Chapter 61: Roommate 21
After a meal, the lead actors for the campus promotional video were easily decided.
Chen Nanyuan, a new member of the student union’s publicity department, not only excellently completed a difficult task but also brought back a Gu Xiu.
However, it wasn’t until the actors arrived that the department head and others learned that the promotional video had been temporarily changed to a dual male lead.
But it wasn’t a big problem. The content and arrangements were all the same. Gu Xiu was in no way inferior to any beautiful campus belle. Recently, everyone had heard more or less about the gossip between the two on the campus forum. Seeing them today, they were indeed a good ship!
Gu Xiu, on the other hand, was diligently following the plot.
On the day of the shoot, Gu Xiu arrived early for makeup and blocking. Chen Beichuan was temporarily caught by his supervisor to work and would only arrive at noon.
Ji Ning had taken the initiative to apply for the makeup work for the promotional video and was with the crew the whole time, which saved Gu Xiu a lot of trouble.
After being rejected last time, Ji Ning had been depressed for a period of time. He had just finished his course assignments by locking himself in the art studio and had found out the latest plot from his transmigrated fan. He immediately signed up for the campus promotional video shoot.
The fan claimed that the two lead actors of the promotional video were supposed to be Chen Beichuan and the campus belle. He immediately thought of the girl who had shared an umbrella with Chen Beichuan before and had specifically asked around. It turned out that her name was Chen Nanyuan, and she was Chen Beichuan’s sister.
For some reason, the two lead actors had become Chen Beichuan and Gu Xiu.
When he got to the makeup room, Chen Nanyuan and Gu Xiu were chatting, looking very familiar. Chen Beichuan was not there, but he was always interspersed in their conversation. Others might not have felt anything, but Ji Ning’s heart was still on Gu Xiu. How could he not see Chen Nanyuan’s intention of matchmaking Gu Xiu and her brother in her words?
A proper university promotional video had suddenly become a dual male lead. Chen Nanyuan must have played a major role in it.
If he hadn’t known the plot, Ji Ning would have been fighting alone. Even so, he was at a great disadvantage. He could only get close to Gu Xiu during makeup and touch-ups.
On the bright side, Gu Xiu didn’t hate him because of his confession, which was enough.
Perhaps out of guilt or compensation, Gu Xiu’s attitude towards him was even better than before, and he was not as careless.
In fact, Gu Xiu was following the second part of the crematorium plot.
After being coldly rejected by him, Ji Ning had a clear stress reaction, with physical resistance and evasive eyes. No matter how he apologized, Ji Ning would only force a smile and say, “It’s fine.” Ji Ning was unwilling to explain further, and the unbreakable polite social distance showed that their relationship could never go back to what it was before.
And the protagonist gong had taken advantage of the situation, pursuing him relentlessly. And after the protagonist shou had been jealous, he had gently stroked his head, causing the self-abased boy to have an emotional outburst and burst into tears.
Not to mention Chen Beichuan, who was not playing by the script, Gu Xiu first had to deal with Ji Ning, who was doing his makeup, and apologize to him.
“Ji Ning,” Gu Xiu looked at the boy with pursed lips in the mirror and said in a warm voice, “I was a bit too harsh last time…”
Ji Ning lowered his eyes. While applying concealer for him, he openly sized him up. After a long while, he said, “If you feel sorry… then you have to agree to one of my requests.”
Gu Xiu: “…” This line seems familiar. I’ve heard it from a certain annoying roommate.
Gu Xiu was on guard. “You say it first.”
Ji Ning hesitated for a moment. “Go out with me. I haven’t decided where to go yet.”
As the protagonist shou with a gentle, self-abased, and introverted persona, Ji Ning was indeed not as shameless as Chen Beichuan. Gu Xiu was relieved and showed a soft expression of relief. “Okay.”
Ji Ning looked at the charming Gu Xiu in the mirror and finally managed to suppress the smile on his lips. He said reservedly, “I think you’ve become more handsome lately.”
Gu Xiu was too lazy to deal with him and pretended not to hear. He went to adjust his clothes and buttoned up his clean white shirt to the collar.
Ji Ning quickly said, “Don’t cover that mole. Let it show. It’s sexy… beautiful.”
Gu Xiu was in a dilemma.
The current Ji Ning was a little too enthusiastic towards him. According to the plot, it should have been him who was repeatedly giving a cold shoulder. He had been indifferent to Ji Ning before, and now Ji Ning was disdainful of him.
Just then, Chen Beichuan, having dealt with his supervisor, arrived early. Wherever he went, he brought a wave of discussion, like a powerful magnetic pole that was naturally irresistible.
Even his most annoying roommate now raised his eyes and looked at him with a strange, pleading look.
Chen Beichuan was flattered and stunned for a moment, then he noticed Ji Ning. His brow immediately furrowed, and he returned to his usual cold and unapproachable appearance.
“Hey, Gu Xiu.”
He called out in an unfriendly tone. Who knew that Gu Xiu, as if he had been pardoned, happily walked towards him.
This time, Chen Beichuan was stunned for a few seconds.
Gu Xiu’s skin was naturally clear and fair, and his bone structure was also three-dimensional. It wasn’t until he was two or three steps away that he realized that Gu Xiu was wearing makeup. A few simple strokes, outlining his eyebrows and eye sockets, made his already exquisite features even more flamboyant. His distinct black and white eyes had a vortex-like, captivating charm.
Gu Xiu had just walked halfway when he suddenly realized that he seemed to be too obedient. He braked sharply and showed a cute, annoyed expression.
Chen Beichuan first looked at Ji Ning with a wary gaze, then he curled his lip into a half-smile and said to Gu Xiu, “You’re wearing my clothes again?”
Gu Xiu was silent for a moment. How could this person even recognize a plain white shirt? he thought secretly. It was also possible that his hesitation had betrayed his guilt. Gu Xiu simply went all out, his energetic eyebrows raised, and he said righteously, “I don’t have any suitable formal wear.”
What’s wrong with wearing a roommate’s clothes!
Chen Beichuan was not angry or annoyed. He just stretched out his hands, and in Gu Xiu’s alert gaze, his eyelids drooped slightly, and he gently buttoned up the top button for him.
“Button up,” Chen Beichuan said. “Don’t let others see.”
The two of them were so intimate. Chen Beichuan’s actions were undoubtedly a declaration of sovereignty. Ji Ning’s face could no longer be held back, and he knocked over the chair next to him with a harsh sound.
Fortunately, the photographer poked his head in, breaking the stagnant atmosphere between the three, and said in a loud, gong-like voice, “Quick, quick, is Gu Xiu’s makeup done? The lighting is just right now. Let’s hurry up and shoot—”
Gu Xiu had taken the place of the campus belle in the script and had become the male lead of this promotional video.
The promotional video was themed “The Meaning of College” and told the story of a student who had spent four years in a muddle and only regretted it after graduation. He was trapped on the day before graduation and, like in the movie “Groundhog Day,” he kept restarting.
To end the cycle, he tried his best to find the meaning of college in this one day and did all the “things you must do in college.” He joined clubs, sweated on the playground, tried out the campus food, participated in public welfare activities, and went to the library to study…
Today, the sun was shining brightly. In the afternoon, they first shot an outdoor scene on the basketball court. The protagonist, through countless cycles of practice, had gradually transformed from a useless shut-in to a sports star and had a hearty basketball game with the sports students.
In the afternoon, when the warm sun was slightly slanted, everyone moved to the 24-hour study room in the library. The second male lead, Chen Beichuan, joined in to shoot the second two-person scene.
In the shot, the campus celebrity was being interviewed by a television station. A large group of people had come to the library, attracting countless people to look over and take pictures. But just as this pride of heaven was being watched by everyone, he suddenly had an anxiety attack and fell down in front of countless eyes and cameras.
Gu Xiu had also witnessed this scene, but unfortunately, the first time it happened so suddenly that no one had time to react. At this time, the cycle that was troubling him had once again become a “golden finger.” He had sneaked to a suitable position in advance. Seeing that Chen Beichuan’s face was getting worse and worse, he calculated the time and rushed forward!
He had accurately caught the dizzy Chen Beichuan!
This was just acting, but Chen Beichuan had really relaxed all his muscles and had unceremoniously pressed his hundred-plus pounds of weight on him.
Gu Xiu was caught off guard and was pushed back several steps, his back hitting a bookshelf before he stopped.
Gu Xiu was so shocked that his mind went blank for a moment. The young man’s cold and resentful aura was already close to his eyebrows, as if a forest were trying its best to stretch out its branches, rustling and scratching his skin, a lingering itching sensation.
Gu Xiu blinked. Behind him was a hard bookshelf, and in front of him was his exceptionally handsome roommate. His elbows were slightly bent, and his open fingers were propped on the metal surface of the bookshelf by his ear.
He was like an idol drama female lead, blocked between a man’s embrace and a bookshelf.
“Cut, cut, cut!”
The director waved the poster roll in his hand and shouted to stop.
【Good, good!】 The small silver ball of light flew out excitedly and circled around the two of them a few times. 【The protagonist shou is going to die of jealousy!!】
Chen Beichuan couldn’t hear 007’s chatter, and he didn’t seem to have heard the director’s command either. He stood there with his hands propped up, his deep and shallow eyes fixed on Gu Xiu’s face without blinking.
Gu Xiu’s scalp tingled from his gaze, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. Chen Beichuan’s gaze was then drawn downwards, and he stared at the small mole next to his Adam’s apple.
The place that had been stared at felt as if it had been licked by an animal’s barbed tongue, stinging and wet.
【Jiujiu, push a little harder. The key plot point is 80% complete! Just let the protagonist gong stroke your head and it’ll be done!】
“…?” The increasingly ridiculous small ball of light called Gu Xiu back to his senses.
“Alright, alright!” The real protagonist, Ji Ning, hurried over, forcing a smile to dispel the sticky atmosphere between the two. “Come and touch up your makeup. We have to shoot this scene again.”
Only then did Chen Beichuan step back, not answering. He complained to Gu Xiu like a lover, “You’re a straight man and you’re wearing makeup again?”
Gu Xiu: “…What’s wrong with being a straight man? Straight men also have the right to wear makeup. This is a stereotype, a blatant discrimination!”
Ji Ning watched the two of them flirt, his face getting uglier and uglier. 007 also came out to join in the fun, mimicking him, 【Jiujiu, your persona is to be a stereotype-filled, discriminatory man.】
It was a noisy mess. Chen Beichuan just watched Gu Xiu with a pair of calm gray eyes, a hint of a smile, and after a long while, he said, “You look better without makeup.”
The air seemed to be constantly heating up. Ji Ning quickly interjected, “Gu Xiu, you’re sweating. You should come and touch up your makeup.”
007 chattered, 【Jiujiu, push harder! The protagonist shou’s vinegar jar has already been overturned! Finish the remaining head-stroking plot in one go!!】
Gu Xiu was silent for a moment: 【What can I do about their emotional line? It’s useless no matter how anxious you are. Chen Beichuan still thinks he’s a straight man.】
【Mm…】 007 thought with its stupid data-brain. 【A straight man like you?】
【Hey, 007, what do you mean?】 Having come to the gay-infested Jinjiang world, especially after the mutual help with the protagonist gong, Gu Xiu had become very sensitive in this aspect. His face turned ugly. 【Get lost. I’m a genuine straight man, completely different from Chen Beichuan.】
【Oh～ okay～】 The small ball of light dragged out its tail, rising and falling in the air, making Gu Xiu’s handsome and refreshing face shine white.
He had monolids, and his bone structure was three-dimensional but not rugged. The contours were soft, and his lips were a light red. According to the current popular saying, he was a typical pale-faced handsome guy. In the internet, which was full of oily-headed and powdered-faced greasy men, he was like a clean and refreshing breeze, blowing away the impetuous and vain atmosphere.
Ji Ning looked at his features, which indeed did not need much embellishment, and could completely understand the fanaticism of the men and women on the forum.
If Chen Beichuan was a high and cold, unattainable high mountain flower, then Gu Xiu was the neighbor’s little brother, the handsome senior in life.
Because of their completely different temperaments, when people teased Chen Beichuan, it had a bit of a star-chasing rainbow fart flavor. But when they teased Gu Xiu, they were not polite at all, extremely unrestrained.
Ji Ning had just seen someone repost a forum post on a handsome guy bot yesterday. It was quite explicit, and it analyzed with reason and evidence that although Gu Xiu was a top-tier little handsome guy, from his temperament, he was definitely an inexperienced little virgin.
Ji Ning gradually became absent-minded.
“Is it done?” Gu Xiu asked, and at the same time, he was about to leave.
Ji Ning quickly spoke to keep him, “Do you want some lip gloss? The camera will eat up the makeup.”
“No need,” Chen Beichuan suddenly stepped forward and interrupted, his thought-provoking gaze sweeping over Gu Xiu’s face. He dragged out his voice, “As soon as he gets a little excited, his lips will become very red.”
“…” Gu Xiu didn’t know that his neck had instantly turned red. He roared at Chen Beichuan, “Hey, what do you mean?”
Chen Beichuan smiled without saying a word, completely ignoring Ji Ning. He just put down the little bird bait and turned around handsomely.
“Chen Beichuan, you explain yourself,” Gu Xiu quickly chased after him, having a gut feeling that this deep closet was trying to drag him down with him, and he was relentless. “How did I get excited?”
“When we were fighting,” Chen Beichuan’s eyes flashed with a hint of cunning, and he said with a hidden meaning, “What else could it be, what kind of excitement?”
“…” Gu Xiu was silent for a second, and in the second second, his ears turned red. The blood rushed to the vicinity of his brain, directly interfering with his language ability. He could only shout, “What do you mean… hey, Chen Beichuan!”
Chen Beichuan replied with a teasing “Hey,” and then he very mischievously ruffled his just-styled hair.
So annoying, this person.
The noisy 007 was even more annoying: 【Perfect! ‘Key Plot Point 7’ is 100% complete!】
Gu Xiu couldn’t help but snark:【Your judgment system would have succeeded even if you had let Chen Beichuan touch a dog.】
Touching once wasn’t enough, and he did it again.
Gu Xiu’s anger rose from his heart. He “smacked” the hand on his head away. “Are you sick? If you touch it again, it’ll go bald.”
Chen Beichuan was not angry or annoyed. On the contrary, he curled his lips in a good mood and then gently scraped his cheek with his index finger, joking, “Petting a little bird.”
“…”
It was really hard not to think of the mutual help between straight men that time.
“Very good, Gu Xiu,” the director’s voice came. “Your current expression is great, very rosy and full of vigor. Keep it up.”
The shooting process was full of fooling around and confrontation. In the end, the effect of the promotional video was surprisingly good.
Gu Xiu pursued the meaning of university life in the cycle and found that whether it was the playground, the library, club activities, or the laboratory, there was always a campus celebrity—he was the embodiment of “the meaning of college.” His life was busy and fulfilling, full of challenges and rewards, a well-deserved role model.
After one cycle after another, in Gu Xiu’s world, Chen Beichuan had already changed from a stranger to the meaning he was pursuing, the object of his imitation and learning.
But in every cycle, Chen Beichuan would forget him.
Gu Xiu had completed all the “things you must do in college” on his list, but he did not have the expected sense of satisfaction. After hearing Chen Beichuan’s “Classmate, are you?,” the feeling of emptiness and loneliness became a hundred times, a thousand times stronger, like a tide that drowned him.
Gu Xiu was pining for the past four years of college and had been trying to make up for the past in countless cycles, but for the first time, he had a brand new and strong thought.
He wanted to live in the moment.
There was nothing more meaningful than the ever-flowing time. All beautiful things would eventually pass away. To live every day with this cherished feeling was the meaning of all life.
He finally no longer insisted on finding meaning, no longer regretted the irretrievable past. The gears of time resumed their rotation and continued to move forward…
A new day dawned.
Gu Xiu got up from bed, pushed open the door, and left the dormitory. He jogged downstairs and ran all the way through the bustling crowd. The tree-lined path, the teaching building, the cafeteria, the artificial lake… all went in the opposite direction, turning into a phantom in the background.
He had finally arrived at the day of his official graduation. Chen Beichuan, in his bachelor’s gown, was being called by his teachers and classmates, and was about to go over to take a picture.
Gu Xiu shouted loudly, “Hey! Wait for me!”
Chen Beichuan stopped, turned his head, and looked at him. Their gazes met from a dozen meters away. The leaves were rustling, and the breeze was gentle.
It was clearly their first meeting, but the two of them tacitly curled their lips at the same time and smiled at each other.
—Class was never for the sake of ending class, and meeting was not for the sake of saying goodbye. The most important thing was the time that was truly spent, that period of youth, whether beautiful or not, was the meaning itself.
…
A week later, the staff worked overtime to edit the final version, and the latest A University campus promotional video was officially released on various platforms.
This time, the promotional video was not only outstanding in quality and the actors’ looks, but it also, as Chen Nanyuan had predicted, caught the heat of bromance. The number of views easily broke a million, crushing a group of serious promotional videos.
【Does A University still need a promotional video? Do I not go to A University because there’s no promotional video?? It’s because I can’t get in】
【A University is very good. Welcome to apply to B University next door!】
【Hahaha, the hijacker is here】
【Although I’m very moved, can this cycle be used properly? I support the two male leads kissing every day, repeating the kiss, and kissing for 999 days [/dog head with a rose in its mouth]】
【Ahhhhhhh, is this something that can be shipped?】
【Sisters, feel free to ship them. These two are our recognized top official couple, hahaha [Share: A University Campus Fresh News Bot]】
【woc, so much content, so much sugar (dumbfounded.jpg)】
【Are amateur CPs so unrestrained?? Shocked face】
【I’m speechless. What good roommate would hug and sit on someone’s lap all the time!】
