Chapter 26: Jintai’s Scenes

“Who changed my clothes last night?” Shen Jintai asked.

Wasn’t it Yan Qiuchi?

“You’re having wishful thoughts again?” Li Meilan said: “I didn’t know if there was vomit on your clothes, so I asked Xiao Tang to help me.”

Xiao Tang said: “I only took off your outer wear. I didn’t touch your underwear!” He was pretty shocked when he saw Shen Jintai’s ass while he was changing his clothes.

Shen Jintai said: “I will never drink alcohol again.”

“If you want to mix in this circle, it’s impossible to not drink. Just drink a little less in the future. How much did you drink that it got to be this bad? It’s been years since I’ve seen you like this.” Li Meilan threw the clothes she was carrying at him: “Hurry up and get dressed and get ready to go. The filming starts today. You need to get acquainted with the studio’s environment.”

Most scenes in <The East Palace is Coming> were filmed in a studio. The crew had built many palace buildings that Shen Jintai hasn’t seen yet.

Because of his hangover, Shen Jintai ate very little of his breakfast that Xiao Tang brought. He quickly changed his clothes and was about to leave when there was a knock at the door. Xiao Tang opened the door to see Gao Qiao with a cold face. A young man was behind him.

As soon as Shen Jintai saw the person behind him, his expression became dark.

“President Yan asked me to bring him over to apologize for last night.” Gao Qiao said.

Qian Jiashu entered the room. His face flushed: “I really didn’t do anything. I saw that he was drunk and wanted to help him.”

“Didn’t do anything? You need me to show you the surveillance footage again?” Gao Qiao sneered.

Qian Jiashu looked at Shen Jintai: “I’m sorry, I… I really didn’t want to do anything to you.”

Shen Jintai complexion looked a little haggard, but his eyes were sharp: “Are you a fan of mine?”

Qian Jiashu nodded. He truly was a big fan of Shen Jintai.

“Then I’m ashamed to have a fan like you.” Shen Jintai said: “You think I was born yesterday? What you intended to do, you think that I couldn’t tell?”

Qian Jiashu didn’t seem to have slept much all night. He had given up his sophistry. He lowered his head in embarrassment and said:, “Yes… I’m sorry.”

Shen Jintai: “If you like me, you can chase me. I may not like you back, but at least I’ll respect you. What you did was despicable. When a man does this, he considered a low-life.”

Qian Jiashu: “I just like you so much, I…”

“It’s a beautiful thing to like someone, so don’t defile that word.” Shen Jintai said: “I won’t hold you accountable. I hope I won’t see you again in the future.”

For a fan, there’s nothing more damaging to their self-esteem than an idol’s disgust. Qian Jiashu flushed with embarrassment as he glanced at Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao didn’t say anything so he quietly slipped away like a mouse.

“Can you thank President Yan for me?” Shen Jintai said to Gao Qiao.

“President Yan said that he would do the same for others.” Gao Qiao remained expressionless: “He didn’t cause any real harm yesterday and he’s also a public figure. If he makes a big noise, it will have a bad impact on him, so this matter can be considered settled. You won’t have to worry. President Yan has talked to him, and he will not step out of line in the future.”

Shen Jintai nodded.

Li Meilan and Xiao Tang were completely lost standing nearby. They had no idea what was going on. They were about grab Shen Jintai’s arm and ask when Gao Qiao, who was walking to the door, paused and turned around: “I have a few things I wanted to say myself, Mr. Shen*.”

*Gao Qiao when speaking to Shen Jintai refers to him as [shěn shēng] (沈生). I believe the sheng is a polite way to address him equivalent to “Mr.” in English but I’m not sure. If someone can provide clarity that’ll be great.

Shen Jintai: “Go ahead.”

Gao Qiao: “What you said just now was very good. It is a beautiful thing to like someone, but if the other party doesn’t return your feelings but you continue to stalk them, isn’t it like Qian Jiashu? Mr. Shen, you should also know how it feels to be such a low-life, right?”

This Gao Qiao was indeed the most loyal assistant of the protagonist. He wholeheartedly believes in Yan Qiuchi.

“Don’t worry. You can tell President Yan that he can also rest assure.” Shen Jintai knew that it was useless to say these words. His tarnished image had been deeply ingrained in everyone’s eyes and couldn’t easily be reversed: “A lot has happened these past few days. People can change, including myself.”

Gao Qiao had been with Yan Qiuchi for a long time. Overtime he had been infected with his temper. As his assistant, when Yan Qiuchi had to act restrained, he would play the role of a blackface*.

*Blackface (黑脸) = reference to Peking opera. It is the facial makeup of the drama character, which reflects the character of the actors playing the role. The person who draws the black face usually plays the character who’s brave and reckless or selfless. It also used to describe someone as harsh and unsympathetic. English equivalent would be the “bad cop” in good cop/bad cop. I’m not sure if it’s also related to “blackface” as Americans know it but it is extremely offensive, disrespectful, and racist. Don’t do it.

Gao Qiao: “President Yan’s coat.”

Shen Jintai was dumbfounded for a moment. He returned to his room, picked up Yan Qiuchi’s coat and handed it to Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao bowed, grabbed the coat, and walked out. His attitude was extremely arrogant.

Shen Jintai gave a small chuckle. When he turned around, he saw Li Meilan and Xiao Tang looking bewildered and speechless. He relayed to them what happened yesterday. Xiao Tang became furious: “How could such a thing happen?!”

“President Yan handled it very well.” Li Meilan said: “It’s not easy to get this kind of person to apologize* and it’ll only cause more trouble if it was publicized.”

*Clarity: she’s referring to Qian Jiashu.

“You can thank Yan Qiuchi for me.” Shen Jintai said: “I won’t thank him personally.”

Not showing up in front of Yan Qiuchi was the best thank you he can give him, right?

This feeling of uneasiness was really uncomfortable. He didn’t know how the previous Shen Jintai could be so happy*.

*Clarity: he’s saying that he has a bad feeling because Yan Quichi had always treated the old Shen Jintai coldly. Even when he saved him last night, he didn’t do it out of affection or care but simply because it was morally correct. The new Shen Jintai feels uneasy at this matter especially when he knows about how Yan Qiuchi feels about the old Shen Jintai. He couldn’t comprehend how Shen Jintai could be so happy previously chasing after such a person. (Technically he wasn’t since he did commit suicide).

He certainly couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to be entangled with Yan Qiuchi anymore. It was best just to treat him like a stranger.

—

“He told you that?” Yan Qiuchi asked Gao Qiao.

Gao Qiao nodded and said: “He was quite serious and doesn’t seem to be lying. He might not really like you anymore.” After finishing his sentence, he immediately regretted it, feeling that it was an inappropriate thing to say.

Fortunately, President Yan’s always had a dull personality and never looked too deeply at things. He rubbed his palms together and quickly said: “I have sent your coat to be washed.”

Yan Qiuchi originally planned to be onsite to supervise when the filming starts. Unfortunately his itinerary was booked and he had to go abroad. To replace him, he sent the company’s Vice-President instead.

“Go with Vice-President Zhang.” He told Gao Qiao: “If you have any questions, call me directly.” Gao Qiao had been his assistant for many years and have proven his capabilities. Now that his abilites have developed well, Yan Qiuchi intends to promote him by allowing him to acquire more experience in the field.

Gao Qiao nodded: “Yes.” He took Yan Qiuchi to the airport and went to visit the set with Vice-President Zhang.

<The East Palace is Coming> used the model of filming while broadcasting. The broadcast was set after a month of filming so the script had to be chronologically shot with only a few small adjustments. For example, the scene currently being film now was a rivalry scene between the male and female lead was suppose to appear in the second episode. In order to get a good rehearsal, the crew first film a clip of their first meeting.

The heroine, He Lanbi, followed her mother into the palace to visit her aunt, Empress Xiao played by Song Wei. Empress Xiao originally wanted to betroth her to her own son, Crown Prince Zhou Ying. However, during the process of entering the palace, the heroine fell in love with the male protagonist.

The male protagonist is Zhou Jing, the second prince, played by Bai Qingquan. He was the son of Concubine De, who died early. He was the least favored among the princes.

This scene only had one requirement. Beauty.

The peach blossoms were in full bloom as their flowers falls decorated the sky. The fans were blowing on the side creating a scene where He Lenbi’s skirt seemed like it was floating.  

Shen Jintai sat nearby, with a small electric fan blowing on his face. Li Meilan squatted down next to him and whispered: “So talented and beautiful.”

The scene was quite eye-catching. It was needless to describe Yang Lizhi’s beauty. After all she was a xiao hua dan*. She was dressed in a famous ancient costume. Bai Qingquan’s ancient costume was even more beautiful and noble. Despite having separate stylist, their hair and costume looked almost no different. The scene was very textured when looking at them.

*Xiao Hua dan = means xiao (little) + hua dan (actress). It refers to almost all young actresses, regardless of their popularity, reputation, and acting skills. Because of the varied standards, it’s divided into several lines representing their status and popularity in the industry. Specifically, the 1st line covers the most popular actresses and whatnot.

As soon as the director yelled “cut”, multiple people immediately surrounded Bai Qingquan and patted him with makeup and enthusiastically fanned him. He took a small mirror to look at his makeup and saw in the reflection Shen Jintai staring at him.

On such a hot day, he was dressed in a heavy costume while Shen Jintai wore a simple T-shirt, holding a small electric fan, looking just fine.

Bai Qingquan gave Shen Jintai a smile.

Shen Jintai immediately wave his hand, feeling the beating of his heart growing louder. He couldn’t help but think that the system was very friendly to him. He was served with a beautiful little fresh meat like Bai Qingquan. If he were to attack an ugly bastard, he would have to become extremely thick-skinned if he wanted to survive.

Shen Jintai had no scenes today. Although he didn’t have any scenes, he was still excited to watch the filming from the side. He likes filming. Just seeing the machine, equipment, and the artificial light made him feel excited like he was at the peak of a mountain.

After staying on the set for two hours, he went to the hotel arranged by the crew.

The hotel was located in a film and television city. The hotel conditions in film and television city are generally very limited. The living room itself was usually rudimentary. He was surprised when he opened his hotel room and found the suite that was arranged to him turned out to be large and luxurious. It seems the crew attached great importance to him, which made him very satisfied.

“Are all the rooms this good? Qingquan’s and Yang Lizhi’s room must be just as luxurious. The outside of the hotel looked ordinary, so I didn’t expect that it would be this fancy inside.” Li Meilan said. The hotel had many rooms so she and Xiao Tang could stay in them if they had nothing to do.  

Shen Jintai opened the door to the balcony and stood outside. He made a sweeping view of the film and television city, which made him feel refreshed. This is where he’ll continue to struggle in the future.

Before heading home to pick up his luggage, he asked Xiao Tang to buy cold drinks and deliver them to the set. When the car pulled out of the gate, he saw a group of little girls standing on the side of the road. It looksed like they were fans who came to squat*.

*Squat (蹲守) = means to hide somewhere waiting for the suspect to appear. Want to provide clarity as squatting can mean different things in English.

He asked Xiao Tang to stop the car, rolled down the window, and asked, “Who are you waiting for?”

The group of little girls looked at him aghast, like they had seen a ghost. “We’re fans of Bai Qingquan.” A fat girl from the group said with some contempt.

Moonlight powder. No wonder why they were so hostile.

The sun was blazing outside. There wasn’t a single spot of cool shade anywhere. Even having an umbrella would’ve been useless. The little girl’s face was flushed from the heat, her forehead was drenched in sweat.

“He won’t be out until night.” Shen Jintai said: “You’ll be waiting here for ages.”

The little girls’ expressions were subtle. The leader was the most hostile, while the others looked at him shyly. Shen Jintai smiled and asked Xiao Tang to give them a box of cold drinks: “Qingquan knows that you guys are waiting for him out here, but his workload is full today, so he has no time to come out. He asked me to bring these to you guys. You guys have worked hard.”

The girls were reluctant to accept the drinks at first but when they heard that it was from Bai Qingquan’s request, they immediately cheered. They held the cold drinks with adoration since it was from the love of their brother!

Xiao Tang said: “Why are you trying to be good person for Bai Qingquan? Look at their attitude towards you.”

“It’s not easy for little girls to chase stars.” Shen Jintai said: “I don’t know when I’ll have fans squatting for me.”

“The gold powders are discussing it. They said that when the crew opens up the set for visits, they will definitely come.” Xiao Tang said.

Shen Jintai: “Then should I prepare gifts for them?”

“They will bring you gifts.” Xiao Tang said: “But if you also prepare gifts for them, they will definitely be happy.”

“Then help prepare them gifts. It doesn’t need to be expensive. It’s a matter of heart.” Li Meilan said: “After all, this is your first gig of your comeback. It will look more sincere if you do it. Let Xiao Tang help you with this.”

“I’d better prepare myself.” Shen Jintai said: “I’ll think about it these coming days.”

He looked at the announcement form from the crew. The first open set visit would be a week later. There’ll be a banquet with all the ensemble cast, including the leads.

Since he’ll be officially joining the crew tomorrow, Shen Jintai went to bed early when he returned home. He woke up the next day radiantly. As he was about to set off, he ran into Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan who were waiting for him downstairs.

Mrs. Yan: “Let’s go*.”

*Original translation was just [ba] (吧) which can mean a variety of things depending on context and how it’s used. I believe in this case she’s suggesting to go with him.

“What’s going on?” Shen Jintai said as he was holding his suitcase.

Mrs. Yan: “This is a gift. This is the first time I’ve been to a film set. I’m coming to cheer you on.”

Shen Jintai: “Our crew hasn’t opened up for visitors yet.”

“I’m Yan Qiuchi’s mother. Do they dare not let me in?” Mrs. Yan said: “Come now. I’m just sending some warmth for the crew.”

Mrs. Yan made a big deal when she visited. Truckloads of gifts were delivered to the set. Shen Jintai was speechless.

Producer Zhang* and Director Guo ran out to greet Mrs. Yan. The staff carried the gifts down box by box. Mrs. Yan took Shen Jintai’s arm and told the crew: “Take care of him.”

*I’m not sure if this is the same person as Vice-President Zhang that Yan Qiuchi sent to supervise to crew. The author never specified but their name spelling is the same (but one was referred to as Vice-President while in this case he was referred to as producer).

Everyone in the crew knew how entangled Shen Jintai was with Yan Qiuchi and that their relationship was severely poor. They didn’t expect that his relationship with Mrs. Yan to be this good.

Was this some roundabout tactics? Take down the mother-in-law first to get to the son?

“Who’s that?” Yang Lizhi, who was wearing only a thin layer, asked while a little fan was blowing on her.

Bai Qingquan glared coldly in their direction: “President Yan’s mother.”

“She’s Fang Fengmei!” Yang Lizhi immediately sat up straight. Fang Fengmei was a real lady*. Her temperament was unparalleled.

*Clarity: real lady/real celebrity (真正的名媛) = what this is referring to is that she is known far and wide and has very high prestige whether it’s through her elite status, abilities, skill she possesses, or other things. It does not necessarily have to be related to the entertainment circle. Basically, her fame precedes her.   

It’s no wonder President Yan was so handsome. It turns out that his mother was this beautiful.

When Mrs. Yan came, rumors started flying around in the entire crew. The biggest gay scandal of the century: the dog-blooded drama between a top idol and an iceberg prince at the 8’oclock file*. However, it turned out that they only knew half the rumors of the prince being unmoved by the idol’s affection. The other half, unexpectedly, was that Shen Jintai had already conquered the mother!

*8’oclock file = television term refers to shows broadcasted from 8:00 – 9:00 PM Mondays – Fridays.

When Shen Jintai went for makeup, Mrs. Yan who was accompanied by Producer Zhang, walked around the set. She asked Producer Zhang: “Which one is Bai Qingquan?” She had seen Bai Qingquan’s videos and photos before, but she couldn’t remember what he had look like.

Director Zhang pointed to him: “The one sitting on the chair.”

Mrs. Yan looked at him coldly. His small appearance was very attractive. However, it may not be good for a man to be too beautiful. After all, this green tea bitch’s appearance was what had blinded everyone. Mrs. Yan thought Shen Jintai was cuter and more pleasing to the eye.

My own children were always cuter.

—

“Your lip color is so beautiful.” The makeup artist said to Shen Jintai: “You don’t need to apply lipstick.”

Shen Jintai eats makeup. His originally facial features were dull and lifeless, however, adding some makeup on improved his complexion by a few degrees. After he finished applying on makeup, the makeup artist helped Shen Jintai put on his costume. After adjustment, Shen Jintai looked like a handsome young man in ancient times.

Group dramas* are the most difficult to shoot, especially for big scenes like today. Almost half of the leading actors were on set, waiting for their scene to be shot. The wait can last a long time.

*Group drama (群戏) – in English is known as ensemble cast. The leading actors in the scenes are arranged roughly in equal manner. Also known as the lead or regular role. This method of selection is especially popular in TV dramas because it allows flexible use and allows writers to focus on different roles in different events. In addition, under this premise, the damage to the story caused by an actor’s departure is lower than that of the big-name star from a fixed lineup.

Shen Jintai was not idle. He was Bai Qingquan’s personal eunuch. He stood behind Bai Qingquan serving him. Mrs. Yan, who since childhood had never been stained with spring water*, looked at him and felt distressed to death.

*Never been stained with spring water (没沾过阳春水) = it’s a reference to ten fingers don’t touch the spring water (十指不沾阳春水). It’s a saying referring to having good family conditions and being so pampered that you don’t need to wash your own clothes or do your own housework. It usually refers to a spoiled and pampered person, and usually refers to a woman from a wealthy family.

This filming really isn’t suitable as a human job.

She felt so wronged for Shen Jintai. Not only for the role he’s playing but what was worse was he was paired with that little demon Bai Qingquan. However, she also felt relieved. Shen Jintai used to have a very bad temper. Now that his family is going through tough times, he had matured greatly and can bear hardships. Not once did he complain while acting his scene.

In this first scene, Shen Jintai had no lines. He was still excited. He was born with a desire to perform and had an unusual love for acting. Once he adorned a costume, he could completely forget himself. He, currently, was a little eunuch in all his heart and soul. 

Although he had no lines, he still had close-ups shots. According to the script, this was the second time he had taken the initiative to provoke Crown Prince Zhou Ying. At the banquet, he secretly raised his eyebrows and looked cautiously and ambiguously at the prince who was sitting opposite of him.

Mrs. Yan and Yan Yaoxuan were nearby watching the filming. It was a bit messy, and the lighting wasn’t bright. When they looked behind the director’s monitor, they couldn’t describe their feeling of amazement.

On the screen was another world of light and shadow. After polishing and toning, every frame of the picture became beautifully transparent and mesmerizing. Shen Jintai had thrown a glance at the prince, then lowered his head slightly. The prince’s face in the screen gradually blurred, and the shot adjusted to filming Shen Jintai’s face. It slowly zoomed in to his drooping eyelashes and to the corner of his lips that held a fleeting smile.  

Mrs. Yan was astonished. She thought she knew Shen Jintai, but this person looked completely unfamiliar.

“The eyes are quite nice.” Guo Rui couldn’t help but say.

Yan Yaoxuan felt that his heart was beating uncontrollably. He licked his lips as he watched Shen Jintai’s sliding Adam’s apple, the snowy lining, and the cyan robe all bathe under the jade-color light.

—

Yan Qiuchi woke up from his sleep with sweat on his forehead. He actually dreamed of Shen Jintai.

The dream was still vivid in his mind. His heartbeat was pounding violently, and his body was soaked in sweat. He put his hands on his chest. He felt a lingering feeling of the dream between his fingers and abdomen. His palms were wet.

The author has something to say:

I would like to take this scene shot of Shen Jintai for the first trailer.

Wait for online reviews.

A lot of things have happened recently, and everyone has changed, and so have I. This sentence is also applicable for chasing wives in the crematorium.