Chapter 22: Barbecue
In the camera frame, a young man and a woman were kissing.
The young man was below, and the woman was on top, controlling the rhythm entirely.
Gentle touches made the young man’s expression a mix of shyness and excitement. The woman smiled, her hair cascading down onto the young man’s neck and chest like blooming flowers, causing his expression to become slightly dazed.
With fingers adorned in delicate lipstick, she grasped the buttons, one by one, moving slowly downward.
“Cut!” Director Wang’s head popped out from behind the screen. “Jiang Yin, why are you so nervous? Your name is Jiang Yin, not ‘rigid.’ She’s not going to eat you. Relax a bit!”
Jiang Yin felt embarrassed and covered his face with his hand. “I’m sorry, let me take a moment.”
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Jiang Yin pondered about the situation Fang Xiao had described and shook his head with a sigh. “It’s probably not likely. I’m more passive and don’t usually take the initiative to pursue someone.”
Speaking of love, he had actually contemplated it quite a bit. After absorbing his original memories, the most significant impact on him in the emotional aspect was the modern concept of marriage and relationships.
Although the Great Zhou Dynasty practiced monogamy, emperors had the privilege of taking concubines. His father, the late emperor, had favored a musician named Su. In his first year of entering school after leaving the Cold Palace, Jiang Yin had heard many stories about Su. However, she had been punished and expelled from the palace for offending Empress Song, who later became the Empress Dowager.
While his father occasionally summoned musicians for companionship, none of them enjoyed the same level of favor as Su.
Perhaps due to these influences, Jiang Yin’s original understanding of relationships didn’t involve traditional love and monogamy. He still wondered what kind of empress would accompany him in the future, but this didn’t prevent him from considering taking consorts and indulging in others’ affections.
As “Jiang Yin,” he had learned about true monogamy and how it was different from his past concepts. He had also learned about concepts such as infidelity, divorce, and the distinctions between heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.
Then, Jiang Yin realized that his past beliefs were, to put it simply, flawed. He felt like a “scumbag” in terms of emotional understanding. After delving into various romance movies and TV shows, watching affectionate celebrities, and viewing public displays of affection videos, he became entangled in confusion.
Love was beautiful, and he envied it. He also looked forward to experiencing it, but his deeply ingrained thoughts were not easy to change. He couldn’t guarantee his own fidelity, especially in marriage. It wasn’t that he was stubbornly traditional; he knew his thoughts were wrong, but knowing something was wrong didn’t guarantee that he could overcome it. After all, even regular people from this era sometimes cheated or were unfaithful in relationships. Did they not know that it was wrong?
Therefore, Jiang Yin, who admitted to being a “scumbag” in terms of emotions, decided to put the brakes on romantic pursuits and marriage for now. He didn’t want to inadvertently hurt someone else. Moreover, from a modern perspective, he was still young, and there was no rush to start a family. Even if he waited another twenty years before getting married, it wouldn’t be too late.
Fang Xiao chuckled. “That’s because you haven’t met the one you truly like. If you do, don’t go back on your words.”
Initially, Jiang Yin wanted to say it wouldn’t happen, but then he thought about it. He wasn’t an emperor anymore, and the other party wouldn’t be at his beck and call. So, he casually replied, “Then I’ll wait until I meet that person.”
Jiang Yin, despite being mature for his age, still retained the heart of a young man. Combined with his past upbringing, he had not developed a clear understanding of love and relationships.
The two bantered for a while, and Jiang Yin regained his composure. He realized that the intimate scenes in “Red Candle Tears,” which Fang Xiao had acted in, were far more explicit than what they were shooting now. A young girl had handled those scenes professionally and without hesitation. Why was he being so self-conscious?
The scene involving undressing and kissing passed quickly. After all, it was an idol drama, so they wouldn’t shoot it too explicitly. In the scene, both of them only needed to show their shoulders while performing a romantic kiss. The rest would be left to the audience’s imagination.
After completing the night scene, there was still a morning scene to shoot. Given the difficulty of moving the entire crew, they decided to wait on the beach until dawn. The night scene started at midnight, and they had been busy for nearly four hours, leaving just over an hour until dawn. There was no need to relocate.
Fang Xiao draped a shawl around herself and suggested, “I’ve asked Xiao Wang to prepare a barbecue for everyone as a late-night snack. Would you like to join us?”
“Sure,” Jiang Yin replied without hesitation.
He looked around for Zhao Qianjin. Jiang Ai wasn’t here at the moment; the night shoot had started too late, and he didn’t want her to stay up late with him.
Xiao Wang informed them, “Zhao Ge is getting drinks ready for everyone.”
Fang Xiao smiled and said, “Your assistant is really good.”
“Zhao Ge is excellent,” Jiang Yin agreed with a smile.
It had become a common practice for actors to treat crew members to food and drinks openly. Even in a serious production like “Empress Lu,” actors would occasionally dip into their own pockets to buy drinks and snacks to treat the entire crew. As the saying goes, “Soft words butter no parsnips,” so these small gestures often led to better cooperation from the crew. While you couldn’t expect everyone to give their all, it did make a difference.
When “Fateful Encounter” began filming, both Jiang Yin and Fang Xiao had separately treated the crew as a gesture of goodwill.
Today, Fang Xiao treated everyone to a barbecue, and Jiang Yin was sure to find an opportunity to do the same. Zhao Qianjin was quick-witted; when Xiao Wang arranged for the barbecue, Zhao immediately took charge of the drinks. Given Jiang Yin and Fang Xiao’s relationship, Zhao Qianjin wouldn’t overstep her bounds but still managed to contribute effectively.
Jiang Yin mentally made a note of this.
Although Zhao Qianjin was still in the three-month probationary period as an assistant, it was already decided that she would be kept.
The production had rented a section of the hotel’s beach, and the necessary barbecue equipment was readily available thanks to the hotel’s staff. Xiao Wang had arranged for the equipment to be brought in, and a barbecue chef was ready to work overtime. They only needed to wait for everyone to wrap up the night shoot to enjoy the feast.
The air was filled with the enticing aroma of lamb skewers, succulent grilled chicken wings, tender and juicy pork loin, as well as crispy chicken gizzards, sausages, and crispy bones…
In the midst of it all, you could also find crispy grilled mantou (Chinese steamed buns), sweet and spicy grilled corn, and barbecue essentials like eggplant, chives, and enoki mushrooms.
Jiang Yin sat by the barbecue stall, holding a small stool, and the scent of cumin wafted through the air. He eagerly grabbed one skewer after another. If it weren’t for Director Wang and Fang Xiao jointly stopping him, he could have eaten a couple more rounds.
“I don’t want the male lead to suddenly gain weight on camera,” Director Wang quipped, even as he indulged in the skewers himself, oil dripping from his mouth.
“Be careful; if Chen Dan finds out, he’ll withhold your snacks again,” Fang Xiao teased. She had only taken about ten skewers for herself, as she was worried about breaking out if she ate too much.
Jiang Yin could only regretfully give up.
As everyone enjoyed their food and drinks, the sky slowly brightened on the horizon. Director Wang and the cinematographer tested the lighting once more, and the cameras rolled again.
About twenty crew members gathered on the beach once more, their spirits high after a satisfying meal and drinks.
Jiang Yin, feeling energized after a hearty meal and in high spirits, had no signs of weariness from the late night. He completed his scenes smoothly, showing no signs of having stayed up late.
On the other hand, Fang Xiao was starting to feel fatigued. Her eyes looked a bit hazy, but it actually worked well for the scene they were shooting, which depicted waking up in the morning. It added a touch of realism.
“I’m so tired,” Fang Xiao yawned during the last kissing scene. “Getting older really can’t compare to young people.”
Jiang Yin handed her a tissue from a prop and said, “This is the last scene. Once we finish it, you can rest.”
If there was one thing he was most satisfied with about the modern world, it was longevity. In his previous life, whether one was a royal or a commoner, lifespans were generally short. Even reaching the age of fifty or sixty was considered long-lived. Many didn’t even have the chance to grow up before they met an untimely end. In the Great Zhou Dynasty, many debilitating diseases could be resolved with a simple surgery or medication in the modern era.
Here, as long as you paid attention to health and well-being, living to the age of seventy, eighty, or even ninety or a hundred was not a problem.
For a woman like Fang Xiao, who was in her prime in the Great Zhou era, she would have been considered a middle-aged lady. But in the modern era, her life was just beginning to bloom. Upon closer inspection, her life was quite similar to that of the Empress Dowager, but their life experiences were entirely different.
They say that surviving death can bring enlightenment, but Jiang Yin didn’t necessarily agree. He wanted to keep living, to live a long and fulfilling life. He wished he could live to be a hundred.
“Come on,” Fang Xiao wiped away the tears that had welled up from her yawn and, as soon as the director called “action,” she grabbed the collar of Jiang Yin’s shirt and kissed him passionately.
A bedroom scene was shot from midnight until early morning. By the time it ended, and after returning to the hotel to freshen up, it was already 7 AM. Jiang Yin was feeling a bit exhausted, so he quickly checked a couple of social media updates and then fell asleep.
He didn’t know how long he had slept when he heard the ringing of his phone. Jiang Yin, still half-asleep, answered, “Hello?”
“Wow, finally got through to you,” came the relieved voice of Zhao Pengpeng from the other end of the line. “Were you asleep? Wake up! The teddy bear I arranged for you is about to arrive. My brother was worried that you might be filming, so he had me call to check. He’s already on his way over. By the way, you’re staying at the Maple Leaf Hotel, right?”
“Yeah,” Jiang Yin replied groggily, then suddenly woke up, “Your brother?”
“Yes,” Zhao Pengpeng said. “It just so happened that my brother is returning to the country, and he’s also going to Deer City. Since you mentioned you’d be staying there for a few days, I had him book a hotel nearby and bring it to you. I originally wanted to give you a heads up with a phone call, but you didn’t answer for a long time. I thought you might be filming.”
Jiang Yin found this whole situation a bit bewildering. He was now fully awake and replied, “You could have had Zhao’s assistant contact me.”
“Assistant?” Zhao Pengpeng laughed. “My brother didn’t bring his assistant with him. He’s traveling alone. His assistant, Gao, should still be on the plane. It’s no big deal, it’s just a convenient arrangement. By the way, are you worried about my brother? Never mind, I’ll tell him to leave it at the front desk for you.”
Just as they were discussing this, the hotel room’s landline rang. Jiang Yin answered it and heard someone say, “You don’t need to worry; your brother has already arrived.”
Author’s Note:
Jiang Yin: I’m a scoundrel.
Zhao Yansen: Serious criticism, stern education.
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