Chapter 31: Isn’t This Just Picking on an Honest Man?

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Hengdian Ming and Qing Palace Gardens Scenic Area.

Inside one of the pleasure houses, all the actors from the “Love Guidebook: Saving the Dusty” segment were waiting to have their promotional stills taken.

The photographer on set was arranging the lighting.

One extra was standing in as a lighting double, so sleepy he was nearly nodding off on his feet.

During ordinary filming, productions did not need lighting doubles; they were not that particular. Promotional stills, however, required a little more care. After all, the photographs would be plastered everywhere to advertise the show.

One had to economize where possible and spend where necessary.

Ji Yu was dressed as a scholar, a scroll of books in his hand for the upcoming photographs.

After that, he would also have to write with a brush—something he was not good at.

In the show, Ji Yu’s character was an exceptionally talented scholar.

He wrote countless songs for the heroine, Song Yinzhuang, only for the villainous scoundrel to steal them and use them to curry favor. The scoundrel eventually lured the heroine away.

What a thoroughly NTR-style plot.

People in ancient times liked this sort of thing too. Men had enjoyed wearing cuckold’s caps from antiquity to the present day.

Nowadays, cuckold fiction was even more widespread.

Ji Yu enjoyed reading novels, and during the early days of online fiction, cuckold stories were everywhere.

A typical symptom of a lack of confidence among men.

Ji Yu had always felt that this was a kind of social pathology—and a contagious one at that.

Read less cuckold fiction and cherish your wife!

There were probably people like that in the entertainment industry too.

He wondered whether he would ever meet one.

Before long, the photographer had finished setting up, and the promotional shoot could begin.

They would take individual portraits first, then group photographs at the end.

Fan Bingbing was the first to step forward. Wrapped in a military overcoat, the young girl was shivering violently from the cold.

Even baby fat could not keep out the chill.

How old was she again? Ji Yu thought for a moment. She had apparently been born in 1981, which made her nineteen this year.

She had ventured into the world at such a young age, only to be cheated out of two hundred thousand by Qiong Yao. It was a rather miserable fate.

Fan Bingbing had now arrived in front of the camera.

A moment earlier, she had been trembling with cold, but the instant she stood before the lens, she seemed to become an entirely different person.

Alluring and passionate, gentle and charming.

Fan Bingbing’s feminine appeal radiated from her very bones. She had been blessed with excellent natural features.

Ji Yu watched for a while before finally tearing his gaze away.

His turn was coming up.

Dressed as a scholar, Ji Yu faced the camera with a smile embodying warmth, kindness, courtesy, restraint, and humility.

He knew the smile of a warmhearted lapdog all too well.

After finishing the book-reading pose, Ji Yu went over to the desk and picked up a brush.

He absolutely was not going to write anything. The pose, however, had to look good!

Those long, slender fingers, with their sharply defined joints, were a sight to behold.

After taking several photographs, Ji Yu stepped aside to wait.

Shen Xiaohai took the stage.

That fellow really knew how to put on a performance. Holding a folding fan, he smiled with wicked, unrestrained charm.

He was exactly the sort of man who looked bad at first glance, yet somehow remained impossible to hate.

He had truly discovered his calling as a villain!

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Ji Yu still had much to learn.

To give a character a distinctive personality truly required hard work.

The villain Ji Yu played in Detective Ke Lan was simply a psychopath.

Ten years from now, plenty of viewers would probably adore him.

But audiences today? They would likely throw smelly socks at him.

Ji Yu suddenly thought of the television series Do Not Talk to Strangers.

That show was ruthless too.

Audiences in those days were terribly innocent. They confused the character with the actor who played him.

While Ji Yu’s thoughts wandered, the individual shoots for several of the actors were completed, and it was time for the group photographs.

There was a photograph of Ji Yu and Fan Bingbing dressed in bright-red wedding robes.

After all, they were the pair who ultimately ended up together.

The honest man was left to take over after another man had had his way.

Even though she had married a scoundrel and ruined her own beauty, I still love her.

Otherwise, how could it qualify as a moving, tear-jerking love story?

Such dramas were difficult to judge. In any case, Ji Yu would never play the honest fool.

Perhaps the production crew had experienced a pang of conscience. They had Ji Yu sit at the writing desk, while Fan Bingbing and Le Jiatong stood on either side, acting as his charming female companions.

It counted as a little compensation for the honest man.

After several group photographs, the production officially began filming.

The opening ceremony for Love Guidebook was fairly simple, and much better than the one for Detective Ke Lan.

Tangren’s production team came from Hong Kong, where they still had to burn incense and pray to the god of filming.

The Hong Kong entertainment industry seemed to place great faith in that sort of thing.

Quite a few mainland stars believed in it as well.

Ji Yu could only say that in an industry where the average cultural level was that of an elementary-school pupil, this was perfectly normal!

The first shot of the production was Ji Yu’s.

He would enter the capital to sit the imperial examination, accompanied by his old servant.

Other young masters traveled with handsome young pages. Here, the companion had been replaced by an old man.

Why did this drama keep bullying the honest fellow?

The opening scenes were not difficult to shoot. Leading his horse along, Ji Yu would encounter a little beggar stealing steamed buns. He would stand up for the boy and pay for them, only to attract the attention of even more beggars.

Then the villain, Zhou She, would make his grand entrance. With dashing style, he would scatter money in the street. The protagonist, saved by him, would take him for a bosom friend and open his heart completely.

Ji Yu played a thoroughly good-natured man, but the moment Shen Xiaohai appeared, he was devastatingly handsome.

In the middle of the street, he scattered money with one hand as beggars swarmed over and knelt to snatch it up.

He had the aura of an aloof, domineering corporate tycoon.

“Your character is so satisfying. I really want to trade roles with you,” Ji Yu said to Shen Xiaohai.

Shen Xiaohai laughed heartily. “That won’t do. I’m the professional when it comes to playing villains!”

Ji Yu curled his lips. Just wait until Detective Ke Lan aired.

Then he would show him what a real villain looked like!

Still, Ji Yu was not jealous. The villain was merely throwing money around and showing off.

Exactly—throwing money around!

The street scene went very smoothly.

The actors appearing opposite him were all veterans. Any character with more than a few lines was not an ordinary extra.

The production company clearly had real resources. The connections of the Beijing Television station were formidable.

Apart from having strong production teams, television-station-backed dramas had one greatest advantage: there was no need to worry about whether they would ever be broadcast.

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After Ji Yu finished the scene, the production crew hurried to change locations.

The next few scenes were all indoors.

The scenes in which Le Jiatong and Fan Bingbing danced in the pleasure house were scheduled for the evening.

Fan Bingbing and Le Jiatong had no scenes that afternoon. They would not be needed until nightfall.

Even so, the two girls were extremely professional. Whenever they were not filming, they practiced dancing on set, shivering in costumes that left their stomachs and shoulders bare, like little puppies in the cold.

Whenever Ji Yu had nothing to do, he would go over to watch, wrapped in a military overcoat and cracking sunflower seeds.

His leisurely air made Fan Bingbing and Le Jiatong intensely envious.

After watching for a while and finding it boring, Ji Yu went to ask the director whether he could play a small role for fun.

Director Zhang chuckled. “You’re appearing under two identities in the same segment? Are you twins?”

“I don’t have to show my face. I’m just sitting around with nothing to do.”

Ji Yu wanted to rack up a few more missions.

A drama about a talented scholar and a beautiful woman ought to produce a disguise mission related to scholars and literary talents.

Perhaps it would even reward him with skills in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

That was how a professional spy became a master of everything!

Director Zhang refused, however. He merely said that the next segment, Little Chess Player, would begin filming soon, and Ji Yu could make a guest appearance in that.

Ji Yu thought it over. Little Chess Player would do just as well.

If he could obtain a skill related to Go, that would be impressive.

Strategic planning and positional layouts, for example, might even prove useful in business later on.

After wandering around without gaining anything, Ji Yu went to sit in the resting area as well.

There was a brazier there. It was warm!

Fan Bingbing was sitting beside it, warming her hands.

Ji Yu felt too embarrassed to strike up a conversation with her.

The scene from the previous night remained vivid in his mind.

He had pretended to be a celebrity in front of a genuine superstar. Just thinking about it made him cringe.

Fan Bingbing, meanwhile, had been left with a deep impression of Ji Yu and thought he was quite amusing.

She was simply curious whom he had intended to give that bouquet of flowers to the previous night.

It was probably someone else in the industry. She wondered whether she knew her.

She took the initiative and asked, “Which agency are you with? You look familiar. What have you acted in before?”

“Tangren.”

Ji Yu glanced at her. “The shows I’ve acted in haven’t aired yet—Detective Ke Lan and Heaven and Earth Legend: The Lotus Lantern.”

“Detective Ke Lan?”

Fan Bingbing suddenly remembered. In surprise, she said, “You’re the one who was rumored to be dating Jiang Qingqing?”

Ji Yu nodded. There was no point denying it. The story had already appeared in the newspapers.

Fan Bingbing could not help wondering to herself: So, had he been planning to give the flowers to Jiang Qingqing last night?

At that moment, Le Jiatong, dressed as a dancing girl, came running over.

She held her hands over the brazier, trembling as she said, “I’m freezing to death. Even dancing couldn’t warm me up.”

Ji Yu glanced at her fragrant bare shoulder.

Beautiful!

That night, he also had a scene in which he would dance together with Le Jiatong.

He was looking forward to it.

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