Chapter 186: Turning the Tables 1
“Pfft…”
“Ling Hanmu, where’s your integrity? Can you have any shame? You’re even choosing to be on the bottom for a man’s dignity!”
“Is this still the Ling Shao I know? Where did your promised cool, domineering persona go? Did I wake up on the wrong side today?”
…
The entire set burst into laughter, their three views shattered on the ground, beyond repair.
Ling Hanmu affected a feminine gesture with his fingers, saying, “Oh, you nasty ghosts.”
Xia Chenge: “…I never realized you were this kind of Ling Hanmu!”
Ling Hanmu seized the opportunity to lean closer, nestling his head on Xia Chenge’s shoulder, and said in a high-pitched, affected voice, “This is just how I am, do you dislike me?”
Goosebumps rained down from the crowd; Ling Hanmu had successfully disgusted them.
“Why aren’t you continuing?” Ling Hanmu returned to normal, glancing sideways at the group who were laughing heartily at him.
Meng Yufei cupped his fists in a gesture of respect, “My apologies, I’ll take my leave!”
“Cough, cough, cough, let’s get to work, everyone get moving!” the director waved his hand.
Thinking about Ling Hanmu’s actions just now, who dared to provoke him further?
That version of Ling Hanmu was too terrifying, completely shattering his previous image of being arrogant and domineering!
Everyone quickly returned to their positions, busy with their own tasks.
“You were laughing at me with them just now!” Ling Hanmu began to accuse Xia Chenge with a wronged expression, “You didn’t help me!”
“It was just a joke, just a joke,” Xia Chenge quickly explained.
“An explanation is a cover-up, and a cover-up is a sign of weakness.”
“I was wrong!”
“You’re pushing me into someone else’s arms, you dislike me.”
“I didn’t.”
“And that someone else is a man!”
“Xiao Mu, I was wrong.”
“You even want to be cuckolded by a man.”
“I was bewitched.”
“Hmph, apologize!”
“I’m sorry, I was wrong!” Xia Chenge felt like he was crying tears of noodles in the wind, realizing that when men threw tantrums, they could be just as terrifying.
“I forgive you.” The wronged expression vanished from Ling Hanmu’s face, replaced by a smile as he looked at her.
Xia Chenge met his gaze, and after a moment, couldn’t help but smile too.
“Silly girl,” Ling Hanmu dotingly gave Xia Chenge a head pat, “How could I bear not to forgive you?”
“But from now on, don’t push me into anyone else’s arms, not even a man’s.”
Xia Chenge earnestly promised, “Never again.”
“That’s more like it. Alright, I need to go for my blocking. The weather’s hot, make sure you drink plenty of water,” Ling Hanmu said as he stood up, not forgetting to nag her like a mother.
Xia Chenge nodded, picking up a cup nearby, “Report, I’ve already drunk six cups of water today.”
Ling Hanmu smiled with satisfaction and walked towards the director.
Xia Chenge shook her head and lowered her gaze to continue reading the script.
An hour passed without her realizing it. Xia Chenge looked towards the filming area. For some reason, filming seemed particularly unlucky today; the same scene had been shot for over an hour without completion.
Moreover, the difficulty of this scene wasn’t high, and the actors were all in good spirits, so it should have been a single take, but various problems kept arising.
If this continued, they might not even finish filming for the day.
Xia Chenge put down her script and walked over.
The director called cut again and walked to the actors in the scene with a grim expression, “What’s going on with you all? What are you doing? Do you think this exaggerated performance is a kindergarten play? Are you trying to take all day to film this simple scene?”
“You, you, and you, if you can’t get it right, you can all get out!” He pointed at three supporting actors.
These three were brought in through connections. Since their roles weren’t important, and with Young Masters like Ling Hanmu and Meng Yufei present, whose backgrounds no one dared to offend, they hadn’t dared to bully other actors, so everyone had turned a blind eye.
Unexpectedly, they were holding up progress from the start. Coupled with Ling Hanmu’s cold expression, it made them make mistakes repeatedly.
“We apologize, Director, please give us another chance.” The three bowed their heads and apologized profusely.
The director angrily explained the scene again.
Xia Chenge stared at the three, vaguely feeling that something was not quite right.
She looked around the set and listened carefully for a moment, but found nothing.
Was she overthinking things and being overly cautious? Xia Chenge frowned.
As she casually looked up, her gaze inadvertently fell upon the wire rig being prepared for the next scene, and her pupils instantly contracted. She understood where the unease was coming from.
The wire rig had been tampered with in an inconspicuous place. Those three were clearly stalling for time to give someone an opportunity to act!
Xia Chenge remembered very clearly that in the next scene, all seven lead actors were supposed to be on wire rigs. And the tampered wire rig was precisely the one for Ling Hanmu!
Damn it… Xia Chenge couldn’t help but curse. Falling from such a height would either kill Ling Hanmu or seriously injure him; this was an attempt to put him to death.
She couldn’t let Ling Hanmu take such a risk, and revealing it would alert the mastermind behind this… If she were to use this wire rig herself, there would be no problem at all. This height was equivalent to jumping down from a small step for an Evolved Human.
If possible, she could even turn the tables!
Having made her plan, Xia Chenge remained outwardly calm.
As expected, after being severely reprimanded by the director, the next shot passed smoothly.
During the blocking for the second scene, Xia Chenge discussed with the director, “Director, don’t you think it would be better to swap the positions of the Calico Cat and the Lone Wolf? Like this…”
Xia Chenge said a lot. The director, who had initially wanted to refuse, brightened up after listening, “Oh, it seems like changing it to this would indeed be much better. Let’s try it this way for now.”
With that, the director called for someone to make the arrangements.
Xia Chenge casually glanced at the three. The two younger actors seemed to still be in the shadow of being yelled at by the director, sitting dejectedly and flipping through their scripts. The other man with a beard looked anxious and uneasy upon hearing the director’s arrangements.
Fang Nai, Xia Chenge noted the name, and then quietly said to Ling Hanmu, “Xiao Mu, after filming this scene, find someone to take Fang Nai away. He’s acting a bit strange.”
Ling Hanmu felt a pang of doubt but didn’t show it, “Okay!”
At this moment, they were already calling for actors to take their positions.
Xia Chenge walked over and asked the staff to secure the wire rig.
“Action!”
This scene was a fight scene depicting the first time Apocalypse warriors clashed with a large zombie horde.
The script Xia Chenge wrote was completely adapted from her experiences in the Apocalypse, so all seven lead actors had explosive combat power. Evolved Humans didn’t need wire rigs, but they still had to use them to complete so many difficult fight scenes.
“Crimson Snake retreat, Snow Rabbit falls, Falcon watch your weapon…” the martial arts instructor shouted through the megaphone.
The wire rig swayed back and forth, bearing more force. Xia Chenge clearly heard the wire rig she was on slowly snapping.
The moment the wire rig broke, Xia Chenge closed her eyes and fell straight down.
“Xia Chenge…”
