Entertainment: Since 1990

Chapter 268 The Beauty in a Dilemma

Not only PolyGram is considering contract renewal, but Cao Jian had also thought about this issue long ago.

In the five years since signing with PolyGram, from "The Sea" to "Goodbye Kiss", then to "Too Softhearted", plus the later English albums and "Too Much", "Hungry Wolf Legend", and now "Stubborn".

These albums made PolyGram a lot of money.

If I include the fact that I wrote many best-selling songs for Faye Wong, then I can say that I have lived up to PolyGram's kindness in recognizing my talent.

Renewing the contract is out of the question. He has already planned that once the contract expires, he will release his own album and sign more singers to maximize his profits.

Singers like Jay Chou, S.H.E., Sun Yanzi, Jolin Tsai, Fish Leong, and Angela Chang should debut soon in another two years.

By then, if we sign these people, the Chinese music scene will be ours.

However, setting up a new company presents challenges such as album sales channels and distribution, which a new company cannot handle alone.

In this regard, we still need to rely on PolyGram.

However, the filming schedule is tight and the tasks are heavy during this period. After finishing "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", there is still "The Deer and the Cauldron", as well as two other films, "The Thirteen Heroes of the South China Sea" and "2046". Cao Jian does not have time to talk to PolyGram for the time being.

At this time, the scenes in Dali were also in their later stages of filming, with the scene of Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing being poisoned being filmed.

TVB's version of this part was relatively conservative, but the mainland version a few years later was a huge hit, truly faithful to the original story.

Cao Jian originally wanted to shoot it conservatively, but Li Xiaoran seemed to let loose during the filming process and was completely immersed in the story.

During filming, he flirted with Cao Jian in various ways, making assistant director Li Tiansheng reluctant to call "cut".

This thrilling scene has been well preserved.

"Director Li, isn't this going too far?"

Cao Jian frowned after watching Li Xiaoran's performance.

Li Tiansheng laughed and said, "It's alright, the original story is even more passionate than this, it's fine, anyway it's just verbal teasing, nothing was revealed."

"Depend on!"

Cao Jian cursed, saying that Li Xiaoran was his woman and only he could see her.

What else would you like to see?
Previously, Li Xiaoran's most stunning scene, where she unveiled her face, had already amazed the entire crew.

After much consideration, Cao Jian decided to include this scene in the stone chamber in the final cut, so that the audience would definitely remember the beautiful mainland actress Li Xiaoran.

The women who appeared earlier, Li Xiaoran and He Meitian, were already quite outstanding.

However, when filming the scenes involving Taihu Lake, the female lead, Jiang Qinqin, whom the crew had been curious about, came to the set for the first time.

"What a beautiful girl."

Although she wasn't wearing makeup yet, Jiang Qinqin's gentle, captivating almond-shaped eyes stunned all the Hong Kong staff present.

Hong Kong is not lacking in beautiful women, and TVB is especially full of them, but girls with such a pure yet elegant temperament are truly rare.

Even if there were, they'd all be used to make movies.

Director Cao's eye for casting actors and beautiful women is indeed first-rate.

But when Jiang Qinqin finished her makeup and wore a white dress, her fresh and refined appearance once again impressed everyone.

As expected of the woman who played Xi Shi, she is beautiful, so beautiful.

Moreover, her innocent eyes are exactly like Wang Yuyan's in the original novel.

"It's really beautiful."

In Cao Jian's mind, Liu Yifei was originally the undisputed number one in Wang Yuyan's ranking.

Since Wang Yuyan doesn't need to be cold, only innocent, Li Ruotong's Wang Yuyan can only be ranked second, Chen Yulian third, and the rest of the nobodies are naturally not worth mentioning.

But now that Jiang Qinqin has replaced Li Ruotong as Wang Yuyan, she should be able to be ranked first alongside Liu Yifei.

This woman seems to have been born for period dramas; in ancient times, she would have been capable of captivating even a foolish emperor.

"Director Cao, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with my makeup?"

Jiang Qinqin was aware of her looks, but noticing the director staring at her from head to toe, she gracefully walked over and asked him a question.

"No problem, you are really beautiful. You can be said to be the most beautiful Wang Yuyan so far."

Cao Jian was lavish in his praise.

"Thank you for the compliment, Director Cao."

Jiang Qinqin has acted before, including playing one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Her demeanor and appearance are the result of training.

She gracefully bowed to Cao Jian and said softly, "I hope the director will take good care of me."

"must."

Cao Jian felt that he was absolutely right in playing Duan Yu.

There are several scenes where Duan Yu carries Wang Yuyan while protecting her, so it's only natural that something will happen.

I just crave this body, so what?
After filming began, Jiang Qinqin, who had already acted in one TV series and two movies, impressed Cao Jian with her performance.

Actually, Cao Jian quite liked Jiang Qinqin.

Especially her roles as First Dream in "Storm Riders", Zhu Yunqiao in "Kangxi's Private Visits", and Lian Ni Chang in "The White-Haired Witch" are all very memorable.

Now that I can act opposite this woman, and I'm also the director, it shouldn't be difficult for me to win her over.

"Is the TV series 'Kangxi' being filmed yet?" Thinking of the TV series "Kangxi's Private Visits," Cao Jian suddenly realized that the golden age of Qing Dynasty dramas was about to begin.

These plays, to a large extent, glorified the whip, making people believe that the Qing Dynasty emperors were incredibly wise.

"Once I get to the mainland, I should film more dramas set in other dynasties. Even if I'm going to film a Qing Dynasty drama, I should show the corruption and backwardness of the Qing Dynasty and its destruction of China."

Cao Jian's thoughts couldn't help but jump to several years later.

"Director Cao, what are you thinking about?"

When Jiang Qinqin noticed that the director was staring at her without saying a word or making any filming arrangements, her face flushed slightly, and she gently offered a reminder.

“I was thinking, you’re so beautiful, will there be any roles suitable for you in my future dramas?”

Cao Jian snapped out of his daze and complimented the girl again.

"Director Cao, they're already embarrassed."

Jiang Qinqin actually acted coquettishly and turned around to look at the script.

"There's a chance."

A woman's face turns red when she's thinking of her husband—this is Wei Xiaobao's experience in wooing women.

Jiang Qinqin's shy demeanor just now suggests that pursuing her is quite promising.

However, the cast of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was full of beautiful women. Although Jiang Qinqin amazed everyone, when Yu Feihong played A'Zhu, even veteran actors like Huang Rihua had to admire Cao Jian.

At the same time, I was also impressed by how vast and abundant the mainland is, and how many beautiful women there are.

Yu Feihong is a gentle girl by nature. Her portrayal of A Zhu was both gentle and mischievous, and she performed it perfectly, completely overshadowing the Hong Kong girl who played A Bi.

"This woman is also beautiful, but in this drama, it's not easy to date two women in one film."

When Cao Jian saw Yu Feihong and then Jiang Qinqin, he really couldn't decide which one to choose.

In the end, he decided to target Jiang Qinqin first, and deal with Jinghong Fairy later in "Little Li Flying Dagger".

Having been accustomed to being a womanizer, Cao Jian no longer cared about being a womanizer a few more times.

"Miss Wang, be careful."

"Miss Wang, I'll carry you on my back."

"Miss Wang, I'm here to save you."

In the original novel, Duan Yu, the devoted admirer, always appeared at the first sign of danger whenever Wang Yuyan was in peril.

But in this drama, Cao Jian, who plays Duan Yu, also appears every time, but the difference is that he always does so in order to have more intimate contact with this woman.

After a few times, he discovered that Jiang Qinqin was not only beautiful, but also had a very good figure when he carried her on his back.

Although Jiang Qinqin had never been in a relationship, she understood that she was able to get the lead role entirely thanks to Cao Jian's help.

And this man happened to be her type, so she wasn't disgusted by Cao Jian's opportunistic behavior; on the contrary, she felt quite embarrassed.

This performance was also captured on camera, and unexpectedly, it fit the storyline even better.

During filming, the two interacted frequently, and Cao Jian took great care of the girl, which made Jiang Qinqin feel grateful to Cao Jian and gradually develop a good impression of him.

Of course, the girl was somewhat conflicted.

I came from the mainland to film this movie, and if it weren't for Director Cao's care, I don't know how I would have been bullied by the crew.

She could completely sense that Cao Jianyan was interested in her.

However, she had heard a little about the director's womanizing ways on set, so she was a little worried and hesitant.

She worries that one day Cao Jian might actually pursue her, and she'll have to decide whether to reject him then.

reject?

She clearly had feelings for this handsome man and was grateful for his help.

Don’t refuse?
But I'm also afraid that the other party is just playing around.

What if they just want to play around and then dump you?
Compared to the conflicted "Wang Yuyan", Alyssa Chia's character, Abi, expresses her admiration for Cao Jian on several occasions.

"Director Cao, when are you going to Taiwan next time? I'll take you to eat something delicious."

"Director Cao, the song 'Stubborn' in your new album is really good."

"Director Cao, I'm embarrassed to let this man kiss my feet. How about you play Zhuang Juxian in the foot-kissing scene? You can use a camera trick to film it."

Faced with such a gesture of goodwill, Cao Jian naturally understood what the girl meant.

You feel embarrassed when other men kiss your feet, but you feel comfortable when I kiss them?

"Vixen."

Li Xiaoran, Li Ruotong, Jiang Qinqin, and others noticed that Jia Jingwen was trying to please the director by even asking him to kiss her feet, and they couldn't help but secretly curse her in their hearts.

"???"

But after Jiang Qinqin finished scolding, she felt that something was wrong.

Why did I feel unhappy when I heard those words?
Could it be that she's developed a crush on Director Cao while filming with him?

(End of this chapter)