The next morning, their elusive male lead finally made his appearance, sweeping onto the set in a dark trench coat and eliciting resounding gasps from the girls in the crew. But none were as surprised as Su Qiao because, in her past life, Film Emperor Mo Chen most definitely wasn't part of the cast list. Simply because there was no reason for him to be.
There was a tacit understanding that actors who starred in movies were of a higher calibre than those who starred in dramas. It made sense at the end of the day. Nothing was bigger than the silver screen. This was ever young starlet's aspiration, no matter their background, was to act in a blockbuster with its cinema showings.
As the youngest Film Emperor in the country, there was no need for Mo Chen to downgrade himself back to dramas, let alone one whose most famous celebrity on the list was a mere 'Little Red Flower'. Su Qiao's confidence might be innate but she wasn't cocky. She knew that she couldn't hold a candle next to Mo Chen. Not yet, at least.
This begged the question as to why he'd decided to come along for the ride, then. Was this just the kind of stubbornness that popular Film Emperor's were allowed to have? Was Mo Chen using this drama as a 'vacation' to relax and unwind before picking up another big-budget artistic film that would earn him yet another nomination and win?
Or was there something more sinister at play? Su Qiao had spent the last couple of weeks voraciously digesting Peng Lili's web novel recommendations. Some of them were completely fantastical and didn't provide Su Qiao with good learning material. Others hit a bit too close to home.
But one thing that Su Qiao had become wary of was the concept of a 'natural law'. This showed up quite often in novels that had the tag 'refreshing', which was slang for a plotline where the villain took on the role of the MC and overthrew the original protagonist to emerge on top.
A.K.A what Su Qiao was trying very earnestly to do right now.
But the idea of 'natural law' was that the universe that the novel was set in would attempt to force the deviated plotline back onto its original track.
Su Qiao had regretted reading some of those books. Not only did she lose many nights of beauty sleep to fretting, they also made her overthink.
For example, Film Emperor Mo could very well have decided last minute to act in 'Diamond in the Rough' because he started dating its author or something. Or he could be natural law's attempt at setting things right again, a new pair of golden fingers for Bai Meixin to rely on, no matter how unreasonable inserting someone like him into the novel at this point might be.
Su Qiao was getting a headache from all this guessing and second-guessing. And she thought Lin Zixun's bizarre behaviour recently was bad. Had she been reborn into a parallel universe? Why were so many things different?
But she had no time to ponder on it for now. Mo Chen had already walked right up to her, reaching out to offer a handshake.
"Ms Su," he greeted. "Thank you for your patience, I have delayed the filming."
Su Qiao was taken aback. It wasn't that she had been expecting him to be rude or anything but this level of humility was rare coming from such a big shot in the industry. She'd never worked with him before but she'd heard rumours that he was cold and distant.
She knew better to believe rumours but was there truly no basis to them? He was a lot friendlier than she'd expected.
"Film Emperor Mo," she replied as she returned the gesture. His touch didn't linger for a second longer than necessary and his grip was firm but not too forceful. His gaze and manner were also polite so it didn't seem like he had any unnatural intent towards her, whether malicious or amorous. But he was also one of the best actors in the country, only 26 and already almost a national treasure. Concealing any ill-intent would be effortless for him.
She was about to launch into some meaningless pleasantries about how tiring it must be for him to rush over straight after wrapping up a different film but a sweet, demure voice stopped her before she could begin.
"Big Sister, there you are. I've been looking all over for you, Director Ma asked me to seek your advice on positioning in this scene—" Bai Meixin's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."
Su Qiao didn't chortle out loud but it was a close call. Walking over until she was an inch from being right under Su Qiao's nose before oh-so-apologetically realising that Su Qiao was talking to a man who was at least 1.85 m tall and wearing a coat that made him stand out like a raven against the stark white backdrop of the empty offices that was their makeshift base?
Bai Meixin was either blind as a bat or her unique brand of white lotus flavoured green tea was back in stock.
But this time, Su Qiao wasn't so eager to get rid of her straightaway. This was a brilliant opportunity to try and see how Film Emperor Mo would react. Was he just a plot device arranged by the novel's natural laws to help Bai Meixin further her protagonist goals or was he still his own agent?
"Ms Bai," Su Qiao said with a wide smile. "Come and say hi, this is Film Emperor Mo."
Bai Meixin blushed because it seemed to be her go-to reflex action. If Su Qiao had a yuan for every time she saw Bai Meixin's cheeks turn a delectable rosy red when speaking to a member of the opposite gender, she wouldn't be a billionaire yet but she had a good shot at becoming one someday. She watched with an ironic twist on her lips as Bai Meixin's doll-like lashes fluttered with innocent nervousness and she tucked a stray strand of hair behind one pale white ear.
"Film Emperor Mo," she mumbled, her easy, hopeful charm from earlier replaced with a bashfulness that was, like that Goldilocks story, 'justtttt rightttt'. "I'm Bai Meixin, the actress for the supporting female character. Please treat me kindly, I will seize this opportunity to learn as much as I can on this set."
Su Qiao threw Mo Chen a side-glance. To his credit, he seemed to remain unfazed, giving Bai Meixin a polite nod as well. He didn't display any preferential treatment towards either of them, which helped Su Qiao to relax somewhat. As long as he didn't interfere by using his influence to pull strings, she was confident that she could outshine Bai Meixin just based on skill alone.
But she wasn't going to trust him completely, of course not. Since he was an anomaly, she was going to have to continue observing him.
"What's the matter, Ms Bai?" she asked smoothly, taking the script from Bai Meixin's hands to see which scene she was referring to. Once she did, she very nearly laughed out loud again. Very good. This little girl was too 'naive' to even put on an act. The scene she supposedly needed help with, they'd already done the blocking for earlier and she hadn't raised any questions then, had even gone so far as to reassure the director that she was prepared for it.
But now that Film Emperor Mo had shown up, she suddenly needed Su Qiao's assistance? With what? Helping to introduce her to Mo Chen so that she could collect another contact on her list without appearing like an opportunistic newcomer throwing herself at all the powerful men in the industry?
[At least pick a scene that you actually need assistance with. No wonder you're the protagonist, is it because you're too stupid to be bad?]
[Then don't blame Big Sister for teaching you the ropes.]
Su Qiao's brows furrowed. "Isn't this the scene we've already gone through with Director Ma multiple times?" she asked, her tone stern, as though she was speaking purely from the perspective of a senior in the industry. "Ms Bai, if you're uncertain about something in the future, blocking is the best time to bring it up. As I recall, you told Director Ma that you were confident about the scene earlier, which was why he moved on. I understand that as a newbie, it is hard to admit that you find something challenging, but next time, please speak up then so that we can clarify everything together on the spot. It would be a lot more efficient and unsure that there wouldn't be any delays when we get to the actual filming."
She made sure that her admonishment was neither too harsh nor too personal, such that no one could fault her for her words. She'd even gone out of her way to focus on the actual professionalism of the job because the stories of Mo Chen being difficult to work with were all tied into how much of a perfectionist he was. This was a man who loved his career more than anything. If she carefully crafted her speech to fit his tastes, she was pretty sure that unless he was blinded by Bai Meixin's protagonist halo, he would side with her on this at least.
Sure enough, Mo Chen didn't rush to Bai Meixin's defence. He held out a hand towards the script but didn't take it from Su Qiao without asking for permission first.
Su Qiao handed it over, of course.
After scanning through the scene, Mo Chen nodded. "Ms Su is right, this scene involves a lot of camera work so blocking is the time to address any concerns that you might have. Also, this is a high-intensity scene, which will be tiring for both of you to maintain for a long period. Next time, Ms Bai, make sure to ask promptly if you're unsure about your role. Otherwise, it might not just be the director who scolds you."
Su Qiao lowered her lashes too because she wasn't sure her acting was good enough to hide her victorious gloating if she continued to look at Bai Meixin's crestfallen face.
This Mo Chen, whatever his reasons for gracing them all with his presence were, was an interesting one.