Pei Rong had been filming scenes that were all physically demanding recently. The director had transformed the countryside into a tourist station on the Northwest Line, and there were several scenes of him working together to build materials. In the camera, he was working hard and diligently, but in reality, he was quietly enduring various discomforts.
His feet were swollen, and the shoes provided by the costume team no longer fit him properly, at least one size too small.
Feeling a bit guilty, Pei Rong was afraid of others noticing, so he hesitated to ask the costume team for a replacement.
With his feet squeezed into the construction site shoes, he continued to do heavy work. When the director shouted “cut”, Pei Rong hurriedly switched to slippers, but by the end of the day, his toes and heels were rubbed bright red. The contrast with his fair foot soles was striking, and the next day, he finally couldn’t fit into the shoes at all.
Bravely, he asked the costume director if he could wear slippers.
The costume director, taken aback by the condition of his feet, apologized repeatedly, wondering if the shoes she prepared were the problem.
There’s a strict order from above that no one could cut corners on Pei Rong’s costumes and makeup.
Pei Rong: “No, it’s because I accidentally kicked the corner of the table last night, and it swelled.”
The costume teacher made a sound of sympathy, as if feeling the pain for him. “Are flip-flops okay?”
Pei Rong: “Yes.”
This character played by Pei Rong already had a bit of a ‘Metamorphosis’ theme. The foot injury and flip-flops made his character arc more apparent. Unbeknownst to him, the director gave the flip-flops a close-up shot.
In the scene, Pei Rong was negotiating with an old couple who refused to dismantle their chicken coop. It’s hot, and he’s wearing a white T-shirt and a straw hat, repeatedly explaining the compensation measures in the village and the impact of the chicken coop blocking the village entrance on the overall environment.
The owner of the chicken coop was an experienced actor, playing hard to get: “No, my son’s wife in the city is about to give birth. I need to stew a chicken soup for her postpartum recovery!”
Pei Rong: “Can you move it to the back of the hill?”
“If the chickens don’t get enough sunlight, how can my daughter-in-law get enough calcium?”
Just as Pei Rong was about to say his next line, he suddenly experienced a cramp in his calf, and he collapsed.
The two old actors quickly stood up, not sure if this was improvisation. The young man fell quite heavily this time. If it’s intentional, it’s too daring.
Seeing Pei Rong in pain, clutching his calf, people around rush to help him up, laying him on a nearby recliner.
“What happened?” The assistant was anxious, sweating profusely. Should they report to President Lu? Should they take him to the hospital?
Pei Rong inhaled and said, “Leg cramp, I’m fine.”
Assistant: “Should I massage it for you?”
Pei Rong nodded, and just as the assistant was about to take over, the veteran actor beside patted his back. “I’ll handle it.”
Pei Rong: “No need...”
The veteran actor, full of confidence, said, “My wife used to have leg cramps every day during pregnancy, so I specifically learned techniques to relieve it.”
Assistant: “Isn’t this a bit different?”
Veteran actor: “Aren’t they all leg cramps?”
Pei Rong was in pain, and afraid of wasting time, said, “Thank you, Teacher Liu.” (T/N: Veteran actors in China were commonly referred to as “老师” (lǎoshī), which could be roughly translated to ‘teacher’ in english.)
Teacher Liu, the veteran actor, mumbled to himself, “The legs are a bit swollen, just like my wife’s during pregnancy.”
Enough, please.
Pei Rong finally understood the saying, “Those who do no evil have nothing to fear.” He had done something he shouldn’t have, and now everything sounded like nonsense, and all he wanted was to find a crack to hide in.
That night, Pei Rong had another leg cramp, keeping him awake for half the night. He dared not let others know, and the next day, while filming, he felt like a mermaid just reaching the shore, walking on a knife’s edge.
If it weren’t for this being the last film in his “performing career” supporting his conviction, he probably would have stayed in bed, not wanting to get up.
He rubbed his stomach and threatened in a low voice, “Don’t think that a tiger doesn’t eat its own cub.”
You, as a fetus still in the observation period, better be sensible.
Suddenly, Pei Rong felt like there was a bubble rolling in his stomach, gently bumping into him. He stared blankly at his abdomen, trying to capture the faint movement.
Jiang Yan said that if he paid close attention now, there would be three or four fetal movements per hour, but being a first-time father, it’s easy to overlook the first time.
Unable to utter more threatening words, Pei Rong pulled the blanket over his waist, trying to ignore the strange feeling of fetal movement.
But once a person had a certain awareness, it’s hard to act like he didn’t notice at all.
With closed eyes, an hour later, Pei Rong calmly reached a conclusion—over the past 60 minutes, the fetus kicked him a total of five times.
After persevering for ten days, on the last day of shooting, Pei Rong, who received a completion bonus from the director, was moved to tears.
The director praised his rapid improvement in acting, stating that the entertainment industry lacked young people with both talent and looks who worked hard, and hoped for future collaborations.
Pei Rong expressed his gratitude once again.
Assistant: “Brother Pei, shall we book the plane tickets to go back immediately?”
Pei Rong: “Go back where?”
Assistant: “S City?”
Jianglu Entertainment moved to S City, and the assistant subconsciously felt that they should go there.
Pei Rong, exhausted: “Let’s talk about everything after I wake up from a nap.”
He took calcium and vitamin supplements, covered himself with a blanket, and said to the assistant, “Even if the sky falls, don’t wake me up.”
The assistant weakly asked, “What situation can I wake you up?”
Pei Rong: “If there’s a fire burning on me or if there’s an earthquake and the building is about to collapse. Okay, I’m going to sleep.”
While Pei Rong was sleeping, a major event indeed occurred.
At noon on a rest day, precisely at twelve o’clock, when lazy workers were just waking up to have lunch and check their phones, a hot search suddenly ranked first.
#PeiRongFakeDonation#
An informant released a recording, unmistakably featuring the voice of Zhou Hang.
“There are many people in the entertainment industry evading taxes... My high school classmates immediately donated money... We have media resources, and we can make a bigger impact. I’ll contribute some money; it won’t hurt you.”
The first marketing account to publish the news first explained charitable tax deductions, then passionately criticized the entertainment industry for treating disasters as an opportunity for publicity, buying hot searches and occupying public resources, leaving those in need uncared for, and other unethical behaviors.
It further criticized celebrities in the entertainment industry for their exorbitant fees, boasting about donating a paltry sum and looking down on those engaged in real businesses.
Finally, it accused Pei Rong of taking credit for the donation, even though the funds were contributed by the company as a whole. His Weibo made no mention of this, leading people to believe it was a personal donation. It subtly hinted at the involvement of philanthropic individuals within Jianglu Entertainment, implying that figures like Jiang Tian were part of the two billion donations.
The last paragraph casually used the phrase “allegedly,” suggesting that Pei Rong bullied colleagues in the company, with even the boss showing favoritism toward him. It went as far as to claim that, to make Pei Rong stand out, the money donated by others could be attributed to him. As for where the 200 million went, who knows?
Pei Rong was now in the midst of a controversy, with fans turning against him. The term “fake donation” was spreading rapidly, regardless of its accuracy, as long as it tarnished Pei Rong’s image.
Pei Rong’s fans were slower to react, but savvy ones quickly realized that the person buying the hot search was likely Jiang Tian. Upon investigation, they found that Jiang Tian hadn’t donated a single cent and dared to distort the truth in front of Pei Rong’s 200 million!
