Flower Vase: Chapter 17
After New Year, Gu Yan joined a new film crew.
That Wuxia movie with the huge investments and huge production had an exceedingly sentimental title. It was called “Ebony Locks[1]”. Back when they were discussing film contracts, they had agreed on dual male protagonists. Gu Yan would play the graceful lord of a distinguished family, while another big name actor would play the wide eyed youngster who first entered Jianghu. Both had fallen in love at the same time with the beautiful female lead who was in league with the antagonists. And then it was just various schemes and conflicts, emotional entanglements… What came as a surprise though as the script was changed every which way, was that by the time filming had formally started, Gu Yan’s role was cut significantly. He had turned from the male protagonist in name to the male supporting character in actuality.
That wasn’t the most critical issue though. Most importantly was that the distinguished young lord he would be playing would have his looks destroyed for the sake of the female protagonist, with a long, long scar remaining on his face. He would become poor and destitute, down in the dumps. By the conclusion, he would end up giving his life for the female protagonist. The white-clad, dapper, rich young lord of renown only appeared in the memory sequences, with less than five minutes of total film time. The vast majority of the time, he had to film with a disfigured face.
This wasn’t easy for Gu Yan at all.
After all, his current popularity was mostly built up through his pretty looks. Now that the face, the biggest selling point, was concealed, it would only draw attention to his weak acting. Plus, the audience had long become accustomed to his handsome appearance on the silver screen. It would likely be impossible for many to accept him now, with a sudden scar on his face. That’s why an idol like him usually wouldn’t change career paths easily, it was just too much of a risk.
But the contract was already signed, what else could he do?
Not as if he could throw the script in the director’s face, right?
If he was still with Qin Zhiyuan, there was no way he would have encountered something like this. But now that he was without a sponsor, he could only bear with whatever came his way.
There was an uproar on the Internet as soon as Gu Yan’s first film stills were released. In the photos he wore a shabby old frock, with a worn-out iron sword on his shoulders, his expression indifferent and unconcerned. The long, long scar on his face was particularly glaring. The crew had released a set of pictures long before, with him as the white-clad lord holding a jade flute. With the two images put side by side, the contrast was especially stark.
The fans divided into two camps over this, and were up in arms about it over the Internet. Some thought that the stylist was taking pleasure in ruining his image, and were stubbornly refusing to accept it. There were also the ones who thought that Gu Yan wasn’t getting any younger, and it was time for him to go the method acting route, and expressed their undying support… Either way, the film attracted a lot of eyeballs before filming had even begun.
His sufferings only really started after filming began.
Gu Yan’s disfigured getup needed quite a few hours just for applying and removing his makeup. Sometimes he had to get up while it was still dark, the makeup had to be applied early, but his segments weren’t scheduled until the very end of the day, and work wouldn’t be completed until midnight. By nighttime, his face was about to have an allergic reaction to the fake scar stuck to his face all day, but he still had to continue filming the very next day. Not to mention, the character he played had the most tragic luck, he was always getting beat up, hurt, spitting up blood, every scene was rough to film. Without his pretty face to back him up, he couldn’t even be a flower vase, and the director was always tearing him a new asshole[2].
After filming for some days, Gu Yan got a decent sense of what was going on. He must be rubbing someone the wrong way, and they were purposely doing this to mess with him.
Even someone as dim as Xiao Chen figured out the shenanigans. One day at noon during lunchtime, he stealthily scooted next to his ear and asked, “Yan Ge, did you tick someone off recently?”
Gu Yan stopped short.
Xiao Chen then continued, “President Qin hadn’t been at the company for these past two months, I heard that lots of decisions were called by his little brother.”
Gu Yan wasn’t at all surprised at this.
This immature way of messing with someone could only be done by Lil Whitey Qin.
He saw Xiao Chen’s fretful face, and couldn’t help himself as he reached out to pinch those round cheeks as he said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry yourself silly. You’ve had a rough couple of months too, I’ll give you a raise next month.”
Xiao Chen had a blank look on his face, “But the company pays my wages.”
Gu Yan said in an amused voice, “What, I can’t give you a bonus out of my own pocket?”
Only then did Xiao Chen start cheering.
Gu Yan smiled briefly, he thought that there were still lots of little joys in life.
They had been just talking about Qin Feng that day, and only a few days later, Young Master Qin appeared at the film location with a swagger. He had dumped the model girlfriend, and was recently putting all his efforts towards chasing the female lead in the film, Bai Weiwei. Bai Weiwei was a young actress who was currently at the top of her fame, with a pretty face and a sweet singing voice. Most importantly, she knew how to handle herself, she was amazingly sociable, and had someone backing her at every turn, everything she appeared in became popular.
With the bit of emotional intelligence that Qin Feng had, he had a long, arduous road in front of him if he wanted to get a hold of her.
Perhaps Qin Feng took Gu Yan’s joking words that day seriously, whenever he saw him, he always got the willies; he was terrified that he would really go and seduce his own old man. He no longer dared to provoke Gu Yan directly, but he hated him to the point that his teeth gnashed. So, he would always love walking back and forth in front of Gu Yan, with an arrogant attitude of “I’m screwing with you”.
Gu Yan realized that Qin Feng was really an efficient tool for regulating his mood. No matter how tough filming was, he could always be amused by seeing Young Master Qin.
But a small incident happened when Qin Feng came to hang around the set that day. A wooden stand used for holding props fell down and almost landed on him. Gu Yan had been standing close by at the time, and quickly gave Qin Feng a push. Although that made him stumble a few steps and almost fall to the ground, at least that handsome face wasn’t injured.
Qin Feng froze up right then, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses, he was still shocked while he stared at Gu Yan. But not only did he not have a word of thanks, he became so angry his face turned red, and he yelled at Gu Yan about not minding his own business. He had originally come to ask Bai Weiwei out for a meal, but he didn’t even mention it at all, and left in a huff.
Gu Yan was mystified by him.
What was funnier came later. Qin Feng hadn’t made an appearance for two whole days, by the third day, his former model girlfriend also stormed onto the set, her face full of rage. Gu Yan seemed to remember that her name was Lili, she had very long legs and a very slim waist, her makeup was always impeccably done. But this time, her hair was unkempt and disheveled, her eyes red and puffy, the makeup, a muddy mess on her face.
What else could a woman lose composure over? Most likely it was a jealous quarrel.
Gu Yan had figured she had come to make trouble for Bai Weiwei, and others in the film crew thought so as well. Yet she finally came to a stop in front of Gu Yan, and said with her teeth clenched, “It’s you!”
Gu Yan was momentarily befuddled.
The other measured him up and down with her arms crossed, and said, “Qin Feng was right, these looks do draw people in.”
It was only then that Gu Yan realized that she probably mistook him for someone else. He was just thinking about explaining when Qin Feng’s former girlfriend yelled again, “You think Qin Feng would really like men? He’s just playing with you.”
“Miss…”
“He dumped me just now, later on he’s gonna dump you the same way! What’s so great about you? It’s just that pretty face!”
Gu Yan was just preparing to film the scenes before the disfiguration, his all white ensemble was quite dashing, and he himself was rather satisfied with his own face. So, he nodded in agreement, “Sure, it’s a kind of skill, picking a good body to be born into[3].”
This indifferent attitude lit the fuses.
The woman’s voice immediately rose up to a crescendo, “You… shameless!”
Smack.
With that sharp sound, Gu Yan got a slap to his face.
This was too much of a new experience, and he was briefly stunned. To be honest, the slap didn’t have too much force behind it, but his skin was very fair, and the finger marks quickly appeared on his face as his cheeks became slightly swollen.
Gu Yan didn’t say a single thing, he only frowned slightly, and slowly turned around to reach for something inside his bag. The crew blanched in fright, they all thought that he was going to pull out some kind of weapon, and hurriedly rushed over to intervene.
How ridiculous, how could he raise his hand to a woman?
Plus, his own hand will hurt if he hits someone, it’s not a bargain deal at all.
Gu Yan rummaged through his bag, then finally found a business card from inside his wallet, and lightly tossed it towards that young model as he said, “Defamation, plus assault. You should speak with my lawyer about the reparation issues.”
This scene was filmed by certain interested parties, and appeared in the entertainment section of the newspapers the very next day.
The pictures were a little blurry, but it did have a gimmicky headline – “Lovers? Rivals? A Direct Clash on Set!”
The exclamation mark at the end was startling to see. It could give someone a fright if they just happened to catch a glimpse. The report made no mention of Qin Feng, only insinuating that Gu Yan led an indecent private life, and had murky relations with multiple men and women.
If Qin Zhiyuan was here, no media would post this. Now… now of course, it was no longer like that.
Gu Yan felt that he was really wronged, he’d never even touched a single hair of Lil Whitey Qin’s, and now he’d gotten this reputation all for nothing.
It was barely two days after the scandal had hit the news when Gu Yan received a phone call from a dear friend. “Superstar, I didn’t give my card to you just for you to use it as a projectile weapon!”
The woman’s clear voice was full of indignation.
Gu Yan had been watching TV on the couch just then, he hurriedly pulled the phone handset away from him and said, “Lawyer Wang, please be mindful of your professional image.”
Wang Yali snorted a few times on the other side of the phone, “Tell me, how are you going to make this up to me?”
“A free advertisement for your services wasn’t enough? I haven’t even charged you any shout-out fees.”
“Gu, Yan!”
Gu Yan had a good laugh before he cleared his throat, and said seriously, “Do you have time Wednesday night? My treat.”
“Used to be I could never get a hold of you, how come you’re free now?”
Gu Yan went a bit quiet, and said, “My work schedule isn’t as packed as before.”
The busy round of work from New Year’s was mostly what Qin Zhiyuan had scheduled for him from before. Other than the movie that he was filming now, most of his work was completed. His manager hadn’t called him for a long time either, chances are, he would have more and more free time after this.
Gu Yan thought to himself as he told her the address for a certain high-class restaurant.
That restaurant was located in the hottest district downtown. It had an elegant name, and was very tastefully furnished. Most importantly, the dishes were exquisite yet original. It was packed almost every single day; if there wasn’t a prior reservation, it was difficult to get a table at night.
When Wang Yali rushed there to meet him on Wednesday night, Gu Yan was already sitting in a private room on the second floor, and was looking at the view outside the window through his sunglasses.
“Is it not going to be an issue for a superstar to come to such a busy place? Wouldn’t you be recognized by your fans?” Wang Yali took a deliberate jab at him as she flipped open the menu, “Since it’s your treat today, I’m not gonna be holding back.”
Gu Yan took off his sunglasses and smiled, “No worries, just order whatever you want to eat.”
Wang Yali had always had a straightforward personality. She still was as energetic[4] as ever, even now that she was a working professional. As expected, she didn’t hesitate at all and ordered a full table of dishes.
Gu Yan didn’t have too many friends on account of his own personality, and she was one of his rare dear friends. The two of them casually chatted about what was going on recently in their lives. Of course, they mentioned that scandal as well, Gu Yan brushed past it with a simple “a misunderstanding”, and so Wang Yali didn’t continue to question him.
Halfway through the meal, Gu Yan tapped the tabletop with a finger as he threw out a sudden question, “What do you think about the menu here?”
“It’s decent, really good. Hmm, it can’t compare to your cooking though.”
“Do you want to meet the chef here?”
“Huh?” Wang Yali was a bit confused, “No, it’s fine.”
Gu Yan continued to ask, “Then, do you want to meet the owner of this place?”
Wang Yali was becoming even more confused, she raised her head, but instead saw Gu Yan with a hand under his chin as he gazed at her with a half-smile on his face. She was no fool, and immediately understood, she pointed a finger towards Gu Yan as she said, “You bastard[5], you…!”
Gu Yan was afraid that she would choke, he hurriedly poured a glass of water and handed it over.
Wang Yali just kicked at him under the table, “This is your restaurant? When did this happen?”
“I’ve been saving up for it forever, and when I had enough, I opened it.” When you make a living in that industry, you never know what’ll happen tomorrow, obviously you’ll need to find more than one path for yourself.
Wang Yali was annoyed by his reticence[6]. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Gu Yan picked up his chopsticks to get some food, he smiled as he said, “I only asked you to come after everything was settled. Else, if there wasn’t much business, and this place didn’t have any customers, then how embarrassing would that be for me.”
He was never the type to hold onto his pride, but he did have a mind of his own, and knew what he wanted. Once he’d made a decision, he’d stick to it until the very end, and no one could stop him.
“Well, whatever, you’ve always been like this.” Wang Yali knew him all too well, she flapped her hand at him and said, “You’ve always wanted to be a chef, but then you went into acting without even saying anything. And you even became a huge star without anyone noticing, it’s something amazing.”
Gu Yan didn’t mention the various complications that came in between, he only mildly said, “It’s just good luck.”
“Oh yeah, the money that your family owed from before…”
“It was paid off years ago.”
“That’s good.” Wang Yali raised the wine glass to toast him, “Either way, congratulations on becoming your own boss.”
Gu Yan touched his glass to hers, and said, “Lots of celebrities invest their savings, it’s not a huge deal.”
“It might not be worth mentioning for others, but it means something different for you. I know that this has been your dream since childhood. Oh, right, right, I also need to congratulate you on your dream coming true.”
Gu Yan thanked her, and slowly drank the wine in the glass. He didn’t give his usual smile, but only leisurely narrowed his eyes – that was his expression when he was actually happy.
Wang Yali’s eyes flitted around, she said, “Since we’re so close, you can give me a VIP card, right?”
Gu Yan of course said “Okay”, then he continued, “There’s something else I’ll have to trouble you with.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I’m planning to open another branch. The location’s already been decided, and the money’s all there too. All that’s missing is a legal advisor. There might be a lot of problems I’ll need to consult with you on. Dunno if you’re willing to help?”
“I charge a lot.”
“That’ll definitely be to your satisfaction.”
Gu Yan had said so much already, what reason did Wang Yali have to refuse? As she ate, she looked at Gu Yan and asked, “Should I now call you Boss Gu instead?”
“Hmm,” Gu Yan dragged his voice as he answered, he smiled as he turned his head, and said, “That sounds good.”
Translator: Shizaya
English Proofreader: GrumpyKit
QC: Xiao
Translator’s Comments/Notes: I just have one thing to say. Gu Yan’s friend’s name is Yali, in Chinese this could also mean stress or a pear…hahahaha
Translator’s Notes:
[1] This term is fairly commonly seen in maudlin Chinese traditional poetry, often lamenting the cruel passage of time, usually along the lines of “it’s been blah blah number of years, her ebony locks have long turned to threads of silver…” It appears so much that it’s really cliche in songs, dramas, etc.
[2] Literally “dog blood pouring down one’s head”. In Imperial China, sometimes to break a witch’s hex, people would pour dog’s blood down the witch’s head. It basically means that the person is cussed out to the point that he is like the witch with blood pouring down his face without any recourse.
[3] Literally, “knowing how to reincarnate”, Chinese people have a long standing belief in rebirth due to Buddhist influence
[4] Literally “all wind and fire”, insinuating someone who has a very forceful and straightforward way of doing things
[5] She’s not actually insulting him, the term translates roughly to ‘stinky brat”, but that sounds a bit strange…
[6] Literally, “not enough of a friend”, this is a difficult concept to translate, it basically means that Wang Yali thought Gu Yan shouldn’t have kept anything from her since they’re such good friends.
Xiao's Yaoi Playground 