Chapter 940: Meeting The Stars

The screenwriter led the two to a guest room and handed the room card to Lin Dongxue. "You guys will rest here. You have to wait until tomorrow for the opening of the filming process. You can just go to the film and television grounds to play. In the evening, there is a water film at Jingguan Lake."

"What's so good about that? Isn't it just projecting the movie on the water curtain?" Tao Yueyue complained.

"Haha, the feeling should be different. You can go and have a look at the excitement of it all tonight."

Lin Dongxue opened the room and took a look. The suite was very ordinary. She didn’t rush to turn on the lights, but took out her phone to take photos of the room. This was a means to detect hidden cameras. If there was a hidden camera, it would have red dots flicker through the lens.

"Haha, you really are a police officer!" the screenwriter praised, "but don't worry, there will be no sneak shots here. Otherwise, so many celebrities who live here would be secretly photographed and create huge news!"

"There are too many celebrities being photographed, so it's better to be a bit more careful." Lin Dongxue said.

Tao Yueyue said, "I want to read the script."

"There’s a copy in the conference room, so follow me."

The meeting room was the kind rented out by the hotel. It was mainly used for gatherings and activities. As soon as you enter the door, you would see a shrine on the wall covered in red cloth with a statue of Guan Yu and incense burning in front of it. The screenwriter explained that it was a worship for the opening ceremony.1

"Why should the crew worship Guan Yu? Is he in charge of the film and television industry?" Tao Yueyue said.

"Haha, probably because Guan Yu is the representative of loyalty and integrity. The crew cooperates with each other and the most important thing for them is to be honest with each other… Hey, have you heard the news about how there was a fugitive filming previously? He was recognized after he became popular, arrested, and brought to justice. There are all kinds of people in a movie studio, so please be more mindful."

"Be mindful of fugitives?" Lin Dongxue said.

"I mean pay attention to your safety."

The screenwriter brought the copy of the script and said that he needed to take his leave first.

The screenwriter was very enthusiastic, but the both of them were very concerned about the same shortcomings on him. Tao Yueyue said without malice, "That uncle is so dirty. The backs of his hands are covered with dirt. I don't know how long it’s been since he cut his nails. His nose is connected to his beard, and the funniest thing is his way of dress. It’s like he’s filthy with grime, so it doesn't match at all."

Lin Dongxue was amused. "Indeed, I also think he is a bit uncut. After all, he is a writer. The man named Xin Bai was also a mess. His appearance and temperament are the same as a caveman who just woke up."

Tao Yueyue thought of Chen Shi. "Uncle Chen didn't pay much attention to his appearance before. When I met him, he smelled of smoke and his hair was messy."

"It's much better now. Under the guidance of us two women, he has become a clean and tidy man."

"Isn't it better for you in the end?"

"Haha, if I die one day, you can think about it."

"No, no. Why would I want an old man?! Although I do like mature men…"

Influenced by the family atmosphere, Lin Dongxue now spoke more and more without discipline, but she liked this feeling very much. There was no need to hide anything under the same roof. There were no barriers and family members were almost like each other's therapists.

Tao Yueyue opened the script and read it. Every time she turned a page, her mouth hung open a little bit wider. She read very fast, so she finished reading it in a short amount of time. In an instant, she was in a daze.

"What's all this?! A girlfriend was arranged for Zhou Xiao and in the end, the girlfriend reported the case. Ten thousand police officers rushed in at a critical time. What role did 'I' play? They spend such a long time writing about his childhood. Is this a meaningless plot to make the audience sympathize with him? How come there are so many crying scenes for ‘me’? The motivation for ‘my’ escape is actually to meet ‘my sick grandma’. There are also two more motherfucking characters that are forced in and have nothing to do with the plot… Oh, what the hell. No wonder my classmate said that the level of screenwriting in our country is too poor. I gave him a very good original. After the revisions, there’s only 60% left. The actors’ performances will lower it to 50%. Shooting it will lower it to 40%, and after the movie is cut and edited, it’ll be left at 30%. So many good-looking novel adaptations are rubbish!"

"It seems that the screenwriter also had his hands tied. Otherwise, it wouldn't be changed like this."

"Haii!" Tao Yueyue threw the script on the table before staring at a line of words suddenly. She picked it up again and showed it to Lin Dongxue. "Mom, look. Read these lines vertically."

"I… am… going… to… resign…? Haha, the bitterness of the screenwriter."

Tao Yueyue stood up and walked to the window. The scenery here was pretty good. You could see the crowds of people in the film and television grounds. Filming was happening underneath an antique tower. The soldiers in costumes hacked at each other with props and weapons. Without looking through the lens with editing, watching it in the raw felt silly.

Lin Dongxue also went over to look at the scenery afar while she stroked Tao Yueyue's head.

At this time, there was a commotion in the corridor. Looking back, a large group of people walked in surrounding a man. The man was the celebrity Cai Zhengkai. Something seemed to be wrong with his eyes. The others hurriedly took out wet clothes and poured clean water on it to clean his eyes.

"He's a lunatic. What if something happens to Zhengkai's eyes? Can he bear the responsibility?"

"Have they been caught?"

"Yeah, they’ve been taken away by the police."

"Zhengkai, do you want to go to the hospital?" A man in a suit asked.

Cai Zhengkai said impatiently, "What do you mean go to the hospital? Do you think things aren’t big enough as they are? It's not even safe to act out a scene. What a bunch of bastards."

The man in the suit turned his head to find people in the room and questioned harshly, "Who are you? Who let you in?"

"Hey, isn't that Chen Yueyue?" It was the director who spoke. He looked very artistic, had a thin face, and wore a vest with many pockets. Half of his head was bald, but he had a big beard, which made people wonder whether his hair grew downward.

"It's Tao Yueyue." Tao Yueyue corrected him.

"Who is Tao Yueyue?" the man in the suit asked.

"You didn't read the newspaper? She is the original behind the story for our drama."

"Oh, oh…" The man in the suit obviously didn't care much. Like other men, their eyes stayed on Lin Dongxue, "Then who is this?"

"I'm her mother and a police officer. I'm sorry, it sounds like something happened." Lin Dongxue walked over.

"Just now, when our Zhengkai got out of the car, a group of fans came to welcome the car. Who knew that a weird person would rush out of nowhere and splash Zhengkai's face with an unknown substance. He can't see through his eyes right now. I'm really worried about it! We just came here to film today and it wasn’t a public event, so we didn’t bring bodyguards. We didn’t know this would happen, haii!"

"May I take a look at it?"

Lin Dongxue walked over and saw Cai Zhengkai up close. To be honest, she was very excited. His skin wasn’t as good as on TV, but it wasn’t as ugly as the photos exposed on the Internet. This kind of appearance is definitely a handsome man that shone in front of people in reality.

He was the person who was going to play Zhou Xiao in this film.

Lin Dongxue wiped a little bit of the liquid on Cai Zhengkai's face with a tissue and smelled it. She was familiar with the smell, not from work, but from daily life.

She said, "It smells like a makeup remover. It should be fine. You should quickly buy some eye drops and rinse your eyes repeatedly."

1. This is the second time the author has mentioned that it’s the “closing ceremony”, with the first time being in the last chapter, however, based on the context given in the rest of these chapters, it seems like filming hasn’t begun yet, so I’ve changed it to the “opening ceremony” accordingly.