I Became the Koi Actor After Entering the Book

Chapter 74.2 - What Were You Two Doing in There?

**What Were You Two Doing in There? Part 2**

Translator: Namizaki

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In mid-December, after completing the outdoor scenes, the production crew moved back to Film and Television City. By then, the sets within the city were fully constructed and ready for filming.

However, as <The Patriot> was a plot-driven drama focused on national rejuvenation and political reform, with only a secondary focus on romance, it was destined to be a time-consuming and demanding production. By the time filming wrapped, it would likely be May of the following year. Even so, the daily filming schedule remained intense, and the pace had actually increased now that they were no longer filming in remote locations.

It wasn’t just the idol actors, whose acting skills barely met the minimum standard, who struggled to keep up. Even seasoned veterans like Chi Zhongqiao found the grueling schedule challenging. Chi Zhongqiao, as the lead actor, had the heaviest workload and faced the strictest scrutiny from director Yu Shuo. Sometimes, Yu Shuo would demand multiple retakes for minor issues, and combined with problems caused by his co-stars, Chi Zhongqiao ended up with the highest number of retakes in the entire production.

This was a relatively novel experience for Chi Zhongqiao. Before coming to this world, he had never achieved mainstream success and had rarely been given leading roles. He had mostly played supporting characters of various types. The role of He Yu was by far the most significant and complex character he had ever portrayed.

This role had been given to him by Lu Yuzhou.

After finishing the outdoor scenes, Chi Zhongqiao, at Du Yusheng’s urging, found time to listen to both dubbed versions of <Campus Prince and Campus Belle>. He even dragged Lu Yuzhou along. The Japanese version was relatively normal, but the Korean version had him laughing from beginning to end.

Lu Yuzhou, already struggling to watch the film due to the jarring dubbing, now had a living, breathing distraction beside him. He didn’t hear a single word of the film, too preoccupied with Chi Zhongqiao’s breathless laughter.

Chi Zhongqiao took a deep breath and sipped water from the cup in Lu Yuzhou’s hand, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Now it’s a complete comedy.”

Lu Yuzhou patted his back gently, a hint of helplessness in his expression.

This period must have been particularly grueling for Lu Yuzhou. He couldn’t recall Chi Zhongqiao ever being this busy. Sometimes, after a long day of filming, Chi Zhongqiao would fall asleep in Lu Yuzhou’s car mid-conversation.

This relentless schedule continued until December 30th, when the Japanese version of <Campus Prince and Campus Belle> premiered.

On the premiere day, Chi Zhongqiao was still filming all day, completely unable to break away.

<Campus Prince and Campus Belle> had made a fortune domestically, so the producers weren’t stingy with promotional expenses. The film’s distributor in Japan also had great confidence in its success and fully cooperated with the marketing efforts. By the time the film officially premiered, a large portion of the public was already eagerly anticipating it.

Some theaters even cleverly displayed large promotional posters. In one, Chi Zhongqiao, dressed in a school uniform, leaned against a bright window, holding a book in his hand. His lashes drooped low, making him appear to be asleep, his face radiating an almost scholarly elegance.

Japan had always been fond of the “beautiful boy” archetype, and Chi Zhongqiao’s portrayal in <Campus Prince and Campus Belle> perfectly embodied this ideal. His beauty was pure and radiant, as clear and bright as the sunlit classroom he stood in.

Who wouldn’t be captivated by such a beautiful boy?

Many Japanese girls gathered in front of the posters, whispering in awe, “He’s just too gorgeous.”

“His eyelashes are so long! I’m really curious to see what he looks like with his eyes open.”

“Ah! This is a movie that’s currently showing! Should we go see it?”

“Let’s go! We can just go to admire the handsome boy. He’s so good-looking.”

Some couldn’t resist the allure of the handsome boy and went inside to buy tickets.

Li Su was among them.

Li Su had come to Japan as an international student. Since she had few relatives back in China, she rarely returned home during vacations.

But ever since she left China for Japan, her longing for her homeland had grown stronger. Sometimes, when she suddenly heard a sound similar to Mandarin, she would freeze in place for a few seconds, frantically searching for the source of the sound.

Because of this, Li Su was particularly interested in anything related to her homeland that was being “exported” abroad. She had been following the promotion of <Campus Prince and Campus Belle> in Japan since its early stages. Despite her busy work and studies, she squeezed out time to invite her classmates to see the movie with her.

Li Su’s classmates were also deeply curious about Chinese culture. Through Li Su, they had learned a great deal about China and were fascinated by the country’s rapid development. They readily accepted her invitation to watch the movie together.

“It’s a campus-themed movie,” Li Su explained on the subway. “The male lead is really handsome, and the female lead is gorgeous too.”

The curly-haired classmate exclaimed excitedly, “Will there be sweet romance?”

Li Su had been too busy to research the film thoroughly. Though she’d looked up some information beforehand, she still only had a vague understanding of the plot. “Probably,” she replied. “It’s a campus movie, after all.”

Despite her words, she was familiar with the tropes of domestic campus dramas and films.

Li Su sighed inwardly. Still, if the film had secured international distribution rights, it couldn’t be “that” bad, right? To avoid disappointment, she mentally lowered her expectations during the subway ride.

Meanwhile, her classmates huddled together, chattering excitedly:

“The male lead is seriously good-looking!”

“I heard he plays the School Heartthrob in the movie. Our school’s Heartthrob isn’t nearly as handsome.”

“Even if the movie sucks, I’ll watch it just for him!”

“I’m worried I won’t understand it, since it’s foreign.”

Li Su and her group quickly exited the subway and arrived at the cinema. A large poster hung outside, featuring a handsome young man who immediately caught their eyes.

For the past few days, Li Su had seen this poster every time she passed the cinema. Sometimes, she would instinctively start searching for it as soon as she spotted the theater’s sign.

Some of her classmates were seeing the poster for the first time and couldn’t resist standing in front of it for a while, exclaiming, “He looks so pure!”

Li Su glanced at the time and followed the crowd inside to have her ticket checked.

Sitting in the theater, she looked around and noticed a surprisingly high attendance rate, with girls making up the majority of the audience. They had likely been drawn in by the poster outside.

As melodious music began to play through the speakers, the chatter around her gradually faded away, and the film started.

The opening scene was the very scene depicted on the poster: the School Heartthrob waking from a light sleep. As his eyelids fluttered open, his eyes seemed to shimmer with a radiant, crystalline light.

Li Su was instantly mesmerized.

A few faint screams echoed through the theater, but Li Su didn’t even hear them. Her gaze remained fixed on the screen, her mind drifting as she tried to recall the actor’s name… Chi Zhongqiao, was it?

As the audience was captivated by the film’s visual appeal, a large face slowly appeared outside the window, just centimeters away from the School Heartthrob. The figure stared at the back of the heartthrob’s perfectly shaped head for a moment before expressionlessly tapping on the glass.

The aloof School Heartthrob’s shoulders twitched, and he whipped around, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly.

The homeroom teacher slid open the window and asked, “Why aren’t you in gym class?”

The School Heartthrob, who had skipped class to nap, replied with a straight face, “I… had a sudden stomachache.”

The teacher’s gaze slowly drifted to the drink on the desk, its surface glistening with condensation. The heartthrob maintained his composure, adding, “I drank too much and caught a chill.”

Li Su burst into laughter.

This School Heartthrob doesn’t seem so aloof after all, she thought.

Gradually, Li Su’s attention shifted from the heartthrob’s excessively handsome face to the plot, which had her doubled over with laughter. Restrained by the public setting, she couldn’t laugh out loud, but her shoulders shook violently as she struggled to suppress her mirth.

In the end, Li Su had to be helped out of the theater by her classmates—her stomach ached from laughing so hard.

The comedy was simple and straightforward, relying entirely on the plot for humor. There were no cultural barriers to understanding the jokes; even foreigners could grasp the humor instantly. Japan’s dubbing was also excellent, making the film’s overall quality exceptionally high.

The final part remained deeply moving. Perhaps these students couldn’t fully grasp the significance of the “Five-Three” and “Huanggang” study guides, but the relentless pursuit of a brighter future resonated with people of all ages and nationalities.

Who could fail to understand such unwavering determination?

For the student viewers, that future was already within reach. They shared the same mix of confusion and aspiration as the characters on screen, forging an even deeper connection.

As Li Su and her friends stepped out of the theater, their expressions remained somewhat dazed.

“I loved the final line,” Blue Jacket girl said. “‘We are young, and the future is ours to seize.’ I just adore them!”

Li Su couldn’t help but smile at the praise, feigning modesty as she replied, “Yeah, the movie was really great.”

The Curly-haired classmate chimed in, “I thought it was going to be a pure romance, but it turned out to be a comedy! The School Heartthrob was so handsome! Why doesn’t our school have guys like that? What’s his name? Does he have a Tuitui account? I want to follow him!”

In truth, the film was classified as a light comedy. However, most viewers had been drawn in by the eye-catching posters outside the theater. Many had mindlessly entered, only realizing the film’s true genre after the credits rolled.

The girl in the cotton dress exclaimed, “Me too! He’s so handsome! The movie itself was amazing! I could watch it again! His acting seemed incredible too. I especially loved his eyes—it felt like everything he didn’t say was right there in his gaze.”

The curly-haired girl, who had been searching on her phone, said disappointedly, “Is his name Chi? I can’t find him on Tuitui.”

Li Su replied, “He’s on there! His name is Chi Zhongqiao. Just search for ‘Chi Zhongqiao.'” She leaned over to help her classmates find Chi Zhongqiao’s account and followed it herself.

The account was bare, with only a brief bio posted.

After browsing the account, the group realized with disappointment that it was indeed a dormant account, and it wasn’t even clear if it was an official one.

The girls gathered together and sighed regretfully.

Li Su and her classmates finished their meal and parted ways to return to their dorms. She collapsed onto her bed, the disappointment bubbling up inside her. For her Japanese classmates, this comedy film was simply an exceptionally effective comedy. But for Li Su, it was different—it had stirred up so many memories from her high school days.

The baggy school uniforms, the chubby homeroom teacher…

Suddenly, she felt overwhelmingly homesick, desperately longing to hear even a single word of Chinese.

Li Su lay face down on her bed, tears dripping steadily onto the sheets. Just as she was feeling utterly lost, a notification popped up on her phone. Startled by the sound, she wiped her tear-blurred eyes and opened the device.

It was from Chi Zhongqiao, the account she had recently followed!

A new post stood out starkly on his otherwise bare profile—a short video. Li Su paused for two seconds, then clicked on it, her lips pressed together.

The first sound that caught her ear was Chi Zhongqiao’s clear, articulate self-introduction.

“Hello everyone, I’m Chi Zhongqiao.”

Li Su’s ears perked up instantly.

His voice was slightly deep, his speech slow, and even the trailing notes of his words seemed to carry a hint of a smile. It was nothing like the clear, youthful voice she remembered from the movie.

Yet as she listened, Li Su couldn’t help but smile. This voice felt even more comforting to her.

It was only now that Li Su realized she was a voice-con!(voice enthusiast)

The video was a two-minute interview about the film <Campus Prince and Campus Belle>.

In the footage, Chi Zhongqiao stood in a light-colored outfit, holding the interviewer’s microphone. His fingers were long and slender, and the sharp line of his wrist was clearly visible.

Unlike the youthful innocence he had portrayed in the film, the Chi Zhongqiao in the interview exuded a mature, gentle aura, his features soft and refined.

Li Su’s heart skipped a beat.

Chi Zhongqiao answered a few questions, and the two-minute video ended.

Throughout the interview, Chi Zhongqiao occasionally made witty remarks that unconsciously made Li Su’s lips curl into a smile. She felt as if she had drunk a bowl of honey water, the sweetness making her feel lightheaded.

Afterward, Li Su couldn’t resist posting her thoughts on <Campus Prince and Campus Belle> before turning off her phone and going to sleep.

A few days later, Li Su was stopped by a classmate after class.

“What’s wrong?” Li Su asked, her expression puzzled.

The classmate urged, “Quick, check your Tuitui!”

Li Su numbly pulled out her phone, opened Tuitui, and found nearly a thousand private messages and tens of thousands of likes.

Li Su: “???”

What on earth was happening?!

Classmate: “Your post went viral!”

To be precise, <Campus Prince and Campus Belle> had gone viral. Japanese had always been captivated by Chi Zhongqiao’s type of looks. Many participating in the trending topic hadn’t even watched the show, yet they knew who Chi Zhongqiao was—he had been extensively praised by a rising media outlet, the article overflowing with Japan’s unique, slightly exaggerated style of flattery.

The media had dubbed him “A Once-in-a-Millennium Phenomenon: The Pure-Hearted Youth from the East.”

Zaki~ English is not my first language, but I’ll try to get the translations as close as possible to the Author’s work. If you see any grammatical errors or mistakes in the translation, please feel free to drop them in the comments section so I can correct them immediately. Thank you and Happy Reading 🙂