The shooting continued in the afternoon.

This next scene was the most important scene in the whole script, and it was also the darkest section in the whole story: ‘Xu Duo’ arrived in the city. Confused and already dizzy from hunger, she stumbled into a food stall. ‘Xu Duo’ was begging for food at the food stall, but was evicted by some stall owner because she was disturbing the diners from eating.

As she was leaving, the big bag slung behind ‘Xu Duo’’s back accidentally knocked over a beer bottle on a diner’s table. ‘Xu Duo’ was caught by him and was taught a lesson until the kind-hearted diners at the other tables couldn’t stand it anymore and stopped him. Only then was ‘Xu Duo’ able to escape…

It was this experience that made ‘Xu Duo’ have a stronger fear of this strange city and become wary of the people around her.

Originally, the director planned to shoot this scene completely according to the original script, but at Li Jianhong’s request, the crew made temporary adjustments to this part. 

The section where ‘Xu Duo’ entered and left the food stall was still shot according to the original plan. But the scenes of ‘Xu Duo’ being driven away by the stall owner, being tied up, and being punched and kicked by the drunk guy were all changed to a ‘first-person perspective’, with the actors playing the stall owner and the drunk guy acting directly into the camera. Finally, to integrate it with the rest of the story, it will ‘fade to black’.

The director stared at the video monitor and said to Li Jianhong with some confusion, “This kid’s acting skills are very good. This scene can actually be shot from a third perspective, no problem.” 

In the previous scenes, he was used to shooting with third person perspective. The director was not used to the low-end shooting mode like this.

Hearing this, Li Jianhong glanced at the director and asked, “And what if those actors scare the child and leave some psychological shadow on her?” 

There was another point that Li Jianhong did not say: regarding the request to adjust this scene, in fact, it was not that he wanted to do it specifically—it was Lin Cheng who came to him to make the request.

Li Jianhong didn’t know why Lin Cheng was so determined to ask the crew to adjust that part of the shoot, especially the part where ‘Xu Duo’ was tied up. But if you think about it carefully, in order to minimize scaring the child as much as possible, Lin Cheng’s request was not unreasonable.

And in the final showing, ‘fading to black’ may be more effective than showing those violent scenes.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Due to the adjustments done to the shooting method, Lin Momo’s role was reduced by half compared to the original script, and the filming was completed in the afternoon.

After finishing the day’s shooting, Lin Momo still had an excited expression on her face when she left the crew.

“Dad,” Lin Momo called Lin Cheng while they were in the crew’s car.

“What?”

“Can you take me to a snack stall if you have time?” Lin Momo asked with shining eyes.

She had been to the snack street in the past, but Lin Momo had never been to a snack stall like this.

The stalls set up by the crew made Lin Momo feel that eating there would be fun.

Lin Cheng lowered his head and glanced at Lin Momo with a smile in his eyes, and then said, “Okay.”

In fact, Lin Cheng has never been to a snack stall like that. First, he didn’t have such a habit, and second, he didn’t want to go and then have to rummage through the medicine box after.

… …

The entire shoot in the Film and Television City went smoothly overall. The crew only took a day and a half to complete the shooting.

In the afternoon, the crew set off for the location shoot.

The so-called ‘location’ was actually the road.

From the countryside, to the county town, to the city streets teeming with people coming and going…

There were still no lines to say here; there were no other actors, and there was no need for Lin Momo to perform. She just needed to be like ‘Xu Duo’: keep moving forward with a fixed destination in her heart.

“For the rest of the shooting, you just need to imagine that your parents and the people you love are waiting for you at the end of the road. As long as you walk forward, and walk a little further, you will see them. Is this clear?” the director said to Lin Momo.

After listening to the director’s words, Lin Momo thought for a while, then nodded, indicating that she understood.

So, on a section of road where the crew had applied for a filming permit in advance, Lin Momo was let off the crew’s car.

Lin Momo tightened the woven bag behind her back and started walking forward.

Lin Momo didn’t walk fast, but she never stopped for a moment. There wasn’t much expression on her face. Even during the ten minutes of filming, the expression on Lin Momo’s face didn’t change at all.

However, in such a state of ‘no acting skills’, others could feel the determination and perseverance of the girl in the video and the starlight hidden in her dust-covered eyes— she didn’t know where her family was, but she firmly believed that as long as she kept walking, she would definitely be able to see them again.

A total of more than ten scenes of this kind were shot, and it wasn’t until late in the evening that the scene of ‘Xu Duo’ entering the city was finally completed.

… …

The crew was eating their evening meal in the temporary filming studio set up in the next block. 

Lin Momo looked happy.

Looking at the silly smile on Lin Momo’s face, Lin Cheng also curled up the corners of his mouth and asked, “What are you so happy about?” 

“Uncle Director and Grandpa Li praised me for my good acting,” Lin Momo replied with a smile on her face, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

After mentioning the director, Lin Momo suddenly remembered something and stood up from her chair. “Oh, the noodle soup we made hasn’t been given to them yet!”

The noodle soup she mentioned was the ‘signature dish’ that Lin Momo and her dad used to sell when they had to set up the temporary street stall. In order to thank Li Jianhong and the director for giving her the opportunity to be part of this film, Lin Momo specially borrowed the landlady’s kitchen early this morning and prepared noodle soup to bring to the crew.

“I’ll go give it to them now,” Lin Momo said.

“Slow down, don’t run haphazardly,” Lin Cheng warned.

“Okay, I’ll be back right away.” After saying that, Lin Momo picked up the thermal bag that the landlady lent her and ran out.

Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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