Chapter 2 Part1 (1/2)
There are advantages with being a screenwriter, like getting to see your idol in action, but there are disadvantages, too…
Chapter 2.1 — A Forced Cameo Role (1)
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Ever since the drama's official character stills were released, they were madly forwarded and discussed online.
When Jia He was busy, she would be revising the script, and when she was free, she would browse through websites and read through comments left by Yi Wenze's fans.
She had actually always felt that screenwriting is a good profession. There is no need to work regular office hours. You only need to sit around with the story editor and other screenwriters and idly chat until you have worked out together the scene breakdown for the overall outline. Then, each person gets a.s.signed their episodes, takes them away, and starts writing, and that's all. Even if you have to be with the cast and crew for production, you only have to sit in your own room and do not need to endure the intense heat or bitter cold of the filming site. It's the perfect career choice for homebody-type girls
Currently, as she fixed her attention on the several hundred comments under Yi Wenze's Weibo[1], she had one more self-gratifying reason that she could add.
The scene being filmed today was her favourite. The male and female lead, as well as a group of younger-generation n.o.bility, were competing in calligraphy in front of Wu Zetian[2].
She had specifically asked for the filming schedule and then requested Qiao Qiao to bring her over to watch when the time came. The result, of course, was that she had gotten a look of disdain in exchange, plus, without the slightest hesitation, agreement to her request.
While she was thinking this, she was also pondering that she should change into that black down coat so that she could completely blend into and disappear in the film site and avoid getting herself into any more embarra.s.sing predicaments. Fortunately the director and a.s.sistant director doing this scene had never seen her before, having only gone through Director Jiang whenever they had any opinions on the script. Therefore, she only needed to stand in a corner somewhere and then absolutely no one would take notice of her.
Right when she was lost in thought, a news window popped up in her MSN account, which had automatically logged in for her.
A glaring headline immediately caught her eye: Source reveals that Tian Chu had an extramarital affair first. A certain popular Taiwanese singer declines to respond.
The words were not in a big font, but they were enough to bring shock.
Jia He's heart skipped several beats, and she nearly was unable to breathe. She was even more shocked than when, back then, she saw Gu Yu's arm around the shoulder of her own department manager.
Swiftly, she linked up the recent gossip news and used her mind to fill in the causes and resulting sequence of events. Before her eyes now was the image of the stairwell at the press conference and how, leaning against the wall, Yi Wenze had finished off his cigarette in only a few drags and then the first thing he said after was that the two of them should leave separately from there, lest she be dragged into everything and people made mistaken a.s.sumptions about her. A fire of anger seemed to ignite in her heart, burning and burning. She was burning to the point she was dizzy when Xiao Ou knocked on the door and told her she could go now.
She slipped on her coat. The car she was riding was Qiao Qiao's. The cast had already long since arrived at the filming site to prepare, so naturally only the driver and Qiao Qiao were in the vehicle.
Qiao Qiao, her head lowered, was text messaging and did not even look up. ”Hey, net junkie, have you seen the news?”
Giving an ”uh-huh” in answer, Jia He continued fueling that fire in her heart.
”Your idol sure gets enough grievance to suffer through.” Qiao Qiao licked her lips. Right as she was about to lift her head, another text message alert sounded and she hastily clicked it open, all the while carrying on, ”Tian Chu started in the entertainment industry very early on, but she never made it big in Hong Kong with her singing. Then when she went over to Taiwan, her agent conned her, and she couldn't even afford to feed herself. Had she not relied on Yi Wenze, she absolutely would not have become popular. But now, that's great; she's done with using him, so she's gone and hooked up with someone who's more popular.”
Whoos.h.!.+ A whole bucket of oil had been thrown right into Jia He's face, igniting her so that she now burned with True Samadhi Fire[3].
”Hey, you say,” Qiao Qiao said with seriousness, finally finding a moment to take a glimpse of Jia He, ”what sort of abilities does that woman have? How did she manage to beguile the guy into marrying her? You're a screenwriter, so doing character personality profiles is your strong point. Help me a.n.a.lyze this.” Because Qiao Qiao's track record showed that every relations.h.i.+p she was in was guaranteed to come to an end, she was already at a whole level of her own when it came to longing for marriage, and so her mind completely filtered out Jia He's mood in this moment and she jumped straight into discussing the games and tactics that Tian Chu used.
Jia He's eyes were glinting and penetrating as they fixed on her, and in a firm voice that minced no words, she stated, ”Because Yi Wenze is a good person with good character.”
Sweating with chagrin, Qiao Qiao raised her mobile phone and carried on texting.
<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only
When Jia He and Qiao Qiao arrived, the director was in the midst of staring at the monitor and carrying out a discussion, while Liao Jing was there on the side with a down coat draped over her shoulders. On the set, the gaffer and best boy were setting up the lighting arrangements. There were the sounds of crew members speaking in low tones, the noise of equipment being moved, the excited voice of the a.s.sistant director as he ran through a scene with the actors… With all this chaotic hustle and bustle, her anxiety that she had barely managed to repress was now dredged up once more. Jia He unconsciously swept her gaze over the entire film set, trying to find a place to sit down.
But unexpectedly, she caught sight of Yi Wenze.
The spot he was in was very dim. From her particular angle, she could only see that his head was slightly lowered and he was standing behind a desk, a brush in hand and writing with it. As it had rained last night, the ambient temperature had dropped several degrees. This film set had no measures to provide heat, and everyone's shoulders were draped with down jackets. He, though, wore only a casual b.u.t.ton-up s.h.i.+rt, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows in such a way that even the folds were very neat and tidy.
The black tip of the writing brush was brought to the snow-white xuan paper[4], and instantly the ink stained the paper and spread, flowingly creating a line of characters.
Jia He absolutely knew Yi Wenze's celebrity profile by heart, to the extent that she could recite it backwards, from the songs he liked to the animal he hated, but she had never known that he knew how to do traditional Chinese calligraphy. Slight curiosity arose in her, and she wanted to see what his writing was like. It so happened that at this moment, the costumer called Yi Wenze to change into his costume, so she took advantage of this opportunity to quietly slip up beside the writing desk and swiftly have a glance at his calligraphy. Her heart gave a fierce leap.
Each character carried a force and strength in its writing, with each brush stroke penetrating and deep. They were the words in the drama with which the male lead expressed his feelings for the female lead. And, they were also the sentences she was most proud of:
I fear not that these feelings have arisen; I only fear that too late have I become aware of them. But as I have pledged to forever take your hand in mine, thus shall I never forsake you.
”That's some nice calligraphy.” Qiao Qiao moseyed up beside her and also poked her head over for a look.
”Naturally,” Jia He softly replied.
”It really is quite good.” Qiao Qiao darted a glance at Yi Wenze, who was conferring with the director about the scene. ”Even after being soaked in the great dye vat for twenty years, he's still a very cultured pickle.”
”Can you not describe my idol as a pickle?” Jia He shot her a look of derision.
”I was out of descriptive words. It's not like I'm a screenwriter.” Picking up that sheet of xuan paper, Qiao Qiao beamed at Yi Wenze and asked him, ”Teacher Yi, would it be all right if you gave this to me?”
Hearing her call to him, Yi Wenze lifted his eyes, looked towards where they were, and gave a nod to the two of them, which could be considered his greeting to them. ”I just arbitrarily wrote that. If you like it, go ahead and take it.”
A grin spread across Qiao Qiao's face, and she purposely used Cantonese to say thank you to him. Then, she immediately folded the paper in half and handed it over to Jia He.
This action was done in full view of everyone. Jia He froze.
While Jia He was still wrestling with herself, thinking it would be inappropriate to take it, but also inappropriate to not take it, Qiao Qiao had already grabbed Jia He's bag and stuffed the paper into it.
The a.s.sistant director was sitting off to the side, mirthfully watching all of this, and nonchalantly he commented, ”Qiao Qiao, you're using your position for personal gain, eh. You've even brought a fan in with you.”
Qiao Qiao gave an ”ah” and patted Jia He on the shoulder. ”a.s.sistant Director, this is our screenwriter.”
Her reputation… was completely ruined…