Chapter 43: He Has Returned

Returning to the hotel in the evening, Cao Yang first finished writing his summary of the day's work.

Which tasks were completed, which were not, whether the unfinished ones would affect tomorrow's shooting schedule, and whether adjustments were needed—all of these had to be clearly sorted out.

Why does one often see news online about film crews working overtime?

In fact, before a film begins shooting, the director and the production manager, in coordination with the actors' schedules and other factors, have already set the daily shooting tasks; if they aren't completed, they must work overtime, otherwise it would cause significant trouble, and it’s not just a matter of re-planning.

For example, today's shoot; because of Yu Feihong, several shots could not be completed.

Under normal circumstances, they would definitely have to work overtime, and then, with the crew members feeling unhappy, Yu Feihong would instruct her assistant or agent to buy late-night snacks to provide an extra meal for the crew; this is the usual practice.

But the fact is, these few shots weren't finished, and they didn't work overtime, so what now?

Move them to tomorrow? What about tomorrow's plan? What about the actors who were notified of specific dates to join the set? Let them join later?

Or leave the unfinished shots for a final reshoot? What about the actors playing opposite Yu Feihong? Will they have to come back one last time just to reshoot these planned scenes?

And the staff? Some of them aren't on a per-film contract but are paid by the day; once they finish their work, they just walk away, and when the time comes for reshoots, they might have already signed on to another crew.

That is why one often hears news of crews working overtime.

Fortunately, things are a bit better on Cao Yang's side, and it's easier to handle.

The crew members are either from the Beijing Film Studio—they are within the system, after all—and as long as they aren't old slackers, if the leader tells you to work overtime, do you dare to bare your teeth? Do you not want to advance your career?

Or they are students from the Beijing Film Academy; these are interns, free labor, and they are actually eager to stay on the set for a few more days.

As for the other actors, they are either newcomers, students, or guest stars; who could have any objections?

The only slightly troublesome one is the Hong Kong actor Wu Qihua, who plays opposite Yu Feihong; Yu Feihong has already apologized, and he has already smilingly indicated that it is fine.

Besides, Cao Yang is no longer a nobody now; in others' eyes, he is a famous director who has won two Silver Bears, so among these small fries on the crew, as long as Old Tian doesn't take the lead in complaining, who would dare?

On this point, one has to mention two world-renowned, badass figures.

The Hong Kong "Sunglasses King," who, with only a film title and no script, dares to pull together a crew, filming whatever comes to mind; if he can't think of anything, he films the scenery; he films today, and if he thinks what he filmed today isn't good tomorrow, he scraps it and films again.

"Truck Driver" Cameron; he dares to spend over a decade filming a single movie, driving his investors to bankruptcy.

Why do they dare to act like this? To put it bluntly, it is because of their fame; whether it's the actors or the staff, their market value will skyrocket afterward.

Most importantly, their films can make money.

When it comes down to it, it's still about profit; like the Sunglasses King and the Truck Driver, since they are clearly so "terrible," why are they never short of investment?

It is driven by profit; there is money to be made.

After finishing his work, before going to sleep, Cao Yang decided to add another "Acting Immersion" experience for Yu Feihong.

Host: Cao Yang

Current Prestige: 412564

Available Prestige: 212564

Acting Immersion: +0

Film being shot: "Empty House"

Male Lead: Liu Ye

Female Lead: Yu Feihong

The prestige was a little higher than a few days ago, but the change wasn't significant.

He could still exchange for two Acting Immersion experiences, so Cao Yang simply exchanged for both; anyway, this crappy system only had this one ability, and keeping it was useless.

Add one for Yu Feihong.

Big sister, super small universe, explode... Hmm?

It didn't add?

Why?

Try adding it again.

Then the +2 became +0.

Damn it, what's going on? What happened? How come one couldn't be added, and adding again made it directly add two?

Is it that one more Acting Immersion experience still couldn't handle Yu Feihong, or does the second addition have to be doubled?

A piece of junk, and it doesn't even have a manual.

Adding these two, Fairy Feihong now has three Acting Immersion experiences; will she be okay?

Cao Yang felt uneasy, but he couldn't go knock on Sister Feihong's door in the middle of the night, so he was genuinely a bit worried. Yu Feihong seemed to have returned to her childhood; back then, her family was poor, living in Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories; her father was an accountant at a small workshop, and her mother was seriously ill and unable to work, so the whole family was squeezed into a small house of less than 30 square meters.

Huh, why is my background so miserable?

As soon as this thought flashed through Yu Feihong's mind, it was suppressed, and she fell back into her memories.

She was considered lucky; because she was pretty, she was discovered by a talent scout on the street, starred in a movie, and suddenly became a little famous.

Then, a second-generation heir from a wealthy family took a fancy to her and launched a fierce pursuit.

That was a wealthy family, after all; in Hong Kong, the dream of most actresses after becoming famous is to marry into a wealthy family.

Yu Feihong was no exception; she couldn't resist the other party's money and romantic offensive and fell directly into the trap.

Men are all the same: sweet talk before marriage, indifference after marriage; if it were only that, it wouldn't be much.

The key is that this rich kid didn't settle down after marriage; not only did he spend his time drinking and carousing with his fox-friend cronies outside, but when he returned home, he would resort to domestic violence and abuse whenever he was unhappy, and punches and kicks were a common occurrence.

As time went on, Yu Feihong's spirit nearly collapsed, and her heart turned to ash.

Fortunately, he appeared.

!

He took her all over the city, looking for empty houses that were temporarily unoccupied, to experience different lives and discover the beauty of life; her heart began to have vitality again, and she felt she had come back to life.

One day, they entered an empty house and discovered that the owner was an old man; unfortunately, the old man had already passed away, with only a dog keeping him company.

They buried the old man and called his children to notify them.

However, after the old man's children returned, they thought they had murdered the old man and called the police.

The thing Yu Feihong least wanted to see happened; although the old man's death had nothing to do with them, her abusive husband took her away and, through bribery, sent him to prison.

Yu Feihong's heart turned to ash once again.

However, thinking of him, thinking of his guidance, thinking of his encouragement, thinking of everything about him... she became strong again and learned to resist; she would no longer submit to her husband; she was a complete person, not someone's appendage or puppet.

Today is the happiest day of Yu Feihong's life; he is back, right here in this house.

She looked in the mirror, and Cao Yang's face appeared in the mirror behind her.

Yu Feihong opened her eyes, feeling an indescribable joy in her heart.

She couldn't help but get out of bed, walked barefoot to the mirror, stared at the mirror for a full minute, and then slowly reached out her hand to touch the empty air beside her.

For a moment, she couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion.

"You're here, aren't you?"

Muttering to herself, Yu Feihong then shook her head and gave a self-deprecating smile.

"I must be sick; why is my head full of him?"

Then she bared her teeth at the mirror for a while and said viciously: "Pah, you jerk, saying my acting is bad and scolding me every day."

Brothers, I've added a chapter; please support with monthly tickets and recommendations! Thank you, thank you.

(End of chapter)