Chapter 57: Definitely Exciting

When it was time for Ning Xi to get her makeup done, the makeup artist banged things around and called in a loud and cold voice. "Ning Xi, come and do your makeup!"

Ning Xi put her script down and walked over. "I appreciate it."

The makeup artist was reluctant to do her makeup for her; Ning Xi glanced at the makeup tools and suddenly stopped her with one hand.

"What are you doing?"

Ning Xi said humbly, "Sister Amy, can I use my own makeup? My skin is rather sensitive and I might be allergic to other brands…"

"No way, that’s not what we do. Will you take responsibility if the makeup turns out badly? Weren’t you fine with it yesterday?" Amy was very impatient, and gave her a look that said she was being a bother.

Ning Xi took out a red packet from her bag and surreptitiously placed it in Amy’s palm. "Sister Amy, I hope you will kindly make an exception for me. After all, people doing this sort of work rely on their faces, and for me, too, this is just in case…"

Amy felt the thickness of the red packet, coughed slightly, and then said reluctantly, "Fine! But in return, if the director says there’s something wrong with your makeup, you must take responsibility!"

"Of course. I definitely won’t get Sister Amy involved!"

In this circle, enemies didn’t last forever. Amy’s mood improved a lot after receiving a big red packet, and she took care with Ning Xi’s makeup; in the end, she looked better than she did yesterday.

After the makeup artist left, Ning Xi crossed her arms looking at the costume she would wear today from head to toe. Then she took a big magnet out of her bag, and like a security inspector, she ran it over the clothes and then the shoes.

Fortunately, there were no problems with either.

Ning Xi put the magnet away, tutted, and thought: how unprofessional! A needle should have been sewn into the clothes to prick and hurt you everywhere, and you wouldn’t be able to discover the problem, no matter how hard you looked. Small thumbtacks should have been embedded into the soles of the shoes, so you would feel nothing when walking normally, but with more robust movements, things would definitely become more exciting…

Unlike Ning Xueluo, who had been protected her whole life and didn’t truly understand what suffering meant, Ning Xi had been fumbling around at the bottom of the industry for so many years; she had seen so much, there was no way she wouldn’t see through the small tricks played on her.

Although she couldn’t check the makeup kit earlier, Ning Xueluo knew that her skin was allergic to metal, and it was very likely that she had tampered with the makeup.

By the time she had finished changing, the dance instructor whom the director had arranged for her was already waiting outside. While the other actors were acting, Ning Xi followed behind the instructor and learned her dance moves.

After the rest were done filming, the director came to check on the results. "Ning Xi, how is it? I saw in your profile that you’d learned dance before, so I felt half a day should be fine for you. If it’s not enough, I can give you a few more days."

"I think I’m ready…" Ning Xi didn’t want to be overconfident.

Guo Qisheng looked at the dance instructor. "What do you think, Miss Zheng?"

The instructor laughed. "You can see for yourself later!"

"In that case, let’s begin!"

Scene 13: Princess De’s Intoxicated Dance

Characters: the Emperor, Princess De, Princess Xian, some concubines, eunuchs, and servants.

Recently, a large number of new girls had been selected to enter the palace. The Emperor had various concubines and princesses convene in his chamber for drinks and entertainment.

The Emperor was so besotted with the newly selected girls that he even ignored his favorite Princess De.

Before Princess De, Princess Xian had been his favorite, so when she saw how Princess De was being ignored, Princess Xian gloated. "In this palace, the new always laugh and the old always cry. Did she think her looks were good enough for her to keep the Emperor’s heart forever? Let’s see how long she can take it for!"

Perhaps it was because Princess De was played by Ning Xi that Jia Qingqing, whose acting skills had never been that outstanding, performed well as Princess Xian this time. Seeing this, the director was very satisfied.