After their vacation concluded, Pei Ying was pulled back to work with the tense filming crew. Back in A City, Mo Zhen’s manager had returned as his assistant. Seeing that round-faced manager moving around at his every beck and call, Pei Ying felt a bit sorry for him.
Mo Zhen’s manager was a top agent at KaiHuang, but on the filming set, he was like a nanny…
After filming a scene where they hid a corpse, the director called cut. The walk-on playing the corpse sat up from the ground, his face covered in fake blood.
“Pei Ying, I’m a fan of yours! Can you give me an autograph?”
He suddenly appeared right beside Pei Ying, startling her slightly. She smiled at him and said, “Sure. But do you want to clean off the blood first?”
“It’s okay. I’ll wash it off by myself later.” The walk-on was anxiously fumbling at her side, as if wanting to pull out something for Pei Ying to sign. “Just sign on me. These are my clothes, so I won’t wash it!”
Pei Ying got a pen from her assistant, and then she signed her name onto his shirt. And for some reason, she suddenly recalled the taxi driver she’d given an autograph to when she was starting out. At the time, he’d also had her sign on a piece of clothing. She wondered how he was doing now.
After signing her name, the walk-on gave a whistle. He looked up excitedly at Pei Ying and said, “Thank you! I’ll be sure to treasure it!”
Pei Ying laughed. Perhaps his enthusiasm was infecting her, because for some reason, she started chatting to him. “Do you often wait for filming crews to call?”
“I usually hang around the film district, and when I see a filming crew around, I go over to see if I can get a walk-on role. I came to A City especially for The Performer! The crew on this project is really on fire, so I even had to fight for a walk-on! Even though it’s only a walk-on, I’m still really happy just making an appearance in this film!”
A walk-on’s character might not have a name, and they might not even be credited in the film. They worked hard all day long just for a few seconds’ appearance. But still, they carried passion and chased after their dreams, putting their efforts into making a good performance.
This walk-on reminded Pei Ying of herself in the past. She smiled and said to him, “I used to run around for walk-ons in the past too. Oh yeah, I also acted as a corpse before, but my face didn’t even appear for a single second. Jiayou! Take the time now to hone your craft, and you will definitely have the chance to let more people recognize you.”
Pei Ying’s encouraging words nearly moved the walk-on to tears. “Ah ah… Pei Pei, you really are my goddess! Thank you! I’ll work hard! When I become famous, I hope to be able to work with you!”
“Sure. I await that day.”
As they were speaking, an uproar suddenly overcame the set. Pei Ying turned to see the cause of it all, and she saw Teacher Xing Xin and a woman she didn’t recognize walking over.
The director said a few words to them, and then clapped his hands to capture everyone’s attentions. “Teacher Xing Xin is here to check up on things. And this is his wife. Everyone knows that Teacher Xing Xin just got married on National Day, right?”
Pei Ying’s eyes widened in surprise. W…wife?!
Teacher Xing Xin’s wife was obviously an Emperor Mo fan. When she saw Mo Zhen walk past, her eyes shined, and she passionately went to greet him and offered him some wedding candy.
Teacher Xing Xin followed along after her, his expression rather bleak. But fortunately, his newly wed wife wasn’t only concerned about chatting with Mo Zhen. After the two said goodbye, she moved on to distribute candy to the rest of the crew.
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard! Have some candy.” After giving some to Pei Ying, she handed some to the walk-on beside her. He was taken aback and asked excitedly, “I get some too? I’m just a walk-on.”
“Does that matter when handing out wedding candies? Look at your face, all covered in blood. You must have worked hard. Hurry and wash that off.”
In the span of five minutes, the walk-on was nearly moved to tears once more. “Hnng… Thank you! You’re Teacher Xing Xin’s editor, right? You’re so nice, and beautiful too!”
“…Hehe. You sure know how to flatter someone.” Mrs Xing Xin was a bit embarrassed by his words. “It’s all Teacher Xing Xin’s fault for writing detective novels, causing everyone to work so hard. But as a corpse in one of his stories, you’ll at least have a name!”
Xing Xin, “….”
At the side, Pei Ying blinked, suddenly wondering at the mysterious atmosphere.”
“Ms Pei, please have some candy! Your portrayal of Zhao Yue is just amazing! I’m really looking forward to the movie!”
“Thank you.” Pei Ying grabbed some candy and glanced over at the director.
His profile looked especially desolate.
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After Teacher Xing Xin’s wife finished handing out candy, the two didn’t stay much longer. Pei Ying heard that they were heading off to their honeymoon soon.
As he watched them leaving, Director Zhao angrily muttered, “Ah… He’s not at all concerned about his novel’s adaptation. Ever since we started filming, he’s just been busy with his wedding. If there’s anything he’s unsatisfied with later, I’m not taking responsibility.”
Pei Ying was eating a piece of wedding candy, and she felt that the director’s words were…quite sour. But, in all fairness, he’d finally sent away Mrs Mo, and then came a Mrs Xing Xin. Of course he’d be a bit bitter.
She wondered if he’d made up with is wife yet.
They filmed late into the night before finally finishing for the day. Song Nanchuan personally came to the set to pick up Pei Ying, and from his expression, she could tell he was very unhappy with how late she was.
“Director Zhao, how are things with your wife?”
Hearing Song Nanchuan ask the question she’d just been thinking about, Pei Ying’s ears perked up as she listened. Director Zhao was packing away the camera equipment as he said, “She said she’d take her time to consider things.”
“Is that so. So then, this is your probation period. You’ll have to put on a good performance.” Song Nanchuan raised his wrist to look at his watch. “She’ll definitely take issue with filming lasting until this late hour.”
Director, “….”
From what he could see, the one taking issue was Song Nanchuan.
“Director, we’ll take our leave then.” Pei Ying chuckled and pulled Song Nanchuan over to the car.
“Mmh, go on, leave.” Stop staying here to blind his eyes. One couple a day was enough.
Pei Ying followed Song Nanchuan into the car, and then she fed a piece of wedding candy to him. “Does it taste good? It’s for Teacher Xing Xin’s wedding.”
Song Nanchuan nodded slightly. “I heard that he got lost to his own wedding ceremony and he ended up being late.”
“….” Pei Ying was silent for a moment. So the director really hadn’t slandered him by calling him directionally challenged. “What happened to the bride then?”
“The bride? She was with him. They got lost together.”
“…What a good match they are.”
Song Nanchuan chuckled. He grabbed her hand and said, “Wait until our wedding, and then we’ll give the director some wedding candy too.”
“…You might as well just give him some dog food. Do you really have to do things in such a roundabout manner?”
Song Nanchun chuckled again. Then he asked her, “Where should we go for our honeymoon?”
“Oh, anywhere is fine. There’s nowhere that I particularly want to go to.”
“Then, shall we visit all the countries?”
“…Give me some time. I’ll think of a place that I want to go to.”
Song Nanchuan smiled as he lifted her chin and kissed her lips. “How can you be so cute.”
After kissing for a bit, Pei Ying suddenly said, “Your piece of candy seems to taste better than the one I had before!”
Song Nanchuan, “….”
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Filming for The Performer continued for another month, finally wrapping in mid November. The day they wrapped, Universe Pictures held a closing banquet and invited a lot of media to attend.
As the majority shareholder of Universe, of course Song Nanchuan had to make an appearance. When he and Pei Ying arrived together, everyone’s eyes turned to them. The reporters at the party couldn’t let this opportunity get away, so they furiously took pictures of the couple.
Following right behind them was Mo Zhen and his wife. The two of them exited their car, arm in arm, and everyone watched them like this was a red carpet event. The reporters didn’t want to miss a single moment, lest they lose out on a sweet moment.
Competition for tomorrow’s headlines was really fierce.
Since it was a closing ceremony for the film, of course the actors were the main characters. Pei Ying and Mo Zhen were the two leads, so they took turns expressing their feelings on the stage. The crew went on stage to give them flowers as well. After the director and assistant director gave their speeches, everyone was able to start feasting and celebrating.
This event was good for all parties involved. The audience had already found their targets and were now moving to make a toast.
Song Nanchuan remained at Pei Ying’s side the whole time. One was the majority shareholder of Universe Pictures, and the other was the film’s star. There were waves upon waves of people waiting to speak to them.
Even the director and the rest of the production crew came over to give a toast to Pei Ying. “A toast for our heroine. I scolded you quite a bit on the set, but please don’t take it to heart too much. It was all for the sake of work after all. Outside of filming, I’m a pretty nice guy, aren’t I?” After he spoke, he downed his glass of alcohol. “Pei Ying, your acting was great. I’ll have to be sure to watch out for you, for your future is limitless! You’ll definitely be nominated for an award for this role!”
Everyone cheered for Pei Ying to have a drink. Pei Ying waved her hands in front of herself. “I really can’t drink alcohol. Can’t I drink juice instead?”
“Of course not! We all drank alcohol. How can you drink juice?” The director handed her a glass of red wine. “If you can’t drink baijiu, have some red wine. Bottoms up!” (t/n: baijiu or shaojiu is a strong distilled spirit)
Pei Ying looked over at Song Nanchuan helplessly. She’d just promised him that she’d never drink alcohol again.
Song Nanchuan quickly understood her expression and he quietly told her, “Since I’m here, it’s okay if you drink a little.”
Pei Ying blinked her eyes. Then she accepted the glass of red wine from the director and drank it all. The director cheered and gave her another glass. “This glass is a to wish you a bright future, that you’ll be able to win an academy award!”
Song Nanchuan didn’t wait for Pei Ying to decline the drink this time, and instead took the wine and drank it himself. “Thank you, Director Zhao, but Pei Ying really doesn’t have a good alcohol tolerance. You wouldn’t want your female lead to lose her manners in front of all these people, would you?”
Song Nanchuan was an investor, so Director Zhao wouldn’t provoke him. After that, the director stopped pressing Pei Ying to drink, and everyone found a new target. Mo Zhen’s manager had made it past the press by then. He walked over with a glass of red wine. “Mr Song and Ms Pei are really quite the beautiful pair. Seeing the situation here today, I can only assume there will be good news in the near future?”
Song Nanchuan looked at him and said, “If I recall correctly, you’re Mo Zhen’s manager, aren’t you? When did you change professions to a tabloid reporter?”
Mo Zhen’s manager went silent. Then he turned to Pei Ying. “I wonder if Ms Pei is interested in signing with our company, KaiHuang?”