Qilin smiled and nodded, while Wang Xiaohua took the opportunity to boast about him.
“Of course, he can. Don’t be fooled by my brother’s scholarly appearance; he’s actually the national runner-up in the Martial Arts Championship for equestrianism!”
Cheng Qingying smiled and said, “Then there’s no problem. We’ve already contacted the filming crew. The MV will take about two or three days to shoot. Can we schedule it in?”
Wang Xiaohua once again answered on behalf of Qilin, “No problem. As a matter of fact, if it were a few days later, we would have to go shoot a movie.”
Sister Sitian exclaimed at the coincidence and said that it was meant to be. With that, the matter was settled.
After chatting for a while, as Qilin and Wang Xiaohua left, Sister Sitian pinched Cheng Qingying’s ear.
“Look at how you acted just now! Haven’t you seen a man before? Staring so intently!”
“Ouch, ouch, sis, let go. I just thought he looked familiar, really, just familiar.”
“Familiar enough to drool? If I hadn’t held you back, you would’ve turned into a beast!”
“…”
…
Two days later, Qilin arrived at the set to shoot the MV.
The song is called “Knowing the Way”! It is the title track of Cheng Qingying’s latest album, a style that has become quite popular in the last two years in Huaxia—traditional Chinese opera style.
Qilin plays the role of a general in the music video. Facing an enemy invasion, he bids farewell to his family and leads his army to the battlefield. The female lead is his fiancée, waiting for his victorious return so they can marry. However, in the end, only the horse carrying the general’s armor returns. The old horse knows the way home, hence the title “Knowing the Way.”
Qilin’s scenes are relatively simple, with little difficulty, mostly battle sequences. After getting into makeup and costume, Qilin already looked the part of a general. Upon learning the content of the shoot a few days earlier, Wang Xiaohua had found many videos about generals for Qilin to study and “catch up” on. Qilin could now seamlessly adopt various general personas, each exuding a commanding presence.
Wang Xiaohua finally met Director Hu Lai. Compared to the fifty thousand yuan fee, meeting Hu Lai was her primary goal.
“Mr. Hu Lai, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m Qilin’s agent, Wang Xiaohua,” she said, walking up to Hu Lai in a professional outfit, with a gentle smile, handing him her business card.
Hu Lai looked to be around thirty or forty years old, about 1.7 meters tall, thin as a skeleton, but sported a large, interesting afro. Hearing Wang Xiaohua’s name, Hu Lai became much more enthusiastic.
“Ah, Sister Hua, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Hu Lai, being a seasoned insider, could guess Wang Xiaohua’s intentions upon seeing her bring a handsome “nine-headed model” over. However, he was genuinely satisfied with Qilin’s qualities. His looks and physique were nearly impeccable, the only slight drawback being his somewhat thick calves. But that couldn’t be helped—Qilin’s martial arts training relied heavily on leg strength. Expecting a thin waist and slender legs from him was unrealistic.
The two had a pleasant conversation and exchanged contact information, getting to know each other.
…
“Three, two, one, action!”
With the clapboard clapped, Qilin, dressed in chainmail, slowly walked out of the room, his face resolute, as if determined to face death. This scene made Hu Lai, behind the camera, silently cheer in his heart!
To be honest, at first glance, Hu Lai had thought Qilin was just another pretty-faced young star. He had seen too many of those, both domestically and internationally. They all believed their looks alone could carry them anywhere, that everyone in the world should adore them. But that’s a misconception, for the world never lacks good-looking people. Moreover, people’s aesthetics constantly evolve, much like fashion; what’s in style this year might be out next year.
As it turned out, who would have thought that the gentle-looking Qilin would exude such a strong heroic aura once filming began! He could switch from sweet to stern in an instant. This sparked genuine interest in Hu Lai.
In front of the camera, Qilin strode forward, his armor clanking with each step. Midway through, a woman in a white Hanfu slowly walked out from under the moon gate directly ahead. This woman was the MV’s female lead, Cheng Qingying.
At this moment, Cheng Qingying’s eyes were red, gazing at Qilin with tears brimming. Qilin walked up to her and slowly stopped. He raised his right hand to gently caress her jade-like cheek, wiping away her tears.
“Wait for me to come back and marry you,” he said, then strode off without looking back.
Cheng Qingying looked at Qilin’s departing figure and shouted, “I will wait for your victorious return! I will wear the bridal dress for you!”
Qilin didn’t reply, didn’t look back, and didn’t stop. He simply raised his right hand high and clenched his fist—a man’s promise.
“Great! Cut! This take is good. Change the set, change the set. Are the extras ready?”
“Yes, Director, we can start anytime!”
“Alright, let’s move, move, move, into the studio!”
As soon as the director called cut, the makeup artist and assistant rushed over to quickly clean Cheng Qingying’s eyes. Only then did Qilin realize that she had been using onions earlier…
…
Thanks to Qilin’s acting skills, the entire MV was completed in a day and a half. When Qilin wrapped up and left the set, Sister Sitian gave him a red envelope containing ten thousand yuan as a token of appreciation, which made Qilin very happy.
After returning to the studio, Qilin trained for a few days before receiving a call from the film crew—the “Fong Sai-yuk” crew was officially starting production! The filming location was in Hengdian, which saved him from having to travel far.
The day before shooting began, Director Fang Qiong hosted a dinner, inviting all the actors and crew to the VIP hall of the Fengjing Hotel. Wang Xiaohua took this very seriously and hurriedly took Qilin to buy a couple of new outfits, finally choosing a pure white suit for him.
As the saying goes, “Clothes make the man, and a horse is judged by its saddle.” After changing into the suit, Qilin’s demeanor improved significantly. However, Wang Xiaohua was still somewhat dissatisfied and sighed.
“Our fame is still too small. Otherwise, we could get endorsements from a couple of big brands. Then, whenever you attend major events, they would handle your outfits, and you could avoid wearing the same clothes as others.”
Qilin adjusted his tie in front of the mirror and said, “This is already pretty good! A suit worth over ten thousand yuan!”
Wang Xiaohua rolled her eyes at him, “Only a little over ten thousand and you’re satisfied? Big stars wear suits worth hundreds of thousands, all custom-made! And they don’t even wear them twice!”
Qilin couldn’t help but be amazed; it was the first time he realized he didn’t understand the life of a big star. He usually wore his clothes until they were worn out before replacing them…
NEXTNEXT