Top Dupe CH 026 Give Roses To Others, And Fragrance Lingers In Your Hands

When Gu Xiaowei walked out of the bathroom, Xiao Qin was sitting on the sofa, yawning and about to fall asleep, while Luo Yu was arranging the cord of the hair dryer.

As soon as Luo Yu looked up, he saw Gu Xiaowei, who was wearing loose lounge clothes. There was still moisture between his brows and eyes, like the distant mountain after the rain. His semi-wet hair was plastered on his forehead, and his usually intimidating aura seemed to not be as well-restrained anymore, instead a kind of rebellious wildness was faintly revealed.

Luo Yu's breathing stagnated and he lowered his head, embarrassed to look again.

"Has your hair been dried? Otherwise, it's easy to get a headache." Gu Xiaowei stretched out his fingers and paused on Luo Yu's cheek. Seeing that he didn't avoid it, he twirled the strand of hair next to his ear.

"Yeah."

Gu Xiaowei was very careful not to touch him, but Luo Yu still had the illusion that his ears had been burned by the other's warmth.

He sat down with a normal expression and opened the layer of thermal insulation foil wrapping the porridge. "You have been in there for a long time. I thought your clothes fell into the water."

“The hot water felt too comfortable so I didn't want to move for a while." Gu Xiaowei replied.

Luo Yu nodded. He understood the feeling of taking a hot shower.

Xiao Qin rubbed her eyes, woke up, and stood up to go out with the two bags of clothes, "Brother Gu, Brother Luo, then I'm leaving now!"

Gu Xiaowei raised his head and said, "There's no need to worry about the clothes. You can send them to be washed when you wake up. Luo Yu and I have no scenes to shoot today, so you should also have a good rest."

"En! That's great! Thank you, Brother Gu!" Xiao Qin was really a young assistant full of energy.

Luo Yu opened the lid and was greeted by a rich aroma, "Is it mushroom and chicken porridge? It's so fresh."

Gu Xiaowei picked up the bowl and said, "Drink more, so you can have a good sleep after."

"Is this the takeout Xiao Qin ordered? The cucumbers are also very delicious. And also, was the dried radish fried in advance, it goes really well with the rice."

"As long as you like it." Gu Xiaowei said lightly.

Luo Yu had a big appetite and ate at least three bowls.

Gu Xiaowei cleared the table very familiarly, and Luo Yu couldn't help but say: "Xiao Qin said that you are very capable of taking care of yourself. It seems to be true."

"What about Senior Brother? When you become famous in the future, how many assistants will you hire?"

"Famous? It feels like when my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I raised my hand and answered that I wanted to be a scientist. In the past, I also thought about becoming a star with tens of millions of fans, enjoying the vanity of being surrounded by people... Now I just want to have good roles and good scripts. I don’t need assistants or anything like that. I don't think I would get used to people rushing back and forth just to pour me a glass of water, like I have some terminal disease that prevents me from moving myself.”

“En, me too."

Gu Xiaowei opened the window to disperse the smell of food in the room.

Luo Yu came to the bedside and asked sheepishly: "Um... are you used to sleeping on the left side or the right side?"

"Either is fine. Senior Brother, you choose first."

Sincet Gu Xiaowei said so, Luo Yu directly chose to lie down on the side that was against the wall.

After a while, Gu Xiaowei walked to the bed, pulled back the quilt and lay down as well.

Feeling the bounce of the mattress, Luo Yu, who was originally not thinking much, became a little nervous again.

But then he wondered about why he was nervous. It wasn’t like he had never slept in the same room with Gu Xiaowei before.

The quilt was still a little cold at first, but it became hot soon after Gu Xiaowei slipped under.

His sleeping posture was very standard, with his hands placed on top of his stomach.

Luo Yu, on the other hand, liked to sleep on his side. When he raised his eyes, he could see Gu Xiaowei's profile.

"Senior Brother." 

In the quiet room, when he suddenly uttered those two words, there was an illusion of tenderness and affection.

"What is it?"

"Can I practice lines with you again in the future?" Gu Xiaowei asked.

Hearing this, Luo Yu chuckled softly.

"Sure."

The two of them practicing acting together and getting twice the result with half the effort, of course Luo Yu was happy.

Only later did Luo Yu realize that the drama Gu Xiaowei was talking about was not just this one.

After a few minutes, Luo Yu, whose nerves were tense from the acting state earlier, finally relaxed and fell asleep bit by bit.

In a drowse, it seemed as if someone had twirled the ends of his hair spread out on the pillow, smudged it with restrained warm breathing, and cooled it with a long gaze.

There was no airtight wall in the world. Don’t know which staff member of the production team told the marketing account that the role of Bai Ying was extended and was promoted from a small role that was dropped in three episodes to an important supporting role lasting ten episodes.

There was no shortage of sour people in this circle. Many people want to have a role in a drama directed by Lin Yue. Even though Luo Yu had not committed murder or arson in the circle before, many people still look down on him. So naturally when Bai Ying suddenly turned into such a fragrant cake, of course some people's eyes were red with jealousy.

At this time, Luo Yu was still sleeping and completely indifferent to the world. Things on the Internet had nothing to do with him.

On the other hand, Li Qian, who was in charge of the promotion of "Counterattack", drank coffee late into the night and became more interested——it had finally arrived at his "part".

"Mr. Li, do we need to issue an announcement to clarify the Luo Yu matter?" The assistant asked Li Qian.

Li Qian touched his chin, "What's the point of clarifying now? A hundred clarification announcements can't wake up those who pretend to be dead. The antis have only one purpose——'Those I don't like must be eliminated.' What they pursue is a matter of victory or defeat, not right or wrong. The more clarifications you make, the more they will pick on the words in your clarification announcement and spread them out of context.”

The assistant said worriedly: "Then what should we do? Although Director Lin and Screenwriter Hua never care about online comments, I am worried that... it will have a negative impact on the reputation of the show before it is even broadcast."

"So what we have to do is to reassure the audience of "Counterattack" instead of wasting efforts to reverse the antis' attitude. Antis will always slander, and even adding just one more word to his lines could be a point of contention. Many people are afraid of Luo Yu gaining popularity." Li Qian smiled meaningfully.

"Yes. Why does Director Lin insist on using such a controversial actor?" The assistant sighed. Without Luo Yu, he wouldn't have to work overtime tonight.

Li Qian suddenly picked up the documents on the table and hit the assistant on the head. What could he do but teach the newcomers step by step.

"If Director Lin insists on using him, it means he is a good actor, and if his peers insist on suppressing him, it means that this person will bring greater competitive pressure to the industry. They are afraid that he will become famous, afraid that he will take away their cake, and afraid that the benefits that could be obtained with just a fraction of the effort require a lot of effort.”

"I heard that he was slandered because he offended Ou Juntao of Dijun Media."

"Oh, this Dijun Media is almost eaten away by worms. Look at the bunch of artists they push to the front, nine out of ten are made of clay but claimed to be porcelain as soon as they are shaped, and forget about even being refined in high-temperature kilns. Take He Mu for example, you think he could survive the audience’s change of aesthetics? He doesn't even compare to some hard working artists from small and medium-sized entertainment companies who all have many talents and skills."

When mentioning Dijun Media, Li Qian was obviously disdainful.

The trending searches for #LuoYuAddLines# have been hovering around the 18th and 19th spots.

This made He Mu anxious. When his fans attacked the crew and director before, the momentum was very big. But why were they so powerless when it came time to this?

He Mu was thinking about how to tactfully express how sad he was after losing the role of Bai Ying, and how to provoke his fans and make them fight for him?

But when he opened his fan group with a sub account, he found that the group administrator issued an announcement: we hope fans will remain rational and not participate in online attacks against Luo Yu. The director of “Counterattack" is known for his fairness and is not to be bribed easily. We hope that fans will not make excessive remarks before they know the truth of the matter. Once the director and investors become dissatisfied with He Mu, it will affect He Mu's future development.

At first glance, he knew this set of rhetoric was issued at the request of his agent.

But what He Mu was thinking was that since Lin Yue was such a big name that even a top star like him could be looked down on, he wanted Lin Yue to feel the impact of a top star!

The agent was also in the fan group, so he didn't dare to speak up directly, instead he went on the social platform and to the comments with the most likes to explain Luo Yu's bad history, hoping to arouse the desire of his fans to fight.

Such as copying He Mu's school idol image after so many years after graduation, losing every time when competing with He Mu for roles and other gigs, lowering his worth to take roles that He Mu didn't want, being known as He Mu's dupe in the industry and acting like a loser just to make money.

Those who would support Luo Yu were indifferent passers-by or people who have disliked him for a long time. Moreover, He Mu's fans offended many people. As soon as he posted, he was met with criticism by others.

[He Mu is the monopoly king of images in the industry. The school idol image is incomparable to a proper professional actor like Gu Xiaowei, what's the point of claiming ownership!]

[It’s really funny~ He Mu had snatched so many roles from others, but why can’t he perform any of them well? Who knows if it was capital operation, bad money drives out good money, Lin Yue is basically a magic mirror in the entertainment industry, able to reveal He Mu's true colors~]

Some netizens angrily denounced: [It’s not that Luo Yu lowered his worth to take on roles He Must doesn't want, but that He Mu’s salary is too high. Anyone who's compared with him is simply a “dupe”!]

Even He Mu's own big fans came and sent him private messages, telling him to stop stirring up the Internet, as it would only bring trouble to him.

When He Mu saw this blood rushed to the top of his head. He really wanted to crack open the brains of these worthless fans and shake out the water inside.

But soon, #BaiYingDrowns# reached the hot search as well, rising bit by bit, and pushing the previous one down.

…

It turned out that the crew of "Counterattack" posted an official Weibo post, which contained a video clip.

Lin Yue, Hua Xingyun and other crew members shared the Weibo post in unison.

Xie Chang, the female lead who was putting on makeup for the night scene that night, also saw this video. She smiled, clicked to replay, and added the bullet screen text: [Bai Ying is so beautiful and strong yet tragic, he deserves a professional card~]

Her agent was surprised at this and said: "I thought it was related to Gu Xiaowei. Luo Yu is not famous, and it is rumored that he likes to rub against traffic! Why are you sharing it for him? Strange, Director Lin and Mr. Li also seems to like Luo Yu very much as well.”

Xie Shang smiled and said, "Since Director Lin is optimistic about him and Brother Gu also calls him 'senior brother', I have to give him some face. Giving roses to others will leave a lingering fragrance in your hands."

"That's true... no one would really regard you two as a CP anyway."

Xie Chang lowered her head and chuckled lightly.

Many years ago, when she was just a young actress, she participated in the campus idol drama "Plum Rain" that became popular all over the country.

It was her first time filming and she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

But when she arrived at the set, everyone was surrounding the male and female leads. She was completely ignored on set. Even half an hour before filming, she neither put on makeup nor received any set clothes to change into. At that time, the staff on the set said that since it was too late to put on makeup, then just forget about it.

She was just a small ensemble cast, one of the heroine’s many “classmates” used to set off the heroine in her youth. In the eyes of the staff, it would be the same with or without her, but for Xie Chang, this drama was the starting point of her dream.

She almost cried, so she could only pretend to be strong and endure it, telling the staff that she would just stand at the back.

Luo Yu, who played the second male lead, came over when she was just about unable to hold back her tears and said that girls of her age were the most natural, that heavy makeup would only obscure her youthful spirit, and he could do her makeup in ten minutes without delaying the filming of that scene.

A few years later, she graduated from the film academy. Her good looks and aura made her popular very quickly. By now she also had her own makeup artist and stylist, but she would never forget the feeling of Luo Yu lightly patting powder on her face and braiding her hair into a beautiful side-parted fishbone braid.

The audience at that time thought that she smiled so brightly in "Plum Rain" because she saw the male and female protagonists reunited. Only she knew that it was actually because she saw Luo Yu on the other side of the crowd.

It was also because of this smile that she was spotted by the top tier agent of Honghe Film and Television, and she reached the level she was at today step by step.

When Luo Yu was oppressed by Dijun Media, she spoke for him online with a sub account. She also seriously mentioned "Plum Rain" and the senior brother played by Luo Yu to her collaborators, but none of her collaborators took it to heart.

When she was lamenting that Luo Yu's path was dim, he actually succeeded in auditioning for Director Lin's drama!

Seeing Luo Yu again, Xie Chang was really happy for him when she saw that there was no gloom in his eyes and he appeared so optimistic and cheerful.

Although five years have passed and he seemed to have long forgotten the girl who he helped during filming, Xie Chang would always remember those gentle eyes and the hand that tied her hair.

He was still as enthusiastic as he was five years ago. When Xie Chang was filming, he ran over to carry her reflector.

It was originally a tense scene, but Xie Chang wanted to smile as soon as she saw him, so she had to find an excuse to send him away.

In the past, Xie Chang, a powerless little fan, could not do anything for Luo Yu. Now that she had some influence and Luo Yu had also not given up his career as an actor, of course she would share Luo Yu related posts!

Luo Yu once gave her roses, but what she now gave him in return was just a little lingering fragrance.

"En? What did Xie Chang share?" He Mu, who was waiting for the program team to finish preparations, was scrolling through his mobile phone.

He Mu and Xie Chang met at a commercial event and followed each other on social platforms.

The two of them were similar in age, and Xie Chang was a popular actress in Honghe Film and Television. She also participated in a movie last year, playing the role of the heroine in her youth. She was pure, persistent, and refused to bow down in the face of power. Her image in the scene was very popular with the audience, so Gao He thought of having He Mu and Xie Chang sell their CP and have He Mu gain some of her popularity with the audience. Unexpectedly, Xie Chang's team did not respond at all, and Xie Chang herself also started to have zero interaction with him from then on.

He Mu clicked on the video clip shared by Xie Chang and saw that it turned out to be a scene of Bai Ying drowning.

“Is there something wrong with Xie Chang?!" He Mu straightened his back instantly, staring at the screen of his mobile phone with eyes that almost fell out of his head.

Every time Xie Chang had any activities or new dramas, He Mu would like and share them. But Xie Chang turned a blind eye to all He Mu's Weibo posts. The only one she liked was the apology announcement issued by Dijun Media last time!

What was up with these people? First Lin Yue and Hua Xingyun, then Gu Xiaowei, and now Xie Chang, all of them helped Luo Yu speak, as if Luo Yu was a pearl covered in dust! What kind of drug did Luo Yu feed them?

Because of Xie Chang’s sharing, the number of clicks on the video clip skyrocketed.

From the underwater camera, it could be determined that the water had reached Luo Yu's neck, and he had been standing on tiptoes to maintain above the surface.

Moreover, Li Qian specially edited the scene of him struggling in the water, so that no lines could be heard, only his expression was seen.

For more than ten minutes, he was submerged in the water, stood up, coughed, choked on the water, and then sank down again. The hearts of those who watched immediately tightened when witnessing this.

If it weren’t for the subtitle [filming with professional first aid personnel at the scene, please do not imitate] in the video, netizens might have thought that Luo Yu had really met with drowning.

He was completely bare-faced, because even if he put on makeup, it would be washed away by the water. There was a struggle in his eyes that refused to give in. Even if it was a sea of fire he was in, he would still fight to go ashore even if he turned to ashes.

The expressiveness of his face and his desire to survive were so real that it pricked the hearts of netizens, making them feel distressed and worried about him.

In the video, a staff member asked him if he wanted to come up and rest, but Luo Yu in the water made a gesture to continue. The first impression was that he was very dedicated.

Comments that questioned Luo Yu’s added lines to the drama were drowned out by the support from rational netizens.

Even Fang Qin, Brother Long and other extras commented in support of Luo Yu.

[I have worked with Luo Yu on set! Very dedicated actor!]

[I looked carefully and found that the underwater scenes for these ten minutes are from the same angle, which means it is not an editing effect. Luo Yu really struggled in the water for so long!]

[So tense! This isn't acting at all, this is truly the water being too deep and he's truly struggling!]

[Is there anything wrong with adding lines to such acting talent? Or do you want us to just see edited special effects?]

……

Li Qian drank coffee while reading the online comments.

The assistant asked in confusion: "Why was it that an actor was criticized a few days ago when he said that filming a scene in the water is hard, but Luo Yu has so many people supporting him?"

Li Qian patiently analyzed: "When an actor who is not well-known and has no background in a big company is rumored to have added lines to his role on the Internet, many netizens would think that this is illogical and is likely slander by antis. The crew posted this video and only titled it "Bai Ying Drowns". This was not posted by Luo Yu himself, and it would not make people think of an artist who had made a lot of money complaining about the hard work of filming. The purpose is straightforward and obvious——to let the public know what kind of scene was added to Luo Yu's role and what kind of acting skills he has."

"En, but these alone are not enough to prevent the public from being prejudiced."

"Now that's the second point I'm going to talk about. He has a famous director and screenwriter vouching for his reputation, and actors with positive energy and traffic like Gu Xiaowei and Xie Chang sharing posts related to him. In these years, artists have often been overturned when taking sides, and most people in the industry maintain an attitude of minding one's own business. But Gu Xiaowei and Xie Chang stood up for Luo Yu so quickly, which makes more people question Luo Yu's black material."

"That's true. Luo Yu's relations with others are pretty good, huh?"

"The third point, and the most important point, is that he really does possess acting skills. During these ten minutes in the water, his acting skills were on point every second. He performed struggling, drowning, and life and death, and the audience believed his struggle and even had the urge to help him——everyone's sense of empathy were constantly rising. As long as his acting skills were even a little bit worse, I couldn't have helped him so successfully." Li Qian said.

"What else do we need to do next?"

Li Qian smiled and said, “We have been laying the foundation for so long, and now comes the real clarification."

A few minutes later, actor Luo Hao posted on Weibo: [I want to clarify here: Luo Yu did not add lines to his role, but helped me complete the informant role. I was suddenly admitted to the hospital due to physical reasons, and the crew was left with no one to fill my role. In order not to slow down the progress, the crew temporarily decided to merge the roles of Bai Ying and the informant, thus extending Luo Yu's role. I just watched the drowning scene performed by Luo Yu. His acting skills and attitude are both very good. With my current physical condition, I really cannot complete such an intense performance. Everyone, please don’t misunderstand me, I definitely give Luo Yu a thumbs up.]

Then the official account of "Counterattack" also shared this Weibo, and another round of sharing by the entire crew followed.

After the public who were already in favor of Luo Yu saw this clarification on Weibo, they found even more reasons to support Luo Yu.

The antis who had previously slandered Luo Yu could only stop in their tracks, because they would be criticized if they persisted.

He Mu, who had just gotten out of the shower, didn't know that the direction of the wind had changed. He was just about to use his sub account to sarcastically say words like "drowned dog", but before he could send them out, his agent charged in angrily, grabbed his mobile phone and when he saw the words he had just typed, his eyes instantly looked about to burst into flames.

"This 'He Mu's permanent leg pendant' is indeed you! Are you so stupid to the point of wiping out thousands of birds and wiping out all traces of humanity!"

He Mu paused for a moment, "What are you spraying at me for out of nowhere?"

The agent opened his mouth. If He Mu possessed some sense of control when it came to Luo Yu, he wouldn't go around spreading dirt on Luo Yu with his sub account.

"Whether Luo Yu is adding lines or not, other people in the industry will naturally be jealous. Why qre you trying to get involved? The company was trying its best to get you out of the muddy water and let you be in peace, but you insist on jumping into a melee! Do you know who is the PR of "Counterattack"?" The agent almost wanted to shake He Mu's head and see if there was a brain in there somewhere.

He Mu shook his head, "Who is the PR of that drama? What does it have to do with me?"