The sweetest in the entertainment industry

Chapter 469 Enduring
Gu Lanxi spent a very difficult week in the Northwest.

The food was fine, because she was taking care of Aunt Wang and they cooked for her separately, making all the dishes she liked.

With Niu Lili around, she doesn't have to worry about any trivial matters in her life, which is fine.

However, this area has a temperate continental arid climate with very little rainfall throughout the year. The soil is loose, the wind is strong, and the ultraviolet radiation is very strong. Especially in mid-to-late March, it is the peak season for sandstorms. Before the plane even landed, the outside was already a hazy yellow. However, it looked like dusk at 3 p.m.

On the way to the space base, we saw many newly sprouted willows along the way.

Clusters of new buds, stirred by the wind, tumbled in the dust, making the desolate atmosphere even more intense.

Gu Lanxi was in the Jiangnan region in the morning, where apricot blossoms were in the drizzle and willows were shrouded in mist. But as soon as she got off the plane, she arrived in the desolate Northwest. The contrast was particularly strong.

In addition, most of the scenes here are outdoors, and they have to film for a week straight, which is a huge challenge for her.

Gu Lanxi has always been dedicated to her work. No matter how harsh the environment, she will always do her best to fulfill her duties without ever complaining.

Complaining only breeds negative emotions, and negative emotions are contagious, causing those around you to feel bad as well.

Filming is a team effort; if others don't perform well, her work will definitely be affected. It's better to maintain a good mindset from the start.

This film is spearheaded by Qingyan Pictures under Ni Bingyan's name, and co-produced by several film and television companies in the industry. The publicity department and the space agency will also participate in the production. Although the investment is only 2 million yuan, the standards in all aspects are particularly high.

Not only does the script need to go through layers of review, but the actors also need to undergo political vetting, and the venue and props need to go through layers of approval. In order to minimize the impact on the normal work of the unit, there is only one week to prepare.

Ni Bingyan was under a lot of pressure to finish filming her scenes within the allotted time, and Gu Lanxi and the other actors were also under considerable pressure.

To minimize the number of takes, these scenes are given top priority during script readings.

Because of the commercial shoot, the entire crew was getting their hair and makeup done yesterday, so Gu Lanxi wasn't there. She got her hair cut to ear length on the plane today.

Fortunately, I had a stylist with me, so it wasn't troublesome at all.

Upon arrival, everyone put down their luggage and gathered within half an hour. After a brief opening ceremony lasting twenty minutes, Ni Bingyan instructed the various departments to prepare.

Because there was a sandstorm scene in the script, and it just so happened to be there, which was great!

The story takes place in the late 1950s in the People's Republic of China. The female protagonist, Ji Wangshu, played by Gu Lanxi, goes to study on the other side of the ocean as a government-sponsored student.

After completing her studies, many of her classmates couldn't resist the allure of capitalism and chose to stay, but she resolutely returned to China to contribute to the country's nascent aerospace industry.

"In this scene, Ji Wangshu is to conduct a verification experiment on the interference of sandstorms on aerospace aerodynamic sensors. In a sandstorm environment, he needs to test the operational stability of commonly used aerodynamic sensors for rockets..."

The crew arrived in Northwest China, and due to a sandstorm, they began filming this crucial scene that very day.

Because many specialized instruments are required, and fearing that Gu Lanxi might not operate them properly, the unit specially sent an expert to provide guidance.

These details weren't in the script. To deliver a brilliant performance, she had to perform them as skillfully as if she'd done them a thousand times, but she didn't have time to learn them.

Anyone who has done experiments in school knows that it is very difficult to write down a complete experiment and perfectly perform each step.

Many idiots even need to keep the experimental procedure at hand, doing it while watching, for fear of making a mistake, which makes the operation less aesthetically pleasing.

If it were an ordinary artist, especially one who's just a pretty face with no brains, they'd have to kneel down here.

But Gu Lanxi is known to be very intelligent.

The expert teacher only explained it once and showed her the experimental procedure, and she was able to do it quite well.

The first set of data was measured a bit choppy, but by the time the second set started, she looked like a seasoned researcher.

It has to be said that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Especially the director Ni Bingyan.

To capture the sandstorm scene, the production team specifically scheduled it for this week, as the weather forecast predicted a high incidence of sandstorms this week, lasting from a few hours to several days. The scene was successfully filmed, and Gu Lanxi's performance received unanimous praise.

She will be wearing no makeup throughout the entire film, which makes it easier for her to apply sunscreen spray.

In the evening, to welcome them, the company cafeteria specially roasted several lambs and served various specialty dishes.

When she arrived at the staff canteen, Gu Lanxi drank water like crazy, but still felt a muddy taste in her mouth. Then she noticed that her fingers were peeling.

I asked my assistant for nail clippers and carefully trimmed my nails. Afterwards, I ate a small bowl of donkey meat noodles.

Gu Lanxi couldn't refuse, so she had to eat a small piece of lamb chop.

This day was exceptionally tough for her.

After finishing her meal, she wanted to go back to her resting place, but Ni Bingyan stopped her directly: "I see you're in great shape today. Don't sleep tonight, we're filming the 'No Madness, No Life' scene tomorrow."

Gu Lanxi thought of the script, couldn't help but slap her forehead, and finally nodded.

For that scene, Ji Wangshu worked tirelessly for three days and three nights, finally overcoming a difficult problem and making a breakthrough in the research project.

To withstand the scrutiny of the big screen, makeup and styling alone are clearly not enough.

This movie, in particular, required her to go without makeup.

To achieve realistic dark circles and redness under her eyes, she had to endure the pain.

I thought that to avoid affecting her performance, this scene would have to be filmed on the last day, but I didn't expect that she would be on the scene the next day.

Ni Bingyan also had her own considerations regarding her concerns.

“That was indeed the plan before, but the reason for the change is that I found that whenever you perform a solo scene, no one holds you back, so you basically don’t need to do many takes. It’s rare that you’re tired and sleepy today, so we’ll take this opportunity to film it, and you can avoid having to go through another round later. If the filming goes smoothly tomorrow, you can go back to your room to catch up on sleep in the afternoon, and you can sleep until the morning after tomorrow and be full of energy again.”

Gu Lanxi was persuaded and nodded, then prepared to return to her residence.

Then Ni Bingyan blocked it again:

"No, go back to your room. If you stand, you'll sit; if you sit, you'll lie down; if you lie down, you'll fall asleep. You can't stay still; you have to move around. Once you fall asleep, all your efforts will be wasted."

It was only ten o'clock, but Gu Lanxi was already yawning repeatedly. As a superhuman who could fall asleep standing up, Ni Bingyan asked the staff at the base who were on leave the next day to help her so that she wouldn't fall asleep. The three of them took turns playing with her, while she took the others back to her room to sleep.

She has to get up before 5 a.m. tomorrow to shoot some establishing shots, so she needs to go to bed early tonight.

Gu Lanxi was unfamiliar with the local staff, but everyone came to her for photos and autographs, and they quickly became acquainted.

We started playing mahjong at 10 o'clock, and by 10:30, all three of us playing with them were mentally exhausted and didn't want to play anymore.

Because Gu Lanxi is good at card counting, she was sleepy and didn't want to use her brain, so she won every hand, which hurt her self-esteem.

"How about we team up and play games together?"

Someone made a suggestion.

With everyone else agreeing, Gu Lanxi couldn't refuse.
"Okay, what do you want to play?"

The female lead in "Above the Stars" was previously named Ji Wangshu.

In traditional mythology, Wangshu is a goddess who drives the chariot of the moon goddess and is often used as a metaphor for the moon, which I think fits the character very well.

Later, I forgot about this incident and gave her another name, He Xinfang, which is more characteristic of the era, since she is set in the 30s.

After thinking about it, I decided to change it to Ji Wangshu.

P.S.: Do you remember Lu playing games?