“Director Ye, I…understand.” After a moment of silence, when Xie Gefei raised his head again to look at Ye Zhou, the corners of his eyes were slightly red, but his eyes shone brightly.
Seeing that he realized it, Ye Zhou asked, “So now, if you were him, what would you think about in the last moments of your life?”
Although the assistant director didn’t understand what was going on between the two, seeing that Xie Gefei seemed to have shaken off his previous frustration after a few words from Ye Zhou, he tactfully kept quiet and tried to minimize his presence.
Xie Gefei closed his eyes, completely immersing his emotions in the role. After about five minutes, when he opened his eyes again, those eyes no longer showed Xie Gefei’s emotions. Instead, they reflected the gaze that No. 3 should have.
The feeling was profound. Even without saying a word, his aura had undergone an earth-shattering change, as if he had become a completely different person.
The assistant director widened his eyes in surprise, finding it a little unbelievable that Xie Gefei could get into character so quickly.
Ye Zhou was not surprised at all, because he knew clearly that this was Xie Gefei’s true ability. It was just that after years of polish in the entertainment industry and oppression from directors, this ability had been temporarily covered with a layer of dust. There was no need to deliberately polish it, a light wipe would naturally bring out its deserved brilliance.
“So, it turns out to be liberation,” Xie Gefei, now fully in character, said softly. A smile that had not been there before gradually appeared on his previously expressionless face.
That smile looked so clean and pure, beautiful beyond imagination.
Ye Zhou finally nodded, affirming his idea: “That’s right.”
No. 3 has a very dramatic role in the whole story. He was abandoned by his parents soon after birth and then adopted by his foster father, who was an assassin. Their relationship was more like master and apprentice than father and son.
No. 3’s foster father was a taciturn man. Even with their nominal father-son relationship, the two rarely exchanged a few words in a year. The foster father did not teach No. 3 any skills other than killing. No. 3 had to learn to speak on his own from the scarce interactions with his foster father, which laid the foundation for his stutter.
As the saying goes, the core of comedy is tragedy. No. 3’s character embodies this maxim perfectly. His image is of a cold-blooded and ruthless killer, serious and vicious when not speaking. But once he opens his mouth, he becomes hilariously funny, and the image of a killer disappears completely.
Under the humorous speech, No. 3’s life is a thorough tragedy from beginning to end. He fears the law and the police, but killing is his only skill for surviving in this world. Apart from that, he can’t even speak a complete sentence fluently.
He yearns for the light but is destined to live like a rat in the sewers, barely scraping by in the shadows.
When surrounded by the police, he could have escaped. But he didn’t. For the first time in his life, he no longer wanted to hide left and right but to stand in the sunlight. Even at the cost of his life, he was willing to do so.
Deciding to end his life before the verdict was not to defy the law. He was just…uncharacteristically childish for once, wanting to end his dreary life with this one chance of stepping out of the shadows.
Xie Gefei seemed to have a magical innate talent. Getting into character was something unattainable for most actors, including some veteran stars. But for him, it was as easy as flipping his hand.
No. 3 stood in the dock with his hands and feet shackled by silvery chains, but he did not look dejected at all. He stood tall and calm, without a trace of resentment in his eyes, only exceptional serenity, like a clear breeze under the bright moon.
The opposing lawyer was still droning on and on about his crimes, but he did not care at all, as if the one being accused was not him.
The moment the judge struck the gavel, No. 3 knew clearly that his life from this moment on would finally attain the long-awaited liberation.
When biting open the poison hidden in his mouth earlier, No. 3 did not hesitate at all, moving exceptionally decisively.
As the poison started taking effect, No. 3’s body began to sway slightly. He slowly closed his eyes, feeling his life slipping away.
At the end of his life, No. 3 lifted the corners of his lips and, with great effort, smiled one last time in this world with one of the few smiles he had.
“Cut, passed.”
When Ye Zhou’s voice fell, everyone still hadn’t recovered from Xie Gefei’s performance. Some more emotionally sensitive staff had even unknowingly begun to cry.
This made even Ye Zhou, who was mentally prepared, a little surprised.
Ye Zhou watched Xie Gefei’s every move in the monitor intently, not willing to look away for even a second.
At some point under the camera, this character was no longer just a character but had been given a soul. He was an extremely vivid person.
Having seen many actors in his previous life, even Ye Zhou was amazed by Xie Gefei’s ability to immerse himself in character and could not help feeling that an actor like Xie Gefei, apart from his own efforts, was really a gift bestowed by heaven.
About two minutes later, someone in the quiet set finally came back to their senses.
“Eh, how did I, how did I start crying?” Ye Zhou’s assistant touched the cool liquid on his face and cried out in surprise. After reacting, he felt a little embarrassed.
However, looking around, he found many staff in the same state as him, and his embarrassment dissipated a little.
Ye Zhou smiled and said, “This shows that Xie-laoshi acted very well. Come on, let’s give Xie-laoshi a round of applause to thank him for bringing us such a wonderful performance.”
Following Ye Zhou’s words, enthusiastic applause immediately rang out in the studio. If an outsider had passed by, they would probably wonder what was going on inside.
After Ye Zhou’s guidance, it was as if Xie Gefei suddenly gained enlightenment. The following shooting went very smoothly, and he kept bringing Ye Zhou new surprises every time.
As a result, unknowingly, Ye Zhou’s requirements for him became higher. Scenes that could have passed by previous standards now required Xie Gefei to do even better. Ye Zhou kept challenging Xie Gefei’s limits.
This also resulted in the scheduled end time being destined to be missed, delayed by more than two hours before today’s shooting finally came to a temporary stop.
The next two weeks went by similarly, with Ye Zhou giving opinions for retakes sometimes and Xie Gefei and Zhu Ning being the ones to request retakes at other times.
Yes, under Ye Zhou’s coaching and Xie Gefei’s generous guidance for his co-star, Zhu Ning’s acting skills seemed to have advanced by leaps and bounds during this time.
One afternoon after filming ended, when Ye Zhou took out the earliest footage to study with the main actors, Zhu Ning looked at his obviously not-in-state self when he first joined the crew and almost wanted to pull Ye Zhou to reshoot all those scenes.
Of course, this was impossible.
Not to mention the costs of money, props, time and other factors needed for reshooting, just Zhu Ning’s own time was not enough to support reshooting all these scenes.
As the current popular artist promoted by Summit Entertainment, Zhu Ning’s time was very precious, with every minute and second tightly scheduled.
Summit had only given Zhu Ning three months to shoot A Farce. After this, his schedule for the next year was already completely full, so it was impossible to allow Zhu Ning to waste even a day more here.
However, when Zhu Ning said he wanted to discuss with the company to see if he could extend the shooting time by one month, Ye Zhou did not stop him.
It wasn’t that Ye Zhou definitely wanted to reshoot these scenes. Rather, if possible, he really hoped Zhu Ning could stay in the crew for a longer time.
Compared to Zhu Ning’s usual high-intensity work, the time spent shooting in the crew was like a rare vacation. In just three short months, his condition had improved tremendously compared to when he first arrived, and the dark circles under his eyes were almost gone.
Ye Zhou had finally nursed him to full health, so he was quite reluctant to send him back like this.
Zhu Ning did not have outstanding talent in acting. He did not have Xie Gefei’s innate talent nor Liu Ruihua’s experience that he has honed over time. What Zhu Ning possessed was only tireless perseverance and relentless hard work day and night.
Through the three months of interaction, Ye Zhou sincerely felt distressed for this obedient and diligent boy without any pretense. He really couldn’t bear to send him back to Summit to continue being exploited so soon.
If he could stay in the crew for another month, it was estimated that his overworked body for so long could recover even more.
So, this should be regarded as Ye Zhou’s little selfishness.
With Ye Zhou’s approval, Zhu Ning, who had always been obedient and obeyed all the company’s arrangements, made a request to Summit Entertainment for the first time because of this matter, hoping for a one-month extension.
However, the final result was not satisfactory. Summit Entertainment not only rejected Zhu Ning’s request but also specially sent Zhu Ning’s agent to talk to Director Ye Zhou.
The two sides did not reach an agreement. On the contrary, it was quite unpleasant, and they parted unhappily.
In the end, after Jiang Tingyuan found out about this, he stepped forward to communicate with Summit. Ye Zhou asked Boss Jiang what exactly the two sides talked about, but he refused to say. When Ye Zhou pestered him about it, he got a vegetable juice warning.
In the end, Ye Zhou got some clues from Zhu Ning.
In order to let Zhu Ning stay in the crew for an extra month, Jingzhe had given up a very promising second-line actress to Summit.
When Ye Zhou learned about this, he was really a little angry. He felt that he was like an evil consort bringing disaster to the country in ancient times, while Boss Jiang had turned into a foolish king who would stop at nothing to gain the beauty’s smile.
When he wanted to talk properly with the boss about this matter, Boss Jiang still had a nonchalant attitude, resolving Ye Zhou’s objections in just a few words and leaving him dazed.
Their conversation went like this.
Ye Zhou asked resentfully, “Jiang-ge, how could you give the artist to Summit without discussing it with me? It’s so difficult to cultivate an artist now. She was just starting to show some promise. How could you just let her go like that!”
Boss Jiang said lightly, “She volunteered.”
Ye Zhou said anxiously, “Her contract hasn’t expired yet…”
Boss Jiang said lightly, “There are only three months left.”
Ye Zhou refused to give up, “What if she becomes popular in the future…”
Boss Jiang was still calm, “She already left.”
Ye Zhou said desperately, “Then…”
Boss Jiang raised his eyelids, “Would you like a glass of vegetable juice?”
Ye Zhou: “…”
Fine, you talk less, and you make sense.
That night after getting off work, when Boss Jiang returned home, he found that some things were missing from the house.
All of Ye Zhou’s toothbrushes, towels, and other toiletries disappeared, along with a silver-gray suitcase at home and Ye Zhou’s precious laptop.
Boss Jiang finally realized that Ye Zhou had run away from home again.
Boss Jiang sat in the empty house, watching the clock on the wall go round and round. Ye Zhou still didn’t come back.
In the end, Boss Jiang gave in. He took the car keys and went to the hotel where the crew was staying to catch him.
Blocking him at the hotel room door and looking at Ye Zhou, who kept his head down, sulking to himself, Boss Jiang ground his teeth, but in the end, still couldn’t bear to get angry at him.
He pulled Ye Zhou into his arms. Before Ye Zhou could bristle, he told him about the inside story of this exchange with Summit.
The second-line actress given away this time was called Song Siya. She had originally signed a five-year contract with Jingzhe. According to Jingzhe’s rules, they would generally start finalizing the new contracts in the six months before an artist’s contract expired.
But when Song Siya’s agent approached her, her attitude remained vague.
In fact, there was nothing wrong with this originally. When the contract expired, whether to renew or not was the artist’s own choice. The company would respect the artist’s choice and not interfere with their stay or departure.
The problem was that Song Siya did not explicitly state that she would not renew her contract, nor did she want to renew it. In short, she was dragging it out.
Later, the company investigated and found out that recently, Song Siya was dating a young fresh meat1Little fresh meat (小鲜肉): young beautiful popular male celebrities. from Summit Entertainment. She was at a mutually interested stage with someone from Summit, and they had been flirting with each other for some time.
She wanted to terminate the contract but was afraid that Jingzhe would refuse to let her go. After all, although the company would not interfere with the artist’s decision, Song Siya’s contract clearly stated in black and white that Jingzhe had the priority renewal right when the contract expired.
If she stayed, she was also unwilling. She wanted to go find her boyfriend. Going back and forth like this, it got dragged out for so long.
Song Siya had originally planned to compromise, but at this time, Jiang Tingyuan came to the door because of Zhu Ning’s matter.
After Summit Entertainment thought about it, using one month of Zhu Ning’s time to exchange for three months of Song Siya’s contract, plus the benefits she could bring to the company in the future, felt quite worth it.
So, they made this request to Jiang Tingyuan, thinking that Jiang Tingyuan would not agree. After all, Song Siya was now steadily ranked as a second-tier artist. She had fame, a decent reputation, and great potential.
But unexpectedly, Jiang Tingyuan agreed almost without hesitation.
After listening, Ye Zhou could not believe it: “So she was really let go just like that?”
Jiang Tingyuan rubbed his head: “If her heart is not here, why force her to stay?”
Hearing the boss say this, Ye Zhou lowered his head. After a while, he thoughtfully asked, “Then, if one day, I want to leave too…”
“Ye Zhou.” Boss Jiang’s voice deepened as if suppressing some emotion.
“Hmm?” Ye Zhou, not yet aware of the abnormality, responded in puzzlement.
Then he felt the big hand around his waist tighten, and Jiang Tingyuan’s voice sounded faintly in his ear.
“If you dare run…”
“I’ll break your legs.”
Ye Zhou shuddered in fright. His head shook like a rattle, his stance extremely firm, his tone very fawning: “Ha, hahaha, I’m kidding, I wouldn’t dare, I really wouldn’t dare to do that.”
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