Hong Kong 1980: Me and the Queen Swapped Clothes

"What do you mean by that?" Fang Yanmei frowned.

Qin Weiming asked her, "Do you know how long Jackie Chan and the others have been making movies? At least as long as you've been singing. They also grew up in front of the camera since they were little. What do you have to compare with them? Why don't you tell them to compare their singing with yours?"

"Isn't this bullying?" Fang Yanmei said subconsciously.

After she finished speaking, she understood what Qin Weiming meant and said, with a wry smile, "You know perfectly well that's not what I meant."

"I know that's not what you meant, but guess whether Brother Long and the others know what you meant? All they know is that you threw a tantrum and even came to me saying, 'Ah Ming, I don't want to act anymore, I want to go back to singing.'" Qin Weiming pinched his throat, imitating Fang Yanmei's angry voice when she called yesterday.

This immediately made Fang Yanmei laugh. She had already calmed down and now, looking back, she realized that she had indeed been a bit unreasonable. It wasn't even Qin Weiming's fault, yet she had taken her anger out on him.

However, upon hearing Qin Weiming's voice, Fang Yanmei miraculously sensed his emotions. He wasn't angry with her, nor did he show any emotion towards her, which made her feel both happy and guilty.

Even though I'm the older one, I feel like I'm the one being taken care of.

"Why aren't you angry?" Fang Yanmei asked Qin Weiming in a muffled voice.

Qin Weiming exclaimed, "Why are you angry?"

"I said those things to you yesterday, and you weren't angry at all?" Fang Yanmei couldn't understand what Qin Weiming was thinking.

Qin Weiming found it even more amusing: "Isn't it normal for you to vent your anger on me after making a fool of yourself on set?"

"What's normal about it?" Fang Yanmei was both angry and anxious. She didn't understand Qin Weiming's words, but as she listened to Qin Weiming's laughter, she gradually calmed down.

Clearly, Qin Weiming wasn't mocking her; he was genuinely waiting for her to calm down before stopping his laughter and slowly saying, "No one is born knowing these things; everyone has to learn them, right? You can sing but can't act, and Brother Long and his friends can act but can't sing—it's the same principle. Amei, you're so smart, you must understand. That's why I knew you were just saying that out of anger yesterday. You called me today because you've figured it out."

"How come you seem to know everything?" Fang Yanmei couldn't help but admire Qin Weiming's understanding of her. Even things that she hadn't figured out yet, Qin Weiming could often see through her thoughts in just one sentence.

"Alright, alright, now focus on your studies and filming. If you have anything else you want to yell at me for, just call ahead." Qin Weiming hung up the phone. "I still have homework to do. I'm leaving."

"Okay." Fang Yanmei reluctantly hung up the phone. When she went to the bathroom to wash her hands, she could still see the smile on her face. She quickly coughed twice to suppress the smile.

Regardless, Fang Yanmei felt that her mood had improved a lot after talking to Qin Weiming on the phone.

Then, over the next two days, Fang Yanmei resumed her previous routine, attending classes as usual, apologizing to Cheng Long, and saying that she would work hard on filming.

Jackie Chan generously forgave her: "It's nothing. Don't be so nervous before filming next time. You've already taken lessons, you'll get the hang of it after a few takes."

"Mmm." Fang Yanmei smiled and nodded. She found that the advantage of Qin Weiming letting her come over in advance to get familiar with the place was showing. At least she was familiar with many things on set. Although she was doing many things for the first time, she had heard about them before when they were eating, so she was not as flustered the second time.

The supporting role from last time is gone; it was snatched away by someone else in just two days.

Fang Yanmei was not discouraged; she deserved to have missed that opportunity.

Fang Yanmei played a minor role this time. Because she messed up her performance last time, she only had one line this time and didn't even need to move around. Fang Yanmei was quite happy when she was lying on the ground playing a dead body.

In any case, she felt much better this time than last time.

That evening, Cheng Long got Fang Yanmei a role with five or six lines. In the same film, Fang Yanmei's treatment was like a meteoric rise, and others inevitably whispered about her, even saying that she was able to get the role because of some relationship with Cheng Long.

However, such words have no effect on Fang Yanmei, whether they were spoken in the past or now.

When she worked in nightclubs, she heard much harsher things than this; people on film sets still have some sense of shame.

Fang Yanmei focused all her energy on memorizing her lines. This time, she only failed twice before getting the scene right, which relieved the director on set. If he replaced Fang Yanmei, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Cheng Long, since this was a role that could be obtained through personal connections. Besides, Fang Yanmei's performance wasn't too bad, so he let her pass.

Jackie Chan graciously came over to watch her filming, and waved to her after she came down, saying, "Keep it up, Ah Mei! You did a great job, you're improving so fast!"

Fang Yanmei chuckled, "I go to tutoring every day, Brother Long. If I still don't pass, I'm afraid the teacher will charge me extra tuition when I get back, because they'll think I'm embarrassing them in public."

"Haha, you really know how to talk. My film crew is almost assembled. Do you have any good ideas?" Cheng Long asked Fang Yanmei.

Fang Yanmei replied without hesitation, "Of course, Brother Long, whatever you arrange for me is fine with me. I'll do whatever you say."

"Okay, you go to the film crew first. If there's a chance to film, I'll send you. You wrote the script for this movie, and there will be a lot of action scenes, so don't be afraid of getting hurt." Cheng Long and Fang Yanmei had known each other for a month or so, and they ate together every day, so they were quite familiar with each other. But Fang Yanmei's generous agreement still made Cheng Long feel very proud, and he was happy.

Fang Yanmei knew exactly what she was doing. She naturally knew that following Cheng Long was a good thing; an opportunity that many people on film sets couldn't get had suddenly fallen into her lap.

The blow left her dizzy, and, perhaps because Cheng Long's voice was too loud, Fang Yanmei felt as if many people were casting envious glances at her from behind. This feeling of being constantly watched was a tangible reality for the first time.

"Of course, no problem. Even if I lose an arm or a leg, I'll still work with you, Brother Long." Fang Yanmei agreed without hesitation. When it comes to action scenes, there's no need to be afraid of getting hurt. It would be strange if Fang Yanmei were afraid of such a thing, because she hadn't even realized what kind of scene it would be.