Chapter 14: Old Man Zhang
“Oh my, you scared me…” Mi Hongdou, startled, felt dizzy. After seeing who it was, she patted her chest and took a deep breath.
Am I that scary… Yang Lianyi snorted: “I saw you pacing back and forth from afar, called you several times, but you didn’t respond. I thought something happened to you, so I came over to check, and you’re acting like you’re dying. Tell me, did you do something wrong? Don’t be afraid, tell me, and I’ll help you cover it up.” After saying that, she felt even more justified and looked at Mi Hongdou with increasing concern.
Why, after being reborn, did she choose this scatterbrained, lucky person as her boss again? Mi Hongdou sighed silently: “It’s nothing, I just came to throw something away. Aren’t they filming over there? Why are you out here?” Mi Hongdou couldn’t remember how she interacted with Yang Lianyi when she was a complete newcomer, but fortunately, Yang Lianyi didn’t mind her casual attitude.
“Oh! I came out to look for you! You disappeared after the roast pig was distributed. I called you, but you didn’t answer, so I thought you went back to the hotel.” Yang Lianyi slapped her forehead, her face full of annoyance, and pulled Mi Hongdou to leave. After taking two steps, she stopped. “Eh, why is there a smell of meat here too…”
“Where’s the meat coming from? Wasn’t it all eaten? Why are you looking for me? I don’t have a scene until this afternoon, right?” Mi Hongdou glanced at the greaseproof paper package in the trash can. She had used filming as an excuse to quickly take the jerky away from Ji Junxin and the others. In fact, she didn’t have a scene for “Divorce, So Be It” until the afternoon. She had originally planned to go back and take a nap after throwing away the trash.
“Yeah, you have no idea how difficult that Old Man Zhang is to deal with. He insisted on moving your scene to the first one in the morning. I think it’s because I rejected the person he recommended before, he’s deliberately trying to give us a hard time.” Yang Lianyi became angrier as she spoke. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have chosen him. If it weren’t for Mr. Qiu not being available, we wouldn’t have had to settle for second best. Ai, forget it, forget it, it’s all tears. Have you familiarized yourself with the script I sent you a few days ago? Whether I keep my face or have it stepped on depends on you.” She even made a gesture of touching her cheek, as if someone would really dare to tear it off if Mi Hongdou didn’t act well.
Are those tears really not water from your brain? Was it because she was a complete newcomer back then that she thought this kind of boss and this kind of manager were okay? Now, Mi Hongdou only had two words in her mind—hehe. After joining Qiong Yu, she realized how strange it was that Mengguan still existed and even thrived. Not to mention anything else, just take herself, for example. She was picked up from the streets, not from an acting school, with zero acting experience. She didn’t even receive any training, just a few gigabytes of tutorials, and then she was put on set. Mengguan thought it was okay, but that didn’t mean others thought so too. Old Man Zhang, as Yang Lianyi called him, was one of them. Old Man Zhang, whose real name was Zhang Weiguo, was in his early fifties. With makeup, he could play roles in their twenties or thirties, or even seventies or eighties. He was currently one of the mainstays of family, marriage, and ethics dramas. He was a good actor, but he had a bad temper. Originally, Yang Lianyi didn’t want to hire him, but the other person wasn’t available, and she couldn’t hire someone too inferior and lower the quality of the drama, so she hired him to play one of the main roles, Lin Qiao’s father, . But in her previous life, she didn’t see him clamoring to move his scenes forward right from the start…
This was what Mi Hongdou didn’t understand. In her previous life, when Yang Lianyi wanted to sign her, she discussed it with her mother for several days before signing the contract. During those days, Yang Lianyi was constantly bothered by Zhang Weiguo’s calls, asking her to have the girl he recommended audition. After the director and investors unanimously agreed that she wasn’t good, he gave up. So, although he was a bit nitpicky with Mi Hongdou later, he didn’t make things too difficult for her. This time was different. Mi Hongdou signed the contract quickly, and Yang Lianyi didn’t even let the girl audition. Zhang Weiguo felt that he had lost face and was very angry. In addition, to accommodate Mi Hongdou’s scenes in “Imperial Secrets,” the filming schedule of had been adjusted quite a bit, which made Zhang Weiguo even more unhappy.
Arriving on set, seeing everyone in their positions, waiting for her, Mi Hongdou knew that Zhang Weiguo had persuaded the director to move the afternoon scene to the morning. Fortunately, the makeup for a modern family drama was quick. Mi Hongdou quickly got ready, but she still couldn’t avoid the unfriendly gazes from some people who had been waiting for a long time, including, of course, Zhang Weiguo.
While getting her makeup done, Mi Hongdou went through the plot of the scene in her mind again. Lin Qiao’s mother had finally raised her two children. After years of fighting wits and courage with her mother-in-law, their relationship had gradually eased. She thought that a good life was finally about to begin, but then she discovered that Lin Qiao’s father had a suspected mistress. Lin Qiao’s mother had a big fight with her father. Just then, Lin Qiao came home and her mother cried to her daughter. Lin Qiao’s father, feeling ashamed and angry, scolded his wife and daughter for being delusional and overthinking. He then shook off Lin Qiao’s mother’s hand, which was grabbing his sleeve, and was about to open the door and leave. Lin Qiao’s mother lost her balance, and with his push, she sprained her foot and fell to the ground. The three of them froze. Lin Qiao’s father, feeling guilty, stepped forward to help her up, but then stopped, muttering that it was all Lin Qiao’s mother’s fault for overthinking and making a fuss. Lin Qiao’s mother didn’t expect that at her age, her husband would actually lay hands on her. She was stunned and could only cry, unable to say anything in return. Lin Qiao, however, had long felt that something was wrong with her father, who had been hiding in his study, surfing the internet and chatting online. His computer was password-protected, and he had even asked his younger brother to buy a webcam. It was very suspicious. But as a daughter, she couldn’t just accuse him directly. She had hinted to her brother a few times, but he didn’t react. Before she could come up with a plan, she encountered this scene today. Seeing her father scolding her mother like this, she blurted out everything she had observed these days in a fit of anger. Unlike Lin Qiao’s mother’s intuition and suspicion, Lin Qiao’s words were clearly based on evidence. Lin Qiao’s mother was heartbroken. Lin Qiao’s father’s old face was red with shame from his daughter’s accusations. Ashamed and angry, he slammed the door and left.
The scene they were about to film started from the moment Lin Qiao opened the door and saw her parents arguing.
For Mi Hongdou, filming “Divorce, So Be It” was much easier than “Imperial Secrets.” Opening the door, shock, mediating, comforting her mother, trying to help her mother up after she was pushed down by her father, becoming more and more silent under her father’s angry scolding, and finally exploding with accumulated anger. Nervousness, anger, disappointment, she quickly rattled off her father’s recent unusual behavior, and then… NG!
However, it wasn’t Mi Hongdou who was called NG by the director, but Zhang Weiguo. For some reason, Zhang Weiguo, who was supposed to be ashamed and angry and slam the door after Mi Hongdou finished speaking, didn’t react and froze for several seconds, resulting in an NG.
The director’s “cut” startled Zhang Weiguo. He didn’t say anything, just looked deeply at Mi Hongdou, then quickly walked to his resting area and took several large gulps of water. The slightly warm tea went down his throat and warmed his stomach. Zhang Weiguo frowned, put down the thermos, and went to grab a bottle of mineral water from the box next to him. After a few more gulps of cold water, he finally calmed down. What just happened? He was actually brought into the scene by a complete newcomer, and not only that, but he didn’t even follow the script? NG? Unbelievable!
Zhang Weiguo’s reason for persuading the director to move the afternoon scene with Mi Hongdou to the first scene was to see the newcomer’s skill level. The director probably also understood that he was holding a grudge and wanted to give the newcomer a hard time. Holding a grudge wouldn’t help his acting either. After confirming that Yang Lianyi had no objections, the afternoon scene was moved forward. Just as the director had expected, Zhang Weiguo wanted to make the newcomer NG a few times right from the start, to dampen her spirits and show off his seniority. The entire crew’s schedule had been adjusted for her, why? Zhang Weiguo set the stage, but he didn’t anticipate the ending.
From the moment Mi Hongdou opened the door, Zhang Weiguo knew that it would probably be impossible to see this newcomer make a fool of herself. As a veteran actor, Zhang Weiguo was also very dedicated. Every time he received a script, he would read it many times. Besides his own lines, he also had some understanding of the other characters’ scenes, to ensure that he wouldn’t make mistakes in the overall direction. So, as soon as Mi Hongdou appeared, Zhang Weiguo saw that it wasn’t Mi Hongdou, it was Lin Qiao, it was the Lin Qiao in the script. Her parents, who often argued, were having another fight. Lin Qiao, at first, casually tried to persuade them without really paying attention. When she understood that the argument was because her father might have a mistress, she dropped her casual demeanor and tried to persuade her mother that she might be mistaken, while giving her father a look of forbearance. Until, in a protective posture, Lin Qiao stood in front of her mother and told her father, whom she was facing, about what she knew, about his recent unusual behavior. That child, her eyes full of disappointment… No, not just disappointment, but also the slight trembling of her body, whether it was because of the nervousness of confronting her father like this for the first time, or because of the anger towards her father’s possible infidelity… Those slightly moist, but tearless eyes, stubbornly concealing her vulnerability and helplessness… Every word struck Zhang Weiguo’s heart. The panic of having the matter exposed, the guilt towards his wife and daughter, the anger of a man’s pride being hurt, Zhang Weiguo felt a mix of emotions. At that moment, he really became Lin Qiao’s father, the Lin Qiao’s father who had made a mistake, facing his daughter’s accusations, with nowhere to hide. Zhang Weiguo was pulled into the scene by Mi Hongdou. He became Lin Qiao’s father. He wasn’t Zhang Weiguo. He forgot the script. Zhang Weiguo’s instinctive reaction to this was to freeze. So, NG.
He must have underestimated this newcomer. Zhang Weiguo took a few more gulps of cold water and went back on set.
This time, Zhang Weiguo was prepared. He constantly reminded himself not to get too immersed in the role, and it went much smoother. Even so, it was still a bit difficult to film the scene smoothly. That Mi Hongdou, for some reason, acted even better the second time. Those subtle movements and expressions, the slightly trembling, thin but firm tone of voice, she portrayed a girl who hadn’t experienced much family affection, longed for it, was repeatedly hurt, but still wanted to protect and believe in her family, too realistically, too realistically. Several times, Zhang Weiguo didn’t dare to look at her slightly reddened eyes, afraid that he would be pulled into the scene again, forgetting the script and acting on instinct.
Mi Hongdou didn’t know that Zhang Weiguo, who left the set without saying a word after filming, was shocked by her performance. What she was thinking about now was, why did Ji Junxin appear on the set of “Divorce, So Be It”?
Leave a Reply