Fate Trading System – Chapter 181

Plan A

Spirit Alliance 22

Problems

The filming process isn’t actually boring at all; one could even say it’s quite interesting.

Although it’s exhausting and difficult, once you find enjoyment in it, it doesn’t seem like much.

Directors in this world are generally fierce. When dealing with their own works, if an actor’s performance doesn’t meet their expectations, they immediately transform into roaring dragons, leaving no one unscathed by their criticism.

From leading actors to supporting roles, everyone in the crew has been subjected to the director’s outbursts. However, it’s precisely because of this director’s strict personality and perfectionism towards his work that he has such a great reputation.

The plot may be cliché, but that doesn’t matter as long as it delivers that satisfying feeling.

Melodramatic storylines are crowd-pleasers. This female protagonist sometimes has proper values, sometimes questionable ones. Unlike other dramas’ female leads who might get involved with other men during palace struggles or seek comfort when out of favor – if you strip away the writer’s glamorization, they’re nothing but loose women.

This palace struggle is different because the female lead has the emperor’s backing. The male lead is set as the emperor, despite having many eternal second male leads. The female lead’s appeal isn’t about being ambiguous with supporting characters, but rather that she clearly rejects them, yet they remain devoted.

To put it bluntly, those rejected supporting characters who still pursue her are just being pathetic, but audiences love watching this. They enjoy seeing male supporting characters maintaining unwavering devotion to the female lead, silently sacrificing for her while viewers express sympathy from beyond the screen. Without these characters, part of the plot couldn’t move forward. If these scenes were missing, the story would lose an important element and become less rich and interesting.

Art originates from life but feels far above it. While such things might happen in real life, they’re never as extreme or exaggerated as portrayed in TV dramas or novels.

Su Xin’s male lead co-star this time is a big star, not one of the current young idols, but he’s been popular for quite a while.

Su Xin and her senior colleague work together very naturally on set, and they interact quite a bit off-set too. The senior actor doesn’t keep any secrets, seeming to appreciate rising stars in the entertainment circle, teaching Su Xin techniques for handling reporters, avoiding paparazzi, and improving camera presence. Su Xin has a good impression of him.

Because of their good off-screen rapport, their on-screen chemistry is even more perfect, and the director’s shouting has decreased.

Time slips through their fingers like this, and Su Xin welcomes the long winter. Fortunately, most scenes are indoor shots, though some require her to perform suffering schemes [苦肉計 | kǔ ròu jì | deliberate self-harm to achieve a goal], but Su Xin performs them all herself without a stunt double.

Being a spirit, her constitution is naturally stronger than ordinary human girls, and those injuries don’t mean much to her. This attitude has earned her a good reputation in the crew – nobody dislikes someone who works hard earnestly, especially when it’s not just for show.

Though Ji Yu faces criticism in the entertainment circle, her dedication is undeniable. She never uses stunt doubles, and while her acting skills are average, leaning towards being a vase, it’s not unwatchable. She performs all dangerous action scenes herself, which is quite admirable.

Although filming has Su Xin’s schedule turned upside down, her life remains regular. Besides constantly filming and studying scripts, she has no other activities as these occupy all her time. Every night during rest time, she video chats with Chu Qiu, or if there’s no time, makes a phone call.

It’s not really necessary to be so clingy every day, but helplessly, while Chu Qiu appears mature, she’s actually quite childish – if she doesn’t get her daily call or video chat, she won’t sleep.

That’s what Chu Qiu says – since she can’t sleep well waiting anyway, she might as well stay up until she hears her voice or sees her face, only then can she sleep peacefully with those thoughts of longing.

Chu Qiu had two accessories custom-made: one a lifelike little hamster, the other a wolf, both silver pieces connected by fine chains worn as anklets.

Since Su Xin is filming, wearing accessories on the neck or wrist wouldn’t be appropriate, but since it’s a period drama, wearing them on the ankles won’t affect anything. The anklets are very delicate and won’t cause any discomfort.

Winter has completely descended upon this land, sub-zero temperatures freezing the river surface inch by inch. The filming crew sits among the ice and snow, handling their equipment. They’ve set up a temporary shelter where Su Xin sits, wearing a thick military coat over her costume, preparing to film a scene on the ice.

In this scene, the female protagonist falls victim to her own sister’s scheme – her biological sister.

Several consorts are ice skating together when the female lead is pushed onto a weak spot in the ice. She accidentally falls through, and while her sister pretends to help her up, she actually pushes her deeper into the freezing lake water.

The female lead’s combat ability isn’t high, and in this situation, her usual wit and sharp tongue are useless. The bone-chilling water makes her even more desperate. Fortunately, the Third Prince happens to pass by and rescues her from the lake.

This incident plants a small obstacle in the future relationship between the male and female leads. The male lead is a very suspicious person, and remembering how the female lead’s original self was previously entangled with the Third Prince, he brings up this incident during their later arguments.

A relationship without trust is precarious. In any relationship, whether with lovers or friends, if there’s no trust, it’s basically over.

Some matters are fabricated from nothing, while others aren’t without foundation.

Sowing discord is a despicable act and method, but if two people’s relationship can be broken by such means, how deep could their feelings really be?

These situations are always two-sided – it’s precisely because there are gaps that others can take advantage to cause trouble.

“Don’t you need a stunt double? Can you handle this yourself?”

The director asks worriedly, unsure about the actress’s physical condition. Though she probably doesn’t have any chronic ailments, the lake water is truly bone-chilling – if something were to go wrong…

Of course, the director isn’t advocating for stunt doubles, but in this special situation, he has to consider the value theory.

There’s no inherent hierarchy in human life, but some are born privileged while others are born humble – this is an unchangeable fact. People are indeed equal, but there’s still a distinction between greatness and mediocrity.

This is value theory – looking at things from an objective individual value perspective. If someone must be sacrificed, whether it’s a scientist or an idle person who does nothing, the right and wrong are naturally clear.

In this industry, stunt doubles are inevitable because stars either can’t do certain things or can’t endure certain hardships, but some scenes must be filmed.

It’s about finding the balance between minimal loss and maximum effect.

Plus, stunt doubles get paid for their work – both sides are happy.

“It’s fine, I think I can handle it. According to the script, I only need to endure about 7 minutes. I just hope we won’t need too many takes.”

“Indeed.”

Over there, the actress playing the villainous supporting role wrings her hands anxiously. It’s freezing cold this winter, and she has to play this kind of role. Though she’s mentally prepared, she can imagine being cursed by viewers when this episode airs.

Playing the villain isn’t easy, but someone has to play the bad guy. These roles aren’t very likable because people tend to have preconceptions. If viewers first see her as a hateful antagonist who makes them grind their teeth in anger, it might affect her in real life – audiences might view all her future works through the lens of her villainous role.

Some viewers, either too young or perhaps not thinking straight, say that because she plays such roles, she must be a bad person in real life.

Excuse me?

Rong Momo [容嬷嬷 | róng mó mo] could cry herself to death by Daming Lake [大明湖 | dà míng hú | famous lake in Jinan]. Perhaps because her performance was too convincing, people threw eggs and vegetable leaves at her on the street, and pointed fingers when she picked up her grandchild from kindergarten. [LP: Might be a typo, how old is she?!]

Sometimes one role can affect an actor’s entire life. For instance, if someone plays a good person in a drama, people unconsciously believe they’re actually good, ignoring their real-life behavior. The distance is already so great, and not everyone can peek into an actor’s private life – even your deskmate might not know what they’re really like, so who knows what celebrities are really like in private?

“I’ll try to perform smoothly. This lake water looks really cold.”

The supporting actress looks at Su Xin sympathetically. Although she’d love to be the female lead too, and if she were, she’d also perform without a stunt double, but what can she do? Everyone has their own fate, and getting this role was already quite difficult for her.

“Alright.”

Su Xin finds this supporting actress quite amusing. Although she always plays villains and could even be called a professional supporting role actress, off-screen she’s actually a very upright and somewhat childish girl.

“Ahhh, this son of a b*tch weather!”

Perhaps it’s because of her likable personality that directors often work with her. Even though she plays villains or passionate supporting characters, it’s better than having no exposure at all.

Su Xin thought she would definitely be fine, but after entering the water, she realized there was a big problem.

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