342 The Person who Worked Overtime Secretly
Zhang Zuting continued, "Under such a situation, his mentality of drinking beer should not be that of a hungry addict, drinking it so urgently and eagerly. Instead, he should drink it slowly and savor it carefully.
"He should not be drinking beer… but a sense of emptiness, a kind of confusion.
"The advertisements on the screen would bring him a large psychological gap.
"He could not feel any hope or meaning for his future. He felt that everything around him was meaningless. The can of beer in his hand only satisfied the hunger in his belly. That is its only bit of value.
"However, this little tiny bit of value would not be enough to make him ecstatic.
"I feel that the male lead should not have so many expressions. Moreover, his emotions should be sinking while he drinks the beer.
"He originally won the quiz contest and earned a bit of money. He decided to use that money to reward himself with a can of beer.
"He saw the dazzling advertisements while drinking his beer and peeked into the world of the upper class. He should feel a bad distaste in his mouth instead.
"If I'm the one acting, I will do my best to show the male lead's transformation from happiness to dullness and then to desolation…
"I think that should be what Boss Pei wants to emphasize, right, Boss Pei?"
Pei Qian fell silent for a moment. "Uh… about there."
What else could I say since you've mentioned all the good stuff…?
Lu Zhiyao had a sudden realization. "So that's how it is! It seems like my understanding of this script was wrong. Thank you for everyone's guidance; let's do a retake!"
Lu Zhiyao sat back down with a raging fighting spirit, ready for the retake.
Zhu Xiaoce gave Pei Qian a thumbs-up. "Professional!"
Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.
Actually, that was not what I meant…
Pei Qian was despondent. He could vaguely feel that he should not have interrupted the flow.
…
Retake of beer-drinking scene…
Plonk! A can of beer fell out of the meal outlet.
Lu Zhiyao grabbed the chilled beer with its cold droplets and opened it with a 'pang'. He then raised his head, took a big mouthful, and let out a sigh of satisfaction. There were a smile and satisfaction of drinking beer on his face at this point in time.
However, his smile gradually faded.
Lu Zhiyao's attention was attracted to the small green screen next to him. He looked at the green screen and silently sipped his beer, imagining what the scene on the small screen was at this point in time.
There should be many advertisements for food and wine on the small screen then. An upper-class man in his mansion or villa pouring fine wine into the decanter before pouring into the crystal clear goblet.
There was delicious food on the clean white table that made people salivate.
A beautiful woman with bright red nail polish lifted the wine glass from her hand gracefully to touch the wine glass of the successful man across the table. The wine then flowed into the red lips of the beautiful woman.
Lu Zhiyao sipped the beer as he looked at the green screen.
During the period, he raised his hand, wanting to touch the small screen. Perhaps it was a little difficult to resist the temptation of certain advertisements. However, he hesitated again and continued to sip his beer in silence.
This can of beer was finished eventually.
Lu Zhiyao raised his head and tried to pour the last drop of beer into his mouth before putting the empty can onto the table. He then stared at the colorful advertisements on the screen with a blank look.
After a long time, Lu Zhiyao suddenly squeezed the empty can in his hand and threw it into the trash.
Pa-ta. The can hit the edge of the trash and fell onto the floor.
Lu Zhiyao did not pick it up again but sat slumped onto the ground, leaning against the bed. He hugged his knees with his arms and buried his head deeply into his arms.
…
"Cut! It was awesome!
"This scene is great!
"That is in line with the male lead's mentality!
Zhu Xiaoce was full of praise for Lu Zhiyao's performance.
Lu Zhiyao was elated as well. His acting skills had been affirmed.
"I have to thank Director Zhu and Mr. Zhang for your guidance. Of course, the most important factor was for Boss Pei to change my fundamental mentality and made me realize that I made the mistake of being too dramatic."
Lu Zhiyao cast a grateful look at Pei Qian.
Pei Qian, "…Continue filming. I'll head back first."
Zhu Xiaoce was taken aback. "Boss Pei, can you watch a few more scenes? We feel more ease in our hearts with you around. Help us point out more shortcomings!"
Point out more shortcomings?
Pei Qian was speechless. He was trying to gain an advantage, only to end up worse off! He wanted to give pointers in the opposite direction to throw a stone in Lu Zhiyao's acting. However, he never expected to improve his acting skills instead!
What else could happen if this were to continue?
Pei Qian did not want the first sentence Lu Zhiyao said on stage upon winning the Oscars for Best Actor to be 'I want to thank Boss Pei for his meticulous guidance on my acting skills'. He would not be able to take it lying down!
Therefore, he really could not carry on watching.
He really should not give any more suggestions. Let them film whatever they wanted!
Pei Qian felt like he was an observer who was experimenting now. Things would change every time he observed. Things would develop for the worse every time he intervened.
Therefore, he should slip away while he could.
Everyone felt it a waste, but they knew that Boss Pei was busy at work and could not always be staring at the set.
"Please get going, Boss Pei. I'll definitely follow the original intent of this script and play this role well!" Lu Zhiyao said sincerely.
Pei Qian sighed secretly.
What a long way to go…
Zhu Xiaoce could not help buy sight as he watched Boss Pei's figure leaving silently.
"Boss Pei took the time to come here in his busy schedule, helped the actor correct a big mistake, and left in a hurry. It seemed like he felt that there should be no major problems for the filming after resetting their mindsets and thus left without worry.
"Yes, we cannot disappoint Boss Pei!
"Come, everyone, let's continue to the next scene!"
Zhu Xiaoce and the main leads had become very motivated.
…
…
November 27th…
Saturday…
There were not many classes for humanities so they were generally not arranged on Saturdays and Sundays.
Tang Yishu had no class today. She studies in her dormitory in the morning before heading to the office a little after 10 today.
She might have already filled both food and water for Glabella and cleared its poop before she left yesterday, but she still felt uneasy. She was afraid that it would feel lonely in the company so she came over to take a look.
The door of the company was opened with an access card. The access control system was very smart. It would only open the door during the normal working hours with the common employee work card.
Ordinary access cards could not open the door on weekends, evenings, or statutory holidays. Only the access cards of Boss Pei, Assistant Xin, and a few administrative staff could open the door.
The administrative department took it into account—the particularity of Tang Yishu's work—and arranged a work card for her to open the door at any time. That was so that she could take care of Glabella.
Hao Yun accompanied Tang Yishu after work yesterday to purchase a black down jacket for females after a careful selection.
Hao Yun liked pink or other pretty colors, but Tang Yishu insisted on buying this one. It was cheaper on the one hand, and she did not know how to care for it on the other hand. She was afraid it would be very difficult to wash it if it got dirty.
The design of the down jacket itself was not great, but it was good at keeping warm. Moreover, Tang Yishu had a good figure that could maintain the clothes so it did not look too shabby on her.
Tang Yishu was about to swipe her access card to open the door, only to find that the door was already opened.
Bao Xu was wearing his headphones and typing on the keyboard intently in the huge office.
…It did not seem as though he was gaming.
Tang Yishu did not think too much of it. It was her understanding that it was normal to work overtime during weekends if there were unfinished assignments. It was nothing to fuss about.
She then just took a plastic bag and went to the corner of the office as usual, preparing to clear Glabella's poop.
Bao Xu shuddered in fright and almost fell off his chair when Tang Yishu passed by.
Tang Yishu was shocked as well. She quickly stepped aside, and the two glanced at each other in horror.
Tang Yishu lowered her head. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Bao Xu was a little relieved when he saw it was Tang Yishu. However, his expression became serious once again. "Don't tell Boss Pei that you saw me today, understand?"
Tang Yishu nodded with confusion.
Bao Xu heaved a sigh of relief. Tang Yishu had an honest face and didn't look like a whistleblower. He relaxed and continued to modify the design manuscript.
Any overtime was to be reported to Boss Pei according to the rules he set.
Bao Xu could not bring himself to report to Boss Pei. Otherwise, the image that he had spent so much effort creating in front of Boss Pei would be for naught. A travel package would be arranged again if Boss Pei were to praise himself in front of everyone!
Bao Xu's card would not grant him access during non-working hours if he were to come secretly.
He, therefore, figured out a way. He would secretly exchange access cards with a buddy in the administrative department every Friday.
The access cards of the administrative department could be used to open the door at any time; therefore, Bao Xu could come over secretly during the weekend to change these designs before uploading them into Li Yada's computer.
All uploaded documents had traces. Boss Pei would be able to find out that Bao Xu was working overtime if he were to work and upload it from his home computer.
Even Boss Pei would not be able to know it was him now that he used Li Yada's computer to upload the documents.
It worked!
…
Tang Yishu stroked at Glabella, which was near her for a while, before clearing the poop. She suddenly felt that something was wrong when she was clearing the cat litter with the plastic spatula.
"Why did he emphasize not to let Senior know if it was normal overtime work? He… wouldn't be doing something bad, right? Stealing company secrets or something?"
Tang Yishu had no work experience, but she had read a few novels and watched a few TV series. Her brain started to fill in the possible actions that Bao Xu could be carrying out.
Whether these actions made any sense or not… they were a mystery to Tang Yishu.
She was in a state of flux.
"Should I let Senior know? It seems like too big a fuss. What if he is really doing something bad?"
