Chapter 475: Lu Yumo, The Great Fire Wielder
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Guang Yuan and Ye Shiyun were not on good terms. After Guang Yuan published the post on Weibo, his agent dragged him into the dressing room to have the makeup artist apply makeup on him.
After the agent closed the door, Guang Yuan finally s.n.a.t.c.hed his phone back from his agent and slammed it on the floor.
He had been a prideful person his whole life, and now his pride had been destroyed by his idiotic agent and Ye Shiyun.
Although the agent had antic.i.p.ated that Guang Yuan would be infuriated, he was still shocked when Guang Yuan smashed the phone on the floor. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest as he said in a shaky voice, “Please, please chill and hear me out first, boss. Think about the pay. It’s six times higher than your usual pay, so it’s about 60 million yuan! This is real money, and that’s what you need the most right now!”
He was right. With this money, not only could he pay off his father’s debt, but the netizens would not scold him for being an unfilial son anymore either.
When the thought popped into his mind, Guang Yuan licked his lips but did not say anything.
No matter how reluctant he was, he could not deny the fact that the 60 million yuan that Fu Zhi had paid him had indeed taken care of this pressing need for him.
“Don’t take it too seriously, boss. Compared to Ye Shiyun, you’re a hundred times better.”
Guang Yuan lit a cigarette but remained silent. After all, what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do to change the situation. From that day onward, he’d be Fu Zhi’s other kept man. n.o.body would care about his thoughts, and all he had to do was keep Fu Zhi happy.
His agent said something again, but Guang Yuan did not listen. He remained quiet until the makeup artist came into the dressing room.
.
At the same time, the makeup artist was putting makeup on Ye Shiyun. Xiao Bai was standing aside as he stared at him. He still could not quite come around to his senses. After all, everything had happened too fast.
“Your fans aside, even I was shocked,” he said.
Ye Shiyun got up from the chair. He took off his shirt and changed into a white t-shirt. His skin was fair, and his p.r.o.nounced Apollo’s belt was enough to melt any woman’s heart.
“Did you read the script as I told you to? Fu Zhi has invested quite a lot of money in this movie, so after we finish recording this trailer, we have to start working on your personal promotional video.”
“Fu Zhi will not spend a single penny to promote the movie,” Ye Shiyun said as he b.u.t.toned up the collar of his shirt.
“What do you mean by that?’ Xiao Bai asked.
“Guang Yuan suddenly decided to return to the movie, and this is considered big news for every media outlet. I’m sure they will come to us to get more information, and that’s one big promotion.”
“But it will only last for a while, and if there’s another piece of shocking news, people will instantly forget about us and the movie…”
“Have you forgotten that a celebrity was charged for domestic violence the other day? His company will certainly do everything they can to divert the public’s attention to Guang Yuan and me. Otherwise, why do you think a stingy person like Fu Zhi would be willing to pay Guang Yuan 60 million yuan? The publicity brought by Guang Yuan is not something that can be measured by this mere 60 million yuan.”
What did a celebrity fear the most? Criticism? Critique? Judgment? Nope, it was being treated like they were invisible.
Otherwise, why were some celebrities hated by many people yet were still extremely successful? If no one paid attention to a celebrity, it would be the end of his or her career, and the same applied to a movie.
The more attention a movie attracted, the more people would watch it.
Xiao Bai thought for a while and nodded. “This is surprising. Although Fu Zhi is just a high school girl, she’s pretty insightful.”
Before this, he’d thought Fu Zhi was just a headstrong girl who did not like to lose. Otherwise, why would she spend so much money to get Guang Yuan on her side?
As a person who had lost 100 million yuan, Ye Shiyun concluded, “She’s very insightful when it comes to money.
“Just you wait. After she’s finished using Guang Yuan, she will get the money back from him.”
“…”
*
Red Sun was a movie about war, so Feng Bo used the contrast between light and dark to portray the tone of the movie. However, things were slightly different when it came to the trailer. He needed to make everything look beautiful, so he adopted normal shooting techniques.
Before the shooting started, some of the crew members were waiting inside the movie set. Since Ye Shiyun and the others had not arrived yet, they started to talk to each other.
“I’ve read Red Sun before, and Yan Shaokai is my favorite character. I wonder if Ye Shiyun can handle the character or not.”
“Do you even need to ask? Of course he cannot. Had it not been for Fu Zhi, he would never have been able to partic.i.p.ate in the movie with his acting skills. Actually, if I was Fu Zhi, I would pick another actor to play Yan Shaokai’s part.”
“Well, if it had not been for Fu Zhi, Guang Yuan wouldn’t have apologized to Ye Shiyun. Honestly, I know I shouldn’t say this, but Ye Shiyun is really bad at acting. He basically has the same expression in every scene of every movie, be it a happy scene or a sad scene. I wonder how long Guang Yuan could put up with him…”
As they continued to talk, Ye Shiyun and Guang Yuan arrived. When they saw them, their eyes glowed.
“Wow, they look so good in their makeup!”
The character of Yan Shaokai, who was played by Ye Shiyun, was a hedonistic young master, while the character of Chu Wanting, who was played by Guang Yuan, was an unyielding, firm soldier.
Ye Shiyun was wearing a shirt and black pants, while Guang Yuan had put on a military uniform. While they were walking into the movie set, they gave off a strong, imposing vibe.
“This movie doesn’t need a female lead. These two people are so compatible that they should just become a couple.”
“This is the first time I understand why Ye Shiyun’s fans say that he’s one of the best-looking men in the world. With both of them in the movie, there’s no way it won’t be successful!”
“But Ye Shiyun’s acting skills… I’m really worried that Guang Yuan might not be able to hold himself back from beating him…” someone said. Although he was talking very softly, most of the people on the movie set heard him clearly.
Truth be told, it was something that everyone was worried about, including Feng Bo. He did not want any bloodshed to occur during the making of the movie, so he said, “You two can get along with each other. I will come back to find you after I’ve finished everyone else’s parts.”
Then, he shouted at a foreigner, “Hey, Luis, come over here! We’re going to start with you.”
In the movie, Luis was deeply infatuated with Yan Shaokai’s cla.s.smate, Tang Ning. Tang Ning was the female lead and also Chu Wanting’s student.
Luis was going to play a citizen from Country M who was cheated out of his fortune by Tang Ning, someone from the underground organization.
The character he was going to play was not a major one, but since he was quite a famous celebrity both at home and abroad, Feng Bo had to give him some screen time.
The scene they were going to shoot today was the scene of Tang Ning tricking Luis. She was going to ask him out to dinner to get information from him. Unfortunately, the actress that was going to play Tang Ning had not arrived yet.
Feng Bo was going to shoot Luis’s part first, and then he would add Tang Ning’s part later.
However, Luis, who demanded perfection, greeted Feng Bo gently and then said seriously, “But darling, I can’t perform well without looking into the eyes of the female lead.”
Feng Bo turned around and looked at a female crew member not far away.
Luis followed his line of sight, feeling stunned. Before Feng Bo could say anything, he added, “According to the script, Tang Ning is a smart and beautiful girl. She doesn’t fit the image I had in mind, and I won’t be able to express that real sense of obsession.”
Feng Bo was speechless. He did not know what he should do now, so he went to look for Fu Zhi. Fu Zhi was currently playing with her phone in her room, and her eyes were red. After he told Fu Zhi everything, Fu Zhi said, “It was really unprofessional of you to get such an unprofessional actor.”
Feng Bo was speechless again.
He was there for a solution, so he said expressionlessly, “I want you to shoot the scene with Luis.”
He wanted a smart and pretty girl, right?
Well, this one over here could even crush one’s skull, so no one could do a better job than her.
“I don’t know how to act at all,” Fu Zhi said.
“Do you know how to cry? Well, you don’t have to do much. You still remember this scene, right? Your academic performance dropped and you’re crying in front of Luis. Can you do it?”
“Nope, I cannot,” Fu Zhi replied. After all, her academic performance had been very stable.
“Then try to imagine it. You were the top student in cla.s.s, and suddenly, one day, the bottom one overtook you and pushed you into second place! Don’t you feel angry and sad about it?”
“Nope.”
“How can you not be angry or sad about it?” Feng Bo asked exasperatedly.
“Because I’m the bottom one who pushed the top student into second place.”
Feng Bo did not know what to say at all. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and said, “If you agree to shoot the scene with Luis, I’ll pay you out of my own pocket based on Ye Shiyun’s hourly rate.”
Fu Zhi was not someone who would get defeated by a predicament. If she did not know something, all she had to do was learn it. Thus, she nodded and said, “Alright. I will do my best.”
—
Luis had been a professional actor for the past 28 years, but what he did not know was that he would not be a professional actor anymore after today.
He was sitting on a wooden chair right now. A few meters away, Fu Zhi, who had put on a school uniform, was putting eye drops in her eyes.
Luis had already figured out what he was going to do next. As a professional actor, Luis kept telling himself that he should try his best to stay in character.
The character he played was a complex person. He was deeply obsessed with Tang Ning, but at the same time, there was a voice in his head telling him that he should not fall in love with her so soon.
All the cameras on the movie set were pointed at Luis, and everyone was worried about him.
“Ye Shiyun is a bad actor, but Fu Zhi is even worse. They really make a good team.”
“I don’t know about Luis, but Fu Zhi seems too domineering to me. She always has a poker face, and I can’t imagine how he’s going to say he will protect someone like her.”
Fu Zhi held the bottle of eye drops in front of her eyes.
Feng Bo said, “Action!”
Then, all of the cameras captured the expression on Luis’s face.
Fascination, Struggle, Doubt, Sympathy…
Luis got into character very soon, and just as Feng Bo heaved a sigh of relief and thought the 100,000 yuan was well spent, the next thing that happened made him regret his decision.
Fu Zhi kept her eyes closed to rest for a while since she could not do this eye exercise right now. Then, after Luis chanted his line “No, sweetheart, I can’t take you to my house yet”, Fu Zhi slowly opened her eyes.
The eye drops had coated Fu Zhi’s eye with a layer of water. Perhaps she had played with her phone for too long, as her eyes were red around the rims and it looked like she had just cried not long ago.
Under the dim light, Fu Zhi looked at Luis.
At that moment, Luis seemed to understand the phrase “light brings out the beauty in a person”.
Luis was an extreme romanticist and could not stand seeing a girl cry in front of him. He grabbed the flower from the table and gave it to Fu Zhi. Then, he looked nervously and worriedly at her and asked, “Oh, my poor little angel, what’s the matter?
“Why are you crying? You want to go to my house, right? I’ll take you to my house now, okay?
“I’m such a d*ckhead. Just let me know what else you want. I will do everything I can to get it for you.
“Diamonds? A car? A big house? Just tell me, sweetheart. As long as you want them, I can even get the stars in the sky for you!”
“I want money,” Fu Zhi said.
The crowd was speechless.
Initially, the reason Luis had asked for a pretty girl was that he’d hoped he could get into character more easily. Well, he had indeed gotten into character now, but apparently, this was not the effect that Feng Bo wanted.
He shouted angrily, “Cut, cut, cut! What the h.e.l.l are you doing, Luis? Why are you not following the script?”
Luis, who was brought back to reality by Feng Bo, looked at Fu Zhi, whose face was bereft of emotion from beginning to end.
She had a pair of pretty eyes, but they were not filled with tears anymore.
“I…” Luis did not know what he should say. He clearly remembered that Fu Zhi had been crying just now, but at that moment, he realized that he might have misunderstood something.
“I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
“This is your fault? Okay then!” Feng Bo smacked the table. “You’re not getting a single cent for this hour!”
Then, he turned to Fu Zhi and said, “Now, he’s going to take you home, so all you have to do is just nod shyly like a girl in love. You don’t have to say anything, and we’ll be done with this scene!”
“Did I ever write something like this?” Fu Zhi asked.
“I added it myself!”
“I don’t think it’s suitable,” Fu Zhi said. “First of all, he’s not my boyfriend, and second, I don’t like him. How am I supposed to act like a girl in love?”
Something inside Feng Bo snapped, and he felt as if he was going to have a heart attack. He had never regretted a decision this much before in his life. It had been the worst decision ever to ask Fu Zhi to shoot the scene with Luis. He shouted, “Someone come and get her out of here! I don’t want to see her here anymore!”
Fu Zhi blinked and said, “Don’t forget to pay me.”
Feng Bo did not know what to say.
After he finished Luis’s part, it was Ye Shiyun and Guang Yuan’s turn. Originally, Feng Bo did not have high hopes for them, but surprisingly, the shot came out better than he had imagined.
While Feng Bo was going through the trailer, Fu Zhi’s phone rang.
She took her phone out and saw that she had received a message from a new WeChat group.
She clicked into the group, and the first thing she saw was a message from “Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei”.
[Sob, sob, sob… Honey, this surgery is really painful, and I’m so afraid I won’t see you and the kids again!]
Then, just as she was wondering what had happened, another message came.
It was from “Lu Yumo, the great fire wielder”.
[???? What happened to you, mom?]