Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 94

During this period, Zhao Kaile also noticed that Bai Li seemed to no longer pay much attention to Zhan Hang’s movements in the crew. Basically, it was Lu Jiayin who was responsible for contacting him.

When the two talked on the phone about this matter.

Lu Jiayin said: “Sister Ying and Brother Dong are going to compete for awards at international film festivals this year. Sister Li is busy running around building connections. If Brother Hang has anything, just tell me.”

“Oh.” Zhao Kaile asked hesitantly: “She won’t stop managing Brother Hang’s matters from now on…”

Lu Jiayin was amused by his guess, and laughed: “Of course not, don’t think nonsense.”

“That’s good.” Zhao Kaile held his forehead and said: “Director Ren’s team is much more dedicated than the previous crews. Brother Hang has lost almost four or five kg after filming for two months this time. It’s too hard.”

Lu Jiayin said: “Ren Jiayuan is just like this. He actually made quite a few bad dramas early on, but people in the industry say he’s one of the few directors who seriously films. No matter what connections he climbed before, when filming he doesn’t recognize even his closest relatives, belonging to the barefoot who aren’t afraid of those wearing shoes. And in recent years, his eye for choosing scripts has become increasingly sharp. If he really has the intention to promote Brother Hang, even if ‘Sharp Sword’ doesn’t become a hit after broadcast, it should still bring Brother Hang a wave of good reputation.”

Zhao Kaile asked: “Then do you think it’s worth it?”

“This depends on Brother Hang himself.” Lu Jiayin shrugged: “I think it’s a matter of gains and losses. Anyway, he’s not someone who lacks money, he doesn’t need to take on dramas he doesn’t like and bad dramas everywhere for money.”

Zhao Kaile thought about it. He originally wanted to ask whether Sister Li was quite lacking in money, but stopped himself when the words reached his mouth, feeling it was truly inappropriate to ask this way. After all, who would think they have too much money.

As Lu Jiayin was speaking, a strange thought suddenly popped up, and she couldn’t help muttering: “Damn, the big boss who invested money for Brother Hang has never shown his face. Could it be that he brought his own funds into the crew…”

“!” Zhao Kaile was caught between tears and laughter: “How is that possible! I can see the bills when he spends money!”

Hearing this, Lu Jiayin was also amused by herself: “Right… Sigh, Sister has been under too much pressure lately.”

The two chatted a few more sentences and hung up.

Zhao Kaile stood at the edge of the set, continuing to watch the artists rehearse.

Yu Zhengfeng played a regiment commander who came to visit the protagonist’s company. Although he was nearly fifty, he came from a martial arts actor background and maintained exercise habits year round. Thus his posture was upright and his build robust. With the military uniform on and his face darkened, he truly had the bearing of a resolute soldier.

The veteran actor’s lines need not be mentioned. Just from the simple greetings in the opening scene, one could see years of foundation. Among the young actors present who could match his performance, there were very few. Yu Wenrong was still relatively at ease. Zhan Hang would struggle somewhat to match him. As for Song Yiming and the like, there was even less need to mention. Originally his line delivery was already somewhat dry, and now when he made eye contact with Yu Zhengfeng, he was so nervous he was about to forget his lines.

Yu Wenrong led Yu Zhengfeng slowly through the training ground, introducing him one by one to the daily training matters of his company. Zhan Hang was in the last row of the formation, his expression tense as he followed the commands to perform movements. Yu Wenrong squinted and watched for a while the several squads he had personally trained, then turned to say something to Yu Zhengfeng. Then with a stern face, he walked toward the row where Zhan Hang was, and raised his foot to kick the back of his knee.

Zhan Hang stumbled, knowing his movements were not standard, so his expression became even more tense. He hurriedly adjusted his posture and continued to stand at military attention.

Yu Wenrong scolded him in a low voice, then raised his voice to remind everyone present. With his hands behind his back, he passed through the last row, blew his whistle, and kicked over a few more who were slacking off. Only then did he rein in his expression, and strode back to Yu Zhengfeng’s side.

Most of the shots in this scene were dialogue scenes between Yu Wenrong and Yu Zhengfeng, so it went very smoothly, passing in one take.

Zhan Hang came off set to rest. When he sat down, Zhao Kaile immediately squatted down beside him and reached out to roll up his pant leg.

“…” Zhan Hang was startled by him, pressing one hand on the back of his hand, and said alertly: “What are you doing, what are you doing?”

“Didn’t you just get kicked again?” Zhao Kaile looked up at him and said: “Let me see if it’s swollen.”

Zhan Hang coughed, lowered his head and said to him: “It’s fine… I’m not that delicate. Don’t squat there, people are watching.”

Zhao Kaile inexplicably read something like embarrassment from his expression, so he turned to look around, and then discovered the person watching them was standing right behind them. It was Yu Zhengfeng.

“Your little assistant is quite good at caring for people.” Yu Zhengfeng said with a teasing smile: “Last time it was also him who saved you with his bag.”

Zhan Hang looked embarrassed: “Uncle Feng… please sit.”

Zhao Kaile hurriedly got up, dragged his own stool over for him to sit, then stood awkwardly with his hands clasped, bowing and nodding: “It was a sudden incident, sorry sorry.”

“The next scene is actual combat exercise. In a while there will also be explosion scenes.” Yu Zhengfeng said somewhat expectantly: “Haven’t acted in this kind of thing for many years.”

Zhan Hang said: “Yes, I see you’ve always been acting in family urban dramas, haven’t really filmed anything with action lately.”

“This is the fate of us martial arts actors.” Yu Zhengfeng said with a touch of self mockery: “The acting path is too narrow. Later on, everyone has to transition. When Uncle was young, although he wasn’t as handsome as you, people also advised him to transition to become some kind of pretty boy idol. Uncle was absolutely unwilling.”

Zhan Hang crossed his fingers, and said with a hint of a smile: “You made the right choice. Pretty boy idols are popular for two or three years and then fade. But haven’t you been standing firm and popular all the way until now?”

“Don’t use nice words to fool me. That day I was drunk, didn’t want to hear the truth.” Yu Zhengfeng shook his head: “Popular what. Teacher Jiang is what you call popular, that’s what you call a household name. Although that bastard Zhao Jingran spoke unpleasantly, can you say he was talking nonsense? Face to face, he could step on my face with one foot, because his fame is right there.”

Zhao Kaile completely didn’t expect Yu Zhengfeng in a sober state to be this kind of straightforward person. Listening all the way through, he also felt a bit more sympathy for him.

Zhan Hang comforted him: “That can’t count, Uncle Feng. Why are you getting more and more discouraged the more you talk.”

“Sigh, getting old makes you like to say discouraging things” Yu Zhengfeng laughed, then looked at Zhao Kaile: “Your Zhan Hang has been relatively smooth sailing, much easier than my path back then.”

Zhao Kaile said somewhat sadly: “Uncle Feng, it’s not your problem. It’s just that the domestic film and television drama market is like this, there’s too little room for middle-aged actors..”

“Look at you, I’m talking about my own matters, why are you putting on a funeral face.” Yu Zhengfeng teased him: “Why are you acting like a little girl? Are you going to burst into tears any minute?”

Zhao Kaile: “…”

Zhan Hang smiled at Yu Zhengfeng: “That’s just his nature, don’t be surprised.”

“These past few decades have seen the wheel of fortune turn” Yu Zhengfeng continued: “The hottest period for martial arts action themes has passed. I thought I couldn’t rise again. Didn’t expect the wheels of fortune to turn again. In recent years, there’s been a bit of a warming trend.”

Zhan Hang: “These two years, alternative themes like martial arts, esports, and science fiction have started rising. The volume of ancient idol dramas and modern idol dramas has decreased a lot compared to before. I feel it’s an opportunity.”

“You still have opportunities.” Yu Zhengfeng drank some water, and sighed: “Uncle can’t fight anymore.”

Zhan Hang retorted: “How is that possible. With your current physique, you could beat a circle around everyone in the crew with ease.”

Yu Zhengfeng was amused by him into loud laughter, constantly pointing at him with his finger.

In the afternoon they filmed explosion scenes. Several managers who arrived on set felt the danger level was too high, worried their artists would have accidents. They came forward to negotiate with Ren Jiayuan about doing it with post production special effects instead, and were ruthlessly rejected by Ren Jiayuan.

“The explosion points are far from them.” Ren Jiayuan frowned and said: “What are you blindly worrying about. If even this scares you, then hurry up and take your young masters and young nobles out of the crew.”

The managers were speechless, and returned to the rest tents with faces of defeat.

Zhao Kaile saw them anxious and jumping around and also felt a bit worried, so when he was helping Zhan Hang adjust his collar, he asked about it.

“There are accidents, but the probability is very low,” Zhan Hang said lazily. “Some unscrupulous production crews hire unlicensed explosives technicians to save money. Not having a license isn’t the worst part; the worst part is having neither a license nor experience… just grabbing a script supervisor, lighting technician, or prop master to do it part-time. The consequences are even more unpredictable.”

“!!!” Zhao Kaile looked at him in terror. In his mind, scenes of fire bursting open, flesh and blood flying, and thick smoke scattering in all directions already appeared. He was almost about to shout that he couldn’t do it.

Zhan Hang watched his expression with interest, and hooked the corner of his mouth at him: “But Ren Jiayuan wouldn’t do something so despicable, rest assured.”

Zhao Kaile said trembling: “Good heavens, how dare they do this.”

Zhan Hang said casually: “For money, of course. Where there’s profit to be made, what wouldn’t they dare.”

He didn’t say that some crews’ explosion scenes still had “death quotas,” meaning the number of accidental deaths within a regulated range was “allowed.” He was afraid that after saying it, Zhao Kaile would cry and shout and not let him go on set.

Hearing this, Zhao Kaile didn’t speak. His eyelids twitched twice. The terrifying images in his mind were beyond his control, becoming even more dense. They had already leaped from fire shooting in all directions directly to many years later, the setting sun in the west. Zhan Hang with crippled limbs lay weakly on the hospital bed. He sat beside him feeding Zhan Hang congee spoonful by spoonful, occasionally reaching out to slowly wipe away two tears, his mouth still saying slow down slow down, be careful it’s hot.

Just thinking about it, he was about to cry.

The two looked at each other for a moment.

Zhan Hang knew that when Zhao Kaile made that expression, although he seemed to be looking at him intently, his thoughts were actually a million miles away. So he gently patted his face and laughed, “Look how scared you are! Wake up!”

Zhao Kaile came to his senses.

“It’s fine.” Zhan Hang was caught between tears and laughter: “I’m not really going to the battlefield. How unlucky would I have to be to have an accident on set.” Zhao Kaile said nervously: “Don’t talk about accidents! Don’t jinx it!”

Zhan Hang: “Alright alright alright…”

At three in the afternoon, the next scene officially began filming. Various leads and extras were all in position.

The actors inside the set filmed seriously, while the assistants outside each held their breath in worry, all appearing very concerned about this explosion scene.