DP Chapter 39
by VolareThe makeup room door was tightly shut, with Xiao Zhou and Xu Chuo’s driver flanking it, one sitting and one standing, guarding the entrance like two door gods.
Xiao Zhou was busily typing away on her phone, chatting with Lin Xiao and the others in a group chat.
An assistant’s job was already miscellaneous, and now she had one more task: guarding the makeup room for a pair of intensely affectionate gay lovers.
An hour later, Xiang Yiye came out and told Xiao Zhou that she had worked hard and could go home now, as they would return to the hotel themselves.
Without even looking up, Xiao Zhou replied, “Okay, okay,” reminding him of the call time for tomorrow, while inwardly planning to negotiate a raise later.
Xu Chuo took a gift bag from the driver, saying it was for Xiao Zhou, mentioning that he had heard Xiang Yiye say she liked that brand of bag.
Xiao Zhou took it, estimating from the size of the bag that it was a classic model. The resentment from working overtime dissipated, and she immediately expressed: “Thank you, President Xu, welcome, President Xu, please be sure to call me next time you need someone.”
That evening in the hotel, Xiang Yiye was silently rehearsing his lines for tomorrow’s scene when Xu Chuo pushed his laptop in front of him, asking him to enter the power-on password.
“Your birthday, four digits, unlock it yourself.” Xiang Yiye pushed it back, “Is it for work?”
“No, I finished up the things for the next few days in advance. I’ll spend all my time with you afterwards. I’ll watch your show now,” Xu Chuo said, “Do you need five minutes to clear any secrets from your computer? I respect personal privacy.”
“There’s nothing I can’t show you, you can look through my phone, computer, and tablet as you please.” As Xiang Yiye said this, he suddenly realized there was something he couldn’t show.
There were several files on the computer desktop that were the gifts he planned to give Xu Chuo next month.
He would be on set the entire next month, unable to celebrate Qixi Festival separately, so he wanted to put more effort into the gifts.
He had learned a little bit of 3D modeling before, and in the past couple of months, he wanted to pick it up again and improve it. He also found a classmate from the sculpture department to be in charge of the art, wanting to create a 3D scene, similar to an electronic exhibition, to hang photos of Xu Chuo’s paintings.
Xu Chuo glanced at the Blender software on the desktop and casually said, “Does your major also require learning 3D modeling?”
“Having more skills means more options, isn’t that what they say?” Xiang Yiye said, “I got a bunch of certificates after starting university, but it seems like they haven’t been useful. They’re mainly for making my parents happy.”
The topic was successfully diverted. Xu Chuo opened the video software and pulled up “Ming Xia,” asking him which certificates he had taken.
“Driver’s license, CET-4 and CET-6, Putonghua, Computer Level 2, Teacher Qualification, these are relatively basic and okay,” Xiang Yiye said, “My dad wanted me to take accounting and Chinese language teacher certificates before, he just comes up with things on a whim. They have nothing to do with my major, and I can’t be bothered to argue with him.”
“It’s good that he didn’t ask you to get a chef’s certificate, Uncle wants you to become a dragon and cultivate you into a jack-of-all-trades.” Xu Chuo smiled and paused the video, “It’s your turn, aren’t you going to watch?”
“You go ahead,” Xiang Yiye said, “I’ll go over the lines again.”
He went over the lines for more than an hour without moving, so Xu Chuo closed the laptop, leaned over, and looked at the script in his hand: “Is it so difficult to memorize? Are there a lot of ancient poems and prose?”
“I’ve memorized the lines,” Xiang Yiye said, “It’s just that I haven’t figured out how to perform it better. I didn’t quite understand this scene when I first read the script.”
“What don’t you understand? Tell me about it.” Xu Chuo said.
Actors have their own worldviews, and if there is a conflict with the character’s worldview, they will not be able to find the feeling and need others to provide a new perspective.
The difficult scene was a scene between the male lead and the second female lead. “Si Yan Hua” follows the love triangle formula: you love me, I love him, he loves her. The second female lead, You Wu, is set to love the male lead, Qiao Wumu, to death and make many sacrifices for him.
Xiang Yiye said, “Here, the keyword given in the script is ‘slightly emotional.’ Director Zhang also said when explaining the scene that Qiao Wumu’s feelings for You Wu were a little more than friendship in the later stage. But here he has already exchanged feelings with Qu Nong, and I don’t know how to grasp this balance.”
“So the point you’re confused about is… whether a person can really like two people at the same time.” Xu Chuo listened for a long time, “But this question seems a bit dangerous for me to answer.”
“We’re just discussing the matter, not raising it to anything else… Forget it, I’ll talk to Director Zhang and them tomorrow.” Xiang Yiye closed the script, not wanting to create conflict with Xu Chuo over this, as it would be more trouble than it’s worth.
Xu Chuo smiled and pulled him back, asking him what had happened between the male lead and the second female lead, listing them one by one.
The second female lead, You Wu, is a carefree fairy spirit on an overseas fairy island. The male lead, Qiao Wumu, was seriously injured after a great battle with the demon race and landed on the island, where he was picked up by You Wu and nursed back to health, and a tragic love affair began.
After Qiao Wumu left the island, You Wu gave up her identity as a fairy spirit, gave up her life of seclusion, stayed by his side and never left him when he was dying, and secretly cleared obstacles for him when he lost his memory and went down to the mortal world to experience tribulation.
Unlike other dramas with two women and one man, You Wu never hated Qu Nong because of love, but only silently liked Qiao Wumu.
She has a few lines that she says to her brother, You Yu: “I don’t have such great aspirations, I can’t save the world. There is not much room in my heart, only enough for one person. Clan Elder Grandpa once said that my eyes are too narrow, but brother, is that so small? The greatness of Sumeru, the smallness of mustard seeds, you said before, what does it mean to contain Sumeru in mustard seeds?”
In the end, she was willing to die in order to fulfill Qiao Wumu’s wish to maintain peace in the three realms.
Xiang Yiye said, “In fact, the character You Wu is very outstanding and can arouse pity. Qiao Wumu also owes her a lot.”
“Would you develop feelings for someone you once hurt or owed, just because of that?” Xu Chuo said.
Xiang Yiye didn’t think so. Liking is liking, owing is owing, two different things. But at this time, he tried to follow the guidance and empathize with the character: “Maybe… so my feelings for You Wu started with pity and owing?”
Xu Chuo pondered for a moment and said, “You can amplify the feelings of pity and owing. These two emotions both have similarities with love.”
Xiang Yiye: “You seem to have a deep understanding.” He saw Xu Chuo looking like he understood everything.
“Aren’t we just discussing the matter?” Xu Chuo avoided the important point, “Emotions are very complicated, and there are many possibilities between people…”
Xiang Yiye glanced at him: “You’re just trying to smooth things over.”
Xu Chuo smiled and pushed him down on the sofa: “Okay, a person can like two people at the same time, but Xu Chuo will only like Xiang Yiye… Is that okay?”
He coaxed him again. Sometimes Xiang Yiye wanted himself to be more assertive.
The next day at work, before filming the scene with the second female lead, Xiang Yiye remembered what Xu Chuo had said last night: “Try to act more vaguely, don’t follow the director and screenwriter completely. They may want to be more faithful to the novel, but that novel seems to be many years old and doesn’t quite fit the mainstream now. Current TV dramas require the male and female leads to be flawless, and acting too faithfully to the original will easily get you criticized.”
Xiang Yiye knew that Xu Chuo’s words were completely from his perspective. While he appreciated it, he had a greater understanding of the performance of the same scene.
Finally, Xiang Yiye communicated with Director Zhang and wanted to film several versions according to different emotional intensities. As for which version to use in the end, it was not something he could decide alone.
While he and the second female lead were filming, Tang Shuqin was watching from the sidelines.
She had returned after receiving the award. The director had received several calls the day before and had a long face when he chatted with her for half an hour in the morning, obtaining her verbal guarantee that she would no longer leave the set at will in the future. After that, everything was as usual.
Xiang Yiye became more and more curious about the background of Tang Shuqin’s sugar daddy. Director Zhang was considered a well-known director in the industry, so how could he be helpless against her?
He asked Lin Xiao and He Jingming, but they didn’t know either.
Lin Xiao didn’t send videos in the group anymore because she had wanted that award for a long time. She was currently in a state of lemon plus emo, and started asking Xiang Yiye what he thought of Tang Shuqin’s acting skills.
Xiang Yiye objectively analyzed: “You guys aren’t the same type, there’s no comparison.”
Lin Xiao: “So she’s better than me.”
Lin Xiao: “Iron-blooded general sobbing like a child.jpg”
Xiang Yiye: “But then again.jpg”
Xiang Yiye: “Sister Xiao, you are an evergreen actor.”
He didn’t say anything absolute, but this was 100% certain. In the next few years, Lin Xiao and Tang Shuqin would have multiple showdowns, with similar dramas being brought out in turn, and clashing on the awards stage several times.
Lin Xiao was initially defeated, but slowly caught up later.
Lin Xiao: “Really? I wasn’t planning to go to Europe, I’m changing my route to Thailand to worship. I, a faithful woman, am willing to combine meat and vegetables from now on, only asking my Buddha to save me from this disaster.”
Xiang Yiye: “Really, just pay your taxes properly.”
After Lin Xiao rose up, Tang Shuqin didn’t have time to produce more works for a strong counterattack before her house collapsed due to tax evasion.
At this time, Tang Shuqin, who was at the peak of her career and showed no signs of collapse, was watching the performance of the male lead and the second female lead behind the monitor on the set.
The actress playing the second female lead was from a professional acting background and cooperated well with Xiang Yiye.
Tang Shuqin found that Xiang Yiye’s explosive power in emotional scenes was much stronger than she had imagined. After filming, she said, “You’re not bad, Xiao Xiang, I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to handle the later scenes.”
Before he could tell whether the words were praise or sarcasm, Tang Shuqin said again: “After watching you two act, I think the later scenes don’t need to be filmed.”
Xiang Yiye immediately said: “No, Sister Tang, the highlight is still in the back.”
The actress playing the second female lead also quickly smoothed things over and said, “Yes, a brick to attract jade, a brick to attract jade.”
At noon, Xiao Zhou broadcast Tang Shuqin’s remarks in the group chat. Lin Xiao, who had already weathered the storm, sharply commented: “The queen of sarcasm, it has to be her.”
Lin Xiao also said to Xiang Yiye: “It’s good to stay away from her, her studio is very good at hyping things up. They’ve used the words ‘love because of the drama’ countless times, and no male actor who has acted with her has escaped unscathed.”
Xiang Yiye had heard about it and was more careful to avoid suspicion. He was extremely willing to promote the CP in the drama, but unnecessary hype was not necessary.
After this day, Tang Shuqin’s attitude towards him was not so cold and slow, and she should have affirmed his professional ability, and the degree of cooperation during filming was also much higher.
On the other hand, Tang Shuqin used the body double actor more and more frequently.
She seemed to be quite satisfied with Tao Mujia, who was found temporarily, and asked him to stay by her side on standby at all times.
Later, Xiao Zhou also found out that if Tao Mujia could continue to be so diligent, Tang Shuqin planned to officially hire him to be her exclusive body double in the future.