Free Web NovelChapter 164: Chapter 149: The Call of the Era
It appeared that Pei Qiuyu’s encounter was similar to theirs, she too was deceived by the ghost, but she was luckier as the one who died was Tang Cui.
The tears and welts left by beating on Tang Cui’s body were shocking, it’s hard to imagine what she went through before her death, and how desperate she must have felt.
Tang Cui’s death was not without cause, Yang Xiao analyzed, it was her words that enraged the ghost.
"You can know someone’s face, but not their heart, I bet that male teacher is a pervert behind closed doors."
Those were Tang Cui’s exact words, and she paid a steep price for her careless talk.
As if sensing Yang Xiao’s thoughts, Song Yan sighed, "Actually, I think Tang Cui was just impatient, and she said that just to make sure the filming went smoothly, she didn’t have any ill intent."
But now anything they said was too late, they had lost another teammate, and now only 5 were left. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Soon after, they received a message from the crew: there was a new filming task tonight, they were to shoot a scene of female students performing calisthenics during their break.
"Calisthenics at night?" Lu Ji, who had been to school before, found it unheard of.
"It’s said to be filming but it’s actually rehearsal. The school will be welcoming an important guest tomorrow, so consider tonight a dress rehearsal," Ms. Huang from the crew explained.
"Who could it be, to deserve such an honor?" Yang Xiao asked tentatively.
Ms. Huang usually got along well with everyone, and she lowered her voice to whisper mysteriously, "Just perform well, if this person takes notice of you, your future path will be much smoother."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao had a rough idea in his mind, it was probably Ms. Shengnan, the behind-the-scenes investor for the film.
After dinner, the group arrived at the old staff dormitory they had shot in before, the filming of the students doing calisthenics was scheduled for 7:30 in the evening, and there was still some time left, Director Ding didn’t want to waste it. After so much had happened, their filming schedule was significantly delayed.
"Everyone put in a bit more effort, we need to catch up on the schedule," Director Ding took up the megaphone, though there weren’t many people on site, he made it seem like a big deal.
"Today we’ll shoot two scenes, the first, a male teacher assaulting a female student inside the dormitory, Chu Xi, you and Nie Hexiang will be performing the scene together."
"The second scene, is where a female teacher accidentally discovers the male teacher’s bestial behavior and reports it to the principal, only to be threatened by the principal. Seeing that the female teacher will not yield, he even contemplates murder and chases after the female teacher," Director Ding looked at Song Yan, "Song Yan, you’ll portray the role of the principal, Xia Xiuyan, the role of the female teacher is very important, it’s yours."
Director Ding picked up the megaphone, "All hands on deck, pay attention to makeup and lighting. For male roles, use cold lighting to highlight facial angles and Adam’s apple, masculine traits. The camera angle is very important, it must emphasize the male’s oppressive force and provide enough talking points."
"For female roles, the lighting should be soft, highlighting vulnerability, helplessness, and a sense of doomed fate despite bravely confronting male power."
"Jiajia, have you contacted the people I asked you to?" Director Ding looked at a woman in the crew responsible for recording.
The woman put aside her notebook, "Don’t worry, Director Ding, I’ve contacted them all, they’ve agreed to help promote us on their social media accounts when our trailer comes out, and we’ll also buy trending searches to stir up gender issues, which will definitely attract extremist males and females to quarrel. I’ve hired professionals to simulate, and if handled correctly, the topic won’t have less than 30 million views."
Hearing this, Director Ding frowned slightly, "Only 30 million views?"
"That’s the most conservative estimate, when the time comes we’ll also recruit relevant bloggers to engage, both male and female, creating opposing camps, which will definitely ignite the topic."
"We’re also developing concurrent sales strategies and providing emotional clarifications. We’ve done customer profiling, those involved in this topic tend to have concerning IQs and often have unfortunate lives, making them easily swayed. Profiting from them won’t be an issue."
"I’ve also contacted the heads of the water army, they have no problem taking the lead, although they too find the job distasteful, so their asking price will be higher."
Clearly, Jiajia was a market research expert. With logistics already in place even before the film was finished, they had everything planned out for monetizing afterwards.
As soon as night fell, filming began, still inside the previous old dormitory, a stove with a roaring fire made Nie Hexiang’s face glow red.
Nie Hexiang, dressed in a school uniform, sat in front of the stove, holding a boiled egg peeled halfway to reveal its white albumen.
Her delicate skin, the white albumen, and her slightly disheveled hair made Nie Hexiang look like a lamb awaiting slaughter, emanating a sense of fragility.
Next, the camera moved, and the male teacher Yang Xiao was portraying appeared. He was standing not far behind Nie Hexiang, holding an old zinc-coated iron bucket.
He was standing in the shadows, and with the stark contrast of light, the subtle implications were profound. A man and a woman, with the woman bathed in holy light like an innocent angel, and the man lurking in the shadows naturally became the brute suppressing his violent nature.
His chest heaving with tumultuous breaths and growing short of breath, Yang Xiao couldn’t restrain himself any longer, and the bucket in his hands thunderously hit the ground, as though symbolizing the last line of his conscience being torn apart.
Startled by the sound of the bucket hitting the floor, Nie Hexiang had just turned around when she was grabbed by the arm by the male teacher Yang Xiao was playing, and pushed onto the desk.
