Chapter 261 – The Runaway Little Sweetheart of the Top Actor – The Female Lead Causes Trouble (05)
Adam smoothed things over and said, “It’s about time. Let Tang Tang go change clothes quickly, or Director Li will get impatient.”
Pu Hexu said, “Sorry, it’s not a convenient time for autographs right now.” He declined Wen Anni’s request.
Wen Anni stood there awkwardly, clutching her notebook and pen.
A fellow female makeup artist kindly picked up the things Wen Anni had dropped. “If it’s inconvenient, you can rest over there for now. Mr. Pu and Mr. Bai are about to start filming. As assistants and makeup artists, we just need to wait on standby.”
Wen Anni gratefully accepted the way out and smiled at the makeup artist. “Thank you.”
At that moment, Adam’s phone rang. He quickly walked out to take the call.
Soon, Bai Tang came back after changing clothes. Dressed in the robe of an immortal cultivation sect, he looked ethereal like a celestial being. Everyone who saw him was stunned by his beauty.
Wen Anni sat with the makeup artist, watching the actors film in front of them.
Pu Hexu’s stunningly handsome face and calm, mature demeanor mesmerized Wen Anni.
The award-winning actor really was a sight to behold.
Watching how gentle and attentive he was with Bai Tang made Wen Anni even more envious.
If Pu Hexu could be so kind to an outsider, imagine how blissful it would be to be his partner.
As she thought about it, Wen Anni became more and more entranced, subconsciously replacing Bai Tang with herself in the scene—her idol holding her hand gently, intimately explaining the scene to her.
Meanwhile, after confirming the scene with Bai Tang, Pu Hexu got ready to begin filming.
The first scene depicted the young Que Ning being brought back to the sect by the Supreme Elder Wuji, where he meets Situ Cheng for the first time.
“Disciple respectfully welcomes the Elder’s return.” As the senior disciple, Situ Cheng led the other students in saluting the Supreme Elder.
“You may rise.”
With the Elder’s signal, a young, charming boy in a dark white robe peeked out from behind the Supreme Elder, curiously surveying the sect where he would live and train.
As the senior disciple in charge of guiding others, it was Situ Cheng’s duty to care for his junior disciples.
“And who might this be?” Situ Cheng asked.
The young boy had a face like finely carved jade, and though he looked slightly shy, his clear, moist apricot eyes dared not meet Situ Cheng’s gaze.
“Is he our new junior disciple?”
“Do we have another little junior now…?”
The whispers among the disciples made the boy even more bashful. His face, clean and delicate like polished jade, flushed with a light pink hue.
Situ Cheng’s first impression of the boy was excellent. Though clearly curious, the boy’s shyness under the crowd’s scrutiny made him look just like a little squirrel from the back mountain.
“This is Que Ning, a wood-type spiritual root. His foundation is exceptional. From now on, he will be your little junior. I will be entering seclusion tomorrow, so all of you must take good care of him,” said the Supreme Elder Wuji.
“Yes, we disciples shall obey the Elder’s instructions,” the group responded in unison.
Satisfied, the Supreme Elder turned to Situ Cheng and said, “Cheng’er, you’re the eldest senior disciple. I’ll leave Ning’er in your care.”
“Yes, Master. I accept the task and will be sure to take good care of our junior,” Situ Cheng replied respectfully.
Once the Supreme Elder left, Situ Cheng led Que Ning to the small courtyard where he would live. “This will be your residence from now on. My room is right next to yours. If you’re missing anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.”
In the world of cultivation, disciples were usually trained from a young age. Que Ning, already fifteen or sixteen, was starting relatively late. If he didn’t apply himself diligently, he might not be able to keep up with his senior brothers.
Situ Cheng was especially considerate toward Que Ning. Every time he saw the boy’s sweet smile and heard his soft, affectionate voice calling him “Eldest Senior Brother,” a wave of joy would well up in his heart.
He attributed this feeling to the fact that no junior disciple had ever relied on him like this before.
During their days of cultivation in the sect, Situ Cheng often found the boy slacking off under the cherry blossom tree. Whenever he caught him, the boy would tug at his hand and act spoiled, saying, “Senior Brother, we have to wake up at dawn every day for morning lessons. I’m so sleepy. I just want to nap for a little while—just a little while~”
He would gesture with his fingers to show a tiny amount and look up at Situ Cheng with watery, pleading eyes that could melt anyone’s heart.
“All right, but at least go back to your room to sleep. What if you catch a cold out here?” Situ Cheng said, lightly tapping Que Ning’s delicate nose.
Que Ning looked surprised at first, then delighted. “Thank you, Senior Brother! I knew you were the one who doted on me the most~”
As Situ Cheng looked at the boy’s joyful expression, an unusual warmth began to spread through his chest.
At worst, he thought, he would simply protect this boy from now on.
“Cut—”
Director Li raised his megaphone. “Very good, one take!”
Director Li was notoriously picky, and it was rare—especially for newcomers—to get a scene right on the first try when filming with him. But Bai Tang had done it.
Bai Tang perfectly captured Que Ning’s natural dependence on his senior brother, his coquettishness, his petty tricks, and the subtle behavior of someone secretly in love.
Bai Tang and Que Ning had completely merged into one. He was Que Ning, and Que Ning was him.
The people watching from the sidelines had originally assumed Bai Tang had only gotten into the production because of Pu Hexu pulling strings. They didn’t expect his acting to be this impressive. His performance with Pu Hexu felt completely natural. There was no dissonance between them—their surface-level senior-junior relationship and the barely perceptible undercurrent of something softer, more tender, were portrayed to perfection.
What they didn’t know was that Bai Tang wasn’t just acting—he was genuinely flustered by Pu Hexu.
His shyness was real. When Pu Hexu spoke to him, the warm breath brushing against his earlobe as he said lines like “I’ll take care of you from now on” felt exactly like his real-life boyfriend confessing his love. Bai Tang’s heartbeat had been racing from the beginning of the scene to the very end, never once calming down.
“Tang Tang, are you tired? I’ll get you a bottle of water,” Pu Hexu said, eyes fixed on Bai Tang’s flushed face.
There it was again—that teasing warmth, like breath fanning the flames.
“N-no, it’s okay. I—I’ll have my assistant get it,” Bai Tang stammered, cheeks red, pushing away Pu Hexu’s half-hug and slipping away in a flustered dash.
A pleased curve lifted Pu Hexu’s lips.
Tang Tang was embarrassed.
There was a dedicated behind-the-scenes team on set responsible for filming bloopers and behind-the-scenes moments to be used as promotional short clips—and they just happened to capture this scene.
The young woman behind the camera clutched her wildly beating heart, unable to calm down.
She had worked with Director Li on many films, but she’d never “shipped” a CP (character pairing) before. Yet with Above the Firmament, she suddenly wanted to. Watching the interactions between the award-winning actor and the newcomer made her heart burst with excitement like a giddy schoolgirl.
Most assistants would have everything ready to ensure their artist could rest comfortably. Bai Tang assumed Wen Anni would’ve done the same for him.
When he ran back to the rest area, his face flushed red, Wen Anni was resting her chin in her hands, clearly still lost in her own world.
The makeup artist sitting next to Wen Anni praised, “Tang Tang, you were amazing. Your acting was so good, I was totally drawn in.”
Bai Tang gave a shy smile. “Thank you.” He turned to the dazed Wen Anni and asked, “Miss Wen, do you have any bottled water?”
He called her a few times, but Wen Anni didn’t react. It wasn’t until the makeup artist nudged her that she finally snapped out of it.
“Huh? What? Water?” Wen Anni reached out to grab a bottle, only to realize the one she had was already half empty from her own drinking—and she hadn’t prepared any supplies like a fan or towel either.
Embarrassed, she said, “S-sorry, this is my first time being an assistant.”
Even the makeup artist couldn’t stand Wen Anni’s lack of preparedness anymore.
She handed Bai Tang her own unopened bottle of water. “Tang Tang, have this one for now. I’ll go get another for you.”
“Thank you~” the boy replied, his smile sweet and eyes crinkling with joy—he looked absolutely lovely.
Bai Tang gulped down half the bottle. The makeup artist then told Wen Anni to go prepare some basic emergency supplies.
Even though the film set had provisions, with so many people around, unexpected situations could happen—and the most reliable person in such moments was still the assistant. If anyone on set needed something, they’d otherwise have to dig through the supply room.
While the makeup artist touched up Bai Tang’s makeup, Wen Anni glanced over at Pu Hexu in the distance. There would be more chances later—once she had the supplies ready, she’d come back and ask for his autograph.
Wen Anni wasn’t familiar with the roads in this area, and it was pretty remote. It took her quite a while to finally find a store.
When she returned to the set in a rush, she happened to bump into Zhou Mengsi, a top-tier actress who had just joined the production that afternoon. Wen Anni’s bags went flying, and the piping hot chicken soup she’d brought spilled all over Zhou Mengsi’s arm.
“I’m so sorry! I’m really sorry!” Wen Anni immediately apologized upon realizing she’d bumped into someone.
“Hey! Do you walk without using your eyes? You injured our Meng-jie—ten of you wouldn’t be enough to pay for the damage!” Zhou Mengsi’s assistant shouted angrily.
Wen Anni knew she was at fault and didn’t argue back, only kept apologizing over and over.
Zhou Mengsi was furious. She had spent a fortune on skincare, and now a mere assistant had burned her arm. What if it left a scar?
Hearing the commotion, some of the crew came out. Seeing that Zhou Mengsi was in a conflict with a small-time assistant, they immediately sided with the actress without asking questions.
“What’s wrong with you? Is this your first day as an assistant? So careless. Haven’t you learned the rules of assistant conduct? Hurry up and apologize to Sister Meng!”
“I’m sorry… it really is my first day as an assistant. I’m not familiar with how things work on set, or the roads around here, so I…” Wen Anni said apologetically.
What else could Zhou Mengsi do? Their conflict had happened right at the entrance, and a crowd had already gathered. To maintain her image as gentle and understanding, Zhou Mengsi could only force a smile. “It’s alright, just be more careful next time.”
“Thank you, thank you, Sister Meng, for being so forgiving.”
Wen Anni recognized Zhou Mengsi too—she’d often seen her on TV. She hadn’t expected this production to bring together two major stars: Best Actor Pu Hexu and top-tier celebrity Zhou Mengsi.
But Zhou Mengsi was someone who held grudges. She noticed Wen Anni had run over to Bai Tang’s side, so she sent her assistant to find out what role Bai Tang was playing.
When she heard that Bai Tang would be starring alongside Pu Hexu as the other male lead, Zhou Mengsi’s expression twisted for a brief moment.
An unknown, completely obscure nobody from the bottom rungs of the industry, cast as a male lead? She had no idea what Director Li was thinking.
Zhou Mengsi had joined the production later than most, and the fact that Bai Tang had entered the group alongside Pu Hexu had only been discovered when people noticed their closeness on set and started asking around.
After all, Bai Tang had gone through the official audition process and was personally selected by Director Li. One thing about Li’s casting style—he didn’t care about fame. He only chose actors who fit the role.
And that, ultimately, was what led to Zhou Mengsi’s downfall—from A-list to rock bottom—because of her own self-destructive behavior.
Author’s Note:
The female lead causes trouble, Bai Tang takes the fall—let’s see how Pu Hexu handles her.