The film crew set up a welcome dinner in a dilapidated small restaurant setting within the film studio.
Everyone knew Bai Yuhuai was very busy, and the fact that he had agreed to take on this script was already more than they could have hoped for.
When he finally arrived, the man behind Director Gong thoughtfully inquired, "Please, Mr. Bai, has everything been sorted out after that burglary at your villa?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Yes, it's been taken care of."
He gave a slight nod to Director Gong as a greeting. Director Gong merely nodded slightly in return, then leaned back firmly in his chair without moving.
Xu Sanyu, however, was dying of curiosity.
Why had only Bai come? Where was the young master?
Xu Sanyu chatted with the others at the table for a while, his mind partly preoccupied with the young master, and partly feeling that this place was indeed creepy. He was starting to feel uncomfortable staying there.
So he quickly made an excuse, saying he needed to go back to get something, and left first.
The car was parked not far away, and Xu Sanyu spotted it immediately.
It was strange, though.
The film hadn't officially started production yet, but there were already some extras moving about in the film studio. How did he know they were extras? Because despite the cold weather, they were wearing autumn clothes, with some even exposing half their arms, making Xu Sanyu shiver just looking at them.
Xu Sanyu quickly averted his gaze and turned to knock on the car window. "Young master, are you there?"
The lazy Jing Jiujiu leaned against the seat, softly lifting his leg to kick the window. His voice, coming from his throat, was equally soft: "Already dead. Burn some paper money if you have any business."
Xu Sanyu thought to himself that this wasn't scary at all.
Xu Sanyu leaned in considerately and asked, "Shall I bring you some food? There are so many delicious things for lunch today..."
Jing Jiujiu finally propped himself up and lowered the window: "Don't you feel cold?"
Xu Sanyu: ?
Xu Sanyu quickly gave a foolish smile: "Thank you for your concern, young master. I brought a military coat with me, so I'm not cold."
Jing Jiujiu grabbed his arm: "Don't move."
Xu Sanyu immediately started stuttering, trembling as he said, "No, young master, this is immoral. Bai will fire me first and then slice me up! Have you seen Bai play a psychopathic killer? Whoosh, that knife technique, it's terrifying when he uses it..."
Jing Jiujiu: "Hm?"
This piqued Jing Jiujiu's interest: "I want to see that!"
Xu Sanyu: ?
Xu Sanyu stammered: "Th-then shall I find a video clip online for you later?"
Jing Jiujiu: "Good."
He patted Xu Sanyu's arm: "Do you still feel cold now?"
Xu Sanyu thought to himself that he certainly wasn't cold anymore.
It was thrilling.
So thrilling that his blood was almost rushing back to his brain.
But before Xu Sanyu could speak, he suddenly realized: "...Indeed, I'm not that cold anymore. It's not anything else, just that my arms and feet were a bit frozen when I walked over here. It's the dead of winter, and this film studio is so empty, with the wind blowing right through you..."
"No, it's yin energy," Jing Jiujiu said.
As he spoke, he sat up straight, feeling he had somewhat of Bai Yuhuai's demeanor. He said with certainty: "You let ghosts touch your arms and legs."
Xu Sanyu's scalp tingled as he heard this, his skin breaking out in goosebumps: "N-no... young master, don't scare me..."
"I'm not scaring you. When I patted you just now, I was helping you get rid of the yin energy." Though he found it a bit of a pity. He was no longer considered a ghost now, so even if yin energy was right in front of him, absorbing it wouldn't do much good.
If only he had a box to collect it and take it back to feed the little ghost kids.
Xu Sanyu was dumbfounded when he heard this.
At this point, he was far beyond being scared, and was just left feeling embarrassed.
"...I misunderstood earlier, young master. Please don't take it to heart, just forget what I said. I've been watching some shows lately... and that plot twist seemed a bit similar." Xu Sanyu was so embarrassed he could almost curl his toes into the ground on the spot.
Jing Jiujiu looked at him: "Oh." He asked: "What kind of things have you been watching? Let me see?"
Xu Sanyu: ???
Xu Sanyu was in a daze for a moment before he came to his senses: "Ah, alright, I'll send them all to you later."
Satisfied, Jing Jiujiu pressed the window button and said: "Then I'm going back to rest. You stick with Bai Yuhuai."
Xu Sanyu instinctively nodded and turned around.
Jing Jiujiu: "It's safer with him."
Xu Sanyu suddenly felt a bit cold again.
He wanted to say, "Why don't I get in the car and stay with you?" But being alone with another man, he didn't dare, so he had no choice but to turn and walk back.
Jing Jiujiu lazily leaned back for a while, then suddenly sat up, carefully examining the place... Hmm, it was gloomy, and seemed a bit... suitable for an underworld setting?
The welcome dinner didn't last too long.
Firstly, Bai Yuhuai was still thinking about Jing Jiujiu. Having just been intimate with a person, no, a ghost, and then leaving, only Jing Jiujiu would think nothing of it.
Secondly, Director Gong was low on energy, so the man pushed him back first.
"There aren't many hotels nearby, so I'm afraid you'll have to stay within the film studio," the Assistant Director said.
Xu Sanyu couldn't help but ask: "There are places to stay in here?"
"Yes," the assistant nodded, "We're all staying here. Let me take you to have a look first..."
Bai Yuhuai went out first, turning back to carry Jing Jiujiu out of the car.
Everyone had seen the trending topics and had long heard about the rich young master Jing by Bai Yuhuai's side.
The assistant, of course, wouldn't be so tactless as to stare, and just honestly led the way in front.
The assistant led them directly to an old building painted white, with the building deliberately aged, the white tinged with a bit of gray.
"You can stay in any room in this building..." the assistant said, pulling out a large bunch of keys, jingling them as he led them up the stairs.
Jing Jiujiu couldn't float up the stairs, so he let Bai Yuhuai carry him on his back.
Xu Sanyu was somewhat used to it by now, just occasionally feeling a twinge of bitterness as an old bachelor.
The assistant, however, was startled when he stopped and turned back at room 201.
The assistant composed himself and used the keys to open rooms 201, 202, and several others.
Xu Sanyu was about to say there wasn't much to choose from, weren't they all the same?
He peeked into each room and was stunned.
Jing Jiujiu whispered in Bai Yuhuai's ear: "They're all different..."
The assistant smiled and said: "How about it? Interesting, right? The director designed it specially. Every scene strives for authenticity."
The furnishings in these rooms were all different.
Every detail reflected the personality and identity of the occupant.
For instance, the occupants of 201 should be a family of four, with parents who are teachers, and a boy and a girl below. The girl is still in kindergarten.
The occupant of 202 should be a single woman working in healthcare...
The occupant of 203 should be an elderly woman living alone...
This richness in detail gave the scenes a strong sense of immersion.
But the empty rooms, devoid of any signs of life, turned these magnified details into something spine-chilling.
Xu Sanyu shuddered.
Bai Yuhuai, having won countless awards, didn't even blink at such scenes. He chose 203.
The assistant asked: "You don't want to go upstairs and have a look?"
"No need."
The assistant sounded a bit disappointed. He had wanted to show off Director Gong's unique design some more.
Xu Sanyu, of course, didn't want to disturb his boss, so he chose 202 for himself.
He entered the room and closed the door behind him.
Jing Jiujiu licked his lips: "This feeling is quite strange... like we're invading someone else's home."
Bai Yuhuai responded: "Yes." "If you're uncomfortable, we can drive to a hotel three kilometers away."
"That's not necessary," Jing Jiujiu carefully sat down on the sofa, whispering to Bai Yuhuai: "It's just that we can't do this anymore." Saying this, he pecked Bai Yuhuai's lips. "Or that." He then rubbed his teeth against Bai Yuhuai's hand.
"It feels like there's an old lady in the room watching you..." Jing Jiujiu said, pausing, "Though at this age, the old lady might already be deaf and blind..."
Bai Yuhuai, however, seemed completely unconcerned.
He wasn't always like this before. Most of the time, he presented himself as steady, cold, and rigid - so rigid that he rarely smiled except when acting.
But now... thoughts kept popping into his head that kissing Jing Jiujiu in front of the whole world wouldn't be inappropriate at all. On the contrary, it would be something thoroughly enjoyable. Such wild notions.
How close to everyday life was this room designed?
The closet was crammed with clothes and spare bedding. The bedding was embroidered with large red peonies, perfectly matching the owner's personality.
Bai Yuhuai changed the sheets in the guest room. When it was time to sleep at night, he didn't let Jing Jiujiu lie down directly, but held him tightly in his arms, essentially having him sleep on top of him.
Jing Jiujiu found this quite fun. He couldn't help but wrap himself around Bai Yuhuai's arms and legs, pressing his face against his chest.
This extraordinary intimacy gave Jing Jiujiu a strange sense of satisfaction.
He contentedly closed his eyes, counting ducks until he drifted off to sleep, and before he knew it, it was the next day.
The next day, all the other actors in the crew arrived.
It was only then that Xu Sanyu realized, looking around, that in the entire crew, apart from Bai Yuhuai and Director Gong, there wasn't a single person of any renown.
Even the actress playing the female lead was someone he'd never seen before, clearly a very new actor from who knows where.
Xu Sanyu couldn't help but mutter, "Bro Bai, I hope I haven't gotten you into a mess. This crew feels like it might be a scam..."
Bai Yuhuai remained silent.
As other staff members gradually arrived on set and began setting up equipment and camera positions, things finally got a bit livelier, which made Xu Sanyu feel somewhat relieved.
Bai Yuhuai discussed the script with Director Gong for a while, causing the director's tired eyes to light up with excitement, his drooping eyelids quivering with enthusiasm.
On the spot, he asked Bai Yuhuai to play two roles.
One was a ghost, the other a spirit medium at the end of his career. The female lead seemed more like a plot device to move the story forward.
After discussing the script, Bai Yuhuai returned to Jing Jiujiu's side.
Jing Jiujiu eagerly asked, "Are we about to start filming? How should I act?"
Bai Yuhuai told him about playing two roles.
Jing Jiujiu had read the script. He paused for a moment, then said, "Ah, but what about the scenes where those two characters interact?"
There were many scenes where these two characters were entangled.
The ghost wanted the medium's life.
The medium wanted to accomplish one last glorious deed at the end of his ghost-catching career!
It was a mix of hatred and love, neither purely one nor the other.
Anyway, Jing Jiujiu hadn't understood much else, but he did understand that there was even a stream-of-consciousness bed scene in there!
"So how will that be filmed?" Jing Jiujiu murmured.
But soon, he cheered up.
It's better not to act with someone else!
Jing Jiujiu quickly volunteered: "Act with me! I'll be the ghost! We won't even need post-production editing!"
Bai Yuhuai's eyes flickered, his throat bobbing as he swallowed: "Alright."
Jing Jiujiu beamed with joy again, even finding the surrounding eerie architecture much more pleasing to the eye.
Jing Jiujiu: "Did I just help you out big time?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Yes. Jiujiu is a genius."
Bai Yuhuai went over to say a few more words to Director Gong, who nodded repeatedly. Soon after, they began filming.
Jing Jiujiu couldn't act, so he could only serve as a ghostly prop.
Bai Yuhuai sat there.
Jing Jiujiu quietly made himself invisible, came out from the bathroom, then walked over, baring his small pointed canines, putting on his fiercest expression. Like the ghost in the script, he leaned down towards the spirit medium at the end of his career.
A flash of excitement crossed the medium's eyes.
He raised his hand, waving it in the air as if grasping for something.
He caught Jing Jiujiu's wrist, playing with his fingers, inserting them between his own and then separating them, intimate and somewhat erotic.
Jing Jiujiu was bewildered for a moment, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
Oh... he understood now.
Why was it that in other stories, it was always the fierce ghost toying with the protagonist's body?
But here, it was the protagonist toying with the fierce ghost's body???