Chapter 356: On the verge of breaking out
Eight o'clock in the morning, in the lobby on the first floor of Hengdian VIP Hotel.
By chance, Lv Zhong and Wu Di's groups came to Hengdian on the same bus and happened to stay in the same hotel, so they agreed to travel together the next day.
After a half-day rest yesterday, everyone was in high spirits and were about to officially start their trip to Hengdian.
"Yuqing, are we going to visit Senior Sister Shi on the set of Xuan-Yuan Sword now?"
On a hot summer day, Li Lingyan was applying spray sunscreen on her arms while excitedly seeking advice from her best friend.
Liu Yuqing lowered her head and fiddled with her phone, checking the introductions to the major scenic spots in Hengdian. "No hurry, let's go sightseeing as planned, and then go find my sister when we've had enough fun. Otherwise, she's filming, and we'll just be waiting there."
"That's right!" Li Lingyan nodded gently, "We came at the right time. If we were two days later, the crew of "Xuan-Yuan Sword" would have gone to Shazhou to film, and we wouldn't have been able to see my sister!"
Lv Zhong stood aside, listening to the conversation between the two girls, and came over curiously: "Yuqing, can you take us to the crew to meet the stars?"
Liu Yuqing smiled proudly and said, "Of course, this is the highlight of Yan Zi and I coming to Hengdian!"
"That would be great!" Lv Zhong rubbed his hands excitedly, "I can go to the crew and see how those TV dramas are filmed."
"You want to go too?" Li Lingyan was a little surprised. Lu Zhong was not a fan of Liu Shishi, so why was he joining in the fun?
Lv Zhong smiled innocently: "Can't I go with you to the crew and see the world?"
Liu Yuqing readily agreed: "Okay, I'll take you with me."
About five minutes later, Wu Di, Chen Duling and the other three came downstairs to gather.
"GoGoGo, let's go." Lv Zhong waved his arms enthusiastically and volunteered to be the guide. "Friends, the first stop is the Qin Palace Scenic Area."
The distance from the hotel to the Qinwang Palace scenic area is only one kilometer, and it can be reached in a dozen minutes on foot.
The boys and girls ignored the scorching summer heat, walking and chatting, and youthful laughter filled the air.
During the summer vacation, the Qin Palace scenic area was crowded with tourists. Eight young people were laughing and taking photos and posing for group photos.
Suddenly, several people with work badges came hurriedly and shouted to the extras who were waiting for their chance outside the scenic area: "The crew of Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties is urgently recruiting extras! We need 12 female extras and 20 male extras. Anyone who wants to be in the show, come and sign up."
The originally quiet crowd suddenly became agitated, and the extras who had been waiting for their chance since early morning rushed forward upon hearing the news.
"Director, I'm signing up." "Pick me, pick me."
Liu Yuqing stared at the scene in front of him, dumbfounded: "Are they recruiting actors?"
"They should be recruiting extras, the kind who can play the passers-by and soldiers in TV dramas." Li Lingyan guessed, with an interested look in her eyes.
"Let's go and see what's going on." School Beauty Liu waved her hand excitedly and squeezed into the crowd with her companions.
In the middle of the crowd, Zhang Kai, deputy director of the crew of Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties, quickly counted the extras who signed up and raised his voice again, "The quota for male extras is full, everyone else can go home. We are still short of a few female extras, is there anyone else who wants to act?"
After waiting for a few minutes and seeing no new people coming to sign up, Zhang Kai suddenly became anxious.
Director Li Hantao was very dissatisfied with the scenes shot early in the morning. He felt that there were too few extras and that the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty was not reflected, so he sent him out to recruit people.
If the crew cannot be gathered together and the shooting progress is delayed, the director will inevitably scold you.
The stagehand who followed the assistant director was sweating profusely: "Director Zhang, although there are not as many young female extras in Hengdian as male extras, there are still quite a few of them.
But today something unexpected happened, and the crew is in a hurry to recruit people. Why don’t we wait a little longer? Once the news spreads, someone will definitely sign up.”
"This is the only way. I'll take this group of people back to the crew to change their costumes. You stay here." Zhang Kai had a helpless look on his face. His eyes casually swept across the crowd and suddenly stopped.
There are two graceful girls in front of me, one is cool and elegant; the other is smart and beautiful. Both are first-class beauties and stand out in the crowd.
He walked up quickly and invited enthusiastically: "Hello, ladies. I am the assistant director of the crew of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties". Today the crew is short of two people to play the princess's personal maids. There are many scenes and a few lines. Are you interested in trying it out?"
The surrounding extras immediately started whispering.
"A personal maid, this is Xiao Te, the daily salary is at least 150 yuan, and there is also a chance to appear on TV."
"These two girls are so beautiful, even more beautiful than most of the female stars I've seen. Could they be new stars that some agency wants to promote?"
Zhang Kai was stunned when he heard the discussion of the extras. He didn't think about it carefully until he was reminded by someone and looked at the two girls in front of him carefully.
When I took a closer look, my heart skipped a beat and I thought to myself: With this temperament and this image, could this be a female artist newly signed by some company?
Liu Yuqing shook her head: "We are here for tourism."
When Zhang Kai heard this, he was overjoyed. These two were extremely promising talents, and he instantly turned into a talent scout.
"Girls, I sincerely invite you to join the crew to experience the filming. It can be regarded as a different kind of fun when traveling to Hengdian."
Liu Yuqing was somewhat tempted. She had thought about becoming a star before, but it seemed a bit awkward for her to leave her companions behind when they were travelling together.
Zhang Kai was very smart. Seeing the little girl's hesitation and frequent glances at the people around her, he immediately understood and made a prompt decision: "Your companions can also come to the crew to be extras and experience it, and they will be paid as usual."
Several young people became interested and after an excited discussion, they agreed to Zhang Kai's request and joined the crew of "Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" as extras to experience the atmosphere of filming.
The group entered the crew, and the ordinary extras followed the stagehands to the collective makeup area to change into their costumes.
After Chen Duling and Liu Yuqing were briefly taken on a tour of the crew by Zhang Kai, they were then arranged to a special dressing room. The two had a lot of shots and had special requirements for their makeup.
The stylist looked at the two girls and his eyes lit up. He exclaimed in amazement: "With such facial features, there is no need for shadows, just makeup. Where did Director Zhang find such a good talent?"
The makeup artist was helping the two put on makeup while chatting: "You two are so good, why did you come to be extras?"
Liu Yuqing responded obediently: "We are here to travel. Director Zhang couldn't recruit female extras for a while, so we came to help out and experience filming at the same time."
The crew was full of smart people, and the makeup artist immediately understood Zhang Kai's intention. These two girls were born with excellent conditions, and if they entered the entertainment industry, they might become big stars in the future.
If you can establish a relationship in advance and be lucky enough to become an exclusive makeup artist for an artist, you will not only have a high income but also less work, so you will start chatting enthusiastically.
"In Hengdian, most of them are ordinary extras. They shoot for 8 hours a day and get paid 50 yuan. They basically play background roles, such as passers-by, soldiers, and villagers. They have no lines, and whether they can show their faces depends entirely on luck."
Chen Duling opened her eyes wide in surprise: "50 yuan a day? How can I live on such a small amount?"
Liu Yuqing also had a look of disbelief on her face. It was hard to imagine how the two young girls, who were inexperienced in the world, could survive on such a meager income.
The makeup artist sighed: "This is the current situation at the bottom of the film and television industry. Those with better images can be group specials, with a daily salary of 80 yuan. They may have a shot, but still no lines."
“80 yuan is not much!”
"The palace maids you play this time are minor roles, with a few lines. The next roles are medium roles, with more roles, such as the head of the guards, the senior palace maid, and so on.
The situation will be better if you can become a special actor, with a basic daily income of more than 500 yuan. If you have a lot of lines, you can negotiate your pay with the crew.
Da Te is basically the pinnacle of the millions of grassroots extras in Hengdian."
Liu Yuqing is innocent and romantic: "Can't I become a star?"
The makeup artist paused with the powder puff in her hand and smiled bitterly: "Ninety-nine percent of the stars in the entertainment industry are either professionally trained or have financial backers. As far as I know, the only grassroots star who became famous is Wang Baoqiang."
Liu Yuqing stuck out her tongue. For the first time, she felt the cruelty of an industry and had some understanding of the sufferings of the world.
An hour later, the two girls finished their makeup.
Chen Duling's long black hair was tied into an exquisite double-ring bun, decorated with pearl flowers; Liu Yuqing changed into a light pink skirt and tied a flowing silk ribbon around her waist.
The two of them stood in front of the mirror, looking like ancient maids walking out of "The Procession of Emperor Taizong to Meet Buddhist Monk Xuanzang", which attracted praises from the makeup artists.
Zhang Kai clapped his hands excitedly after watching the scene, saying that he had found a treasure: "You are going to play the role of the maidservant who was the dowry of Princess Ruyi. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, you have to escort the princess to escape.
Remember, your eyes should be sad and firm. There are two lines, try to pronounce them in layers. This is your script, think about it carefully. "
When they arrived at the shooting site, Chen Duling and Liu Yuqing met Qiao Ya and Li Lingyan who had changed into ordinary palace maid costumes.
The four girls looked at each other curiously, put on Tang Dynasty costumes, and found themselves in an ancient film set, as if they had traveled through thousands of years and returned to the Tang Dynasty in their dreams.
After a while, the actress Sun Yaoqi, who played Princess Ruyi, came over.
When I saw Chen Duling and Liu Yuqing, who played the personal maids, I froze in my tracks. Where did the assistant director find these two beautiful female extras? If they were in the same frame, she would be outshined!
Before I could think about it, the director had already urged the actors to enter.
After Zhang Kai gave the two newcomers some pointers on matters such as positioning, filming officially began.
"Action!"
In front of the monitor, director Li Hantao felt more and more uncomfortable the more he watched. The princess's appearance and temperament were completely inferior to those of the palace maids. How could this be possible!
"Ka!" The director looked at Zhang Kai, "How did you choose your people?"
Zhang Kai had no choice but to explain and told the director the recruitment process.
After hearing the whole story, Li Hantao pondered for a moment and said, "Let's transfer them to be ordinary palace maids. These two girls have too strong auras, and Zhao Yaoqi is completely suppressed!"
Zhang Kai rolled his eyes, took a step closer, and whispered to the director: "Director, since Zhao Yaoqi can't hold on, let the two of them try to play the princess. As long as we can sign one of them to the company, it will be a big profit."
Li Hantao nodded slightly and immediately agreed to the assistant director's suggestion.
The news spread quickly among the crew. It was truly a strange story that the princess and the palace maid were going to exchange identities.
Zhao Yaoqi naturally refused to give up the role. She played Jinsuo in the recently hit TV series "New My Fair Princess".
Known as Little Fan Bingbing, she is quite famous in the entertainment industry. How could she give up her role to an unknown passerby? If this were to get out, she would become the laughing stock of the entertainment industry.
Zhang Kai tried to persuade Zhao Yaoqi, but he was adamant about the contract. The stalemate lasted until noon, and Zhang Kai was so thirsty that he had to suggest having lunch first before discussing it.
In the rest shed, Zhao Yaoqi was furious when she saw a few "palace maids" talking and laughing. She didn't know what kind of magic potion the two little fairies had fed the director. She didn't believe that they were just passers-by!
She walked over angrily and was about to argue, but a "palace maid" holding a lunch box turned around and bumped into her head-on.
"Crash!" The lunch box fell to the ground and the soup splashed all over Sun Yaoqi.
"You!" Zhao Yaoqi was furious as his costume was soiled. He raised his hand and slapped him.
"Pa!" The crisp sound of slapping echoed in the set.
Li Lingyan covered her burning cheeks, her eyes instantly reddened: "Why did you hit me?"
Liu Yuqing took a quick step forward and saw her best friend's red and swollen face. She was furious: "How dare you hit Yan Zi?"
Sun Yaoqi looked down at the ruined costume, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became: "Did you want to play the role of a princess, and deliberately instruct your companions to dirty my scenes! So that you can steal my role?"
"Bah!" Liu Yuqing spat contemptuously, "Who wants to play the role of a princess? Apologize to Yan Zi right now."
Zhao Yaoqi's voice suddenly rose, showing no sign of weakness: "Humph! You deliberately soiled my costume and still want me to apologize. How ridiculous!"
"Isn't it just a torn costume? I'll compensate you with ten!" Liu Yuqing refused to give in. She glanced at her aggrieved sister and urged her, "But it's wrong for you to hit someone. You must apologize to Yan Zi."
Chen Duling and Qiao Ya on the side also spoke up, asking Zhao Yaoqi to apologize and seek justice for Li Lingyan.
"What? Are you taking advantage of your numbers to bully the few?" Zhao Yaoqi didn't care at all when faced with the accusations from the four people.
The two sides were on the verge of a fight, and the sound of the argument alarmed the director.
After Li Hantao learned what happened, he felt a headache. He never expected to get into such trouble.
In this matter, the crew was in the wrong for replacing the cast, so they wanted to smooth things over and settle the matter peacefully.
Princess Liu Yuqing got angry and refused to give in: "What a lousy crew! If you don't apologize to Yan Zi today, I will turn the crew upside down."
Li Hantao's face was gloomy. "Little girl, don't be young and impetuous. Sometimes suffering a loss is a blessing. I will pay you the salary, and this matter is over."
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right and that they were at someone else's home ground, Chen Duling quietly pulled on the corner of Liu Yuqing's clothes, signaling her to stop while she was ahead and not to provoke the director any further, otherwise they might not be able to escape.
Liu Yuqing was not stupid. He was unfamiliar with Hengdian and it was not appropriate for him to lose his temper in someone else's territory.
So he took a deep breath and suppressed his anger: "We don't want the pay anymore, we want to leave the crew now."
Li Hantao sneered: "Please do as you please."
Liu Yuqing pulled Li Lingyan up, took Chen Duling and Qiao Ya, and rushed out of the set without looking back, not even having time to change their costumes to avoid any more trouble.
After walking out of the studio, he immediately took out his cell phone and called Song Ci, his voice filled with suppressed anger and grievance: "Brother, we had an accident in Hengdian..."
(End of this chapter)
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