The size of the outfits alone already barred a lot of people from taking the role. Such a complex outfit naturally couldn’t be mass produced.
Zhou Jie went up to apply the makeup for Yun Xiangxiang after she was styled. Yun Xiangxiang researched a lot about the makeup.
She even frequently discussed it with Zhou Jie. Zhou Jie didn’t expect Yun Xiangxiang to be so serious.
The face should be clean and soft. She specially asked Song Mian to make a custom foundation for her. The rouge was uniformly applied on her cheeks.
“Eh, your eyebrows…,” The stylist that stood at one side gasped when he saw Yun Xiangxiang’s eyebrows were shaved after Zhou Jie erased Yun Xiangxiang’s eyebrows.
The makeup rooms were only divided into the one for the leads, and another one for the extras in Wu Zhao’s team. There were no isolated makeup rooms.
Lu Jin, who just happened to come in felt shocked when he saw it too, “You shaved your eyebrows?”
“I made my research. The women in the Warring States era would shave the eyebrows they were born with. They would then cover it with foundation and drew it with umber-black dye. This is the so-called ‘umber eyebrow.’”
Coco even tried to stop her when Yun Xiangxiang tried to shave her eyebrows last night. Coco didn’t believe her when she said that she would still have to shave after she came here.
Lu Jin said nothing, and only gave Yun Xiangxiang a thumbs up before sitting in front of his makeup table.
He entered the team at an early stage. A lot of people offended Wu Zhao and Xiong Ao for the issue of shaving their eyebrows. He didn’t just want the female leads to shave their eyebrows; the female extras had to too. A lot of them were only going to appear in the background and had no lines. They still had to follow the rules.
Even though Wu Zhao gave a higher rate than normal for the extras, not everyone was willing to sacrifice their eyebrows.
Some supporting actresses left the team on their own. They considered the limitations they would face in a lot of films before their eyebrows grew back. Their eyebrows would also be different than everyone else if they drew it. The other teams wouldn’t want them.
It would take about two months for the shaved eyebrows to grow back. They basically could forget about taking part in any other films during this period.
If the other directors didn’t have this particular request, they wouldn’t want a weirdo even if they were going to make a film of the same genre.
Yun Xiangxiang’s decisiveness made Lu Jin admire her.
“You remind me of someone,” said Lu Jin said all of a sudden.
They were the male and female lead. Lu Jin wasn’t far away from Yun Xiangxiang.
Yun Xiangxiang kept quiet when the eyebrow drawing was going on.
“Someone who is as conscientious as you are,” Lu Jin continued. “In order to play the role of a minor character that had mental disease accurately, she actually went to a mental asylum to observe for half a month.
Yun Xiangxiang suddenly raised her eyes. Zhou Jie hurriedly made reparations to the last stroke of the eyebrow drawing which she did wrongly.
“I’m sorry. I interrupted your makeup session,” Lu Jin felt apologetic when he saw the change in Yun Xiangxiang’s behavior.
“No, I was just surprised hearing that until I forgot that I was still in the middle of makeup,” Yun Xiangxiang explained while smiling naturally.
Only Zhou Jie caught that split second of her shock. However, Zhou Jie only thought of her admiring the person Lu Jin spoke of.
Lu Jin didn’t see Yun Xiangxiang’s change since his sight was blocked by Zhou Jie.
Only Yun Xiangxiang was shaken to the core. It was because the person Lu Jin said was Hua Xiangrong!
Hua Xiangrong did collaborate with Lu Jin before. It was a film. The character she played was exactly the mental disease patient Lu Jin said.
It was only a minor role that had only three scenes. She didn’t even play with Lu Jin in any scene.
She really went to a mental asylum for observation purposes for half a month just to play that character well. She almost really became crazy when she returned.
The patients inside were really horrifying. Nobody would know the feeling unless they experienced it with their own eyes.
This thing should only be known to Wen Lan and her past assistant. How did Lu Jin know about it?
Nobody associated her with Hua Xiangrong since her rebirth. This was because she didn’t live her real self. She didn’t really have the right to live like that either.
She had no background. She didn’t have any right to do anything on her whim as she started from the bottom.
Forbearance, compromise, taking a step back and putting on a facade were the things that made up most of her life then.
She didn’t struggle to survive in this life. She could still look for another job if she couldn’t make it in the entertainment industry.
That was why she truly lived in this life. She lived for herself. She lived by her own personality.
“It’s done,” Zhou Jie’s announcement when she was done reined Yun Xiangxiang’s thoughts back. “You look really pretty. Let me take a photo.”
“You can take some photos, but you cannot share it publicly on social media,’ Yun Xiangxiang had to remind her.
The first actress who qualified to act as Madam Xi was kicked out by Wu Zhao because she uploaded a photo.
“Don’t worry. I know,” Zhou Jie naturally wanted to collect her artwork as a makeup artist. Yun Xiangxiang’s makeup was very gorgeous. That was why she took a picture of it as a reference for future jobs.
Everyone was stunned when Yun Xiangxiang appeared in front of them in a casual outfit worn by the nobles of the Warring States era. It was a shenyi [1] that was colored in peach and lilac.
Attire during the Warring States era emphasized on being large and having huge belts. The collar part must extend to the side. The top of the collar in Chu land was wider. They would be embroidered with nice articles. It looked colorful and lofty, yet dignified at the same time.
“What say you? Are you satisfied with this Madam Xi?” Wu Zhao asked a middle-aged man who was standing beside him.
The middle-aged man was slightly rotund, but he looked stern. He was sizing Yun Xiangxiang up with a very nitpicking gaze. He nodded when he found nothing wrong after scrutinizing her for a while, “It’s still okay for now.”
Yun Xiangxiang had already guessed that he was the screenwriter who argued with directors frequently — Xiong Ao.
“Come here. Let me see the results of your training over the last twenty days,” Wu Zhao immediately asked everyone to start working.
It might be just a test scene, but it wasn’t a scene that was done willy-nilly. It was a bona fide start of filming.
Madam Xi disembarked from the carriage. The carriage stopped, and the maidservant stepped forward. Madam Xi, who was sitting primly opened her eyes.
It was as if a wave rippled in that glance. Her appearance did not let the reputation of her well-known beauty down.
She got out of the carriage and paused for a split second when she stood outside of the castle wall before walking slowly and elegantly under the escort of her servants.
The hemline of her shenyi did not sway when she walked. The front of her shenyi rippled like little waves.
Wu Zhao and Xiong Ao kept on nodding when they saw that. Their eyes shone with acknowledgment.
Madam Cai was standing from afar. A cold glint and a flash of jealousy flashed in her eyes when she saw the striking silhouette getting closer. However, she smiled primly when her sister got near her.
“Sister,” Madam Xi greeted her nicely. She was greeting her as an equal.
The softness of her voice was music to the ears. It was a voice that could stun everyone.
“Good!” Xiong Ao clapped excitedly before thumping his fist at Wu Zhao’s chest with a crimson radiance on his face. “I should expect nothing less from someone assessed by you, Old Man Wu. Good. Very good.”
“That’s something you don’t see every day. I thought that he never praises anyone,” Madam Cai whispered to Yun Xiangxiang.