The moon rose fair, and so did the fair lady.
These verses from the Book of Songs were used to describe women, but Assistant Director Zhao felt that Director Jiang could live up to these eight words. Compared to him, the female lead of the movie seemed to lose her color. Beautiful she was, but her temper was truly great. Assistant Director Zhao approached gingerly, "Director, what happened?"
Jiang Zhi was nestled on a recliner padded with thick blankets. His long legs were crossed. The temperature had dropped these past few days, and he felt even more listless, weak and sickly. He said, "Remove the makeup."
He was referring to the female lead, Yu Ran.
Yu Ran was a popular A-list actress. Jiang Zhi's movie had a national theme, requiring all actors to appear on screen without makeup, but she just couldn't let go.
Being scolded by the director in public, Yu Ran stood there awkwardly. Her agent quickly stepped in to smooth things over, "It's just a little foundation, Director, could you—"
Jiang Zhi lifted his gaze, "What do you think?"
His eyes were peach blossom eyes, naturally beautiful, but when slightly narrowed, they emitted a dangerous aura.
"Hurry up and remove Ranran's makeup."
The makeup artist quickly went over to remove Yu Ran's makeup upon hearing the agent's words.
Today was slightly overcast, with some wind. Late autumn was passing, and there was a slight chill in the air.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The beauty on the recliner coughed until her face turned red, looking pitiful.
Ah Wan quickly handed over the warm milk and covered the frail employer with a blanket, then announced softly, "Mr. Jiang, Yang Xu's agent has an appointment with you."
Yang Xu was the up-and-coming starlet who had been replaced for being late.
The milk was in a can with pure black packaging. Jiang Zhi held the can between his two pale fingers and took a slow sip, "No time."
Next to him, Assistant Director Zhao timidly asked, "Then what about Yang Xu's scenes?"
Yang Xu had the second female lead role in this movie, with many scenes—and primarily because of her wide following! To be honest, Assistant Director Zhao was reluctant to replace her, but... he didn't dare.
Director Jiang, half-closing his eyes, held that can of milk, tapping it with his fingers rhythmically. After a moment of silence, he lifted his eyelids, revealing his eyes like blooming peach blossoms.
He raised his hand and pointed to a spot, "You, come here."
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed.
Across from the set, about twenty extras were gathered. The confused-looking girl on the outside of the group stepped forward, eyes wide in disbelief, pointing at herself, "Me?"
That girl looked young, not very tall. Her appearance was unclear, as her face was covered in artificial blood, wearing the uniform costume of an extra actor. It was evident that she was a bystander in the scene, where citizens were suffering under enemy bombardment. She was just a villager who had been given a close-up.
The extra called out by the famous director stood there, dumbfounded.
"Yes." The director asked her in a tone that sounded half-awake, "What's your name?"
The extra scratched her head, still in a daze, "My name is Fang Lixiang."
"How long have you been acting?"
Perhaps the extra realized what was going on, her eyes brightened with excitement, "I've been an extra for four years."
"Can you play Yang Xu's role?"
Oh, a pie fell from the sky!
The girl felt her blood boiling, her big round eyes curved into a crescent, sparkling brightly.
She said, "I can!" Patting her chest confidently, she added, "Director, I can even bring the dead to life with my acting!"
Saying this, she suddenly fell to the ground, quivering a bit, her limbs went limp, her eyes rolled back, and her hand stretched out, slowly, slowly falling down—performing a death scene on the spot.
Everyone: "..."
Actually, she really did lay out a layered death scene.
Jiang Zhi shifted his position on the recliner, "It's her."
Assistant Director Zhao was dumbfounded, so hasty?
Just like that, Fang Lixiang had her sudden rise to fame, so thrilling, it felt like her life had reached its peak!
She hopped around, wanting to jump up and touch the sun, "Xu Fang, Xu Fang!"
Zhou Xufang stood among the extras, "Hmm."
They had known each other for three months, one as an extra, the other an extra's extra. They often met on set, though they weren't very close. It was just last month that Zhou Xufang was owed wages, Fang Lixiang stood up for her, though the outcome wasn't perfect, they formed a bond.
Fang Lixiang hopped in front of her with a grin, revealing two small dimples, "Pinch me."
Zhou Xufang poked her arm lightly.
Feeling no pain, Fang Lixiang pinched the soft flesh of her own thigh hard, twisting it fiercely, and then grinned through the pain, "Not a dream." She burst with excitement, "Xu Fang, I've really become a Weaver girl, my ancestors are watching over me!"
Zhou Xufang didn't react.
Fang "Weaver" Lixiang waved a hand in front of her eyes, "What're you looking at?" Following Zhou Xufang's gaze, "You're looking at Director Jiang?"
Zhou Xufang nodded, "He's really good-looking."
Fang Lixiang stared for a few moments, clicking her tongue... Not just good-looking, devastatingly beautiful!
Director Jiang's looks, if put in ancient times, would be the allure that brought disaster to the nation. There it was, the alluring beauty lying down weakly, causing people to "fight for the beauty."
"Ming Saiying, what the hell are you doing!" Usually known in the entertainment circle as a goddess-like figure, Yu Ran now was flushed with rage.
The person she was arguing with was also in the circle, the fourth of the Ming Family, a lead of the neighboring production.
"Going crazy?" Ming Saiying, coming from a reputable family in Imperial City, was never short of money and always domineering in the industry. Who could match her pettiness, "At least better than you being a slut."
Yu Ran was infuriated, "You—"
Ming Saiying folded her arms, still in costume from her historical drama, lifting her chin and exuding the aura of a harem queen, "Who knows who went knocking on the director's door late at night in a skimpy dress."
This incident was well-known in the circle.
Just a few days into Jiang Zhi's movie shoot, the lead actress Yu Ran had gone knocking on his door in a skimpy dress under the pretext of discussing the script. Of course, no "script" was discussed, and she ended up being escorted to the station by the police for public indecency.
Having her scandal exposed, Yu Ran was so angry she directly grabbed Ming Saiying's hair. Both their agents hurried to separate them, in the midst of pushing and shoving, someone tripped over a standing camera.
Fang Lixiang, who had been enjoying the spectacle, noticed the camera falling, wide-eyed, "Xu Fang, get out of the way!"
Zhou Xufang had been staring at Jiang Zhi's face, while Jiang Zhi sat on the director's recliner—drinking milk.
The words on the milk can were in English. Zhou Xufang's vision was too good, she could see clearly from a few hundred meters away. No wonder her client wanted her to kidnap him, he was really good-looking, even better looking than her glass jar for holding cotton candy.
"Xu Fang!"
Fang Lixiang tried to pull her but was too late.
"Bang!"
The camera hit Zhou Xufang, knocking her right off her feet. Her hand hit the camera stand, slicing a long gash.