Chapter 199 – Magical Power of the Camera
When Ai Mi arrived on scene, those twelve warriors were already standing in an orderly fashion on the wall waiting for her.
The beautifully dressed Ai Mi swatted at a blue butterfly who came closer out of curiosity. Ai Mi expressed her discontent towards those serious warriors:
“It’s not like there’s anyone in charge of you, why can’t you stay home and watch TV and eat chips? Why do you have to pull me along to suffer?”
Even though she had already applied a lot of sunscreen, Ai Mi still furrowed her brows against the medium intensity sunlight. It is annoying if you are overly sensitive to UV rays.
“Manservant, you can finally come in handy, walk slower!”
She was referring to my shadow. If I walked towards the direction of the sun, my shadow could provide Ai Mi with a certain degree of shade.
I walked a bit slower in accordance to her wishes. I did not quarrel with her in front of the director, Auntie Ren, and the other cast members. Ai Mi thought it was strange because I was completely out of character:
“Manservant, did you do something to wrong me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Since you’re acting so honest today, that means you either did something wrong, or you want me to buy you something. Didn’t I already give you a credit card? Go buy whatever you want, it’s disgusting when you act like a dog begging for food!”
Based on the circumstances, it seems Ai Mi does not know the AmEx Black Card she gave me was stopped. But, I was not taking care of her for money, so I did not inform her.
Xiao Qin still held onto the small round fan and was fanning Ai Mi desperately like a palace girl to keep her cool.
“(*^__^*) Hehe… Little sis Ai Mi, are you satisfied?”
“Who’s your sister! Have some shame!” Ai Mi threatened angrily: “If you keep referring to me like that, I’ll tell Obama to bite you!”
005, who was following behind her and using his body to block paparazzi shots spoke to her in odd Mandarin:
“Miss, Obama did notu follw todai. He’s bery sad after Peng TouZi left…”
Ai Mi was angry: “If Obama didn’t come, then I’ll tell you to bite them!”
005 trembled. He glanced at the smiling Xiao Qin and slowed his pace while holding his legs together.
I suddenly remembered: Wasn’t Peng TouSi’s left leg Obama’s partner? Now that Peng TouSi returned to America, wouldn’t it be splitting apart a husband and wife? It’s understandable why Obama is in a bad mood.
Auntie Ren was debating with the director, but she was astonished when she saw Ai Mi walking down with me and Xiao Qin following her.
Compared to why I was with the bad tempered American loli, she was more puzzled on why her daughter was fawning over Ai Mi and acting like a footman.
But no matter what, it was good news that the main actor came, it’s not like everyone could keep on waiting, right? Those minor characters are almost about to get heatstroke standing under the sun wearing that heavy full armor.
Ai Mi stopped in front of the fake wall. She stood in front of the half a meter wall with a displeased face.
The makeup artist who was still following us apologized in a hurry: “I’m sorry! Kyle moved the portable steps when he was acting! I’ll tell someone to move it back!”
The makeup artist was about to run off in high heels when Ai Mi said coldly: “Don’t need it. Tell the prop guy he doesn’t need to come to work anymore tomorrow. I’ll think of a way to get up myself.”
“Here… no, here.” Ai Mi pointed at a suitable spot, then pointed to the two bodyguards behind her and said: “You guys get down here. I’ll use your back as steps to get up.”
004 and 005 glanced at each other and started to play rock-paper-scissors at an angle that was hard for others to see.
“Who told you to play rock-paper-scissors! I told both of you to get down! One of you kneel lower, and one kneels higher! Don’t waste time! Time of the upper-class is very precious!”
Xiao Qin, who had an evil nature seemed to be full of admiration of how Ai Mi treats people. She even volunteered herself to oversee the job.
“Don’t worry! Ai Mi… Miss Ai Mi! I will definitely make sure they get down properly! I’ll make sure they’ll be even better than real steps, as if they were born as steps!”
I felt both Ai Mi and Xiao Qin was going overboard. Even if 004 and 005 do not have proper names and they are equivalent to NPCs, do you really have to mistreat them in front of so many people?
Thus, while Xiao Qin was nearing the two bodyguards while grinning. I grabbed Ai Mi’s waist from behind and easily hoisted her up onto the wall.
How light and soft like the branches of a willow tree in May. I remember I also grabbed her once like this before when we were buying chips? I never thought I would have a completely different mental state only a month later.
“What… are you doing!” Ai Mi’s cheeks were dyed a crimson red, I was not sure if it was anger or shock. Before she even steadied her two pearl shoes, she turned around and said to me in a malicious tone:
“I can’t believe you touched your master’s body without first obtaining permission…! Unacceptable! I’ll turn you into my personal step stool as punishment!”
“Okay, okay. Finish your act first, there are a lot of people waiting for you…”
I urged politely and amicably. I even helped her straighten out her cloak while being careful so I would not touch any sensitive spots.
It seems Peng TouSi’s sudden recall has created a harmful effect on Ai Mi, it caused her to vent her feelings any time she caught onto someone. I originally thought Ai Mi treated Peng TouSi as a regular bodyguard, albeit a very powerful bodyguard. Little did I know, in the days when Peng TouSi accompanied her, he already became an uncle in her heart, a non-blood related relative.
In the days where Peng TouSi is absent, I am her only relative in all of China, and we even have the blood of the same mother running through us.
It would be better if it was not the blood of that damned Ai ShuQiao.
After Auntie Ren gave a few orders to the minor characters, she hesitantly walked towards us. She told Ai Mi about some precautions in English, and also did a few demonstrations. Almost all of them only need the upper body of the activity. All of them had low difficulty and barely required any movement. In the end, all she had to do was raise one leg and kick at the enemy’s waist.
I heard that in the crew of “The Magic Cauldron”, the conflicting views between Ai Mi and Auntie Ren was already made public and had reached the climax. But today, perhaps due to Xiao Qin acting as a deterrent, they were both able to control themselves. Although they both had a cold face during the prep session, at least they did not quarrel as usual.
The American director with a hooked nose and white hair looked at the effect behind the test screen and then ordered the cameraman to aim the camera at Ai Mi to officially start filming.
Auntie Ren chased the solicitors like me away. Xiao Qin gleefully yelled at Ai Mi: “Good luck! ↖(^ω^)↗”
She did not need any encouragement because once the camera started to roll, she immediately went into character.
She whispered a word at a volume where the people beside her cannot hear her. It could have been either a prayer or a curse, and her figure on the wall immediately looked different.
It seems as if the ends of her hair and the hems of her clothes were shining.
Against the contrast of her costume, her blue eyes —— the two biggest and brightest gems, exuded unparalleled confidence and pride.
This was the first time in a long time that I overlapped Ai Mi’s image with the one of her as a celebrity. It was as if she changed her identity after she chanted the voiceless incantation —— Or, the camera might be the source of her magical power.
Originally, there were a lot of feelings of discontent from the staff towards this arrogant little girl, but after they watched her performance, everyone of them gained vigor and their eyes were filled with admiration. Some people even began to discuss the future of this series, and they agreed that they will definitely get a good rating with Ai Mi’s appearance.
Of course, Xiao Qin helped me translate all the English. She held onto my arm and stood approximately 10 m away from Auntie Ren. Auntie Ren waved her hands and yelled at the actors like she was a coach at a soccer match.
The director officially started to film, then twelve warriors jumped onto the wall successively in groups of three. Their weapons shone under the sun, but I already knew in advance that they were harmless, so I was not worried about Ai Mi at all.
Ai Mi’s ‘fights’ were much slower compared to Kyle’s. In order to make up for the lack of speed, the director dispatched a camera with a long rail system, intending to use the high-speed movement of the camera to enhance the dynamics.
Ai Mi pushed or pulled, and sometimes she did not even touch the warriors, but they would still jump back and fall off the wall.
From the perspective of a novice martial artist, I felt that this martial arts scene was pretty boring. Perhaps it still needs added CGI before you can present it to an audience. However, Ai Mi’s movements had traces of dance and gymnastics. If you observed the scene purely as an artistic performance, it would be incredibly cute, especially every frown and smile Ai Mi threw at the camera during the fight. The audience will not regret not seeing a real fight when they see her face.
After a long shot, Ai Mi successfully completed the choreography designed by Auntie Ren and pushed 11 warriors off the wall. The director called a timeout and told the costume designer to tidy up Ai Mi’s slightly messy clothes. During this time, Ai Mi looked at me while pleased with herself as if she was showing off her acting skills.
In the next scene, Ai Mi has to kick the warrior approaching from behind off the wall and say a cool line.
I noticed that this final warrior was the one who flipped onto the wall when fighting Kyle, the one with a long braid coming out of his helmet.