Chapter 625: Chapter 625

Jade, still disguised as a bearded gentleman, now held a fan in her hand. She deliberately took wide strides, more fitting for a man’s gait, occasionally fanning herself. It was truly the picture of elegant leisure.

Next to "him" followed a breathtaking beauty in red. Although this beauty had a somewhat flat chest and showed little expression on her face, her delicate features were a winning asset.

Even some of the women from Mirror World could not help being drawn to the red-clothed beauty upon seeing her, with some even running over shyly to ask Jade if the Red-clothed Sister liked women.

As the director called "action," He Jinxia, playing Jade, continued to fan herself while looking around at the surrounding houses, then cleared her throat and said, "Esteemed brother, cough cough, esteemed sister, is there anywhere you would like to go?"

Bai Ze glanced at her, slowly shook his head, and didn’t speak.

"Candy figurines for sale, candy figurines for sale! Fresh and delicious candy figurines!"

Suddenly, the voice of a vendor reached Jade’s ears. Her eyes lit up, and she was immediately drawn to the candy figurines at the side of the road, unable to resist running over!

Bai Ze followed behind her, an indulgent and helpless smile fleeting across his face.

Jade, having taken human form not so long ago, still had the curiosity of a child and found everything fascinating.

It was rather strange, considering she grew up in the marketplace, seeing many joys and sorrows, witnessing many rise from poverty to prosperity, and then from prosperity to decline... How could she still be curious about the everyday world?

Bai Ze shook his head and followed after her.

Director Liu called "cut!" in time. He looked at the scene captured on the screen and nodded in approval. The veteran actors’ performances were indeed stable, and they could nail even the not-so-difficult scenes in one take!

Director Liu wasn’t someone who fixated on minutiae. He did strive for perfection, but his idea of "perfection" was more focused on the overall harmony of the scene.

He believed that when audiences watched TV dramas, they were primarily caught up in the storyline, which would lead them to overlook many of the details.

And such details, if one is not watching with a nitpicking mindset, generally go unnoticed by most people.

Thus, unless an actor’s minor flaws were glaringly obvious on camera and completely marred the esthetics, Director Liu would only then opt for a retake.

In terms of actors’ performances, Director Liu gave them considerable freedom. He wasn’t controlling and didn’t insist that actors follow his precise direction for gestures, nor did he demand that the final shots match exactly what he envisioned. As long as the scenes were shot brilliantly, he would accept them.

Rather than being the kind of director who demanded retakes for even the slightest imperfections in the visual details, he was much more lenient and actually enjoyed when actors improvised, adding depth to the film.

Every actor brought a different interpretation to a scene, and different actors had their own unique approaches to portraying a situation. Follow current novels on N0velFire.ɴet

Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand viewers, the interplay of different acting styles can be as exquisite as a chemical reaction. Director Liu looked forward to witnessing that kind of alchemy.

Of course, part of this was because he had a discerning eye in choosing actors that perfectly fit the script’s requirements, which meant there were no issues.

Other directors who tried Liu’s method invariably ended up with a mess. If actors didn’t understand how to collaborate and coordinate, the whole production would undoubtedly become a disaster—a disaster for the entire crew!

The staff came forward to adjust the actors’ hair and costumes, while the script supervisor briefed the extras waiting on the side, instructing them on what to do next.

Once everything was in place, filming for the next scene resumed.

With the sound of the clapboard, He Jinxia, as Jade, stood in front of the candy figurines with curiosity and asked, "How much are these for a piece of silver?"

The street vendor rubbed his hands together and hurriedly said, "The small ones are five copper coins, the big ones are ten copper coins."

Yuyin saw a sugar figurine on the stand that was rather attractive; it was actually a painted scene!

Unable to restrain her curiosity, Yuyin asked, "What is this, and how much does it cost?"

The street vendor replied, "This is the ’Empty Mountain New Rain Painting’; it depicts a famous landmark on Beauty Street. Just follow this road straight down, and at the end, you will see a classical gallery surrounded by dense bamboo groves.

Whenever the sun comes out, the light falls on the bamboo, scattering into the gallery, which is especially beautiful. It’s one of the famous attractions of Beauty Street and costs one tael of silver."

Yuyin frowned and quickly turned around, pulling Bai Ze forward as they walked. While walking away, she looked back and said, "You dishonest vendor, don’t think I don’t know that one tael of silver can buy all your sugar figurines and then some. You’re trying to scam me! I won’t buy it! Hmph!"

Yuyin made a face at the vendor and then started running off with Bai Ze. She hadn’t run far when she stumbled and almost fell!

Emma, the black shoes she was wearing were ridiculously too big, which was not an issue while walking normally, but tripped her up when she started to run. Fortunately, Qiu Zhenze was there to support her at the critical moment, preventing He Jinxia from making intimate contact with the ground.

"Cut!" Director Liu said with a smile, "We don’t need to reshoot from the beginning, just start from where you’re running and holding Bai Ze’s hand, then turning your head to tell the boy he’s trying to deceive you."

He Jinxia also smiled, looking apologetically at Qiu Zhenze. Just as she was about to say something, Qiu Zhenze interjected, "Are those shoes not too big for you? Perhaps you should stuff something inside to pad them out?"

He Jinxia looked down at her shoes, "Pad them? How do you pad, by increasing my height? That wouldn’t work, right? They are at least two or three sizes too big."

Qiu Zhenze said very seriously, "Just stuff something in to fill the excess space."

He Jinxia was taken aback, "Stuff with what?"

Qiu Zhenze suggested, "Tissues, newspaper, cotton—these can all be used as stuffing."

He Jinxia promptly refused, "Is that really necessary? It sounds quite bothersome, considering that I only have to run for this scene, and I won’t be running much otherwise. I can still walk normally."

Qiu Zhenze shook his head, "No worries, trust me, it’s a trivial matter. Just give me a moment."

He turned and walked towards the director, apparently to fetch some tissues.

He Jinxia’s lips parted slightly, looking stunned as she watched Qiu Zhenze bring over some paper for her to stuff into her shoes to check the "foot feel."

When she put on the shoes with the comforting paper padding, she was still somewhat unable to recover her senses.

In no time, the running scene was smoothly shot. He Jinxia rested on the spot for a while. The evaluation given by Cheng Xiaohua last night about Qiu Zhenze came to mind, and she couldn’t agree more.

Sister Xiao Hua was right; Qiu Zhenze really was very serious, with the style of an "aging cadre," helpful to others while strict with himself.

Just by the way he handled her oversized shoe issue, she could tell what kind of actor Qiu Zhenze was.

Shooting a movie with such an actor, He Jinxia felt very reassured; she didn’t have to worry about others holding her back!

It had to be said that when it came to acting, the two shared an unexpectedly common stance on certain matters.