14.11 – I should already know your tastes
translator: xiin
editors: alamerysl & BlueBug
Qing Xi could not recall his rebirth, nor could he remember how many years he had already cultivated for. He had always been high up and aloof, spending his days in closed cultivation. He was just like a legend to the cultivators, someone who had always hung high above the rest, and the goal that everyone aspired to reach.
But at the beginning of the story, Qing Xi encountered the greatest difficulty of his life. He needed to perfectly realize the seven passions and six desires in order to become a god, but he had already forgotten all about what the world held. How could Qing Xi use his own past to achieve a breakthrough? So, in the second section of the story, Qing Xi used a technique and sent his soul into the world.
Qing Xi’s core soul divided into two parts, and scattered into the three thousand lesser realms, becoming the two protagonists of this story.
One became an ordinary youth who lived had no roots, no family, and lived a miserable life, named Zhu Yifan. The other became a powerful and wanton Young Master of the demon sect who experienced the highest peaks and lowest of lows, Feng Qianyun.
They were two unrelated people, and they began in completely separate places and periods. But as a writer, Liunian had the ability to connect the stories of these two people's lives as he slowly told the story of two people who were born to be extraordinary, yet also doomed to vanish.
They were Qing Xi's incarnations, but they were different from Qing Xi in thousands of ways. They were mere, small dots of existence amongst millions of worlds and lives. One of them struggled for a lifetime without getting rid of their fate as a lonely star, obtaining something just to lose it time and again, his character strengthening day by day as he was slowly overcome with indifference. The other was a proud and wanton son of heaven who was suddenly faced with the threat of having his faction exterminated, suffering unspeakable bitterness, resigning himself to death countless times only to narrowly escape at the last minute.
How beautiful and wonderful his life had been at first was in direct proportion to how awkward and cruel his life was later on. He struggled in the mire, sinking and rising again and again, striving his hardest, yet failing over and over again.
The first and second halves of his life followed two completely different styles. The more brilliant the first half was, the uglier it was when he fell.
He met Zhu Yifan when he was at the lowest point in his life. One had experienced a hundred years of gloom, while the other had seen brilliance yet eventually had still fallen. When they met and stood side by side, it was a double dose of bad luck, but they were still able to face it, endure, and continue to live strong.
Fate magically gave them a second chance, and they became each other's lucky stars. As long as they shone on each other, they would be able to move forward along their paths.
They had their hopes raised, but in the end they were even more disappointed.
At the end of the novel, In the end, Feng Qianyun used his own life as the price for prolonging Zhu Yifan's life, and Zhu Yifan carried his brother's will with him as he set foot on the battlefield that belonged to him, and the two of them buried themselves alongside their enemies.
When his split souls returned, Qing Xi woke up, he overcome the tribulations and became a god.
But since then, no one had ever seen the god named Qing Xi.
had many turning points. Each turning point was when the two protagonists' fate changed. It was also these turning points that were carefully designed by the author that made allowed the two people to endlessly grow and learn. They always experienced different things at the same time, yet still felt the same emotions. Joy, anger, and sorrow; they were clearly from the same soul, but Zhu Yifan and Feng Qianyun were two independent individuals. They had their own feelings, and ultimately walked down different paths.
It was a very good story. After adaptation, it also became a very good script. It was actually very fortunate for Xue Ling to be given the opportunity to work with such a script so early on.
Xue Ling closed the script and let out a long sigh. “You want me to play Feng Qianyun?”
“Yes.” Shen Yue nodded. Since he had already read the script, he believed that with Xue Ling's character, he would definitely understand which role he was best suited for. "Liunian will act as Zhu Yifan."
Xue Ling nodded. Based on Su Liunian's description of the two people in the script, there weren't any problems with their character choices. Xue Ling would not request to take on the role of Zhu Yifan, whose character did not suit his acting, for the sake of a so-called breakthrough in fame. Even if his acting skills were even better, Zhu Yifan was not the type of character that was stunningly gorgeous and could be remembered at a glance, unlike Xue Ling.
“Tianxuan chose to sign a contract with me at the start for the sake of Feng Qianyun's character, right?" Xue Ling could tell that this script had been left alone for quite a while. They had probably begun preparing for the project and looking for actors for a while now.
“Yes, when we first chose the role of Wei Chisu, we also had the intention of looking for someone to act as Feng Qianyun. I understand your acting skills, and you won't end up being overwhelmed by Liunian. With the two of you there, this film will definitely kick up a storm."
Xue Ling nodded. Although it could be said that Wei Chisu had similarities to Feng Qianyun, Xue Ling did not feel that it restricted his way of acting. His face was originally a ticket that allowed him to mingle in the entertainment industry, but it also meant that he would miss many good roles because of the differences in character settings.
Xue Ling felt that he had the ability to play the role of Feng Qianyun, and would definitely never let audience to feel like they were watching a second Wei Chisu.
Since there were no problems, Xue Ling signed the contract while he was there. This time, for , Tianxuan did not look down on Xue Ling because of his shallow qualifications and push down his fees. Instead, he signed the same contract as Su Liunian, and it was definitely the most profitable contract.
Having finalized the contract, Xue Ling inquired about the current film crew situation. The props were almost complete, but the costume preparations were still in progress. The world setting for was huge, and the plot was extensive. All the teams involved had already gone through a year's worth of preparations. With this kind of effort and attention to detail for a single film, or rather, four films, the foundations for had already been laid out.
The crew wanted to recreate the world of as realistically as possible.
“By the way, this should be your first time cooperating with Director Fan. Once Director Fan begins work, it'll become extremely tiring. You should rest properly during this period of time, so that you can be at your best state once the filming starts."
Xue Ling nodded as he gained a general understanding of the director, and made some preparations in his heart.
Fan Yueze was the exclusive director for Su Liunan's novels, and basically all of his novels had been filmed by his hands. He had also become famous as a youth, and won many international awards when he was still young. Later, he worked in a partnership with Su Liunian and produced many award-winning good works. He seemed to be very easy-going in life, but turned into a complete workaholic once shooting began.
Although Xue Ling hadn't been in the entertainment circle for a long time, after joining Tian Xuan, he had gotten to meet several directors who worked with Tianxuan. Most of them have cooperated with Su Liunian or Su Xuanqing before, and the works they produced were exquisite, able to fit in with Tianxuan's philosophy of only releasing amazing works. Fan Yueze was the youngest of this group of directors, but he had the largest number of releases; if he didn't work, his hands would itch. Su Liunian had said before that he worked as though life was unimportant.
These were Xue Ling's current impressions of the director. The rest he would have to figure out after joining the group.
After finishing their discussion about work, he had lunch with Shen Yue, then went back to the supermarket. He bought some daily necessities for Su Xuanyan, as well as some groceries as he prepared to go home and cook.
Although takeout was delicious, he was not accustomed to eating it all the time. Even though he ate takeout boxes every day while on-set, he was tired of eating it after returning home. When he was home, he preferred to do it himself.
Xue Ling didn’t know what Su Xuanyan liked to eat, so he picked up some meat at random, chose several kinds of dishes that he himself liked, and ended up buying many things. The people at the counter gave him extra glances when he checked out.
He wasn't popular yet, so he had only worn a pair of sunglasses when going out. Xue Ling thought of the grand spectacle that would appear once was released, and couldn't help but feel numb.
It was already afternoon by the time he returned home. Su Xuanyan opened the door for him, then took the things Xue Ling was carrying out of his hands before telling him, “You are a star now. It’s too much of a hassle to run to the supermarket alone. Next time, remember to call me so we can go together."
Xue Ling silently closed the door, thinking to himself that Su Xuanyan's ability to turn heads was even higher. It wouldn't help him at all - what was the point in calling him? But on the surface, he made a very perfunctory sound of agreement. Anyone who heard it would know that he hadn't put it to heart.
Su Xuanyan didn't concern himself about whether it was perfunctory or not. He looked at the groceries he'd purchased, and said, “I can’t live, eat, and drink here for free. In the future I'll have the housekeeper send another portion of groceries here. You can just tell me what you like to eat."
Xue Ling’s eyes brightened. Su Xuanyan's family had both power and influence, and was made of money. He was very demanding about the quality of the food he wanted to eat. Sometimes, he felt that things in the supermarket weren't fresh enough, but was too lazy to further and shop at a specialty store. Now that Su Xuanyan offered to have someone send groceries over specifically, he was naturally willing. But he couldn't make his happiness too obvious, because otherwise it would seem as though he was too easy to deal with, "Who said that you were living here free of charge? I'm going to charge you rent~ since you're staying in my study…" He took off the scarf that was wrapped around his neck as he stepped into the room, but even before he finished his words, he had begun to grit his teeth. "Su Xuanyan!"
Su Xuanyan laughed lightly. What should come, would come. In any case, the bed was already there, and Xue Ling couldn't do anything to him. He leisurely made his way over and asked, "Yes?"
Xue Ling pointed to the sofa bed that was now placed prominently in front of his windowsill, and asked, “What is that?!”
“As you can see, it's my bed.”
"When did I promise to let you sleep here? I just said to put your bed in the study!"
“But I think sleeping here is more suitable than staying in the study." Su Xuanyan had a faint smile on his face. If it hadn't been that his face still looked the same, nobody would have guessed that he was the same person as the big iceberg from before. He had discovered that it was very fun to tease Xue Ling, but one had to have a grasp on the degree. If Xue Ling really exploded, he estimated that he wouldn't even have a chance to coax him before being swept out of the house.
He tested Xue Ling’s bottom line step by step, and interestingly, discovered that Xue Ling’s tolerance for him seemed quite high. Xue Ling did not seem to be very repulsed by him despite him having taken the initiative to invade his private space. Although it had only been one night, Su Xuanyan could tell that Xue Ling would let him stay here if he didn’t push too much.
But staying honest and not pushing was not Su Xuanyan's way; he was very clear about his goals.
“Nonsense! This is the bedroom!” Xue Ling rolled his eyes, and then discovered that something seemed wrong. The topic had been brought off-track again, and he spoke in dissatisfaction, "Move it away! Move it to the living room or the study! I don't care what place you feel is more suited for sleep, just don't disturb my sleep by staying here!"
Su Xuanyan said softly, “It’s not like we're sharing the same bed. We're just sharing a room, why are you so angry? I'll be very quiet, and won't disturb your sleep.”
Xue Ling sneered, “Now, it’s just sharing a room, but in a few days, it'll be the bed! Don't think I don't know you!" He froze after he finished speaking, and blinked dazedly. He seemed to be a little curious about why he would blurt out those words, and after realizing what he had said, Xue Ling, a seemingly 'pure', young virgin, silently blushed hard.
Su Xuanyan was rather surprised as he leaned over, "Did you recall something? Can you tell me what it was?"
Xue Ling retreated two steps, his expression indifferent as he refused, "I didn't recall anything. I don't remember anything. I suspect that your words are wrong, and was just preparing to drive you out."
Su Xuanyan said helplessly, “But I already remember a lot.”
Xue Ling was stunned and could not help but take two steps forward, "Really? How much do you remember?
When Su Xuanyan saw him come up on his own initiative, he casually rubbed his head and said, “I remember that we were together in many worlds. At that time, you had your memories, but I lost all of mine."
Xue Ling muttered 'truly a dogblood plot', but did not ask for further details. He quietly turned away and went to the side. He inexplicably felt ashamed when he heard Su Xuanyan's simple words; if he heard even more details from Su Xuanyan's mouth, he might have to suffocate himself to death under the quilt out of embarrassment.
Su Xuanyan saw that he had turned and was preparing to leave without discussing the extra bed in the bedroom any further, and shrugged. It was alright if Xue Ling wasn't willing to listen. After all, what he remembered was still broken and scattered. It was fine if Xue Ling couldn't recall anything, because at the very least, he still sometimes expressed the closeness that they had between them. That was a good starting point, and with that as a foundation, Su Xuanyan would be able to pry out the entire planet, let alone deal with a single Xue Ling.
In that case, he would start by making his way into the master bedroom at night.
Looking around at the newly bought bed in the room, Su Xuanyan curved his lips and left the room in a good mood.
It was already 5:30PM. Xue Ling went to look over the groceries he had bought and prepared to cook in order to avoid Su Xuanyan, but Su Xuanyan was like a haunting ghost and followed him over.
“What are you making? I'll help you."
Xue Ling was rather surprised that Su Xuanyan could cook, but Su Xuanyan answered, "I'm accustomed to serving you. I should already know your tastes, and can recreate it."
Xue Ling was suddenly being flirted with again; he sneered, and was too lazy to deal with Su Xuanyan, who had begun to tease him all day long simply because he had remembered more things than he had.
They still had plenty of time. When he reached the peak of the entertainment industry and remembered everything, he would slowly settle their accounts!