Chapter 30 Chapter 30
"You have experience."
An Jiyue felt dizzy and forced herself to stand up calmly. She walked a few steps from behind the dark curtain and onto the stage. The light suddenly became bright.
She paused, the meaningful words echoing in her ears: "You have experience."
I don't know if she was talking about her experience of taking photos with the two people on stage, or her experience of dating Lu Ye.
"Director An, this is the script for the Q&A session," the host handed over the printed copy. "Could you please see if there are any details we can add?"
An Jiuyue reached out to take it, her slender white fingers tightly grasping one of the pages, and her pale fingertips trembled uncontrollably with nervousness.
Exposed to the overly bright light, she could hardly open her eyes.
At this moment, two very light words suddenly fell behind him: "Don't be afraid."
The cold and calm tone of voice was like pinching her philtrum and giving her a heart-saving pill, and her heart suddenly returned to its normal beating rhythm.
"Director An, please feel free to give us any suggestions. We will fully cooperate." Zhu Ling's voice was quiet, elegant and powerful. She smiled and gave her a firm look.
Lu Ye put the radio microphone back on and slowly closed his eyes towards her, nodding his head so slightly that it was barely noticeable.
An Jiyue felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She turned around with a calm expression and walked straight into the spotlight.
"Lighting engineer, please dim the brightness. 'Dewdrop CP' fans are obsessed with the atmosphere. The other two guests have great bone structure and angular features. Please add some shadows from the side angles."
"The photography teacher gave us some free-flowing handheld shots, and cameras 2 and 4 captured more close-ups of the guests."
You can't predict the reactions from the audience when you're giving orders on stage. An Jiyue took a deep breath, knowing she couldn't avoid the core question Director Zhang had posed.
"Male guest number 3, after answering each question, make sure to end with the action detail of 'looking at female guest number 2 with a smile.'"
"Cue female guest number two's answers from time to time. When you're cueed," An Jiyue stepped forward and grabbed Lu Ye's arm, "pretend to bump her with your elbow. Create the feeling that you two have some kind of tacit understanding. Am I clear?"
She received a positive answer from Zhu Ling's eyes, and turned to Lu Ye, but he glared at her angrily as if he was venting his anger.
An Jiyue hardened her heart, raised her chin, and glared back without showing any weakness.
"Pay attention to the emotions in your eyes. Don't glare at others so fiercely. Be gentler. Appreciation, pampering, and even admiration are all fine."
Perhaps he hadn't expected her to point it out so confidently, and Lu Ye, who had originally only had a slightly angry look in his eyes, suddenly lost his expression and made a move to step forward to argue with her.
Zhu Ling burst out laughing, hurried forward to hold Lu Ye's arm, and patted Lu Ye's shoulder in a pretentiously affectionate manner, as a way to help the two people who were frozen in place.
"Director An is right. These details are indeed crucial. Lu Ye, shall we give it a try?"
An Jiyue pressed on, even personally guiding her on the trick of pretending to bump into the opponent. Lu Ye didn't show any mercy to her, and with a thud, he hit her ribs without any lightness or strength, causing tears to well up in her eyes.
In the past, Lu Ye had never hurt her.
When they were standing in a row to report on their group work, he bumped into her gently to remind her that time was almost up.
When she was feeling depressed because she couldn't find a suitable internship during the summer, he deliberately bumped into her, then pretended to be reserved and opened his mailbox, pointing to several interview invitation emails that he had obtained for her after he had quietly and carefully revised and submitted her resume.
Just before graduation, they walked on the mango grove road in the school. When talking about their future plans, they looked at each other for a few seconds, and bumped into each other with blushes and joy. Although they didn't say anything, it seemed as if they had said everything.
An Jiyue covered her hurt ribs, bit her lip, and turned her face away from him.
Recording restarts.
Director An, who worked very hard, did not sit back in the director's chair, but was not far away from the stage, shooting from a first-person perspective.
Lu Ye was like a robot that had been programmed correctly. Most of the time he just smiled faintly, and his deep eyes revealed no further emotions.
Zhu Ling was much more expressive than him. Not only did she have a bright expression, she also added some small gestures, sometimes poking his shoulder, or reaching out to high-five him.
After the show is over, I have to treat Mr. Zhu to a meal, An Jiyue thought with a moved heart.
She quietly slipped back to Director Zhang and eagerly sought his advice: "Director Zhang, do you think this is okay?"
Director Zhang has been working in the variety show industry for 10 to 20 years, and of course he has seen some really good plots and shots.
Although the current group of guests are all at the ceiling in terms of individual personality, the chemical effect they produce can only be classified as industrial saccharin level.
But he also understood that An Jiuyue had tried her best, and every movement she had just directed on the stage was performed perfectly, and it was obvious that she had no selfish motives at all.
In fact, if An Jiuyue really couldn't overcome this difficulty, Director Zhang had already considered replacing the male guest.
Now it seems that Lu Ye is not uncooperative, and perhaps the show can still be saved.
Director Zhang had done this on purpose, wanting her to make her stance clear through her actions. But now that he saw she was truly ruthless enough to let go, his heart softened.
"No problem. Xiao An, thank you for your hard work."
An Jiyue hurriedly shook her head, saying things like "It's my duty" and "It's my duty." Suddenly, a sharp female voice echoed through the room:
"Card!"
Director Zhang and An Jiyue were both startled, looking towards the woman who had spoken. Song Yi, the head of the business development team, who had already called "cut" twice today, blushed slightly, a rare occurrence. She seemed a little uneasy, lowering her head to catch her breath, and waved for her team members to speak for her.
"Ms. Zhu, Mr. Lu, this is a great advertising spot. Could you two re-record this question?"
An Jiyue looked at her former roommate in disbelief. She had never seen Song Yiyi like this before.
Song Yiyi's voice was always as calm as an still pond. Even when a cockroach nest was found in the dormitory, she did not shout or scream. She just asked An Jiyue to tell the others to get cockroach medicine from the dormitory manager and put it in the closet.
I asked if I needed her to bring one too, and she said she had received one before school started.
Years later, in a workplace that required even more seriousness and restraint, she rarely broke her own rules.
Was it really for the product placement, or was it for Lu Ye? An Jiyue looked at the man on the stage who was listening intently to the commercial, then at Song Yiyi, who was not far away and looked discouraged. She felt a pang in her heart.
His casual, youthful outfit today often makes her feel dazed, as if she sees the person who walked into the classroom with a schoolbag on his back and sat quietly in the last row several years ago.
Lu Ye was really a boy who was worthy of being liked back then.
Even today, she has no doubt about her judgment back then. Even though he tried his best to keep a low profile, she still managed to dig him out of the sand and show him off with great joy, like a treasure.
However, she was not the only one who recognized his talent back then, and she might not even be the first person to notice him.
…
The last set of shots was completed and everyone called it a day.
An Jiyue exchanged glances with Tang Bian, and the two walked together to the east gate of Huayi Building and waved to stop a car.
Tang Bian is a professional in dating variety shows. He is good at all kinds of romantic tricks and has created several national hit couples.
But he claimed that he had never been in love, but he loved gossip and read too many literary works, so he was just idealistic.
Not only do dating shows like "The Last Days Lovers" invite him to be the lead, but other reality shows also ask him to help design a few couples' plot lines. Editor Tang is like a perpetual motion machine with endless inspiration, and he is always happy to give some pointers.
"But I really don't understand the situation of guest Lu Ye." Tang Bian picked up the red wine and drank it. He always liked to talk about emotional topics when he was slightly drunk.
"Isn't his personality simple? A bit aloof and reserved, a workaholic, and attractive..."
Editor Tang wrinkled his nose and interrupted, "That's too flimsy. This label is like a paper figure. He does have the hard skills to live up to his reputation, but it's only a matter of time before the audience becomes disenchanted with him."
In that case, I might be even worse than the audience... An Jiyue took a sip of wine with ulterior motives, suppressing the shame in her heart.
"Director An, you also come from a content background. I saw the music variety show you co-directed before. Let me ask you, do audiences just want to see a few minutes of high-quality stage performance?"
An Jiyue's eyes dimmed, and she remained silent. She certainly understood what Tang Bian meant; the story was the skeleton that supported the soul of the stage.
Even for a legendary rock band, behind an audio-visual feast, there needs to be a foundation of the band's past, present, love and hate.
The lead singer and bassist fell out and then reconciled, while the guitarist developed a long-standing emotional knot over an unrequited love. It is precisely because of these stories that the few people who collaborate tacitly on stage wearing sunglasses are no longer soulless machines.
Every subtle glance between them and every word they roared out would be repeatedly pondered by the audience with relish, and the few minutes of stage performance would become a classic.
"Audiences want to see not just the elite Lu Ye, but the Lu Ye who tears off the mask of elite. He's incredibly calm, but he can become anxious when he falls in love with someone. He's also straightforward and open-minded, but he can also act childishly and playfully. At work, he only cares about stock prices and numbers, but one day, he suddenly finds a touch of sweetness. These contrasts are what keep fans coming back for a long time."
"Participating in a dating show is a great way to show your true self, but for some reason, Lu Ye is still like a taut string. No matter how much you tease him, it only makes the sound of a Buddhist night watchman ringing."
Tang Bian said this in frustration, then raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
In his career, he had rarely encountered a guest like Lu Ye who was so unyielding. He even suspected Lu Ye had other sexual orientations, but the casting director and his best friend's personal testimony all said he was straight.
As for the CP line between Lu Ye, Guan Haifu, and Zhu Ling, editor Tang also wrote several versions while the iron was hot. But when I looked back at it, I didn't feel much, as if the orgasm I had at that time was also fake.
Tang Bian filled his glass again with self-mockery and disappointment, "I really can't see through him. Maybe Lu Ye is just a paper man, no one can make him impulsive."
He turned around and wanted to tell An Jiuyue to do whatever she wanted, but he found that her cup was empty at some point.
She seemed to be shocked by his assertion, her eyes were blank and she looked a little lost. After a while, she suddenly refuted in a low voice:
"No."
"Lu Ye is of course a flesh-and-blood person."
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