The most beautiful space

50 2 fewer visits to the set

Photo studio.

All the lights were turned off. On the stage, a large drum stood, upon which a slender figure could be vaguely seen. Lin Zhen, sitting in the audience seat where Fang Xinli would have been watching Li Roujia's dance performance in the movie, sat below. The stage was first bathed in a hazy, misty light. As the melodious music of the guzheng, pipa, flute, and xiao began to play, the woman, whose outline was visible in the misty light, began to dance from her standing position. Her waist was so slender it seemed about to break. Although her limbs were human, they moved with movements that were almost impossible for a human. Her movements were sometimes as graceful as a cloud drifting in the sky, and sometimes as soft as a meandering stream. As she danced and leaped, her feet tapped the drum, producing only a crisp, soft "dong dong" sound, neither hurried nor violent, as if the person dancing on the drum was a light, weightless feather.

As the lights gradually brightened, the flute music on the stage grew more urgent and the music grew stronger. The figure on the drum moved faster and faster, her gorgeous and luxurious red dress captivating everyone's attention. The figure spun and danced, using her delicate, jade-like right foot as a pivot. With a graceful movement, she spread her long sleeves, the silk draped over her arms in a gesture reminiscent of blooming flowers and a phoenix spreading its wings. At the same time, she lightly leaped off the drum, her long black hair, tied high with a red ribbon, fluttering in the wind. Although her leap was light and graceful, her fall was as if she had been cruelly struck down, making her appear heavy and broken. Her feet slammed heavily onto the drum, "Thump! Thump!" as if striking someone's heart. She curled up in a ball as if injured, then slowly and tremblingly unfolded her body again with the increasingly intense music, her head tilting back gently.

The main camera and cameras one and two zoomed in on the dancer's face on stage. The dancer, dressed in red, seemed untouched by the dust of the world. In the instant she slowly raised her eyes to look up, her silky black hair and soft red ribbons cascaded down her cheeks. Her skin, with its captivating luster, was like translucent white jade. Her delicate eyebrows were like those of a thousand mountains and rivers, and her pale pink lips were as tender as the first stamens to bloom on a branch. It was clearly Su Tong's face, beautiful and otherworldly even without makeup. But the woman in this shot was completely different from Su Tong.

Those eyes, which always held a faint smile, were still beautiful, but now they held a chilling, arrogant light. Even her ink-painted eyebrows showed an unapproachable indifference and aloofness. Against the backdrop of a lifelike peony decoration between her brows, her pale lips were slightly pursed as if she were angry and resentful. Her nose was delicate but straight. She was clearly a person with a graceful figure and extraordinary appearance, yet she had an incredibly imposing aura. She could almost freeze you in your tracks at a glance. She was the very embodiment of Li Roujia, who did not take anyone seriously.

In the film, Li Roujia, who is performing dance for the first time, has been in a foreign country for less than a month. She is surrounded by blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners she has never met before. They are citizens of one of the countries that trampled on our country. However, some of them are people her parents entrusted to her through intermediaries. They are the people she relies on for survival. She despises these people and herself. She hates everyone present and herself.

She moved slowly like a cloud, spun swiftly like a whirlwind, each step accompanied by carefully controlled drumbeats, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Her long sleeves and ribbons fluttered with her movements, turning, flicking, opening, closing, twisting, rounding, and bending. Sometimes she raised her wrists and lowered her eyebrows, sometimes she gently extended her cloud-like hands, sometimes she spun and leaped rapidly, sometimes she gently bent her waist and stretched her arms. The more beautiful and captivating her dance became, the more indifferent and disdainful her face appeared. Beneath her arrogant and haughty demeanor lay a deathly silence in her eyes, as if all those cheering, drooling, praising, and admiring her below the stage were nothing more than a group of ants bustling at her feet.

Lin Lili watched intently in front of the monitor, almost afraid of startling Su Tong, who was practically transformed into Li Roujia in the shot. He thought to himself that he was right to start with this scene. People who study dance are naturally gifted and usually focused when dancing, which allowed Su Tong to immediately grasp the charm of Li Roujia's personality. It was simply amazing.

He couldn't help but recall the tug-of-war between Wang Hai and the others over the salary. In the end, the investors decided to give Su Tong, a newcomer, a salary almost equivalent to that of some top-tier movie stars, because they felt that Su Tong's face was worth that price. Lin Lili, however, had great faith in his judgment and knew that Su Tong's performance would definitely not disappoint him. Now, Su Tong's performance truly impressed him.

Lin Lili was admiring her in his heart when he saw Su Tong, who was performing a final spin on the stage that went from rapid to slow and then to almost still, appearing both elegant and strangely desolate. At the last moment, she suddenly widened her beautiful eyes in surprise, looking at a spot on the side of the stage. Then, for some reason, her foot slipped and she fell to the side.

Lin Lili quickly called out, "Quick! Help Sue up!"

Lin Zhen was also startled, and stood up expressionlessly, rushing towards the stage.

An Jing was watching Su Tong closely. Although she didn't notice Su Tong's furtive glances at the audience below the stage, she immediately realized Su Tong was about to fall. She exclaimed and was about to rush onto the stage when Qin Jing grabbed her sleeve. Qin Jing, seemingly a little angry, said in a tone that was different from her usual sweet and seductive voice, "Why are you rushing up there? You'll only make things worse. Someone has already gone up to save such a stunning beauty."

Qin Jing was also surprised, but she noticed immediately that a figure in the audience had already swiftly stepped onto the 1.4-meter-high stage, and after reaching the center of the stage, leaped onto the drum where Su Tong was performing classical dance. With one hand, she steadily grabbed Su Tong's arm and lifted her up, the speed of which was comparable to a scene from a big-name action movie.

The lights shone on Su Tong and the man on the drum, clearly displaying their faces on the screens of various cameras. The tall, imposing man glanced coldly at the staff member in charge of the brightest lights in the lighting group, as if he was complaining that the stage lights were too bright, without any sense that his sudden appearance on stage was inappropriate.

Lin Lili was still in shock, but he still remembered to ask Su Tong, "Sue, are you alright?"

Su Tong then snapped out of her daze. Dancing is a very physically demanding activity, and Su Tong's back was already a little sweaty. She quickly smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Director Lin, it's perfectly fine. Don't worry about me."

Lin Lili grunted in agreement. He was quite used to minor accidents during filming. He glanced at the obviously extraordinary man next to Su Tong and then said to Su Tong and the others as if he hadn't seen him at all, "Then let's take a three-minute break. Sue, take a break and we'll start filming again from before the final spin in three minutes."

Su Tong had just nodded to indicate that she understood when Lin Lili heard someone call out to him from behind, "Director Lin." Turning around, he saw a man who looked to be in his thirties smiling at him. The man said, "Director Lin, since your crew's cameras must have captured our second young master just now, this last segment is probably unusable due to an error. Therefore, I respectfully request that you permanently delete this last segment. As for why you should listen to me, my name is Wang Lu, and I'd be happy to explain it to you simply."

Lin Lili then gave Xie Chengjing on the stage a complicated look and nodded.

Compared to Lin Lili and the others, Su Tong was actually more surprised. She usually didn't pay much attention to her surroundings when she was dancing, but this was the first time she had danced for a movie in front of so many people from the crew, and she had to deliberately act as another person while dancing, so she was quite nervous. So at the end, she couldn't help but secretly look at the reactions of the audience. Who knew that when she scanned the audience, she immediately met Xie Chengjing's deep and focused eyes.

He didn't seem to be enjoying a pleasant dance performance at all; he was as serious as if he were wearing a military uniform and conducting a military parade, giving people a strong sense of oppression.

Su Tong had no idea how he came or when he arrived. He stood quietly in the corner behind a camera under the stage, tall and cold like a snow-capped peak, as if he had stood there for thousands of years. Su Tong was so startled that she immediately took a wrong step in her dance. She knew then that this was bad and she might fall badly.

When Xie Chengjing pulled her up, Su Tong was stunned for a moment before Xie Chengjing said, "Are you that surprised?" At the same time, he pulled Su Tong by the arm and led her off the drum, walking down the steps on the side of the stage towards the dressing room.

Su Tong is usually very composed, but today, when she saw Xie Chengjing coming to the set, she messed up the dance steps she knew by heart and almost fell down in shock. That's why Xie Chengjing asked Su Tong why she was so surprised to see him.

Su Tong obediently followed him, and Xie Chengjing let go of her hand. Hearing Xie Chengjing's question, after all, he had just saved her, Su Tong smiled and honestly replied, "Yes, because with your status, I really didn't expect you to come here." Then she tentatively asked, "Is there something you need?"

"No," Xie Chengjing answered frankly. "But I came here today to talk to someone, and Wang Lu said you were filming at the film and television base here, so I came to check on you."

Su Tong laughed, "Then consider it a visit to my set, thank you."

"You're welcome," Xie Chengjing said matter-of-factly. "I've never watched a movie filming before, so I'm just here to watch for fun."

Just as the two reached the entrance of the dressing room, Lin Zhen, who should have been sitting in the audience with the actor playing Fang Xinli's friend, watching the performance and discussing Li Roujia, had already walked up the steps to the stage. He first gave Xie Chengjing a polite smile, then asked Su Tong, "Are you alright?"

Su Tong shook her head and said, "It's alright, don't worry. The drumhead isn't very hard to begin with, and besides, it was pulled up before it even hit the ground."

I feel a little sorry that my mistake caused everyone to have to film it again.

"It's not troublesome. It would be great if we could get it right in two takes," Lin Zhen comforted her, showing no trace of the anxiety she had shown when she was about to rush up to save Su Tong. With a gentle smile, she said, "I had to do * takes to get it right the first time I filmed a movie. Besides, you did a great job this time. You portrayed Li Roujia very well. It was just because of a small mistake. I think you could have done even better in one more take."

Author's Note: Post first, then fix bugs. (166 Reading Network)