Chapter 7

【Daily Info 4: Nanjie, Du督 of Hengdian — Yongkang Meat Pie: thick filling, chewy crust, juicy meat aroma, excellent value, uniquely flavorful (Note: Recommended to pair with the shop's wontons)】

【…】

On Nanjie of the Du督, Seeing Yan Li bit into the meat pie, scalded by the hot oil, yet he stamped his feet without letting go of the bite.

He chewed noisily, his mouth packed with the savory scent of dried vegetables and meat; after two sips of smooth, fresh wontons, the drowsiness and irritation from morning makeup vanished entirely.

It was worth the effort of Seeing Yan Li's detour on an empty stomach — another culinary treasure added to his collection.

System-recommended, trustworthy!

After finishing his meal, Seeing Yan Li paid, thought for a moment, then packed up more meat pies and carried them toward the makeup room.

Seeing Yan Li had a scene this morning and arrived before five, but others were already ahead of him.

"Xie laoshi, good morning."

Xie Junhao was attaching a wig; he paused, startled, then remembered who Seeing Yan Li was and nodded.

"Ni hao."

"Xie laoshi, have you eaten yet? I just bought these meat pies — they're delicious, try one."

"Thank you, no, I've already eaten."

Xie Junhao was polite but cold; Seeing Yan Li didn't mind. The makeup artist was busy, so he left one pie for him and handed the rest to others who were idle, including Wang Xiu.

"Not bad — you're already trying to buy people's loyalty."

Wang Xiu, chewing on the pie, teased lightly; Seeing Yan Li smiled.

"Buying loyalty" — that's a big claim!

He was just a minor supporting actor, neither the status nor the money to do such a thing; he merely wanted to keep a friendly face, show goodwill, integrate into the crew, and avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Actually, these meat pies are pretty good — where'd you get them?"

"Nanjie, Du督 — Yongkang Meat Pie, the red sign on the east side of the road."

"Yongkang Meat Pie" isn't just the shop's name — it's the name of a local snack in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, like Shaanxi's roujiamo or Anhui's banmian.

Many stalls in Hengdian sell this snack; over the past few days, Seeing Yan Li had spotted two or three others, all bearing the four characters "Yongkang Meat Pie." Without specific location or features, it's hard to find the right one.

"Impressive — I've been in Hengdian off and on for nearly two years, and you've only been here a few days — how'd you get so familiar?"

"I like to wander."

Seeing Yan Li deployed one of his standard excuses for sourcing information — the other two being "I have many friends" and "My instincts are sharp."

These three excuses, used flexibly, could satisfy 95% of curiosity and doubt; if all else failed, he had a final trump card —

【The water here runs deep, it's complicated, I can't reveal much — just trust me.】

"Oh, an amateur food connoisseur."

"Connoisseur? No, but my nose is sharp. By the way, I know a barbecue spot even better than these meat pies."

At this, Seeing Yan Li dropped the topic. The two had grown familiar over the past few days; Wang Xiu sensed his intent, wiped his hands with a tissue, and cut straight to the point.

"State your terms."

"You do my makeup for a week."

"You're sure it's good?"

"What would I gain by lying to you?"

"Deal!"

Wang Xiu, a greedy food lover, couldn't resist the temptation; Seeing Yan Li then smiled and gave the barbecue spot's address.

Over these past few days, through the information system and Seeing Yan Li's own inquiries, he'd gathered plenty of crew insights.

Among them: Wang Xiu ranked among the top three makeup technicians on the "Sui-Tang Heroes" set (system-certified), liked men and food (according to other makeup artists' leaks).

Had he been skilled in other matters beyond technique, Wang Xiu could have led a full makeup team.

High-quality makeup is undeniably vital for actors.

But Seeing Yan Li, as a supporting actor, had no right to choose his makeup artist — unless lucky enough to coincide with availability, whoever was free would do his makeup.

Now that he'd made the arrangement with Wang Xiu, he could simply go directly to him in the future — ensuring quality makeup, and sometimes even the perk of cutting the line.

Makeup often required waiting in line, especially during large ensemble scenes, when makeup artists were overwhelmed; only the leads and those with clout got priority — everyone else was at the makeup team's mercy.

Getting makeup done early — or finishing early — meant avoiding idle waiting, gaining more prep time, or wrapping up faster to rest.

Especially this last point — what it meant to actors after a grueling day was obvious.

He agreed to only one week to avoid scaring Wang Xiu off with excessive demands; when the time came, Seeing Yan Li would naturally find a way to extend it.

Every valuable piece of information holds countless possibilities — when properly cultivated and applied, surprises await everywhere…

————

Seeing Yan Li's current scenes still centered on background and supporting roles; the plotline around Yuwen Chengdu wouldn't begin for at least another week.

But that was fine — it gave Seeing Yan Li more preparation time; besides memorizing lines, studying the character, and training in fight choreography, he could also spare time to learn horseback riding.

Yuwen Chengdu had horse scenes — even mounted combat — and Seeing Yan Li couldn't ride.

But this wasn't a fatal flaw; especially on the "Sui-Tang Heroes" set, many actors couldn't ride, and most relied entirely on stunt doubles.

Especially in mounted combat scenes, doubles were unavoidable — non-action actors simply couldn't perform convincingly and risked injury.

Thus, Seeing Yan Li's disadvantage was hardly noticeable against the backdrop of his peers; the director and stunt team were already accustomed to it.

Their expectations for actors like Seeing Yan Li were simple: stay on the horse without falling off, be able to film some frontal shots — everything else could be handled by doubles.

That's the theory, but Seeing Yan Li held himself to a certain professional standard.

He wasn't arrogant enough to refuse doubles entirely, but certain actions looked better with the actor himself — if he could do them, he'd prefer to perform them himself.

Besides, signing up for an external riding class was expensive; here, it was free, and he could learn practical film-specific techniques — not taking full advantage would make him a fool.

So after afternoon wrap, Seeing Yan Li found a riding instructor through Wang Decai on set.

Because Seeing Yan Li gave him two packs of good cigarettes, the instructor, softened by the gift, stayed with him until the crew nearly wrapped for the night.

Although it was his first time riding a horse, Seeing Yan Li's talent was fairly good; by the end, he could barely ride alone at a slow trot for a full lap.

Next came constant practice, mastering all the Fundamentals, then gradually increasing speed.

In Seeing Yan Li's view, riding a horse wasn't hard to learn—it was a bit like driving a car: easy to pick up, but full mastery required long-term training.

After spending most of the day learning to ride, when he returned to the hotel, his buttocks and thighs ached, but his spirits were high.

As a child, he had dreamed of one day wielding a long weapon, galloping on horseback, charging seven times in and out of a million enemy troops; he never imagined that, in some way, he had actually fulfilled that childhood wish.

Unfortunately, the role of Yuwen Chengdu gave him little chance to display unstoppable might.

If he gets the chance later, playing Lü Bu or Xiang Yu would be awesome…

(End of Chapter)