From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

The next day, Guo Qilin woke up feeling groggy.

The atmosphere was great last night, and we drank to our hearts' content.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the welcome banquet to get to know Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen better, but to his surprise, these two seniors were both very restrained.

Zhang Yi only drank two cups before switching to tea, while Zhang Songwen didn't drink a drop of alcohol, leaning back in his chair with a smile as he watched others drink.

But Lin Jiachuan was different.

This character wasn't a good one in the show, and he doesn't seem like a good person at all when he's drinking.

Last night, he went around the table with a wine glass, asking people to toast him. His voice was so loud that the waiter in the next private room peeked in several times.

If Yu Liang hadn't shielded Guo Qilin from a few drinks, he wouldn't even be able to leave the hotel today, let alone wake up.

Guo Qilin rubbed his temples as he left the hotel and walked into the film set.

As soon as I entered, I saw a group of people busy around a refrigerated truck.

Several staff members were unloading boxes from the truck and stacking them on a trolley, with white steam billowing out from the gaps between the boxes.

"What's going on here?" Guo Qilin leaned closer and peeked inside.

It's frozen fish.

Several large boxes were filled with frozen, dead fish, their scales covered with a thin layer of frost.

He casually picked one up and weighed it in his hand. "Hey, an extra treat tonight?"

"The food on set is pretty good."

"You're keeping it to kill someone, Mr. Guo." The young man from the props team took the frozen fish from his hand and carefully put it back into the box.

Guo Qilin thought he had misheard: "Murder?"

Seeing his bewildered expression, the young man slowly explained, "This morning, Yu Liang and Zhang Songwen just finished filming a scene where they were negotiating with Mang Village. At the dinner table, Li Hongwei cursed Yu Liang, saying, 'Gao Lao Er, you're just a stinking fishmonger.'"

Guo Qilin nodded; he had read this part of the story in the script.

The scene in Mang Village was the catalyst for the conflict between the two sides. Li Hongwei publicly humiliated the Gao brothers at the dinner table, which pushed the conflict to its peak.

"And then? What does this have to do with frozen fish?"

"And then Teacher Yu Liang got into character."

The young man shrugged. "He told the director that the scene where Li Hongwei is killed that night should not be strangled with a rope, but beaten to death with a frozen fish instead."

Guo Qilin's lips twitched.

He glanced at the frozen, dead fish in the box, then at the props crew member's nonchalant expression, and remained silent for a long while before speaking:

"My brother's imagination... sigh, I thought this was tonight's dinner."

"But you just listened to him when he said to change it like this?" Guo Qilin asked curiously.

The props team members nodded in unison.

"The director agreed." A young man counted on his fingers, "Zhang Songwen also thought it was reasonable. He said that Gao Qisheng is an arrogant and vindictive person, and using frozen fish is more in line with the character's traits."

"Teacher Zhang Yi also felt that the texture of a frozen fish hitting someone was more suitable for cinematic language than a rope strangling someone."

"Anyway, we all think this change is pretty good," another young man added.

Guo Qilin chuckled and shook his head: "Just keep spoiling him like this."

He said this, but there was an undeniable pride in his tone.

The original script called for strangulation with a rope, but now Brother Liang has changed it to killing someone with frozen fish. He had never seen or even thought of this trick before.

But as soon as he heard it, he felt that the image was more impactful than the rope.

He couldn't help but look towards the center of the film set.

Yu Liang was filming his next scene. He was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, a white suit, and his hair was neatly combed back.

The moment he stood there, Gao Qisheng's aura immediately came through.

Refined, sinister, and with a ruthless streak deep down.

His walking posture is also quite unique.

It wasn't a normal gait; instead, his shoulders swayed slightly, and his head gently rocked, as if he were keeping time for himself.

That nonchalant attitude conceals an unstable mental state.

"How come I never noticed this side of my brother before?" Guo Qilin muttered to himself, "But he certainly nailed this side of himself."

"Dalin, you're awake."

After Yu Liang finished filming that scene, he took the water handed to him by his assistant and walked towards Guo Qilin.

He was still wearing those gold-rimmed glasses, but his tone had shifted from gloomy to relaxed.

The transition was so brief that Guo Qilin barely caught it.

"What's wrong, Da Lin?" Yu Liang unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, only to find that Guo Qilin had been staring at him the whole time.

"Brother," Guo Qilin looked him up and down carefully, "you look too much like that when you put on those glasses."

"And those two steps you just took, swaying your head and walking around, were those something you designed yourself?"

Yu Liang smiled and said, "Isn't the point of acting to find ways to stand out?"

He leaned closer to Guo Qilin, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of pride, "In this film, I designed quite a few memorable scenes for myself."

"Of course, it's not just me. Songwen and Zhang Yi also designed quite a few for themselves."

"Songwen added several details about Gao Qiqiang's life, and Zhang Yi added several scenes of An Xin's reactions when she was ostracized by her colleagues."

"It's all based on my understanding of my role that makes the story and characters more compelling."

"So you changed the scene between Zhang Yi and Wang Churan to make the story more exciting?" Guo Qilin asked.

Yu Liang knew he was referring to the romantic storyline between An Xin and Meng Yu.

The script included several romantic storylines between the two characters, and he and Zhang Yi had even discussed whether to cut some of them.

"That's different," Yu Liang explained. "I originally wanted to reduce the romantic storyline between An Xin and Meng Yu, but Brother Zhang Yi disagreed."

"He said the changes were too drastic, and that the character An Xin would be hard for the audience to remember. So there was nothing I could do. Zhang Yi is the male lead, and I have to respect his opinion."

"Is this your reason for making me stand in for my sister-in-law and kiss Zhang Yi?"

Guo Qilin never expected that his older brother would come up with such a terrible idea.

Guo Qilin almost choked on his drink when he heard Yu Liang talking about this while he was drinking last night.

He never imagined that one day he would become Wang Churan's mouth double.

So last night he made up an excuse to get everyone to drink a lot of alcohol on him, so that he could wake up later today and hopefully the scene would be finished by the time he woke up.

"Brother, tell me why I got myself drunk last night," Guo Qilin asked bluntly.

Yu Liang glanced at him. "Isn't it all because you cried today?"

Guo Qilin was completely dumbfounded.

"No, it's a perfectly good song, how come it sounds so different when you say it?"

Yu Liang rolled her eyes at him.

"Brother, let's get back to the main topic. You really want me to film a kissing scene between your sister-in-law and Zhang Yi?"

Yu Liang laughed and waved his hand, "After Zhang Yi found out that you were replacing him, he said he wouldn't film anymore."

Guo Qilin breathed a sigh of relief: "Teacher Zhang Yi is still the best."

"He himself is not going to film anymore," Yu Liang said calmly, "but he said he would go to Aruna to film for him."

Guo Qilin was completely dumbfounded.

Aruna, the actor who played Li Hongwei.

Guo Qilin sometimes thinks he's like Li Dan, and sometimes he thinks he's like Huang Mao from "In the Name of the People".

In short, they all look so strange that it's embarrassing.

Didn't they kiss Chengcheng first and then touch her legs? How did they unexpectedly touch me here?

"Brother," Guo Qilin said with difficulty, his voice a little hoarse, "you're asking too much of me."

"Can you bear to see my younger brother being betrothed by Aruna?"

"Besides, I came here to do this dirty work for you," Guo Qilin complained.

"Alright, I was just kidding." Yu Liang chuckled and patted his back. "This whole scene was just a joke I made with you last night."

Guo Qilin straightened up, his expression softening slightly.

"So there are no kissing scenes, right?"

"Yes, but Zhang Yi didn't want to film it," Yu Liang said. "There's an intimate close-up scene between An Xin and Meng Yu in the movie, and he felt he wasn't suitable for it, so he found a stand-in to act in that scene for him."

Guo Qilin was stunned: "Filming a kissing scene for Zhang Yi?"

"Is this for real?"

"Who?"

"Isn't that obvious? Of course it's me." Yu Liang slapped his head.

Guo Qilin suddenly realized.

He stared at Yu Liang for several seconds, his expression changing from suspicion to understanding.

"Brother, tell me the truth," he lowered his voice, "you didn't bring Wang Churan into the crew just so you could film this scene, did you?"

Yu Liang smiled, revealing a "you understand me" expression.

"Brother, do you really want to make her my sister-in-law?"

"Dalin, you have to believe one thing." He patted Guo Qilin on the shoulder, his tone solemn, "As long as your brother is willing to work hard, you'll have a constant stream of sisters-in-law."

Guo Qilin was stunned.

A continuous stream?

"No, brother, people only choose one thing from a vast ocean."

"You're just taking as much as you can."

"You're really thirsty, my brother."

Yu Liang patted his head again.

Just as Guo Qilin finished complaining, director Xu Jizhou's voice came from the monitor.

"Yu Liang, Wang Churan, are you ready? If you are, let's go through it!"

Zhang Yi sat in a folding chair next to the monitor, a barely perceptible smile on his lips.

His assistant, Xiao Luo, told him yesterday that Yu Liang and Wang Churan had been promoted as a couple after the broadcast of "Joy of Life," and the buzz was quite high. He kept this in mind.

Originally, he planned to have the director cut the intimate scene between An Xin and Meng Yu today, since he has never been a fan of such scenes involving hugging and cuddling.

But then he thought better of it and swallowed his words.

Having Yu Liang film close-up shots for him might not be a bad thing.

Firstly, this scene was originally filmed to depict An Xin and Meng Yu in their younger days, and their demeanor was somewhat different from his own. Replacing them with a younger person would make the scene more age-appropriate for the characters.

Secondly,

He picked up the thermos next to him, took a sip, and his gaze drifted from Yu Liang to Wang Churan.

Who wouldn't want to see a handsome man and a beautiful woman?

At this moment, Wang Churan was standing next to the cloth area, his hands clasped in front of him, his fingers unconsciously twisting.

She had just learned that her co-star in this scene had changed from Zhang Yi to Yu Liang.

In the script, this scene is supposed to be initiated by Meng Yu. She looks at An Xin's profile, suddenly leans in and kisses her, then turns and runs away.

It was a very simple action, and the shot wasn't long, but Meng Yu's slightly shy yet smug look after the kiss was captured in a close-up that lasted for several seconds.

"Do you still want me to go now?" The stunt double that Wang Churan had found stood aside and asked her softly.

Wang Churan bit her lip and hesitated for a moment.

She arranged for a stunt double yesterday. At that time, she thought her opponent would be teacher Zhang Yi.

Using a body double when filming intimate scenes with senior actors is perfectly normal, and no one will say anything about it.

But now that her opponent has changed to Yu Liang, whether or not to use this stand-in has suddenly become a question she needs to reconsider.

"Wait a minute," she whispered to her stand-in, then took a deep breath, "Or... I can do it myself."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a soft chuckle came from the side.

"If Chu Ran doesn't want to..." Zhang Yuqi leaned back in her folding chair and joked, "Then I can go for you."

Wang Churan's face turned red at a visible speed.

"Sister Yuqi!" She glared at Zhang Yuqi reproachfully, but the glare had no effect whatsoever; instead, it made Zhang Yuqi laugh even more happily.

In the nearby rest area, Zhang Ruonan and Long Ni were whispering to each other. Their gazes darted back and forth between Wang Churan and Yu Liang several times before returning to each other simultaneously.

"Sister Long Ni, have you ever filmed a kissing scene?" Zhang Ruonan asked in a low voice.

Long Ni shook her head: "No, what about you?"

"I don't have any either," Zhang Ruonan said softly.

What she really wanted to say was that she had never kissed anyone in her entire life.

But the thought was too shameful for her to say aloud.

She glanced in Yu Liang's direction again.

in the sun,

The light made the contours of Yu Liang's profile exceptionally clear.

Zhang Ruonan suddenly remembered the thought she hadn't dared to finish saying earlier.

If one day, the director asks her to give away her first kiss in a film,

Will she agree?

Her gaze lingered on Liang for a second.

If someone is as handsome as Yu Liang... I think I'd agree.

The moment the thought popped into her head, Zhang Ruonan's face flushed red. She quickly lowered her head, pretending to adjust her cuffs.

Director Xu Jizhou's voice rang out again: "Yu Liang, Wang Churan, come over when you're ready!"

Wang Churan took a deep breath and walked towards the cloth scenic area.

On set, many people were making a fuss.

The director gestured for everyone to be quiet: "All departments, get ready!"

"Action!"

Because it was a close-up shot, the camera was very close.

In the surveillance footage, Meng Yu and An Xin sat side by side on the stone steps of the old factory area.

Sunlight shone on the two of them.

An Xin was talking to her, nagging her to be careful when she went to study in another city.

As Meng Yu listened, she suddenly turned her head and quickly pecked him on the cheek.

"Card!"

Director Xu Jizhou, glancing at the monitor, hurriedly called for a stop.

"Wang Churan, you kissed me too fast, like a woodpecker."

Xu Jizhou peeked out from behind the monitor, his tone a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"You should know that Meng Yu and An Xin are childhood sweethearts and first loves. This scene is about her going to study in another city, and who knows when they will see each other again."

"When she kissed me, she used all the courage she had saved up for years. You need to portray that feeling of 'reluctance' and 'going all out' in a natural way."

Wang Churan stood still, clutching the hem of his clothes with both hands.

She read the script countless times, and she spent several months figuring out the character of Meng Yu.

She certainly knew what this play meant.

The closer Meng Yu and An Xin appear, the more intense the scene of their resolute breakup will be.

But at this moment, Yu Liang was sitting on the stone steps next to her, his profile particularly clear in the afternoon light, and she couldn't stop her heartbeat.

She had never held hands with a boy before, let alone kissed him in front of so many people.

"Don't be nervous." Yu Liang turned her head and lowered her voice, speaking in a volume that only the two of them could hear, "Don't think that it's Meng Yu kissing An Xin later."

"Let's just say it's Wang Churan being intimate with Liang."

Wang Churan's face flushed red.

"Yu Liang, be serious!" she gritted her teeth and whispered back, but his interruption actually eased her tension a bit.

She took a deep breath and sat back down on the stone steps.

"Okay, let's do it one more time!"

After seeing that the two were ready, Xu Jizhou shouted "Action" again.

On the stone steps, An Xin was still saying something, but Meng Yu couldn't hear a single word.

She looked at his profile, at the slight furrow in his brow as he spoke, at his lips as he spoke, and then she suddenly leaned forward.

One hand was resting on the stone steps.

With his other hand, he suddenly grabbed Yu Liang's collar.

With her eyes closed, she pressed her lips to Yu Liang's lips.

Yu Liang's eyes widened, and she leaned back slightly.

No, this girl who usually seems so quiet and gentle can be so fierce when she kisses someone?

"good!"

"very good!"

"Card!"

Director Xu Jizhou stood up, his voice brimming with satisfaction, "That take was perfect! Yu Liang, your unexpected reaction was incredibly realistic!"

"An Xin should be in this state of being kissed and still not quite in a daze."

Guo Qilin stood to the side, and a muffled laugh escaped his lips.

A crowd gathered in front of the monitor.

Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen clicked their tongues simultaneously; it's the younger generation who really brings out the charm in kissing scenes.

Wang Churan looked at Yu Liang, who had an incredulous expression, and said in a low voice with a flushed face, "What? Didn't you say that Wang Churan should kiss Yu Liang?"