AM: Chapter 63

The next day, Cheng Xia went to the Tianxuan legal department to sign the contract. Zhou Yan accompanied him the whole way. Once the legal department stamped it, Zhou Yan took Cheng Xia to the president’s office on the top floor to have President Pei sign it.

Pei Shaoze glanced at the contract, signed his name, and asked Cheng Xia, “Is the pay satisfactory?”

Cheng Xia nodded. “I never thought I would get so much money. I thought it would be 200,000 at most…” After all, it was a 12 episode online drama. Based on his current name and worth, the pay of 880,000 was indeed a bit high.

Pei Shaoze told him, “At present, the highest-paid omega actor in the circle is paid 50 million yuan. You’re still young and have insufficient qualifications. 880,000 yuan is just the beginning for you. With your achievements, your pay will gradually rise in the future.”

Zhou Yan’s heart trembled when she heard President Pei’s words. The meaning was obvious. He wanted to train Cheng Xia into a top-tier artist with a salary of more than 10 million yuan. Shu Yue had retired so all the omega artists in Tianxuan would secretly fight for the position of the ‘big brother’ of Tianxuan. However, it seemed that President Pei was most interested in Cheng Xia. She was lucky to have picked up such a treasure. She would be sure to follow Cheng Xia in the future.

After coming out of the office,  Zhou Yan started to arrange her work. She decided to personally accompany Cheng Xia to film Disappearing Traces.

***

The next day, Cheng Xia received a notice from the crew of Folding Paper requesting several actors to go to the dubbing room to redo their lines. There was too much noise during the filming and the effect definitely wasn’t as clear as dubbing.

Cheng Xia went to the recording studio and spent two days doing the dubbing for Folding Paper. Then he was pulled into the ‘Disappearing Traces Crew’ group chat. Director Zhu said, [@all members, welcome everyone. You have joined the crew of Disappearing Traces. I am the director, Zhu Zheng.]

The actors appeared to send out, [Hello, Director Zhu.]

Cheng Xia immediately saw a profile picture with the character ‘Pei’ in the group members and sent him a message in private. [Brother, are you also in our crew’s group chat?]

Pei Shaoze explained, [They let me be a producer.] He didn’t directly say that he invested an additional 10 million yuan because he was afraid the young man would be wronged by the crew.

Cheng Xia sent a hug emoji. [Great! Do you plan to follow the crew this time?]

[I can’t follow the crew like Folding Paper. It’s because Folding Paper has entered the post-production state. I have to watch the editing, dubbing, and scoring. Then I have to submit it for review once it’s finished. I will be very busy in the next period of time.] He paused before sending a sentence. [However, as long as I have time, I will go to the crew to see you.]

Cheng Xia said considerately, [It doesn’t matter. If you’re busy with work then don’t run back and forth. Sister Yan will go with me this time and there will be no problems.]

In the crew’s group chat, the deputy director came out and said, [Hello everyone, we have decided to start filming on June 6th. The crew has booked tickets for you to fly to Ya’an. The flight is 12:30 p.m. on the 5th of June. Everyone, pay attention and arrange your schedule.]

They could start so soon because they had contacted the movies and television studio previously. It was just that the loss of the two leading actors slowed down the progress of the crew. Now that the actors had been determined, Director Zhu naturally had to hurry up and finish the filming.

June 6th—this number was auspicious.

Cheng Xia packed his luggage and went to the airport on the 5th with his agent. These days, he had been so busy that he couldn’t stop spinning around. However, he liked the feeling of being busy. It was fulfilling. He thought that President Pei wouldn’t follow them to Ya’an. As a result, he boarded the plane and saw the familiar alpha approaching. Everyone around him politely greeted this person. “Hello, President Pei!”

Since Pei Shaoze appeared, Cheng Xia’s gaze was stuck on the alpha’s body and he couldn’t move it away. Pei Shaoze went to his side and sat next to him. When booking tickets, Pei Shaoze had arranged for him and Cheng Xia to sit together. He was the boss of Tianxuan and it was reasonable to sit with his artist.

Cheng Xia was worried that everyone would see the relationship between the two of them so he didn’t dare do any intimate actions. He could only say softly, “Hello, President Pei.”

The plane took off and all the lights in the cabin were turned off. Then Pei Shaoze suddenly held Cheng Xia’s hand under the seat, their fingers interlocking. Cheng Xia carefully held back. This type of ‘carrying out a secret relationship’ tension made Cheng Xia’s heart thump.

After a moment, Pei Shaoze found that the young man wasn’t sleeping. He couldn’t help leaning closer and whispered, “Are you sleepy? Sleep for a while. I’ll be your pillow.”

Cheng Xia thought about the first two sleeping experiences where he used President Pei as a pillow and his face turned slightly red. “I’m not sleepy.”

Pei Shaoze smiled and took the initiative to pull Cheng Xia’s head down to his shoulder, letting this person lean into his arms.

There were curtains between the seats in the first-class cabin. Once the curtains were pulled, no one could see what they were doing. Cheng Xia leaned into the alpha’s arms and his brain gradually became hot. The plane flew steadily through the air but his heartbeat wasn’t stable at all. His entire heart was filled with a sense of happiness. It was like he owned the world when he was with this alpha.

The two of them snuggled together until the plane landed. Then they separated.

The accommodation was arranged at the Ya’an International Hotel near the studio. Due to Pei Shaoze’s additional investment, the crew now had a lot of money and they could afford to let the actors and creators stay at a five-star hotel. The crew arranged rooms for everyone on the same floor.

Everyone went back to their room to place their luggage. Pei Shaoze turned on the computer and started working. The post-editing production of Folding Paper had been 80% completed and the editing studio had released the final version of the first few episodes. The successful completion of filming the drama was just the first step. There were many examples of bad editing ruining the drama later on. He had to personally check it.

Just then, Cheng Xia sent a WeChat message. [Brother Pei, are you staying in room 701? I saw you go to the corner.]

His phone was placed on his desk and Pei Shaoze replied after seeing the message that popped up, [That’s right, 701.]

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Pei Shaoze thought it was a staff member of the hotel and got up to open the door. As soon as the door opened, he saw Cheng Xia standing there with a smile on his face and a small box in his hand. Pei Shaoze looked surprised and allowed him to enter the room. “Why come to me all of a sudden?”

Cheng Xia answered, “I thought that you would definitely turn on your laptop and work overtime once you get back to your room. This hotel is close to the airport and it’s only 3:30 p.m. There are still two hours before dinner. What if you’re hungry? I bought some pastries for you to fill up your stomach first.”

He opened the tin box that contained lots of delicate pastries that resembled the size of a baby’s fist in it. They were kept fresh by the vacuum packaging and the patterns on the pastries looked familiar. Pei Shaoze remembered the pastries that Cheng Xia had sent him during the Spring Festival and wondered, “Did you make it yourself?”

Cheng Xia nodded. “Yes, yesterday I went home to pack some things and made some pastries since I was there. They can be kept for three days in the vacuum packaging. Brother Pei, eat a few pieces first and treat it as afternoon tea.”

Unexpectedly, Cheng Xia would actually give him delicious food while he was busy working here. Pei Shaoze’s heart warmed. He put aside the iron box and took Cheng Xia to a seat to sit down. “I will tell you some good news. The first few episodes of Folding Paper have been sent to me by the editing studio. Would you like to see it?”

Cheng Xia immediately became excited when he heard it. “I want to see! Are the dubbing and soundtrack also completed?”

“Yes, this is the fifth version. The previous versions had flaws and I asked them to re-do it. I think this version is okay. You can watch the first episode and tell me if you’re dissatisfied with anything.” Pei Shaoze pressed the play button for the first episode.

Cheng Xia sat at the table and watched it carefully. Sunshine, the forest, campus trails, the playground… as the camera progressed, the fresh and natural scenes locked the entire story in a beautiful high school.

Cheng Xia saw himself coming out with his school bag on his back. When shooting, he didn’t feel like he had performed well but after post-processing, the overall picture became brighter. The protagonist who walked out of the school gate looked good.

Cheng Xia watched the first episode intently.

Pei Shaoze inquired, “How is it?”

Cheng Xia seriously commented on it. “This is the most comfortable school drama I’ve ever watched from the picture, tone, lens transitions, and close-ups of the faces. I can’t fault it!”

It wasn’t that he had no filters for his work. It was that the final version made by Pei Shaoze was really great.

Cheng Xia stood up and stared at Pei Shaoze with bright eyes. “Brother Pei, you’re really amazing. I can’t tell that you have never produced a TV series before! The standards of this drama can kill many large star dramas in seconds, let alone online dramas!”

Pei Shaoze saw the other person’s admiration and couldn’t help smiling. He reached out to touch Cheng Xia’s head and said, “If I want to do it then it will naturally be high quality. Since you think it’s good, I will follow this style and ask them to seize the time to edit it and submit it for review. I will strive to release it in summer.”

Cheng Xia was particularly looking forward to it. He didn’t know how netizens would evaluate his work. He smiled as he handed the tin box he brought over to Pei Shaoze. “Brother Pei, you’ve worked hard. Let’s eat something first.”

Pei Shaoze casually grabbed a red bean-filled pastry and put it in his mouth. It was indeed a familiar taste. Cheng Xia’s pastry-making skills were truly outstanding. His mouth was full of a sweet but not greasy taste. Once Pei Shaoze ate one piece, his stomach felt more comfortable. He picked up another one, unwrapped it, and extended it toward Cheng Xia. “You eat one as well.”

Cheng Xia was holding the box with both hands and didn’t have any free hands. Pei Shaoze simply held the pastry to the young man’s mouth. “Open your mouth.”

Was this intending to feed him? Cheng Xia’s cheeks turned red as he opened his mouth obediently. Pei Shaoze gently placed the pastry in his mouth. Cheng Xia wanted to bite the pastry but his teeth accidentally bit Pei Shaoze’s finger. He blushed and hurriedly shrank back.

The numbness from his bitten finger spread through his body like an electric current. Pei Shaoze’s heart swayed slightly…

The young man’s cheeks were bulging as he ate and his lips were rosy. He looked especially cute.

Pei Shaoze stared intently at Cheng Xia. Cheng Xia’s cheeks became even redder and he accelerated his eating speed. The pastry was originally small and he swallowed it in less than half a minute. After finishing it, Cheng Xia instinctively licked the pieces of pastry around his mouth. Just as he was about to speak, Pei Shaoze’s eyes darkened. He pulled Cheng Xia into his arms and kissed this person fiercely.

“Um…”

Cheng Xia was caught off guard by the kiss. Pei Shaoze’s kiss was fierce and he even had the illusion that Pei Shaoze treated him like a pastry to be devoured…

Cheng Xia’s entire body softened and he tightly grasped Pei Shaoze’s arm to support himself. The feeling of being treated as food made him numb and his heart rate became uncontrollable. His vision was blurred and his lips were red and swollen due to Pei Shaoze’s kiss.

It wasn’t known how much time passed but Pei Shaoze thought about how there would be dinner soon and let go. Seeing Cheng Xia’s moist eyes, Pei Shaoze placed his hands on Cheng Xia’s face and rubbed the hot cheeks with his thumb as he whispered, “You’re much better than the snacks.”

Cheng Xia, “……”

What type of strange line was this? In addition, President Pei said it in such a serious tone.

Cheng Xia flushed with shyness. He was originally worried that President Pei would be hungry and wanted to give President Pei some pastries to eat. As a result, it turned into President Pei holding him for a long time and kissing him? It felt like he took the initiative to send himself to the door, inviting the alpha to taste him.

Cheng Xia’s hand holding the box trembled slightly and it almost fell down. Pei Shaoze had sharp eyes and took the box with one hand. He put it aside and explained in a low voice, “I mean, the sweet orange smell from your body is very good.”

Orange was the smell of Cheng Xia’s pheromones. He personally thought that this smell was like sweet oranges and wasn’t as distinctive as the fresh and elegant omega pheromones. As a result, Pei Shaoze actually said that his pheromones smelled good?

Cheng Xia stared up at him. “Do you really think it smells good?”

Pei Shaoze’s eyes were gentle. “Of course. It’s sweet but not greasy, like iced orange juice in summer.” During the period when they hadn’t confirmed their relationship, Pei Shaoze often dreamed that he was surrounded by a lot of sweet oranges. He ate a lot of oranges in his dream. Later, he thought carefully and realized that it should be because Cheng Xia’s pheromones had left too deep an impression on him.

The pastry that Cheng Xia ate just now happened to be orange flavored. Therefore, when kissing Cheng Xia, his mouth was full of the sweet orange flavor. It was very close to Cheng Xia’s own pheromones and Pei Shaoze liked it very much. If it wasn’t for the dinner with the entire crew tonight, Pei Shaoze really wanted to hold onto Cheng Xia and kiss him for another 30 minutes.

Cheng Xia’s lips were obviously red and swollen from the kiss. Pei Shaoze reached out and gently wiped the lips. “Sorry, I lost control just now… your mouth is swollen. Can I help you apply something on it?”

Cheng Xia nodded awkwardly. Pei Shaoze found a pack of wet wipes and gently wiped Cheng Xia’s hot mouth.

The temperature in the room was rising. Cheng Xia had his lips repeatedly wiped by the alpha and was a bit dazed. He suddenly found that President Pei was really good at teasing after falling in love. Cheng Xia was teased until his legs were soft!

Yet the alpha still had an upright manner like he was doing this just to help Cheng Xia’s swollen mouth?

By the time Cheng Xia recovered, Pei Shaoze had already withdrawn his hand and told him in a low voice, “Much better. The others shouldn’t be able to see it.”

Cheng Xia whispered, “Next time, don’t kiss for so long.”

“…Okay, I will pay attention.”

The two people looked at each other before simultaneously shifting their gazes away out of embarrassment.

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Proofreader: Cat