The entertainment industry: My 99 future timelines!

"Waaah..."

A broken sob escaped from Liu Yifei's muffled lips.

Tears began to stream down her face, more turbulent and scalding than in any previous performance, mingling with the cool rain and slowly seeping between their tightly pressed lips.

However, she did not push him away.

After the initial stiffness, her eyes were dazed, and her hands, which had been hanging by her sides and clenched into fists, slowly began to grip Li Xu's soaked clothes, passively feeling the burning heat.

Time seemed to stand still.

The backlighting provided by lighting technician Liu Hu perfectly outlined the figures of the two people in the downpour, making even the individual strands of hair clearly visible.

Li Xu's kiss lasted a long time.

It lasted so long that Liu Yifei was almost suffocating, so long that she even began to get used to the touch, before it finally stopped.

After ending the deep kiss, Li Xu finally released his grip on Liu Yifei, took a slight step back, his chest heaving violently, and his eyes filled with a myriad of complex emotions.

Liu Yifei stood there, her lips slightly swollen, her face wet, her eyes unfocused, and her body trembling uncontrollably.

Behind the monitor, there was complete silence.

Shen Ao clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, but he was completely unaware of it.

His mouth was agape, his eyes fixed on the screen. In the footage, there was that frenzied yet perfect kiss, and on those two young faces, tears and rain mingled, and an expression of utter despair that somehow conveyed a sense of sacredness…

At that moment, he felt as if a miracle had been born from the footage he had directed.

This miracle is like the kiss between Jack and Rose at the bow of the Titanic, or the famous kiss between Peter Parker and Mary Jane in the rain in Spider-Man in 1962—a perfect fusion of romance and tragedy.

Thinking of this possibility, Shen Ao felt as if all the air around him was being sucked out, making it difficult for him to breathe.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a few seconds after Li Xu and Liu Yifei ended their kiss, maybe a century.

"Click..."

Shen Ao's voice rang out, extremely hoarse. He swallowed hard, and with all his might, managed to squeeze out a single word:

"……Pass."

Shen Ao's voice was soft and hoarse, but in this quiet film set, it sounded like a boulder thrown into a deep pool.

Assistant director Li Deyuan was the first to react, followed by Shen Ao, whose face was flushed with excitement. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Cut!!!"

The next second, the entire film set seemed to be unleashed from a spell, and it exploded!

Applause, whistles, and excited cheers that were almost incoherent surged and mingled together, instantly drowning out the torrential rain outside the studio.

Lighting technician Liu Hu was so excited that he threw away the reflector in his hand and slapped the thigh of photographer Wang Luyao next to him.

Even as a lowly lighting technician, Liu Hu had ambitions. Being able to witness and personally create such a divine shot gave him something to brag about in the film and television industry for the next ten years.

The moment when emotional intensity, visual tension, the magic of light and shadow, and the actor's improvisational bursts are perfectly combined is absolutely rare and precious.

Everyone present knew that they had just witnessed and participated in the creation of some kind of "miracle".

Liu Yifei was still frozen in place, as if her soul had not yet returned to its place.

Her assistant was the first to rush over, pulling her out of the rain and wrapping her in a thick blanket. Excitedly, she stammered, "Sister Yifei, you're amazing! Even I, who don't know anything about acting, got goosebumps watching from the sidelines. That kiss, that feeling of brokenness..."

Hearing her assistant's excited words, Liu Yifei twitched the corners of her mouth but remained silent.

A sense of fragmentation?

For a moment just now, she was indeed quite broken. This scene was portraying Song Qing's despair, but wasn't it also a reflection of Liu Yifei's feelings?

Thinking about this, Liu Yifei didn't explain.

She just smiled and carefully wiped her hair and body with the thick blanket she was wearing, planning to change her clothes later.

While Liu Yifei was busy, a few surprised exclamations from her assistant, Xiao Tang, made her turn her gaze towards them.

"Hey? Sister Yifei, who's that girl? She's making such a big fuss!"

"I don't think I've seen her on set before. Look at that Producer Wang, he's actually serving her right now... Hey, hey... Sister Yifei, this girl is walking towards our director!"

Li Xu had just snapped out of his "Du Minghao" persona. He lowered his head and haphazardly wiped his hair and face with the towel handed to him by a staff member until a crisp sound rang in his ears.

"Hello, Director Li, I'm Jing Tian, ​​this is a nice meeting."

Li Xu raised his head.

A lively and pretty girl with extremely fair skin and a touch of baby fat on her face, wearing a white t-shirt and a black skirt, was walking towards him and extending her hand, accompanied by Wang Jing.

"Jing...Tian? Hello, what brings you to our film set?"

Li Xu stood up, gently shook hands with Jing Tian, ​​and then glanced meaningfully at Wang Jing, who was closely following Jing Tian.

"Director Li, Ms. Jing is a friend of our investor, Mr. Qian. She happened to be passing by our Huairou base today and decided to come and take a look. She said she really admires your previous GG film."

When Li Xu glanced at Wang Jing, Wang Jing's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly began to explain.

He had no intention of becoming a traitor.

He was extremely impressed with Li Xu's directing skills, felt he had a bright future, and planned to curry favor with him.

However, this Miss Jing also has a powerful background, is generous, and has always been kind to Li Xu, which is why he decided to play both sides.

Just as Wang Jing was explaining...

Jing Tian walked directly behind the monitor and said with a smile:

"Director Li, I just came here casually to take a look around."

"I was watching the kissing scene between you and Senior Liu Yifei in the rain just now, and I was really impressed. I wonder if I could watch the replay?"

This is not a request.

It wasn't a matter of discussion or a matter of course; rather, it was as if she and Li Xu were particularly familiar with each other, and her words seemed perfectly natural.

Liu Yifei watched from a distance, no longer bothering to continue wiping her body. After quickly drying her hair and the rainwater off her body, she also walked briskly towards Li Xu.

"Oh wow, Deok-won, this looks like we're in for a good show!"

Shen Ao, who was standing to the side, watched this scene quietly, his eyes shining.

He gently nudged Li Deyuan beside him with his elbow, who was still carefully recalling and savoring that unparalleled kiss in the rain, and said in a very low voice.

"Huh? Who is this person?"

"She's quite pretty, but she's probably not as good as Miss Liu. I don't think she's good enough."

Li Deyuan was jolted out of his reverie by Shen Ao's gentle elbow. He carefully scanned Jing Tian's face not far away, then compared her with Liu Yifei, who was walking in that direction, and made a decisive assessment.

"Ha, Deyuan, no wonder I can be the executive director and you can only be the assistant director."

"Besides your directing skills, your eye for talent is terrible too. You're probably doomed to fail at attracting investment for your future films. Didn't you see how respectful our producer Wang was to this girl?"

"Moreover, this girl is the friend of Mr. Qian who has been sending us perks and gifts lately."

"Heh, her demeanor doesn't seem aloof, but she speaks to everyone with the same attitude and looks down on them. She's definitely from an official family, and not just any ordinary official family's daughter."

Shen Ao listened to Li Deyuan's reply with disdain and snorted coldly.

"So what? Official families? In our capital city, right under the imperial city wall, the majority of people are children of officials. I don't like hearing you say that. I support Liu Yifei."

Li Deyuan hummed in response but remained silent.

He doesn't care about daughters of officials or noble families; he's never received much benefit from them.

"Hey, I'm telling you, you..."

While Shen Ao and Li Deyuan were arguing and grumbling, Liu Yifei had already walked up to Li Xu and Jing Tian.

Just then, Li Xu was about to reply when he saw Liu Yifei approaching. He immediately nodded and said:

"Yifei, this Ms. Jing Tian is a friend of our investor, Mr. Qian. She's planning to review our performance clip from earlier. I was just thinking of bringing you over to watch it together after you've changed your clothes."

"You've come at the right time. Let me tell you about this, and then the three of us can watch the playback together later, shall we?"

Jing Tian?

Liu Yifei was taken aback when she heard the name.

She shouldn't have paid attention to this name.

However, because she signed with Sony the year before last, went to Japan for music training, and released a music album last year, she still has some connections with people in the music industry.

In the past few months, she had seen several musicians promoting a music EP called "Who Are You" on her QQ space.

It is said that this music EP was tailor-made for her by Zhang Yadong, and the music video for the title song "Who Are You" was directed by Ning Hao. The protagonist of this story is Jing Tian.

She was still marveling at how powerful this girl's background was, having such resources right from her debut. She never expected to meet her in person.

Moreover, it happened at this time, in this place, and in this way.

Jing Tian noticed Liu Yifei's gaze. She turned her head slightly, and her eyes met Liu Yifei's across the distance.

Without any arrogance or provocation, she simply smiled sweetly and spoke gently, "Hello, Sister Yifei, you're so beautiful. I just saw your kissing scene with Director Li in the rain, it was stunning. Can I watch the replay again after you change?"

"Miss Jing, you are very beautiful too. Of course you can watch the playback. This show is made to be watched by people."

"Please wait a moment. I'll change my clothes and take a shower and come over as soon as possible. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long."

Jing Tian's unexpectedly gentle tone surprised Liu Yifei.

Judging from her previous attitudes and behavior, she originally thought that Jing Tian was probably a proud and arrogant young lady, but she didn't expect such a contrast.

So when she heard Jing Tian ask this question, she was stunned for half a second before quickly replying.

Jing Tian nodded upon hearing this, her smile remaining unchanged.

"Alright, let's stop chatting for now. Since we've already met, let's change our clothes first."

"Senior Yifei, you're the female lead in our movie. If you catch a cold, it'll cause problems for the rest of the filming."

Li Xu took over the conversation, not letting the two of them drag on any longer, lest he and Liu Yifei both catch a cold.

-

Six or seven minutes later, Li Xu quickly finished showering, changed his clothes, and returned.

About twenty minutes later, Liu Yifei returned, having changed her clothes.

Jing Tian didn't get impatient waiting. While Li Xu went to take a shower and change clothes, she looked around the film set, accompanied by Wang Jing.

After Li Xu finished showering and changing, she sat down and chatted with him until Liu Yifei also changed and came over. The three of them then started watching the replay.

As the replay on the monitor went by, Liu Yifei and Li Xu were passionately kissing in the pouring rain. Even though the rain was streaming down their faces and bodies, it couldn't stop their madness.

As she watched, Liu Yifei became quite pleased with her performance in the monitor's video playback.

Unwittingly, she caught a glimpse of Miss Jing, who had a powerful background, standing beside her, engrossed in the story, her expression completely absorbed, her gaze constantly shifting between herself and Li Xu.

"Hiss... Miss Jing, something seems a bit off!"

Liu Yifei felt a chill run down her spine as she suddenly recalled certain rumors circulating in the entertainment industry.

I've heard that some female investors and producers not only like handsome male stars, but also have a different kind of passion for beautiful female stars.

At this moment, Miss Jing's behavior made her feel that something was wrong, very strange!

Thinking of this, she took a small step back, no longer bothering to look at the monitor, her heart filled with vigilance towards Jing Tian.

Just as Liu Yifei took a slight step back, Jing Tian's gaze shifted slightly, her eyes fixed on Liu Yifei, and a unique smile appeared on her lips.

That sweet smile made Liu Yifei's heart tighten even more, and she involuntarily took a few steps to the side, quietly letting Li Xu stand in front of her, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Li Xu looked at Jing Tian and Liu Yifei with a strange expression.

Li Xu was somewhat puzzled by the sudden strange atmosphere between the two of them.

He felt that the atmosphere was fine when he watched the replay, and Jing Tian's smile was so sweet that it looked like it could be squeezed to release water, and there was not a trace of hostility or targeting.

He frowned.

Li Xu really couldn't understand the undercurrents between women.

Just like he never understood why two actresses could be as close as sisters on set, but then turn around and buy each other smear articles.

But even though he couldn't understand it, as the director, he had to control the scene and not let this inexplicable atmosphere affect the filming.

He immediately and decisively spoke up:

"Alright, we've watched the video replay. Ms. Jing, our crew still has filming to do. Would you like to go and rest for a bit?"

"Our production team needs to meet a tight schedule; we can't afford to drag things out too much."

Upon hearing Li Xu speak, Jing Tian quickly withdrew her gaze, which had been deliberately flirting with Liu Yifei, and a smile appeared on her face as she said:

"Okay, then I won't bother you any longer, Director Li."

"I just watched it. Your performance and Sister Yifei's performance were wonderful. When I get into Beijing Film Academy in two months, I will definitely take you two as my role models."

"Hey, I'll be going now. I just ordered drinks and snacks for the whole crew. Director Li, Senior Yifei, you all got some."

Jing Tian spoke with great enthusiasm.

They didn't care about Li Xu's "chasing away" behavior.