Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

"Cut!"

With the director's shout of "Cut!", Zhou Bijun's scenes were finally finished!

Hu Xiaoxiao wiped the ketchup from the corner of her mouth with a tissue.

The tomato sauce is sweet and sour, and tastes great.

Hu Xiaoxiao was tempted, so she grabbed a tube of ketchup from the side, squeezed out a little, and tasted it. This brand of ketchup had a perfect balance of sweet and sour, which suited Hu Xiaoxiao's taste very well.

Hu Xiaoxiao squeezed out some more to taste.

Since she started playing the role of Zhou Bijun, she has had action scenes almost every day, and she finally understands why Mingxu is always saying he is hungry.

The action scenes were incredibly physically demanding, sometimes requiring hours of wire work. What's even more challenging is that even if the fight was executed perfectly in one take, the director would insist on filming several more takes to find the best shot.

Even someone as physically fit as Hu Xiaoxiao found it strenuous.

After Mingxu untied the wire, he came over and saw Hu Xiaoxiao eating with great relish. Feeling hungry, he reached out and asked, "Is there any more?"

Hu Xiaoxiao looked around and found another unopened tube, which she handed to Mingxu.

Mingxu simply sat down next to Hu Xiaoxiao, and the two of them each took a tube of ketchup and ate.

As they ate, they both got hungry, and their stomachs started to rumble.

Seeing that the rest of the crew wasn't paying attention to them, Mingxu quietly said to Hu Xiaoxiao, "The props team cooked a pot of rice, it should still be warm right now."

The food prepared by the props department was mostly spoiled, especially the expensive dishes like meat and fish, which were too costly. To save costs, a single meal would be filmed over several days. Sometimes, after one filming crew finished, the food would be taken to another crew and filmed until it was completely rotten before being thrown away.

However, actors always need to eat something during filming, otherwise it won't look realistic. So, the props department would cook a pot of rice for the actors who needed to eat during their scenes.

This has led to many TV dramas featuring scenes of actors eating only plain rice, without any side dishes.

Mingxu found the rice cooker and the bowls and chopsticks with practiced ease, filling two large bowls with rice. He gave one bowl to Hu Xiaoxiao and taught her how to mix the rice with ketchup.

Hu Xiaoxiao took a bite and, whether she was really hungry or it was really delicious, she thought it was almost as fragrant as soy sauce chicken.

The two hid in a corner, shoveling rice into their mouths.

"You're hiding here eating props?" Hong Qiuyan discovered them and ran to tell Charlie.

Charlie checked and found that all the ketchup was gone!

There's no rice left!

Those two guys ate all the props!

Charlie's face was grim. He pointed at Hu Xiaoxiao and then at Mingxu.

Hu Xiaoxiao and Mingxu both felt a little guilty, so they lowered their heads and accepted Charlie's reprimand.

But Charlie didn't scold them. Instead, he called over the props team and said, "From now on, change the ketchup to chili sauce."

Mingxu winked at Hu Xiaoxiao discreetly. After Charlie left, he said to Hu Xiaoxiao, "I'll go tell the props team to buy He Tai brand chili sauce."

"Why?" Hu Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled.

Mingxu swallowed and said, "This brand of chili sauce is delicious with rice."

Hu Xiaoxiao said she learned something.

After filming wrapped, Hu Xiaoxiao did not leave the crew, but continued to learn from the crew.

Besides swordsmanship, martial arts scenes also include fist fighting, spear fighting, knife fighting, and climbing up and down stairs. Since she had some free time, she decided to learn other martial arts techniques. This way, she could go straight to the set when she had a role and wouldn't need to train anymore.

Seeing how eager Hu Xiaoxiao was to learn and how well she was doing, the director decided to have her cover her face and fill in as an extra during the filming of large-scale action scenes.

Hu Xiaoxiao was more than willing; she would get paid to perform and learn something at the same time—a win-win situation.

During the shoot, the director reviewed the footage and felt that some shots of the six major sects besieging the Hall of Death were not filmed well. So, he had Hu Xiaoxiao dress up as a disciple of one of the six major sects and appear on screen.

Although Zhou Bijun, played by Hu Xiaoxiao, is not in the scene, the six female disciples of Hu Xiaoxiao's sects are.

Hu Xiaoxiao found it extremely amusing that he was besieging himself.

Athena and Zhu Wanwen came to visit the set, bringing a lot of snacks and drinks that Hu Xiaoxiao likes. They also asked about Hu Xiaoxiao, "The training course starts next month, will you go?"

"Yes!" Hu Xiaoxiao picked up a still-warm egg tart and said while eating, "I asked Charlie to reserve a spot for me last year, what about you guys?"

“We will all go.” Zhu Wanwen said with emotion, “Unconsciously, it has been more than half a year since I came to the TV station. Time flies.”

Athena also said, "The Miss Hong Kong pageant has started again this year, and registration will begin next month."

"I heard that there are even more people signing up this year, with many coming back from abroad specifically to participate in the election."

"I also heard from the staff in charge of registration on the program that there are many more people with higher education levels among the applicants this year than in previous years."

Hu Xiaoxiao stayed with the film crew and didn't pay much attention to outside affairs. Apart from seeing in the newspaper that the Miss Hong Kong pageant had started accepting applications again, she didn't know much else.

The new Miss Hong Kong pageant indicates that a new batch of talents will be entering the industry.

If you don't work hard, you'll soon be pushed out by newcomers.

Hu Xiaoxiao gripped the knife in her hand, feeling that she needed to practice more.

"Xiaoxiao, I heard you're very good at martial arts. Could you teach me?" Zhu Wanwen asked.

Athena asked her, "Have you also taken on a martial arts drama?"

Zhu Wanwen shook her head and smiled, "No, the only martial arts drama the company is currently filming is the one Xiaoxiao is filming. I want to learn martial arts because I want to learn from Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao learned martial arts first before she got the opportunity to play the role of Zhou Bijun."

After filming "Empress Wu Zetian," Zhu Wanwen's company didn't arrange any more roles for her. Because she lacked acting experience in "Empress Wu Zetian," her performance was mediocre, making it difficult for her to get subsequent roles.

Hu Xiaoxiao immediately stood up, took a sword and handed it to Zhu Wanwen, saying, "Come on, I've finished filming and I'm very free now, so I'll teach you. Next time there are action scenes, you can go and recommend yourself to the director."

“That’s what I think too. Opportunity always favors the prepared.” Zhu Wanwen took the sword and turned to Athena, asking, “Do you want to practice with us?”

Athena shook her head. "My next project is still an urban drama. I'll be doing more modern dramas in the future, so I won't need to learn anything."

Zhu Wanwen thought that Athena had no shortage of acting opportunities, unlike her who needed to fight for them, so she nodded and went to the side with Hu Xiaoxiao to learn swordsmanship.

Hu Xiaoxiao taught Zhu Wanwen what she knew. Zhu Wanwen didn't have Hu Xiaoxiao's agility or strength, so her movements were light and unsteady, and not very graceful.

But Zhu Wan studied very diligently. If she couldn't learn something the first time, she would study it two or three times until she mastered it.

Hu Xiaoxiao seemed to have returned to the days when teachers and grandmothers used to dance. She removed some of the difficult moves and taught more simple, pretty, and foolproof moves so that Zhu Wanwen could learn them more quickly.

Athena sat to the side and watched for a while, feeling a little bored. When she looked up and saw Lu Xinghe visiting Mingxu on set, her eyes lit up, and she went over to talk to Lu Xinghe.