"Be quiet."
Yuan Director glanced at Song Huan, then looked up at Qin Wei and said,
"There is a scene where Zhao Yu leads troops to the border to rescue people, fights a bloody battle to the end, sacrifices many comrades, and is seriously injured himself. I want you to show Zhao Yu's reaction when she wakes up and learns about all this."
After she finished speaking, she said to Song Huan again:
"You play the one who tells her all this..."
"Oh, I know, a supporting character."
Song Huan impatiently glared at Yuan Director.
...
After half an hour, Qin Wei used the time to read the script, Xiao Ye made filming arrangements, while Yuan Director was responsible for running lines with Song Huan.
Song Huan was not happy at all. She listened to Yuan Director explain her part while rolling her eyes at her.
"Get ready, we'll start shooting now."
Like yesterday, Yuan Director sat down behind the camera and briefly told Qin Wei about the camera positions, then called action—
At first, the cameraman did a close-up shot of the still unconscious Zhao Yu.
Her eyes fluttered and struggled to open after a few attempts, her gaze empty at first before gradually becoming clear.
"Lady Zhao, you're finally awake."
Song Huan walked to the bedside, her tone stiff,
"Woo woo woo, the rear was cut off by the enemy, almost all the brothers were wiped out. By the time we got there, it was too late..."
Yuan Director rubbed her throbbing temples. It was unreasonable to rely on an amateur like Song Huan to act, but she couldn't even say a natural line in front of the camera.
But Zhao Yu lying in bed was unaffected by the strange emotions. When she heard "wiped out", she had no big reaction, her eyes just drifted around, seemingly disbelief.
When told about her injury, her hand reflexively moved, as if pulling on the wound. The pain brought agony to her face.
The pain verified the truth of the other's words.
"Get out..."
After a long pause, she whispered these two words softly.
Her voice was weak and breathy, clearly lacking strength.
Song Huan asked her, "What did you say, my lady?"
"I said..."
Her eyes brimmed with tears, she choked them back to prevent them falling. Her eyes were full of hatred, her voice trembled. Enduring the pain, she sat up in bed and grabbed the cup by the bedside, throwing it at Song Huan,
"Can't you understand when I tell you to get out!?"
The cup was thrown at full force. Song Huan had to take a step back to avoid being hit, while muttering to herself,
"You're letting some personal grudges in this acting, aren't you!?"
She was still unaffected by Song Huan's poor acting, taking it that the supporting character had been driven out. Only then did she start crying, but not loud wailing, just stifled sobs full of discomfort.
This made people feel heartache when they saw it.
"Cut!"
Yuan Director called out, then started watching the playback on the monitor.
Song Huan passed her some tissues as she cried.
"I think it was pretty good, what about you?"
Song Huan turned to ask Yuan Director for her opinion.
Yuan Director looked up at her:
"About your own performance? Officer Song, if you ever switch careers in the future, don't consider this industry. Remember, you can't act. Heaven didn't just not reward you with a bowl of rice, it smashed your rice bowl."
Song Huan was self-aware enough. She pointed at Qin Wei next to her:
"I meant her."
Yuan Director pursed her lips and looked earnestly at both of them:
"Heaven rewarded her with a bowl of rice..."
Song Huan nodded.
"But she chased it and gave it back. Her acting was over the top and lame too."
Song Huan sized up Yuan Director:
"How long has it been since you exercised? Your lung capacity is so poor. You have to split every sentence into two halves just to say it. How can you pant so hard?"
Qin Wei didn't say anything. Not having her acting recognized was inevitably disappointing.
Yuan Director watched the video again for a long time before speaking:
"However, Qin Wei has one very good point - no matter how rotten or bad her acting partner is, she can remain unaffected and steadily carry on. That's very good..."
Song Huan: "..."
As Yuan Director scribbled in her notebook, she continued:
"Also, she can cry on demand. That's a bonus point. The part where she threw the cup and angrily drove the other person away also had a lot of explosive force. As for fight scenes... keep practicing, I'll find the 'Gong Lan' role before you know it."
She meant...
Qin Wei almost couldn't believe as she looked at her.
She had even prepared a backflip routine!
Song Huan pointed at Qin Wei:
"Why not let her show off some of her skills! She can do a front flip, and assemble and disassemble a gun..."
Yuan Director was clearly uninterested:
"If she could flip while disassembling a gun I'd watch... Why does she know this stuff anyway?"
Song Huan shrugged:
"Uh! At first this script was a modern military fiction, but after revision after revision, when you said you were tired of the usual patterns and wanted something different, it went from historical to fantasy and more elements were added...
Anyway, at first I assumed she was playing my colleague, so I taught her a lot of basic skills. Is that a problem?"
Yuan Director shook her head:
"Just asking casually, why are you getting angry?"
...
Yuan Director chatted with her more about arrangements for filming the movie afterwards. When the interview ended, Qin Wei called Li Yao after saying goodbye to the director and Song Huan. He seemed to have timed it well, already on his way to the hotel's underground parking lot.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just come to the entrance?"
Qin Wei asked him on the phone.
Li Yao's voice came through:
"That route is jammed today, hard to explain in a few words. I'll come in and pick you up from there. The road facing Exit A isn't congested right now, or you might be late for your commercial shoot tonight."
Qin Wei didn't really understand but got the gist that this would be more convenient, so she took the elevator down to the basement level.
...
As the elevator doors slowly opened, it revealed two men in suits standing in front of the parking garage elevator.
The man on the right had a warm, radiant smile. He straightened his tie and sincerely said:
"Miss Qin, pleased to meet you. Let me introduce myself, my surname is Huo, my given name is Yu..."
"Mu Chen?"
But Qin Wei's gaze first fell on the face of the man to the left, and she immediately recognized him, calling out his name almost in sync with the man called Huo Yu.
They were both a little surprised and stopped talking at the same time.
Huo Yu's smile faded away, his eyes turning cold:
"You two know each other?"
As he spoke, he glanced at the ID badge hanging on the chest of the man beside him.
The photo below read:
[Mu Chen | Executive Assistant's Office]
Doubt and confusion were written on Huo Yu's face.
Mu Chen said:
"I just remembered, not wearing your work badge at work is a 50 yuan fine..."
Qin Wei also looked innocent, pointing at the badge on his chest:
"But it says right there, doesn't it? Mu Chen.
As for you, Huo Yu? Who are you?"
As she spoke, she still didn't step out of the elevator.
Huo Yu was silent for a moment, before his smile returned:
"Miss Qin, pleased to meet you. Let me reintroduce myself, I'm Huo Yu, boss of Fire Rain Entertainment.
I know your time is precious, so I'll get right to the point. Fire Rain is very interested in you and hopes you will join us."
