Song Yu suddenly understood Fu Yuqian’s desire to flaunt their love a little, because he too wanted to do something to celebrate and mark the moment. But if he were to post a photo of His Majesty with the caption “Goodnight, my Majesty”, it would feel weird — and way too obvious.
So what should he do?
Rolling around in bed, Song Yu suddenly remembered that he hadn’t followed Fu Yuqian or Yin Lang on Weibo yet.
Huacan’s artist management was quite strict. Many celebrities had their Weibo accounts managed by the company to avoid accidental slip-ups. But since Song Yu’s Weibo posts had always been on point, Huacan allowed him to run his own account. So Song Yu switched to his main account and first followed Yin Lang.
Then, pretending to be casual about it, he also followed Fu Yuqian.
It turned out they instantly became mutuals — Fu Yuqian had already followed him! Seeing that, Song Yu couldn’t help but feel a little sweetness in his chest.
But Pisces Girls had long since trained themselves in the art of finding “sugar.” Even though Song Yu followed both Yin Lang and Fu Yuqian, the Pisces Girls deliberately ignored Yin Lang and saw only Fu Yuqian.
Seeing the two of them in each other’s follow list, the Pisces Girls burst into tears of joy. Finally, finally! They squealed that today’s “sugar intake” was off the charts — but lift me up, I can still ship!
The hashtag #SongYuAndFuYuqianMutualFollow quickly shot up to Weibo’s trending list. Discussions exploded. With Song Yu’s action, his fans flocked to follow Fu Yuqian, while in return, Fu Yuqian’s fans went to follow Song Yu. Overnight, both gained millions of new followers, nearly crashing the server.
【Now that they’ve followed each other, the next step is official announcement. I’m the Civil Affairs Bureau, I’ve already arrived.】
That comment made it to the top.
Soon after, Fu Yuqian called. Song Yu picked up, and before he could say anything, he heard the gentle laugh on the other end:
“Thank you, Teacher Song, for following me.”
Song Yu couldn’t hold back a smile — his lips curved up, though his voice stayed serious:
“We’re filming together, and we’re under the same agency. Following each other is normal.”
“Yes, very normal.” Fu Yuqian’s tone was laced with amusement. “So can I make a Weibo post @ you, saying how happy I am to be working with you?”
“No.” Song Yu hurriedly stopped him. “Spare the Pisces Girls, okay? If you post again, they won’t sleep tonight.”
But Fu Yuqian didn’t reply right away. Just when Song Yu was wavering — thinking maybe one post is fine — Fu Yuqian suddenly said:
“So Teacher Song even knows about the Pisces Girls?”
Song Yu: “…” Once again, tricked.
“Xiao Yu, remember those Pisces fanfics we read before?” Fu Yuqian’s voice was low and tempting in the night. “Let’s try them all out one by one, okay? Aren’t you the one who dotes on fans the most? This is what they want.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Song Yu immediately thought of that fanfic with the splits, and tried to dissuade him earnestly. “We’re in our prime years — why not contribute to our country’s film industry, leave behind a few classics, instead of always thinking about… that kind of thing!”
But Fu Yuqian was who he was — a salted duck egg refined into a spirit. He wasn’t swayed at all, and simply pressed on:
“Xiao Yu, I miss you. I want to fall asleep holding you.”
Song Yu too was reminded of when he was still in Yiyi’s body, always sleeping soundly at Fu Yuqian’s side.
But both of them knew it wasn’t realistic. The industry might quietly accept it, but flaunting things openly was another matter — too high-profile, and there’d be backlash sooner or later.
Still, they stayed on the phone, like any couple newly together. Talking about nothing of real importance, but unable to stop. Eventually, when Song Yu started feeling sleepy, Fu Yuqian sang softly to lull him. With his eyes closed, Song Yu quickly drifted off.
The next morning was bright and clear. Song Yu woke early, well-rested after a dreamless night. After washing up, Liu Le knocked on the door with breakfast — food Fu Yuqian had cooked himself. Song Yu, who loved his cooking, finished every bite.
Later, the two of them left together for the film set. While filming, Director Guo quickly noticed something off, called “Cut,” and pulled the two aside.
“First off, congratulations,” Guo said with a smile. But the very next second, his face grew serious. “But your characters in the drama aren’t supposed to be in love yet. Could you tone it down?”
Directors were always sharp. It was no surprise he caught on. Fu Yuqian nodded: “Sorry, I’ll control myself.” Song Yu, much thinner-skinned, had his ears flushed red and stammered: “Sorry, Director Guo, I understand.”
Guo trusted they’d adjust. Still, standing side by side — one strikingly handsome, the other refined and elegant — the pair looked perfectly matched, like a beautiful scene all on their own.
“Alright, let’s continue filming.”
After being called out, Song Yu immediately corrected himself, sticking strictly to the character’s emotional arc. The result was flawless.
Two days later, new stills of The Tyrant’s Beloved were released. The official account posted them, and fans rushed to download and drool. No wonder — Song Yu’s styling was breathtaking. Dressed in an off-white robe trimmed with gold, with refined features and a tall, graceful bearing, he looked exactly like a noble young master stepped out of ancient times. Every smile, every frown carried effortless charm.
【My brother aaah how can he be this beautiful — I regret not studying harder in school; when it matters I suddenly can only say “holy crap, so pretty” and nothing else.】
【A gentleman of virtue, like cutting and polishing, like carving and grinding. Seeing such a husband, I feel like I’m back to being a girlfriend-fan. Fu Yuqian, draw your sword — we’ll fight to the death. The winner gets to marry Song Xiaoyu!】
【Why can’t my screen ever be licked clean today, wahhh】
【As a book fan, this is Fu Qingyu. I’m so looking forward to this show. Brother Song Yu must live up to this look! You’re so beautiful and your acting will be great!】
Song Yu scrolled through the comments with a smile — don’t worry, I’ll make you look at me with new eyes.
**
The trend kept climbing. Zhao Hua at work naturally saw it too. Watching Song Yu become increasingly dazzling, her sharp face twisted in envy, but she didn’t dare do anything because Fu Yuqian had warned her.
It happened one morning when Fu Yuqian suddenly came to her with people in tow, cold and aloof. After introductions he said bluntly: “You may have heard of my background. Controlling you would be easy. You’d better not do anything that harms Song Yu, or I will make you regret being born. I mean it.”
That look still made Zhao Hua shiver. She’d wanted to get back at Song Yu, but she didn’t dare — she was truly frightened.
Now that Xingyue had collapsed and nobody in the industry would hire her, she had to change careers and do jobs she’d once sneered at. Thinking back on her former glory, she felt a pang of regret. If they hadn’t gone so far back then, she might still be a top-star’s manager, commanding respect… but there’s no cure for regret.
**
Filming went smoothly. Song Yu improved every day, especially in scenes opposite Fu Yuqian — they were a highlight. Guo Mao really felt like two gods had appeared in a small temple; who would have thought a web drama would bring in two top stars? It was bound to blow up, and both their acting abilities were on point, far exceeding his expectations.
With this momentum, the rest of the cast trained harder. What started as hoping to ride on the pair’s popularity turned into genuine effort not to hold them back. Guo Mao naturally raised his standards, and the filming pace slowed a bit.
Song Yu and Yin Lang discussed taking two projects: one a proper historical drama, the other a modern urban fashion drama. Nowadays the industry favored quick-hit content; it had been a long time since anyone invested in an authentic historical piece. Many productions wearing the historical label were really just romcoms in period costumes. The director of this drama had made classic historical works before; he once ambitiously planned to film every Chinese dynasty, but market realities stopped him after three dynasties.
Now the director’s son had done well financially and could pull some resources together. Knowing his father’s long regret, he offered to cover part of the cost, so the director finally put the five years he’d polished his script into production.
Yin Lang’s father was an old friend of the director’s. After asking Song Yu’s opinion, he recommended Song Yu to the director.
At first the director hesitated, afraid Song Yu’s acting might hold the production back. But Yin Lang came prepared and showed the director Song Yu’s on-set performance, and the director agreed — though he still wanted to meet him in person. Yin Lang naturally arranged it.
The urban drama was about esports, with Song Yu playing an esports prodigy. Song Yu even took a day off to audition. Since the lead was a gaming god, his play had to look convincing. While they could use hand doubles during shooting, Song Yu needed the right aura. The production hired a heavyweight retired pro as technical coach and hand double. After teaching Song Yu the gameplay, Song Yu picked it up quickly — in under half an hour he grasped the techniques, and in a solo match against the pro, he held on for twenty minutes before finally losing. Ordinary players hardly resist a pro that long.
The secret, of course, was the gift from being a cat — Song Yu felt his fingers were as nimble as cat paws, and the pro’s moves looked like they were in 0.75x speed to him.
The esports pro admired his talent and quietly asked if Song Yu would consider going pro; their team badly needed a naturally gifted player like him. Everyone was surprised by this little twist and laughed. Song Yu politely declined — after all, he and Fu Yuqian were in the same industry.
Fu Yuqian, meanwhile, landed a role on the big screen: an important supporting part in a crime-thriller film.
Although their career directions differed, their shared goal was the same: to establish themselves in the film world and win top awards.
Song Yu now felt those three years Fu Yuqian had waited for him were wasted — if Fu Yuqian had entered the industry earlier, he might already be winning best actor awards.
But Fu Yuqian didn’t blame him, and Song Yu didn’t worry himself over it. He trusted Fu Yuqian’s abilities and believed good news would come soon; he also resolved to work harder to catch up.
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, the pair were about to film their first kiss scene.
Author’s note: Dear ones, tomorrow afternoon I’ll be leaving town for medical treatment, so there probably won’t be an update tomorrow. I’ll post the chapter after that ^_^ Love you (づ￣3￣)づ╭
Thanks to the little angels who voted with Tyrant Tickets or watered Nutrient Solution between 2020-03-21 22:13:31 and 2020-03-22 21:38:36~
Thanks to the little angel who threw a hand grenade: 五行缺钱好多年 (1);
Thanks to little angels who watered nutrient solution: 五行缺钱好多年 (25 bottles); 沈巍 (13 bottles); 白翎贴雀翎 (5 bottles).
Thank you all so much for your support — I will keep working hard!
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