Chapter 11
Gu Feining had never done a musical before. Musicals were very difficult. One needed to know how to sing, act, and dance. So Shi Xi’s invitation troubled her.
Despite that, she was unable to immediately reject Shi Xi.
A difficult job would be a good challenge for her.
Furthermore, she was quite curious as to why Shi Xi felt she was suited to be the female lead of this musical.
It was already time for her to rest but when Gu Feining looked through the file. She switched on her computer, bringing it to sit on the bed, and opened the USB flash drive Shi Xi had handed to her.
There were many things in the USB drive; the proposed plan, and a digital copy of the script, along with all kinds of other related things. The music files and materials were also there. There were even recommendations of musicals to watch, both from China and overseas. It seemed like the preparation work had been done very well.
Gu Feining clicked on the music file to open it. Her understanding of music was simply categorizing music into ‘music she thought sounded nice’ and ‘music she did not like’.
Shi Xi’s music was really soothing. Listening to it on this kind of night comforted her. She opened the file that Shi Xi gave her and took a look at the script.
Following the script, there were changes in the music as well. The quiet and soothing part at the start became happy and after that, it was intense, restless, and sad…
Gu Feining leaned against the headboard and flipped through the script. The soundtrack and the script seemed to bring her into a world full of music. It made her feel like she herself had experienced a romance from meeting to separation, followed by a reunion and a realization that while things were the same, both of them had changed.
Any part that the script was lacking, the music made up for. The music was full of raw emotions, and if one listened to the music when they were happy, their mood would get even better, but if one listened to the music while they were sad, their heart would ache. Towards the end, when the female lead realized although things remained the same, the two of them had changed and there was nothing she could do about it, she felt a tingle in the corners of her eyes, but her tears were unable to flow out.
Musicals were different from television dramas and movies. Shi Xi had told her from the start that the plot need not be complicated, but the music must have tension. He wasn’t good at writing scripts, but he was great in the music part, so he had confidence in this musical.
Gu Feining didn’t understand music, but she was shocked, listening to this music.
Perhaps because Gu Feining’s understanding of Shi Xi was limited to his pop music, or perhaps because she didn’t understand hip-hop dances, she always felt it would be impossible for her to have anything in common with those celebrities that followed such trends. But now, it seemed that to truly understand a person, you needed to look at their works properly.
She had never tried to understand Shi Xi and yet, she had stuck a label on him very early on.
Now it seemed that she had underestimated Shi Xi.
Based on her experience from filming many shows and reading many scripts, she could tell this script was too tragic and wasn’t interesting enough. If he truly wanted to turn it into a musical, it needed some editing. There were even some parts that needed a drastic change.
But if it was Shi Xi who’s acting, no matter how bad the script was, it would probably be able to sell.
However, looking at the materials prepared by Shi Xi, he probably wouldn’t be satisfied with selling tickets merely due to his popularity. He wanted this musical to become a classic.
That was actually quite charming.
Gu Feining leaned against the headboard and listened to the music, thinking about what Shi Xi said about how he was able to decide what the female lead would be like only after meeting her.
She felt more sensitive during these kinds of nights.
If people knew she was the female lead Shi Xi chose, there would be another uproar.
Gu Feining tried to keep her thoughts under control. She could see Shi Xi’s ambition. He wanted to make a great musical that would become a classic.
As for the female lead role, that was only for the musical. It had nothing to do with real life1.
Even so, Gu Feining had a beautiful dream that night. In the dream, she was dancing and the man standing by the side and watching her dance had a faint smile on his face as she did. Although she could not see his face clearly, the man’s aura was completely like that of Shi Xi’s.
Gu Feining took it that she was dreaming of Shi Xi simply because she had been given a scare by him the day before.
When she later saw him in the studio, she didn’t even dare to meet his eyes.
Gu Feining thought she had gotten up quite early, but when she reached the studio, she realized Shi Xi had arrived even earlier than her. It was quite shocking that a top celebrity like him was so serious about work. If it were her, even if she didn’t act snobby, she wouldn’t come so early.
Shi Xi had even brought hot milk tea for everyone. It was the kind she enjoyed drinking yesterday. When Shi Xi saw Gu Feining had arrived, he brought the milk tea and some snacks over.
Gu Feining felt Yue Mei would dislike Shi Xi. From yesterday till now, she had already drunk three cups of milk tea. The calorie intake was so high that Yue Mei would probably explode in anger.
However, it did fit her taste. Thus, even though she had already had breakfast in the hotel this morning, she still held the milk tea and drank it happily.
Shi Xi watched her from the side.
Gu Feining thought he was waiting for her answer, so as she ate, she told him, “I looked at the things you passed me yesterday.”
Shi Xi asked her, “Are you interested in the musical?”
Gu Feining said bluntly, “The script is too rough and the content is too plain. I don’t understand music, so I can’t comment on that.”
Gu Feining’s evaluation was quite harsh but Shi Xi didn’t seem to mind. He asked her again, “So are you willing to participate in the musical?”
Gu Feining shook her head, “Musicals are too challenging for me. Sorry.”
“Think about it for a while longer. For you, isn’t it only interesting when there’s a challenge?”
Gu Feining didn’t know what to say. Yesterday, when Shi Xi arrived, even the senior, Zhong Lin, was polite to him. When has Shi Xi ever needed to ask someone for a favor in this manner?
“Actually… If you’ve decided to bring this musical to life, you can find professional musical actors.”
“There’s no one else but you,” Shi Xi rejected her suggestion right away, with an unwavering look in his eyes. “I’ll wait for you to agree.”
After he said that, he left.
Gu Feining held the milk tea and looked at Shi Xi’s back speechlessly. He was more stubborn than she had imagined.
In truth, she was a little tempted by the idea of the musical. But the difficulty of acting in a musical was only one of many reasons. Trying out another field had its risks and she would need to start from scratch. Even if she wanted to take the risk, the company probably wouldn’t agree.
While Gu Feining held her milk tea and sat at a corner pondering, the people in the studio gradually increased.
The workload of the photoshoot today wasn’t considered a lot for Gu Feining and the rest. After all, all they needed was to film two videos that were about five minutes long. For professional actors, this was a lot more laid back than what they usually did for work.
The only one that would get a little tired was Shi Xi. He needed to film three clips and the main issue was that he wasn’t a professional actor.
Gu Feining didn’t know what the others thought of this matter, but she didn’t have much confidence in Shi Xi. Fortunately, her filming with Shi Xi was the last on the schedule. Because she was the youngest among the three mentors and had the least experience, it was logical for her to be the last to end work. She was quite happy about that. She was silently praying that the two seniors before her would guide Shi Xi and help him get into acting so that her portion would be a lot smoother.
The three parts were shot separately and barely anything was shared between the shoots. The set had been built indoors by the staff in advance, and everything else would be added on by computer processing later.
Gu Feining was already prepared to finish work very late today.
The filming for each of the mentor’s solo clips wouldn’t be a problem since everyone was a professional. Shi Xi was to work together with Zhong Lin first, and hence, Gu Feining and Teacher Gu started on their solo parts first.
Gu Feining’s solo part was a section of an incredibly popular art film2. It was a long monologue where the character she was playing spoke for three minutes with her back to the male lead before slowly disappearing into the alley. Besides acting skills, the lines in this portion were also important. Aside from her performance, what would be able to affect people were the lines.
For a variety show to select actors, what was most important was one’s acting skills. This paragraph was for her to show off her skills. It was the best way for her to attract contestants that were interested in her.
But truthfully, rather than her part, Gu Feining was more interested in seeing Teacher Gu’s performance. He was a master at acting, and just by watching him, she would be able to learn a lot.
Gu Feining first talked to the director before she went off on her own to try to get into the correct state of mind. When she turned around, she saw Shi Xi standing not too far away from her. He was wearing the outfit for his shoot. It was a jacket that was a little old, with a dirty button-up shirt that had holes. His pants had signs of wear and tear, and along with his messy hair and the stains on his face, it looked like he had just experienced a fierce fight and was in a mess.
However, no matter how much of a mess he was in, it was Shi Xi, and thus, he was still handsome.
Gu Feining was a little surprised. Shouldn’t Shi Xi be filming his portion at this moment?
Shi Xi looked at Gu Feining, his gaze indicating her to come over.
Gu Feining was wearing a cheongsam3, her hair curled in large waves. When she walked over to him, she looked like a beauty that walked out of an oil painting. When she arrived beside Shi Xi, the two of them looked like a couple that had withstood the severe test of time and there was this feeling like the two of them had just survived a disaster and were reuniting after they had been years apart. The person that loved to fight had returned victorious.
Gu Feining had originally wanted to use the handkerchief in her hand to wipe away the dirt on Shi Xi’s face. When she realized that it was the special makeup to fit the costume, she withdrew her hand, realizing how rashly she had been behaving.
The photographer that was nearby quietly picked up the camera and started taking photos.
Gu Feining asked Shi Xi, “Shouldn’t you be filming next door?”
Shi Xi lowered his head and looked at Gu Feining, “I wanted to ask you for something.”
“Hm?” Gu Feining was slightly stunned, “What do you want?”
“I want some encouragement,” Shi Xi said and opened his arms to hug Gu Feining. “I’m a little nervous.”
Gu Feining’s was caught off-guard, her arms spread out.
Shi Xi hugged her tightly before letting her go and thanking her before leaving.
Gu Feining was stunned and stood there, her heart beating faster.
What was wrong with this man? Suddenly running over and hugging her out of nowhere, and running off right after he finished, leaving her here alone.
Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t control it.
Anyway, he didn’t even look nervous.
Translator’s Notes:
Basically, she’s saying that Shi Xi is choosing her to be the female lead for his musical, not the female lead in his life. An art film is basically a film that is produced in more of an artistic manner that tends to cater to a smaller audience than other films. A cheongsam is a dress-style and traditional Chinese costume! You can search it up, it’s a really pretty body-hugging dress that tends to have a skirt slit at the side~
Chapter 11
Gu Feining had never done a musical before. Musicals were very difficult. One needed to know how to sing, act, and dance. So Shi Xi’s invitation troubled her.
Despite that, she was unable to immediately reject Shi Xi.
A difficult job would be a good challenge for her.
Furthermore, she was quite curious as to why Shi Xi felt she was suited to be the female lead of this musical.
It was already time for her to rest but when Gu Feining looked through the file. She switched on her computer, bringing it to sit on the bed, and opened the USB flash drive Shi Xi had handed to her.
There were many things in the USB drive; the proposed plan, and a digital copy of the script, along with all kinds of other related things. The music files and materials were also there. There were even recommendations of musicals to watch, both from China and overseas. It seemed like the preparation work had been done very well.
Gu Feining clicked on the music file to open it. Her understanding of music was simply categorizing music into ‘music she thought sounded nice’ and ‘music she did not like’.
Shi Xi’s music was really soothing. Listening to it on this kind of night comforted her. She opened the file that Shi Xi gave her and took a look at the script.
Following the script, there were changes in the music as well. The quiet and soothing part at the start became happy and after that, it was intense, restless, and sad…
Gu Feining leaned against the headboard and flipped through the script. The soundtrack and the script seemed to bring her into a world full of music. It made her feel like she herself had experienced a romance from meeting to separation, followed by a reunion and a realization that while things were the same, both of them had changed.
Any part that the script was lacking, the music made up for. The music was full of raw emotions, and if one listened to the music when they were happy, their mood would get even better, but if one listened to the music while they were sad, their heart would ache. Towards the end, when the female lead realized although things remained the same, the two of them had changed and there was nothing she could do about it, she felt a tingle in the corners of her eyes, but her tears were unable to flow out.
Musicals were different from television dramas and movies. Shi Xi had told her from the start that the plot need not be complicated, but the music must have tension. He wasn’t good at writing scripts, but he was great in the music part, so he had confidence in this musical.
Gu Feining didn’t understand music, but she was shocked, listening to this music.
Perhaps because Gu Feining’s understanding of Shi Xi was limited to his pop music, or perhaps because she didn’t understand hip-hop dances, she always felt it would be impossible for her to have anything in common with those celebrities that followed such trends. But now, it seemed that to truly understand a person, you needed to look at their works properly.
She had never tried to understand Shi Xi and yet, she had stuck a label on him very early on.
Now it seemed that she had underestimated Shi Xi.
Based on her experience from filming many shows and reading many scripts, she could tell this script was too tragic and wasn’t interesting enough. If he truly wanted to turn it into a musical, it needed some editing. There were even some parts that needed a drastic change.
But if it was Shi Xi who’s acting, no matter how bad the script was, it would probably be able to sell.
However, looking at the materials prepared by Shi Xi, he probably wouldn’t be satisfied with selling tickets merely due to his popularity. He wanted this musical to become a classic.
That was actually quite charming.
Gu Feining leaned against the headboard and listened to the music, thinking about what Shi Xi said about how he was able to decide what the female lead would be like only after meeting her.
She felt more sensitive during these kinds of nights.
If people knew she was the female lead Shi Xi chose, there would be another uproar.
Gu Feining tried to keep her thoughts under control. She could see Shi Xi’s ambition. He wanted to make a great musical that would become a classic.
As for the female lead role, that was only for the musical. It had nothing to do with real life1.
Even so, Gu Feining had a beautiful dream that night. In the dream, she was dancing and the man standing by the side and watching her dance had a faint smile on his face as she did. Although she could not see his face clearly, the man’s aura was completely like that of Shi Xi’s.
Gu Feining took it that she was dreaming of Shi Xi simply because she had been given a scare by him the day before.
When she later saw him in the studio, she didn’t even dare to meet his eyes.
Gu Feining thought she had gotten up quite early, but when she reached the studio, she realized Shi Xi had arrived even earlier than her. It was quite shocking that a top celebrity like him was so serious about work. If it were her, even if she didn’t act snobby, she wouldn’t come so early.
Shi Xi had even brought hot milk tea for everyone. It was the kind she enjoyed drinking yesterday. When Shi Xi saw Gu Feining had arrived, he brought the milk tea and some snacks over.
Gu Feining felt Yue Mei would dislike Shi Xi. From yesterday till now, she had already drunk three cups of milk tea. The calorie intake was so high that Yue Mei would probably explode in anger.
However, it did fit her taste. Thus, even though she had already had breakfast in the hotel this morning, she still held the milk tea and drank it happily.
Shi Xi watched her from the side.
Gu Feining thought he was waiting for her answer, so as she ate, she told him, “I looked at the things you passed me yesterday.”
Shi Xi asked her, “Are you interested in the musical?”
Gu Feining said bluntly, “The script is too rough and the content is too plain. I don’t understand music, so I can’t comment on that.”
Gu Feining’s evaluation was quite harsh but Shi Xi didn’t seem to mind. He asked her again, “So are you willing to participate in the musical?”
Gu Feining shook her head, “Musicals are too challenging for me. Sorry.”
“Think about it for a while longer. For you, isn’t it only interesting when there’s a challenge?”
Gu Feining didn’t know what to say. Yesterday, when Shi Xi arrived, even the senior, Zhong Lin, was polite to him. When has Shi Xi ever needed to ask someone for a favor in this manner?
“Actually… If you’ve decided to bring this musical to life, you can find professional musical actors.”
“There’s no one else but you,” Shi Xi rejected her suggestion right away, with an unwavering look in his eyes. “I’ll wait for you to agree.”
After he said that, he left.
Gu Feining held the milk tea and looked at Shi Xi’s back speechlessly. He was more stubborn than she had imagined.
In truth, she was a little tempted by the idea of the musical. But the difficulty of acting in a musical was only one of many reasons. Trying out another field had its risks and she would need to start from scratch. Even if she wanted to take the risk, the company probably wouldn’t agree.
While Gu Feining held her milk tea and sat at a corner pondering, the people in the studio gradually increased.
The workload of the photoshoot today wasn’t considered a lot for Gu Feining and the rest. After all, all they needed was to film two videos that were about five minutes long. For professional actors, this was a lot more laid back than what they usually did for work.
The only one that would get a little tired was Shi Xi. He needed to film three clips and the main issue was that he wasn’t a professional actor.
Gu Feining didn’t know what the others thought of this matter, but she didn’t have much confidence in Shi Xi. Fortunately, her filming with Shi Xi was the last on the schedule. Because she was the youngest among the three mentors and had the least experience, it was logical for her to be the last to end work. She was quite happy about that. She was silently praying that the two seniors before her would guide Shi Xi and help him get into acting so that her portion would be a lot smoother.
The three parts were shot separately and barely anything was shared between the shoots. The set had been built indoors by the staff in advance, and everything else would be added on by computer processing later.
Gu Feining was already prepared to finish work very late today.
The filming for each of the mentor’s solo clips wouldn’t be a problem since everyone was a professional. Shi Xi was to work together with Zhong Lin first, and hence, Gu Feining and Teacher Gu started on their solo parts first.
Gu Feining’s solo part was a section of an incredibly popular art film2. It was a long monologue where the character she was playing spoke for three minutes with her back to the male lead before slowly disappearing into the alley. Besides acting skills, the lines in this portion were also important. Aside from her performance, what would be able to affect people were the lines.
For a variety show to select actors, what was most important was one’s acting skills. This paragraph was for her to show off her skills. It was the best way for her to attract contestants that were interested in her.
But truthfully, rather than her part, Gu Feining was more interested in seeing Teacher Gu’s performance. He was a master at acting, and just by watching him, she would be able to learn a lot.
Gu Feining first talked to the director before she went off on her own to try to get into the correct state of mind. When she turned around, she saw Shi Xi standing not too far away from her. He was wearing the outfit for his shoot. It was a jacket that was a little old, with a dirty button-up shirt that had holes. His pants had signs of wear and tear, and along with his messy hair and the stains on his face, it looked like he had just experienced a fierce fight and was in a mess.
However, no matter how much of a mess he was in, it was Shi Xi, and thus, he was still handsome.
Gu Feining was a little surprised. Shouldn’t Shi Xi be filming his portion at this moment?
Shi Xi looked at Gu Feining, his gaze indicating her to come over.
Gu Feining was wearing a cheongsam3, her hair curled in large waves. When she walked over to him, she looked like a beauty that walked out of an oil painting. When she arrived beside Shi Xi, the two of them looked like a couple that had withstood the severe test of time and there was this feeling like the two of them had just survived a disaster and were reuniting after they had been years apart. The person that loved to fight had returned victorious.
Gu Feining had originally wanted to use the handkerchief in her hand to wipe away the dirt on Shi Xi’s face. When she realized that it was the special makeup to fit the costume, she withdrew her hand, realizing how rashly she had been behaving.
The photographer that was nearby quietly picked up the camera and started taking photos.
Gu Feining asked Shi Xi, “Shouldn’t you be filming next door?”
Shi Xi lowered his head and looked at Gu Feining, “I wanted to ask you for something.”
“Hm?” Gu Feining was slightly stunned, “What do you want?”
“I want some encouragement,” Shi Xi said and opened his arms to hug Gu Feining. “I’m a little nervous.”
Gu Feining’s was caught off-guard, her arms spread out.
Shi Xi hugged her tightly before letting her go and thanking her before leaving.
Gu Feining was stunned and stood there, her heart beating faster.
What was wrong with this man? Suddenly running over and hugging her out of nowhere, and running off right after he finished, leaving her here alone.
Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t control it.
Anyway, he didn’t even look nervous.
Translator’s Notes:
Basically, she’s saying that Shi Xi is choosing her to be the female lead for his musical, not the female lead in his life. An art film is basically a film that is produced in more of an artistic manner that tends to cater to a smaller audience than other films. A cheongsam is a dress-style and traditional Chinese costume! You can search it up, it’s a really pretty body-hugging dress that tends to have a skirt slit at the side~