75: A Stand-in

A Stand-in

After 2 more days, everyone on set became more familiar with Mo Li. However, Mo Li still preferred to stay with An Wan. An Wan was gentle but she was not a pushover who could be easily manipulated. In a way, she had her own temper.2

Among the cast, Wen Xue, who played the female lead, would always wander past to annoy An Wan. She would even provoke An Wan when the camera was not on her.

An Wan completely ignored this girl. Mo Li also thought Wen Xue was acting quite foolish and funny. After all, when An Wan was famous, Wen Xue was probably still rolling in some unknown man's bed!

Mo Li had not seen Nie Li for a long time, there was only one question on her mind. How much longer do I need to live a life like this? Then again, Mo Li also knew that she would only get her hands on the footage if Nie Li was pleased with her performance. She desperately wanted to know what was on that 34 seconds of footage!

...

Today, the director, Zhang Hai was shooting a bed scene between the two leads. It was a sex scene but it was supposed to be artful. How to elevate the banal into the sublime was the difficulty of the shot.

The koi spirit materialized into a maiden to spend a memorable night with the male lead but Wen Xue was unable to produce the elevated quality needed for the scene. After repeating it several time, Director Zhang was at his wit's end. His face was more than severe.

"Do you even know how to act?"

"Are you nothing more than a pretty face?"

"Do you understand that we're not shooting a porno here?!"

Wen Xue was dissatisfied as Director Zhang vented his frustration at her. After all, she was the star of the moment. Her fan base was twice as big as the fan base of the other actors combined.

She might not be in the zone today but it definitely was not as bad as Director Zhang made it out to be! He had no right to talk to her like that!

Director Zhang could be considered a famous director in the country. His twenty years of experience had allowed him to accumulate a lot of fame.

His films had won international awards, and all his productions were well-received at home and abroad.

He specialized in art and romance film and Wen Xue had to be the worst actor he ever had the misfortune to work with. It angered him just thinking about it. Director Zhang already had a bad temper, and this only made the situation worse.

"Cut!"

Wen Xue thought she had finally handed in a workable cut.

But she saw Zhang Hai grab the clapboard from the crew and slammed it heavily on the ground. His anger was visible by naked eyes. His eyes were fuming. If this was a cartoon, hot lines would be coming out from his head. 

"Wen Xue, do you have no brain? Have you even graduated from filming school? What is so difficult to shoot a good sex scene?

"You must have plenty of experience with your sponsor so why not bring that into the scene?"

Director Zhang's mouth was ruthless, which made people around him uncomfortable. Wen Xue was now the brightest star on the market. Even though she didn't have much signature works, she still managed to win some awards. Her reviews on the internet was rather mixed but she always managed to bring box office success to the projects she was a part of. It was not hard to suspect that she had a wealthy sponsor behind her. And now Director Zhang had openly torn open her secret for everyone on the set. 

Wen Xue's heart quivered with anger listening to the director. Since you know I have a sponsor, how dare you talk to me like that? Have you lost your mind? So what if the acting is not that good, your film will be a box office success regardless! And that is only because I am in it!

Wen Xue was adored by everyone, this was the first time someone scolded her so publicly!

But this someone was Zhang Hai! As angry and ashamed as Wen Xue was, she didn't dare to retort.

Not everyone had the chance to work with Director Zhang. People were willing to give up everything to work on one of his films and Wen Xue finally got the chance to be his female lead.

So Wen Xue told herself, I'll have to keep my mouth zipped no matter what. I'll just find someone to vent all this anger when this is over!

After Director Zhang calmed down, he ordered for another take. This time, he was so angry he almost tossed the camera at Wen Xue. "Call the producer! I need a change of actor! Now!" Zhang Hai shouted loudly. Wen Xue was shocked, she didn't think Zhang Hai would be daring enough to do something like that.

Wen Xue's agent cursed in her heart and then quickly ran to beg the case for Wen Xue. Director Zhang's eyes were chilly. The assistant director also came to persuade Zhang Hai because he shared a special relationship with Wen Xue. 

"Director, we have already finished most of the scenes... It's just not worth it to change the cast because of a singular scene!"

Wen Xue stood to the side, looking like a penitent rabbit.

An Wan, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly said, "Why not find a stand-in for her?"

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