Afternoon.
Chen Cheng reported the situation to Liu Qiang.
Liu Qiang did not refuse and agreed immediately. “You have nothing to do this afternoon anyway. You might as well make some extra money.”
Producer Xie had agreed, and Chen Cheng naturally could not refuse Yang Mi either, so he went to the film set.
When Director Li saw Chen Cheng, he said, “This afternoon’s scene involves horses. Do you know how to ride?”
“A little.”
“A little is enough. Go to the horse arena over there. The horse trainer will help you get familiar with the horses.”
“All right.”
Following Director Li’s directions, Chen Cheng arrived at the horse arena.
At that moment,
several actors had already mounted their horses with the horse trainer’s help.
But although horseback riding looked simple on television,
it was actually far from easy.
If you had never learned to ride before, you might not even be able to climb onto the horse’s back.
Fortunately, Chen Cheng had spent more than a decade filming in his previous life. He had practiced a little and knew the basics of horseback riding.
Thus, when Chen Cheng arrived at the horse arena, he stepped onto the stirrup, swung himself up in one graceful motion, and firmly settled onto the horse’s back.
Yang Mi called out from beside him, “Chen Cheng, not bad! When did you learn to ride?”
“Uh... I secretly learned it recently on the film set.”
Chen Cheng certainly could not tell her that he had learned it in his previous life.
“Teach me. This horse is so tall that I can’t even climb onto its back.”
“All right.”
Chen Cheng nodded, raised his right leg, and leaped down from the horse.
The movement was both swift and graceful.
Even the horse trainer nearby praised him. “Little brother, you’re an expert horse rider.”
Chen Cheng waved his hand. “I’m only showing off in front of a master.”
Of course,
he was also rather surprised.
Although he had known how to ride in his previous life, he had only been able to manage the basics. How could he have dared to ride like this before?
But when he thought about how his physique attribute had been steadily increasing over the past month, he understood a little.
An increase in physique affected more than just stamina. More importantly, it improved his overall physical ability.
Indeed,
Chen Cheng had originally known only a little about horseback riding, yet now he had become an expert horse rider in everyone else’s eyes.
“Yang Mi, step on the stirrup here, then swing yourself over.”
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll support you. Push hard.”
“I still can’t do it.”
Although Yang Mi used all her strength, she still could not climb onto the horse’s back.
Seeing this, Chen Cheng did not think much of it and said, “I’ll lift you by the bottom. Try pushing again.”
“Huh?”
Yang Mi’s face instantly flushed.
Not understanding why, Chen Cheng asked, “What?”
“N-Nothing.”
“Come on, push harder.”
Chen Cheng had already placed both hands beneath Yang Mi’s buttocks.
He did not know whether that part provided better leverage, or whether Yang Mi had gradually figured out the right technique.
With Chen Cheng’s help, Yang Mi finally climbed onto the horse’s back.
“I’m exhausted.”
Chen Cheng shook his hands.
He had supported her for quite a while before finally lifting her onto the horse.
“There, you’re finally on. Look, my hands are sweaty.”
He rubbed his hands together. They still felt somewhat warm.
Yang Mi’s face remained flushed, and she was too embarrassed to say much.
Fortunately, the horse trainer nearby came over and said, “All the actors are mounted. In a moment, I’ll lead everyone through a round.”
More than an hour later,
the brief horseback-riding training session ended.
However, because the training period was short and many of the actors had never ridden before, the hour-long session had only taught everyone to sit on horseback. They had not received much actual training. The Director did not say anything, either. Seeing that many actors still had not mastered horseback riding, Director Li had the horse trainer put on a green costume and lead the horses during the afternoon shoot.
Chen Cheng was different.
Not only did he not need the horse trainer to lead his horse during filming, but after an hour of training, Chen Cheng seemed to have awakened a talent for horseback riding.
Indeed,
he had just been galloping around the film crew, whipping his horse through several exhilarating passes.
He even
became so caught up in riding
that Chen Cheng performed a sudden turnback strike from horseback.
The moment he made that move, even all the stunt performers applauded and cheered.
Of course,
besides horseback riding, Chen Cheng also discovered
that after an hour of riding, his physique had increased from 70 points to 70.1 points.
Although it was only an increase of 0.1 points,
it was important to remember
that after Chen Cheng’s physique had reached 70 points, it had not increased at all for several days.
He had never expected
that horseback riding would accidentally trigger another increase in his physique.
..
“Everyone, take your positions.”
After the horseback-riding training ended, the Assistant Director took a megaphone and gave instructions to the actors.
The role Chen Cheng had to play that day was very simple.
Although he was only a special-role actor, he merely had to ride a horse and symbolically brandish a spear a few times while mounted.
Then he had to dismount and deliver one line to the male lead.
Although Chen Cheng’s part was simple,
the filming as a whole was not easy.
For one thing, several of the other main actors had not gotten into the right state.
For another, many of the actors were not very good at horseback riding.
They performed adequately when they were not riding.
But once they were on horseback, the actors either had a problem here or a problem there.
Some were perhaps frightened by being on horseback, or perhaps for some other reason; one actor even struggled to remember his lines.
That was not even the main issue.
More importantly,
this horse scene was not merely about acting while riding. They also had to fight while on horseback.
That made things even more difficult for the several main actors.
Those main actors might have been decent at dramatic scenes, but performing martial arts scenes—especially martial arts scenes on horseback—was even harder.
This was particularly true of the male lead.
He had even more martial arts scenes on horseback.
Although the male lead could not exactly be called frail, once he mounted the horse, let alone act, he could barely even hold his weapon steadily.
Fortunately, the combat in this horse scene was not complicated. They only needed to make a few motions.
With the cooperation of everyone on the film crew, the afternoon’s scenes were eventually completed.
“All right, that’s a wrap for today.”
Director Li clapped his hands and announced to the film crew that they were done for the day.
Chen Cheng also dismounted, bringing his scenes for the day to an end.
As for tomorrow,
there was nothing.
His role as a special-role actor consisted of only one line and three shots.
Still, the pay was decent. He received 200 yuan in extra income.
..
“Filming today was exhausting.”
“Director Li, no kidding. That one shot took two hours.”
“Fortunately, we aren’t filming a Wuxia drama. If we were, it would be exhausting enough to kill us.”
Although the afternoon’s work had ended,
Director Li continued staring at the screen, reviewing the shots they had just filmed.
“Huh... What shot is this?”
Pointing at the shot of a warrior charging forward on horseback with a spear raised, Director Li said excitedly,
The Assistant Director came over and said, “Uh, that was a test shot, not an approved take.”
“Then who is that guy?”
“This one?”
The Assistant Director also frowned as he looked at the footage.
Because it was only a test shot, the Assistant Director had told everyone to make a few random motions so they could see how the test looked.
The shot was also a long shot, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.
“I’ll ask.”
The Assistant Director made several phone calls in succession.
Eventually, he confirmed it.
“Director Li, I found out. That person is Chen Cheng.”
“Chen Cheng? The one from our film crew?”
“Yes, the Chen Cheng responsible for stagehand duties on the film crew?”
“That kid... It really is him.”
Looking at the incredibly dashing and handsome figure in the footage, Director Li grew more and more impressed.
However,
even as he admired him,
Director Li was also somewhat exasperated with Chen Cheng.
A perfectly good Beijing Film Academy student had actually come to work as a stagehand.
Coming to work as a stagehand would have been one thing.
But with skills like these, he actually did not know how to show himself off.
Was something wrong with his head?
Or had he come to the film crew to play the fool while hiding his true abilities?