How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 493 A Mess
At 1 p.m. sharp, filming for "A Love So Beautiful" began.

The first scene is a confrontation between the female lead, Qiao Shanshan, and the male lead, Lu Ming, who are "arguing".

Qiao Shanshan passed the interview for her dream company and found Lu Ming handing out flyers on the roadside. The two had a disagreement about their future plans and started arguing on the street.

Just as Qiao Shanshan was about to burst into tears, Lu Ming suddenly covered his nose with his hand and sneezed.

"Stop!" Director Xu Baoping's voice echoed throughout the film set.

Lu Ming rubbed his nose, then bowed apologetically to Xu Baoping, "Sorry, Director, something seems to have drifted into my nose just now. Could you please do another take?"

Upon hearing the explanation, Xu Baoping waved his hand to indicate that it was alright, and then said into the walkie-talkie, "All departments, get ready. Let's do that scene again."

Qiao Shanshan looked annoyed. She had finally managed to build up her sad mood, but now she had to start all over again because of a sneeze.

Anyone who has acted knows that building up emotions is a difficult and complex process; it's not something you can just do on a whim or cry on a whim.

Lu Ming knew that the scene just now was difficult, and his sneezing came at a very inopportune time, so he said to Qiao Shanshan apologetically, "Sorry Shanshan, I really couldn't help it just now."

When Qiao Shanshan saw that the other party apologized, she didn't want to complain, so she pretended to be indifferent and said, "It's okay, I'm not satisfied with my performance just now either."

After saying that, she smiled, then turned around and returned to her original position, silently brewing up her sadness.

Xu Baoping saw that the actors were all ready and nodded to the script supervisor.

The script supervisor holds a script board with information such as the film title, scene number, and shot number written on it.

"Scene 13, Shot 7, Take 2, Begin."

"Snapped!"

As the sound of the clapperboard being struck rang out, filming resumed.

Qiao Shanshan spotted Lu Ming on the street and quickly walked towards him. But as soon as she got close, Lu Ming sneezed again, and this time, tears streamed down his face.

"stop!"

After Xu Baoping finished speaking, he stood up, looked at the field, and asked, "Lu Ming, what's wrong? Do you have a cold?"

Lu Ming rubbed his nose and shook his head: "I don't know, my nose just feels itchy, maybe I caught a bit of a cold."

After saying that, he sneezed three more times in a row.

Qiao Shanshan subtly stepped back, afraid of being infected.

Lu Ming took a tissue from his assistant, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and was about to tell the director that everything was fine when his nose started itching again and he started having a runny nose, even worse than before.

Assistant Xiao Zheng handed over a few more tissues and suddenly noticed that the artist's cheeks and nose were a little red, and his skin was visibly swollen.

"Brother Ming, why is your face swollen?" Xiao Zheng suddenly asked.

Lu Ming was slightly taken aback, touched his face with his hand, and said in confusion, "I don't feel any swelling."

Xiao Zheng immediately took a mirror out of his bag and let Ming Ge look at himself.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Lu Ming had to admit that his cheeks were flushed and somewhat swollen.

what's the situation?
Is the paper towel poisonous?

People around Lu Ming were also looking at his face. He was fine just a moment ago, so how did it become swollen in such a short time? There was no scene of him being slapped in the face just now.

"Something's not right!" Assistant Director Wang suddenly said, "Lu Ming, it seems like you're having an allergic reaction."

After hearing this, everyone realized what was going on.

Yes, a cold wouldn't suddenly cause red and swollen skin; this is clearly an allergy symptom.

Upon hearing that it was an allergy, Lu Ming panicked and muttered in confusion, "How could I be allergic? I didn't eat anything that I'm allergic to."

"It might not be food, it could be pollen or something like that," said Assistant Director Wang as he asked someone to fetch a first-aid kit.

"Pollen?" Lu Ming looked around; there were no flowers at all, and no one was carrying any.

"Brother Ming, you forgot, you're allergic to cat fur," the assistant whispered a reminder.

“But I didn’t touch the cat,” Lu Ming said.

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent. Everyone unconsciously turned their gaze to the orange cat in Vice President Liu's arms, and then looked at Qiao Shanshan with strange expressions.

If I remember correctly, Qiao Shanshan just hugged that orange cat, and petted and snuggled it. Maybe it was during this process that the cat hair got stuck to her clothes.

No wonder Lu Ming was perfectly fine when he wasn't filming, but started sneezing repeatedly whenever he acted opposite Qiao Shanshan.

The reason was found.

When Qiao Shanshan saw everyone looking at her, she realized what was happening. She looked down at her clothes and found some cat hair.

"I'm sorry, Lu Ming, I didn't know you were allergic to cat fur." ​​Qiao Shanshan apologized hastily, this time it was her turn to feel embarrassed.

Liu Haiyang was still holding the orange cat, originally waiting to watch the "cat and mouse" show, but unexpectedly it caused the male lead to have an allergic reaction.

His face turned bright red instantly, and he looked extremely embarrassed.

"Lu Ming, are you allergic to cats? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Liu Haiyang quickly put the orange cat into the carrier and then reached out to pat the cat's fur off his body.

While applying medicine to his face, Lu Ming said with a wry smile, "I rarely interact with cats, so I didn't tell the crew."

There are no cat scenes in the script, and no one in the crew asked about it. Who would go around telling everyone about this?
A gentle breeze blew by. Liu Haiyang was upwind, and Lu Ming was downwind. As a result, the cats that Liu Haiyang was swatting were all blown towards Lu Ming by the wind.

Suddenly, Lu Ming's breathing became rapid, and he felt like he couldn't breathe, as if an invisible hand was choking him.

The redness and swelling on her cheeks did not subside after applying the ointment, and the anti-allergy medication was ineffective after being taken.

"Oh no! Get him to the hospital right away!" Assistant Director Wang shouted urgently.

The crew was in chaos. Several strong young staff members quickly helped Lu Ming into a van, which sped away like a gust of wind, leaving the others bewildered.

Filming had just started in the afternoon when the male lead was rushed to the hospital due to an allergic reaction. How could they possibly continue filming?
Liu Haiyang stood there, receiving everyone's gazes—a mixture of helplessness, condemnation, and suppressed laughter—making him wish he could disappear into a mouse hole.

Originally, they were looking for the mole who sabotaged the filming, but now he has become the biggest sabotager.

"Is there anyone else allergic to cat fur?" Liu Haiyang asked loudly.

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, indicating that they were not allergic to cat fur.

"..."

Liu Haiyang was speechless.

Is Lu Ming the only one allergic to cat fur? That's really unlucky.

"Assistant Director Wang, go and take a look at the statistics later," Liu Haiyang said to Assistant Director Wang. "See if anyone else is allergic to anything else, and write it all down."

“Okay, Mr. Liu.” Assistant Director Wang nodded.

Liu Haiyang returned to the carrier, and just as he was hesitating about whether to give the orange cat away, a sudden shout rang out. "The mouse! That mouse is back!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the rat that had just escaped into the sewer had now reappeared from somewhere and was wandering around the film set along the base of the wall.

Of course, it could also be another mouse that looks and is similar in size.

Liu Haiyang, who was initially depressed, brightened up instantly upon hearing the news that the rat had returned.

Why did he buy the cat? Wasn't it just to catch mice?
Now that the mouse has appeared, the orange cat's chance to make a name for itself has arrived.

If he can catch this mouse, he can not only save face, but also prove that his decision to buy the cat was the right one. Then let's see who dares to laugh at him.

"Don't move, let me do it!" Liu Haiyang shouted, then opened the carrier next to him, took the orange cat out, and threw it towards the mouse, yelling, "Go, go catch the mouse!"

The orange cat landed steadily. It had been listless, but upon seeing the mouse, it instantly perked up, arched its back, puffed out its fur, and rushed over quickly.

The rat was so frightened that it immediately turned around and ran towards the sewer.

How could the orange cat let its delicious meal and toy get away? It quickly gave chase.

Just as Liu Haiyang was feeling smug, there was a loud crash. The orange cat knocked over the fill light that was standing on the ground. The light stand crashed heavily to the ground, and the lampshade shattered.

Before anyone could react, the orange cat chased the mouse and bumped into the camera's slider. The slider was knocked off course, and the cameraman, who was adjusting the equipment, didn't have time to catch it. The camera shook, and the lens hit the tripod.

"Fuck!"

The cameraman's heart skipped a beat. Looking at the cracked lens, he almost burst into tears.

This lens is worth tens of thousands.

"Watch out for the microphone!" someone shouted.

But it was too late.

The mouse, in a panic, scurried into the pile of wires in the radio equipment. The orange cat pounced after it, scratching at the wires, but instead of catching the mouse, it pulled on the microphone wires.

With a "thud," the microphone head fell to the ground, its casing cracking.

Director Xu Baoping was completely dumbfounded.

Is this cat here to catch mice or to cause trouble?
No matter how annoying mice are, they might only chew a few pieces of clothing, but this orange cat is practically turning the film set upside down.

"Catch the cat! Catch the cat!" Xu Baoping shouted at the people around him, no longer caring about saving face for Liu Haiyang.

If this orange cat is allowed to continue its antics, it's uncertain whether it will catch the mouse, but the crew's equipment is definitely doomed.

The staff nearby then realized what was happening and rushed to catch the cat.

Some people are just strange; they're afraid to catch mice, but they're willing to catch cats.

So, people caught cats, cats caught mice, and the mice scurried around.

Some people tried to get to the root of the problem by taking a broom and trying to kill the rats, but there were too many tools and equipment around, so they couldn't do anything about it.

Even if they catch up, they dare not hit hard, for fear of damaging the equipment.

If rats chew up clothes, the loss is borne by the film crew; but if equipment is damaged while catching rats, the loss is definitely borne by the individual.

Perhaps because humans were chasing it, the orange cat chased the mouse while dodging them, which caused it to do things completely unconventionally, jumping onto prop boxes one moment and crawling into set frames the next, turning the originally tidy film set into a complete mess.

Liu Haiyang stared in disbelief at what was happening, his mind a complete mess.

The price of a cat catching a mouse is too high, isn't it?
"Stop! Don't chase it!" Liu Haiyang shouted at the orange cat, stomping his feet in anger.

But the orange cat completely ignored its new owner's words and continued to jump around, utterly unaware of the trouble it had caused.

Ultimately, it had only known its new owner for two or three hours and hadn't even had a meal with him, making it less attractive than a mouse.

With the help of humans, the rats took advantage of the chaos and slipped into the cracks in the corner of the wall, disappearing without a trace.

The orange cat stopped at the entrance of the hole and stretched out its paws to scratch at the gap. However, after only a few scratches, it was hugged by a staff member and put back into the carrier.

Everything finally returned to calm, but the set was a complete mess: shattered lampshades, misaligned tracks, cracked microphones, and torn reflectors...

Liu Haiyang stared blankly at everything. He had just wanted the orange cat to catch the mouse to save face, but now, instead of catching the mouse, it had destroyed a bunch of equipment, which, at a glance, must have cost at least tens of thousands of yuan.

Originally, the male lead was sent to the hospital for an allergic reaction, and the production team could adjust the schedule at the last minute to film the scenes with the female lead and the second male lead first.

But now, a lot of the equipment is broken, and it's impossible to continue filming.

The staff stood there, looking at each other speechlessly.

Since the day the machine was turned on, although accidents have happened every day, this is the first time such a devastating accident has occurred.

Moreover, the instigator was none other than the producer, Vice President Liu.

You can't say anything to them, you can't scold them, what else can you do if you don't shut up?

After a long while, director Xu Baoping spoke first: "Don't just stand there, quickly tidy up this place, and then report the equipment damage to me."

After hearing this, no one said anything; they simply tidied up the film set in silence.

Xu Baoping approached Liu Haiyang and said with a helpless tone, "Mr. Liu, the equipment is broken, so we definitely can't film today. Please contact the repairmen. If it can be repaired, fix it as soon as possible; if it can't be repaired, buy a new one quickly. Filming can't be delayed."

"Okay, I'll contact the repairman right away," Liu Haiyang said quickly, his voice a little hoarse.

He took out his phone and made a call. Looking at the exhaustion on Director Xu's face, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He originally wanted to catch the mole and the rat, but he ended up becoming the biggest troublemaker. Not only did he not solve the problem, but he also made a mess of the crew.

"Director Xu, I'm sorry, I didn't expect things to turn out this way. I'll take Mao away right away," Liu Haiyang said after finishing the call.

Xu Baoping nodded. He just wanted to be quiet and didn't want to say another word.

I'm so tired, I'm tired everywhere.

When Liu Haiyang saw that Director Xu didn't say anything, he immediately felt his face burning with embarrassment; it was such a disrespectful thing to do.

Of course, he knew he was losing face, so he picked up the carrier and glared at the orange cat inside.

It's all your fault, you're such a disgrace to your father.

But the orange cat just lazily yawned, completely ignoring his anger.

Liu Haiyang was even angrier and left the set without looking back.

All he wanted to do now was leave as soon as possible, get out of here, and not face the strange looks from others or listen to their gossip.

Ultimately, the plan to catch the rats ended in failure.

……

(End of this chapter)