After the ceremony, it is scheduled that the male and female lead would begin shooting the first scene.
But on take one, the female lead suddenly crouches down and holds her stomach tightly. Her skin goes pale and she starts to sweat. People are shocked and the scene grows chaotic.
The director is also spooked and doesnât have time to consider whether this will impact the fortune of the affair . He calls out to his assistant, âget me doctor Zhou,â because the movie is a martial arts drama, there is always the risk of injury, and with the ample funds they hired an on-call doctor.
Who knew they would have had to call him in on day one.
After that the director quickly heads for Hou Yueting, telling people to give her some space before asking, âhow are you feeling?â Werenât you just fine up until just now?
âThanks for asking. Iâm fine,â though Hou Yuetingâs face is as pale as a sheet of paper. Her forehead is covered in sweat.
The second female lead quickly shouts, âare you for real? Everyone who isnât blind can see that youâre unwell. If youâre feeling bad just tell the director. We can send you to the hospital if we need to. If⌠You say youâre alright, then what if your condition starts to worsen because you kept dallying? Whoâs going to be held responsible?â
Though she really isnât mincing her words, but theyâre all legitimate concerns. Nobody says anything in response. Itâs a sort of tacit acknowledgement of what she said.
Hearing that, Hou Yuetingâs pale face starts to blush, and she tries to bury her face into her legs.
That is when her personal assistant rushes ahead and say, âsorry director, and sorry everything. Itâs that time of the month for her, and itâs especially severe for her. Weâre really sorry,â she is still holding a warm cup of bubble tea. She was probably away just now to buy it for her.
Everyone ââŚâ
How unexpectedly bashful, especially for someone in the entertainment industry.
But still, given Hou Yueting is just 22, and being from such a background, it isnât entirely surprising.
That is when the second female lead says, âyou canât even remember when your time of the month is?â
Everyone ââŚâ
The assistant says, âweâre sorry butâŚâ But then Hou Yueting raises her head. It is still pale but also with flushed cheeks. Maybe itâs the embarrassment, or maybe itâs from the pain as well. Though, that said, it might look cute to others, even if no one would think her cute in this situation.
âI have a mild case of hormonal imbalance caused by an endocrine disorder, so my day of the month would fluctuate. Iâm sorry,â she says rather strongly in tone.
Her assistant helps her to her feet and says, âdirector He, Iâm helping her to the nanny van first. Thereâs medicine inside.â
That is when the doctor arrives, and after hearing a brief description, he also says, âsure, quickly carry her to the van to rest,â he canât do much in this situation either, as heâs just a doctor here to provide emergency treatment for broken bones or bruises and whatnot. Heâs definitely not a gynaecologist.
Thank heavens she brought her own medicine.
âThank you director, and Dr. Zhou as well,â she says while moving towards the nanny van leaning on her assistant.
âDoes it really hurt that much?â An extra actor asks someone nearly quietly.
âOf course it does. Youâre not female, then I guess I should say it hurts like me punching you down there. Thatâs how much it hurts.â The second female lead heard him and replies.
Liu Yuâan glances over. Thatâs quite the statement.
But then she continues, âso remember to treat your future wife better.â
The director chuckles next to her, âyeah, Murui is right. Remember to treat your spouses better.â
Then, he turns to give an order to his assistant, âtell Hou Yueting to take a rest at home. I can push her parts back a bit,â he would rather not have any potential liability on set.
âAlright.â
After that, the director quickly looks over to Liu Yuâan.
He is certain that Liu Yuâanâs acting is the best of the bunch. If it wasnât for Zhou Jiahe and Hou Yueting being the leads, he would much rather have Liu Yuâan start the shooting.
Maybe he should have followed his heart after all. Now great, suddenly the first scene shooting is completely halted. What a bad sign.
The director actually starts to get angry after the fact, which is showing in his expression.
So he goes past the male lead and directly tells Liu Yuâan, âweâll start with your scene.â
ââŚâ Liu Yuâan says, âdirector, I havenât had make-up applied yet.â
He didnât have any scenes today so he was just here to watch.
âThen go get it done right now,â the director says and tells the assistant to go get the make-up artist with him.
Heâs made up his mind â Liu Yuâan will begin the first scene. His acting is the best, so heâs most likely to pass without NG.
The male lead seems to be surprised by the choice, but decides against saying anything, and moves to take a seat at a chair nearby.
When Liu Yuâan gets into the dressing room, he doesnât let the make-up artist do the make-up for him.
What make-up the Emperor of the Yaoguai applies is a very complicated process that nobody but him knows best, given heâs had to do it for more than a hundred years himself. Itâs formed muscle memories by now, even.
And to be honest, before, when the make-up artist did his make-up for the stylised photo, Liu Yuâan was dissatisfied.
The Emperor should appear seductive and vivid, but the make-up artist made it all dull and completely broke his character. He remembers the director being pissed that time as well.
Though he was just a third male lead and they had very little time, so they made do with it back then.
Liu Yuâan didnât say anything back then given he isnât someone to lash out for something like that on-scene, but this time he would much rather he did the make-up himself.
When Liu Yuâan stopped the make-up artist, she sounds very pissed off, looking at Liu Yuâan like sheâd rather tear him to pieces, âif you did it yourself, then whoâs gonna take the blame when it fails?â
She doesnât want to be doing make-up for him in the first place. Now youâre telling her he doesnât approve of her skills anyway?
Sheâs obviously justifiably mad.
âIâll be responsible for my own actions,â he says and ignores the pufferfish-like make-up artist and starts to do the make-up himself.
So, when the director impatiently enters the room to see for himself, this is the scene he sees, and is shocked.
âLiu Yuâan, what are you doing?!â From the entrance, he can only see Liu Yuâanâs back, and most of his face in the mirror is blocked as well.
âDoing make-up,â Liu Yuâan replies nonchalantly, âitâll be done soon. Director He, please wait a little longer.â
âWait, donât! Please, donât mess about anymore!â The director is fuming so much heâs incoherent.
What a day.
What a bad, bad day.
Thankfully his heart is healthy, or heâd have had a heart attack or two by now.
Oh, my actor, my dear actor, even if you can do modern make-up, I need a dynastic-style make-up right now!
The director is pressing on his own chest to calm down when he notices the make-up artist sitting nearby. He quickly moves over to start lambasting her when Liu Yuâan says, âI stopped her from doing my make-up.â
âYouâŚâ The director turns towards him, still fuming.
That is when Liu Yuâan has finished his make-up, and turns around himselfâŚ
And shocks both the director and make-up artist to no end.
He looks⌠just like the Emperor himself.
The director quickly takes the headpiece from the make-up artistâs hand and hands it over to Liu Yuâan, hurrying him, âput it on your head, right now, let me see!â
He sounds even more desperate than before.
Liu Yuâan doesnât say anything and starts to wear it.
Because he hasnât put it on before, so he has a bit of difficulty adjusting it. The director couldnât wait anymore, and also helps with it himself.
After Liu Yuâan has finished wearing the headpiece, thereâs practically stars sparkling in everyoneâs eyes in the dressing room, especially for the make-up artist.
When she recalls the make-up she applied to Liu Yuâan last time, she suddenly feels embarrassed.
Seriously? The actor could apply better make-up on himself than those done by people specialising in them? Jesus, what does that leave them? Is this damned Liu Yuâan taking revenge for the shoddiness of the make-up their team gave him last time around so they would get fired by director He?
Thinking so, the make-up artist gives Liu Yuâan a fierce glare before looking back at the director, who is now excitedly saying, âgood, excellent! This is the Emperor I had in mind, very good!â
He seems to have completely forgotten about scolding Liu Yuâan, and now tells the stylist, âquick, get the Emperorâs clothes here.â
His face is beet-red from the adrenaline, it seems.
ââŚâ Liu Yuâan speaks up, âdirector, I should go get dressed now,â itâs not like he can get changed in the dressing room.
âNo need,â then director He yells out to the stylist again, âquickly!â
âDirector, I need to get changed, but there are people here,â he isnât expecting him to publicly undress here, is he?
That would be quite the rude gesture, to say the least.
âOh, right,â the director finally realise heâs gotten a bit too excited, and points over to the door, âthen go inside.â
Then he tells the stylist, âfollow him and help him put on the gowns.â
âAlright.â
Liu Yuâan then says, sighing, âI know how to put the gowns on.â