SM Chapter 8
by VolareZhou Ran’s last sentence completely ignited the last shred of Ye Lai’s fragile rationality.
Ye Lai put down the script in his hand, straightened his back slightly, and a cold light burst out in his eyes as he looked at Zhou Ran. His red lips opened and closed, and he asked a question that was not on the script, pressing aggressively.
“Netizens also have other questions they want to ask. Your work only achieves success when you collaborate with Sheng Mingqian. In the five years you haven’t collaborated, all you’ve made are terrible movies. Have you seen comments calling you a ‘box office poison’ in recent years?”
“So, when others still call you a ‘genius actor,’ do you feel guilty?”
“Every time you’re interviewed and asked about your scandal with Sheng Mingqian, you deliberately evade the question and blur the concept. Why? Are you deliberately hyping it up?”
“Why don’t you dare to answer the questions directly?”
…
With each question Ye Lai asked, the mask on Zhou Ran’s face cracked a little more. After the last question, Zhou Ran’s disguise was completely torn apart by Ye Lai. The hypocrite completely exposed his true colors, stood up with his hands on his hips, tore off the earpiece on his neck, kicked over the round table in the middle, pointed at Ye Lai, and cursed.
“Fuck, who do you think you are? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Are these questions on the script?”
“Who told you to ask them? Are you looking for death?”
Two teacups on the round table shattered, and the scalding tea splashed on Ye Lai’s pants, burning him so that he staggered back two steps, only to fall to the ground. His knee hit the corner of the table, and the pain made his eyes go dark.
Zhou Ran’s agent and the director team rushed onto the stage together, but several people couldn’t hold Zhou Ran back. Zhou Ran stepped over the tables and chairs and punched Ye Lai in the face with his fist, like a ferocious beast, so irritable and furious that he seemed like he wanted to eat Ye Lai alive to vent his hatred.
The director team quickly pulled Zhou Ran up. Ning Yuan, who was the furthest away, was the last to rush up and pull Ye Lai behind him, protecting him.
Three people held down Zhou Ran, and Ye Lai went over and punched him in the stomach.
The scene was chaotic, and the program couldn’t be recorded successfully. The sound effects on the stage weren’t turned off, and the colored lights overhead flickered and swayed wildly. Ye Lai only felt that he was wrapped in a beam of cold light, and his scalp was tingling, and his hands and feet were icy cold.
Ye Lai was pulled backstage by Ning Yuan, and the director team’s words of persuasion and apology and Zhou Ran’s curses grew farther and farther away.
In Ning Yuan’s office, Ye Lai sat blankly on the sofa, gasping for breath. He tilted his head back for a long time before he recovered. He had acted impulsively just now and ruined the program.
Ye Lai turned his head to look for Ning Yuan, who was lying on the half-open door, craning his neck and looking out, his shoulders still shaking.
Ye Lai felt bad, stood up and walked to the door, and patted Ning Yuan on the back: “Brother Yuan, I’m sorry, I ruined your program.”
Ning Yuan turned around with a cigarette in his mouth, laughed a few times, and punched Ye Lai on the shoulder: “Fuck, that was so satisfying, so great. I couldn’t stand him a long time ago. Didn’t you notice, when the Director was pulling him, I even took the opportunity to kick him a few times. Ye Lai, you’re so brave, awesome…”
Ye Lai opened his mouth. He thought Ning Yuan’s shoulders were shaking because he was anxious and angry, but he didn’t expect him to be laughing.
Ning Yuan took out a cigarette case, took out a cigarette and handed it to Ye Lai. Ye Lai took two puffs and laughed along with him: “Great…”
“How did you think of asking him those questions? I didn’t expect it. Ye Lai, you look so soft, but you can be so sharp.” Ning Yuan joked with him.
“I,” Ye Lai took a puff of cigarette and said vaguely, “I just can’t stand the way he is, so fake.”
“I can’t stand him either. The Directors actually can’t stand him either.”
Ning Yuan also held Ye Lai’s chin and looked at it. Zhou Ran’s punch just now hit Ye Lai’s eye: “Tsk, such a good-looking face, almost disfigured. We’re all in the entertainment industry, don’t hit people in the face. Damn Zhou Ran, I should have kicked him a few more times just now.”
Ye Lai turned his head to look in the mirror, looked at it for a long time, pressed against the mirror. It wasn’t serious, just a little blue and swollen around his eyes, and there was no broken skin: “It’s okay, I’ll rub some medicine on it after I get home, and the swelling will go down overnight. The work for tomorrow has been cancelled anyway, so I’m free for the next two days.”
The two smoked together for a while, and then cursed Zhou Ran for a long time. But cursing was cursing, and the things he messed up had to be resolved. He couldn’t come to help and leave a mess instead.
“I’m sorry, Brother Yuan. No matter what, I still ruined your program. I couldn’t help it. I thought about it… how can I compensate you?”
“Compensate my ass. Since it’s been ruined, it’s been ruined. After Zhou Ran made such a scene, he definitely won’t agree to record the program again.”
Ye Lai thought for a while and said, “I’ll take a look later and introduce another guest to you.”
“Hey, no need,” Ning Yuan waved his hand holding the cigarette butt, “There are not many people in the entertainment circle who are at Zhou Ran’s level, unless they are movie emperors and queens of the same level as him, or Sheng Mingqian, who has always been very popular. Forget it, forget it, it’s been ruined, don’t think so much.”
Ye Lai’s eyes lit up: “The program team has spent so much effort, Brother Yuan, I’ll go back and try to think of a way.”
Ning Yuan didn’t take Ye Lai’s words seriously. He knew that Ye Lai was a small 18th-tier actor, who didn’t have much connections and wouldn’t know anyone. He responded casually: “Okay, okay, let’s not talk about this first, let’s go have a drink together tonight.”
After he finished speaking, he thought of Ye Lai’s swollen eyes, and quickly denied his suggestion: “Forget it, forget it, your eyes need to be relieved.”
Ye Lai looked at the corner of the sofa vaguely through the smoke. After a while, he opened his mouth and said, “It’s okay, Brother Yuan, go drink tonight.”
In the pub, Ye Lai had been controlling his alcohol intake. When he felt it was almost enough, he didn’t continue. He was slightly drunk, with a faint smell of alcohol on his body, but he wouldn’t be controlled by alcohol to the point of losing control. It was just right…
–
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In the film set at night, the Director and Screenwriter surrounding the monitor frowned tightly, and Sheng Mingqian’s voice of “Cut” continued.
“Cut, Zuo Qi, your eyes are wrong, do it again.”
“Cut, Zuo Qi, what are you doing moving your hands around?”
“Cut, cut, cut, Zuo Qi, how many times have I told you? It’s sadness, not fear…”
Zuo Qi had been in a bad mood because Sheng Mingqian was scolding him. His lines were stuttering, and his eyes and movements were even more wrong.
This scene was a monologue-style eye scene, and he only felt it the first time. But Sheng Mingqian had high demands, and he didn’t pass the first time. The fiercer Sheng Mingqian was, the more Zuo Qi couldn’t find his mood, and he didn’t know how to put his hands and feet.
The Assistant Director leaned closer to Sheng Mingqian and said with a smile to reconcile: “I said, Great Director Shèng, you’re too fierce. Look, you’ve scared the kid so much that he can’t act anymore. Take a few minutes to adjust.”
“Take a half-hour break,” Sheng Mingqian threw the script on the table and waved to Zuo Qi, “Zuo Qi, come here, let me talk to you about the scene.”
Zuo Qi quickly ran over, lowered his head: “Director Shèng, I’m sorry, I’ve delayed everyone’s progress.”
Sheng Mingqian explained the scene to him: “This scene is very important. Your emotions must be full and abundant, so that people can see into your heart at a glance. Your eyes and the subtle movements of your body must be in place…”
The surrounding people ran a little further away and whispered: “Director Shèng is too strict, he cuts every scene. The more he scolds, the more nervous the actor gets.”
“What should I do? What should I do? Zuo Qi’s scene is next. Director Shèng is obviously in a bad mood today.”
“Who will save us…”
During the break, Assistant Xiao Bin quickly took Sheng Mingqian’s constantly ringing cell phone over: “Director Shèng, your phone has been ringing, I don’t know if there’s something important.”
Sheng Mingqian turned his head and looked at the phone with the screen lit up. There was no caller ID, it was a number he didn’t recognize. He usually didn’t answer numbers he didn’t recognize, but he still took it and pressed the answer button when it was about to hang up: “Hello?”
Ye Lai made three calls, and Sheng Mingqian finally answered. The emotions that had been adjusted tightened in his chest when he heard Sheng Mingqian’s voice. The beaten eye socket felt like it was being pricked with needles, and it was swollen and painful.
He sniffed and called him softly with a choked throat: “Mingqian…”
Ye Lai’s voice could be heard as if he had been drinking alcohol. The silky, hoarse voice sounded like it had been soaked in alcohol. Sheng Mingqian seemed to smell the smell of alcohol spreading through the earpiece, lingering at the tip of his nose for a long time, and a faint spiciness burrowed into his body.
“What’s wrong?” Sheng Mingqian stood up and walked to a place where no one was around.
Ye Lai took a deep breath and opened his mouth intermittently, with a strong nasal sound and drunkenness: “Mingqian, I caused a big disaster today. I offended a Boss. I can’t stay in the entertainment circle anymore, Mingqian. I’m going to be blocked, and I might be retaliated against…”
Sheng Mingqian asked: “Did you drink? Where did you drink? Who did you drink with?”
“I and Brother Yuan just drank a little bit in the pub. My cell phone is also broken. I’m on my way home now, Mingqian. I have to find a place to hide. Although I haven’t decided where to go yet, I might go abroad for a while. I wanted to leave directly, but after all, we’ve been together for so many years, I still wanted to say goodbye to you, and I wanted to hear your voice…”
The more Ye Lai spoke, the heavier his sobs became. Sheng Mingqian clenched his phone: “What exactly happened? Who did you offend?”
“Mingqian, I offended Zhou Ran. He’s a movie emperor, and I’m just a small 18th-tier actor who no one knows. As the saying goes, an egg can’t break a stone, and you can’t twist your arm against your thigh…”
“Stay at home and don’t move,” Sheng Mingqian interrupted him, “You don’t have to go anywhere.”
“But, I’m afraid Zhou Ran will retaliate against me…”
“It’s no big deal, I’ll go back later.”