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“Mum,” Wang Qianqian interrupted her mother. She said with her head lowered, “I’m about to go to-”

Zhao Ruoyun was not finished with her lines when Gu Jiaer frowned again. He shouted loudly, “Cut!”

He did not seem to be in a good mood. “The camera can’t capture your face because you’re lowering it too much. I’d be fine with it if you could project emotions through your body language and express the internal dilemma you’re feeling. What I want from this scene is for you to portray Wang Qianqian’s internal dilemma instead of being there as a decoration,” Gu Jiaer spoke in a direct manner.

“This isn’t a television drama,” he said in an annoyed tone, “Do you know how much film is used for every second you waste?”

Jiang Se stood there for a while and observed the scene. She was beginning to understand this director’s personality.

Gu Jiaer had strict requirements on set. If it was not up to his expectations, even a popular young actress such as Zhao Ruoyun would be subject to a torrent of abuse.

Her scene would be filmed as well. Although she learned from her conversation with Dai Jia that it would only be a test run today instead of an official shoot, Jiang Se committed Miss Zhang’s lines to memory twice.

Zhao Ruoyun was embarrassed by being yelled at. However, she dared not voice out her anger in Gu Jiaer’s face.

“Director Gu.” Zhao Ruoyun’s assistant was a man of about 30 years old who appeared polite in his spectacles. “I think Ruoyun isn’t at her best right now. Why don’t we let her rest and go over the script with Brother Tao? We can film the other scenes for now.”

He spoke with a smile as he stood beside Gu Jiaer. “I know that you’re taking ‘Pretense to Reality’ very seriously, and I’m sure Ruoyun feels the same way as well. She’s been reading the script while sacrificing her sleep these few days. Her nerves might’ve gotten the best of her today.”

From the moment filming began, Zhao Ruoyun indeed did not seem to be at her best, especially after the few NGs.

It was not as if Gu Jiaer did not want to give her face. However, if he insisted on filming her part first, he would be wasting his time.

Therefore, after the assistant’s persuasion, Gu Jiaer gave the instruction for the other scenes to be filmed first with a disgruntled tone.

The others finally relaxed. Zhao Ruoyun’s assistant helped her up and escorted her to a seat on the side.

Jiang Se gave Zhao Ruoyun a glance. Then, she felt someone moving closer to her from behind.

Jiang Se turned sideways to dodge and saw Dai Jia with her hand raised. It was clear that she wanted to place her hand on her shoulder but did not manage to.

“You’re an alert one.” Dai Jia retracted her hand.

Jiang Se said, “I didn’t notice you come in.”

The Feng family had been running its business for many years and had a presence in Hong Kong.

Coming from such a background, Feng Nan had cultivated the habit of being exceptionally aware of anyone closing in on her from the back.

“Are you admiring a celebrity?” Dai Jia looked in the direction where she looked. She saw a bunch of newcomers gathered around Zhao Ruoyun who was talking to the scriptwriter beside her and appearing to be in a better mood compared to before.

“I have a classmate who likes her very much. She’s mentioned her name a few times. This is my first time seeing her in person,” Jiang Se explained. There were too many people on set while the director was conversing with the crew members. She reckoned that filming would not be resumed for a while, so the two of them went away but not too far away. They stood beside a window about six steps from the set and chatted.

“If you’re in this industry, meeting celebrities will be the norm.” Dai Jia leaned on the windowsill and brought Zhao Ruoyun up. “Zhao Ruoyun’s been in the industry for several years. She used to be doing television dramas and is a newcomer in films. However, she started off big. The first film she was involved in was Zhang Jingan’s ‘Rescue Mission’. Although she did not have much screen time, many actresses practically fought over her character. Her company went through lots of trouble to procure that role for her.

“I heard that you were in Director Zhang’s movie before this as well, weren’t you?” When Dai Jia finished talking about Zhao Ruoyun, she turned toward Jiang Se and posed the question to her. She was direct and would ask about anything that she wanted to know.

This was no secret, after all. Moreover, Jiang Se had brought this up herself back when she was trying to be accepted into the cast of “Pretense to Reality”.

When she heard Dai Jia’s question, she replied, “My classmate and I went to Shen Villa when ‘Rescue Mission’ was being filmed. We were fortunate to have met Zhang Jingan there and I took up a role.”

As Dai Jia looked down at her high heels, her long curls fell and covered part of her face. Her voice was slightly deep as she ed, “You’re lucky. Not everything is as it seems in this industry. However, it’s rare for someone to get into Zhang Jingan’s cast as you did.” She ran her fingers through her hair and lifted her head. “By the way, what’s your name? I’ve met you twice, and we’ve never been properly introduced before.”

“I’m Jiang Se.” She had barely said her name when someone called for the cast to gather at the set.

With Zhao Ruoyun not being at her best, Gu Jiaer decided to start with the male lead and his ex-girlfriend. Someone was calling for Dai Jia, so she did not even have time to say anything to Jiang Se before rushing toward the set.

Although Gu Jiaer changed his mind at the last minute, the set had already been prepared beforehand.

When Jiang Se went in a few minutes later, she saw that Dai Jia and Hang Yuyi were already in their places.

She had heard of Hang Yuyi’s name from the makeup artist just now. Jiang Se also knew that he was one of the more famous young actors in the current entertainment industry.

Hang Yuyi looked young as he sported a layered hairstyle. Perhaps because it was the requirement of his character, his hair was not dyed. His bearing was gentle and he was a handsome, melancholic man.

He had a slender build, yet his height suited Dai Jia who was nearly 170 centimeters tall.

When they stood there together, one of them seemed quiet while the other was charming. Hang Yuyi’s costume was black whereas Dai Jia wore a bright red dress, creating a bright contrast.

The director shouted, “Action!” When the script supervisor then raised the clapperboard and clapped it loudly, Hang Yuyi swiftly adjusted his expression.

Currently, he was portraying a man who was almost 30 years old and whose sole focus was his career. He did not seem to care about anything else around him.

Compared to Zhao Ruoyun’s scene, Hang Yuyi’s scene seemed more relaxed. All he needed to be was a man who ded his time and energy to his career and neglected everything else.

His desk was full of books. The exterior of the set was covered up. A scenery was put up outside the windows so that it looked like nighttime.

The study lamp was switched on and Zhou Rongshen was writing in his notebook.

There were sounds of keys clicking. The ex-girlfriend, portrayed by Dai Jia, was holding a rose. She bent down to change her shoes.

“I’m back,” she said listlessly. However, Zhou Rongshen, who was seated at his desk, did not seem to have heard her. She paused halfway through changing her shoes. At this moment, the camera zoomed in to her.

The director gave an “okay” sign. It was clear that this take had passed.

After experiencing Zhao Ruoyun’s repeated NGs, the others clearly had lingering fears. When Dai Jia and Hang Yuyi’s joint performance passed on the first take, many of the others sighed with relief.

Gu Jiaer replayed the recording and felt that it was okay. He told the stylist to adjust the angle of Dai Jia’s fallen hair. When it was finally adjusted to his ideal angle, he gave the instruction for the filming to continue.