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Chapter 33: The First Open Set Visit is Here
Shen Jintai had rejected Yan Yaoxuan, was not only a matter of feelings, but he also took Yan Qiuchi into account. Those words “you can rest assured” was polite and seemed to be actively drawing a clear line between with him.
Yan Yaoxuan turned his head as if he had expected it, and asked: “Is it a message from Xiao Jin? What did he say?”
“Nothing.” Yan Qiuchi said.
Yan Yaoxuan was silent: “Forget it. Don’t tell me.” Knowing will only make him sadder. Shen Jintai was probably still concerend about his brother and was explaining the situation to him. He was really jealous of his brother who gained Shen Jintai’s love.
But his brother just… The untouchable ones are always stirring, while the preferred ones all have nothing to fear*. This is an undeniable truth of time.
*The untouchable ones are always stirring, while the preferred ones all have nothing to fear (不到的永远在骚动，被偏爱的永远都有恃无恐,) = refers to the more you can’t get something, the more you yearn for it. If you get something easily, you’ll feel confident and won’t worry about it. It’s lyrics from Eason Chan’s “Red Rose”, a mandarin song written by Li Zhuoxing and arranged by Liang Qiaobai. You can find a cover at the link that also have English subtitles of the lyrics.
Shen Jintai was lying on the bed, still full of adrenaline. Yan Yaoxuan had actually confessed to him. He was in disbelief that such a bloody thing happened to him. He had always regarded Yan Yaoxuan as a fan mixed with a little sense of brotherhood.
Yet Yan Yaoxuan said that he had loved him for a long time. When he heard the word “love” it gave me goosebumps everywhere so much so he couldn’t even remember exactly how he rejected him.
Yan Qiuchi did not reply to the message he sent. He completely understood Yan Qiuchi’s mood. He couldn’t imagine the sourness Yan Qiuchi would go through if he got together with Yan Yaoxuan. But thinking about Yan Yaoxuan’s red eyes, he couldn’t bear it.
Yan Yaoxuan was still very strong. After all, he was taught by a mature older brother. He was also a man. After being rejected, though he had an expression of shame and sadness, he also showed self-restraint. It was really distressing to watch.
—
The maid of the Yan family came down from upstairs and shook her head at Mrs. Yan.
Mrs. Yan said: “He rarely sleeps late. Why hasn’t he gotten up today?”
Maid: “He said he was uncomfortable and wanted to sleep a little longer.”
“Uncomfortable?” Mrs. Yan stood up.
Yan Qiuchi, who was sitting on the opposite side, said while eating breakfast: “For such a grown person, you don’t need to treat him as a child. I have bought him a plane ticket back to the UK. He’s just a bit reluctant to leave and is a little bit upset. Don’t worry about him.”
Mrs. Yan sat down again and said: “His school doesn’t start for a few more days, right?”
Yan Qiuchi: “There’s little difference between a few days anyways. He has nothing to do at home.”
Mrs. Yan: “I heard Yaoxuan say that you are oppose to him interacting with Xiao Jin.”
Yan Qiuchi looked up.
Mrs. Yan was a little upset and said: “You don’t want to take care of Xiao Jin, and I won’t force you, but Xiao Jin has lived in our house for a long time since you were a child. You have your feelings, and we have ours. Don’t use your likes and dislikes and force it on others.”
Yan Qiuchi said: “Not in the future.”
Mrs. Yan was taken aback for a moment.
Not in the future. He doesn’t need to do it anymore, because Shen Jintai no longer likes him. The absurd entanglement between him and Shen Jintai for several years has finally come to an end.
Yan Qiuchi felt that apart from the unsuitable personalities of the two of them, there was a big difference in their outlook on love. He believes that the best kind of love should be cautious and not just based on hormonal impulse when choosing the person you love most. Be restrained when you love, and don’t get carried away by love.
He will not let love go to his head, and his future prospect will be respectful of his wishes.
—
Shen Jintai had let go of the matter. He was fine and had moved forward.
Because <The East Palace is Coming> was shot and broadcast at the same time, the production cycle was very short, so all departments had to rush. They’ve only been filming for the past few days and a rough cut of the first trailer had already been released.
The trailers were presented layer by layer, and when they were sent to Yan Qiuchi, they were already accompanied by music and subtitles. Yan Qiuchi watched it again. The first version of the trailer was very simple. The one-minute trailer has more than 40 seconds of character introductions by the production team. In the last ten seconds, a scroll of pictures slowly unfolded, with mottled red walls of the palace passing by in groups. He Lanbi, played by Yang Lizhi, looked back to a melodious sound of the flute.
Yang Lizhi looked back, Bai Qingquan held flowers, and Shen Jintai raised his eyebrows. These were the three highlights of the first edition of the trailer.
Gao Qiao quietly observed President Yan’s reaction.
Yan Qiuchi had never been expressive. Gao Qiao had followed him for many years and can tell what his emotions are by judging his subtle expressions.
Yan Qiuchi was obviously very satisfied with this version of the trailer. Not only was Yan Qiuchi satisfied, but the other senior executives felt the same way. Their biggest concern about the series, Shen Jintai, looked particularly harmonious among the handsome men and women of the cast.
The clip of him that cut into the trailer was the first shot he took. At the royal banquet, he secretly raised his eyebrows and looked at the crown prince on the opposite side, while he slowly turned his head away. The corners of his lips held a smile that didn’t look like a smile as it was accompanied by moving music. The ending made people feel extremely unsatisfied and left a particularly beautiful aftertaste.
—
Today was the first open set visit, and Shen Jintai was particularly nervous and excited. Before the media open the set, at 10 in the morning, the officials would release a preview of the first trailer.
The drama <The East Palace is Coming> was a masterpiece of the year. It had always firmly held the spot for “Most anticipated TV series of the Year” on every online vote. High expectations and high investment meant that the material was closely monitored. No leaked photos have been released during the filming period. The crew paid careful attention to leaks that not even the starring actors could watch the first version of the trailer in advance.
The whole word was waiting to celebrate when the official blog post was to be sent out. Everyone was highly anticipating this trailer. Passer-bys wanted to use the trailer to judge the success of <The East Palace is Coming> while fans from all walks of life wanted to lick their own cooking.
Unfortunately for other actors, moonlight powder, plum powder, and gold powder were the most chicken blooded. The most vocal, of course, was the moonlight powder.
“At ten o’clock in the morning, my brother prosperous beauty will crit* again!”
*Crit = I think this is referring to critical hit (like in games). Applied here would be like astound everyone.
“Wowowow! It’s been a long time since I saw my brother in costume!”
“Not only are we squatting, but several UP* masters in my collection are squatting. We’re going to cut* the video with my brother’s footage!”
*Translation help: UP was originally in English. Not sure what it is referencing.
*Cut = referring to splicing up videos, in this case, taking only clips of Bai Qingquan and nothing else.
“Brother has such a beautiful face. Bloodbath in Station B!”
“Cut it out quickly. I don’t want to see other people in this video. I just want to see my brother alone!”
“That’s right, especially Shen Touhua, I don’t want to see him!”
“It’s a headache talking about it. If there is no Shen Tou Hua in this drama, I could rewatch it 10,000 times. I’m so tangled now. I hate him so much that I don’t want to watch this drama!”
“Hug you. Me too, but it’s okay. We can skip his part when the time comes!”
“I have seen that several forums are actually looking forward to Shen Touhua? Ha ha ha, I don’t understand how their brains work.”
“Those forums are just like that. They are all a group of stupid fans, or they are the water army, and they can’t think for themselves!”
“They thought that just because the posters came out well it meant the acting will be good? Today’s trailer will show them that dynamic and static are two different things! It’s so obvious this kind of rumor was made up by gold powder!”
Bai Qingquan who was squatting in his fan group became terrified.
“You should eat something.” Wei Ge pushed the lunchbox over: “Weight loss is not a subtraction method. You’re at a good weight now. You won’t look good if you lose more weight.”
“Did you see their chat?” Bai Qingquan said, “I feel that they are about to be slapped in the face…”
The scary thing wasn’t the face slapping. It was the shock they’ll receive from Shen Jintai’s acting skills. Will they still be his fans? After all, many moonlight powders used to be gold powder!
“Shen Jintai doesn’t have much airtime in the first version of the trailer, right?” Wei Ge said: “The crew was very clear. They will definitely take care of the status of the male and female leads. They mainly rely on you and Yang Lihzi for investments. They dare not let Shen Jintai overshadow you.”
It was clear who had more fans and more influence. Bai Qingquan kept shaking his legs. He wanted to go into the gold powder chat to have a look. But he no longer had “Black Moonlight”. He needed to register a new account, but he didn’t realize how troublesome it would be. He also had to bind the account to his phone. He needs to buy another phone and a new number.
Unable to know the reactions and topics of the gold powder, he had trouble sleeping and eating. After all, only by knowing oneself and knowing the enemy can one be invincible*.
*Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy can one be invincible = I believe this is a loose reference to the quote by Sun Tzu from the art of war. “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
—
The “Gold Powder Family” was also very lively. After all, it was Shen Jintai’s comeback debut. The poster and the press conference were a good start. Now they were waiting for the trailer. If Shen Jintai performed well in the trailer, they can rest assured that the official series will be his turning point. It was always darkest before the dawn and that made them even more anxious.
“There’s still half an hour. I’m so anxious!”
“<The East Palace is Coming> is really a big drama. I think there are already 8 groups in the rabbit area that have already built several buildings. It’s today’s hottest entertainment topic. My brother really chose the right drama.”
“I don’t know if my brother can get on the hot search today.”
“When the trailer comes out, let’s watch it together.” Xiao Tang spoke in the group.
“Okay!”
“No problem!”
“I won’t do anything today. I’m going to retweet it a hundred times!”
Several big fans even sent a lot of red envelopes* to promote this matter. The red envelopes were named: “Brother Jin will win!”
*Red envelopes = from my knowledge, I believe whatever chat/messaging app they are using, you can send these red envelopes that people can grab and get money from. Someone who’s more familiar with Chinese messaging apps can chime in on this.
Xiao Tang conveyed the hearts of the fans to Shen Jintai, who smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. Today was not only the day when the trailer was released, but also the first open set visit. Both the media and fans will be there. The venue this time was even bigger than the banquet from the press conference. The crew all went to Hantang Film and Television City* to shoot at the location.
*I think the author is referencing something like Hengdian World Studios. I think something equivalent would be like Universal Studios Hollywood in the US.
There were a lot of people in the dressing room. Song Wei sat next to him and said: “Xiao Jin, after work is over in the evening, let’s go eat together.”
“Yes, I’ll invite you.” Shen Jintai said with a smile.
“Brother Jin, take me too.” It was rare for Zheng Siqi to take the initiative.
Shen Jintai smiled and said: “Okay.”
“Last time you invited me, you treated us all. Today I will pay the bill.” Zheng Siqi said.
“Xiao Qi, come here for a bit.” Song Wei beckoned.
Zheng Siqi walked over. He hadn’t put on makeup, was dressed casually, and was wearing a fisherman’s hat.
Song Wei took off his hat, took a closer look at him, and smiled and said: “I talked about you with Producer Zhang yesterday. He said that you look a bit like President Yan. Now, that I look closely, you really look a bit like him.”
Zheng Siqi paused and said: “How can I compare with President Yan.”
“Doesn’t he look a bit similar?” Song Wei smiled and asked Shen Jintai. After asking, she realized that the question was probably inappropriate.
Shen Jintai looked calm, looked in the mirror and said: “A bit similar.”
Zheng Siqi didn’t even notice what he looked like. He leaned over, half leaning on Shen Jintai’s shoulder, and lay down in front of the mirror to take a closer look.
Seeing that Shen Jintai was so generous, Song Wei continued: “It’s a pity that President Yan’s face is not in the entertainment circle. There is a shortage of his type in the industry.”
Vigorous but noble, heroic and gentlemanly, abstinent and masculine. He was also very handsome. Every time he comes to visit the set, he would dwarf all the good-looking stars.
From a woman’s point of view, these conditions are top quality. From the perspective of an actor, she felt that Yan Qiuchi’s austere temperament was very charming.
He had a sense of asceticism of a mysterious gentleman. If his face was magnified on the big screen, and he played the sexually provocative roles, who knew how many people he would fascinate.
However, given Yan Quichi’s family background, people will not eat a bowl of rice* with celebrities.
*Will not eat a bowl of rice = getting mixed answers from my research but I think it refers to your status is not commensurate with your profession. In this case, his family status does not match well with being an actor (they tend to be look down upon).
“The gift I prepared for the fans, don’t forget to bring it later.” Shen Jintai instructed Xiao Tang.
“Did you buy them clothes?” Li Meilan asked.
“Some souvenirs trinkets from the film and television city.” Shen Jintai said.
In addition, it also included his autographed photo. Autographed photos were very common. The souvenir trinkets had very little value. It was mainly about the things he writes.
He asked Xiao Tang to write down the names of the fans who came to visit this time. The greetings on each autographed photo included their names, and everyone’s greetings were different. He made sure that each of them was unique.
For fans, there is nothing more precious than the only blessing in the world of their home cooking.
The fans who came to visit this time came from all over the country. Many of them didn’t know each other before they came. They came together because they liked the same idol. They often chased stars together online, but now they were united for the first time in their lives. Shen Jintai had booked a restaurant and told Xiao Tang that after the set visit was over, he would take the gold powders who came to visit and have gathering of gold powders at the restaurant. If he had time, he would come and meet them.
Shen Jintai also intended to reimburse them for all their expenses.
The crew had been preparing for this scene since dawn, and when all the actors have finished their makeup, the shooting was ready. Many media outlets came this time. According to the plan, they will finish filming the scenes and then give the media an interview.
Since filming was ongoing, phones were not allowed. This meant none of the actors could see the trailer. As a result, not only them, but fans who came to visit the set also had their phones temporarily confiscated. The crew announced through speakers constantly: “Please consciously abide by our regulations. It is forbidden to take pictures. If we find someone taking pictures with their phone, we will confiscate it.”
There were hordes of people, and the environment was extremely noisy. Only one online website had obtained exclusive right to broadcast the live stream. As soon as the broadcast opened, the numbers of online viewers had reached tens of thousands, eventually soaring to over 200,000 in less than half an hour.
But the most exciting thing was the fans who were visiting the set.
The weather was a bit bad today. At 8, the sun suddenly emerged from the clouds. The fans gathered around the police lines. Suddenly they saw several nanny cars driving over and a group of actors in costume came out from them.
Looking over from a distance, the luo yi* clothes, surrounded by dazzling colors, reflected the palace walls and stone floors, as if they were in a celestial world.
*Luo yi (罗衣) = clothes made of light soft silk fabrics.
Regardless of men and women, they were all fair and beautiful beyond ordinary people as their figures shined under the sun.
As they walked into the set, the screams of fans could be heard. The fairy-like Bai Qingquan. The gorgeous Yang Lizhi. The noble Zheng Siqi. The alluring Liu Hui. The graceful Song Wei. The fair-faced, red-lipped Shen Jintai. One after another group of handsome men and woman walked, creating a dazzling and fragrant scene.
This was the brilliance of the entertainment industry.
The author has something to say：
This is the star-studded beauty that the entertainment industry should have in my mind.
Kinky Thoughts: As I’m reading the description the author gave to each star as they walked in, I went ‘the fuck?’ at Shen Jintai’s description. Why is it so different than the other stars LOL? Author can you not really think of a word to describe Shen Jintai than his physical features?
I cackled at Yan Qiuchi’s thoughts “Be restrained when you love, and don’t get carried away by love.” Oh, dear. He’s going to eat those words in the future.
Also Yan Yaoxuan! Don’t worry! You’ll get your HE (I hope).