Crossover Actors

Translator: Hua

It was dawn, and Qu Yanting arrived at the shooting location early in the morning. From the gate of the community to the apartment building, he tried his best to avoid meeting with too many people.

　　

The community was filled with the quietness of the early autumn morning. There were not many people around. The people of group A worked till late night yesterday and they all rested in the open space at the back of the unit building.

　　

Xiao Zhang came over with a bag of breakfast: “Mr. Qu good morning. This breakfast is for you, soy milk and Xiaolongbao. if you are not used to it, I will buy something else.”

　

Qu Yanting took it and said, “Thank you.”

　　

Xiao Zhang explained: “I didn’t buy it. Group A just finished work last night. Lu Wen wanted to thank everyone for their hard work so he invited the whole group to eat breakfast.”

　　

Qu Yanting didn’t say anything, and carried the buns and soy milk into the unit building.

　　

He didn’t come to the lounge yesterday. The room was a little stuffy. He went to the balcony and opened a window for ventilation. The space in the small area was limited. Standing on the balcony of 101, you can have a panoramic view of the scenery behind the building.

　　

Outside the window, group A was exhausted after the whole night, everyone rested on the spot in a mess, sitting paralyzed, eating breakfast, and dozing off.

　　

Qu Yanting had average eyesight, and could not observe them one by one. He could only notice several comrades with strange posture. Under the grapevine, Ren Shu and director Liu lied face to face on the table for a small meeting. The art director squatted under the streetlamp and wiped a pair of fluorescent orange sneakers on his feet.

　　

The most conspicuous one was the male lead number one. Everyone else was paralyzing on the ground while he was standing upside down in front of the fence.

　　

Lu Wen had been standing upside down for five minutes, and his blood pressure was gathering in his head, diminishing the tiredness of shooting all night. He didn’t dare to sit, let alone go back to the RV to rest, for fear that he would sleep like a dead pig as soon as he closed his eyes.

　　

Because there were still two scenes during the day, they could rest after filming.

　　

Sun Xiaojian squatted beside him: “Come down, the coffee is not hot.”

　　

Lu Wen turned down, wiped his hands, and caught the cup of strong coffee. Yesterday evening, he could have had a good night’s sleep, but Qu Yanting in the RV not only invaded his private space, but also made him feel very vexed, so he was unable to fall asleep even after he left.

　　

Sun Xiaojian asked: “What did you talk to Mr. Qu about yesterday?”

　　

“Nothing to talk about.” Lu Wen said, “I don’t like to chat.”

　　

Sun Xiaojian understood as soon as he heard it, nine out of ten it must be an argument, and said: “When Mr. Qu got off the RV, his face was a bit cold.”

　　

Lu Wen took a sip of coffee:  “How strange, when did he ever give me a good face?”

　　

Sun Xiaojian thought for a while, that was indeed the case. He felt that there was a rupture in the relationship between Lu Wen and Qu Yanting, but they couldn’t avoid each other even if they wanted to. They had no choice but to deal with this broken relationship.

　　

“It’s very much like…” He said metaphorically, “Divorced couples who barely keep in touch because of custody.”

　　

Lu Wen almost drank coffee through his nostrils: “Stop giving me such retarded nonsense.”

　　

Sun Xiaojian said: “Then how do you feel about it?”

　　

Lu Wen tried to find a suitable word, but after a few thoughts, it seemed that it was not accurate enough. He was not good at Chinese, so he went over it in a perfunctory way: “What do I feel about him? I can’t wait to leave this crew.”

　　

It was said to be the waiting area. But in fact, it was a big open space circle along the root of the wall. Lu Wen was waiting in a place with few people in front of the building. He stepped aside and waited for each group to be ready.

　　

When Lu Wen was standing upside down, a section of trouser slipped down his leg, still stuck at his knee, showing his slender and tight left calf. He was always very active, even if he was tired, his head would still be looking around.

　　

Turning around, he found himself standing under the unit 101 balcony window.

　　

Lu Wen looked up again and found that Qu Yanting was standing at the window. He bounced a step back in fright, accidentally or anxiously, stomped his feet hard and shook his trouser legs down.

　　

Qu Yanting hadn’t noticed this at all. This time, he lowered his eyes, watching Lu Wen calmly, then raised the cup, and took a sip of the sweet soy milk that the silly kid had treated the crew.

　　

In film and television dramas, such scenes1I guess the author was referring to scene in movie or drama where the girl stood at the window and the boy stood under it. were dating, courtship, and at worst, singing a love song.

　　

However, greetings did not exist, and waving was out of the question. Lu Wen and Qu Yanting looked at each other, they staggered for a moment, and turned their heads back.

　　

Next, the set was completed, the teams were in place, and Lu Wen walked to the grapevine.

　　

This grapevine was planted by Ye Shan, and he sat alone under it for countless nights to take the load off his mind. All the night shoot from last night, half of it, was spent under this grapevine.

　　

In the scene that was about to be filmed, Ye Xiaowu skipped class and went home. He found out that Ye Shan’s new book was destroyed and wanted to buy a new one for Ye Shan but he had no money. When he saw the neighbours were playing cards under the grapevines, an idea occurred in his mind.

　　

Lu Wen walked over, turned around, and saw that Qu Yanting had left the balcony.

　　

The shooting began. 

　　

“Aunties and uncles, you are playing card again.” Ye Xiaowu popped up and leaned on the shelf.

 

The neighbors were already used to seeing him skipping class. Aunt Yang said: “Key high schools are so difficult to get into. You skip class for three days and you will regret it later.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu: “I will be back for the sports meeting today.”

　　

“Nonsense.” Uncle Lin said, “My nephew is in the same school as you. He said it won’t start until next month.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu: “Haha”

　　

Aunt Yang: “Be careful. When your mother comes back, she will hit you.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu: “If I said that my brain hurts, my mother won’t hit me. She loves me the most.”

　　

Uncle Qian said leisurely: “He is always running away and not learning anything. I think he should go to the fish stand to help. Anyway, there’s no hope for the college entrance exam.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu disliked Uncle Qian the most. This bad old man always looked down on others because of his seniority. He said: “How do you know that I couldn’t pass the exam? If I am admitted to the university, I will invite you to the opening ceremony.”

　　

Uncle Qian: “If someone like you can get in, then I can also go to the university to be a professor.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu changed the topic: “Putting the matter of being a professor aside, Can I settle the overdue fees first?”

　　

Uncle Qian’s expression changed: “Little bastard, you want to call this 10 yuan as a debt? I will give it to you when I win.”

　　

Ye Xiaowu: “You say this every time, five times before and after. It’s just 10 yuan and you’re still delaying. Do you have to take an installment for a bowl of small noodles? Do you have to take out a loan to eat pot skewers?”

　　

Uncle Qian, who always liked to take advantage of others, pushed the card angrily and ran away with the ten yuan.

　　

Ye Xiaowu immediately sat down: “I’ll come, I’ll come, how big is the game?”

　　

Aunt Yang: “Do you even have the money? Don’t make trouble.”

　

“You don’t understand.” Ye Xiaowu said, “I am called the white wolf with an empty hand2空手套白狼. It is a derogatory term today, which is a metaphor for the deception used by scammers who don’t make any investment and cheat others. They earned money without spending anything. Read more here..”

1I guess the author was referring to scene in movie or drama where the girl stood at the window and the boy stood under it.2空手套白狼. It is a derogatory term today, which is a metaphor for the deception used by scammers who don’t make any investment and cheat others. They earned money without spending anything. Read more here.