Chapter Eight: The Belated Male Lead Number Three

Chapter Eight: The Belated Third Male Lead

Li Shixin leisurely sipped his tea for a while, and soon the preparations for the second scene were complete.

Being older, and having just been praised by the director in front of everyone, Li Shixin had made a favorable impression on the crew. While others were busy, he borrowed the script for "The Last Days of the Forbidden City" from the production assistant and glanced through it.

He had assumed that with such high production values, the series would surely be a lengthy one. In his previous world, dramas set in the late Qing and early Republican era were reliable money-makers. Since television series were sold by the episode, these period dramas, which required considerable investment, often stretched to forty or fifty episodes to recoup costs and turn a profit. Even a series of twenty or thirty episodes could be considered a rarity.

To his surprise, the script for "The Last Days of the Forbidden City" consisted of only twelve episodes.

Li Shixin could hardly believe it.

The story’s backdrop was the year 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance forced open the gates of the country and the Empress Dowager fled westward. Amidst the chaos, Ma Renchuan, the son of the foreign minister Ma Enming, is inspired by Li Shiqi—a revolutionary masquerading as an opera performer—to rally a group of patriots and resist the invaders. Later, for the Empress Dowager’s return, not only did she negotiate and pay indemnities to the foreign powers, she also executed numerous princes, ministers, and civilian patriots labeled as war criminals by the invaders.

The narrative unfolded briskly. The romance between the protagonist and the heroine, though stirring, never felt forced amidst the turmoil. The final scene, especially, stood out: Ma Renchuan is captured and about to be executed. The heroine, who has successfully escaped, returns on the day of his execution, dressed in wedding red, and sings the famous opera aria "The Tomb of the Mandarin Ducks" at the execution ground before following him in death, propelling the story to its dramatic climax.

The plot was not exceptionally brilliant, but it was tight and full of twists.

The only flaw was the part played by the third male lead, Sa Qi’a. No matter how Li Shixin looked at it, this character seemed out of place. Every appearance added nothing to the progression of the story. Whether in terms of dialogue or the character’s journey from a frivolous scion to a righteous martyr, it all felt abrupt and forced.

“Old man, why are you frowning as you read? Not satisfied with the script?” The production assistant, noticing Li Shixin’s furrowed brow, stubbed out his cigarette and smiled.

Li Shixin shook his head, closed the script, and handed it back. “It’s quite good, just that this third male lead... seems a bit unnecessary.”

The production assistant chuckled, glanced around to make sure no one was listening, and lowered his voice. “That character was added at the investors’ request. The investors specifically wanted Liu Xin, who’s really popular right now, to join the cast. The script was already done, but they made last-minute changes!”

Ah.

Li Shixin nodded deeply.

That explained it.

You couldn't afford to offend the big boss’s friends.

...

Compared to the first scene that morning, the second scene went much more smoothly.

It was said that Rongdian Film City was the place where the most Japanese invaders were killed; every day, tens of thousands were vanquished. Though a joke, it illustrated how many anti-Japanese dramas were filmed here.

Most of the extras present had played Japanese soldiers before. They knew the routines of pillaging and violence by heart.

The scene depicting foreign soldiers entering the city played out seamlessly, almost perfect in a single take.

After a busy morning, it was noon.

Despite some hiccups in the two morning scenes, the director was pleased with the large-scale coordination and the results, and specially arranged for an upgraded meal.

Li Shixin had previously mentioned his dietary requirements to the extras’ leader, but he hadn’t expected much.

His body’s age was advanced, and his appetite had declined sharply. Though he’d spent the whole morning on set, he felt no hunger.

But with more scenes coming in the afternoon and the set far from any commercial area, he decided to stroll over to the meal area when lunch was announced.

To be honest, the crew’s lunch was quite decent.

The lunchbox contained two meat dishes, two vegetables, and an extra chicken drumstick.

Li Shixin had just received his lunchbox from the stage manager when someone called out to him from behind.

“Hey, old man! Been looking for you! Why are you settling for this? I got millet porridge and pickles from Ju Hui De Porridge Shop just for you! Come on, the director is waiting for you to eat together!”

Before he could respond, Zhang Shuo, the extras’ leader, appeared from behind and snatched the lunchbox from Li Shixin’s hands without giving him a chance to refuse.

“Tsk, isn’t this a bit embarrassing?” Li Shixin said with a smile, watching Zhang Shuo scrape the food back into the communal dish.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? Hurry, the director’s waiting to eat with you!”

Nearby, the extras watched as the usually stern extras’ leader fussed over Li Shixin like a lapdog, inviting him to the director’s dining area. Their eyes widened in surprise.

At that moment, they suddenly felt their hard-earned chicken drumstick... no longer tasted so good.

...

“Old man, let me brief you about the upcoming scene. There are a few things to watch out for.”

After lunch, Guan Lan came over with a bottle of mineral water and the newly revised script to find Li Shixin.

“This afternoon’s scene is an exchange between you and the third male lead. The setting is just after the Eight-Nation Alliance enters the city. You, as a beggar, are beaten by Japanese soldiers and gravely injured. In your dying moments, you encounter the third male lead. With your last breath, you urge him not to worry about you and ask him to take up arms to defend the nation.”

Li Shixin nodded.

He’d noticed earlier, while reading the script, that the third male lead’s transformation from a frivolous youth to a patriotic hero lacked strong motivation, making the character feel hollow. With Guan Lan’s addition of this scene, the third male lead’s motivation to rebel would be stronger, giving his character a clearer emotional journey.

Adding this scene made the plot flow much better.

“You have five lines. I’ll give you the script so you can get familiar with them.”

“No worries, just five lines—I can handle that!” Li Shixin nodded. He had come here expecting to play a bit part and get a feel for the industry, but unexpectedly, he had landed a speaking role.

It was a pleasant surprise.

Seeing the confidence on Li Shixin’s face, Guan Lan nodded and smiled. Yet after smiling, she hesitated and said, “Old man, I know you’ve never acted before, but I can tell your decades-old experience in stage drama is still there. Well... The actor playing the third male lead is quite young. In terms of acting... Let’s put it this way: when you’re in the scene with him, try to guide him with your emotions.”

Li Shixin had already figured as much when he heard from the stage manager that the actor for the third male lead was an investor’s last-minute addition.

He’d seen plenty of such actors before his time-travel.

Most were traffic stars who jumped onto popular projects to boost their own exposure.

These actors, you couldn’t expect much from them in terms of skill.

But that wasn’t his concern—he was just a senior extra, and getting the chance to act alongside the third male lead was already a stroke of luck.

To rack up a few more points of applause and live a little longer, Li Shixin nodded deeply.

...

At one-thirty in the afternoon, after lunch, the crew resumed work.

According to Guan Lan’s earlier instructions, the third male lead was supposed to arrive at two o’clock. With only a few lines to shoot, it should take ten or fifteen minutes, and Li Shixin would be free to go home.

After lunch, Li Shixin picked up the script to memorize his lines.

There weren’t many, but they were weighty:

Old Beggar: Don’t be sad, young man.

Sa Qi’a: Sir, hang in there!

Old Beggar: I can’t hang on... A man knows when death is near.

Sa Qi’a: Don’t waste your strength speaking, sir. My family has good medicine—I’ll treat you right away!

Old Beggar: Don’t waste your energy. I’ve drifted like a duckweed all my life, kneeling for years in this world. Now that I can finally stand tall, spit in the face of those little invaders, even if these old bones die... it’s worth it! Here, take up your sword... drive out the invaders, restore our nation!

Just five lines.

Li Shixin repeated them over and over, finally committing them to memory.

The lines were ready.

But the third male lead was not.

Li Shixin sat in the props tent, watching as three big scenes wrapped up, extras changed costumes and headed home, and Guan Lan anxiously made call after call.

He waited and waited, but the third male lead did not arrive. As the sun sank and the birds in the woods outside the set returned to their nests, the third male lead was still nowhere to be seen.

Autumn had passed; though the noon heat lingered, by dusk the air had grown cool.

At four-thirty, as the sun was about to set, the sound of an engine approached from outside the set. A Toyota Alphard, trailing a cloud of dust, pulled up in front of Li Shixin.

A tall, slender young man in a baseball cap and large sunglasses jumped out of the car. Spotting Guan Lan’s stern face in the crowd, he said coolly, “Sorry, Director, something came up unexpectedly. I’m a bit late—let’s get started quickly.”

After giving him a long look, Guan Lan turned and shouted, “Are your legs rusted? Didn’t you see Ah Xin has arrived? Get to work, or do you want to pull an all-nighter on set?”

She was clearly not pleased.