Chapter 21: The Most Insane Shoot in History! (Third Update! Request Follows!)
Morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the rented apartment.
Shen Long stared at the script with bloodshot eyes.
He had spent the entire night revising the script.
The insane advertisement had shattered his composure.
But thinking he was finally about to make a movie, he gritted his teeth and carefully found ways to weave every damn ad into the plot.
By eight in the morning, Shen Long felt all his talent had been completely drained.
……
Outside the room.
A clamor erupted.
He put down the script and opened the door.
Then he saw a line of vans parked at the entrance.
He saw Zhou Yang step out of a van, smile at Shen Long, and say: “Shen Dao, this is Mr. Deng from [Four Rhombus Auto Repair Shop]… Mr. Deng, this is Shen Dao, famously renowned in our entertainment circle—he’s the director of our film…”
Shen Long blinked, instinctively looking at a young man covered in grease, then extended his hand to shake his.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
After shaking hands, Zhou Yang grinned: “From now on, all our production vehicles will be Mr. Deng’s vans! Mr. Deng has assembled us a small fleet! We mustn’t waste his support—we’ll shoot with confidence, with strength, with professionalism, with technology… especially showcasing the performance of Mr. Deng’s vans!”
Shen Long looked at the vans, then at Mr. Deng.
In that moment…
He felt his sanity cracking again.
Showcase strength?
Showcase technology?
Vans?
How the hell am I supposed to…
A gust of wind blew, and Shen Long felt utterly disoriented.
It’s over!
Totally finished!
“Shen Dao, your talent these past days has been obvious to all of us!”
Shen Long watched Zhou Yang’s familiar expression of admiration as he clapped him on the shoulder.
Shen Long shuddered!
He remembered their first meeting—Zhou Yang had used that same admiring look to make him feel like a genius!
But now…
Shen Long felt his emotions about to collapse!
I have no talent!
I don’t!
I have nothing!
At that moment, another van approached from afar; Shen Long watched the [Euroland Apparel] advertising van roll up.
A middle-aged man stepped out, opened the van door, and pulled out a stack of props.
There were Sun Wukong costumes, Superman costumes, and row after row of brand-new suits…
The man looked at Zhou Yang after stepping out.
“We’ve prepared all this for you these past few days!”
“Great! Thanks, Mr. Xu…”
“…”
Shen Long stared blankly at the scene…
Then Zhou Yang smiled at him: “Shen Dao, let’s start shooting today!”
“Huh? Now?”
“Yes!”
“Jian Feng, put on the Superman suit!” Zhou Yang said to Chen Jianfeng, who had just stepped out of the van, looking dazed.
“Huh?”
“I recall the first scene: Superman gets swept up by a tornado in America, caught in a temporal vortex, and lands in the Journey to the West world, meeting Sun Wukong, right?”
“Y-yes…” Chen Jianfeng nodded dumbly.
“Good. First stop: the sand field…” Zhou Yang nodded, then pulled out his phone: “Hello, Mr. Ding? Yes, yes, we need to borrow your sand field—we’re shooting a time-travel scene in a desert with swirling yellow sand, yes, yes!”
“…”
The procession of vans headed toward the distant sand field.
Shen Long’s mind went blank, like an idiot’s.
At that moment, he noticed cinematographer Zhang Yunyi wearing a complex expression, as if holding back for a long time, finally blurting out:
“Shen Dao, are you sure we’re making a movie?”
“…” Shen Long jolted.
He looked down at the script.
He wanted to say something…
But found he couldn’t utter a word.
He finally nodded, gritting his teeth.
The first scene is indeed in the desert…
But…
But…
This isn’t how you shoot it, damn it!
Cinematographer Zhang Yunyi carried his camera, staring blankly at the script, over and over again…
He held back for a long time, then finally blurted: “Shen Dao, I’m not doubting you, but… could we possibly end up making a terrible film? Will we die horribly?”
Director Shen Long trembled violently.
But he still forced a shake of his head, struggling to sound calm: “In Hong Kong, they once shot waterfalls with a single plastic sheet… there’s no such thing as a bad location…”
After saying that…
He didn’t know if cinematographer Zhang Yunyi believed him.
In any case…
He didn’t believe it himself.
Prop master Liu Fang sat silently in the corner of the van, staring out the window.
For some reason…
He felt like his entire life was over.
Screw it!
Shoot!
Just shoot!
At that moment, Shen Long’s gaze fell on Zhou Yang in the front driver’s seat.
“Zhou Dao, our martial arts director…”
“Oh, we don’t have one…”
“Huh?”
“I just thought of a cutting technique with powerful impact—pairing a single motion with sound effects to create stunning results! Better than those Hong Kong films!”
“…”
………………………………
Three days passed in a flash.
July 1st.
Amid a grand ceremony, the film [Love Ferris Wheel] held its official launch event.
The event was packed; nearly every major media outlet in the entertainment circle showed up.
An Xiaoshi and Zhang Jingya attended the event.
But before the cameras, they had little screen time; instead, Zheng Yichen, Chen Liang, and several other leads dominated every frame.
After the event, at the lunch banquet, the two girls became the center of attention…
Surrounded by leering eyes, constantly toasted with drinks.
After drinking a little, An Xiaoshi looked at all those smiling faces, then slipped away with Zhang Jingya during a break.
They hated this kind of setting!
Back at the hotel, after checking for cameras and other surveillance devices, they finally lay down on the bed.
An Xiaoshi stared at the ceiling.
“Besides investing, it seems we have zero control…”
An Xiaoshi murmured to herself.
Zhang Jingya stared at the ceiling: “Once this movie is finished, it’ll all be over!”
“Have you ever considered that this movie might flop at the box office?”
An Xiaoshi suddenly asked this question.
“Huh?” Zhang Jingya froze: “How could that happen? So many stars… Don’t go imagining things…”
An Xiaoshi fell silent.
In fact…
Right now, a strong sense of unease had surged within her.
Over these past days, she had checked the production’s accounts and found a large sum that didn’t add up…
Also, the procurement expenses were clearly falsified—ten yuan for a single button!
Can you believe that?
If this continues, the production’s budget will be exceeded soon, and then…
…
I wonder how Zhou Yang’s production is going.
Has filming already started?
She shook her head.
In the end, she called Zhou Yang.
On the other end of the line.
“Filming is going smoothly!”
“We’ve already shot one-fifth!”
“One-fifth? So fast? You’ve only been shooting for two days, right?”
“Technically, we’re almost on day three!”
“No good—still too slow!”
“… ”
When An Xiaoshi heard this, she was stunned!
Is this movie riding a rocket?!
Shooting this fast!
…
She thought it was utterly unbelievable.
So…
She called another crew member from Zhou Yang’s production.
On the other end, it sounded like roaring wind.
When the person heard her question…
The person’s face twisted in misery.
“I don’t even know what we’re filming…”
“We’ve been rolling around all day…”
“Yesterday we rolled around all day in the battlefield set…”
“Today we’re rolling around in a mud pit at a repair shop…”
“This blower’s wind won’t let me open my eyes…”
“… ”
“I don’t know anything…”
“I feel like I’m an idiot!”
“Everyone in this production seems crazy…”
“… ”
End of Chapter
