Chapter 612: Chapter 612

The lady who did the makeup for He Jinxia was rather serious and old-fashioned, quite different from Tony’s makeup style. She was not fond of talking at all.

He Jinxia noticed this and didn’t bother trying to make conversation to pry out any information.

Several minutes later, the makeup was complete, and a handsome "male" appeared in front of everyone.

He Jinxia looked at herself in the mirror, and even in male attire, there wasn’t a hint of masculinity. One could easily tell she was a woman.

He Jinxia was slightly embarrassed. Wouldn’t the director find it odd during the shoot?

If she were the audience, she would definitely find it odd. Recently, ancient themes of women disguising as men have been endlessly emerging. This trope was about to be worn out by the screenwriters; perhaps the audience had already learned to deceive themselves...

Luckily, He Jinxia’s dilemma was soon resolved. She was brought in front of the director, whose gaze lingered on her appearance for a long time, with his brows getting tighter and tighter.

During a moment of silence, Director Liu suddenly said, "Why do I still feel like you look like a woman?"

He Jinxia: "...I am actually a woman."

Director Liu frowned and shook his head: "This won’t work. I want a woman disguised as a man. The essence lies in the disguise, and your disguise doesn’t look male at all!"

Before He Jinxia could speak, Director Liu turned around and shouted, "Make-up artist, the makeup artist for the female lead, come here!"

Soon, the female makeup artist who had done He Jinxia’s makeup approached.

Director Liu said, "I want her to look like a man, the kind with a tough demeanor. Touch up her face a bit, don’t make it look so feminine, um..."

Director Liu pondered for a moment, then continued, "You could make her look like me. Thicken the eyebrows a bit, darken the skin, and make the contours more stereoscopic. Don’t make the facial lines so rounded; they should be angular and sharp, kind of with a squarish face."

The makeup artist nodded, hesitating slightly, and said, "Just with this makeup, the female actress will look rather ugly."

Director Liu waved his hand, not minding at all, "It’s okay if the actress looks a bit ugly; as long as she plays the role well, that’s what matters. We should look at the inner qualities, and besides, this is just the early stage. Later, she will become the number one beauty of the Three Worlds. There will be plenty of time when she appears beautiful."

Pausing, Director Liu looked at her: "Jinxia, do you have any objections?"

He Jinxia’s expression became serious, and she spoke righteously, "As an actress, changing our external appearance to better match the role we are playing is normal. I am prepared to make myself look ugly at any time for the sake of my acting career. I have no objections."

The director patted her shoulder, encouragingly saying, "Very good, having such a spirit is excellent. Keep it up, and your future will be brighter and brighter."

He turned his head to look at the male actor standing behind, and said loudly, "Look, Xiao He has such high ideological awareness. As the male lead of this crew, shouldn’t you learn something from her?"

Qiu Zhenze helplessly said, "Director, hers is just a woman disguising as a man, not very challenging, unlike mine."

Director Liu’s expression turned into a slight smirk, his eyes glaring at him: "What’s the difference between a woman disguising as a man and a man disguising as a woman? Isn’t it all cross-dressing? The first time might be uncomfortable, but you’ll get used to it after a while!"

As an actor, you should be prepared to dedicate yourself to the role. It’s not asking for your life, just to wear women’s clothing."

Qiu Zhenze helplessly said, "Director, this is different from what was agreed upon, I—"

Director Liu continued to glare at him, interrupting: "What ’I’? That settles it. Today, the female lead will shoot the scene where she disguises as a man, and you will shoot the scene where you disguise as a woman. The 53rd scene, sync up, and let’s aim to start shooting this afternoon in one go!"

Having said this, Director Liu turned and left, giving Qiu Zhenze no chance to refute.

He Jinxia stood aside, watching, and couldn’t help but cover her mouth to stifle a giggle.

No wonder the director insisted on checking out her male disguise and made a bunch of requests. It turned out his interest wasn’t in the wine; his goal was to convince the male lead to wear a dress!

Originally, she thought Director Liu was taking an unconventional path, striving for realism in a sea of dramas featuring women dressed as men to carve out a unique path using "authentic appearances."

Now, upon closer inspection, it seemed his trump card was intended for the male lead!

He Jinxia’s gaze drifted toward Qiu Zhenze, her look curious yet somewhat bizarre.

Of course, this was entirely a figment of Qiu Zhenze’s imagination.

His expression stiffened, and he forced a smile that was awkward yet polite, "Hello, this is our second meeting. My name is Qiu Zhenze, I play the male lead in the crew, congratulations on winning the Berlin Crystal Bear Award."

He Jinxia hadn’t expected that her first mutual recognition with the male lead would happen under such awkward circumstances, but she quickly cheered up and said smilingly, "Hello, I’m He Jinxia, I’m really looking forward to working with you, and thank you for your congratulations!"

After a moment’s thought, she asked, "Just now, what Director Liu said—"

Before she could finish, Qiu Zhenze quickly said, "Don’t worry about it, Director Liu was just joking."

He Jinxia replied with an "Oh," but then added with meaningful emphasis, "But I felt that Director Liu was quite serious."

Qiu Zhenze’s mouth twitched, "I will not wear a dress, absolutely not!"

He Jinxia laughed and did not continue the conversation.

Barely a noon had passed, and after the incense was burned to start the shooting ceremony in the afternoon, Qiu Zhenze directly contradicted his morning stance, entering the costuming trailer gloomily and emerging dressed in women’s clothes.

He Jinxia had already dressed up in male attire and was waiting nearby; even if her eyebrows were thickened, her skin darkened, and her facial contours made more angular, her eyes still shone with clever cuteness, and her features were delicate and pretty.

What Director Liu liked most were her expressive, spirited eyes! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel[f]ire.net

To add a comedic touch, he asked He Jinxia to wear a tuft of fake mustache, sticking it under either side of her nose.

Looking at the two main actors who had completed their makeovers, Director Liu laughed heartily, gesturing grandly to start shooting!

Director Liu had already announced in the morning that they would start from Scene 53 in the afternoon. Since returning from shooting "High School Musical," He Jinxia had been deeply studying the script for "Xiao Xiangyu’s Many Sorrows," and she had a clear understanding of many of the scenes.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, she effortlessly memorized the lines for Scene 53, so now she faced no difficulty entering the role of "Xiao Xiangyu."

This scene depicted the male lead, Emperor Qingmu—Bai Ze, entering the Mirror World of the Kunlun Mirror, where he took away the plant spirits that had cultivated human forms and incorporated them into his Imperial Palace to work.

It was said that Emperor Qingmu’s true form was a celestial tree that spanned heaven and earth, existing since the beginning of time, one of the few ancient gods in the Heavenly Palace, governing over any plant in nature.

Thus, all the servants in his palace were plant spirits, with no beings from other realms.

Upon arriving in the Imperial Palace, Xiao Xiangyu had not enjoyed a few carefree days before she caught the eye of the Peony Fairy, who schemed to push her into a replicated Reincarnation Mirror.

Just as Xiao Xiangyu was about to fall into the mirror, Bai Ze, who had some urgent business with her, teleported next to her. Xiao Xiangyu grabbed hold of Bai Ze reflexively, and he, caught off guard, fell in as well.

In the replica Reincarnation Realm, the cycle of reincarnation had already been set with a story. He Jinxia, playing "Xiao Xiangyu," fell into this world to become a man as beautiful as Pan An, surrounded by exceptionally beautiful women.