Chapter 38: The Disabled Screenwriter
There is never a shortage of smart people in this world.
At the end of last year, due to new regulations on radio and television, a large number of TV dramas were launched at once, and the old guesthouse at the Bayi Film and Television Base became a popular place.
Just after the Chinese New Year, dozens of hotels and homestays sprang up in the nearby Wangzuo town like mushrooms after a rain. I heard that two three-star hotels are about to break ground.
The crew of "The Thirteenth Princess" is obviously not short of money. They directly rented an entire large yard. It is said that it was converted from an old farm machinery yard. It was used to park harvesters and dry grain in the past. Now it has been repainted and renovated, and a sign saying "Feel at Home" has been hung.
However, the most magnificent and eye-catching thing in the courtyard is the building with red walls and golden tiles in the middle.
Xu Kun walked closer with his luggage and took a closer look, and saw the words "public toilet" clearly written on the plaque.
This……
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?!"
At this time, someone came out of the house and shouted, "That's where we shoot the movie. It's not a real toilet. If you need to go to the southwest corner of the yard, go!"
In fact, after getting closer, Xu Kun had already realized that although this thing looked shiny on the outside, it was actually just a Western-style scene made of wooden boards, with a cheap, copycat feel everywhere.
Is this the public toilet that the Thirteenth Princess led all the civil and military officials to visit in the play?
No matter how weak the Qing Dynasty was, and no matter how pedantic the ministers were, they wouldn't make such a fuss about something like this, right?
Xu Kun suddenly had a bad feeling, as if the actual situation of the crew was somewhat different from the high-quality production he had imagined.
"I'm talking to you. The toilet is in the southwest corner!"
Seeing Xu Kun standing in front of the "public toilet" and refusing to leave, the man walked towards him, shouting and scolding.
Xu Kun came back to his senses and introduced himself: "I am Xu Kun, the actor who plays Emperor Guangxu. I received a notice to report to the crew."
When he heard that it was an actor who came to report, the man immediately put on a smiling face: "So it's an actor who came to report. Misunderstanding, misunderstanding - please follow me, I want to see how the crew arranges it."
As he spoke, he called Xu Kun to go back to the east room with him and introduced himself. It turned out that he was the stage manager left behind by the crew, mainly responsible for looking after the luggage and receiving the actors.
This place was temporarily set up as a small office. The remaining theater manager took out a form from the drawer and ran his fingers down from top to bottom: "Emperor Guangxu, Emperor Guangxu, Guangxu... Got it! You and Prince Chun will live together in the second room of the west wing."
"Prince Chun? The biological father of Emperor Guangxu?"
The history book was not bought for nothing. Xu Kun immediately thought of the relationship between Guangxu and Prince Chun.
"I don't know. I'm just a handyman."
The remaining theater manager took out a bunch of keys and said with a smile, "Come on, I'll take you there. Let's put down the luggage first and then talk about other things."
As it was just renovated a few years ago, the guest rooms are clean and tidy. As for formaldehyde and the like, people don't care that much about it these days.
Xu Kun put his luggage on the empty bed and asked with a smile, "Where is our crew filming? Since I'm here, I have to say hello to the director first."
The remaining theater manager hesitated and said, "I am the only one in the theater now..."
"Just tell me and I'll find it myself."
The stage manager then explained that the crew should be filming near Shuangqing Villa in the literary drama area.
Xu Kun had been there before when he played a Japanese soldier, so he rushed to the film and television base alone.
As the new work of the director of "My Fair Princess", the crew of "The Thirteenth Princess" is quite famous. After a little inquiry, Xu Kun found the crew that was filming in "Shangshufang".
Standing in front of the camera are a fat eunuch and two Qing ministers. The eunuch Xu Kun looks familiar, and I think it should be Fu Biao who plays Li Lianying.
Because there was no filming assignment at the moment, Li Xiaolu, in a Western dress, and Lv Liping, in a bright yellow court dress, were sitting in a corner whispering to each other.
Xu Kun hesitated for a moment and did not disturb Li Xiaolu. He planned to see how the crew was filming first.
"action!"
Following a shout from director Sun Shupei, the eunuch Li Lianying immediately took out a handkerchief and covered his nose in a hurry.
The two Manchu ministers came closer with a look of surprise, as if they wanted to see what the chief steward was going to do.
Then Li Lianying blew his nose hard. This was nothing, but what puzzled Xu Kun was the reaction of the two ministers.
Hearing the sound of someone blowing his nose, the minister who was close to him immediately leaned back tactically, his face full of shock and disbelief.
what does this mean?
Xu Kun was looking at this in bewilderment when someone patted him hard on the arm.
"Hey~ Why didn't you say anything when you came?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Xu Kun knew it was Li Xiaolu without turning around, so he pointed at the three people who were acting together in the room and asked in a low voice: "What's going on? Is there an epidemic in the palace?"
"Giggle..."
Li Xiaolu laughed so hard when she heard that that everyone looked at her sideways.
She knew that it was inappropriate, so she quickly stopped laughing, stuck out her tongue at everyone, pulled Xu Kun to a corner, and explained the plot to him:
Li Lianying was surprised to see Thirteenth Princess's foreign classmate and boyfriend blowing his nose with a handkerchief, so he performed the skill of blowing his nose by pinching his nose with his fingers on the spot. As a result, he was laughed at by Thirteenth Princess and the foreign classmate for being unhygienic.
So Li Lianying also learned to blow his nose with a handkerchief, which shocked and prompted other ministers to follow suit.
After listening to it, Xu Kun had a face full of question marks.
What the hell is this? !
If you talk about modern technology, heavy industry and light industry, our country was indeed backward in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Even in 2002, we were still not as good as developed countries.
But you talk about blowing your nose into a handkerchief...
When our ancestors started using silk handkerchiefs, Westerners had just come down from the trees!
If you say that the poor people on the street are too lazy to use handkerchiefs because it is too troublesome to wash, then that makes sense.
But if you say that the princes and nobles in the court would not blow their noses or spit with handkerchiefs, that is pure fabrication.
Is this screenwriter a moron?
But even if there is something wrong with his brain, he can't still be blind, right?
Hasn't he watched other Qing Dynasty dramas? Those concubines and palace maids never take off their large handkerchiefs and small handkerchiefs. Are they all just for decoration?
This is different from "Blind Well" or even "The Sent-Down Girl". It is just for the sake of criticizing others, and even the most basic common sense is ignored!
"Shh~!"
Li Xiaolu quickly made a gesture to silence her voice and whispered, "Do you think you're the only one who thinks these plots are outrageous? But this is the script that Director Sun personally led. He is very satisfied with it and won't listen to anyone else's opinions."
“But isn’t this too outrageous?”
Xu Kun still couldn't accept it. Although Sun Shupei's previous works "Justice Bao" and "My Fair Princess" also had many exaggerated parts, they were not to this extent, right?
“There are even more outrageous things!”
Li Xiaolu rolled her eyes and said indifferently: "Why do you care so much? Filming a TV series is not writing a history book. As long as the people like to watch it, that's enough."
Is there really anyone who likes to watch this kind of plot?!
"Stop talking about this."
Li Xiaolu didn't want to discuss this issue any further, so she pulled Xu Kun aside and said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the Queen Mother. Didn't you say a long time ago that you wanted to meet Aunt Lu?"
Although Xu Kun still couldn't get around it, when he heard that Li Xiaolu was going to take him to meet Teacher Lu, he quickly adjusted his state.
When they finally got in front of Lv Liping, Li Xiaolu finally let go of Xu Kun, stepped forward, hugged Lv Liping's arm, and said in a tender voice: "Empress Dowager, I have brought your great son here!"
Lv Liping had actually noticed the two of them a long time ago, so she got up and waited. She stared at Xu Kun and said, "You are the little Xu who plays the emperor, right? You look stronger than the Seventh Prince, but you are fairer than the Seventh Prince."
In fact, Xu Kun was not so white originally. It was only because of the recent time spent in the mine that he became so white.
"Hello, Teacher Lu."
Xu Kun bowed slightly and said, "I am Xu Kun who plays Emperor Guangxu. I am very happy to work with you, Teacher Lu, this time. I grew up watching your plays."
"Oh, that makes me sound old."
Lü Liping smiled and was about to say something when Li Xiaolu rushed in and said, "Hey, let's not talk about this for now, Xu Kun, quickly show the Queen Mother how to kill someone with a glare!"
Xu Kun: “…”
It seems that she got herself into the crew just for this.
(End of this chapter)
