At nine o'clock in the evening, the day's shooting finally wrapped up.
Qi Lin had filmed many scenes that afternoon. Initially, he was quite nervous, worried about delaying the crew's progress. But once filming started, he found the role surprisingly simple!
He could maintain a poker face almost the entire time, the lines were straightforward, and the crew was very accommodating. They even told him that if he couldn’t remember his lines, he could just say "123456," and they would dub it in post-production.
This made Qi Lin feel a bit embarrassed. With so few lines, resorting to "123456" seemed too unprofessional. Gradually, he found his footing as an actor, and most of his scenes were completed in one take, though he did have two NGs.
In the evening, Qi Lin had a kissing scene with the 'female lead.' The director had already said they would use camera angles to simulate the kiss, so during the shoot, Qi Lin stayed still, waiting for the photographer to find the right angle.
To his surprise, the stand-in actress actually kissed him, leaving Qi Lin bewildered and resulting in an NG! Then the second, third, and fourth takes followed the same pattern, with the stand-in kissing him each time and the director not calling "cut." Eventually, Qi Lin got used to it, and they finally completed the scene. However, Qi Lin couldn’t shake the feeling that the stand-in seemed somewhat disappointed.
...
After a busy day, Qi Lin got into the minivan driven by his father.
His father drove leisurely, laughing and saying, "I told you, my son, looking so much like me, is destined to be a big star! You know, when I was young, I was the campus heartthrob, ever heard of the Military Art School's heartthrob?"
Qi Lin decisively shook his head.
As a handsome guy himself, most other handsome guys seemed ordinary to him. It's like someone who is 185 cm tall doesn't feel particularly tall until they see someone over 2 meters. Only then do they realize, "Wow, that person is tall!"
Qi Lin was the same. Unless someone more handsome than him appeared, he wouldn't think, "Wow, they are handsome!"
When the father and son returned home, Qi Lin’s mother had prepared a large table of dishes and even brought out the good liquor that his father usually couldn't bear to drink.
"Oh, my superstar son is back! Let Mom see if you’ve changed since becoming an actor."
In his mother's eyes, Qi Lin was always a child.
Qi Lin's mother, Wang Ping, was about 160 cm tall, chubby, and although still middle-aged, already had the kind face of an elderly lady.
As soon as Qi Lin got out of the car, Wang Ping came over and pinched his face.
Qi Lin protested, "Mom, I'm 22! Can you stop pinching my face?"
His mother retorted, "So what if you're 22? Even if you're 72, I’ll still pinch your face, I’m your mother!"
His father quipped, "When our son is 72, we’ll be in our graves. How will you pinch him? Pinch him in a dream?"
His mother glared at him, and his father quickly changed the topic, "Come on, come on, your mom made lots of dishes tonight."
The family had a joyous dinner together. It was clear his father was genuinely happy, drinking two large cups of white wine, and started to feel tipsy, mumbling about how his son had a bright future, destined to become an award-winning actor and a global superstar.
After putting his father to bed, Qi Lin washed up and went to his room to sleep. He was unaware that the internet was already in an uproar.
...
The source of the uproar was, of course, Huang Yi.
As a former popular young idol, although his fame was waning, he still had a considerable number of fans!
He executed a textbook example of twisting the truth, portraying himself as the victim. In his narrative, he was an innocent little lamb, while the evil director constantly found fault with him, ultimately firing him and giving his role to a relative who delivered boxed lunches!
Yes, the boxed lunch delivery relative was Qi Lin! Huang Yi didn’t care if they were really related; he just said so!
This instantly enraged his fans. What? You say they should find out the whole story first? Not important!
They only saw their idol being bullied by an evil director and a lunch delivery guy, which was unacceptable!
Immediately, the fans exploded! They frantically shared Huang Yi’s post and went to director Xu Zheng’s Weibo to curse him!
Within an hour, Xu Zheng’s Weibo, the official Weibo of "Falling City," various forums, and short video platforms were all flooded with hate messages!
"Bastards! Why change the actor? My idol gracing your trashy crew was already giving you face!"
"Exactly! Ha, you really don’t appreciate kindness. Do you think my idol likes your stupid show?"
"Tsk tsk, the capital’s appetite is really ugly. Are you planning to replace my idol with a relative?"
"You're letting a lunch delivery guy play the CEO? Hahaha, you’ve got to be kidding me! This is a joke, even a blind person could be a director!"
All the comments were scathing, making one wonder how such venomous words could come from the future flowers of the nation.
Director Xu Zheng, who was sound asleep, was awakened in the middle of the night by his assistant.
"Director Xu, Director Xu, wake up! That bastard Huang Yi incited his fans to bombard your Weibo!"
Xu Zheng, still groggy, sat up. He was exhausted from the past few days and didn't react immediately.
"Director Xu, not only your Weibo, but our official Weibo and short video platforms have also been flooded!"
Xu Zheng finally understood, hastily taking his assistant’s phone. A single glance almost gave him a heart attack from rage!
"Good! Good! Good!!!"
Xu Zheng said "good" three times, each with increasing intensity.
Clutching the phone tightly, he said, "You think I’m a pushover because I’ve been quiet? Bastard! If I don’t destroy you, I’ll change my surname to yours!"
He handed the phone back to his assistant, then angrily said, "Go get the producer!"
"Yes!"
The assistant responded and hurried out. Xu Zheng grabbed his phone, which was still charging, and found Wang Xiaohua’s number to call.
"Hello, Director Xu."
"No! I don’t deserve to be called Director Xu! Wang Xiaohua, I’ve known you for over ten years, and I never expected you to stab me in the back!"
On the other end, Wang Xiaohua sighed, "Director Xu, I know what you want to say, but I’m no longer Huang Yi’s manager. The company even has issues with me, and I might be leaving the company."
Xu Zheng’s anger faltered, and he subconsciously asked, "Why?"
"Well, I won't go into the details."
Xu Zheng took a deep breath and said, "Understood. I won't hold this against you. Such a company isn’t worth staying in!"
After speaking, he hung up. Shortly after, the producer of "Falling City" walked in.
Xu Zheng stood up and solemnly said, "It’s time for war!"
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