I’ve Got this Cannon Fodder’s Back-Chapter Ch54.2 - I've got this Celebrity's back (14)
Chapter Ch54.2 - I’ve got this Celebrity’s back (14)
Liang Yuan went out. Only then did he take a look at which page the script was opened to.
The reason they had plunged inside this forested area was in order to shoot a joint military exercise scene. This page of the scripts as of the ending plot. This was the display of martial prowess by the Red faction’s Special Forces to which the protagonist belonged to. A team of several people goes deep behind enemy lines and picks two scout regiments of the Blue faction.
The role Gu Xi chose was a staff officer of the Blue faction’s scouts who committed “suicide” and abdicated during the exercise.
This character’s on-screen time was less than a minute and had only a single a line. He had no name and not even a full frontal face shot. The protagonist’s group trapped him in order to assume his identity and confuse the soldiers of the Blue faction. In the confusion, they would take the opportunity to wipe them out. Unexpectedly, this staff officer, who was obviously a civilian, resisted to the death, finally managing to unscrewed the signal flare during their scuffle, choosing for them to perish together instead.
Because of this action by the staff officer, two from the protagonist team died during the military exercise. It gave the recruits, who were showing off their abilities, their first lesson. It served as an important turning point in the plot.
The significance of the role itself was actually not small, but Liang Yuan insists on not adding to the scene. He wanted to use the elegance of the scene to leave a message. Few serious actor would ever be willing to take on this role that ever passersby wouldn’t consider.
Liang Yuan turned the page and saw the painful hand-to-hand fighting scene in the storyboard. He couldn’t help but shudder.
……
It seems that when the shooting starts in a while, he’ll have to think up of some way to block the reporters.
The cast wasn’t filming at the moment and many of the actors had begun to accept interviews. Ning Feiping mingled with the crowd with confidence and was carefully organizing his words when Liang Yuan’s roar came without any warning from behind him. “Everyone, come back here! Stop talking already — the earlier we finish this shoot, the earlier we can rest!”
Although Liang Yuan was young, his status within the director’s circle was not low. This was because he has produced excellent works one after another. This gave him enough confidence to roar at anyone and everyone on the set. No one in the crew dared to confront him. Ning Feiping, with his great financial resources, dared only drag his steps a little bit. In front of the reporters, he did not wish to create a reputation like Gu Xi’s “going on strike” and “considering everyone beneath his notice”. He nodded politely to the reporters, apologized and walked back quickly.
This scene happened to follow the one that had received a dozen NG just now. Shooting it now created a smooth transition. They didn’t even need to change the setting.
Director Liang’s mind was still laden with worry about the possibly of Film Emperor Gu beating people up. But despite this, outwardly, he still roared with complete confidence and strained his neck explaining the scene a couple of times. Gu Xi had just rolled up his sleeves and walked over.
Camouflage attire was easy to find. It was all over the set. Gu Xi stayed in the tent and coaxed the litte paparazzo to share the lunch box with him. He then went to as a crew member for a set of camouflage attire. He greeted a few familiar actors and nodded to Liang Yuan.
His little assistant followed closely beside him. Except a slight redness to his face, there was nothing unusual. It seemed that he still knew nothing of Ning Feiping’s slander.
Liang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at him. Although he knew that most everyone knew each other, he still pulled him over and introduced Gu Xi again.
Ning Feiping had been spending the day secretly hitting Gu Xi while he was down. Just now, he was feeling somewhat diffident in his heart and he uncharacteristically didn’t direct a cold scowl at Gu Xi. He bowed his head, refusing to meet his eyes.
His role this time was that of a military student. He wore glasses and was cultured but his hands are absolutely ruthless. Although his was only a supporting role but he can tell that it was a role that would receive wide-spread acclaim once it was finished shooting.
It wasn’t worth it making any trouble here.
Once Liang Yuan finished explaining the scene, the combat instructor came and arranged everyone’s moves. The crew pulled away to prepare for shooting and Ning Feiping followed everyone to their respective places. Hearing the director’s call to start, he livened up and charged ahead.
The two of them had acted together before. Ning Feiping knew that Gu Xi had a sense of how far to go and when to stop and thus he didn’t overly think matters. He was about to snatch the signal flare all according to script, when he didn’t know what Gu Xi had done but suddenly, his lower abdomen hurt severely and he staggered away.
“Cut!”
Liang Yuan loudly called out for everyone to stop and waiting for everyone to adjust their condition.
Gu Xi lowered his head to fix the belt of his uniform, as though completely unaware of anything. Ning Feiping frowned. Worry that the other party’s has caught on to what he’s been doing surged for a moment and was then was once again suppressed by reason.
With both their sides having reached this point, if Gu Xi knew that he was the mastermind behind all this, he could never remain so calm that he could still perform with him on set like this.
It was probably an accident. Maybe he had bumped into someone’s equipment.
While comforting himself, he came back to his senses. Ning Feiping psyched himself up. Once he heard the signal to start, he pounced at him again.
And once again it hurt to the extreme.
This time, Ning Feiping’s chest had been hit. Ning Feiping’s eyes went dark for a moment. He staggered and almost fell on his ass. He couldn’t help it and almost had a fit of anger when he met Gu Xi’s unexpectedly cold gaze.
Ning Feiping couldn’t help but frowned, suddenly feeling a little bit unsure in his heart.
Ordinarily, if he had received NG multiple times for this kind of fighting scene, he would have already called in a stand-in. But this time there were reporters all around. If he called a stand-in in front of everyone like this, who know how many people would laugh at him?
Ning Feiping was feeling apprehensive and didn’t dare to have a conflict with Gu Xi at this time. He could only grit his teeth and endure it. He tried to link up with Liang Yuan, “Director, can the combat instructor give guidance to Teacher Gu again? We’re not matching up very well……”
“Just how many time do you plan on getting NG on this one-minute scene! Where did you suddenly lose your head?!”
Liang Yuan turned a deaf ear and berated him coldly. Without waiting for him to recover, Liang Yuan slammed the script hard. “You better not make me reshoot this for a fourth time or else no one gets to eat anymore!”
The staff officer post was a civilian post. He was not even as proficient in fighting as most of the ordinary scouts. Excessive guidance from the combat instructor would make his moves appear too deliberate and planned out. Liang Yuan’s only request to Gu Xi was to be ruthless, to try and fight with the desperation of a trapped beast. In contrast, it was the remaining few leading actors, who, in order to show the crisp and neat fighting moves to the camera, needed to strictly follow the combat instructor’s requirements and failing that, had to have them start all over again.
“Does it hurt that much? Just grit and bear it. Teacher Gu even had to follow the script and get beaten by us!”
Hao Yue, who stood to the side, was young. He couldn’t himself from grumbling in a low voice. Rubbing his arms, he walked back to his position. Although the remaining few did not make a sound, their expressions also showed some faint dissatisfaction.
Ning Feiping felt anger rise in his heart. He was about to retort when he saw Gu Xi, who had clearly been thrown to the ground so that his costume was covered in dirt being surrounded by several crew members patting off the dirt. He was forced to swallow his words once again.
Next time, I will also have to roll on the ground…
The look in Ning Feiping’s eyes turned cold. He had already made up his mind to involve Gu Xi in a scam injury. Once he heard the signal to start, he used his body to charge in. He was about to fake his fall but his arm was suddenly caught and ruthlessly pinned to his back. He instantly lost his center of gravity and was caught by Gu Xi who was in the middle of fighting with the protagonist group. Gu Xi took this opportunity when they were all entangle and pinned him to the ground.
It was a slight deviation from the original plot and the deputy director was about to call for a stop but Liang Yuan’s eyes suddenly brightened. “Don’t move.”
The original plan here was for the staff officer to catch their attackers off guard to unscrew the signal flare. It was completely unforeseen. The veteran scout grew sad at their failure. The civilian officer gave a desperate fight in his anger. However, it wasn’t enough. Liang Yuan originally intended to use empty space to intensify the conflict. But Gu Xi performing the scene in such a way, instead, caused an unexpected tension in front of the camera.
Ning Feiping had fallen so heavily he was starting to see stars. He coughed from the dust on the ground. Gu Xi was surrounded by several people, but still had him pinned down so tightly. Panting heavily, he opened his scraped mouth and unscrewed the signal flare that represented the detonation.
Thick smoke covered the view and they weren’t doing a simultaneous audio recording but Gu Xi was still leaned in close to his ear and calmly delivered the character’s only line.
“You dare touch my people… how do you know that I wouldn’t dare to risk my life?”
……
Ning Feiping suddenly felt a chill go down his back.
The smoke from the signal flare was so thick, people couldn’t open their eyes. Liang Yuan’s voice penetrated through the smoke. “It’s done! It’s done! Field crew, come here and start packing up!”
Gu Xi let go of his hold on Ning Feiping and stood up from the ground. He fixed his clothes as though nothing had happened. He nodded towards Liang Yuan and brushed off the dust from his body as he walked towards the sidelines.
Lu Qingzhou had been keeping watch from the sidelines all this time. Seeing him coming, he hurriedly went over to inspect his scratches. However, Gu Xi raised his arms and caught him.
Greeted with the little paparazzo’s worried eyes, Gu Xi raised the corner of his lips. He pulled out a military cap from under the shoulder strap and placed it on his head. Rubbing his head a couple of times, he said, “Let’s go. It’s time for our interview.”
*
At the set of “The Fall.”
Mu Jinchu was easy-going and gentle, but he was unexpectedly strict about the shooting. After repeated discussions, they were finally able to settle on the changes to the main storyline.
“President Mu, don’t worry. When Mr. Lu comes, I will fully respect his opinions.”
Li Renyi was already sweating bucket loads. Seeing him nod, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly promised, “The crew is absolutely clean. The crew will issue a unified statement before tonight about all those things before. There will be no more of those disgusting matters …”
The reporters who allowed among the crew were all trying their best to grab first-hand information. Grabbing what little mobile signal they could, they had already stirred up a new round of uproar on the Internet.
Ning Feiping’s interview was displayed on the tablet laying on top of the desk. He was right in the middle of talking about how that crew member must be “young and naive”. Li Renyi’s back grew taut. In his mind, he hastened the time limit from tonight to five o’clock in the afternoon. He raised his hand to turn off the tablet but was blocked using the script in Mu Jinchu’s hand.
“The waters are deep in this industry and I understand that sometimes things are done that aren’t of one’s own volition.”
Mu Jinchu smiled and put down the revised script. He didn’t seem to be irritated by those offensive remarks. He took off his glasses and spoke slowly.
“Xiao Zhou has experienced some unpleasant things so when it comes to his protection we can all be quite high-strung. I hope you can understand.”
“Of course, of course. We all understand.”
Li Renyi nodded repeatedly and then cautiously reminded. “President Mu, this Ning Feiping’s family is quite powerful. We don’t know if he might disturb Mr. Lu…”
“They will be able to settle him soon. There’s no need for me to interfere. Xiao Lu can move my company and cast as he wishes. If that is still not enough then I’ll just buy a few more companies.”
Mu Jinchu appeared unconcerned. He waved his hand with a smile and his eyes fell to the screen.
Gu Xi, in front of the camera, was dressed in a military uniform. Although it was still stained with dust, it made him appear more majestic and heroic. There was a young man that he kept by his side. You could feel the tightness of the youth’s body through his clothes. The corners of his lips were already pressed into a thin line but it was evident that he had no intention of stepping aside, as a firmly stood on guard beside him.
He actually seemed to be guarding him so closely as to not permit anything through.
The reporters were hounding him relentlessly. They carried with them a glimmer of hope and tried their best to raise the microphone towards him. “Teacher Gu, about those rumors of ‘engaging in unspoken rules on the set’ and ‘flying into a rage over a pretty face’, would you like to clarify those rumors? Were you really abusing unspoken rules?”
This kind of problem already had nowhere to go and now wasn’t worth worrying about. A look of relief appeared in Mu Jinchu’s eyes and he nodded lightly, “I came here to see him. Now that all the most important things have been arranged, I can now go back and report to his father…”
Before he could finish speaking, Gu Xi’s voice came clearly through the video, “I have.”
Mu Jinchu: “……”
Gu Xi was unaware that someone was especially watching his live broadcast beyond the camera. He rubbed the little paparazzo’s cap-covered head. He corners of his lips ticked up. He removed a bell from his key holder and handed it over into his hand to hold. He looked steadily at the camera.
“Here.”
