Chapter 119 A Show of Force
In his more than twenty years of life, Xia Mian had never experienced the feeling of "failure," but he suffered repeated defeats against Zhou Pingchuan.
Even on the day he joined the cast of "Legend of the Dragon," his "seduction" plan still failed. Zhou Pingchuan was like a solid stone, without any flaws.
Xia Mian began to doubt his abilities again.
But he clearly...
Forget it, I've been badly injured these past few days, let's take it easy for now.
Carrying deep emotional wounds, Xia Mian arrived at Yunshan—the main filming location for "Legend of the Dragon".
Only Chestnut and Rhubarb came with him this time. Zhao Wei had something to do, but he called just in time: "Have you gotten off the plane yet?"
Xia Mian said, "It's over."
“The crew sent car number four to pick you up,” Zhao Wei paused, then, remembering that the young actress hadn’t been to the film set in a long time, explained, “It’s not the license plate number, it’s the nanny van number. Just look for the black van marked number four. From now on, all your activities in Yunshan will be handled by this vehicle.”
"Remember, don't get on the wrong bus, and be careful not to sit in the wrong one in general. Many film crews have unspoken rules about the bus numbers. Number one and two are for the male and female leads, and number three and four are for the male and female supporting actors. Getting on the wrong bus can easily cause misunderstandings."
To put it bluntly, the vehicle numbers for the film crew are assigned according to the actors' status.
When she was a trainee, Xia Mian had heard about this unspoken rule: "I'll remember it."
"Okay, get in the car."
Chestnut was standing next to Xia Mian. She heard what Zhao Wei said, but after looking around, she couldn't find him.
"I didn't see car number 4," she said.
"There might be traffic or something. I'll contact them again. You can wait in a quiet place for a while."
The film crew's vehicles are generally not late. It's fine for a relatively unknown actor like Xia Mian, but if the actor is well-known, being recognized can easily cause a sensation and unnecessary congestion at public places like airports. Therefore, the driver will arrive well in advance to pick them up as soon as they land.
There might be some special circumstances today.
Xia Mian had no choice but to find a corner, take out her notebook, and wait for Zhao Wei.
A few days ago, after finishing writing Mo Yu's character biography, Xia Mian sent it to Zheng Qiming. Zheng Qiming gave him a few suggestions, repeatedly praising his talent and making him feel very confident.
The document in his hand was the revised biography. Xia Mian had read it over and over again, almost memorizing it by heart, but he still reread it again and again, because each time he read it, he gained new insights.
After watching it twice more, Zhao Wei replied, his tone much more subdued than before: "No one has been answering the phone. I'll book a hotel near the airport for you now and have them send a car to pick you up. We'll send someone over again once the production team gives me a reasonable explanation; otherwise, you're out of the crew."
Xia Mian understood that Zhao Wei was backing him up. But apart from waiting a few more minutes, he didn't encounter any trouble and comforted Zhao Wei, "It's okay, Brother Wei, I'll wait a little longer. Maybe the tire will get flat or something. There are very few passengers at Yunshan Airport today, so it's quite safe."
Zhao Wei could sense that Xia Mian really wanted to act; he desperately needed a project to establish himself. Moreover, if he fell out with the production team from the start, future collaborations would be very difficult: "Alright, let's wait a bit longer. I'll keep contacting them, and let me know as soon as you have any news."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Xia Mian continued to wait. More than ten minutes later, a black minivan finally arrived.
Chestnut was the first to notice, and frowned: "This isn't our car. The number on this one is '8'."
Below the third billing, there's no distinction of billing order. Car number eight is probably used by the crew to transport child actors, or stunt doubles or similar vehicles. Xia Mian frowned: "Then let's wait another five minutes. If they don't come, we're not going to wait anymore."
To his surprise, just as he finished speaking, car number eight suddenly stopped in front of them and honked its horn twice.
Chestnut: "What's going on?"
Seeing that they didn't react, the driver rolled down the window: "Is this Teacher Xia Mian's team?"
Chestnut: "Yes."
"Sorry, I ran into some trouble on the way and I'm late. Please get in the car."
Chestnut: "Is this car... sent by the film crew to pick us up?"
Driver: "Yes."
The previous artist Chestnut followed wasn't as popular as Xia Mian, but she had never received such treatment. She frowned, about to explode.
“The license plate number is just an unwritten rule. If we start a fight over this, we’ll definitely be accused of being arrogant,” Xia Mian whispered to stop them. “Let’s get in the car first and see how things go.”
Chestnut pouted. Her Xia was such a good girl, she really couldn't bear to see Xia suffer.
The driver himself was fine; he kindly helped them with their luggage and had a good personality. He kept introducing them to local specialties and popular tourist attractions in Yunshan, and even praised Xia Mian for being beautiful, saying that he would definitely become a big star in the future.
Upon arriving at the filming location and entering the shooting area, the assistant director led them to the director's office: "Teacher Xia, please wait a moment, Director Gao will be here shortly."
Xia Mian asked, "When will the script reading begin?"
The auspicious start date for filming is set for next week, and there will be no official filming this week. Director Gao called all the actors over for a script reading session, which will be held three times in total, one every other day.
Assistant Director: "It seems like there's no specific time set yet. You can ask Director Gao directly later."
The production of "Legend of the Dragon" was very meticulous. The main scene of the "Jade Floating Mountain" sect was specially built in Yunshan. The director's office was right across from the main scene. Xia Mian looked out the window and found Gao Yifeng holding storyboards and talking to the male lead Tan Jingcheng.
Xia Mian wasn't unreasonable, so she hummed in agreement. She then told Chestnut and Big Yellow to rest in the car while she sat on the sofa in the living room and continued to wait.
Twenty minutes later, Gao Yifeng was still explaining the scene.
After waiting another ten minutes, car number one slowly drove into the parking lot, and a woman dressed in sportswear jumped out of the car.
Before coming here, Zhao Wei showed Xia Mian her information; she was the female lead of the drama—Jiang Chun.
She debuted as a child star, and although she's only five years older than Xia Mian, she's already a veteran actress with over twenty years of experience, having starred in several popular and successful works. The Legend of the Dragon King absolutely needs her to carry the show.
Xia Mian thought the assistant director would take her to the director's office first, since Gao Yifeng and Tan Jingcheng were explaining the scene very seriously, leaving him in the office for more than half an hour.
To everyone's surprise, upon seeing Jiang Chun, Gao Yifeng immediately put down his storyboard and went to greet her: "Little Jiang, it's so nice to see you! It's been so long since we last met, it must have been two years, right?"
As he spoke, Gao Yifeng laughed heartily, clearly in a very good mood.
Xia Mian was almost certain that Gao Yifeng was deliberately ignoring him, though she hadn't dared to say it before.
This is to intimidate him.
He really wants to act, but he hasn't really entered the acting world yet and needs more experience.
But this lousy show isn't something that absolutely has to be filmed.
Xia Mian's face turned cold. She looked away and took out her phone to call Li Zi: "Li Zi, make a reservation at a restaurant. Let's not wait any longer, let's go out to eat first."
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