The scene he\'s filming with Gao Wu is, interestingly, a sharp contrast with the one he just did with Xin Hulei.

Unlike his shixiong, Gao Wu\'s character, Rong Zi, is an even-tempered young man, with very insightful opinions about Frozen Peak cultivation techniques, and who always volunteers to help Yan Shuyi with his work copying some of the sect library\'s older manuscripts.

He\'s also rarely punished, and despite being a demon has no problems adapting to sword immortal cultivation techniques, despite the pain it causes his body to go against his demonic core\'s nature.

Yao Shen can\'t help thinking that many of the novel\'s tragedies would have been avoided if Yan Shuyi just fell in love with Rong Zi instead of Xie Huan.

But then he guesses he wouldn\'t have a drama to film.

Who wants to watch something about two well-matched people falling in love, experiencing no hardship, and living happily ever after?

They go over the scene a couple of times, and second director Jiang calls cut with a smile on his face.

It\'s amazing how much more relaxed Yao Shen feels just from not having Xin Hulei\'s overbearing presence nearby.

Gao Wu approaches him with a water bottle in hand and a ready smile. "Gege was great, please have something to drink the day is going to be hot."

Yao Shen accepts the water bottle with a smile of his own.

\'Ahh, there\'s nothing like having a cute didi looking up at you.\'

Although Gao Wu is taller and broader than him, it\'s still nice feeling like the senior.

At least he isn\'t as tall as Xin Hulei. Yao Shen doesn\'t have to crane his neck so far back to look at his eyes.

"I was thinking we could have lunch together, get to know each other better," Gao Wu says, after taking a sip from his own bottle.

It\'s not like Yao Shen has anything better to do. "Sure, I\'d like that."

---

Yao Shen only has one more scene on his own before lunch.

It\'s just a short closeup, that will be cut in post-production with a flashback of Yan Shuyi\'s backstory. A snippet of how he came to join Frozen Peak and how he suffered under his own ruthless Shizun -- who died under mysterious circumstances, and whose death always made everyone give Yan Shuyi a wide berth.

It\'s the abuse Yan Shuyi suffered at the hands of his own Shizun that will instill in him the desire to be a good master to his own disciples, and respect the filial bonds that unite them.

It will also be the reason why it will take him such a long time to finally give in to his own feelings for Xie Huan.

Despite all his mental snarky remarks, Yao Shen truly admires Yan Shuyi as a person -- even if he can\'t understand his taste in men.

Once he\'s done shooting the scene, Gao Wu comes to pick him up, so the two can go together to the actor\'s canteen.

They\'re sitting across each other at a long table, talking about nothing in particular when a tall figure casts shadow upon them.

"I thought you said you were going to have lunch with your assistant," Xin Hulei says, looking down at Yao Shen while holding a tray in one hand.

Yao Shen almost chokes on a mouthful of rice.

He completely forgot he blew off Xin Hulei.

"Uh, she had something..., uh something came up and she\'ll have lunch later," Yao Shen says smacking his sideways fist against his chest to dislodge the rice from his airways.

With his free hand Xin Hulei points at a table a few meters across from them where Bi Jialu is sitting with some of the crew and laughing loudly at something the person sitting next to her said.

"She\'s right there," Xin Hulei says, his tone even.

Yao Shen can feel heat climbing up his neck, making his earlobes feel like they\'re about to catch on fire.

Fuck this guy for embarrassing him with such a straight face.

Gao Wu looks between them. "Then, does Xin laoshi want to have lunch with us?"

Xin Hulei doesn\'t even answer him before pulling out the chair next to Yao Shen and taking a seat, immediately digging into his noodles.

The easy mood of earlier is completely shattered with Xin Hulei\'s arrival, and the three of them eat in silence for some time until Gao Wu breaks it by clearing his throat.

"The rain still hasn\'t stopped," he says, looking out at the windows where the rain still falls in thick sheets outside.

"Let\'s hope it\'s over by tomorrow," Yao Shen says. "We have a lot of outdoors shooting to do."

"Better that it stays," Xin Hulei interjects, his eyes still trained on the food in front of him. "Some of the scenes we\'re shooting tomorrow will be more impactful under heavy rainfall."

Pneumonia will also be more impactful under heavy rainfall.

This production has enough money to make their own rain under controlled circumstances, they don\'t need a literal monsoon to almost drown them.

Yao Shen is eating his food in silence when a few cubes of braised pork belly land on his bowl.

He looks in confusion from his bowl to Xin Hulei, who is in the process of dropping more food in his bowl. "You should eat more, you\'re too skinny."

Can Xin Hulei go five minutes without being rude?

Yao Shen flattens his lips into a thin line and spares him a wan smile for the sake of appearances. "Thanks."

Not a minute later Gao Wu is dropping a few leafy cabbages into Yao Shen\'s bowl as well. "Gege should eat more vegetables too, to strengthen the immune system."

Xin Hulei\'s chopsticks freeze midway towards his mouth.

Yao Shen looks at his bowl which now has more food than when he started eating. "Honestly, there\'s no need, I eat more than enough food, and I\'m not on a diet. Please don\'t worry about me."

Neither of them looks like they\'re paying any attention to him, both locked in some sort of silent staring contest that Yao Shen has no inclination to understand.

The weird mood is dispelled by Bi Jialu\'s hasty arrival.

She looks pale as a sheet, her phone clutched tightly between her fingers. "Laoshi needs to see this," she says, unlocking her mobile and showing Yao Shen a weibo post of a video, with thousands of plays already. "This is just one of many posts, they\'re all over weibo."

Yao Shen immediately recognizes the location in which the video was shot as well as the red jumper he\'s wearing.

His stomach sinks like a stone.