The camera stopped on the solemn expressions of the three pursuers.
“Cut!”
He Chuan called out, a look of clear satisfaction on his face. “Ziyang, remember that sleeve-flicking motion you just did. We can make it Wei Cen's signature gesture in the future. It also fits his germaphobia.”
Lin Ziyang pulled back his sleeves, glanced first at the fine sand on the ground, then swept his eyes down his black robes, and asked in all seriousness, “Director He, do I have to show disgust toward my surroundings every time I make an entrance from now on?”
He Chuan nodded. “Just in moderation.”
Lin Ziyang nodded in understanding.
He Chuan turned back to Song Lan. “I want the audience to first remember that he's helping Lu Ji, without rushing to explain who he is. Do you think the suspense is building too early?”
Song Lan watched the playback and shook her head. “No. The movements are crisp, and the shots are clean. Once the character relationships unfold later on, there will be even more memorable points.”
He Chuan clapped his hands. “That's good then.”
The plot continued to unfold.
Lu Ji scrambled and crawled out of the alley, blending into the crowd.
As he ran, he didn't forget to stuff the stolen purse deeper into his robes.
He Chuan stared at the monitor. After a brief thought, he raised his megaphone and asked, “Jiang Yue, we can keep the action of stuffing the purse in at the end. But is Lu Ji's behavior of valuing money over his life a bit too exaggerated?”
Jiang Yue rested against the wall and took a couple of breaths. Hearing this, he looked up. “Director He, at this point in time, Lu Ji would feel that money is more reliable than his life.”
A wave of laughter swept across the set. Many in the crew were witnessing Jiang Yue's comedic talent for the first time.
Even when speaking simple words, he always managed to make people laugh with a deadpan expression.
He Chuan didn't rush to a conclusion. He carefully turned Jiang Yue's words over in his mind. Lu Ji's background and experiences indeed destined him to not be as upright as the typical protagonist of a television drama. Handling it this way indeed made him more memorable, so he said no more.
When lunch was distributed at noon, Jiang Yue hadn't changed out of his costume. He sat on a folding chair with a coat draped over his shoulders, eating his boxed lunch.
Because his makeup made him look too sickly and weak, the line producer walked past him twice. On the third time, she finally couldn't help herself and placed a bowl of hot soup next to his hand.
“Teacher Jiang, have some soup. You look quite worrying.”
Jiang Yue laughed in spite of himself but still took it. “Thank you for your concern.”
Jiang Kevin held back his laughter nearby. Only after the person had walked far away did he whisper, “Third Brother, your makeup is too deceptive. People are going to think you're about to cough up blood any second now.”
Jiang Yue picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks and nodded. “The makeup artist indeed did an excellent job.”
“But you're eating that boxed lunch with such gusto.”
Jiang Kevin looked at him. “It kind of ruins the vibe of a sickly, handsome guy.”
Jiang Yue replied righteously, “Even a sickly beanpole has to eat. Food is the fuel of life—skip a meal and you'll wither away.”
Nearby, a young woman from the publicity team raised her DSLR camera used for behind-the-scenes footage. After taking a shot, she quietly lowered it. “Can this be posted on the crew's daily updates?”
Jiang Kevin shook his head. “Better not for now. Lu Ji hasn't been officially announced yet, and it's still early before the broadcast. Posting it now won't have much of an effect.”
The young woman withdrew her DSLR with regret. “I'll save it for now then.”
In the afternoon, they shot a few more pick-up shots of Lu Ji fleeing through Changle Ward.
The flagstone road was hard to run on. Wearing cloth shoes, Jiang Yue had to act weak and panicked while simultaneously controlling where his feet landed.
Old Hong watched very closely. The few times he called a halt were because the extras were half a beat too slow with their positioning, nearly blocking Jiang Yue's path.
“Don't just stare at Jiang Yue!”
Old Hong tapped the ground with his foam rod. “We're filming, not watching a spectacle! Dodge when you need to, yield when you need to. Don't let him actually crash into you.”
The extras quickly chimed in with their agreement. It wasn't really their fault; it was mainly because Jiang Yue was so deeply in character that they occasionally forgot whether they were filming or not.
When Jiang Yue ran back, the fringe of hair on his forehead was already soaked with sweat. Jiang Kevin immediately handed him water and a towel.
“Can you still run?” Old Hong asked.
Jiang Yue took a sip of water. “Yes.”
Old Hong looked at him. “Don't push yourself too hard.”
“Don't worry, Brother Hong, I'm fine.”
Jiang Yue rotated his ankles and wrists. “The third take just now was the best. The extras' reactions were also natural. We can do a safety take.”
He Chuan, who wasn't far away, nodded with satisfaction upon hearing this. “Alright, let's do one more safety take. Since Jiang Yue himself said he can still run, everyone, don't drop the ball.”
Once these words were spoken, the actions on set visibly sped up.
By the time they wrapped up in the evening, Jiang Yue returned to the hotel suite prepared by the crew. He had just finished washing up when his phone rang.
It was a message from Chen Fei.
【Chen Fei: Boss, look at the Weibo hot search! You've broken into the tragic beauty category!】
Jiang Yue opened Weibo. The third trending topic was indeed:
#JiangYueBattleDamagedFragility#
He clicked in and saw a cropped-out behind-the-scenes photo.
The photo was a wide-angle side profile shot included in the behind-the-scenes footage released by the publicity team that afternoon. A marketing account had cropped and enlarged it, posting it with the caption “battle-damaged fragility,” which quickly went viral and landed on the hot search.
The background of the photo was the very flagstone alley they had filmed in today.
He was likely resting against the mottled wall, catching his breath between coughing fits.
The setting sun cast a slanted beam from the mouth of the alley, cutting clear highlights and shadows across his face.
To create the texture of someone “plagued by chronic illness,” the makeup artist had only applied a very light base. Even his lip color was deliberately made pale, making the fine peach fuzz on his face visible under the light.
Yet, it was precisely this near-barefaced makeup, paired with his grayish-white robes, that made his superior bone structure stand out even more.
A high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and a pair of eyes that carried weariness and detachment as required by the character—when put together, they actually possessed a flavor of coexisting fragility and restraint.
Although he was playing a down-and-out, sickly man, the vibe in the photo unexpectedly exuded an indescribable, elegant charm.
On the hot search page, the first to flood in were the new fans who had stayed after 《The Hidden Sentry》.
They had originally been editing hype videos for Zhou Jinnan, but upon refreshing their Weibo feeds and seeing Jiang Yue leaning against the wall in grayish-white robes, half of their fan filters shattered on the spot, only for another half to regrow in its place.
The comment section was already overrun.
【Oh my god! Is he really playing a sickly guy? He's clearly setting my heart on fire! This fragility makes me want to kiss him right now!】
【The person above, get in line! I declare that starting today, Zhou Jinnan is my ex-husband, and Lu Ji is my new darling!】
【This makeup and styling is incredible! Who says a tragic beauty has to wear fake blood and smoky eye makeup? This combination of fragility and narrative depth is king!】
【Ugh, the simpler the clothes, the more beautiful the person. I finally understand what 'handsome even in a burlap sack' means!】
【Wait a minute, don't get excited just yet. How come I heard that in the original novel of this drama, the male lead is a money-grubbing street loafer in the early stages? And he's not exactly a good person early on either.】
【Does being a tragic beauty conflict with being a street loafer? Not at all! He can be fragile while stealing my purse at the same time! Besides, they'll definitely adapt it. Filming it exactly like the original novel doesn't fit today's market anyway.】
【Never mind stealing my purse. If he actually looked at me with those eyes, I might just give him my payment PIN myself.】
Jiang Yue stared at the last comment and fell silent for a few seconds.
Were fans really this accepting? Or were they just memeing?
Rate on N.U.
