Chapter Ninety-Five: Visiting the Set

That night, with most of his makeup still on, Liu Qingshan found it hard to rest. After sending Chen Zuming off, he slipped into the bedroom and entered the mental realm.

He did not find any material related to Super Girl or Love Letter. Clearly, the marketplace had an automatic function for blocking older programs.

The variety-show section there was unlike the film-and-television section. It covered a vast range of countries and languages, and each program came with a complete package of planning materials and detailed investment records.

Even the full guest lists of certain domestic variety shows, along with the specific planners involved and the copyright ownership of each production, were recorded there in exhaustive detail.

Liu Qingshan immersed himself in it, and before he knew it, morning had come.

By now he needed very little sleep, and as his awareness entered the super talent-making instrument, his skill points continued to rise little by little.

Since the instrument had been upgraded, he had made it a habit to enter it before going to sleep. The joy of gaining points without having to struggle for them was even more satisfying than a steam bath.

Another full day of tense filming followed. Though Guo Jing was a supporting role, he still required many scenes.

Because the plot had changed that day, not only did Kong Lin, who played Huang Rong, appear frequently, but Huang Yiming and Liu Xiaofei also had many scenes.

Although Liu Qingshan was only twenty-one, the makeup artist’s superb skill, combined with his own subtle change in temperament, made him impossible to fault beside the radiant brilliance of the two leads.

Huang Yiming still wore his habitual calm, beneath which lurked a trace of arrogance. Fortunately, his acting was not bad, and could at least be counted as middling.

Liu Xiaofei, with the same level of acting skill, possessed an otherworldly purity untouched by mortal dust, and brought the "fairy sister" to life with exquisite force, fully compensating for her slight shortcomings in ability.

What was more, the moment she first appeared on camera was enough to stun people. Even Liu Qingshan could not help but silently praise her: too beautiful, truly too beautiful.

By contrast, the role of Yang Guo, in both appearance and performance, was rather greasy and showy. Yet at first glance it was not especially obvious, perhaps because he did not have many scenes that day, and Huang Yiming’s exaggerated nature had not yet fully shown itself.

As for Yang Guo’s styling, it was unexpectedly dirty and dark as well, not quite matching Liu Xiaofei and making the age gap seem far too large. Fortunately, many of his expressions and glances were spot on.

But Huang Yiming did not have to take the blame for the failed styling. The blackened look was something Director Zhang had insisted on.

During the audition period, he had thought Huang Yiming’s skin was too fair and unsuitable for playing Yang Guo, the roaming hero who lived rough and traveled hard, and had nearly cut him.

When he had no scenes of his own, Liu Qingshan observed the two leads very carefully, and in doing so added a little more insight to his future career as an actor.

Though he had never had even the slightest leading-role experience, he had already accumulated the experience of watching over a thousand scenes of varying size.

From the perspective of an observer, it seemed that everyone in the crew had a somewhat skewed understanding of the character Yang Guo.

At the time, Huang Yiming was still immature in his acting, and yet his heart brimmed with arrogance. As a result, the casting for Yang Guo, which had already gone in the wrong direction, might well be driven farther and farther along the wrong road by his overacting.

Even if Liu Qingshan noticed something, he had no intention of speaking his suspicions aloud, despite the fact that he seemed to have a bit of private rapport with Zhang the Big-Bearded One.

The main reason was simple: none of it concerned him. He only needed to perform his own role earnestly and work hard to make himself indispensable in the martial arts world.

In the late afternoon of the third day, as evening drew near, Kim Hee-seon came to visit the set with her manager, Park Hyun-ji.

She had made no effort to conceal her identity on this trip, and that caused quite a stir among the onlookers outside the filming area, while even the actors were thrown into continuous discussion.

Fortunately, Zhang the Big-Bearded One had received word in advance and had assistant director Guan Xingchi come forward to offer a token reception.

If it had been any domestic actress, Zhang the Big-Bearded One would not have cooperated so ostentatiously.

But Kim Hee-seon was clearly different. She was already a top-tier star and leading actress in her own country, and with her recent explosive popularity on the mainland, Zhang the Big-Bearded One could not help but treat her differently. He even temporarily halted filming.

Ever since the day before The Return of the Condor Heroes officially began shooting, the matter between her and Liu Qingshan had been whipped up wildly by the entire domestic media.

Apart from the incident itself, digging into what special relationship might exist between the two would inevitably become a focal point of public opinion. Although the vast majority of people did not believe it, the identity gap between the two was simply too great.

Now that Kim Hee-seon had appeared without any attempt at concealment on the set of The Return of the Condor Heroes, and had come by name to visit Liu Qingshan, the resulting sensation was hardly surprising.

"That must have cost quite a bit. These boxes will take some time to unload."

Liu Qingshan said this because of the hundreds of bottles of drinks in Kim Hee-seon’s escort vehicles.

The car that came to pick her up had been arranged by Kunal, and now a few helpers at the scene were unloading the boxes one by one.

"Your Return of the Condor Heroes is a large production. Bringing too little wouldn’t do at all. If you’re feeling sorry for it, then have your sister reimburse you!"

Liu Qingshan laughed. "So Sister really has become a Chinese, has she? You use the word 'reimburse' without any trouble at all."

Kim Hee-seon covered her mouth and laughed. "We have that word in my country too, only we don’t call it reimburse. We call it signing the bill."

"Same difference. Reimbursing you is no problem, but shouldn’t you pay a price for it?"

The faintly teasing note in his voice drew another burst of playful laughter from Kim Hee-seon. "You only know how to tease your sister in public. When it’s just the two of us, you’re not nearly so bold."

By now, everyone around them had tactfully moved away, and Liu Qingshan was not afraid of being overheard. "That was before. It’s different now. I seem to have woken up to that side of things!"

The shyness in Kim Hee-seon’s eyes deepened. "Oh? Really? Tell your sister—what exactly have you woken up to?"

Liu Qingshan put on an exaggerated lecherous expression. "It’s not very convenient right now. I’ll tell you when we get home."

"Then should I even give you that chance?"

His words earned him a volley of rolling white eyes.

The two of them knew well enough when to stop. By then, Kunal had led people over to distribute the drinks, and Kim Hee-seon also needed to step forward and offer apologies to some of the key figures.

Inside the studio, Zhang the Big-Bearded One, Ge Daqian, and a host of senior crew members were all present. Liu Qingshan led Kim Hee-seon around to introduce her to each of them in turn.

"Miss Kim is a signature figure in your country. For her to come to our set today is like adding fuel to the fire for The Return of the Condor Heroes!"

Although Zhang the Big-Bearded One had vaguely guessed that she and Liu Qingshan had some connection, this was not the right occasion for joking.

Even Ge Daqian nodded with a smile and said, "Shanzi counts as a little brother of mine, and Miss Kim has also done me a huge favor. How about this: later I’ll personally ask Director Zhang for a bit of leeway, and we’ll finish early tonight so Miss Kim can try some of the local specialties!"

Since Park Hyun-ji had returned, she naturally also brought back MCC’s reply.

Although Liu Qingshan, standing nearby, did not know the details, when he heard Ge Daqian say this, he knew the matter was probably nearly settled.