Chapter 9
Chapter 9
so. many. idioms. Yabla was a lifesaver. If you see any mistakes, let me know.
Face Slapping the Film Emperor and Empress (Entertainment Circle)
Zhang Hanshu had actually auditioned for “Soul of War”, and Han Zikui had thought about using Zhang Hanshu. After all, Zhang Hanshu was more popular, and he had a clean reputation. However, when Han Zikui thought of the surprise that Zhou Xu might bring him, Han Zikui unashamedly chose Zhou Xu.
Zhou Xu did not disappoint Han Zikui. As the leading role, he skillfully portrayed the character as imagined . Although most war movies usually followed a similar plot, if they managed stand out, they would be a success.
“Long time no see, Han Dao.” Zhang Hanshu could only awkwardly shake hands with Han Zikui.
He didn’t know if he was just imagining things, but Zhang Hanshu felt that Han Zikui was full of maliciousness towards him, but when Zhang Hanshu looked at Han Zikui’s expression carefully, he couldn’t find any sign of it.
After greeting each other, the two movie groups separated. Fortunately, the banquets were booked on different floors, one on the third floor and one on the fourth floor. Otherwise, it would have been really awkward. After all, the two were technically enemies that were competing against each other.
Zhang Hanshu’s director, Liu Chao, was also an old director. He joked about the situation, saying, “We are on the fourth floor, and the “Soul of War” cast is on the third floor. Maybe it means that our box office will be one story higher than theirs.”
Zhang Hanshu smiled and said nothing. Since the director said that as a joke, it proved that the director knew in his heart that he couldn’t compete with Han Zikui. He was joking while comforting himself.
Thinking of this, Zhang Hanshu’s heart was a bit upset. He had also auditioned for “Soul of War” and several people in the audition were satisfied, so why did Han Zikui choose Zhou Xu in the end?
This was the case in the world. There were many things that were unfair and unjust. Many evil thoughts come from the phrase “on what basis”.
After the banquet, the film began to enter the post-production stage, but Han Zikui later asked Zhou Xu to redo a few scenes.
This situation was very common. In the process of filming, there were always places that the director wanted to modify but didn’t think about during the film process. However, some big-name actors wouldn’t cooperate, and in that case, the crew sometimes couldn’t do anything.
Zhou Xu would naturally cooperate, and he would get to see Han Zikui. Of course he was very happy. After all, Han Zikui was charming and romantic.
This was an indoor scene. In fact, it was just a few close-up shots. Zhou Xu sat quietly for one picture, thinking about something, then he slowly smiled.
Just when he smiled, there was suddenly a “bang” in the studio, and a huge chandelier fell down. Meanwhile, the temporary wall of the studio collapsed behind Zhou Xu.
Everything happened too past. When Han Zikui rushed in, he only saw Zhou Xu patting the dust off his shoulder. Zhou Xu said calmly, “It seems that someone is watching me.”
Han Zikui silently checked Zhou Xu’s situation and confirmed that he had not been injured before whispering in his ear, “I will give you an account.”
Zhou Xu shrugged and said nothing.
After going through many worlds, Zhou Xu was very sensitive to danger. Before anyone noticed, he already felt something was wrong. All of his senses were activated. As soon as the chandelier shook, he changed his position. When the wall behind him collapsed, he quickly ran out of the scope of destruction.
While everyone was confused, his eyes swept to a figure in a corner on the second floor. The figure saw Zhou Xu but left quickly. The figure Zhou Xu recognized was Sun Yu, Zhang Hanshu’s agent.
The studio was now in a state of chaos. Zhou Xu was forced to rest in the car because he was a victim, while others began detailed investigations, and the police were involved.
However, the technique used by the man was so subtle that they could only say it was an accident, but Han Zikui did not believe it, because he had never had such a problem during his many years of filming. This time, there were two kinds of problems: the goal was Zhou Xu and the so-called coincidence was pure nonsense.
Opening the door to the car Zhou Xu was in, Han Zikui saw him lying comfortably on his front. Han Zikui smiled and said, “Should I not worry?”
“There’s nothing to worry about, it’s just a clown doing tricks, that’s all.”
“What did you see?”
“Sun Yu, but there is no evidence to prove that.”
“Sun Yu? Zhang Hanshu’s agent?”
Zhou Xu lazily nodded his head. He lay on his side with his left hand supporting his head, looking absent-minded. This gesture made Zhou Xu exude a sort of charm.
Han Zikui’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, and he licked his lower lip. Han Zikui said, “Are you seducing me?”
Zhou Xu raised his eyelids and laughed, “If that’s what you think.”
Han Zikui opened the door, got into the car, locked the door, then finally held Zhou Xu in his arms. “Then, I may not wait for you to become the film emperor.”
What Zhou Xu wanted to say was, nonsense, they were in the car right now, even if they really wanted to do it now, it was impossible.
After that, Han Zikui went to personally check the equipment, and asked all the staff to pay attention to whether there were any outsiders in the studio. But since it was only a shot being redone, it took only four or five days to do, so it was completed soon.
Since then, it had been calm, but Han Zikui did not intend to let Zhang Hanshu go.
In fact, Han Zikui could completely block Zhang Hanshu, but he didn’t want to do so. First, Zhang Hanshu was an artist of his company after all, although the contract was expiring soon. And second, Han Zikui had no evidence that he was harming Zhou Xu.
In September, when the film entered the publicity period, Zhou Xu and Han Zikui were busy and had no time to deal with Zhang Hanshu’s affairs. However, at the end of September, Zhang Hanshu’s film also began to be publicized, so they met on an entertainment program.
At this time, Zhou Xu and Zhang Hanshu had more than 20 million fans. Zhou Xu was a little bit behind, but he didn’t care.
Because of the high ratings of this entertainment program, movies that wanted more viewers sought to come onto the show before their release. This time, only Zhou Xu represented his movie. Han Zikui was busy with the final inspection work, while the female lead was doing other announcements. However, four people came from Zhang Hanshu’s crew, including the male lead, female lead, director Liu Chao and a female supporting role.
Zhou Xu looked at this line-up and sneered in his heart. Even if he was the only person, he wanted to let them know that some people would never be able to catch up, doomed like snow in Yangchun county. It would be like comparing clouds to mud.
The opening dance was rehearsed. Zhou Xu naturally appeared together with Zhang Hanshu, then the two actresses, and finally a male partner and the director. There really wasn’t much that Zhou Xu could do during the opening dance, so he just went through his routine step by step.
After that, they entered the game stage. The first game was guessing idioms. All the players were divided into two teams. One teammate acted out the idiom, and the other teammates guessed.
This was an old game, so a new addition making the acting teammate undergo the pain of standing on an acupressure mat, and all kinds of howls and painful expressions would entertain the public.
The third host split the people up into two teams. The teams mixed the movie crews and the hosts, but there was really nothing they could do about it.
First was Zhang Hanshu’s group. Zhang Hanshu did the action, and the others guessed.
Zhang Hanshu’s performance was remarkable. He endured the pain on his feet and did his actions seriously, so that at the end of three minutes, his team guessed six idioms correctly.
After that was Zhou Xu’s turn to perform. He had only stepped on the mat for a moment, but his proud expression instantly collapsed. The pain filled his eyes with tears, his face was red, and coupled with a slightly thin body, made Zhou Xu’s appearance instantly change from a proud rooster into a little white rabbit filled with grievances.
Zhou Xu admitted that this was a part in the performance because he knew very well that the audience would eat it all up. However, Zhou Xu also admitted that he was very afraid of pain. Pressure was applied to his feet for only a moment but he had almost cursed. The wronged expression he made was not an act, he really hadn’t been pretending.
The camera director gave this section a lot of close-ups and later added a lot of words. For example, on Zhou Xu’s tearful red face close-up shot, the director added a sentence “Prideful Zhou instantly turned into Zhou Mengmeng, cute!”
Zhou Xu kept moving with tears in his eyes, shifting his feet from time to time. In short, he was not idle. He seemed to be suffering from the pressure on his feet, but he would not come down. He could only endure grievances.
This coincides with the long-standing assumption of him that although he was proud, his heart was actually very gentle.
Zhou Xu’s teammates could do nothing, and the second host was only responsible for making fun of their teammates, so in the end, Zhou Xu’s team only guessed four idioms.
The two sides changed the people doing actions. Zhang Hanshu’s team guessed six more correctly. Zhou Xu was replaced by a host to do the action. Zhou Xu looked at the host with casual expression.
The host was very funny. He distorted his face and suffered a lot when he went up to the pressure board. Then, after he looked at the idiom, a constipated expression was on his face That meant, how to do this.
Spreading his hands, he could cover his eyes with his hands. While his teammates were laughing, Zhou Xu calmly said, “Eyes covered by a single leaf“.
The host held up three fingers and did not do anything. Zhou Xu said coldly, “Do you have two minds?”
The host was stunned. He only raised his finger, how can you guess that? Looking at the next question, he didn’t think Zhou Xu can guess anymore. He pointed to the front and to the back. After that nonsense, Zhou Xu spoke, “Go south by driving the chariot north.”
“Tiger’s head, snake’s tail.”
“Breeze is still, waves are quiet.”
“Show a clean pair of heels.”
…
Three minutes later, the directors were all stunned. The host looked at the director, then looked at Zhou Xu. Finally, he asked Zhou Xu’s teammate, another host, “How much did Zhou Xu get right?”
“Ah? I forgot to count.”
Several people returned to their senses. Some applauded and some were surprised. They tried to do a very exaggerated performance, so as to have .
Zhang Hanshu’s eyes, while others weren’t looking, were not friendly anymore.
[2]: The translations varied on this point, like fingerboard and pressure plate, so picture a finger being squeezed?
Chapter Eight ~ Chapter Ten