248 Just One Scene

The life of an actor was actually not that easy. They had to fight for real and fall for real. They had to wear short sleeves if the film was set in summer even though it was shot in winter. Other than the cold weather, they had to suck on ice cubes in their mouth to lower the temperature in the cavity to prevent the forming of mist when they spoke. It was equally tormenting if the situation was reserved. Wearing thick layers of clothes in the summer was no different from living in a sauna that was around thirty to forty degrees.

Where did the pressure on an actor come from? Other than the mental pressure from the public eye due to the media and so on, part of it naturally came from work. For example, the female actress who was supposed to kill Brother Shuang according to the plot entered the field by participating in young adult school romance flicks. The worst experience was some humiliation at school like being insulted openly by others or tripping and falling down the stairs. These were not that bad; after all, there was body double for dangerous scenes. She only needed to act like she was unable to do it.

However, horse riding…

She had never passed her PE class when she was young. Even when running on flat surface, she could somehow trip and fall, which was a sadness that a normal person would not be able to understand.

You think it's cute‽ If you can, trip and collapse to the ground face-first, and see whether you still have the energy to act cute or not!

To change her acting lane, to prevent herself from being pigeonholed as a type of character, she accepted this movie role. She had thought that she only needed to fight with others inside the palace, but she had no choice but to get on the horse like it was the final destination for her. She had thought that a character inside the palace would avoid the need to do any action scenes, but this ridiculous character had an eloping scene before her marriage!

She could not have been more disappointed!

The female actress was very nervous on the horse, but actually, this gave even more pressure to the people under the horse. It was quite common for actors to run into hard to shoot scenes. Normally, if the body double could be used, they would be used. If it really could not work, the actor had to know how to act. Even if they were not trained in that manner, when they were supposed to fall during the scene, they had to fall. Even if the slap was barely strong enough to kill a fly, they would need to spit out a mouthful of blood for the camera…

However, if they failed to even make a show of it, then why were they an actor‽

Ye Shuang followed the direction of the set director's gaze. And she happened to see the female actor teetering on the horse like she could fall at any moment. The people around her were sweating bullets; they were afraid that an accident might happen on set.

If until now, everyone was just still worried, after the set director gasped audibly, the worry turned into terror because the set director revealed a piece of information that was too big of a plot twist. "Why is she on that horse? That is the powerful mare that is supposed to be for the later fighting scene!"

Everyone who heard the set director was shocked beyond belief. What did you say‽

Ye Shuang continued that thread of conversation and asked, "No wonder I see the muscles on that beauty are so developed. Did you get it from a race track or something?"

The set director felt like crying, and he did not have the time to answer Ye Shuang. He rushed forward to get people to help. He hoped that they would be able to rescue the female actor before the mare went berserk. However, what he did not wish for happened instantly. Just as the set director was looking for the horse tamer on the set, the mare that was made annoyed by the many unprofessional actions of the actor finally lost its patience. It trotted around with annoyance, its hooves brushing against the ground multiple times, and it neighed audibly.

After the set director brought the horse tamer over and he saw this, he was shocked. Then the horse tamer quite rushed over to save the girl as he tried to console himself. "It'll be fine. Thankfully, the horse is still inside the stable. It should…"

Before he could finish, the mare that was much more savage than the set director imagined raised its hind leg to kick the gate off. With the female actor on its back, it rushed out from its enclosure.

"Ahhhh!" screamed the female actor.

The set director and everyone panicked.

Ye Shuang rubbed her eyes and said with some degree of shock, "Brother Han, did I see wrongly just now? They did not lock the gate for such a dangerous mare?"

There was so much valuable equipment on set. If it was a tame horse, then perhaps it would have been fine. However, this mare was untrained and especially rowdy. What if it escaped from its enclosure and ruined the crew's equipment? These people sure are careless—how could they not pay attention to such an important thing?

"I don't think it's anyone's mistake." Han Chu coughed lightly. "They opened the gate when the celebrity prepared to practice horseback riding."

After all, the girl had to lead the horse out to start the horse riding. If they did not open the gate, how did they expect her to lead the horse out? By jumping over the gate?

Since the female actor was already inside, it was not hard to guess who the one who opened the gate was. If that was the case, then this accident was not really the film crew's responsibility… No! That was not the time to discuss something like that!

Han Chu pulled back his train of thought that was almost led astray by Ye Shuang. He looked left and right. Many crew members were attracted by the screams from the actress, and they hugged their equipment as they shuffled away from the scene. Even the professional horse tamer instinctually jumped out of the way—that was scary! The horse almost rammed headfirst into him!

If the situation did not get reined in soon enough, there might even be a potential loss of life.

Han Chu soon analyzed everything and came to a decision. He tutted as he removed a button from his sleeve. He turned around to pull a horse to catch up the escaped mare. It was not that he had forgotten how he met Ye Shuang. However, horse appraising and horse riding were two different things. Furthermore, this was not a typical situation. Under such circumstances where someone might get injured, if he was a real man, he would not have stood there calmly and told the female partner standing next to him that he would leave it to her… no matter how powerful and capable that female partner was.

However, Han Chu's gentlemanly behavior did not mean that Ye Shuang would really just sit there and do nothing. Therefore, just as Han Chu turned around, before he could walk away, he felt a wind blasted past him. As he turned around in shock to see what had happened, he saw a handsome, powerful, and eye-grabbing 'general' in sharp, metal armor rush toward the escaped mare at a speed that was impossible for a human being. She wanted to use human speed to catch up to a speeding horse—this truly challenged the understanding of the film crew. The people who saw this were shocked beyond belief. The shock that had not disappeared turned into bafflement. The sound of cold breath being taken rose and fell across the set. In fact, a few of them rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Of course, there were people who felt excited; some of the people who saw this still had not realized how illogical this was. They grabbed their collars and props, their knuckles white but their faces pink. They looked on with bated breath like how the spectators at the Olympic Games acted.

The female actor was so scared that the only thing she thought to do was to hug the horse's neck tightly. She prayed that she would not be flung off the horseback and ruin her face. Just as she was gripped in fear, she saw someone rush past the horse and stopped before her.

Before her muddled mind understood what was really happening, and as she turned her head to follow the movement of that shadow, she saw the handsome man smile as he held the sword in his hand. He flapped his mantle, squatted down, and rolled toward the hooves. Amid the rising screams, the mare collapsed to the ground as it neighed painfully. The sword that was kicked by the hooves instantly split in half. Ye Shuang, who people thought would be stomped into a pulp, was perfectly fine.

In fact, the man was agile enough to rush forward to catch the female actor who was falling from the horse's back. Without using much force, he turned and caught the female actor in his arms. With a leap, he pulled the girl away from the chaos, saving them from the mare's falling body.

The set was silent.

"Zhan Ma Dao!" Some of the crowd recognized this powerful sword skill. The voice that was excited until it cracked shattered the set's silence.

Then, the next second, someone smacked the back of his head. "Zhan your head! That was not even a real sword; it was just a prop!"

When the people spoke, the rest started to recover. Then, they rushed forward to the scene. Even Han Chu followed the crowd to see what had happened.

The female actor, whose soul had not returned, was placed firmly on the ground by Ye Shuang. When her feet landed on firm ground, she was still shaking like a leaf as she held onto Ye Shuang's armor. After her assistant rushed over urgently to ask about her situation, the tears finally came, and she started to wail… That led to yet another commotion.

"Brother Ye, Brother Ye! That skill was amazing, where did you learn it?"

"How long have you trained that? Brother Ye, you're the student of some hidden martial art master, aren't you?"

"That was so scary! Next time, you should leave this to the horse tamer, you gave us such a heart attack!"

"That was Zhan Ma Dao, right? It was one hundred percent similar to the one in the movie, XX! At the time, I thought they were just joking, but the skill really requires one to aim at the horse's hooves?"

"Hush! The director is an old friend with XX. He'll go complain to him…"

The crowd surrounded Ye Shuang. They all had stars in their eyes as they looked at a miracle. Even Director Zhou had forgotten to berate the unprofessional actress. Like a man who had found a treasure, he made his way through the crowd to reach Brother Shuang.

Add more scenes! Definitely need to add more scene!

But wait! This general is just an extra; he cannot steal too much of the spotlight… But that was really handsome, how about just one scene‽

No way! The script has already been written. If a scene is added, the plot will be disrupted. It will pull down the overall standard of the main plot… But that was really handsome, just one scene won't hurt, right‽

But wait! This is a movie, not a TV show. The addition of a scene will cause too much distortion. Furthermore, if you increase the length of the movie, the ticket price will shift as well, and that might affect the sales. But this is such a waste, how about just one scene‽

The scriptwriter watched Director Zhou closely, afraid that the man might do something reckless. He also thought it was a shame that they did not have more scenes of Ye Shuang since he was such a good action star. But if they missed this chance, there would still be next time. There was no need to use the whole film to make this type of joke. For example, some good actors could play both a loyal husband and a bawdy sex fiend. They could not possibly have him play both roles in a film simply because it would be a waste of his talent not to do so, right‽

Therefore, there had to be limitation, boundaries!

Hmm, but wait! I hear this Ye Shuang is not an actual actor. Many people have reached out to him with film offers, but he has rejected all of them… Meaning, if he leaves today, he will not return tomorrow, right? If we miss it today, there will be not be a chance in the future.

Then… should we add an extra scene?

Both of the main bosses of the film crew went to the side to tussle with their rationality while Ye Shuang was still enjoying the affection from the crow.

While Brother Shuang was famous, it was mainly due to that impossibly handsome face of his. There had never been a person in the entertainment industry that was so handsome, but ultimately, one could not rely on a pretty face forever. Without something to back up those good looks, after the initial craze was over, time diluted everything. Even if people still remembered the shock that the beautiful face brought them when they laid their eyes on it for the first time, it would have ended up as pure admiration. The crazy idolization would have ended.

Then, they realized that the man was quite good at acting as well. He was not swallowed up in the same scene as Luo Mingxin. Therefore, the rush of fans exploded once more. However, this did not really affect the other people in the same industry. After all, they did not really know what kind of person Ye Shuang was, perhaps he was lucky enough to get a character that was similar to how he was in real life?

This time, Ye Shuang showed them the type of person he was and instantly the amount of information he dropped flooded everyone's mind. Every Chinese person had a hidden obsession for wuxia—that was something decided by the cultural background.

Whether one liked this type of books or movies, if one saw such an actual martial arts expert in real life, the admiration that was born within one's heart was something that could not be compared to the shock that came from other discovery.

Handsome, good acting and great martial artist!

The C list, B list, and A list stars that were present almost all became his fans. Even Luo Mingxin could not resist the urge to join the crowd. This was especially true for the beauty that had been saved by the hero earlier. Even though she was crying her heart out, she was unable to garner any sympathy from the crowd. If anything, some were looking at her with envy.

Han Chu tried but realized that he was unstable to cut through the crowd. He could only toss a helpless gaze at Ye Shuang, who was the center of attention. Ye Shuang raised her eyes and caught the man's gaze. She raised her brow in a smile. She thanked the crowd's love politely. "I once learned how to race horse from a friend… Hmm, it's not that impressive a skill… Alright, thank you everyone, I wish to talk to my friend. Shouldn't we get back to the shooting?"

The director realized they were still in the middle of a shoot and came to break up the crowd. Even though the crowd was shocked, they were people with background. It was a heat of a moment thing to fall under Brother Shuang's influence. Now that they had calmed down, they realized that it was rather embarrassing to act that way around an extra. They could go for dinner after the shoot!

Therefore, the crowd dispersed, and Ye Shuang got the chance to breathe. She walked over to join Han Chu, and the two talked as they moved to the side.

"Don't need to wait for your scene?" Han Chu glanced at the crew, who threw themselves back into work.

"Hmm, the female actor is in such a state. If she is unable to get on the set, there is definitely no reason for me to stick around. I believe today's shoot will be delayed," Ye Shuang answered as she removed the armor. The set director, who was passing by, was called over by Ye Shuang, who apologized, "I'm so sorry, I've ruined the sword. Is there a need to prepare a new one?"

"It… it… it's fine." The set director was also a fan of wuxia. Seeing the man who became his new idol half a minute ago talking to him with such politeness, instantly, it felt so surreal to him, and he rambled some random words. "I'll go get some stuff to stick it back together and sharpen it afterward. It'll be fine."

After that, he looked so penitent like it was shameful for him to provide his idol with such a low-quality prop. "The crew doesn't have that much of a budget, but they need so many things. So, I didn't have the time to prepare a good sword for you…"

Ye Shuang consoled the set director and gave him a signature before leaving to inform the conflicted Director Zhou that he was going to leave early.

Getting on the car, Ye Shuang massaged her shoulders and sighed. "Acting is really not a simple career. After putting on the make-up and fitting, you have to wait for the scene. I thought today would only be a few scenes, but I waited there for a whole afternoon. If not for the rampaging horse, I believe I would have needed to stand there for at least another two hours."

"Looks like you're not that interested." Han Chu started the engine and drove the car into the road. "Then it's bad because I saw Director Zhou seemed to want to add scenes for you."

"Then, I will have to reject that." Ye Shuang smiled. "After all, I've spoken to Director Zhou once, and he knows I'm doing this for fun. Let's not talk about that anymore—we'll talk about Xia Cheng."

Han Chu nodded and kept his eyes on the road. "I heard some news from Boss Mo. Xia Cheng suddenly became active in the circle in Shanghai starting from last month. Later, it was released that he was related to some big media company in Xiang Jiang. These were things that most people knew already, so I'm not going into details. The key part was how Xia Cheng met Boss Mo."

If they were being frank, the best pimp in Shanghai was none other than Sister Yu. This was not entirely a derogatory word. Even though her line of work was rather immoral, no matter the method that she used, at least people admitted that Sister Yu had the connections and the news. Therefore, if any foreign investor wanted a piece of pie in Shanghai's entertainment business, they would normally pay Sister Yu a visit.

For one, Sister Yu's connections were very wide. People from the lowest level had heard about her, and it did not take much to request a meeting with her. For another, she had the power to manage everything in Shanghai. For a new power, getting her aid would make everything simpler. For example, the Xiang Jiang Boss who had Sister Yu as his mistress and Miao Yi, who cooperated with the boss. It was because Sister Yu mediating in the middle that the Xiang Jiang people were about to find a place so soon in Shanghai, and the cooperation with Miao Yi could be done so smoothly.

However, that was not the case with Xia Cheng. Xia Cheng got to know Boss Mo through the latter's connection, and this someone was a person Ye Shuang was familiar with. She did not expect it would be this person.

"I remember you are good friends with Mo Xiao Xia, right?" Han Chu calmly dropped a bomb that shattered Ye Shuang. "Xia Cheng's boss is currently pursuing Mo Xiao Xia, and I hear they met on a shoot for an advertisement at Xiang Jiang. After Xia Cheng's arrival in Shanghai, getting to know Boss Mo and the ability to sponsor this film just from one meeting were partly due to the influence of the young master and Boss Mo giving face to Mo Xiao Xia.

"Well, what do you plan to do next?"The zhanmadao was a single-bladed anti-cavalry Chinese sword. It originated during the Han Dynasty and was especially common in Song China. (Wikipedia)