The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 259 Literary Assistant
By mid-June 02, the filming of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber was finally coming to an end, and the last scene to be filmed was Chapter 6 of the original novel: The Bride's Delicate Hands Tear Her Red Dress.

To be precise, it should be the scene where Zhao Min prevents Zhang Wuji from getting married, and Zhou Zhiruo, who was humiliated, vows to get all of this back in the future.

"I was wondering what was missing. Oh, so that's where it was. She really went to great lengths," Xu Jiuyang muttered as he flipped through the script.

“It’s okay,” Gao Yuanyuan said, taking it easy. “Playing such little tricks just shows that she doesn’t trust herself.”

"Sister Yuanyuan has such a great attitude," Xu Jiuyang couldn't help but exclaim.

Gao Yuanyuan plays Zhou Zhiruo, Fan Bingbing plays Zhao Min, and Xu Jiuyang plays Zhang Wuji. As the producer, Fan Bingbing decided to film the scene where Zhang Wuji abandons Zhou Zhiruo, who is getting married, and leaves with Zhao Min at the end of filming. The intention behind this is not too obvious.

It has to be said that Fan Bingbing's biggest problem lies here: she always likes to play those little tricks, and even if she were an enhanced version in this life, she still couldn't change it.

In comparison, Gao Yuanyuan is far more outstanding; she remains calm and composed in the face of both praise and criticism. She truly is a good choice for a wife. What a pity...

Xu Jiuyang controlled his wandering thoughts, then looked out at the sky and called out, "Jon, what time is it?"

"It's 4 p.m., boss." Chen Qiaoen appeared out of nowhere.

"It's already 4 o'clock?" Xu Jiuyang was a little surprised. "Bingbing hasn't come back yet?"

“Ms. Dong and Director Lai have both called, saying that Ms. Fan is busy and we’ll have to wait a bit longer,” Chen Qiaoen said.

"Strange, she's usually very punctual." Xu Jiuyang found it increasingly strange.

She went back to Beijing the day before yesterday, saying it was something important, and that she would be back today and would definitely not delay the filming of the movie. But today, the sun is already setting and I still haven't seen her.

"Don't worry, maybe something's wrong," Gao Yuanyuan comforted her again. "There are only seven or eight scenes left, and the environment is fixed. The requirements for natural light are not high, so it's okay if it's a little later."

"I'm afraid she'll come back too late and we won't be able to wrap up filming until tomorrow," Xu Jiuyang grumbled.

“That’s even better,” Gao Yuanyuan said with a smile. “I haven’t had such a flow of ideas in a long time. Just looking at Xiaoyang every day brings out a lot of thoughts.”

Xu Jiuyang coughed a little awkwardly, "Sister Yuanyuan is joking."

Gao Yuanyuan shrugged and changed the subject with a smile: "Speaking of which, how about signing a novel contract with me? You haven't published a work in a long time."

“I do have some works, but they’re not novels.” Xu Jiuyang scratched his head. “Besides, there’s still a lot to do. Bingbing asked me to play Duan Yu before, but I don’t have time, Sister Yuanyuan.”

“In that case,” Gao Yuanyuan thought for a moment, “how about I assign you two literary assistants?”

"Literary assistants? Two?" Xu Jiuyang's eyes widened.

"What are you thinking?" Gao Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at him. "They are company employees, responsible for helping contracted authors organize various manuscripts. They are not just serving you."

"Ah... um... I..." Xu Jiuyang scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Anyway, I know that Angela commissioned you to write the script and then had someone help with the polishing," Gao Yuanyuan said, trying to steer the conversation. "The two literary assistants I recruited are doing quite well so far, so why don't we let them give it a try?"

“But…” Xu Jiuyang tried to keep up, “Sister Yuanyuan, you know that sometimes creation requires a one-shot process, but given my current situation, it is almost impossible for me to sit at my desk for several hours to get the feeling going.”

“That’s fine,” Gao Yuanyuan said calmly. “At worst, you can provide the outline, and they can fill in the details. You can just have them all listed as authors when it’s published.”

"Huh?" Xu Jiuyang's face was full of "you can do that?" expressions.

“What?” Gao Yuanyuan raised an eyebrow. “You’re not so stingy as to not even give up your right to be credited, are you?” “Not at all.” Xu Jiuyang quickly shook his head. He had all sorts of ideas in his head, but he lacked the time and energy to write them down. If someone could help him organize and fill in the content, what was a mere right to be credited?

“Then it’s settled,” Gao Yuanyuan immediately agreed. “This way I won’t have to pay you a salary every month; I can just share the royalties from your work.”

"Wow, Sister Yuanyuan, you don't have to be so stingy about such a small amount of money, do you?" Xu Jiuyang exclaimed, feigning exaggeration.

"You talk as if you've ever fulfilled the duties of an advisor," Gao Yuanyuan snorted. "I've wanted to cancel it for a long time."

"This isn't my fault..." Xu Jiuyang immediately put on a wronged expression again, "Besides, I gave you all the advice you asked for, doesn't that count as fulfilling my duty?"

“This…” Gao Yuanyuan hesitated for a moment, “No, it’s what I said!”

Faced with her unreasonable behavior, Xu Jiuyang could only shrug: "Fine, fine, you're the boss, you decide."

In the midst of this back-and-forth conversation, Chen Qiaoen popped up again: "He's back, boss, he's back."

"Who's back?" Xu Jiuyang glared at her.

"Miss Fan is back." Chen Qiaoen chuckled.

As I came out of the rest area, I saw Fan Bingbing distributing snacks and apologizing to the staff who had been waiting for so long.

The surface work is done quite well.

"I thought you were going to steal the show during filming today and show off your Zhao Min prowess, but you're only just getting back now. Whether you can even finish filming is another matter entirely," Xu Jiuyang said sarcastically as he approached her.

“It’s all because of you,” Fan Bingbing glared at him. “Remember to attend the meeting at the end of this month, as notified by the ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’ production team.”

"Huh? There's a meeting at the end of the month?" Xu Jiuyang's eyes widened.

"They started casting last month, didn't you know?" Fan Bingbing retorted sarcastically.

Unfortunately, the person was shameless and said confidently, "Of course I don't know. I'm filming here. Who cares about these things when I'm filming?"

Fan Bingbing was furious: "Now you know, right?"

"I know, I know," Xu Jiuyang nodded repeatedly, then looked at the sun. "However, I think if you get too excited later, we won't be able to wrap up filming until tomorrow."

"What a joke, would I drag it out until tomorrow?" Fan Bingbing raised an eyebrow and said, her pretty face full of arrogance.

Subsequent developments proved that she was qualified to do so. After changing clothes, applying makeup, and making adjustments, her scenes were basically completed in one take, and not just a passing grade of 60. At least in Xu Jiuyang's opinion, the acting skills she displayed in this scene deserved at least 85 points.

Clearly, Fan Bingbing had been waiting for this day for a long time.

Unfortunately, Sister Yuanyuan was not easy to get along with. Although she wore a red veil most of the time and could not act with facial expressions, she still conveyed her emotions through body language.

In the final scene where the red veil is lifted, unlike Zhou Haimei's hysteria in the 94 version, Gao Yuanyuan's performance is very restrained. Although her eyes are filled with tears, she is as cold as ice. She speaks her lines slowly and deliberately, as if every word hides a great deal of resentment.

To be honest, throughout the entire filming of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Gao Yuanyuan's performance was only passable, and she could only be given an overall score of 70.

But two scenes were the most brilliant. One was her transformation into a villain at the Shaolin Temple Lion-Slaying Assembly, where she didn't even need eyeshadow to convey the necessary emotions. The other was the scene where she broke off the engagement, which made Xu Jiuyang, who was watching from the sidelines, wonder if he was going to be a bad catch.

(End of this chapter)