Chapter 17

Yan Li, dressed in costume, found a shady spot and held a large fan while watching Nie Yuan and the others film a horseback riding scene. Today’s shoot was an outdoor scene where Li Rongrong is executed, and Qin Qiong and his group come to rescue her. There wasn’t much dialogue, but it involved fight scenes and crowd scenes, which made it quite troublesome to film. For example, the scene where Luo Cheng, Shan Xiongxin, and the others ride horses toward the execution ground had to be filmed several times. Any slight issue—whether it was the speed, the formation, the execution of the moves, or the framing—required a reshoot. Luo Cheng, Cheng Yaojin, and Shan Xiongxin all knew how to ride horses, but only the actor playing Luo Cheng, Nie Yuan, was skilled at charging with weapons. The other two used doubles. Yan Li had always thought his horse-riding skills were just passable, but after filming, he realized he was actually quite talented in this area. He learned quickly and rode quite well! At present, his skills in horseback riding on the "Sui Tang Heroes" set were among the best, and he was one of the few actors who didn’t need a double for horseback stunts. Once, when the production ran out of doubles, he even donned a mask to cameo as one of the Yanyun Eighteen Riders. After the sprint scene was completed, the crew reset the set, allowing Nie Yuan and the other actors to rest. Nie Yuan walked over, holding a spear, snatched the fan from Yan Li’s hand, and started fanning himself. His face was covered in sweat, but he didn’t dare wipe it off for fear of ruining his makeup. “This damn heat, it’s unbearable.” “It’s almost July, can it not be hot?” Yan Li replied nonchalantly, sipping from his water bottle as he didn’t mind the fan being taken. Nie Yuan fanned himself for a while, finally feeling a little cooler and then asked with interest, “How did the talk with Zhou Yi go?” “How did you know?” Yan Li was surprised. He had had dinner with a producer from Zhou Yi through Wang Decai’s connections. This was supposed to be something no one would know about—could it be that Nie Yuan had his own network of informants? “Haibing Ge told me. He knows that producer, and that person asked about you specifically.” Yan Li suddenly realized. He had forgotten that Zhou Yi's "Wulin Waishi" starred Huang Haibing as the male lead. They were familiar with each other. “So, what did Zhou Yi say?” Nie Yuan pressed him, treating Yan Li as a friend and hoping for his career to progress. At this point, Zhou Yi, known for producing “Wulin Waishi” and “Crossing Time and Love,” was a well-known company in the industry. If Yan Li could get involved with them, it would benefit his career greatly. “It’s complicated,” Yan Li sighed. He had considered teaming up with Zhou Yi, but after the dinner, he had learned through his sources that getting close to them wouldn’t be easy. According to his intel, Zhou Yi had a few signed artists, like Yu Bo, Yang Junyi, and Zhang Jin, who had recently joined. These actors had military backgrounds or had practiced martial arts since childhood, were good-looking, and fit well with Zhou Yi's style. They were highly valued by the company’s higher-ups. Yan Li, however, somewhat resembled these actors, which was why the producer had shown interest in him. The company liked actors who had a tough, masculine look and martial arts skills! But this also meant that if Yan Li joined Zhou Yi, internal competition would be fierce. He would have to compete for resources with those actors, and with their connections, it could even lead to internal struggles. Yan Li wasn’t afraid of competition; he believed in himself, especially with the help of his system. But he was tired of the political games in the industry. With the system’s support, he didn’t think he’d ever run out of opportunities, so he wasn’t very interested in joining a company. Especially one where internal competition was intense, and the relationships were strained. He definitely didn’t want to be in that kind of environment. “Going solo isn’t easy either,” Nie Yuan said, thinking Yan Li was being a little naive. The entertainment industry wasn’t easy to navigate. Newcomers without connections or companies backing them had a hard time surviving, let alone developing. “We’ll see, maybe one day I’ll start my own company. I don’t like being controlled all the time. It’s better to be the boss.” Yan Li joked, and Nie Yuan laughed, teasing him, “Okay, when I can’t make it, I hope Boss Yan will take me in.” “Of course,” Yan Li replied. — After a while, Nie Yuan was called to rehearse a fight scene, while Yan Li was summoned by the director to film his scene with Li Rongrong. Tong Lei, dressed in a somewhat dirty white prisoner’s outfit, had a wooden execution plaque in her back, her face and hair slightly messy, with a white cloth in her mouth, kneeling on the execution platform. Yan Li swaggered over to stand in front of her, his face full of regret. “What a shame, you haven’t had enough fun and now you’re going to be executed.” He crouched down, grabbing her chin, his expression malicious. “I’ll never forget your pitiful yet alluring screams. Just thinking about it excites me.” “If you beg me now, I might consider letting you live a few more nights.” He spoke his lines, but inside, he cursed the scriptwriters. Couldn’t they consider the actor's sense of shame when writing these lines? Tong Lei glared at him, spitting the cloth from her mouth and cursing, “Beast.” Yan Li was furious. He slapped her, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud cry. The movement looked exaggerated, but in reality, it didn’t touch her. Behind the monitor, director Hu Mingkai frowned and used a megaphone. “Rongrong’s emotions aren’t strong enough. You need to make Yuwen Chengdu even more vicious. Let’s do another take.” Yan Li signaled an OK and then spoke to Tong Lei, “Your energy is too strong. Li Rongrong should be very weak and desperate at this point. This will create a stronger contrast between the villain and the good guy.” After all, in the scene, Li Rongrong had been tortured for several days and would probably have no strength left to even speak. Earlier, Tong Lei had seemed to have a righteous, indignant air, almost ready to fight Yuwen Chengdu. It felt off. Tong Lei, being a newer actor, was humble and had listened to Yan Li’s advice, especially since he had been taking care of her these past few days and even helped her avoid alcohol at a previous event. As a result, she trusted his guidance. “Got it, bro,” she replied. When they restarted, Tong Lei’s performance was much weaker and more tragic. She looked pitiable, enhancing the contrast with Yan Li’s character, who appeared even more cruel. Once the scene was done, the director was pleased, and Tong Lei was happy with the praise, but Yan Li was a mix of happiness and sadness. Playing a character like Yuwen Chengdu was tough. If not done well, it would just blend in with the crowd; if done too well, it could make the audience hate him. Yan Li already imagined how many viewers would curse him out when the show aired. … After work, Yan Li was invited by Nie Yuan to a local barbecue restaurant to drink and watch the World Cup final. Yan Li was quite interested in the game, as he had placed a bet on the lottery, and the outcome would decide whether he would take a regular seat or a sleeper car for his train ride back to Beijing. The game started at 7 PM. Brazil won 2-0 against Germany, with Ronaldo scoring twice, securing their fifth World Cup trophy. Yan Li was thrilled, as he had bet correctly for both matches, meaning he could sleep in a sleeper car on his train ride back to Beijing. He also called Qin Lan to inform her of the result. She had placed a larger bet and could afford a plane ticket. Qin Lan was pleased and wanted to meet Yan Li, but he gently declined. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see her, but he had other matters to attend to. Tonight, June 30th, aside from the World Cup final, was also the end of the month, which meant the monthly report would soon be released at midnight...