Before he could react, Li Qianxing found himself in Jiang Lin’s arms, his back against Jiang Lin’s solid chest, his head resting on Jiang Lin’s shoulder and neck.
Jiang Lin pulled up one sleeve, rubbed his hands together, then quickly slipped them under Li Qianxing’s tracksuit.
The moment warm fingers touched his skin, Li Qianxing felt as if he’d been shocked, a shiver running up his spine.
Jiang Lin carefully felt for the right spot. “Is it aching here?”
Li Qianxing felt his face grow warm, and he turned his head slightly in discomfort. “A bit higher,” he said.
Jiang Lin found the painful area and gently pressed his palm down.
Warmth spread from that small area.
No, not just there. Li Qianxing felt as if he’d been covered with a blanket, his whole body enveloped in Jiang Lin’s warmth. The intermittent pain seemed to ease a lot.
Jiang Lin carefully observed Li Qianxing’s expression. “Feeling any better?”
Li Qianxing: “I think… mm…”
Jiang Lin: “I’ll keep you warm. Try to sleep if you can. You won’t feel the pain if you’re asleep.”
Li Qianxing obediently closed his eyes. However, after dozing for a moment, he softly said, “I slept too much this morning. I can’t fall asleep now.”
Jiang Lin chuckled quietly, “Then I’ll tell you a story to distract you.”
Li Qianxing replied languidly, “You’re not planning to tell a horror story, are you?”
If it weren’t for his stomachache, this environment would be perfect for such things.
Jiang Lin laughed heartily and thought for a moment before saying, “How about I critique some TV shows and movies instead? I’ve played many supporting roles and even worked as an extra. I’ve been part of productions with bizarre plotlines and witnessed countless absurd incidents on set. I have endless material to roast. Just try not to laugh, or your stomach might hurt more.”
Infected by Jiang Lin’s cheerful tone, Li Qianxing’s lips curved into a slight smile. “Alright.”
And so, Jiang Lin began reminiscing and critiquing, occasionally eliciting a few chuckles from Li Qianxing despite his best efforts to contain them.
Around 3 p.m., just as suddenly as it had started, the rain abruptly ceased, restoring the quiet world filled only with the chirping of insects and birds.
Jiang Lin recalled passing a pavilion on the mountain path yesterday, which could serve as a landmark. He sent a message to Xiao Ding and Xiao Zhu.
Then, he carefully helped Li Qianxing up. “Can you walk? Don’t push yourself if you can’t. I’ll have the crew bring a stretcher.”
“It’s just a stomachache, no need to be so exaggerated,” Li Qianxing said as he let Jiang Lin support him for a short distance. “I can manage, just not very quickly.”
Jiang Lin replied, “We’ll take it slow. There’s no rush.”
The two men walked closely together, slowly making their way back down the mountain path.
Even the cool post-rain breeze couldn’t dispel the constant warmth emanating from Jiang Lin’s body.
With half his body pressed against Jiang Lin’s chest, Li Qianxing felt his heart beating more forcefully than ever before.
As they returned to the correct path and continued their slow descent, they soon spotted the pavilion ahead.
Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ding, who had been waiting at the pavilion, ran over together. They quickly unfolded a chair on the path for Li Qianxing to sit on.
Li Qianxing accepted the thermos lunch box from Xiao Zhu, first drinking about half a bowl of nutritional porridge before taking his medication.
With food in his stomach and the medicine beginning to take effect, Li Qianxing’s lips finally regained some color after a while.
Xiao Zhu hugged his arm, her eyes brimming with tears. “You scared me to death…”
Li Qianxing replied, “I’m sorry. I was too careless this time.”
Jiang Lin interjected, “We were walking together, so I should bear half the responsibility.”
Xiao Zhu glanced back and forth between them before saying to Li Qianxing, “Li-ge, when we get back, I’ll ask Uncle Li to buy more ingredients and prepare a feast to thank Jiang Lin and Xiao Ding.”
Jiang Lin smiled, “Then I’ll be looking forward to that grand meal.”
As he spoke, he naturally supported Li Qianxing’s other arm. Li Qianxing stood up just as naturally, leaning some of his weight on Jiang Lin’s hand, then gestured for the two assistants to pack up and head down the mountain.
Xiao Zhu packed the thermos lunch box into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the two men had already walked a short distance ahead, leaning on each other.
She blinked and asked Xiao Ding, “Don’t you think there’s something… um… off about those two?”
Xiao Ding shouldered the folded chair and glanced ahead. “Not really. Teacher Li isn’t feeling well, so of course Lin-ge will take extra care of him.”
Xiao Zhu scratched her head. “Is that all it is…”
◇◆
Li Qianxing hadn’t rested well the night before, and even his nap had been of poor quality. The stomach pain from an empty stomach, slight chill, and bumpy car ride back had left him with a low-grade fever by the time they reached the hotel.
Upon hearing this, He Zhanpeng decided to give both Li Qianxing and Jiang Lin a day off to rest and recover.
After taking his medication, Li Qianxing slept for a long, uninterrupted stretch and woke up feeling mostly recovered.
So, at noon, Xiao Zhu prepared a feast to treat Jiang Lin and Xiao Ding.
After the four of them had eaten and drunk their fill, Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ding cleaned up the dishes and left together.
Jiang Lin stayed behind. Yesterday, he and Li Qianxing had discussed a film they planned to watch together.
However, before they could even turn on the TV, both their phones started buzzing with message notifications.
Li Qianxing picked up his phone to find a WeChat message from Xiao Zhu.
[Xiao Zhu: You’re trending. It looks like a paid negative trend about Teacher Jiang.]
Li Qianxing frowned and replied.
[Li Qianxing: Got it. I’ll take a look.]
As he opened Weibo, he told Jiang Lin, “Xiao Zhu says there’s a negative trend about you.”
Jiang Lin was already checking Weibo himself. “Xiao Ding told me too.”
A trending topic with both their names appeared on the list – #Double Film Emperor Jiang Lin Changes Script to Kiss Li Qianxing#.
The pinned post was from a marketing account and discussed the scene they filmed at the dessert shop two days ago.
The post featured a video comparing two takes, using the angle of the sun to deduce that the kiss scene was filmed later. It then analyzed that the original script likely matched the first take, and the kiss in the second take was an impromptu change.
Changing scenes on set isn’t uncommon; in fact, it happens in most productions.
The problem was that while the marketing account didn’t explicitly state it, every word insinuated something about Jiang Lin.
The implication was that winning an international award had gone to Jiang Lin’s head, making him a tyrant on set. They suggested he was using his familiarity with the director to take advantage of his senior colleague by adding a kiss scene. And Li Qianxing, known for his professionalism, hadn’t realized Jiang Lin’s evil intentions.
Li Qianxing’s frown deepened as he read. “What a load of nonsense.”
Jiang Lin seemed unperturbed, laughing as he mocked, “It’s the classic ‘start with one picture, make up the rest’ technique. Typical marketing account trick.”
Li Qianxing opened the comments section and found that the top-liked comments were all criticizing Jiang Lin, many of them incoherent and illogical.
“Are these paid commenters?”
“Not necessarily,” Jiang Lin said.
He scrolled through several profiles before continuing, “As I thought, they’re all Li Mingsi’s fans.”
Li Qianxing asked, “Who?”
Jiang Lin looked at him. “Did you know about the director change for the film I won the award for?”
Li Qianxing nodded.
Jiang Lin explained, “Li Mingsi was originally cast as the second male lead. After Director Liang took over, Guangya terminated his contract, so naturally, he came to hate me. Since then, his fans have become my haters.
“They swarm any news about me with negative comments. This trending topic might even be his doing. I heard he recently found a wealthy backer and was quite pleased with himself.”
Li Qianxing’s brow furrowed deeply. “That man has no shame!”
Jiang Lin chuckled and reached out, gently rubbing Li Qianxing’s forehead with his thumb. “Right, so it’s not worth getting angry over such a petty person. Let’s watch the movie. Don’t let this ruin your mood. My agent already knows and will have the trend taken down soon.”
Li Qianxing froze at Jiang Lin’s touch. As Jiang Lin went to turn on the TV, Li Qianxing touched the spot that had just been rubbed.
However, he didn’t let Jiang Lin distract him and continued asking, “Aren’t you going to clarify? Just let him slander you?”
Jiang Lin winked at him. “You only act in films and don’t participate in other activities, so you might not understand. The entertainment circle is actually quite small; we always run into each other at various events. Next time I see him, I have plenty of ways to get back at him.
“We don’t need to worry about online arguments. Yan-jie will contact Mr. Qi, and both our studios will issue a joint statement. But we can’t control whether people believe it or not. Most people are just here for the drama anyway, they don’t really care about the truth.”
Li Qianxing thought for a moment, then asked, “Have they already requested to remove the trend?”
Jiang Lin checked his phone. “It shouldn’t be that quick.”
Li Qianxing said, “Then don’t remove it.”
Jiang Lin turned to look at him. “Huh?”
Li Qianxing lowered his head to type. “Since they’re giving you attention, let’s take advantage of it.”
Jiang Lin leaned over to look at his phone and saw that Li Qianxing had already posted a Weibo on the trending topic’s page:
[@LiQianxingV: Please wait, we’ll be going live soon to address this matter.]
Jiang Lin looked at Li Qianxing in disbelief. “You’re…”
Li Qianxing replied, “We’ll clarify through a livestream. Since everyone loves drama, let’s make it even more dramatic. We can use it as early promotion for the film.”
After speaking, he lowered his head to check WeChat again. “I don’t know how to set this up. I’ll need to wait for Xiao Zhu to come up and help me start the livestream.”
Jiang Lin quickly placed his hand over Li Qianxing’s, his expression growing more complex. “Your livestream… don’t you need to inform Mr. Qi first?”
Li Qianxing looked puzzled. “Why would I need to?”
Jiang Lin was momentarily speechless. “…Isn’t he your agent?”
Li Qianxing still didn’t understand, but he admitted he lacked experience in these matters, so he chose to follow Jiang Lin’s advice. “Alright, I’ll let him know.”
After saying that, he stood up, dialing as he walked towards the balcony.
Jiang Lin watched Li Qianxing’s retreating figure, his emotions a jumble. He was naturally pleased that Li Qianxing, who had never bothered with such matters before, was suddenly willing to livestream for his sake. But thinking about the fans and haters online, he couldn’t help but worry about Li Qianxing getting hurt.
With mixed feelings, he picked up his phone to call Yan Yi.
However, Qi Jingnian wasn’t the type of guardian to keep his child in a protective bubble. After receiving Li Qianxing’s call, he quickly revised the original plan with Yan Yi, reaching a new consensus to have both Li Qianxing and Jiang Lin livestream together.
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