The film set was extremely quiet and peaceful.
Anyone with a keen eye could see that the head director was not in a good mood; even the assistant director was cautiously working with his tail tucked between his legs.
As for the reason, Jiang Lingxi had already heard about it early in the morning from the well-informed Wei Minmin.
"Lin Xuefei came out of the director’s office crying yesterday. That very night, her agent rushed over and signed a termination contract with the crew."
With this, the role of the fourth female lead was left vacant just as the scenes involving Princess Jin’an were about to be filmed. If it were her as the director, she might also be quite anxious.
Previously, some people on set would slack off occasionally, taking out their phones to watch videos or read novels when they had nothing to do. This time, everyone was behaving themselves, afraid of being caught red-handed.
Everyone was tense, and the effect was quite evident, with a noticeable improvement in filming efficiency that day. However, Director Wei Xiao still didn’t manage to smile.
The faster they filmed, the closer they got to the scheduled scenes of Princess Jin’an. He currently didn’t have a suitable actress on hand, so how would he film those scenes when the time came?
Nevertheless, even so, he didn’t regret terminating the contract with Lin Xuefei forcefully. His crew could not tolerate an artist who was unclear about their mistakes even after causing trouble.
But finding an actress capable of portraying Princess Jin’an was an urgent matter.
Everyone in the crew worked with great caution and diligence, fearing they might accidentally incur the director’s wrath. Even Wei Minmin stopped eating her watermelon seeds and earnestly memorized her lines while holding the script.
Jiang Lingxi also had a book open in her hands; however, it was not a script but one of the textbooks from a box that Tong Yue had a runner deliver in the morning.
Her nephew, who had just finished his college entrance exams and estimated his grades were not bad, had lovingly gifted these books, which he said he no longer needed.
After determining that her artist needed to rebuild her foundation, Tong Yue had made arrangements with her nephew earlier.
The exams had just finished yesterday afternoon, and today the books had been swiftly delivered by someone.
Receiving this earnest expectation early in the morning, Jiang Lingxi thought, "..."
It felt like a disservice to her devoted agent not to go through it thoroughly!
When heading to the set, she had asked Lu Zhengzheng to pack two high school textbooks in the bag to bring them along.
Today, no one dared to play games or slack off with their phones, and she sat in the rest area absorbed in a book, blending in seamlessly.
The only one who seemed puzzled was Jiang Lingxu.
Initially, he didn’t pay attention to what book his sister was reading during her break until she and Sister Zhengzheng started discussing a calculation problem together. That was when he realized something was off.
Taking a closer look, it was a Senior High School Textbook - Mathematics - Compulsory 1!
For a moment, he nearly doubted his own eyes.
Reading such a book for no reason, is that normal?
After holding back for some time, when he returned to rest, he couldn’t help but ask, "Sis, why are you reading a high school textbook?"
Jiang Lingxi looked up, meeting her curious brother’s gaze, and instead of answering, she asked, "What do you think?"
"It can’t be that you’re preparing for the college entrance exam, right?" Jiang Lingxu blurted out instinctively. Seeing the calm and smiling eyes in front of him, he leaned back abruptly, almost toppling the folding chair beneath him. It took him a while to stabilize, and with disbelief, he stuttered, "No, it can’t be?"
"Why not?" Jiang Lingxi raised her eyebrows, lightly tapping the book spine on the forehead of the little fool in front of her. "Can’t I have a heart willing to learn?"
Jiang Lingxu sat in a daze for quite a while, finally digesting the news, "Sis, are you really planning to take the college entrance exam?"
"Yeah, do you want to head to the exam hall together next year?"
Jiang Lingxu thought that he couldn’t be as bold as his sister, but saying no outright would be a bit cowardly, "You, let me think about it."
He needed to think it over carefully.
Jiang Lingxi chuckled, lowering her head to continue devouring the math textbook in her hand.
Admittedly, thoroughly pondering the intricacies of these calculations was rather fascinating.
It was somewhat challenging relying solely on self-study, though.
The day flew by rapidly.
Jiang Lingxu got off the vehicle with a backpack, turned, waved at the half-open car window, and quickly walked towards the nearby bus stop.
The past three days had been busy and fulfilling; the key point was that the notion of college entrance exams had definitely taken root in his heart.
The young man couldn’t help but start seriously and comprehensively considering the path he wanted to take in the future.
Jiang Lingxi watched him board the bus parked along the roadside, then rolled up the window and told the driver, "Let’s go back."
Back at the hotel lobby, Jiang Lingxi looked towards the busy front desk handling check-ins.
It seemed that another film crew was about to move into the hotel. "Zhengzheng, go to the front desk and ask if there are any available rooms left."
Without hesitation, Lu Zhengzheng ran over and inquired, then swiftly ran back after getting a reply, "Xixi, there are no rooms available today, but a double-room will be free tomorrow."
Jiang Lingxi thought of the message she received on the way back earlier, "Some family members are coming to visit the set tomorrow."
Lu Zhengzheng’s eyes lit up, and she busily rushed off to arrange it.
Filming in the heat of summer was particularly grueling. Several actors’ families had already visited the set over the past few days, and each time, they would treat the crew to drinks and ice creams. She had joined in and enjoyed it a few times.
After securing the reservation, she asked, "Is it Uncle and Aunt coming?"
"No, but you do know the person."
"You’ll find out when they arrive tomorrow. Oh, and make sure to order some drinks and fruits for everyone on set tomorrow as well."
Since everyone else was doing it, she decided to follow the local customs.
The film city was located in the suburbs of the capital, surrounded by mountains to the north, with many plants and naturally as well as artificially widened water bodies. As long as the sun wasn’t beating down directly, the weather here was much cooler than in the city.
With the arrival of the summer holidays, the film city suddenly saw an influx of young tourists.
Some came simply to admire the scenery, while most took advantage of the holidays to visit, hoping to encounter actors filming in the film city. If lucky enough to meet a beloved actor and get an autograph, it would be most satisfying.
Furthermore, some came to work as extras, earning money while also getting a chance to encounter stars up close, achieving two goals at once.
Consequently, more buses were temporarily added to the route running from the city to the film city due to the summer holidays.
The drivers running this route finally experienced the morning rush hour crowd on their buses.
With more people on the bus, the journey took longer.
Xu Ling’an set out early in the morning from home with her grandmother, transferring buses three times before boarding the bus heading to the film city. At that point, there weren’t many people on board.
However, not long after, Xu Ling’an gave up her seat to an elderly person about the same age as her grandmother.
The senior had brought along a grandson, and after thanking the young girl for giving up her seat, she noticed the girl’s clean and neatly-washed school uniform short sleeves and asked with a kind smile, "Did the young girl just finish her college entrance exams? Are you also going to visit the film city with your family?"