Chapter 291: All Husbands?! Your Corner...
"But in that case, you won't have many opportunities to spend time with her?" Li Zhongde thought for a moment, then remembered that he had to fly to the United States later that morning to film scenes for "Big City, Small Love," and couldn't help but remind him again.
"Of course I want to spend more time with her, but there's nothing I can do. Everyone is so busy. It's already great to have the opportunity to work together on a film..." Ling Chen was quite content with this.
For those in the entertainment industry, unless their partner is completely free to accommodate their schedule, they are basically destined to be separated most of the time.
The person he has a crush on happens to be in the same industry as him and is probably even busier than him right now. It's already quite good that they were able to meet under the guise of collaboration—perhaps that's why Li Sishi specifically asked him to make a cameo appearance in this movie...
After all, Li Sishi described this guest role over the phone as "a husband she truly loves"!
Moreover, even if the husband's character dies young, he is still the female lead's white moonlight, and later the female lead doesn't want to get married again because of him. Although Ling Chen didn't know that there was a popular meme in later years called "If I don't die, you will all be concubines in the end", the irreplaceable feeling that his character is always number one and other people's characters can only be number two inexplicably gave him an indescribable sense of pride.
It has to be said that young people who are obsessed with being in love can so easily conjure up all sorts of sweet scenarios in their minds, and then they indulge in this fantasy quite enthusiastically...
In the recording studio on the other side, after confirming that she would be participating in the movie in the early hours of the morning, Li Sishi nodded to Lu Yiting after hanging up the phone: "Leo said that there are no problems on his end, so let's leave the role of the third husband 'Dr. Huang' to him."
That's roughly the difference between art films and commercial films. Especially since "The Seven Marriages of a Beautiful Woman" is a typical comedy, no matter how touching the previous "white moonlight" was, the plot, which focuses on comedic elements, wouldn't care about her fate. Once it's over, it's over. If it doesn't become one of the comedic points later, then it's considered that the screenwriter is showing some final tenderness towards your character...
Therefore, Li Sishi's role as the second female lead in "Big City, Small Love" is actually advantageous. The character is likable, and her exit is also stylish and memorable. It is another storyline that can be explored, different from the deep and tragic love between the male and female leads.
Whether it's an art film or a commercial film, some supporting characters have either explosive character development or connect the whole story, giving them a lot to showcase. If they are played well, their importance and popularity are in no way inferior to the main characters.
These kinds of outstanding supporting roles are often well-paid and require little work.
They are likable and don't have to worry about box office results, so many artists like to take on these roles. The most typical example is Ah Yeah, a comedy veteran who can compete with Zhou Shengyi on the same stage without being inferior. Ever since he discovered that he receives the same pay for supporting roles and leading roles, but the workload and pressure are significantly different, film producers in the industry have found it difficult to cast him as a lead actor.
“Yes, I also think this role suits him very well.” Lu Yiting expressed her satisfaction, then asked Li Sishi to continue looking at the cast list. “That’s about it. Of course, this list may change before we’ve fully contacted the actors for the corresponding roles, but it shouldn’t differ much in general…”
At the very least, Shang Hanyou, Ling Chen, Cheng Erjian, and Xiao Xie are definitely "selected".
As for the other three, even if they were replaced with relatively inexpensive but more capable second- or third-tier artists or newcomers, with the popularity of the first four, the film's popularity would still be high—after all, the most crucial gimmick of this film, besides the various "dead husbands," is mainly to see Li Sishi, the newly crowned international film queen.
Of course, it would be even better if it could add something extra...
So Lu Yiting then said to Li Sishi, "I'll contact Lester again. Actually, the character of the husband who is against marriage is quite a good match for his personality. This is your first time taking on a box office role as an award-winning actress, so we'll definitely do our best to help you achieve the best result."
The back-and-forth tug-of-war between a staunch non-marriage advocate and their true love, who unexpectedly falls for them and decides to marry them for life, is particularly touching.
Li Sishi thought about it seriously, nodded and then shook her head: "As for him, I should handle all the contacting. He has helped me so much, it's not good to keep bothering him, I have to give him some 'repayment'."
“If that’s what you’re thinking, of course I won’t refuse.” Lu Yiting smiled and glanced at Li Sishi.
Although Rong Juezhang is a well-known senior in the industry, and her kinship with Li Sishi makes their relationship closer than that of ordinary seniors and juniors, constantly asking others for help can easily wear down the relationship between them. Li Sishi understands that taking responsibility for reciprocity is undoubtedly more appropriate than her manager constantly worrying and reminding her step by step.
"Anyway, he's been looking forward to this for a long time..." Li Sishi briefly explained her plan to Lu Yiting, which immediately made Lu Yiting burst out laughing.
(1)
Thanks to Li Sishi
One must be highly skilled at the mahjong table; otherwise, repaying such an unusual yet exceptionally flattering favor would be extremely difficult.
After discussing the next steps of the work plan, Li Sishi took the sheet music into the recording studio and recorded until midnight before finally leaving.
The itinerary for the next few days was similar to today's, basically consisting of filming and recording. The only special thing was that Li Sishi called Rong Juezhang to arrange a family mahjong game.
Finally managing to get Li Sishi, a mahjong master, out of the game, Rong Juezhang, as always, was overjoyed despite his poor skills, and recklessly went through his list of mahjong friends that very night, making a series of calls, determined to use Li Sishi's "help" to redeem himself...
Yes, Li Sishi said on the phone that she wanted to thank him for his help during this time, so she planned to have a good fight with him and wished him a good start—this was almost an explicit hint, and a clever little devil like Rong Juezhang would definitely not miss it.
Li Sishi fed cards to his opponent in order to arrange a game with someone else, causing him to lose so badly in those games. This time, he is determined to get it all back, with interest!
While marveling at how some noobs really know how to deceive and comfort themselves, Li Sishi carried the gift box to the door. The doorbell had only rung half a ring when she saw Rong Juezhang, who was beaming with joy, open the door for her.
"Come in quickly! We've been waiting for you!" Rong Juezhang had probably lost too much at cards lately. Seeing a mahjong master come to "help" him, he didn't care about winning unfairly. He practically had "Someone's cooperating with me to beat Qingzhang" written all over his face...
Unfortunately, the key issue is that some teammates are really hard to manage, especially those like Rong Juezhang who often get carried away with emotions while playing cards. When Li Sishi secretly feeds him some good cards, his hands start to shake.
Then, the player opposite and the player to the left immediately became alert and strengthened their defense so tightly that it was impossible for Li Sishi to feed the cards so obviously. She could only wait for Rong Juezhang to win by himself. As it turned out, this guy was also unlucky tonight and only managed to win two chicken hands in one round.
After finally managing to get him a good hand, and seeing that he had finally managed to control his trembling hands, Li Sishi hadn't even had time to be happy when she looked down and noticed that the length of the hand he held seemed a bit off. She counted the cards on her fingers—
Good heavens, the Grand Master has fifteen cards! How could you possibly win?!
No wonder his hands weren't shaking this time; it turns out he himself felt something was off and thought he hadn't finished his hand yet!
"I
"I don't know when I finished drawing the cards and forgot to play them..." Rong Juezhang pitifully explained in a low voice after realizing the problem.
"Twice still," Li Sishi emphasized again.
Seeing Rong Juezhang's whiny and spoiled look, as if saying "If you don't help me, I'm going to throw a tantrum," Li Sishi managed to suppress the overwhelming urge to verbally and physically attack him and quickly ended the round, preventing Rong Juezhang from successfully taking over all three households again.
Li Sishi, who had finally managed to feed Rong Juezhang two big hands after a card game that lasted until late at night, was utterly exhausted.
Rong Juezhang was very satisfied with his two big hands. Except that his nemesis at the poker table, Tang Jingwen, was not in Hong Kong, so he could not take revenge or show off, which made him feel a little regretful. He had a very comfortable time playing poker tonight, so he readily accepted the invitation to play Li Sishi's "husband" again.
Anyway, this isn't the first time he's played Li Sishi's "husband." His previous role as a refined scoundrel was a bit of a "damage" to his image; and since this is a lighthearted commercial comedy, collaborating with Li Sishi again to redeem his refined and elegant image wouldn't hurt...
After all, Li Sishi is among so many male celebrities
They specifically chose him and went to the trouble of inviting him to play the "husband," so they had to give him some face and a favor.
This pleasant, back-and-forth exchange continued until Rong Juezhang received the movie script and happened to meet up with several other male actors who were there for cameo roles in the conference room.
Originally, when Rong Juezhang saw that Shang Hanyou, Ling Chen, Cheng Erjian, and other acquaintances and juniors who were obviously interested in his cousin, he felt a unique sense of pride when he thought that he was the only one playing the role of "husband" while the roles of these people were "pursuers" just like in reality. This gave him, as a gossip, a different kind of pleasure than before.
Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that everyone else thought almost exactly the same thing: out of all the male cameos, I was the only one who was the "husband," and the feeling of being unknowingly superior to everyone else was actually kind of... tiny bit satisfying...
Then, without prior arrangement, they all opened the script with the same thought in mind—a script that would be akin to a mudslide impacting their current thoughts.
"What?! Your character is also her husband?!"
"Wait, wait a minute! How many husbands does this female lead have?!"
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