Chapter 438: Chapter 437: Does the Director Want to Exploit Unspoken Rules?
Wang Hao headed straight for the hotel’s main entrance after leaving the room. From a distance, he saw Xia Xueqi anxiously waiting by the roadside, her head down, fidgeting with the hem of her clothing, lost in thought.
“Xueqi, what’s wrong?” Wang Hao approached and asked, “Have you run into some trouble?”
“Brother Hao!” As soon as she saw Wang Hao emerge, Xia Xueqi’s face was filled with distress: “Brother Hao, I really didn’t want to bother you, but…”
“With our relationship, just say what’s on your mind,” Wang Hao led Xia Xueqi into a nearby coffee shop and inquired, “What happened exactly?”
Xia Xueqi hesitated for a moment before finally speaking up with resolve in her eyes. “My aunt’s daughter is an actress in a production team. Everything was fine at first, and she even had a role, so I didn’t mention it. But in the past two days, my sister called me, saying her role might be taken away.”
“And here I was, thinking it was something serious. This is easy,” Wang Hao replied: “If she can’t stay with that production team anymore, just come join mine. Getting her a role? That’s a matter of minutes.”
“It’s not as simple as that,” Xia Xueqi said with a gloomy expression, “I heard from my sister that it might involve breach of contract. If there’s really a problem, the fine is half a million! My sister doesn’t have that kind of money…”
“A breach of contract fine?” Wang Hao frowned upon hearing this and asked, “This doesn’t sound so straightforward. Tell me more, why is her role being taken away?”
When this was brought up, Xia Xueqi looked around before saying, “I heard from my sister that it might be the director wanting to… you know…”
Wang Hao got the message.
To put it bluntly, the director wanted to exploit Xia Xueqi’s sister using the so-called “hidden rules.” Her sister refused, so the director started hassling her, demanding she pay the breach of contract fine to leave, or she’d have to agree.
So, which almighty director was this, playing such big shots?
“This director is pretty high-handed, huh,” Wang Hao stood up, smiling: “Let’s go, I’d like to see for myself what sort of person this director is, thinking he can completely ‘Heavenly Covering’ things !” Damn it, even I haven’t exploited anyone like that, and here he is, playing schemes. Pretty sneaky!
The two headed out, with Xia Xueqi leading Wang Hao straight to another film and television base within JH city–Dragon Film City.
This base focused on producing content about modern history, and many of the most recent domestic films about the Anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War were shot there.
Soon they arrived at the entrance, and Xia Xueqi said, “This is it. Brother Hao, I heard that director is a big deal. Can you handle it?”
Damn, what kind of big shot haven’t I seen before? What’s there to fear?
“Let’s go,” Wang Hao parked the car and entered Dragon Film City with Xia Xueqi, then asked, “Where’s your sister?”
“Over here,” Xia Xueqi walked towards one of the buildings, a three-story retro standalone villa with a refined appearance. Normally, actors filming here wouldn’t be bad, but as they approached the door, they overheard the director bellowing, “Liu Xueyan! Can’t you act properly?! Can you?! How many times have I emphasized that you need to put your heart into it! If you can act, then act, if not, get lost and start over!”
Damn, what’s going on?! This director is quite hot-tempered!
Xia Xueqi was about to rush in upon seeing this, but Wang Hao pulled her back: “Don’t rush in, let’s take a look first.”
While speaking, they peered through a window inside, and Wang Hao soon spotted the Liu Xueyan being berated by the director, asking, “Is that your sister?”
Xia Xueqi nodded: “Yes.”
Wang Hao took a closer look at Liu Xueyan. It was no surprise that she was Xia Xueqi’s sister; she was indeed very beautiful. What was particularly eye-catching was her chest–a pair that was quite substantial–along with her slim waist and long legs. Her body proportions were near perfect, no wonder the director had impure thoughts. Well, no more talk, this director had pretty good taste…
The scene Liu Xueyan was filming was actually quite simple. They were shooting what seemed to be an urban drama, and her character was just a plain, girl-next-door type who was cooking for the protagonist in the kitchen. In any other production, this scene would have been easily approved, but the director was excessively picky, nitpicking every tiny misalignment, berating her, “Liu Xueyan! How many times have I told you, you need to face the camera at a forty-two-degree angle, forty-two degrees! That’s at least forty-five degrees, it’s off! If it’s not filmed right, it looks awful! Start over!”
At this point, the other actors couldn’t bear to watch, whispering amongst themselves–
“What’s with Director Liang today? Why is he in such a bad mood?”
“Yeah, that last shot already looked good. If it were someone else, it would’ve passed by now. Why have we done over thirty takes without a pass?”
“Definitely Director Liang has some ulterior motive. Alas, poor Xueyan, she’s been marked!”
“Keep your voice down, do you want to ruin your career? If Director Liang hears you, you’re done for!”
Hearing the surrounding murmurs, Wang Hao and Xia Xueqi exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
It seemed Liu Xueyan was right; this Director Liang was clearly up to no good, deliberately making life difficult for her!
Sure enough, halfway through the scene, Director Liang erupted again: “Liu Xueyan, I’m warning you, if you can’t act properly, just get lost and go home! Do you hear me?! Your chin was at the wrong angle! Start over!”
Liu Xueyan was on the verge of tears, having filmed the scene over thirty times, each time berated by the director, and it still wasn’t right.
Just as they were preparing to shoot again, a deep voice suddenly came from the doorway: “If you ask me, better not shoot at all. Director Liang, with your standards, I don’t think anyone could do this scene!”