Chapter 8: Peanut Candy
Qiao Rubai was definitely a reborn person. Mi Hongdou no longer doubted this. She could even guess that Qiao Rubai should have been reborn from a point in time after she fell from the wires, which was why she appeared in such a way to help her. Was it compensation for the wire incident in her previous life? Everything was just speculation, and Mi Hongdou didn’t intend to acknowledge her as a fellow time traveler. After all, after Qiao Rubai’s rebirth, whether it was changing the script or getting an early share of the reality show market, it should have been from the perspective of a businesswoman’s profits. As for herself, she still had her own things to strive for.
Don’t ask, don’t mention, don’t gossip. Since the other party had given her an opportunity and saved her some detours, then she would work hard.
“Who is Mi Hongdou?” This question had been at the top of the internal discussion list in the crew for the past few days. Unfortunately, even after asking around internally, they could only find out that she was an outsider with no works to her name. There was not much else known. For the crew of , it was common for Mengguan to find someone completely unrelated to the entertainment industry to act in their projects, even for upcoming ones. It was all because they had a capricious boss. People got used to it, so the crew’s discussion about Mi Hongdou mostly revolved around “how cute this newcomer must be,” which was a strange point of focus. The crew of was different. In the original script, although the role of the empress ran through the plot, she didn’t have many scenes and was just a supporting role.
But after the script was revised, whether in terms of screen time, plot development, or even the overall feeling of the character to the audience, it was vastly different from the original version. Even if she was still called a supporting role, she was essentially an unacknowledged main character. In fact, after the crew members read the new script, they felt like the drama now had two female leads.
Such an important role was taken by an outsider, which really made everyone very curious about that Mi Hongdou. Of course, most of the discussions in were about how much backing this newcomer had.
The internal discussions of the two crews didn’t reach Mi Hongdou’s ears. Of course, even if she heard them, Mi Hongdou wouldn’t have time to care. There were more important things waiting for her. The iron pot was heated over a low flame, and she had to continuously wave the spatula to ensure that the peanuts in the pot were heated evenly. Mi Hongdou was completely focused on the peanuts. This was the first time she was cooking with her ten-year-old body, and only by being more careful could she avoid making mistakes. Her efforts paid off. Slowly, the aroma of peanuts wafted from the pot, and then the skin of the peanuts gradually darkened. Mi Hongdou, ignoring the heat, picked one up, rubbed off the skin, and put it in her mouth. It was just the right doneness.
She turned off the heat and let them cool. After removing the skins from the roasted peanuts, she put half of them into a food processor and pulsed them a few times until they became coarsely chopped. The other half was ground into a fine powder. She took another pot and melted white sugar and maltose together to make a syrup. She poured out a quarter of the syrup onto a countertop and repeatedly pulled and folded it until it turned white and elastic, forming a smooth sugar sheet. Then she poured out another quarter, kneaded it until elastic, wrapped the peanut powder in it, and continued to fold and knead until the syrup and peanut powder were completely mixed, forming the filling. Finally, she wrapped the filling with the sugar sheet, rolled it into a log, and cut it into small pieces of peanut candy, about two knuckles long.
The remaining half of the syrup in the pot was mixed with peanuts, roasted white sesame seeds, and a small amount of osmanthus flowers. After mixing well, it was taken out and formed into a rectangular candy slab of moderate thickness. Then it was also cut into small pieces, making peanut brittle.
The peanut candy was delicate and needed to be picked up carefully to avoid crushing it. In the mouth, layers of crispy sugar sheets combined with the sandy peanut powder were crispy, sweet, and fragrant. The peanut brittle had a different texture. Because the syrup was cooked just right, the peanut brittle wasn’t hard at all. It was very crispy when bitten into. The osmanthus petals and whole sesame seeds inside added a special fragrance to the candy. Even after eating a few pieces, it wasn’t greasy at all.
Mi’s mother also believed Mi Hongdou’s claim of being naturally talented and affirmed her sugar-making skills.
Mi Hongdou made a lot of both types of candy. After they cooled, she packed them into transparent snack bags.
Each bag contained two pieces of each type of candy. They were sealed and looked very delicate. She packed a whole backpack full, which she planned to take to the set.
She didn’t know how Qiao Rubai did it, but both crews were now in Shudian, and not far apart. was further along, having already started filming. Mi Hongdou’s first scene after her rebirth was the imperial wedding in , or more accurately, filming Emperor Ji Yan’s memory of his wedding night with Empress Qin Muxue. The script described that after the country was defeated and Ji Yan was injured and forced to retreat to the north, he deeply missed the empress who was exiled to the estate by the enemy. He remembered when they were young, on their wedding night, when he pushed open the door, Qin Muxue, dressed in red, looked at him with a hint of shyness.
This scene had no lines. Even if Mi Hongdou hadn’t been reborn, it would have been simple for a newcomer.
Because it was a wedding, there should be some nervousness. A newcomer on set should also be nervous. The director putting this scene as the first one to film felt like a way to help the newcomer adapt, she wondered if it was Qiao Rubai’s idea.
Because Shudian was a few hours’ drive from Jiang City, Yang Lianyi booked a hotel in Shudian for the crew. This time, it wasn’t the same hotel as Qiao Rubai’s crew. Mi Hongdou, Hao Ba, and Ye Xin were newcomers to the crew, so there were no rooms for them before. Now, Qiao Rubai’s crew’s hotel was full, so they could only temporarily stay with Yang Lianyi. had started filming more than a month ago, and the three of them had missed the opening ceremony, which involved offering incense and eating roast pig.
There weren’t many people in Mengguan at the moment, and the most important filming was . The TV series hadn’t started filming yet. Yang Lianyi, as Mi Hongdou’s temporary manager, brought them to the set and also brought a lot of incense, making them pay their respects at the four corners of the filming location.
There was no pig to eat, but incense must be offered.
Mi Hongdou had the most screen time among the three and was the first to film. The day after they arrived in Shudian was the day she was to film the wedding scene, which was also, in the eyes of others, her first take.
There were those who had expectations for her, and even more who were waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
Although it was supposed to be the wedding night, the scene was shot at dusk, near nightfall. The palace was filled with festive colors. On the bed, a red wedding gown embroidered with phoenixes, adorned with pearls and jade, reflecting on the person. Her heart was pounding, joy in her heart. Hearing the young emperor push open the curtain, she clutched the silk handkerchief, lowered her eyes, blushed, but still couldn’t help but quickly glance at the door.
She met the smiling emperor’s gaze and immediately looked away as if she had been caught, her face turning even redder, and she couldn’t help but smile.
It was a simple, short scene, but they had more than ten NGs, and each time it was because of Mi Hongdou. The crew members who came to watch the show were greatly satisfied.
They thought she was some powerful newcomer, but she turned out to be completely incompetent.
“Xiaomi, you acted well at the beginning. The nervousness and shyness of a young empress on her wedding night, and the joy of finally marrying the person she loved, you acted them all well. But every time Xiaozhang came in, your initial look at him was right, that look of wanting to see your loved one as soon as possible.
But after that, it was wrong. After that, you should have a kind of shy and flustered feeling from meeting his gaze, but you…” Director Pan, who was finally exhausted from the NGs, pulled Mi Hongdou aside to explain the scene. He looked left and right, then lowered his voice and continued, “But every time you look at Xiaozhang, your eyes are full of hatred. The camera is capturing your close-up, it’s very obvious.
Do you two know each other?”
Director Pan was in his fifties and was best known for filming historical dramas, especially palace dramas. He was considered one of the top directors in this field. This time, it was only because of the cooperation and ample funding from several entertainment companies, and because the script appealed to him, that they were able to get him. When people get older, their tempers tend to get worse. With more than ten consecutive NGs, many people were probably hoping that Director Pan would explode and kick Mi Hongdou out.
But others might not know, but Director Pan, who had seen countless people, could see clearly. This person, who Qiao Rubai had temporarily brought in, was acting for the first time. The first part, those dozens of seconds where she was sitting on the bed alone, expressing her inner feelings of shyness, joy, and nervousness through micro-expressions and actions, was much more difficult than acting directly with someone else. Having this scene as the first was also a way for Director Pan to test the newcomer. As soon as the camera started rolling, Mi Hongdou gave Director Pan a big surprise. The micro-expressions and small actions of a new bride, Mi Hongdou did them perfectly. This was her first time acting. If she practiced more in the future, her future would be limitless.
Unfortunately, this surprise didn’t even last a minute. When Zhang Zijing pushed open the door and their eyes met, the problem was exposed.
Director Pan patiently let them do more than ten takes, just to determine whether Mi Hongdou couldn’t act and messed up, or if she had some kind of problem with Zhang Zijing, which was why she couldn’t make the correct reaction.
“Director Pan, I’m sorry, I…” Mi Hongdou was also a little frustrated. Even in her previous life, she had never had more than ten consecutive NGs, it was so embarrassing.
Hearing Director Pan’s words made her even more frustrated. She did indeed dislike Zhang Zijing, but she had tried her best to immerse herself in the role and hide it. How could it still be so obvious? Fortunately, it seemed that Ji Junxin didn’t have any scenes tonight. Otherwise, her debut would be a complete disaster.
A professional actor should not let personal grudges affect their performance, especially when the reasons are something that cannot be revealed to outsiders.
Just as Mi Hongdou adjusted her emotions and prepared to face the challenge, she seemed to see a familiar figure flash by near the camera.
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