"Mr. Bai's palm lines..." Jing Jiujiu, who had prepared a whole spiel, suddenly stopped.
He couldn't help but turn Bai Yuhuai's palm over and over again.
To onlookers, this man wearing a mask and sunglasses looked like a madman constantly flipping his own palm.
Played too much with some app? Showing off hand tricks?
Jing Jiujiu paused for several seconds before speaking: "You don't have palm lines."
He had just realized this himself!
Bai Yuhuai responded indifferently: "Mm."
Jing Jiujiu: "Then what should I look at?"
Bai Yuhuai lowered his voice to avoid being heard as a madman talking to himself. He asked, "Can you read faces?"
Jing Jiujiu couldn't do anything.
"Let me see..." Jing Jiujiu said, pretending to stare intently at Bai Yuhuai's face.
But Bai Yuhuai was also staring at him.
Their eyes met for an instant.
The man's eye color was a bit light, giving a momentary impression of cold indifference when their gazes connected. Jing Jiujiu's gaze slid downward, looking at his nose, lips, chin, Adam's apple...
It was Bai Yuhuai who first became uncomfortable with this scrutiny.
Jing Jiujiu was examining him too seriously, as if trying to imprint every inch into his memory.
Bai Yuhuai turned his face slightly away: "What did you see?"
"Hmm, quite impressive. Very accomplished in the past, and will be very accomplished in the future." Jing Jiujiu said this part quite seriously.
Bai Yuhuai breathed a sigh of relief, feeling subtly pleased yet also subtly displeased, with a hint of dissatisfaction in the depths of his heart.
Jing Jiujiu felt that this trick of reading people's fortunes was rather boring.
He decided he should tell Master Zhou next time not to casually read fortunes to fool people anymore. What if you encounter someone without palm lines, what would you say then? What if you meet someone like Lin Zhi who can wipe away their features, leaving just a blank face? You can't even read their face then.
Jing Jiujiu slipped away, patrolling back and forth several times on the plane, and finally leaned motionless against the glass door of the cockpit.
Bai Yuhuai's arm was still maintaining its previous posture, but his embrace was now empty.
Not. Very. Happy.
Very. Much. Want. To. Kill. Ghost.
...
The film Director Xiang was directing was called "The Mist". It was a work he had squeezed out after three years of effort, and he had also put great effort into raising investments.
When he learned that the biggest investor, President Yin, couldn't come to the set to offer the ceremonial pig's head due to fainting, Director Xiang felt quite regretful.
After learning that Meng Hexin's forehead was also injured, the director began to worry.
And when he found out that Ding Hanbing wouldn't be coming, and who would be replacing Ding Hanbing's role, the director felt even more regretful and worried.
"This is even worse than Ding Hanbing."
"Yeah."
"Three-time award nominee, always losing to Bai the Film Emperor. If they meet face to face, won't they fight?"
"Bai the Film Emperor can't be bothered to fight with people, and he wouldn't dare fight anyway. At most he'll just grumble behind his back..."
"Oh, they're here, they're here."
As several people in the crew were quietly gossiping, a few cars approached.
The one who got out was a male star nearing thirty, named Guan Yan.
Guan Yan stood there without saying a word, but his manager beside him started barking orders, directing the people from the other cars to start unloading things.
"Why didn't they bring the mobile trailer today?" someone snickered quietly.
"Because Bai the Film Emperor has an even bigger one, said to be a gift from some big shot in Capital City."
"Shh..."
Just as they arrived, Jing Jiujiu and the others also arrived shortly after.
The assistant took Lin Zhi to the hotel, leaving only the manager and Jing Jiujiu to accompany Bai Yuhuai to the set. Now that they had gotten off the plane, Jing Jiujiu looked like a normal human again.
"Come on, put this on."
"And this one, this one too."
Xu Sanyu felt like a fussy old hen, not only having to take care of Bai Yuhuai but also the young master by Bai Yuhuai's side. Look at that face, look at that head, cover it all up, don't let people see.
Jing Jiujiu didn't struggle, allowing Xu Sanyu to put a wool hat on him and an LV-branded mask. He looked like a tacky nouveau riche.
Even Assistant No. 2 couldn't bear to watch.
Assistant No. 2: "Thankfully, you weren't in charge of Bai's previous styling."
Meanwhile, Best Actress Tao and others arrived one after another.
The nearly thirty-year-old male star, Guan Yan, turned to look. But after a moment's thought, he maintained his status and didn't go over to greet them actively.
If Bai Yuhuai could put on airs, wasn't he qualified to do so as well?
His manager did whisper a few words in his ear, the gist being, "Aren't we coming to this production to expand our network? You've had enough spotlight this year. But your status in the industry isn't solid enough yet. Isn't this the result of you being a lone wolf?"
Guan Yan wanted to say, isn't Bai Yuhuai even less popular?
The manager fell silent.
"Best Actress Tao and the others have all arrived. Bai, should we go over?" On this side, Xu Sanyu spoke up to ask.
Bai Yuhuai gave an affirmative sound.
They then slowly walked over.
"So particular," Guan Yan's manager sneered.
Indeed. With such excessively handsome looks, shouldn't this kind of appearance in the film industry be unpleasant to watch, only limiting viewers to admiring the superficial beauty? How can a male actor who pays too much attention to appearance be considered part of the method acting school?
Guan Yan didn't say anything, but this was what he was thinking.
Meanwhile, Xu Sanyu was also quietly gossiping with Jing Jiujiu. He never dared to gossip in front of Bai Yuhuai, because Bai Yuhuai had absolutely no interest in such things.
Now he had finally found a perfect target!
Moreover, this target seemed to have never heard any gossip before, so upon first hearing, he could listen with great interest to anything, giving the gossiper an extremely strong sense of satisfaction.
"Wow! Look at that, this male celebrity brought seven or eight assistants, one manager, one driver, two bodyguards. And three stand-ins..."
Jing Jiujiu: "Mm."
Xu Sanyu clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that today he didn't seem as interested.
Jing Jiujiu said: "Actually, I used to have even more people with me when I went out."
So in his eyes, this wasn't anything special.
Xu Sanyu's mouth formed an 'o'.
I'm sorry, I've disturbed you.
I don't understand the life of the wealthy.
"But why does he bring three stand-ins? Does he use them in rotation?" Jing Jiujiu asked curiously.
Xu Sanyu shook his head and scoffed lightly: "On this point, I don't know whether to praise him or mock him. He never uses stand-ins. Do you know why he still brings stand-ins? Just to create a news story - 'Production team considerately prepares three stand-ins for him, but he insists on maintaining professional ethics and doesn't use a single one.' Isn't that hypocritical?"
"..."
"You're still holding an umbrella?" Director Xiang smiled and came over proactively at this time, reaching out to take the umbrella from Bai Yuhuai's hand, "Come, let me hold it for you."
But Bai Yuhuai subtly avoided his hand.
Although the director found it a bit strange, he didn't feel awkward and simply put his hands in his sleeves.
Guan Yan's manager: "Tsk. What an attitude."
Yet they saw Best Actress Tao and others coming over with smiles on their faces.
Such a scene wouldn't last long, dispersing after a few pleasantries, the atmosphere awkward enough to make one want to dig a three-bedroom apartment in the ground.
Guan Yan and his team of staff all thought so.
"Bai."
"Bai, you're finally here!"
"Come, this is a gift."
"This is a local specialty from my hometown. I brought it especially for you."
...
Best Actress Tao, including several very famous veteran actors in the industry, all eagerly greeted him.
Guan Yan's manager: "Fuck!" "Are they being this sincere?"
Guan Yan also frowned, then saw the young man standing next to Bai Yuhuai, wrapped up tightly and looking quite young, reach out and accept everything.
Guan Yan's manager: "Tsk. Bai Yuhuai doesn't even reach out himself, but that kid beside him moves quickly. Is he accepting favors on Bai's behalf? Acting on his own, he'll probably get scolded by Bai Yuhuai when they get back. Bai Yuhuai doesn't even give his own manager a good look."
"Alright, let's all go over," said Guan Yan.
As they approached...
Guan Yan's manager wanted to ask when the opening ceremony would begin.
So they could find a good spot, lest in a group photo, fans would have to search for half a day wondering where they were.
"You try it first, if it's good, I'll bring you more next time."
"Is this what you were looking for? I didn't get it wrong, did I? Haha."
"My assistant bought some milk tea, would you like to try some? ... Brother Bai, would you like a cup too?"
...
A group of people gathered around, but their voices still carried clearly.
Guan Yan and his manager both frowned slightly, only now realizing that the person they were enthusiastically surrounding wasn't exactly Bai Yuhuai. Rather, it was that young boy whose face they couldn't quite make out.
Bai Yuhuai watched as Jing Jiujiu accepted the gifts one by one: "..."
How many days had they been chatting behind his back?
Had it really gotten to this point?
Meanwhile, Best Actress Tao was still smiling: "Is the young master afraid of getting tanned? Does he want big sister to share some sunscreen?"
As she spoke, she and another actress actually started rummaging through their bags.
Young master?
Before Guan Yan's manager could sneer, thinking what an outdated and cliché term that was - was he really some rich young master?
Bai Yuhuai: "...Let's start early."
Everyone finally reined in their actions a bit.
Director Xiang perked up immediately, hurriedly ushering: "Come, come, let's take a photo first."
Guan Yan took a big step, walking to Bai Yuhuai's side.
Bai Yuhuai glanced at him slightly.
Jing Jiujiu stood outside the frame, his eyes widening a bit.
There was a "click" sound.
"Alright," said the photographer.
Everyone quickly dispersed, especially Guan Yan who walked away very fast.
Jing Jiujiu walked to Bai Yuhuai's side, frowning: "That Guan Yan..." "Why does he have a ghost riding on his neck too?"
The ghost was small in stature, with a big head, spindly legs, bright red skin, but a face that was slightly greenish.
Because of its small size, it wasn't very noticeable at first.
It wasn't until Guan Yan stood in front of the camera, when the flash went off, that the little ghost on his neck stood up and bared its teeth at Jing Jiujiu.
Jing Jiujiu: "...That ghost is even snarling at me."
As he said this, Jing Jiujiu frowned.
Have I, as a ghost, really lost all dignity to this extent? Even a tiny little ghost dares to snarl at me!
Bai Yuhuai looked in Guan Yan's direction.
He saw it too.
As soon as Guan Yan approached him, he felt a strong wave of yin energy.
Bai Yuhuai stared at that ugly little ghost, countless thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.
...This was his first time raising a ghost too.
If he could catch this little ghost, whether to nourish Jing Jiujiu or to gain more knowledge about raising ghosts...
The little ghost seemed to sense Bai Yuhuai's gaze.
It trembled for a moment, but then immediately bared even longer fangs in Jing Jiujiu's direction, looking as if it was hissing.
Bai Yuhuai frowned.
What a rude thing.
But when he turned his head, he saw Jing Jiujiu had also taken off his LV mask, pulled at the corners of his mouth, and bared his teeth at the little ghost.
Ha!
He was no longer just a ghost now!
Tomorrow he'd bring a faceless Lin Zhi to scare it to death!