Chapter 57: That Aggrieved Feeling
When it was time for Ning Xi to put on her makeup, the makeup artist moved the containers around noisily before putting on a cold expression and shouting, “Ning Xi, it’s your turn!”
Ning Xi put down the script and walked over, “Sorry for the trouble.”
As the makeup artist was about to reluctantly begin putting on her makeup, Ning Xi glanced at her makeup kit and suddenly raised her hand to stop her.
“What are you doing?”
Ning Xi said in an amiable tone, “Amy-jie, can I use my own makeup? My skin is quite sensitive, I might have an allergic reaction if I use other brands…”
“No way, that’s not how we do things here. If it turns out badly, are you going to take responsibility? Weren’t you just fine yesterday?” Amy’s expression was full of impatience, clearly thinking that she was way too busy to entertain such requests.
Ning Xi brought out a red packet from her bag and stealthily placed it into Amy’s palm, “Amy-jie, please accomodate me… since actors depend on our faces to work, I’m just taking precautions…”
Amy felt the thickness of the red packet and coughed lightly. With an act of reluctance, she said, “Fine! But if there are any problems, you’ll have to tell the director that you’re taking responsibility!”
“Of course! It won’t affect Amy-jie!”
There were no eternal enemies in this industry. After receiving a huge bonus, Amy was much happier and took extra care when applying makeup for Ning Xi. It even turned out better than yesterday’s.
When the makeup artist left, Ning Xi crossed her arms and examined the costume for today. She then took out a large magnet from her bag and carefully swept it over the costume like she was conducting a safety inspection. After doing so, she did the same to her shoes.
Good, there weren’t any problems.
Ning Xi kept the magnet and stuck out her tongue. She thought to herself, how unprofessional! There should be a needle sewn into the clothes, which would stab until you hurt everywhere. You wouldn’t even be able to find where the problem was. A small thumbtack should have been embedded in the sole of the shoes. There wouldn’t be any problems while walking on even ground, but once they had to move vigorously, then there would be that aggrieved feeling…
Compared to Ning Xueluo, who had been protected in cotton, Ning Xi had been crawling about the lower levels of the industry for so many years. She had already seen all the tricks in the book, how would she be unable to see through such small tricks?
Although she had no way to test the makeup products, but Ning Xueluo knew that Ning Xi’s skin was sensitive to metals, so there was an 80% chance that she would do something along those lines.
After Ning Xi was done changing, the dance instructor that the director had hired was already waiting outside. While other people were filming their scenes, Ning Xi followed behind the instructor and learned the movements for the dance.
When they were done filming on the other side, the director walked over to check the results, “Ning Xi, how did it go? I saw on your profile that you’ve learned dance before, so I think half the day should be more than enough. If it’s not, then I can give you a few more days.”
“There shouldn’t be any problems…” Ning Xi didn’t want to over promise on things.
Guo Qisheng looked towards the dance instructor, “Teacher Zheng, what do you think?”
The dance instructor chuckled and said, “You’ll see for yourself later!”
“Alright, then let’s start now!”
Scene 13: Consort De’s Drunken Dance.
Characters: The Emperor, Consort De, Consort Xian, various concubines, eunuchs and servants.
They had just finished the Grand Selection, and a new batch of fresh young girls had come in. The emperor had called a bevy of concubines and consorts to his resting palace for drinks and entertainment.
The emperor’s heart was on the new girls, and even the most favoured Consort De had been left to one side.
The most favoured consort before Consort De had come was Consort Xian. Upon seeing that Consort De had also been abandoned, Consort Xian was filled with joy at her misfortune, “In this palace, it has always been ‘the new people smile and the old people cry’, did she think that she had enough beauty to keep the emperor’s heart to herself for his entire life? This consort wants to see if she can continue being so pleased with herself for a few more days!”
It’s most likely because Consort De was played by Ning Xi, Jia Qingqing, who normally had average acting skills, actually played her part skilfully. Seeing this, the director was very pleased.