Chapter 319 - 252: Frustrating and Helpless

As everyone knows, humans are social animals.

This means that even if we don’t like it, we still have to participate in many group activities.

For example, morning exercises at school, family reunions and visiting relatives during the New Year, or working on projects at the office.

Among these, filmmaking is a quintessential group endeavor.

To achieve a good final product, the behind-the-scenes crew, like the director’s team and the props department, must coordinate closely. The actors, too, need to cooperate fully.

If everyone on a film set simply did their jobs and avoided making trouble for others, then even if the final result fell short of ideal, the gap wouldn’t be too wide.

As the core of the film crew, Director Wu Xi’s job was undoubtedly the most important. She had to coordinate nearly every aspect of the production.

The first scene of the morning was supposed to be of Luo Xiaoou accompanying her grandfather to a friend’s birthday banquet.

This was the first time the female lead was brought out by her grandfather to network. She had to build connections while enduring the hidden disdain of others. The scene was packed with satisfying moments of triumph, making it crucial for character development and plot progression.

However, while Ni Bingyan had arrived early, her makeup done and her costume on, ready and waiting, Xu Bin was nowhere to be seen. He wouldn’t even answer his phone.

The set was ready, a large number of extras were in position, and everyone’s makeup had already been touched up three times.

And to make matters worse, he prided himself on being an "old artist" and didn’t have an assistant, so no one could reach him. The delay was becoming unbearable, so they had to send someone back to the hotel just to get him.

Wu Xi was furious.

She had specifically wrapped up early the day before, repeatedly reminding him to get some rest. She had even repeated today’s call time several times!

But he’d let it all go in one ear and out the other.

The moment Xu Bin arrived on set, he was met with a vicious tongue-lashing from Wu Xi:

"Dozens of people are waiting for you! Listen here, Xu! Get this straight! It’s not your place to be acting like a big shot on this set! You’re old enough to know better, but you’re becoming more childish by the day! Even your parents, with decades in the industry, never made people wait like this! Let me tell you, if you don’t want to film, then get the hell out! If you manage to get any acting work after this, it will be because I, Wu Xi, have no integrity!"

With all the chaos, the shoot that was scheduled to start at six had been delayed until eight in the blink of an eye.

If they couldn’t finish shooting today, they would have to add another day tomorrow.

Because it was a high-society banquet scene, the venue had to be luxurious, the makeup exquisite, and the extras themselves had to be attractive. Add to that the cost of their wardrobe and accessories... Wu Xi did a quick mental calculation and was so angry she felt like she could vomit blood.

Wu Xi was one of the industry’s rare beauties among directors and was famous for her good temper. Though she had a sharp tongue, she never directed it at friends, so she was exceptionally popular.

Now that he had thoroughly offended her, anyone else who wanted to hire Xu Bin would have to consider whether they’d be offending her as well.

Given Xu Bin’s casting niche, plenty of other actors could play the parts he did; he wasn’t irreplaceable. When forced to choose between him and Wu Xi, even a fool would know who to pick.

Some might even kick him while he was down just to curry favor with Wu Xi.

Wu Xi was a very elegant and particular person. To see her curse someone out so bluntly... in all the time Ni Bingyan had known her, this was a first.

Seeing she was truly enraged, Xu Bin, though seething internally, admitted his mistake with a good attitude.

He was late for such an important scene; he was in the wrong. No excuse would work.

But admitting his mistake was one thing; it didn’t mean he wouldn’t resort to petty tricks behind the scenes.

In his eyes, this was all Ni Bingyan’s fault. If he had to take a scolding, Ni Bingyan wasn’t going to have an easy time of it either.

How many dirty tricks does a wily old pro have up his sleeve?

Ni Bingyan had seen plenty before, but today was still an eye-opener.

During the scene, with his back to the camera, Xu Bin made faces at her from an angle no one else could see.

Ni Bingyan instantly lost her composure and broke character.

"Luo Xiaoou, don’t break! Come on, pull it together. Let’s go again."

Ni Bingyan’s performance had always been excellent. With that credibility built up, Wu Xi let the first slip-up pass without so much as a scolding.

But she couldn’t stand up to Xu Bin’s insidious attacks; he did it again and again.

He’d twist his nose, contort his mouth, roll his eyes—he had an endless supply of tricks. Just as she adapted to one, he’d switch to another to torment her.

Ni Bingyan knew he was messing with her and tried her best to ignore him, but that caused the two characters to lose their emotional connection, and the scene just didn’t feel right.

Wu Xi’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

After four NGs in a row, she finally called her out by name: "Ni Bingyan, be more professional!"

Xu Bin’s parents were a Best Actor and a Best Actress. Growing up surrounded by the craft, he definitely had skills; he just never had the luck to get famous and had always been lukewarm.

Now, as he was intentionally making things difficult, it looked to everyone else like he was a man who could admit and correct his mistakes. His performance was spot-on, so the fault must lie with Ni Bingyan.

Usually, during filming, Wu Xi would call actors by their character’s name. Addressing her by her real name meant she was angry.

To make matters worse, there were no cameras on him, so Ni Bingyan had no way to prove her innocence.

In this kind of team-based work, running into a "pig teammate" who is dead-set on dragging you down is like having a pebble in your shoe, sand in your food, or a cinder in your eye...

It was uncomfortable in every possible way. Ni Bingyan felt a bitter taste in her mouth and could only swallow her frustration.

’Come to think of it, this must be how Xu Bin felt last night, right?’

Since she had dished it out, she had to be able to take it. Resigned, Ni Bingyan could only desperately try to find a way to meet the director’s demands.

Unfortunately, Wu Xi was always strict about performance; she would call a halt at the slightest imperfection.

After a few more takes, not only did the crew become restless, but Ni Bingyan also found it hard to suppress her rising frustration.

Seeing that it wasn’t a lack of seriousness but an inability to get into the right emotional state, Wu Xi grew anxious and softened her tone.

"Xiao Ni, even though Old Xu was late, he’s taking it seriously now. Don’t you get emotional. Let’s work together and finish today’s scenes on time!"

That day’s filming continued until midnight before it finally wrapped.

As they were packing up, Xu Bin raised an eyebrow and remarked, "Teacher Ni is truly young and promising! Keep up the hard work tomorrow!"

Ni Bingyan was so furious she wanted to stab him.

The thought of saying something conciliatory was absolutely impossible. She pretended not to hear him, quickly gathered her things, and left the set with Duanmu Li and Wang Biao.

Once in the car, Ni Bingyan closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat.

Sometimes, there’s a kind of exhaustion that even a master of the grind can’t handle.

"Let’s go straight back and rest. The call time is a bit later tomorrow. It’s normal to have an off day sometimes. Director Wu was just anxious, so her words were a bit harsh. Don’t take it to heart."

Work was sometimes hard, sometimes easy.

You can’t be grinning from ear to ear when it’s easy and complaining endlessly when it’s hard.

Afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle the exhaustion, Wang Biao offered some words of comfort.

The moment Ni Bingyan heard this, she couldn’t help but feel wronged.

It was one thing for others to misunderstand her, but for her own staff to do so because they didn’t know the situation—that was exceptionally painful.

"That Xu guy kept making faces at me, sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes. I couldn’t control my reaction, and without any proof, I couldn’t really say anything."

As Ni Bingyan spoke, she heaved a long sigh.

"Sigh! The movie is almost finished shooting. Plus, he’s a second-generation actor, so there’s no way they’d replace him. It’s so frustrating. I guess I can only endure it."

Ni Bingyan saw the situation clearly and decided to just endure it for now.

’Xu Bin can’t possibly pull these kinds of petty tricks every single day, can he?’ she thought.

But Wang Biao just smiled. "Don’t worry. Just leave it to me."

Seeing his relaxed expression, Ni Bingyan couldn’t help but ask, "The man is this shameless. What are you going to do, fight him to the death?"

Wang Biao laughed. "Not quite. Here, let me show you something good."