Chapter 41: Rules

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The interrupted sounds of a piano being played could be heard through the receiver. “Director Zhao, here’s the thing, do you know about the Jianghua Group?”

Zhao Rang’s expression froze for a second. He frowned and asked, “The Jianghua Group?”

“Yes.” His response seemed to have injected life into the other person’s voice. The other person quickly followed with an explanation, “The Jianghua Group started out as a business hotel. The person-in-charge has the same surname as you. The eldest young master of the Zhao family is interested in investing in the entertainment media. Before this, he invested $200 million in director Zhang Jingan’s ‘Rescue Mission’.”

Jiang Se had practiced the piece twice on the piano, so she had familiarized herself with the melody of the first part and was playing it with greater ease this time.

Zhao Rang turned to look at her. He was pondering about the reason behind this phone call from Ruiqiao Media Corp.

The biggest investor of “The 99th Love Letter” was Ruiqiao Media Corp. Most of the film had already been recorded, thus they were now in the final stages of production. However, someone from Ruiqiao Media Corps was calling him now and just mentioned the Zhao family of the Jianghua Group. This was something that was worth mulling over.

“The Jianghua Group is interested in investing in our production team?”

Zhao Rang rubbed his own temples. They were filming an important scene for the movie in the Steinway piano store. This had only been possible after the person-in-charge of Ruiqiao Media Corp contacted the store. That was how they got the store to agree to them filming this scene here for a day.

At this moment, the members of the cast were already there. Cui Xing was changing into his costume and getting his makeup done in preparation for the filming. However, the investor called to bring this matter up.

Slightly annoyed, he pulled a face and said, “About this, contact my studio first—”

Zhao Rang had not finished his sentence when the person on the other side of the phone spoke up, “No, no, no, Director Zhao, that’s not what this is. However, the Jianghua Group did put forward a name. They wanted her to audition for the character of the mysterious girl in the film.”

Placing their own favored actor or actress was an unspoken rule in the industry. In an exchange of interests, it was normal for the investor to name certain actors or actresses for certain roles. Zhao Rang was aware of this unspoken rule as well.

The contracts had already been signed. After spending so much time and energy, the crew was now ready for filming. However, Ruiqiao was talking about including another actress as a member of the cast at the last minute. He could not help but feel his anger flare up.

“Manager Liu.” He suppressed his anger as he turned to glance at Jiang Se. He did all he could from yelling with rage.

“I think I’ve told Manager Liu before that we’ve found an actress to act out the scene with Cui Xing.”

The man on the other side of the phone did not expect Zhao Rang to reject him. He felt slightly indignant as he attempted to persuade Zhao Rang, “Director Zhao, the contracted person is only an amateur. If we just assign her any random role in the film, I don’t think she’ll be daring enough to speak u The person the Jianghua Group recommended comes from…”

“I don’t care who she is.” Zhao Rang was very displeased. “When Ruiqiao and Taichang Entertainment discussed matters with me, we agreed that they wouldn’t meddle in the production team besides using Cui Xing and Zhu Pan as the main stars.”

He was unyielding, so the man on the other side of the phone felt awkward now. “Director Zhao, they’ve sent a recording as per your previous requirement for the audition. Won’t you take a look at it? We’ll only switch actresses if you’re satisfied with her. How about that?”

After he said that, he did not wait for Zhao Rang’s reply before continuing, “Naturally, Ruiqiao will abide with the agreement reached between you and Manager Yan back then. However, just take a look at this. She’s a real young lady from a rich family. She’s from Zhongnan Industries in Hong Kong, and I think she has an outstanding temperament. Take a look.”

When he finished, Zhao Rang’s phone gave a notification beep. He had obviously received something in this email.

As Zhao Rang dropped the call, the assistant moved closer from the side, and Zhao Rang tossed his phone to him. When the assistant saw his darkened face, he spoke up carefully, “Director…”

Ruiqiao must have communicated with him beforehand since he was clear about the contents of the phone conversation. “Would you like to watch the video? After all, Ruiqiao has invested…”

“I’ll watch nothing.” Zhao Rang snorted. He pressed his cap lower, not appearing to be in a good mood. “Is Cui Xing ready yet?”

The assistant did not dare plow on. He hastily replied, “He’s changed and is now getting his makeup done.”

Zhao Rang waved his arm to dismiss the assistant. Then, he returned to his seat and gulped down mouthfuls of water before the flames of rage in his heart were quelled.

Fortunately, Jiang Se was performing well on set. While Zhao Rang was occupied with the phone call, she had familiarized herself with the piece under the direction of the music director. Her playing was much better now.

It was half-past nine when Cui Xing came on set with his makeup done. By then, Jiang Se could play the song without even having to look at the score.

The production team had spent a fortune for the famous Hong Kong musician, Shi Jiadong, and his team to produce this piece over the span of one year. The melody was bright and suave. When layered over the storyline, it gave a sweet and sour impression of one’s first love.

Although Cui Xing was already styled, he had another scene to be filmed, which was his entrance into the mall. The crew members wanted to film this part first, hence Jiang Se stayed inside the store and continued practicing.

By the time Cui Xing finished filming his part, she had completely memorized the music score.

Zhao Rang composed himself and asked the crew members to get ready.

Jiang Se stood up from her practice piano. She made her way to the actual piano which would be used in the shoot.

She had been playing for quite some time before, so she was not feeling flustered. She did not seem to be an amateur as well. When the piano store staff saw her sitting before the white piano, she no longer seemed like she was facing off a formidable opponent.

When the director told everyone to get ready, the lighting engineer adjusted the angle and light levels. The camera was trained on Jiang Se.

The young girl sat before the white piano on the raised platform at the center of the piano store. With her back facing the camera, her face could not be seen.

The only thing the others could see was her fingers leaping deftly across the keyboard and the section of jade-like skin on the back of her neck since her hair was tied up.

Her face was not visible, hence the people behind her could only imagine her looks from her back and the bits of exposed skin.

Her slender fingers ended in oval tips with no artificial coloring on her nails. Everything was pleasingly and naturally beautiful.

Even the cameraman felt as if he was being drawn in by her. However, Zhao Rang frowned and shouted, “Cut! There’s something wrong with the lighting.”

He looked at Jiang Se’s back and told the crew to do a retake.

The lighting engineer hastily adjusted the angle of the lights, and Zhao Rang’s creased brows only relaxed after the fourth adjustment.

The lighting from the back highlighted the contour of Jiang Se’s body even more. Even some strands of her stray hair could be clearly visible.

It was precisely because Jiang Se would not be showing her face in this film, yet she had to carry the role of the goddess with whom Li Qingyang fell in love at first sight. She had to inspire the audience to get lost in wild and fanciful thoughts with her back alone. Therefore, Zhao Rang had strict requirements for this.

After a few rounds of adjustments, Zhao Rang finally found the feeling that he was looking for.