Chapter 191: In Pursuit of Perfection
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Bai Zhi and the others finished eating lunch before leaving the hotel, where there were already paparazzi and journalists waiting outside. They ended up leaving through the bas.e.m.e.nt garage.
Bai Zhi pouring juice on Zhu Yu"s face was naturally big news, stirring up all the paparazzi in the area.
Who let this incident leak out?
There"s no such thing as a windproof wall. Nonetheless, it wasn"t just one or two people who"d seen their quarrel. Even if they didn"t mention it, it must have leaked out from some other conversations. There were many people willing to spill this news to large media companies and their corresponding journalists; it could be considered a favor even.
As for Zhu Yu, who really wanted this to blow up, at least on Wei Bo, had already been stopped by his manager. They also restrained him from speaking of the situation in public. Not a peep!
Before, Zhu Yu always leeched popularity from Bai Zhi, which company let slide, even defending Zhu Yu in front of Bai Zhi on certain occasions. The reason was simple; company profit.
Zhu Yu had signed a long term contract at their company, and there were still five years left. During this time, they were happy to see any improvement in Zhu Yu"s popularity and rating.
And rumors were rumors, so they can easily be suppressed and prevented from damaging Bai Zhi"s reputation. It might even bring Bai Zhi more popularity too. Although she was very unhappy with the arrangement and complained several times, the company would always chuckle and avoid the problem.
This time, the company"s method of treatment was very simple as well. Company profit.
No matter what, this incident was going to harm Bai Zhi"s reputation! The company would be crazy to ask Zhu Yu to do such a thing!
Based on popularity and revenue earning alone, Zhu Yu couldn"t even be compared to Bai Zhi.
Zhu Yu felt wronged and couldn"t suppress himself, but the company"s response was simple. Deal with it!
As for Bai Zhi, the company had hoped this incident would go away on its own, and even suggested the guy who"d pushed Zhu Yu, Meng Fan, apologize in private to Zhu Yu. Seeing Bai Zhi"s firm rejection of this request, they could only wait it out.
As for Su Qing Cen, the company had asked Zhu Yu"s manager to personally apologize to her. Although it had nothing to do with Su Qing Cen, she was still present at the time, and the manager had apologized for disrupting her dining experience.
If Su Qing Cen had been under the same company, the process would be much easier, but unfortunately, she wasn"t. Who knew what her company must think?
Why must they be so feeble?
They couldn"t afford to anger her of course!
However, the incident couldn"t be covered up when it came to the public. But at least there were no photos or images, or photos of Bai Zhi pouring juice. Let them guess. As long as the people present didn"t say anything, the whole incident would blow over in a couple of days.
The 11/11 gala had a relatively lax rehearsal schedule. Basically, you rehea.r.s.ed whenever you arrived, since there was a large portion of celebrities attending who didn"t sing or dance. The ones who sing and dance only made up a dozen or so.
After all, all the singers performing were all top tier celebrities.
Of course, the final rehearsal was very strict. Unless you were so incredible you didn"t have to show up. Everyone had to follow the procedure.
Bai Zhi and the group arrived early after lunch and didn"t see any other celebrities there. The director saw them and immediately scheduled their rehearsal.
The only thing that surprised the director was this sand artist. He was almost too young, definitely a student that hasn"t graduated yet. Only, he seemed to be very close to Su Qing Cen and Bai Zhi, who were willing to adjust their schedule for him, and willing to give him the time to adjust, no matter how long. The director also had plenty of time on his hands and did not object to this.
Only this young sand artist said his previous videos weren"t good and wanted to replace them, which made the director and his crew very displeased.
It wasn"t a big deal that he wanted to change the video, but his att.i.tude was offensive!
We aren"t playing, kid!
"huh?"
After watching the entire video in slightly irritation, the director and his crew lit up.
The a.s.sociate director responsible for the dancers was confused as he asked Meng Fan. "Were the previous two videos by you as well? It"s totally on a different level!
If director Sun had thought the last two videos were average, then the two new ones made him give two thumbs up. This was top-notch in the industry!
He then lifted his head and looked again. It doesn"t make sense, he"s too young.
Meng Fan, however, maintained his honesty. "The last two were just for fun. When I heard Shan Jin bro and sister Bai wanted me to perform at their rehearsal, I had to focus and record a few good videos to bring here.
Director Sun had no choice but to accept this explanation. "Are you a student? Who"s your teacher?" He asked curiously.
"I go to Hua xia art academy, and my sand painting instructor is Wen Wan."
"Wen Wan?! No wonder. A famous master always has incredible disciples!"
Director Sun not only knew of Wen Wan but has also collaborated with her on a few occasions before. Then he muttered to himself. " Two months ago I needed a sand artist for an event and asked her for a recommendation. Your name wasn"t on the list she gave me. She"s been hiding you deeply!"
It was just talked though, as he didn"t call her to inquire about the matter on due to their previous collaborations together.
"Then let"s begin."
Director Sun instructed the staff to plan accordingly, and personally explained in detail some techniques vital for a good performance to Meng Fan. There was more than one projector at the event, and the different positions and directions they are set at would create differences in the effect of his sand. Meng Fan had to know this.
Bai Zhi"s duet partner hadn"t arrived yet, so Su Qing Cen rehea.r.s.ed first.
She finished in one take with unquestionable singing and dancing expertise. Meng Fan"s sand painting performance went smoothly as well, but there were some angles that still had to be figured out.
In about half an hour, Bai Zhi"s duet partner arrived and they went over it again. Meng Fan"s sand painting was still very refres.h.i.+ng, receiving several nods of approval from the director.
He"d absorbed so much performance experience from Wen Wan yesterday, and practiced it hard for the entire night. Now Meng Fan"s drawing skill transfer was at +18. In addition to his imagination and storytelling attribute, and terrifying hand speed, he had already exceeded Wen Wan in terms of visual effect.
Director Sun was touched by this. In two runs, he felt that Meng Fan"s performance was even more attractive than Wen Wan"s.
Here before him was a superstar in the sand painting world!
They then went over both performances, and after some discussion, the director"s crew decided Su Qing Cen"s performance would best suit the sand art. They didn"t give a reason, but everyone could guess it was because Bai Zhi"s duet partner sucked too much.
From a collaboration perspective, Su Qing Cen"s performance was better for the overall visual effect.
Of course, the directing crew also considered another reason. The event had to be explosive, and since Su Qing Cen was already an explosively popular personality, they had to add more extravagance to her performance. The best and most extravagant addition at this point was Meng Fan"s sand painting performance.
Bai Zhi was a bit regretful by this but didn"t say much. She could speak to them when they return. No matter what, Meng Fan was going to collaborate at least once with her, no, at least seven times!
The male actor was also pretty upset that they received nothing after working for so long, but maintained a smile and expressed his remorse as well.
To be honest, he wanted to be accompanied by this sand art as well!
After confirming, they rehea.r.s.ed the routine two more times before leaving.
On the evening of November 9th, the official dress rehearsal began.
Only about half of the celebrities partic.i.p.ated in this dress rehearsal since the rest of them were only planning to appear on the morning of the 10th for the final dress rehearsal.
"What? You want to switch it up again?
The next day during the second round of dress rehearsal, director"s Sun"s eyes almost popped out of his head when he heard about Meng Fan"s request right before Su Qing Cen"s rehearsal.
Meng Fan was a little embarra.s.sed, but he was at a 20+ transfer rate with his drawing skill and wanted to express his bold thought. We should always pursue perfection, right?
"We"re already at the dress rehearsal, are you kidding me? I can"t make the decision, go ask the head director!"