I Became Famous in the Entertainment Industry with High Martial Arts Skills - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Recognizing the Acting

Xie Ci was currently holding a water glass and drinking; hearing Mo Li’s words, a spark of joy touched his brows.

“So, that means I’ll be able to see Xiao Ya tomorrow.”

“That’s right! Tomorrow the three of us can finally unite. Sooner or later, we’ll secure that Movie King title.” Mo Li lowered his voice for the latter half of the sentence; after all, they were on set, and if someone overheard such talk, they’d likely mock them for daydreaming.

Xie Ci replied with a smile: “Mm! Sooner or later, I’ll win the Movie King award!”

He didn’t lower his voice when he spoke. Mo Li scanned the surroundings as if he had a guilty conscience. Seeing no one nearby, he finally relaxed, bumped fists with Xie Ci, and they shared a knowing smile.

It took a full three hours of bustling for the crew to finish setting up the new location.

Tonight’s night scene required many characters; it was a small-scale group scene. Among them, the third male lead, Yan Feng, had been filming with Qiao Mingyue in Group B. This was his first time filming a scene opposite the male lead and second male lead.

Ming Yang clapped her hands. “Actors with riding scenes later, pay attention to wearing your protective gear. Mind the cameras during your blocking.”

Yan Feng and several actors dressed as guards acknowledged the order. With the help of the crew, they hid the gear beneath layers of costumes to avoid showing any flaws.

Xie Ci looked at the horses rented by the crew with great envy, but his current character was set as someone who couldn’t ride, so he could only watch longingly from the side.

Yan Feng and Li Zhaobai had trained together in equestrian skills and martial arts choreography. Seeing a familiar face now, a hint of a smile appeared on his wild and rebellious face. “Zhaobai, long time no see.”

Li Zhaobai was dressed in a simple servant’s outfit. “It has been a few days. How is it? Is filming going smoothly?”

If Yan Feng didn’t smile, he looked very fierce, but once he did, he gave off the vibe of a large dog wagging its tail.

At the moment, he kept a straight face and whispered back: “It’s okay. Is everything smooth on your end? How is Xie Ci’s acting?”

Ever since he knew he was coming to Group A today to film opposite Xie Ci, Yan Feng had been curious. He and Qiao Mingyue played royal siblings and had been acting together in Group B lately. During breaks on set, he always heard Qiao Mingyue talk about how much spiritual presence Xie Ci had and how hard-working he was.

She sounded exactly like a “solo fan” of Xie Ci—the doting kind. Before the first five episodes were even finished filming, he already had calluses on his ears from hearing it. If Qiao Mingyue hadn’t been catching a flight for a promotional event tonight, she definitely would have followed them here to watch them film.

“OK! All departments prepare to start.”

The originally noisy set grew quiet. They only heard Ming Yang issue the final command.

“Action!”

The lighting technicians, cinematographers, and the sound crew all took their positions as the camera slowly pushed forward.

The Emperor’s southern inspection tour was intended to investigate the state of the people. The descriptions of the disastrous conditions in the official memorials were shocking.

The Emperor flew into a rage. After sternly questioning his ministers about the whereabouts of the disaster relief funds, he took his confidants directly to the Jiangnan region. Along the way, he had already made note of many mediocre and corrupt officials, waiting only to throw them all into prison at once.

The story told by the teahouse storyteller happened to deliver the Suzhou officials right into the line of fire.

The most favored Sixth Prince received orders from his Imperial Father. After searching and finding some old scandals regarding the Wan family which the male lead had conveniently “nudged” into his path he led the soldiers directly to surround the gates of the Suzhou Prefect’s manor.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The carved rosewood gates were pounded so hard it sounded like thunder, and even the hanging plaque wobbled. A panicked gatekeeper opened a crack in the door, only to have the lead soldiers trample into the Wan manor.

All the pavilions, terraces, flowers, and rare plants were trampled into a mess. Torches filled with killing intent lit up every corner of the manor.

The panicked members of the Wan family were escorted one by one to the jail. Some tried to struggle and escape, only to be knocked unconscious by the soldiers and dragged across the ground into the prison.

Wan Yuya was caught among them, looking terrified as two soldiers gripped his arms and led him out the main gate.

He was truly terrified. Zhu Qing had been taken away, A-Zhou was nowhere to be seen, and he had been dragged out even though he had hidden under the bed.

The threshold of the Wan manor was high. Wan Yuya’s legs felt weak, and he actually stumbled, rolling down the steps several times and landing right before the Sixth Prince’s horse.

Mo Li stood by with his brows locked. Even knowing that Xie Ci was wearing protective gear while acting, he couldn’t help but be affected by the plot, his heart tightening along with it.

The Sixth Prince vaulted down from his horse, his cloak sliding off the horse’s back with the movement. He casually grabbed Wan Yuya by the long hair at the back of his head and yanked hard.

A face stained with dust came into view. The Sixth Prince raised an eyebrow, and the movements of his hands softened considerably.

Here, the two each had a close-up shot of their expressions. In Yan Feng’s eyes was amazement and playfulness, while in Xie Ci’s eyes were layers of progressive fear intertwined with panicked helplessness, making his emotions appear exceptionally vivid.

The senior playing the Emperor was named Li Anguo. In his youth, he was the pillar of the art troupe, having won countless awards; he was a national treasure-level actor. He was currently sitting in a chair beside Ming Yang. When he saw Xie Ci’s performance, his originally cloudy eyes suddenly brightened.

“This young man’s eye-acting is quite good; he has a bit of ‘Old Du’ in him.”

The “Old Du” Li Anguo mentioned was exactly the actor Ji Xiuheng had used to teach Xie Ci about eye-acting last night.

As soon as he said it, Ming Yang also realized it, nodding in agreement. “To be fair, he really does look a bit like him, though he’s still far from Brother Du’s level.”

Li Anguo laughed heartily. “How old is he? To be able to perform a sense of progression within the same emotion is already quite good.”

A look of appreciation flashed in his eyes; he clearly had a high opinion of Xie Ci’s performance. During these days of acting with the crew, among the crowd of young actors, his favorite was Xie Ci.

Grounded, willing to learn, and not afraid of hardship.

Back in the days of the art troupe, their group had to train their basic skills for long periods every day and occasionally went on consolation performances for grassroots communities. Enduring wind and sun was a small matter; they were only afraid that a poor performance on stage would let the audience down.

Li Anguo looked toward the filming area. It was currently at the part where the Wan family members were being reviled by the commoners they had oppressed. Xie Ci was being shoved by the soldiers, his shoulders shrinking as he walked in the group, bewildered and panicked.

He had seen it clearly these past days Xie Ci’s acting was always the “real deal.” Once under the lens, it was as if the timid and pure Wan Yuya from the drama had come to life.

Just now, the way Xie Ci rolled down the steps wasn’t watered down at all; it was a completely natural reaction from within the script.

He smacked his lips, estimating in his heart that Xie Ci would likely have quite a few bruises on his body.

While the Wan family was being turned upside down, the male lead by virtue of saving an old man from under a horse’s hooves on the street was spotted by the Emperor in the teahouse for his skills and hand-picked to be a personal guard.

From then on, the male lead completed the first step of his revenge plan. Using the strength of the Minister of Personnel, he struck the Suzhou Prefect who had betrayed his father back then into the mud, while also clearing out this great cancer that had been entrenched in Suzhou.

The final scene of the night featured Li Zhaobai dressed in a majestic and solemn guard uniform, riding high on a tall horse. However, the expression on his face was not one of smug success, but rather exceptionally solemn.

Inside the Wan manor, guarded by layers of soldiers, the Sixth Prince was standing in the study of the Wan family’s eldest son. A mounted scroll in his hand slowly unfurled, revealing a portrait of Wan Yuya taking a nap on a swing.

Ming Yang designed a transition here: in another shot, a disheveled Wan Yuya was curled up in the corner of the great prison. Even in his sleep, his expression remained full of alarm and unease.

He looked nothing like the relaxed features in the portrait.

When the filming ended, it was nearly midnight. Xie Ci and Mo Li didn’t go home, staying instead in the hotel suite booked by the crew.

“I’m exhausted. Today was quite a bustle.” Mo Li slumped lazily on the sofa, unwilling to move even an inch.

Xie Ci smiled. “I told you to exercise with me, but you always find excuses to slip away.” He walked over, trying to pull Mo Li up, and teased him mercilessly: “Didn’t you say before that you had muscle?”

Mo Li covered his soft belly with a throw pillow and gave a chuckle. “Actually, I feel that being white and chubby is very auspicious.”

Xie Ci was amused but didn’t force his friend to exercise with him. He found a spot and began his fixed daily workout. The youth’s movements in stretching his muscles and bones were very fluid; his supple and powerful waist slowly pressed down, forming a perfect arc.

Back when he learned martial arts, Xie Ci had spent three years solidly practicing the “stance” under his master’s guidance. Coupled with daily stretching, his entire body was soft yet powerful; only then did he begin subsequent strength training and manual learning.

Xie Ci’s current body was still somewhat weak, and given that his identity and environment had changed, he chose to focus on clearing his breath and invigorating his muscles, intending to slowly recover his past level of martial arts.

Mo Li watched from the sofa for a while, then suddenly spoke up: “It’s a pity Wan Yuya won’t have action scenes for another few episodes. He’ll surely attract so many fans then.”

Xie Ci held a steady “horse stance.” His solid lower-body work paired with his beautiful face covered in a thin layer of sweat had a sharp kind of beauty.

“When I signed the contract, Director Ming said the second male lead would have a lot of action scenes later,” Xie Ci replied.

Before the start of filming, Ming Yang had specifically instructed Xie Ci to spend his spare time learning from the martial arts instructors. She also knew this request was a bit demanding. The now-terminated Ye Ming had trained with the masters for nearly a year just to barely reach the script’s standard. Xie Ci not only lacked time for a buffer but also had to use gaps in filming to train extra.

But as a director, she had to be responsible for her work. If Xie Ci couldn’t meet her minimum standard, many of the action scenes in the later script would surely be reassigned to the male lead or the third male lead.

Mo Li looked at the increasingly clear outline of abdominal muscles on Xie Ci’s waist and suddenly remembered something. “By the way! I heard at a dinner party that Swordsman of the World is planning to find a spokesperson for next year. They say they’ll place a massive amount of advertisements in first-tier cities.”

Filming for Han River Crossing likely won’t finish until early next March, and there’s still a period before Diving Abyss hits theaters in the summer, which is the perfect time to film an advertisement to maintain heat.

Xie Ci wiped his sweat, his eyes bright. “Is that the game you usually play? The one where characters fly around?” Once when he went to Mo Li’s room, that game had been on the glowing computer screen.

“Yeah. It’s still in preparation. I’ll go try to win it when the time comes.” Mo Li patted his chest, signaling he would handle it. Although he looked forward to Xiao Ya working with them, Mo Li felt a strange sense of crisis in his heart and secretly resolved to be more attentive in the future.

When she arrived at the Han River Crossing set, Li Yajun was exceptionally excited. While she was slacking off at the company, she occasionally scrolled past fan-edits of Han River Crossing. She had been completely captivated by the plot of the first two episodes; like the vast number of netizens in the comments, she was only hoping the two episodes for this Saturday would air quickly.

She never expected she’d have the chance to join the Han River Crossing crew and as the assistant for her favorite second male lead.

“Xiao Xie!” As soon as she got out of the car, she left Mo Li behind and ran all the way to Xie Ci’s side.

Xie Ci was sitting on a small stool waiting for a scene. In the plot to be filmed today, he was being tormented in prison; this was the reason for his personality shift during the subsequent exile. Seeing Xiao Ya arrive, Xie Ci stood up happily to greet her. Mo Li, who followed behind, was panting for breath.

Li Yajun looked as normal as ever, excitedly asking Xie Ci for an autograph. “I have a feeling that once this drama finishes airing, your autograph will be very valuable. I want to keep one for my private collection!” Like Mo Li, she had a direct and straightforward personality.

Xie Ci smiled and signed for her, then was drawn to the chat messages on the phone Xiao Ya held up. “Look, I was among the first batch of people to join your fan group. I’ve already worked my way up to being a deputy group admin!”

When Li Yajun was at the previous company, she did the work of eight people by herself, so she was familiar with all types of artist affairs. For Xie Ci’s still-immature fandom, she was a “precious talent.”

“Phew! why did you run so fast?” Mo Li caught his breath and patted Li Yajun’s shoulder. “So you’re that ‘Lilith’ in the group! I was wondering why I always felt so familiar when chatting!” Mo Li’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Xie Ci watched the two bickering with a smile, but his attention was drawn by a new message popping up in the fan group on the phone.

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