Crossover Actors - Chapter 2
Lu Wen looked at Sun Xiaojian, silently asking with his eyes: Who is Director Liu?
Sun Xiaojian quickly sifted through the personnel information in his mind. There were many surnamed Liu, but only one could be called “Director.” He was taken aback and leaned close to Lu Wen’s ear, whispering, “It seems the production director is surnamed Liu.”
“No way?” Lu Wen widened his eyes. “The production director personally came to pick me up?”
They were murmuring to each other with their heads down and didn’t notice someone approaching the car door. When the door was pulled open again, Lu Wen and Sun Xiaojian both looked up.
Director Liu appeared at the doorway, his refined Armani suit unable to hide his beer belly, and his gold-rimmed glasses failing to conceal his surprise. He stood there momentarily stunned, blocking the view between inside and outside the car.
The driver broke the awkward silence first. “Director Liu, you see…”
Quick on his feet, Sun Xiaojian shifted from his seat and extended both hands. “Director Liu, hello, hello! Didn’t expect you to come in person.”
Director Liu lightly shook his hand but kept his gaze on Lu Wen, as if trying hard to recall who he was. Sun Xiaojian quickly interjected, “This is our artist, Lu Wen. We’re joining the production team today. We just got off the plane.”
Director Liu suddenly realized and nodded, “Ah, Lu Xiao.”
“Director Liu, hello,” Lu Wen spoke up.
Director Liu asked, “Did you contact the production team? Who was responsible for coordinating?”
“It was Xiao Zhang,” Sun Xiaojian said. “Xiao Zhang seemed quite busy, so when we saw the production team’s car parked here, we came up by ourselves.”
Director Liu took out his phone and dialed a number while saying, “Xiao Zhang is known for being impatient and often makes mistakes. Please wait a moment; let me contact him and ask.”
Lu Wen tightened his grip on the bottle of Paris water, feeling a sense of foreboding.
Director Liu scolded a few words into the phone, furrowing his brow. After hanging up, he said, “Lu Xiao, I’ve checked with Xiao Zhang. The car supposed to pick you up should be another one.”
“What?” Lu Wen exclaimed.
“We’ve had a concentration of actors joining the set these past few days, causing some delays in car arrangements,” Director Liu explained. “I’ve reprimanded Xiao Zhang. When you arrive at the set, I’ll have him apologize to you properly.”
Lu Wen was a bit bewildered. “So what do we do now?”
Director Liu smiled gently and replied tactfully, “Let’s head to the set together then.”
Lu Wen’s wheat-colored face flushed suddenly. He felt the seat beneath him had turned hot, drank half a bottle of Paris water, and fidgeted with the Shu embroidery pillow in his arms. Wasn’t this car meant for him?
It was like Cinderella had finished dressing up, put on her glass slippers, but the pumpkin carriage refused to take her.
This was the first time Sun Xiaojian encountered such a situation in his career, fearing that his reputation would be tarnished if word got out. He gritted his teeth and pleaded, “There are empty seats available. Could you consider letting us ride together?”
“I’m afraid that’s not convenient,” Director Liu said. “Please understand.”
Already having lost all face, further conversation would only add insult to injury. Lu Wen’s head buzzed. He suddenly stood up from his seat, strode out of the car with long strides.
At that moment, Director Liu stepped aside, revealing Qu Yanting who had been standing behind him all along.
Lu Wen happened to step in front of Qu Yanting, lowering his head to gaze at the person who was truly picked up by the Porsche and the production director. However, Qu Yanting’s sunglasses covered most of his face, and Lu Wen could only see his own reflection in the lenses.
Awkward, disappointed, displeased.
Just seconds ago, Qu Yanting climbed into the car, taking the seat Lu Wen had just warmed up.
The driver unloaded several suitcases and loaded Qu Yanting’s luggage. Lu Wen and Sun Xiaojian stood side by side, watching as the car door closed, the engine started, and the Porsche was about to leave them behind.
In the nick of time, Lu Wen rushed forward and forcefully tapped on the car door.
Qu Yanting, already low on patience before getting into the car, lowered the window slightly and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Lu Wen raised the pillow in his arms. “I forgot to leave this behind just now.”
Qu Yanting said indifferently, “Keep it as a souvenir.”
Before Lu Wen could react, Qu Yanting had already closed the window. The Porsche gradually drove away from the airport, leaving behind a trail of exhaust fumes.
Sun Xiaojian raised his phone. “I’ve received the car’s license plate number.”
Previously neglected was one thing, but now, even as the male lead, Lu Wen was still being neglected. He sighed, “That was quick. Must’ve been sent using Internet Explorer.”
Sun Xiaojian chuckled, “Let’s cut them some slack for now. Wait here, I’ll go find the car.”
Ten minutes later, Lu Wen finally sat in his own chauffeured car, wondering who had ridden in it before him. The compartment carried a lingering scent of perfume that wouldn’t dissipate. He leaned on his elbow, admiring the passing scenery outside the window, reflecting on how Chongqing’s numerous slopes seemed to have prepared him for the ups and downs he was about to experience.
Lu Wen couldn’t help but sing a lyric, “Drifting in the sea of people, dreaming endlessly…”
He naturally had a deep voice, and his singing sounded like a vibrating phone due to its mellifluousness. Sun Xiaojian teased, “You’re at it again. Remember, you’re an actor now.”
Ignoring Sun Xiaojian, Lu Wen continued singing, “Deep love lasts forever, floating above all worldly matters…”
The car navigated through numerous twists and turns, arriving at an old street district after more than two hours. Along the way were old trees and residential buildings. Ahead, several chauffeured cars were parked in what seemed to be a temporary lot rented by the production crew.
“Are we here?” Lu Wen asked, not seeing anyone around.
The driver replied coolly, “Follow me.”
Lu Wen and Sun Xiaojian followed the driver through a narrow alley that opened up suddenly, almost like refreshing a webpage, revealing another old street district and several residential buildings.
They had arrived at the production crew’s location.
The scene before them closely matched the script’s description—
The old street with cracked and stained pavement, a “No Entry” sign lying on the sidewalk, rusted and forgotten from years past. Passersby paid it no attention, while a stray cat lay comfortably underneath, seemingly enjoying life more than those in first class.
Crowded along the street were various shops: small supermarkets, barber shops, a photo studio that also handled printing, and two snack shops that had been competing for over a decade.
Across the street, the housing estate looked quite aged, lacking gates and security guards, with residents coming and going freely. There were only two buildings in the estate, their walls extensively peeled off paint and covered in small ads. With seven floors each, some balconies were left open, displaying drying underwear and sausages side by side.
The balcony on the third floor was the cleanest, lined with potted plants and two pairs of neatly brushed sneakers. One window was missing a piece of glass, patched up with a math exam paper that had a prominent “39 points” written on it.
Looking up, Lu Wen knew that was his “home.”
Adjacent to the housing estate was an abandoned primary school, separated by the playground’s fence. For convenience, several bars had been removed from the fence, allowing elderly men and women to enter the playground for evening walks and dances.
Deep inside the estate was a pergola covered in grapevines, its dense foliage forming a shady pavilion. Over the years, whenever someone moved out, they would leave behind some furniture. Gradually, a round table and four chairs were assembled beneath the structure.
People gathered under the grapevine to play mahjong all day, paying two yuan for table fees since the grapevine was maintained by someone in the community.
Lu Wen felt a bit spaced out, seeing everything described in the script come to life before him as if the fictional world had become real.
Sun Xiaojian remarked beside him, “This is too realistic. Is it real or just a set?”
With that comment, Lu Wen snapped back to reality, realizing they were on a production set surrounded by over two hundred people moving in and out, each from different departments.
With filming about to begin, every group was hustling to set up, including over forty rooms and countless small scenes. From furniture to a broken ballpoint pen wrapped in tape, the art director’s checklist had a total of six thousand three hundred items needing verification.
In reality, the crew had been rooted in Chongqing for a month and a half already, and apart from the preparations, they had already begun shooting the empty shots of the film.
A lean young man ran out of a single unit, with a stack of forms under his armpit, and saw Lu Wen quickly and applied the brake. He rushed over and said, “Our male protagonist is here. I’ll quickly make amends.”
Sun Xiaojian guessed, “Xiao Zhang?”
“Here I am,” Xiao Zhang bowed ninety degrees to Lu Wen. “I’m really sorry, it’s been chaotic today. After dispatching the cars, I had to tally up the props. My apologies.”
Lu Wen was known for his easygoing temperament, often described as “carefree.” He waved it off nonchalantly, “No worries.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Xiao Zhang said, pulling out a form. “Mr. Lu, please sign in first, and then I’ll show you around.”
Sun Xiaojian asked, “Is Director Ren here? We’d like to greet him first.”
Xiao Zhang replied, “Director Ren is out shooting on location. He said everyone should meet up tomorrow together, so there’s no need to wait specifically for him.”
Avoiding the most annoying “pretend to be a grandson” ritual, Lu Wen signed in and then familiarized himself with the production environment with Sun Xiaojian. The scheduling room, storage, and makeup rooms were all concentrated in a single unit.
Unit 101 was a two-bedroom suite cleaned up and decorated for the director’s use as a rest area. However, the director was so busy that he hardly had time to rest.
Outside the rear gate of the housing estate was an open space filled with standardized large trailers. They found the one with Lu Wen’s name on it. Xiao Zhang said, “Actors rest in these trailers. If you need anything like supplies or food, just inform the assistant director.”
Sun Xiaojian asked, “After work, do we have to walk through the alley to get to the chauffeured car?”
“Yes, the area is small, so the chauffeured cars have to park on the adjacent street,” Xiao Zhang replied.
Sun Xiaojian hinted, “Everyone takes chauffeured cars?”
“It’s the same for everyone,” Xiao Zhang said. “Mr. Lu, as the male lead, I’ve arranged a new car specifically for you. However, with actors coming in these days, we even had to pick up the leading actress at noon.”
Sun Xiaojian, with a mischievous thought, said, “I think there’s also a Porsche.”
“We do have a Porsche, which belongs to Director Ren personally. I don’t have the authority to arrange that,” Xiao Zhang recalled. “Oh, by the way, why did Director Liu call me when you were waiting for the car at the airport?”
Sun Xiaojian explained, “We met Director Liu at the airport.”
Muttering to himself, Xiao Zhang said, “What’s Director Liu doing at the airport?”
Lu Wen and Sun Xiaojian exchanged a glance. Using Director Ren’s car, Director Liu’s driving, and even the production assistant not knowing who was involved, if that person was well-known, they should have had fans picking them up. If they were a big shot, they should have been recognizable.
According to the industry’s unwritten rules, such treatment for an unknown figure was likely due to connections.
Xiao Zhang had other matters to attend to. “If you have any questions, feel free to find me. Otherwise, Mr. Lu, please return to the hotel and rest early. If I may ask, are you staying at the hotel arranged by the crew, or have you made your own arrangements?”
The crew usually arranged accommodation, but actors often couldn’t stand the loneliness and went out for dates or other activities. To avoid large-scale vacant rooms, the production assistants usually asked in advance.
Lu Wen replied, “I’ve made my own arrangements.”
As long as it didn’t affect his performance, he preferred staying outside because as a bottom-tier actor, he had to greet actors from tier one to seventeen in the corridor, which was annoying. Plus, his company had a partnership with a fixed hotel, where a suite was always reserved for him.
His phone buzzed, and it happened to be a message from the hotel.
It inquired whether he needed car service, preferred private dining options, or had booked activities like swimming, movies, or spa treatments, with dedicated personnel ready to assist.
Lu Wen declined everything, quickly skimmed through the message to check the room number, and noted the high-rise river view room, 6207.
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ma'er
and they were ROOM NEIGHBORS
ty for the tl!!