Chapter 9: 9

For a second, Jiang Se had the impression that all the blood in her body was rushing straight to her head. She felt light-headed and weak, and she swayed on her feet, nearly losing control of her body.

The script supervisor was leading the way in front of her when he saw she had stopped. He turned around to look at her questioningly, the faintest look of reproach and derision in his eyes. In his mind, Jiang Se’s actions were akin to her gearing up to do something ‘big.’ His guess was that this little girl wanted to make a bigger impression on both the Director and Liu Ye so that she could take on a better role in the movie.

He has worked in this field for a considerable amount of time and has witnessed plenty of tricks. These individuals frequently had an irrational sense of self-importance, when in reality their performance skills were far from ideal or even the bare minimum.

“Hey, move it,” the script supervisor urged, the look of contempt in his eyes deepening.

If Director Zhang Jing An had agreed to Liu Ye’s request earlier, then he might still have treated her a little more politely, but unfortunately, that did not happen.

The Director had so straightforwardly refused Liu Ye that there was no doubt about his intentions—or lack thereof—in this case. So, even if Liu Ye was interested in the pretty newcomer, he was not keen on trying to convince the Director a second time.

Jiang Se pursed her lips and looked up at the script supervisor. It was only then that she felt her body tremble. She did not know if it was because her clothes were drenched in water from head to toe or for some other reason.

Jiang Se stepped forward with difficulty, and she vaguely heard Zhang Jing An continue, “I recently heard that there’s a little lady1 from the Zhong Nan Industries’ Feng family who has come to the capital with the person in charge of Zhong Nan Industries… Rumor says she is quite close with the heir of Jiang Hua Corporation and that that heir is interested in her. So, actually, it is better to say that that little lady is the one who has the so-called expectations for the movie and not Jiang Hua Corporation…”

 “Miss Feng?”

This information came straight from Zhang Jing An’s mouth, so it was impossible for it to be just some random gossip—in all likelihood, it was probably true.

The script supervisor was still impatiently urging Jiang Se to walk faster, and she absent-mindedly trailed behind him and walked into the temporarily set up make-up room. She only snapped out of it when she felt a flurry of movement in front of her.

The makeup and wardrobe staff had already been made aware of Zhang Jing An personally calling her out, so everyone was not as casual as they had been before. On the contrary, a new set of costumes was taken out for her, and she was even accompanied into the dressing room to change into them.

The accompanying stylist was a young woman, and she carefully helped Jiang Se out of her water-soaked clothes, leaving her to stand in her underwear.

Jiang Se was indeed very young; at seventeen, her figure was still on the cusp of growing up. Nonetheless, she had the right curves in the right areas.

Dressed in her faded, old-fashioned underwear, Jiang Se’s fair skin still shone through. There was nary a spot or scar anywhere on her body, so her flawlessness made her even more captivating.

To the young stylist, it seemed as if the heavens treated this girl with extraordinary care. Not only was she given a beautiful face, but her figure was not lacking in any regard. Her waist was slender, her hair thick, and even her limbs were long and lithe; she was the embodiment of beauty.

“So beautiful,” the young stylist sighed. The girl’s fair skin alone already exuded the breath of youth; it was supple and glistened with health. The only flaws in this perfection were a small amount of bruising on her shoulder, which could be easily fixed with some hot and cold compresses, and a small area of discoloration on her chest. Although the damage was only superficial, it was a ghastly blue-black color, and some areas had already become somewhat inflamed. Moreover, because her skin was so fair, the bruising was even more conspicuous.

“Oh, dear, you’re hurt,” the stylist exclaimed in surprise.

Jiang Se looked down at her chest and, with one hand, gave it a light massage. Jiang Se hissed audibly at the touch and harshly sucked in a lungful of air.

She had already seen the shoulder injury before and surmised it happened during the first take when the ‘enemy’ swung his prop sword and hit her squarely in that area. It did not hurt much and was only slightly sore; give or take two days, and it would disappear by itself.

The bruising on her chest, on the other hand, would probably take more than just a couple of days. The explosive force of the blood bag was more than she had expected, and there was little separating her skin from the thing.

“It’s nothing,” Jiang Se replied indifferently with a shake of her head.

The stylist looked at her askance, seemingly surprised that such a pretty girl would brush it off so easily. “It looks quite serious to me,” she remarked, after which she lifted the curtain and walked out of the dressing room. 

Half a minute later, she came back holding something in her hand and saying, “There’s always someone getting hurt in the crew, and so we always have these kinds of things on hand. This, here, is a spray that boosts blood circulation and reduces swelling. Spray some on your chest, and it should relieve you of the pain somewhat.”

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Jiang Se nodded her head and took the bottle from the stylist, thanking her as she did so, “Thank you very much.”

“No big deal,” the young woman replied with a small smile. She then took out a small towel and began wiping Jiang Se’s hair from root to tip, slowly squeezing out the water from her tresses. “My name is Sandy.”

“Let me tell you something about our crew: Director Zhang always strives for perfection in his movies, so even though he only briefly saw you through the camera, don’t be too surprised that he immediately pulled you out and made arrangements. If we go by his predilection, then he should have been quite dissatisfied with some aspects of the filming done so far and inadvertently saw something in you that he liked.”

Sandy deftly helped Jiang Se wipe her hair dry and blow-dry her wet undergarments. Of course, group actors and extras received far worse treatment than well-known celebrities. In fact, they paled in comparison even to those C-listers or D-listers. Extras were predominantly at the bottom of the ladder. There were no personal assistants or ‘nannies’ to take care of her needs, so Jiang Se could only make do and persist in wearing her wet undergarments.

“Just a while ago, I saw some people bring in guns and the like to the set. They weren’t some manufactured high-quality props either but the real thing. You don’t see a lot of production crews insisting on using real guns. What’s more is that I heard that it was through Jiang Hua Corporation’s assistance that the production crew was able to rent those weapons, and because Jiang Hua Corporation is very well-connected, the crew was able to rent them from the military itself. But you know what? It’s equally amazing that Director Zhang also had the guts to even bring it up. You have to hand it to him, he is dedicated to his craft.”

Sandy then took Jiang Se’s costume off the hanger and helped her put it on. She asked what size shoe Jiang Se wore and chose a pair from a shelf nearby.

“A few specialists were also sent to supervise the use of the guns. There is only gunpowder inside and no bullets, but even so the result is already realistic enough and no one would get—” Sandy paused in her ramblings as she looked down at Jiang Se’s chest injury. “Well, the bruising on your chest is probably an exception.”

 Sandy smiled at Jiang Se and explained briefly some of the things she knew about the handling of the props and how crews worked with group scenes. “The blood bag is tied to your chest, and while typically it should not inflict any injuries, especially when proper and careful adjustments are made, there are times when the director would require it. For example, when walk-on actors are required to portray pain or surprise, the director would arrange for these kinds of props to inflict a little pain, thus enabling inexperienced actors or actresses to display their truest reactions.”

Jiang Se tried to unconvincingly smile back at Sandy. She was grateful that Sandy had deigned to explain it to her, but she was having a hard time digesting what she had just been told.

Jiang Se struggled to maintain her composure while trying to keep her body from shaking. “It is also my first time seeing a real gun up close, and it was aimed at me so suddenly, I nearly jumped in fright,” she said. “Are those guns really borrowed from the military?”

Sandy nodded confidently, saying, “Of course!”

“I never expected the military to do something like this,” Jiang Se added, feigned curiosity infecting her tone of voice as she fought to keep her brows from furrowing.

“Oh, my dear, as long as you have money and connections, there is nothing in this world that you cannot do. The waters in this industry are quite deep, not to mention how powerful Jiang Hua Corporation is!”

Sandy casually scraped the bottom of her fingernails as she casually continued, “Remember, two of the most important things when you are in this circle: connections and relationships.”

Jiang Se knew from Sandy’s manner that there was nothing else she could glean from her.

Jiang Se wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to stop herself from shivering. She was freezing inside, like her blood had gone cold. She pursed her lips and frowned.  

Maybe people outside that circle are unaware, but she was very, very clear about what Jiang Hua Corporation can and cannot do. Several months ago, before she had woken up as Jiang Se, her parents had intended to do business with Jiang Hua Corporation, and what better way to safely seal the deal than for a marriage between Zhong Nan Industries and Jiang Hua Corporation to form?

And so, when she and Jiang Hua Corporation’s heir had their first dinner together, it was all due to her parents’ arrangements. The arranged date’s sole purpose was for the two to meet each other and then slowly get to know each other with the intent of marriage.

 

Translator’s Notes:

Hello! A short announcement. My editor (a friend) will no longer be able to keep up with my posting schedule (she can only do 1/week) so from this chapter onwards the translations might look a little less polished. Although, I will still be doing my own editing and proofreading before posting but it’s unavoidable I would miss a few typos, mistakes, grammars and etc. here and there. Don’t worry though as I am continuously trying to better myself in translation AND in English itself.

Thank you for checking out my work. I do hope you are enjoying it~

Footnotes

qian jin 千金 – literal translation ‘thousand gold’ but it is also used to denote cherished daughters of a family

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