After the ceremony, all the actors were on standby.
The scene would be shot outside and the roles were not many, the main characters were the male lead, female lead and Liu Baizhu. The other character was their junior apprentice from the same clan who would be serving as a messenger.
The prologue started with Murong Jing ambushing Liu Baizhu; wires would be used. The fight choreographer explained the actions of the fight detailedly to both of them.
Jin Yu had acted in many martial arts scenes, so he was used to the wires. However, it was the first time for Jiang Li, the fight choreographer was a little worried and explained two more times to him.
The camera started shooting, the location the scene took place in was amidst the mountains and forests.
Murong Jing was squatting, hiding in the bushes. Liu Baizhu who was not far away had his back towards him and was meditating and regulating his breaths under the tree by the stream. The floating clouds blocked the sun when they moved, Murong Jing put strength on his leg, then jumped up athletically, holding his sword and stabbing towards Liu Baizhu's chest.
As the clouds drifted by, rays of sunlight were gradually revealed, the sword was coldly glittering under the sunlight, bringing about a fierce aura.
Liu Baizhu who initially had his eyes closed while meditating felt his ears twitch a little as he heard the subtle rustles in the wind. He opened his eyes suddenly and tilted his body, dodging the sharp sword that came from behind. His left hand quickly held his sword's hilt, and with a sheen, the long sword was unsheathed.
Both blades clashed against each other, sparks flying from the clash.
Both of them were from the same clan, their moves and weapons were the same. Murong Jing had fierce moves, and a thundering aura could be felt from each move of his, while Liu Baizhu had smooth moves, he made concessions in order to gain advantage, the fight could not stop at the moment.
"Cut!"
Zhou Jin called for a cut. When both of them came down from the wire, he said, "Jiang Li's actions were slow, move more swiftly when you unsheath, don't be overcautious and indecisive!"
"I'm sorry, director, I understand."
Jiang Li nodded towards him. Although the physique of this body was fine, it lacked some physical strength, so he could not follow up some rapid martial art moves in time.
"Brother Yu, I'm sorry to trouble you again."
Jin Yu did not care and waved his arm, "No worries, you don't need to be nervous, you did well just now."
"Okay."
The make-up artist went forward to do touch ups, they then started the shoot again.
When both of them were fighting, the female lead, Chu Yanran appeared by the side and shouted towards them as she waved her arms, "Brother Jing, time's up!"
When her voice was heard, the two men looked at each other. They then took a few steps back, stopping the fight.
Chu Yanran ran over and handed in the water bottles and handkerchiefs for them to wipe off their sweat. She then stuck her tongue out towards Morong Jing, shrugged her shoulders and said, "Brother Jiang, you can't beat Brother Liu even by ambushing, you're embarrassing yourself."
"It's not like that, Brother Jing went easy on me." Liu Baizhu smiled gently and sheathed his long sword back.
"Did you hear that?" Murong Jing knocked Chu Yanran's head, "Even if I can't win against Baizhu, I can still beat you easily."
When Chu Yanran heard that, she glared at him grumpily, "What's so glorious about beating me, you're too shameless!"
When both of them were mocking each other, a child who was dressed in white robes ran towards them. He told them that their master had returned, asking the three of them to go back.
"Cut!"
That was the end of the scene. Jiang Li, who was a newbie, had only made a mistake. Moreover, his moves and expressions afterwards were spot on. He was not undermined by Jin Yu in their fight as well.
Zhou Jin was initially worried that it would be troublesome as it was Jiang Li's first fight scene. However, the outcome really satisfied him. He patted Jiang Li's shoulder, his dignified face showing a faint smile, "Young fellow, you're not bad. And Jin Yu, you're stable today, keep it up."
Both of them smiled as an acknowledgement. Jin Yu then went to touch up his make-up, as Jiang Li was planning to follow him, vice-director Jiang who was standing beside suddenly called out to him, "You're Xiao Jiang right?"
Jiang Li looked at the smile on his face, he did not know why he called him out.
"Vice-director Jiang."
"I heard that it's your first time acting?" Vice-director Jiang took two steps forward and said tentatively, "You look a bit familiar."
Jiang Li moved backwards silently, "It's my first time acting, maybe my looks are common so I may seem familiar."
Vice-director Jiang choked at these words, he stared at his 'common' appearance and tried to pull a friendly smile, "I thought so too, we've never met each other before."
so you have no bones to pick with me.
Jiang Li nodded his head, he said 'excuse me' and walked towards the dressing room.
Vice-director Jiang looked at Jiang Li's back. He hoped that Jiang Li could understand the meaning in his last sentence and wouldn't report previous grudges to President Jiang.
Due to the fact that it was a scene in rural areas, the dressing room was also a portable cabin that was built temporarily. The room was built under a tree to avoid the sunshine, or else the room would be so hot to a point that it would explode.
As Jiang Li entered, Xiao Zhou walked up to him and gave him some water. He was holding a small fan for him so he wouldn't get heatstroke.
"I'll do it myself." Jiang Li took the small fan. As it was August now, the wind that was blown from the fan was hot, but having the fan was better than nothing.
When Jiang Li was shooting earlier, Feng Dong was also standing by the side. So he saw vice-director Jiang talking to Jiang Li. After Jiang Li came, he pulled him to one side and asked softly, "Why did the vice-director talk to you earlier?"
If it was someone ordinary who talked to Jiang Li, Feng Dong would not have cared much. But the reputation of this vice-director Jiang was not good, he not only liked to do some filthy trades, he also liked to use dirty methods. There was once a small artist under Feng Dong who was eager to become famous so he crawled the vice-director's bed without Feng Dong's knowledge, in the end, that small artist was sent to the hospital with an anal fissure.
Therefore, he thought that it was inappropriate when he saw the vice-director initiate a conversation with Jiang Li. With Jiang Li's appearance, it was impossible for him to be ignored by the vice-director.
"Nothing~ He just simply said a few words." Jiang Li noticed that Feng Dong's forehead was filled with sweat, he then tilted the little fan that was in his hand and shared some wind with him.
Said a few words?
Feng Dong frowned and thought that it must not be something so simple. He glanced around a few times and noticed that no one was paying attention to them, he then said softly, "Jiang Li, listen to me, don't involve yourself with him. If he finds you, avoid him if you can. Don't stray the wrong way, understand?"
Jiang Li had been in the entertainment industry for so many years in his previous life, he had easily understood what Feng Dong meant.
When he first entered the entertainment industry in his previous life, a producer took a liking to him. That producer asked someone to contact his agent and offered him money for one night. If he agreed to it, he would not only receive money but also get the chance to act.
At that time, Jiang Li just signed the contract. He did not have any experience or any background, he could only obtain some advertisements that had low popularity as well as some minor roles. In order to grab some resources and earn the price difference, his agent lied to him and asked him to attend the dinner that was arranged by the producer. That producer forced him to obey but he resisted and smashed his head with a wine bottle. In the end, he did not only lose money, he was also suppressed by his company for two years.
In the entertainment industry, it was common for agents to act as pimps, using their artists' bodies to exchange for resources, money and popularity. Once the artist became popular, the status of the agent would increase followingly. There were even many artists that were deceived by their agents into selling their bodies.
Jiang Li had long seen these things very thoroughly, what he did not expect was, Feng Dong who was an agent that only started following him not long ago would warn him proactively that vice-director Jiang was not someone good and asked him not to involve himself with him.
This friendly reminder warmed his heart.
Feng Dong saw that he was silent and thought that he did not take his words to heart. He was a little disappointed but he still stressed on it again.
Jiang Li smiled as he said, "I understand Brother Feng, don't worry."
When he said those words, his eyes were as clear as spring water, they were convincing enough.
As Feng Dong heard his words, he was relieved and smiled, "That's good, go and touch up your make-up."
As Feng Dong looked at Jiang Li's leaving figure, he recalled the scene of Jiang Li acting earlier, he did not have the feeling of constraint in front of the camera that newbies had. Those swift and natural martial arts moves and the precise, detailed expressions, did not look like he was shooting for the first time. With a talent like this, he would be successful after some time.
After touching up, everyone prepared for the next scene.
After the first day of shooting ended, Jiang Li felt that his body was really exhausted. Although he did not show it on the surface, he could not control the sweating of his palms.
There were still many fight scenes waiting for him and he was already like this just on the first day. If he did not try to strengthen his body's physique, it would affect the shooting.
Since it was the first day, Zhou Jin did not ask them to shoot overtime. He told them to return after he arranged the shooting schedule of the second day.
As Zhou Jin wanted to be able to obtain actors that had skills and fitted the novel, some time was delayed due to the auditions. Therefore, the shooting schedule was a little hectic. The next few days were all outdoor scenes, and there would be night scenes as well, making those actors cry and wail.
Jiang Li needed to act in two roles with one body, and the scenes for the two roles were not few; so his schedule was more packed than others'. In just one week, he had lost a few kilograms. However, under the high intensity training, his muscles had become firmer. His body was also entering the working condition gradually, but his palms still produced cold sweat like before.
When he was busy shooting, Jiang Zhan was also busy with his new project. He was managing the entertainment industry, some hotels and restaurants. And now, he planned to invest in properties. He was following up on plots around the Xi Jiang road area that was going to be auctioned.
After working busily for a day, Jiang Zhan received the cat that was sent by Ji Shu. It was a 2-month-old ragdoll.
The ragdoll was chosen by Jiang Zhan personally, because it's nature was gentle and obedient.
The kitten curled itself up in the wide cage, lowering its head and licking the hair on its body. When Jiang Zhan stretched out his hand and touched it, the kitten meowed softly, it was really cute and well-behaved.
Jiang Zhan was very satisfied and decided to add a month's bonus for Ji Shu. He then left his work early with the kitten and planned to give Jiang Li a surprise.
Both of them were really busy these days, so there was little time for them to meet. Jiang Li was shooting till late at night so sometimes he slept in the hotel that was arranged by the drama crew, and sometimes he slept directly after returning home. They had little time to speak with each other.
Ji Shu and Jiang Zhan went back together. They did not only buy the kitten, he even prepared the cat bed, cat litter, cat tree, cat food, scratching board and other equipment that the kitten needed. Moreover, the things prepared were high-grade.
After placing the things well per Jiang Zhan orders, Ji Shu looked at his boss who was playing with the cat on the sofa and said, "President Jiang, I'll leave first."
Jiang Zhan did not lift his head at all and only waved his arm dismissively. His focus was entirely on the kitten who was lying on the sofa and ignoring him.
Jiang Zhan lost interest in the kitten as it did not react to his teasing, he then prepared some cat food, put it beside the cat bed and went into his study room.
When Jiang Li came back at night, he opened the door and instantly saw the enormous cat tree in the living room. The tree was about 2 metres high, it was really wide and shaped like an old tree.
There was a cat bed, cat litter, scratching board and other toys under the tree.
A delicate meow echoed from the cat bed. He came to his senses and strode over. As he got nearer, he could see the kitten that was lying in the bed.
That meow made Jiang Li's heart melt into a puddle, the surprise was so sudden that he did not dare to carry the little guy.
"What are you standing there so stupidly for? It's for you."
Jiang Zhan's voice was heard from the other side, Jiang Li turned his head and saw him standing by the study room's door.
Jiang Li already had the intention to own a pet in his previous life, but he was afraid that he could not take care of it well due to his busy work schedule. Later, he encountered an accident and died before he had the chance to own one.
He was instantly rejected by Jiang Zhan when he said he wanted to own one the last time, he thought he could only own it after he ended the relationship that they had now. Who knew that Jiang Zhan brought a cat home for him?
An overwhelming sense of joyous surprise exploded in his heart, the feeling of being valued and being placed in someone's heart made his mind heat up. He turned his body then ran towards Jiang Zhan and jumped on him like a little kid.
"Jiang Zhan, why are you so nice!"
Jiang Zhan was forced to take two staggering steps back due to the sudden hug. He used his hands to support Jiang Li's buttock to prevent him from falling down, he then scolded lightly, "Why are you so careless?"
"I'm too touched." Jiang Li's eyes were filled with happiness that could not be hidden, he held Jiang Zhan's face and kissed his cheek heavily with a smooch, he then repeated again, "You're so nice!"
It was the first time he saw Jiang Li so happy since they knew each other, it was as if his eyebrows were dancing. Jiang Zhan was affected by Jiang Li's nearly overflowing happiness and was in a good mood. As he wanted to lower his head and kiss him, Jiang Li jumped off from him and ran back to the cat, and carefully carried it.
Jiang Zhan "..."
Jiang Li carried the cat and talked to it, he said words like "Babe, daddy likes you" "You're my little treasure", Jiang Zhan who was beside could not take it and said, "Don't simply acknowledge relationships, if it calls you daddy then what about me?"
It cannot be mummy right? The position is wrong!
Jiang Li heard him, he thought for a while and suggested, "You're my sugar daddy, what about calling you grandpa?"
Jiang Zhan "..."
With your nonsense-filled mouth, let alone half a year, I'm almost going to explode after keeping you for half a month.