Flower of Talking
When Su Wen was escorted onto the set by the crowd, Xia Zhitang was crouching in front of the monitor, adjusting the color temperature. The scent of Chanel No. 5 on Su Wen's body was particularly noticeable in the sweaty studio.
Xia Zhitang sneezed and looked up to see Su Wen's pearly white dress shining coldly among the pile of gray equipment.
"The light leaking from this ceiling is too severe." Su Wen kicked the rail car with her patent leather high heels and said with disgust, "Old Lin, are you guys just going to let you guys mess around like this?"
Xia Zhitang stood up, patted his jeans, and stepped forward to explain, "This morning scene was changed temporarily, and the natural light is more realistic."
Su Wen raised her chin and looked at Xia Zhitang with a bad expression.
The production director whispered Xia Zhitang's identity into Su Wen's ear.
Su Wen nodded slightly, her red lips slightly raised.
"Investors' money doesn't just come out of thin air. Director Xia is quite good at saving money."
Su Wen squinted her eyes and looked around, then lowered her head to look at her newly-painted manicure and said nonchalantly, "Let me take a look at the notice."
The production director quickly handed it over with both hands, but Su Wen stood there motionless. The production director quickly changed his posture and held the notice sheet with both hands. Su Wen finally reached out with satisfaction and scratched the cast list with her nails painted with large peony flowers. "Does the third female lead have so many scenes?"
Xia Zhitang pulled out the latest revision: "Director Lin just made adjustments yesterday. Miss Su, would you like to review the original contract?"
Su Wen curled her lips slightly and was about to say something when Xia Zhitang's intercom in his pocket suddenly rang: "Director Xia! The crane is stuck!"
"Cut to the backup camera, close-up first." Xia Zhitang grabbed the loudspeaker and shouted, then turned to look at Su Wen, "Which part of the budget are you looking at, Miss Su?"
The scent of Su Wen's perfume overwhelmed the pervasive odor of sweat in the studio. She looked at Xia Zhitang unkindly, "Director Xia is so capable, is he married?"
"The investors only care about the project progress." Xia Zhitang pressed the intercom button. "Props team, replace Miss Su's chair with the lead actor's lounge chair."
When the crew brought in the carved rattan chair, Su Wen took out a wet towel and wiped her hands: "Your crew doesn't even have a decent dressing room?"
"It's a makeshift set, and it will be dismantled tomorrow." Xia Zhitang pointed at the shipping container in the distance. "Director Lin said the money saved is enough to buy you half a handbag."
Su Wen snorted coldly, picked up the script on the table, and accidentally knocked over her crocodile leather handbag. Xia Zhitang reached out to grab it. "Watch out for nails." There was still oil paint stained under her fingernails. "Want an iced drink? Coconut water from the sponsor."
"No need." Su Wen took the bag and turned to walk towards the parking lot. "Tell Lao Lin that he must be present at the family dinner next week."
The stagehand came over to wipe his sweat: "Director Xia, is this chair still available?"
"Put it back in the main cast area." Xia Zhitang handed the coconut water that Su Wen hadn't touched to the lighting technician. "We're going to have a rain scene this afternoon, so let everyone drink plenty of water."
As the crowd dispersed, Xia Zhitang turned and stared at Su Wen's back, his right hand tightly clutching the faded red string around his left wrist. Three years had passed, and Su Wen had completely forgotten the young, capable female employee under Lin Jingming... Perhaps she had never known the wife of the man who had lost her cousin three years earlier...
The Su family, the Su family, the Su family with deep roots.
Xia Zhitang's eyes suddenly became firm, she turned around and walked towards the set with a smile.
Even if she is torn to pieces, she will still do something like an ant trying to shake a tree!
At noon, as soon as the staff called out "Dinner is served," Yin Tian's agent Xie Lin had already opened the thermal box and waved enthusiastically to Xia Zhitang, "Director Xia, come to our table!"
Xia Zhitang thought about it and walked over with the lunch box.
The production director also scurried over: "Hey, braised pork! Count me in, count me in!"
The three of them sat in the corner, and Yin Tian's agent Xie Lin placed the insulated lunch box in the middle of the table.
The production director picked up a piece of fried tofu and couldn't help but start gossiping. "Have you seen Su Wen's Maserati? Director Lin gave it to her when she won the Best Director award last year." He lowered his voice and said, "That's where the old man from the Su family retired, right?"
Xie Lin tore open the disposable chopsticks. "I heard that Su Wen and his father have different household registration books." She scooped a spoonful of eggplant into Xia Zhitang's bowl. "That's why he's so pretentious."
Xia Zhitang pretended to be casual and asked, "Did she give your Yin Tian a hard time?"
"The inspections are very strict!" The production director lowered his voice. "Even a beautiful woman is afraid that she will seduce her husband, Lin."
The groundskeeper passed by with a drinks cart: "Iced sour plum soup!"
Xie Lin squeezed over and grabbed two cups, then handed one to Xia Zhitang before continuing in a low voice, "If you ask me, Su Wen's outfit is enough to cover half a month's lunch expenses for our crew."
She pointed to the carved chair in the distance that hadn't been dismantled. "That broken chair, she treated it like a treasure and had it polished over and over again."
Xia Zhitang opened the bottle of mineral water and asked, "Is the old man from the Su family still in charge of the project?"
"Leaving early!" The production director spat out the chicken bone. "But that Vice President Liu on the jury is his classmate." He suddenly slapped his thigh. "Oh, right! Last time Su Wen came to check the accounts, she found that the production manager bought thirty cases of mineral water and insisted that we issued false invoices!"
Xie Lin laughed so hard that her rice grains popped out: "What's the result?"
"I'll stack the empty bottles into a tower for her to see!" the production manager gestured. "It's three meters high!"
The stagehand held up a megaphone and shouted, "Work is underway! Director Xia, Director Lin wants you to review the scenes!"
Xia Zhitang stood up and packed up the lunch boxes: "We're going to shoot a rain scene this afternoon, everyone remember to get your raincoats."
"Hey, Director Xia!" Xie Lin stood up and handed over a tissue. "Would you like another poached egg?"
"Leave it to Yin Tian." Xia Zhitang put the untouched braised pork back into the lunch box. "She has a crying scene this afternoon."
The production manager glanced at the carved chair in the distance and asked, "Where should I put this crap?"
"Save it for Miss Su." Xie Lin rolled her eyes and said.
He took out his phone to take a picture and said sarcastically, "She can sit here next time she comes."
As the day of the Su family gathering drew closer, Lin Jing in the theater became noticeably more irritable.
Xia Zhitang seemed to see a giant beast chasing and biting Lin Jingming.
She recalled watching a TV series with her late husband, and his complaints about the male protagonist: "He wants it all. He uses his wife's family background to climb to a high position, and then he wants the gentle and innocent Jieyuhua. That's the root of human nature."
Xia Zhitang stood in front of the hotel window, looking at the raindrops outside, and drew a flower on the foggy glass with his fingertips.
When Yin Tian's high heels got stuck in the track again, Lin Jingming dropped the notice.
"Why are you crying? You can't even change your shoes?"
Xia Zhitang bent down and pulled out her high heels. "Widen the track spacing by five centimeters." She gestured to the lighting technician, "Backlight from the side. The reflection from the heels will cover the cracks."
"Hide it! You're just trying to fool around!" Lin Jingming kicked over the folding chair. "What I want is a perfect shot!"
The stagehand trembled as he handed over the iced coffee, but Lin Jingming waved it away. "Filming a winter scene in 38-degree weather, are the costume and makeup artists all sleepwalking?"
"Bring in the ice machine and film the male lead suffering from heatstroke and hallucinations instead," Xia Zhitang suggested, his expression unchanged. "That way, we don't have to change the scene, and we can save two truckloads of ice."
Lin Jingming loosened his tie: "Costume crew! Change the coats to tulle!"
"If we change it to a heatstroke scene," Xia Zhitang pulled out the backup script, "Yin Tian's water feeding scene can be deleted, saving half an hour."
The groundskeeper suddenly yelled, "The ice machine plug isn't long enough!"
"Use the extension cord from the lighting unit." Xia Zhitang kicked away the tangled cables. "Take the aquarium's cooler off first."
Lin Jingming grabbed the mineral water and poured it over his face: "Don't eat until you finish filming!"
"I've ordered mung bean soup." Xia Zhitang took the dry towel from the stagehand and handed it to him. "Please wipe your face. The replay of the revised play can be watched now."
Yin Tian huddled in a corner, applying makeup. Her mascara, mixed with tears, smudged across her face. Xia Zhitang threw a bottle of ice water over to her: "Ice your eyes. I'll take a close-up shot of you handing me the handkerchief later."
Lin Jingming suddenly kicked the equipment box: "Rearrange the notice list!"
"It's fixed." Xia Zhitang showed his phone. "The extras finished work two hours early, and the money saved was enough to rent an air-conditioned car for the night."
Xia Zhitang was like a kite flyer. When Lin Jingming was about to lose control of his emotions, he calmly took control of the situation and solved the problem, gently pulling him back.
As the orange sunset stretched the shadows of the equipment boxes, Lin Jingming slumped in his director's chair and sighed, "That girl who threw the editing panel back then..."
"Now you've learned to save money." Xia Zhitang unscrewed the bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water and handed it over. "Do you want to drink it?"
Lin Jingming's brows, which had been frowned for a whole day, finally relaxed. He reached out and slowly took the bottle, his warm fingertips rubbing the back of Xia Zhitang's hand with infinite affection.
Lin Jingming raised his head and drank the medicine, his face wrinkled with bitterness: "Tomorrow at seven o'clock..."
"The notice has been posted in the group chat. There will be a thunderstorm tomorrow, so we'll be filming the car scene instead."
Lin Jingming handed the empty bottle to Xia Zhitang: "Help me throw it away."
Xia Zhitang took it without changing his expression. Lin Jingming stood up with a relaxed look on his face, put his hands in his trouser pockets and walked towards the parking lot.
Xia Zhitang looked at Lin Jingming's back and laughed at herself in her heart: The young woman who used to get angry when Lin Jingming asked her to help sign for express deliveries and pick up takeout has now learned to endure it.
Xia Zhitang had just opened the hotel door when Cheng Shubai's phone rang. She tucked her phone onto her shoulder and used her free hand to insert the hotel room card.
"How many times did Old Lin get angry today?" Cheng Shubai's voice was mixed with the sound of electricity.
"Three times." She shook out the notice sheet. "Once because the coffee was too hot, and twice because Yin Tian's heel got stuck."
The sound of piano could be heard from Cheng Shubai's other end: "Su Wen sent me a message this afternoon, asking if there are any young actresses in the crew who often go to Lao Lin's room."
"The stagehands bring two portions of midnight snacks every day," Xia Zhitang replied while circling the scene changes with a red pen. "Last week, we brought in three boxes of mineral water, and Director Lin only drinks a certain brand."
"Is he afraid of being poisoned?" Cheng Shubai chuckled. "Su Wen once put laxatives in his thermos."
"Drug?"
"In the crew photo, he put his arm around the actress's shoulders."
Xia Zhitang kicked open the suitcase and took out the charger: "Tomorrow's rain scene will cost us over budget. Do you approve it?"
"Use Lao Lin's cigar money to make up for it." Cheng Shubai suddenly raised his voice, "Tongtong, don't touch the plug!"
The sound of children playing could be heard on the other end of the phone. "That's it for now. I'll show you the new office some other day."
After hanging up, Xia Zhitang opened the compartment of the suitcase and found a black notebook lying under several old T-shirts.
Xia Zhitang sat at the table and picked up a pen and wrote: "Suspected illegitimate daughter, retired, still has connections, strong desire for control"
The neon lights outside the window dyed the words purple. Xia Zhitang thought for a moment and added a new line: "A flower of eloquence, but suspicious."
Amid the laughter downstairs, Xia Zhitang slowly added the last word: "scumbag."
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