Chapter 1499
Domination
The next morning, Zhang Yuan found himself alone. He went out for a stroll and saw Ms. Bai exercising on a treadmill in the gym.
She works out first thing in the morning; that's very disciplined.
Zhang Yuan thought for a moment, then went to eat first, leaving his assistant to wait.
Wait until she finishes exercising and taking a shower before calling her to my side.
"I saw you were still sleeping, so I didn't wake you." Miss Bai, with her hair neatly tied in a single ponytail, sat down beside him, rested her chin on her hand, and gazed at him with admiration.
"It's okay, I have to go to the film set to start work in a bit."
"You are free to move around in this house."
"I'd love to dance, swim, or play the piano."
“However, remember what I said last night,” he reiterated earnestly.
"What did you say?" the man asked, his face full of confusion but his eyes clear and bright.
Zhang Yuan: ...
"do not you remember?"
"My memory is bad after drinking, and I can't hold my liquor."
"Well... we'll talk about it later." Zhang Yuan wiped his mouth, got up and left.
Bai Bing smiled and waved to him, but after he walked away, a hint of resentment appeared in her eyes.
Whether she had a blackout or was just pretending, only she knows the truth.
"Dandan, after I finish filming tonight, could you go back to the compound and check if this person is still there?" Zhang Yuan asked in the car.
"What if they were here?" The assistant turned around from the front row.
"Just let me know, and she can stay as long as she wants."
Zhang Yuan looked out the window.
After all, she's an artist under Eagle King Entertainment, and she's a really nice person, so I have to treat her well.
Damn it, she occupies the big courtyard, Yang Mi occupies the small courtyard, and I'm left unable to go home.
How about we go to Brother Qian's house tonight and have some dumplings made by his wife?
Upon arriving at the film set, I finally met Brother Fei Xiang.
When the other person speaks, their accent has a "business jargon" feel to it.
The words were pronounced accurately, but the tones were off.
Although it was widely known throughout the country that Fei Xiang's song "A Fire in Winter" sparked the Great Khingan Mountains fire.
Later generations of artists should look at the older generation of artists; they were like sitting at home when trouble fell from the sky, and it was a huge, unprecedented trouble.
Who can carry this?
But if you ask any woman in the 8s and 90s who was the most handsome, aside from the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong, this guy would probably get the most votes.
The key is that his looks didn't decline drastically with age; he's still handsome and has a great presence.
Before studying acting, he studied medicine; he's educated and intelligent.
A person with a wealth of knowledge naturally exudes elegance; reading truly enhances a person's refinement and temperament.
But ultimately, Fei Xiang's success is due to his looks; without those looks, no amount of charisma would matter.
This guy is like a genetic lottery winner.
His older sister resembled his mother, and the two of them, in later terms, had a somewhat "Fu Shou'er-like" appearance, which was a typical white stereotype of Chinese women.
His father, on the other hand, had the typical appearance of a North American white man—quite dignified, but not exactly handsome.
Yet, he somehow managed to create a face that represents an era.
That's talent; no amount of hard work can change that.
Zhang Yuan secretly took the original draft of the bald look and compared it with his current look, which was already made up and had long hair and a black robe.
Even the guy couldn't hold back his excitement after watching it, but he still professionally stated that he could do any look if the director asked.
He believed that, but since they were already comparing themselves to the veteran, he figured he should let the veteran show off his skills.
I was chatting with this person in the dressing room when the door was pushed open.
Veteran artists like Fei Xiang arrived early, and so did Zhang Yuan.
This is something I learned from my seniors. Punctuality is a basic principle for artists or any profession. You can't be late just because others are late.
He has acted with several of the Four Heavenly Kings, and he has never been late; he always arrives at the appointed time.
These are all good habits developed when I was young.
Later artists, before they had matured, became too entangled in worldly affairs, which prevented them from having firm values.
"Hello, Brother Yuan. Hello, Brother Fei Xiang."
"Hello... Oh, wait a minute!" Zhang Yuan greeted them with a smile, then paused, lost in thought.
"This is the men's dressing room. What are you doing here?"
He pointed to a girl named Chen Jiating, who played the third female lead in the film, the queen of the villainous Tianlang Kingdom.
She's actually quite good-looking, pretty, but she falls short compared to real big stars. The problem is, there are a lot of big stars in this production crew.
Even these female celebrities who are not easily remembered all come from artistic families.
Two generations of my family have been involved in Pingtan (a traditional storytelling and ballad singing art form), and they are all first-class performers. It is a traditional southern folk art form where storytellers play the sanxian (a three-stringed plucked instrument) or pipa (a four-stringed plucked instrument) while reciting stories, which is very charming.
"How did you get in here?"
Not only the third female lead, but Yang Mi also peeked in.
"Do they all get Fei Xiang's autograph?"
“It’s a paid service!” he joked.
"No." Yang Mi looked worried.
"We have nowhere to put on makeup, there's nothing we can do."
“We’re about to start work, so I thought we could squeeze into the men’s dressing room,” Yang Mi said as she approached him.
At the same time, he stretched his neck, raised his nose, and sniffed around him.
It smells like a sporty shower gel; I didn't smell any perfume or sultry fox scent...
Zhang Yuan helplessly raised his hand and flicked her forehead.
Do you think I'm stupid?!
I figured out these kinds of details years ago.
Besides, I didn't even get up early to do it.
In addition, Bai Bing is not the kind of overpowering, garish perfume that's so strong it's pungent.
"Ouch!" Da Mi clutched her forehead and grinned at him.
"What exactly happened?"
"Are you guys learning from Guan Xiaotong, barging into the men's dressing room without warning all the time?"
"Besides, she only barged into my room. What if Brother Fei Xiang is changing clothes while you're coming in like this?"
After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, the third female lead clearly swallowed.
That's a pretty good idea!
"Don't you have a dressing room?"
The production crew arranged it like this: one set of four fixed dressing rooms, two large and two small.
The male protagonist is Dan Yijian, that is, him.
Because of his high status, and because his costumes and armor are custom-made and expensive, we need to be careful.
Two female leads share one room.
These are two small ones, about 20 square meters, enough to seat six or seven people without feeling crowded.
The two larger rooms are several dozen square meters each, with two rows of makeup mirrors placed in the middle and on each side for the male and female actors in the crew, excluding the lead actors, to do their makeup and change clothes.
Fei Xiang used the large room, while Yang Mi and Guan Xiaotong used the large room for women.
The male and female leads also have RVs or their own cars for makeup touch-ups and rest. Zhang Yuan lets these two rest in his car, which is already considered special treatment through connections.
For extras like us, forget about using the dressing room; we'll just have to stand under the eaves and bear with it.
When changing clothes, you can just find a corner to put them on; at most, the female extras will pull a curtain aside for you.
Film crews are places with a very strict hierarchy.
The problem now is that someone has disrupted this balance.
According to Yang Mi.
Guan Xiaotong wasn't here today; her scenes have already been filmed.
Otherwise, they would have already gone to his side to spread rumors, and wouldn't have waited until now.
Xun Ge arrived very early this morning.
The two female leads were originally competing to see who arrived later.
Zhang Yuan felt that doing this was very unethical, but he was too lazy to say anything more.
I wonder which brilliant person gave Zhou Xun this advice.
That girl isn't competing with you, she's trying to see who's the female lead.
You have to tell her!
Show her with your actions! Especially after the two of you have proven the conflict.
It's not that I'm afraid of bad things happening, it's that I'm afraid of a lack of good people.
Moreover, people don't get tired when they do bad things.
Xun Ge, who usually smokes and drinks until midnight after filming, set her alarm, took sleeping pills, and went to sleep at 8:30 last night.
I get up at five in the morning and arrive at the film set by seven.
They rushed straight into the female lead's dressing room, locked the door as soon as they entered, and even blocked it with a chair.
No one but me can use it!
Although the actors start work at nine o'clock, the staff have to be busy setting up the set, lighting, and moving equipment as early as six or seven o'clock.
At 8:30, the other person finally arrived late.
Including makeup time, she can't start work before 10 a.m.
It's all about who's later and who's more famous.
But they found they couldn't get into the dressing room!
Bang bang on the door!
"Zhou Xun, open the door! Zhou Xun!"
"Don't hide inside and keep quiet, I know you're in there."
"You're good at stealing the show, but you're not good at opening the door."
"Open the door!"
She knew the word well.
The only difference is that she was the one inside the door back then, but now she's standing outside.
How could I possibly open the door? Xun Ge is probably secretly laughing inside.
Zhang Yuan suspected that if she had brought alcohol with her, she could easily drink a couple of cups.
In the early years, the feuds between the leading actresses were genuine and real, while the younger generation is far less assertive.
The person outside the door is no pushover either.
Row!
Is this how you do it?
Then I'll give you a plan to wipe out your family line!
Let's not limit our conflict to just the two of us; let's escalate it completely!
If things don't go well, then let's make them bigger.
This guy is definitely smarter than Xun Ge.
Her trick was simple: she occupied the women's large dressing room and locked the door.
I'm the female lead, and it was agreed that I would have a private dressing room; it was written in the contract.
Since I can't get in now, I'll "requisition" another dressing room.
If I use it and something goes wrong, the director and producer will have to come looking for me.
I talked to them!
Let's see who can be missing from this production crew.
This kind of thing is common in Hollywood too. The two male or female leads get increasingly incompatible as filming progresses, and eventually they don't even perform on the same stage. They rely entirely on body doubles for their scenes, and the shots are all close-ups of a single person.
Later, in China, in order to compete for stardom, screenwriters were brought into the production team to rewrite the script, and many scenes of rivals were directly cut.
This isn't even the most sinister one.
The most insidious thing is that after you finish filming, the other party and the screenwriter will revise the script again, adding scenes and changing scenes without your knowledge, turning themselves from a supporting actor to a leading actor, and turning you from a main actor to a supporting actor.
Zhang Yuan is 100% opposed to this behavior. Even if the script needs to be changed, it should be agreed upon before filming begins, or it should be done during filming for creative purposes.
I can't be bothered with it, and it's getting worse and worse... Zhang Yuan shook his head helplessly.
"Alright, everyone, listen to me."
"The male actors are still changing and putting on makeup here."
"The actresses go to my dressing room, everyone squeeze in."
"You main actresses, come to my car to get your makeup done. It'll be more convenient if you spread out a bit."
"Then what are you going to do?" Yang Mi asked.
"I'll just stay here, it'll be fine," he said loudly, clapping his hands.
Then he whispered to Yang Mi.
"Anywhere, if you want to be the boss, you have to learn to 'take a loss'."
"It's the same whether you're the eldest sister or not."
Yang Mi blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.
But she soon noticed a lot of whispers around her, mostly about...
"Ah, it has to be Brother Yuan!"
"Exactly, atmospheric."
"I was so anxious, I thought we wouldn't be able to film today."
"Damn, we're both celebrities, but the difference in our character is so huge."
This refers to those two guys.
Comparing people is a recipe for disaster; comparing goods is a recipe for discarding them.
Zhang Yuan has reached a point where he relies entirely on the contrast of his peers for recognition.
Yang Mi seems to understand a little.
But something doesn't feel right.
I can't just sit here and suffer losses, otherwise all my hard work climbing up the ladder will have been for nothing.
I suffered when I was unknown, and I still suffer now that I'm famous. What a waste of my fame!
Zhang Yuan shook his head, knowing from her expression that she didn't fully understand.
The "loss" he refers to is "suffering a loss" when interacting with people of lower status than himself.
You can't afford to "suffer a big loss" in front of people of the same rank or even higher; you even have to find ways to gain something.
To relentlessly exploit those at the bottom and to act superior and ruthless in front of those in lower positions is to betray one's class.
Besides, I might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.
after all……
[Received a thank you message from Chen Jiating, plus 1 point in Jiangyin dialect!]
[Received a thank you from Wang Dazhu, shooting skill +1!]
[Thanks received from 523, Gothic art +1!]
……
Wait, something's not right!
He was initially quite happy, after all, a group of men, young and old, had given him a lot of support.
But then I suddenly saw that there was a 523 inside.
What does that tell us?
You old bastard, you obviously know about this and you're hiding outside!
Okay, so he doesn't want to get involved and wants to see what I do.
No wonder there are so many bad guys on set.
In other words, I'm willing to "take a loss," but if things aren't handled well, I'll still suffer the consequences.
But I also saw something interesting.
"Jia-Ting, where are you from?"
“I’m from Jiangyin,” the third female lead replied.
“I travel around a lot and often pass through that area. What are some good places to eat and have fun in your hometown? I can try them out sometime.”
This place is administered by Wuxi, and its specialties are similar to those of Wuxi, such as pufferfish, eel, and horseshoe pastry.
Zhang Yuan chatted with the other party for a while with great interest.
After that, I often chatted with this person during my breaks.
Yang Mi watched from the side, thinking to himself, "You're not even hiding it from me anymore?"
Why are you chatting so happily with other women in front of me?
Could it be that they're unhappy because I've taken over the "main mine"?
Zhang Yuan explained that he was interested in traditional Chinese performing arts and wanted to learn Pingtan (a type of storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect).
I'm so eager to improve. Having more skills is never a bad thing. Sooner or later, I'll become the chairman of the Chinese Quyi Artists Association... That's what he said.
Of course, in reality, it's half and half; he has other plans.
He didn't say a single word to either of the two female leads all day.
These two had also heard that Zhang Yuan had given up his dressing room, so they had been observing his expression.
But I found that apart from not communicating with myself, everything was normal.
Xun Ge thought that if Zhang Yuan was going to be angry, he should go after that woman, since she was the one who occupied someone else's dressing room.
Yiping is different.
She's definitely smarter; she understands that some men get furious and yell when things happen.
Some more powerful beings, however, become remarkably quiet when angry. (End of Chapter)