Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: On Set
â—ŽWhat kind of freaks are these?â—Ž
“Ms. Lan, we absolutely cannot let Zhu Qing log into your account again,” Qian Chu said, exhausted from dealing with the hot search drama the whole time, trying to minimize the negative impact and maximize the positive one. “Fortunately, these photos turned out great, and you gained over 300,000 fans.”
“If she wants to clap back, there’s no reason for me to stop her. I can tolerate the fans’ criticism, but there’s no need for Xiao Qing to suffer in silence for me and follow my lead. Holding in anger can easily cause her to develop nodules.” After saying this, Li Lan scanned Qian Chu from head to toe, her look clearly saying, “You should also watch out for nodules.”
Qian Chu silently took a big gulp of bitter tea.
Li Lan wasn’t completely at ease either. Considering that Zhu Qing was young and prone to impulsiveness, she had to plan for the upcoming variety show. “Have the other guests been confirmed?”
Qian Chu said, “There’s still one young couple, who are a publicity couple, who haven’t been confirmed yet.”
The variety show had a total of four couples: a senior couple, a middle-aged couple, a young couple, and another young pair.
Li Lan was a bit reluctant to admit it. Although she was confident in her appearance, she was already thirty and could only be in the young adult group.
“Several companies want to promote their artists and are fighting for the spots,” Qian Chu said. “There are also a few popular up-and-coming actors who have no projects or romantic relationships and are also vying for the spots.”
Li Lan nodded. “Let me know as soon as they’re confirmed.” She needed to prepare in advance.
Qian Chu also resigned herself to her fate. “I hope Ms. Zhu is your lucky star.”
Although Zhu Qing wasn’t in the industry and had already gotten into a fight with fans before even making an appearance, her ability to get Li Lan on the hot search with just a few photos was not to be underestimated.
Maybe Zhu Qing was very capable, after all.
Li Lan arrived on set an hour early. They were filming a candy commercial that afternoon. Li Lan first went to greet the director and then confirmed the storyboard with the photographer.
An hour later, the male actor still hadn’t arrived. Li Lan glanced at the time. She had an interview that night and had to fly to the next city tomorrow morning.
Qian Chu walked over, frowning. “The male actor just got off the plane. It’ll be another hour before he gets here.”
The male actor, Qi Yao, was a new, popular actor who had a big hit with a historical idol drama and was currently very popular.
The director and the ad manager came to apologize to Li Lan, looking very anxious. “We’re so sorry. We’ve already urged him, and he’ll be here soon.”
Li Lan didn’t say much. She just told the makeup artist to apply her makeup and film her individual shots first.
“Qi Yao is a rookie, and his status isn’t high enough, but the entertainment company behind him, Meiyu Media, wants to promote him,” Qian Chu said with disdain. “Just cooperate this one time to repay President Qi’s favor. I’ll turn down any future collaborations with him.”
Li Lan nodded, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. “That’s fine.”
There were currently two giants in the industry. One was Meiyu Media, whose main pillar was creating stars. They sent a batch of new artists into the industry every year, almost monopolizing the source of talent. At the same time, any influencers who went viral online would be quickly signed by them.
The other company was called Heguang Tongchen, which was the complete opposite of Meiyu Media. They mainly scouted promising talent from major universities and followed the traditional film and television route, making TV shows, movies, and winning awards. Li Lan had many collaborations with them.
However, the entertainment industry was a society of favors. Years ago, Li Lan owed a favor to President Qi of Meiyu Media. Now, by acting as a supporting role for Qi Yao, who the company wanted to promote, she was repaying that favor.
Qi Yao was a full two hours late. He arrived with three assistants, wearing sunglasses, and looked very tired.
The makeup artist worked for another two hours to cover up his dark circles.
It was now seven in the evening. Li Lan had finished all her solo shots, and only the couple shots were left. She could leave as soon as they were done.
To everyone’s surprise, Qi Yao needed the script supervisor to show him even the basic blocking.
After Li Lan cooperated with him for seventeen takes, she realized that he hadn’t even studied the script and had misunderstood the basic meaning of the lines.
“Sweet as bubbles, happy and not ‘sticky’!”
Here, Qi Yao was supposed to walk around behind Li Lan, approaching her with the expression of a cat rubbing its face, but with the cat’s arrogant demeanor, so he couldn’t actually touch her.
But Qi Yao acted it out as harassment.
“Ms. Li, can you help me act it out?” Qi Yao was also getting a little annoyed from being stuck. “How am I supposed to film it if you keep dodging me?”
Li Lan swallowed her twenty-third candy of the day and was so angry that she laughed.
Was she not supposed to dodge him and just let him rub against her?
Li Lan turned around and faced Qi Yao directly. Her model height plus eight-centimeter heels made her look down at the male actor with a condescending gaze.
The staff became nervous, worried that the male and female leads would get into a conflict. Just as the assistant director was about to intervene, the director raised a hand and said, “Wait a minute.”
On the monitor, Li Lan’s expression suddenly changed.
Li Lan casually glanced at Qi Yao and then nonchalantly looked away, with the arrogant look of a cat that couldn’t be bothered to pay attention when it saw a stupid dog approaching.
Then she turned around, extended two fingers, grabbed the sleeve of Qian Chu, who was watching from the side, and pulled her in front of her.
Li Lan began to walk around Qian Chu, her steps so light there was almost no sound, but she suddenly stopped when the tip of her nose brushed against Qian Chu’s cheek.
Close, but never touching.
Her shoulder was only an inch away from Qian Chu. The scent of her perfume wafted over, her eyelashes drooped, her gaze flickered upwards, and then she immediately looked away.
The entire performance was only ten seconds long, but it perfectly conveyed the essence of the line.
“Did you get it?” Li Lan stood up straight, casually flicked Qian Chu’s sleeve, and looked at Qi Yao indifferently. “Tsundere means I’ll pay attention to you, but you’re not worthy. You’re playing an arrogant cat, not a horny poodle. If you can’t tell the difference, go downstairs and have a cup of water to cool down.”
Qian Chu was stunned for two seconds and couldn’t help but clap twice. Then, everyone on set started clapping.
Every one of Li Lan’s movements had a feline quality to them: elegant, picky, and aloof. She perfectly captured the art of playing hard to get.
Compared to her, Qi Yao’s clumsy acting was simply unwatchable.
Qi Yao was so humiliated and angered by Li Lan’s devastating blow that he felt like he had been completely humiliated. No one had ever dared to treat him like this before, so he immediately lost his temper.
He turned around and threw the script at his assistant. The pages scattered all over the floor. “Damn it! What kind of crappy line is this? It’s so fucking disgusting!”
The assistant shivered, bent down to pick up the script, and didn’t dare to say a word.
The director had just let out a sigh of relief, intending to let Qi Yao follow Li Lan’s example. This kind of acting demonstration was basically a direct feed into his mouth. If he just followed it, he could film it well. But seeing Qi Yao’s reaction of biting the hand that feeds him, the director was speechless, and his expression became extremely sour.
The script had been confirmed in advance, and the actor must have seen it a long time ago. Qi Yao was clearly deliberately lashing out and nitpicking.
He didn’t have the qualifications, but he sure had a big temper.
The set suddenly froze, and the atmosphere became incredibly tense.