30.
Xiao Lian watched the two directors finish the yogurt, and then took the bottle to a faraway place to throw away. The directors continued to discuss the plot of today’s shoot.
While in the dressing room, Zhuang Qin and Li Mu were rehearsing the afternoon’s scene.
The two exchanged lines several times. Zhuang Qin sat quietly on the edge of the sofa to take notes with his notebook. Li Mu saw him spread a book on his lap and write very hard, so he went out to find a high table for him and moved it in. When the crew saw this, they were about to come help but Li Mu waved them off: “I’ll do it myself. You are all busy.”
When Zhuang Qin was focused on something, he was completely absorbed in his own world. Others can come and go but he won’t notice. If you talk to him, it’ll take a few minutes to get a reply.
Li Mu moved the table to him, but Zhuang Qin didn’t notice it. It was only when the phone in his bag rang that he looked up.
Li Mu said, “Write on the table. Don’t lower your head, It’s not good for the spine.”
Zhuang Qin put his notebook and script on the table and asked him, “oh, where did this table come from?”
“I moved it from the drama department.”
“You moved it alone?” Zhuang Qin didn’t notice at all just now. Thinking of Li Mu’s cleanliness fetish, he took a wet wipe from his bag and said, “Here wipe your hands. Why didn’t you call me just now? Didn’t anyone in the crew help you?”
“You were absorbed in your writing.” Li Mu wiped his finger and said, “The crew was busy and the table wasn’t heavy. We can use it together.”
“This is real wood. How can it not be heavy? You should have called me.” Zhuang Qin scooted over and wiped the table. “You can use this side.”
Li Mu sat down and Zhuang Qin read his phone messages.
It’s from a host friend who asked him if he had time recently.
“I opened a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai. Dear1t/n: it’s a platonic ‘dear’* if you have time, bring your friends here to support me and I’ll give you a free meal.”
Zhuang Qin immediately understood.
He has a good relationship with this hostess and he often appeared on her program, but it was the kind of interpersonal relationship that was based on mutual benefits and compliments.
Zhuang Qin sent a message saying, “Thank you Sister Bei. I’m filming in another place now. When I get back to Shanghai, I will definitely take care of your business!”
Zhuang Qin: “I’ll record a video for your store later!”
“Oh! That would be much appreciated. Sisters’ store is called ‘The taste of Eel’. The main focus is on hitsumabushi. The river eel is flown in fresh from Singapore the same day. The chef is an apprentice from an old Japanese restaurant and a master craftsman will occasionally drop in. Sister once ate at this old restaurant and never forgot it, so I thought of opening my own ……”
She sent a long string of messages, probably copied, as well as pictures and videos of various Unadon. The sauce was sprinkled on the succulent eel and it covered pearly white rice, and was served with a plate of emerald green onions and seaweed.
Zhuang Qin was a little hungry and couldn’t help doubting whether she did it on purpose.
The video that Zhuang Qin clicked on was too loud. A woman’s voice was saying, “It’s so good! This is so good that it melts in my mouth. I’m gone*2t/n: I’m gone: ‘catch phrase’ meaning ‘I’m so so excited,!”
Li Mu accidentally glanced at it.
Unadon?
You’re hungry again so soon?
Zhuang Qin chatted with her for ten minutes but Sister Bei was also busy and Zhuang Qin said that his director was calling him, so he said goodbye to her.
Li Mu went out first. When he (ZQ) came out, the assistant that the crew assigned to Li Mu came over and asked him, “Teacher Zhuang. where is Teacher Li?”
“He seems to have gone out. Maybe he went to the bathroom. Are you looking for him for anything?”
“Oh, oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to see if there was anything he wanted help with. I’m quite idle. He won’t let me do anything.” This little girl, who was assigned as an assistant, seemed to be a relative of an employee in the crew. She came to Thailand for fun after graduation and found out that her relative was working in a crew, so she thought it would be fun to be there.
After entering the crew, she was assigned to Li Mu as an assistant because she had no professional experience. As a result, she didn’t expect the actor to be so handsome, but to be so idle.
Zhuang Qin thought for a moment and said, “Then go to my assistant. Do you know Xiao Lian?”
“I know Brother Lian.”
“He has a cat with him. We’re raising it. Do you know how to raise a cat?”
The little assistant nodded: “I have a Ragdoll3t/n: cat breed at home.”
“Then go over and help him. Thank you.”
“It’s okay it’s okay!” She finally found something to do and looked very happy. “Then I’ll go right away.”
“Wait a minute.” Zhuang Qin stopped her. She turned around. Zhuang Qin asked with a smile, “I haven’t asked what your name is yet.”
“My surname is Tong. Just call me Tong Tong.”
“Okay Tongtong, thank you.”
When Li Mu came back in carrying a 7-11 shopping bag, he saw the female assistant chatting with Zhuang Qin. They seemed to have a good conversation, and both of them were smiling.
t/n: 7-eleven: chain convenience store
“Teacher Li is back?” Tong Tong called out, “Did you go to the convenience store? Next time if you want to buy anything, just tell me to go!”
Li Mu didn’t look at her and indifferently said, “You go out first.”
Tong Tong dully mumbled a “yes” and turned away. When she was closing the door, she was very careful as if afraid that Li Mu would be angry.
Zhuang Qin put down his pen and saw that his pockets were full of snacks. He asked, “Why did you buy so much food?”
“Hmm, I’m a little hungry. Let’s eat together?” Li Mu took out a packet of seaweed, “Do you like seaweed?”
It was difficult to buy ready-made unadon here. Li Mu had contacted a chef in Bangkok and he would come over this afternoon.
“I’ll have a piece.” Zhuang Qin reached out to take a piece and bit into it with a crunch. It quickly melted in his mouth. The seaweed smelled very good. Li Mu gave him another piece. Zhuang Qin continued to eat, and then said, “You were so fierce to Tong Tong just now, you scared her.”
“Fierce?” Li Mu frowned, “Tong Tong?”
“It’s the assistant arranged by the crew for you. She just came in looking for you.”
“Why was she looking for me?” Li Mu was puzzled, and his lips were pursued into a line, “I’m fierce?”
“You were a little, but you aren’t usually like that. It doesn’t matter. You don’t need to change.” In fact, he also knew that this was Li Mu’s character, however, he was usually very polite. He just seemed less polite earlier but really, it was just his sense of superiority that made people feel heavy pressure.
Li Mu’s expression eased a bit. A piece of seaweed was delivered to his mouth while he looked down at him and said, “I’m not fierce to you.”
“Well, yes,” Zhuang Qin knew this. Li Mu was a gentleman. Although he didn’t smile much, he has always been polite and gentle. He waved his hand to indicate that he didn’t need to be fed. He licked his fingers and nodded, “We cooperate well together.”
Cooperation?
Li Mu wasn’t fond of this word. Working together in a crew was indeed a cooperative relationship, but their roles weren’t normal. There were a lot of intimate scenes so their relationship should be a little more than a cooperative friendship, right?
Li Mu wiped his finger: “You used to cooperate with others in dramas. Was it as good as with me?”
“Huh?” Zhuang Qin didn’t expect him to ask this type of question. It was so unlike him. He thought back to their morning of hanging out at the beach. He actually wasn’t really as cold and indifferent as he seemed.
Zhuang Qin also took out the wipes and wiped his hand: “I haven’t shot many dramas. The first two I cooperated with others, but it wasn’t very pleasant.”
In his first drama, because he was Zheng Fengbai’s stand-in at the beginning, he didn’t expect to really replace him. The crew was a little sympathetic towards him but they also looked down on him and Zheng Fengbai’s friends in the crew made things difficult for him. In the second drama, he was already popular, but it was still not a wonderful memory. Everything was a pass. A director desperately trying to give you extra scenes didn’t feel good.
Hearing this, Li Mu remembered what he accidentally heard last night, and the corners of his mouth hooked in a subtle arc: “You like shooting with me?”
“It’s very pleasant.”
Li Mu nodded his head in satisfaction and sat down to ask him, “Do you still want to eat anything else?”
Zhuang Qin said no and they continued to rehearse. After a while, they went to change clothes and put on makeup. The makeup stand was set up in the corner of the fitting room. It was a small space separated by a curtain. It was simple, but it could only be like this.
In the afternoon, filming began. The set manager clicked the clapperboard and the crew were in place.
The afternoon scene was shot smoothly.
There was a lot of dialogue, and it was a long shoot once again but it didn’t bother anyone much. There was just a single NG and 2 passes.
Director Zhou looked at Director Guo giving orders and directing. In his heart, he felt that this new Director was very unconventional but the two actors he chose were really suitable. If the actors hadn’t been selected well, this Director wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.
During a break in between filming, Director Zhou watched him review the footage and he couldn’t help asking, “Director Guo, how did you sign Zhuang Qin?”
Director Guo didn’t lift his head: “Last year, at a college’s final performance, I went to look for actors and gave him the script. I thought it was useless, but two months ago, he suddenly called me and said he was interested in my script.”
“Then you really…” Director Zhou’s eyes were a little strange. “are very lucky.”
“Yes, at that time I was very desperate. Then I met him and he wanted to shoot my film regardless of the pay as the main lead. And then Li Mu and his good friend President Qiu invested, so the film could now be shot. And the casting ah, the casting was really unexpectedly good for me,” Director Guo looked at the footage just now, and the more he looked at it, the more excited he became. “Zhuang Qin is such a young actor and has only made two dramas but he is so experienced. You can see he entered into the scene immediately.”
“Then why did you keep giving him NGs yesterday? Obviously, the first one was perfect.” Director Zhou was particularly dissatisfied with how he wasted time and footage yesterday. He believed that it was impractical and wasted money. Time was money when making movies.
“You thought it was perfect? But I didn’t think so. I worked on the script for a long time, so I know how to shoot it.”
During the period when he worked on the script, he dreamed of this film: “The reason why I let Zhuang Qin NG yesterday was because his acting was too good and too polished. In fact, what he just lacked was a rawness. I thought he would have that, but he was too good, and it lost that slight flavor. If I didn’t train him, how would he make progress? On the contrary, Li Mu has that type of passion; that human touch, and raw flavor. His temperament is restrained, and he acts like a Zen master but he is particularly unfathomable and you can’t ignore his existence. In the whole circle, I haven’t seen many actors with this type of omnipresent temperament.”
Director Guo said, “I know it’s not easy to break him away from that type of style so I rarely NG him and I don’t lecture him. I just don’t let him make changes. This result is the best.”
Director Zhou disagreed with him but he didn’t say so. Each director’s style was different and there was no need to argue about it. He frowned and said, “Then why did you let Zhuang Qin pass in one or two shots today? I thought you were trying to make him get better?”
“It’s not good to torture actors all the time,” Director Guo’s tone was righteous. “Filming is long and the scenes are short. We don’t need to do that for every scene. It’s not good to do it too much.” And above all, it was a waste of money.
Seventy million to make a movie now seemed a little difficult. Director Guo had to control his willfulness and not treat the two actors strictly.
“I can’t believe that this is your first film Director Guo. How do you know this as well?”
“Don’t look at me like this, I’ve interviewed many directors and actors.” After Director Guo finished speaking, he called the set manager to gather the actors and start to shoot the next scene.
The afternoon’s scene was wrapped up but there was still another scene to shoot in the evening. Xiao Lian helped Zhuang Qin grab a boxed lunch in advance. Zhuang Qin asked, “You didn’t grab one for Brother Li?”
Xiao Lian said, “I only had two hands.”
Zhuang Qin gave him a look. Next to him, Li Mu waved his hand while answering the phone and said, “It’s okay. Wait for me in the dressing room, I’ll be right back.”
Zhuang Qin saw Li Mu leave and thought he had gone to grab boxed lunch by himself, so he had to scold Xiao Lian: “Don’t do that next time.”
Xiao Lian: “Sorry…”
Zhuang Qin carried the boxed lunch to the dressing room: “What’s wrong with you? You don’t like him?”
Xiao Lian lowered his head and said, “I think he… just wants to hug your thigh. Anyway, I have to take good care of you, that’s what Sister Min said.”
“Why would someone want to hug my thigh?”
“You are a big star okay!”
“And other people are still investors. Don’t think too much about it.”
“I still think something is wrong. He’s too kind to you and ignores others. He even scowls at the director.”
Zhuang Qin entered the dressing room and closed the door and scolded: “We respect each other, and you have to learn to respect other actors. Does Sister Min speak better than me? Why do you listen to her and not me?”
Xiao Lian shook his head: “I listen to you” so much so that during this time, he found out that there were some very ambiguous scenes in the film, and after reading the script, he knew that there were kissing scenes but didn’t dare to tell Sister Min.
The movie has been shot to this extent. If he goes on to say something, it’s either side, not a person*
t/n: 是两面不是人: You can’t please both sides
Zhuang Qin didn’t open the boxed lunch. Xiao Lian asked him why and he said he would wait for Li Mu: “We’ll eat together, it’s more polite like that.”
Zhuang Qin thought of recording a blessing video for the opening of Sister Bei’s Eel restaurant, but his current self was a little messy and not suitable for recording that kind of video.
After a while, Li Mu came back and it seemed like he was running back. When he came in, his steps were a little hurried and his tall head almost hit the doorpost.
He lowered his head slightly and came in, “You aren’t eating?”
Zhuang Qin: “Was waiting for you to eat together.”
Li Mu might have smiled, but it was gone in a second so he didn’t see it clearly at all. He put the food box in his hand on the table: “The chef made some unadon.”
Xiao Lian sucked in air: “Hey…”
Zhuang Qin’s eyes also opened wide. It was just this afternoon that Sister Bei sent those pictures, and he had been cravings them since then. Now he can eat them?
“President Qiu invited a Japanese chef?”
“I invited one.” Li Mu’s face did not change. “I want to eat it.”
“The chef came from Bangkok and only had time to make five. I gave the other two to the directors.”
There were three food boxes. Xiao Lian was shocked and seemed unable to believe it: “There’s also mine?”
Li Mu opened a food box and gave it to him, “This one.”
The Eel rice looked quite good. The heavy food box contained a small teapot, a small bowl, wasabi, a grinding plate, as well as spring green onions and seaweed which was typical of a three eels meal. (Hitsumabushi)
Xiao Lian’s impression of Li Mu immediately did a 180-degree turnaround: “Thank you, President Li!”
Li Mu said, “I just saw the cat outside. It looked a little lonely. Go accompany it.”
Xiao Lian picked up the food box: “Okay President Li!”
As for the remaining two, Li Mu opened one to take a look before giving it to Zhuang Qin.
Zhuang Qin’s appetite had increased greatly. Even if Li Mu sprayed disinfectant at this moment, he wouldn’t care at all: “Thank you, thank you. I really wanted to eat this. It smells good.” After saying that, he found that his food box was a little different from Li Mu’s.
“oh, I don’t have wasabi in this one.”
Li Mu looked at him: “Wasabi is spicy and potent. If you want, I have it here and can share it with you.”
“No, no, I happen to not like it.” He disliked wasabi very much and ground horseradish was Japanese wasabi.
Zhuang Qin preferred to eat the rice soaked in tea, and when Li Mu saw it, he asked him, “Do you like Japanese food?”
“It’s good.”
Li Mu: “What’s your favorite dish?”
Zhuang Qin mentioned some hometown dishes.
Li Mu poured the chopped green onions and seaweed into eel rice and mixed them with the wooden chopsticks: “Where is your hometown?”
“In Guangzhou.” He didn’t know where he was born, but he grew up in Guangzhou in the big SiXi troupe4t/n: SiXi Theatre troupe. 1 of 4 famous troupes, and to him, that was his hometown.
Li Mu thought that maybe he could hire a Cantonese chef here. He himself liked the soup culture in Cantonese cuisine.
They asked and answered questions one after another. The questions were very casual and not out of line, but they were able to draw their relationship closer. Zhuang Qin began to gradually feel that Li Mu wasn’t as unapproachable as he thought in his previous life. He still seemed like a cold person, but he wasn’t un-offendable and could even be joked around with.
Zhuang Qin talked about everything. He also spoke about the little matters in the theatre troupe.
Hearing that he practiced hard, Li Mu asked him, “Why did you learn to perform the Kunqu Opera?”
“My master and mother5t/n: he actually says Shifu and shiniang🤷♀️ both sang in the Kunqu Troupe. They said that I was a good prospect, so they trained me since childhood and wanted me to become a Kunqu performer. But I ended up liking acting and wanted to become an actor.”
Again, Li Mu wondered what kind of parents would send their child to sing in a troupe instead of going to school? He didn’t find this on the internet. Zhuang Qin only mentioned his master and mother in public, not his parents.
Li Mu didn’t ask, but said, “You are smart and powerful. There are so many people who are fond of you at this age. The master and mother should be very proud of you.”
“I was lucky.” In the beginning, he was really lucky and Zhuang Qin couldn’t deny that. “At first, they didn’t agree. My master reacted more strongly and wanted to kick me out of the troupe and my mother wouldn’t let me. She refused to let me because learning acting was expensive. At that time, I learned by watching movies at home by myself, and then I heard that I could go to the film and television city6Hengdian to act in a movie, so I went there.”
He was too good looking so he stood out more and he learned about acting while learning about its culture.
Because Zhuang Qin was also in good shape, and he could perform martial arts, he became a stand-in. And less than two years of doing that, he was lucky enough to get a lead role.
The reason why Zhuang Qin said this to Li Mu was that: One, it wasn’t a secret, and secondly, he felt that it was absolutely impossible for Li Mu to speak carelessly, and he could rest assured when talking to him. It didn’t mean that they could be friends but at least, it was very easy and relaxing to chat with this type of person because he was well-educated, self-restrained, discrete, spoke intelligently, and a little humorous. Not really the same as the person he appeared to be.
After that night scene, Li Mu began to bring yogurt to Zhuang Qin from the next day.
Under pressure, Zhuang Qin had to accept it every time, and several times he wanted to say that he was tired of drinking it but he couldn’t say anything in the face of Li Mu’s sincere expression.
Forget it. At least it’s with good intentions.
He secretly gave it to Xiao Lian and asked him to drink it secretly.
For several days in a row, Zhuang Qin gave him some small gifts. In addition to the throat lozenges and Malva nuts, he also sent him some steam eye masks saying
“This is the brand I like to use. it’s scentless. I wear it before going to bed. These earplugs are also the best I have used. It’s two sizes so you can choose the one that’s suitable. This cooling patch, I apply on my body before filming, you can also try it. This sunscreen spray is very convenient, I’ll give you one……”
They were all small things, and the individual item price did not exceed fifty yuan.
Li Mu rarely received gifts, but he liked these small things very much and thought they were very thoughtful.
Only when you like someone can you be so thoughtful.
At the end of the month, it was a holiday. After Li Mu joined the crew, he had little rest. This was his first full break.
He found a lot of shells by the swimming pool that Zhuang Qin picked up that day on the beach and forgot to take away.
Li Mu picked at them and took out the best ones and put them in a drawer. He took a picture and sent it over to him “Do you still want these shells?”
“Yes!”
“I was going to ask you the other day. I thought I lost them.” Zhuang Qin’s continuous filming for several days was also very exhausting. It was difficult to rest. Lying down in the hotel bed, although the environment was average and not as good as Li Mu’s vacation villa, it didn’t matter if he slept here as long as the air conditioning was cool.
Li Mu changed into swimming trunks and swam for a few rounds. When he got out of the pool, he wiped his hand and held his mobile phone. When he saw the message, he immediately had a good idea of what happened. He replied to him, “You are like a reckless child who often loses things.”
Zhuang Qin: “?”
This address made him feel a little uncomfortable. It felt like there was an element of intimacy to it. Although they were close when filming but outside a scene, it wasn’t like that.
“…it’s not often…Occasionally.” He typed back.
It tends to happen when he was thinking deeply about things. He’d often held his phone and asked where it was or wore earplugs but looked around for them. But lately, he’s been on the set, so he hadn’t lost much.
Li Mu thought of when they ran into each other a few times. If he hadn’t known to the contrary, he would have thought that such a coincidence was really intentional.
Zhuang Qin sent a message: “Then I’ll come and get it next time.”
Li Mu typed: “I’ll send it to you later.”
Zhuang Qin: “…Give it to me tomorrow?”
Li Mu came out of the pool. Water droplets rolled down from his dark hair and stayed briefly on his masculine figure that was from working out and soon evaporated in the heat.
He wiped his hair while replying.”Tomorrow’s scene, do you want to do rehearse it in advance today or just shoot it directly tomorrow?”
It was better if he didn’t mention it.
As soon as he mentioned it, Zhuang Qin remembered that the kiss scene that was supposed to be shot on the 23rd was moved to the 1st of May through his own intervention.
Zhuang Qin was on the verge of a major crisis. His whole person was not well – it was tomorrow.
