Chapter 27: I Hope Your Filming Goes Smoothly
This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
2023 Ver.
Strange to say, but the ringing that was incessant just a moment ago has now stopped. Qu Xizhi greeted Gu Xizhi and poured her a cup of tea. She sat down on the sofa opposite her and said, "Wait here for a moment. If she calls, I'll answer the phone." Gu Xizhi nodded, holding the water Qu Xizhi gave her in her hands, seemingly not prepared to say anything more.
In the living room, only the sound of the TV was playing, and the phone didn't ring again for a while. The continued silence felt a bit strange, and Gu Xizhi hesitated for a long time before asking, "You knew Lin Mingling a long time ago?"
Qu Xizhi thought for a moment before replying, "Yes." There was no further expansion.
Gu Xizhi nodded and said, "Yesterday, I should have listened to you. I'm sorry for saying those things to you."
Qu Xizhi didn't seem to mind at all. "I know you didn't listen to me because you were repulsed by me. Maybe I should have asked someone else to call you back."
Her frank words made Gu Xizhi feel a bit embarrassed, but certain matters weighed on her heart, causing many words to be stuck inside. After a long silence, she finally asked, "Are you... a lesbian?"
A faint light flickered in Qu Xizhi's eyes, but she quickly hid the unusual glint in her pupils and smiled gently, "Of course not." She added, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have rejected Miss Lan Rui."
Her words seemed reasonable, and although Gu Xizhi still had some doubts, she didn't want to voice them. She simply said, "It's good that you're not. I find myself not liking same-sex relationships right now. Actually, I cherished the relationship we had before. I was too impulsive to say those things to you at the auction. You must have been angry."
Qu Xizhi fell silent for a moment. "No, don't overthink it. If there's anything, you can always tell me. If you're willing, I'll always be your friend."
"Mm," Gu Xizhi nodded and glanced at her phone. "She hasn't called again, so she probably won't. I won't disturb your rest, I'll go back first."
After she finished speaking, she stood up, and Qu Xizhi stood up as well. However, she persuaded, "Since Lin Mingling called you, it means she has something important and won't give up easily. Why don't you stay here tonight? If she calls again later, I'll answer, and in case she comes looking for you, you won't be alone."
Gu Xizhi didn't say anything but continued to look at her. Qu Xizhi met her gaze with eyes full of meaning and quickly said, "Of course, I'll sleep on the sofa."
Gu Xizhi asked, "Would that be trouble some?"
Qu Xizhi gave a gracious smile, "If you don't see me as a friend."
Although it wasn't the first time for Gu Xizhi to sleep in Qu Xizhi's bed, it was the first time she had willingly appeared in her bedroom. Perhaps it was because Qu Xizhi had just been looking for clothes, Gu Xizhi saw a wide array of clothes in Qu Xizhi's open wardrobe. If they were just ordinary expensive clothes, it wouldn't have caught her attention. However, when she spotted the costume that Dong Qingqing had auctioned a few days ago, Gu Xizhi tilted her head thoughtfully and asked, "How did this costume end up here?"
Qu Xizhi turned to look at the costume and replied matter-of-factly, "I won the bid for this costume, so of course, it's here with me."
Gu Xizhi frowned, "But didn't Ning Qiu want this thing?"
"You misunderstood. I didn't bid for him," Qu Xizhi explained, "In fact, I was planning to tell you about it that day. Now that you brought it up, I still want to give this item to you. However, I didn't expect things to turn out that way, so I decided to give it to you now."
Gu Xizhi looked at Qu Xizhi thoughtfully again and said, "I never thought you would be so kind to me before."
Qu Xizhi smiled gently, her big eyes seeming to shimmer with a bright glint of amusement, "So you finally admit that I really have no ill intentions towards you, right?"
"...reluctantly."
Gu Xizhi quietly occupied Qu Xizhi's bed and fell asleep. Around two or three in the morning, she woke up partially from a half-dream, half-awake state due to thirst. Reaching out, she searched for water on the bedside table, but there was none. Gu Xizhi rubbed her temples, sat up in bed, and turned on the light.
The room was silent as if you could hear a pin drop. Gu Xizhi surveyed the bedroom, remembering that it was in Qu Xizhi's room. She got out of bed and opened the bedroom door.
The hotel's living room was not large, and it was puzzling to close the bedroom door. Fortunately, Gu Xizhi was somewhat familiar with the environment. Using the dim light from the bedroom, she made her way to the front of the sofa.
Unlike Qu Xizhi's usual assertive and oppressive demeanor, seeing her as a spoiled and prideful young lady curled up on the sofa sleeping felt quite out of place. Thinking about how this pampered young lady was now nestled on this narrow sofa, Gu Xizhi didn't know what was being triggered inside her, so she lightly patted Qu Xizhi, saying, "Qu Xizhi..."
Qu Xizhi's sleep has always been shallow, and she had already woken up when she heard Gu Xizhi open the door. Now, she slowly opened her eyes upon hearing Gu Xizhi call her name.
Getting up from the sofa, Qu Xizhi supported herself with her long black hair and looked at Gu Xizhi in the dim darkness. "What's the matter?"
Gu Xizhi said, "You should go back to bed. It's already late at night, and since Lin Mingling didn't call me again, she probably won't come looking for me. I'm going back."
Qu Xizhi pondered for a moment, and with a trying attitude, she said, "Isn't it inconvenient to go back so late? Just go to sleep here, it's okay."
Gu Xizhi saw that her previous proposal was not accepted, so after thinking for a while, she said, "Then let's sleep together on the bed. Anyway, the bed is big enough, and I've decided not to mind you anymore."
Qu Xizhi used a scrutinizing gaze in the shadows to look at her for a while. Seeing no signs of discomfort, she finally said, "That's fine."
The next morning, Gu Xizhi was disturbed by the sound of the alarm clock. After canceling it, the music continued to play repeatedly, making her reluctantly open her eyes to check the time. It was already past six in the morning, and she quickly sat up.
Qu Xizhi had already gotten up and was sitting on the sofa, drinking tea and reading the script. When she saw Gu Xizhi waking up, she smiled and greeted her, "Miss Gu, good morning."
Gu Xizhi still had her eyes closed, and upon hearing this voice, she felt her drowsiness slip away, so she slowly opened her eyes slightly.
"Miss Qu, morning," she lazily greeted with half-opened eyes.
Qu Xizhi looked at her tired appearance with some concern and said, "Miss Gu, it seems like you didn't sleep well last night."
Gu Xizhi didn't immediately respond to that comment. Due to having nightmares in the latter half of the night, she didn't sleep very soundly, and she was indeed a bit tired. However, she didn't want to bring it up and casually replied, "Mm, it's okay."
Her tone seemed indifferent, and upon hearing this, Qu Xizhi pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's good then. I asked my assistant to prepare breakfast. Would you like to have breakfast together?"
"No, thanks." Gu Xizhi glanced at the time and said while getting out of bed, "I have a full day of shooting today and need to go to the set earlier. I have to leave now."
"So rushed?"
"Yes." Gu Xizhi rubbed her head helplessly and explained, "Time is already tight, and my schedule is packed. Lili will be looking for me soon."
Speaking of this matter, Gu Xizhi feels very helpless.
Due to her own condition not being too good in the past two days, the progress of the crew has been delayed a lot. The fact is that the schedule of the crew is already very tight, so she has to work twice as hard these days to make up for the lost schedule.
For example, today, she even needs to work for nearly eighteen hours.
"Okay." Seeing her persistence, Qu Xizhi did not persuade her, just said, "Miss Gu, today we have scenes to film together, I hope your filming goes smoothly."
"Oh." Feeling somewhat awkward, Gu Xizhi squeezed out a forced smile and said, "I also wish you a successful filming."
This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Due to the significant delays in the progress of the work in the past few days, the filming tasks for Gu Xizhi today are almost unbearable. She is fully immersed in work all morning, only able to take a brief break during lunch. However, the situation did not get any relief in the afternoon. After dinner, Gu Xizhi still has to face a long period of filming.
But the long hours of work have made Gu Xizhi feel an undeniable sense of suffocation.
It was past eleven o'clock in the evening, and just finishing a scene, the actors were reviewing their performances, while director Jiang Tu watched the playback of the two leading actors on the monitor. He looked somewhat dissatisfied and said, "No, Xiao Gu, your performance has some problems. If you relax a bit here, it would be better. You are too tense right now."
Gu Xizhi's expression was already quite serious, and upon hearing his words, her face became even worse.
Due to long work hours, her condition was very poor tonight. She kept forgetting lines frequently, and after becoming aware of it, her state seemed to deteriorate even more. Not only did she fall behind when acting opposite the lead actor Qu Xizhi, but she also felt inadequate when performing with some supporting roles.
The content she just performed was about a critical moment in the fairy realm, where all the heavenly soldiers and generals were in danger. Luyao sacrificed herself, choosing to give her own life in exchange for the lives of the heavenly soldiers. The script provided Luyao with many lines, focusing on portraying her sense of responsibility and deep love for the world beyond herself. In this scene, Qu Xizhi, who played Lord Yubai, tried to stop and persuade Luyao, but unfortunately, she did not listen to his persuasion and resolutely went to her death.
In this scene, Luyao's character undoubtedly exuded an aura of "majestic righteousness and brilliance." In such a performance, if the actor's portrayal is not good, it will only make the character feel artificial, stiff, and shallow. Therefore, Gu Xizhi intended to portray the character in a more natural way. However, in the performance just now, her state was indeed quite stiff and lacking fluidity.
This wasn't an especially difficult scene, but due to her poor state, her performance was somewhat unsatisfactory.
"Yes." After watching the monitor's footage, Gu Xizhi furrowed her brow and said, "Director Jiang, let's do it again."
Despite maintaining a calm exterior, she was feeling extremely agitated inside.
She knew that her state was very poor, and she understood that she needed to quickly adjust, but she felt really tired, very tired, and didn't know how to do it.
Deep inside, she was well aware that forcing herself to continue like this wouldn't lead to any outstanding performance results, and she knew that it was entirely her own issue.
The tight shooting schedule of the production was partly her fault, after all. If she could consistently maintain a stable state and not be affected by external factors, maybe today wouldn't have been so rushed.
What's more, she wasn't the only one with a lot of work.
From early in the morning, all the crew members have been diligently performing their respective tasks. Many actors have a significant amount of scenes today, yet they manage to maintain a good state and deliver stable performances.
So, ultimately, it's her own lack of professionalism. She can't help but feel that she's not a very good actress; otherwise, why would she always encounter various issues?
"Alright." Director Jiang seemed oblivious to her thoughts and turned to Qu Xizhi, saying, "Xiao Qu, you two redo the scene we just shot."
Qu Xizhi had been contemplative while watching the previous scene on the monitor, and upon hearing the director's words, she nodded, "Okay."
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