“Ms. Fei, everything for the day has been prepared, and it’s not wise to change that now. How about we shoot the scene between you and Zhen Lunlun tomorrow?” “I’m sure an amazing celebrity like you won’t mind little things like that, right?”
Unfortunately, Luo Fei didn’t accept it, and said, “I do mind! I am the first female lead actress. Now that the first male lead actor is here, I should be the one to shoot the scene with him! Why should I let someone else have that opportunity?”
Wang Yan is troubled and thought Shoot! What do I do now?
The team had prepared everything – from the costumes to the props – so it was impossible to change at the last minute.
Besides, it was the order of Mr. Chen, and Wang Yan didn’t dare to go against those orders.
“Ms. Fei, you gave me no choice but to confess. The truth is, Mr. Chen had personally made the arrangements for today’s shooting,” explained Wang Yan who looked troubled.
“Nan Chen ordered this? Impossible! He’s swamped with work and didn’t have time to look into small matters like these! You’re lying!”
“If you don’t believe me, call Mr. Chen and confirm with him. If he agrees to change what we shoot today, I’ll make the arrangements right away!” said Wang Yan.
Luo Fei was suspicious, but she didn’t dare to call Nan Chen either.
Besides, it’s not like Nan Chen would pick up every time she called. She understood that Nan Chen didn’t care about her.
“Wang Yan, are you using Mr. Chen to pressure me into obeying?” asked Luo Fei coldly.
“Whoa, hey now, I’m not that brave. I’m just telling you the truth. I’m nothing but a small arm compared to big guns like you and Mr. Chen. I can’t afford to offend either one of you. Just think of me as an old fart, Ms. Fei, please don’t make things difficult for me anymore.”
Wang Yan was an experienced director and knew how to be political and say the right things.
Since he had already lowered his stance, Luo Fei was not in the position to be difficult anymore.
Of course, the main reason for her backing down was because she didn’t dare to go against Nan Chen’s orders.
So she had to let Wang Yan do his job. “Alright then,” said Luo Fei, “To be honest, I am only mildly annoyed, I don’t actually care about little things like that. Shoot her part, it’s only one scene anyway.”
Wang Yan was relieved to hear that so he replied, “Thank you for understanding, Ms. Fei. I’ll go do my job then.”
At the same time, Zhen Lunlun had changed into his costume. He was born handsome so he didn’t need much make-up. A couple of dabs here and there and a graceful man appeared in front of everyone.
The director even included a hat in his costume to accommodate his yellow hair.
He looked down to prepare himself. When he looked back up, the aura of a spoiled brat was gone.
He is the first male lead actor and was supposed to be the boyfriend of the first female lead actress – Luo Fei. He was supposed to be swept away by Ning Ran’s character who was the antagonist that stole her younger sister’s boyfriend.
However, the role of the first female lead actress had since been transferred to Ning Ran so the plot of the show would have changed too, and the duo would end up as a happy couple.
In this scene, the two of them were meeting in secret. Zhen Lunlun’s character was tempted yet too scared to act on his feelings. The psychological turmoil to be presented was rather complicated.
On the other hand, Ning Ran’s character was supposed to make the first move and kiss the terrified Zhen Lunlun.
Their eyes met. They didn’t utter a word but took everybody’s breath away.
What a beautiful scene!
A match made in heaven.
The lady was beautiful and so was the man.
Zhen Lunlun’s cute facial features helped made his role as a Ming Dynasty official come alive.
Moreover, he was born in a wealthy family so his actual lifestyle was not so different from his character’s, allowing him to exude the aura of a young master easily.
He didn’t even need to put in much effort to act. Even the way he stood was enough to portray his character perfectly.
Hence, the first scene was shot without a single NG.
Luo Fei was grinding her teeth while standing at the side.
“Did you put the needles in that b****’s costume? Why isn’t she affected at all?” whispered Luo Fei to Zhao Mingjie who was standing beside her.
“Ms. Fei, it’s definitely there. See that? That b**** scratched her waist a couple of times as she was shooting the scene. That’s where I placed the needles. I think she was affected. She’s just keeping it to herself,” said Zhao Mingjie.
Luo Fei noticed that too, but she couldn’t be sure.
After all, even a small dosage of the poison on the needle would cause the skin to itch like crazy, and anyone would scratch so much that they would end up clawing off their own skin.
Yet, Ning Ran was playing her role as usual. Her dialogue was as scripted, and her expression was on point, almost as if nothing was happening.
She didn’t look like she was poisoned at all.
“Keeping it to herself? The itch is impossible to hide!” said Luo Fei, suspiciously.
“As you mentioned, that b**** prided herself as a professional actress and would never complain, regardless of how uncomfortable she is. Those little tricks with her hand prove that she is poisoned,” explained Zhao Mingjie.
“Then let her pretend she’s fine,” said Luo Fei with deep hatred in her eyes, “The longer she kept this to herself, the worse off she will be. Once the poison enters the bloodstream and spread all over her body, her skin would swell up and eventually rot.”
“It would take her at least two months to recover. The cost of delaying production, even by a day, has dire consequences. They won’t be able to wait until she has recovered.” “She would lose that role, and you would be promoted to be the second lead actress of the show.”
Zhao Mingjie was delighted to hear that and said, “Thank you for your help, Ms. Fei. Truly, thank you.”
Ning Ran was already pale when it was time for a break. She accepted the water Cheng Xiangyun handed her and took a couple of big gulps.
Her skin had been itching, but she didn’t want to cause any trouble so she kept it to herself.
Unfortunately, that itch became worse and worse until she couldn’t bear it anymore, and her head started to feel a little dizzy.
“You seem a little off,” said Cheng Xiangyun who noticed that Ning Ran was sweating profusely.
“I need to use the bathroom,” said Ning Ran.
“I’ll go with you.”
Ning Ran took off her costume in the toilet and saw that her body was covered in rashes and disgusting boils.
Ning Ran realized that something was wrong immediately.
“What’s going on?” asked Cheng Xiangyun who was waiting outside.
“It kinda looks like I’m having an allergic reaction but it’s worse. I think I was poisoned,” replied Ning Ran.
“Open the door, let me see.”
The moment Cheng Xiangyun saw Ning Ran’s skin, she screamed, “Oh shoot! How did this happen?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t eat anything weird. I started feeling a little itchy after we started shooting. Then, the itch worsened until I almost lost control a couple of times.”
“You should’ve said something then. Why did you keep it to yourself?” “We have got to get a doctor to take a look at this.”
“No, we can’t. We’re in the middle of shooting the show!” said Ning Ran.
“Is the show more important than your health? We’re telling the director and getting a sick leave! Those boils are way too scary to be left alone!”
And so the duo went to tell the director what was going on.
Before Wang Yan even got to respond, Luo Fei chimed in and said, “What a baby. Taking a sick leave over a little allergic reaction?” “It costs tens of thousands to delay production for one day. Can you afford to pay for that loss?”
Luo Fei’s words were a clear instruction for the director: Do not let her leave!
Wang Yan was pressured again.
Not shooting the scene between Zhen Lunlun and Luo Fei was already stressful.
If he were to grant Ning Ran’s sick leave, he would further upset Luo Fei, and he may be fired if Luo Fei complained to Nan Chen.
Furthermore, Luo Fei was right. Putting a pause on the production would result in a huge loss.
