After Transmigrating into the Main Shou, I Topped the Paranoid Big Shot 18

Chapter 18

Just after New Year’s Day, Zong Mo felt his body had fully recovered, and he was full of energy.
Youth is the capital of the body!
Obviously, CEO Ruan wouldn’t easily let the lively and energetic him go.
It wasn’t that he locked him in the hotel to exploit him, but rather he asked if he wanted to go swimming.
Could he refuse? But, “Swimming in the middle of winter?”
Ruan Chi: “Mm.”
Zong Mo: ?

It was only after a two-hour drive to the suburbs that he understood.
His CEO Ruan had booked out an entire hot spring resort, large enough for swimming. There were open-air natural rock hot springs, indoor traditional Chinese medicine wellness pools, and even milk and red wine pools in the SPA and beauty area. He could swim however he wanted.
Zong Mo: …
The same CEO Ruan who wouldn’t even lend him five thousand yuan was now being extravagant to the heavens.

Even though he had booked the entire resort, after a casual tour, he just settled down at the traditional Chinese medicine wellness pool.
Extravagant! Wasteful!
Zong Mo first complained in his mind, then, smelling the faint scent of medicinal herbs in his nose, he finally realized… could this hot spring trip be because he had been sick?
Leisurely enjoying the warm hot springs was indeed very comfortable. The treatment was a world apart from when he was filming—one heaven, one hell.
Zong Mo tentatively asked, “CEO Ruan, do you often go to hot springs?”
“Rarely.”
“Alone?”
“Do you go to hot springs alone?”
“I’ve never been to a hot spring,” Zong Mo said. “This is my first time.”
After a while, Ruan Chi moved closer, and helped Zong Mo unlock a new first time.
But how was it that the more he soaked in this wellness pool, the more tired he became?

On January 3rd, Zong Mo rushed back to the set. There were less than two weeks left until filming wrapped.
Completely forgetting to go home, and with the exhaustion of being drained, he returned to film a few more “battle-damaged” scenes. The effect was surprisingly good, completely natural.

In mid-January, they filmed the final scene of Chasing the Light Boy, where Yu Chi runs for several kilometers to escape capture after killing his father.
In the suburbs of City L in the dead of winter, the view was desolate and vast. Gloomy clouds hung low over the pale, dull fields. The endless black highway was the only guide, leading the young man to another world.
It was both the end of his life and the beginning of his freedom.

Wearing a thin school uniform, Zong Mo also got hotter as he ran. He unzipped his jacket, and the cold wind billowed his gray-blue clothes, also cutting at his face like a knife.
Pain!
He almost teared up from the cold. Hearing the approaching police sirens, he looked back at the police car chasing him—which didn’t exist at this moment, but he needed to act panicked and urgent.
In the distance was a dense crowd of staff, with no sense of tension. But with one glance, he spotted that particularly tall figure in the crowd.
?
Zong Mo’s face and mouth turned deathly pale. The tears that had been frozen out were sucked back in.
Hurry up and fucking run!!!
Your fated main gong has arrived, ahhh!

The scene of the car crashing into him would be filmed separately later and combined with special effects. For now, Zong Mo just needed to run into the parked car himself.
He took off the cumbersome school uniform jacket and threw it away, sprinting towards the distant car lights in his field of vision.
Then he staged the accident, fell tragically, and bit the blood packet in his mouth.
It was finally over.
Zong Mo waited for the director to come and yell “cut,” obediently lying still and playing dead.
“Cut! That’s a wrap.”
He opened his eyes at the sound and saw a long, powerful hand above him.
He placed his own hand on it. It was very warm. He used the other person’s strength to stand up.
When he saw clearly who had helped him up, his face turned even paler.

“Cold?”
His hands were already completely numb from the cold. Lu Bo’s question sounded more like a statement.
Zong Mo quickly dodged, avoiding the scarf Lu Bo wanted to hang around his neck.
Lu Bo’s eyes dimmed, but he didn’t insist.

“The weather and lighting are perfect right now,” Director Yang came over and said. “Let’s just continue filming your scene, Little Lu.”
Lu Bo agreed with an “okay.” Everyone got into position, giving him the space.
On the empty highway, Lu Bo placed a bouquet of flowers.
As he straightened up, his hair was tousled by a wind that came from nowhere.
As if it were the wind stirred up by the sprinting young man in a different time and space.
“Cut!”

Lu Bo’s mysterious appearance was, naturally, because of this mysteriously added scene.
Zong Mo didn’t feel embarrassed for being over-sentimental, nor could he relax.
The fate of the main shou and the main gong was truly like destiny.
It couldn’t be cut.
And it was impossible to accept.
Unless, Lu Bo let him top.
The moment this dangerous thought flashed through his mind, Ruan Chi’s cold gaze appeared in his head.
Colder than City L in January.
Zong Mo shivered.

Director Yang cheerfully slung an arm over Lu Bo’s shoulder. “Thank you so much, Little Lu!”
“It’s a wrap! Everyone, dinner together tonight! Little Lu’s treat. No one is allowed to run away, ha.”
Zong Mo: …
Thanking Lu Bo, why make him treat everyone?
And with Lu Bo here, no one would want to run away, except for himself.
Zong Mo felt he was being targeted.

Everyone ate together in a lively atmosphere. Zong Mo was absent-minded. When he received a call from Ruan Chi, he actually felt a sense of being rescued.
It was just a phone call, not a video call, but the restaurant was too noisy. Zong Mo had to walk outside to a deserted alley before he dared to answer.
As expected, Ruan Chi immediately asked, “What took you so long?”
Zong Mo had come out fast enough, even forgetting to wear his jacket, but Ruan Chi was clearly impatient.
“Wrap party. I just came out of the restaurant,” Zong Mo said, noticing his voice was a bit nasal.
“Caught a cold again?”
“I don’t know… Did you need something, CEO Ruan?” When he called out “CEO Ruan,” his voice became even stickier.
Zong Mo: …

It was a while before Ruan Chi spoke. “Coming back tomorrow?”
Today’s gathering was actually Lu Bo’s welcome party. The official wrap party was tomorrow.
He had to say, Director Yang was really a person who loved a lively atmosphere. In just over a month, he had frequented all the restaurants within a few dozen miles.
Zong Mo could only say, “I’ll try to go back tomorrow, the day after tomorrow at the latest.”
Ruan Chi was very straightforward. “Okay.”
“Can I hang up and go back to the restaurant, CEO Ruan? It’s so cold outside.”
“Mm,” Ruan Chi said. “Contact me again when you get back to the hotel.”
Zong Mo hung up the phone, looked up, and was deprived of even a moment to catch his breath.
Because Lu Bo was blocking the alley entrance. With that peerless figure, he could see him clearly even as a black silhouette.
Zong Mo: …

Lu Bo strode over. “I saw you hadn’t come back for a while. I brought your coat for you.”
It was his own down jacket. Zong Mo took it and put it on, his feelings complicated.
His Sister An Lan, who was still in the restaurant, had also started to be a wingman?
“Can we talk for a moment?” Lu Bo said. Probably guessing he would refuse, he added, “It’s about Ruan Chi.”
Leaving no room for refusal.

The two of them seamlessly transitioned to their second meal of the night, at a roadside barbecue joint.
The area was remote, and the news of the film emperor making a cameo in a small, shabby film crew hadn’t spread at all. Lu Bo was magnanimous and sat down openly in the main hall of the barbecue restaurant.
The seat was in a corner, and since the film emperor was so at ease, and Zong Mo was a nobody, he didn’t feel anything was amiss.
He just wanted to finish talking quickly and leave.

After sitting for a while and warming up, Lu Bo finally got to the point, asking, “Little Mo, was that you in Ruan Chi’s WeChat Moments?”
Zong Mo took out his phone in confusion and tapped on Ruan Chi’s profile picture.
[This user only displays Moments from the last three days.]
Zong Mo: …
He hesitated and said, “The one with the chin?”
A confession without being prompted.
Lu Bo: …

“Has he been forcing you all this time?”
It was more like half-push, half-pull.
Zong Mo didn’t want to accept the main shou script of riding on coattails to the top, so he naturally didn’t want to develop anything further with Lu Bo. He didn’t explain, just said, “Teacher Lu, this matter… please don’t tell anyone.”
He was still a nobody. If the news of him being sponsored was exposed now, he would probably have no place in the entertainment industry, unless he relied on his sponsor for the rest of his life.
He didn’t want that kind of script either.

Lu Bo nodded with a complicated expression. “Okay, I’ll keep it a secret.”
After eating a little, Zong Mo wanted to leave. Lu Bo spoke in time, “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
The events of two years ago were no secret. Lu Bo could definitely find out. Zong Mo said bluntly, “He helped me pay off my debt.”
Lu Bo asked again, “What kind of contract did you sign with him?”
Zong Mo: …
This question really stumped him. He didn’t know either. He only knew that after being sponsored for three years, he had naturally escaped the sponsor’s control because he had made a name for himself with the help of the film emperor.
Of course, that kind of plot development was unacceptable. He had to think of a way to avoid being entangled with and ultimately topped by the film emperor.
Zong Mo said calmly, “There’s no contract. I did it voluntarily.”
Lu Bo: ?

Zong Mo’s attitude was full of resistance, but Lu Bo didn’t mind.
He even asked, “Do you need help?”
Zong Mo: …
His current life was a little tiring, but it wasn’t exactly a living hell that required urgent rescue.
And, it was quite enjoyable. As long as Ruan Chi didn’t treat him like a toy to be summoned at will.
But! Was that possible?
He couldn’t accept Lu Bo’s help either.
He knew the script. This was just jumping from a den of thieves into a wolf’s lair.

Observing Zong Mo’s troubled expression, Lu Bo pondered for a moment and said tentatively, “You seem to have some misunderstanding about me. I don’t know what Ruan Chi has told you.”
Zong Mo looked up.
Lu Bo continued, “I’ve known him for a long time.”
Hmm!?
Zong Mo pricked up his ears.
Why on earth did Ruan Chi treat Lu Bo as his white moonlight, and why did he treat him as a substitute? The novel never said, leaving a huge bug.
And now, was Lu Bo about to tell him the hidden plot?
He knew it. Lu Bo was indeed the favored son of this novel. He knew more than the author.

“We’re related by blood,” Lu Bo said faintly.