Chapter 425: Chapter 336: Her Compromise
Is Liu Yuqian testing me?
After Liu Yuqian left, this was the first thought that came to Zhou Yun’s mind.
Last night, she heard Liu Yuqian’s voice.
This proved that when she encountered Meng Ran, Liu Yuqian was not far away from them.
This also meant that Liu Yuqian must have known that she and Meng Ran were nearby.
Was Liu Yuqian nervous, afraid, wanting to probe whether her affair with Shen Yao had been exposed, to find out if there had been any abnormalities last night?
But...
A doubt surfaced in Zhou Yun’s mind.
On what grounds were Liu Yuqian and Shen Yao so bold as to "whisper" in the storeroom on set?
Zhou Yun truly couldn’t understand.
Even if not many people go to the storeroom, it’s still part of the set.
A while later, Wan Zhiliang arrived.
He came to discuss with Zhou Yun the filming of the next scene.
Zhou Yun had already shown her full acting abilities, so now, before every scene, Wan Zhiliang would have a discussion with Zhou Yun, understanding her thoughts, and then sharing his own.
Most of the time, they would reach an agreement.
Their expectations for the play were the same.
The next scene to be filmed involved Zhou Yun’s character, Dong Zhimei, being ridiculed by Liu Yuqian’s character.
The next morning, after Shen Yao leaves Zhou Yun’s house, Liu Yuqian gets furious, sarcastically calling Zhou Yun a prostitute.
The two women face off against each other.
In fact, Zhou Yun didn’t really like this scene; she found it rather dull, but visually, it was indeed stimulating.
Scenes of two women confronting each other inherently possess a dramatic tension.
Wan Zhiliang wanted Zhou Yun to play it with more intensity.
But Zhou Yun had a different idea.
She felt that Dong Zhimei would not be someone to curse and quarrel with Liu Yuqian’s character; however, Wan Zhiliang wanted to turn this scene into a catfight.
"If Dong Zhimei was someone who would pick fights, she wouldn’t have spent such a long time talking with the man she liked the night before," Zhou Yun said. "Deep down, she must see herself as superior, looking down on the other women in the hair salon, genuinely believing she’s different. So having her engage in a verbal fight and even come to blows over Liu Yuqian’s ridicule and mockery would be very strange—it contradicts the character’s basic logic."
Wan Zhiliang said, "I know you want to deliver a character’s expression, but filming the scene this way will look better. After all, this is still a comedy movie. In the normal sequence of the film’s events, the previous scene involved you having a heartfelt nighttime chat with Brother Shen. If we continue with an artistic style here, our movie will lack comedic effect at this point. Do you understand what I mean? There has to be a stark contrast. One second you’re having a heartfelt conversation with Brother Shen, and the next you’re so infuriated by Liu Yuqian that you lose all inhibition and start fighting—that’s how you get the effect."
Zhou Yun understood what Wan Zhiliang meant.
She felt conflicted.
Should she insist on her own approach?
To be honest, she did not want to defile Dong Zhimei this way. Last night, Dong Zhimei’s attempt to seduce Xiao Ma was unsuccessful, instead leading to a deep conversation, which had already achieved a transformation of the character’s image. Filming this scene would twist the freshly overturned image back again, resulting in an even more thorough debasement.
But Wan Zhiliang was not wrong, following his direction, the humor would be more frequent.
And the twist in Dong Zhimei’s character would have a better comedic effect.
...
"In the end, I respected his wishes." After finishing the scene, Zhou Yun called Zhou Lan and said, "He’s the director."
Zhou Lan said, "This is a commercial film, you can’t fully achieve your artistic expression."
"Yes," Zhou Yun nodded, "but I’m still somewhat unwilling to compromise."
Zhou Lan said with a laugh, "Don’t worry, you’ve already done better than many others."
"These words don’t comfort me at all." Zhou Yun said, "I never wanted to compare myself with others."
"I know you have high standards for yourself, but every film is the art of compromise," Zhou Lan said, "As your personal artistic vision matures, these conflicts will only increase. You’ve probably heard about big celebrities being demanding and difficult to please, right? That’s exactly it. Once they reach that level, they have their own set of demands and standards, and if those aren’t met, they won’t accept the role. Some would call them nitpickers or even tyrants, and so on."
Zhou Yun: "Well, I wouldn’t go that far, right?"
Zhou Lan laughed and said, "You might not now, but who can say about the future?"
Zhou Yun: "Then I must constantly remind myself."
"Is ’Warm Little Horse’ about to finish shooting?" asked Zhou Lan.
Zhou Yun made a sound of affirmation and said, "There are just a few more scenes for me, and then we can wrap up. The film really is being shot quickly."
Zhou Lan said, "Hurry up and wrap up, there’s a lot of work waiting for you."
Zhou Yun: "...Now that you mention it, I’m not looking forward to wrapping up at all."
"Haha, that won’t do. There are so many collaborations waiting in line for you," Zhou Lan said, "Also, Song Chi has already prepared to find people to help you move."
"What?" Zhou Yun asked in surprise, "What’s going on?"
Zhou Lan said, "Didn’t you agree to move in with him? He has already contacted the moving company, just waiting for the day you wrap up, to help you move your stuff to his place."
Zhou Yun hadn’t heard a whisper of this from Song Chi.
"So soon? He never mentioned it to me."
"He probably wants to surprise you," Zhou Lan said.
Zhou Yun: "...I thought there would be a transition period."
"No transition period, please," Zhou Lan said, "But it’s good this way. When you move in with Song Chi, your apartment can be cleaned up for Wang Jing to live in."
"Doesn’t Wang Jing have an apartment?"
"He does, but the conditions are nowhere as good as yours. Your apartment is the best one in the entire company," Zhou Lan said, "Xu Siyao has been coveting it, she’s even notified the company that as soon as you move out, she wants to move in."
Hearing this, Zhou Yun laughed coldly and said, "If we do this, wouldn’t she be furious with rage?"
"Let her be angry. She did many despicable things in the past, she deserves it," Zhou Lan said, "She’s now made a lot of people resentful, nearly everyone in the circle is against her."
"How long did that take, what did she do?" Zhou Yun asked curiously.
She knew Xu Siyao was not to be trifled with, but to have the whole circle against her, that was not something just anyone could achieve.
Zhou Lan said, "She’s officially with Chen Wenjun now, and with Chen Wenjun’s backing, she not only snatched several roles from others but also hired haters to attack her competitors and dispute endorsements."