Dreaming With My Dragon Lover

"Do I really have to lie in it?" Waylon felt a little reluctant; acting or not, it wasn't exactly fun for a young man to be lying in a coffin alive.

Chestnut, on the other hand, acted quite readily, and with just one word from the director, she lay straight and motionless inside the coffin, her little white face looking incredibly realistic in her dead man's costume. In the end, a tall Waylon and a small Chestnut, lying side by side in the coffin, played touchingly this tragic scene of the two loving brothers who died together but had no money and had to share a coffin.

After taking a few shots, Chow Mingrun was proven to be completely incompetent as the stand-in line producer, always on the side talking on the phone. He was told off by Yuan Ge several times, but he just feigned a smile and carried on without changing his ways. Jinghai's camera crew was short-handed and often had to have one person doing several things at once. Yuan Ge had to roll up his sleeves to set up dolly tracks with other grips[1], and help out on one of the camera positions from time to time to keep the shooting going.

The last scene was the one where the entire Jinyu Troupe gave a farewell to the two brothers. Because there were not enough extras hired for the day, the crowd shot looked thin and did not have the desired effect on screen, so they had to ask all the staff of the Rong Mansion, including the security guards and cleaners, to temporarily join the mourning crowd. As it was a funeral scene, no one was willing to appear, Chow Mingrun reluctantly agreed to pay an extra 50RMB for each person, and in the end even himself and Yuan Ge joined in and made a cameo appearance themselves.

After a lot of palaver, Yuan Ge, dressed in mourning clothes, knelt on the floor and was about to shout "Action" when he saw from the wireless monitor hidden under his belly that Chow Mingrun beside him was still whispering on the phone.. He couldn't help but shout at him, "Fat Chow! The screen of your phone is shining your face green, do you still want us to go on or not?"

"Ow meow! Yes, yes!" Chow Mingrun still had a trifle of scruples about Yuan Ge's rage. "Mr. Wong... I'm very sorry! I'll call back tonight to talk more about it!" Chow Mingrun hurriedly hung up the phone, "Sorry, Lord director, that's business, an important business deal!" He grinned cheekily, not at all like a boss.

"Action!"

Yuan Ge shook his head helplessly and finally started to get the camera rolling on this scene.

Chow Mingrun immediately fell to the ground in loud cries, displaying incredible agony and sadness.

"Cut!"

"Fat Chow, have you read the script! Your emotions are pretty full, but it's not your turn to cry yet!"

Chow Mingrun took a look at the paper money being blown up by the blower and hurriedly clapped his hands and shouted, "Can I have everyone's attention please! Let's try to get it done in one take, paper money is also money. It's not cheap!" The guys in the props crew rolled their eyes silently at these words.

"Action!"

One by one, the famous actors of the Jinyu Troupe bowed and knelt to the coffin to pay their respects and send off for their big brother who was killed and their little brother who died of illness.

Du Jinghai wheeled the camera slowly on the dolly track and adjusted its position several times, gradually capturing this poignant scene.

But just then a young man appeared onto the scene from nowhere, dressed in a snow-white robe, his jade-like face full of sorrow, his thin body seeming to collapse, and he looked so miserable that he was about to burst into tears at any moment.

The crowd was stunned at this unexpected event. Yuan Ge, of course, saw it clearly from the monitor but did not shout for a cut. Without hearing the director's instruction to stop, the crowd naturally had to carry on as if nothing happened.

Chow Mingrun who knelt beside asked him in a whisper, "Who is this?" Only to be stopped by a stern look from Yuan Ge.

The man staggered to the coffin and suddenly fell to his knees, his hands trembling slightly as he touched the coffin, tears rolling down from his eyes as he gently recited,

"At night I dream of us together.

In the mornings, I wake up with tears.

Your bones are turning to dust six feet under.

How many autumns do I have to sojourn on earth?"

It was the boy who called himself Rong Qiuchen that night. He had somehow found a thin, long undergarment from the costume department, still looking elegant, seemingly unconcerned by the winter cold. His thin, under-dressed body gave a sense of vulnerability, and the sincerity that naturally flowed from his mournful choking sobs not only touched Yuan Ge's heart, but also stirred up the tears of the other "brothers" kneeling on the ground. They all cried their hearts out, bringing the scene to a climax.

"This is my Rong Qing!" Yuan Ge was full of praise in his mind, and with the word "cut", he got up and walked to "Rong Qiuchen".

But with the word "cut", this poignant atmosphere instantly changed, Rong Qiuchen's face also changed dramatically. He looked around bewilderedly at the unfamiliar equipment and the curious gazes of the crowd, and sighed as if in a trance, "Has't I been dreaming f'r ov'r a hundr'd years? At which hour shall this dream end?"[2] Suddenly, he ran away from the scene. He seemed to be extremely familiar with this place, so much so that the whole crowd could not stop this fleeing figure.

Yuan Ge was not willing to give up and searched the entire mansion for a long time, but the white figure was nowhere to be seen.

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[1] A Grip is a crew member who sets up dolly tracks, moving props, camera cranes, and other pieces of equipment.

[2] Have I been dreaming for over a hundred years? When will this dream end?