Chapter 14: Humans are never content
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: ChaiTea
Shen Yu had not heard any news about Wan Sheng since she left the team three days ago. He travelled between his hotel and the film set directly every day.
The only change from the hot search incident was that he had ten thousand new followers on Weibo. Inevitably, he received many comments from users he had never seen before. In the end, without titles to call his own or a team to manage, any brief exposure and popularity was worthless.
“Brother Yu, we need to make up for a shot.” He Caicai was wearing a modified light yellow coloured chest-high traditional dress* with two buns on top of her head, as she shouted while leaning her head in through the door.
(T/N*: Wiki)
This young lady had kept her word; since she said she would become Shen Yu’s fan, she had switched to calling him Brother Yu, which was a more intimate name his fans like to call him by, instead of Brother Shen. Shen Yu mentioned it a few times for her to switch back to the former, but to no avail, so he could only accept it in silence.
Shen Yu was originally reading his script in the resting room. Hearing He Caicai’s voice, he got up quickly and hurried outside.
“Brother Yu, you seem really busy these few days.” He had been using all his free time on set to practice his script and would leave as soon as the shooting ended.
“Yeah, I have a very important audition to prepare for.” Shen Yu did not hide it at all and directly told He Caicai.
“Wah, I hope you can get the role.” He Caicai did not ask anything further regarding what film he was auditioning for and merely encouraged him with a smile.
The two chatted while they walked to the film set and arrived there in no time. The main male lead, Cui Ke, was wearing a golden and black long robe while holding a plastic fan, fanning himself non-stop. He almost looked like a tired salted fish.
Cui Ke’s eyes brightened the moment he saw Shen Yu and He Caicai. “Miss He, I want the air-con on,” he requested loudly.
“Air-con? How are we going to install an air-con outdoors? I see that you look like one yourself, one that gives off heat.” He Caicai could not be bothered with him.
Cui Ke laughed lightheartedly and scratched the back of his head. He was only joking, so he was not angry at receiving a retort. Instead, he switched his target to Shen Yu.
“Brother Shen, Brother Shen, let’s make a deal. Can you share with me your exclusive blowers when shooting the scene later?”
Cui Ke had a very fun personality. Shen Yu often did not know whether to respond by laughing or crying to his ethics, “Take them all if you want to. I would thank you instead.”
“No way, no way, the blowers are to create He Qi’s ethereal image. Don’t be so dramatic.” He Caicai was the first to reject Cui Ke just as Shen Yu finished his last word.
“Hey, what do you mean? Are you saying that I can’t have that ethereal aura?”
“Let us be reasonable,” He Caicai held her forehead, “He Qi’s clothes are white and made of gauze material. Blowing some wind at him will naturally create his ethereal image. And you’re wearing a black and gold robe made of fur. If we’re really to use the blowers on you, can you imagine how miserable you’d look with those flaps of fur hitting your face haphazardly?”
Cui Ke could not counter that. Since he failed to get his hands on the blower, he could only quicken his speed for fanning himself.
Shen Yu did not intervene throughout the banter and only watched the scene before him, smiling. Although he felt sympathetic towards Cui Ke, who had to wear furs while filming on a sunny day in June, being blown directly by the blower really was not as comfortable as he made it sound.
Although they were joking around, they quickly got into position for the scene when the director announced the start of the shoot.
Naturally, Shen Yu had nothing to worry about regarding his acting. His professionalism even allowed him to act a heart-wrenching love story with a pig as his acting partner. Although Cui Ke had not gone through any professional training for acting, he had been acting for many days now. His acting skills were mediocre as he had inevitably gotten used to it.
The most problematic of the three is He Caicai. This young lady was completely unexposed to filming up until now. Unlike in reality, she had to be mindful of problems such as her positions, the positions of the equipment, her lines and other issues. When they had just started filming, He Caicai dragged out each shot for a long time. Fortunately, she hated to lose by nature and sought out the director in secret for many private lessons and was steadily making improvements.
The script of ‘Pursuit of the Wind’ had been preliminarily edited. In accordance with He Caicai’s intentions, the vast majority of the sub-plot and dialogue remained unchanged. The only change was about the relationship between Nie Lao, Jiu Yao and He Qi.
In the new setting, Jiu Yao’s grandfather passed away due to an accident very early on, leaving the young and strong-willed Jiu Yao to live on with optimism. Since she had been requested by a friend who had passed away, He Qi would often disguise himself as a wandering poet and go to Jiu Yao’s village to check on her. The young Jiu Yao liked the good-looking, extremely knowledgeable yet a little sadistic big brother. Only, she never knew his identity as wind.
Just like that, Jiu Yao grew up gradually with He Qi by her side. It was that way until Nie Lao’s family clan ran into misfortune which got He Qi involved, causing him to be trapped and unable to take care of Jiu Yao.
Jiu Yao could not get a hold of He Qi, who had made an appointment with her and she became desperate. Then, she unwittingly discovered the notes left by her grandfather and found out about the secrets of the Wind Catchers. It was then that she realised that there might be another truth behind his grandfather’s death and that He Qi was in serious danger.
Right at that moment, the desperate Jiu Yao ran into Nie Lao, who had come to the village looking for Jiu Yao’s grandfather’s help. The two, who had their own agenda, hit it off right away, and embarked on a journey together to find He Qi.
Putting changes in the plot aside, there was a significant difference in He Qi’s character attributes after the change. He had changed from a sadistic, arrogant and cold lad to becoming a sadistic, arrogant and seemingly cold caretaker.
There was only a difference of responsibilities in the description, but the change was definitely not small when reflected in the new script. He Caicai was very good at writing cute stories so the daily interaction between He Qi and the young Jiu Yao really reached the audience’s heart, which was presented as flashbacks throughout the film.
At the same time, the causal relationship between He Qi and Nie Lao had also been developed further, adding more drama and making the characters more three-dimensional.
The more character development there was, the better it was for an actor. Shen Yu almost forgot to sleep and eat for those couple of days preparing for Director Zhong’s audition while trying to digest the new script internally and offering his opinion from time to time.
Time flew by quickly when you concentrated hard on doing something. Shen Yu took a few shots one after another, and then it was three o’clock in the afternoon.
“Miss He, Director, I need to get going.” Shen Yu dabbed away the beads of sweat on his forehead with his sleeve as he spoke to He Caicai and the director.
“Got it, go ahead. Please be careful and take care.”
Shen Yu needed to return to the capital city to participate in his company’s anniversary celebration. He had told He Caicai about this before, which was why He Caicai responded the way she did.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be a two hours direct flight. I won’t get lost.” Shen Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry at He Caicai’s words.
“It’s time you hire an assistant, Brother Yu. Managing and doing everything yourself is too inconvenient.” He Caicai suggested.
“My previous assistant, Da Chuan, took a leave of absence for a family emergency, and I’ve not heard from him since then. I’ll ask my manager when I meet her this time.”
Shen Yu himself did not really mind as there was little need for an assistant when he was with the film crew, so he did not mind even if his assistant took leave for a couple of days. However, as a celebrity, it was definitely more convenient to have an assistant with him when he went out.
After saying goodbye to the crew, Shen Yu removed his costume and drove straight to the airport.
The management company he was in was not that big; they had never held a big celebration for their annual party before. The usual procedure would be holding a banquet with the media as official publicity, while people were free to go to the high-end clubs to have fun at night. Shen Yu’s status in the company was quite general. Since he also had to rush over from his film set, Mei Fei told him to arrive at the club at eight o’clock in the evening.
Shen Yu would much rather have that. He had participated in the company’s annual celebration many times anyway. His popularity had not improved in so many years, and Shen Yu could not be bothered to deal with all kinds of gazes from other people from the same company. Even if it was an internal party meant for their own company, he intended to slip away as soon as everyone got into the mood.
Two hours or so later, Shen Yu arrived at the airport without any problems. Seeing that the time was still early, he decided to give Mei Fei a call first. She seemed busy, only picking up the phone after ringing seven or eight times.
“Hello, Shen Yu? Have you arrived?”
“Ms Mei, I have landed. It’s a little bit early now. Should I go straight to the club now?”
“Wait a second,” Mei Fei seemed to be looking for something on the other side of the line. She continued after a few seconds, “There’ll be a car to pick you up from the airport. Come to the office. I have something to talk to you about.”
“Okay.” Shen Yu hung up the phone, feeling a bit puzzled. What else did Mei Fei have to say to him?
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