This Is My Planet - Chapter 46 - Chapter 46 – Romance Of Tai Kang
Leaving her grandfather’s house as the day began to brighten, Ling Moxue felt a headache creeping in. She hadn’t rested for days, and today’s schedule was already set for an early morning shoot… Oh right, Xia Guixuan also wanted to participate.
Luckily, her cultivation had made progress, so she could do without rest… But she felt mentally drained.
Her life had been thrown into disarray after this guy’s unexpected intervention.
Feeling gloomy, Ling Moxue flew into the air and was about to head to the studio when she looked up and saw Xia Guixuan sitting on a cloud, casually playing with a mechanical spider used for controlling flight in the capital.
“…” Ling Moxue approached with a muddled mind and bowed, “Master…”
After calling out, she realized with dismay that addressing him as such was becoming smoother and smoother.
Xia Guixuan looked at her with a bit of amusement. “At this rate, your character will soon be as messed up as that goofy husky.”
Surprisingly, Ling Moxue found the courage to retort, “Your character also crumbled a long time ago.”
After saying it, she felt a surge of fear and quickly lowered her head.
Xia Guixuan chuckled, “Do I even have a character? Who would characterize me?”
Ling Moxue pursed her lips and simply turned her head without speaking.
Xia Guixuan smiled, “Don’t be nervous. You did well today. Although your so-called apology was insincere from start to finish, including those mutterings in my house, it seemed like you were saying them to me… But it’s okay. If you’re willing to do it, that’s all that matters.”
Ling Moxue found it a bit strange. “Master, it seemed that originally it was just about apologising to Yan Wuyue. Now things have veered off track. Do you still acknowledge this matter?”
“I said, if Yan Wuyue acknowledges it, then I do too.” Xia Guixuan paused, then smiled. “And besides, it all seems very interesting to me.”
Ling Moxue didn’t find it interesting at all. “It’s just internal power struggles within a country. Moxue even feels that even in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, it’s rather mundane. Why does Master, such a high-level expert, find it interesting?”
“And what about you? Do you also find it mundane?”
Ling Moxue thought for a moment and fell silent.
Truth be told, Gongsun Jiu’s determination had moved her in a way she couldn’t dismiss as mundane.
“The reason it’s interesting is precisely because of these things… including Gongsun Jiu’s sense of responsibility to the world, as well as your unyielding pride,” Xia Guixuan sighed softly, “There’s no such thing as mundane or not mundane. Everyone has their own aspirations. What he finds mundane may be someone like you and me who seek enlightenment only for ourselves.”
Ling Moxue was curious. “Master, do you consider yourself similar to me?”
“Why, don’t think so?”
“Well… it doesn’t seem like it.”
“But in fact, it is.” Xia Guixuan blinked. “For example, right now, I really want to go shoot a scene. Don’t you want to go too?”
“…” Ling Moxue hesitated, “When the capital is about to be turbulent, does Master still have this mood?”
“Why not, do I need to watch Gongsun Jiu’s every move for that?”
“…No need.”
“Then isn’t that settled?” Xia Guixuan found it strange, “I don’t know what you’re asking.”
Ling Moxue’s lips twitched, leaving her speechless.
“This Gongsun Jiu still has a treasure to conceal, seemingly hiding his cultivation.” Xia Guixuan said, “I intentionally refrained from peeking into his treasure and even restrained my divine sense… Do I need to scrutinize his every move despite all this? Seems unnecessary.”
Ling Moxue truly couldn’t fathom this mindset. “Why is that, Master? On one hand, you seem quite interested in these matters, yet on the other hand, you could know everything, yet you choose not to.”
“Hmm… imagine if right now your divine sense swept through, you could finish reading an entire shelf of books. But do you think it’s more interesting to do that or to slowly flip through pages, participating in the readers’ critiques?” Xia Guixuan asked thoughtfully.
Ling Moxue was lost in thought.
“When everything becomes too obvious, it’s actually a kind of impatience, lacking the joy of exploration and the subtlety of details. You’ll miss out on a lot of observations and insights along the way. So, unless the situation is urgent, why bother… If I enjoyed scanning everything with my divine sense and probing minds, then the first unlucky one would probably be you.”
“…” Ling Moxue bowed. “Thank you for the guidance, Master.”
“Let’s go, time to shoot. Oh, by the way, what’s the process to get me involved?”
After observing him for a while, Ling Moxue suddenly felt amused. “In that case, please humble yourself first to become an artist under my label, Master.”
Although for a temporary video shoot, no contract was needed, referencing the extras would suffice. But Ling Moxue intentionally created a contract for him, knowing full well that a piece of paper couldn’t bind him. It seemed to bring her a certain comfort in self-deception, a sense of satisfaction like ‘You are my slave.’
When they arrived at Ling Moxue’s entertainment company, Xia Guixuan scrutinized the contract for a while and then glanced at Ling Moxue with a smile that seemed to see through her thoughts.
Ling Moxue was a bit nervous. Suddenly, Xia Guixuan carelessly signed it, “I read a book recently about a character named Ah Q. Your mentality is similar.”
(( T/N: “The True Story of Ah Q” (阿Q正传) by the renowned writer Lu Xun. “Ah Q mentality” can be interpreted as Self-Deception, False Sense of Superiority, Resignation and Acceptance. Wiki ))
Ling Moxue remained expressionless.
An assistant nearby took the contract, exclaiming, “This newcomer is quite handsome. President Ling indeed has a good eye.”
Ling Moxue replied calmly, “Ask the script team to change a part of Tai Kang’s scene and let him try it out.”
At the company, she was indeed an extremely cold and arrogant superstar and boss. However, just like with Yin Xiaoru, as long as it was related to Xia Guixuan, their coldness often couldn’t be maintained for more than a few seconds.
It didn’t take long before a bearded scriptwriter hurried over. “President Ling, there’s a bit of trouble with the Tai Kang scene.”
Ling Moxue was puzzled. “What’s the trouble?”
“President Ling, haven’t you read the entire text?”
“…” Ling Moxue barely had time in her busy schedule to read novels. Her assistants picked stories they thought suited her image, and she read segmented scripts accordingly. At most, she had a rough idea of the overall plot.
Seeing her serious expression, the scriptwriter said helplessly, “This is a female-oriented ancient romance. The male lead’s main task is to fall in love, while the female lead has more personal plotlines… In other words, Tai Kang’s role in the drama is either about the female general Ling or about Chang’e. We can’t find a segment where he can stand alone… And in the currently updated chapters, Chang’e hasn’t had much screen time, mainly it’s the female general you play, President Ling…”
Ling Moxue: “…”
Xia Guixuan: “…”
Ling Moxue telepathically asked without changing her expression, “Have you read the book?”
Xia Guixuan replied with his thoughts, “I have.”
“So, are you deliberately choosing to act in this kind of scene with me? If you force it, I’ll have no choice. Is this your idea of exploration?”
“…It’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t think that much… How about this? Let’s wait for the author to update a few more chapters with a different storyline?” Xia Guixuan glanced at his watch, feeling slightly annoyed. “What’s wrong with this author, stopping updates at such a critical point?”
Ling Moxue said expressionlessly, “This author is notorious for irregular updates. Otherwise, we would have finished shooting already.”
Xia Guixuan flipped through the latest update, where it was noted at the end of the chapter, “Don’t wait tonight.”
For the first time, he felt like using divine sense to find this author named Xiao Jiu and force this person to write…
But the director on the side approached cautiously, “Actually, President Ling, there’s something I’ve been meaning to suggest. Trying out this kind of simple romantic scene could be a good idea. President Ling, shooting these types of videos is a way to expand into film and television. Focusing only on martial arts roles is limiting. Why not broaden your acting horizons? This newcomer’s image matches well with yours. It might be a great experiment.”
Ling Moxue’s expression became somewhat strange.
Trying out different genres was actually inevitable, and she had prepared herself for it. It’s just that she hadn’t anticipated… experimenting with him. This felt too awkward. How could she say romantic lines face-to-face with him?
Today was better, but back then, in that underground cave, she would have felt compelled to kneel at the sight of him. Romance?
But on second thought, she had always refused to act in romantic scenes because she felt everyone seemed unworthy, unworthy of acting with her. She simply had no interest. Ironically, he was the only one qualified to be her on-screen first love, wasn’t he?
While Xia Guixuan was still contemplating whether to grab the author, Ling Moxue finally said calmly, “Then let’s give it a try. Which scene shall we start with?”
The director was delighted. “Let’s try this scene… ‘The king and his ministers encounter a fierce tiger while hunting. Xue’er, disregarding her safety, throws herself in front of Tai Kang to protect him…’ It’s primarily martial arts…”
“?” Xia Guixuan blurted out, “Tai Kang shoots the tiger with one arrow and leaves eighteen transparent holes in it. Why does a woman need to cause trouble?”
Ling Moxue also said, “That’s not how the original text goes, right? How could a hunting trip let a tiger get close to the king?”
Xia Guixuan and Ling Moxue spoke in unison, “What kind of rubbish plot is this! Don’t mess with the original story!”