When they finally wrapped up the earlier scene, it was finally Xuemei and company’s time to shine. For the first time in a while, Xuemei could feel her hands and feet go slightly cold even in the hot weather. Performance anxiety. A part of her that she numbed almost to nonexistence after all her military training and missions. Panicking was the worst thing any special forces member could do in the heat of the moment. One must always stay calm and execute as planned. However, this was completely new territory for her. The perfectionist in her wanted to finish everything in one go, but she was well aware that reality would not be so kind.
Huang Jun explained everything to her before and she knew that there would be multiple shots of the same scene to get the views at different angles. They would also have to make sure that her face was not caught close up. From far away, since she was thin and the loose dress covered any lines, they looked similar enough.
She was positioned bent down next to the unconscious Ling Yi before the sounds made her get up and turn to see the newcomers. Dressed in camouflage, they did not have any names or labels that could signify who they were. Since she was nervous, she could only hear the vague shouts going off in the crew.
“Sound?”
“Set.”
“Camera?”
“Set.”
“Roll Sound!”
“Roll Camera!”
“Slate!” A loud *clack* rang out.
“Action!” Director An’s voice broke through.
Hearing that voice, Xuemei calmed down and counted the beats before turning around as if she heard the footsteps approaching. She walked forward a little to the tape marking on the ground where Lin Mengmeng would stand in her scene and ask them the classic rhetorical question, “who are you?!” Just to make sure that they were standing at the same point before the fight, she needed to stand there as well. Counting once again in her head, she saw the first man attack her. Her body remembering the practice from earlier, she quickly got into the rhythm of the fight. Almost like a dance, each sequence went smoothly. Taking hits and giving hits, this tough female heroine manages to beat all of them back.
In the middle, the scene was cut off. The assistant director whispered something over to Huang Jun who gave new instructions. This continued two more times, each one to fix up little technicalities. The recordings did not always go smoothly with little mistakes here and there. Actually, Xuemei had to admit that it got tiring to do the same exact sequences over and over again. Not the entire fight scene would be re-recorded from different angles. Sometimes, it was just one little part of the fight that they wanted to emphasize or possibly slow down for dramatic effect. An Baichen was also a perfectionist in his own right and had lots of demands. However, this crew was very disciplined and professional and took all the criticism and advice in stride. Xuemei also knew she needed to grin and bear it to give a good impression to the crew.
Between some of the scenes, Xuemei was also formally introduced to Lin Mengmeng and had to train her in some of the scenes. Although Xuemei was a little worried that she would be a diva or a weak little flower, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Mengmeng was actually a very hard worker. She picked up on things quickly and memorized everything fast, as well. She liked to be playful and joke around, but she did not actually do things in a haphazard fashion.The two of them got along well. They did not have much time to talk in between but they still hit it off well.
“Sister Meng, when you punch, turn your waist and hips along to give it more power.”
“Xiao Mei, has anyone told you your voice is really nice to listen to. It’s refreshing like a clean river in winter.”
“How poetic. Compliments get you nowhere, you have to focus and fix this.” Ignoring her words, Xuemei did not let up.
“Hmph… Boo, you’re no fun.” She pouted.
“I’m plenty of fun, just not when I’m responsible for you to get this right.” She shrugged.
“Oh? That fun? Well, we will have to test it out later. When we have some time after filming you have to let big sister treat you and take you out!”
After a short conversation, they already discovered that Mengmeng was a little over four years older as she was a recent graduate. Therefore, Mengmeng told her to call her “Meng Jie” (Older Sister Meng or just Sister Meng) while Xuemei said she was fine if Mengmeng called her “Xiao Mei” (Little Mei; term of endearment).
“Okay, that is for later. Concentrate on this now!”
...
When all the recording finished and passed, Xuemei felt pretty winded and had to sit down and get a refreshing gulp of water. The next scene needed her help as well. Just as she expected, Lin Mengmeng was way too weak to piggyback Pei Wencheng. Thankfully, for most of the close-ups, Pei Wencheng would drape his arms on her and act unconscious on her shoulder, but he would actually be walking behind and carrying his own weight. A common optical trick since they would only record from the shoulder up. However, for some of the angles when the camera pans back out, Xuemei would need to be actually piggybacking the male lead. Thankfully, they were giving her some time to catch her breath as the next part required acting. She would cut in after Yu Yan tries and fails to wake up Ling Yi, so Yu Yan straightforwardly picks him up and throws him onto her back to start walking.
20 minutes or so passed before Xuemei was called upon once again. When she arrived, she positioned herself next to Pei Wencheng. It was a little awkward to have to pick up some random stranger she just met, but Xuemei did not think much about it. It was not like she had the same shyness of a real teenage girl. When she heard the call, she pulled on the man’s right arm and placed it over her shoulder. Once the man’s face leaned against her neck, she pulled the other arm and draped it over the other shoulder. Drilling her hands underneath his thighs, she rolled her body so that she was on one knee. With a grunt of effort, she lifted him up off the ground. A little heavier than she expected, Xuemei lost her balance for a second and they had to refilm. Annoyed at her own weakness, she prepared herself properly this time and passed this time. She continued trudging down the mountain path with him on her back while the camera drone flying in the air followed her.
Once they got enough shots, she could finally put the man down and take a deep breath. Beads of sweat appeared around the edges of her hairline.
“Are you alright? Sorry, I’m a bit heavy.” The man, Pei Wencheng, spoke to her for the first time.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” A little surprised that he said something, Xuemei just waved off his concern. It was not that bad anyways.
“Okay.” Not speaking anymore after checking, he walked back towards his manager and assistant.
“Xiao Mei, wasn’t he heavy? You look like the delicate type, though. Just where are you hiding all that muscle?” Mengmeng approached her from behind and spoke up.
“Not bad.” She responded.
“You really make it hard for others to survive. You are already so pretty, but you’re even so cool on top of that. Big sister is really going to bend for you.”
Xuemei’s expression turned rather odd hearing that. Not knowing whether to be flattered that she could still attract girls or concerned that she was not lady-like enough. After all, she went through so many etiquette lessons in order to be able to get her parents to invite a martial arts teacher. She thought her mannerisms had gotten a lot better than before when her teacher used to scream about how uncouth she was.
“Sorry, but your sister is straight as an arrow.” Lying through her teeth, Xuemei cracked a joke back.
“What a shame....” Mengmeng woefully sighed, to which Xuemei just rolled her eyes in response.
Seeing as this was her last scene for the day, Xuemei could take today off. The next scenes would be filmed in the village.
Looking up at the sky, even though she left around 8am, it was already close late afternoon. Adding in the time she was just practicing on the side and then all the time spent filming, Xuemei could finally understand why filming took so long. After the post-production, this show would probably only come out around half a year or more after filming finished. The rest of the crew packed up and came down the mountain along with Xuemei and her group in order to film in the village. After some small talk and short goodbyes, the groups finally separated from each other. The rest of the stunt doubles would take a van back to their hotel. Once she reached Huang Jun’s car, Xuemei plopped down in the passenger seat feeling extremely exhausted. Huang Jun looked over with a little disapproval.
“Pay attention to your posture. That is not how a lady should sit.”
“What era is this anyways? I’m wearing shorts.” Xuemei just snorted.
“You should work more on your stamina. You tire out too quickly.”
“I know. I’m always working on it.”
After this short conversation, there were no more words spoken between the two. The car quietly drove back into G City to the entrance of her hotel. When she climbed out, she heard him finally open his mouth once more.
“I will be picking you up at the same time tomorrow in the morning.”
“Okay. See you then.” She nodded and waved goodbye.
He did not respond and just rolled the window up and drove off.
“That little brat! If only I could punch him just once…” Xuemei muttered under her breath, clearly frustrated. She huffed a little while making her way up to her room. When she entered, she could see all the lights were off. It seemed her brother was working seriously after all.
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Darn it. Just caught up. I was getting to used to having more left. Really fun and interesting story. Thanks for the chapters!
Your novel is not lacking as much as you think
Thank you for the chapter.
I prefer him with a man than a woman.
hmm...
Will she become Lesbian, heterosexual or bisexual?
Thanks for the chapter, please keep up the great work
Thanks for the chapter :)
Thanks for chap!
Good stuff thx for the chapter