Ning Luo felt for a moment that he was hallucinating. Lu Tingzhou didn’t say “a dead end,” but some other mountain road or water road, or at least “four roads”. [mfn]1 he’s telling himself maybe he misheard, that it must have been something else—any other phrase would be better. Even if it was nonsense like “four roads,”[/mfn]
He opened his mouth, voice trembling, sincerely asking for clarification: “Brother Tingzhou, what did you say just now? The wind was too strong, I don’t think I heard it clearly.”
“Nothing, just a joke,” Lu Tingzhou replied casually, as if it was just an ordinary joke and not worth pursuing, “It seems that I don’t have much of a sense of humor.”
Ning Luo: You really do have one.
He laughed with a stiff face : “Hahaha, is that so? When you put it that way, it’s quite funny too, hahahahaha.”
In order to deal with the male god, he let out a few awkward laughs.
As a result, his voice was too loud, and the entire mountain valley was filled with his he-he-ha-ha laughter, rising and falling, endlessly echoing.
“Hahahahaha… hahahahahahaha…”
Ning Luo was so embarrassed by himself that his scalp tingled. He quickly turned around and buried his head, walking forward.
Because he walked too fast, he naturally missed the fleeting trace of a smile in Lu Tingzhou’s eyes.
Ning Luo walked a few steps before realizing that he was in the middle of the bridge. The moment he moved, the bridge was like an old lady, trembling and groaning in protest.
Unable to move forward or backward and afraid of being laughed at for being timid, he tightened his hands on the rope and moved forward, muttering to himself as he walked.
“Come on, Ning Luo, you can do it. You are a brave eagle, a fierce tiger, a wise wolf. You have changed. You are no longer a rice bucket, a black sheep, a drum for retreat, or a grass on the wall.” [mfn]2 A rice bucket (a useless person who only eats), a black sheep ( someone who brings shame to the group), a drum for retreat (someone who gives up or retreats easily), a grass on the wall (a fence-sitter who sways with the wind)[/mfn]
The muttering drifted into Lu Tingzhou’s ears with the wind. He lowered his eyes, and the corner of his lips curved into a faint smile..
Ning Luo continued to cheer: “The first push is strong, the second is weak, the third is exhausted…”
A gust of wind blew, and the bridge swayed from side to side.
He immediately closed his eyes and shouted with all his strength in his heart: [Four-Dense Marseille, I can’t do it ah ah ah ah ah! ! ! ] [mfn]3 It has no literal meaning he is just shouting in fear [/mfn]
A soft “hiss” sound came from behind him.
Then a big hand grasped his shoulder, the palm wrapping around the entire shoulder, and the warm touch was particularly clear through the clothes.
Ning Luo suddenly stiffened his body and looked back.
Lu Tingzhou was frowning slightly, with his other hand covering his ears. When he saw that he was looking at him, he put it down, his Adam’s apple rolled as if he wanted to say something but finally swallowed it, and slowly exhaled: “I’ll take you there.”
The hand on his shoulder exerted a slight forward push.
“No, no need,” Ning Luo hurriedly said , “Don’t bother, brother, I can do it myself…”
Lu Tingzhou walked to his side, and the weight of the hand on his shoulder disappeared, replaced by five fingers gently grasping his forearm through his sleeve.
Politely not gripping tightly, yet with enough strength that he couldn’t break free, pulling him forward.
Ning Luo had to swallow his polite refusal: “Then… thank you, Brother Tingzhou.”
Lu Tingzhou said, “Hmm”, and after walking for a while, he said: “Look up and look forward, you won’t be so scared.”
Ning Luo nodded and said okay. His gaze fell on the place where their hands were joined under the wide sleeves, the tips of his ears reddening slightly as his eyes dodged away.
Even though he was so wild online, in reality he was just a pure and innocent little boy!
Slowly dawdling along, they finally crossed the wooden bridge and arrived at the cave next to the waterfall.
As soon as he stepped on the ground, Lu Tingzhou let Ning Luo go and was called away by Nie Wentao.
Ning Luo pursed his lips and tugged at his sleeve, calling to Xu Ling, who walked over: “Sister Ling.”
Xu Ling handed him a bottle of water: “What’s wrong, your face is so pale?”
Ning Luo shook his head.
The original owner was not afraid of heights, and he wasn’t sure whether Xu Ling knew that, so it was better not to say anything.
Xu Ling only mentioned it in passing and soon took him to shoot the new scene.
The scenery here is indeed beautiful, the water is clear, the splashing droplets scattered like pearls, and the birds are chirping in the mountain stream.
The cameramen were setting up their equipment. An assistant was helping Lu Tingzhou sort out his clothes.
Nie Wentao took the opportunity to lean over and say, “Is that the second son of the Ning family? As expected, he looks more like his mother.”
Lu Tingzhou nodded.
Nie Wentao said, “I have something to tell you. This Ning Luo doesn’t have much professional ability. The version of the photo of you two together that was originally planned will not be filmed. This is also what Ning Yang wants.”
No comparison means no harm. This way, they can avoid Ning Luo’s shortcomings and don’t have to wrong Lu Tingzhou.
Lu Tingzhou just said, “Look back.”
Nie Wentao turned around.
He saw Ning Luo holding a prop sword upside down in his hand. While waiting idly in the corner for the set to be arranged, he casually made a few sword flowers with his hands. His moves were sharp and elegant and very beautiful.
Nie Wentao had stayed in film crews for a long time, and at a glance, he could tell that this sword technique had been specially taught by the martial arts instructor. Whether it was useful or not, he didn’t know, but it was definitely pleasing to the eye.
Nie Wentao was surprised: “He practiced?”
Lu Tingzhou: “Go take a look.”
As soon as Ning Luo got the sword, his second-year soul began to burn. [mfn]4 chuunibyou[/mfn]
He first imagined himself to be a hermit master of the world. After performing a few sword moves, he stood at the entrance of the cave with his hands behind his back, listening to Xiao Song’s flattery and praise.
After a while, he still wasn’t satisfied and pulled Xiao Song over to demonstrate Wudang’s Tiyunzong for him. [mfn]5 Wudang’s Tiyunzong is a common wuxia term referring to a lightness skill that lets the user leap high or move swiftly as if climbing clouds or flying.[/mfn]
Ning Luo: “Open your eyes and see clearly, I have a scientific basis for this.”
Then Lu Tingzhou saw him stepping on his right foot with his left foot to try to fly into the sky.
“…”
Nie Wentao: “The mental pressure of being a celebrity is really high.”
At this moment, he perfectly empathized with Xu Ling.
Xu Ling called out from a distance: “Ning Luo, come quickly.”
She saw his strange movements again: “What are you doing?”
Ning Luo put away his kung fu, stood up straight, and coughed lightly: “I am performing the interaction of forces for Xiao Song.”
Xu Ling was silent for a second. In this second, she had already thought of the list of the best doctors in the third-party psychological institution that connected with the company. Without showing any emotion, she waved at him: “It’s set up, come quickly.”
The photo retoucher Zhao Wanwan did her job in accordance with the professional ethics of a worker. It’s just that she was not in a good mood today.
One reason was that the boss forgot to put chicken fillet in the pancakes she bought in the morning, and the other was that she thought it would be an easy job to work with the movie emperor today, but she didn’t expect there would be a Ning Luo brand burden.
“I don’t know how long I will have to work overtime for the post-production photo editing. ” She rested her arm on the cameraman’s shoulder, looking annoyed. “Running into someone who has neither camera sense nor expressiveness, and the client still wants me to retouch it into a brilliantly colorful black. I really want to quit my job.”
The cameraman comforted her, “At least the face is okay, right? I’ll guide him on some movements later, so it won’t be too unpresentable.”
While they were talking, Ning Luo was already standing at the designated position, wearing a short black dress. With the blade of his sword touching the ground, he looked at them with a bright smile.
The cameraman frowned at the sight, because in the character setting, Ning Luo was a character that combined the two characteristics of innocence and cruelty. Ning Luo’s appearance and temperament did not match, it was simply two extremes: “Ning Luo, you have to stop smiling, you can’t laugh.”
Zhao Wanwan covered her face, already foreseeing a late night with coffee as her companion.
Ning Luo stopped smiling and tilted his head: “Give me some time; I’ll find the feeling.”
Cameraman: What feeling could you possibly have? Aren’t you just wasting everyone’s time?
One person wasting ten minutes—added up, that’s an entire day wasted for everyone!
The secretary of Chuzhuo Entertainment was still watching. The cameraman didn’t say anything out loud, but his attitude obviously became cold: “Okay, hurry up.”
Ning Luo lowered his head and looked at the sword in his hand, giving it a shake. Under the reflector, the blade flashed with a dazzling white light.
Suddenly, he turned his wrist, raised the sword, and held the sword with his backhand to make a beautiful sword flower. Even though it was a prop sword, it had a whistling sound of breaking through the air.
Everyone didn’t expect him to have this skill. They were all shocked, and their admiration was beyond words.
“So handsome.” Someone whispered.
An idea flashed through the cameraman’s mind, and before he could react to whether it was right or wrong, his hand had already pressed on the shutter.
Ning Luo is usually not serious, but when he is serious, he is really serious. When he is closing his movement, his momentum is low, the sword draws a semicircle in the air, and it is placed horizontally in front of him. Two fingers came together to brush along the flat of the blade, reflecting a pair of eyes glinting with a cold edge, staring straight into the lens.
The shutter freezes this moment.
Zhao Wanwan looked at the picture and subconsciously exclaimed, “What beautiful eyes.”
It is true that Ning Luo’s eyes are childish and not suitable for too complicated character settings, but as long as you see the person in this photo, no one will think that “Ning Luo is not suitable.”
In the photo, those eyes were slightly narrowed. The slight downward angle created an illusion of length, and within them burned a chilling fighting spirit, so intense it became pure. The small mole at the outer corner of his eye seemed about to ignite.
The aura of a single sword cleaving open the heavens was so overwhelming that people dared not look straight at it.
It fit perfectly with their vision of the mute slave.
It is a sharp knife, a sword out of the sheath.
It is a loyal, mad dog that will bite people to protect its master.
In his previous life, a director once commented on Ning Luo: “He can make all the characters live for him, grow bones, and breed flesh and blood.”
Ning Luo’s official response to this was, Don’t bare your heart to me; just give me the money.
The cameraman got excited: “Ning Luo, hurry up! Change your pose while you are in the mood!”
Without his reminder, Ning Luo had already started to pose skillfully, and his eye acting and body expression were just right.
Nie Wentao recovered from his initial shock and then got angry: “This is what you call lacking professional ability? Who the hell was being Versailles here?”
At the scene, he wasn’t the only one who felt this way. After the initial shock, everyone believed even more that in the entertainment circle, rumors get exaggerated when people talk. Just listen to them; don’t take them seriously.
Otherwise, if Ning Luo was really a rookie, what were they? A Paramecium!
Except for Xu Ling.
Xu Ling was the only one who truly knew how much ability Ning Luo actually had.
Ning Yang’s secretary praised him generously: “The Second Young Master is really amazing. This kind of small matter is no problem for him at all. Right, Miss Xu?”
Xu Ling came back to her senses. Hearing him say this kind of thing in such a calm tone, she twitched the corner of her mouth. “Yes.”
She didn’t notice that there was a gaze behind her staring at this side the whole time.
Seeing the surprise on her face that was no less than that of others, Lu Tingzhou thought for a while and replied to Nie Wentao, “In this case, let’s shoot the joint photos.”
When Ning Luo heard that they were going to take a photo of the two of them, he subconsciously looked at Lu Tingzhou not far away.
The eyes of the two met in the air.
Lu Tingzhou’s pupils were deep, and he slowly withdrew the inquiry in his eyes and smiled a little.
In the dim light of the cave, it seemed like a temptation that was hidden but not revealed.
Ning Luo was captured by the beauty and was in a trance. Then he saw Lu Tingzhou walking towards him, standing in front of him, lowering his eyes, and asking him, “What posture should we use?”
Ning Luo:?
What kind of bad line is this?
He said, “It depends on what you think, brother.”
Lu Tingzhou: “Let’s just shoot the scene where the mute slave was killed by the twin brother.”
Both parties agreed, and the cameraman said it was ok. Ning Luo adjusted his posture and placed the sword across Lu Tingzhou’s neck. Lu Tingzhou raised his hand, but before he got close, he saw that the tips of Ning Luo’s ears were slowly turning red.
Lu Tingzhou stopped and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ning Luo shyly pursed his lips: “I’m afraid of men.”
“…”
A trace of absurdity flashed in Lu Tingzhou’s eyes: “Do I look scary?”
Ning Luo shook his head.
[No, you look like my mistress.]
Xu Ling’s eyebrows twitched fiercely.
TL notes:
Thank you everyone for your support (〜￣▽￣)〜
sorry i thought i uploaded this just realized it is still in my drafts hehe o(￣┰￣*)ゞ
Happy reading~~
So cute