Chapter 102: Flirting Without Knowing It
Standing beside the car, Liang Ruowen wanted to say a few more words to him, but Shu Ming glanced at him a few more times with a pair of eyes that seemed to be able to speak, so he obeyed the other party and kept silent.
"Okay, see you later then."
"See you tonight."
Shu Ming took a long step and waved his hand casually, leaving only a dashing back view of him. Liang Ruowen was left staring at his back in a trance in the drizzle, without moving for a long time.
**
Until the moment before getting off the car, Rong Caiqing was still being reminded by her agent: "The lead actor, Shu Ming, is on the rise, so you might need to stay out of his spotlight for a bit..."
This is not the first time that Hong Kong entertainment and mainland China have collaborated on a film. The last collaboration left a deep impression on him. The leading actor started to act like a big shot anytime and anywhere, which made the whole group of people very upset.
Therefore, even though Shu Ming has a good reputation in the industry, he dare not take it lightly!
Rong Caiqing didn't think so. She had met Shu Ming at the dinner yesterday. She raised her glass to toast him, but Shu Ming was considerate and gently pushed it back.
Rong Caiqing was delighted to know that she didn't have to drink. She was about to stutter and say thank you in Mandarin, but the other party just replied, "It's okay, I understand Cantonese."
Then, as if he could see through her heart, he added, "Go ahead. Don't worry about us."
Rong Caiqing had a bright and attractive face, often mistaken for a social butterfly. But in reality, her personality was the exact opposite of her appearance. She hated these seemingly random social situations and didn't know how to handle them. Now, receiving such a response, she was truly relieved!
Therefore, she secretly felt that Shu Ming was not such a person.
However, it's not wrong to be on guard... But Rong Caiqing was still a little unhappy. She curled her lips and asked, "Why don't you tell Li Chen about this?"
She and Li Chen had the same agent, and both appeared on "Far Away", but the agent always liked to single her out and nag her like an old mother, which made her very unhappy.
The agent sighed and said, "If you were half as reassuring as Ah Chen, I wouldn't be nagging you like this."
Li Chen sat on the other side of the car and didn't say anything.
This is how Rong Caiqing and her agent get along, and he has long been accustomed to it.
He didn't know if it was because of what Rong Caiqing and the others were talking about, but he subconsciously looked for Shu Ming for a long time before he saw the person he was looking for in a corner.
Shu Ming was chatting with Chen Mi. The two of them standing together were actually very eye-catching, but their location was too remote.
Li Chen watched silently for a long time. His agent kept telling him many things to pay attention to, but he turned a deaf ear and suddenly pointed out the window: "Who is that person?"
A young, very tall actor, whom I hadn't seen at the dinner party yesterday. Logically, all the younger ones were there, so why hadn't I seen this guy?
Looking out of the car window, the male actor seemed to know Shu Ming and walked straight to Shu Ming and director Chen Mi.
Li Chen had very good eyesight and could see clearly that Shu Ming subconsciously leaned back slightly, looking very alert and cautious.
The agent wasn't annoyed by his interruption. He followed his movements and took a look. "That's Xi Jia, the one I mentioned before, the only mainland Chinese client I have connections with."
Li Chen wanted to ask more, but Rong Caiqing got out of the car briskly, so he had no choice but to keep quiet and followed her into the meeting room.
**
In fact, Li Chen was not the only one who was keeping an eye on Shu Ming. As the absolute center, many people around him were also stealing glances at Shu Ming, especially Xi Jia, who was seen just now. His gaze was the most blatant, staring at Shu Ming straight.
As for him, he could endure any amount of attention, sitting firmly in the main C position, slowly flipping through the script that was full of marks.
It's really full of marks, and it's so colorful that it looks like a child's sketchbook. It's so colorful that you almost think Shu Ming is deliberately showing off. The color combination is also weird. In short, it doesn't look good.
As soon as the lines came out, Li Chen knew that he had solid skills, and that they were even better than his own.
In fact, Li Chen and the others came here today just for cameo roles, as they did not have any scenes in the beginning. But as actors with little status and artists without much work, it was good for them to show up and express their attitude in front of the director. That's why they were brought here by their agent.
So who has the role at the beginning?
It was almost Shu Ming’s solo show!
The opening of "Far Away" is extremely dramatic.
In the 1980s, City S.
A small-time thug who was doing shady business and engaging in speculation and profiteering every day suddenly received a lucrative job one day - he was asked to follow a rich young man.
This rich young man's origins are unknown. He suddenly appeared in City S. Even the well-informed gangsters had never seen him before. This job was obviously very dangerous and should not be accepted.
But there is really no way. He is very short of money recently. Not only has he lost all his money in business, but he is also burdened with a lot of debts. Recently, debt collectors have been looking for him all over S City. If he can't pay it back, he will be beaten to death in the street!
It's a matter of life and death, how can we care about so many things?
Faced with the reward that could pay off most of his debts in one go and the generous deposit, he felt shamefully shaken.
Fortunately, he is a long-term speculator and this is not the first time he has taken a risky action.
As the saying goes: The timid die of starvation, the bold die of gluttony. The hoodlum leaned against the wall, cigarette in his mouth, thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "I'll take it."
But where is there easy money in the world? Every fortune that is not destined to happen will have to be paid for later.
What he never expected was that there was another group of people who wanted to kill the rich young man, so they drove their car straight towards him. The gangster who was following behind in a broken car was also hit, and his eyes became dizzy and he lost consciousness.
Before he completely closed his eyes, he had only one last thought: "It's over, damn it, I really flipped over this time——"
The image of this male protagonist is really two extremes from Shu Ming!
It is difficult to grasp the right measure. Although he is a gangster, he is not really a gangster. After all, he has seen a little bit of the prosperous world of S City.
The original novel says that he has a handsome face that is enough to keep him unfaithful for thirty years, and he is affectionate even to dogs, but he is a habitual liar, and no one knows whether what he says is true or false.
But it is precisely this kind of badass coolness that is very popular among young girls, and he is also a bit gentlemanly towards girls...
He has to be both casual and ruffian, but he can't be too greasy. It will give anyone a headache!
If Li Chen came alone, he would probably use clothing as an aid, such as unbuttoning his shirt to make himself look more uninhibited. However, Shu Ming did not do so. He was silent for a moment.
The whole audience was waiting for him in silence. Shu Ming was not nervous either. He tapped the table with his fingertips and recited a line softly as if talking to himself. Li Chen was waiting for him almost holding his breath, but did not give him much time to wait.
Shu Ming raised his voice again, and his voice was full of smile and affection, sounding like a gangster!
He didn't change his clothes at all, but his whole person changed. He also deliberately used his eyes to create a sparkle, and with Shu Ming's long, straight eyelashes, the effect was almost doubled!
Li Chen saw an actress accidentally make eye contact with him, and she immediately blushed and lowered her head. However, he was still unaware and continued to read his script as usual.
Maybe blushing is contagious, Li Chen's heart also jumped for no reason, but his actor's quality still made him pay more attention to Shu Ming's acting skills. In short, he really wanted to admire him. No wonder he was so unmoved!
Shu Ming is so confident, he is really worthy of admiration.
Li Chen thought he had done a good job, but Director Chen Mi, sitting next to him, was still finding fault: "It could be a little looser."
He was still a little stiff, so he encouraged Shu Ming: "Your movements are too restrained, relax a little."
Shu Ming followed his and Qiao Minxue's guidance and gradually relaxed his acting. In just a short while, the image of the male lead came to life.
There are several unknown minor supporting roles that only appear once or twice, so they naturally won't participate in the reading like the leading actors, so the screenwriter temporarily takes on the narration and minor roles.
Of course the screenwriter can't act, so every sentence is well-read. Even though the other party has no emotions at all, Shu Ming also takes on the role very brilliantly.
This guy crossed his legs, stretched his arms over the back of the chair, and acted with such arrogance that he immediately came out! So arrogant!
The two of them went back and forth, Shu Ming was emotionally excited and occasionally did some improvised movements. His impromptu performance was also very good, as if everyone was on the set.
During the break, Rong Caiqing whispered to Li Chen with sparkling eyes, "This is almost the same as the live performance! No wonder they can be the leading actors. I can't act like that anyway."
It's not that she is completely incapable of acting, but she really can't guarantee that she will be so vivid from the start. Although Shu Ming was also criticized by the director sometimes, overall she made rapid progress, and everyone completed their morning tasks early.
Chen Mi did not pressure them. He waved his hand and let them go to rest. All matters could be discussed after lunch.
This director had a serious illness in his early years, so much so that it was rumored in the industry that filming with him was very comfortable, he never worked overtime, and his work and rest schedule became healthier!
"I've never gotten off work so early before." Shu Ming picked up the scattered papers and turned around to call out, "Teacher Qiao, wait for me. I want to have dinner with you."
He tried to maintain the feeling he had in the play, so he spoke more freely than before, with his tone rising at the end of each sentence.
Qiao Minxue stopped immediately, but still deliberately asked, "Will you treat me to lunch?"
Shu Ming followed him in two steps and said arrogantly: "No~"
The moment Qiao Minxue reached out to pull his ear, he immediately raised his hands in surrender and begged for mercy: "Hey, hey, hey, I didn't say I won't treat you to lunch, but I didn't say I won't treat you to afternoon tea."
"Director, my friend requested to visit the set this afternoon. Would you approve it?"
"I'll treat everyone to afternoon tea!"
**
Those who came to visit the set had legitimate reasons.
Who else could it be? Of course it’s Chan Kong Sang!
From the first day he knew Shu Ming was coming to Hong Kong to film, Chan Kong-sang had been asking indirectly when he could visit the set.
He wanted to see Shu Ming. The last time they met was on his birthday, and since then they had only contacted online.
And—"I wrote the lyrics for the Cantonese version of the theme song for 'Far Away'."
Therefore, he can be considered as a half-insider, knowing everything about the set, so there is nothing wrong with him visiting the set.
Originally, Shu Ming told him that it would be ok for people to come, but how could Chen Gangsheng really let Shu Ming treat him?
"Don't be polite with me. I'm already causing you trouble by visiting you on set, and you're still like this..."
Shu Ming was at a loss for words: "How could that be? I'm so happy that you came to see me. Isn't it only natural that I should treat you to something?"
However, Chen Gangsheng refused to do it no matter what. Shu Ming knew his temper and did not compete with him.
He had just had lunch and came to pick him up outside the crew early in the morning. Before Chen Gangsheng got out of the car, he saw Shu Ming waiting for him, and he couldn't help but feel happy.
It can be seen that he does have a place in Shu Ming's heart.
He was so anxious that he didn't even open the car door. He ran out of the car quickly, his footsteps making heavy noises.
Shu Ming obviously heard it as well and turned to look at him, so that before Chen Gangsheng could even open his mouth, he was nailed to the spot by Shu Ming's eyes.
How to say it?
Shu Ming...has changed a lot.
I don’t know what he went through in the past six months. Maybe it’s not obvious when we are together every day, but Chen Gangsheng, who hasn’t seen him for a long time, feels that the changes are very drastic.
It's like a bottle of wine, slowly showing signs of getting drunk.
What did he go through?
The wind blew his hair, and Shu Ming looked at him from afar with an expression as if he was looking at his lover, almost oozing honey.
Chen Gangsheng's heart seemed to be hit, and it started beating uncontrollably.
But Shu Mingzhen had no idea that she was flirting. Instead, seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, she raised her eyebrows and took the initiative to move closer to him.
A small smile appeared on his lips as he leaned forward and asked, "Hong Kong student?"
What is this person doing in a daze?
Seeing that he still didn't say anything, Shu Ming stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes. He was in a state of cockiness, his jokes were endless, and he pretended to be sad: "What's wrong? It's been too long, don't you recognize me?"
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Author's note: The reason I updated in such a hurry today is simply because I was so excited writing the scenes of these supporting characters fighting each other...
After so much preparation, I can finally write it.
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