Chapter 51 - That’s a wrap

Mo Shaoqing actually did watch that show, however that was something from his past life.

When he was younger, the orphanage was quite poor. They could barely afford to eat. It was only when the orphanage director was able to pull in more donations did their living situation improve. Later on, an old TV and DVD player was placed in the living room.

In his memories, the first TV series he watched on that TV was “Decoder”. Since the TV was old, it didn’t have many channels to flip through, so they often watch DVDs in the orphanage.

The orphanage director really loved to watch drama series. He often rented the DVDs and since children liked to watch the TV, they would end up watching the movies and dramas together.

At the time, he was only interested in the action scenes, he didn’t know nor understand what secret codes, passwords, or ciphers were at all.

When he grew up, the drama series was remade. It was a mess. Not to mention that this genre was gaining more and more popularity, by the time Mo Shaoqing reached 30, “Decoder” had already been nominated as Best Historical Action Movie. He would then watch it again, and again.

The thirty year old him was able to understand the drama series more. The roles of the characters were more clear, other than a few distinct characters, there were no absolutely good or evil people.

In fact, this drama had no underlying love story around the hero. The historical accuracy, backdrops, props, storyline and costume design were brilliant. It truly was a great series.

Liu Yuan had expected the young man to make a generic comment on the work, who knew he would be well spoken on the topic. Not only did he watch it, he had done so quite seriously. He was immediately captivated by the insight the young man provided.

“I didn’t expect someone of your age to have seen this series” laughed Liu Yuan. This role indeed paved the way for him in the industry, it was the most satisfying part he had ever done in his repertoire. A work to be proud of. Mo Shaoqing’s analysis and insight truly touched his heart.

“I’m merely a big fan of this drama…” uttered Mo Shaoqing, embarrassed at his ramblings. In front of an experienced actor, he was critiquing not only an old film, but one that shot them to stardom…

“It is quite rare for youth these days to be interested in old classics.” said another actor who was also present.

“Yes, indeed….”

“Not sure if you also watched…” more cast members came over to join the discussion.

Mu Yibin was silently watching from a distance and asked his assistant, “Who’s that?”

“I’m not too sure, apologies, young master Mu”

“That person is playing your rival. He was recommended by You Tianling. He seems to be a junior brother from school. These days, everyone’s using their familial connections to get in. Young master Mu, you needn’t worry.” explained Agent Han Shan as he stepped forward.

Mu Yibin quietly muttered, “Family connections? Doesn’t seem to be the case. What ever, let’s go.”

Like this, Mo Shaoqing had already been filming for two days. In those two days, the majority of his roles were in literary dramas. He also worked as a body double in a martial arts scene, and even practiced scenes with wire flying (cable stunts) and swordsmanship too.

However, Mo Shaoqing enjoyed every minute of it. In particular, he really enjoyed the role he played in a flashback as the senior magistrate adventuring with the ninth prince.

To be able to share a stage with male idols with thousands of female fans, Mo Shaoqing was extremely excited. This led to a series of NG (bad takes).

Mo Shaoqing actually heard another actor complaining “quietly” about whether he could actually act or not.

It was embarrassing.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh just now.” said Mu Yibin as he stepped forward to explain to Mo Shaoqing.

Huh? Mo Shaoqing was taken aback. Obviously the problem was he was in the wrong spot… at first he wanted to explain but then he noticed understood. Mu Yibin was helping him out! Sure enough, he was a male god with both a high EQ and IQ!

“No.. it’s okay.”

“Alright, let’s continue!” Mu Yibing showed his intentions and guided everyone’s focus back to filming.

Like this, Mo Shaoqing finally reached his last scene. In this part of the script, he would fight with the ninth prince’s personal guard. Only to eventually fall off the tower and die.

When the sun set the film crew reached the top of the tower. In order to make the scene more realistic, they decided to shoot on location instead of using a green screen. This undoubtedly made the task at hand harder.

“Scared?” asked Mu Yibin.

Mo Shaoqing knew that he was actually asking checking if he was scared of heights.

Being afraid of heights was natural. When he first started stunt training with wires his heart definitely raced when he did drops. But he got used to it over time.

“I’m alright Brother Mu, I’ll work hard.”

Mu Yibin watched the hard working young man in front of him, it was like looking at his past self. “That’s good, let's try and get a good take.”

Mo Shaoqing was finally able to put his newly learned swordsmanship skills to use. After a few lines were exchanged, their duel began.

Standing on the rooftop, Mo Shaoqing felt uneasy. The shingles weren’t that sturdy, and the building height was more than he expected. As the fighting choreography commenced he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. All he could do was try his best not to look down. At least the fight scene wasn’t staged too long up there, after it was done he could step down.

Filming until nightfall, Mo Shaoqing finally completed his last scene.

“Ha---- excellent.” Mo Ansheng praised, Mo Shaoqing’s acting skills had improved greatly.

Feeling the breeze on the rooftop, Mo Shaoqing realized the sweat on his back had gone cold. Up until that moment the stress he had was immense, he was nervous. With the stress gone, his body relaxed so much it felt unstable. Luckily, Mu Yibin reached out and steadied him, saving him from a bad ball and eating pavement.

The film crew with him applauded. Xiao Wen gave Mo Shaoqing a bouquet of flowers. Rui Sha had even prepared a small cake ahead of time. With the cake was a small crown, which Xiao Wen placed on his head. Mo Shaoqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Congratulations!”

“Congrats for finishing all your takes Shaoqing!”

………..

Mo Shaoqing was immediately surrounded by everyone’s congratulatory sentiment.

The tv series had yet to finish filming. Although he was only part of the production for a week, it left behind an unforgettable memory for him.

“Thank you everyone. Thank you for all your encouragement… Thank you!” After expressing his thanks, he started to get emotional, “To thank everyone, how about I treat everyone to table hot pot and BBQ tonight?”

Mo Ansheng teased: “Really? Feeling like a big spender today?”

Tang Qin smiled and cut in: “How could we let Shaoqing treat us? Our filing is almost completed. The director will let us celebrate in advance, let’s have a meal in the studio.”

“That’s right, don’t let the director shirk on this” chimed in everyone else.

Liu Yuan also joined in: “Director Mo, listen to everyone here. There’s so many of us on set today, Shaoqing only earns so much, how could we let him lose money before earning it!”

Everyone laughed.

Mo Shaoqing was very moved by the warmth he received from his seniors, but he still wanted to let everyone try the cuisine from Mo’s Private Kitchen.

Actually he had long prepared for this moment. Mo Shaoqing had his older brother bring orders of their most famous dishes over. The meat was kept frozen, the soup base for the hot pot was packaged, there was even the dipping sauces, vegetables and fruit prepared. The grills and hotpot stoves were set up and ready to go.

It was pretty common for artists to treat staff and crew to drinks and snacks. Usually it was milk tea or desserts etc. Those who were like Mo Shaoqing, preparing hotpot and bbq, were quite rare.

However, such blatant “bribery” let one feel how considerate he really was. Although S City Film Studio was in S City, they were located in the suburbs which lacked amenities to visit. While filming, the crew always ordered meals together, so everyone was eating the same (at least on the surface). That’s why, you could say that no one has had a good meal in the last few days. Not to mention that filming had ended quite late today, everyone on set was famished.

At first, some people had thought about rejecting his offer, but after seeing the dishes brought out and tables set up, they immediately swallowed their thoughts.

Looking at the neatly sliced beef and lamb and myriad of fruits and vegetables… served with a special hot soup base… it was simply amazing!

Mo Shaoqing invited everyone to help themselves, grabbed a few plates of beef and added some to the red soup base and some to the white soup base.

“Don’t be shy, eat up!” Mo Ansheng led the pack, and the other actors beside him were no longer restraining themselves. Selecting their favourite meats and vegetables, they began to dig in.

Mo Shaoqing was very methodical when he ate BBQ. He would first start with skewered chicken, then the beef, and then the chicken wings. When the meat touched the hot grill, a sizzle could be heard.

Mo Shaohong took out some scallops and placed them on the grill, he then put some shredded cheese and garlic on top. Next he sliced eggplants into two pieces, he scored them with an “X” pattern and poured the secret Mo’s Private Kitchen sauce he brought and let them bake on the grill.

The smell of bbq meat quickly filled the area...

Warm July weather, ice cold beer with hotpot and bbq: there was simply no better pairing in this life.

Even the female celebrities who always talked about losing weight, or maintaining their physique gave in. Their sleeves were rolled up and started to eat and drink along with everyone else.

As Mo Shaoqing was getting into the groove of cooking, his phone rang.

“Mr. Ling” flashed on the call display, Mo Shaoqing immediately went to clean his hands and answer the call.

“Good evening Mr. Ling!”

“Good evening!”

“I heard you’ve invited the staff to have hotpot and bbq tonight?”

“Um… this… is there a company policy that I cannot do this?” Mo Shaoqing was curious as to how word got out so quickly. He cautiously asked Mr. Ling in case he had done something wrong.

“Haha, of course not”

Ling Senhao’s magnetic chuckle, even over the phone, caused Mo Shaoqing’s ears to redden.

Ling Senhao: What time will it end?

“It will probably go on for a while” the absent minded Mo Shaoqing then asked “Are you coming too?”

Ling Senhao, who was on the other end of the line was taken aback by the question, “Huh?”

“I said…” Mo Shaoqing’ started to speak even louder now “Are you going to come over?”

“Come over and do what?” teased Ling Sen Hao.

“Come… come over and eat!” What else could we be doing?

“At the same time, you can take a look at the filming progress!” quickly explained.

“You’re personally inviting me?” Ling Senhao said while turning around, Forget going to Y City, just go straight to S City.

“Yea, I’m personally inviting you.” chuckled Mo Shaoqing.

“But I’m not familiar with the city!” Ling Senhao was feigning distress.

Mo Shaoqing: “I’ll come pick you up!”

“OK.”

“It’s a deal.”

Hanging up the phone, Ling Senhao smiled. It seemed like it wasn’t just wishful thinking after all.