I am Really a Superstar

Nanjing.

The plane slowly descended.

Zhang Ye led the production crew as they disembarked from the plane. They were chatting and laughing as they came through the security checks. But before they could even take a few steps out, they heard a scream come from the other side.

“Ahhh!”

“He’s here!”

“He’s coming out!”

“How handsome!”

Quite a few young girls were behaving like they were crazy.

Zhang Ye was startled. “Are they here to welcome us?”

Ning Lan smiled. “Surely not, right?”

In the end, they saw that those fans were indeed not here for them.

“Qu Dong!”

“Qu Dong!”

“Qu Dong!”

A lot of people were looking in one direction and chanting a name.

Zhang Ye sighed. “I had thought they were here for us.”

Jiang Hanwei sneered. “Do you think this is a few years ago?”

Dong Shanshan exposed him. “You’re speaking like he ever had anyone welcome him at the airport.”

“Can you not speak the truth?” Zhang Ye was very embarrassed. “My fans are all very sane people. They don’t believe in things like receiving me at the airport or whatnot. They’ll silently support me.”

Several of the crew members laughed. All of them knew that Zhang Ye’s fans were indeed quite different from the fans of other celebrities. For the fans of other celebrities, there was always a feverish sense of support for them. It was like this for Ning Lan, Jiang Hanwei, and Shu Han as well. Everyone received similar treatment from their fans except Zhang Ye. This was because one would never be able to guess that the people who scolded him in the fiercest possible ways were actually also his most diehard of fans. In the entertainment industry at that time, it was a scene to behold.

Zhang Ye asked, “Who’s that fellow?”

Ha Qiqi turned her gaze over to where a young man in his twenties had just stepped out. “That is Qu Dong, an extremely popular male idol these days who first debuted as a singer. I’ve not been paying attention to his celebrity ranking recently, but he should be at the forefront of the domestic A-list rankings and making a push for a Heavenly King spot. Oh yes, didn’t they already start showing the fifth season of I Am a Singer? Qu Dong is this season’s favorite, and he’s really popular on the show.”

Zhang Ye said emotionally, “They’re already into the fifth season?”

Shu Han smiled and said, “What thoughts do you have about it, being the show’s first season winner?”

“What thoughts can I have? Come on, let’s go.” Zhang Ye led the team forward.

Many of the people at the airport had their attention on Qu Dong, so there was basically no one who noticed Zhang Ye, Ning Lan, and the rest of the group. Someone even brushed past Zhang Ye without recognizing him wearing sunglasses. There were some things that didn’t need any explaining at all. Ever since Zhang Ye’s return, this atmosphere and his dwindling popularity felt very obvious to him. It had been close to four years. To a normal person, this wouldn’t feel like very long. But for a celebrity, it was a passage of time where everything could change.

Outside.

The bus that was picking them up had already arrived.

On the bus, Zhang Ye said, “We’ll get the cameras rolling and start filming today. Let’s strive to finish filming the entire series in one and a half months. We’re going to aim to finish earlier rather than later.”

Ning Lan said, “Won’t there be a lensing ceremony ¹ ?”

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “How many people are paying attention to this production of ours? So what’s the point of holding the ceremony?”

Jiang Hanwei said, “A lensing ceremony is the convention. Which production crew doesn’t do it?”

Zhang Ye said in amusement, “I’m not one to stick to convention.”

Jiang Bin, who was the oldest of the lot and more superstitious about such things, said, “Traditionally, shouldn’t we at least hold a simple one?”

But Zhang Ye said, “Nope.”

Jiang Bin could only helplessly say, “Alright then.”

Dong Shanshan laughed and said, “You’re the director, you have the final say.”

Praying to the Heavens.

Offering joss sticks.

Cutting the roast suckling pig.

Covering the prayer table with red cloth.

This was the customary opening ceremony for the filming of Chinese movies and TV series. Every production crew did it, but Zhang Ye refused. He had always been a superstitious person, but he didn’t want to believe in this. Whether or not a drama could succeed depended on the director, actors, and the entire production team working together. Would praying to the Heavens and offering joss sticks ensure its success? Wasn’t that bullshit? If holding a lensing ceremony worked, then what was the point of having a director direct the actors?

Zhang Ye had always been considered a maverick in the entertainment circle. He had his own style of doing things, and it wouldn’t matter how others tried to persuade him. Everyone understood this to be Zhang Ye’s nature. Be it directing variety shows or documentaries, or even a television drama, Zhang Ye had always been a very headstrong director. He was like this in the past, and he was still like this now.

Zhang Ye said, “Come on, I’ll run everyone through the script again.”

On the bus ride, he was telling everyone about the key points of today’s shoot.

The script that he had written for In the Name of the People was not entirely the same one as his previous world’s and had gone through many changes in the details as dictated by Zhang Ye. There were many reasons for that, such as the issues of the actors, and how they were their own persons. Since the actors from both worlds were different, the script had to be adjusted according to the actors’ qualities and acting skills. Among the changes were also some subjective adjustments made by Zhang Ye, such as the son of the chairman of Big Wind Factory’s union, Zheng Chenggong, and his daughter-in-law. Zhang Ye felt that it was too long-winded and had nothing to do with the main storyline, with more than eight episodes of scenes focusing on them. Not only that, a lot of advertisements were injected in between the scenes. All of that was absolutely unnecessary and the people from his previous world had criticized this too. So Zhang Ye cut a lot of scenes from the original, leaving his version of In the Name of the People at only 42 episodes instead of 55. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t cut it further in post-production as he intended to strip away many of the cumbersome and non-essential storylines. What he needed to do was create an excellent anti-corruption drama that would open the path for similar works!

On location.

The prearranged venue had been set aside for them.

Without any unnecessary chatter, they started setting up the cameras, decorating the set, and putting makeup on the actors.

At 5:10 PM, the filming of In the Name of the People officially started in Nanjing.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Action!”

Zhang Ye fell into his working mood, which was clearly quite different from his day-to-day. What was most obvious was his intense gaze and the serious expression on his face.

“Cut!”

“That’s not good enough, again!”

“Cut, again!”

“Cut!”

“That’s still not good enough!”

“That’s not right, you can’t eat a bowl of noodles like this.”

“Do you eat zhajiangmian ² that way? Your mannerisms are too elegant!”

“Again!”

Just a single scene took them eight or nine takes!

The actors of the production crew were not small-timers either. This lineup of best actors and best actresses couldn’t get more luxurious. Although they no longer enjoyed the popularity of yesteryear, their status in the industry was still there. The two assistant directors, Ha Qiqi and Zhang Zuo, were trembling with fright. They were so afraid that the best actors and actresses would quit filming as a result, and also felt that Director Zhang was being too harsh for one scene. But the two of them could not have expected the actors to not grumble one bit.

Especially the veteran actor who was filming the noodle eating scene. He was a very senior figure in the industry. He had already eaten three bowls of noodles, but the glimmer in his eyes was shining brighter and brighter.

Ning Lan smiled.

Jiang Bin and Jiang Hanwei looked at each other.

Shu Han also gave a slight grin.

At this moment, everyone was reminded of how much hard work they had to put into filming not just several years ago, but even decades back!

This was how it should be!

Acting was always supposed to be like this!

This was what you truly called acting!