Song Shi'an was in tears; all he wanted was to get a driver's license.
Before he could even feel sad, the director spotted him from afar and jogged over, saying, "Teacher Song is here."
Song Shi'an extended his hand and shook it. "Hello, Director Chen."
Director Chen chuckled, "Seeing is believing. I've heard Lü Hang talking about it for a while now. Today we're just taking some character stills to generate some buzz."
"Okay, director."
Director Chen led the two towards the makeup studio. "Although Su Fan only appears a few times at the beginning and end, creating a contrast between the two characters is still quite challenging, but I believe it won't be a problem for Teacher Song."
Song Shi'an sat at the dressing table, letting the makeup artist do her thing.
The first character is a gloomy, reclusive novelist, with a limited-time long hair return, and wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
After he finished his makeup, he glanced in the mirror and realized that even his own father wouldn't recognize him.
She changed into an oversized short-sleeved shirt and shorts, white socks, and light brown Crocs—she looked absolutely unique.
He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Teacher, is this combination really okay?"
The stylist gave an OK sign. "No problem, it suits Su Fan perfectly in the story."
With simple makeup and styling, and before the other actors even arrived, Song Shi'an strolled out.
Lin Fan went to the car to get his bag, but when he came back, he couldn't find his brother.
Song Shi'an was strolling around outside the film set when entertainment gossip reporters were already staking out the area.
There were so many fans that the reporters found their spots and scanned for targets, but after a while they didn't see any big names. However, they did see a cute little girl squatting on the ground pulling at the decorations on her Crocs.
Those legs were straight and strong, and the outfit looked like something he'd wear at home.
The reporter's mind raced. The director's kid was that big? What juicy gossip! He immediately started snapping photos.
It took Song Shi'an a lot of effort to remove the row of dog and cat decorations from the Crocs, making the shoes look much more comfortable with their clean, simple surface.
The moment he stood up, his legs went numb and he couldn't feel them anymore. He limped slowly, and with each movement, he felt as if thousands of ants were crawling on him—the sensation was absolutely excruciating.
The gossip reporter, watching this scene through the lens, exclaimed, "Wow! Now I know why Director Chen's youngest son has never entered the entertainment industry—he's lame!" He then snapped a few more photos.
Song Shi'an moved to a chair in the corner and sat down to rub his legs, when he heard the assistant director's furious voice from the other side. "If you're not dead, crawl over here! If you don't come, plenty of others will!"
A production assistant carrying things approached and asked, "Assistant director, what's going on?"
The assistant director slapped his thigh in anger. "It's that Peng Yue role again! He signed the contract a long time ago, and yesterday he told me he fell and broke his leg!"
"How can you come with broken bones?"
"What utter nonsense!" the assistant director shouted, raising his voice even higher. "I saw on WeChat Moments this morning that he was having a blast abroad!"
Song Shi'an stopped rubbing his legs. Peng Yue seems to be a pretty important villain with a lot of screen time. This is the perfect opportunity!
He stood up, walked behind the assistant director, and patted him on the shoulder. "Assistant Director!"
The assistant director jumped in fright, about to yell at someone, but when he turned around and saw Song Shi'an, his expression changed faster than flipping through a book. "Ms. Song, are you done with your makeup? Is there something you need?"
Song Shi'an smiled and said, "I just heard you guys say someone isn't coming. Do I have someone I can recommend? He's also an actor, his acting skills are definitely top-notch, he just needs an opportunity."
The assistant director waved his hand. "Teacher Song, what are you saying? Just send someone to report directly!"
Song Shi'an had prepared a whole host of words, but he didn't expect it to be resolved so easily. He hesitated and asked, "That's it?"
"What else can we do?" The assistant director curled his lip. "The one who didn't come got in through connections. Giving him a chance wouldn't help. Just tell your friend to report to the set on time tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Assistant Director," Song Shi'an said, reaching into his pocket for his phone.
After feeling around for a while, I realized that these pants didn't even have any pockets, so I ran straight to the makeup booth.
The assistant director shouted from behind, "We're shooting tomorrow, everyone has to be there!"
As soon as Song Shi'an pushed open the door to the dressing room, she saw a boy in sportswear sitting in a chair getting his hair and makeup done. She raised her hand in greeting, "Hello."
The boy turned around and smiled, "Hello, I'm Duan Lei, you must be Song Shi'an."
"Yes," Song Shi'an nodded, "Are you playing the male Gu Bin?"
Duan Lei raised an eyebrow, his tone laced with confidence. "Isn't that obvious?"
"You perfectly fit the image of the male lead in the script," Song Shi'an said, walking to the makeup table where he had been sitting. "The director has a good eye for talent. I'm grabbing my phone for a moment, you go ahead with your work."
He looked down and rummaged through the table, muttering, "Where's my phone?"
Duan Lei held up a phone with an Ultraman phone case and waved it around. "Is this yours? I thought some kid left it here."
He glanced at the design on the phone case. "The design is... childish."
Song Shi'an accepted the painting with a forced smile. He had gone to great lengths to find an artist to commission it, and he had practically become best friends with the artist before he could barely achieve an 80% resemblance.
It's such a shame that there's no Ultraman in this world!
He looked up at Duan Lei and asked, "Do you believe in light?"
Duan Lei frowned. What did this mean? A new meme among young people? He tentatively replied with two words: "I don't believe it."
Song Shi'an gave a meaningful smile, "That's a pity, your childhood and mine seem to be different."
Duan Lei's mind raced as he tried to decode the meaning of the sentence. Was he out of touch with the times? How were their childhoods different?
Song Shi'an didn't notice Duan Lei's change in expression. He turned around and left the dressing room to send a message to Liu Bin: " Brother Liu! Do you have any free time later?"
Liu Bin replied immediately, "It's hard to get extra roles lately. I've only gotten two or three in half a month, sigh..."
Song Shi'an felt a little guilty; he had been so busy lately that he had forgotten about him. He felt terrible.
He tapped the screen and typed. "I have a role for you, but it's a villain, with screen time comparable to the fourth male lead. Want to join?"
The other end kept showing "typing in progress" for a long time before finally sending a message: "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Song Shi'an typed a string of words. "I've sent you the address. Filming starts at seven tomorrow morning. If you don't come, it'll be someone else's."
After a while, the other end replied, "Okay! Consider it a favor I owe you. I'll book the tickets right now!"
Song Shi'an looked at the "Good" on the screen and put his phone away with satisfaction.