Professional Body Double

Chapter 6

A short just over a one minute misaligned scene [1] took over two hours to film. This director was a famous big-name in the country. He had a very odd old man's temper. When he was working, he didn't like the look of anyone; even a fresh and lively twenty year old girl could be reduced to tears by his scolding. As this was Zhou Xiang's second time working with him, Zhou Xiang had already fully grasped his personality. Zhou Xiang didn’t get mad no matter how many times the director requested him to do it again. It wasn't that Zhou Xiang didn't have a temper. It was just that he knew that if he got impatient, the old man would be even more impatient, and no one would expect to leave that day.

    When they finished shooting that scene, Zhou Xiang's body was soaked in sweat. The old man was very satisfied with him. He even remembered Zhou Xiang's name. After they finished shooting, he said to Zhou Xiang, “This drama is still missing an actor for a character, if you can have time in your schedule, go have a talk with A'Cheng. The character doesn't have many scenes, in the entire drama, altogether, you will only be appearing just over half an hour, but I guarantee that the pay will satisfy you.”

    Zhou Xiang chuckled, “Thank you. You really didn’t need to specially coming over to talk to me about small matter like this. I just play extras, fitting a time in my schedule won’t be a problem at all. Then, I'll go and talk to Cheng'ge. Director Wang, if you have this sort of opportunity in the future, I hope you will still remember me.”

    The old man nodded expressionlessly, but from the fact that he hadn't blown or scolded anyone in the past two hours, one could see that he was really satisfied with Zhou Xiang's performance.

    “Hey, Wang Yudong has arrived.”

    Everyone looked towards the door. Wang Yudong strutted in following behind his two assistants. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, and was dressed casually. He looked extraordinarily handsome, attracting everyone's gazes as soon as he appeared.

    Wang Yudong was a film star who had shot to fame in these past two years. He reportedly had an incredible family background and the ancient costume serial drama, which he filmed as soon as he debuted, was specially made in order to promote him. It could be said that Wang Yudong possessed all of the potential to become popular. He had a superior appearance, knew how to appropriately speak and behave according to the occasion and above all, he had people to hype and promote from behind. Although his acting was stiff and rough when he first started, it didn't stop his handsome face from appearing every day in all kinds of media. Hence, his career skyrocketed and he became extremely famous and popular, and was currently Yixing Media's number one money tree.

    At first Zhou Xiang accepted random martial arts stunt double jobs from all over the place, but due to the advantage of having a build and back view that resembled Wang Yudong's, he was able to ride on Wang Yudong's success as well. Now, whenever Wang Yudong needed a stunt double, he would mainly come to find Zhou Xiang.

    After Wang Yudong walked in, he took off his sunglasses while smiling, and greeted the crew members without the slightest bit of arrogance. He then went over to Director Wang to apologise. He didn't explain why he was late either and just apologised to the old man with a smile.

    You can't hit a person who is smiling and has already admitted they are wrong. Though not resigned, Director Wang couldn't express his anger at him, so he told Yan Mingxiu to hurry to get himself made-up.

    After Wang Yudong finished coaxing Director Wang, he turned around and saw Zhou Xiang. “Hey, A'Xiang.”

    Smiling, Zhou Xiang nodded, “Dong'ge, you're here.” He was actually quite a few years older than Wang Yudong. Zhou Xiang had also been in the circle for longer but with his position and status in the circle, there was no reason for Wang Yudong to call him ‘ge’. However, he didn't hate Wang Yudong. Wang Yudong was a really tactful person. As long as you didn't have any conflicting interests with him he always appeared very gentlemanly. Zhou Xiang was too lazy to pay attention to the rumours and slanders concerning Wang Yudong. He was just a small stuntman; in his entire lifetime, he would never be able to impinge on Wang Yudong's interests. The two of them, living together in harmony, how wonderful.