Chapter 5 Chapter 5 On and Off the Stage
The person outside the door had a clear purpose and walked straight towards the box. Before pressing the door handle from the outside, Chen Jingzhou took out a hand to lock it, then took her into his arms and kissed her more and more deeply.
He Chuxi's heart almost jumped into her throat. Her small hands tightly grasped his arms and clothes. She dared not make a sound and was forced to endure it.
"Huh? Why is it locked? Xiao Li, are all the guests gone? Is the room clean?"
"No, I haven't cleaned it yet."
There was another round of pressing on the doorknob.
"It might be broken. Let the electrician fix it tomorrow."
"OK."
The footsteps faded away.
He Chuxi breathed a sigh of relief, then bit her lips hard.
The man felt pain and finally let go.
"Are you sick?"
Chen Jingzhou reached out and touched his bitten lower lip. He stared at her with his brows relaxed, his eyes full of aftertaste. "How exciting."
He Chuxi was speechless. She ignored his inexplicable irritation and said seriously, "Chen Jingzhou, I am not you. This is my job. I need this job. We are just actors in the same crew and have no other relationship. I hope you will not contact me privately in the future and do not do anything that crosses the line."
The man's eyes suddenly turned cold, his light blue eyes froze into ice, and his lips were pursed tightly.
The air around him seemed to be stagnant because of his expression, making it difficult to breathe.
After a moment, he raised a mocking smile and asked, "Throw it away after use?"
He Chuxi slightly turned away to avoid the overly sharp gaze, and her voice was relatively steady: "That's not what I meant. I'm very grateful for your help, so I cherish this job very much. It's very important, and I don't want anything to go wrong."
"What kind of accident could happen?"
"......" He Chuxi turned back and suddenly laughed angrily, "Chen Jingzhou, don't play dumb."
Chen Jingzhou also smiled, his smile was gentle, yet sharp, "What if I disagree?"
He Chuxi listened to this and raised her head slightly to look at the man who was much taller than her, her heart growing colder little by little.
She was helpless.
Asking someone to do something for you is like handing your own weakness to them.
The relationship that could have ended at any time was tied up in this smile, and she completely lost control.
But that's okay, that's the price.
He Chuxi calmly changed her tone: "I can't be so blatant like now. I have to ensure my safety."
Her compromise seemed to come effortlessly, and Chen Jingzhou's smile slowly faded.
They stared at each other, neither willing to look away, the other's tense face reflected in their pupils.
After six or seven seconds, the woman turned around, twisted the lock to open the door, straightened her slender and even back, and said no more.
......
In July, the small southern county town was so hot and stuffy that the air could be wrung out of water.
He Chuxi thought that Director Fang and his team were really good at choosing locations. The architecture, climate, and humanities in the script were almost perfectly reproduced, and the hot and wet entanglement between Xia Xiaoyu and Zhou Zhuo seemed to be coming to mind.
At nine o'clock, she put on her makeup and went to the opening ceremony.
The crew of "The Eighth Day of the Lunar New Year" is a project of the local government to stimulate tourism consumption. Their filming will be appropriately open to the public, so the start-up site this morning was already crowded with people.
Everyone has fans, but those small numbers are nothing compared to Chen Jingzhou's fans.
Before He Chuxi even reached the front of the stage, she could already hear overwhelming cheers from outside, every one of them for Chen Jingzhou.
She looked around but didn't see the man.
I looked down at my watch again. It was already 9:10 and the filming started at 9:30. He wouldn't be late, right?
The next second, the stagehand rushed by and said, "Teacher Chen's car is blocked by fans and can't get in now."
“…”
"Teacher Chen is really popular. #ChenJingzhou, new film starts shooting# is already trending." Xiaodie followed him out, "I heard that a lot of people came outside today, all his fans."
He Chuxi glanced at her, "Envy?"
Xiaodie immediately laughed, "No, no, one day, Sister Yueyue, you will be more famous than him!"
He Chuxi didn't have such unrealistic fantasies. There was already a difference in the size of male and female fans in the entertainment industry, which was determined by the consumer groups.
She tapped her head and said, "Then I'll take your kind words."
Chen Jingzhou arrived two minutes before the ceremony, hurriedly changed into a custom T-shirt made by the crew, and went on stage without even putting on makeup.
But no one said anything, his original face was enough to get full marks.
While waiting in the wings, the two of them glanced at each other for a moment, but neither of them paused.
The man's face was extremely calm, as still as a mountain.
He Chuxi was stunned for two seconds, then pursed her lips, thinking it would be best to just pretend not to know him.
When the time came, Director Fang led the leading actors onto the stage.
As soon as he appeared, the fans screamed and shouted, the cheers were deafening.
She glanced to the side quietly and saw the stern-faced man putting his finger to his mouth and making a hushing gesture. The rare smile on his face was like a spring breeze blowing across the melting lake, creating shallow ripples.
The fans were instantly silent and raised their cell phone cameras to take pictures quietly.
Tsk.
You really have a way.
The process is fixed, Director Fang and the local government propaganda department will give speeches, unveil the curtain, pray, and take photos.
During the group photo session, the staff signaled the two leading actors, male and female, to stand together. Chen Jingzhou was standing still, but then he remembered something and pulled Director Fang next to him to stand between the two of them. The middle was almost the C position. Director Fang said a few polite words and took the group photo with a smile.
He Chuxi witnessed everything without reacting.
It was almost eleven o'clock when we finished. After resting for a while, we started preparing for the first scene in the afternoon.
The venue provided by the government here is spacious, and the male and female protagonists each have a separate dressing room. As soon as she entered the room, He Chuxi first saw a large bouquet of yellow roses in front of the makeup mirror.
This year, she was influenced by someone and learned to recognize some rose varieties. If she remembered correctly, this bunch of yellow roses was called Golden Fragrant Jade. The flowers had a strong fragrance and bright golden petals, which symbolized good wishes between friends.
She was a little surprised and subconsciously turned around to ask, "Did Teacher Chen send it?"
Xiaodie, who always has first-hand information, shook her head and said, "No, it was given by Teacher Ming. I heard that everyone got one, and they were all roses."
He Chuxi reached out and touched the bright rose bud, and gradually understood. She didn't expect Mingwei to do such a good job.
After a while, Xiaodie behind him held the phone and hesitated to speak, "Sister Yueyue..."
"What's wrong?"
Xiaodie bit her lower lip and handed over the phone.
#陈靖洲贺初曦，不和#, the most popular real-time topic, the gossip blogger posted a video clip of the opening ceremony and group photo that was freshly released five minutes ago.
In the video, a man and a woman clearly dislike each other. They didn't look at each other, smile, or communicate throughout the whole process. When taking a photo together, the man was unwilling to stand with the woman and took the initiative to switch seats.
The discussion was heated, with fans of two groups arguing with each other. Everyone was worried about the follow-up of "The Eighth Day of the New Year", and some people thought it was a deliberate hype, and the amount of discussion continued to rise.
He Chuxi glanced at it casually and calmly returned the phone. "There will be many such things in the future. Relax."
Xiaodie was still worried, her face wrinkled, "Sister Yueyue, you and Teacher Chen..."
"Yeah, there's a grudge."
......
The second female lead also had her own dressing room. When the assistant pushed the door open, Mingwei immediately turned her chair to look over. "Is everything finished?"
"I've delivered it. I'll carry it over to Teacher Chen myself."
"Did he say anything?"
"No, Mr. Chen's assistant received the flowers."
Mingwei's expression shifted slightly, a puzzlement building within her. No reaction? Wasn't it said that Chen Jingzhou's own greenhouse was full of roses? Was the information wrong? Or was sending flowers directly too obvious?
Chen Jingzhou is really difficult to deal with, she needs to take a long-term approach.
Mingwei reached for the cigarette in her bag, but withdrew her hand halfway and picked up the old script.
She has a scene in the afternoon, so she needs to practice more.
Although the second female lead Jian Man has fewer scenes than Xia Xiaoyu, she is also a flesh-and-blood character.
Jian Man comes from a privileged family and was brought up with strict family education. She is an out-and-out good girl. Her parents, both highly educated, do not allow her to hang out with Xia Xiaoyu and Zhou Zhuo. For this reason, they imprison her and plan to send her abroad. In the first half of the story, Jian Man learns to rebel against her parents for the first time, lie, climb walls, steal things, and lives a very happy life.
Although she had no choice but to go abroad as arranged by her parents, the happy and rebellious time she spent with the male and female protagonists for those few months was the best memory of her life.
Just as I was thinking about the emotions of the afternoon's scenes, the door of the room was pushed open again and the agent Wang Qian strode in.
"Sister, why are you here?"
"Come and see you." Wang Qian smiled gently, "How is it?"
"fine."
Wang Qian stood behind the chair and leaned over slightly to look at the young and beautiful girl in the mirror with her. "Have you watched the news?"
"I just saw it. Are these trending searches bought by the company?"
Wang Qian didn't answer.
The leading actress has already been snatched up, so why would the company spend any more money? And even if it did, it wouldn’t be at this time.
She lowered her voice and said meaningfully, "This is a good thing for us, you know?"
Mingwei looked at the capable woman in the mirror and nodded, "I know."
"Come back to North City this weekend. I've asked Director Fang for leave."
"Why go back?"
"There's a bureau over there with President Hua, I'll take you there to see the world."
When Mingwei heard this, her brows furrowed slightly.
Mr. Hua is the vice president of Tianye Media and holds considerable power.
If it is a public dinner, investment promotion meeting or the like, it is a way to show the public, but if it is a private gathering, the scene can be public or private.
When signing the contract, Wang Qian had already hinted that she was just a recent college graduate and the company would do its best to train her, so she had to be obedient.
Now that I have one foot in the entertainment industry, although I haven't stepped into the bottom of this muddy water yet, I have experienced it firsthand. If I want to go further, I have to take a boat, a big boat or a small boat.
Ming Wei was silent for a moment, then responded, "Okay."
......
Today's scene takes place in the noodle shop where the heroine works part-time. It uses real scenes and the surrounding area has been fenced off.
The first scene is the first meeting between the hero and heroine.
Director Fang spent ten minutes discussing the scene, and finally said, "This is your first time acting together, so let's get the hang of it first. Don't be nervous, just go for it."
He Chuxi looked at the man next to her who was wearing gangster clothes. Their eyes met and then they looked away.
The man wore an open plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His forearms were decorated with specially drawn tattoos and old scars. He wore baggy jeans with whitened knees and torn hems, casually piled on top of his worn canvas shoes.
It was completely different from the usual arrogant young master, but it was inexplicably fitting, fully showing the arrogant Chen Jingzhou she knew in private.
He Chuxi smiled inwardly, this was just her nature.
She handed the script and the small fan in her hand to Xiaodie and went into the kitchen to prepare.
The scene was cleared, and with the word "Action", the "guests" and "noodle shop owner" all got into their roles, and He Chuxi also quickly adjusted his mood.
In July, the small noodle shop only turned on the fan to save electricity. The customers in the store were sweating profusely while eating, and the kitchen was extremely stuffy. Xia Xiaoyu, who was wearing a cotton and linen shirt, immediately broke out in a sweat due to the heat.
The front desk lady yelled back, her voice rough, "Xiaoyu, where's the pig intestine noodles for table two! Hurry up! Why are you dawdling?"
"Here they are." A girl of about eighteen or nineteen years old brought out the noodles carefully and skillfully, found table number two, and then handed the bowl of noodles to the customer with both hands.
The first scene ends here. Director Fang in front of the monitor stares intently at the expression on the girl's face. The girl's hand touched the bowl of noodles and was burned, and the fleeting pain and endurance she felt were handled very well.
"Okay, card, next one."
The next one was Zhou Zhuo and his gangster friend entering the store. After placing their order, they sat down unsteadily and talked loudly about recent football events. It went pretty smoothly and I took two shots to finish.
The third act is when the heroine gives them the top.
The yellow-haired hoodlum No. 1 looked the girl up and down, raised his eyebrows, and said jokingly: "Hey, isn't this the celebrity in Xinghua Town?"
Zhou Zhuo followed his friend's gaze and looked over there.
Yellow Hair Number One was very rude, "I heard that you killed your father?"
Everyone in the noodle shop looked over.
The girl's face also changed, but she didn't react and continued in silence.
Huangmao turned his head and prepared to gossip with his friends.
But he didn't pay attention to the amplitude of the shaking, and his arm accidentally touched the girl's hand holding the bowl of noodles. The steaming noodle soup shook onto the girl's hand, and the little hand turned red instantly.
This is not part of the script.
The staff reminded Director Fang, and Director Fang looked at the female lead who was enduring and keeping silent, and then at the male lead. None of the actors under the camera noticed this scene, only the male lead saw it and frowned slightly.
Director Fang didn't call cut, but waved his hand to signal not to interrupt.
The play was still going on, and Huang Mao said with a perfect expression: "You know what? This is a good student in our school. Her father died last month. The police suspect that she was the one who killed him, but they have no evidence. So, is this considered a high-IQ crime?"
Then he raised his voice to the boss lady and said, "Boss lady, you dare to use a murderer?"
Of course the proprietress knew all this. She only used Xia Xiaoyu because she was cheap, and the girl looked pitiful when she came to her door that day, so she softened her heart for a moment.
Now that the yellow-haired girl was speaking so brazenly and disturbing the customers, the proprietress quickly came out from behind the cashier, pulled the girl behind her, and feigned surprise and scolded her: "Why didn't you tell me all this when you came to work here?" Then she smiled apologetically at the table and said, "Handsome man, don't talk nonsense. But I don't dare to use this person anymore. I'll let her go later. You can enjoy your noodles without worry."
The proprietress kept comforting the customer, and the girl next to her lowered her head, clenched her fists and went back to the kitchen.
Zhou Zhuo crossed his legs, put his hands in his pockets, leaned lazily against the back of the chair, and a smile of anticipation appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Xia Xiaoyu returned to the kitchen, took off her apron, and sat quietly on the bench in the back kitchen where miscellaneous items were placed, her eyes vacant.
The camera is pointed at her.
Next is a scene where Xia Xiaoyu asks the boss’s wife for her wages for the past two days, and the boss’s wife has no choice but to pay her.
Then Xia Xiaoyu went out, the yellow-haired guys continued to make things difficult, and the second female lead Jian Man appeared.
After shooting a few takes intermittently, the first scene in the noodle shop ended here.
Director Fang and the assistant director looked at the monitor screen repeatedly.
Then they looked at each other with surprise in their eyes.
Basically, they can all be used, and the effect is unexpectedly good, especially the male and female protagonists, who play their respective roles to perfection. The male protagonist is nonchalant, while the female protagonist is patient and tenacious, and the interaction between the two is subtle and just right, as if they were really Xia Xiaoyu and Zhou Zhuo.
Director Fang was very happy and asked everyone to rest and prepare, and then shoot the second scene in the noodle shop half an hour later.
The next scene is that several days later, the heroine fainted in front of the store. The proprietress once again couldn't bear it and brought the girl into the store to rest.
Clothes need to be changed and makeup needs to be slightly modified.
He Chuxi returned to the dressing room.
The male lead's dressing room was next door, and the two ran into each other head-on.
The man's eyes moved slightly downwards, landing on the back of her hand, but without lingering for too long, he pushed the door open and went in.
That face and those eyes were emotionless from beginning to end.
He Chuxi lowered her eyes to look at her hands, then moved away after two or three seconds and went into the house.
That's good. This person kept his promise today. It seems there's no need to worry too much in the future.
After walking a few steps, I heard a knock on the door next door. Ming Wei said gently, "Teacher Chen, we will have a scene later. Can I go over my lines with you first?"
The man didn't hear the answer clearly, but Mingwei's footsteps must have made her enter the house.
He Chuxi curled the corners of her mouth, but soon her delicate face dropped. She pouted and blew on her hand, which still felt a little sour and stinging. She said to Xiaodie with a wronged look, "Xiaodie, go buy me some medicine! It hurts so much!"
The injury on this wrist has just healed and now a new one has appeared. It's really a constant torment.
Only then did Xiaodie notice the red patch on the back of her hand, and she hurried to buy medicine.
As soon as I went out, I met Chen Jingzhou's assistant, Brother Liang.
"Where are you going, Xiaodie?"
Xiaodie said anxiously, "Sister Yueyue's hand was burned. I have to go buy her some medicine, but I remember there doesn't seem to be a pharmacy nearby..."
"Are you stupid? The crew has an emergency medicine kit. Go ask Sister Zhang."
Xiaodie tapped her head and laughed foolishly, "Oh, yeah, I forgot."
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