CSGM - Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Secretly Filmed Scandalous Material

On the first day of filming, Chu Xi had to put on a suit of heavy armor. It was so stuffy she could barely breathe, and lifting a hand felt like lifting a barbell.

The director told her she would have to wear this armor for at least another month and a half, as he wanted to film all of the primary protagonist Guan Hai's scenes in one go.

Chu Xi was incredibly grateful that filming had started in late autumn, when the air was cool.

If it had been spring or summer, she would have died from the heat.

The makeup artist looked at her finished makeup, admiring their masterpiece in the fitting room mirror.

It was a blessing to work with an artist like Chu Xi, who had the perfect figure for it. The makeup artist couldn't help but exclaim, "Teacher Chu, this look is perfect for you!"

Her brow was heroic and dashing, her features handsome, and her overall appearance spirited. She looked capable and lean without being frail—the very model of a young, successful general.

Since Chu Xi was playing a male role, the makeup artist had made her lips look thinner and paler and had given her skin a rougher texture. Otherwise, her naturally fair and clear complexion would lack the aura of the battlefield.

Chu Xi, on the other hand, felt like a bear. She had just put on the realistic armor and was finding it difficult to adjust. Every movement felt awkward and inconvenient.

Her movements were so awkward that on the first day of filming, she NG'd four times during the second scene.

Director Yang didn't hold back, giving her a harsh scolding.

"Cut, cut, cut! Chu Xi, what's going on?"

"Were you slacking off during your action classes again? Why are your movements so stiff?"

"Again! If you still can't get it right, you're going to run a lap in that costume until you get used to it!"

Since they were all trainees he had personally nurtured, their relationship was close, which meant the director was inevitably stricter when he had to discipline them.

Chu Xi nodded silently and prepared for the fifth take.

This time, she finally got it right. She stepped off the set and stood to the side to catch her breath.

This was her first official day of filming, and she was learning that the job was much harder than it looked.

The director was a completely different person off-set compared to when the cameras were rolling.

Normally, he was amiable and easygoing, but the moment filming began, he turned into a tyrant.

It was understandable, though. After all, once the cameras started rolling, every second was burning money.

A male actor, also in armor, who was playing a Yellow Turban lieutenant, came over and clapped his hands in front of her, raising a small cloud of dust.

The actor complained resentfully, "Chu Xi, the director has no idea how heavy this armor is. He should have to try it on himself."

Chu Xi tried to stretch her arms. "It's not too bad," she commented. "It's not the weight, it's just awkward to move in."

The actor gave an embarrassed laugh. "I just took a fall a minute ago."

With the chest plate, it was easy to lose your center of gravity.

Chu Xi nodded in understanding. "Be careful, then."

The cast was mostly made up of minor actors who didn't have personal assistants. There were only a few production assistants assigned to the actors, who would help out whenever they were free or saw someone in need.

The temperature rose in the afternoon, and after finishing a scene, Chu Xi's forehead was beaded with sweat.

Worried about ruining her makeup, a production assistant hurried over to dab her sweat.

Exhausted, Chu Xi remained perfectly still. "Could you get me a bottle of water?"

It was only her first day on the job, and she already wanted to quit.

That evening, after changing into a costume of coarse cloth, she snuck over to check out some of the other sets.

Why did everyone else's costumes look so comfortable?

On the office set next door, the actors were all in suits, slacks, and dress shirts.

The actor at the entrance playing a manual laborer was wearing coveralls.

Another crew was filming a Xianxia drama, and their costumes looked light and airy—at least they were made entirely of fabric.

Only the Three Kingdoms crew, insistent on making a grand historical war epic, had costumes made of actual iron armor.

Feeling a sense of injustice, Chu Xi snuck out to buy an ice cream cone to console herself.

On the very first day, filming went on until midnight. The actors had arrived at seven in the morning and didn't get home until three a.m. after removing their makeup.

So this was the reality of life on a film set?

Ren Zhi had warned her the day before that once she joined the production, there would be no day or night, and she could forget about tracking her hours.

Chu Xi hadn't believed it could be so grueling, but now she did.

Meanwhile, the bribed Field Logistics Assistant had a productive day, sending three pieces of scandalous material to Jiang Zixi:

Chu Xi Arbitrarily Changes Action Scene, Argues with Director

Chu Xi Privately Warns Scene-Stealing Co-star to 'Be Careful'

Chu Xi Makes Assistant Tie Her Shoelaces on Set

Jiang Zixi was shocked when she received these reports. How could Chu Xi be so audacious on her very first day on set!

Just how much of a diva was she!

Yet each claim was backed by photos, and some even had video evidence, so they couldn't be fake.

After reviewing the material, Jiang Zixi forwarded it to marketing accounts, instructing them to find the right moment to unleash their paid commenters and publish smear articles about Chu Xi.

Still, these on-set squabbles were ultimately minor. If only there were something more explosive.

Jiang Zixi pinned her hopes on the Field Logistics Assistant to deliver.

In her view, Chu Xi's character was so poor that it wouldn't be surprising if she had a career-ending scandal.

---

Filming for Three Kingdoms continued.

Aside from her initial trouble with the costume and a few minor incidents on the first day, the director was pleasantly surprised by Chu Xi's performance over the following days.

She seemed to be hitting her stride as filming progressed. With each passing day, her ability to get into character and her acting skills showed marked improvement.

It seemed Chu Xi was truly a promising talent with a quick grasp of the craft.

What the director didn't know was that while the training camp was over, its acting instructor was now living right upstairs from Chu Xi.

Chu Xi was getting private lessons whenever she had a spare moment. How could she not improve?

After pulling an all-nighter to finish the night scenes, they still had one more scene to shoot in the morning. Worried the cast and crew were running on fumes, the director allocated some funds for the set coordinator to buy a few cases of energy drinks.

Chu Xi sat on the ground with the others, the corners of her eyes slightly bloodshot.

She took the eye drops an assistant handed her, applied them, and closed her eyes to rest.

During filming, the director wanted a dramatic shot, so a large fan was aimed directly at her wig. The close-up looked cool, but the fan also blew dust into her eyes, leaving them dry and sore.

If she had known filming was this tedious and grueling, Chu Xi would have told her agent to just book her on variety shows from now on.

Good pay, less work, and close to home—being a variety show regular had to be the easiest gig in the entertainment industry.

"Here we go, here we go! One can of Scholar Ox for everyone! Drink up and get your energy back! Just hang in there a little longer. We'll be done after this last scene!"

The drinks the director had ordered—Scholar Ox—had arrived. It was a popular energy drink known for helping workers combat fatigue.

Sweep away fatigue, be yourself again! With Scholar Ox, your energy returns!

Chu Xi rubbed her eyes and took the can handed to her by the set coordinator.

Her finger was hooked under the pull-tab, about to open it, when her eyes casually glanced at the can, and she suddenly froze.

Were her eyes playing tricks on her?

Chu Xi blinked and stared at the top of the can, looking again. She wasn't sure if it was just eye strain making her see things.

On the metal top of the can, there was an unusual little mark.

No, there were two of them, like two tiny parallel grooves.

They looked like two tiny, identical squares, faintly etched into the metal.

...

Just looking at them, she could imagine exactly how those marks had gotten there.

As the realization dawned on her, Chu Xi suddenly felt nauseous.

She immediately looked up and shouted to everyone, "Hold on, don't drink those!"

Everyone froze. One person who had just taken a sip immediately spat it out at the urgency in her voice. Though confused, they all turned to look at Chu Xi.

"What's wrong? I already took a sip. Am I going to be okay?"

The people on set, especially the other actors, had spent six months training with Chu Xi and had developed an almost unconditional trust in her judgment.

If Chu Xi said not to drink it, she must have found something wrong.

Chu Xi wasn't the type to raise a false alarm.

A few actors hurried over with their cans, crouching in front of her. "What's wrong? Is there a problem with the Scholar Ox?" they asked anxiously.

Chu Xi nodded. "I think so."

She walked over to a prop table inside the tent set and told everyone:

"Bring your cans over here, let me take a look."

Dozens of Scholar Ox cans were hastily placed on the table. Chu Xi leaned over them, her eyes scanning the tops.

The other actors began whispering among themselves.

"You don't think someone tried to poison the crew, do you?"

"I heard some criminal gangs drug drinks to kidnap people. We didn't buy a batch that's been tampered with, did we? Whoa..."

As they speculated wildly, some of them even seemed strangely excited by the prospect.

Chu Xi was speechless. Their imaginations were running wild.

She had originally asked for the other cans to confirm whether the problem affected the whole batch or if she had just been unlucky enough to get a contaminated one.

Now, it seemed...

She separated over a dozen cans from the rest and announced the disgusting truth:

"Rats have crawled on and bitten this batch of drinks. Don't drink them."

She was worried about germs; it wasn't safe.

Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, the rest of the crew felt the same wave of revulsion.

"What the hell! Gag!"

"Retch, retch, retch-" Someone clutched their throat. "I just had two mouthfuls! Ahhh! Cough, cough, cough!"

"Ugh, rats! That's so disgusting!"

"Just think of it as duck neck."

The director and the on-site producer hurried over to investigate. But aside from the one can with the clearest teeth marks that Chu Xi pointed out, they could barely see the marks on the other cans.

But the director trusted Chu Xi. If over a dozen cans had traces of rats on them, it meant the entire batch was likely contaminated, as they had all come from the same warehouse.

The director made a swift decision. "Throw them all out! Nobody drinks any of these!"

Chu Xi said, "Pour them out. Don't just toss the cans. There are a lot of scavengers around here, and it would be dangerous if someone picked them up."

People in the area would even pick up leftover lunch boxes from the set, so they would definitely take unopened drinks.

Drinks that had been crawled over by rats were basically carriers for disease. Whoever drank one would be in for a world of trouble.

Thanks to Chu Xi's thoroughness, the director quickly nodded in agreement and changed his instructions. "Right. Take them and pour them out."

The set coordinator hurried over, collected the dangerous drinks, and went to dispose of them.

Chu Xi remained where she was and asked the relieved director, "Are you going to report this?"

The director paused, confused. "Report what?"

Chu Xi recited, "The local Administration for Market Regulation. The office number is 8XXXXX2."

The director's eyes widened in understanding. He immediately shushed her, patting her arm.

"No need for that," he said. "No one was harmed, so let's just let it go. It's a small matter."

Chu Xi didn't know, but he did: the company behind Scholar Ox was a primary sponsor of Peach Video.

The connections ran deep. In this industry, capital interests were all intricately and invisibly linked.

For instance, after their film's theatrical run, they would still need to negotiate a deal for online streaming rights.

There was no need to offend a potential future partner over a minor issue with a retail beverage.

"Okay," Chu Xi said. She had only asked casually.

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