The director didn't host a welcome dinner for Zhou Huaihuai, who had just arrived. Seeing that she had changed her clothes and put on makeup, he immediately called her over to talk about the scene. The most important thing was to meet the deadline. The director wished he could finish filming today, edit it tomorrow, and release it the day after tomorrow.
Zhou Paihuai listened attentively to the director's instructions, having already memorized her lines. However, her acting was still quite poor when she started performing. She spoke her lines clearly, but her posture was too stiff; it looked more like she was reciting a text than acting.
However, Zhou Paihuai, who had always been criticized, felt that the director was not too disappointed with her this time. She wondered if she was seeing things. Could the director really accept such acting skills? But since no one called "cut," Zhou Paihuai continued to deliver her lines.
"...Haoxuan, you are my fiancé!" After reciting this line, Zhou Paihuai's lines for this scene were finished, and she was waiting for the male lead to take over.
To be able to play the male lead in a melodramatic idol drama, the male lead's looks must be quite striking. Although Zhou Paihuai isn't attracted to good looks, acting opposite such a handsome person at least improves his mood. However, Zhou Paihuai soon discovered that there was something wrong with this male lead.
Actually, filming on set is never done episode by episode according to the plot. Instead, whatever can be filmed in a day is combined together, regardless of which episode the scene belongs to. In the end, the editor will cut the final cut. Today's scene is about the male lead, Qi Haoxuan, breaking off his engagement with the female supporting character, Cheng Ya, who is played by Zhou Paihuai as the second female lead.
Normally, Cheng Ya wouldn't want to break off the engagement, so Zhou Paihuai had to portray Cheng Ya's heart-wrenching emotions. However, in a world where someone is expressionless, there's no such thing as heartbreak; she's just a machine reciting lines. The moment the male lead opened his mouth, Zhou Paihuai knew why the director wasn't focusing on her acting.
Zhou Paihuai could at least be considered an emotionless machine reciting lines, but the male lead was just a broken machine reciting lines. He wasn't expressionless, but he always had a cool, arrogant, and domineering expression on his face, as if it were carved on.
Dude, do you know you're here to break off the engagement? It's all your fault, you know that? The way you're acting is making me a little uneasy. Anyone who didn't know better would think I cheated on you and you're here for revenge.
No wonder the director is so indifferent. The male lead's acting is so terrible, how could he expect the second female lead to have any better acting? But since he was able to choose a male lead with such poor acting skills and produce such a plot, this director is probably not pursuing art. If everyone's acting is bad, then let's just leave it at that.
... ...
After filming for several hours straight, Zhou Paihuai wasn't particularly tired. After all, this time she only needed to film at her own pace and wouldn't have to keep reworking. The filming time was still less than eight hours, which was within a reasonable range that the human body could withstand.
In the past, Tang Xiaole would always be there when she finished work, not only helping her remove her makeup and do her hair, but also ensuring she got home safely. But now, without her assistant or a car, Zhou Paihuai has to take a taxi back to her apartment by herself.
Before she could even step out, a car suddenly stopped in front of her, startling her. Before she could react, the car window rolled down, revealing Zheng Xinyu's unsettling face.
Zheng Xinyu took off his sunglasses and asked, "Want to get in the car? I'll take you home."
This was meant as a good intention, but Zhou Paihuai dared not accept it. There were probably countless paparazzi lurking outside the film set; she'd have to be crazy to get into Zheng Xinyu's car, even though he was nominally her junior.
"No need, Sister Cheng has already called a car for me." It's always useful to bring Sister Cheng into the picture when necessary.
“...Never mind!” Zheng Xinyu gave her a strange look for a few seconds, muttered to himself, rolled up the car window again, and drove away in a flash.
Zhou Paihuai didn't understand his look; it was like he was looking at someone mentally challenged. She didn't know why, maybe he wasn't very bright. Zhou Paihuai wasn't interested in thinking about it further. She put on a mask and hat, found a quiet place, and started scrolling through her phone. She had called a car, but judging from the mileage, it would take about twenty minutes. She couldn't afford to waste that much time.
When Zhou Paihuai saw Cheng Minxin's WeChat Moments, he finally understood what Zheng Xinyu's look meant. Cheng had posted on WeChat Moments an hour ago that she was going to a company meeting. Given the company's usual practices, the meeting definitely wouldn't be over in an hour. Even if he loved her a lot, Cheng wouldn't call a taxi for her during a meeting.
"...I'm really speechless!" She doesn't lie often, but she told a lie to save face and got slapped in the face by the person in question. How unlucky is she?
After finally getting into a taxi, Zhou Paihuai had barely boarded when the driver's car rear-ended another vehicle. Fortunately, Zhou Paihuai was well-covered, and since it was the fault of both drivers, it had nothing to do with her. She paid the fare and got out of the car.
Before leaving, Zhou Paihuai took a few photos and posted them on her QQ Space with the caption: "Mercury retrograde lately, I feel like I need to go to a temple to pray for blessings." This has always been her habit; she likes to post things on her QQ Space, which hardly anyone reads anymore, in order to keep a record of her life. Often, when she lacks inspiration for writing, she will also look back at her own posts.
Zhou Paihuai's QQ account only had one person, Xiao Heifen. However, she thought Xiao Heifen was a cool and aloof hater who didn't originally have a QQ account, so she figured he wouldn't bother looking at her QQ space updates. Therefore, she didn't set up privacy mode.
Ji Anxi indeed disdained to check Zhou Paihuai's social media profile unnecessarily; after all, she wasn't a peeping tom. However, ever since Zhou Paihuai's failed attempt to invite her to play games, he hadn't messaged her again. Admittedly, her attitude at the time was somewhat poor, but anyone who wanted to study would be annoyed by constant interruptions, and she didn't understand why Zhou Paihuai himself was getting angry. Although she inwardly criticized Zhou Paihuai's actions, she still wanted to receive messages from him, so she would check his QQ account periodically.
I used to ignore it like it was a dead account, but today I actually saw that Zhou Paihuai posted a new update, and it was even a few photos of a car accident.
Did Zhou Huaihuai get into a car accident?
The thought sent a chill down Ji Anxi's spine. However, she quickly calmed down. If the car accident was serious, Zhou Paihuai probably wouldn't have the leisure to post anything online, especially not in such a teasing tone.
After trying to reassure herself, Ji Anxi logged onto Weibo and started searching for hashtags like #ZhouPaihuaiCarAccident#. Fortunately, the search results were either about car accidents or Zhou Paihuai, but there was no news of Zhou Paihuai being in a car accident. No news was good news, and Ji Anxi finally felt relieved.
Chapter 37 Mutual Fighting
Because of an unexpected delay on the way, Zhou Paihuai didn't get home until almost 10 p.m. She hadn't actually eaten dinner yet, but cooking was too much trouble, and she wasn't particularly hungry, so she decided not to eat. She simply washed up and went to her study.
After realizing that she would live in this world in place of the original owner and fulfill her dreams, she prepared a large notebook. Although Sister Cheng always said that she lacked ambition and the drive to fight in this industry, Zhou Paihuai had indeed tried.
She used to prefer reading to watching videos, but now she spends a lot of time watching popular dramas, subconsciously analyzing the characters' acting and trying to understand their psychology. She dedicates a lot of time to this. However, acting skills are mostly a matter of talent. The original owner of this body might have had some talent, but she, with a different soul, definitely doesn't. So, despite her long efforts, her acting skills are still terrible. But she's not one to give up easily, so she continues to watch dramas and take notes every day.
The drama I've been watching recently is a female-centric drama that's been airing for a while and is nearing its end. The female lead has transformed from a naive young girl into a capable empress dowager, assisting the prince in ascending the throne and beginning her reign as regent. The naive girl was only thirteen years old when she first appeared, and it took her thirty years of struggle to reach the throne. This thirty-year age span is portrayed by one actress, and the actress playing the lead, Mo Qing, is a "newcomer" who debuted even later than the original character. Such people are probably blessed with extraordinary talent, practically handpicked by fate.
As Zhou Paihuai watched the drama, she couldn't help but admire the female lead's acting. She noticed that Mo Qing's eyes were incredibly expressive, and the director frequently used close-ups of her eyes, drawing the audience in and making it impossible to criticize her acting. However, Zhou Paihuai felt she could never learn that kind of expressiveness through her eyes. Although she had a rich inner life, she was truly expressionless. But she could remember this and ask a teacher for advice when Sister Cheng helped her find a mentor after filming was over.
Time flowed slowly, and Zhou Paihuai finally finished watching the latest episodes of the past few days. She yawned, glanced at her watch, and realized it was almost 1 a.m. She had momentarily forgotten the time, but she had to get up early the next day, which made her feel miserable.
But that's how working people are; no matter how painful it is, they still have to get up. To make sure she could get up tomorrow, she set several alarms before finally falling asleep.
... ...
The next day, Zhou Paihuai was more familiar with the film set. She went to her own makeup room first, changed her clothes, and then went to the director's side to wait quietly for his instructions.
The male and female leads haven't arrived yet, but the director is quite satisfied with her attitude and doesn't mind giving her more pointers on the scenes, essentially giving her some extra coaching.
“Zhou Zhou, your performance yesterday was quite good, but you need to use more expressions, especially in today’s scene where all of Cheng Ya’s bad deeds are exposed. If you still have a blank expression, the audience may think you have no remorse, and you will be criticized after the show airs.”
It was truly a profound lesson learned. To be honest, Zhou Paihuai didn't understand the director's meaning. Admittedly, Cheng Ya should have shown some expression in this scene, but it certainly wasn't remorseful, was it? After all, Cheng Ya, the second female lead, is a complete villain. Her evil lies in her refusal to admit wrongdoing and her complete lack of remorse. In any case, the Cheng Ya that Zhou Paihuai had in mind from the script was probably resentful, feeling like the whole world was against her. Remorse? If she truly repented, it would ruin her character.
"Director, I think..."
"Director—" Zhou Paihuai's words were interrupted by the female lead, Yang Anqi, who had just arrived, "I'm a little late today. Have you already started?"
The director was immediately drawn to Yang Anqi and walked over to her, saying, "No, no, it's just that Xiao Zhou arrived a little early. I'm going to talk to her about the scene first, so I can work with you later."
"Oh, I see. Then the director can't be biased. He has to explain it to me too later." Yang Anqi actually started to whine to the director.
But the director was very receptive to this, saying, "Don't worry, that's for sure."
Zhou Paihuai, having been put out of her mind, didn't seem to care much. She and the director already had disagreements, and further discussion might lead to an argument. Yang Anqi's arrival, ironically, had saved her from the situation, so she should thank her. She tried to give Yang Anqi a friendly smile. However, her acting skills were limited, and Yang Anqi perceived the smile as provocation, so she returned the favor with an eye roll.
“… …” Okay, if you can’t beat them, you can avoid them. Zhou Paihuai picked up the script and found a place to sit down. Although he had already memorized the lines, he still pretended to be memorizing them.
After the male lead arrived on set and was ready, the director told them to get ready to officially start filming.
This scene mainly features Zhou Paihuai and Yang Anqi as their opposite. Yang Anqi is a popular young actress, and she basically can't memorize her lines, so her lines are always filled with numbers. Fortunately, Zhou Paihuai has a good memory and can not only memorize his own lines but also the other person's lines, so he knows what she is saying and memorizes his lines very well.
After filming several takes, the director was very dissatisfied. Of course, it's normal for the director to be dissatisfied, after all, the acting skills of the female lead and the second female lead in this drama are not good, and there are also differences in character between Zhou Huaipai and him. It would be strange if he were satisfied.
"We'll reshoot those scenes!" The director waved his hand, announcing a reshoot. Zhou Huaihuai couldn't help but marvel at how rich the production crew was. After all, every scene involved a huge budget. If there were no problems during filming, and they suddenly wanted to reshoot so many scenes, a crew without money wouldn't dare to do that.
Upon hearing that they had to reshoot, Yang Anqi showed an impatient expression. She was so tired; she should have rested after filming for so long, and now they had to reshoot. Was the director being too difficult? However, she was smart; the expression only lasted for a moment before she immediately withdrew it and put on an obedient and dedicated expression.
She glanced at Zhou Paihuai, who seemed indifferent to the situation, and suddenly an idea came to her.
"Director, I have an idea."
"What?"
Yang Anqi glanced at Zhou Paihuai and said, "The director is not satisfied with these scenes. I think it's because there isn't enough conflict. In the script, Cheng Ya did so many bad things, but when the truth came out, everyone's criticism of her was only verbal, which is a bit unrealistic."
"you mean... ..."
“I think adding a few action scenes would be better. Even a clay figure has some temper. Cheng Xin has been harmed so many times, no matter how kind she is, she can't possibly be so indifferent to Cheng Ya right now.” Yang Anqi glanced at Zhou Paihuai, “Zhou Zhou, what do you think?”
Zhou Paihuai understood what she meant; she probably wanted to add some scenes of physical violence. But this director was very humane; all the fighting scenes were filmed using camera tricks. She couldn't possibly actually hit herself, and would she really enjoy pretending to hit someone else?
The director understood what she meant and thought she made some sense. But if this kind of scene was already planned, it would be fine, but adding a scene suddenly would make the person who gets hit unhappy. After all, Zhou Huaihuai's coffee shop isn't small, and it's really not easy for him to play a supporting role this time.
Sensing the director's gaze, Zhou Paihuai curled his lips and said, "Actually, I think Anqi makes a lot of sense. These scenes are indeed a bit dry and lack something. I think when filming these scenes, Cheng Xin was definitely angry, and it's understandable that she wanted to hit Cheng Ya. But Cheng Ya isn't one to be trifled with either. She's been bad for so long, and she's not going to just let Cheng Xin hit her. So the most reasonable thing would be for the two of them to fight each other."
“That makes sense!” Zhou Paihuai analyzed, and the director found it very reasonable. “But you two can’t just stand there and slap each other, can you?”
"So you can't slap each other. It's too fake to just stand there and slap each other. A real fight is a struggle from head to toe. That's how you make it look real."
Chapter 38 Gains a Fangirl
Zhou Paihuai was just saying it casually, but unexpectedly the director actually believed her and decided to film it that way.
"..." Yang Anqi was speechless. She really only wanted to take a small advantage and didn't intend to actually fight. After all, Zhou Paihuai's bullying on set was still a stark reminder of her past mistakes. Now that she'd gone from being the lead actress to a supporting actress, she didn't want to follow in her footsteps. But wouldn't it be too childish for the two of them to start fighting? Her hair would be a mess, and how would her fans see her looking her best?
The male lead and the second male lead were also puzzled by the director's decision. Wasn't this supposed to be an idol drama? Everyone was supposed to just look beautiful and talk the whole time, but now they were actually going to fight each other. Wouldn't this scene be very different from the others? How would they edit the video?
Regardless of their thoughts, the director was ultimately in charge on set. After the props team was ready, he assigned Zhou Paihuai and Yang Anqi to film the scene. Since this scene was newly added, the director didn't know exactly how to film it and had to rely on the two of them to improvise.
Yang Anqi looks like a delicate girl, and fighting doesn't quite fit her character. Zhou Paihuai, on the other hand, is a former homebody, so his physical activity level is clearly insufficient. Moreover, this scene isn't just a simple fight; there's also the need for pre-scene setup and dialogue recitation.
"Cheng Ya, I never imagined you would be so despicable and shameless as to frame me."
"Stop with your hypocritical act. You stole someone else's fiancé and you still have the nerve to say there's no one else but you? Let me tell you, Haoxuan is just temporarily blinded by you. One day, he'll come back to me!"
"You—" Lin Anqi finished reciting her lines, paused for a moment, and then raised her small fist to smash towards Zhou Paihuai, giving off a feeling of "hitting your chest with a small fist".
Zhou Huai suppressed the urge to laugh, raised his hand to catch Lin Anqi's fist, and the two of them still wrestled together, trying to protect themselves from harm. This is probably human instinct.
"...Cut!" The director finally yelled "Cut!" Judging from his excited expression, he seemed quite satisfied with this scene. "This take is done, everyone take a break."
"Tsk, this director's standards are really low!" Zhou Paihuai couldn't help but sigh inwardly, though she didn't show it on her face. She glanced at the script and the schedule for the day. Originally, there was supposed to be a scene between her and the male lead, but because the script was changed, that scene was cut by the director. In other words, if nothing unexpected happened, she could practically go home for the day.
However, in order to demonstrate her professionalism, she couldn't leave even after filming was finished. In front of so many people, Zhou Huahuai was indeed too embarrassed to take out her phone to play games. Watching the male and female leads act together was really not good for her acting career. With nothing to do, Zhou Huahuai borrowed a pen and started marking up her script, trying to find the bugs in it. She also wrote down her complaints. Anyway, it was her own script, so she wasn't afraid of being seen by others.
Returning to her area of expertise, Zhou Paihuai entertained herself immensely, and before she knew it, time had flown by. After filming the scenes with the male and female leads, there was still some time left. The director noticed Zhou Paihuai still on set and called her over to film a solo scene.
"Coming right away!" Zhou replied from afar, placed his phone and script face down on the table, and walked towards the director.
"Zhou Zhou, there's a scene like this where you're facing a door, expressing your love for Hao Xuan. You want to think he's inside, but you also know he's not. It's mainly about the expression. How long will it take you to memorize the lines?"
The lines weren't a problem; she had basically memorized them all. She just needed to watch them once to familiarize herself with them. Besides, she liked performing a monologue in front of a door, so she didn't have to face anyone else and wouldn't feel so awkward.
"Five minutes, I'll familiarize myself with the lines and get into the groove."
"Okay, let's start preparing to shoot!" The director was immediately happy when he heard her say that. The less preparation time, the faster they could finish shooting. Even if there were problems with the lines, they could be dubbed again in post-production, so it wasn't a big problem.
Five minutes later, Zhou lingered in front of the door.
As the word "Action" rang out, Zhou Huapai, having prepared himself emotionally, began reciting his lines.
"Haoxuan, you'll never know how much I love you. My love for you is a thousand times, ten thousand times more than that woman Cheng Xin's. From childhood, I've always been preparing to be your bride. Later, when my aunt and uncle got engaged for us, you had no idea... You have no idea how happy I was... When we were little, you clearly said you would marry me. Why has everything changed now that we're all grown up?"
"Cut!" As Zhou Paihuai finished her last line, the director yelled "Cut!" He was very satisfied with this scene. This was the best scene Zhou Paihuai had performed since joining the crew. Did she prefer to perform a solo act?
In fact, performing a solo scene did alleviate some of the awkwardness associated with Zhou Paihuai's social anxiety. More importantly, the scene mainly focused on Zhou Paihuai's back view, occasionally capturing a few moments of sadness. Moreover, by reciting her lines herself this time, she found the feeling of Cheng Ya, completely immersing herself in the role. With no one forcing her to break character, she was able to express Cheng Ya's intense emotions.
"Zhou Zhou did a great job in this scene, thank you for your hard work!" the director praised Zhou Paihuai.
Zhou Huai smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said, "I still want to thank you for your careful guidance, Director."
Hearing her compliment, the director couldn't stop smiling. The two then exchanged compliments. Suddenly, the director asked, "Zhou Zhou, how come you memorize your lines so quickly? Do you have a secret?"
His words immediately displeased the others. Wasn't the director implying that they were memorizing their lines too slowly? The male lead and the second male lead were alright, as they were of different genders and their competition with Zhou Paihuai wasn't that great. But Yang Anqi was different. She was usually quite good at getting along with the director, but her performance was really lacking. Now that the director had said this, it was clearly a slap in the face for her.
Yang Anqi thought about it and was still a little annoyed. She tried to smile and said, "Yes, Zhouzhou, you are so good at memorizing lines. You must teach us a few tricks."
If Zhou Paihuai doesn't teach, it makes her seem very stingy. But memorizing lines depends on either hard work or talent. It's not that she's narcissistic, but she has a bit of both. But Yang Anqi and the others don't have either. How can she teach them?
"Can't you say? If you can't say, then forget it." Yang Anqi was secretly pleased to see her remain silent for a long time. So what if she memorizes her lines quickly? If she's unwilling to share, she'll still annoy people.