LBC |Love Beyond Control/Chapter 19

Chapter 19

One week before filming officially began, all the actors, no matter how large or small their roles were, had already arrived on set early to do script readings.

Because Xin Yuan’s role required him to learn Kunqu singing techniques, he had joined the crew even a week earlier than the others.

The assistant assigned to him had originally been someone arranged by He Ye, but as soon as Xin Yuan joined the crew, Xin Jianye, without explanation or discussion, replaced that person with one of his own. He also ordered that the new assistant, no matter how big or small the matter, so long as it concerned Xin Yuan, must report it to Xiang Zhufeng at the first possible moment.

“Brother Xiaoyuan, you’ve already practiced for so long today. Do you want to go back and rest for a while?”

In the rehearsal room, Xin Yuan’s collar was already soaked with sweat.

Xiaonuan immediately walked over to Xin Yuan and handed him a cup of water at just the right temperature.

Xiaonuan was not very old, but she had been in the industry for quite a few years already. She had worked for a big star who had since gone behind the scenes for a long time, and she was thorough in her work and steady in her behavior.

There were many people in the circle who wanted to poach Xiaonuan. It was Lin Sheng, the one who had brought her into the industry, who introduced her, and only then did she agree to come to Xin Yuan’s side, serving as both a life assistant and a personal manager.

For various reasons, Xin Jianye chose to hide his relationship with Xin Yuan from the outside world, so she could not reveal Xin Yuan’s background, but she also could not allow Xin Yuan to be treated with the slightest neglect.

At first, Xiaonuan had worried that a rich young master like this would be very difficult to deal with. Only after getting along for a few days did she realize that Xin Yuan’s personality was so good it left her pleasantly shocked. Not to mention throwing a tantrum, he had never even spoken a single harsh word. Every day, he would tell her countless thank yous, and countless times say, it’s no trouble, I can do it myself.

Only at times like this was he an exception. Xin Yuan had spent from morning till night grinding over one scene for a full seven hours, yet he still refused to stop for even a second.

“Teacher said it too, you’ve only just started learning Kunqu, and being able to practice to this level already means you’re gifted. You don’t need to push yourself so hard.”

Seeing that Xin Yuan had just finished his water and was about to go practice again, Xiaonuan hurriedly grabbed Xin Yuan’s arm. “Just rest a little, okay? Please, Brother Xiaoyuan…”

“You should go back first. You don’t need to stay with me.”

Xin Yuan did not want to stop, and did not dare to stop.

He was very afraid that if he returned to that empty room, he would once again spend the whole night staring at the empty ceiling without sleeping. Even more, he was afraid that the moment he became idle, even for a second, he would uncontrollably think of Xiang Zhufeng, think of the disgust in his tone and expression that day.

At five in the morning, after taking twice the prescribed dose of sleeping pills against medical advice, Xin Yuan still woke up from a nightmare.

The morning light had already seeped through the crack in the curtains. In a few hours, it would be time for the film’s opening ceremony.

Besides the lead actors and the staff, representatives from the various investors would also be present.

In other words, no matter how much Xiang Zhufeng did not want to see him again, as the person in charge of Jiaqian Media, he would be coming to the set today.

Xin Yuan had already prepared himself to be hated by Xiang Zhufeng. He had also prepared himself so that no matter what Xiang Zhufeng said or did, he would not let himself reveal how hurt he was.

But after he finished his makeup and styling and arrived at the set, he realized that he had been overthinking everything.

The venue was already packed with a dense crowd. Across that crowd, Xiang Zhufeng stood at the farthest point from him, socializing familiarly with the people beside him, never once looking in his direction the entire time.

After the previous week’s readings, the actors were already familiar with one another. Only Wang Muge and the producer gave brief speeches, and then it was time for the most important incense-burning ritual.

The one to light the first incense was naturally Wang Muge. After that, the line split into two rows, one for the leads and one for the investors, and they went forward one by one to pray for blessings.

A crew was a place where seniority and status mattered. Xin Yuan sensibly waited at the end, while the investors all pretended to be casual, politely yielding to one another and asking the others to go first.

When it was Xin Yuan’s turn, Xiang Zhufeng, who had originally been standing some distance away, was coincidentally shoved by someone and ended up right beside Xin Yuan.

Xin Yuan’s fingertips suddenly trembled, and he almost snapped the incense stick in two.

He subconsciously shifted slightly to the side, leaving more space for Xiang Zhufeng.

In those brief three bows, even though Xiang Zhufeng did not look at him more than once, Xin Yuan’s heart was still beating uselessly and wildly.

He was not in the mood to make a wish either. Before Xiang Zhufeng stood up, he stiffly put the incense stick back into the burner and stepped back first.

But before he could take another step, Xiang Zhufeng, who had been beside him, suddenly turned around without warning and grabbed his wrist, holding it up in the air.

“Don’t move.” Xiang Zhufeng said coldly.

…?

Xin Yuan froze at once, looking at Xiang Zhufeng in confusion.

Xiang Zhufeng still had the same expression of not wanting to bother with him. He simply walked to the incense burner and, a little irritably, pulled off the water sleeves that had somehow been caught on it.

Xin Yuan was instantly struck by a wave of lingering fear. His water sleeves had just happened to be hooked onto the copper clasp. If he had stepped back one more step just now, he might have dragged the entire incense burner down with him and, on his own, thrown the whole opening ceremony into chaos.

Xin Yuan felt extremely awkward and wanted to say something, but Xiang Zhufeng had already turned and left straightaway.

The schedule for the first day of filming was very full. As soon as the ceremony ended, the whole crew prepared to begin shooting.

In order to restore the historical background as much as possible, Wang Muge found the cultural and tourism bureau and obtained special approval to use a theater that is now a protected building.

But the approval period was very short, which meant that as soon as filming started, Xin Yuan had to concentrate his efforts on acting out several major scenes in succession.

With such a heavy burden placed on a newcomer with no experience at all, leaving aside Xin Yuan’s own feelings, the entire production team was so tense their hearts were practically in their throats.

The first scene in the whole film was the first meeting between Liu Yunting and Xue Huaijiang.

In the plot, Liu Yunting knew Xue Huaijiang’s whereabouts in advance, deliberately waited at the place he had to pass through, and used Xue Huaijiang’s favorite tune as bait to lure him into taking an interest in him, thereby beginning his revenge plan.

These past few days, Xin Yuan had already gone over the script countless times in his mind, but when he really had to face the camera, he still could not suppress the tension in his heart.

Especially since not far behind the monitor, Xiang Zhufeng’s figure was also standing there.

“For the first take, let’s just treat it as blocking and adjusting the lights. Relax and perform freely, the more natural, the better.”

Wang Muge had always been strict when filming, so words like this already counted as a rare encouragement.

The people on the crew immediately became even more curious about exactly what Director Wang saw in this newcomer.

Xin Yuan’s styling for this scene was very simple. He wore only a plain robe. While waiting off to the side, he was so quiet among the crowd that he seemed almost nonexistent, but the moment he truly appeared on camera, he instantly seemed like a different person.

The light and shadow fell just right across his face. At first glance, he gave the impression of being gentle and harmless. Only upon closer inspection would one suddenly realize the coldness and detachment hidden beneath that skin.

These two completely opposite qualities fused together. He did nothing at all, yet just a single lift of the eyes made it feel as if an entire story had already flowed past.

Behind the monitor, Xiang Zhufeng’s heart twitched uncontrollably for an instant.

Even now, he still had to admit that Xin Yuan had a face that was born for the camera.

But every time he thought that such a face had been discovered by Wang Muge only because of him, and then, like a row of dominoes, had step by step caused his younger sister and grandmother to die, he grew so regretful he could not breathe.

He hated Xin Yuan’s family, but he hated even more that he himself was the one who had first pushed this tragedy forward.

“Come on, all departments get ready.”

The stagehand slammed the clapperboard in front of the camera.

“No Way Back 1927, first scene, first shot, 3, 2, 1, Action!”

That day, a fine rain fell from the sky. Raindrops slipped down from the blue roof tiles under the eaves, dropping one by one like a broken string of transparent beads, veiling a figure in the pavilion.

That slender figure looked almost boneless. Xue Huaijiang lightened his steps, afraid that any sound from him would shatter such a beautiful scene.

From a distance, Xue Huaijiang could only vaguely hear that person singing. Only after taking a few more steps forward did he hear clearly that the person was singing “The Peony Pavilion.”

“The original riot of purples and reds blooms everywhere, only to be given over to broken wells and ruined walls…”

When he sang the word “broken,” Liu Yunting’s throat moved slightly. This entering tone should have been forceful and crisp, but he deliberately made it hoarse, like grit grinding against Xue Huaijiang’s chest.

Before the final note fell, Liu Yunting suddenly flicked open his water sleeves. Several crabapple blossoms were struck by the cuffs from afar, drifting unsteadily down onto the blue stone slabs.

“Good!”

Xue Huaijiang clapped at just the right moment and walked out from behind the tree to one side.

“I’ve listened to opera for more than ten years, yet I never knew there was such an exquisite person in Jinling City who could sing Zhaoluo Robe so superbly.”

Liu Yunting pretended not to know anyone was there. Startled, his figure jolted and he retreated in panic.

But behind him were staggered steps. In his panic, just as Liu Yunting was about to back away and fall down, Xue Huaijiang took a large step forward and wrapped Liu Yunting around the waist into his arms.

As their eyes met, Xue Huaijiang only felt time itself seem to stop. The person in his arms, though dressed in plain clothes and without the slightest bit of makeup, was more breathtaking than any face he had ever seen.

He stared at Liu Yunting for a long time before coming back to himself. “Sorry, I was abrupt just now.”

“Good, very good!”

Wang Muge said with satisfaction behind the monitor, “That whole section just now was very good. It’s only that Liu Yunting’s overall emotion needs to be lifted a little more. The audience needs to be able to feel that in order to attract Xue Huaijiang, he had already prepared for a long time, not that he was merely feeling sad for the sake of the scene.”

For the first scene of filming, for a newcomer with no acting experience at all, Xin Yuan’s performance had already astonished everyone.

But Wang Muge had a sharp eye. He knew Xin Yuan’s potential had not yet been fully revealed and wanted to dig a little deeper.

When they shot it again, Xiang Zhufeng had already followed the producer to another place.

With that cold gaze gone, Xin Yuan entered the state even better, and after half a day, he finally finished the first major scene smoothly.

To maximize efficiency, the crew was split into two groups, A and B, and worked at the same time.

After the first scene ended, the actor playing Xue Huaijiang, Ren Song, had to rush immediately to Group B, leaving only a body double behind for any necessary insert shots.

Wang Muge and his assistant were reviewing today’s footage. They were very satisfied with Xin Yuan’s performance, but after running it through from beginning to end, they felt that the reaction of Liu Yunting falling into Xue Huaijiang’s arms after being startled could still be made a little more natural.

“Go call Ren Song’s body double over, then work with Xin Yuan to shoot a shot of him being caught in his arms.”

“Okay, Director Wang.”

The stagehand hurried off to call for the person, but half a minute later, he came back looking troubled.

“Director Wang, that stand-in just had an acute stomach flu flare up. He couldn’t hold out and has gone to the hospital…”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?”

Wang Muge slapped the small tabletop in front of him and shouted angrily, “How tight is the schedule for this location, don’t you know? We can’t delay even one minute. I don’t care what method you use, you’d better conjure up someone with a similar build for me right now!”

You’re the one joking, the stagehand wailed inwardly.

A broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted man who was one meter ninety tall was not a radish in a field. It wasn’t like you could just pull one up. Where was he supposed to conjure up someone with such a good figure right away?

Coincidentally, the producer had just finished talking with Xiang Zhufeng and came back, just in time to hear the commotion here.

After thinking for a few seconds, he turned around and made a phone call.

“Mr. Xiang, you shouldn’t be too far away yet, right? I have a small favor to ask here. Could you see whether you have time to come back and help out…”