I Became Famous After I Became a Parrot in the Movie Star's House - Chapter 53

“Not fat!” After holding it in for a long time, Bai Gaoxing retorts. 

Then, he sees a slight smile on the man’s face, and his cold eyebrows and eyes melt like melting water, making his heart pound a little.

No wonder he is worthy of being an idol and a powerful actor!

Bai Gaoxing sighs, not forgetting to seize the opportunity to jump out. He tries to rush up, and his claws keep scratching the bottom of the box, making a rattling sound.

The next second, the door of the airline box unlatches, and the box is turned in a different direction.

“Director Sun,” Li Pu introduces to others, “This is Dabai.”

In his line of sight, a middle-aged man in a vest looks excited, practically overjoyed. Bai Gaoxing feels a little creeped out.

Afterward, he is taken to a cleared-out room.

“This row of cages is temporarily set up for the birds,” Director Sun gestures for them to look. “They’re very spacious. Each bird can have its own room, or they can share with others if they like.”

Bai Gaoxing looks out and sees that each room is divided into two parts: one half is indoors, and the other is an outdoor space with wire mesh.

Wasn’t this just like having a private house with a yard?

Bai Gaoxing gets a little excited. He doesn’t expect the conditions to be so good.

Director Sun continues, “When they’re not filming, the animal actors stay in here. When it’s time for a scene, the trainer takes them out.” He looks at Li Pu, “It’s up to you where Dabai lives. I’ve set aside a room for him to rest, but if you’d prefer, you can take him to the hotel at night.”

A hotel…

Bai Gaoxing thinks for a moment, his tone light, that works too~

It’s clear that the director is paying a lot of attention to his arrival because, for the next three minutes, he explains that there are bottled waters and various bird snacks and treats airlifted from a supermarket in Jiangcheng, along with cold medicine and a vet on standby. They treat him as if he were a national treasure, providing thorough protection.

Hmm, so am I the troupe’s treasure now?

Finally, Bai Gaoxing is released into his bird room. The facilities inside are also very good, with sofas, coffee tables, water dispensers, TVs, and everything he needs. Bai Gaoxing flaps his wings and jumps onto the sofa happily.

Where’s the remote?

The big white parrot isn’t afraid of strangers at all. It has a good appearance and a good personality. Director Sun is pleased to see it.

Just when he is about to turn around and compliment Li Pu, he notices a complicated and puzzled look on his face.

“…Why is there a TV here?”

Director Sun explains to Li Pu, “This, the TV is to let animal actors get familiar with electronic products, maintain sensitivity to the picture, and help develop their language skills.”

Li Pu asks, “Can you turn off the electricity?”

Director Sun: “Huh?”

Bai Gaoxing flutters back and forth on the sofa. He isn’t sure if it’s intentional, but even the sofa matches the color of Li Pu’s house, though it’s a bit hard.

After a while, Li Pu sits down beside him.

“Dabai.” He stretches out his hand.

Bai Gaoxing runs over and stuffs his plump body into his palm.

Director Sun is amazed. “It’s really well raised!”

Then Li Pu starts to play with the bird.

Li Pu had a shoot today, and his makeup is already done. His brows and eyes are slightly lifted, giving him a cold, commanding aura when he doesn’t smile, but when he does, it holds a touch of mischief. Sitting on the sofa, dressed in an elegant dark purple outfit that exudes an aristocratic presence, with a snow-white parrot in his hands, he appears like a stunning, almost painterly scene.

The director pulls out his phone and films a short clip, snapping several more pictures, then smiles when both man and bird look at him: “Behind-the-scenes footage.”

Soon after, there’s a knock on the door. Mei Youshu enters with three people. Bai Gaoxing, sharp-eyed, sees that all three of them have cards hanging on their chests with three words written on them: Trainers

“This is the crew’s trainers,” Director Sun introduces. “Xiao Yi, Xiao Er, and Xiao Lu.”

Three young men of different heights and weights walk in with smiles on their faces.

“They’re all professionals, familiar with the crew’s work and know how to manage the animal actors during filming,” Director Sun’s expression is both satisfied and proud. “When added to positioning tricks, they can create excellent effects.”

The three of them greet Li Pu one after another.

Director Sun looks at Li Pu. “Choose someone to get familiar with Dabai, and let him be responsible for Dabai’s scenes in the future.”

Li Pu looks at the three people, then finally turns his gaze to his parrot. “Dabai, you choose?”

Bai Gaoxing, who has been observing them, is stunned for a moment when he hears the words, “Me?”

A slightly mechanical voice echoes in the room, and the three trainers’ faces light up with surprise, even starting to recommend themselves.

Bai Gaoxing first looks from left to right, then from right to left, his head spinning.

He has difficulty making a choice.

Director Sun says, “Any of these three people can do it. They all have sufficient experience in the crew and have trained at least five or six bird and animal actors.”

Under the expectant eyes of everyone, Bai Gaoxing picks the first person who recommended himself: Xiao Yi.

“I’m confident I can do this job.” Xiao Yi, the tallest and thinnest one, looks quite calm but is also the youngest. After being selected, he pushes up his glasses and can’t suppress the smile creeping onto his face. “I used to be a trainer for the Eagle crew and Legend of Yan Fei crew. I have more experience in this area.”

“Okay.” Director Sun nods. “Then you can take Teacher Li and Dabai to visit, let Dabai get familiar with the place, and then talk to Teacher Li about how to shoot it.”

Xiao Yi: “No problem.”

Bai Gaoxing is ready to get into the flight case, but he sees Li Pu stand up and say, “Director Sun.”

Director Sun is stunned for a moment, then slaps his head and says, “I almost forgot.” He takes out a metal ring from one of the eight pockets of his vest. “This, I ordered it in a hurry.”

Li Pu takes it and sees six words engraved on the ring: Dabai (Li Pu’s exclusive)

Li Pu raises his eyebrows slightly.

“It has a special locator inside, unlimited tracking. Even if it runs abroad, we can track it down. I went through a lot of trouble to get this,” Director Sun says. “It’s a double layer of insurance, right?”

When Director Sun asks to borrow Dabai, one of Li Pu’s conditions is to give Dabai a tracking device.

Ah, Bai Gaoxing understands. He’s afraid of me running away. 

So Director Sun was in a rush and ordered something like this from someone he knew. He still vividly remembers the expression on that person’s face when he handed over the ring to put the tracking device in, looking confused and incredulous: “Isn’t this a bit too small? Where can it even fit?”

Such cheeky people!

Director Sun exhales. “Okay, let’s start. We have to hurry up.” He wears a hopeful expression. “Try to get familiar with it today, and start shooting tomorrow!”

At this moment, Bai Gaoxing suddenly realizes: Before the variety show, he has a temporary job!

He hadn’t expected that his owner had lined up a gig for him?

This is… exactly what he wanted!

Bai Gaoxing looks up at Li Pu, his eyes sparkling. Hurry, take me to more fun places!

Li Pu strokes the leg ring and casts his eyes on him. “Dabai, stretch out your hand.”

The man stretches out his palm to him, and Bai Gaoxing raises his paw consciously. On the original leg ring on his body, he puts on a wider one. Bai Gaoxing looks down and is surprised to find that there are words engraved on it.

Dabai… then what?

The words are upside down, and the structure is a bit complicated, so he can’t read it clearly. Just as he’s about to raise his paw above his head to take a look, Xiao Yi has already brought a special birdcage over.

“Brother Li, use this. Let’s take Dabai for a walk.”

Li Pu nods. “Give me the cage.”

The special cage for the crew has a large gap, enough for him to stick his head out and see the scenery, without blocking his sight at all.

This is the first time Bai Gaoxing has been to a filming site in his two lifetimes. He can’t help but look around, dazzled by everything.

Xiao Yi notices and says, “Brother Li, I think Dabai isn’t afraid of strangers at all. I guess he’ll soon be familiar with his filming location and plot.”

Li Pu lowers his head slightly and sees the parrot in the cage curiously sticking its head out, its eyes following the actors walking back and forth.

As if it notices his gaze, the parrot turns its head and stares at him with one eye.

Li Pu smiles and quickens his pace.

After the two people and the bird leave, the crew members gather together and sigh.

“Is this the nth parrot that Director Sun has replaced?”

“I don’t know… Will it work this time?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not necessarily. I heard that Teacher Li’s parrot is very smart.”

The crowd exchanges looks of sympathy. How should they put it? Let’s hope for the best for the parrot’s trainer.

It is indeed a rare and strange sight to see the Best Actor walking around with a bird in a cage.

Along the way, Bai Gaoxing notices that he is getting an almost 300% rate of attention—everyone who passes by has to take a look at him, and some even turn their entire body to stare after walking by.

Hey, hey—watch out for that tree! Oh no, you hit it.

Bai Gaoxing stares wide-eyed as a person collides with a tree, their head meeting the trunk with a loud thud. He can’t bear to watch anymore.

He then starts to take in the filming location.

He turns his attention to the shooting location. The crew is only in a corner of the ancient city, but the area is vast. He has already passed through two or three corridors by himself, not to mention that the actors are standing in pavilions and terraces in the distance.

The ancient palace has gray tiles and vermilion pillars, slightly mottled due to the passage of time, shrouded in dark tones. It doesn’t feel rough, but more real.

Bai Gaoxing had known before that Li Pu is filming a costume drama, but he hadn’t fully grasped the sense of reality. Now, with a handsome man beside him who seems like he has stepped out of an ancient painting, and many actors dressed as palace maids passing by, he gets the feeling of actually being in the past.

It feels like being around the birds kept by ancient royal families.

Hmm… maybe?

But what role is Li Pu playing exactly?

Bai Gaoxing glances up at the man beside him. Just when he wants to examine the jade pendant hanging from his waist, he notices that they’ve stopped in front of a palace courtyard.

Deep within the courtyard, the branches of a crabapple tree hang down from the wall, and a beautiful woman in gorgeous clothes leans against a table under the eaves. The woman doesn’t pay much attention to her image as she rests her arm on the table and lazily swings it upwards, making a noise as she hums.

She is teasing a bird.

A golden birdcage with a large, colorful parrot perched inside.

Next to her stands the parrot’s trainer, Xiao Lu.

“Sister Huang is here, so we can let Dabai get familiar with her in advance,” Xiao Yi says as he sees her and hurriedly seizes the opportunity.

Bai Gaoxing looks around and sees three large characters on the plaque at the entrance of the palace: Changning Palace.

Ah… he remembers now. In the script, this is the empress’s palace.

So, this person must be the actress playing the empress?

Bai Gaoxing tilts his head in curiosity, observing. He sees Xiao Lu approach the actress and speak to her for a few moments. Then, the actress looks up and waves at them.

The group walks over.

“Ah, is this your parrot?” Huang Shaqing smiles and greets them before turning her full attention to Bai Gaoxing. “What’s its name?”

“Mm,” Li Pu responds to her. “It’s called Dabai.”

“Dabai? Hmm… seems—more adorable than Big Head? Totally a different style,” she says with a smile.

Big Head? His head isn’t big, is it?

Bai Gaoxing tries to look at the top of his head in confusion. Could it be that the feather crown is too fluffy?

Then, he sees the woman turn back and wave, “Big Head! Don’t worry, I still love you very much.”

The colorful parrot squints and looks at her coldly.

So, the parrot’s name is Big Head.

Pfft—well, it is a big head.

Bai Gaoxing almost can’t hold back his laughter.

Huang Shaqing turns back around. “I really like white. Honestly, white suits the role of the empress more, but out of all the animal actors here, only Big Head can say the lines properly.”

As she speaks, she takes a couple of steps back, pinches a white object in her hand, and raises it, signaling to Li Pu and the trainer. “Look at my progress these past few days—Big Head, come on, say ‘Your Majesty the empress.’”

Only then does Bai Gaoxing realize that she is holding a handful of melon seeds.

The colorful parrot grabs the seed, tilts its head, and speaks in a slightly hoarse voice, “The empress said, tonight at midnight, in the lotus pond, if no one is there, then… he… caw!”

Uh uh uh, so rough? Asking for a caw?

Bai Gaoxing is shocked.

But Huang Shaqing sighs. “Ah, this line isn’t complete again.”

She puts the melon seeds on the table, pats the crumbs off her hands, then turns to look at Bai Gaoxing. “Dabai, you have to memorize this sentence by then.” She clenches her fist and makes a cheering gesture, “Work hard!”

Bai Gaoxing flaps his wings.

In fact, he has already memorized it a long time ago.

In that long night, the time spent accompanying his son to study is vivid in his mind, just like the entrance examination.

Thinking of this, Bai Gaoxing looks up at Li Pu and happens to meet his eyes.

From the man’s gaze, he seems to see the confidence in him.

Hmm, maybe he should ask for some reward later?

Just as the two trainers are discussing why Big Head always quacks, Director Sun appears at the gate of the yard.

“Teacher Huang, I was just looking for you—hey, Teacher Li, you’re here too?” The other man comes over with big strides, his face lighting up when he sees them. “That’s great!” He coughs and asks about Big Head’s progress. After learning that it is still saying “Ga,” he sighs and says seriously to both of them: “This scene can’t be delayed any longer. At most, three or four days—after that, the flowers will bloom.”

The two trainers exchange a glance. “Then… mainly teach Dabai?”

Director Sun shakes his head. “We need to focus on both Big Head and Bai Gaoxing. Big Head and Dabai, one of them must be useful.” His expression is a little uncertain. There is no way—Dabai has only just arrived. One bird… it needs to get familiar with the actors, the set, memorize the lines, understand the cues, and know when to speak. Trying to wrap all that up in just a few days? It’s tough.

Li Pu asks Huang Shaqing for some melon seeds and hands one to the white parrot in the cage.

“Like this, Teacher Huang,” Director Sun says. “I’d like you and Big Head to perform that scene with Big Head for Dabai to help it get familiar with it.”

It should’ve been over by now—just this scene left—about to vomit from it—Huang Shaqing quickly agrees. “No problem.”

Bai Gaoxing feels the scenery around him shift as the cage is placed on the table.

Then, a dark blue shadow leans in—it is Li Pu, sitting next to him.

“Then.” He glances over at Director Sun and says, “Once we finish everything today, I’ll go over the script with Dabai in the afternoon.”

Go over the script? Bai Gaoxing showed a look of doubt in his eyes. With a parrot?

Are you sure?

Author’s note: 

Bai Gaoxing: Confused little eyes 

Li Pu: You’ll get used to it.