Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

the next day.

Zhang Shuai'an woke up after only four hours of sleep, and surprisingly, he didn't feel very tired.

It seems that the "Eternal Essence" buff also improves sleep quality.

On the contrary, He Jiatong was so tired that he could hardly get out of bed. Although he only played the role of General Park, he followed behind the production assistant Ling Zhijian and became free labor in order to learn more.

Meanwhile, because Shaw Brothers Studio lacked extras, he had to change clothes from time to time and act as an extra on the sidelines.

Zhang Shuai'an saw He Jiatong walking around in different clothes several times.

This situation is quite common in TVB, while in mainland China, we only saw a few "extra emperors" in "New Three Kingdoms".

He Jiatong is not a lead actress, so she doesn't need to rush to the set so early. She can just report to work at her normal working hours.

Zhang Shuai'an didn't wake him and arrived at the film set early, only to find Li Shuisheng there: "Uncle Li, what are you doing here?"

"This is all thanks to you."

Li Shuisheng replied with a smile, "Director Wang called me here to be a prop master."

Zhang Shuai'an was somewhat surprised: "Director Liu Jialiang's side is actually willing to release him?"

"I'm not an important person to Director Liu."

Li Shuisheng looked embarrassed and touched his chin, saying, "The sheds over there are almost finished, so there's nothing more for me to do. But here, we'll need quite a few props later, especially for the second unit, so Director Wang sent me over."

The Blood Altar unit definitely requires the creation of a lot of scary props.

Zhang Shuai'an's impression of Wang Jing improved considerably; the fat man certainly knew how to handle people: "Uncle Li, you go ahead and get busy. I'm going to see the director to see when today's filming will start."

"Alright, you go ahead with your work, but take care of yourself too." Li Shuisheng was very concerned about Zhang Shuai'an. He knew very well that whether he could move up the ranks at Shaw Group depended on his nephew.

Zhang Shuai'an nodded slightly, then went directly to his dressing room.

"Zhang Sheng, you're here early. Would you like something to drink?" He had only been in the dressing room for a few minutes when the production assistant, Ling Zhijian, followed him in and asked.

Zhang Shuai'an turned to look at him, smiled, and said, "If possible, could you please prepare a glass of warm water for me? I need to moisten my throat."

"No problem, it'll be here right away." Ling Zhijian was a little puzzled. This kid is really a superman. He stayed up until 2 a.m. filming last night, and now he's here again at 6 or 7 a.m., and he doesn't seem tired at all. It's unbelievable.

Zhang Shuai sat in the chair, closing his eyes to rest.

After a while, he suddenly smelled a fragrant breeze and said, "Sister Lian, you've arrived quite early."

"Huh? How did you know it was me?" Chen Yulian stopped in surprise. She had just wanted to scare Zhang Shuai'an. "How boring."

Zhang Shuai'an slowly opened his eyes, turned his head to look at Chen Yulian, and sniffed: "Of course, you can recognize a beauty by her fragrance."

Chen Yulian was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed slightly: "You...you're lewd!"

"This can be considered erotic?" Zhang Shuai'an looked speechless, then noticed Chen Yulian yawning and couldn't help but say, "You don't seem to be in good spirits. Why don't you get some rest? You shouldn't have any scenes to film this morning."

Chen Yulian's character, Pang Feiyan, was originally supposed to appear in the third unit. However, Zhao Zhenqiang brought Pang Feiyan forward to increase the cohesion of the main characters.

However, to avoid disrupting the overall story's integrity, Pang Feiyan's added scenes were minimal. The reason was readily available: Pang Feiyan ran away from home to Luzhou Prefecture, but due to the murder of the Goryeo Crown Prince, Grand Tutor Pang also arrived there. Pang Feiyan naturally found an excuse to slip away.

During this period, her relationship with Bao Zheng, played by Zhang Shuai'an, was more like that of a bickering couple. They had a big misunderstanding as soon as they met, and they would always quarrel whenever they met afterward.

"Mind your own business!" Chen Yulian rolled her eyes at Zhang Shuai'an and wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

Actually, Chow Yun-fat recently took her to meet his mother, but his mother didn't like her very much, which made her feel a little unhappy, to the point that she developed insomnia.

"But you're quite strange!"

Chen Yulian snapped out of her daze, walked up to Zhang Shuai'an, and carefully looked at his face: "I heard you were filming until after 2 a.m. last night. After washing up, you probably didn't go to sleep until at least 3 a.m. How come you're back on set before 7 a.m.? Are you some kind of superman?"

Zhang Shuai'an used his captivating gaze to look at her, and said calmly, "I'm not some superman, but I'm a born genius, believe it or not?"

"I don't believe you!" Chen Yulian felt a jolt of fear from him and inexplicably panicked.

Oh no, this is definitely the feeling of falling in love!

She was extremely confused. She was clearly in a passionate relationship with Chow Yun-fat, so how could she possibly be attracted to another man?

If it wasn't a spark of attraction, then what did that sudden heartbeat mean?

Chen Yulian then fell silent and became lost in thought.

Zhang Shuai happily put away the buff. He just wanted to do this to her every day, hoping to eventually win her over.

By around seven o'clock, almost everyone had arrived.

Zhao Yazhi arrived gracefully earlier, and it was clear that she hadn't had much rest either, but she still maintained her usual calm and composed demeanor.

With her mediating, Chen Yulian quickly recovered and resumed her usual cheerful and talkative manner.

Huang Rihua's character Zhan Zhao was originally supposed to appear in the second unit, but Zhao Zhenqiang also gave him some screen time in the first unit. However, he only appeared with his brother when the Goryeo crown prince was assassinated, which can be considered as foreshadowing.

"The scenes we're filming today are the most important in the first episode."

When Zhao Zhenqiang arrived, he called all the lead actors and some important actors to his dressing room and gave a brief briefing: "There are several major scenes to film, everyone please work hard and try to finish filming today..."

The following scenes are indeed all large-scale.

For example, Prefect Gongsun hosted a banquet for the Goryeo delegation, during which they engaged in a battle of wits and strength...

There's also the second half of the scene where Gongsun Da Niang performs an autopsy, Bao Zheng comes to deliver food, and incidentally solves the case.

This is also Zhang Shuai'an's scene at the opening ceremony today.

Zhang Shuai'an stepped forward and greeted Xia Ping, the elderly woman who played Bao Da Niang: "Ms. Lu, hello, I am Zhang Shuai'an, the actor who plays Bao Zheng."

Xia Ping replied with a smile, "Why call me 'Ms.'? That's too formal. Just call me 'Mom.' It'll make it easier to get into character."

This old lady was born in 1937 and is only forty-two years old this year, but she is still old enough to be Zhang Shuai'an's mother.

Her original name was Lu Shaoping, and her English name was Teresa. She later changed her name to Apple and was known as Sister Apple. In 1955, she auditioned for a film company and became an actress, initially working in Cantonese films. In 1970, she switched to Shaw Brothers films, where she continued acting, occasionally making guest appearances on TVB. She officially joined TVB in 1982, primarily focusing on television dramas.

Zhang Shuai'an only had two impressions of her: one was the mother in Stephen Chow's "Hail the Judge" who used dried salted fish as an imperial sword, and the other was the mother of the three Vietnamese brothers in "Flash Point".

"Mother!" Zhang Shuai'an instantly switched into Bao Zheng's mode and called out smoothly.

Xia Ping smiled and nodded.

Before long, the scene was ready and all the extras were found.

The main characters in this play, besides Zhang Shuai'an, Bao Zheng, Xia Ping's Aunt Bao, are Lu Putou, the old rich man, and the pretty maid who is having an affair with the old rich man.

The actor who plays Constable Lu is Luo Yingjun, a familiar face.

Looking at his face, Zhang Shuai'an thought of Huang Yaoshi in the 1994 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" starring Zhang Zhilin, and Murong Bo in the 1997 version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" starring Huang Rihua.

However, Lok Ying-kwan is only 26 years old this year. He signed with Shaw Brothers in 1973, but later terminated the contract. In 1976, he applied for the fifth TVB Artist Training Class and joined TVB as an artist.

The actor who plays the wealthy man is a veteran actor from TVB, but Zhang Shuai'an doesn't recognize him and has no interest in finding out his name.

That pretty girl was a female student named Zhou Xiulan whom Liu Shiyu had brought from the actor training class.

This scene is Bao Zheng's second display of personal ability and style, after the opening scene where he interrogates the pig.

By this time, Zhang Shuai'an had fully grasped the acting skills of "Zhou Jie," and his performance throughout the scene was well-paced and extremely natural.

"All departments, please take your positions. All other personnel, please step back."

Zhao Zhenqiang gave the order: "Action!"

The entire set immediately came to life, with the extras reacting in their own ways.

In the center of the scene, there was a table, and Granny Bao was examining the corpse on it, constantly talking to Constable Lu beside her: "Hey, I'm clearly a doctor, how come I'm examining corpses for the government? As a doctor..."

Xia Ping has also been acting for many years, so her delivery of lines is naturally very reliable, with no hesitations or delays.

These lines are actually a bit strange, somewhat like explaining the character's background, which seems rather abrupt.

However, Xia Ping's handling of the situation was met with sarcastic remarks from Constable Lu.

Sure enough, Luo Yingjun realized what was happening a second later and said apologetically, "Aunt Bao, this was an emergency. I won't trouble you next time."

Xia Ping started moving as she spoke, enriching the scene: "How can that be? I work for the government, which means I have to tell everyone what the deceased wanted to say!"

"The dead can still talk?" asked He Jiatong, who was playing a minor role as a constable.

Luo Yingjun then glared at him.

Next, the old rich man appeared, crying loudly, trying to disrupt Aunt Bao's autopsy.

"...The deceased suffered from palpitations before his death."

"Doctor, you're right, our lady does indeed have heart palpitations."

Just then, Zhang Shuai'an came running in, carrying a food basket handed to him by the prop master: "Mom, I'm sorry I'm late. The food's here! The food's here!"

The scene continued exceptionally smoothly.

The mother and son then worked together to expose the affair between the wealthy man and the pretty maid, solving the case on the spot.

"CUT!"

Zhao Zhenqiang clapped his hands and cheered, "This scene was filmed perfectly, in one take! Truly brilliant!"

Chen Yulian didn't have many scenes, so she observed Zhang Shuai'an's performance from the side. She was quite shocked, as this was really his first time acting.

Yesterday, Mingming's performance was still a bit awkward, but now it's like that of a seasoned veteran, completely natural.

"He's just too...perverted."

After thinking for a long time, Chen Yulian could only come up with this one adjective: "Could he really be some kind of born genius? How strange."