Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

On the tree-shaded path filled with fallen leaves, Jiang Bai and Tian Xiwei, dressed in their autumn/winter high school uniforms, were sweeping up the dead branches and fallen leaves on the ground with old-fashioned mops.

"Jiang Chen!"

Tian Xiwei suddenly stopped cleaning, propped the broom up on her chin, and said with a fawning smile, "Look, we're in the same class again this year."

"A match made in heaven".

"Isn't that a coincidence?"

"Heh." Jiang Bai, who was diligently sweeping the floor with his head down, sneered without any emotion: "It seems that the admission score for Dawn is lower again this year."

"It's five points lower than last year!" Tian Xiwei said earnestly, holding up her palm. "It's good that it's only five points lower."

"Otherwise, I would have failed the exam by just one point!"

However, Jiang Bai ignored Tian Xiwei and continued sweeping the floor with great focus.

Tian Xiwei pouted, glanced around cautiously to make sure no one was around, and then suddenly shouted, "Jiang Chen!"

Jiang Bai, who was bending over to sweep the floor, paused, straightened up, stopped what he was doing, and turned to look at Tian Xiwei.

Tian Xiwei took small, quick steps, inching closer to Jiang Bai. She turned slightly to the side, tiptoed, and cupped her hand to her mouth, declaring, "I like you!"

Her smile was incredibly sweet, and the dimple on her right cheek was dazzling in the morning sunlight.

However, Jiang Bai didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, and simply said in a flat tone, "I don't like you."

Then he continued to lower his head and carefully sweep the floor.

Tian Xiwei's smile froze instantly, her sweet smile turning into an awkward, embarrassed laugh: "Then... then I'll think of another way."

After saying that, she grabbed the broom and fled.

"Cut!" At that moment, the director's voice finally came through the loudspeakers on set: "That take is a wrap!"

"Well done!"

Jiang Bai, who had maintained a rather indifferent and aloof expression, breathed a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face.

This is a rare, relatively long take.

Although three camera positions—long shot, medium shot, and close-up—were set up on set, the editing process will definitely involve switching between these three positions.

However, during the actual filming, this scene required the two actors to perform it in one take.

It can be considered a two-minute, one-shot scene.

This was Tian Xiwei's first time filming a scene with such a long take, and she was a little nervous. She tried twice, but the director was not very satisfied with both attempts.

Fortunately, this third attempt finally achieved the effect the director wanted.

After jogging off the set, Tian Xiwei went straight to the monitor to watch the playback, nodding repeatedly with a satisfied expression.

"Oda is quite talented," the director praised from the side. "He usually only needs one take at most before he gets the hang of it."

"Although this scene was rehearsed twice, the final result was quite good."

"Not at all." Tian Xiwei chuckled and scratched her head. "It's just that the role itself suits me. I often play myself."

"Jiang Bai is really amazing."

"The character is so different from his own personality, but he gets into character very quickly every time we film, and he rarely makes mistakes or needs to do another take."

Every time Jiang Bai is filming, he can seamlessly switch between his aloof and cheerful personalities.

One second he's a cool and aloof male god, the next he's a sunny and cheerful young man.

This left Tian Xiwei in awe.

So she never really considered Jiang Bai and Jiang Chen as the same person, and she never clearly distinguished between them in her mind.

"Indeed, Jiang Bai is also very talented."

The director nodded in agreement. Jiang Bai was not only talented, but also very easy to manage.

As long as he's directing a scene, the director basically doesn't need to explain any acting to him.

Jiang Bai's performance was excellent, from portraying the character's emotions and personality to delivering the lines; he usually nailed it in one take.

Jiang Bai, who was slowly walking towards them, happened to hear the two praising him.

To be honest, Jiang Bai himself also sensed it.

Jiang Bai had always believed that he was not a very talented person in acting.

Even when his teachers were giving him one-on-one guidance, they mostly praised him for studying diligently and remembering various theoretical knowledge very quickly.

However, the teacher didn't praise him much during the performance practice.

He didn't immediately grasp the concept or provide the desired emotion just because someone asked for it.

So he always thought that he was just smart and quick to learn theory, but when it came to actual performance, his talent was only at the level of an average person.

But once he actually joined the crew, he found that his acting skills improved very quickly during the actual filming process.

When he acted in his first drama, "Rush to the Dead Summer", he quickly got into character as soon as he joined the crew.

In the later stages, the director added more scenes for him, which he accepted. His final performance wasn't exactly amazing, but it definitely surpassed the level of a newcomer.

It's more than enough for an idol drama.

When it came to filming "A Love So Beautiful," Jiang Bai was even more at ease.

Although the character Jiang Chen's personality is very different from his own.

But after rewatching classic TV dramas featuring aloof and academically gifted characters like "Itazura na Kiss" and "Itazura na Kiss," he quickly learned how to portray this type of role.

During filming, Jiang Bai's portrayal of the character's emotions and reactions greatly satisfied the director.

He filmed it himself with ease.

This way, you can do other things after work instead of studying the script and thinking about how to act better.

This made Jiang Bai realize that he seemed to be a practical actor, whose acting skills improved rapidly through practice, and that his talent lay in this aspect.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Having talent is always better than not having talent.

After watching the scene they had just filmed together with Tian Xiwei, Jiang Bai asked, "Director, are the scenes at Chenxi Middle School almost finished filming?"

"Are we moving to another location?"

"Yes." The director nodded. "From now on, we'll mainly be filming scenes in the city."

"We've already scouted the location and rented the venue."

Jiang Bai glanced at Tian Xiwei beside him, and was about to say something to the director when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

His agent, Xu Xu, actually appeared outside the film set and was walking towards him.

That's quite unusual.

As Jiang Bai's manager, Xu Xu wouldn't be like an assistant, spending all his free time accompanying him on set.

Agents are mostly responsible for negotiating external relations, business, endorsements, and acting contracts.

Even if Xu Xu didn't have any other work to do while Jiang Bai was on set, there was no need for him to stay with the crew.

But his presence on set at this time meant that something had happened, and it was something important.

Jiang Bai immediately stopped talking and turned to greet him.

"Brother Xu, what brings you to the film set?"

"Of course I have something to ask you." Xu Xu's expression shifted back and forth, first showing some anticipation, then becoming nervous, and finally letting out a regretful sigh.

"The drama 'Rush to the Dead Summer' is going to be released earlier."

"This drama was originally scheduled to take over the time slot of the historical drama 'The Legend of Mi Yue'."

"But now the production team of 'The Legend of Mi Yue' is not satisfied, feeling that the broadcast date of April 28 is too early."

"They want the summer slot on Hunan TV's Golden Eagle Theater."

"This drama is considered a period drama that the State Administration of Radio and Television attaches great importance to. When the script was being written, it received support from the State Administration of Radio and Television for outstanding TV drama scripts."

"The sources of investors behind this are also very diverse, including internet companies, online broadcasting platforms, and several other capital sources."

"The producer also has very strong connections at Hunan TV."

"So after careful consideration, Hunan TV decided to swap the broadcast schedules of 'Rush to the Dead Summer' and 'The Legend of Mi Yue' and move up the broadcast time."

"Now there's only one month left before the broadcast."

"The promotional plans that were already prepared all have to be brought forward."

"Your schedule will also need to be adjusted accordingly."

"Next, we need to ask the production team for a few days off to participate in the recording of several variety shows to promote 'Rush to the Dead Summer'."

Xu Xu rattled off a long string of words in one breath.

Jiang Bai quickly extracted the key points.

"The Legend of Mi Yue"?

He has absolutely no recollection of this show!

Even if Xu Xu hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known that this drama was actually broadcast around the same time as "Rush to the Dead Summer".

It looks like a huge flop.

However, it's fine if "Rush to the Dead Summer" is released earlier; it's only a little over a month earlier, so it won't have much of an impact.

"No problem," Jiang Bai said nonchalantly. "I can cooperate with anything, but I'm only curious about one thing right now."

"Isn't Shuangzi still traveling abroad?"

"Can the production team bring her back from abroad to help with the promotion?"

"I think this might be difficult to handle!"