Chapter 118.2: Shen Xiu’s Personal Attack
“Sure.”
Shen Xiu was deeply moved—he finally felt like he was starting to fit in with his colleagues!
Silently overjoyed, Shen Xiu accepted the script Fang Chengxing handed him.
After reading the page Fang Chengxing had flipped open, Shen Xiu, worried he might say something wrong, checked the script three times from top to bottom. There weren’t any underlined sections or question marks indicating confusion. Looking at Fang Chengxing, he hesitated before speaking:
“Which part?”
Outside of acting, Liang Cheng didn’t like people getting too close to her personal space. Judging by Shen Xiu’s aloof and unapproachable demeanor, she assumed he felt the same way. So she didn’t lean over to look at the script Fang Chengxing had passed to Shen Xiu.
But once she caught a glance at that nearly blank script, she finally understood why Fang Chengxing’s performances over the past week—whether opposite her or any other actor—had felt flat and superficial, like lukewarm water.
Even in school, people scribbled notes during reading comprehension exercises. For an actor, digging into a character’s psyche and leaving thoughtful annotations was absolutely necessary.
But this script? Spotless. Not a single note. Did he not feel like it lacked a soul?
Fang Chengxing: “…”
Liang Cheng was convinced that when Shen Xiu coldly asked, “Which part?” with that icy expression and frosty tone, he was clearly angry—angry at how carelessly Fang Chengxing was treating Immortal Path.
Fang Chengxing’s ears flushed bright red with embarrassment. Compared to Liang Cheng and Shen Xiu’s scripts, his was night and day.
Even the pristine condition of his script now felt shameful.
Shen Xiu, not hearing a response, assumed he hadn’t spoken loudly enough. He instinctively raised his voice slightly and repeated:
“Which part?”
He’s definitely angry now!
Panicking, Fang Chengxing randomly pointed to a spot on the page. “Th-this part.”
Shen Xiu replied, “Alright.”
Then he lowered his head and began reading in earnest.
Watching Shen Xiu lower his gaze and shift that icy stare away from him and onto the script, Fang Chengxing finally let out a breath of relief.
While Shen Xiu read, Fang Chengxing snuck a glance. Seeing that he’d pointed to a section he actually did understand, he felt even more reassured.
But that comfort didn’t last long.
Shen Xiu suddenly asked, “What’s your interpretation of this scene?”
Fang Chengxing shared his thoughts honestly.
After listening, Shen Xiu frowned slightly and asked, “Then why is your performance so different from your understanding?”
Fang Chengxing had clearly grasped the scene correctly—so why had his acting come out so strangely? Was it that his brain just couldn’t control his body?
Shen Xiu, recalling how sometimes his own limbs betrayed him and reacted the exact opposite of what he intended, instantly understood.
“I see,” he said seriously. “Your facial expressions have a mind of their own.”
“…Huh?”
Was that a dig at his intelligence? Was Shen Xiu suddenly launching a personal attack?!
Fang Chengxing was completely thrown off by the unexpected jab.
Liang Cheng couldn’t take it anymore and chimed in with a reminder: “This is the same scene you acted out yesterday.”
Afraid he still wouldn’t remember, she added, “The one you did in front of Shen Xiu and Director Xuan.”
Inwardly, she thought: Fang Chengxing must’ve flopped so badly yesterday that the Great Demon King Xiu couldn’t hold back from roasting him.
Thanks to her gentle nudge, Fang Chengxing instantly remembered—and was so mortified he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself.
He muttered an awkward explanation: “I… didn’t do my best yesterday…”
With Director Xuan’s level of experience, his mediocre performance must’ve already been good enough in his eyes.
Shen Xiu remembered his painfully awkward performance from yesterday as soon as he looked at the script. Shen Xiu was definitely bringing it up on purpose—to shame him.
After all, the acting genius Shen Xiu and rookie director Xuan Ji clearly had very different standards.
Before shooting began, they were mentally warned. Yesterday, Shen Xiu had issued multiple cold, brief warnings with his icy expression. And now, even during makeup, he was sarcastically mocking Fang Chengxing’s clean, annotation-free script…
With such a relentless barrage of warnings, Shen Xiu was already being infinitely more patient with Fang Chengxing than he had been with Lin Jiashi.
Fang Chengxing realized that if he didn’t change, he would be the next Lin Jiashi. Once Shen Xiu’s patience ran out, being replaced by him was a real possibility.
Even Keta could read Shen Xiu’s expression — if Shen Xiu personally branded him useless, who else would dare hire him?
“Sorry! I’m going to talk to Director Xuan!” Fang Chengxing said, then strode out of the makeup room.
Shen Xiu was left confused.
What was going on with Fang Chengxing?
Watching his retreating figure, Shen Xiu felt dazed.
He hadn’t expected that after so many days, he’d once again deeply experience the frustration of not understanding someone else’s thought process.
After the discussion with Shen Xiu, Liang Cheng was even more eager not to miss any chance to learn from him. Seizing the moment while Fang Chengxing was gone, she quickly said, “Forget him. As for this scene, I…”
Listening to Liang Cheng’s voice, Shen Xiu thought to himself that she was genuinely kind—not once making him feel awkward.
Having more exchanges before the scenes, during filming, although Liang Cheng still felt a bit overwhelmed acting opposite Shen Xiu, her performance was much stronger than Fang Chengxing’s.
Watching Liang Cheng interact comfortably with Shen Xiu, Fang Chengxing felt a pang of envy but also a firmer resolve in his heart.
If everyone’s going to be mediocre, then so be it—but when everyone is performing well, he absolutely cannot slack off like before!
—
At 10 p.m., after wrapping up a day of filming, Xuan Ji returned home and sat on the couch. As soon as he sat down, Xuan Yushu, who was waiting for him, immediately asked, “How did Fang Chengxing react today?”
Among the three important actors, Shen Xiu and Liang Cheng weren’t a concern for Xuan Yushu—only the half-hearted Fang Chengxing was.
Hearing this, Xuan Ji felt all the day’s exhaustion melt away. He beamed and said, “Dad, you might not believe this, but before I even said anything, Fang Chengxing told me himself that he wanted to reshoot all the scenes from the past week.”
Xuan Yushu: “……”
Could this be the so-called ‘fool’s luck’?
Xuan Ji just wanted to share and didn’t need Xuan Yushu to respond. He kept talking excitedly.
“Dad, I don’t know what happened to Fang Chengxing today. Liang Cheng said that after he talked with Shen Xiu, he completely changed. Watching his performance today—even in scenes without Shen Xiu—I finally realized he can act better. I can’t even imagine how amazing the reshoots are going to be!”
Xuan Yushu understood. It must’ve been Shen Xiu who bluntly pointed out that Fang Chengxing was phoning it in. Realizing he couldn’t bluff his way through, Fang Chengxing got serious.
—
On Monday afternoon, Shen Xiu didn’t have class.
Having already completed the required study hours for the first phase of the driving exam during his spare time, Shen Xiu followed his previously made schedule and went to take the test for Subject One.
Shen Xiu enjoyed taking exams. Every time he finished a course or got a certification, it gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.
When he walked out of the exam hall, even though he knew Subject One was very simple, learning that he had scored a perfect 100 still made him genuinely happy.
Feeling great after the exam, Shen Xiu decided, “To celebrate scoring 100 on Subject One, I need to buy a dress and some toys for Lucky.”
System: [……] What does Shen Xiu scoring full marks on Subject One have to do with Lucky? It wasn’t Lucky who took the exam!
Are all cat owners wired like this?
Half an hour later, the system watched as Shen Xiu walked out of the pet store carrying two large bags filled with toys and clothes, and let out a jealous electronic noise.
[So unfair!]
A pet store clerk, staring at the tall boy’s retreating figure, excitedly grabbed the arm of the colleague next to her. “It’s Boss Xiu! The real, live Boss Xiu!! Ahhh!!!”
God knows how much self-control it took for her not to scream the moment Shen Xiu walked in. She had to work hard to maintain a calm expression and greet him normally.
“He’s wearing a baseball cap, mask, and sunglasses—completely covered. Are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure! Even if Boss Xiu covers his whole face, we Xiuologists can still recognize him by his silhouette, his build, and that overpowering aura!”
Her colleague looked unconvinced and gestured with her eyes toward a nearby bus stop.
“Even if we didn’t see his eyes, the air around him was so cold it made people hesitate to approach. His aura and height really do match what you say about Shen Xiu. But still, according to you, Shen Xiu comes from a powerful background and his popularity rivals top-tier celebrities. Why would he be taking the bus?”
Celebrities on the bottom rungs of the industry usually either drive or have drivers. Taking public buses? You could count the ones who do on one hand.
Most celebrities don’t even know how to use the subway or take a public bus.
The clerk watched Shen Xiu get on the bus and as it pulled away, she said without hesitation, “Why not? Our Xiu-baby may be amazing, but he’s never been about putting on airs!”
“His roommate once spilled that Xiu-baby works part-time jobs everywhere, just like me. So what? That’s life!”
Her coworker still couldn’t believe that a highly popular celebrity would behave like this, but didn’t want to embarrass her, so she replied perfunctorily, “Mm-hmm. Then why didn’t you ask for an autograph just now? If he signed it, you’d know for sure.”
The store clerk blinked shyly. “You might not believe it, but I’m shy~”
Coworker: “……”
Who charges up to a celebrity, speaks confidently on their behalf without even stuttering, and then claims to be shy? She really didn’t understand the Xiuologists’ definition of shyness.
The clerk added, “Besides, we Xiuologists have agreed in our group chat that when we spot Xiu-baby, we should just quietly admire him and not disturb him.”
Coworker: “…That’s… actually pretty decent of you all.”
Her impression of idol fans was still stuck on huge crowds at airports chasing after their idols in a frenzy.
—
Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, with no classes, Shen Xiu followed his strict schedule and arrived at the driving school right on time, not wasting even a second, ready to begin training for Subject Two.
The driving school wasn’t far from the university, and most of the students who enrolled were college students—most of whom only came on weekends.
So, when Shen Xiu showed up on a Wednesday, there weren’t many people around.
The coach saw this tall young man standing in front of him. When he took off his mask, sunglasses, and baseball cap, his cold gaze made the coach feel uneasy.
After neatly putting away his mask and hat, Shen Xiu noticed the coach just standing there, staring at him. Perplexed, he asked, “Coach, aren’t we starting?”
He wasn’t familiar with the coach, and now they were just standing there, staring at each other. Shen Xiu didn’t know if the coach felt awkward, but he sure did.
Hearing Shen Xiu’s cool and calm voice, the coach cleared his throat and steadied himself before going through the routine questions.
“Have you ever driven a car before? I mean, not on the road—maybe just in a private area, like at home?”
Shen Xiu replied without hesitation, “No.”
Coach: “That can’t be true!”
