Free days always pass quickly, and before long, three months had passed since filming was suspended.
When the third round of reviews of the Dream Incubation Project ended and investment matters were settled, Ye Zhou finally received a call from Zhu Ning. Rushing against time and compressing the schedule, Zhu Ning managed to begin filming in early April.
Three months later, the crew of A Farce reunited, and filming officially resumed.
Based on past experience, Ye Zhou thought that on the first day back, everyone would be unmotivated. The morning would be spent adjusting equipment and props, so they likely wouldn’t get any scenes filmed. Therefore, he arrived a bit late.
But to his surprise, when Ye Zhou got to set at 8:30, he found that all the crew members had already arrived and were steadily preparing for the shoot.
Even Zhu Ning, who had just joined the production that day, was sitting on a folding stool studying his lines, occasionally discussing them with Xie Gefei.
Veteran actor Liu Ruihua held a thermos of goji berry tea in his left hand and his script in his right, silently memorizing his part.
The lighting and camera teams were also extremely busy making adjustments.
While Ye Zhou was surprised, he couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. Being a director in such a team makes even work a kind of enjoyment.
Once people focused, it was as if time sped up. After filming several scenes, it was almost noon1The raw says morning, but I don’t think it makes sense since they started in the morning..
Ye Zhou checked the time. “Let’s finish the last scene, then we wrap for the day.”
Hearing the director’s announcement, cheers rang out across set.
Though paid time off was nice, after less than a week the crew was already missing the on-set meals.
Before the crew started shooting, since Ye Zhou promised to take care of the food, he naturally had no reason to break his promise and went directly to his boss, Mr. Jiang.
Mr. Jiang generously sent two chefs to cook for the crew. Their cooking skills were simply amazing! Ye Zhou felt that this level was no less than the skill of a chef in a Michelin restaurant.
It was only a long time later that Ye Zhou learned that the ingredients consumed by the crew every day and the hourly wages of the chefs combined sometimes far exceeded the cost of the day’s filming.
Under these circumstances, it wasn’t just the crew who longed for the on-set food—even Ye Zhou had been craving it for a while.
Since the morning’s filming had gone very smoothly, Ye Zhou didn’t expect that the next scene, which wasn’t too complex, would end up taking over two hours without finishing.
Gone was Director Ye’s usual good temper. Frowning, he stared at the monitor before finally calling cut.
Xu Fei, a second-generation rich man, discovers that his father has an illegitimate son, Xu Xiang, and plans to hand over the company to Xu Xiang to inherit. Xu Fei listens to the instigation of his friend Meng Yida and decides to spend one million to hire a killer to get rid of Xu Xiang.
After many twists and turns, he finds the fake hitman Fang Wei.
Fang Wei had originally agreed to do it for the money, but after thinking it over at home, felt the risk was too great. Just as he was about to return the money and back out, he suddenly remembered the business card he had picked up on the street not long ago.
Trying his luck, Fang Wei inadvertently made contact with the real hitman, Killer No. 3.
The scene they were currently filming was the first meeting between Zhu Ning’s fake hitman character and Xie Gefei’s real hitman, Killer No. 3.
It wasn’t actually that difficult. There was no intense conflicts or high-action stunts, just a simple scene of dialogue.
Zhu Ning and Xie Gefei’s performances had been good all morning, but for some reason, they just couldn’t get this scene between the two characters right, even after multiple takes.
It was getting late, and after a moment’s hesitation, Ye Zhou said, “Let’s wrap up for the morning. Go eat lunch first, and we’ll start again at 2:30 in the afternoon.”
Even though Ye Zhou said this, after being NG’ed so many times, both the crew and the two actors were quite tense.
The reason was simple. Ever since filming started, everything had gone very smoothly. Even when they encountered occasional difficulties, they were usually resolved quickly.
A situation like today, where they had been NG’ed dozens of times, rarely happened before.
Sensing the low morale on set, and seeing everyone just standing there instead of going to eat, Ye Zhou slowly sighed, “Alright, go quickly eat first, or you won’t have the energy for this afternoon’s grind.”
After saying this, Ye Zhou left the studio.
The assistant director also said, “Come on now, don’t just stand here. Go eat if you should be eating. Come back early to gather this afternoon!”
With Ye Zhou’s exit and the AD’s placation, the oppressive atmosphere in the studio finally eased up a bit.
Breathing in the fresh air outside, Ye Zhou started carefully thinking through the scene with Zhu Ning and Xie Gefei.
The morning’s filming replayed in his mind like a slideshow, helping Ye Zhou organize his thoughts.
Just then, he suddenly heard approaching footsteps.
Ye Zhou looked up to find it was actually Zhu Ning. He was holding two lunch boxes, one for himself and one held out to Ye Zhou.
“I’m sorry, Director Ye,” Zhu Ning said guiltily. “I’ve caused you all trouble and slowed down the progress of the filming.”
As the director, Ye Zhou naturally knew best about each actor’s performance and how well they acted.
In fact, after the second NG, he had already realized the problem was with Zhu Ning. But considering it was Zhu Ning’s first day, and he needed time to adjust to the pace, Ye Zhou didn’t say anything and just gave him chance after chance.
Hearing Zhu Ning’s apology now, Ye Zhou immediately shook his head. “It’s nothing. You just joined, so you do need some time to adapt.”
“You don’t need to console me,” Zhu Ning said with a wry smile. “I know my own skills well enough.”
Ye Zhou looked at him for a while before speaking again, “Can I ask you a question?”
Zhu Ning nodded quickly. “Of course, go ahead.”
“Is your average sleep time able to reach five hours a day?” Ye Zhou asked.
Zhu Ning was stunned by this question from Ye Zhou.
After a long pause, Zhu Ning slowly shook his head and said softly, “No.”
This answer didn’t surprise Ye Zhou at all.
In fact, ever since he first saw Zhu Ning, he had already guessed. Although the young man had caked on heavy makeup to conceal it, he still couldn’t hide his fatigue.
At the time, Ye Zhou only thought he just hadn’t rested well recently, so he didn’t think much of it.
But after more than three months, when he saw Zhu Ning again, he found not only had his condition not improved, he looked even more haggard than three months ago.
The book didn’t give much information about Zhu Ning – just that he was an idol contestant who shot to fame overnight after winning the championship and was immediately signed by Summit Entertainment. His career was smooth sailing, and he became the envy of all as a top-tier celebrity.
Then, one night in late autumn, Zhu Ning, who was only 25 years old, collapsed from overwork while filming a variety show and was rushed to the hospital.
After days and nights of emergency treatment, he still couldn’t be saved from the clutches of death.
A vibrant young life, in the prime of his youth, extinguished just like that.
Recalling the plot in the book, although Zhu Ning was at the top of the entertainment industry with resources and fans that countless people envied, who could have imagined that beneath such a dazzling and glorious exterior, Zhu Ning was just a poor soul being relentlessly exploited and worked to death by his company?
By the time fans and the public reacted to condemn and question Summit Entertainment after Zhu Ning’s death, it was already too late.
Zhu Ning was gone.
Seeing he didn’t respond, Ye Zhou already vaguely guessed and felt his heart sink.
If he hadn’t guessed wrong, Summit Entertainment’s exploitation of Zhu Ning had already started now.
He felt extremely distressed. The young man before him was only just over 20 years old this year, yet couldn’t even get a guaranteed 5 hours of sleep a day.
After hesitating again and again, Ye Zhou still said, “Since it’s so tiring every day, have you considered…switching to another company?”
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
