Chapter 34: Garden Scene (1)

The day’s line practice could be considered smooth-running. Although Gino looked as though he was getting sick and tired of it, under Tang Feng’s supervision and guidance, he still practiced for the whole day.

“Now, I finally understand why your line foundations are so good. God, don’t you ever feel tired and bored from facing the mirror and reciting your lines over and over the whole day?” Today’s practice finally ended at 4 pm. It was as though Gino’s whole person just collapsed as he lay on the floor with his limbs splayed open.

“Sit up. Drink some water and then eat a lozenge. Speak less from now on if you don’t want to have a sore throat tomorrow.” Tang Feng made Gino a cup of honey water on the side, grabbed a lozenge, and personally placed both items on the floor beside Gino. Tang Feng was rather tired too, so he just plopped down to sit cross-legged on the floor as well.

Everyone thought of Fiennes as a big star. Most people only saw his grandeur and success, but only a few knew of his hard work and pain.

Fiennes would sometimes have four to five interviews a day. Some of his movies only had a few sentences worth of lines, but to prepare, he used to shut himself in his room every day to recite his lines in front of the mirror…..

This kind of busy and tedious lifestyle once made him feel as though it was impossible to bear, but in the end, he still pulled through.

“I used to have a teacher who once told me, the period of time where you feel the most pain is also the period where you’re the closest to success. It’s always darkest before the dawn. If you give up on advancing, it’s the same as forfeiting all your previous work. So long as you pass the long darkness and the most painful period, then you’re not far from the light of success.”

Tang Feng gave the half dead Gino a hard pat on the shoulder, smiling as he said, “Did you hear that, kid?!”

“Ow! I heard it, I heard it……” Gino huffily opened his eyes, then smoothly rolled his pupils as he revealed a mouth of perfect white teeth in a smile. “You should still be younger than me. Why do you speak like a university professor?”

Tang Feng didn’t reply verbally. A fist suddenly lodged itself into Gino’s stomach, though the strength was naturally rather weak, and wasn’t very different from a massage.

Gino exaggeratedly clutched his stomach, giving the appearance of being grievously injured. On top of rolling about on the floor, he added non-stop moans, “Ah, it hurts so bad. You injured me.”

“I hope it kills you.” There was no way Tang Feng was falling for that act.

Gino continued to moan in pain for a while. His body curled up like a prawn with his back facing Tang Feng. The continuous whines made it seem like it really hurt.

He hadn’t really hurt Gino, right?

“Gino, are you alright?” Tang Feng was a little frightened by the other’s actions. He hurriedly turned around to check whether Gino was really hurt somewhere, but the scenario that Tang Feng thought of quickly happened – that of whether Gino was intentionally tricking him.

The answer was obviously yes. Gino suddenly hugged the man then, using the fastest speed, pinned Tang Feng beneath his body, laughing delightedly like a little kid who successfully pulled off a prank. “Hahaha, I tricked you, Tang.”

“This is not funny at all, Gino.” Tang Feng’s face cooled down rather significantly.

“Don’t be like that. I was just joking around.” Seeing Tang Feng getting mad, Gino immediately softened his tone. It’s just that he couldn’t understand why Tang Feng was so annoyed by such a small prank.

“You’re really a little kid, Gino. Never play this kind of joke on those who care about you.” Tang Feng had said similar words countless times. He sighed and pushed Gino off of himself. This kind of joke wasn’t funny at all; he was really scared by Gino earlier.

Once someone fell ill, no one would know what would happen next.

Gino sighed as well. “Okay, I’ll never play this kind of prank again. Stop calling me a kid. I’m older than you by two or three years.”

Only in appearance, Tang Feng thought to himself and didn’t say anything more. He knew he was overly sensitive about this topic, but he didn’t think he’d said anything wrong.

Tang Feng gave Lu Tian Chen a call a little later and the three of them decided to go out to eat. Although Gino had a lot of things to discuss with Tang Feng privately, it seemed as though Tang Feng was doing his best to minimize the time the two of them had to interact alone.

Although Gino still found Lu Tian Chen unpleasant to the eyes, the meal was unexpectedly peaceful since Lu Tian Chen for one, hadn’t fought with him before, and two, wasn’t as noisily irritating as Charles.

After dinner, Lu Tian Chen went to get the car while Tang Feng stayed behind to wait for him to pick him up. Gino approached Tang Feng with a request “Tang, why don’t we just have our practices at my home from now on? I feel more comfortable at home.”

“Okay.” Tang Feng thought about it. Since the hotel wasn’t that convenient, he also didn’t mind coming to Gino’s place.

The two people very quickly reached a consensus. Actually, Gino had really wanted to ask Tang Feng to live with him, but he was unsure whether it was too rash, so he didn’t say anything for now.

Lu Tian Chen’s car arrived. Gino kept watch as Tang Feng got into the car before he turned and left.

♦

Tang Feng hadn’t really taken Charles’ supposed “British Beauty” ramble to heart. After all, that fellow never gives off a serious impression when he talks. His most immediate focus right then was the movie.

Although it’s a little funny, but when Tang Feng and Gino acted opposite each other, only Tang Feng recorded his lines live, while Gino did the mouthing motions most of the times – though the mouthing still needs to match with the other, otherwise it would be hard to sync the audio later.

Today, the scene to be shot is the one where Chris brings the runaway monk Tang to England to sightsee. They spent a lot of time admiring the beautiful scenery, experiencing local culture, and discovering a whole new world with their own eyes.

The scenes were not necessarily filmed in the same sequence as the movie. This morning, Tang Feng and Gino played while they were filming. The director felt that this would allow them to relax because tonight they would have to perform a passionate drama scene in the ball’s garden.

In the afternoon, Tang Feng and Gino didn’t really eat much; randomly nibbling on something to replenish their energy was enough. They very consciously brushed their teeth and washed up, then they each retreated to their own RVs for their makeup.

Tang Feng was quite happy Charles wasn’t around now. If that fellow was here, surely, there would be another ruckus. Lu Tian Chen was much more rational when compared to Charles – even if that man also didn’t really like this scene, but he would still respect Tang Feng’s choice most of the time.

The scene to be filmed this time could be said to be the ‘real’ passionate scene as compared to the previous one. Before, he and Gino were in the grass field just casually going through the motions; whatever could be hidden was hidden. This time, both he and Gino would have to expose their backside [TN: Booties, hehe], which was not considered a big deal for male stars in Hollywood.

However due to Charles’ interference, Tang Feng would use a body double for this scene to help them finish a few, high-difficulty maneuvers, including the back.

♦

Movie: Satan’s Alley

Scene 57, evening, England ball garden, outdoor shoot, passionate drama

“Action!” the director shouted into the night. Filming for the passionate scene officially commenced.

The scene this time continues from the last time: the monks Tang and Chris wore European outfits for the first time to attend a ball. Chris ran into the ball from the back door by bribing the bouncer. They boldly enjoyed the delicacies of the ball and savored the taste of the never-before-tasted wine. They passed through the crowd with interlocked hands and stared into each other’s eyes beneath the dazzling lights.

After living for many years, it felt like this was the first time they could truly relax and be free. As though they had been genies trapped in a bottle who had finally broken free and saw the beauties that the world had to offer.

This is what a fresh life is….

The moment the monk shed his robes, he seemed to have discarded the bonds that had restricted him for half of his life, and at the same time, between the choices of self and God, chose to believe in the former.

He and Chris both came to the garden isolated from the ball, the sky illuminated by the hazy moonlight, without a single soul around them. The garden was big, yet they kept running into the deepest part of the garden.

They couldn’t hear the faint strains of music anymore. Instead,they were surrounded by chirping crickets and frogs; it looked like there was a small pond nearby.

They walked, hand in hand, to the grassy banks of the lake. The area was filled with huge trees and blooming flowers. Under the crisp moonlight, they stood face to face, staring at each other.

There were no words needed, the monk took the initiative to kiss the golden-haired man in front of him. This is his greatest as well as his most direct thanks.

Chris stood still, slowly closing his eyes.

The monk felt a great shift in his beliefs. He felt that his body was light and clean from the inside out. He raised both hands to his own chest, unbuttoning the buttons one by one. His jacket was quickly taken off and thrown to the side, the garment emitting a sound when it landed on the grass.

At this time, the camera was zoomed in to every action of the monk’s hands as they removed the clothes from his body. The scene looked as though it had nothing to do with emotions. Rather, it was more like a solemn and sacred ritual. When the monk took off the last piece of clothing on him, the man’s body under the moonlight seemed to glow with an inner light like precious pearls and was clear like a piece of jade.

The back shown was Tang Feng’s back. When the lens next zooms out, it would become the body double’s naked back.

“Cut! Very good!” At the crucial moment, the director stopped it. “Ten minute break. Makeup touch-up.”

The night was rather cold. Tang Feng, who had just shot the scene, quickly wrapped himself up in a long coat. In reality, he had not stripped naked yet, but in a while, he would really need to do so.

The staff were already starting to chase people off the set.

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Translator: Kacy
Proofreaders: Charlotte Grey, Lyrick