As the child of a celebrity, Hua Yingtang was coddled by the sycophants constantly around him as soon as he entered the entertainment industry. He had no idea how terrible his acting was, until he appeared alongside the hot new actor Jiang Fang and got completely outshone. His name stayed on the entertainment charts as a top trending hate topic all night.
To prove himself, he signed up for an acting variety show. The program Newlywed Life was built around celebrities "pretending to be married." Each episode had a different theme and tested the actors' ability to improvise.
But the night before filming began, he got into a car accident. When he woke up, he'd forgotten all about the show.
There were already cameras installed in his hospital room. From the director's scattered comments, he learned some shocking news: he and Jiang Fang were married, and the cameras were filming their life as newlyweds.
At that moment, Jiang Fang was sitting by his bed, his gaze as gentle as water and his eyes slightly red, as if he hadn't slept all night.
Hua Yingtang's heart softened. He didn't dare admit that he'd forgotten they were together, so he played along with the filming.
On the show, they went on dates, visited each other's workplaces, met each other's parents, and looked after children. They pushed each other to improve and competed relentlessly, ultimately winning Best Couple at the end of the year.
Hua Yingtang: "Wait, what about my acting? Is nobody going to praise me?"
After the show, the celebration banquet was underway and the cameras had been taken away. Hua Yingtang was tipsy and happily followed Jiang Fang back to their "marital home," thinking they would live happily ever after.
Instead, Jiang Fang stopped him at the door. "Give me back the key."
...All right. The marriage was fake, but the heartbreak was real. Hua Yingtang took the lesson to heart and threw himself into his acting career. To his surprise, he found some success. Everyone praised his portrayal of the tragic second male lead as heartfelt and soul-stirring. The work came pouring in.
Hua Yingtang: "Thanks to my fans, my actor-mom, my fellow cast members, and my nameless, unofficial ex-husband..."
Until he and his on-screen "ex-husband" were cast in the same production. On camera, his gaze wandered toward Jiang Fang, who should have been his love rival. The perfect mask he'd woven with his acting showed the tiniest crack.
*
Emotional memory is one of the techniques used in method acting. Actors recall events from their past lives to evoke genuine feelings, then channel those feelings into similar situations in their roles. This was the only way Hua Yingtang knew how to act, and he relied on it.
Hua Yingtang: "The script says I have to sacrifice myself to save you, but I barely know you."
Jiang Fang: "?"
Hua Yingtang: "For that crying scene just now, I was thinking about the night you dumped me."
Jiang Fang: "!"
Hua Yingtang: "Does it have to be in a place like this? We haven't actually done it before. I don't know what position I'm supposed to be in!"
Jiang Fang: "..."
*
Pure-hearted celebrity's son top x single-minded workaholic bottom
1. Both are each other's one and only, 1v1.
2. Fictional entertainment industry. Don't compare it to the Chinese or international entertainment industries.
3. Their on-show personas differ sharply from their real personalities. On the dating show, the two play textbook examples of a domineering rich CEO and a tsundere, delicate flower.
4. I made the cover myself. One day I'll replace it with a pretty new one, trust me.
Theme: Study hard and make progress every day
