Chapter 33

After the shoot, Ye Ming didn’t rush to remove his makeup. He still had scenes to shoot in the evening, so he just sat in the makeup trailer to rest. He didn’t know how late they would be shooting, so taking a break was relatively important.

There’s a saying in the industry: those who know how to rest aren’t necessarily good actors, but good actors definitely know how to rest.

The body is the capital of the revolution.

He had just sat down and hadn’t even had time to take a sip of water when Lin Xinru and Zhao Wei walked over, chattering.

Zhao Wei said bluntly, "Xinru, is it out of power, so it won’t turn on?"

Lin Xinru, quite anxious, said, "I clearly charged it yesterday, it shouldn’t be out of power. But it just won’t turn on, it’s strange."

As an enthusiast of electronic products, Lin Xinru was very fond of such small gadgets.

Just as she entered the makeup trailer, Ye Ming, lying half-dead on the seat, asked, "What won’t turn on?"

At this moment, Lin Xinru was startled to find Ye Ming in the trailer. She shook the small gadget in her hand and said, "I’m talking about my Sony MD. It’s the latest model I bought when I went to America, not even available in Taiwan or the mainland. Unfortunately, it broke after just three days of use. I don’t know what’s wrong with it."

The Sony MD was a pretty good music player.

Ye Ming suddenly perked up. He had played with many of these before, so he was very familiar with them.

He reached out and said, "Give it to me, I’ll take a look."

Lin Xinru hesitated and said, "Can you really fix it? I’ve never heard you say you can fix the latest Sony MD."

Despite her words, she still handed over the Sony MD.

Ye Ming took it without hesitation and said, "You’re kidding, saying I can’t fix it. I’ve been playing with this thing for years. Did it suddenly stop playing while you were listening?"

Lin Xinru nodded.

Ye Ming confidently said, "Three minutes, I’ll fix it for you when I come back."

Today, Ye Ming had some diarrhea, possibly from eating something spoiled at lunch. He had noticed the taste was a bit off.

After Ye Ming left, Lin Xinru curiously asked, "Yan, have you ever heard Ye Ming say he can fix this thing?"

Zhao Wei shrugged and closed her eyes, indicating she had never heard of it.

The two ladies almost fell asleep at the same time.

At the restroom, Ye Ming gave the Sony MD a hard slap, and instantly, the display showed everything was back to normal.

If it wasn’t out of power and suddenly stopped playing, it was a contact issue, and a slap would fix it.

At this moment, a familiar voice came from outside. Liu Jiajun said proudly, "Han Fei, don’t worry, there won’t be any problems. Moreover, I found someone, a friend of Ye Ming’s. This way, we can deal with Ye Ming. I’ve been annoyed by him for a long time, daring to snatch my son’s role, he doesn’t know what ‘death’ means.

Don’t worry, the guy selling the box meals definitely knows Ye Ming. This kid was just a background actor before, and he got lucky to become the lead. This time, he won’t be able to explain himself. I’ll make him pack his things and leave.

Don’t worry, it won’t kill anyone, just some leftovers. When the extras start complaining, and the director investigates, Ye Ming will be the one in trouble, not you. Don’t worry, everything is under control."

Ye Ming was shocked. Liu Jiajun was really a despicable person, actually plotting against him like this. No wonder he felt something was off at lunch.

This guy was definitely asking for it.

If you’re not nice, don’t blame me for being ruthless.

The staff member distributing the box meals was a minor role in the production. He was busy tidying up, preparing to distribute the next batch of meals to the extras.

This was a rule in the production. If the work wasn’t finished by mealtime, the production had to provide food. From Zhang Yimou to unknown grassroots directors, it was the same. As for the quality of the box meals, that was another story.

Mimi angrily brought the box meals over and threw them at the staff member, covering him in rice and soup, making him look very disheveled.

Mimi, still not satisfied, put her hands on her hips and said, "What kind of attitude is this from your production? Are you feeding pigs? How can you treat actors like this?"

At this moment, Chen Zhipeng stood there with a dark face, saying nothing.

Chao Guoli was busy arranging the evening shoot. Hearing the commotion, she hurried over.

At this time, Ye Ming and a few other actors were discussing the evening shoot with the director, discussing the best camera angles and movements. Su Youpeng, noticing Chen Zhipeng in the distance, quickly walked over.

Chao Guoli rushed over and said, "If there’s something to say, say it. Mimi, what’s going on? Is it worth throwing the box meals at the staff?"

This was what Chao Guoli was most upset about—acting like a diva?

Just as Liu Hanmin had left, was Chen Zhipeng going to be the same?

Mimi angrily took out two box meals and said, "Director Chao, you came just in time. I was about to look for you. What’s this all about? This is what you’re giving Zhipeng to eat? Even though he’s a supporting actor, the difference in treatment is too much. We’re here to help, after all."

Seeing the two box meals, Chao Guoli immediately realized something was wrong.

Anyone could see the difference between the two box meals.

Chao Guoli was determined to resolve the issue and said, "Daming, what’s going on? Why are the box meals different?"

Daming, the staff member covered in food, said with a grievance, "I don’t know either. The production ordered the box meals, and I’m just responsible for distributing the meals to the supporting actors and staff. The lead actors’ meals are not my responsibility. They all ate fine and didn’t complain."

Mimi immediately glared and said, "Are you saying we’re making a fuss over nothing?"

Chen Zhipeng suddenly held his head and said, "Director Chao, I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well. I can’t shoot today."

This was Chen Zhipeng’s protest. Even though he was a supporting actor, the difference in the box meals was obvious.

Chao Guoli watched Chen Zhipeng walk away and immediately shouted, "Liu Yuebing, come here."

Liu Yuebing was busy, but hearing Chao Guoli call him, he immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over.

Chao Guoli pointed at Daming’s box meals and said, "These are the box meals you ordered? Why is there such a big difference? Are you helping the production or destroying it? Liu Yuebing, you better pray this gets resolved today, or the director will fire you."

Just as Chao Guoli was scolding Liu Yuebing, the extras started arguing, seemingly about to get physical.

A few extras had already started smashing things.

Before Chao Guoli could run over, more than twenty extras had dispersed, leaving only the head extra standing there helplessly.

Seeing the scattered box meals, Chao Guoli glared at the head extra and said, "Old Xue, tell me what’s going on. The production hasn’t shortchanged you. Why are you doing this to me? How can I shoot the next scene?"

The evening scene required more than twenty extras, but they had all left. What was she supposed to do now?

Finding twenty more extras on short notice was impossible.

Old Xue regained his composure, looked at the scattered box meals, and said, "Director Chao, this isn’t my fault. The production hasn’t shortchanged us, but you can’t treat us like this. We’re human too. Look at these box meals. The rice is barely two ounces, just a handful. The vegetables are just stir-fried cabbage, costing less than a dollar. I wouldn’t eat this even if I went to a restaurant. I’m not saying whether it’s good or bad, but we’re here to make money. At the very least, you should make sure we’re full. A few actors complained about the portion sizes and had a conflict with the staff. Plus, the box meals at lunch might have been bad, causing some extras to have diarrhea. Their tempers were bad, so they started arguing. I tried to calm them down, but it was no use. I can’t do anything about it."

The situation was out of control, and the evening shoot was canceled.

Back at the base, the director’s face was dark, and the meeting room was tense.

Only Chen Zhipeng, claiming he was sick, didn’t come.

Top-tier stars have their own airs. Sun Shupeng didn’t immediately address the issue. Having more than twenty extras walk out was almost impossible, and the root cause was the box meals.

Sun Shupeng didn’t plan to let this go.

He Xiuqiong had just returned from Taiwan with the sample reels, and this incident was a slap in the face for Sun Shupeng.

Almost all the production members were in the meeting room. Liu Yuebing stood trembling in front of Sun Shupeng, too scared to speak. He never expected things to get this bad.

Liu Jiajun, on the other hand, was watching with a smug look, eager to see how the director would handle the situation.