Chapter 92

Daytime overtime, coming home to write a bit and falling asleep, waking up at half past eleven, groggy and turning off the computer, only then remembering that Saturday's update was missed. Only now have I finished writing, as I've been very busy lately, please don't blame me. I'll try to update twice on Sunday!

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Su Zhixie called the assistant over. The assistant, seeing Li Zhong in front of Su Zhixie, started to explain without being asked that the gift was not bought by him but by a department head from yesterday's event. Therefore, he did not know what was inside.

Li Zhong and Su Zhixie looked at each other, puzzled. What was going on? Even to curry favor with Su Zhixie, it wasn't necessary to go to such great lengths, especially since Su Zhixie had only recently signed with them and still had a long endorsement period ahead. No matter how hard Li Zhong and the others tried, they couldn't figure out why.

Only one person knew the truth, and it was a bloody one. The time turned to yesterday afternoon. After the department head took on this task, he went to his brand's store and picked out a women's handbag worth 1.5 million Korean won, the latest model. Su Zhixie was endorsing a new luxury brand from Korea, which focused on trends and fashion, so they specially invited Su Zhixie and Yoon Eun-hye to be the brand's spokespersons.

When he was about to deliver the gift to Su Zhixie, he remembered the expensive luxury item in his handbag, which was a birthday gift for his mistress. He was thinking about whether to wrap it up in a couple of days and surprise his mistress. Suddenly, he saw someone he shouldn't have seen—his wife.

It turned out that this morning, he had just picked up a limited-edition Versace watch from this mall, which he had ordered a long time ago. When he was picking up the watch, a friend of his wife saw him and called his wife, saying enviously, "Your husband is really good to you, buying you a luxury item, a sea-blue watch, and it's Versace."

At first, his wife listened sweetly, but the more she listened, the more she felt something was wrong. First, all their holidays were over, including their wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day, and her birthday was still months away. Second, she liked luxury items, but she preferred Hermes, not Versace. She always felt that Versace wasn't grand enough, and her husband knew this. So, she came to question him as soon as she had a break at noon.

The department head, being a smart person, immediately turned around and then turned back, pretending to be calm as his wife approached, "Why are you here at noon, honey?"

"Didn't I hear that you bought me a gift? I came to see what you bought," his wife said, maintaining her composure and not losing her temper on the spot.

The department head laughed, "Why would I buy a gift when there's no holiday? Besides, didn't I just buy you a new Hermes handbag for Valentine's Day last month?"

"But what did you pick up from Versace? If it's not for me, who is it for?" The woman was getting angry.

"Oh, you mean that? It's something I picked up for someone else. I have to deliver it later. Don't believe me? You can come with me later." He took out a small gift box from his briefcase and shook it.

His wife's eyes followed the gift box, and she calmed down, "Sure, when are you going to deliver it?" She thought, "Let's see how long you can keep up this act."

The department head went straight to the backstage of Su Zhixie's meet-and-greet and handed the gift box to Su Zhixie's assistant in front of his wife. At this point, the ribbon on the gift box was still crooked.

"This is a gift for Su Zhixie, for a female friend of his. This is Su Zhixie's assistant," the department head explained to his wife.

At this moment, no one except the unfortunate department head knew that the gift box contained a limited-edition Versace watch worth 10 million Korean won.

"By the way, Brother Zhixie, we've changed the female lead. Don't worry about the chemistry between you two!" Li Zhong suddenly remembered something and smiled happily.

Su Zhixie was a bit confused, "Changed the female lead? Wasn't the previous one good? Why change?"

"Don't worry, we just think this one is better and will match you well. There will also be some interesting elements in the future," Li Zhong thought it was getting more and more interesting.

"Who is it?" Su Zhixie felt something was off. There shouldn't be anything inappropriate in the script, but he forgot that Li Zhong was not only the lead actor but also the assistant director and a co-writer.

Li Yanxi's appearance genuinely surprised Su Zhixie. He couldn't understand why S&M Entertainment would let her play such an obvious flower vase role.

Only Li Zhong vaguely sensed something. This was Jin Young-min testing the waters. He had missed out on a big hit movie last time, and this time he wanted to try, even though it wasn't his own movie. Zhang Xun was also a good choice, with Kim Ki-duk backing him, a small investment, and Li Zhong as the lead actor.

If possible, S&M Entertainment wasn't without the financial means to invest in a movie, and things could be different then.

Li Yanxi, being a carefully cultivated actress by S&M Entertainment, had no amateurishness in her acting. She matched Su Zhixie very smoothly, so smoothly that Li Zhong felt she was naturally suited for this path. Even though she still lacked some polish in her scenes with Li Zhong, she was still a rare actress. Unfortunately, the female lead in this movie was ultimately just a flower vase.

Thus, another ten days passed in a flurry of activity. Li Zhong was trying every trick to avoid shooting Zhang Xun's scenes, finding excuses to shoot fewer of his scenes. His excuse was that they could finish all his scenes at once later, and now he needed to focus on being the assistant director and directing the scenes, essentially to learn from Zhang Xun.

On the third day of shooting, Kim Ki-duk arrived on set. This director, who was extremely strict about the camera and the visuals, personally guided Zhang Xun on how to achieve satisfactory shots and how to use shooting techniques to cover up inherent flaws. These were exactly what Li Zhong lacked, so he started to learn from Zhang Xun shamelessly. If not for a phone call, Li Zhong wouldn't have started shooting.

It was the 24th, and Li Zhong was still trying to shoot Su Zhixie's scenes, which made Zhang Xun angry, "His solo scenes and scenes with others are almost done, only the scenes with you are left. Why aren't you on set? What are you waiting for? Teacher Kim Ki-duk has been gone for days, and you're still hanging around me."

"Um... I just wanted to see how you practice, and I can't handle the camera," Li Zhong said, feeling wronged.

Just as Zhang Xun was about to scold him, Li Zhong's phone rang, "Hello, this is Li Zhong..."

Zhang Xun saw Li Zhixie answering the phone and held back his words. After Li Zhong finished the call, Zhang Xun urged him to start shooting. Zhang Xun noticed Li Zhong's face changing, but overall, it was good, suggesting something good had happened.

After Li Zhong hung up, Zhang Xun asked, "What's up? You look really happy!"

"I am, really happy. I've been nominated," Li Zhong was also surprised.

"Nominated? For what?"

"Yep, the 44th Baeksang Arts Awards, and not just one, but six nominations." Li Zhong was still in a daze. The call was from the Baeksang Arts Awards committee, informing him that the movie "The Chaser" had received six nominations...

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