HTI: Chapter 91

Half an hour later, Gao Xuanhang and Wen Yao’s rivalry scene was finished filming and it was Xie Yang’s turn to go on stage and film the first scene of his life with Wen Yao.

This was an emotional scene. Cousin Liu Xue heard that Su Jingmo refused to marry her. She felt sad and asked Su Jingmo why. Lin Xue didn’t understand the dangers of Su Jingmo marrying a close relative like Liu Xue and she thought that Su Jingmo was making up excuses. She misunderstood the science books that Su Jingmo brought out, slapped Su Jingmo and left.

Zhou Huairen explained this scene to Xie Yang and Wen Yao. “This drama isn’t just an emotional conflict scene. It is also a small collision point between the new era and the old era. Your body language should show how you feel about each other’s education. Wen Yao, your emotions are more relaxed here but you should still hold some of them back. The education you received doesn’t allow you to express your feelings in a straightforward manner, understood?”

Wen Yao nodded.

Zhou Huairen also looked at Xie Yang. “Xie Yang, your eyes should be more delicate after being hit. From here, you realized that your home is no longer the safe harbour in your memories. It is a prison that will drag everyone down and kill them. You have started to grow and you want to change everyone. Your eyes have to express your inner conflict and sentiment, understood?”

Xie Yang digested Zhou Huairen’s words seriously and nodded.

A few minutes of preparation time passed before filming officially started. Xie Yang sat down in front of the camera, closed his eyes and adjusted his emotions. He substituted himself into the role of Su Jingmo. Then he opened his eyes and picked up a book.

Zhou Huairen announced the start of filming and the shot started.

Wen Yao approached the house. As described in the script, she asked Xie Yang the question in a wronged manner and wept in sadness. It was the first time Xie Yang acted against a real person and Wen Yao’s emotions burst out in an instant. He realized he hadn’t performed well after saying a few lines.

However, Zhou Huairen didn’t call out a cut. Thus, Xie Yang continued to act and slowly adjusted his state.

As the plot progressed, the conversation between Liu Xue and Su Jingmo gradually collapsed. Su Jingmo didn’t know how to explain it to Liu Xue so he simply pulled out a physiology book from the luggage he brought back. He showed her the page on reproduction.

Lin Xue couldn’t understand the foreign language. She only noticed the pictures that were too outrageous for her. She was ashamed and angry, so angry that she got up and heavily slapped Xie Yang…

“Cut!”

Zhou Huairen looked at Wen Yao. “The angle at which you raised your arm is wrong. In addition, your emotions are too heavy Wen Yao. Xie Yang has more problems. Come over and I will explain them to you.”

Xie Yang nodded. He apologized to Wen Yao and walked to Zhou Huairen, sitting down beside him. Wen Yao looked at Xie Yang’s back and then her hand with a frown.

After talking for a while, the second shot started. Xie Yang’s performance was much better than the first time. The problems in his positioning disappeared, his lines were more in place and his emotions were fuller.

However, Zhou Huairen called for a cut again. “Wen Yao, pay attention to the intensity of your hit. Don’t use the style you previously used to film TV series. It looks too exaggerated on the big screen. Look for the right feeling.”

Wen Yao nodded. In the third shot, Xie Yang’s performance was even more perfect but the scene was stuck where Wen Yao hit him.

Everyone was a bit dazed. Before filming this scene, everyone was prepared for it to take a long time. However, they thought it would be Xie Yang who needed to be taught. Why was Wen Yao having problems?

Wen Yao got stuck in the plot of hitting people three times. Director Zhou went up to her and showed her how to hit. It was just that due to too much psychological pressure, Wen Yao couldn’t let go.

The atmosphere on the set gradually lowered.

Xie Yang learned a lot from the process of filming the same plot several times. After it got stopped again, he took the initiative to find Wen Yao and suggest, “Senior, if you can’t control the strength and movements then you should really hit me.”

Wen Yao was stunned and then frowned. “Really hit you?”

“Yes, hit me. I don’t have any other scenes today and a real hit won’t interfere with anything.”

Wen Yao looked Xie Yang up and down and suddenly lowered her voice. “If I actually hit you, will you turn your head and buy some articles to say that I’m bullying my junior?”

This was another provocation but this time, it was much more open.

Xie Yang raised his eyebrow and also lowered his voice. “Senior, you seem to be biased against me?”

Wen Yao didn’t answer.

“Did Mu Zhouyi tell you something?”

Wen Yao acted like she didn’t understand. “What?”

Xie Yang smiled. “Senior, I don’t have time to buy news articles. If we are stuck here then it is affecting everyone’s shooting mood. I have to rush to get off work to coax my vinegar jar at home. Can I get off work soon?”

Wen Yao was taken aback for a moment. Then she stared deeply at Xie Yang and nodded.

Xie Yang returned to his rest area. Qin Cheng handed him a glass of water and said, “Wen Yao was deliberately putting pressure on you at the beginning. Did you have a conflict with her?”

Xie Yang took a sip and recalled Wen Yao’s actions just now. He shook his head. “It should be gone.”

A few minutes later, they started shooting again. Wen Yao didn’t listen to Xie Yang’s suggestion about actually hitting him. She tried to adjust her state and find her feelings. Finally, they finished the scene after two more NGs.

Once the filming was over, Wen Yao took the initiative to find Xie Yang and give him a few face masks. “You worked hard. Thank you.”

It was the first time Xie Yang had received something like a mask. He smiled at Wen Yao and told her, “It wasn’t hard. It was a pleasure filming with my senior. I learned a lot.”

“You are very different from the rumours.”

“The rumours generally carry the personal emotions of the person spreading them.”

Wen Yao understood the hint and said nothing more. She bid him goodbye and left.

***

Xie Yang returned to the hotel that evening and made a video call to Qiu Xing. This was his first video call with Qiu Xing and it felt a bit new.

Qiu Xing took over 20 seconds before answering.

The image appeared and Qiu Xing’s figure showed up in the middle of the screen. He was sitting at his desk in the study at home, looking down at the documents without looking at the camera. He had the appearance of ‘I am working hard and I’m busy.’

Xie Yang smiled at him. “Look at me.”

Qiu Xing moved. He put down the documents with restraint and looked at the camera. “Why are you so sticky every day—what is that on your face?!”

Xie Yang laughed and touched the seaweed mask on his face. He explained, “This is a gift an actress in the crew gave to me today. I filmed a rival scene with her and she had to fake slap me in the face. She probably gave me this because she was afraid I would have a problem after being hit by her.”

A storm appeared on Qiu Xing’s face. “She hit you?”

“It was a fake hit. She actually just touched it.”

The storm on Qiu Xing’s face intensified. “She touched you?!”

Xie Yang asked, “Are you jealous?”

“……”

The screen suddenly went dark as Qiu Xing used something to block the camera. Then his angry voice was heard. “Go and wash off the mask. I will ask Wu Shui to find a doctor for you. If you have any problems then they should be treated properly. What is the use of a mask? Also, in the future, pick up stories where there are no beating scenes!”

Xie Yang smiled and explained that his face was fine. There was no need to call a doctor. He got up to wash off the mask and returned, tapping on the phone screen. “Boss Qiu, open the door.”

A few seconds passed before the blacked-out screen lit up again. Qiu Xing’s figure appeared on the screen. Qiu Xing examined Xie Yang’s face like it was a project proposal to make sure there were no injuries or any remnants of the mask left behind. Then his expression eased. “It is almost the same… by the way, what is with that Man Feidi?”

“A stranger trying to take advantage of my popularity. I don’t know him well.”

“You don’t know him yet you allow him to hug your shoulder?” Qiu Xing frowned and suddenly changed his tone. “Xie Yang, you are different from before. You have to… you have to pay attention and keep your distance.”

Xie Yang deliberately asked, “What is different?”

“……” Qiu Xing shifted his gaze, lowered his head and turned the page of the document. “You know it yourself.”

“I don’t know.”

Qiu Xing turned a few pages before finally raising his head to look at Xie Yang again. He warned, “Be obedient.”

It really wasn’t easy to grab some sugar to eat. Xie Yang started to scare this person. “Three generations gap.”

Qiu Xing’s hand holding the documents froze.

“Young people should pay attention to propriety.”

Qiu Xing frowned.

“Ah Xing.”

Qiu Xing glanced sideways at the camera.

Xie Yang smiled at him. “Good night.” Then he hung up the call.

There were a few minutes of silence before the WeChat message notifications started to sound continuously. Xie Yang slowly picked up his phone and clicked on WeChat.

Qiu Xing: Don’t be impudent!

Qiu Xing: Be obedient over there.

Qiu Xing: Stay away from that fly!

Qiu Xing: Don’t take other people’s things indiscriminately.

After another minute.

Qiu Xing: I’ll see you when I’m free.

This was followed by the emoji of the baby sheep’s head being touched.

Finally.

Qiu Xing: Good night.

Xie Yang stared at the sentence ‘I’ll see you when I’m free’ and replied with ‘I’m waiting for you.’ Then he turned off the phone contentedly and went to sleep.

The next day, Xie Yang walked out of his room after washing and was found by Qin Cheng. Qin Cheng told him, “A movie critic posted a long article last night, saying that he didn’t expect Zhou Huairen to compromise for traffic. He is disappointed with Zhou Huairen’s casting this time. This article is obviously alluding to you. It is already on the verge of going on the hot topics. Do you want to deal with it?”

Xie Yang had guessed that after yesterday’s opening ceremony, there would definitely be people questioning him. After all, the original owner’s acting class results were really bad. The public should remember the acting class video that showed the original owner’s poor performance. He told Qin Cheng, “Don’t control it. It is normal for people to question me.”

Qin Cheng nodded. “Then I’ll have the PR department keep an eye on the trends.”

Today, most of Xie Yang’s scenes were with Man Feidi. Man Feidi’s acting skills were okay. He was top-notch among the same batch of fresh meat. However, he was far from the level of detail required by Zhou Huairen. Xie Yang was also a newcomer. He might give off a good feeling when acting but he lacked experience and needed to learn more.

The filming of the two people stumbled. After a few scenes, Xie Yang looked okay but Man Feidi seemed like his spirit was going to collapse.

At the end of the day when they were preparing to go back to the hotel, Man Feidi found Xie Yang and said that he wanted to practice against Xie Yang for a while. He wanted to check the scene to be filmed tomorrow to find his emotions.

There were many staff members around at the time and filming today hadn’t gone well, so Xie Yang nodded in response.

The assistant director passing by heard their words and praised them with a smile. “Young people have to be motivated and improve their acting skills. This will be good for your future development. I’m cheering for you.”

Man Feidi answered cleverly and Xie Yang also responded with a smile.

Back at the hotel, Xie Yang went to his room first and took off his coat. Man Feidi followed later and knocked on the door with the script. Hearing Man Feidi’s voice coming from outside the door, Xie Yang’s expression faded a bit. Rather than opening the door immediately, he took out his mobile phone and made a video call to Qiu Xing.

The call was answered quickly and Qiu Xing’s face appeared on the screen. The background showed that he should be in the car.

Qiu Xing still didn’t meet Xie Yang’s gaze and asked casually, “Why are you so early today? Have you eaten dinner?”

Xie Yang quickly explained that the shooting hadn’t gone well today and Man Feidi was coming over to practice. He added, “I’m afraid you will wait for me so I’m telling you in advance. I will have Wu Shui stay in the room with me so don’t be angry and eat well.” Then he hung up the call, put his phone away and opened the door.


Proofreader: Mnemo & Paranoid Kitten

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qyuraa
qyuraa
2 years ago

Thank you so much.

Dirtyoldfujoshi
Dirtyoldfujoshi
1 year ago

*stuffing dog food in my mouth*

Araminthe Ispwitch
Araminthe Ispwitch
7 months ago

Oh thank god, he actually told someone–QX, of all people–and even plans to have a chaperone while a sus stranger is visiting. Really glad XY is both clever and prudent.

Haruka
Haruka
5 months ago

I’m not too fond of the fl of the movie they’re shooting she was the one who needed explanation and she was the one who was illiterate and couldn’t understand the text all in all she is the one sticking to ppl who don’t want her modern era or not but she dared to slap him