"Don't pretend to play dumb with me," Sheng Xing Ze's fingers knocked on the table unconsciously, "Is it Lin Mu?"
He used an affirmative tone, actually he was very confident in his guess. In the book, the versatile[1] Yuan Xiu is one of Lin Mu's many suitors. If there was anyone who could make Yuan Xiu to despise him, then he was sure that only Lin Mu could.
In the book, Lin Mu is a typical white lotus[2]. His parents have passed away prematurely and he has always lived alone, and that helps to form his slightly dark character. He even once has told the main male lead that Sheng Xing Ze has a sugar daddy with a lot of money backing him up; otherwise, there is no way Sheng Xing Ze can smoothly walk on this stardom path with that level of his.
Zhang Chao hesitated for a moment, "Actually, this movie is a multi-party investment..."
This was something out of his hand; even though the Sheng family's share took up a larger percentage, other people could also have some say in their own investment. Sheng Xing Ze immediately understood the meaning behind those words, so he quickly changed his intention, "Of course, I deliberately looking for Director Zhang is not about this troublesome matter, but I really want to discuss some plots in the movie--"
He tapped the bottle water with his fingers, he reached out his slender fingers pointing at nowhere, "I have an opinion on some of the props in the movie. Although this is a wuxia [3] setting, isn't it a bit unsuitable to pair Han-oriented costumes with Japanese-style accessories?"
Zhang Chao thought about it for a moment, "We have discussed this issue with the screenwriter. This kind of mix match is indeed a bit downgraded, but in the view of being a fiction theme, we can come up with excuses that this is the trend of that era."
"However, there is still a strong sense of violation," Sheng Xing Ze was originally a child of the rich family, so he had an artistic discomfort for this kind of random patchwork, "Can you imagine the jade ware of the Han Dynasty placed in the bedroom of the Qin Dynasty?"
As they were talking, they had arrived at the kitchen located in the back of the set; it was now entering winter and the filming set was getting cold. So, everyone liked to gather here in this room, at least there was little firework to warm everyone up.
Zhang Chao slowed down his pace, "there's no way we can change the final decisions on the above matter," he winked playfully. In fact, it was hard to imagine what a middle-aged man would look like when being playful, let alone he was wearing an orange puffer jacket, which made him look like teletubbies, "I was the one suggested that people outside of the industry should not be involved in the script writing, because they really don't know what the ancient people think or need."
"It's something to think about," Sheng Xing Ze said, "What the audience sees and thinks is actually the same as the people who wrote the script. If the real ancient people came to write the script, would they be scolded for being OOC[4]?"
"It makes sense, at least they won't be scattering Japanese accessories all over the table. I really don't know why the screenwriter has a soft spot for these cute things."
"Probably she thinks Japanese related items are the most trending? She will post different photos of Japanese food every three days on instagram, people who do not know her would think she is the chef, what did she post yesterday? I remember her saying that she has just found this good restaurant?"
Zhang Chao let out a snort, "she must had spent more than 10,000 yuan there, they said it's the most expensive Japanese food in the area, but expensive does not mean good," obviously Zhang Chao had something to complain about the screenwriter, "the Japanese food are only good for photos because all I see in those photos are flowers and sauces; the actual Japanese food are very simple and to the point. Depending on how much you spend, you can get as many servings of fresh and tender seafood, the top Japanese food does not have sauces as background decorations. Her 10,000 yuan was basically paying for the tax."
"Right, I'm not really into Japanese food, but I went to Japan once with my friend," Sheng Xing Ze also slowed down his pace to match Zhang Chao's pace and said in calm tone, if his assistant was around and saw such a calm faced Sheng Xing Ze, he probably would stare with shock eyes.
"They are well-known for fresh ingredients; unfortunately, when we got there, we were a bit too late; the waiter told us that the tuna used for sashimi that day was sold out. He repeatedly apologized to us and said that he would use the top Norwegian salmon to compensate us. That was when we learned that salmon is considered as cheap food to them. In contrast, salmon in our country is considered as one of the top quality fish," Sheng Xing Ze said in a gentle tone, "Different environments lead to different perspectives. Don't you think so, Director Zhang?"
Zhang Chao furrowed his brows and pondered for a second, "I see."
Becoming a well-known director, Zhang Chao was also a very sharp person, so he concluded from Sheng Xing Ze's dialogue, "So there is also a chain of contempt in seafood. Norwegian salmon cannot be compared to Japanese tuna, even if they both make a delicious sashimi dish."
"Not the same, in terms of taste, tuna is the top-notch. It is the ultimate taste that no salmon can compare with," Sheng Xing Ze said, "after having a taste of tuna, you won't want to have salmon ever again."
"Can the tuna ensure its taste as always?"
Zhang Chao asked.
Sheng Xing Ze smiled.
"Tuna will always be the emperor."
*
"Director Zhang is very interesting."
Mi Hua Qiu was actually in the back kitchen, Sheng Xing Ze could easily find him without any effort, and the assistant was occupying the largest table in the corner of the room. Sheng Xing Ze conveniently walked over and sat down. He picked a bowl of salad with low calories. As an actor, he still needed to maintain his figure, "Not fresh, but it will do."
"This...Director Zhang is interesting? What do you mean?"
Usually, if someone were to ask him this question, Sheng Xing Ze would never answer them. However, this assistant in the book is a loyal person, his loyalty is as good as the Hachiko dog, so telling him would not going to hurt--"It's still bothering me of how stupid Yuan Xiu is, to dare to provoke me who is one of the investors."
He only said half of the sentence, then looked for a yam to eat.
"Why?"
"Then we have to ask Film Emperor Yu, how does it feel to help his classmate?"
Yu Bai was carrying a plate of coarse grain breads, donning a calm face like a non-tide lake, standing behind them, "Pardon me, can I sit down?"
*
Yuan Xiu was indeed instructed by Lin Mu to slander Sheng Xing Ze's reputation, but the one who actually bluntly helped to arrange him to be in this movie was Yu Bai. It was just an act of helping out his junior, he did not care much about it. Also, it happened that Zhang Chao also did not like the talentless original owner, so he did not mind this little trivial matter. That was how it came to this scene where an eighteenth-line[5] actor dared to ridicule him.
"You only have these for lunch? Too little," Sheng Xing Ze glanced at the other's plate. The other party's plate only had slices of bread with no jam. He conveniently placed a small slice of persimmon on one slice of bread, with persimmon embellished on the top looking quite yummy, "Give you a piece of persimmon, no need to thank me."
Yu Bai looked at the salad dressing dripping down at the edge of the persimmon onto his bread, he suddenly remembered Lin Mu told him that Sheng Xing Ze has a sugar daddy.
Yu Bai had been in this circle for many years, so he got used to seeing these kinds of people in this industry. But, it did not mean that he accepted this kind of relying on others for the future way of living. At this moment, even though he had a bad impression of Sheng Xing Ze, Yu Bai had to admit that his potential should not be underestimated. As long as the kid could maintain this skill and to play the role well, within a year, Sheng Xing Ze would be able to become a popular actor on the big screen.
Without a trace, he pushed the contaminated slice of bread to the side.
"I hope you can keep up your current acting. I'm looking forward to our next scene."
Sheng Xing Ze was staring at him pushing aside the piece of bread, "well, it seems that Film Emperor Yu dislikes me?" He reached out to the bread and forked it into his bowl, "Then, I'll finish it myself."
"No! I--"
Yu Bai subconsciously said, "I just don't like salad dressing..."
"You're a grown man yet so picky with your food..." Sheng Xing Ze deliberately forked a piece of cabbage with salad dressing, chewed crunchy on it, and carefully licked the fork clean, "Such a bad boy, but very, adorable!"
He emphasized the last word in an extremely low tone, like a whisper, even the assistant could not hear it; but to Yu Bai, it was like a sound of thunder, he fiercely stood up like a shocked rabbit, causing a loud rattling sound of the stool legs scratching against the floor tiles, "You!"
"Hm?"
Sheng Xing Ze put up an innocent look, "Film Emperor Yu hates vegetables that much? I'm sorry."
All the staffs' eyes looked over to them as they did not know what was going on; they saw slices of bread in Yu Bai's plate, immediately understood Yu Bai's little quirk, thinking it was nothing serious so they turned back to their food.
Yu Bai had to swallow up his anger, gritted his teeth and sat down, at the same time whispered, "Such debauchery."
"You're slandering my reputation," Sheng Xing Ze said righteously, "Who saw it? Since there was no witness, it could be considered as nothing happened. Moreover, it was just a joke. I did not expect Film Emperor Yu had never been told a joke before, I don't have any interest in a prude like you. Let's hurry up, we have a lot of scenes to shoot in the afternoon."
Even though this Film Emperor Yu did not directly cause the death of the original owner, he indirectly caused the original owner's death. Sheng Xing Ze felt a little unhappy in his heart, so he could not help but to tease the other, "Isn't that right? My Teacher?"
"...Don't call me that."
Yu Bai could not stand Sheng Xing Ze's repeated teasing, he hurriedly stuffed the slices of bread in his mouth, so quickly that he almost suffocated himself. It was Sheng Xing Ze's assistance who handed him a glass of water, that was how he was able to avoid such an embarrassing situation.
Sheng Xing Ze leisurely continued to eat his lunch. He ripped the bread into small pieces and dipped them in the salad dressing; then he suddenly asked, "Oh, have you heard of Stendhal Syndrome[6]?"
This sudden question successfully attracted Film Emperor Yu's attention as he was intended to leave, "That?" Yu Bai hesitated, "Is it the physical illness caused by a strong aesthetic sense of artistic beauty?"
"Yup."
Sheng Xing Ze looked at him, "We probably will see some people diagnosed with this illness soon. Believe me, I'm the best artwork."
---
Notes:
[1] Versatile - a person that can be both top and bottom in sex/bed.
[2] White Lotus - chinese slang for a person who is pure and innocent; but they might not be what it is. You might have heard of Xiao Bai Lian - meaning gigolo. NEGATIVE meaning.
[3] wuxia - ancient/old time genre
[4] OOC - Out Of Character
[5] eighteen-line - not so famous talent/actor/singer. They might have a few fans on Weibo [like 10,000+] but not as famous. Some might not even have debuted yet. Usually, they are newcomers or one-hit-wonder people.
[6] Stendhal Syndrome - a psychosomatic condition involving rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations, allegedly occurring when individuals become exposed to objects or phenomena of great beauty.