This celebrity became even more popular after being exposed of having multiple girlfriends
Chapter 338 - 282 Who is the Female Lead_2

Chapter 338: Chapter 282 Who is the Female Lead_2

All the other actors had already begun joining the production, and Wu Mu was also packing up his things to join the crew.

Shi Wu and Shu Mei had wanted to come along, but Wu Mu considered that they would initially be filming in the suburbs of Beijing, a two to three-hour drive away.

But the commute wasn’t a hassle, so there was no need to bring so many people. Calling them as needed would suffice.

So, he went to join the crew on his own.

The crew’s base was an old hotel that seemed to have seen better days.

Wu Mu looked at the somewhat dilapidated hotel and the waiting Lin Qingyue in front of it. He chuckled and said, "Director Lin, our production crew really is poor, huh? You’re a renowned director with a reputation—yet we’re staying in a place like this?"

Lin Qingyue looked at him amusedly. "You’re slandering us now. We’re bringing in a top actor like you; how could we dare to neglect you? This is the best hotel nearby. Any better and it’d be an extra half-hour drive."

Wu Mu laughed, "I signed the contract too early. If it were now, you’d have to pay me at least an extra one or two million."

"Now you’re thinking of backing out too late."

"Come on, I’ll take you to drop off your things, and then you can meet the others in the crew."

Director Lin’s crew was not large, since it was just a small-budget art film. With actors and the entire staff together, they totaled just over forty, less than fifty.

After Lin Qingyue helped Wu Mu settle in, she took him to a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

But Wu Mu recognized her, of course. He smiled and said, "Sister Yan, thanks for your help with the previous series. We’ll wire the production funds to you by the end of the month."

This was Yan Yongmei, the producer Director Lin had introduced to him before, who had also acted as the producer for the series by Yang Rongfa, watching over his funds. Shi Wu had also been introduced by Yan Yongmei.

Yan Yongmei maintained the habit of reporting via WeChat messages and greeted him politely, "President Wu."

Although she behaved the same as before, she inevitably placed more value on Wu Mu in her heart.

After all, 450 million is no small amount. Despite Lin Xueming being an internationally known director, he might not earn that much in a year.

Only a blockbuster hit combined with various other income streams could possibly reach that figure.

"This is our assistant director, Brother Feng," continued Lin Qingyue.

Wu Mu recognized him too. He had once attended a meal at Wu Mu’s house early on as Lin Qingyue’s friend, though it had been only that one time, and they hadn’t seen each other since.

The man named Feng Shang was another man in his forties, his face bearing a weary look.

His personality was similar to Wang Ren’s, somewhat reticent. He just nodded at Wu Mu, "Wu Mu."

"This is our main cinematographer, Lou Ziwen."

The middle-aged man with dark skin and a small round cap was quite talkative. "Welcome, welcome. We’ve finally waited for our leading man. I’ve been dreaming these days, thinking how great it would be to capture that scene from Wang Ren’s movie."

"This is the actress for the second female lead, Liu Miao. She doesn’t have scenes yet, but she’s also joined the group."

The girl with flower braids, who looked a bit rustic, was clearly extremely nervous, especially when her gaze met Wu Mu’s face. She couldn’t find the words to speak and her hands didn’t know where to rest, "Hello, hello."

Wu Mu laughed heartily, "Hello to you too."

After Lin Qingyue had introduced the key members of the team, Wu Mu waited two seconds. Seeing that Lin Qingyue wasn’t continuing to introduce more people, he felt slightly puzzled.

"Director Lin, are we missing someone?"

Lin Qingyue asked, "Missing who?"

"The lead actress hasn’t joined the production yet?"

The second female lead is here, so where’s the lead actress?

"She’s here."

"Where?" Wu Mu looked around, starting to feel something was off.

"Right in front of you."

Director Lin was smiling at him.

Wu Mu: "..."

Wu Mu sighed helplessly and smiled, "Director Lin, are you going to play the lead actress yourself?"

Lin Qingyue nodded, "Though she is the lead actress, most of the time she’s just there as part of the background. The difficulty isn’t that high, so it’s not a big deal for me to take on the role."

Was that really the point?

Wu Mu, amused, took another look at Lin Qingyue in front of him. Then he simply said, "Director Lin, you surely haven’t forgotten about the kissing scene between the lead actors in the film, right?"

"I haven’t forgotten." Lin Qingyue kept a smile on her face, looking at him. "I’m not afraid. What are you afraid of?"

"What am I even afraid of?"

Wu Mu looked at Lin Qingyue helplessly.

"Fine, it’s your movie, so you call the shots."

After getting acquainted with all the main creative staff, they went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant, and Wu Mu prepared to head back.

But, as they were leaving the restaurant, Lin Qingyue stopped him, "Wu Mu, let’s take a walk."

Wu Mu glanced at the somewhat deserted streets around them at night, thought for a moment, and nodded, "Sure."

"You guys go ahead, Wu Mu and I will walk back," Lin Qingyue said to the rest of the crew and then he and Wu Mu started strolling back.

By this time of the year, Beijing’s weather had already started to transition into winter, becoming cold.

After tightening his clothes, Lin Qingyue smiled and said, "I’m glad there aren’t many people here, so we can walk around. Otherwise, walking with you in the downtown area, I reckon we’d be surrounded in no time."

"That’s an exaggeration."

Wu Mu shook his head.

"I go out by myself quite often. With a little disguise, not many people will pay attention to me. Not long ago, I went to the robot convention with Liang Fang and the others, and not many people noticed us."

"Liang Fang?" Lin Qingyue thought for a moment, slightly puzzled, "The one from the early days on Star Agency’s program?"

"Yes, Jiang Qian’s roommate."

"Do you still keep in touch with them?"

"Sure, we chat often on WeChat. They came to Beijing not long ago, stayed at Su Meng’s place, and then came to find me. We all went to the World Robot Conference together. Jiang Qian, Xu Tingting, Su Meng – they were all there."

Maintaining contact with a few ordinary people he had met on the show long ago and even hanging out with them.

Such a thing would be unimaginable for other celebrities, but for Wu Mu, it didn’t seem out of place at all.

Lin Qingyue’s face carried a smile, "I remember that Jiang Qian seemed to have a pretty good impression of you back then, did she pursue you?"

Wu Mu looked at Lin Qingyue with amusement.

Director Lin, don’t go stirring things up.

Wu Mu didn’t answer but changed the subject directly, "By the way, Director Lin, is our movie really called ’Goodbye’?"

Lin Qingyue nodded, "Yeah, ’Faith, Cherry Blossoms, Goodbye’ just felt too long."

"Is this a story about farewell?"

Wu Mu tried to parse Lin Qingyue’s intentions from the title.

Lin Qingyue looked at him, didn’t answer directly, and instead countered, "You said you couldn’t understand the story before. After going back, did you read the script and the novel? Do you understand it now?"

During their previous stroll around Lin Qingyue’s school, Lin Qingyue had given him a brief overview of the story, and at that time Wu Mu thought it was too simplistic and couldn’t understand what he wanted to shoot.

After returning, Wu Mu read the original novel and had also received Lin Qingyue’s script, which detailed the scenes even more.

Now, while Wu Mu somewhat understood the story, he still wasn’t quite clear on what point they wanted to make or what the theme was.

Wu Mu spoke honestly, "I still don’t quite understand it, some parts feel too stream-of-consciousness, and I’m not sure what exactly you’re trying to shoot."

"Is that so."

Lin Qingyue propped her chin with her hands tucked in her sleeves and then waved her hand generously, "No worries, if you can’t bring it out in performance, we’ll discuss it then."

"I wouldn’t go that far. I should be able to perform."

"Oh? That confident?"

Lin Qingyue looked at Wu Mu curiously.

Of course.

The theme is a bit vague, but do you think my talent as a Natural Actor is fake?

Wu Mu snickered to himself.

The talent of a Natural Actor wasn’t only useful in the midst of performing.

It also came into play during the preparation stage before acting. Now that his talent had peaked at the top-level, he naturally understood and perceived every detail of the script.

Previously, he got the talent after joining a team and had no time to analyze and research it step by step.

This time, having it so much in advance, he could spend a little more time on it, create a backstory for his character, analyze actions and scenes in detail, and that would be enough for him to perform when the time came.