Chapter 275 – The Runaway Little Sweetheart of the Top Actor – The Happy Yet Tragically Adorable Little Squirrel (19)
After the end-of-filming party dispersed, everyone went their separate ways.
Bai Tang, for once, was allowed to eat to his heart’s content. He accidentally overate and now sat slouched in a chair, letting Pu Hexu rub his stomach.
“Hic…” The boy let out a satisfied hiccup as he leaned against the man’s chest, recounting all the new dishes he had tasted today.
“The caramel walnut tart with golden berries was so delicious. I’ll make it for Ah Xu when we get back~” Bai Tang had noticed Pu Hexu had eaten that tart more frequently tonight than anything else, so he figured it must be one of his favorites. Although he hadn’t made it before, he could recognize the ingredients from the taste—he’d try making it once they got home.
“Sounds great. I’m in for a treat, then,” Pu Hexu said with a smile. Being able to spend time with his boy like this was truly a wonderful thing. What used to be boring wrap parties had now become far more enjoyable.
Most of the people at the venue had already left. Adam had arranged a car to wait for them outside.
“Tang Tang, it’s time to go home,” Pu Hexu said gently, wrapping an arm around the half-dozing boy.
After such an intense period of filming, the moment the body relaxed, exhaustion came crashing in.
Pu Hexu was still okay—he had good stamina—but Bai Tang wasn’t doing as well. Even when he used to take on extra roles, he’d never had to perform wire work like he did in this production.
Now, Bai Tang was so sleepy that he had to summon all his strength just to walk out with Pu Hexu’s support.
“Tang Tang’s tired. Let me carry you,” Pu Hexu said, noticing the tears welling up in the corners of Bai Tang’s eyes from sheer fatigue. It made his heart ache a little. Maybe he shouldn’t let Tang Tang take on so many roles in the future.
“It’s okay, Ah Xu. You’ve had a long day too. We’re almost at the door,” Bai Tang declined. His husband had more screen time than he did and worked even harder. If he already felt this worn out, Ah Xu must be feeling the same, if not worse.
As the two of them chatted and walked outside, someone suddenly darted out from the corridor on the first floor and bumped into them.
“Ah—!” Bai Tang gasped. The woman was wearing high heels and accidentally stepped on his foot.
“Tang Tang, are you okay? Let me take a look…” Pu Hexu helped Bai Tang to the side and began to remove his shoes and socks to check the injury.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
That voice—it sounded familiar. The female lead?!
Bai Tang looked up, and sure enough, the apologetic young woman in front of him was none other than Wen Anni, whom he hadn’t seen in quite some time.
When Wen Anni recognized the two faces in front of her, she exclaimed with delight, “It’s you guys! Tang Tang, it’s been so long!”
It turned out that after serving as an assistant to both Bai Tang and Zhou Mengsi, Wen Anni had gained a bit of fame within the talent agency.
Normally, if someone had worked with both Bai Tang and Zhou Mengsi and then transferred to another artist, their salary and benefits would be quite decent.
But Wen Anni was different. Her personality, combined with the “disaster-prone female lead” aura, meant that without a male lead to clean up her messes, she was destined to be disliked by many.
In the original storyline, Wen Anni was a muddle-headed girl who was bad at everything. She only managed to barely get by in the entertainment industry because the male lead supported her. In the end, the male lead married her, and she no longer had to work—she could stay at home as a pampered rich wife without a care in the world.
Right now, Pu Hexu had no desire whatsoever to see Wen Anni. He wasn’t a superstitious person, but every time this woman showed up, Bai Tang would somehow end up injured or in trouble. It was hard not to believe that their fortunes clashed. Otherwise, why would Tang Tang get unlucky every time Wen Anni appeared?
Wen Anni was wearing a staff uniform from the venue. It was obvious she was working part-time here.
Without the support and assistance of Pu Hexu like in the original plot, Wen Anni had no way of surviving in the artist assistant industry. To make a living, she had to return to her old ways—doing odd jobs wherever she could.
“Miss Wen, this doesn’t concern you. Please step aside,” Pu Hexu said, trying hard to suppress his anger. He had a personal principle of never hitting women, but at this moment, he couldn’t guarantee that he’d be able to stick to it if Wen Anni kept hovering in front of him.
“No, Mr. Pu, I didn’t mean to… I actually just wanted to apologize to Tang Tang. About what happened in the props room earlier—I’m really sorry.” Wen Anni bowed deeply to Bai Tang, her voice filled with sincerity.
Although Bai Tang knew that Wen Anni’s personality was largely shaped by her parasitic, vampiric family, he was still the one who had been hurt. It was hard for him to like this female lead.
“Miss Wen, I hope you can work on your careless habits in the future. Also, your parents aren’t too old to take care of themselves. It’s a good thing to be filial, but it should be within your means.”
The soft, milky voice of the boy didn’t hold any reproach—on the contrary, it even carried a hint of sympathy.
Bai Tang left it at that. He hoped Wen Anni could turn things around—change her arrogant and resentful attitude toward the rich, break away from those parasitic parents, and maybe she’d have a decent life someday.
And one more thing: she was never allowed to compete with him for the male lead again.
Although Wen Anni had always been aware of her family circumstances, no one had ever told her that her parents were in the wrong. No one had ever shown her any real sympathy. The neighbors would always sigh and say how hard her parents had it, and that she should be a good, filial daughter.
But who had ever said that she had it hard, too?
“…Thank you.” Her voice choked with emotion. Suddenly, she realized—not all rich people were as condescending and arrogant as she had believed.
Wasn’t Bai Tang the perfect example?
“Miss Wen, take care of yourself.” Pu Hexu carried Bai Tang on his back, walking past Wen Anni toward the exit.
In the previous case involving Zhou Mengsi, Wen Anni hadn’t come out entirely unscathed. However, since it was determined that she had unintentionally caused Zhou Mengsi’s paralysis—and had no intent to harm anyone during the wire switch incident—she was not deemed an accomplice.
The lawsuit filed by Dizhou Films was directed at Zhou Mengsi; Wen Anni’s name wasn’t among the defendants. She was only mentioned in the case. Bai Tang also chose not to pursue further responsibility from her, even though she had indeed been one of the people responsible for his injury. In the end, she paid for his medical expenses, and that was that.
If Wen Anni hadn’t tampered with the wires, the one left paralyzed might have been Bai Tang instead. But when they later discovered her difficult family background, Bai Tang had even spoken up on her behalf. That was the only reason Pu Hexu hadn’t gone after her further.
Their voices echoed through the empty hallway as they gradually walked farther away.
“I can actually walk on my own, you know~”
“But I want to carry Tang Tang.”
No one knew what the boy whispered into the man’s ear, but the next moment, the sound of the man’s hearty laughter rang out.
Wen Anni turned around and saw the boy give the man a kiss on the cheek before the two of them turned down another corridor.
A faint envy stirred in Wen Anni’s heart. To have someone who loves and protects you so deeply—what a beautiful thing.
…
Above the Firmament became a hit even before it aired. Many netizens who didn’t follow celebrities but enjoyed dramas found the explosive rumors online to be questionable.
After all, lawsuits had been filed—so what had happened on the Firmament set had to be true. Still, fans of the fantasy genre were concerned: with so much drama surrounding the production, what would the show’s quality be like?
In the end, their worries proved unnecessary.
As soon as Above the Firmament aired, it exceeded everyone’s expectations. The ambiguous affection between the gentle, considerate senior disciple and the sweet, soft junior disciple was incredibly compelling. Even viewers who normally weren’t interested in male-male relationships found themselves rooting for the two to end up together.
As the main plot developed, the younger disciple made a selfless sacrifice—offering his own blood to nourish a spiritual herb and forcibly ripen it in order to save his senior brother’s life.
“Senior brother… actually, I never really liked… Wan… Wan-shijie. I hated… seeing you look at her…” the boy whispered faintly as he lay pale on the bed. Deep, horrifying wounds marked his wrists. He had poured all of his life force into the hundred-conduit herb, and now he was at death’s door.
“Ning’er, don’t speak. Just rest. I’ll take you home,” Situ Cheng sobbed as he held the boy tightly. Only now, with Ning’er at the brink of death, did he finally realize his true feelings.
“Go… home… that sounds nice… let’s… go to our home…” the boy smiled gently. His clear apricot eyes slowly lost their luster.
“No—!”
The man’s anguished scream pierced the heavens.
This scene brought tears to the audience’s eyes—the cheerful boy with two little dimples when he smiled was gone.
At the end of the film, when everything had settled, Situ Cheng’s hair had turned white. He stood beneath the cherry blossom tree where the boy loved to slack off, as if at any moment, the boy would appear from behind the tree, teasing him with a grin: “Senior brother, I was just tired and wanted to rest a bit~”
“Senior brother, I don’t understand this part…”
“Senior brother…”
Situ Cheng reached out his hand, but the boy’s phantom image scattered into the air.
“Ning’er, let’s go home.”
It was a beautiful film, but the tragic ending had the audience sobbing uncontrollably. Some more extreme viewers even went online to leave negative reviews.
[Give me back my Que Ning!]
[Situ Cheng is such a jerk! What was wrong with the junior disciple? He trusted Zu Pingwan and got his lover killed—are you happy now?]
[Ugh, enough already. Luckily, it’s just a movie. Off-screen, the two are still super sweet. If anyone’s curious, go check them out.]
Qi Xiaolan, who played the second female lead, got heavily criticized online, but she didn’t seem fazed. This young lady continued to eat and drink like usual, completely unaffected by netizens’ comments.
Even when people flooded her Weibo with insults, she didn’t seem to mind. She even posted vlogs of her hangouts with Bai Tang. The sweet and adorable boy actually had a great relationship with her.
Eventually, viewers snapped out of their drama-fueled rage and felt too embarrassed to keep hating on her.
Bai Tang even posted a message on Weibo to defend Qi Xiaolan: [Sister is the cutest! Ah Xu isn’t around today, so it’s another day of her bringing me nut snacks!]
Fans couldn’t help but laugh—Tang Tang was so easy to win over. Just bring him some nuts and you’re instantly one of his people. To be fair, Qi Xiaolan really was a kind and generous person, and most importantly, she shared the same goal as the fans: Pu Hexu. Draw your swords!
Qi Xiaolan: [I can’t win a fight, not at all. I can only sneakily feed the little squirrel while the Best Actor isn’t looking.]
Every time Qi Xiaolan took Bai Tang out and brought him snacks, fans would rush to Pu Hexu’s Weibo and comment: [Your little squirrel is about to run off with someone else again, Your Majesty the Best Actor!]
And every time, lucky fans might even get a reply: [Got it. Thanks.]
A few hours later, a new post would appear on Bai Tang’s Weibo.
Bai Tang: [I’m doomed, I’m doomed. Ah Xu found out again QAQ]
Pu Hexu: [Thank you to all the fans for reporting in. As a token of appreciation, I’ll randomly select 100 fans who repost this Weibo and send them a phone.]
Attached to the post was a photo of the phone model.
Fans were stunned. This was a newly released phone, and even the base model cost over 10,000 yuan. The Best Actor was seriously loaded.
XuTang (Pu Hexu × Bai Tang) fans: [Rest assured, Best Actor! We’ll make sure to keep Tang Tang in check. Our goal: No Cavities! (for the reward)]
Pu Hexu: [Thank you, everyone.]
As for how Pu Hexu privately punished Bai Tang for overindulging in snacks—well, that was their business.
Author’s Note:
When I was creating Wen Anni’s character, I based her on the old-school type—someone who thinks she’s full of righteous ideals but always ends up causing trouble unintentionally. She has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about the wealthy, but at her core, she’s not a truly bad person.
Though she did plenty of foolish things in the story, I thought about it, and considering the kind of parents she had, paying compensation was probably like losing half her life. Her life won’t be easy. So we’ll leave her character at that.
The important thing is—Tang Tang needs to be happy~