TA •Chapter 41

Chapter 41

They never said where the video would be shot, neither Xu Ding nor Cheng Ke, and Jiang Yuduo felt embarrassed to ask. Cheng Ke first looked through the material on the paper, then talked with Xu Ding and Lin Xu off and on.

Everything they talked about had to do with filming. Jiang Yuduo did not understand it. The only "shooting" he had ever come into contact with was Chen Qing’s little videos.

So he could only keep tilting his head and looking out the window.

The car kept heading south, through the city and out to the suburbs.

There were quite a few farms and homesteads out here. It was so cold now, yet there were still plenty of cars parked at the entrance.

"It’s already this late, and people still came out here to do what?" Cheng Ke asked.

"It’s almost New Year. They want to experience the atmosphere of the village before the holiday, sleep on heated brick beds, that sort of thing," Xu Ding said. "Anyway, if someone wants to have fun, everything feels interesting to them."

"That’s true," Cheng Ke said after thinking it over. "What we’re filming today is like that too? Rustic-style videos?"

"No," Xu Ding said with a laugh. "There’s one thing of ours in it, a bleak style."

"What does bleak style look like?" Lin Xu asked.

That was also what Jiang Yuduo wanted to ask, so he listened carefully for the answer.

"It’s basically having nothing at all," Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

Cheng Ke turned his head and smiled at him.

This was the first time Cheng Ke had smiled since getting in the car. Before that, he had been pretty serious, whether they were discussing things or just chatting casually, and he seemed a bit hard to approach.

People with culture probably looked like that when they got serious.

But now that he smiled like this, Jiang Yuduo actually felt a little flattered.

Just when he was about to say something to Cheng Ke, Cheng Ke had already turned his head away again.

Jiang Yuduo had no choice but to keep looking out the window.

The car stopped in front of a detached little courtyard, and several other cars were already parked there.

The few of them got out. Jiang Yuduo looked around. This courtyard was a little different from the farmyards they had seen before. It should have been a rural courtyard too, but much bigger, like a farmhouse-style villa.

"The set’s set up in back. We’ll shoot the outdoor snow scene when it’s warm at noon, the rest should be easy," Xu Ding said.

"Mm." Cheng Ke responded.

Jiang Yuduo followed at the very back. This unfamiliar environment, and these unfamiliar people, made him a little tense… No, what made him tense wasn’t actually the unfamiliarity. Normally he did not always see people he knew, and he was not forever staying in places he was familiar with.

It was this kind of… scene he could not imagine at all.

It wasn’t whether it was familiar or not, but the distance, people and scenes that were very far away, ones he normally had no contact with at all.

For many people, this would probably feel curious, novel. But for Jiang Yuduo, it made him a little at a loss, completely losing control, and losing any sense of safety.

"Come here." Cheng Ke had somehow walked in front of him and shoved a cup of hot tea into his hand. "This way."

Cheng Ke was the only person here he was familiar with. When he heard Cheng Ke’s voice, Jiang Yuduo’s dazed mood eased a little. He looked around.

They had already passed through the first floor of the farmstead and reached a hall at the back. Beyond that was a platform and the backyard.

The decor in this hall was rather special. It felt plain, but elegant at the same time, with all kinds of raw-wood furniture and some incomprehensible paintings. The smell inside the room blended through the windows with the snowy yard outside.

Cheng Ke led him to a small sofa in the corner. "Just sit here and watch. You won’t get in their way here."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded.

"If you get bored watching," Cheng Ke said, "you can go look around in the other rooms. This place is a private museum, open to the public for free. You can look around however you want."

"Museum?" Jiang Yuduo blinked.

"Mm," Cheng Ke said with a smile. "Just some art pieces they collected themselves."

"Oh, I see." Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke was pretty busy, after all he was the main subject of the shoot. After arranging him on the sofa, he went off.

Jiang Yuduo sat down on the sofa and took a sip of the hot tea.

It should have been very good tea, fragrant. He never drank tea, but this still tasted nice. Maybe it was because the sofa was soft, and this angle let him see the entire hall in front of him. He gradually settled down.

Being able to see every corner and every person was safety to him.

There weren’t that many people in the hall. With one glance, he could almost see everyone, and he could also tell whether there was a problem.

For now, everyone looked like ordinary staff, and each of them had something in hand.

Cheng Ke and Xu Ding went into the room beside them. Jiang Yuduo suddenly felt restless, but in this situation he could not possibly follow them, so he could only keep staring at the door.

It was only a few minutes before the two of them came back out. Cheng Ke had changed clothes.

Jiang Yuduo froze. He had never seen Cheng Ke wear this kind of outfit before… Of course, no one usually wore clothes that looked like that, like a martial arts master.

He did not know the specific name of the clothes, but once worn, they made one look like a great master who had gone into the mountains to live in seclusion.

And then came makeup… makeup?

He actually still had to put on makeup.

Shooting videos, he supposed they all had to wear makeup… men too?

Would they not turn Cheng Ke into that florist owner from that day, would they?

Six silent words floated through Jiang Yuduo’s mind.

He thought Cheng Ke already looked very handsome in everyday life, his skin was good too. He did not know what there was to paint.

"It’s not like I’m not being filmed in the face," Cheng Ke said with his eyes closed. "No need to go through all this trouble, right?"

"There’ll be some half-face and side-face shots," someone nearby said, though Jiang Yuduo did not know who it was. "We can’t just do one side."

"Fine then." Cheng Ke said.

When he opened his eyes, Lin Xu had just come out after changing clothes. He wore a long robe left open at the front, with only a pair of black briefs underneath.

Defined abs, long legs…

Opening his eyes and seeing such a stimulating scene, Cheng Ke did not even know whether he should look or turn away.

Staring would seem too thirsty. Not looking would feel a little like pretending otherwise.

In the end, he still chose to look. Only after his eyes met Lin Xu’s did he ask, "Cold?"

"It’s okay, it’s not cold inside," Lin Xu said with a smile. "If we go outside, I can probably hold out for a few minutes. There aren’t many shots anyway."

Cheng Ke nodded and said nothing more.

Lin Xu did not leave either. He pulled over a chair and sat down. "Brother Cheng, I’ve watched your performances several times."

"Is that so." Cheng Ke responded.

"You like sand painting?"

"Mm," Lin Xu said. "I learned it when I was in school. After I started working, I stopped learning. I just play around with it myself."

Cheng Ke looked at him. Actually, once sand painting left the circle of enthusiasts, to many people it was very unfamiliar. What most people came into contact with were just all kinds of sand painting classes run for kids, and most kids learned sand painting only to play with the sand…

Lin Xu was somewhat unexpected to Cheng Ke. Maybe because he was so flamboyantly handsome, he did not look like someone who would quietly play with sand painting at home.

"Xu Ding never mentioned it," Cheng Ke said.

"I was too embarrassed to tell Brother Xu either. It’s just a self-entertaining level," Lin Xu said with a laugh.

"I’m just self-entertaining too," Cheng Ke said. "When you have time, let me see what you draw."

"Mm," Lin Xu looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then picked up his phone. "Brother Cheng…"

"I left my phone in the room," Cheng Ke said. "Have Xu Ding send you my card."

"Okay." Lin Xu nodded with a smile.

Jiang Yuduo watched Cheng Ke talking with Lin Xu and felt something he could not quite put into words.

This Cheng Ke was completely different from the one in his impression. Although he had already felt this way when he watched Cheng Ke perform before, today it was especially obvious.

He did not know how to describe it, only that the Cheng Ke right now seemed more like a 27-year-old.

Calm, mature, a little distant.

If the Cheng Ke like this came over and asked him why the gas stove would not light, he probably would not be able to mock this young master so recklessly.

But today he had also seen that Cheng Ke really was gay.

When he had performed before, quite a few people knew him and would greet him. He would just nod casually in response, and aside from Xu Ding, he had not really talked to anyone else.

Even now, though he still did not have much of a smile, he chatted away with Lin Xu. Only after the makeup was finished did the two of them stand up and stop talking.

If Lin Xu were not handsome, he probably would not have opened his mouth either.

But Jiang Yuduo also felt a little bad for Cheng Ke. With a handsome guy like Lin Xu, at best Cheng Ke could only chat a few words to scratch that itch. If he accidentally lost control…

Jiang Yuduo suddenly thought of the one, or rather the two times Cheng Ke had kissed him, and immediately let out a sigh.

After that, filming started. Jiang Yuduo held a cup and watched in a daze.

This was different from a performance. During a performance, there was a projection, and he could see what Cheng Ke was drawing. Right now, he could only watch from far away as Cheng Ke scattered sand on the sand tray.

He only roughly knew they were filming the shots of Cheng Ke and Lin Xu together first.

Lin Xu was dressed rather indecently, but he was very good at posing. Any random movement looked handsome, but most of the time Jiang Yuduo was watching Cheng Ke.

There were a few shots of them drawing sand paintings together, with Lin Xu grabbing a handful of sand and scattering it up, then Cheng Ke continuing the drawing. Because the motion was not continuous, they had to shoot it several times over.

Jiang Yuduo suddenly wanted to try it too. It looked pretty interesting. If he had known, he should have let Cheng Ke teach him when they played Pictionary last time.

There probably would not be a chance now. Cheng Ke had quite a temper. After what he said yesterday, Jiang Yuduo could feel that Cheng Ke’s anger had never really gone down, and even the way he looked at him was different from usual.

Jiang Yuduo sighed.

Just as he was watching, he suddenly felt the cup in his hand grow heavier. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a swaying shadow. Jiang Yuduo did not think twice. He reached out with the back of his hand, grabbed it, and twisted.

"Ow!" The shadow cried out softly and fell onto the sofa beside him.

When Jiang Yuduo looked over, Xu Ding was frowning, holding a teapot, tea spilled all over the floor.

"Sorry…" He hurriedly took the teapot from Xu Ding first.

"It’s fine," Xu Ding said, looking at him and shaking his hand, a little surprised. "That reaction of yours, it’s like a killer."

Jiang Yuduo froze and said nothing.

Xu Ding smiled as he took back the teapot, refilled his cup with tea, and rubbed his wrist. "Have you trained before?"

"…No." Jiang Yuduo said.

"No wonder they all have to call you Third Brother," Xu Ding said. "Impressive."

Jiang Yuduo lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

"Having fun?" Xu Ding looked toward Cheng Ke and Lin Xu.

"I can’t really make sense of it," Jiang Yuduo said.

"It’s messy when they’re shooting. You’ll understand once it’s edited," Xu Ding said. "If you think it’s interesting, you can come play next time too."

"I don’t know how to do any of this," Jiang Yuduo said.

"You don’t need to go play with sand painting," Xu Ding said, looking at him. "You’re pretty photogenic. You could film videos with Cheng Ke. You two are familiar with each other, so filming would be easier too."

"Huh?" Jiang Yuduo froze.

Xu Ding laughed. "Didn’t I see you in the performance footage last time? I realized you’re pretty photogenic."

"…Oh." Jiang Yuduo answered, then said nothing more.

He really did not want to doubt Xu Ding.

Xu Ding was Cheng Ke’s friend, and he had always been polite to him. Last time, when they ran into Cheng Yi, he had even helped him out…

But he had opened with calling him a killer, and then wanted him to film some video, and even noticed that in Cheng Ke’s performance video, his own shot had only been a dozen seconds…

Filming went on until the afternoon, and they all ate boxed lunches together at noon.

Jiang Yuduo did not have much interaction with Cheng Ke. He only noticed that Cheng Ke ate a little less. This rice bowl had sauce and tasted pretty good, and it should have matched Cheng Ke’s preferences for covered-rice dishes, but he only ate half the box.

After it ended, someone called out to go get something to eat, but Cheng Ke refused and said he wanted to go back.

Xu Ding had the driver send them home.

Once they got into the car, Cheng Ke immediately leaned back on the rear seat and fell asleep before the car had even driven a kilometer.

"Third Brother," Lin Xu was sitting in the front passenger seat. He turned around and smiled at Jiang Yuduo. "Tired today?"

"Not tired," Jiang Yuduo said. "You guys are the tired ones, you barely got any rest."

"We’re used to it. If we have another day tomorrow, it’ll probably be about done. It’s going pretty smoothly," Lin Xu said.

"Oh." Jiang Yuduo responded.

Still not done filming?

Why did it have to take so long?

Chen Qing’s little videos sometimes looked pretty good too, and they were only a minute long at most…

"Third Brother," Lin Xu looked at him. "When I first saw you today, I thought you were a model."

"…I’m not." Jiang Yuduo said.

"You’ve got really good conditions," Lin Xu said with a smile, handing him a bag of snacks. "Want some?"

"No." Jiang Yuduo said.

He did not know what Lin Xu meant by conditions, and he did not know what kind of conditions a model was supposed to have. Luckily, Lin Xu did not keep talking about it.

While Lin Xu was eating, Jiang Yuduo leaned against the window and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

It was not until Cheng Ke tapped him twice that he opened his eyes.

"We’re here." Cheng Ke opened the car door.

Jiang Yuduo got out.

"Brother Cheng," Lin Xu lowered the front passenger window. "Let’s keep in touch when we have time."

"Okay." Cheng Ke nodded. After the car drove off, Cheng Ke yawned for a full five seconds. "I’m starving."

"Yawning because you’re hungry?" Jiang Yuduo looked at him.

"Sleepy and hungry," Cheng Ke said as he walked into the stairwell. "Shouldn’t it be time for dinner?"

"It’s only five o’clock now." Jiang Yuduo took out his phone and looked at it. "How about… I go buy some groceries?"

"Huh?" Cheng Ke turned his head.

"Your fridge is empty," Jiang Yuduo said. "Are we eating takeout again?"

"I eat takeout every day," Cheng Ke said.

"Aren’t you sick of it?" Jiang Yuduo said. "You just had takeout for lunch."

"I don’t want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries again," Cheng Ke frowned. "I just want to curl up on the sofa and wait to be fed, like a cat."

"I’m not telling you to go buy them. I’m saying I’ll go buy groceries." Jiang Yuduo looked at Cheng Ke. Just a moment ago in the car, he had still thought Cheng Ke was a mature 27-year-old man. But in just a few minutes, he suddenly turned back into that useless young master who could not do anything.

"You don’t need to go either, it’s a hassle," Cheng Ke pressed the elevator button. "I saw you sitting there with your eyes wide open all day, staring blankly. You must be tired too."

"You were looking at me?" Jiang Yuduo was a little surprised. He had felt like he had been nonexistent in front of Cheng Ke all day.

"Nonsense, of course I looked at you," Cheng Ke said as he got into the elevator. "For such a long time, I was worried you’d be bored."

"I wasn’t bored," Jiang Yuduo stood outside the elevator. "Then I…"

"Come in," Cheng Ke said. "We’ll eat instant noodles."

Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a moment, then walked into the elevator.

As soon as they got home, Cheng Ke took off his coat, tossed it onto the floor, and flopped onto the sofa, nearly sitting right on top of Miao.

"Besides instant noodles, do you have anything else here?" Jiang Yuduo was pretty hungry. Eating only instant noodles felt a little unsatisfying.

"Eggs," Cheng Ke said, sprawled on the sofa. "And maybe a pack of sausages…"

"Fine," Jiang Yuduo said. "I’ll just make something."

"Mm." Cheng Ke responded.

Jiang Yuduo found six eggs and four sausages in the fridge. After he boiled the water, he thought about it for a moment and decided to cook all of them.

He stir-fried the sausages with the eggs. After the instant noodles were done, he poured the eggs and sausage into them. Braised-noodle instant noodles, not bad.

He brought two bowls of noodles back to the living room. Cheng Ke was lying on the sofa, looking at his phone.

"It’s done." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Mm," Cheng Ke got up and walked over to the table. "Smells great."

"I put all the eggs and sausages in there," Jiang Yuduo said. "I usually eat it like this myself. It’s pretty good. Want to try it?"

Cheng Ke put down his phone, picked up a chopstickful and put it in his mouth, then gave him a thumbs-up. "Good. Really."

"You can make it like this when you cook noodles yourself later too," Jiang Yuduo sat down. "It’s especially simple…"

"Nope," Cheng Ke said, waving his hand. "Don’t teach me. I won’t learn. If you’re here, you can make it. If you’re not, I’ll just eat plain instant noodles."

Just as Jiang Yuduo was about to say something, Cheng Ke’s phone rang. Cheng Ke picked it up and glanced at it, tapping the screen a few times. He was probably replying to a message.

Jiang Yuduo found it a little strange. In his eyes, Cheng Ke’s phone was almost no different from an old people’s phone. Normally, aside from answering calls, Cheng Ke basically never touched his phone. Yet now he actually had messages to send.

"Actually, this egg stir-fry…" Jiang Yuduo had only said half of it when Cheng Ke’s phone rang again, so he had to stop.

"Go on," Cheng Ke said, still looking at his phone.

Jiang Yuduo said nothing more and lowered his head to eat his noodles.

"We can talk after I’m done," Cheng Ke said.

"Huh?" Jiang Yuduo did not understand what he was saying, and when he looked up, he found Cheng Ke was sending a voice message.

"I don’t want to go out at night these next couple of days, I’m tired." After saying that, Cheng Ke put the phone aside.

"You’re going out?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

"No," Cheng Ke said, taking a big bite of noodles. "Lin Xu invited me to go drinking in a bit, but I don’t want to go out."

"Lin Xu?" Jiang Yuduo froze.

"Mm," Cheng Ke ate another mouthful of noodles. "Hey, how about you make this noodles tomorrow morning too? It’s pretty tasty."

"There aren’t any eggs or sausages left," Jiang Yuduo said.

"…Oh." Cheng Ke sighed.

Jiang Yuduo frowned. He had not paid much attention to this Lin Xu at first, but now that he had suddenly invited Cheng Ke out for drinks, Jiang Yuduo started to feel uneasy.

Cheng Ke’s video job had been given by Xu Ding, and Lin Xu had also been called over by Xu Ding… They had only worked together for less than a day, and now he was already inviting him out for drinks. No matter how he thought about it, something felt off.

"Are you going to drink with him?" Jiang Yuduo asked. "After you’re done working?"

"Mm," Cheng Ke replied. "It’s been a long time since I drank with anyone."

"Why are you going drinking with him?" Jiang Yuduo did not know how to say it. He did not want Cheng Ke to think he was interfering, and he did not want to voice his own worries either, afraid it might scare Cheng Ke. "You don’t usually go out drinking with other people."

"That’s funny," Cheng Ke smiled a little. "Who would I drink with usually?"

"Me." Jiang Yuduo said.

Cheng Ke did not say anything. After taking another bite of noodles and swallowing, he put away his smile and looked at him. "Are you gay?"

"No." Jiang Yuduo answered.

"Then isn’t that enough?" Cheng Ke said.

"You…" Jiang Yuduo still could not make sense of the logic. "Then is Lin Xu gay?"

"He is." Cheng Ke smiled.

"How do you know?" Jiang Yuduo was stunned.

"Because the bar he asked me to go to is a gay bar," Cheng Ke said.

Jiang Yuduo fell silent for a long time. Cheng Ke had already eaten several more chopsticks of noodles and drunk three mouthfuls of soup, and he still had not said anything.

No one knew what he was thinking.

Sometimes Cheng Ke also could not quite understand Jiang Yuduo. He had already made things very clear to Jiang Yuduo yesterday, about the limit of what he considered concern between friends, but Jiang Yuduo did not seem to have any intention of changing at all.

As for Jiang Yuduo’s reaction to him going drinking with Lin Xu, it was obviously worry.

He really did not know why Jiang Yuduo did that.

What exactly was the reason he insisted on guarding his friends like this.

Jiang Yuduo looked up at him, opened his mouth.

Cheng Ke stopped eating and waited while drinking his soup for Jiang Yuduo to speak.

For some reason, he felt a little nervous. He did not know what Jiang Yuduo was going to say, whether he would give him a reason and tell him why.

"Um," Jiang Yuduo hesitated, looking at him, and asked very carefully, "what’s a gay bar?"

Cheng Ke hurriedly swallowed the mouthful of soup he had just drunk, feeling that if he were even a second slower, it would shoot straight out of his nose.

He turned his head and coughed a few times. When he turned back to look at Jiang Yuduo, his expression was beyond words.