HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

"Whoever backs down is a coward!"

Seeing Qin Feifei's words, Xu Lang was amused and exasperated. "This Beijing girl seems really angry; she's even using Beijing slang!"

Having achieved his goal, Xu Lang stopped provoking Qin Feifei.

Putting down his phone, he got out of bed and started packing the things he needed for the photoshoot. Seeing this, Zhang Yanbin asked curiously:

"Brother Lang, it's already dark, why are you still going out?"

"Oh, what a miserable life, I still have to go take pictures of our beloved Sister Fei."

Upon hearing this, Mao Jian and Jiang Wei immediately jumped out of bed, their faces full of sorrow.

"Damn, you messed with Sister Fei too?"

"Third brother, can't you leave me something to look forward to?"

"Haha, look at how pathetic you all are!"

Xu Lang was too lazy to argue with them, so he packed his gear and left the dormitory.

I first borrowed an outfit from Gao Ying, and then went to the photography studio to queue up.

This line of people stayed until 10 p.m.

"The studio's ready for use, are you still willing to come?"

Xu Lang's message to Qin Feifei still carried a provocative tone.

Qin Feifei replied with just two words:

"Just wait!"

"Okay! As long as you dare to come."

Xu Lang waited outside the photography studio. Soon, headlights flashed, and a red Mazda pulled up in front of the studio.

"Click!"

The car door opened, and Qin Feifei stepped out with an icy expression. Without even looking at Xu Lang, she walked directly into the photography studio.

"ha!"

Xu Lang looked at her and found it amusing. "This woman, she's really good at pretending!"

Carrying his clothes and carrying his camera, Xu Lang followed them inside.

It's still costume studio number 6.

Xu Lang handed the clothes he was holding to Qin Feifei.

"Put on this women's armor. It's not luxurious or grand, but it's good enough."

"snort!"

Qin Feifei was clearly still angry with Xu Lang. After glaring at him, she was about to leave with the armor.

"Well!"

As it turned out, the armor was quite heavy, and Qin Feifei couldn't lift it. The moment Xu Lang let go, she was almost knocked to the ground by the armor.

Xu Lang stood aside, ignoring her, and watched her with a smile, waiting for her to come and beg him.

"Get up, don't block the way!"

Qin Feifei dismissively shoved Xu Lang aside and dragged the armor towards the changing room with both hands.

"Okay, you really do have a stubborn streak!"

Xu Lang ignored everything and started adjusting the set and lighting all by himself.

Having just finished adjusting, Qin Feifei walked out wearing armor.

Xu Lang turned the light to shine on Qin Feifei, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:

"Ha, what a handsome general."

"What are you taking pictures of?"

Qin Feifei pointed at Xu Lang with her sword, annoyed. "Stop talking nonsense and get started."

"good!"

Xu Lang, holding the camera, began explaining the scenes he wanted to shoot to Qin Feifei:

"On the battlefield, Yelü Qi, who is also Guo Fu's husband, was trapped in the enemy's formation and was in imminent danger. On the Song side, only Yang Guo could save him. Guo Fu asked Yang Guo to go and save Yelü Qi, and Yang Guo said, 'Kneel down and beg me, and I will go and save him.' At this moment, Guo Fu really knelt down and begged Yang Guo."

This scene is the climax of Guo Fu's character arc, and it is also the most complex and memorable scene in the entire book. What we want to film is this scene of Guo Fu kneeling down.

Her...

"Alright, stop rambling. I know the plot. Let's begin."

"OK!"

Unwilling to listen, Xu Lang simply stopped talking and waited with his camera in hand.

Under the spotlight, Qin Feifei held her sword, gazing into the distance with a look of anxiety and helplessness.

Xu Lang knew that Qin Feifei was continuing the story from before, and also building up her own emotions. Watching her every move and her panicked expression, he couldn't help but give her a thumbs-up.

"As expected of a top student in the acting department, she's got real talent; she can convincingly portray any role."

As he was thinking, he saw Qin Feifei turn to Xu Lang, clearly intending to use Xu Lang as a substitute for Yang Guo. Just as she was about to speak, he saw her brows suddenly furrow, and then she turned around and turned to the side.

"stop!"

Xu Lang, looking puzzled, took off his camera and asked Qin Feifei, "Why are you turning your face that way?"

"Nonsense, do you think I'd kneel before you? Dream on!"

"Hey?!"

Xu Lang was furious and speechless. After a long while, he finally said, "Qin Feifei, are you even formally trained? Can't you be a little more professional?"

"Hmph, you chose this scene just to make me kneel before you, you feel good about it, don't you?"

"I'll be happy with you, my foot! If you actually kneel before me, I'll have to give you a New Year's red envelope, and I'm not doing that!"

"You...you're taking advantage of me again!"

"Ugh!"

Xu Lang was speechless. He pointed at the camera lens, then at the newly set-up lights, and said, "If you kneel over there, who am I supposed to photograph? Are you even capable?"

Qin Feifei knew, of course, that Xu Lang was right. She had just turned around when she realized she couldn't bring herself to kneel before him.

"Hmph, wait a minute, let me think about it."

A moment later, Qin Feifei straightened the sword in her hand, "That's better now!"

Let's begin!

Qin Feifei looked at Xu Lang, her lips unconsciously pouting again, but she still insisted on saying, "Yang Guo, you should hurry up and save Brother Yelü."

"Kneel down and beg me, and I'll save you!"

Xu Lang, playing the role of Yang Guo, casually replied.

After he finished speaking, Qin Feifei hesitated and struggled for a moment, her knees bent several times, but she ultimately did not kneel down.

"stop!"

Xu Lang put down his camera and looked at Qin Feifei, whose face was full of confusion. "What's wrong with you? Is it going to work or not?"

Qin Feifei knew she was in the wrong, but she still waved her hand at Xu Lang, "What's the rush? Can't you see I'm getting into the mood? Let's do it again!"

Qin Feifei stood up again and looked at Xu Lang. This time, she didn't say any lines. Her body kept swaying, but she just wouldn't kneel.

Xu Lang held the camera, his body swaying with Qin Feifei's movements, his buttocks sticking out, his back bent, moving forward and backward, always anticipating her changes in posture.

As a result, his legs were aching, but Qin Feifei still hadn't knelt down.

Xu Lang lost his patience, straightened up, put away his camera, and glared at Qin Feifei.

"If you can't take the picture, apologize to me right now!"

"Who says I can't take pictures?"

"ha!"

Xu Lang scoffed, pointing at her with a mocking tone, "You can't even kneel down properly, and you dare to call yourself a professional actress? I doubt you've ever taken any acting classes."

Xu Lang's mockery made Qin Feifei lose her composure. "Let's try again! This time I'll definitely succeed!"

"Okay, I'll give you one more chance!"

Xu Lang raised the camera again and looked at Qin Feifei.

Within the viewfinder, Qin Feifei's face showed a struggle, her lips almost bleeding from being bitten. Finally, she gritted her teeth, bent her knees, and knelt down before Xu Lang.

You know what, looking at Qin Feifei kneeling on the ground, Xu Lang felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Qin Feifei, however, kept her head slightly lowered, her face full of conflict.

"Yes, that's the emotion, make it stronger, lift your head up a bit..."

As they were talking, Xu Lang suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"Stop!"

Xu Lang straightened up, put down his camera, and asked Qin Feifei:

"What kind of expression is that, clenching your teeth? You're begging Yang Guo, not trying to kill him."

"Let's try again!"

After trying several more times, Xu Lang felt that Qin Feifei's expression was off. After she saw the photo herself, she also felt that something was wrong.

"You simply don't understand Guo Fu's mindset when she knelt down."

Xu Lang patiently analyzed the situation for Qin Feifei.

"Who is Guo Fu? Her father is the great hero Guo Jing, her mother is Huang Rong, and her maternal grandfather is Huang Yaoshi. She is a favored daughter of heaven, pampered from childhood to adulthood. Everyone who sees her calls her 'Miss Guo'."

This identity made her feel that she was always right and never wrong. Even when she cut off Yang Guo's arm or accidentally injured Xiaolongnu with the Ice Soul Silver Needle, she did not think she was wrong.

In her middle age, Guo Fu lived the life that the entire martial arts world envied:

Her husband, Yelü Qi, was the newly appointed leader of the Beggars' Sect, young, promising, and charming. She was the rightful wife of the leader, the young mistress of Xiangyang City, still living in the shadow of her parents' glory—respectable, noble, and perfect.

At this point, Xu Lang glanced at Qin Feifei, seemingly with a deeper meaning, before continuing:

"Although everything looks glamorous, there is always a thorn in Guo Fu's heart, an insurmountable obstacle, and that is Yang Guo."

From childhood to adulthood, Yang Guo was the only one who didn't take her seriously. She herself didn't realize that she and Yang Guo had been competing for half her life.

I was born into a better family than you, and my parents are more successful than yours, so why should you live a more dazzling life than me?

Why is it that you never give me a second glance?

This hidden competitive spirit, this unwillingness to "I can never beat you," is an insurmountable obstacle in Guo Fu's heart. She herself is unaware that it is precisely because of this that Yang Guo has become the person she "cares about" the most.

This "caring" is not an emotion, but more like a destined rivalry.

Yang Guo's demand that she kowtow and beg him was a direct trampling of the pride she had guarded for half her life, placing it squarely on the scales of justice.

On one side was the pride she cherished as her life, and on the other was her husband's life and the dignity of her later years.

How to choose?

She had no choice!

The moment she knelt down, the cage that had confined her for half her life shattered.

Her emotions progressed in four layers in an instant, including:

Extreme shame (because of kneeling);

Shock and sudden realization (because she suddenly realized that Yang Guo was the person she cared about most);

Guilt and an apology twenty years late (she owed Yang Guo);

And a wistful sense of relief (at this moment, the obsessions of the first half of life are let go).

This is the "half-life obsession awakened in a single day" that Guo Fu felt when she knelt down.

Sister Fei, you...

Um?"

After Xu Lang finished his long speech, he was about to ask Qin Feifei a question when he saw tears welling up in Qin Feifei's eyes, and the tears flowed from her eyes and dripped down her eyelashes.

"Sister Fei, what's wrong?"

As soon as Xu Lang finished asking his question, Qin Feifei threw her sword to the ground with a "thud," turned around, and walked out.

"Let whoever wants to play this lousy role take it; I'm not doing it!"