READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 6 - Stunt double, work hard
Li Xiang fiddled with the storage pouch at her waist. “You always bring back the same things. I’m tired of them.”
Qin Yan gave her a cold stare. “If you don’t need them, you can give them to those who do.”
“I don’t want to.” Despite her dislike, Li Xiang was selfish; once something was in her possession, she saw no reason to give it away.
Qin Yan’s lips tightened, and used a teleportation technique to leave.
“Cut—”
“Alright, alright, that was excellent! Xiao Yuan, you delivered your lines perfectly! You’ve made great progress!”
Tang Yuan gave a dry laugh. After all, the last time she had read the lines, they weren’t the right ones.
The director expressed his satisfaction, “If it weren’t for the voice not matching the character, we could have just used the original audio, hahaha.”
“Though Xiao Yuan’s height is a bit… I mean, this height is just right, yes.”
“Right, um… oh, Xiao Zhang!” The director pretended to be very busy, skillfully avoiding Tang Yuan’s death stare.
As the senior sister, Tang Yuan was a head shorter than the junior sister in their scenes together.
Tang Yuan glanced over at Jiang Zi. After the shoot, she was just as quiet as before, isolated from everyone and calmly alone.
Drawn inexplicably, Tang Yuan called out loudly, “Jiang Zi!”
Her voice caught the attention of many, and soon the sight of the girl fluttering toward Jiang Zi like a blooming butterfly, circling around her.
The other actors on set were puzzled. Weren’t these two supposed to be on bad terms? Why were they suddenly so close today?
Jiang Zi twisted the cap back onto her water bottle, and Tang Yuan immediately appeared beside her. As Jiang Zi headed toward a bench, Tang Yuan followed closely, seating herself right next to her.
Tang Yuan leaned in with a playful smile, “You’re really amazing, Jiang Zi. You seem so cold usually, yet you manage to play a character like junior sister.”
Jiang Zi placed the water bottle beside her, tilted her head to look at Tang Yuan, and asked, “What’s so special about that?”
“Well… very lively, yet spoiled and arrogant, petulant and unreasonable.”
“And?” Jiang Zi’s eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze concealing the emotions beneath. Her voice turned colder. “Tang Yuan, have you finished reading the script?”
Tang Yuan froze momentarily but nodded, “I haven’t gone through it in detail, but I’ve read it once.”
Jiang Zi’s eyes, as calm as a deep pool, stared intently at Tang Yuan. “Is the little junior sister really that bad?”
Her question seemed more like a self-reflection.
“The little junior sister is very good; she’s just a bit spoiled,” Tang Yuan suddenly reached up to pat Jiang Zi’s head. However, her hand was swiftly grabbed and pulled away with force. She didn’t mind and continued, “The senior sister doesn’t have an omniscient view and can’t see the junior sister’s good. They simply lack a connection. It’s neither Qin Yan’s fault nor Li Xiang’s fault.”
Tang Yuan took Jiang Zi’s cold hand in her own, trying to warm it up. “Jiang Zi, it’s just a script. Qin Yan might dislike Li Xiang, but Tang Yuan doesn’t dislike Jiang Zi. In fact, I really like Jiang Zi.”
She laughed playfully and said this with a playful tone, but her words were as serious as they were fervent, even hotter than the warmth she was trying to share.
Jiang Zi coveted the warmth in her hand, thinking back to the words she had just heard.
Qin Yan… does she dislike Li Xiang?
“Almost done. We’ll start filming the second scene soon. This one’s a senior sister fight scene. The actors will have to work a little harder, but we can wrap up and have a meal once we finish.”
At these words, Tang Yuan made her way toward the martial arts instructor.
“Xiao Yuan!”
Tang Yuan turned around to see the director rushing towards her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away.
Tang Yuan followed along passively, “Huh? Aren’t we about to start filming?”
“Yes, we are. But you shouldn’t go in there. It’s dangerous with all the swordplay and stunts. We’ll just watch from the side.”
Tang Yuan, puzzled, pointed at herself, “But I’m the senior sister. Isn’t this the senior sister’s fight scene? A bit of hard work is fine; I can handle it.”
“Uh—well, I meant it’s the stunt double who will be working hard.”
Tang Yuan: …
“I’ve already arranged everything,” the director said, bringing over a chair for her. “Today, the stunt double will handle all five fight scenes in one go, so it might take some time. You just sit and wait.”
Tang Yuan looked at the girl on set, who was of similar build and wearing the same costume as the senior sister and found herself at a loss for words.
So this is how the scene is done—no acting required, just technology, huh?
In the days that followed, Tang Yuan’s filming remained quite relaxed. For all the action scenes, stunt doubles took over, leaving Tang Yuan feeling a little embarrassed. She focused on interpreting her character and mastering her lines instead.
Another day in the afternoon, Tang Yuan sat on a chair, propping up her head as she watched her stunt double expertly perform the fight scenes on wires. She couldn’t help but marvel at how dedicated the actress was.
She had heard that the stunt double had worked in the industry for five years. Her skills were evident, and her features were quite striking—not white, young, and thin, but a rather memorable beauty. Unfortunately, she lacked the resources and opportunities to advance further.
Tang Yuan’s lips curved into a mischievous smile.
[Looks like you’ve hit the jackpot!]
Before she could let her imagination run wild about how to use her resources to promote the stunt double, a cold hand pinched her cheeks.
Tang Yuan pouted and looked up at Jiang Zi, “Hmm?”
Jiang Zi bent down slightly and stared at her. “Are you very bored?”
Tang Yuan blinked innocently.
Isn’t that the case? She’s been treated like royalty on set. She even thought that maybe she wasn’t cut out to be an actress and should consider joining a girl group and make a comeback in the entertainment industry someday.
Tang Yuan pushed her hand away, gripping it tightly, and then stood up. “Jiang Zi, we’ve spent over a month together. Are we friends now?”
Jiang Zi tried to pull her hand back but couldn’t. She looked up at Tang Yuan and didn’t respond.
The reason she came over was because she thought Tang Yuan was spending every day with nothing to do, sitting here and getting captivated by the stunt double’s fight scenes. The commotion was unbearable.
Tang Yuan would not allow her to remain silent. She shook Jiang Zi’s hand and pressed, “So, is it or isn’t it?”
Jiang Zi could only mumble an “mm” in response.
Tang Yuan nodded in satisfaction. Over a month, their relationship had advanced rapidly. Even the people on set could see how close they had become. In time, the industry would stop trying to suppress Jiang Zi.
“Sister, from now on, I’ll be your patron. I’ll ensure that Chu person stays as far away as possible.”
Jiang Zi’s demeanor suddenly turned cold, her tone carrying a warning: “Tang Yuan.”
Tang Yuan, taken aback, let out an “Ah?” when the system’s mission notification echoed in her mind:
【Conquer mission triggered: Completely fall out with Chu Yu, deadline 15 days. Mission Reward: Reduce the male lead’s protagonist halo by 10. Failure Penalty: Increase the male lead’s attraction to the female lead by 30.】
Seizing the moment Tang Yuan was lost in thought, Jiang Zi swiftly withdrew her hand and turned to leave.
During the month of closed shooting, Chu Yu had rarely find her, and their interactions were minimal. She had thought everything was improving, that she might soon escape the plot control.
Yet, just hearing a single derogatory remark from Tang Yuan, she found herself unable to control her inner rage, nearly speaking harshly to her.
Jiang Zi looked down at her hands; if one cannot control their own life, what’s the point of living…