Chapter 16: The Last Trainee Before Resignation... What the heck, Liu Yifei?

The hotel they stayed at was just over three kilometers from the filming location.

Zhou Le woke up early, freshened up, and walked straight to the set. The filming site was well-equipped, with a kitchen for cooking, a bathhouse, changing rooms, and various other facilities. This was the advantage of having the set pre-built.

When Zhou Le arrived, he saw Da Peng already sitting on a bench, deeply engrossed in the script. It was still dawn, barely light outside.

“Brother Da Peng, you’re here so early?” Zhou Le asked.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep, so I came early. But why are you here so early too? Why not get some more rest?” Da Peng replied.

“Can’t sleep. I’m used to getting up early,” Zhou Le said.

“That’s a good habit,” Da Peng remarked. “I usually like to sleep in when I have time.”

“Ha, I wish I could, but if I sleep in, I won’t have money. Life isn’t a cartoon. While the oxen and horses are getting up, I have to go to work.”

Da Peng chuckled. “You’re always like a sow wearing a bra—always switching sets?”

Zhou Le shook his head. “No choice. My salary holds me hostage; I have no options. If I had a choice, I’d definitely choose to be rich.”

Just then, a car slowly pulled up, and Qiao Shan and Han Tongsheng got out.

Qiao Shan pointed at the two of them and feigned surprise. “You guys came this early? Are you here to fall in love?”

Da Peng then repeated what Zhou Le had said earlier.

Hearing this, Qiao Shan immediately assumed the role of life mentor. “See, that’s wrong. The strong never complain about their environment.”

Zhou Le laughed. “What strong? Who’s strong? I’m a weakling. Not only do I complain about the environment, I also complain about the strong, because it’s they who’ve made the environment so bad.”

Qiao Shan exclaimed, “Damn, that makes sense!”

Da Peng warned, “Don’t listen to him; he loves poisoning the well. Don’t corrupt my actor. Let me tell you, Le’er, people need to step out of their comfort zones. You have to go out to grow and improve.”

Zhou Le smiled. “I don’t want to leave my comfort zone; I just want to expand it.”

Da Peng was about to retort but then reconsidered. That actually made sense. If the comfort zone is big enough, why bother stepping out? Or if you turn everything you once struggled with into your comfort zone, wouldn’t you then excel at everything?

“Now that’s some damn good reasoning,” he admitted.

If you’re good at making comedies, then keep honing your craft there, just like Ning Hao or Xu Zheng. But comedy can also be explored in different directions, as it’s merely a style of storytelling, and the core doesn’t necessarily have to be comedic.

This notion echoed what Zhou Le’s mentor, Zhao Benshan, had once told him.

***

As they chatted, everyone gradually arrived. Zhou Le began makeup and changed clothes.

“Teacher Zhou, are you ready? We’ll start filming in fifteen minutes,” the assistant director in charge of actors, Ma Xiaochao, greeted him.

“Got it, almost done, just a minute or two,” the makeup artist replied somewhat impatiently.

“Mingming, your skills are really great. After you’re done, I look even better,” Zhou Le said.

“Right? I think I’m falling in love with you. How about you?” Mingming teased, only showing her best side to leaders and handsome guys.

Beyond that, she only answered to the deputy director responsible for costumes and props and a makeup team leader.

“I think so too,” Zhou Le said, admiring his handsome reflection.

“Well then...” Mingming suddenly grew shy.

But Zhou Le seemed not to notice and continued, “I think I’m falling in love with myself too.”

...

They then filmed the audition scene, which they completed in two takes. The first take would have sufficed, but since it was early in the shoot, Da Peng wanted to be cautious.

“Alright, that’s a wrap,” the executive director called out.

Since Da Peng was both director and lead actor, whenever he had scenes, executive director Gu Haiping would sit by the monitor directing. His authority on set was considerable.

But compared to the executive director, Zhou Le was more interested in getting to know the rock musicians involved.

Zhou Le spent the next several days shooting. However, his role in the early scenes of "Dynamite" was limited. The most important scene was gathering the band members, followed by a solo performance.

Among these, only Zhou Le and the young actor Xixi performed as themselves. The others used doubles to varying degrees, or some shots were simply skipped.

After finishing those scenes, they moved on to filming Ding Jianguo’s parts, which didn’t involve Zhou Le. So he took two days off to go to the shooting range, handle his resignation paperwork, and also to return his apartment. He also planned to mooch a meal from Zhao Lusi.

There wasn’t much worth taking from the rented apartment—just personal belongings. Zhou Le packed everything, sent it to the crew by courier, and left the rest behind.

Whether the landlord threw away the remaining items or kept them as leverage to raise rent for the next tenant was none of his concern.

***

Still, the landlord deducted 200 yuan from the deposit for cleaning fees.

Fortunately, Zhou Le hadn’t cleaned up because he knew they’d deduct the fee regardless.

After sending off the courier and informing the crew, Zhou Le headed to the shooting range. It was already afternoon.

The shooting range was located in the HD district. It was sizable, though nowhere near the scale of the BJ Shooting Hall used for the Olympics or the Northern International Shooting Range. This was a commercial venue, mainly for enthusiasts.

“Xiao Zhou, are you really quitting? Honestly, you’re doing well here. Why do you want to be an actor? Running small roles won’t pay much. You’d be better off staying here full-time. If you want, I can skip your probation and pay you fifteen thousand a month. How about that?”

“Or if your role needs more filming days, no problem. Come back whenever you’re free. I’ll always keep a spot for you.”

Zhou Le looked at the supervisor in front of him, knowing he was genuinely appreciated.

“Brother Wu, I appreciate your support, but I’ve got a good role this time. I’ll be filming on set for several months, then moving to another project that’ll take a few more months.”

“No way! That long? That must be a lead role, right?”

“Not quite, a supporting role, but an important one.”

“Awesome. In that case, I won’t hold you back.”

Just then, someone entered.

“Brother Wu, the guest has arrived. Do you want to go greet them?”

“Sure.” After a moment’s thought, Supervisor Wu took Zhou Le with him, also to say final goodbyes to everyone.

They arrived at the shooting range, where all the idle instructors had gathered.

“What’s going on, Brother Wu?” someone asked quietly.

“We’ve got an important visitor today. Also a celebrity, here to have some fun,” Supervisor Wu whispered.

“Who?” Zhou Le asked.

“You’ll see soon,” Wu replied.

About a minute later, five people walked in.

Leading them was an older woman, but when the second person entered, Zhou Le’s eyes widened.

“Holy crap!”

“Liu Yifei?”