Chapter 45 – Because Xiao Mo will shine

As one of the only few major directors in China, Ma Mingcheng has garnered public praise in maintaining a record of double success at the box office for three consecutive films. But in fact, he is like all well-known directors, he can’t ensure that every film he makes will sell well.

Nonetheless, there is one thing that is certain——every film that Ma Mingcheng made will attract extraordinary attention.

Besides the director, the actors of this drama are also very famous. Ever since Zhou Jinchen won the Film Emperor award for 《The Scarecrow》 at the Wutong Awards, his collaboration with Lin Rui has been a hot topic in the media. Just at this time, 《Different Roads》 started, the two Film Emperors were once again on the same stage. With Ma Lao’s name and the two lead actors, it quickly burned up an unimaginable amount of heat.

The attention paid by the outside media for 《Different Roads》 was enough to describe as attracting all people’s attention.

Therefore, when the majestic convoy arrived,  An Xumo really experienced what Zhou Jinchen meant by “noisy.”

The studio which has been crowded with people on weekdays is even more full this time. If not for the temporary makeshift shed prepared in advance, one would fear that the scene will be crowded to the degree of being shoulder-to-shoulder.

The 《Different Roads》 is a film with an original plot. The script and the main characters are highly confidential. In order to not reveal information about the cast and crew, the crew will arrange for this event which is called a set visit. This will take place in a temporary shed outside the set.

Although it was an official media event, the media who came to visit the set are selected in advance to cooperate, and even though Ma Lao still maintains his usual attitude, he is tight-lipped regarding questions about the plot and concerns with the schedule can’t be determined. Only a few dull questions were answered, yet the situation at the scene is still extremely lively.

If the crew hadn’t specified the range of people to be interviewed, I’m afraid that An Xumo will also be surrounded that even a drop of water would not leak out.1水泄不通: lit. not one drop can trickle through (idiom); fig. impenetrable (crowd, traffic); Describes that it is very crowded or very tightly surrounded as if even water cannot leak out.

It’s a new movie that can get a numerous amount of clicks even if only the title of the movie is written in the headline.

Compared to Ma Lao’s royal team who had long been accustomed to this scene, and other actors who have made their debut for many years, An Xumo’s on-set experience is much more limited. However, it is comforting to know that An Xumo is not the only person who was surprised.

There are many actors in the crew who have been in the business for many years, and they are no stranger to this kind of interview, but it really caused a little commotion in the whole crew which opened the eyes of many experienced actors and staff. It was the commotion brought by fans.

For this set visit, the crew contracted a total of two bus convoys. The first convoy carried media workers, and after they finished most of the interviews, the last two buses entered the studio.

What the people did not expect was that behind the same types of bus was followed by a black off-road vehicle.

The crew did not notice the off-road vehicle at first, it wasn’t until a group of fans called out and came down from the last bus. They started to move things down from the large off-road vehicle in an orderly manner which gradually attracted the crowd’s attention.

Each bus had forty-five people and there were nearly thirty people with uniform badges on their arms surrounding the off-roader, most of whom were girls. They almost look thin and unable to fight with their shoulders. However, when the onlookers looked over curiously, they are one person and one big basket, directly unloading everything from the car.

“…….”

Qian Lingyuan who was standing next to An Xumo, couldn’t help but be curious, “Didn’t they say that the fans were visiting the set, what are they doing?”

Qian Lingyuan is also a veteran actor who plays as Ye Qisheng’s uncle, Zhao Jiujiu in the movie, that is, the deceased in the second murder case. He has also acted in many movies, but it’s his first time to see such a scene.

An Xumo was also a little confused about the situation. The fans on the latter two buses added up to a total of eighty/ninety people, but it seems that they were obviously different groups coming for different actors.

This group of nearly thirty people should also be fans of the same artist. An Xumo reacted when he thought about it, people who can have this kind of crushing level of fan base……

He quietly glanced at Zhou Jinchen who was sitting beside Ma Lao and was being interviewed by the media.

An Xumo’s guess wasn’t wrong. After the small group unloaded their things from the off-road vehicle, they soon revealed their identities as “Royal Guards.”

They were divided into two waves, one was carrying a large bag of things to distribute to the cast, and the other set up a long table on the spot in the studio. All kinds of tools came into sight one after another as if going to a battle, each segment was orderly. In less than five minutes, a space was actually opened up and a long table had been set up in the originally crowded shed.

The table was neatly filled with various dessert drinks, with Zhou Jinchen’s cartoon head stickers on the bottles and bags. Although the packaging was mostly covered by stickers, at a glance, from the appearance of the food, you can easily see those signs that belong to a certain two-tailed mermaid coffee brand logo.

When the people who set up the food were busy, the girls who gave the gifts were not idle. They gave things according to each person’s identity and preferences. All the actors who were officially announced by the official 《Different Roads》 received a custom gift bag with their names on it. The gift bag also had the cartoon sticker of Zhou Jinchen on it which contained gifts prepared by the fans.

In addition to the different kinds of high-grade tea that were all in the gift bags, there were extra things in each gift bag. Lin Rui received a high-luxury brand tie clip and cufflinks of the same brand, Ma Zechi received a Montblanc fountain pen and a storyboard, while Qian Lingyuan received a high-grade thermos cup.

The most exaggerated gift belonged to Ma Lao——when Mazechi helped to check the gift, he actually took out a wild ginseng with lush roots from the gift bag.

Ma Lao has never been the character of listening to people talk about gifts and affection. Otherwise, with his current status, anything he wants will be handed over. He consistently does not accept gifts, but Ma Zechi was really touched when he saw the wild ginseng.

After a serious illness from a year ago, the old man has not been well. If not, Ma Zechi would have not come to the crew to help him. Although all kinds of tonics and treatments have not been cut off, this wild ginseng was really rare. If it wasn’t for Zhou Jinchen’s fans, it would not be possible for others with money to buy it.

In the end, it was Ma Zechi who stepped in and discussed with the fan who came out with the ginseng and bought it at the market price. However, they really accepted Zhou Jinchen’s favor.  Even Ma Lao saw it and talked to Zhou Jinchen in a low voice for a long time.

In addition to the famous actors and actresses in the cast, all the staff present that day also received special gifts. Not to mention the media that rushed to report, fans do these things mainly to give their own artists a good impression of the media. Several journalists have already acquainted with the fans. Basically, every time Zhou Jinchen has an event, these big fans will come along to support.

The Royal Guards have been supporting for several years and are now well versed in it. But most of the crew working with Zhou Jinchen for the first time will inevitably be scared by the situation.

An Xumo also received a gift bag. In addition to the scented tea, there was also a hairband used for dancing, and…….a bag of small dried fish.

What does this mean?

An Xumo can’t help but have some doubts. The people who gave him gifts were not only the Royal Guards but also his own fans. There were about seven or eight fans who came to An Xumo. One of the girls saw the small dried fish and could not help but laugh, “They actually adopted it……”

The gifts were taken away by Tang Tang and the letters sent by fans were also given to her. Next was the public get together. Several girls explained to An Xumo, “Film Emperor Zhou’s fans came to ask us about the gifts you might like, we shared the list of prepared gifts and did not expect them to really choose the dried fish.”

They were a little nervous at first, with this gift as an opportunity, they smoothly opened up the conversation as well.

“We also sent a fish-shaped brocade cotton blanket. Momo can use it when filming on the set.”

“Yes, yes, ah. Take care of yourself.”

“Momo, are you used to filming with the crew?”

Being surrounded by several people, it took An Xumo a while to get used to it. Fortunately, the fans who came were friendly and everyone was aware of the crew’s confidentiality before they came. After a few simple conversations, the fans took photos and signed autographs in turn, and An Xumo quickly completed his task.

The last one in line was a girl with a shy smile. When An Xumo helped her take a picture with her phone and returned the phone, the girl spoke to him, “Momo, I don’t know if you’ve seen Weibo, I’ve compiled gifs about you on it before.”

An Xumo has not yet reacted, but Tang Tang had already thought about it, “Ah yes, that 900HD gifs are packed and organized, aren’t they?”

The girl nodded, “Yes, it’s me.”

An Xumo also remembered and said to the girl, “Thank you for all the energy you put into me.”

The girl waved her hand and said with a smile, “No need to be so polite, Momo. We will do this because we like you and you deserve our love.”

An Xumo froze as he remembered the words Tang Tang had just said.

“The seniors take care of you because you are worth it.”

The fans at the side who hadn’t dispersed yet also echoed, “Yes, yes. We all like Momo very much.”

A young lady said, “Although we usually like to call Momo little kitten, but to us, you are more like a star that belongs to us.”

The girl who made the gif whispered, “Because Momo will shine.”

In an instant, An Xumo thought a lot.

He suddenly understood what Tang Tang had said before, the reality of2真实感: the feeling that sth is genuine; a sense of reality; in the flesh.“being liked by many people.”

An Xumo smiled gently, “Thank you.”

He thought that apart from his brother, he seems to have found another reason to be an artist.