Chapter 50: I Love Shooting

An hour later, Zhou Le stepped out of Zhao Liying's room looking refreshed.

As soon as he reached his doorway, he saw Dong Zijian knocking on his door.

"What's up, Brother Dong?"

Dong Zijian answered candidly, "Teacher Zhou, I wanted to go over the script with you. Everyone says your acting skills are exceptional and deeply engaging."

Hearing this, Zhou Le had no objections.

He swiped his room card and pushed the door open.

"Also, maybe because I didn't close the window the past few nights, the draft made my shoulder a bit sore. I was wondering if Teacher Zhou could help me massage it."

The moment he heard those words, Zhou Le immediately wedged his foot in the door.

"Did they tell you to say that?"

"Yeah, Director Han Han said you're good at tui na massage."

Zhou Le instantly put on a look of "shame": "I was just messing around with that stuff. If you genuinely have an issue, it's better to see a professional. I can't even pinpoint the pressure points accurately; what if I end up making your condition worse?"

Although Dong Zijian was only two or three years older than Zhou Le, he caught the subtext in those words.

"Oh, I see. Well, never mind then. Let's just go over the script first."

Zhou Le found nothing more annoying than reviewing scripts when he had nothing else to do. In his view, reviewing scripts like this was a social ritual rather than a genuine way to improve oneself.

When filming, getting chewed out by the director a few times would make anyone improve faster than anything else.

Therefore, after a mere half-hour, Zhou Le sent Dong Zijian away.

He picked up his phone and checked it, finding a message from Nazha: "I'm exhausted to death lately. Shooting in a small crew involves so much hassle. I'm so tired my lower back and entire body are aching."

Zhou Le replied immediately: "No worries, I'll give you a massage next time I see you. I'm a professional when it comes to this."

The reason he turned down Dong Zijian was simply because Zhou Le didn't want to open that door.

However, if it were a pretty actress, Zhou Le simply didn't want to refuse.

Moreover, Zhou Le knew how to draw the line; as long as the other party didn't make a move, he would never overstep.

Once *Duckweed* started filming, the production entered its formal shooting phase.

However, Han Han also handed down a task to Zhou Le.

He had to work out more during his downtime, as it was necessary to capture the vibe of Xu Tailang.

Yet Zhou Le showed little enthusiasm for this. Full of energy while acting, he would wilt the moment fitness was mentioned.

Han Han realized this wouldn't do.

So on the spot, he replaced Zhou Le's trainer with a gorgeous female personal trainer.

She possessed a body that was drop-dead gorgeous, and her voice was gentle.

When Han Han interviewed her and watched her demonstrate half a lesson, he made the decision on the spot.

The results were immediate.

Han Han watched the two of them working out with great satisfaction.

Turning to Deng Chao beside him, he remarked, "Look at that, didn't I mold him right into shape? This is what I call tailoring instruction to the individual."

Meanwhile, Zhou Le was indeed thoroughly enjoying himself.

After all, it was guidance from a master.

Though his previous male trainer was also heavily built, whenever Zhou Le looked at him, his head always seemed oddly pointed—a very awkward sight.

Consequently, he could never muster any interest.

Furthermore, Zhou Le thought the inventor of yoga pants was an absolute genius!

Yet, the thought crossed his mind that once filming wrapped up, he would have to undergo rapid weight loss again, because playing a patient with his current physique would be utterly ridiculous.

"Teacher Zhou, what are your hobbies in your spare time?"

While working out, the female trainer asked.

"Hobbies? Reading books, listening to music, traveling, and shooting guns."

The female trainer: "???"

"Shooting guns? I'm good at that too, and quite proficient actually."

Zhou Le: "That's great. We can spar sometime when you're free."

The female trainer: "Sure, tonight even. I'm really good at shooting."

Zhou Le: "Remarkable. Though personally, I consider myself best at shooting pistols."

The female trainer: "What a coincidence, me too."

"Then we really are destined. I usually like playing with the Italian-made Beretta Model 87 5.6mm semi-automatic pistol. And you?"

The female trainer: "???"

We've been talking for half a minute, and you were actually talking about literal pistols?

I thought I was going to get to mess around with a celebrity.

Even getting messed around *by* a celebrity would have been fine.

Her expression turned slightly unnatural for a split second.

"I was talking about the Desert Eagle."

Zhou Le had a sudden flash of realization: "Oh, you play CF too?"

"Yeah."

The Desert Eagle was the only pistol name she could muster. Apart from that, there was only the Arisaka rifle, because every time she went home for Chinese New Year, her father was always watching anti-Japanese war dramas.

After the workout session ended,

Su Yingxia trotted over quickly and handed Zhou Le a bottle of yogurt.

This was the homemade yogurt bought from a nearby street stall—served in a glass bottle with a square piece of plastic film over the top, secured around the rim with a rubber band.

You even had to pay a deposit when buying it, which was refunded when you returned the bottle.

Zhou Le loved drinking this kind of yogurt.

Because it tasted just like childhood.

"You still drink yogurt after working out? This thing is super high in calories."

Zhou Le checked the label: "There's nothing written here. Besides, don't worry, Coach, I'm drinking the iced version, so there are basically no calories."

With that, Zhou Le drained it in one go.

Then, clutching his head in agony while wincing, he handed the empty bottle back to Su Yingxia.

"What's wrong?" the female trainer asked with concern.

"Nothing, just brain freeze from drinking something cold too fast."

The female trainer thought inwardly with a sigh: "I can drink cold things too, but I'd much rather have something else hurt afterward."

......

Wherever Zhou Le went, laughter followed.

Dong Zijian, however, did not feel this way.

He felt that Zhou Le was stealing his thunder.

Several times, he wanted to blend into the group, even memorizing quite a few interesting internet memes in advance, thinking that being a bit abstract and funny might help him chat and bond with everyone.

Yet every time he spoke up, the conversation hit a dead silence.

Though everyone laughed politely, they were all actors; their acting might sometimes fall short, but spotting whether someone else was acting was second nature to them.

Looking at Zhou Le, on the other hand, banter and abstract memes rolled off his tongue effortlessly.

He simply couldn't compete!

In truth, everyone knew Dong Zijian wasn't lacking in acting talent, but rather depth. If he were a few years younger, such acting would be fine, but he hadn't shown any progress since then.

People called him the Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle.

Yet nowadays, others called Lu Han the Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle too; Chen Kaige's son Chen Feiyu, who had just debuted as an actor, was also called the Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle; Zhang Ruoyun was a Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle; and once upon a time, Zhao Baogang's son was also a Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle.

Everyone was a Crown Prince of the Beijing Circle.

Therefore, people just maintained a superficial politeness with him.

In daily life, though, who wouldn't want to chat and make friends with interesting people?

Especially for Deng Chao, Zhou Le would sneakily bring alcohol over to drink with him every few days, and even help cover for him when his wife called via video chat to check up on him.

On set, he was Zhou Le's older brother and father figure, but every time Zhou Le saw Deng Chao's wife, he addressed her respectfully as "Your Imperial Highness" at every turn.

By association, Deng Chao's own status was elevated to that of the Emperor.

"Still, I really admire Director Han's wild imagination. It just occurred to me: what if Xu Tailang and his wife have a son who grows up looking more and more like Xu Tailang's sworn brother? Eventually, Xu Tailang takes a DNA test upon getting out of prison, only to discover the kid really was fathered by his wife. Just imagining that feels so abstract."