Chapter 142: The Grandfather of the Crew, Filming the Iconic Scene

At 10:30, amidst a flood of bullet comments reading "chat a bit longer," "don't log off yet," and "we haven't talked enough," the live stream successfully came to an end.

"Lin Xing is truly formidable," Zhao Fang sighed once again after the live stream concluded.

She recalled the last time during the finale live stream of *Anti-Black Storm*, when Lin Xing was merely a supporting actor, yet he handled himself with absolute ease in front of heavyweights like Ren Yi and Wang Fei.

Not only that, it was the first time many people had ever witnessed a television drama's main cast showering praises on an actor, and a supporting actor at that.

What was even more crucial was that Zhao Fang had already felt Lin Xing's emotional intelligence was exceptionally high back then. She believed he deserved to skyrocket to fame, given how effortlessly tactful he was around industry veterans.

However, that was upward mobility.

Often, judging whether a person is worth befriending is not about observing how they treat those above them, but rather how they treat those below them.

On the set of *Portrait Murder Hunt*, Lin Xing was indisputably the topbilled star, as well as the biggest name in the cast.

Yet, his attitude remained completely normal. Aside from refusing any special treatment, he was frequently seen helping various people around the set.

Some things simply cannot be faked.

Just look at the evaluations of Lin Xing from everyone on *Portrait Murder Hunt*, top to bottom—details, in particular, never lie.

Coupled with the fact that Lin Xing brought veteran actors Wang Shan and Tang Jiang along for today's live stream, even though it was ostensibly for promotional purposes, the underlying intention was entirely transparent.

Whether on the crew of *Anti-Black Storm* or *Portrait Murder Hunt*, Lin Xing truly had not changed a single bit.

Such a person, possessing both formidable ability and high emotional intelligence, and most importantly, remaining devastatingly handsome, clearly has an immeasurable future ahead of him at his age.

"If Lin Xing can pull his weight in the web series *Bad Child* as well, then he might genuinely take things to the next level," Zhao Fang muttered to herself after logging off, scrolling through the trending discussions on Weibo.

Lin Xing's traffic was already considerable, though a portion of it was currently built upon the massive success of *Portrait Murder Hunt*.

In fact, his traffic over the past few days had even eclipsed certain top-tier idols.

Why were most of those top-tier idols completely unconcerned, then?

Because everyone thought: *There's no fucking way you, Lin Xing, can ride such a high wave of star luck every single time.*

In the entertainment industry, consecutive blockbuster hits simply did not exist.

Therefore, suppose—just suppose—that following the explosion of *Portrait Murder Hunt*, if his second starring venture *Bad Child* truly managed to maintain solid results, then holding two hit web series under his belt would undoubtedly propel Lin Xing further up.

But was that even possible?

"Relax, absolutely impossible," the manager of another rising top-tier idol, Feng Jin, told him. "*Portrait Murder Hunt* is just a stroke of good luck for Lin Xing. There's no way his next drama will maintain this level of hype."

Pausing for a moment, the manager continued, "Besides, the ones who should truly be anxious are people like Li Xingchi. We should just sit back and watch the show."

Indeed, Lin Xing was already thirty-two years old, while Li Xingchi was thirty-one, whereas Feng Jin was only twenty-seven.

Youth was capital.

Feng Jin still felt somewhat disgruntled. "I don't care. The company must arrange for me to trend on Weibo over the next few days."

"That's not a problem. The hype for *Portrait Murder Hunt* can only last half a month at most. Once their celebration banquet wraps up, I'll arrange for you to trend. Besides, we're entering the production crew in the second half of the year. Our costume idol drama airing will be our real time to shine..." the manager consoled Feng Jin.

At the same time, Li Xingchi was in a nearly identical state after being comforted by his manager. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "I'll let your traffic stay high for a few more days, but I refuse to believe your next drama can become a hit too."

Still, for these newly minted top-tier idols to claim they weren't envious of Lin Xing would be a lie.

From Lin Xing's resurgence in popularity last July until now, it hadn't even been a full year, yet throughout this period, his star luck had been nothing short of unstoppable.

Even though the drama *Only Waiting For You* in which he played a supporting role was just a minor part, he successfully broke out and stepped into the upper echelons.

Following that, his acting skills in *Anti-Black Storm* left people utterly astonished.

Then came *Portrait Murder Hunt*. Originally, everyone thought this web series was destined to flop, but who could have anticipated that it would ignite purely through word-of-mouth?

And this didn't even include the variety shows Lin Xing participated in.

Why did every single good thing fall into his lap?!

Consequently, everyone convinced themselves that Lin Xing couldn't possibly maintain this forever, just as Feng Jin's manager had said.

In the entertainment industry, when luck arrives, nothing can stop it, but good fortune comes quickly and goes just as fast.

Moreover, Lin Xing had only been popular again for less than a year. Not having scandals now didn't mean he wouldn't crash later.

Besides, this was merely his first time carrying a web series as the leading man. No matter what, people refused to believe Lin Xing could continue succeeding.

Furthermore, he wasn't even an A-list television star.

What kind of waves could a mere web series make?

This time, everyone simply attributed Lin Xing's success to pure luck, allowing a web series like *Portrait Murder Hunt* to steal the spotlight entirely through word-of-mouth and even overshadow *The Correct Way to Open Independence*.

Yet, nobody believed Lin Xing's next web series would fare well.

Did they really think phenomenal web series grew on trees?

The next day, in Hong Kong, on the set of *Bad Child*.

"Teacher Lin, in a moment, you can just enter directly through this hallway. My camera number one will capture your back view first, and then this will be a tracking shot..."

Lan磊 (Lan Lei) was personally walking Lin Xing through the scene.

Today's sequence was a collective ensemble scene.

It depicted the hundred-day banquet held for the child of Gu Ning's cousin within the story.

This scene served a dual purpose: it exposed Li Xingchi's awkwardness while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the mountain-climbing sequence.

Lan Lei was briefing Lin Xing on the upcoming shoot.

After all, shooting a long take in a single continuous shot placed extremely high demands on the actors, leaving zero room for error.

Not only the actors, but the crew's cinematographers and lighting technicians could not afford to make mistakes either.

Consequently, Lan Lei first made things clear to the numerous background actors: "Once the filming starts in a moment, do not look at the camera. Eat normally, drink normally. Just act the way you would if you were attending a real hundred-day banquet."

Setting the scene took about thirty minutes.

Lan Lei was somewhat of a perfectionist when it came to details.

Especially since he and Ting Hai practically lived and breathed together these days, stopping just short of sharing a bed; before every single shoot, the two of them combed through every major and minor detail until nothing was left unaddressed.

Take today's scene, for instance: Gu Ning's family conditions were actually quite affluent—her old man could afford to play around with a DSLR camera, so how could their financial situation be poor?

Furthermore, Gu Ning herself owned both a car and a house.

Li Xingchi, on the other hand, was effectively a matrilocal husband. His career was a dead end, he brought home meager earnings, and he didn't even own a car; Gu Ning would never let him drive hers.

Since Gu Ning's background was decent, the number of guests attending her cousin's child's hundred-day banquet naturally wouldn't be small, and the feast itself would inevitably be relatively lavish.

"I understand, but I believe I should be walking and observing the banquet simultaneously," Lin Xing said after a moment of thought. "This is a hundred-day banquet hosted by Gu Ning's cousin. Li Xingchi is practically a live-in son-in-law here. Everyone present belongs to Gu Ning's maternal family, leaving him as the sole outsider. He must feel awkward, yet he has to attend because his entire marriage to Gu Ning is pinned on Gu Ning's father and mother."

"Right, Teacher Lin, you're entirely correct," Lan Lei quickly summoned the cinematographer and instructed, "Camera one will capture Teacher Lin's back view, but simultaneously, camera two will follow Teacher Lin's line of sight..."

Ten minutes later, everything was prepared.

With the clap of the clapperboard, the scene officially commenced filming.

Once Lin Xing entered the state, he immersed himself completely into the character of Li Xingchi. As he walked, he observed the lively hundred-day banquet.

Such jubilation had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

Yet, a practiced adult smile remained plastered across his face. Scanning the room unhurriedly with his backpack slung over his shoulder, he made his way toward the Gu family's main table.

"Dad, Mom, something came up," Lin Xing said as he prepared to pull out a chair and sit down. "I told Xu Jing."

"Address them properly," Wang Shan, playing Gu Ning's mother from the side, said with a smile. "Address them properly."

"Uncle, Aunt..."

At Lin Xing's address, the two background actors playing Gu Ning's aunt and uncle in the drama suddenly stuttered and froze.

"Sorry, Director," the background actor playing the uncle immediately apologized, looking somewhat sheepish.

"What are you doing? It's just four words, and you still managed to freeze?"

Lan Lei looked somewhat irritated. The single long take just now had been going so smoothly and felt entirely organic; originally, he hadn't intended to cut it.

His plan had been for camera one to focus solely on Lin Xing, camera two to track Lin Xing's gaze, and camera three to capture everyone else.

As it turned out, because of the background actor's stutter, they had to do the entire thing all over again.

"Teacher Lin, I'm sorry to trouble you once more," Lan Lei reprimanded the background actor before hurrying over to Lin Xing to explain, "We'll have to run this take from the top."

"Director Lan, it's fine."

Lin Xing gave a slight wave of his hand before turning to the background actor. "Uncle, later on, just casually wave your hand and say 'Sit down, sit down.' The main thing is the subsequent dialogue; just treat me like a younger relative and chat normally..."

Stuttering or freezing up during filming was entirely normal.

For some directors, their biggest fear wasn't background actors messing up their lines, but rather the leading actors throwing a tantrum whenever a background actor made a mistake.

One had to know that certain leading actors were booked by the minute; once filming time was up, they would leave immediately.

They truly wouldn't linger on set for a single extra second.

Why did behind-the-scenes footage of some crews frequently show stunt doubles walking positions, or even standing in for actors to jump into rivers repeatedly to test effects, while the final promotional clips invariably consisted only of things like, "Oh god, my beloved idol is so dedicated in jumping into the river"?

Modern behind-the-scenes footage simply could not be trusted.

Because the footage of various actors throwing diva tantrums and blowing fuses would never, ever be made public.

In many contemporary productions, actors had already grown bigger than directors.

Everything catered to the first male and female leads first: if they wanted special treatment, they got special treatment; if they wanted to add scenes, scenes were added; whatever they wanted was granted, only for the male and female leads to step out in the end and proclaim how exhausting it was to film this drama.

Even though Lan Lei was directing for the first time, he had heard such rumors within the industry long ago.

Therefore, upon learning that Lin Xing would be the male lead of *Bad Child*, Lan Lei's heart had been a mixture of excitement, nervousness, and underlying anxiety.

The exciting part was that having an actor with massive traffic like Lin Xing on the *Bad Child* crew would be fantastic; the nervous and anxious part stemmed from whether Lin Xing would pull any diva antics.

Whether it was the glowing reviews of Lin Xing on *Anti-Black Storm* or his performances in variety shows like *Let's Farm*, *Comedy Must Laugh*, and *Depart Now*, Lan Lei had only let down half of his guard.

After all, variety shows and drama promotional clips alike were mostly curated to show audiences what the production companies wanted them to see.

Forget Lan Lei; Deng Ying, Ting Hai, and even the experienced Niu Xiao were actually somewhat apprehensive. While the dramatic core of *Bad Child* rested upon the three children, Lin Xing was the soul of the entire production.

The narrative arc of the entire series relied on Lin Xing to drive it forward.

On-screen, needless to say; off-screen, everyone understood how things worked.

Under these circumstances, during their prior meetings, everyone had agreed: as long as Lin Xing didn't make any outrageous demands, all of his requests were to be met.

He was essentially the grandfather of the production crew.

Yet, ever since filming for *Bad Child* commenced on March 20th, whether it was Lan Lei, Deng Ying, or the screenwriter Ting Hai—who naturally viewed everything through a fan-colored lens—even the worldly-wise Niu Xiao had been utterly stunned.

It really was fucking identical to the legends.

No.

Even worse than the legends.

How could a fresh-faced idol be this professional?

Niu Xiao genuinely couldn't fathom it.

In this entertainment industry, had anyone ever seen a professional idol?

Weren't they all people who put in two parts of effort and had their fans boast it up to nine parts?

Under such circumstances, Lin Xing originally only exerted seven parts of effort, yet everyone imperceptibly perceived it as a staggering eleven parts.

It was entirely thanks to the incompetence of his peers.

No matter how dedicated Lin Xing was, and no matter how easygoing he proved to be, Lan Lei still worried that Lin Xing might lose his temper.

One had to know that the more mild-mannered an actor seemed on the surface, the more terrifying their outbursts tended to be.

Today, demanding a continuous single take from Lin Xing, requiring him to deliver an even more nuanced performance over those few minutes, and simultaneously ensuring every conceivable camera angle was covered—that in itself was asking a lot.

And yet, fucking Lin Xing hadn't dropped the ball; instead, the background extras had messed up.

Could Lan Lei not be angry?

He didn't possess Zong Ming's overbearing dominance; he didn't roar, "Shoot if you can, get the hell out if you can't." He simply reprimanded the extras briefly before offering an explanation to Lin Xing.

What he genuinely feared was Lin Xing throwing a fit.

Yet now, seeing that Lin Xing didn't take the mishap to heart at all, Lan Lei finally set his mind at ease—especially when Lin Xing began helping the background actors relax.

"Uncle, you know, men always tend to talk a lot after drinking, and nowadays everyone's favorite topic is taking the civil service exams..."

Lin Xing spoke directly to the "uncle." "Later on, just improvise freely. Don't constantly obsess over memorizing those lines. And 'Aunt,' just stay relaxed and casual..."

In any production, good background actors could elevate a scene.

If the background actors mechanically recited their lines or delivered their dialogue with a rigid tone as if merely completing a task, it would instantly pull the audience right out of the illusion.

"That's right, Teacher Lin is completely right. Let's do it this way..."

Lan Lei felt that Lin Xing's suggestion was spot-on.

Fundamentally, the background actors in this scene served merely as window dressing; the true dramatic focal point still rested upon the four principals: Lin Xing, Tong Jing, Wang Shan, and Tang Jiang.

Three minutes later, filming resumed.

This time, things went exceptionally smoothly.

Sitting in front of the monitor, Lan Lei watched the expressions of Wang Shan, Tang Jiang, and Tong Qing when Lin Xing entered the scene, and he felt immensely satisfied.

Professionals were simply professionals.

One had to realize that domestic shame shouldn't be aired publicly; aside from Gu Ning's parents, nobody else—not even Gu Ning's sister—was aware that Gu Ning wanted to divorce Li Xingchi.

Consequently, the dinner table was dominated entirely by Li Xingchi's profound awkwardness.

As an elder and Gu Ning's uncle, it was entirely reasonable for him to show some concern for Li Xingchi.

He inquired about Li Xingchi's career.

Having left his hometown to come here, and having spent quite a bit of time here already, working as a mathematics teacher at the youth palace still hadn't netted him a formal institution tenure.

Only a government-backed institutional job carried real face and status.

Then, the uncle, who had a bit too much to drink, chimed in: "A career is terribly important for a man. A man without ambition isn't a real man."

Can you imagine how excruciatingly awkward that was?

Filming the hundred-day banquet sequence proceeded quite swiftly, wrapping up by the end of the morning.

Once filming concluded, there was no sense in wasting the prepared food.

They simply decided to eat it together right there on set.

"Ah-Xing, this afternoon we need to head over to the built set to shoot the mountain-climbing sequence," Lan Lei said to Lin Xing during a break in the meal. "We're aiming to finish shooting this mountain-climbing scene by this afternoon and evening."

Lin Xing nodded gently. "Alright."

Since they had adopted a simultaneous shooting-and-broadcasting model, they had to push out at least two episodes no matter what.

"The media visit to the crew for tomorrow has all been arranged," Deng Ying said with a smile from the side. "Niu Xiao and the others have been shooting the school scenes these past two days, and the crew visit will also serve as a great opportunity to introduce the three young actors. Teacher Lin, you'll need to take charge of the atmosphere then."

"That's not a problem," Lin Xing replied. "Will all the actors be there?"

At the mention of this, the smile vanished from Deng Ying's face. "They were supposed to be all present, but that Dong Xia claimed that since her scenes aren't being shot, she won't be coming."

With that, Deng Ying looked ready to curse. "I knew she was high-maintenance, but had I known her maintenance level was this astronomical and she'd be so uncooperative, I wouldn't have cast her no matter what."

Ting Hai chimed in from the side, "Honestly, she's not even as good as Tong Jing; at least Tong Jing doesn't pull weird stunts."

It wasn't just Deng Ying and Ting Hai venting; even Kong Tian, who frequently shared scenes with Dong Xia, had complained multiple times.

It wasn't that Dong Xia lacked acting ability, but she was genuinely a massive, eccentric oddity.

Fortunately, none of this required Lin Xing to stress over it.

Deng Ying, Niu Xiao, and Lan Lei all had to deal with the headache, and Kong Tian had it even worse.

Suffice it to say, for the sake of the drama, Kong Tian had to suffer through it.

That afternoon, at 2:10, inside the constructed soundstage.

"Dad, I was wondering when you might teach me a bit about photography?"

Lin Xing wore all the backpacks on his shoulders as he looked toward Tang Jiang and spoke.

Tang Jiang held a camera, gazing into the distance with a rather pleasant expression, and replied, "Photography is all about light. As long as the lighting is good, anything you photograph will look great."

"Dad, do you think I still have a chance?"

Lin Xing looked at Tang Jiang, wearing his unchanging, fixed smile as he asked the question.

Tang Jiang snapped back to reality, lowered the camera, turned his head to look at Lin Xing, and said, "From my perspective, the two of you aren't happy together. You should resolve this as quickly as possible; it'll be better for both of you."

The expression on Lin Xing's face shifted ever so slightly, before returning to its habitual calm. "Dad, I asked whether I still have a chance to learn photography."

...

...

(End of this chapter)