Chapter 10 - The First Drama (2)
In the office, Lan Jinyao was tightly clenching her fists as she stared down at the script on the table. She didn’t move or speak for quite a long time. For a moment, Bai Qian thought that this woman was going to cry.
However, Lan Jinyao didn’t cry. Instead, she grabbed the script, and turned around and walked out of the office; her flesh was trembling fiercely along with her footsteps. As she was running to catch up to that man, loud bangs could be heard from the floor with each of her steps.
“Stop right there!”
Lan Jinyao pulled Chen Zetao to a stop by grabbing the back of his collar, which caused him to stagger a bit from the force of the pull.
“Chen Meimei, act more like a girl, okay? There’s not going to be any more discussions about you changing roles!”
Lan Jinyao bit her lip, and tried her hardest to look weak and pitiful. She couldn’t help the fact that she didn’t have a pretty-looking face. Whatever she did was futile! The man annoyingly furrowed his eyebrows when he saw her behaving like that.
She softened her voice and said, “Director Chen, please give me a chance. Didn’t you say that I have no acting skills? You should at least let me prove myself! You can’t be biased against me just because of the rumours that others have said about me!”
Lan Jinyao noticed that the man’s expression was softening. She thought that he might’ve changed his mind, but she didn’t expect to hear him say, “Chen Meimei! I still insist on you playing that role! That character might not be the best, but, she at least appears in half of the drama. If you really meant what you said about acting, then take it!”
Her hand slid weakly down to her side. The man stood there for a good while before he said to her, “Think about it carefully; if, you’re really not like what people say!”
After that, he reached out his hand and rubbed Lan Jinyao’s head. “I look forward to your performance!”
This action shocked Lan Jinyao!
It seemed that it wasn’t an accident that this man had agreed to go on a blind date with her. Was it possible that this man actually preferred someone like Chen Meimei? The more she thought about it, the more likely she decided that was the case.
As she was immersed in her thoughts, a person came from behind her and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey!”
When Lan Jinyao turned around, she was greeted by a pair of gentle eyes that always seemed to be smiling.
“Shen Yu...”
It felt like she hadn’t seen this man for a long time. This person had guided her into the entertainment circle and protected her from behind; regardless of the wind and rain. He was a man who would always look at her with a gentle eye. Compared with a parent who hadn’t returned home once for several years, Shen Yu was the closest to her.
She really wanted to say, ‘Shen Yu, long time no see!’
However, she suddenly remembered that the relationship between Chen Meimei and Shen Yu wasn’t very close.
She never would’ve thought that Shen Yu would smile at her, or even go so far as to pat her on the shoulder like they were familiar with each other. “I heard that you don’t want to play the role that you were given?”
She drew in a deep breath and shook her head. “No, I’ve decided; I will play this role!”
Although it was only a small role, and she couldn’t prove anything from it, she would let everyone see her new attitude; her attitude toward acting!
At that moment, Lan Jinyao’s heart was incomparably resolute. But, in the next moment, the firm belief in her heart changed to one of death before a battle.
Shen Yu said, “It’s really not that easy chasing after President Fu; it’s even causing you to force yourself to act. Well, although it’s difficult, I still wish you good luck. Maybe our President Fu will be moved by your enthusiasm!”
Although she knew that Shen Yu’s words were directed towards Chen Meimei, Lan Jinyao still felt sad. Shen Yu had always been so kind to her, and with her sudden death, he must be depressed! Regardless of how Shen Yu treated her now, she wasn’t willing to let Shen Wei’an get close to him; even by just a step. That despicable woman didn’t deserve it in this lifetime!
After arriving on set that afternoon, Lan Jinyao found out that her role had changed. She’d been changed to the second female lead. Once Chen Meimei’s Old Man had learnt that his daughter was taking acting seriously, he’d decided to invest in the drama, and had bought her the role. In order to specifically cater to Chen Meimei’s image, the screenwriter had specially changed the second female lead from a vicious and merciless beauty to a vicious and cruel fatty.
Lan Jinyao’s brows continuously creased as she read through the script. The second female lead was originally an unpleasant character to begin with, and now that it had been changed to a fat person, it had become even more unpleasant!
No wonder she’d noticed that those around her were giving her dirty looks when she’d just arrived at the studio!
The female lead of this drama was a female star who’d recently become very popular. A huge poster of her had been hanging in front of Milky Way Times Square for a whole month; with no sign of it being taken down anytime soon. Unfortunately, some people would start to act self-important once they’d become famous. The female lead knew perfectly well that shooting was scheduled to begin today, yet the person in question was nowhere to be seen. This resulted in Lan Jinyao, who’d never come late to set before, have to wait for filming to start. She was so unhappy in her heart.
There was no other way, so they could only proceed by filming the other scenes first!
“Makeup artist, quickly put makeup on Chen Meimei. We can’t wait anymore!”
The Assistant Director yelled out a few orders, and everyone immediately started rushing about. However, no one on set was optimistic about Lan Jinyao’s acting skills.
The scene that they would be shooting today was the prologue of the drama. After mountain thieves had kidnapped the female lead, the second female lead had stirred up trouble at the stronghold and incited a few people to assault the female lead! The assaults included all kinds of malicious attacks!
At the beginning of the scene, in the stronghold, the second female lead entered the Master’s room and instigated the Master to ‘take care’ of the female lead as soon as possible!
Lan Jinyao was wearing a wide-sleeve dress that even she felt was utterly shabby. Swinging her bucket-like waist, she walked over to the Master’s room. Fortunately, her skirt was wide and wasn’t tight on her body. Sitting on the couch, she then snuggled up to the man’s side as she whined, “Grandpa, the girl that we caught today, we can’t keep her for long. I’ve heard that they’re now searching all over the place for her. If we don’t take care of this quickly, then we would inevitably suffer a loss from this!”
The actor in the drama was forty-something years old. He pinched her waist, but then his face changed, and he was unable to say his lines correctly.
“Cut, cut, cut! What happened?”
The man acting opposite Lan Jinyao pointed at her and said, “Director Chen, Chen Meimei’s expression wasn’t right! She’s making it difficult to act!”
Lan Jinyao, who was wrongfully accused, just smiled. Endure it, endure it!
However, Lan Jinyao soon discovered that she’d been too naive. This man didn’t want to act with her at all! From beginning to end, throughout the entire scene, all of the crew’s faces became darker and darker.
“Old Xu, come here. Tell me, Brother, what’s going on? Anyone with a discerning eye can see that you’re making things difficult for that girl, Chen Meimei. If you continue acting like this, Director Chen will get angry sooner or later. When that happens, even I won’t be able to help you.”
The man who was dragged to the corner lit up a cigarette in irritation. “Initially, we’d come to an agreement that the second female lead would be a beauty. How come it suddenly became that fat girl, Chen Meimei? I heard that this girl bribed her way in?”
“Haizz, who said that she didn’t? She has absolutely no acting skills, and she’s not at all attractive. Who told her to have a family that has money?”
Lan Jinyao, who was currently in the bathroom, listened to the brief conversation outside. After splashing cold water on her face, she then took a few deep breaths.