165: Chapter 166 Visiting the Set

As an investor, this was Chen Sheng's first time visiting the set. Yi Wei gave him a high-profile reception. Upon learning that Chen Sheng had arrived at the set, Yi Wei, acting as the director, led the lead actors and actresses to the entrance to welcome him.

After mutual introductions, Chen Sheng arranged for the Staff Member to distribute milk tea, while he followed Yi Wei into the set.

Yi Wei first took Chen Sheng on a brief tour of the set, and then arranged for him to sit behind the monitor—the place where the director stays.

Of course, Chen Sheng didn't steal the director's seat; the director simply contributed his own chair.

Sitting in the director's chair and watching the director command the set while filming—the feeling was indescribable.

During breaks in filming, Yi Wei didn't forget about his investor sitting nearby, chatting with Chen Sheng intermittently while directing.

As they chatted, the topic drifted to Chen Sheng's experience working as an extra for the past two days.

Upon learning that Chen Sheng had been an extra for two days, Yi Wei immediately seized the opportunity to invite him: "Mr. Chen, it just so happens that today, the Second Brother's blind date is coming over. I was just wondering where to find a suitable person for this role. Since you're interested, why don't you do us a favor and make a cameo appearance?"

"No, no, I can't just come here and steal someone's role; that wouldn't be appropriate," Chen Sheng said, waving his hands quickly. "Besides, I'm not a professional, and I haven't prepared anything. If I go up there rashly, wouldn't I be delaying your progress?"

Understanding the subtext, Yi Wei immediately said with an earnest expression: "Mr. Chen, I'm really not lying to you. The crew truly hasn't prepared anyone for this blind date role... This web drama has a small budget, so many less important roles are filled by the Staff Member in rotation. You can rest assured on that point."

Not waiting for Chen Sheng to refuse, Yi Wei waved over the makeup artist, "Xiaohua, put some makeup on Mr. Chen. He's playing the Second Brother's blind date. You need to pull out all the stops for this."

"Hey, this is a forced kidnapping! If I had known I'd be conscripted, I wouldn't have come to the set," Chen Sheng said with a laugh.

"Mr. Chen, look at what you're saying. Isn't this serving the production?"

After a bit of banter, Chen Sheng accepted the graceful exit Yi Wei offered and followed the makeup artist to the vanity, beginning the process of getting "made up."

Well, having been an extra with no lines and no screen time for two days, he was secretly quite interested in a role that, while only appearing once, had both screen time and lines—which, in a way, counted as a special guest role.

After finishing the makeup, the makeup artist Xiaohua took Chen Sheng to pick out a Lenin suit from the 60s or 70s, which is what they call a cadre suit.

Looking at himself in the mirror, wearing glasses, his hair slicked back with styling gel by Xiaohua, and a fountain pen tucked into his chest pocket, he had to admit, he really did look a bit like a cadre from that era.

Seeing that Chen Sheng was all set, Yi Wei immediately gave him a thumbs up and praised him: "Mr. Chen, if I may say so, with your looks, it's a real shame you aren't in the entertainment industry."

Although he knew Yi Wei was just flattering him, it still felt good to hear, so...

"Director Yi, I know what I look like, so don't flatter me. Let's make a deal first: if I don't act well later, you can't scold me. Also, please help arrange lunch; I'll treat the whole crew to a meal to thank everyone for taking care of this newcomer."

"That won't happen. Everyone should be thanking Mr. Chen for improving our meals." Yi Wei clapped his hands, and when everyone's attention was on him, he announced that Chen Sheng would be treating everyone to lunch. Immediately, the entire set erupted in cheers.

"Mr. Chen is generous!"

"Mr. Chen, I love you!"

"Mr. Chen is the GOAT!"

After the commotion settled, Chen Sheng and Yi Wei returned behind the monitor, and Yi Wei began to explain the scene to Chen Sheng.

The role Chen Sheng was playing was a blind date for the character "Second Brother"—a graduate of a technical secondary school from that era. In those days, graduating from such a school meant becoming a cadre. Because he held a cadre position, when he visited the Second Brother's family for the first time after their engagement was set, he naturally carried a sense of innate arrogance when facing a family of ordinary workers, showing his disdain, contempt, and scorn through his words and actions.

In the original timeline, the Second Brother married this person, but because of the massive gap in their social status, the Second Brother was not happy after marriage... No, to be more precise, he was treated like a beast of burden and was extremely unhappy, eventually even being kicked out of the house.

Consequently, without a family or income, the Second Brother, forced by reality and desperation, had no choice but to rely on his parents to survive.

Now that the mother-in-law has time-traveled back, she knows that the Second Brother's marriage to this person won't end well. To change the Second Brother's fate, the old lady acted as a wicked mother-in-law on the spot, breaking up the couple, mocking the character played by Chen Sheng, and driving him away, with him declaring before he left that it was completely over between him and the Second Brother.

With that, the Second Brother's fate was changed.

After listening to Yi Wei's explanation and looking at the dialogue in the script, Chen Sheng understood: "So the whole plot is just the villain acting out, and then getting slapped in the face, right?"

"You're not wrong to understand it that way. Mr. Chen, do you have any other questions? If not, get yourself ready, and once you're prepared, we'll start filming the scene directly."

"No other questions, it's just these lines..." Looking at the long paragraphs of dialogue, Chen Sheng felt his brain was about to explode.

He really didn't know how professional actors managed to memorize all of this.

However, it turned out he was overthinking it.

Yi Wei waved his hand dismissively, "Mr. Chen, the lines are a trivial matter. I'll arrange for a Staff Member to hold a cue card for you on the other side. You just need to read from it, and just pay a little attention to your tone."

"This..." Chen Sheng still felt a bit lacking in confidence.

Seeing this, Yi Wei slapped his thigh hard, "Mr. Chen, how about this? When it's your turn to speak, just say numbers. I'll arrange for a Staff Member to stand opposite you holding a cue card. Just look at the numbers on it and count accordingly. I'll find a voice actor in post-production..."

"That doesn't seem right." Chen Sheng never expected that one day he would enjoy the treatment rumored to be reserved for "little fresh meat" idols.

"I'm the director; if I say it's okay, it's okay."

Chen Sheng waved his hands repeatedly, "Forget it, I'll try to act properly first. If that doesn't work, we can talk about other options."

Ultimately, his sense of shame won out, and he couldn't bring himself to copy the "little fresh meat."

Since he had made up his mind, Chen Sheng seized the time to memorize his lines.

Half an hour passed quickly. As the Staff Member reported that the set was ready and the actors began to take their positions, Chen Sheng, feeling he had memorized most of his lines, stood nervously at his starting mark. He kept praying that he wouldn't get "cut" too many times; after all, he cared about his reputation... No, rather, as an investor, he was a person of standing.

Who would have thought that just as the script supervisor clapped the slate and shouted "Action," Yi Wei immediately shouted "Cut."

"Mr. Chen, pay attention to your expression. Although the character you are playing is visiting for the first time, he looks down on this family. You need to be arrogant; you need that kind of haughtiness where you look down on people through your nostrils."

Perhaps noticing Chen Sheng's confused look, Yi Wei quickly changed his explanation, "Mr. Chen, from the very beginning, keep your head slightly tilted up, and regardless of what you do, maintain that posture until the filming is finished."

After taking a few deep breaths, Chen Sheng made an "OK" gesture toward Yi Wei, "Director, I understand."

Soon, the script supervisor clapped the slate again. This time, Chen Sheng followed Yi Wei's instruction and tilted his head slightly upward, and then...

"Cut! Mr. Chen, you've walked out of the camera's frame."

"Huh?" What camera frame? What range? Chen Sheng looked confused.

Seeing this, Yi Wei immediately called the Staff Member over again and whispered a few words in his ear. The Staff Member quickly found a roll of colored tape and used it to mark arrows, circles, and squares on the floor.

After the Staff Member finished, Yi Wei walked over to Chen Sheng with a smile, pointed at the marks on the ground, and explained: "Mr. Chen, follow the arrows. When you reach the circle, it means it's time for you to speak your lines. When you pass the square, you need to stop for a moment, look around, and show some disdain on your face..."

Chen Sheng made an "OK" gesture to Yi Wei again, "Director Yi, there will definitely be no problems this time."

This time, there really were no problems.

Yi Wei had planned out how he should walk, marked where he should stop, and provided a cue card for when he should speak his lines. All Chen Sheng had to do was keep his head tilted up, look at the cue card out of the corner of his eye, and read them smoothly.

The only thing he needed to pay attention to was the tone of his speech—not to be too stiff or rigid... Uh, actually, even if it was stiff or rigid, it didn't matter; Yi Wei indicated that he had everything under control.