Chapter 67 The Deal.
On the day they joined the crew, Sheng Yi and Jing Jing met directly at the airport.
They flew directly to the provincial capital, then transferred to a bus, and finally boarded the film crew's vehicle to go there.
These past two days have gone by so fast. Sheng Yi had a meal with Fu Xiaodan, but spent almost all her time with Wen Shili.
Although she didn't want to do it, that's how it turned out.
Someone claimed it was to make up for a certain time she had stood him up. Sheng Yi didn't want to admit it, but this person solemnly recited a list of events, explaining the time, place, and reason for her standing him up for each of his appointments. Even though Sheng Yi didn't consider herself a shy girl, she couldn't help but blush.
She was afraid that if she spent more time with him, she would become addicted to his charms. So, she was extremely proactive and eager to join the cast this time.
However, when they switched from the plane to the bus, and then from the bus to the special car sent by the film crew, Sheng Yi and Jing Jing were dumbfounded.
The man who came to pick them up quickly carried their suitcases and neatly stacked them in the back of the tricycle. Then he quickly tied them with rope several times to secure them, and finally shook them to make sure they wouldn't run away.
She and Jingjing awkwardly climbed into the back seat of the driver's seat, clinging tightly to the car's handrail, and curiously peered out.
Mountains upon mountains upon mountains, bends upon bends, and the two of them even started counting in their minds how many big bends there were. Finally, when they ran out of fingers, Sheng Yi gave up.
The most ridiculous thing was that when passing other vehicles, the dust that rose up would hit them directly in the face. As they drove along, Sheng Yi had no idea how many layers of mud and sand had covered her face. She just silently pulled her mask up even higher.
More than an hour later, the tricycle carrying them stopped outside a makeshift wooden hut.
The two of them scrambled out of the car. Of course, they still had to save face in front of others, and what they really said was just that their movements were a little hurried.
As soon as the car arrived, the members who had already joined the group rushed over, enthusiastically helping to carry their luggage, and some even eagerly introduced the environment, food, and other things to note.
A few days later, Sheng Yi successfully passed the adaptation period, and her body cooperated well, with no adverse reactions.
In their spare time, they all like to stay in the director's room to talk about the script, their ideas, and how to make their performances more seamless.
I forgot to mention that this film was written and directed by the director herself. She spent three years writing the script, and it took her a long time to find an investor who liked the script. She made a firm promise to the investor that she dared not make a definitive conclusion on whether it would make money, but she would definitely not let the finished product betray the original intention of the story.
This is the first time Sheng Yi has played such a complex role, even though she is only the third female lead. The director said that there are no supporting characters in this script; every character is an indispensable part of building the soul of the story.
Communication was difficult here, so Sheng Yi spent almost all her time outside of filming flipping through scripts and books. What started as a short character biography has been expanded to more than a thousand words.
She couldn't help but think about and refine the blank spaces left unexpressed in the script, trying to recreate a richer life experience unique to this character.
Under the most primitive conditions, everyone was striving to outdo each other, and no one wanted to fall behind.
The male and female leads are actors with many years of acting experience. Sheng Yi had only heard their names before and had no connection with them at all. When they first started acting together, she could vaguely sense that the other party had certain feelings for her. Later, she didn't know when, but that feeling disappeared inexplicably.
It gets dark late here; sitting in the courtyard and looking up, you can see the Milky Way in the distance. Everything seems to slow down, yet the flesh and blood of the characters grow rapidly.
It was more than a month later when the director finished filming the last scene here and notified everyone to move on to another location.
Jingjing had visibly lost weight, but she didn't notice at all. She happily packed her luggage, then looked reluctantly at the saplings that had grown a little taller in the yard, and murmured, "So fast."
Yes. The team acted faster than anyone expected.
Two days later, the entire team moved to another location.
It was still within the province, but this area was accessible by plane and bus. The little tricycle was now gathering dust, and everyone's mode of transportation had been changed to the film crew's bus.
Just as the group was settling into their new environment, they heard that another film crew had arrived nearby. They stared at each other wide-eyed, completely incredulous—how could they possibly run into other unfortunate colleagues in a place like this?!
However, she was only surprised for a moment. Sheng Yi traveled in the crew's car every day and had no time to find out what was going on outside the crew.
The members of the two groups were only aware of each other's existence, but did not have any further communication.
After a while, they heard that the other film crew had moved to the location next door to film.
When Sheng Yi saw Xu Jiayi, he was genuinely stunned.
She had just finished filming and casually strolled around somewhere when she unexpectedly saw Xu Jiayi holding hands with a man in an alley. Xu Jiayi was facing her, her face obscured by the man. It wasn't until the man turned his head to kiss her that Sheng Yi realized it was her.
Her forward movement faltered, and she abruptly turned a corner, changing to another route.
Admittedly, she and Xu Jiayi didn't have any deep-seated grudges, but it's hard to say what the other person thought when she so directly invaded their privacy.
Sheng Yi patted his head, saying he shouldn't have wandered off aimlessly.
Back in my room, I discovered that the gossip in the group had already been updated.
"Sis, guess what the other crew is filming?" Jingjing asked mysteriously.
Sheng Yi recalled the clothes of the two people today, and it was clear that they hadn't changed out of their costumes yet. She roughly confirmed the answer in her mind. Sure enough, she heard Jingjing sigh and say, "It's that period drama that we were going through before. It's been delayed for so long and it's finally started filming. I didn't expect that the female lead would end up in Xu Jiayi's hands."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Yi vaguely remembered, "And the male lead, who was ultimately chosen?"
"The male lead's name is Zhang Li. I don't know if you've heard of him. He hasn't played the male lead in a long time, but his acting is still pretty good." Jingjing thought for a moment and said, "It seems that Xu Jiayi really wants to change her image."
Popular celebrities often go through this awkward phase: they enter the public eye with a hit role, but after the initial entertainment, they are labeled as someone who can't act.
It seems that only those who come from serious dramas can be called actors, and those touching roles are only attributed to good character design, belonging to the category that would be popular no matter who plays them.
After several years of being swept up in the world of internet celebrities, Xu Jiayi has also fallen into the predicament of an urgent transformation. At this time, partnering with a non-celebrity actor who has low public exposure but decent acting skills, and choosing a serious drama with a good script, seems to be a very correct step.
Of course, what is considered correct is merely a boundary drawn by humans.
Sheng Yi frowned, thinking about the man standing with his back to her. That must be Zhang Li.
What has he acted in before?
Jingjing searched for the movie as soon as she heard the news, and now she was rattling off a list. Sheng Yi actually found a few movies she had seen among these names, but she wasn't familiar with the actors.
"The young master he played a few years ago was quite popular, wasn't he? Although he was just a supporting actor, his acting was well-received. He even won a supporting actor award. I didn't expect him to get the lead role this time."
"And judging from the online comments, Xu Jiayi's fans haven't done anything."
The actions mentioned refer to some fans who, after the news breaks, are dissatisfied with their idol's co-stars or cast and cause a scene by demanding a boycott and a replacement from the very beginning.
Sheng Yi took her phone and saw the man's face on the screen, only then managing to connect it to a certain character from before.
So it was him. The role he played before was indeed well-received. But... she thought of the kiss in the dark alley, shook her head, and didn't want to think about it any further.
That day, the man stood with his back to her, so he probably wouldn't have noticed her presence. Xu Jiayi looked completely absorbed, so she likely wouldn't have been paying attention to anything else. This matter was destined to remain a secret forever.
The premise is that the other party does not provoke her.
But the other party clearly didn't think that way.
Sheng Yi finished work early that day and, without waiting for the crew's bus, walked to her lodgings. As she walked through a small alley, she saw the man named Zhang Li again.
"You're off work?" the other person greeted her.
There were only two people in the alley, so Sheng Yi couldn't pretend to be oblivious. On a larger scale, they were colleagues in the same circle. She nodded slightly, then lowered her head and continued walking.
The alley was truly as its name suggested; it was so narrow that even with her utmost care, she still brushed against the other person's clothes.
I wanted to apologize, but looking at his eyes, I felt that I really didn't need to be so polite.
"Teacher Sheng, would you like to talk?" Zhang Li suddenly changed his tone.
Sheng Yi carefully looked around. No wonder they were so blatant; they were taking advantage of the fact that this place was remote and there were no cameras everywhere.
Even when he reached out to pull her, she only had one feeling: sure enough, he didn't even bother to hide his true colors, which was extremely unappealing.
He might try to hide something from Xu Jiayi, who is just a nameless and backgroundless nobody. Her most famous work might just be a news story to gain popularity by associating with a top celebrity. In this remote and impoverished place, he is naturally fearless.
"How about the second female lead in Director Zhang's next film?"
"Oh, Director Zhang." Sheng Yi thought for a moment. In the industry, there's no need for any suffix; just mentioning the surname is enough to make even the most obscure celebrities flock to him. Who is this director surnamed Zhang?
Before she could come up with a solution, after only a few minutes of silence, the other party took the initiative to increase the offer, "Still not enough? Female lead, female lead it is then."
Shouldn't she be smiling? Sheng Yi thought. So, she also put on a surprised expression, looking at the confident man in front of her, and heard him say, "Until this play ends."
Sheng Yi immediately understood his request.
She stayed with him until the end of the film, letting him do whatever he wanted, and in exchange, she got the lead role in Director Zhang's next film.
What a lucrative deal! In this rural area with little entertainment and limited outside scrutiny, she could be a couple on a short film set, and then return to the spotlight, becoming a true leading lady for a great director.
Using a coin that can be sold countless times to climb the ladder of advancement—no matter how you look at it, you're not losing out.
Moreover, to allay her concerns, he even revealed in advance that after filming wrapped, they would go their separate ways. All transactions would end there.
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