The director doesn't know who's behind Xia Shuangshuang, but he knows that person is very powerful and cannot be offended. However, Xia Shuangshuang, as the female lead, already has the most screen time; if more screen time is added, then the screen time of others will have to be reduced. Will that still allow for the tension of palace intrigue? Palace intrigue is never a struggle between one person, but between a group. Highlighting only five or six important characters is already insufficient; reducing their screen time further would weaken the presence of others. Shi Xueman is even more famous than Xia Shuangshuang; how can this be acceptable?
But Xia Shuangshuang insisted on adding scenes, even going on strike for two days because of it. The director was furious but helpless. After thinking it over, he suddenly remembered that Xu Zifan and Yao Kexin seemed to be acting quite intimately at the buffet that day. He called Yao Kexin over and asked tactfully, "Kexin, have you been seeing Young Master Xu lately?"
Yao Kexin understood his implication and immediately stood up straight, saying solemnly, "Director, I'm just a small-time actress, how could I possibly have the chance to meet Young Master Xu? That day was just a dinner party for everyone, otherwise I wouldn't have had a chance at all."
"Really?" The director looked at her with some doubt. He wasn't sure if Yao Kexin was telling the truth. After thinking for a moment, he decided to give it a try. "Kexin, didn't you sign with Zifan Live? Is there any way to contact Young Master Xu and ask him to come visit the set again?"
Before Yao Kexin could refuse, the director stood up, patted her on the shoulder, sighed, and looked at her with difficulty, saying, "Kexin, if I had a way, I wouldn't bother you. You know, Xia Shuangshuang hasn't been filming these past two days. Let me tell you what's going on, but don't spread it around. She wants to add more scenes! Think about it, there's only so much screen time. If she adds more, who gets less? I really think highly of you; you have potential and a future, but Xia Shuangshuang... I'm really in a difficult position. Anyway, give it a try. If it really doesn't work, then this is the only option. Don't take it personally; I don't mean anything by it. I just think that since Young Master Xu specifically gave you an important role, he must value you a lot and won't let this go unresolved. If Young Master Xu steps in to solve the problem, our filming will go much more smoothly."
Yao Kexin opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then left. The director had made his point; she had nothing more to say. Either she asked Xu Zifan to resolve Xia Shuangshuang's problem, or she would have her screen time reduced. Yao Kexin felt frustrated. This was the best opportunity she'd ever had since entering the industry, and she didn't even know if she'd ever have another chance to play such a significant role after this filming.
After careful consideration, Yao Kexin first called her agent. Her agent was not very capable; otherwise, with her acting skills and looks, she wouldn't have been playing minor supporting roles all the time. As soon as the agent heard that the production team might reduce her screen time, she immediately said she would come and talk to the production team. But when she heard that it was because Xia Shuangshuang was reducing her screen time, the agent was like a punctured balloon, and instead advised her to be more sensible and just listen to the production team.
With nowhere else to turn and facing the risk of having her scenes cut, Yao Kexin still found Liang Fei's business card and dialed the number on it.
"Hello, who is this?" Liang Fei answered the phone quickly, asking politely but distantly.
Yao Kexin gripped her phone tightly, pursed her lips, and said, "Hello, is this Assistant Liang? I'm Yao Kexin, an actress from the 'Xia Yi' drama crew. I have something I'd like to ask Mr. Xu for help with. May I ask... is it convenient to transfer you to Mr. Xu's call?"
The three actors in the crew were the focus of Liang Fei's attention, and he had been keeping an eye on them. Of course, he knew who she was. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "May I ask what you need? Perhaps I can pass on your message to Young Master Xu. Of course, if you need to speak with Young Master Xu in person, I can also make the contact for you."
Yao Kexin bit her lip and said, "It's about Xia Shuangshuang adding scenes, so I might have my scenes cut. Xu Shao chose me to play the role of the Imperial Concubine, so I wanted to ask for his opinion."
Hearing her say that, Liang Fei understood the situation, but he still needed to ask Xu Zifan for details. He politely hung up the phone, inquired about the specifics with the assistant director of the production crew, and then immediately went to consult with Xu Zifan.
Xu Zifan was in his study at home investigating the development of the Xu family business over the years. Although the original owner inherited 51% of the shares from his parents, he had stubbornly clung to his absolute right to inherit the company because he didn't understand these matters. In reality, this 51% only represented shares in the real estate company. Over the years, the Xu family had developed other companies, in which Xu Hao held the majority stake, while the original owner only had a small portion. After all, times had changed; shares were now distributed among many directors, and getting even 10% was considered a lot.
Xu Hao's development of other companies relied on the foundation of Xu's Real Estate. Otherwise, even with Xu Hao's abilities, it wouldn't have been so easy to start from scratch and achieve this level of success. Therefore, Xu Hao was using the original owner's assets to make more money, and then trying to seize those assets in return—truly despicable.
Xu Zifan is figuring out how to strike at Xu Hao and make him feel pain.
Liang Fei reported on the situation on set to Xu Zifan, who immediately became interested. He packed up his documents, got up and walked out, saying with a smile, "Wait for me to change my clothes, then we'll go visit the set. I'm quite tired, it wouldn't hurt to have some fun."
Yao Kexin seemed a bit distracted on set, glancing at her phone every now and then, waiting for Liang Fei's call, but unfortunately, the phone didn't ring. It was time to film her scene with Xia Shuangshuang. Xia Shuangshuang was here today, but it was the scene they were filming where Xia Yi, after her transformation, lured the imperial concubine out and pushed her into the lake.
There was nothing wrong when she fell into the lake, but while she was struggling and calling for help, Xia Shuangshuang messed up the scene, forcing Yao Kexin to stay submerged, repeatedly thrashing and sinking, to act out a drowning scene. Xia Shuangshuang had long disliked her; this unknown, third-tier starlet was constantly praised by the director, her treatment almost matching hers—why? She thought this was a good opportunity to teach the newcomer a lesson and let Yao Kexin know who she was.
As long as the number of NGs is kept below five, it won't affect her at all.
By the fourth time, Yao Kexin was filled with anger and grievances. Suddenly, she heard someone call out "Young Master Xu". She looked up and saw Xu Zifan walking towards her in a well-fitting suit. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she had a strong feeling that her savior had arrived!
Xu Zifan frowned and walked over, past Xia Shuangshuang, squatted down by the lake and called to Yao Kexin, "What are you standing there for? Come up here."
"Oh." Yao Kexin quickly swam over, grabbed his hand tightly, and used it to climb up. Liang Fei found a large bath towel and came forward. Xu Zifan grabbed the towel and quickly draped it over Yao Kexin, frowning as he asked, "What's wrong? Why is your face pale and you're shaking? I noticed your face looked off as soon as I came in. How come no one noticed?" He looked at the people who had gathered around him, his eyes sharp.
Suppressing his surprise, the director hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Young Master Xu, it was my mistake. Xia Shuangshuang had just done a few takes, and I was keeping an eye on her to make a mistake. I didn't notice Kexin's situation. Kexin, how are you? Should we go see her? Don't catch a cold."
Yao Kexin shook her head. "No need, Director. I'll just have some hot water and rest for a bit." She bowed slightly to Xu Zifan and thanked him awkwardly, "Thank you, Young Master Xu. I feel much better now."
Xu Zifan put one hand in his pocket, looked her up and down, and nodded. "Okay, go and rest. Liang Fei, go get her some hot water."
"Yes, Young Master Xu." Liang Fei knew that Xu Zifan was using this as an excuse to make trouble, and that Yao Kexin's presence would only make things awkward. He quickly led Yao Kexin to the lounge to escape the storm.
Xu Zifan glanced at Xia Shuangshuang, his expression clearly showing disgust. "Xia Shuangshuang, it's you again. You had to do five or six takes last time I came, right? And now again? How did you even get the lead role? I really wonder if the person who chose you was out of their mind!"
Xia Shuangshuang retorted angrily, "What gives you the right to say that about me? Everyone has seen how bad my acting is. I just didn't perform well today..."
"You don't need to say anything more. We can't afford to use an actress like you." Xu Zifan looked at the director and said, "Now we can just replace her face with photoshopped images, right? Just take a picture of her face, use a body double to replace her, and then replace it in post-production. It's such a hassle. If we hadn't already filmed so much, we could have just replaced her directly. Why go through all this trouble?"
Xia Shuangshuang was shocked. "Xu Zifan, you can't do this!"
"Of course I can, I'm the investor in this film." Xu Zifan turned and walked away, and the director and others hurriedly followed, instantly pushing Xia Shuangshuang aside.
[Host, the Superstar System forbids the use of stunt doubles and prohibits any shortcuts. If you use a stunt double in filming, you will be punished.]
Xia Shuangshuang shuddered. "What punishment?"
[Perform the part involving the use of a double one hundred times within the realm of consciousness.]
The film is only one-third complete. If the remaining two-thirds are done with a stunt double, wouldn't she have to stay in the consciousness space for twenty years if she had to act out the scene a hundred times?!
Xia Shuangshuang was terrified. She pushed everyone else aside and rushed to Xu Zifan. "I don't need a stunt double at all. You're forcing me not to act, which is just taking revenge. Xu Zifan, you've gone too far. Aren't you afraid of being ridiculed if word gets out?"
Xu Zifan stopped, put his hands in his pockets, and scoffed, "Why would I need to settle a personal score for revenge? You overestimate yourself. But since you're so confident, then go ahead and act. Let me see if you can really soar to the top. Oh, by the way, I heard you're going to add more scenes?" Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on his face, and said, "Sure, you're already the designated female lead and you're still adding scenes? You have no respect for the investors. I'm quite curious who's backing you up. You're pretty arrogant."
Xu Zifan's words left a deep impression on everyone present. Xia Shuangshuang was immediately labeled as having a sugar daddy, being arrogant, unprofessional, a NG addict, and disrespectful. No one thought about it too much, but their overall impression of her plummeted. Especially the other actors, who hated it when someone added scenes—wasn't this reducing their screen time? Many people harbored resentment towards Xia Shuangshuang.
Xia Shuangshuang breathed a sigh of relief. She no longer cared about Xu Zifan's or the others' stares; her mind was filled with the relief of no longer needing to train in her mind for twenty years, and she felt a sense of relief at having survived a disaster. She turned and left without even saying goodbye, which was quite disrespectful to the investors and director.
The director asked Xu Zifan with some anxiety and confusion, "Young Master Xu, are you really going to let her add more scenes? It won't be easy to film like that, and the whole movie will easily become unbalanced."
Xu Zifan chuckled twice, saying nonchalantly, "Who said that having more screen time gives you an advantage?"