After the grand launch event concluded...
Filming for " The Realm and Old Friends " went smoothly from day one.
Cheng Che's portrayal of " The Faces of All Beings " opened the eyes of the entire crew.
In the first scene of the court confrontation, he wore a plain white robe, knelt in the center of the hall, looked up at the direction of the dragon throne, his eyes were slightly red, and his voice trembled, but there was a needle hidden in his voice.
Director Zhou stared at that look in his eyes for several seconds behind the monitor, then exclaimed with emotion, "Cut!"
The second match, the third match, and the fourth match.
Every game is won in one go, occasionally in two.
The actors he worked with were initially nervous, but by the third day of filming, everyone had been brought up by him.
Zhao Yiming's lines are more nuanced than before, Actor Zhou no longer just stares and uses affected tones, and even the veteran actors are putting in more effort than usual.
Director Zhou was overjoyed and started accelerating the filming schedule on the tenth day.
Originally, we filmed for twelve hours a day, then it was increased to fourteen hours, and later to sixteen hours.
Everyone was exhausted, but no one complained.
Because everyone knows that with these storylines, this acting, and Cheng Che's popularity, it would be hard for this drama not to be a hit.
What's the point of making movies? Isn't it just to become famous?
Zhao Yiming is the best example.
Why was he selected for " The Realm and Old Friends "?
It was because he filmed " The Youth Here " with Cheng Che that his status jumped a level after the show aired, Director Zhou immediately thought of him when Tengda was casting.
However, the production team encountered an unexpected problem: too many fans showed up.
After Cheng Che joined the crew, people would squat outside Hengdian World Studios every day.
At first there were dozens, then hundreds, and later even the occupancy rates of several nearby hotels increased significantly.
Some people flew in from other places, some took leave from work, and some brought small stools and parasols, sitting by the cordon outside the film set for a whole day.
The production crew had no choice but to double the security measures and coordinate with the film studio to extend the perimeter cordon by fifty meters.
Director Zhou slammed his hand on the table at the production meeting and said helplessly:
"From now on, if anyone asks about Cheng Che's schedule, they should first ask if the security budget is sufficient."
This filming took three months.
Cheng Che took a few days off and flew a few business trips, but spent the rest of his time with the team.
Over the course of three months, he made several new friends, the most surprising of whom was Ning Qing.
Ning Qing appears aloof in front of the camera and speaks little in interviews; in the eyes of her fans, she is a cool and elegant goddess.
But after staying in the group for a while...
Cheng Che discovered that this girl was completely different in private.
She's a complete goofball.
During her breaks, she would watch funny videos, and when she came across one that was really funny, she would cover her mouth and laugh so hard her shoulders would shake.
She would try to learn the dialect from Actor Zhou in the dressing room, making a mess of it and then laughing so hard she fell back in her chair, amusing herself.
These behaviors are completely inconsistent with her appearance; she's a mature woman on the outside but a sweet girl on the inside.
Meanwhile, several groups of people visited the set during the filming period.
Li Siyuan, who was also in Hengdian, brought a box of milk tea with him, saying he was "just passing by and thought I'd take a look."
Cheng Che, along with Zhao Yiming, went out to an internet cafe and played a few more games together.
But the most lively set visit was when Yan Ruanning came.
That afternoon, filming had just wrapped up, and Cheng Che was still in his costume, talking to Director Zhou next to the monitor.
Someone outside the set said, " Yan Ruanning is here," and the atmosphere on the entire set changed.
Actor Zhou was the first to reach the window, glance outside, then turned back and whispered, "She's really here! She's come in!"
The girls in the makeup team nudged each other a couple of times, and one of them put down her powder puff. The young man from the props team, carrying a light stand, stood still and forgot to move.
Even several veteran actors put down their scripts and glanced towards the door.
Yan Ruanning was wearing a light gray trench coat, her hair was loose, she wasn't wearing much makeup, and she was carrying a thermal bag.
She was followed by Xiao Zhou and two staff members, who were carrying several stacks of things.
When she walked onto the set, everyone around her turned to look at her.
Not only because she's a top-tier female celebrity, but also because she's the only one who's ever been romantically linked to Cheng Che.
Actor Zhou stood by the window and muttered something under his breath:
"She came to visit the set... What's this? Is she asserting her dominance?"
Someone next to her nudged her. "Don't talk nonsense."
"I wasn't making things up, I was just curious."
Yan Ruanning walked up to Cheng Che and handed him the insulated bag. "I brought this for you, it's white fungus soup."
Cheng Che took the bag and glanced at it. "Did you make this?"
"I bought it," Yan Ruanning said matter-of-factly. "Would you dare drink it if I made it?"
Cheng Che smiled but didn't reply.
Then Yan Ruanning turned her head and raised her chin slightly towards Xiao Zhou.
Xiao Zhou nodded, led two staff members to the center of the set, and raised his voice:
" Teacher Yan is treating everyone to milk tea and snacks. Everyone gets some, come and get some."
The set fell silent for a moment, then erupted.
"Really? I have one too?"
" Teacher Yan is so generous!"
"Get me a drink, I'd like the mango pomelo sago!"
The staff distributed milk tea and snacks to everyone.
Hundreds of cups of milk tea and dozens of bags of snacks were provided, from the lead actors to the extras, the lighting crew, and the props crew—everyone was included.
When Actor Zhou took the milk tea, he paused for a moment, glanced at the label on the cup, and muttered, "It's still hot."
A young extra, clutching her milk tea and potato chips, said to the person next to her, "I benefited from Teacher Cheng's help today."
Yan Ruanning stood next to Cheng Che, greeted Director Zhou, glanced at the playback on the monitor, and asked, "Did he get this take right?"
Director Zhou said, "That's a wrap, one take."
Yan Ruanning nodded, her expression carrying a faint hint of pride, as if to say, "I knew it."
People on set kept glancing this way.
Some people were whispering, some were secretly taking pictures, and some were observing the distance between Cheng Che and Yan Ruanning when they stood together.
The two people were about half a step apart, not too close, but not too far either.
Moreover, Yan Ruanning's move of sending milk tea was so clever.
The whole group owed her a favor, so who would have the nerve to gossip about her behind her back?
But she also had things to do. After meeting Cheng Che, she made an appointment with Cheng Che to treat her to a meal, and then left.
Late May.
Xiangshan.
At 10 p. m., after filming the last scene, Director Zhou stood up from behind the monitor, stretched, and called out, "That's it for today."
A chorus of "Finally wrapped up!" and "I'm exhausted!" echoed throughout the set.
The lighting crew started dismantling the lights, the props crew started moving things, and the actors headed towards the dressing room.
As Zhao Yiming walked, he rubbed his lower back and muttered, "I knelt eight times today." Actor Zhou laughed at him, "You only knelt eight times? I knelt twelve times."
Cheng Che had only taken two steps when Director Zhou called him back.
" Cheng Che, Ning Qing, you two come here for a moment."
The two exchanged a glance and walked over.
Director Zhou stood next to the monitor, smiling broadly with a friendly expression, but that smile looked rather cunning.
"There's a scene tomorrow," Director Zhou said with a smile. "The romantic storyline between Shen Che and the female lead is reaching a crucial point. The script calls for a kissing scene."
Cheng Che was taken aback.
Ning Qing stood beside him, her ears visibly red, and nodded slightly.
"A French kiss," Director Zhou added calmly. "Close-up. Camera from the side, focusing on facial expressions, aiming for realism. You guys go back and prepare tonight."
After he finished speaking, Director Zhou smiled at them.
He watched as the two young men in front of him, one looking up at the sky and the other looking down at the ground, not daring to make eye contact, and his smile deepened.
That's exactly the kind of chemistry we're looking for—that awkwardness where you're hesitant to even look at each other before you've confessed your feelings.
He clapped his hands in satisfaction, then turned and left.
Cheng Che stood there, his mind racing.
He knew about the kissing scene; it was indeed in the script, but he hadn't paid much attention to the specific details when he read it before.
The close-up of the French kiss was quite different from what he had imagined—just a "touch of lips."
And he's never even kissed anyone.
He glanced at Ning Qing.
Ning Qing glanced at him, then the two of them simultaneously looked away.
"Uh," Cheng Che said.
"Mm," Ning Qing said.
Then the two of them fell silent.
On the way back to the hotel, Cheng Che rode in Qin Lie's car, Ning Qing rode in her agent's car.
Two cars drove into the hotel's underground parking garage one after the other. The two people got out of their cars from different doors and entered the same elevator.
The elevator was quiet.
Cheng Che stood on the left, Ning Qing stood on the right, with a person's distance between them.
The two of them stared straight ahead, neither speaking. Because of that kissing scene, neither of them was too shy to speak first.
Qin Lie and Ning Qing's agents stood behind them. The two exchanged a glance but didn't say anything, though there was a subtle smile on their lips.
The elevator arrived at the floor, Cheng Che stepped out first.
Ning Qing followed behind, and after a few steps, they arrived at her room.
"Um," Cheng Che began.
Ning Qing turned to look at him.
"Tomorrow, just follow the script," Cheng Che said.
Ning Qing nodded, hummed in agreement, and went inside.
Cheng Che returned to his room, threw his coat on the sofa, sat on the bed, and took out his script, turning to the scene for tomorrow.
Shen Che and the female lead have a confrontation in the garden. As the tension builds, Shen Che grabs her wrist, pulls her close, and kisses her.
The script says, "Long take, side-view tracking shot, from confrontation to close-up to kiss, without any cuts."
Next to it was a handwritten note from Director Zhou: "It should be realistic, but also aesthetically pleasing."
He closed the script, placed it on the bedside table, then leaned back against the headboard and opened the system panel.
Charisma:89.9.
He stared at the number for several seconds, then smiled.
It's just 0.1 away.
Once that kissing scene is filmed tomorrow, the entire crew and the audience in front of the camera will surely make up for that 0.1%.
Once your charm level reaches 90, a new trial will be unlocked.