novellhall Chapter 22: Filming Wraps Up, New Year
Chapter 22: Filming Wraps Up, New Year
"Liu Heita!!!"
"Luo Cheng, so you're all brawn and no brains. Now that you're in my hands, let's see how I deal with you."
"Liu Heita, you despicable man, used your treacherous schemes to harm me."
"Release the arrows!"
"Hahaha!"
"Cut!"
"Quick, stylist, equip Qingxu with a bow and arrow."
Upon hearing Hu Mingkai's instructions, Ji Qingxu used the ground beside him to lightly leap out of the "swamp".
With his arms outstretched, waiting for the stylist to "attach" the bow and arrows to his body, Ji Qingxu noticed Hu Mingkai approaching and asked with a smile, "Director Hu, how was my performance just now?"
Hu Mingkai smiled and praised, "Very good, especially the eye acting when you see the archer, it was very desperate. Keep up the good work, let's try to get the last few scenes right in one take."
"no problem."
After the bow and arrows were installed on his body, Ji Qingxu, with the help of the martial arts performers beside him, fell into the "swamp" again.
"Qingxu, speak when you're ready."
Ji Qingxu nodded, closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then opened his eyes again when he thought about the scenes to come.
"Director Hu, that's enough."
"OK!"
"All departments, prepare. Action!"
Ji Qingxu instantly bit through the blood pack in his mouth, stared wide-eyed at Liu Heita, who was laughing wildly, his eyes twitching involuntarily.
"Cut!"
"Okay, very good, passed."
"Splash!"
After Hu Mingkai finished speaking, enthusiastic applause broke out around him. Ji Qingxu laughed and shouted, "Brothers, could you please pull me up first? Luo Cheng is dead, but Ji Qingxu is not."
"Hahaha!"
With the help of the martial arts instructors, Ji Qingxu climbed out of the puddle.
Seeing Hu Mingkai accept a bouquet of flowers from a staff member, Ji Qingxu greeted him with a smile.
"Qingxu, congratulations on wrapping up filming."
"Thank you, Director Hu. Thank you everyone. Thank you for taking care of me and my seniors during this time... Thank you!"
"Splash!"
Amid applause, Hu Mingkai handed over a red envelope. "Here, Qingxu, this is a red envelope. They even have them in dead people's plays, just for good luck."
Accepting the red envelope from Hu Mingkai, Ji Qingxu smiled and said, "Thank you, Director Hu."
"Let's have dinner together tonight to celebrate your wrap-up filming."
"Director Hu, then I won't stand on ceremony."
"Haha, you little rascal, when have you ever been polite when it comes to food?"
Ji Qingxu chuckled. "Not eating enthusiastically? There's something wrong with your thinking."
......
After having a simple wrap party that evening, Ji Qingxu and Kou Zhanwen returned to their room.
After closing the door, Ji Qingxu asked curiously, "Senior brother, is there anything else?"
Kou Zhanwen smiled and took out a bank card from his pocket, handing it over. Ji Qingxu, seeing this, joked, "Senior brother, is this a bonus?"
Kou Zhanwen laughed heartily and said, "That's right."
Upon hearing this, Ji Qingxu asked in surprise, "Is it really a bonus?"
Seeing Ji Qingxu accept the bank card, Kou Zhanwen nodded, "Yes, this is Director Hu's bonus for you."
Upon hearing Hu Mingkai's name, Ji Qingxu glanced at the bank card, a playful look on his face. "Hush money?"
Kou Zhanwen smiled and gave a thumbs up. "My junior brother is smart. Your salary is about 2 yuan. For your role, that's very low. Lao Huang's salary for one episode is higher than your total salary. Of course, this was the condition that I agreed with Director Hu. We have nothing to complain about. There is 5 yuan in this card. It is Director Hu's reward for your action direction."
"Senior brother, you didn't share some of your money with me, did you?"
Kou Zhanwen laughed and denied it, "Little Chicken, you're an adult now. Although we're good brothers, we still need to keep things clear. This is indeed from Director Hu, so take it. This amount of money is nothing to Director Hu; he's already made at least this much from this film..."
Seeing Kou Zhanwen's gesture indicating a seven-digit number, Ji Qingxu slowly nodded.
Upon seeing this, Kou Zhanwen continued, "If he eats meat, we should also drink soup. That's the rule. There are so many action scenes in the crew. Junior brother, the whole crew can see your hard work. You get up before dawn every day and go to bed late at night. You're worth half a stunt team by yourself. If he pretends to be deaf and dumb, who will be willing to work with him in the future?"
Upon hearing Kou Zhanwen's explanation, Ji Qingxu smiled and said, "If it weren't for you, senior brother, I wouldn't have received any money no matter how much I did."
Kou Zhanwen waved his hand, "No matter how much face your senior brother has, you still have to achieve results. Alright, that's enough. Get some rest. We're going back to the capital tomorrow."
"Alright, senior brother, you should get some rest too."
After Kou Zhanwen left the room, Ji Qingxu stared at the bank card in his hand and smiled. Interesting. No wonder these directors and producers were making a fortune on set without anyone exposing them.
Thinking that the "bonus" he received was higher than his film salary, Ji Qingxu clicked his tongue twice, thinking it was truly magical.
Ji Qingxu then put away the bank card. He wouldn't be polite about the money that was offered to him; this money might have been deducted from his "film salary."
"jingle!"
Hearing the text message notification on his phone, Ji Qingxu picked it up and checked it.
"Brother Luo Cheng, congratulations on wrapping up filming!"
Upon seeing the text message, Ji Qingxu scratched his brow. The message was sent by Yue Qingwei, who plays Luo Cheng's wife, Shan Bingbing, in the drama. She doesn't have many scenes and finished filming last month.
"Thanks!"
After replying to the text message, Ji Qingxu smiled and shook his head. Although the two didn't have many scenes together, he didn't know if it was because his acting skills were too good or because he was too handsome, but after filming wrapped up, the girl took the initiative to ask for Ji Qingxu's phone number and would send him text messages from time to time.
Unfortunately, this girl is not Ji Qingxu's type. In addition, she was born in 87 and is only 16 years old this year.
Looking at the time, it was January 5th, 2003. There was less than a month until the Spring Festival. Ji Qingxu put his phone on the coffee table and headed towards the bathroom to take a shower and go to bed early so he could go home tomorrow.
......
"Grandpa Wu, this is Jinhua ham. It's said that this ham has been stored for five years. This is Jinhua Buddha's Hand citrus, which has great medicinal value. This is Yunfeng tea from Pan'an..."
Watching Ji Qingxu carry large and small bags into the house and introduce them to him one by one, Wu Bin chuckled and said, "Little Chicken, you only made a few bucks from this movie."
Ji Qingxu chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa Wu, it didn't cost much."
Upon hearing this, Wu Bin looked at Kou Zhanwen beside him and scolded, "Your junior brother is young and doesn't know any better, so do you? He works so hard to earn money, can't you stop him?"
Kou Zhanwen, who was eating melon seeds and drinking tea to the side, was stunned for a moment, then spread his hands helplessly, "I tried to stop him, but teacher, you know how strong my junior brother is. How could I have stopped him?"
Hearing this, Wu Bin choked for a moment, glared at Kou Zhanwen with annoyance, and then turned to Ji Qingxu, "Little chicken, don't buy anything next time you come. Grandpa Wu isn't being polite to you, but Grandpa Wu doesn't lack these things. You need money right now. When you're rich, you can buy things, and Grandpa Wu will definitely not stop you. But if you buy anything again next time, Grandpa Wu won't let you in."
Ji Qingxu said with a smile, "Okay, I'll listen to Grandpa Wu."
Looking at Ji Qingxu's grinning face, Wu Bin smiled helplessly. This brat was obviously just trying to fool him.
However, looking at the bags and packages of gifts in front of him, Wu Bin was also very gratified. The little guy had really become sensible.
A few years ago, Ji Qingxu came to Beijing alone to find him, saying that he didn't want to go to school and wanted to be a "kung fu" star. Wu Bin still remembers clearly the stubborn look on his face with his neck stiff and head held high.
Thinking back on the changes over the past year, especially after Kou Zhanwen told him about Ji Qingxu's time on set, Wu Bin felt a surge of emotion. "Old Ji, you can rest assured, Qingxu has grown up."
"Little Chicken, I went to see your house a couple of days ago and had someone check it out for you. You can move in now."
"Thank you, Grandpa Wu."
Kou Zhanwen, who was standing nearby, spoke up, "Teacher, shall we go and help celebrate our junior brother's new housewarming?"
Wu Bin laughed and said, "Okay, Little Chicken, let us know when you move in, and we'll all go and have some fun together."
Ji Qingxu replied with a smile, "No problem, I'll pick a good day and let you know when I've chosen one."
"it is good."
......
January 11, 2003 is an auspicious day for moving or moving into a new house.
On this day, Ji Qingxu officially moved into his first house, Guanchengyuan Community, next to the Beijing Film Academy.
On the day Ji Qingxu officially moved into his new house, Grandpa Wu Bin, Senior Brother Kou Zhanwen, and several of Grandpa Wu Bin's students came to help him celebrate the housewarming. Everyone had a good time and got acquainted with the new house.
After moving into the new house, the Beijing Film Academy had already started its winter break, and Ji Qingxu spent his days at home working on the script for "The Wandering Swordsman".
......
Soon it was the last day of January, which was Lunar New Year's Eve.
After having New Year's Eve dinner at Grandpa Wu Bin's house, Ji Qingxu put on his clothes and said goodbye to Wu Bin.
"Grandpa Wu, I'm going back now."
"Why don't we stay with Grandpa Wu?"
"Thank you, Grandpa Wu. This is the first Spring Festival in a new house, and it's not good to leave it empty."
"Okay, then come early tomorrow."
"Okay."
After leaving the residential area, looking at the bustling scene outside, Ji Qingxu took a deep breath, smiled, and walked towards the distance amidst the snowflakes.
......
"I'm back."
Looking at the empty living room, Ji Qingxu paused for a moment, then gently closed the bedroom door.
After turning on all the lights in the house, Ji Qingxu walked around the house and finally went to the balcony.
Although Beijing began a complete ban on fireworks and firecrackers in the eight urban districts in 93, you can still see dazzling fireworks dancing in the night sky further away, and the lively sounds of excitement can be clearly heard from the nearby streets.
After standing on the balcony for a while, Ji Qingxu picked up his phone, glanced at it, and then turned and walked into the living room.
......