CH 29

As the male lead, if you were to fall and knock over the sacrificial altar during the opening ceremony, people in the entertainment industry would talk about it for years.

The people around saw Xie Ming fall to the ground, and Mu Qingyan was falling towards the altar, causing them to exclaim in alarm.

Mu Qingyan reached out to grab the person next to him to steady himself, but for a moment, no one could grab him. He closed his eyes and thought to himself that he couldn’t escape this disaster.

At this moment, a sturdy and powerful arm quickly reached out and caught him around the waist.

At that moment, he was only five or six centimeters away from the altar. Fortunately, he didn’t fall and the altar didn’t tip over, and everything was fine.

Mu Qingyan let out a sigh of relief and looked at the person who caught him.

This person looked to be in his twenties, with wheat-colored skin and a well-built body, and was a very standard and handsome type of man.

He was the previous year’s Best Actor, Luo Wenzhe.

After Mu Qingyan stabilized himself, the people around him came over and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he straightened his clothes and looked at Luo Wenzhe. “Thank you.”

Luo Wenzhe smiled, with two shallow dimples appearing on his face, adding a touch of cuteness to his already handsome face. He said, “It’s good that you’re okay, it’s just a small matter.”

Although he didn’t say it, Mu Qingyan knew that Xie Ming had deliberately pushed him, almost ruining the opening ceremony. He tilted his head and his sharp gaze pierced Xie Ming, who had just stood up from the ground.

Xie Ming didn’t even dare to look at Mu Qingyan and pretended to be weak, saying, “I’m sorry, I just tripped and accidentally bumped into Brother Mu.”

The various media outlets that had come to the opening ceremony had not yet left and were taking pictures with their cameras flashing.

Mu Qingyan spoke his mind, ‘What a great show.’

If he blamed Xie Ming, the media might say Mu Qingyan was bullying the male supporting actor on set because he was the male lead. If he didn’t blame Xie Ming, he would bear the responsibility for the disruption of the opening ceremony.

However, regardless of how he responded, Xie Ming’s fall during the opening ceremony was already enough to make headlines and generate buzz for him.

Click, click…

Entertainment reporters aimed their cameras at the tense atmosphere between Mu Qingyan and Xie Ming, continuously taking pictures.

Mu Qingyan handled the situation with ease and said, “It’s okay. Mr. Xie may want to watch where he’s walking in the future, so he doesn’t trip over any stones or potholes.”

After speaking, he turned and prepared to head to the next location.

“I…” Xie Ming remained in place, still pretending to be aggrieved as if Mu Qingyan had purposely embarrassed him.

Luo Wenzhe looked at Xie Ming and politely reminded him, “According to the itinerary, your position isn’t supposed to be next to Mu Qingyan. Also, I saw you bump into him…”

Although the leading actor appeared hesitant to speak, Xie Ming had already heard that Luo Wenzhe had noticed him push Mu Qingyan, so he murmured in agreement and quickly moved to his designated location.

The entertainment reporters who had witnessed everything were secretly delighted and immediately stepped aside, opening their laptops. They had already come up with a headline: “New love jealous of old love, Mu Qingyan pushed by love rival.”

Realizing that it was a false alarm, the rest of the opening ceremony continued with the other participants.

To get the filming started as soon as possible, the subsequent ceremony only took twenty minutes. Director Cui Yu didn’t like too many people on set during filming, so he asked the actors who didn’t have scenes that day to return to the nearby hotel to rest.

Since Mu Qingyan had a scene in the first part, he stayed on set and waited for the crew to set up the green screen and props.

A sweet-looking, petite actress walked over and greeted him with a smile.

Mu Qingyan knows her, she is the leading actress of this movie, a former child star who is only 22 years old but has already been in the industry for 18 years, starred in 12 movies and 57 TV dramas.

According to fan statistics, she is currently the most productive actress among the 20 to 25 age group.

He politely responded, “Hello, Lin Shuangshuang.”

“Just call me Shuangshuang!” Lin Shuangshuang waved her hand and said with a smile, “I watched the ‘Acting PK Battle’ you participated in and really liked your sharp critiques. Haha. After you were not on the show for a few episodes, I didn’t have the motivation to keep watching.”

Mu Qingyan could tell that Lin Shuangshuang really liked him, not just being polite, so he said, “I will be a guest again.”

After all, under Ji Liyun’s persistence, he had agreed to be a special guest on the last episode of ‘Acting PK Battle.’

“Really? That’s great!” Lin Shuangshuang’s eyes lit up, looking forward to it.

The first scene they were filming was the opening part of the movie <Lost in the Stars> which was also the first scene where Mu Qingyan and Lin Shuangshuang had a scene together.

The plot was that they were standing in the ruins of a city, witnessing the first stage of the destruction of their planet, and planning to go to outer space to find a suitable planet as a new home for humanity.

The scene they were about to film was when Lin Shuangshuang, who played the younger sister, saw their parents buried in the ruins and almost collapsed. Mu Qingyan, who played the older brother, comforted and encouraged her to be strong and live on.

Lin Shuangshuang was an experienced professional actress, even though she was in a green screen studio where the scene and atmosphere relied entirely on her imagination, she quickly got into character.

However, she had only acted in modern family dramas and period dramas before, and this was her first time trying a sci-fi genre, so she was a bit unfamiliar.

Except for the director and Mu Qingyan, no one could tell.

Although they only filmed three takes, Lin Shuangshuang’s solo shots passed, but she still felt a bit nervous and worried that she might not be able to control the level of sadness when filming the scene with Mu Qingyan.

Unexpectedly, Mu Qingyan got into character even faster, and when they filmed the scene together, she was immediately infected by his emotions and got into character.

At that moment, Lin Shuangshuang felt like she was ‘her’, and Mu Qingyan was her ‘older brother.’

‘He’s amazing!’ Lin Shuangshuang secretly sighed in her heart.

They only had three or four scenes together, but they managed to get through them smoothly.

Meanwhile, Mu Qingyan’s solo scenes were all done in one take. Even the picky director Cui Yu couldn’t find any faults in his performance.

The on-set director, crew members, and actors, except for Xie Ming, all admired him from the bottom of their hearts.

“The One Take Wonder” nickname is well-deserved.

Lin Shuangshuang went from being impressed by this new “big brother” to admiring him.

She thought to herself that if they weren’t fellow actors, she would definitely be a fan and a little fangirl of Mu Qingyan.

To give the lead actor a break, they filmed a few scenes with supporting actors after completing several scenes of Mu Qingyan and Lin Shuangshuang’s scenes.

Xie Ming was unhappy, so he wasn’t fully focused during filming and kept making mistakes.

Cui Yu, who was known for his strictness, became increasingly angry after ten takes and couldn’t help but say to Xie Ming, “I told you when you were on that variety show that your performance is too one-dimensional. How come your dialogue, which should have ups and downs, is so bland in your mouth?”

Xie Ming was criticized in front of everyone and held back tears as she apologized softly, “I’m sorry.”

“An apology won’t do anything. You need more training,” Cui Yu said as he went down to the set to personally teach Xie Ming how to act in order to keep the filming on schedule.

Even so, it took three or four more takes for them to get it right.

Cui Yu said to the assistant director with indifference, “In the future, actors of this level shouldn’t be allowed on my set.”

Although this sentence seemed simple, it actually destroyed Xie Ming’s dream of becoming famous overnight with this “Lost in Space” and ruined her chances of participating in major commercial films for the next few years.

No investor would want to use an actor that was rejected by a famous director.

Assistant director Luo Yi agreed with Cui Yu’s statement. As the casting director, she naturally bore a great responsibility if the actors didn’t meet expectations.

Xie Ming was never even in Luo Yi’s consideration for the supporting role, but because she brought in money and was recommended by several acquaintances, as well as having acted in more than ten dramas, Luo Yi agreed to give her the last supporting role.

“I didn’t expect Xie Ming to mess up,” said Luo Yi, not pleased.

“There’s no scene for you today, so go back to the hotel and rest. Study your role carefully,” she said to Xie Ming.

Xie Ming pretended to be humble and said he would go back and prepare well, but as soon as he left the scene, he returned to the hotel with a black face.

His assistant, Ma Xiaofen, followed him, trembling and afraid to speak.

After entering the hotel room and putting away Xie Ming’s belongings, Ma Xiaofen wanted to leave, but Xie Ming stopped her with a stern voice, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to buy dinner for you…”

Xie Ming closed the curtains to make sure no paparazzi could take pictures, then walked up to his assistant with a sinister look and said, “Do you think I’m in the mood to eat?!”

“I…” Ma Xiaofen was too scared to answer when she saw his terrifying face.

Smack!

Xie Ming slapped her.

Smack! Smack!

Xie Ming slapped her two more times, squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth, “Why does Mu Qingyan get all the good things?! Why is he the male lead and I’m just a supporting actor?! Why does he get it right in one take while I get scolded?!”

Ma Xiaofen covered her face, too scared to breathe, and endured the pain in her cheek.

She knew that no matter what he said, it would only bring more severe and violent beatings. For the sake of her job and salary, she had to endure.

Fortunately, as soon as Xie Ming started to get angry, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Xie Ming asked.

“It’s me, Xing Hao,” came the reply from outside.

Xie Ming recognized Xing Hao’s voice and whispered to Ma Xiaofen, “Get out,” then adjusted his expression and opened the door.

Xing Hao saw Xie Ming’s assistant quickly walking out with a hand over her face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” Xie Ming sat on the bed with a troubled face, hesitating to speak.

“I heard you fell and came to see you,” Xing Hao said softly, looking at his beloved with tenderness. “Are you okay?”

Xie Ming shook his head with a helpless expression, “I’m fine. But Mu Qingyan is really annoying. He makes it sound like I pushed him on purpose!”

“I know you’re a kind person and wouldn’t do that,” Xing Hao embraced Xie Ming, “I’ve already arranged for something to happen to Mu Qingyan during filming.”

Xie Ming’s eyes lit up with a hint of excitement, “What’s going to happen?”

“Like a mistake in the explosion, or a prop breaking, or a real weapon being used instead of a fake one.”