Chapter 701
Paparazzi Show
Bai Lu's heart skipped a beat. She quickly gathered her thoughts, put on a nonchalant smile, waved her hand, and casually made up an excuse, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I was just muttering something casually. I said I bought a watch last year. It has nothing to do with you."
She couldn't let Zhao Lushi know what she had just been thinking. Otherwise, given Zhao Lushi's personality, she might gossip about it, and if Jiang Yang found out, it would be troublesome.
Although Zhao Lushi felt a little puzzled, she didn't ask any further questions. She just smiled and said, "Oh, I see."
After saying that, she prepared to continue walking towards the RV.
Just then, Bai Lu quickly stepped forward and stopped Zhao Lushi, a warm smile on her face, and asked, "Hey, Lushi, where are you going? Why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong?"
She was secretly anxious, as Jiang Yang was currently discussing the serious matter of resource exchange with Yang Ying.
As for how the talks were conducted or what posture they took, that's none of our business.
We can't let Zhao Lushi go in and disturb them, otherwise, not only will it anger Jiang Yang, but it may also affect the progress of Yang Ying and Jiang Yang's talks. If she offends Yang Ying because of this, then her chance to appear on Running Man will be ruined.
Zhao Lushi stopped and shook the script in her hand, a troubled expression on her face. She said, "I don't quite understand the plot design of the character's ending in this script. I've been thinking about it for a long time but I still can't figure it out. So I want to ask Boss Jiang Yang for some guidance on how to act it out properly."
"No, no, no." Bai Lu quickly waved her hand and said urgently, "Boss Jiang Yang is busy right now. Don't go in and disturb them, or he'll get angry. Besides, he's so busy, how can he have time to give you script guidance? How about I tell you? I overheard the boss talking to Sister Baby earlier, and it seems like he mentioned the plot of your character. Maybe I can help you."
After saying that, Bai Lu grabbed Zhao Lushi's arm before she could react and led her to the shade of a tree, afraid that Zhao Lushi would insist on disturbing Jiang Yang and Yang Ying.
Zhao Lushi was pulled along by Bai Lu, her face showing a mixture of confusion and disdain. She curled her lip and said, "You tell me, Bai Lu, come on, what do you know? You can't even play your own role well. I think you just don't want me to go see Boss Jiang Yang, so you're deliberately making excuses to stop me."
"Oh, I really know, I'm not lying to you!" Bai Lu said hurriedly. To convince Zhao Lushi, she lowered her voice and put on a mysterious expression. She leaned close to Zhao Lushi's ear and said, "Let me tell you, I just heard some really big gossip. It's about Wang Jiawei and the whole crew going to prostitutes when they were filming 'Ashes of Time'! It's so explosive. I'm only telling you this, so please don't tell anyone else."
"Holy crap, really? Bai Lu, you're not kidding me, are you? You didn't make this up, did you?"
"How could I possibly lie to you!"
Bai Lu proudly raised her chin: "This is what Sister BABY told me herself. Sister BABY has been in the industry for so many years and knows a lot of inside stories. What she said must be true. Let me tell you, it caused quite a stir back then. It was even recorded in the local county annals. More than thirty people were arrested, all of them temporary workers in the crew, such as lighting technicians, stagehands, and drivers. Fortunately, the main actors were not implicated, otherwise, this would have been even more explosive."
Zhao Lushi's eyes lit up, her face full of excitement, and she quickly asked, "Really? Is there anything else? What else did Sister Baby tell you?"
“Yes, yes, yes.” Bai Lu nodded, looking smug. “Sister Baby also told me that Wang Jiawei always wears sunglasses to show off, never taking them off no matter the occasion, and he especially likes to talk bad about others behind their backs. He has no airs of a great director at all. Let me tell you, there are many more details here. I’ll tell you slowly, and I guarantee you’ll enjoy listening to him.”
As she spoke, Bai Lu pulled Zhao Lushi to sit under the shade of a tree and vividly recounted the gossip Yang Ying had just told her, embellishing the story as she spoke to make it even more lively and interesting.
Zhao Lushi listened intently, occasionally letting out surprised exclamations, completely forgetting that she was supposed to find Jiang Yang to guide her on the script, and completely unaware that Bai Lu was deliberately trying to get rid of her.
Seeing Zhao Lushi listening intently, Bai Lu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she managed to get Zhao Lushi away and prevent her from disturbing Jiang Yang and Yang Ying.
She looked up at the film crew. It was almost noon, the sun was rising high overhead, the sunlight was becoming exceptionally strong, and a faint heat wave filled the air, making it feel somewhat stuffy.
The entire crew has gradually entered a meal break mode. Staff from various departments have stopped their work, started packing their belongings, and are preparing to move to another location.
The crew members were busy packing up the filming equipment. They were all sweating profusely and looked tired. Some were disassembling cameras and tripods, carefully packing the equipment into boxes, afraid of damaging it.
Some were tidying up the set and props, moving the tables, chairs, lights, decorations, and other items used for filming to their designated locations and arranging them neatly. Others were cleaning up the set, putting scattered scraps of paper, plastic bags, mineral water bottles, and other trash into garbage bags to ensure the set was clean.
The lighting crew was busy shutting down the lighting equipment and dismantling the light rigs. They worked together quickly and skillfully as they dismantled the equipment. Meanwhile, the photography crew was busy organizing the equipment, carefully checking the cameras, lenses, memory cards, and other components before gently placing them into professional camera bags to ensure that nothing was damaged.
Director Zhou Hao and several assistant directors were huddled together, quietly discussing the afternoon's shooting plan. They held scripts in their hands, occasionally pointing to the contents and exchanging their ideas. Their faces were serious, showing that they were carefully considering the details of the afternoon's shooting to ensure that the filming would proceed smoothly.
The makeup and styling team members were busy packing up makeup cases and styling tools. They sorted out cosmetics, skincare products, wigs, costumes, and other items, packing them into cases. Some were even removing makeup and styling hair for several extras. While working, they chatted with the extras to relieve the fatigue of the day.
The costume crew is collecting the costumes used in the shoot, carefully checking for damage, tidying up the soiled costumes for cleaning, and neatly folding the intact costumes and putting them in the wardrobe.
Several extras were huddled together, wiping sweat from their faces and discussing the day's filming. Their faces showed a mix of exhaustion and excitement. They complained about the hardships of filming, yet encouraged each other, hoping for more opportunities to gain experience in the industry and realize their acting dreams. Bai Lu watched for a while, about to continue gossiping with Zhao Lushi, when her phone suddenly vibrated, interrupting her thoughts. She took out her phone, unlocked the screen, and saw a WeChat message from Yang Chaoyue: "[Sister Gou, did Yang Ying come to visit the set?]"
Upon seeing the words "Dog Sister," Bai Lu's fingers flew across the screen as she typed in reply: ["Don't call me Dog Sister, please call me Biao Sister from now on."]
She's now determined to learn from Yang Ying and become a high-ranking paparazzi.
Shortly after the message was sent, Yang Chaoyue replied, his tone teasing: [“You’re so sassy! You’re excited again as soon as you join the crew, aren’t you? Have you heard some juicy gossip, or are you planning something again?”]
Bai Lu smiled as she read Yang Chaoyue's reply, then continued typing, replying: ["Stop talking nonsense, just say what you want to say."]
Immediately after, Yang Chaoyue sent another message: ["Getting down to business, did Yang Ying really come to visit the set? I just received a WeChat friend request, with the contact name saying Yang Ying. At first, I didn't believe it and thought it was some scammer impersonating me, so I was about to delete it. But then she directly transferred 5,000 yuan to me, saying it was to wish me a happy birthday and to give me a red envelope for my birthday a few days ago. I'm a bit confused now, and I don't know if she's really Yang Ying."]
Bai Lu was stunned when she saw Yang Chaoyue's message.
Yang Ying even contacted Yang Chaoyue and transferred a birthday red envelope of 5,000 yuan to him.
Yang Chaoyue's birthday was just a few days ago, and this is quite a lot of preparation!
Bai Lu thought to herself that Yang Ying's methods of winning people over were simply too good to pass up. It was easy to imagine that Tian Xiwei and Liu Haochun must have also received Yang Ying's care and gifts.
Just as Bai Lu was sighing to herself, Yang Chaoyue sent another message, along with a screenshot. The message read: "[Look, this is a screenshot of her transferring money to me, and her WeChat profile picture. Can you help me see if this is really Yang Ying?]"
Bai Lu quickly clicked on the screenshot and examined it carefully.
The screenshot shows the WeChat transfer interface. The sender's name in the notes is Yang Ying, and the profile picture is the same Yang Ying profile picture that she just added on WeChat.
A portrait of Yang Ying shows her wearing a white dress, with long hair flowing down her shoulders, a gentle smile on her face, and a graceful demeanor. She looks exactly the same as the Yang Ying she saw on set today, without the slightest difference.
The screenshot clearly shows that the transfer amount was 5,000 yuan, and the transfer note was "[Happy Birthday, Chaoyue, work hard in the future, keep going]".
Below are Yang Chaoyue's payment records and their WeChat chat history. In the chat history, Yang Ying's tone was gentle and kind, and she also told Yang Chaoyue that if he had any questions in the future, he could ask her anytime, and she would try her best to help him.
Bai Lu was increasingly shocked as she watched, and her admiration for Yang Ying grew even stronger.
After sending the message, Bai Lu put her phone back in her pocket, a determined expression on her face.
She became even more determined to learn from Yang Ying, to learn her interpersonal skills and her ability to win people over. She could no longer be just a small-time actress who only knew how to gossip; she had to become someone with shrewdness and resourcefulness who could rise to the top. She had to rely on her own efforts and methods to obtain more resources, to become famous, and to have her own place in the entertainment industry.
……
Teaching Yang Ying to sing is never an easy task; it can even be described as a tough battle.
These weren't Jiang Yang's words, but rather Yang Ying's heartfelt sentiments expressed in private when she complained to Huang Xiaoming.
After all, Yang Ying's poor musicality is no secret in the industry; it's just that few people dare to point it out to her face because of her status as a top star.
Take, for example, the song "Clouds and Smoke Turn into Rain" that Jiang Yang wrote for her specifically for resource exchange. It seems to be a healing ballad with a soothing melody and a gentle rhythm, but in Yang Ying's hands, it became an insurmountable obstacle. Many problems made it particularly difficult for her to sing, and even gave the vocal coach in charge of teaching her a headache.
The most prominent problem is that the pitch is extremely poor, and being out of tune is the norm.
The melody of "Clouds and Smoke Turn into Rain" doesn't have much variation. The verses are mostly in the middle and lower registers with a smooth transition. Although the chorus has a slight upward movement, it doesn't require a high vocal range. In theory, with a little practice, even an ordinary person could sing the melody accurately.
But Yang Ying is different. She seems to have no concept of pitch. Even when she hums along with the accompaniment, she always manages to avoid the correct pitch, either too high or too low. Sometimes she can even go off by half a note, turning a gentle and healing song into something unrecognizable.
Take the chorus line, "How I long to see you again, even if it's just a fleeting glance before parting," for example. The "you" in "see you again" should be a steady mid-range note, but Yang Ying either sang it too sharply, cracking her voice, or too low, dragging it out, completely lacking the gentle mood the song should have. What's even more frustrating is that she herself is completely unaware that she's singing off-key. Every time she finishes singing, she confidently asks the people around her how she sang, which is both laughable and exasperating.
Secondly, the breath was extremely weak, and the support was severely insufficient.
The most important thing in ballads is to maintain a steady and sustained breath, especially in slow-paced songs like "Clouds and Smoke Turn into Rain". You need to use even breath to support each lyric in order to bring out the delicacy and deep emotion in the song.
Yang Ying's breath was like a candle flickering in the wind, extremely unstable. When she sang a line of lyrics, she would often run out of breath halfway through and had to take a quick breath, which caused the lyrics to be broken and disordered. The originally coherent sentences were sung in a fragmented way without any sense of rhythm.
For example, the verse should have been two lines in one breath, but Yang Ying ran out of breath halfway through and had to stop to catch her breath, forcing her to sing a complete verse. This not only disrupted the rhythm of the song but also made the emotional expression very stiff.
Even worse, whenever she gets to the chorus where she needs breath support, she unconsciously yells at the top of her lungs. (End of Chapter)