Chapter 102: Lower the Proud Head

At this stage, Liu Tianxian has little name recognition abroad, just like how we view European and American stars—no crowds, no cheers, who even knows who they are?

It's like face blindness, blurry vision!

Liu Tianxian approached, noticing the atmosphere here was off.

The white woman holding the baby fell silent, but her expression was distinctly resentful!

Fang Hong looked at her: "Why are you here?"

"I came to check on you, what, are you the president and I can't see you?" Liu Tianxian teased.

She had stayed at her cousin's house for about two weeks, her mood had improved, and before this, Fang Hong's advice had already helped her adjust significantly.

She had planned to return home to promote A Chinese Ghost Story, thinking Fang Hong was filming in Hollywood.

Since it wasn't far, she came over to visit, then would return home.

This mouth of yours—Fang Hong had no mood for jokes, helplessly said: "Fine, come look, look all you want!"

"Yellow-skinned vampire."

The white woman holding the baby, hearing Fang Hong speak, muttered this insult.

Liu Tianxian understood English, and asked: "Madam, why are you so angry?"

"Oh my god, you don't know? This garbage Producer is exploiting my daughter." The white woman complained.

Liu Tianxian had lived in the United States for many years and understood local communication styles and standardized colloquialisms; Yu Xian and Fang Hong understood nothing, their slang was completely nonstandard.

So this woman sensed the difference in how she treated Fang Hong and the two of them.

Mainly because she thought Liu Tianxian wasn't easy to fool!

"Filming here has strict time limits, unlike back home—you can't bring your domestic practices over here."

Liu Tianxian spoke to Fang Hong in Chinese.

She assumed Fang Hong had brought his domestic filming model over, scheduling 15-hour shooting days, leaving only time for meals and sleep.

That system won't work here!

"I only shoot six hours a day—if I cut it any shorter, I might as well quit and go back home to farm." Fang Hong said, sounding exhausted.

"Six hours? How could you possibly shoot only six hours?" Liu Tianxian asked, puzzled.

"That's how we shoot—start in the morning, three hours in the morning, three in the afternoon; if we shoot night scenes, we start in the afternoon—what's wrong with that?" Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian frowned: "Who told you the shooting time here is six hours?"

Fang Hong looked at Yu Xian, who said: "We consulted CAA Talent Agency—they told us the rule here is six hours of shooting time."

Hearing this, Liu Tianxian realized they had misunderstood, and sighed helplessly.

These two really—knowing nothing, they just stormed into the United States, no idea who gave them the guts, so bold, no wonder they got played!

"They meant the call time—that is, six hours of actual shooting time, and non-shooting time doesn't count. Here, the workday is twelve hours, got it?"

Fang Hong and Yu Xian exchanged glances, expressions blank.

"For example, right now we're discussing the script—that's not counted in shooting time. You have six hours of shooting time, and six hours of prep time—you can do all your prep work before shooting." Liu Tianxian explained clearly.

"Damn it!"

Fang Hong kicked Yu Xian in the butt: "How the hell did you translate that?"

"I—!"

Yu Xian wanted to say something but fell silent, realizing it was indeed his fault—he hadn't asked clearly enough.

He'd only heard "six hours of shooting time" and assumed they'd shoot only six hours.

"You blame them? The contract they gave you should've been clear—you didn't even read it properly." Liu Tianxian scolded.

"I can't read, how can you blame me?" Fang Hong stubbornly retorted.

"Who else should we blame? Why didn't you learn proper English?" Liu Tianxian shot back.

"Yes yes yes, it's my fault!"

Fang Hong said nothing more, lowered his proud head, speechless.

"It really is your fault."

Liu Tianxian felt great having scolded him—who else but him had smeared saliva all over her mouth? This was revenge.

Yu Xian watched Fang Hong being scolded like a grandson, dared not speak a word, and was even relieved Liu Tianxian had ignored him.

He could only silently mourn in his heart: Brother, I'm sorry!

This was actually his fault—he hadn't understood the other side's meaning, hadn't read the contract properly, had taken a lazy shortcut.

Seeing Fang Hong shut up, Liu Tianxian stopped reprimanding him—after all, it was his first time abroad, understandable.

She turned to the white woman and communicated: "Madam, if you don't complete six hours of shooting, you get paid only for the time you actually worked—time not shot is unpaid."

That is, you get paid exactly for how long you shot!

The white woman, hearing this, immediately objected: "Why? This violates the employment contract—I can sue you at the Screen Actors Guild."

She tried to intimidate Liu Tianxian the same way she had Fang Hong—but Liu Tianxian wasn't fazed, simply replied with a look of "go ahead": "You can sue. The contract clearly states it—how much we shot is documented, and we've preserved all evidence. We've broken no agreement."

Liu Tianxian added: "Also, if I'm not mistaken, it's you who has been dragging out shooting time, delaying production, and violating the contract—we can sue you."

That is, they would countersue the white woman.

The Screen Actors Guild has rules: actors and production companies sign agreements, and actors must fulfill their contractual obligations as directed by the producer.

It also clearly states that neither actors nor directors may deliberately delay shooting or exceed the budget—if violated, it's a breach of contract and punishable.

Minor violations incur fines; serious ones lead to expulsion, and the person will never get another role for life.

In the United States, it's the Producer system—the Producer must ensure the film is shot cheaply and turns a profit afterward.

Profit! That's the core of the Producer-centered system, so deliberate delays and schedule slippage are forbidden.

This is also why the United States produces so many popcorn blockbusters.

The white woman has violated a series of agreed-upon terms—essentially breached the contract. Not only will the Screen Actors Guild not support her, but if this becomes public, the industry will blacklist her.

Because she had broken the rule everyone had been following in unison.

That was also why the white people behind the scenes around them, as well as the actors, all kept quiet, didn't get involved, and only mocked Fang Hong for being a fool.

If they waited for Fang Hong to catch on, he could use this to end their careers.

After all, they hadn't deliberately refused to film; whatever time Fang Hong said to shoot was the time they shot — this wasn't their fault.

That white woman was using her daughter as a shield, thinking Fang Hong was easy to bully; they were happy to watch the show, were beneficiaries too, and couldn't be bothered to intervene.

Liu Tianxian's words made the white woman's face turn very ugly — she had originally been able to drag things out nicely, and the more she filmed the more money she could grab.

She hadn't expected a yellow-skinned person who knew the business to show up, one who understood the rules and tricks of the trade here so clearly.

The surrounding white people all fell silent too — nobody could help with this matter, because helping would only make them wrong as well!

"Madam, what do you say? Are you coming with me to the guild for a visit, or are you going to let your daughter film properly?"

Liu Tianxian stood with her hands in her trouser pockets, her attitude firm.

After hearing Yu Xian's translation, Fang Hong was also dumbfounded — Xiao Feifei was really amazing.

So handsome it was unreal.

The white woman lowered her proud head and expressed her willingness to film properly.

Only then did Liu Tianxian's expression soften; she also gave the other party a way out, saying that if she was willing to film properly, then the matter ended here.

She didn't want to blow things up either — she was merely using the other party's own rules to restrain them, that's all.

Besides, this was ultimately someone else's turf; if things blew up it wouldn't look good for anyone, and it could easily turn into an ideological dispute.

That kind of thing was too sensitive — as long as the film could be finished and filmed well, that was enough.

The matter settled, Yu Xian continued filming, and this time the shoot went much more smoothly; nobody said anything, and everyone worked according to the requirements.

With someone like Liu Tianxian who understood the rules of the game holding the fort, the white people didn't dare look down on them too much either.

"Yifei, you're really amazing," Fang Hong sighed in admiration.

"If I hadn't come, your film would probably drag on until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse," Liu Tianxian shot him a glance, very haughty, like a peacock — she seemed to be in quite a good mood.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's just that you came too late — if only you'd come earlier," Fang Hong said regretfully.

This period of time had wasted a lot of his money!

"Then how about I just marry you, so we can be together 24 hours a day, never apart," Liu Tianxian joked.

"Sure, I have no objections," Fang Hong said with a smile.

"You sure dream pretty."

After the two of them joked around for a bit, Liu Tianxian said seriously: "Let me brief you on the filming methods and rules here."

"You don't need to brief me — just brief Yu Xian. I won't be staying here long."

Fang Hong still preferred the filming style back home.

Shoot whenever you want, whenever — none of that nonsense, none of those rules, whoever has the bigger fist calls the shots.

"You really don't love studying," Liu Tianxian said of him.

"Having you is enough for me — what's the point of learning so much?"

"Talk properly."

Liu Tianxian lightly patted his face.

I don't really understand the filming rules of the United States either; after checking a lot of material it's roughly like this. Those who know better, don't take it too seriously — it's all in service of the plot.

(End of this chapter)