SA Chapter 75 (Part 3) – Kabedon~

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He Ruge wasn’t good at mixing into crowds, so he just quietly watched from behind the screen for a while before exiting the group chat to go write. Inside the small black room, he managed to write 2,000 words in one go,

In any group scene, there will always be a main focus. In this scene, Xue Jiazhe is definitely the protagonist through and through. Therefore, Rong Xu’s performance is the most important – whether he could employ the atmosphere and immerse the audience.

Bo Xiwen’s and Ren Shuzhi‘s performances were not as important. Rong Xu was the key.

And so, after the scene ended, the makeup artist immediately entered the set to help with makeup touch ups, and Director Yuan replayed the recording without saying a word.

He watched it a full five times before he finally gave a soft sigh. He then raised his head and said: “Ren Shuzhi needs to redo one shot, then this scene passes!”

When this sentence reached Rong Xu’s ears, he raised his head in surprise and looked at Director Yuan. At the same time, Bo Xiwen and Ma Qi also looked at Director Yuan in surprise, while Ren Shuzhi nodded helplessly as she prepared to retake the shot.

After cooperating with Director Yuan for only three days, Rong Xu already knew that this director was very keen on using long shots.

Compared with many other artistry obsessed directors, Director Yuan’s long shots were not considered that long, the longest being only four to five minutes, unlike some other artistry obsessed directors whose long shots could reach forty to fifty minutes and never pause. 

However, Director Yuan was very principled. The long shots were still definitely long shots. Although they weren’t the standard long shots taken with only one camera in the strictest sense, he wouldn’t break the scene as long as the actors were still acting ,and would even make them start over from the very beginning.

But this time, Director Yuan made an exception. He didn’t have anyone accompany Ren Shuzhi for her retake, but rather made Ren Shuzhi retake the scene by herself.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind. Originally, he didn’t want to think too deep into it. However, that thought lingered in his mind and finally drove him to reopen “Family of 5 Lakes and 4 Seas” and say: “I have a question. Do monsters have parents?”

After Ren Shuzhi re-dripped the eye drops and finished the retake, Director Yuan spat out a mouthful of complaints: “Cry, do you know how to cry? Not borrowing the eye drops to cry, but actually really cry! Rong Xu and Bo Xiwen did such a good job. Yet, you somehow can’t even cry right, almost wasted a spectacular shot!”

And so Rong Xu finally came to understand that when they took the close-up shot for Ren Shuzhi the second time, there were practically no tears in her eyes!

Because the eye drops had run out, Ren Shuzhi was just plain howling in the second close-up take. Most people might not be able to see it well from a distance – after all, her face was already fully stained with eye drops, so one wouldn’t be able to tell whether there were tears in her eyes – but the camera can catch it all clearly.

After being reprimanded so many times by Director Yuan, Ren Shuzhi’s face was a bit ugly. But, after all, the director had the most power, so she accepted Director Yuan’s suggestions with a dry smile.

In the evening, Ren Shuzhi even proposed to have a dinner gathering.

He Ruge’s emotions shifted only for the briefest of moments. His fingertips which were placed on the keyboard twitched as he slowly replied

“It was a bit late by the time I joined the crew, and we haven’t had a single meal with everyone yet. Today, I will treat, inviting everyone to have a meal in the neighboring restaurant^[1]. Please don’t be polite.”

Within the crew, Ren Shuzhi had always been enthusiastic and generous. After she said that, she directly booked tables for them, and everyone walked over happily.

Because she’s a singer, Ren Shuzhi didn’t drink alcohol, only juice. At the table, everyone except her had tasted some alcohol. Though they didn’t drink much, they could be considered to have “drank”. Even Rong Xu had poured himself a glass of red wine.^[2]

After three rounds of drinking, Luo Qian walked over from the assistant’s table and asked Rong Xu quietly: “Xiao Xu, exactly what kind of medicine is Ren Shuzhi selling in her gourd^[3]? Suddenly inviting everyone to dinner…… I keep feeling it’s kinda weird.”

Hearing this, Rong Xu was startled for a second. After deliberating it for a moment, he smiled: “Perhaps she wants to make up for it, for constantly NGing these past few days?”

Although it is uncommon for celebrities to treat others to meals on a large scale, even Rong Xu had done it several times before. It was normal, there was nothing suspicious about. It was nothing more than building a good relationship with the crew.

However, Luo Qian frowned and said softly: “I keep feeling that something is off……”

But, though she’d said that, Luo Qian’s ‘woman’s sixth sense’ didn’t appear to have a miraculous effect this time around.

After the crew members finished their meal, they walked back to the hotel together. The hotel was right next to the Film and Television City, so the security was pretty decent. Rong Xu and Luo Qian walked to the forefront of the team, and Ren Shuzhi and Director Yuan could be heard talking and laughing in the distance.

The little white tiger was sleeping. He Ruge’s gaze wandered along the outline of the little white tiger bit by bit, from his bud-like ears and delicate pink nose, to his thin and long snow-white tiger whiskers and his two overlapping small paws.

Director Yuan hahahah’d constantly. At this moment, there was no trace of the man who’d scolded Ren Shuzhi in the morning.

Listening to their laughter, the youth’s mouth curled up thoughtfully, coming to understand the purpose behind Ren Shuzhi’s actions.

Eat food, shorten words. Receive things, soften hands^[4]. Huaxia’s idioms always make sense.

 Very soon, Rong Xu got on the elevator with the first group of crew members. After saying goodbye to Luo Qian, he walked to his room alone.

The bright and dazzling lights illuminated the entire length of the long and narrow corridor. Thick carpets blanketed the ground, making the sound of people’s footsteps barely audible. The doors on both sides were closed tightly, and Rong Xu could only hear his own breathing and extremely light footsteps.

Da Da, Da Da——

His room was next to a corner. It was originally at the end of the corridor, but the superstitious^[5] Luo Qian insisted on changing Rong Xu’s room to not be at the end of the corridor. Thus, she switched it to this one.

As he walked, Rong Xu took out the door card from his pocket. His mind was filled with the scenes he will be acting out the next day. It was still an indoor scene, performed in Xue Jiazhe’s office. There, Tan Yangxuan will bring Xue Jiazhe the latest photos taken of the crime scene, and Xue Jiazhe will finally decide to go visit the square where the victim was hung to investigate.

This scene seemed very simple, but in fact, from beginning to end, Rong Xu must act out Xue Jiazhe’s duality.

Everything this person analyzed was directed at himself. He knew very well that it was he, himself, who killed those people. But, he never felt emotionally moved. He always seemed to be standing to the side, looking at the whole thing from an outsider’s perspective. Looking at the victims he killed. Looking at his own cold-blooded self.

Therefore, for the most important scene tomorrow, Rong Xu needed to be able to show Xue Jiazhe’s indifference deep within his bones. It could be reflected through small details, but also in his speaking tone with Tan Yangxuan.

For example, he could purposefully not pour a cup of hot water for Tan Yangxuan from beginning to end, or……

“CLATTER–“

The sound of footsteps stopped abruptly.

The youth turned the corner and finally saw the man leaning against the door of his room, waiting quietly.

The youth’s clear eyes slowly widened as the handsome young man was reflected in his gaze. With his hands in the pockets of the black windbreaker, the man’s figure was pure and straight, like a perfect statue, waiting quietly and collectedly at the door, and leaning gently against the wall. When he heard footsteps, he tilted his head slightly and looked towards the suddenly-appearing youth with calm eyes.

White light poured down from the top of the man’s head (from the overhead lighting), causing his scattered hair to leave a faint shadow and hide those deep phoenix eyes as they stared at the young man without a noise, watching carefully.

Silence hung in the corridor. Rong Xu looked at Qin Cheng in shock, while Qin Cheng similarly looked down towards him.

Both of them stared at each other, and neither of them spoke first. One was frightened into silence, the other seemed to be enjoying this state of being. 

Qin Cheng stared at the youth in front of him with a blank expression. Only the raised corners of his lips reveal his secretly happy mood at the moment.

It was only after a long time that Rong Xu finally recovered. He subconsciously wanted to ask why the other party suddenly appeared here, but just as he said the word “you”…

All of a sudden! 

Very light footsteps sounded out from behind him.

The sound of high heels stepping on the carpet was really too easy for people to ignore. Rong Xu only noticed the other party when they had neared the corner. He turned around quickly, and his eyes suddenly widened.

Qin Cheng raised an eyebrow and asked softly: “What……”

“BOOM!”

Without giving the man a chance to speak at all, Rong Xu directly grabbed his hand, swiped the key card speedily, and pressed Qin Cheng to the wall with one violent stroke. With a hook on his left foot, there was a loud bang, and the door was closed behind him.

Qin Cheng looked at the young man in surprise and saw Rong Xu holding down his arm with one hand, pressing him (Qin Cheng) between him (Rong Xu) and the wall. He was obviously half a head shorter than himself, but this young man looked solemn at the moment as he turned his head and looked in the direction of the door without blinking.

Qin Cheng: “……”

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Cheng silently moved his hand down and clasped the youth’s hand.

Just like that.

Rong Xu didn’t seem to notice the sensation and was still staring intently at the door.

Qin Cheng’s gaze flicked across the youth’s face and finally also looked in the direction of the door. He narrowed his eyes slightly. A slight darkness flashed through deep eyes, only to hear, in the next second, a crisp knock on the door.

A soft female voice sounded over with a smile and flowed across the thin door: “Rong Rong, did you forget to grab your phone when we were eating just now? I brought it here for you. Open the door for a bit.”

He Ruge’s birthday is next month. He had once thought that when he’d saved some money, he would buy himself a cat for his own birthday gift.

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The author has something to say:

Orange Qin: Eh, RongRong Kabedon’d Baby, Shy Shy  ?(///>w<///)?

RongRong: (Someone’s outside the door, watching)

Orange Qin: Eh, RongRong hasn’t realized Baby is grasping his hand ~ \ (≧ ∇ ≦) / ~

RongRong: (Someone’s outside the door, watching!)

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