Chapter 477: Your Face is Already Swollen
Before the next scene, one of the production crew members came over to ask An Youqing if she could withstand getting slapped for the drama or if she would choose to use a stand-in to take her place. After all, there would not be much difference between either options. In fact, the director already arranged for the stand-in to take the slaps in An Youqing’s place but in order to highlight and prove her dedication towards the drama, An Youqing replied that she would take on the role by herself.
Moreover, she even praised Jiang Yuning by saying, “I believe in Sister Yuning’s professionalism.”
As soon as Jiang Yuning heard An Youqing’s words, she raised her brows in suspicion before she gave some instructions to the young paparazzo. “Make sure to record the next few scenes with your cell phone so that we have proof if An Youqing decides to make up some sort of story on the Internet later.”
“I got it!” the young paparazzo already knew what he should do even before Jiang Yuning said so. Therefore, he immediately made an okay gesture at Jiang Yuning.
The production cast began filming as soon as the makeup artists were done getting the actors and actresses into their costumes and makeup. During this scene, Duan Hanyan will be grabbing Xuan Yu by her collar before giving her two tight slaps across her face. After that, she would throw Xuan Yu to the ground before stepping on the back of Xuan Yu’s hand.
However, as soon as Jiang Yuning raised her hand, An Youqing subconsciously hid so that she would not get slapped.
The director frowned immediately. “Cut! An Youqing, what are you hiding for?”
“Sorry, director. I was not emotionally prepared for the scene,” An Youqing apologized immediately.
“Try to calm down and relax. Just play the role of Xuan Yu like you did when you came for the audition the other day. Don’t be nervous,” the director replied after he had calmed down. After that, they resumed filming immediately.
In fact, An Youqing was shocked because of the expression on Jiang Yuning’s face. No…in fact, An Youqing was shocked because of the expression on Duan Hanyan’s face.
The look in Duan Hanyan’s eyes were so determined and sharp and tears were actually falling down her face before of all the pent up anger that she was holding onto. An Youqing suddenly felt as though she would not be able to keep up with Jiang Yuning.
After that, An Youqing prepared herself to film the scene for the second time.
The production crew and staff were a little shocked, especially those who had been betting on An Youqing instead of Jiang Yuning.
“This is really way beyond my expectations. I thought that An Youqing was very professional and skillful? Didn’t they say that she had a bright future ahead of her? Why does it seem as though she cannot even pull off a single stunt in front of Jiang Yuning? It seems as though she is not able to keep up with Jiang Yuning’s rhythm at all.”
“You are right. I feel that Jiang Yuning really made a lot of progress in such a short time. Her acting was already pretty impressive in . After that, she also got the role of the first female lead in and I believe that it would have been very challenging for her to pull off the role of the first female lead in that drama. It seems as though we have really underestimated Jiang Yuning. She is really amazing and talented.”
“An Youqing, what is the matter with you this time? Why can’t you control your own expression when you are facing Yuning? If this is the way that you are going to act, what is the difference between you and a newcomer, then?” After several consecutives retake, the director could not stop himself from yelling at An Youqing because he was so frustrated at this point.
“Sorry, director. I would like to take a break,” An Youqing replied as she sat down on the ground before waving her hand at the director.
“Break time! Break time!” the director yelled as he waved his hand impatiently. “You had better get your act together and sort out your emotions for the character you are playing. This is just the first scene for the entire drama and you are already holding everyone back. What the h*ll is going on in your mind right now? Why is your acting completely different compared to when you had attended the audition the other day? Can you tell me what exactly is wrong with you? Huh?”
The director called for a break and stopped the filming because of An Youqing.
At this time, the makeup artist walked in front of Jiang Yuning before touching up her makeup for her. The young paparazzo also rushed over to Jiang Yuning’s side before putting a thick coat around her. “Sister Yuning, are you cold?”
“I am fine,” Jiang Yuning replied.
“Everyone was raving about her acting skills, but it seems as though her true form is now revealed.”
“This is her first drama so it is normal for her to be nervous. Furthermore, the first scene that she had to act in is one of the main scenes in the entire drama. I think that it is inevitable that she would be panicking since she has no experience at all,” Jiang Yuning replied indifferently. She did not want to take advantage of this situation to laugh at An Youqing because she knew that An Youqing had the ability and talent but she was too stressed to display her true talents.
On the other hand, An Youqing was resting awhile she tried to mentally prepare herself for the upcoming scene. After about ten minutes, the director gathered everyone to continue filming the first scene.
This time, An Youqing showed some improvements and her acting was much better and smoother, especially after being slapped by Jiang Yuning.
However, compared to Jiang Yuning, An Youqing’s acting was still beyond expectations.
During the scene, Duan Hanyan was stepping on the back of Xuan Yu’s hand and she had a very cold and heavy expression on her face at this time. The soldiers standing directly opposite them did not dare to rush forward, but they were all shouting as they pointed their swords at Jiang Yuning.
“Duan Hanyan, let go of our master!”
“How dare you? Let go of our master!”
“Let her go?” At this time, Duan Hanyan’s face was twisted and contorted, as though she had just heard a joke. She stepped even harder on Xuan Yu’s hand before she said, “If you want to blame anyone, then the only person that you can blame is Xuan Yu for trying to take my life.”
“You will not be able to get out of this place alive if you hurt our master!”
“Then, I will die together with her today!” After that, Duan Hanyan pulled Xuan Yu up from the ground and gave her another two slaps across her face before pus.h.i.+ng her to the ground again. “If the reason you are doing this is because of Yan Huasu, then you have really made a big mistake. Xuan Yu, what you are doing is unnecessary because he…is going to die in my hands sooner or later.”
As soon as Duan Hanyan’s words fell, Jiang Yuning pulled out the sword in her hand…
“Cut! An Youqing, what is the matter with you? Are you here to watch the show or are you here to act in the drama?” the director shouted once again. “Give some reaction! I want to see some response from you. Duan Hanyan had already raised her sword, so why are you still staring blankly at her? What are you doing?”
At this time, An Youqing really did not know what was going on at all.
She was really shocked at Jiang Yuning’s explosive power.
She used to despise Jiang Yuning so much but she had never expected Jiang Yuning to have so much control over her own acting and emotions. It seemed as though Jiang Yuning really made a lot of progress over the past year. This made An Youqing feel very confused and she did not know how to react at all.
“Youqing, your face is already swollen…” An Youqing’s a.s.sistant said when she say An Youqing standing there in a daze. After that, she rushed over to An Youqing before she asked, “Should we ask the director to get someone to stand in for you instead?”
They had already called for so many NGs. Therefore, it would not be surprising or strange that An Youqing’s face was already swollen.
“No need,” An Youqing refused.
However, the filming progress was repeatedly disrupted and delayed because of An Youqing’s NGs and at this time, some of the production crew and staff were staring at An Youqing as they shook their heads in dissatisfaction.
…
Jiang Yuning was resting as she continue going through her lines in the script at the other end of the filming set. When she saw that An Youqing was still looking very disoriented and confused, she handed her script over to the young paparazzo before she walked towards An Youqing.
“You still can’t find the right emotion for the scene?”
An Youqing wanted to pretend as though she did not hear Jiang Yuning’s question but she did not dare to ignore Jiang Yuning so blatantly. Therefore, she nodded her head and replied, “Yes, I am still somewhat unsure about the emotions that I should be portraying.”
“Actually, it is really not that difficult. All you have to do is just imagine that I have robbed you of your resources. I guess that would definitely help you to portray how much hate and resentment you feel for me then,” Jiang Yuning replied as she chuckled.
Although An Youqing did not show it on her face, she felt really disgusted at Jiang Yuning, especially after she found out that she could never measure up to Jiang Yuning’s acting skills and especially after the director yelled at her so many times in front of everyone else. An Youqing also lost her temper at this time: “Teacher Jiang, if you really robbed me of my resources, I guess I will not even be able to struggle at all. Even if I struggled and tried to get my resources back, I wouldn’t be able to win you anyway. So, please stop showing off in front of me, Teacher Jiang. I know that you want to make it seem as though I did not do my homework to prepare to play the role of my character at all.”
“Alright then. Since that is the case, then I hope that we can look forward to no NGs anymore for the next scene?”
“Then, can I also ask that you hit a little lighter when you slap me later, Teacher Jiang?”
“Well, you are the one who wanted to persevere instead of allowing a stand-in to take your place,” Jiang Yuning replied before she returned to the young paparazzo’s side.
“Sister Yuning, why did you even bother going over to her? You know that she would never appreciate you even if you tried to help her anyway. You can rest a.s.sured that I have taken a video of each and every NG of the previous scene. If An Youqing tries to stir up anything on the Internet or with the media, then I will just expose her for the person that she truly is!”
Jiang Yuning took her script back in her hand before she smiled gently at the young paparazzo.
She was really good at pus.h.i.+ng people to their limits.
Even though Jiang Yuning knew that she was a little hard on An Youqing, she had not choice but to do so because otherwise, how would the production crew know for sure that she was the first female lead?