Perhaps it was because of He Jichen's presence that Ji Yi was so reserved when she started to act that it made her forget her lines and do a NG 1 .
But everything was fine since Ji Yi quickly pulled herself together. As she immersed herself in her role, her acting became more natural. Afterwards, her few scenes were practically done in one shot.
It was almost eleven in the evening when they finished shooting the night scenes. Ji Yi didn't go back to the city but headed straight to the hotel the production team booked.
After she finished taking a shower, Ji Yi fell asleep. The next morning, Ji Yi realized that the wounds on her wrists were pouring with blood and were incredibly more swollen than before.
As long as she could persevere through today, she would finish filming for "The Palace". Ji Yi didn't want to leave a bad impression for Director Liang because of such small wounds, so she changed the bandages around her wrists. When the bleeding stopped, she put on the thick jade bracelet from the stylist and walked on set.
Besides having to go hide in the restrooms every so often to change her bloodstained bandages, her day on set went smoothly.
Even though they worked on the same shoot, she barely bumped into He Jichen. She only caught sight of him when he was in front of the monitor during shoots.
The final scene that day was Little Nine's suicide in the rain due to a lost love.
The temperature was already low in the depths of winter in Beijing. The icy cold water raining down was enough to make any person shiver. In the afternoon when Ji Yi went into the restroom to change her bandages, the wound was already a little inflamed and started to hurt. After the icy rainwater poured down, the resulting piercing pain in her wrists made Ji Yi suddenly forget her lines, creating the first NG of the day.
Starting again from scratch, Ji Yi started her second take, but the pain in her wrists hadn't subsided. Even though she forced herself to get into character, her performance was affected, so she couldn't do her very best.
Director Liang and He Jichen sat in front of the monitor and replayed the scene they just shot.
"I think Little Nine can still try to look more tense. Shall we get a third take?" Director Liang wondered as he asked He Jichen sitting next to him.
He Jichen didn't say a word but kept staring at the monitor. In the scene, just as Ji Yi stabbed her chest, the blood bag they prepared earlier ruptured. The blood sprayed out when she pulled the knife out of her chest and dropped it on the ground. The camera slid across her hand gripping the knife. He Jichen clearly saw that aside from the stains from the blood bag, there was a trickle of red slowly dripping from her thick jade bangle.
He could tell that it wasn't red from the blood bag but from her own blood.
Are the wounds on her wrists that serious? But why didn't she make a sound or tell the production team? Why did she choose to tolerate the stinging rain instead?
Before He Jichen's mind settled, the director cried, "Get ready for the third..."
The final word "take" didn't come out, because He Jichen, who had kept his silence until now, suddenly interrupted him with, "Pass it."
He Jichen was well-known for being strict and having high standards. For him to abruptly say this, it left director Liang a little stunned.
He Jichen pretended like he hadn't noticed the director's reaction and continued to say with a neutral tone, "I've taken a look and there were no problems with Little Nine's acting just now. With a little editing, it'll be more than sufficient."
Hearing He Jichen say this, Director Liang didn't push his thoughts on the matter. He grabbed the mic and cried, "Pass!"
After the scene was over, it marked the end of that day's filming.
Having completely finished filming, Ji Yi didn't linger for long. She changed her clothes and called for a ride.
She got into the taxi and left the set a second later. Immediately after, an Audi car followed after her.
In the driver's seat, He Jichen followed closely behind the taxi in front of him. After driving some distance, his eyes landed on the medicine he bought the day before and casually tossed onto the front passenger seat. He pursed his lips slightly, then turned the steering wheel and parked the car by the side of the road.
With an unwavering gaze, he stared as the taxi gradually drove away. When the taxi finally disappeared completely from sight, he opened the trunk of the car and grabbed a phone. Then he tapped on the screen for a bit and sent out a text.
Short for 'no good'. A popular term for 'outtake' or 'blooper'.