Chapter 53 Just tone down your acting a bit

After putting down the bananas, Xu Xiu wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm. Li Qin, standing nearby, quickly handed him a few tissues.

"Thank you so much. I can't believe you did the work of six to eight people all by yourself."

Xu Xiu took the tissues, waved his hand dismissively, and paid little heed to her praise. Instead, his curiosity was piqued by her identity.

"Your name is Li Qin? The female lead?"

"Yes, I am Li Qin."

"Oh, I'm Xu Xiu. I'll be acting opposite you."

Xu Xiu grinned as he introduced himself, extending his hand toward Li Qin.

Li Qin instinctively shook his hand, but a moment later, she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Acting opposite me? Are you playing Huo Dou? You're certainly handsome enough, and your build is quite suitable."

To this, Xu Xiu said nothing. He simply turned around and went back to helping the crew move the fruit.

Li Qin watched Xu Xiu's retreating figure thoughtfully. Usually, when male actors encountered such grueling chores, they would either complain of stomachaches or arm injuries.

In contrast, Xu Xiu not only didn't shirk the work, but he even took the initiative to help others share the load.

Combined with Xu Xiu's bright, sunny, and handsome appearance, this naturally made Li Qin curious. It must be quite interesting for someone like that to play an insidious and treacherous character like Huo Dou, right?

She was starting to look forward to this stark contrast!

Around ten o'clock in the morning, the set was finally finished. When Li Qin stepped inside to take a look, she felt something was a bit off about the setup.

When Cao Mao led Xu Xiu into the room, Li Qin discovered that Xu Xiu was actually dressed in full Taoist robes.

"Xiao Qin, this is the actor you'll be acting opposite in this scene. I brought him here so you two could get acquainted first," Cao Mao said with a cheerful smile.

"No need, I saw him this morning. Xu Xiu, right?"

"You two have already met? Did Xu Xiu tell you what kind of scene you'll be shooting together?"

"He mentioned it. His looks and physique are quite good, I just wonder how his acting skills are."

Hearing this, Cao Mao fell into an uncharacteristic silence.

In a sense, Xu Xiu's acting skills were simply out of this world!

"Since you two have already met, that makes things easier. Xiao Qin, just lie down right over there."

Upon hearing this, Li Qin froze, her large eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Cao Mao.

"What?!"

She didn't remember the script having this kind of scene with Huo Dou! Was this really *The Return of the Condor Heroes*? Or was this some kind of counterfeit version of the show?!

Why did the artistic direction suddenly feel like it was drifting into the territory of a fan-fiction doujinshi...

"Why are you so worked up? Don't worry, all the men will clear out of the room later, you don't need to worry about that," Cao Mao comforted her with good intentions.

Yet it would have been better if he hadn't said anything at all; hearing that only made Li Qin feel even more terrified.

When she arrived today, Cao Mao had only mentioned that there was a scene to shoot, without specifying what kind of scene it was.

Now, arriving on set and being told to simply lie down right off the bat made her skin crawl.

"Director Cao, you are a respected director, but you must respect me as well. I am not an actress who sells her body!"

Li Qin spoke with resolute conviction, which only left Cao Mao looking bewildered.

"Xiao Qin, aren't you misunderstanding something? Didn't Xu Xiu tell you what scene this is?"

The pressure instantly shifted to Xu Xiu. Both of them turned their heads and glared at him angrily.

Xu Xiu spread his hands. "She didn't ask me. I only told her I was acting opposite her."

"So... what exactly is our scene?" Li Qin asked, somewhat panicked.

"Oh, defiling Xiaolongnü."

"You're Zhao Zhiping?!"

"Yep, that's me."

With that, Xu Xiu flashed a grin, revealing two rows of white teeth.

*[Ding! Detected that the host's absurd behavior has gained exposure, Exposure Value +91 × 3... Exposure Value +91 × 3...]*

Listening to the system prompt, Xu Xiu scratched his head. The damn system really wasn't a proper system at all.

Previously, Xu Xiu had thought it was just a coincidence, but lately, the exposure values handed out by the system were either 69 or 91.

It was either a position or a measurement!

Damn it! When it came to absurdity, who could possibly outdo the damn system?

Li Qin felt utterly terrible. She had previously assumed Xu Xiu was playing Huo Dou and had been quite looking forward to his acting, only to be told now that he was Zhao Zhiping?

Moreover, starting straight away with the scene of defiling Xiaolongnü—wasn't this a bit too intense?

Right at that moment, the drama's male lead, Bai Jingting, strolled over. He was putting on quite a grand display, flanked by two assistants and a manager.

Yet as he walked over and stood beside Xu Xiu, his moderately handsome face was instantly eclipsed by Xu Xiu.

It was like a mere mayfly gazing up at the azure sky.

"Director Cao, what scene are we shooting today? Why is it so lively? Oh, this brother here is quite handsome! Who is he playing? How come I haven't seen you around before?"

Bai Jingting draped his arm around Xu Xiu's neck with practiced familiarity. Though he put on grand airs, the reality was quite different.

Far from being arrogant or domineering, his tone of voice actually felt quite cordial.

"My name is Xu Xiu, and I'm playing Zhao Zhiping!" Xu Xiu replied very politely.

To everyone's surprise, these words instantly caused Bai Jingting's expression to freeze.

"You? You're playing Zhao Zhiping?"

He looked Xu Xiu up and down with utter disbelief. What a waste of such good looks and a great physique; why would he pick a role like that?

And for some reason, as Bai Jingting stood next to Xu Xiu, he felt a strange, inexplicable unease in his heart.

It felt heavily reminiscent of the oppressive sensation of being cuckolded!

"Alright, since you're all here, go get yourselves ready. We'll start filming shortly," Cao Mao announced decisively.

While Bai Jingting and Li Qin stared at each other in a standoff, Cao Mao grabbed Xu Xiu and pulled him aside.

"You kid, let me remind you one more time."

"There's no need, Director Cao. I remember every method you taught me yesterday. Don't worry, I will definitely portray Zhao Zhiping's wretchedness and perversion to the absolute core!"

Hearing this, Cao Mao furrowed his brows deeply.

"No, that's not what I meant."

Xu Xiu rubbed his chin. "Is it not wretched and perverted enough? But this is already my limit. You know how timid and introverted my personality is."

"..."

Cao Mao's face turned green, and he hurriedly cut Xu Xiu off.

"Shut your mouth! What I mean is, tone it down a bit when you're acting later. I'm afraid you're going to scare the hell out of Li Qin!"

Happy? Not happy!

Soon, it was time for filming.

Li Qin, dressed in pure white robes, lay upon the ground, her curvaceous figure exquisite and graceful. Xu Xiu appeared in the frame wearing Taoist robes, his handsome, makeup-free face striking.

Yet in the next second, the look in Xu Xiu's eyes changed—growing fiery and filled with desire, his throat swallowing involuntarily.

In front of the monitor.

Cao Mao watched Xu Xiu's performance with unblinking eyes, standing right next to Bai Jingting. Although Bai Jingting really didn't want to watch, his curiosity got the better of him.

Curiosity killed the cat, and Bai Jingting very quickly understood the meaning of that phrase.