Devoted To The Stand-InCh1 - A Martial Arts Drama

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I wish you all happy reading! rH9xBO

May, Cuiping Mountain.

The fiery warmth of the setting sun was acutely felt by everyone present, and with the slow pacing of shooting, they were all burnt out both physically and mentally. In response, the director gulped a large mouthful of Pang Da Hai tea and shouted into the loudspeaker: “Attention all departments, the actors and stunt-doubles are in place. Let’s keep up our spirits, and do our best to finish the scene in one take! Start the field recording!”
　　
The assistant director’s sun hat was soaked through with sweat. Clearing his throat with difficulty, he called out, “Sound speed!”

“Affirmative.”
　　
“Roll the cameras!”
　　
“Action.”
　　
“Action, the first take of scene five, episode thirteen of Rising Tide of the Blue Sea!”

Signalled by the crisp sound of the clapperboard, the scene immediately whirled into action. A dozen or so masked assassins emerged, a vicious look in their eyes as they leapt from the roof. Swords in hand and clad in black, they quickly besieged the fleeing male lead. The ashen-faced protagonist drew out his sword with a loud clatter and shouted ferociously, “Shameless thief, you’re too deceiving! Watch me take your life first!”

The director frowned behind the monitor, but didn’t call out “cut.” Instead, he let the actors continue to perform, and watched as the two sides descended into a frenzied battle.

Rising Tides of the Blue Sea was the most anticipated wuxia drama of the year. They had specially invited Zhong Guanhua—a popular idol—to play the male lead. They also found two well-known dan actresses to play the female lead one and two respectively. Ever since filming commenced, the stream of media outlets and fans rushing in was never ending. However, after ten days on set, the entire crew would turn deathly pale whenever the idol “who excelled in acting” was mentioned.

The original thought process of the director when choosing Zhong Guanhua was that “acting skills can be improvised, but their fan following must be off the charts.” These days, everyone knows that little fresh meat don’t have much acting skills, and that the audience rating depended entirely on their beauty filter, but even he didn’t expect that this person’s skills were so shabby. Zhong Guanhua usually suffered from facial paralysis. However, when there were scenes of great happiness or despair, he rushed straight into them without an ounce of hesitation, resulting in hideously exaggerated expressions. He could only memorize three and a half lines at most, and was especially reliant on stunt doubles. This morning’s scenes were full of literary battles, but the evening’s martial arts fight required real body combat. As soon as Zhong Guanhua heard the words “real body”, his face immediately turned into a donkey. The director couldn’t even get angry at the cash cow and tried to remedy the situation by appeasing the other actors. In this scene, Zhong Guanhua’s facial expressions were a little distorted, but the director was forced to turn a blind eye.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Zhong Gaunhua sulked all day. Just now, he was rejected when he applied for a stand-in actor to fill his role. Moreover, the heat caused him to act rather absent-mindedly while filming the fight scene; completing forgetting the routine taught by the martial arts director. Wielding a longsword, he slashed the air left and right impetuously, directly giving away his vitals to the opponent. The demon sect guardian’s sword tip hovered near his carotid artery. A few centimeters closer and the TV show would have to be forcibly halted. Seeing that the situation wasn’t looking too good, he immediately flicked his wrist, applied pressure upon his waist and did a somersault within the air. Unfortunately, Zhong Guanhua severely miscalculated this move as the other’s sword brushed against his neck and sliced down his shoulder.

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“Stop! Everyone stop right there!”
　　　　
A deafening shout came from behind the monitor, but it was already too late. The stand-in actor was caught off guard and suffered a serious injury. The side of his face was rapidly swelling, his ear got nicked by the blade, and his nose was also broken. As blood mixed with sweat, his costume was drenched with red.

“Where did you get hit?” The stupefied staff finally recovered and rushed up to surround the actor with worried inquiries, “You didn’t hurt your eyes, did you? Let go, don’t press on the wound, let me take a look… Oh my god, how is it bleeding so much! Hurry up! Get some tissues! What the hell is this!”

The sword that came crashing down made Xie Guan see stars dance amidst the edge of his vision. Supported by the large group of people, he sat down by the sidelines. He stared blankly ahead as the staff wiped off the blood, only coming back to life when they touched a painful spot. Xie Guan sucked in a hissing breath and quickly said: “Thank you, thank you, it’s okay, I’ll do it myself.”

“Don’t move around, and raise your head a little.” The production assignment skillfully placed an ice pack onto Xie Guan’s face and handed him a few tissues, “Press it to your nose to stop the bleeding.” TCbSjU

Xie Guan kept a highly difficult crooked neck posture. Looking out from the crevice of the crowd, he saw Zhong Guanhua standing alone in the middle of the field with a sword. His face was seven minutes embarrassed and three minutes angry. When his assistant ran up to deliver water to him, he slapped the other’s hand away angrily and knocked the bottle over: “Get out of the way!”

This time though, no one paid any attention to him. Even the female lead, Zhou Xiaoqi, came to see Xie Guan’s situation. She handed over some wet tissues, “It’s rather swollen, you should go to the hospital.”

“Thank you Teacher Zhou…” Xie Guan quickly got up, but Zhou Xiaoqi sat him back down: “Don’t be so polite, just call me big sister.”

At this time, the director finally managed to squeeze in from the crowd: “Ah, how did it end up like this… let’s just call it a day now. You should go to the doctor, don’t let it get infected on such a hot day. Xiao Qi!”
　
The coordinator poked his head in, “Hey!” e6cWdq

“Please go and check how many more scenes he has. Push it back two days and shoot the others first so he can rest his face.” The director turned to Xie Guan again with a smile in his eyes, and asked, “That ending you did there was fabulous. Have you practiced martial arts before?”

Xie Guan had only been on set for a little over ten days. As the demon sect guardian was mere cannon fodder and didn’t have many scenes, he had barely said two words to the director. Xie Guan guessed that the other didn’t even know his name, and was a little nervous at getting noticed: “I haven’t practiced it specifically, but I was taught by our instructor before and learned a little from him.”

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When the director heard this, he felt that this little kid must’ve played an important role before despite his unassuming demeanor. Otherwise, why would the martial arts instructor teach him the sequences so meticulously? So he asked, “What role did you play?”

Xie Guan spoke with difficulty: “I acted as a walk-on.”
　　
“…” WGqQXo

When Zhou Xiaoqi heard the words, she burst out laughing, and so did the director, “There are only small actors, no small roles. You did well. Quickly go to the hospital now before they close. Regarding the medical fees, the crew will reimburse you. Do you have an assistant? If not, I’ll find someone to drive you down the mountain.”

Xie Guan refused in a hurried frenzy, but Zhou Xiaoqi cut in: “Let my assistant send you. It’s so hot, and it won’t be a joking matter if you end up getting heatstroke.”

Since Zhou Xiaoqi’s position was on par with Zhong Guanhua’s, and now that she offered, Xie Guan couldn’t reject it again. So after thanking the director and the others, they left the set together.

The director squinted his eyes and stared at Xie Guan’s retreating back for a while before waving the coordinator over: “Which company does that kid belong to? How many other scenes do we have with him?” UNYChO

The coordinator silently glanced at Zhong Guanhua, who was resting in the distance, and opened up his phone address book, “Are you talking about Xie Guan? He’s an artist from Starlight Entertainment. I heard that he signed with the company quite early on, and his qualifications aren’t bad, but he hasn’t become very popular. I took a look at his portfolio before he joined, and it seems that the demon sect guardian is considered the largest role he has taken this year.”

Zhong Guanhua had already offended many crew members, and the coordinator had long started seeing him as an eye sore. Since “the enemy of an enemy is a friend”, Xie Guan was put into her favorable circle. Now that the director happened to ask, she decided to seize this opportunity to help him out a little.

“During Starlight’s most glorious years, every drama series was a hit, and every single actor they promoted shot to the top of their careers. Even if he was a newcomer back then, they had excellent resources to spare. It’s a pity that the company later moved towards artist management and is now on the brink of collapse.”

The director got up and patted his trousers, “That kid…is called Xie Guan? It seems he has some talent in acting…why are all the good seedlings getting ruined by these companies?” hOGBc2

The coordinator smiled, “Real gold will never lose its shine. He can’t be buried. Today’s scene will be postponed, and we will shoot Zhou Xiaoqi’s scenes in the evening.”

Those who are skilled will become successful sooner or later, even if they are not recognized now.

The director nodded and put on his sunhat, ready to head back to the set. However, he turned around after a few steps, “Regarding the matter today, ensure that no one spreads it around, as it’ll leave a bad impression on the public.”
　　
His voice was very loud. Aside from the coordinator, the other actors such as Zhong Guanhua and Zhou Xiaoqi all heard it rather clearly. The air was awkwardly quiet for a few seconds, until the coordinator announced that afternoon filming was over, and everyone packed up in preparation for the evening.

Zhong Guanhua went back to his hotel with a dark and gloomy face that day, burning up in so much anger that he became a pile of coals. 5Y1Hv0

The hotel that the crew booked was in an urban area. Xie Guan didn’t want to trouble Zhou Xiaoqi’s assistant any further, as he needed to return back up the mountain to help out on set. So after Xie Guan was dropped off at the base of the mountain, he decided that he would take a bus to the clinic. Moreover, since he wasn’t popular, he wasn’t afraid of being recognized.

However, as soon as Xie Guan stepped foot inside the bus, the passengers stared at him as if there were wild animals chasing him. The person in question was taken aback by their bizarre expressions, and thought that he became famous all of a sudden. Only upon glancing in the reflective glass window did Xie Guan realize that his normally dignified face was now endangering public order. As such, he imitated having a toothache and covered half his face during the ride. Due to the turn of events, he planned on getting off as soon as he entered the city to buy a hat from a roadside shop.

Many of the buildings in this area were cramped and dilapidated bungalows, and judging by the closing notices, it looked like they were ready to be demolished. Xie Guan casually bought a cap and mask to cover up his face, and just when he was to leave, a black Volkswagen Phaeton stopped in front of the road.

Xie Guan halted in place. bam3hq

The driver walked around to the back and opened the rear door like they were filming a TV series. Then, he respectfully invited a man out of the car.
　　
Xie Wenbiao, who couldn’t distinguish between English and Pinyin, sighed in his heart: “The money it takes to hire a driver is enough to buy another Passat. Is this person sick?”

The man coming out of the car instinctively felt that someone was looking at him, and glanced around until he was facing Xie Guan’s line of sight.

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Xie Guan joined society after graduating high school, so while he wasn’t well acquainted with car brands, observing expressions has become instinctual. The moment when their eyes met, his heart trembled. The other’s gaze was unspeakably cold—like he was used to regarding people from high above—that even his casual glances held a touch of loftiness.

People with auras that could induce stomach cramps must be incredibly rich and not someone to mess around with. Xie Guan immediately looked away, turned around and walked in the opposite direction. r9d a0

As soon as he took a step, a toy airplane popped out of the shop and flew past the back of his head, the small whirlwind creating a gust of air. The plane hovered up and down unsteadily like it was malfunctioning, and suddenly headed straight towards the man’s face with a thunderous momentum.

If it hit the target, this fellow buddy over here would have to wear the same equipment as Xie Guan when meeting people next week.

The plane’s appearance was too sudden, and the initiator, the boss, the driver, and the melon eating crowd were all stunned into inaction. One wasn’t sure if the young master was also scared stiff, as he remained rooted on the spot, giving off an aura of “hit me if you dare.”
　　
Xie Guan had worked with many action film crews, doing a little bit of everything, from acting as a stand-in to being a walk-on. He was rather talented in this aspect and honed his skills over the years. Sometimes, the martial arts instructor would call him in during an action scene. Although Xie Guan’s reaction speed wasn’t as fast as professional stunt doubles, it was enough to fool ordinary people. Everyone present didn’t see exactly how he ran; only a flash of dark shadow. Within the next second, Xie Guan was already in front of the man, and the toy plane slammed into his open palm.

The tragedy of a plane causing mass destruction halted to a close. Xie Guan used two fingers to hold up the rapidly spinning propeller of the aircraft, casually holding it like the fluttering wings of a bird. He walked back to the shop’s door and told the little boy who made trouble, “I’ve caught the plane for you. Be careful to not hurt others when you play in the future.” After that, he released his grip, sent the plane into the room, and pulled the glass door back.
　　　　
The man had walked up to Xie Guan while he was talking to the boy. He was several centimeters taller than Xie Guan, and gave off a neat and clean aura. From the top of his head to the tip of his shoes, everything screamed “I am very expensive.” Although his appearance was very worthy of Xie Guan’s help, his gaze was too cold, and it obstructed most of his delicate features. As a result, only his somber countenance remained. WiyQrl

Xie Guan was already afraid of him, and the hairs on his neck stood up when he approached. He took a step back stiffly when the other suddenly said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

Xie Guan flashed a fake grin reflexively. As his cheek muscles touched the fabric of his mask, only then did he remember that the other party couldn’t see his reaction. In response, he raised his hand to the brim of his hat, nodded in greeting and walked away before the other could respond.

The man was silent as he watched Xie Guan disappear around the street corner.

“Mr. Huo?” The driver softly reminded him. Kuj9St

Huo Mingjun gathered his wits and turned his attention back to the buildings that were going to be demolished along the street. The driver followed after him, explaining certain details from time to time.

The vague sort of familiarity he just encountered made it difficult for him to ponder about it any further. Like a dragonfly skimming across a pool of water, the fleeting feeling disappeared in the blink of an eye.