IPCFS: Chapter 116 Part 1

The moment the start-up ceremony was over, Ji Li retreated into his RV.

The on-site staff was making their final preparations to check the on-site equipment, and there was still half an hour to go before the first item in the filming schedule commenced.

Ji Li held the script in his hand while the crew’s makeup artist touched up his makeup.

Next to him, Baozi was studying the schedule sheet and couldn’t help saying, “This Director Rong is really unusual. He chose a rivalry scene for the first scene.”

According to common sense, in order to get a good start in filming, the director would choose relatively simple solo scenes to film first and strive to pass it instantly.

Meanwhile, the first scene of ‘Reverse Hunting’ was not only a difficult rivalry scene, but the person playing against Ji Li was the actor Fang Mo.

“This isn’t the first time that you’ve seen this notice. Why are you surprised?” Ji Li asked with a smile.

The makeup artist finished her work and got out of the car with her small bag.

Baozi approached and chatted, “Teacher Fang couldn’t rush back to China when the script was read some time ago. I heard that he rushed to Shanghai yesterday just in time to start the schedule. Now he is filming directly this afternoon. Doesn’t he need time to adapt to the rhythm?”

He was worthy of being one of the few actors with a high amount of gold content in the history of Chinese entertainment. He dared to directly rely on his strength.

Ji Li smiled and his gaze fell back onto the script.

The content to be filmed today was the rivalry scene between the male protagonist Mu Qin and Zhou Yong, the captain of the criminal investigation bureau of Jiang City. Zhou Yong’s actor was Fang Mo, who emerged from hiding to film again after many years.

The RV door opened, and Yu Fuya stood outside the car. “Ji Li, are you free? Fang Mo is already here. I’ll take you over to meet him.”

“Okay.”

Ji Li answered and got up quickly.

Yu Fuya led him to Fang Mo’s private lounge, explaining to him as he walked.

“You can go in and call him Brother Mo or Teacher Fang. He is two years older than me. When I first joined Chaoying, Fang Mo was already a sensational big star.”

It had to be said that the words ‘popular actor’ of the first generation were absolutely inseparable from Fang Mo.

The other person had entered the circle at the age of 23. He used his superior appearance and ‘killed’ an unstoppable, bloody road in the entertainment industry that year.

At the age of 27, he won his first Best Actor trophy. At the age of 28, he won his second Best Actor trophy, and his limelight was very strong.

When Qin Yue and Zhu Xusheng’s Chaoying Twin Stars first debuted, Fang Mo was already the number one brother of Chaoying Culture.

Just as everyone thought Fang Mo was going to attack the title of ‘Three Golden Movie King’, he unexpectedly announced his withdrawal from the circle and didn’t take anything with him.

“Why did he retire?” Ji Li asked curiously.

“For the love of his life.”

Yu Fuya recalled the real reason for Fang Mo’s withdrawal back then and rare envy flashed in her eyes.

“Brother Mo’s wife was an outsider and his childhood sweetheart. When the two of them were dating, she was abused and maliciously harassed by fans…”

After a long time, the woman couldn’t hold on any longer and reluctantly proposed to break up.

How could Fang Mo agree?

He thought carefully all night before making a bold decision.

Yu Fuya continued, “Later, Fang Mo held a press conference to announce the news of his withdrawal from the circle. He vaguely expressed that the withdrawal from the circle was for marriage.”

Fans made a lot of noise, the company tried to persuade him to stay, and his girlfriend tried to stop him, but he made his decision with a firm heart.

To use Fang Mo’s original words to his wife when he proposed marriage: Holding your hand for my entire life is what I am most proud of.

Ji Li’s lips curved slightly when he saw this.

People had their own aspirations. Fang Mo’s wayward withdrawal might have been sudden for his fans, but he made the best promise of his life to his wife.

He was an affectionate man with a different type of charm.

Ji Li had never met this legendary senior, but his psychological impression of Fang Mo was good.

“It is just that Fang Mo withdrew from the circle early. Otherwise, the first ‘triple crowned best actor’ in the entertainment industry might not necessarily have been Qin Yue,” Yu Fuya sighed jokingly.

After all, Qin Yue was still a newcomer when Fang Mo’s career was successful.

Hearing this, Ji Li couldn’t help retorting, “No matter whether he is first or not, Qin Yue has the strength to win the Best Actor trophy.”

Yu Fuya paused and looked at him in a dumbfounded manner. “You are quite sharp when it comes to protecting your boyfriend.”

Ji Li concealed the smile on his face.

If he had to say it, his selfish heart was really biased toward Qin Yue.

***

The two of them arrived at Fang Mo’s lounge and found that the other person had just finished putting on simple makeup.

“Brother Mo, I haven’t seen you for several years. Welcome back to China.” Yu Fuya smiled generously and took the initiative to step forward to greet him.

Fang Mo, who was still sitting in his seat, saw the person coming and got up to greet her. “Fuya, long time no see.”

Ji Li stood by the door and took the opportunity to look at Fang Mo.

The other person was dressed in black which clearly showed off his figure. The years left a light mark on his face, but it couldn’t conceal the unruly spirit in his eyes.

Speaking of which, Chaoying’s criteria for selecting people had been the same for over a decade.

What mattered wasn’t the appearance but the bones and the insides.

Ji Li saw Fang Mo today, and it wasn’t hard to imagine how many ignorant and joyful young girls’ hearts he had ‘killed’ back then.

Soon, Fang Mo noticed the young man by the door. “Are you Ji Li?”

“Yes.” Yu Fuya called Ji Li to her side.

“Brother Mo, this is Ji Li. You can be considered junior brothers of the same company.”

Ji Li bowed politely. “Hello, Teacher Fang.”

“You can just call me Brother Mo like her. There is no need to be restrained.” Fang Mo glanced at Ji Li and patted him on the shoulder with a smile. “Not bad. Chaoying has become better at choosing people.”

Fang Mo motioned for them to take their seats.

Yu Fuya was good at talking and opened the topic in a measured manner, “Brother Mo, I couldn’t believe it when I heard that you were invited to star in this movie.”

Fang Mo smiled lightly and sighed. “I didn’t expect that I would stand in front of the camera again one day.”

He was an old acquaintance of Director Rong Tong. Half a year ago, the two families agreed to go on a trip and incidentally talked about changes in the domestic movie and television industry.

As they were talking, Fang Mo felt a long-lost impulse. He had retired for his girlfriend and family back then, but it didn’t mean he had completely lost his love of filming.

Rong Tong obviously noticed this and invited Fang Mo in advance when he first got the script project four months ago.

Fang Mo’s wife accidentally learned of this and supported and persuaded her husband. She knew better than anyone what concessions Fang Mo had made for his family back then.

“I came back to get rid of the addiction that has accumulated in my heart for a long time. I will try my best not to drag you down.”

Ji Li heard Fang Mo’s humble words and replied gracefully, “It is my honor to act with Brother Mo.”

Fang Mo shifted his gaze back to Ji Li. Before returning to China, he had gone online to understand Ji Li’s information in detail.

Generally speaking, he was young, had excellent acting skills, high popularity, and good looks.

Now that they had met, he realized that Ji Li had an indescribable calm demeanor that was rare among young actors.

Fang Mo paused before taking the initiative to explain, “I should’ve rushed back to China on time to participate in the script reading, but my father-in-law’s heart wasn’t good. He had a temporary operation a week ago, and I really couldn’t pull away.”

“It’s okay. We all understand.”

Fang Mo glanced at the time and suggested, “The two of us haven’t spoken to each other yet. Next is our first rivalry scene. Let’s seize the time to ponder on the script?”

It had been many years since he filmed, but Fang Mo’s enthusiasm and devotion to acting were still there.

He didn’t want to delay the filming of other actors because of his own constraints.

Ji Li actually had the same idea and quickly responded, “Okay.”

Yu Fuya saw the two ‘drama idiots’ colliding together and laughed quickly. “Then shall I go back to the RV to get the script for you?”

“Sister Yu, don’t bother. I’ve already memorized the script.”

The interest in Fang Mo’s eyes became even stronger when he heard this. He picked up the script on the table and quickly entered the act with Ji Li.

Ji Li’s line skills were good, and his memory of the script scenes and lines was even stronger.

He didn’t miss a single word, and even the tone of his voice was felt clearly.

The two of them practiced for 10 minutes before Fang Mo happily put down the script.

He suddenly remembered something. “I met with Qin Yue some time ago. We talked about this movie and also talked about you.”

Ji Li was surprised. He hadn’t expected to hear his lover’s name at this time.

He and Yu Fuya looked at each other in tacit understanding.

Fang Mo and Qin Yue had both come out of Chaoying and it was normal for them to have each other’s contact information.

“What do you think Qin Yue told me?”

Ji Li met Fang Mo’s questioning gaze and replied uncertainly, “…Did he ask you, a senior, to take more care of me in this crew?”

Fang Mo shook his head and replied seriously, “He told me not to take the role lightly.”

-Brother Mo, Ji Li is an actor with the strongest empathy I have ever seen. You can’t take it lightly when acting with him.

It was rare to hear Qin Yue praise an actor so much, so Fang Mo returned home with curiosity.

“Now it seems that he is indeed right.”

Once Ji Li heard this, a smile appeared on his face, and the tip of his heart contained a bit of sweetness.

It was both a pleasant and subtle feeling to hear Qin Yue’s absolute recognition of himself from outsiders.

Yu Fuya saw through this but didn’t expose it.

Qin Yue took the opportunity to boast about Ji Li in front of outsiders?

She had never seen a man who could secretly show affection out of fear that there were still people in the world who didn’t know his Ji Li’s excellence.

The three of them were chatting when the assistant came over with a costume. “Brother Mo, try on the size of the clothes?”

Seeing this, Yu Fuya offered to leave. “Brother Mo, you are busy, so we’ll go first. We will see you on the set in the afternoon.”

“Yes.” Fang Mo nodded. “Ji Li, “I’m looking forward to the next rivalry scene.”

Ji Li responded calmly, “I would also like to ask Brother Mo to give me some advice.”

***

At 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the crew entered their final preparations. The plot of the next initial scene was simple.

Once the body of the hotel owner was found, the police quickly cordoned off the scene and restrained all suspicious people.

The deceased was a criminal who committed many murders in the past. Among the suspects was a child of one of the victims? Even the fatal wounds were all consistent.

Therefore, the male protagonist Mu Qin was listed as a suspect by the police.

The captain of the criminal investigation bureau, Zhou Yong, learned of this and hurried over.

After Mu Qin’s parents died, the relatives of the Mu family were greedy for the huge inheritance of Mu Qin’s parents. Zhou Yong was already the captain of the criminal investigation team at the time and couldn’t bear to push Mu Qin into the group of wolves.

In the past ten years, Zhou Yong had taken care of Mu Qin like a brother and a father. He hadn’t expected that—

The child he looked after with his own hands was actually involved in such a murder? He was also the one who was the most suspected of the crime?

Once the two met, a fierce confrontation that had never been seen before erupted. To put it more vividly, it was Zhou Yong’s unilateral venting and Mu Qin, who lacked empathy, remaining indifferent.

In fact, this scene was difficult.

Out of the two characters, one was still while the other was moving. One was cold and the other hot. They had to express a well-matched sense of drama.

This was especially the case for Ji Li. His emotional shaping was more difficult than Fang Mo’s.

Under his seemingly quiet emotions, he wanted to express his inner hatred and anger for the dead murderer, his resentment at not being able to kill his parents’ enemy, and his stifled frustration at being framed for the crime.


TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Blank
Blank
1 year ago

This suspense plot is really interesting, especially with a new character taking such an important role! I’m excited to see how they develop
Thank you so much for translating! <3

yuu
yuu
1 year ago

Thank you for the chapter ❤️