Chen Ming's originally scheduled call sheet was delayed by a few days because the action director, Sun Shaokui, decided to completely redesign the action sequences for the film after seeing Chen Ming showcase his skills. Sun and Lan Haihan had no shortage of arguments over the difficulty level of the choreography.
Yuen Biao stood on the sidelines, happily watching the commotion. Since he was primarily responsible for 3D action composition, such matters weren't his concern, though he certainly wasn't idle; for the past couple of days, he had been itching to spar with Jet Li and Chen Ming.
Jet Li eventually agreed, and the outcome naturally was Chen Ming's defeat. However, it was a thoroughly impressive defeat, which greatly increased the older martial arts star's fondness for him, prompting him to start teaching him the routines of other boxing styles.
Whether due to the system, the underlying interconnectedness of martial arts, or perhaps because Jet Li was also teaching choreographed routines, Chen Ming picked up other boxing styles from him with astonishing speed.
Except... Jet Li discovered that no matter what style of boxing the kid threw, there was always a sinister, ruthless edge to it—he always loved aiming for an opponent's vital points.
Soon, Lao Li ran out of things to teach him, and instead began pulling Chen Ming aside every day to lecture him on his Dzi bead culture, while Chen Ming had to put on a deeply interested expression.
*I am interested, but I'm not buying. My whole deal is having empty pockets and generating electricity with pure love.*
*Why don't you just gift me one, Big Brother?*
A film crew is a miniature society—a place where people are keenest at reading facial expressions, sucking up to the powerful, and stepping on the weak.
Although Tsui Hark hadn't said anything aloud, his tacit approval of the action director adding scenes for Chen Ming was a clear sign of his affirmation. Combined with Jet Li's favor and Louis Fan acting as his sparring partner, no one in the crew dared to bully Chen Ming anymore.
Except for that somewhat neurotic Lord Zhou.
The most grueling part of shooting a period drama is waiting around on standby. Once hair and makeup are done, they cannot be easily messed up, and if a minor actor messes theirs up, they get chewed out by the makeup artists.
Chen Ming had been through the makeup chair by 6:00 AM, but he hadn't been called for shooting all morning. Finally, when it was time for lunch, wearing a green military greatcoat over his python-patterned imperial robe, he walked somewhat incongruously over to the production assistant handling the catering and collected a boxed lunch identical to the ones given to the lead actors.
At least he finally didn't have to eat chicken legs with the feathers still uncleansed.
He carried his boxed lunch back to the waiting area, placed it on his small stool, squatted right down against the wall, and prepared to dig in.
Zhang Xinyu, who was sitting nearby, followed suit and squatted next to him. After having her assistant fetch her a boxed lunch, she picked out the chicken leg and said, "Chen Ming, I'm on a diet. You can have this."
Chen Ming glanced at Zhang Xinyu, who was still wearing her Imperial Consort makeup. Her red eye makeup swept upward like a scorpion's stinger—captivating, soul-stirring, and exceptionally pretty.
She used to be a model for MOKO. Back in those days, MOKO... well, put it this way: it was the equivalent of today's Wuyou Media, or perhaps even more formidable. Her looks, naturally, went without saying.
Ever since he started practicing martial arts, Chen Ming's appetite had grown significantly, so he gladly accepted.
"Then I'll go scoop us some bone broth."
With that, he stood up, closed the lid of his boxed lunch, and set it on the ground beside him.
"Teacher Chen, coming for bone broth?"
"Yeah. No, no, no, I can do it myself."
Chen Ming quickly took the ladle from the man's hand and continued, "Got any vinegar?"
"Of course we do!"
The man used a plastic cup to scoop some vinegar for Chen Ming. "If you have any requests, just let me know, Teacher Chen! Come back for more when you finish that!"
"Will do!"
In his previous life, Chen Ming had never experienced such warmth from a film crew. He smiled faintly and shook his head, chasing away these sentimental thoughts. When he looked up, Zhang Xinyu had already placed her chicken leg into his lunchbox, resting her charming face in both hands as she looked at him with a beaming smile.
Chen Ming's face instantly darkened.
He walked back to his stool and squatted down. First, he handed the soup to Zhang Xinyu, then picked up his lunchbox, placed it back on the ground, and pulled out the script that had been serving as its mat.
Chen Ming fished a tissue out of the pocket of his military greatcoat and began carefully wiping down the script.
"You..."
For a moment, Zhang Xinyu felt a twinge of awkwardness. She gave a dry laugh and said, "Sorry about that. I saw your lunchbox on the ground and was afraid it would dirty your stool, so I just used this to prop it up."
Chen Ming didn't speak. He just quietly kept wiping the script. Once it was clean, he tucked it against his chest.
"Teacher Zhang."
He finally spoke. The address was somewhat distant. Chen Ming and Zhang Xinyu were around the same age, and while they weren't exceptionally close over the past couple of days, they certainly didn't address each other formally as "Teacher," often joking around when they had downtime.
*Are you bipolar or something? How can your attitude change on a dime? I was kind enough to give you a chicken leg, and now you're taking it out on me?*
Zhang Xinyu muttered inwardly as Chen Ming's voice continued.
"This is the tool of my trade. Putting your food on top of it is wrong."
With one hand still patting the script resting against his chest, Chen Ming looked at Zhang Xinyu with a completely earnest expression.
Zhang Xinyu was left at a loss by his serious demeanor, and a flicker of instinctive grievance welled up in her heart. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Chen Ming add, "Still, thanks for the chicken leg!"
As the words fell, paying no mind to her reaction, Chen Ming lowered his head and began wolfing down his food.
Seeing him shovel food into his mouth like that, Zhang Xinyu inexplicably found it amusing, and her grievances and anger vanished into thin air. No wonder Zhou Xun said he was interesting—he really was something else, and even when he was mad, he looked so adorable!
See? Sometimes women are even more superficial than men.
His aloofness didn't make Zhang Xinyu keep her distance; instead, it made her even more enthusiastic.
"I'm sorry, okay? It was my fault this time, I apologize to you."
Chen Ming looked up and offered a shy smile.
He really was quite shy under normal circumstances, especially when he liked being shy around older sisters.
"It's fine. It's just that I've been an extra for the past two years, and the biggest roles I ever landed were just a slip of paper with two lines of dialogue. Now that I finally have a real script, I cherish it quite a bit!"
"Mm-hmm, I understand. It was my fault."
Zhang Xinyu stopped eating altogether, tilting her head as she watched Chen Ming, which started making him feel a bit awkward.
"Um... how are things between you and Teacher Li?"
Chen Ming couldn't handle the current atmosphere anymore. While he wasn't exactly a saint, he did have a bottom line: do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.
Hearing the name Li Chen, Zhang Xinyu paused. She finally dragged her gaze away from Chen Ming, lowered her head, and began gently prodding the lotus root in her boxed lunch with her chopsticks.
"Mm, it's great. It's just that we're both too busy. He even gave me a heart-shaped stone before! It's super pretty, and he said that kind of stone is really hard to get..."
"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"
Mid-sentence, Chen Ming, who had been drinking his soup, spat it right out and hurriedly used a tissue to wipe his mouth.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, nothing. It's just that I've never heard of a heart-shaped stone before, so I had a bit of a sudden allergic reaction."
Chen Ming quickly waved his hand as he spoke.
Zhang Xinyu tilted her head in confusion.
An allergic reaction? Heart-shaped stones might be rare, but surely it didn't warrant a reaction this big?
"Chen Ming, get ready! It's your scene!"
"Coming!"
Acknowledging the call, Chen Ming quickly polished off the last two bites of his rice and beat a hasty retreat.