4 | Walk-on
Girls who love smiling won’t have such horrible luck.
After she failed to get the role of Tang Feifei, another week pa.s.sed without Pei Ying getting any work. That day, she was at Ren Shanshan’s studio for their routine photo shoot of new clothes. They ordered a pizza and sat by the window, nibbling on it.
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“Mm…” Pei Ying took a bite of her pizza, pulling out a long thread of cheese. “I could eat stuffed crust pizza for a hundred years and not get tired of it.”
Ren Shanshan glanced over at her and then picked up her cola. “You haven’t gotten a new job in like a year, but you’re still so easygoing. I’d believe it.”
Pei Ying shrugged, not very concerned about it. “Even if I feel bad about the jobs, it’s not like a new one will show up in front of me.”
“Can’t you do some serious reflection?” Ren Shanshan sounded a bit exasperated at her friend. “Forget about CEO Zhu. But you even let such a quality guy like Song Nanchuan slip away. What’s the difference between you and a salted fish?”
Pei Ying, “…”
She also had dreams.
“Huh…” Ren Shanshan let out an exaggerated sigh. “It’s spring. Even the cats on the street have paired up. You’re the only single one.”
“…You say that like you’re any different.”
“Of course I am. I’m someone with a date.”
Pei Ying scrunched up her lips. Date? More like a one night stand appointment.
As she was silently criticizing, her phone on the table rang. Ren Shanshan was already too used to this ringtone that hadn’t been changed in ten thousand years.
It was Chen Sheng calling. Pei Ying wiped her hands with a napkin and quickly answered the call. “GM Chen, h.e.l.lo.”
“Xiao Pei, you don’t have any projects now, right?”
“Nope, I was about to ask you about it.”
“Good. Then are you willing to do a walk-on for Tao Tao’s ‘Light Shines on Raiment of Rainbows’ (LSRR)?”
“Ah, what’s the role?”
“A model.” Chen Sheng added on, “An international supermodel. It’s just two episodes.”
“Okay, I can do it.” In any case, she wasn’t doing anything else. And she’d watched LSRR; the ratings were pretty good.
“Then drop by the office now.”
“Okay.” Pei Ying hung up the phone and smiled at Ren Shanshan. “See, work has come to me. Girls who love smiling won’t have such horrible luck.”
Ren Shanshan, “…”
Caught off guard, she nearly spat out her pizza.
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Pei Ying cleaned up and headed over to Chen Sheng’s. When she arrived, he was on the phone. He waved Pei Ying in, gesturing for her to take a seat.
Pei Ying sat across from him for a bit. Chen Sheng hung up the phone as he handed her the script for LSRR. “I already spoke to the production team about it. They’re filming your part tomorrow, so make sure to familiarize yourself with the script today.”
“Mm, okay.” It was just a walk-on. There definitely wouldn’t be many lines, so Pei Ying was pretty a.s.sured.
Chen Sheng sent her another email and said, “The drama’s ratings are very good right now. Although this is a walk-on role, taking advantage of the popularity and making an appearance is still pretty good.”
“Mm, I know.” Pei Ying flipped through the script.
LSRR was a modern, inspirational, fashion drama. The female lead had just arrived in the big city and was working hard as a clothing designer. Pei Ying’s character was appearing late in the series. At this time, the female lead had already developed a reputation in the design industry. But when she ran into Pei Ying’s character, an international supermodel, she was terrified, as if treading on thin ice.
Pei Ying took a look. Her character appeared arrogant and difficult to work with, but upon closer inspection, she had a kind of warmth to her.
“The two episodes you’re filming will air the week after next.”
Because LSRR was working on a live-shoot system, Chen Sheng specifically made it a point to Pei Ying.
Pei Ying nodded, “Okay. I’ll be at the filming site on time tomorrow.”
“I heard the director mention that there will be a runway walk. You’ve learned a bit of it before, so make sure to practice a bit and get the feeling back.”
“Okay.”
After she finished speaking with Chen Sheng, she didn’t dilly dally, and headed directly home. This character didn’t have much screen time, but her personality was a bit complicated. Compared to the straight up vicious roles she’d played before, this was much more challenging.
Pei Ying studied the script until 11 o’clock before heading to the bathroom to wash up. The next morning, her alarm clock woke her up. Pei Ying stared blankly for a minute before bouncing out of bed.
It had been a long time since she’d woken up so early, she’d nearly forgotten what it felt like.
Because she didn’t have an a.s.sistant, and the company didn’t send a car for her, Pei Ying had to take a taxi to the filming site. Although it was still early, the crew had already started setting up the stage, and there were several cameras on the scene.
Seeing this scene in front of him, the driver excitedly said to Pei Ying, “Pretty girl, so you’re a celebrity! Can I get your autograph?!”
Pei Ying was a bit embarra.s.sed. She’d debuted several years ago, and there weren’t many people who wanted her autograph. “Actually, I’m just doing a walk-on.”
“So what? A lot of famous celebrities started out with walk-on roles! You’re so pretty, you’ll definitely get famous in the future!”
“It’ll be thanks to your words then.” Pei Ying couldn’t help smiling.
The driver actually made her smile until her whole face was red. He looked around to find a notebook, but couldn’t find one, so he just handed over a piece of clothing. “Just sign here. When you get famous, I can show it off.”
Pei Ying thought that she ought to work hard to become famous so that this driver could show off a bit.
Pen in hand, she carefully signed her name ‘Pei Ying’ onto the clothing. She once practiced on her signature for a long time. Who’d have thought that she’d rarely have the chance to use it.
She finished signing and smiled at the driver. “All done. Thank you.”
After she walked a few steps away, the driver stuck his head out the window and called to her, “You can do it! Work hard! You’ll definitely become famous!”
Pei Ying smiled and waved at him. This driver was really quite enthusiastic.
When she arrived to the filming site, she first greeted the director. Then she listened to him talk about the filming a bit.
The first scene they were filming would be her appearance as a supermodel at a photo shoot for a magazine. It was when she would be introduced to the female lead.
After Pei Ying and the director finished going over the scene, she went to get her makeup done. Because she was an international supermodel, she had to put on a lot of makeup. When her makeup was done, she looked at herself in the mirror, and she really did look a bit like a model.
“Your features are very three-dimensional. You’re really not mixed?” the makeup artist asked her as she was putting away her tools.
“I’m really not.” Pei Ying stood up and looked at the mirror to touch up her hair. When she was putting on the heels the stylist left for her, Tao Tao arrived at the scene.
Because they were from the same company, the two of them gave a greeting to each other. Tao Tao acted very warmly, and she didn’t act like she didn’t know Pei Ying just because she wasn’t famous. After they chatted for a few minutes, Tao Tao was taken away by the makeup artist. Pei Ying sat on her chair by herself when another person started walking towards her.
He was wearing an excessively large pair of sungla.s.ses, hands casually placed inside his pants pockets. When he walked up next to Pei Ying, he stopped. He took off his sungla.s.ses and asked, “Are you Shi Jing?”
His cold words left Pei Ying startled for a moment, and then she quickly recognized him as the male lead in LSRR. She stood up and greeted him. “h.e.l.lo, I’m Pei Ying. I’ll be playing the part of Shi Jing.”
The man looked at her and then smiled at her extended hand. “Hi, I’m Yu Kaize, and I play Gu Zhou.”
Yu Kaize was a handsome guy, even if his acting wasn’t the best. But he was born with a wallet full of money, and since he was Universe Pictures’ prince, he naturally joined the entertainment circle smoothly, with the speed comparable to a rocket taking off.
There wasn’t a shortage of people wanting to ride along on his coattails, but Pei Ying just courteously shook hands with him.
Yu Kaize pulled his hand back and smiled. “I saw the drama you did before. It wasn’t bad. I hope we will work together well.”
“Please take care of me.”
“Of course.” Yu Kaize’s lips quirked up and he put his sungla.s.ses back on before turning to walk away.
Pei Ying didn’t look at him again and continued sitting in her chair.
There were a lot of rumors about Yu Kaize in the business. She’d heard from friends that he was inseparable from women. Those things were probably half truths, riddled with falsities, but other than when working, she didn’t want to get too involved with him.
The crew was nearly done preparing, so the director called everyone over to get to work.
Song Nanchuan was invited over by Universe executives to take a look at the filming site. He hadn’t expected that Pei Ying would also be partic.i.p.ating in the filming for LSRR.
When he arrived, they were shooting Pei Ying’s scene.
She sat under an umbrella, a gla.s.s of sparkling beverage in her left hand, as she raised her right hand lightly to the brown sungla.s.ses on her face. She raised her brow and asked the person in front of her, “You’re Chen Liuguang?”(Note: As dramas like to do, her name, Liuguang, is part of the t.i.tle of the series, Liu Guang Ni Chang.)
A simple sentence, but it carried a tone that made others want to flinch.
She was acting with Tao Tao, who was also taken aback by her tone. She tensed, “H-h.e.l.lo.”
Watching from the side, Xiao Zhang couldn’t help comment, “Pei Ying’s acting really isn’t bad. What a shame.”
Song Nanchuan didn’t respond, but just watched Pei Ying quietly.
She was wearing a short dress prepared by the crew, the design highlighting her curves even more, especially that pair of long legs. Each of those lines was enough to provoke a person’s nerves.
After Tao Tao finished her lines, she stared at Pei Ying with wide eyes. Pei Ying saw her waiting for her to speak and finally said, “You still have another line.”
“Cut.” The director called for them to stop.
“I’m sorry,” Tao Tao apologized to the people around them. Then she looked back at Pei Ying. “You even memorized my lines?”
Pei Ying said, “Ah, it’s just a habit of mine.” When she memorized her lines, she had a habit of memorizing her partner’s lines as well. That way, she would be able to portray her role and emotions better.
Tao Tao blinked and didn’t say anything. Pei Ying turned to the side, and Song Nanchuan’s profile broke into her line of vision.
He stood under the shade of a tree, the peach blossoms in bloom behind him. The sun’s golden rays shined down through the breaks in the leaves, looking like bits of gold scattered across his body.
Seeing Song Nanchuan standing in this spring scene, Pei Ying had a premonition that her world was going to become a lot more colorful.