Chapter 46 No One Can Finish a Game of Chess According to Plan

The afternoon sequence of the Hero Conference was a major climax of the first third of the series. Yang Guo would reunite with Xiaolongnü, followed by Yang Guo engaging in intense combat with Huo Dou and Dalba. Xiaolongnü would endure ten moves under Golden Wheel Falun King, thereby clinching the title of Wulin Alliance Leader.

It would conclude at the victory banquet, where Guo Jing and Huang Rong would propose betrothal, offering Guo Fu to Yang Guo as a bride. However, Xiaolongnü, with her characteristic deadpan innocence, would blurt out that she would marry Yang Guo as his wife. This would enrage Guo Jing to the point of almost purging her from the clan, prompting Guo Fu to storm off in a huff, and ending with a bevy of young maidens stepping forward to dissuade Guo Jing and Yang Guo from acting rashly.

This entire sequence took up nearly a full episode's worth of runtime. Normally, shooting it in half a day would have been out of the question. However, because many of the shots required long, uninterrupted takes, the editing ratio was somewhat more forgiving. Coupled with the fact that the close-ups and reaction shots of the fight scenes involving the trio of Yang Guo, Xiaolongnü, and the Golden Wheel Falun King were scheduled to be handled separately the following day, it barely managed to squeeze into the schedule.

Because of the massive cast of characters, the slightest mistake could force the entire scene to be reshot from scratch.

"Hey, you! What the hell are you looking at the camera for! Cut, from the top!"

When the second NG of the session occurred, Guan Hu, sitting in front of the monitor, was already furious. He pointed a finger at an extra standing just behind Gu Cheng, and immediately, staff members rushed over to haul the hapless background actor away. His pay was forfeited, and he wouldn't even get a boxed lunch.

At that moment, Gu Cheng, portraying Yang Guo, was smoothly and effortlessly bantering with Huo Dou, setting up the trap of "Whose good grandson are you calling?" for Huo Dou to walk right into. That extra hadn't been able to suppress his amusement and had actually sneaked a sideways glance and winked directly at the camera lens.

Extras looking out of curiosity at the camera were the most common low-level mistakes during large-scale crowd scenes. The crew could only chalk it up to bad luck when this happened—just imagine all those major stars, whose combined paychecks totaled tens of thousands of yuan a day, having to reshoot simply because an extra, who was only being paid fifty yuan plus a box lunch to stand there like a wooden post, let his curiosity get the better of him and intentionally ruined the take.

Forget the actors' daily rates; even the wasted film stock alone cost more than that extra's daily wage.

Penalizing the extra by withholding payment was already the harshest punishment possible; legally, there was no way to make an extra pay out of pocket.

In a place like Hengdian, the film studios had specialized subcontracting agencies handling these casting logistics. The most they could do was put that camera-gawking extra on a permanent blacklist, ensuring he would never be hired as an extra again.

After one of them was hauled away, the remaining bit players finally reined themselves in, maintaining deadpan expressions with all their might.

In massive crowd scenes like this, what people feared most were teammates who dragged everyone down. With dozens of people on camera for extended durations, a single mistake by anyone could utterly doom the entire team.

After three or four NGs, even though none of the errors originated from Gu Cheng, he was beginning to feel a bit rattled.

Ever since he began filming *Meteor Garden* and *The Story of a Noble Family*, he had never tackled a long take with so many people sharing the frame. This was a completely new test of his experience and psychological endurance.

By comparison, he was even more terrified of Liu Feifei and Yang Mi making mistakes. During this Hero Conference sequence, the supporting characters with the most dialogue opposite Yang Guo were Xiaolongnü and Guo Fu. Furthermore, both young girls were only sixteen by lunar reckoning, and no matter how you looked at it, they were still emotionally immature. After a string of wasted efforts caused by deadweight teammates, it was nearly impossible not to grow irritable.

Take five.

Gu Cheng's Yang Guo finally navigated the treacherous waters in front of the crowd of extras, finished his verbal sparring with Huo Dou, and successfully baited Huo Dou into asking the question, "Who is your master?"

Then, with an evil, arrogant smile, Yang Guo walked over to Xiaolongnü, grabbed both of her hands, and declared, "My master, of course, is her."

At that exact moment, Gu Cheng felt his acting was a bit awkward, his expression slightly over-the-top. Perhaps the five consecutive retakes had left him somewhat restless.

To his surprise, Liu Feifei maintained an utterly composed state, gazing at him with eyes full of tenderness. She lifted her flowing silk sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow, then struck an expression as if everyone present was mere air and Gu Cheng was the only person in her field of vision.

Meanwhile, another camera panned seamlessly to Yang Mi's Guo Fu, perfectly capturing the haughty, burning jealousy etched across her face.

Guan Hu, sitting before the monitor, had been somewhat nervous as well, fearing Gu Cheng's performance would fall apart. Seeing Liu Feifei expertly save the scene and pull the emotional atmosphere of the two leads back on track, he refrained from calling an NG.

"I ought to be ashamed. I never imagined I'd be less emotionally steady than a young girl. It seems panic makes one blind," Gu Cheng silently self-reprimanded, figuring he had at least managed to plow through the dramatic dialogue preceding the fight with Huo Dou.

The reason Gu Cheng had ended up being forced to cast Liu Feifei as Xiaolongnü, to put it bluntly, was that he had been bound by the decades-old industry convention that "whoever plays Xiaolongnü must play Wang Yuyan, and whoever plays Wang Yuyan must also play Xiaolongnü."

Deep down in his heart, he still harbored a bit of apprehension about how to face Liu Feifei. Their collaboration back on *The Story of a Noble Family* had nearly dragged the budding Liu Feifei into an emotional quagmire from which she couldn't extricate herself. Although they had eventually cleared the air completely, Gu Cheng still harbored some doubts as to whether Liu Feifei had truly moved past it.

For the past month and a half, the scenes between Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had mostly been intimate two-person dialogues where no clues were visible. Today was the first time Yang and Long had to perform under the intense scrutiny of a crowd.

It was precisely at this juncture that Gu Cheng was struck by the realization that Liu Feifei had matured somewhat, capable of distinguishing clearly between the world within the fiction and reality outside it.

He felt a deep sense of gratification.

Helping someone grow was an achievement superior to building a seven-story pagoda.

...

Perhaps it was because the crowd scenes had racked up too many NGs, wasting a vast amount of time.

By the time Guan Hu wrapped up all the interior shots of the "Hero Conference," ending with Yang Guo and Guo Jing glaring furiously at one another before being pulled apart by Cheng Ying and Huang Rong, it was already two-thirty in the morning.

This was the latest wrap time Gu Cheng had ever experienced since stepping into the film and television industry. Yet it was unavoidable, as the film crew simply could not summon back so many extras tomorrow just to reshoot the final few shots and re-stage the banquet.

At the same time, Gu Cheng had only himself to blame for underestimating the risks involved in crowd scenes.

In fact, back when the shooting schedule was first being drawn up, Guan Hu had used his experience to warn him: these long takes were not so easily managed.

The final closing shot featured Cheng Ying supporting Yang Guo as he departed the main hall. Therefore, when it came time to exit the scene, Jiang Xin naturally reached out to support Gu Cheng.

Jiang Xin could tell that Gu Cheng was thoroughly exhausted today, his energy severely overdrawn. For most of the night, she had merely stood like a wooden post, only delivering lines during the final mediation, making her job vastly easier.

Standing well over one meter seventy, she possessed the tallest stature among the young actresses. Her long legs were slender, fair, and sturdy, allowing her to easily support the over-one-meter-eighty Gu Cheng without much effort.

Over the past month, Gu Cheng had long since stopped being squeamish about accidental physical contact with the female supporting cast, brushing it aside without a second thought. As he walked, he subconsciously reached into his pocket for his phone, only to feel a pang of annoyance.

"It's almost 3 AM! Xiaoya's birthday has already passed, and I didn't even make time to call her."

Thinking this, Gu Cheng prepared to dial a number to offer his belated regards and salvage the situation. However, Jiang Xin, whose eyes were sharp, noticed and whispered a reminder, "Who are you calling this late? They'll be fast asleep. Wouldn't sending a text message be enough?"

Gu Cheng offered an awkward smile. "You're right. Better not disturb her sleep."

With that, he put his phone away.

Taking it all in, Jiang Xin supported Gu Cheng to the door of his room. Before bidding farewell, she casually tossed out a parting question: "Foreign friend?"

Gu Cheng furrowed his brow slightly. "How did you figure that out?"

"If you can't even send a text message, isn't it obvious it's a foreign friend?" Jiang Xin shrugged. "I'm a 'veteran dramatic bones' of ten years; I still have that much observation power."

Gu Cheng was slightly amused. He found it difficult to imagine a female actor daring to speak to a "director" like this: "Do you say whatever's on your mind in other crews as well?"

"After playing bit parts for so long, you get used to being straight-to-the-point—find any actor who has spent ten years running errands as an extra or minor supporting role, and they'll all be this jaded. Nothing really phases them anymore." Jiang Xin wore an indifferent expression, then couldn't help but intently gaze into Gu Cheng's eyes. "Besides, you're a good person."

Gu Cheng had no desire to delve deeply into the topic. He twisted the doorknob and walked inside, only to discover that a woman was already sitting there with a desk lamp on, fast asleep with her head resting on the study table.

At this sight, Gu Cheng froze in his tracks. Even Jiang Xin, who had already said her goodbyes and was preparing to head back to sleep, looked slightly startled and couldn't help poking her head in for a look.

*Could it be that Director Gu, who has always been a gentleman, is also indulging in casting couch appointments with actresses? But with so many beautiful actresses in the crew—spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums of every variety—why would he still need to go looking outside?*

While Jiang Xin's imagination was running wild, Gu Cheng had already assessed the situation, let out a sigh of relief, and stepped inside to shake the woman awake.

"Sister Che, why are you here? Where did you get the key?"

It turned out that Che Lizi had come to see him and had simply waited inside his room.

Che Lizi rubbed her eyes, finally grasping the situation, and hurriedly said to Gu Cheng, "President Pan asked me to come see you. There's a matter I need to report."

"Report work? Weren't you reporting directly to the CPO? How did a business matter end up having you sent over?" Gu Cheng asked with a puzzled expression while pouring three glasses of hotel-provided whiskey.

"Because... this matter concerns both Legendary Entertainment's internal supervision and the online gaming planning and project initiation process. President Pan felt I was the most familiar with the situation, so she sent me to ask you."

Che Lizi answered Gu Cheng's question, then condensed the events into as brief an explanation as possible for him.

Jiang Xin, standing by the doorway holding the glass of whiskey Gu Cheng had handed her, felt awkward staying to listen, yet awkward leaving, so she gently tapped the door frame. "Director Gu... I guess I'll head off first?"

Gu Cheng stopped Jiang Xin. "Don't rush. You might need to go inform Director Guan to give everyone a day off tomorrow; I have some urgent business matters to deal with."

Jiang Xin gave a slight bow, pondered for a moment, and—acting out of a sense of responsibility to the team—couldn't help pressing further, "Is it your own personal affair? If that's the case, we could consider having Director Guan rearrange the schedule, shooting the half-episode where Huang Rong persuades Xiaolongnü to leave tomorrow instead..."

Gu Cheng thought about it and agreed. "That works too. Just tell him that; I'm just too tired and my brain isn't working."

After Jiang Xin left, Gu Cheng pulled the door shut and lay down on the bed fully clothed.

"Now that nobody's here, lay out the situation in detail."

"The Internal Audit Department just discovered collusion between the company's project review department and Legendary Games' operations department, intentionally downgrading the ratings of certain external high-potential projects."