Chapter 86 - A Wounded Little Animal
The end result of the heated argument was Yin Fenghua shouting "What a rubbish crew! What a hypocritical director! I'm not acting anymore! I quit!" and left the set in a fury.
Yuan Ge also returned to his office in a rage and deleted all the footage taken today without even reviewing it. Since returning to China, he thought he had seen the world and learnt to control his emotions so well that he would never be so angry again, but little did he know that this bastard Yin Fenghua must have been sent by God to torment him. He actually had the ability to enrage himself so utterly, so completely!
Yuan Ge felt like a boneless chicken at the moment, unable to muster up any strength, slumping at his desk, not wanting to move at all. It was only when a mug of hot latte touched the back of his hand that he came back to his senses and saw Amélie's pretty face beside him, her beautiful eyes full of concern.
"What's the matter, regretting messing things up?" Amélie's expression didn't show a hint of frustration, her smile as heart-warming as that mug of coffee. .
"What's there to regret! The most vulgar singer in China, bar none! He has the nerve to brag about how popular he is, even though his specialty is to perform in village halls! How come I've never seen his name on any charts? Not only does he act like a prima donna, but he's also terribly unprofessional. He can't act at all! If it wasn't for Fat Chow's sake, I would have replaced him a million times over!"
"Come on, bemoaning is not your style. Our director Yuan wouldn't lower himself to the level of that kind of person. Why take his words to heart when he's so much beneath you?"
Yuan Ge pouted and looked at Amélie. Today, Yin Fenghua had called him gay and used so many swear words in front of so many people, and she must have heard it all. He had lost all his face. But how could he explain that to this woman beside him? Especially as she was so considerate and gentle and had never talked out of place. How depressing!
Amélie loved the way Yuan Ge occasionally took off his artist's mask, revealing such a vulnerable look, like a wounded little animal. She wanted to reach out to stroke his messy hair. He looked so childlike with his face buried in the crook of his arm, not wanting to see anyone. But who knows how much she wanted to hug and comfort this frustrated but stubborn child.
"I understand what you're thinking. It's true that Yin Fenghua is not ideal, but we don't have a better candidate at the moment. We don't have the kind of financial power like King Guan Entertainment has, so we can't just hold an audition like they did, right? Besides, if you replace Fat Chow's pick for the leading man, how do you expect him to continue to fund the production?"
"I know." Yuan Ge said sullenly without looking up, "That's why I've held back every time since the shooting started. I kept telling myself to put up with it a little longer, that maybe this was the last retake. But the truth is, as long as Yin Fenghua is there, I can never convince myself that the next shoot will be better. He is not playing Qiuchen, he's simply destroying him!"
"Why don't you play Qiuchen yourself? I'm not trying to pander to Yin Fenghua, don't get me wrong, but when you demonstrated today, your eyes were really evocative. I don't think anyone could have played it better than that."
"It's not because I'm a good actor, but because in my dreams, I've seen that look many times. Really, Amélie, can you believe it? It's like I owe it to Qingqing to make this film. He came into my dreams countless times, as if asking me to do him justice to the world. I really don't want to tarnish this trust of spiritual friendship for any reason. It's a pity that I can't take you into my dreams to show you. If only you could see his beautiful face and eyes, you would have understood how much I wanted to replace Yin Fenghua! Not even I could have reproduced the divine charm of Qiuchen."
"You're just too much of a perfectionist, can't tolerate the slightest imperfection. You don't rest your brain all day, always immersed in a reverie of another world. It's a miracle that you haven't worn yourself out. Of course everything in the dreams is perfect. If you compare your real life with your dreams, how can you not be disappointed? Don't you think it's too hard on yourself to demand that kind of perfection? Look at yourself, you've lost so much weight, and there are visible dark circles under your eyes."
Yuan Ge felt Amélie's slender fingers gently caressing his face, and in her beautiful eyes was his own reflection. He smiled gratefully, "Then let's go eat something to make up for it, shall we? By the way, where is Jinghai?"
"He went to Yin Fenghua's place with Fat Chow. They are taking him to dinner to try to make amends..." Amélie looked at Yuan Ge and said, "You're indeed a troublemaker. They probably didn't expect you to back down, so they took it upon themselves to be the peacemaker. "
Yuan Ge sighed. Despite the constant turmoil, Du Jinghai and Chow Mingrun were no less indulgent to him than Amélie. He considered himself very lucky to have such partners.
"Let's go. They can eat whatever they want and we'll go find what we want. They say that eating is the best cure for anger. I'm going to eat that filthy-looking Luzhu[1] that everyone raves about to get this bad energy out of my chest!"
Amélie was very happy to see Yuan Ge's morale recover so quickly. As long as this ever childlike man was by her side, life seemed to be full of fun and excitement, and she felt content and settled no matter how busy and tired she was.
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[1] Luzhu huoshao, which literally means 'pork stew with bread', is one of the most well-known traditional Beijing street foods. The main ingredients are pork, pork lung, pork intestines, pork liver, tofu, and some may add fermented bean curd or chives sauce. It is served with 'bing' (a type of flatbread).