Chapter 104: The Three Treasures Gather for the First Time
After more than a month of turmoil, it is already early December in the blink of an eye. 2005 is about to pass and the end of the year is quietly approaching.
Snowflakes have begun to fall in some northern cities. The snow-covered world seems to be covered with a dreamy veil, making people marvel at the wonders of nature.
In 2005, the Internet was not as developed as it is in the future. Once something spread on the Internet, its popularity would drop quickly.
In addition, Song Ci refused to be interviewed by any traditional news media. After more than a month, the attention attracted by "Hurun Rich List" finally declined.
Only Peking University students who occasionally encounter Song poetry on campus can't help but utter a few words of exclamation.
Song Ci has been living a secluded life these days. Except for occasionally going to the company to handle work, he spends most of his time staying in school honestly. He has become more and more low-key and has been cautious in dealing with the temptations of various forces.
After receiving a notice from Tangren Film and Television, Liu Shishi reluctantly bid farewell to her lover and went to Hengdian with her assistant Jiang Yuanyuan to prepare to star in the first costume drama "Young Generals of the Yang Family" arranged for her by Cai Yinong.
The small white building of Tangren Company in Hengdian Film and Television City is mainly used for offices on the first floor, while the second floor is a resting place for Tangren Film and Television's own artists and actors.
As the top lady in the company, Liu Shishi has an exclusive dormitory here. She is now cleaning the house with her assistant. After all, they will be living here for four months. It can be regarded as their second home, so it has to be decorated to be warm and comfortable.
There was a knock on the door. Liu Shishi, who was packing luggage and hanging clothes, quickly dropped the clothes hanger in her hand and ran to open the door.
"Lao Hu, Lao Yuan, it's you. Long time no see! Please come in and have a seat."
There was a hint of joy in her voice. Liu Shishi was always generous and magnanimous in front of her acquaintances. Seeing that it was the two senior brothers who came to visit, she smiled and invited them into the room in a carefree manner.
Hu Ge was wearing a long grey windbreaker and had a handsome haircut. When he saw the lively little junior sister, he put on a smile and looked around the room.
"Old Yuan and I heard that you came to Xiaobailou, so we came to see you. I saw you cleaning. Do you need our help?"
Liu Shishi waved her hands quickly. How could she dare to ask a big star to help clean the house? "No, I'm almost done. Yuanyuan, help me pour a glass of water for the brothers."
Yuan Hong was wearing a black jacket, looking capable and energetic, but not as popular as Hu Ge recently. In terms of temperament, she was slightly overshadowed by the number one star of Tangren next to her.
Seeing the young assistant busying around behind Liu Shishi, I was a little surprised. I didn't expect that the young sister who had always been left alone was actually valued by the boss.
A nobody in the company who has not filmed any drama is actually given an assistant. Currently, only Hu Ge has such treatment in Tangren Company.
Seeing that the newcomer Liu Shishi was more valued by the boss than herself, Yuan Hong became more and more upset. Cai Yinong only had Hu Ge in his eyes, and he never had the chance to get the company's best resources.
The upcoming "Young Generals of the Yang Family" is even more excessive. The good brother Hu Ge is the male lead, but the role assigned to himself is actually a second-rate villain supporting role.
The amount of screen time they get is not even as much as that of the foreign actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They are both artists of the company, but they are so partial to one and clearly bullying the honest people.
Although she felt a little jealous, Yuan Hong did not show it on her face. After sitting down on the sofa with Hu Ge, she took the tea offered by Jiang Yuanyuan.
He joked, "Shishi, you seem to be in a good mood, your face is rosy and you can't hide the joy between your brows. If you have any good news, tell me and Lao Hu about it."
Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi held her face with both hands and asked the assistant coquettishly, "Is it so obvious that I'm happy?"
Jiang Yuanyuan stared at Liu Shishi and nodded vigorously. The young lady had been giggling from time to time since she got on the plane. Everyone could see the joy on her face. No one knew what had happened to make her so happy.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, Liu Shishi hid her worries and said perfunctorily, "Aren't you happy that you've been at home for half a year and finally got to act in a company play?"
Of course she couldn't tell the truth, but she was happy because her boyfriend promised her before he left that he would visit the crew on New Year's Day, so she could celebrate his birthday in Hengdian.
Hu Ge and Yuan Hong would not believe Liu Shishi's lies. If she were playing the leading role in a movie, she might even be smiling foolishly the whole time.
The female characters in "Young Generals of the Yang Family" don't have many roles, and there's nothing worth being overly happy about. However, after all, they are girls' concerns, so it's not easy for two grown men to ask about them.
Seeing that the few people had expressions of complete disbelief, Liu Shishi quickly changed the subject. She would not tell anyone at Tangren Company about her and Song Ci.
"Old Hu, you look very tired. There are faint dark circles under your eyes."
Hu Ge wiped his eyes and explained, "I was too tired from filming recently and didn't get enough rest. Don't worry, I will be back to normal in a few days."
He has been rushing to shoot "So Young" produced by Tengda for the past two months and a half. As soon as the filming was finished, he returned to Tangren without stopping to prepare for martial arts training and shoot "Young Warriors of the Yang Family". The continuous high-intensity work made him look a little listless.
"Shishi, what are you busy with recently? I heard from Sister K that your movie has been completed a long time ago."
Hu Ge was usually busy filming and had no time to pay attention to the news in the circle. It was only after he participated in Tengda Culture's "So Young" that he learned from Cai Yinong that the little girl had many connections and had already stepped onto the big screen before them and played the leading role in a movie.
It was for both public and private reasons, so as soon as Hu Ge heard that Liu Shishi came to Xiaobailou, he came to visit her. In order to prevent gossip, he also brought Yuan Hong along.
Yuan Hong was secretly surprised when she heard this. If Hu Ge hadn't told her, she wouldn't have known that Liu Shishi had actually acted in a movie. She secretly thought that she should get closer to her junior sister in the future!
Liu Shishi stuck out her tongue and said, "When I'm not filming, I just stay at home and read books, play games, and play World of Warcraft."
Hu Ge and Yuan Hong couldn't help but look at each other and smiled knowingly. They would go to the Internet cafe together to play World of Warcraft when they had free time. They didn't expect that Liu Shishi also played online games. It was true that birds of a feather flock together.
They all said in unison, "Horde or Alliance?"
Liu Shishi was overjoyed and asked in surprise, "You guys also play World of Warcraft."
Song Ci never plays games, and none of his peers around him plays World of Warcraft either. Sometimes Liu Shishi finds it boring to play games alone, but she didn't expect to get an unexpected surprise today. Her two senior brothers were actually playing World of Warcraft, so she would never lack people to form a team in the future.
At this time, Liu Shishi had already decided to install a computer in the company's small white building dormitory. In her mind, a scene of taking Hu Ge and Yuan Hong, the two young masters of the game, to kill everyone in sight had already appeared.
While Liu Shishi was daydreaming, Cai Yinong happened to come over to see her. Seeing that the three artists from the company were all in the room and getting along well, he nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Oh, they are all here, having a meeting!"
"Ms. K!" "Hello, Mr. Cai."
Several people quickly stood up from the sofa and greeted the boss.
Jiang Yuanyuan was smart and knew that the sofa was a bit crowded, so she was quick-witted and moved a chair over for Cai Yinong to sit down.
Cai Yinong waved his hand and said to his three treasures in a friendly manner: "Everyone sit down, I just came to see Shishi. I was talking about something happy just now, and Shishi was laughing foolishly."
Liu Shishi was too embarrassed to tell her boss that she was ready to ask Tangren No. 1 to play online games, so she laughed and said, "Nothing, just chatting."
Cai Yinong asked a few questions about Liu Shishi's food, clothing, housing and transportation in the company, and while the three of them were there, he started talking about business.
"The other leading actors will arrive tomorrow. You can take a day off tomorrow and start martial arts training the day after tomorrow to practice basic gun skills."
Although Tangren Film and Television has always been following the route of costume idol dramas and does not require high acting skills from the actors, there are still basic requirements for cool-looking action scenes. The Yang Family Generals naturally use guns, which requires several leading actors to study hard and practice diligently so that they can use guns fluently in front of the camera.
Martial arts training is naturally hard work. Seeing Liu Shishi glancing back and forth at Hu Ge and Yuan Hong with a gloating look, Cai Yinong added unhappily: "Shishi, you have to participate in the training too."
"Oh, Sister K, the role of Princess Chai that I played doesn't have any fighting scenes." Liu Shishi still wanted to be lazy and find some time to set up the computer.
There was a slight deviation in the actors of "Young Generals of the Yang Family" because they signed the contract with Tangren Film and Television in advance, and Liu Shishi got the role of Princess Chai, which had more screen time.
Lin Jiayu plays the role of Luo's daughter. Although Tangren has always liked to use artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, Cai Yinong naturally has to give priority to his own number one sister.
Afraid that the girl would not take it seriously, Cai Yinong reminded her earnestly: "You have no experience in martial arts scenes, so it's a good opportunity for you to train with Hu Ge and the others to improve your basics. We at Tangren have a lot of ancient costume martial arts scenes, so you must train well."
Liu Shishi knew that she could not escape the fate of the first day, so she hung her head and muttered reluctantly: "Okay Sister K, I will train hard."
The next morning, before the first ray of sunlight had completely dispelled the chill of the night, Liu Shishi was pulled out of bed by her assistant.
This was Jiang Yuanyuan's first visit to Hengdian. Yesterday she was busy tidying up the dormitory for her mistress. Today, when she had some free time, she excitedly begged Miss Liu to accompany her for a stroll in Hengdian.
Liu Shishi had just visited Hengdian with Song Ci during the National Day holiday last year. She didn't want to go out at first, but she chatted with her boyfriend until late last night and planned to get enough sleep before training tomorrow.
But unable to resist Jiang Yuanyuan's repeated requests, she had to reluctantly leave her warm and comfortable bed and accompany her best friend to stroll around Hengdian, a land full of dreams.
The two left the small white building and ate breakfast while walking side by side on the busy streets in the morning.
Liu Shishi sipped a cup of soy milk and introduced some basic information about Hengdian to Jiang Yuanyuan.
"This is mainly a few filming bases. It is both a tourist attraction and a filming location for many crews. You don't have to accompany me when I have martial arts training tomorrow. You can go and take a look around."
Liu Shishi estimated that the assistant had nothing to do during training and could only wait on the side. She was not that delicate and needed others to serve her all the time, so she planned to give the assistant a few days off and let her have a good time and relax in Hengdian.
Jiang Yuanyuan wolfed down the pancake in her hand and said hesitantly, "Aren't you going, Master?"
Liu Shishi shook her head slightly. "I have training tomorrow and the crew will start filming next week. I don't have time! Besides, I just came here last year and there wasn't much to do."
"Ah, then I'll wait until you have a day off. I have to accompany you when you are training or filming to prevent any emergencies."
Jiang Yuanyuan suddenly lost interest in traveling. Now she is an employee of Tangren Company. "Young Generals of the Yang Family" is a Tangren-produced drama, and Cai Yinong, as the producer, is available to the crew at any time.
She felt that she should behave herself under her boss's watchful eyes. It would be bad if she got into trouble because of leaving her job, and it would be embarrassing even if Shishi was biased towards her.
Suddenly, she saw a group of people wearing military uniforms and holding prop guns rushing past her. Jiang Yuanyuan was curious: "Are they the extras?"
Liu Shishi nodded and looked around. Compared to last year's National Day holiday when she came to Hengdian, there were fewer tourists on the streets in winter.
Only the extras who are persistent in their dreams day after day are running around in a hurry and rushing to various major crews.
Some extras who haven't received any work yet, in order to earn a day's salary, gathered at the entrance of the filming base early in the cold wind, ready to respond to the crew's recruiting at any time and waiting for unknown roles and challenges.
“I wonder if they have a hard time on the set like Yin Tianchou in the movie The King of Comedy, who can’t even afford a box lunch?”
Jiang Yuanyuan was the only child in Beijing and was not very worldly-wise, so her words were still somewhat naive.
"The real low-level extras are even more exaggerated than those in the movies. I heard from Sister K that some of them can't even afford to eat, and they also get skin diseases due to poor hygiene of their costumes. It's miserable."
After all, Liu Shishi had filmed two or three dramas and had traveled far and wide, so her experience was broader than that of the young assistant. With Cai Yinong's careful guidance, she knew a little about the living conditions of extras.
Jiang Yuanyuan exclaimed in disbelief. She had just been to a "Nightclub" crew and still found it hard to believe what Liu Shishi said about the miserable lives of extras.
However, looking at those people with weather-beaten faces and numb expressions from afar, she seemed to have some understanding. After gradually coming into contact with the most real side of the film and television industry, her yearning for the glamorous entertainment industry is fading little by little.
Thinking about the extras who wrote their extraordinary chapters with their sweat and persistence, Liu Shishi lost interest for a moment.
Recalling yesterday, I was actually a bit lazy and wanted to avoid training. Compared with these extras who were working hard for their lives and dreams, I really don't know how to appreciate what I have.
“Yuanyuan, there’s not much to see in Hengdian. If you don’t go to the filming area, it’s just a few streets and buildings, which are similar to other cities.
Let's buy some things and go back. I heard from Lao Hu that a big shot will report to the company this morning. We will go to the Tangren Pavilion to meet the big star later."
After throwing the soy milk cup in her hand into the roadside trash can, without waiting for Jiang Yuanyuan's reaction, Liu Shishi grabbed her arm and ran straight to the supermarket to buy some snacks.
Tomorrow's training will definitely be very tiring, so Liu Shishi wants to eat more snacks during this period to replenish her nutrition.
Jiang Yuanyuan stumbled and nearly fell because of the young lady's hurried pace. She shouted, "Shishi, walk slower. Don't pull me. I just had a full breakfast and can't run."
(End of this chapter)
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