Laughing
When Xia Zhitang was checking the storyboard, the scent of Su Wen's perfume mixed with the smell of paint on the set wafted over.
Gu Zian, who was helping to adjust the lights next to Xia Zhitang, suddenly felt a cold mineral water bottle against the back of his neck.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Gu." Su Wen shook the bottle, and her wedding ring shone brightly in the sunlight. "Jingming always praises you for your talent."
Gu Zian turned and bowed. "Hello, Mrs. Lin." His fangs were faintly visible in the shadows. "Life on the set is quite a workout."
The pen on Xia Zhitang's desk was swept off by Su Wen's skirt. Gu Zian squatted down and picked it up first: "Sister, camera number two needs a close-up shot."
Su Wen used her rhinestone-covered nails to pick up the storyboard on Xia Zhitang's desk: "Director Xia, President Cheng often praises you..."
Xia Zhitang gave Su Wen a polite smile, then turned to Gu Zian and said, "The blasting team is urging us."
She rang the intercom, "Xiao Lin, take Miss Su to the VIP lounge."
Lin Jingming poked his head out from behind the monitor. "Why are you here, Wenwen?" He walked over quickly and put his arm around his wife's shoulders. "It's dusty here. I'll take you to try the new Blue Mountain coffee the crew has just delivered."
Gu Zian took the opportunity to sneak towards Shed No. 3 with the equipment.
Su Wen poked Lin Jingming's chest with her fingertips: "Your Director Xia is really playing both sides. President Cheng is pouring money into the crew every day, even the young master of the Gu family..."
"How would I know anything about investors?" Lin Jingming took out a lighter and lit her cigarette. "But your new nails look really good with this cheongsam."
Xia Zhitang adjusted the frequency of the blasting remote control and heard Su Wen suddenly chuckle: "I thought it was a threat, but now it seems..." She exhaled a smoke ring drifting across the monitor, "Cheng Shubai and the Gu family kid are competing to be the flower protector."
The groundskeeper yelled, "Get ready!"
Lin Jingming held Su Wen in his arms and led her to a safe area: "Be careful not to get splashed on your skirt." He turned around and told Xia Zhitang, "Five seconds countdown!"
When the smoke cleared, Su Wen's crocodile leather bag was nowhere to be seen.
The scene became chaotic. Finally, a staff member raised his hands amidst the rubble and said, "Found it!"
He waved his briefcase amidst the rubble. "Will you clean it up and take it to your car?"
Lin Jingming put out his wife's cigarette and said, "Ask the driver to take you to the airport. Didn't you say you had an appointment with your cousin to go to Paris?"
"It's time to go." Su Wen smoothed the wrinkles of her cheongsam. "After all, here..." She glanced at Xia Zhitang who was instructing Gu Zian. "It's very safe."
The groundskeeper pushed a coffee cart past, and Gu Zian threw two sugar cubes into Xia Zhitang's mug.
Lin Jingming raised his loud speaker and said, "Newcomers, go check the blast residue!"
Xia Zhitang sipped the overly sweet coffee and watched Su Wen's Maserati drive out of the studio gate.
The faded red rope around her wrist burned painfully in the sun.
Gu Zian held up a half-broken rock in the blasting pit: "Sister! Can this be used as a souvenir?" His canine teeth were covered in dust, flashing like tiny dots of light in the afterglow.
Xia Zhitang looked at his dirty face, which looked like a bomb dog running through the ruins, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Ten days later, Gu Zian only had two days left on the crew as the assistant director. The filming on the Qingdao location was about to begin, and Lin Jingming would fly to Qingdao tonight to oversee the scene.
As Xia Zhitang squatted, tying up the cables, Lin Jingming suddenly kicked the empty water bottle at his feet. The plastic bottle bounced off a folding chair and rolled right next to the toolbox she had just sorted out.
"The flight is at 10pm." He untied his tie and wrapped it around his palm. "The new guy will be a laborer at your place."
Xia Zhitang threw the broken fuse into the recycling bin: "Gu Zian learns faster than some people."
Lin Jingming looked down at Xia Zhitang, who was praising Gu Zian, and said coldly, "His father is the chairman of Gu's Medical, and he is the only son in the family. Do you think he really came here to learn how to act?"
Xia Zhitang stood up and began to check the notices: "At least he is squatting in the theater eating instant noodles now."
"Men are better at pretending to be innocent than actors." Lin Jingming suddenly grabbed the notice in her hand. "Back then, Cheng Shubai also said that he loved watching you edit the film." Amid the sound of paper tearing, he let out a rare sneer. "What happened next?"
Xia Zhitang pulled back half of the notice and said disapprovingly, "You said back then that editors are more important than directors."
"You still say that now." Lin Jingming suddenly approached Xia Zhitang, "But I wouldn't be so stupid as to pawn my wedding ring to an equipment rental company."
The wind blew dust into the studio. Xia Zhitang squinted and pressed down the messy notice sheet. "Gu Zian lent the antique vase to the prop team yesterday."
"A little trick of the rich second generation! Once the novelty wears off..." Lin Jingming said coldly, looking at Gu Zian who was jumping around in the distance, "He can't even find the switch for the surveillance camera."
The moment the stagehands flipped the switch, the emergency lights cast flickering shadows on their faces. Xia Zhitang gathered the notices in the dark: "At least he's willing to learn."
"You're learning shit!" Lin Jingming suddenly pulled back the hair on the back of her neck. "Back when you were learning color grading..." Xia Zhitang flinched at the heat from his fingertips. "You spent seven days straight in the editing room."
The sound of cart wheels approached again, and the stagehand raised his flashlight and shouted, "Director Lin, the cart is here!"
Lin Jingming suddenly stuffed a ball of paper into her trouser pocket and said, "Don't teach him how to use three-point lighting." He leaned over and whispered in Xia Zhitang's ear, "The way that boy looked at you..."
Xia Zhitang took a step back and bumped into the table. Lin Jingming reached out to help her, picked up the suitcase and left.
Xia Zhitang took out a crumpled piece of paper from his trouser pocket. On the wrinkled paper, besides tomorrow's notice, there was also half a scribbled word: "All men are fucking dogs."
There was a dull thud of a suitcase crashing into the trunk in the distance, and Xia Zhitang threw the ball of paper into the trash can.
Today is Gu Zian’s last day as assistant director.
Since Lin Jingming was away, Xia Zhitang was very busy and Gu Zian was being directed around.
After the last explosion scene was filmed, Xia Zhitang breathed a sigh of relief.
After the smoke cleared and layers of inspections were completed, Xia Zhitang made an OK gesture to indicate that it was time to call it a day.
A burst of cheers rang out, and a glass of bubbling champagne was suddenly stuffed into Xia Zhitang's hand.
The lighting engineer turned the spotlights to disco mode, and the stagehands brought in three folding tables to form a bar. Gu Zian's T-shirt was already signed by all the team members.
"Director Xia, come and take a photo!" The pyrotechnician fired a streamer gun, and sparkling sequins flew in the air like fireflies dancing in the sky.
Gu Zian squeezed through the crowd carrying a cake. The "Happy Wrap-up" flowers on the cake were a little askew. "Sister, try this!" He smiled, his fangs showing. "I decorated this myself..."
Xia Zhitang took a bite of the cake, and the sweet and smooth cream tasted of happiness.
She took a sip of champagne, the bubbles tickling her throat. Xia Zhitang, who usually didn't drink, was captivated by the lingering smell of gunpowder mixed with the sweet aroma of cream, and couldn't help but take a few more sips.
The stage manager girl pulled open the ribbon of Weiya, which drew cheers.
"Mr. Gu, please dance!" someone shouted in the crowd.
Amidst the booing, Gu Zian suddenly put his arm around Xia Zhitang's waist and spun around, making the atmosphere even more lively.
Xia Zhitang's canvas shoes stepped on his limited edition sneakers, and Gu Zian's minty breath sprayed behind her ears: "Sister drank three and a half cups today."
"What do you care?" Xia Zhitang touched his hot cheek with the back of his hand.
Gu Zian suddenly leaned forward and said, "I stole Director Lin's cigar and hid it in..."
"Hand it over!"
Xia Zhitang reached out to dig into his sweatshirt pocket, but Gu Zian took advantage of the situation and grabbed her wrist, pressing it against his chest: "Listen, sister, every beat here is saying..."
The lights suddenly went out, and everyone screamed and turned on their phone flashlights. Xia Zhitang took the opportunity to pull her hand back, but was pulled into Gu Zian's arms.
He rested his forehead against her shoulder blade, his voice muffled by the fabric: "I won't see you tomorrow."
Xia Zhitang stared at the flickering light on the ceiling and remembered Xie Lin shaking her red wine glass and saying, "Enjoy life while you can." Her fingertips hovered on the back of Gu Zian's sweaty neck, finally landing on the hoodie cord of his sweatshirt. "Happy wrap."
The foam machine suddenly sprayed snowflakes all over the sky. Gu Zian raised his head in the cold artificial snow and said, "Sister, can I..."
The drunken stagehand rushed over and squeezed the two of them into the pile of foam left over from the explosion.
Gu Zian held Xia Zhitang in his arms, unwilling to let go.
Xia Zhitang tickled the soft flesh on Gu Zian's waist and climbed up amid Gu Zian's uncontrollable laughter.
Gu Zian's second wrap-up party ended with even more excitement than the last one.
Under the light, Xia Zhitang walked on the rough gravel road towards the hotel, with Gu Zian following behind her.
Their shadows overlapped under the dim streetlight.
Gu Zian suddenly grabbed her wrist and said, "Sister, your shoelaces are undone."
As he squatted down, the night breeze carried the aroma of barbecued skewers from the food stall next door. Xia Zhitang resisted the urge to retract her foot and let Gu Zian, who was crouching down, help her tie her shoelaces.
"The other crew members thought I looked like a walking ATM machine." Gu Zian's fingertips tied Xia Zhitang's canvas shoelaces into a bow. "Only here..." He suddenly rested his forehead on her knees. "My sister added chicken to my lunch box."
Xia Zhitang suddenly felt that the boy in front of him looked like a large furry dog, like a snow-white Samoyed.
She smiled and touched the tip of Gu Zian's ear, which was burning: "The props team also added it to you."
"That's different!" Gu Zian stood up suddenly and accidentally bumped her chin, "They added chicken breast!"
Gu Zian's canine teeth shone in the moonlight. "Sister always gives me the brittle bones."
Xia Zhitang rubbed his aching jaw and laughed, "Because someone always said that calcium supplementation for brittle bones can help you grow taller."
Gu Zian suddenly picked her up by the waist and stepped over the puddle: "I am now five centimeters taller than Director Lin!" His AJ stepped into the puddle, splashing his trouser legs.
When Gu Zian put Xia Zhitang down, Xia Zhitang inexplicably felt a sense of emptiness in her heart, which she attributed to her drinking too much.
The hotel elevator door reflected their overlapping shadows, and Gu Zian suddenly said, "Last month I overheard the floor staff making a bet that I wouldn't last three days."
Xia Zhitang paused as he pressed the elevator button: "Now they've lost three hotpot meals."
Gu Zian stood behind Xia Zhitang, looking at her back, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
The two walked in silence all the way to the door of Xia Zhitang's room.
Xia Zhitang stood at the door holding the room card, hesitating about how to start.
Gu Zian suddenly grabbed her wrist and said, "Sister, if I were to..."
"Live in the present." Xia Zhitang pulled his hand away and opened the door.
The moment the door opened, Gu Zian suddenly hugged her from behind.
"But I just want to film! I want to be like my sister..." His tears soaked through the fabric of her back and made her heart tremble slightly.
The elevator dinged, and Xia Zhitang dragged Gu Zian into the room, his back against the cold door.
When salty tears fell from Gu Zian's lips, Xia Zhitang's hand was still holding the room card.
The soft and moist lips lingered on the long-coveted territory, but the landlord had no intention of letting her go.
"Sister..." Gu Zian's fangs scraped across the corner of her lips, "Can I..."
Xia Zhitang bit his lower lip and whispered, "You haven't learned the explosion scene well."
Without waiting for Gu Zian's reaction, Xia Zhitang inserted the room card and turned on the wall lamp.
Xia Zhitang looked at Gu Zian, chuckled and said, "Do it again."
Under the light, Xia Zhitang's eyes were shining brightly. Gu Zian felt that Xia Zhitang had seen through his tricks long ago, but he still kissed her despite his pounding heart.
This time the kiss landed three centimeters away from the tip of Xia Zhitang's nose - she suddenly burst out laughing.
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