Chapter 3: Heart Racing
Once all the departments were ready, Director Zhang led Ye Chiyu to the set.
Su Tang, who was waiting for his turn, took a quick glance at Ye Chiyu before immediately lowering his head and pretending to count ants, trying to act inconspicuous.
Ye Chiyu noticed this small gesture clearly, and his usually cold expression softened for a moment with a rare hint of amusement. Standing beside him, Qi Yuan felt like he was witnessing something unbelievable.
With the sound of the clapperboard, the director lifted his megaphone and shouted, “Action!”
Su Tang’s final scene officially began.
It was a large battle scene, depicting a fight between immortals and demons. More than a hundred people were involved in the fight, and multiple cameras were capturing the actors’ performances from different angles.
After executing a series of martial arts moves and delivering his lines to the male lead, Su Tang was supposed to fall to the ground, clutching his chest after receiving a fatal blow from the enemy. However, due to the tension caused by the presence of that Alpha, he forgot to ease up during the fall, causing his ankle to twist painfully as he knelt down.
A sharp, throbbing pain instantly forced cold sweat to form on Su Tang’s forehead.
But this scene was too important. If they had to reshoot because of him, everyone would have to redo their parts.
So, he continued to maintain a pained, shocked expression, clutching his chest, biting into the blood capsule in his mouth. Blood trickled down the corner of his lips as he weakly and unwillingly uttered his final line: “Shixiong.”
As his eyes closed, tears slid down his long, curled eyelashes, falling like broken strings of pearls, creating a tragic beauty that even stunned the director watching through the monitor.
After collapsing, Su Tang lay still, playing dead, while waiting for Xie Xingzhi to finish his part—where he goes berserk following this emotional trigger.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when the director finally called out, “Cut!”
“Haha! Great job, everyone! We got it in one take!”
Zhang Xian was overjoyed. Getting a scene done in one take in front of President Ye was a huge success for him. He was about to turn around and boast, but to his surprise, the person beside him had already gotten up, taking long strides away, leaving only a tall, cold silhouette behind.
As the other actors left the set, Su Tang slowly used his arms to push himself up and wiped his face casually.
He was covered in dirt, mud, and fake blood. Just as he was trying to figure out how to stand up without embarrassing himself, a pair of strong arms scooped him up into an embrace.
Su Tang looked up in shock, only to meet Ye Chiyu’s eyes, filled with concern.
“How could you be so careless?”
Ye Chiyu carried him off the set, with Qi Yuan following closely behind.
“Huh? What?” Su Tang tilted his head, completely bewildered.
Everyone on set turned to watch, their gazes either filled with surprise, jealousy, or curiosity. Ye Chiyu shielded Su Tang from their prying eyes, carefully placing him in the back seat of his car. Kneeling on one knee, he removed Su Tang’s shoe and sock from his right foot, revealing an ankle already swollen like a steamed bun.
“It’s this swollen, and it doesn’t hurt?”
He seemed a little angry as he reached out with his long fingers and gently poked Su Tang’s ankle.
“It hurts!”
Su Tang’s delayed reaction kicked in, and tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, falling in large drops as if he had suffered a massive grievance.
“It hurts so much! And you’re poking it! Waaa…”
Su Tang’s outburst came as suddenly as a summer storm. Even someone as composed as Ye Chiyu couldn’t hold it together this time.
His upbringing had taught him how to conduct business, how to wield power, and how to navigate a world full of deceit. But no one had ever taught him how to comfort someone.
So, visibly flustered, Ye Chiyu’s face showed a rare hint of confusion.
His body moved before his brain could catch up. Maintaining his half-kneeling position, he raised his hand and awkwardly wiped Su Tang’s tears away with the sleeve of his expensive suit, his movements both reverent and clumsy.
Qi Yuan, who had been quietly sitting in the driver’s seat, glanced at the rearview mirror and saw his boss’s actions. Internally, he was howling with laughter, though his expression remained unchanged as he calmly pressed the button to raise the partition between the front and back seats.
This Su Tang is something else. He had followed Ye Chiyu for many years but had never seen his boss look so out of his depth.
Su Tang cried so hard that his big, beautiful eyes were swollen, looking like little walnuts.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have poked your ankle. That was my fault. Be good, stop crying, okay?” In just a few seconds, Ye Chiyu had mentally rehearsed countless ways to phrase his words. When he finally spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically gentle, as if afraid any word he said would hurt this sobbing mess in front of him.
Su Tang glanced at Ye Chiyu through his watery eyes, then thought about the man’s status and the fact that he had already marked him. He suddenly felt even more embarrassed.
Oh heavens, what should I do…
And so, he cried even harder.
Eventually, crying must have worn him out because Su Tang slumped against the seat, sniffling, and closed his eyes, pretending to be dead.
His head was a mess of black curls, looking like a bird’s nest, and his costume was dirty and torn. He looked like nothing more than a scruffy little cat.
The spacious luxury car cruised down the street, passing one traffic light after another.
Finally, the little guy stopped crying, and Ye Chiyu internally breathed a sigh of relief. “Su Tang, we’ve arrived at the hospital. Let’s get your ankle checked out, okay?”
Su Tang nodded slightly, still looking downcast, and responded with a soft “okay.”
Ye Chiyu opened the car door, and Su Tang, his eyes still red and swollen, prepared to get out.
Before he could move, Ye Chiyu quickly stopped him. “Wait a moment.”
“Huh?”
Ye Chiyu pulled out a pair of sunglasses from who knows where and, with a serious expression, carefully placed them on Su Tang’s face. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he scooped Su Tang back into his arms.
“You’re going to be a big star. You can’t walk into a hospital with swollen eyes.”
His deep, magnetic voice spoke softly in his ear, his gentle teasing making Su Tang’s heart race uncontrollably.
_______
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