At that moment, under Fu Jinxiao's watchful eye, the costume designer felt as if he had grasped something.

She had never had such an awareness in her life. At the critical moment of life and death, she changed her mind: "Actually, I don't think we are a good match. Look at the photos. It's obviously a publicity stunt. There is no sense of being a couple at all."

Fu Jinxiao sneered: "Are you saying Shen Xingsui isn't photogenic?"

!!

The costume designer felt a chill run down her spine and shook her head in a panic: "Of course not, Sui Sui looks great!"

Fu Jinxiao looked at him with a smile, which made the costume designer feel a chill in his heart. He even wondered if he should find a hole to bury himself in today.

At this moment, Feifei behind him spoke up: "Brother Fu, Sister Meican is on the phone."

Fu Jinxiao withdrew his gaze, raised his head, and held out his hand: "Give it to me."

After Fu, the movie star, went out to answer the phone, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, all keenly aware of the unusual situation.

Everyone looked at Feifei.

Feifei winked at her friends and smiled, saying, "It's something that can only be understood, not explained."

...

On the other side, Wang Meican probably told Fu Jinxiao about Zhang San San.

This month, Zhang Sansan wrote them a lot of emails, each one expressing his sincere desire to meet Fu Jinxiao. Judging from this, if Fu Jinxiao herself weren't in the country, she probably would have come to them directly.

After listening, Fu Jinxiao raised an eyebrow: "Xu Yan, now an adult?"

“Well, they said they hope you can take a look at the script and consider the role of Xu Yan.” Wang Meican smiled helplessly and said, “Actually, I’ve read the script, and it’s not bad, but this production team is very poor. Sui Sui basically joined the team with his own investment. After all, he’s a newcomer and doesn’t have much experience, so I agreed to him investing in his first film. But if it were you…”

As everyone knows, Fu Jinxiao is a movie star.

To put this into perspective, not to mention the well-known and household-name films he has made, he has already won a grand slam of awards.

He has access to all the resources in the film and television industry. Not to mention small productions, even big-budget films would have to see if he's interested in taking the role.

"Does Sui Sui know about this..." Fu Jinxiao paused, "?

Wang Meican smiled and said, "He knows."

"He didn't mention that child to you, did he?" Wang Meican figured it out in a moment: "He didn't want you to lower your status because of him."

Fu Jinxiao curled his lips, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes. His lover was very sensible and considerate, even thinking of him after everything. When other couples were dating, their girlfriends would often act coquettishly and playfully, but Sui Sui was always thinking of him.

Fu Jinxiao leaned against the railing outside. It was nighttime, and the outside world was brightly lit, bustling and prosperous. But through the noisy night, he thought of another gentle and jade-like face.

“I’ve read the script for this drama. When I learned he was going to film it, I took a copy and went through it to check it out for him.” Fu Jinxiao lit a cigarette and let the smoke dissipate into the air, as if it had blown away some of his longing. His voice was low and deep: “It’s a good script, but I won’t take it.”

Wang Meican seemed somewhat surprised: "Is it because the production team is small?"

Fu Jinxiao curled her lips into a smile: "No."

Ashes drifted down as the man leaned against the railing, gazing at the stars in the night sky. He said slowly, "If nothing unexpected happens, this show will at least be a minor hit. If I were here, I would suppress its popularity."

Once you put it that way, Wang Meican understood.

There's an unwritten rule in the entertainment industry: when someone's acting is too good, and they're acting opposite a weaker actor, the audience's attention and vision will be unconsciously drawn to the better actor, and they won't even see the other actor. This is commonly known as "overshadowing the other actor."

In other words, everyone would normally notice this flower and watch it grow and bloom, but suddenly another more beautiful and delicate flower blooms next to it, and the flower's limelight is easily overshadowed.

Wang Meican sighed softly: "In the blink of an eye, you also have someone who is always thinking of you and taking care of you."

“In this industry, I can’t keep an eye on him all the time. He needs to grow up independently.” Fu Jinxiao held a cigarette between his fingers, his handsome profile smiling, his voice slightly detached: “From now on, when I’m not around, I’ll entrust him to you.”

"..."

? !

…

next day

The filming of "The Lonely City" has officially begun.

With investors in hand, the film, which had been in preparation for a long time, was quickly put on the agenda. Shen Xingsui and other actors had their schedules arranged well without any conflicts, so they were able to participate in filming soon.

They were filming at a film studio, where people were coming and going. He was changing clothes and getting his makeup done in the dressing room. He used to see other people in period dramas looking ethereal and otherworldly, but when it was his turn, he was wearing coarse cloth clothes, and even his makeup had to be made to look dirty.

Zhang San San came in and said, "Sui Sui, filming is about to start. Let me explain the scene to you."

Shen Xingsui quickly replied, "Okay."

Filming has been underway for almost a week, and he has gradually adapted to life on set. He gets up before dawn every day to do his makeup and doesn't finish work until late at night. Although life is busy, it is very fulfilling.

Zhang Sansan said, "This scene is about you being harassed by a group of people at school, and then Xu Yan saves you."

Shen Xingsui had read the script before: "I know."

"They're hitting you because they falsely accused you of stealing." Zhang Sansan looked at Shen Xingsui with some concern and said, "We'll try to get it right in one take. Don't worry, we'll find the right angle to film it, and we won't hit you too hard."

Shen Xingsui had already prepared himself mentally, and he reassured the director, "Okay, it's okay, director. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Zhang San was finally relieved.

Shen Xingsui has no inhibitions when filming and is not afraid of hardship, which is really great for him.

After the set was tidied up, it was time to go in. Shen Xingsui went out and greeted the actor playing Xu Yan before preparing to film today's scene. The action director kept telling him about the camera angles: "When the scene starts, you just lie here. If he kicks you, you cover your head and try not to show your face..."

Shen Xingsui carefully memorized every camera position.

His assistant, Can Can, came over and said, "Sui Sui, you're not really going to hit me, are you?"

"I don't know." Shen Xingsui took a sip of water and smiled, "But I'll definitely look a bit disheveled. But it's okay, you've been with me these past few days, and you've seen how disheveled I look."

Can Can encouraged him: "Keep it up, Sui Sui! You're the best!"

They were preparing to film on one side, while on the other side, the staff at the entrance noticed a car approaching. The person who got out of the car met his gaze, and the staff member was completely stunned, because it was none other than Fu Jinxiao, the man dressed in ordinary casual clothes who looked very friendly and approachable, yet was definitely not someone to be overlooked!

Why would a big star like him come to work on such a small-budget film?

The staff were completely stunned.

Fu Jinxiao was still on the phone with Wang Meican: "Okay, I'll come over and take a look."

"Don't worry, I won't use any special privileges. There are rules for filming. Kids need to be toughened up, and they shouldn't be spared any hardship." Fu Jinxiao said slowly, "I just came to take a look."

Wang Meican then hung up the phone with relief.

He was afraid that Fu Jinxiao would spoil Shen Xingsui, giving her special privileges on her first time on set, and that she would become spoiled in the future.

But thinking about it, I feel relieved. Fu Jinxiao is decisive in important matters and knows what he's doing. He probably won't lower his standards just because he feels sorry for the child.

The film crew is currently shooting a scene.

Someone came in from outside. Zhang San San was still talking while holding the script when she inadvertently saw someone standing not far away. She turned around first, then turned around again in shock. When she confirmed that it was indeed Fu Jin Xiao, her jaw almost dropped to the ground: "You... Fu, Teacher Fu?"

Fu Jinxiao covered her lips with her index finger, making a gesture to keep quiet.

The scene before that is already being filmed; this is an action scene.

Fang Zhiwen was falsely accused of theft by a group of people. The group of people who bullied him in the academy shoved the somewhat weak child, their faces full of malicious smiles, and they were not spared in their words: "If you didn't steal it, who would it be? Why would we frame a poor, down-and-out kid like you?"

"Still not admitting it?"

"The items were all found in your pockets."

Fang Zhiwen stumbled from the shove, clutching his clothes tightly. He was clearly terrified, but his eyes were still red and he said stubbornly, trembling, "I didn't steal it. I didn't take it."

"You're still trying to argue?" The tall leader shoved him to the ground. "I'll teach you to argue."

The others swarmed around him, and the wealthy young men, who were high and mighty, kicked him around like a ball, making fun of him. The group laughed happily, while the man on the ground kept his head down.

Xu Yan ran over from the opposite side, his face filled with anger: "What are you doing!"

Zhang San quickly said, "Cut!"

He came out of the shed, somewhat helplessly taking the young Xu Yan's hand and saying, "You shouldn't just have anger on your face right now. You also need to show a little bit of reluctance and pity, because at this moment, you've just learned about Fang Zhiwen's background, so..."

The director had to give acting instructions to actors who had little experience.

This scene had to be reshot, and to better build up the atmosphere, the fight scene also had to continue.

Therefore, Shen Xingsui had to be beaten again. In order to make the filming more realistic, when the camera started shooting again, a storm of kicks came. The whole shot of the young Xu Yong was filmed three or four times, but it still didn't feel right. He even misspoke his lines once because of nervousness.

During the intermission, the extras all gathered around:

"How is Teacher Shen?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, did I kick a little too hard just now?"

Shen Xingsui was clearly in real pain. When she stood up, even though she tried her best to control her facial expression, she couldn't help but wince in pain. However, in order not to make others feel guilty, she dared not do anything, so she could only shake her head gently and smile to comfort the others.

The assistant, Can Can, felt the most sorry for him. As she helped him up, she whispered, "His hand is all bruised. I saw him get kicked in the stomach just now..."

The air pressure in the director's studio was also very low.

Although it's not the director's fault that the actor made a mistake, the constant back-and-forth and repetition made Fu Jinxiao's mood drop a degree each time.

Zhang San San felt a cold sweat about to break out: "Um... Teacher Fu, I'm sorry, these actors are all young and inexperienced, so some scenes needed to be filmed many times. This is actually much better than before, there will be more action scenes in the adult version when they join the army..."

That's all the truth.

Because actors often lack experience, they sometimes suffer a lot during action scenes and wire work.

It's especially agonizing when the other actor isn't up to par.

Having not seen each other for a while, Fu Jinxiao could clearly feel that Shen Xingsui had lost a lot of weight. There weren't many action scenes during his teenage years, and even if the young Xu Yan lacked experience, it would be understandable, but the adult version would have to endure much more hardship.

Fu Jinxiao had seen actors suffer before, but he was always hard-hearted and never felt any emotional fluctuation. However, this time, as he sat here watching Shen Xingsui curled up in a ball being bullied, it was as if he saw his precious pearl being carelessly buried in the mud by inexperienced people.

After yet another NG (no good), Fu Jinxiao finally couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Zhang Sansan said nervously, "Teacher Fu, I'm so sorry, but this shot is quite important, so we still have to..."

"You..." Fu Jinxiao glanced at him, her gaze scrutinizing him and exerting an invisible pressure. She said slowly, "I heard from my agent that you've been contacting me?"

Zhang San San never expected that Actor Fu would personally come to the film set because of him. He was so moved that he almost cried. Everyone in the industry knew that the Actor was dedicated and kind, but he never expected him to be such a down-to-earth and good person: "Yes, yes, Mr. Fu, I would like to ask you to take a look at my script..."

Although I know the chances are slim.

As he had expected, Fu Jinxiao hadn't originally planned to accept the role, and even stated on the phone with his agent that he would absolutely not spoil the child. However, at this moment, Fu Jinxiao glanced at the filming location not far away, and after seeing the pitiful Shen Xingsui, he still turned to the director and said, "Send me a copy of your script, and I'll consider it."