Accidental Mark

“Good morning, ladies and gentleman. Today is the seventh day of the first lunar month, February 17th 2021. We are here to hold the launch ceremony of the online drama Folding Paper.”

The microphone amplified Pei Shaoze’s voice. In the quiet venue, only his voice rang out clearly.

“Folding Paper is a school-themed online drama invested and produced by the Tianxuan Group. I am personally serving as the producer. The original novel has a high popularity on the Internet and is about the growth of several teenagers in high school…”

“This investment in Folding Paper is a trial for the Tianxuan Group to enter the online drama market. I am honored to invite Director Liu Xueyi, Screenwriter Xu Moran and the original author Lemongrass to join the crew. During the filming process, we will try our best to strive for excellence. We refuse a rough production and strive to shoot a high quality online drama, presenting the most authentic and beautiful student days to everyone…”

Pei Shaoze’s speech was like flowing water without the slightest stutter.

The alpha’s voice was low and pleasant. This gave people a particularly good impression. Unlike many leaders who read a bunch of fake lines when speaking. Pei Shaoze didn’t hold a speech in his hands. He held the microphone and stared straight at the reporters in front of him. He spoke fluently and enunciated clearly. He gave a brief introduction of the novel and the crew and spoke almost no nonsense.

Pei Shaoyan stood in the audience, his eyes dull. Was this man really his brother? His brother who didn’t do business every day and only knew how to go on holiday with his friends to race cars, drinking and clubbing? Since when had his big brother become so stable? In the face of so many media reporters, he spoke for five minutes without a speech or stage fright?

Pei Shaoyan’s shock in the audience was beyond description. In the past when he was poor in his studies, he would comfort himself by saying ‘What is there to be afraid of? My older brother is worse than me.’ If he fooled around in school with his friends, he would think that his big brother was also like this. What did it matter if his grades were bad? He had the Pei family. Even if the sky collapsed, there was his big brother above him.

Now today, looking at Pei Shaoze who was calmly talking on the stage, Pei Shaoyan suddenly felt that he was really bad in comparison. If he stood on the stage, he would only be able to say ‘I wish the crew a smooth start’ at most.

Pei Shaoze seemed completely reborn. He was no longer the son who could cause his father a headache.

Pei Shaoyan frowned in a complicated mood, his mind messed up.

“Finally, I wish every success for the filming of Folding Paper and I also wish all the guests present the best in the new year. Thank you!” Pei Shaoze simply ended his speech and handed the microphone back to the host.

There was thunderous applause.

This was especially the case for the experienced media reporters. Everyone had participated in many opening ceremonies and heard the speeches of many producers and leaders. It had to be said that President Pei’s speech today was simple and neat, without dragging anything out. A few important points were clearly started. It was impressive that Tianxuan’s new CEO had such a demeanor at a young age.

Under the stage, Cheng Xia was clapping particularly hard! He felt that President Pei was the best boss he had ever seen. Standing on the stage, President Pei could instantly stabilize the audience and he was very handsome when speaking. Cheng Xia was even a bit proud in his heart. He was really lucky to sign to Tianxuan and meet such a good boss.

Pei Shaoze walked down from the podium and sat on the empty seat right next to Cheng Xia. Cheng Xia glanced at him, smiled and actively greeted him. “President Pei.”

Pei Shaoze leaned over and whispered, “I temporarily wrote the speech last night. How was it? There was nothing wrong, right?”

Cheng Xia gave a thumbs up. “No, you spoke very well.”

Pei Shaoze hummed and focused on the podium.

Next was the director’s speech and then the author’s speech. The opening ceremony was carried out in an orderly manner. After the speeches were over, Director Liu took the initiative to introduce the important roles in the drama. He made an inviting gesture as he said, “Next, let’s welcome the new actor who will play our main character Qin Nian—Cheng Xia!”

Pei Shaoze looked encouragingly at Cheng Xia. “Go ahead.”

Cheng Xia stood up, walked up to the podium from the side and came to Director Liu’s left hand side. Then he bowed politely to the audience.

“Next, let’s welcome the young actor playing our main character Lu Fengyang—Shen Kai!”

Shen Kai walked over and stood to the right side of the director. This was the first time the two actors were meeting. They weren’t familiar with each other and standing on either side of the director could avoid embarrassment.

Shen Kai was 188 cm tall and Cheng Xia was 178 cm. The difference in height and appearance seemed to match but there was no interaction with each other. The reporters could only take some photos to use in their article. Then the important supporting roles such as the younger sister and childhood friends also stood on the stage in turn.

The host said excitedly, “I will like to invite President Pei, Director Liu, Teacher Lemongrass, Teacher Xu and the several leading actors to unveil the mirror together!”

Pei Shaoze was invited to the stage again. He glanced at the scene and walked over to stand next to Director Liu, which happened to be next to Cheng Xia. Everyone’s hands stretched out at the same time and grabbed the red cloth covering the camera.

There were so many people standing together and it was slightly crowded. Pei Shaoze wanted to grab the red cloth but inadvertently grasped Cheng Xia’s fingers. The man’s big hand gently wrapped around Cheng Xia’s fingers and Cheng Xia acted like he got an electric shock. He shrank back and his ears were a bit red. Pei Shaoze noticed something was wrong and immediately released his hand politely, moving it aside. He whispered, “Sorry.”

Cheng Xia knew it was unintentional. After all, so many people were squeezed together. However, the sudden acceleration of his heartbeat made Cheng Xia afraid to look into President Pei’s eyes. He could only whisper, “It’s fine.”

Next to him, Liu Xueyi shouted excitedly, “Three, two, one!”

Cheng Xia’s heart was beating like a drum and his mind was buzzing. The people around him pulled the red cloth at the same time. Then Cheng Xia quickly withdrew his hand and pretended that nothing happened. He stood beside President Pei with a bright smile and took a group photo with everyone.

There was applause and the opening ceremony officially ended. If it was a start-up ceremony in reality, all the crew would have to offer incense. Pei Shaoze had checked a few days ago and found that the ABO world didn’t have the ‘burning incense to worship Buddha’ process so he removed this part.

As for the interviews that should be done, Pei Shaoze asked the publicity department to tell the media in advance. The crew needed to catch up with the schedule in the afternoon so each actor only had 10 minutes of interview time. The reporters should also be as gentle as possible with the newcomers.

All of the media invited today had a long-term cooperative relationship with Tianxuan and would naturally give Tianxuan this much face. The reporters were really gentle when doing the interview.

Cheng Xia was very nervous when facing so many reporters for the first time. Then he thought about President Pei’s calmness on stage. The producer was so stable. As the lead actor, he couldn’t shame the crew and President Pei! Cheng Xia took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mentality.

A reporter asked, “This is the first time you’re playing in an online drama. Do you have confidence in your acting skills?”

Cheng Xia honestly replied, “I really don’t have much acting experience but I believe acting can be honed. I really like the character Qin Nian and I also like the novel Folding Paper. I will devote myself to the script and interpret Qin Nian’s life…”

The reporter asked, “How do you understand the character of Qin Nian?”

Cheng Xia expressed his thoughts based on the original novel he had read. He was serious when answering questions, with sincere eyes and no perfunctory manner. The reporters had a good first impression of him and didn’t embarrass him.

After Cheng Xia answered the questions, he was taken to lunch by his agent. Lunch was takeout that Pei Shaoze asked Zhang Fan to order in advance. He ordered very expensive lunch boxes since he wanted everyone to eat better for the first meal after the start-up. The moment the staff saw such sumptuous lunch boxes, they all said emotionally, “This treatment is too good!”

Everyone was full on the food and drinks and was full of energy.

The set started to become busy as Liu Xueyi directed the lighting, photography etc. to prepare. In the afternoon, he announced the makeup photos would be shot. After lunch, actors such as Cheng Xia, Shen Kai and Zhou Jiawen were called to the dressing room by the deputy director.

The so-called dressing room was actually a temporarily renovated classroom. The one doing Cheng Xia’s makeup was a small female beta. She found that Cheng Xia’s skin was very good and he was handsome, so she tried her best to make him look fresh and natural without heavy makeup. The eyeshadow and lipstick were all light colors and the effect was good.

For the sponsor of the school uniform, Pei Shaoze found the one used for Chen Yijun’s MV. Today, he sent several sets of clothing according to the size of the starring actors. The background color was dark blue with white accents and Cheng Xia showed no sense of disharmony after changing into the school uniform. He was just like a teenager in high school.

The makeup artist was excited. “Cheng Xia, I’ve seen your MV. You are so handsome. Jiayou!”

Cheng Xia smiled at her. “Thank you, I will.”

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, several well-styled protagonists walked into the studio one by one. They struck various poses according to the photographer’s requirements. The thing Cheng Xia didn’t expect was that President Pei would also be here. He thought a boss like President Pei would leave after attending the opening ceremony.

Cheng Xia noticed that a young man was following President Pei. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes and was very handsome. He was over 180 cm tall and his expression was very complicated. President Pei’s attitude toward him was neither mild nor severe. He just ordered this person to pour water. The young man turned and poured a glass of water, eyes a bit strange.

Pei Shaoze ignored him, looked at Cheng Xia in the lens and told the photographer, “Take a few more frontal photos. My colleagues in the publicity department are still waiting. They have to send articles in the afternoon and time is more urgent. It is hard on you.”

The photographer smiled. “President Pei, rest assured. I will shoot Cheng Xia in a very handsome manner!”

Pei Shaoze nodded and looked at Cheng Xia. Cheng Xia became nervous for no reason after being watched by President Pei’s deep eyes. His brain was a bit messy. He couldn’t help thinking of the scene where his fingers were gently held by this man when he uncovered the lens cloths just now…

The photographer shouted, “Cheng Xia, smile a bit bigger. Show your teeth. Very good!”

“Sit on the chair with your chin slightly lowered!

”Come on, change your movements and turn your face sideways.”

Suddenly, the photographer stopped helplessly. “Cheng Xia, look at my camera. Don’t keep looking at President Pei! I am the photographer!”

Cheng Xia, “……”

Pei Shaoze, “……”

The photographer’s unintentional joke instantly made Cheng Xia’s ears turn red. He didn’t know why his eyes kept glancing at President Pei. Maybe President Pei showed too strong a presence sitting next to the photographer?

Pei Shaoze found that Cheng Xia was a bit nervous so he got up. “You shoot first. I’ll check if there are any problems with Director Liu.”

The man got up and left. Cheng Xia sighed with relief before diving back into the shooting.

Outside the door, Pei Shaoyan followed him and whispered softly in his brother’s ear, “That person in the room is Cheng Xia, right? I saw the information about the starring roles in the crew. He is an omega? He looks familiar. Where have I seen him before?”

Pei Shaoze frowned. “I had you follow me to learn how to supervise a drama, not to gossip about actors.”

Pei Shaoyan muttered to himself, “He really is familiar. I have definitely seen him somewhere.”

Pei Shaoze turned toward Director Liu. “Follow me.”

Pei Shaoyan scratched his head and thought carefully. Then his eyes lit up. When he opened the door to his brother’s room the night before, his brother’s computer screen happened to be paused on a scene. At that time, his brother was looking at the screen with very gentle eyes.

On the screen, a young man was sitting in front of the piano with his white fingers lightly placed on the keys. Since it was paused, the young man’s smile was frozen there. His head was lowered slightly as he smiled at the piano, hazy and beautiful.

It was a pity that Pei Shaoyan only got one glance at it before Pei Shaoze closed the laptop screen. When asking about the person’s identity, his brother didn’t answer and drove him out of the door instead.

The more Pei Shaoyan thought about it, the more wrong it felt. His brother’s actions were obviously trying to cover something up! He quickly took out his phone and searched Cheng Xia’s name. He smoothly found Cheng Xia’s Weibo and saw Cheng Xia mentioning Chen Yijun for giving him this opportunity. That’s right! At the time, his brother said it was a new song by Tianxuan’s contracted singer, Chen Yijun.

Pei Shaoyan quickly searched for the new song and clicked on the MV.

In the MV, Cheng Xia appeared many times. He was smiling, lowering his head to think or running around the basketball court. The sunny and warm high school top student image was deeply rooted in the hearts of people. Combined with the dream-like special effects, it was really beautiful, especially the scene of playing the piano. No wonder why his brother paused when watching it last night.

He remembered how they went to their grandfather’s house to pay the new year’s greetings and Pei Shaoze saying that he already had someone he liked. It was just that the person was too young and Pei Shaoze hadn’t marked him yet. Pei Shaoze didn’t want to make him too anxious.

An 18 year old omega was indeed still young. It made sense not to mark him so early.

This should be the person his big brother liked, right? No wonder why his eyes were so soft when watching the MV and he refused to tell who this person was. Just now, he even went to the studio to watch Cheng Xia take the makeup photo. Perhaps his older brother spent millions investing in this online drama just for his sweetheart, Cheng Xia?

Pei Shaoyan felt like he had discovered a big secret and he could be a detective!

Proofreader: Cat