darknovel Does Chapter 219 even need acting? Just go straight to Zhang Yi!
Does Chapter 219 even need acting? Just go straight to Zhang Yi!
"Director Yu, where should I get my makeup done?"
"Don't rush."
Yu Zheng approached with a smile, then casually picked up a bag of steaming hot breakfast from the nearby table and handed it to him:
"Have you had breakfast yet? The crew just ordered it, meat buns from Wang's, they're still warm."
"Hurry up and eat this while it's hot, or you won't have time to eat it once you're dressed up for the photoshoot."
"Thank you, Director Yu."
After serving breakfast, Yu Zheng waved for his assistant to lead the way:
"Go ahead, as I promised you before, that private room at the east end, no one except the makeup artist is allowed to go in."
"Changing clothes, putting on makeup, resting, going to the toilet—you're responsible for all of that."
"Here, you're practically the boss of our crew!"
He was led to the lounge by his assistant.
Upon entering the room and closing the door, Jiang Bai's imposing "goddess" demeanor instantly crumbled by half.
"Master, I'm feeling really down right now, and only rice can help me relieve my worries."
The makeup artist was already waiting there; she was a middle-aged woman who didn't talk much.
Because of the confidentiality agreement and Yu Zheng's strict orders, she only gave a polite greeting before starting to work on Jiang Bai's long hair.
Jiang Bai plopped down, not caring about manners anymore, and tore open the bag to start eating.
A large meat bun was gone in just a few bites.
Next came steamed buns, boiled eggs, and then rich soy milk.
But when Jiang Bai thought of Zhang Yan's loneliness in the snowstorm in his dream, he felt an emptiness in his stomach, as if it could never be filled.
"I was Empress in the palace for so many years, eating imperial meals every day, but in my dying moments I didn't even get a bite of meat; all I tasted was medicine!"
Growing angrier by the thought, Jiang Bai pointed to the empty bag and said to the stagehand standing nearby:
"Um...could you get me two more breakfasts? I'm still not full."
The stagehand was stunned, staring at Jiang Bai's slender waist that seemed so delicate it could be grasped in one hand, and then at the meat buns, flower rolls, and soy milk that had disappeared from the table.
"Two more servings?"
Five minutes later.
Two heavy breakfasts were placed in front of Jiang Bai once again.
Meat buns, eggs, fried dough sticks, sesame flatbread...
Jiang Bai looked like a bandit who had just come down from the mountain, attacking with both hands.
The makeup artist's hands trembled slightly as she styled his hair into a Han Dynasty-style bun.
She has been in the industry for so many years.
I've seen people induce vomiting by sticking their fingers down their throats just to get on camera.
I've seen people who only drink one bottle of mineral water a day.
I've never seen anyone pose like an empress while stuffing a third meat bun into their mouth!
The key point is that Ms. Jiang Baizhi's eating manners are not unpleasant.
Even while she was eating voraciously, her jade-like cheeks bulged slightly, revealing an indescribable charm and... a strange beauty of gluttony.
"What are you looking at? Do you know my stamina and basal metabolic rate are several times higher than yours?"
Jiang Bai mentally complained as he swallowed the last mouthful of soy milk, letting out an extremely elegant little burp.
The stagehand was dumbfounded. The goddess he had always thought of as sacred and inviolable suddenly became... unusually down-to-earth.
"Teacher Baizhi...you have such a good appetite! Watching you eat makes me hungry too."
.......
Having eaten and drunk my fill, half of my grief and anger dissipated, replaced by a kind of languid contentment.
Jiang Bai took the thick stack of scripts.
This is all the scenes he had in "Beauty's Rival in Palace".
The makeup artist was still meticulously applying floral decorations, while Jiang Bai turned to the first page of the script.
The first scene today is the first appearance of the adult Zhang Yan.
In the story, Zhang Yan's nominal son, who is actually Liu Ying's child with a palace maid, grows up and runs to the North Palace to question her: "Mother, they all say that my biological mother is Zhou Cai Nu!"
Jiang Bai casually glanced at a few pages, his eyes becoming deep and cold.
[Ding! Host is detected recalling a character's life. God-level acting skills (Zhang Yan's special version) are automatically activated.]
"Dialogue?"
Jiang Bai's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile.
For other actors, these are cold, hard words that need to be memorized.
But for him, this was the real memory of those decades that had just passed, day after day.
The child's eyes at that moment held a stubborn yet fearful questioning look.
And then there was the feeling I had at the time, a feeling of calm yet a lingering ache in my heart...
Every detail, every pause in tone.
He even remembered clearly the cool, earthy breeze that blew in through the corridor of the North Palace at that time.
"Does this kind of scene even need acting? Just a flashback would suffice!"
Jiang Bai slammed the thick stack of scripts on the table and turned his gaze back to the mirror.
In the mirror, the makeup artist was busy applying powder to his face.
As a seasoned makeup artist who has been in the industry for over a decade, the older sister's movements are steady and methodical.
But in Jiang Bai's eyes, this makeup... is not right.
Having already simulated Zhang Yan's life, his standards had become inhumanly discerning.
The current makeup looks like this: the base color is too bright, and the eyeshadow is too red.
Although it's beautiful, it has that cheap "refined" feel you get from modern TV dramas.
What is this performance about?
It was Zhang Yan, the Han Dynasty empress who married at the age of ten, lived alone for twenty years, and finally withered like a withered flower in the cold North Palace!
Her beauty should be aloof and detached.
It carries a deathly stillness that seeps from the very core, yet it does not lose its unattainable nobility.
"Wait a minute."
Jiang Bai suddenly spoke.
The makeup artist froze, her powder puff hovering in mid-air.
"What's wrong, Ms. Bai Zhi? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Bai frowned slightly, reached out his hand, and gently pointed to the corner of his eye.
"The red color here is too heavy."
"Zhang Yan's heart is dead. There shouldn't be such a strong sense of worldly life in her eyes."
"And the foundation is too thick, covering up Zhang Yan's fragile charm."
The makeup artist looked completely bewildered.
This was the first time she had ever met a new actor who was discussing the "character's background" with the makeup artist before filming even started.
"But... Director Yu requires that the Empress's majesty be conveyed..."
"Luxury is in the clothes, not in the face."
"Her face must have been like a pool of stagnant water."
Jiang Bai didn't waste any more words. He reached out and grabbed the makeup remover pad. Under the makeup artist's horrified gaze, he quickly wiped the makeup off his left cheek.
"Teacher Bai Zhi! You..."
"Big sister, why don't you go out and rest for a while? I'll take care of the rest myself."
Jiang Bai skillfully picked up a specially made eyebrow pencil and began to draw on his face.
"You do it yourself?"
The makeup artist felt that her professional dignity had been attacked by some layman.
"Teacher, the makeup and styling for ancient costumes are very complicated, especially the floral appliqués and the updo..."
"Me too."
Jiang Bai looked at his half-pale face in the mirror, and the image of Zhang Yan in the first scene of the simulation appeared in his mind.
He took a deep breath and his hands moved with astonishing speed.
His masterful makeup skills were on full display; the foundation was applied so thinly that it gave off an almost sickly quality.
His eyebrows were drawn out thin and long, slanting towards his temples, gentle yet resentful.