Chapter 248
The northwest corner of the film and television city is where the crew of "The Unparalleled General" is located.
The extras who had watched the event in the morning had not yet dispersed, and some idle extras were taking pictures with their phones before their phones were handed in.
Zhou Xiao, who was walking over here, even saw that one of them was skillfully broadcasting live, pointing the camera at the A4 paper and shooting back and forth.
"Welcome, everyone new to the livestream! Hey, I know this crew well. Everyone, please give me some small gifts. Follow me so you don't get lost. Later, I'll give the big brothers and sisters on the list a chance to draw for Ji Shao's autographed photos!" An extra, already dressed but still in costume, was typing away on their phone. For Ji Shao's fans flooding the livestream, they even offered a tempting pie.
There were two extras nearby who seemed to be familiar with him. Upon hearing this, they both covered their mouths and chuckled. Seeing someone approach, they thought it was the crew trying to chase them away, so they quickly nudged the extra who was currently broadcasting.
"Hey, big brothers and sisters, I have to go on a show here, so I have to end the live broadcast. Thank you all, I will broadcast live to you again at this time tomorrow! Remember to pay attention!" The extras who hurriedly ended the live broadcast looked over with a sly look, and saw that Zhou Xiao's T-shirt did not have the words "The Unparalleled General" on it, so they felt relieved.
But then, somewhat displeased, she said to the two people beside her, "This girl isn't part of the crew. Stop giving her orders. There were so many fans giving her gifts just now!"
This wasn't the first time Zhou Xiao had seen extras livestreaming; the film and television industry alone had already developed a mature industry chain. And just because someone claimed to be an extra didn't necessarily mean they were. She'd seen plenty of self-media outlets that brought their own costumes and makeup to pretend to be extras in Volg.
If the crews weren't strictly managed, they might even sneak in and take advantage of the lunch boxes. On the set of "Flower Journey," where I was previously working, the crew would conduct surprise inspections from time to time.
There's only one pass for the event... Zhou Xiao couldn't help but put his hand on his head, feeling a slight headache. It seemed he needed to report this to Zhu Jian and have the fan club issue an announcement or something. Otherwise, these fans' money would be too easy to make.
The large truck parked beside the road wasn't the same one Zhou Xiao had initially spotted. From her direction, she could see a number of people busily bustling about inside the fully opened door, busy setting up the set. They were probably too busy to even glance over at the extras on the livestream.
Seeing everyone so busy, Zhou Xiao didn't bother to interrupt. Just as he was thinking about whether he should just ask online, he heard a surprised voice behind him, "Hey, Teacher Zhou Xiao, are you also in this group?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Zhou Xiao turned around and looked. Coincidentally, it was the girl from the art department who had helped Lu Mengqi out when she asked her to help with the photoshoot.
After filming wrapped yesterday, they had just exchanged personal contacts, regretting that they would rarely see each other again. When they unexpectedly ran into each other again today, she was naturally just as surprised.
But after hearing the word "also," Zhou Xiao realized he had misunderstood. He waved his hand and said, "It's not me, but you who found a new crew! Congratulations!"
Mei Fang, the girl in the art department, narrowed her eyes with joy when she heard Zhou Xiao's congratulations. She said happily, "My teacher is the art director for 'The General' and 'The Unparalleled General'. He happened to be filming a TV series this time, and since he saw that I had some experience, he specially asked me to come and learn from him!"
Mei Fang didn't lower her voice as she spoke. The busy staff near the gate all glanced over, and one of the older staff members looked at Mei Fang with a touch of kindness.
Xie Bifan, the art director of the movie "The General", has won many awards and would be worshipped in any crew.
Zhou Xiao understood that the other party was saying this in front of everyone on purpose, so he also asked, "When does your drama start filming? I'll come over to join in the fun then."
"The filming starts on the 9th, hehe, come on. I know that you like Ji Shao, teacher, so I can get you a temporary certificate when the time comes?" Mei Fang pulled Zhou Xiao's arm and walked towards the camphor tree beside her, whispering stealthily, making it sound justified to go through the back door.
Temporary permit? Zhou Xiao glanced sideways at Mei Fang, who was pulling her along. She felt like she'd become more affluent after switching crews. But then again, working under a teacher naturally made one more resilient. Although she hadn't noticed who the art director for "General" was, judging by the reactions of the other crew members, she knew he must be quite high up.
"Thank you, but I should be with the fans then." Today is the 7th, and filming is almost over. If the fan club wants to support them, they might have to start preparing now so she can help out offline.
At this point, Zhou Xiao looked back at the large number of porcelains placed on the roadside and said thoughtfully, "Is 'The Unparalleled General' collaborating with the Porcelain Capital Intangible Cultural Heritage?"
Mei Fang looked over with wide eyes, "Ah? How did you know this?" She only learned the news this morning.
…
When Zhou Xiao returned to the hotel, she thanked the front desk clerk before heading inside. She had been messaged by the receptionist, who had left the package in her room.
When Zhou Xiao opened the door, he saw two new express boxes stacked together. After thinking about it, he decided to open this batch first.
On the way back, she had already mentioned the start date of filming for "The Unparalleled General" in the group chat. This caused a lot of cheers, and even Dong Xiaoyu was thinking of taking a leave to come and participate in the start of filming for Ji Shao's first drama.
Normally, news from the crew circulates faster than from actors' agencies. However, Huayao still has no idea if he's accepted any roles yet. The news is so lagging that we can only wait and see if there are any changes.
The phone screen flickered to life. Zhou Xiao, unboxing it, leaned over slightly to see it. It was from Zhu Jian. He swiped through the message. The general message was that a fan club member, "Digital Sister," had questioned the connection about the filming start date, the 9th. Only then did they reply that Ji Shao would indeed be starring in "The Unparalleled General."
Zhou Xiao slashed the scotch tape off the delivery box with one hand. He finally understood why Xincheng had arranged for Song Xiao to come. The idol company's involvement in film and television hadn't quite grasped that this wasn't like releasing a song online, where they only needed a few hours' notice.
As she opened the last box, she raised an eyebrow. This was a Dragon Boat Festival gift from Donglun Entertainment, whose artists happened to include Lu Mengqi, whom she knew. Zhou Xiao hadn't given her the address, so she figured her agent must have found out where she was staying on set and, worried she might refuse, had sent it directly.
In addition to the usual gift boxes of rice dumplings, calendars, and endorsements from some of the company's artists, the box also contained a simple handwritten greeting card. Zhou Xiao picked it up and saw that it was signed by Lu Mengqi's agent, Chen Suhua.
Even though he had an artist who was a bit of a worry, Zhou Xiao couldn't help but sigh in admiration at the fact that his manager could do this. When his eyes fell on the boxes of zongzi on the floor, he let out a long sigh.
This morning, she received holiday gifts from XS, WP, New Town, and Donglun. She figured a few packages hadn't arrived yet, so she decided to wait until they were all delivered and then send them all home. She couldn't use up all the perfume from XS alone.
After sorting out the boxes of various sizes, Zhou Xiao returned to the sofa and opened the WeChat Moments of several porcelain dealers recommended to him by Mei Fang.
As for why she could guess that "The Unparalleled General" would have a collaboration with the intangible cultural heritage of porcelain, in addition to the more exquisite porcelain at the door that exceeded the normal amount used by the crew, there were also the same intangible cultural heritage items that were popular online recently.
In addition, many dramas now incorporate intangible cultural heritage elements, which not only promote and inherit intangible cultural heritage, but also increase artistic beauty. Therefore, whether there is cooperation is obvious.
Zhou Xiao was looking at one of the vendors' WeChat Moments, which displayed a collection of hand-made ceramic flowers. The varieties and colors varied, but they all looked adorable. She hadn't originally planned to make one due to concerns about supporting the film and television studio, but this small ceramic flower was perfectly suited to the occasion.
…
The next afternoon, near the set of "The Unparalleled General," Zhou Xiao saw many familiar faces when he arrived. The dedicated support area at the film and television city was bustling with activity. Besides the artisans working on the flower wall, many fans were also helping out, working illegally.
Due to the tight schedule, the fans who arrived so far all rushed here after the fan club posted a Weibo seeking help, and many fans from other provinces are still on the way. Although they didn't rest much after arriving at the film and television city and started working right away, the fans' spirits were particularly high at the moment.
A voice caught Zhou Xiao's attention. When she looked over, she saw a man wearing sunglasses, speaking broken Mandarin, talking to Cheese and his group. "Oh, I'm so sorry to bother you all! How about this? Depending on how many fans came today, I'll treat you all to dinner!"
Due to the tight filming schedule, only a small number of props and actors were on-site, with the rest still being shipped in. Originally, the official team, who had long monopolized the film and television city's support, wouldn't have been a big deal, but with so many crews recently starting filming during the Dragon Boat Festival, the number of support staff has increased, and they're suddenly overwhelmed.
"It's okay, Longtou. As for the food and everything, there are only so many people here. You can make the arrangements. We fans are fine with it," a stranger with short hair replied with a smile. Behind her were Cheese and Qimiao, who were listening attentively to their conversation.
When he saw Zhou Xiao, Cheese secretly gestured to her. After the man left, Zhou Xiao, who was waiting on the side, was immediately pulled by Cheese and thanked.
"Ahhh, my heart is beating. Fortunately I have your information! Otherwise, Xiao Shao's first chance to support the crew would have been ruined!" Cheese was very excited.
Initially, the film and television city, the leading support agency, refused to answer her calls. It was only after a member of the fan club, who had provided offline support to the previous actor many times, intervened that they finally agreed. They also emphasized that any later calls, even for regular customers, would not be accepted because the team was simply too busy to handle them.
Smiling and patting Cheese's arm, Zhou Xiao looked at the girl who had just spoken. As soon as their eyes met, Qi Miao, seemingly infected by Cheese's excitement, raised her hand and spontaneously introduced the two, "Teacher Zhong Bao Le, our biggest fan, and Teacher Xin Dong, our top fan!"
"Hello, Teacher Baozi~" Zhou Xiao greeted him.
Zhong Baole's nickname in Ji Shao's fan circle is Baozi. When he heard the Xindong fan called him by that nickname, he was a little stunned. Hiding a little excitement, he responded with a smile, "Hello, Xindong teacher!"
The moment of leisure lasted only a moment. After greeting everyone, Zhou Xiao joined everyone in cheering for Ji Shao's opening ceremony. Looking at the boxes of props, she felt as if she had traveled back in time to the busy crew of "The Unparalleled General" yesterday.
…
After inserting the vertical rod into the bottom, Zhou Xiao looked up at the nearly 100 completed water-filled flags. He looked curiously at Cheese, who was also assembling the water-filled flags, and asked, "How many did you order?"
The evening wind was quite strong, making the canvases whirr. Water-filled flags and roll-up banners were already placed on both sides of the road, their upright surfaces fluttering in the wind, creating a particularly spectacular sight.
Cheese shook her head. She didn't know the exact number. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "About 200, right? Baozi sister negotiated a very good price. The price for the whole package is about the same as 100."
In fact, the price of supporting in the film and television city is several times higher than doing it outside. But there is one advantage, that is, the leader will help them take care of it.
Zhou Xiao nodded, indicating he understood, and glanced around. The "luxurious" support flower wall in the center of the venue was still unfinished, illuminated by two large lights on the left and right. Although it was much simpler than the flower wall outside, it was still quite troublesome for the workers who were used to making simple flower walls.
The flower wall that the fan club paid for is different from the KT board-based support flower wall commonly used in film and television studios. Although it is just flowers, the technology and price are doubled.
Looking at the several large boxes that had just been transported, Zhou Xiao suddenly thought of something and said to Cheese next to him, "Save a place for me tomorrow. I have some small gifts for everyone!"
Zhou Xiao is currently working overtime to produce the purple ceramic flowers she placed an order for. Although the merchant has promised her that they will be delivered to the site before seven o'clock tomorrow morning, Zhou Xiao is also prepared to arrive later.
If it's not delivered by the end of tomorrow's start-up, then I'll wait until later. I guess there will be a lot of people waiting for Ji Shao to finish his first day of work tomorrow, so it won't be too late to deliver it to everyone then.
Hearing Cheese's cheerful response, Zhou Xiao continued to assemble the water-filled flag. As soon as he started moving, he heard the system prompt sound -
[System Task: Ji Shao turns on the phone to support (0/1)]
Zhou Xiao pondered for a moment. Was this considered piggybacking on the fan club's support? But then she realized that working as a blackmailer was a crucial part of offline support. The effort put into assembling the water-filled flags alone was almost as much as if she had done it all herself before.
Seeing more and more fans rushing over to help, the path was almost completely occupied. Zhou Xiao wondered if they could even help with the flower wall after everyone finished setting up the props.
After pondering for a moment, she looked at Cheese and asked, "By the way, have you considered posting on Weibo to say that no more people are needed?" Sometimes, too much appeal and fan cohesion can also be a sweet burden.
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