Chapter 37: Vernacular Chinese Is Better Than Classical Chinese (Seeking Collections and Recommendations)

"《Temptation to Go Home》 Scene 5, Take 1, action!"

The script girl held the clapperboard and slapped it down with a "snap" in front of the camera.

Several days had passed, and filming had officially begun.

On set, under warm yellow lighting, in a spacious bedroom with a cozy arrangement, Qi Hui, dressed in a black suit, walked to the bed with a slightly weary expression.

The current Hong Shixian had just come back from an affair with Aili, exhausted and guilt-ridden.

Although the actress Li Caihua had not yet joined the crew, it did not affect the filming of this scene; the affair scenes would be shot later.

Not only that, on the way back from his affair, Hong Shixian had been spotted by his brother-in-law, who warned him to treat Pinru better, or else he'd fight him to the death.

Beside the bed, Lin Pinru, dressed in a dowdy housewife outfit, gently attended to her husband as he changed clothes.

"Wife, you have to admit your brother is pretty funny," Qi Hui, playing Hong Shixian, leaned against the headboard and complained with some exasperation and frustration:

"Why does he always want to fight me to the death over every little thing?"

In the script's setting, Hong Shixian's fighting ability was not bad, far superior to his brother-in-law's.

But hadn't he just finished an affair?

Guilty and afraid, so he subconsciously sought comfort and forgiveness from his wife.

Lin Pinru sat on the edge of the bed. She had no idea what was on Hong Shixian's mind, thinking only that her husband and her own brother had quarreled over her.

Looking at the somewhat childish man, she couldn't help but feel both helpless and amused.

"You know my brother's personality too, he just likes to talk tough…" Lin Pinru's eyes were like water, the corners of her mouth unable to suppress a smile, feeling happy at her brother's defense, and sweet at her husband's affection.

Off set, the first assistant director was quite surprised: "This Korean actress has such good acting? She's performing so smoothly and naturally?"

"The male lead was well cast." Director Lin chuckled, very satisfied: "Sometimes the chemistry between male and female actors shows up better than pure acting skill."

The first assistant director heard this, pondered for a moment, hurriedly pulled out a small notebook and jotted it down—this was all valuable knowledge.

"Hmm… wait, no, the male lead is also acting very well!" The first assistant director looked up and suddenly said: "That exhaustion after an affair, the guilt, and that feeling of seeking comfort from the female lead while not really caring—it's performed just like the real thing…"

At this point, the first assistant director's face darkened a bit: "Damn, what a scumbag!"

How can someone act this kind of thing so well?

Director Lin chuckled, unbothered. He could tell Qiu Chixuan had some feelings for Qi Hui, but Qi Hui seemed uninterested in Qiu Chixuan.

This was a good thing; the early plot of the script was supposed to have Lin Pinru in the weak position and Hong Shixian in the strong one.

Director Lin stroked his chin, thinking that when they filmed the later part of the script—Lin Pinru's revenge arc—and broke this thin layer of pretense for Qiu Chixuan, it should achieve a certain effect.

In any case, Qi Hui had no feelings for Qiu Chixuan, so breaking the pretense early would be good for both of them.

But speaking of which… Lin Tianyi was a bit puzzled. This was a foreign beauty—how was that kid Qi Hui not tempted?

Foreign, Taiwan, Hong Kong—no matter which side, for a mainland man to marry one was already reaching above his station, already bringing glory to his ancestors.

He had even hoped Qi Hui and Qiu Chixuan could be all lovey-dovey, stirring up some buzz—what a shame.

Of course, this wasn't for the sake of the shoot; he purely felt Qi Hui and Qiu Chixuan were a golden pair, with a promising future!

"Did I act well? I don't think it was that great, did I?" At this moment, Lei Jiayin's voice came from behind.

The few people glanced at him. The first assistant director sized him up and couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Why do you look so drained?"

"Not just drained, but haggard too." Director Lin said: "You haven't been doing anything illegal these past few days, have you?"

"Big Head, if something happens you'll have to pay the breach-of-contract penalty."

Lei Jiayin darkened his face and hurriedly explained: "Nonsense, what bad thing could I have done?"

"My girlfriend came to visit the set, and besides, I'm getting married in a few months."

He was so anxious he even forgot to retort at the nickname "Big Head."

"Oh, no wonder you look so drained." The first assistant director suddenly understood.

"…"

Lei Jiayin felt depressed inside. He had just heard the directors discussing Qi Hui's acting—this was his forte.

As a stage actor, other things might not be his strength, but his acting was absolutely not bad.

But before he could steer the topic to Qi Hui's acting and take the chance to criticize it, these directors fired back at him one after another.

Damn!

"Lei Jiayin, get ready, your scene is next." The first assistant director shouted.

"Aw, coming." Big Head could only swallow his frustration and stride quickly onto the set.

On the other side, Qi Hui found a place to sit down and caught his breath.

He had no scene in the next take, so he could rest a little.

He lit a cigarette, instinctively pulled out his phone, looked at the flip phone in his hand, shook it helplessly, then navigated the cursor and opened QQ on his phone.

Going from luxury to frugality is hard; having gotten used to smartphones, he really couldn't get used to a feature phone.

And now, let alone smartphones, even 3G networks hadn't been fully rolled out yet.

Beep beep beep~

"Senior brother, did the South Korean beauty come? Is she pretty?"

As soon as he logged in, a message from Jing Tian popped up at once.

Qi Hui had given her a heads-up when he arrived, so Jing Tian knew the general situation of Qi Hui's crew.

"You should be in class at this hour." Qi Hui glanced at the time and replied immediately.

"Hehe, no class today, sleeping in at home." Jing Tian hugged her laptop, rolling around freely on her big bed at home, overjoyed.

"Senior brother, you still haven't answered me." Jing Tian sent another message: "What does the South Korean beauty look like? Is she pretty?"

"Just so-so, not even half as good as you."

Jing Tian's pretty face flushed: "Then what do I look like?"

Looking at the message on his phone screen, Qi Hui stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and quickly tapped out a line on the keypad:

"Do you remember the debate over vernacular Chinese from your middle school history textbook?"

"Mm, what's up?"

"Junior sister, I think vernacular Chinese is shorter and more convenient than classical Chinese."

"Senior brother, please give an example." Jing Tian grew interested and decided to play along with Qi Hui.

"Bright eyes, even teeth, graceful and unmatched in the world, elegant bearing, virtue and looks both complete, a charming smile—these phrases can be summed up in just two words."

"Huh? Which two words?"

"Jing Tian."

Staring at the message on the screen, Jing Tian froze for a moment, then her pretty face flushed bright red all at once, even her earlobes tinged with a layer of pink.

"Ahhh… you scoundrel, how can you say it like that!" Jing Tian was so embarrassed she rolled all over the bed.

……

Magic City film set.

After sending the message, Qi Hui waited a few minutes but didn't see any new reply from Jing Tian's side, and couldn't help scratching his head a little.

After thinking it over, he decided to send another message to try.

He immediately tucked a cigarette between his lips, ready to type a few more characters.

But just then, Lei Jiayin suddenly leaned over: "Yo, buddy, why'd you sneak off here?"

"That South Korean beauty seemed to be looking for you just now—aren't you going to check it out?"

Qi Hui raised his head and glanced at him with a slight frown.

Interrupted by this big-headed fellow, his mood suddenly turned a bit sour.

Lei Jiayin, seeing Qi Hui's displeased expression, immediately realized he'd been a bit presumptuous.

His Adam's apple bobbed—he wanted to apologize, but couldn't bring himself to lose face.

Apologizing to some pretty-boy like that—he just couldn't get the words out.

Qi Hui slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sinking slightly: "Do you need something?"