Global Film Emperor

Chapter 63 Change of plan
The lingering excitement of last night was still palpable. The bus was eerily quiet, everyone was expressionless, and seemed utterly despondent. Stepping inside, one felt as if this wasn't a train carriage, but a funeral parlor, where each person draped a white cloth as a sign of filial piety.

"Want some steamed buns?"

Lu Ze was in much better spirits than the others and was still able to eat. He handed the steamed bun to Li Wei next to him, who leaned against the car window and waved his hand, but kept staring at the soy milk in Lu Ze's hand.

"Give me a sip of this soy milk. Ah~ that feels much better."

"Brother! Do you have any more soy milk? I need to warm up my stomach, I feel so nauseous."

"Wait a minute, I bought a lot, there's enough for everyone. I'll go get it from the front of the car."

The soy milk was distributed to everyone; it was just a regular cup of Joyoung instant soy milk. The group of grown men drank it quite happily, and everyone had a Shiba Inu-like smile on their face, warmer than the Yunnan sunshine.

"What the hell did you all do last night! You bunch of bastards, what kind of mess have you made of? Huh! Old Liu! Old Liu! Did they get arrested by the police last night for going out with women? Did you pay their bail?!"

They were all scolded by Guo Mingde like grandsons, standing obediently in a row, listening to Guo Mingde's rant about whether he had gone to the police station to bail someone out the night before. They did feel a little guilty, after all, as actors, they were required to have professional ethics, and on the first day of work in 2017, they had already abandoned their professional ethics.

"You bunch of bastards! You're trying to mess with me on the first day back to work after the New Year? What were you doing last night?! I know, Song Guiyuan! Look at how swollen your eyelids are after drinking so much horse piss! Is your liver not doing well? I went to bed at nine last night just to make sure I could get the first scene right! And you guys! You like drinking so much, how about I get a doctor to give you guys an IV drip of beer?"

Guo Mingde's saliva sprayed all over Lu Ze's face, and the main target of the spray, Comrade Song Guiyuan, had enough saliva on his face to wash it. It was only because Guo Mingde stayed at that hotel last night in order to get to the film set as soon as possible that he could arrive early for inspection. Otherwise, he would have been dragged back by Guo Mingde by the collar halfway through his drink last night.

My gaze drifted to the side, where Yang Wenjin, the actress who played Veterinarian Hao, hadn't arrived before dinner last night, along with two women and a child, all sitting there watching the show.

After cursing for a full ten minutes, Guo Mingde finally calmed down a bit, and then kicked Zheng Yi, his best friend, in the butt.

"Aren't you going to change your clothes? What are you waiting for! Look at you all, all of you fat and bloated! After you change, do fifty push-ups each! Starting today! You all need to lose weight!"

Finally finished hurling insults, Lu Ze and his group breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran towards the costume department, while taking out their phones to check the pre-New Year's makeup and asking the makeup artist to fix their hairstyles.

Lu Ze wasn't involved in the first scene. I wished Mr. Yang Wenjin a Happy New Year and sat on the sidelines watching them film.

"Brother Lu?"

Lu Ze was wondering who in the film crew would call him "Big Brother" when he turned around and saw one of the girls who had been sitting on the side watching the show looking at him with a nervous expression.

"Um, hello."

Lu Ze had no recollection of this girl at all, as if he had never seen her before. He nodded in surprise and greeted her.

"Brother Lu, don't you recognize me? You spoke to me last fall when I went to Hengdian for a practical course, have you forgotten?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ze suddenly remembered her. Of course, he still didn't have any impression of her, but he remembered the group of second-year students from the Shanghai Film Academy who went to Hengdian last year to work as extras.

He had no recollection of the girls, but he vividly remembered the guy who got into a fight with the director; that kid was really wild.

The girl remembered him, and the tension on her face disappeared. She had been chosen by her school to act in the film crew. She knew many actors in the crew, but she didn't recognize any of them, and she didn't know how to start a conversation. So when she met Lu Ze at this time, she was overjoyed and felt like she had found her people.

"You're playing Xiao Zui, right? You started acting in your sophomore year of college? You have a bright future ahead of you."

Although he remembered what she did, Lu Ze had no desire to get closer to her. What could he possibly talk about with a girl who hadn't even graduated from school yet? Lu Ze figured there was nothing to talk about, so he gave a few perfunctory replies and then shut up.

"Brother Lu, are you no longer working in Hengdian? It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, I'm acting with the crew. Um, I have something to do, let's talk later."

Lu Ze stood up, waved, and left. He went to sit down next to Teacher Yang Wenjin, leaving the girl alone, looking at him somewhat at a loss.

"She's such a nice girl, and you don't even acknowledge her when she tries to talk to you. What's wrong with you?" Mr. Yang Wenjin is a genuine film emperor. At the age of 58, he still travels around with this tough film crew to shoot movies without a single complaint. Everyone in the crew respects him.

Moreover, he was the kindest person in the entire crew. Lu Ze got along very well with him because of the elderly simulation course, and the two were even closer than the other main actors.

He's just getting old, so he's become a bit talkative, and he likes to listen to the gossip of young people. At this moment, he nudged Lu Ze with his elbow, looking at him with a teasing expression.

"Teacher Yang, please don't say that. It sounds like I have something going on with that girl. That would be really unpleasant if word got out."

"Did I say anything? Do you have any cigarettes in your pocket? Give me one."

Lu Ze started filming very quickly. Guo Mingde had already made a filming plan and was ready to finish filming the scenes of the supporting actors and female characters as soon as possible so that they could leave first. Otherwise, sitting there with nothing to do would not only be a waste of time, but he would also find it annoying.

This morning we filmed the scene where Long Wenzhang and Yu Xiaoqing confront each other on a topographic map. Perhaps because everyone hasn't touched the script much during the New Year period, or perhaps because everyone was drunk and out of their minds last night, the progress wasn't smooth and was quite bumpy, failing to meet Guo Mingde's requirements.

This enraged Guo Mingde, who blamed everything on their hangover and gave them another dressing down. But the only thing that comforted him was that Lu Ze's performance remained stable and excellent, so Lu Ze wasn't scolded.

In the afternoon, before Zhang Lixian and Meng Fan were to go to Nantianmen to become a suicide squad, they filmed a scene where the two argued at Xiaozui's house. Although Zheng Yi said he had offended them, he still slapped Lu Ze several times without hesitation.

Lu Ze didn't complain at all. Getting hit during filming was a normal thing. It wouldn't affect his friendship with Zheng Yi after filming was over. It was just that his face was numb from being slapped and was red for a long time.

Of course, Lu Ze got his revenge the next day by filming the scene where even Lu Ze had to hate Zhang Lixian, the scene where Meng Fan was a Japanese soldier kneeling on the street and being pelted with vegetable leaves by the people.

Lu Ze continued to beat Zheng Yi without hesitation. The next day, the actors recovered and the filming progress began to speed up. However, Lu Ze still did not get the better of them. When filming that scene, Xiao Zui scratched his neck, leaving three bloody marks.

"I'll go back to my room first. I'll eat there and then go to sleep. I'm too tired."

After finishing work and returning to the hotel around 8 PM, Lu Ze greeted the actors with his takeout, then floated back to his room and lay on the bed, too lazy to move.

Filming wasn't actually tiring, but Lu Ze had health problems. He couldn't adapt to the new environment and started having diarrhea in the middle of the night yesterday. He also had a runny nose and a slight fever. After filming for another day, he almost collapsed on set and didn't make it back.

After lying down for a while, I managed to get up, opened the takeout soup, and took a sip. The chicken soup was very nourishing; one sip warmed my throat and stomach.

The phone rang; it was Shen Jinghan calling. Puzzled as to why he was calling at this hour, Lu Ze spoke first.

"Hello? Aunt Han."

"Lu Ze, how many more days until you finish filming your scenes?"

"What's wrong?"

"Preparations for 'Youth in the Capital' are complete. We'll be holding a press conference in a week, and then filming will officially begin. You'll have to get there in a few days."

Lu Ze was a little puzzled as to why things had suddenly moved up the schedule, but he didn't ask why. He figured asking wouldn't change anything, so there was no need to ask.

"I'll have about three or four more days here."

"The timing is just right, but you'll have to work a bit harder. Once you finish your work there, you'll have to fly to the capital."

"Okay, I understand."

Lu Ze had no choice but to agree. After hanging up the phone, he lost his appetite and threw his chopsticks on the table. He pounced on the bed and instantly became listless.

My brain was a bit stuck, and I was struggling to connect the plot points, so I decided to speed things up and skip "My Regiment." After all, it's a supporting character, and the screen time for it wouldn't be too long anyway, so it's better to get straight to the point.

Thank you to the following users for their generous donations: "Book Has Its Own Master", "July Flowers Bloom 123", and "I am a Dog". (Why this ID?)
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(End of this chapter)