reflexes, the protagonist’s friend managed to widen the distance between him and the tenant. Just as he reached the first floor and was about to exit the building, the footsteps behind him suddenly stopped. He turned around.

No one was on the stairs. The figure in the long black dress had vaulted onto the banister, pushed off with one hand, and leaped from the second-floor railing. Mid-leap, she untied the black ribbon from her neck. The ribbon and her long hair flew back in the wind, and the black dress flared with a sharp whooshing sound.

In an instant, the distance shortened and the light from the exit reflected a pair of astonishingly beautiful pale gray pupils, which were cold and disdainful, as if looking at a dead person.