How Did the Top-Tier Male Lead Fall in Love With Me? 10

Chapter 10

After the incident with Director Hong, the manager Nie Bo started to pay much more attention to Shen Wu.
One day, Nie Bo called Shen Wu to the company for a private meeting in the large office and presented him with several scripts for him to choose from.
Seeing this, Shen Wu guessed that he had been instructed by Shen Ping.
However, Shen Wu didn’t want to accept Shen Ping’s belated compensation. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Shen Ping’s occasional concern and tardy amends… it would be better if he just played the villain to the end.
Accidentally learning the novel’s plot had made him start to doubt Shen Ping’s intentions, but their bond of over twenty years as brothers couldn’t be easily erased overnight.
Perhaps it was the same for Shen Ping.
With mixed feelings, he politely declined, “…Let’s talk about it later, Nie-ge.”

On another note, at the request of the team manager Tan Wenxuan, Shen Wu needed to go to a film set to act as a racing consultant.
Generally, consulting and coaching jobs wouldn’t fall to a top driver like him, but Tan Wenxuan, knowing he intended to enter the entertainment industry, had specially assigned this task to him, showing his full support for his career.
The drama was called Racing Heartbeat. There were a few car chase scenes in it, but they served as a backdrop to provide a suitable setting for the main characters’ romantic development.
The risk was high and the cost-effectiveness low, but even so, the director Wen Qiehua still placed great importance on these scenes. He refused to use cheap special effects and insisted on hiring a professional driver for on-site guidance and live-action shooting. His level of dedication was evident.
Before arriving at the set, Shen Wu already had a good impression of this director.
Unexpectedly, before he could meet Wen Qiehua, he first heard a sharp, piercing shout.
“Do you know what month it is!? November! Iced coffee, are you trying to freeze me to death? Or do you want me to catch a cold and lose my voice so I can’t say my lines??”
Shen Wu frowned slightly and followed the sound.
A young man in a suit was contorted with rage, berating a boy with his head down. The stiff suit was wrinkled from his large movements.
Shen Wu looked at the boy being scolded and was taken aback.
The boy looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a white shirt and black pants, with a hint of a newcomer’s naivety. His face was strikingly beautiful, with an aggressive edge, but his bright deer-like eyes were timid.
He was exceptionally handsome, not losing out even in the entertainment industry filled with beautiful people. But at this moment, he was being verbally abused.
It was very incongruous.
The boy waited until the man in the suit finished scolding before speaking, “Qi-ge, you only said you wanted an Americano. The coffee shop’s default is iced.”
The man’s anger intensified. “You dare to talk back?”
The boy’s voice was soft but neither servile nor overbearing. “Qi-ge, I’m not your assistant. I don’t know your dietary preferences. I just happened to be free, so I helped you run an errand to buy coffee. In any case, this was indeed my oversight. If you have any requests, you can tell me now, and I’ll go buy another cup.”
“Make me wait another half an hour? Nan Dengwei, do you think I’m as idle as you…”
Nan Dengwei.
Shen Wu’s mind went blank. All the noisy sounds faded away, and he couldn’t help but murmur, “Nan Dengwei…”
Xiang Zixu, whose horizons had been broadened by Meng Huaizhi, chimed in, “Wu-ge, you know him? Which top-tier star is this? How come I’ve never heard of him…”
Shen Wu’s face darkened slightly, and he cut him off, “No, I don’t know him.”
Nan Dengwei wasn’t a top-tier star, but an unknown, eighteenth-tier, obscure celebrity.
Previously, he couldn’t find this name online no matter how he searched, and no one around him had heard of it. He had thought that the novel might just be a figment of his imagination.
Now it was confirmed. Nan Dengwei was indeed as described in the book: an eighteenth-tier, obscure celebrity who had been hanging around film sets for years but didn’t even have a personal Baidu Baike page—the complete opposite of Meng Huaizhi.
He was the main character shou of this novel.
In addition to the lingering and poignant romance, the novel also had a career plotline for the main character shou, from an obscure celebrity to the best actor, a story that spanned three years.
Originally, the main character shou and the male lead were supposed to meet next year, when Meng Huaizhi was twenty-eight. And it would be some time after that before Shen Wu, the ex-husband, would hear this name from Meng Huaizhi.
It seemed that he had once again disrupted the plot, bringing their meeting forward. Just like the engagement turning into a marriage, it was slightly different from the original plot, but the key events were apparently unchangeable, such as their eventual meeting with Nan Dengwei.
The man called Qi-ge was so infuriated by Nan Dengwei that he shot to his feet, about to throw the iced Americano in his hand.
Shen Wu strode forward and quickly blocked it.
Splat. Brown coffee and jagged ice cubes scattered all over the floor, creating a huge mess.
Shen Wu said faintly, “My hand slipped.”
He was too lazy to find another excuse, directly using the one he had used at the KTV to stop Director Hong.
The man was taken aback, glaring at him. After a long moment, he forced down the anger on the tip of his tongue.
Shen Wu glanced sideways and saw that it was a somewhat famous actor named Qi Shijun, also a well-known person who got roles through connections.
He looked different from his retouched photos online, so much so that Shen Wu had to observe him up close for a few seconds to recognize him.
The incident with Director Hong a few days ago had caused a huge uproar. Qi Shijun had heard about it and guessed that Shen Wu’s background was not simple, that he was not someone he could easily mess with.
He could only pick on the weak. With that thought, he was about to vent double the anger on Nan Dengwei.
Just then, Wen Qiehua happened to walk over, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere. He shouted in a loud voice, “Shijun, if you’re rested, go touch up your makeup. The afternoon shoot is about to start. Hey, Xiao Shen! You’re here!”
His words didn’t defend anyone, giving the arrogant Qi Shijun a way to back down. He rolled his eyes at the forty-something director, said nothing, and arrogantly walked past him.
“Xiao Shen, come, come, this way,” Wen Qiehua didn’t mind and greeted him warmly.
Shen Wu’s main job was as a Formula 1 driver, while the car chase scenes in the drama only used regular sports cars, which was a piece of cake for him.
Wen Qiehua was a professional director, but designing car chase scenes was not his specialty.
Their skill levels were not on the same page. Shen Wu felt that explaining it verbally was not effective, so he simply said, “Let me show you. Can that car be driven?”
Wen Qiehua waved his hand. “Yes, that car is just for practice. Drive it as you please.”
There was a large open space at the filming location, but for a professional racer like Shen Wu, there was still too little room to maneuver.
However, in such a limited area, with a roar of the engine and the screech of tires against the ground, the unremarkable practice sports car suddenly executed a beautiful drift, flashing past the staff.
In the blink of an eye, the sports car had shot a hundred meters away, while the hair by their ears was still flying in the air.
All the staff members were stunned.
By the time Shen Wu got out of the car and came back, everyone was slowly coming to their senses.
Shen Wu rattled off a bunch of professional terms to Wen Qiehua, finally saying, “…When the male lead is chasing the car, he accelerates and overtakes halfway through, then uses a drift to block the other car. Having the two cars drive side by side will be more exciting. The drift might be a bit difficult, so I can do it. With a top-down shot, the effect will be amazing.”
Wen Qiehua nodded repeatedly.
A staff member interjected, “Um, I’ve seen your races, but aren’t you… a Formula race car driver?”
Although he had seen it with his own eyes, his duty compelled him to cautiously voice his concern.
Shen Wu was unconcerned. “Aren’t they more or less the same?”
The staff member: They’re very different. Try asking a car driver to drive a truck.
On the other side, Wen Qiehua’s assistant had just finished his boss’s errand, but unfortunately returned with bad news. Not noticing the newcomer, he said with a worried expression, “Um, Director Wen, Teacher Ye refuses to come back and continue filming…”
Wen Qiehua frowned.
The assistant whispered, in a volume only he could hear, “He also said, it’s either him or Qi Shijun. If Qi Shijun is here, he’s not.”
Wen Qiehua had a massive headache.
Qi Shijun had brought funding to the production and was an extremely difficult person to deal with. But he represented the funds, and the crew couldn’t do without him. No matter how angry he was, he had to endure it.
The second male lead Wen Qiehua had carefully selected, Ye Chongan, had a falling out with Qi Shijun just a few days after joining.
Coincidentally, Ye Chongan had been injured during a screen test. The injury was not light and already met the conditions for a peaceful termination of his contract with the crew. They even had to pay a sum for his medical expenses.
He had talked with Ye Chongan in private several times, showing sufficient sincerity, but in the end, he still received this regrettable result.
This matter was really vexing, and it wasn’t something to be aired in public. Wen Qiehua explained it to Shen Wu in a simplified way, “The actor for the second male lead was injured while riding a motorcycle and can’t film anymore.”
Shen Wu had no intention of asking further questions, his mind focused solely on his work. “Does the motorcycle need my guidance too?”
“No…” Wen Qiehua paused, his eyes suddenly lighting up. “You can guide that too?”
Shen Wu said the same thing again, “Aren’t they all the same?”
Wen Qiehua was silent for a moment, didn’t say much, and hurriedly grabbed Shen Wu’s arm, pulling him along. “Come, come, show me what you can do.”
Outside the large film set, there was a public road that had been temporarily rented by the crew. No outside cars could enter, and motorcycles that were banned in the city could be ridden freely here.
A heavy, pure black motorcycle was parked by the roadside, shining like obsidian in the sun.
Shen Wu had loved vehicles since he was a child, but unfortunately, heavy motorcycles were not allowed in the city. For training, he spent all his time with Formula race cars and had little chance to practice anything else.
The moment Shen Wu saw this heavy motorcycle, he was drawn to it as if by an invisible thread, eager to try. “Then I’ll take it for a spin.”
The heavy motorcycle roared to life and shot out, cool and stylish. It returned to its original spot not long after.
The onlooking staff were left wanting more.
Shen Wu dismounted the bike with agile grace, took off his helmet, and casually ran his fingers through his short hair.
Valiant and heroic, unrestrained and free-spirited.

Xiang Zixu had come to the set with Shen Wu and was waiting among the onlookers. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
The woman was slender and beautiful, completely engrossed in her phone, occasionally raising it to take a picture in Shen Wu’s direction.
The smile on her lips couldn’t be suppressed, and she didn’t even notice the person slowly approaching her.
“Holy crap, it’s really Lin Yanran…” Xiang Zixu couldn’t help but murmur.
Lin Yanran was the female lead of this drama, a popular and talented young actress. Xiang Zixu had previously chased after Meng Huaizhi, but that was for his sister. Lin Yanran was one of his own favorite female celebrities.
He hadn’t expected to see her the first time he accompanied Wu-ge to a set, and so close too!
Xiang Zixu’s heart was about to jump out of his chest, and he was extremely nervous. “Um, can you give me an autograph and take a photo with me?”
Lin Yanran was busy and didn’t even turn her head. “Wait a minute, let me finish taking pictures first.”
Shen Wu seemed to have noticed the commotion over here and looked over with a smile. His pair of peach blossom eyes were radiant, like the finest gems, clear and noble.
Lin Yanran immediately captured this fleeting smile, so excited that she stomped her foot.
Xiang Zixu tilted his head and accidentally caught a glimpse of the handsome photo of his boss on his idol’s phone. “…?”