Chapter 16: Clothes Make the Man, and Saddles Make the Horse

After seeing the attitude of the Liu mother and daughter toward Zhang Yuan, the haughty Liu Xiaoli became soft-spoken, and her attitude toward him grew much more friendly.

An hour later, the main cast of the production arrived, and everyone moved together toward the site of the opening ceremony.

Zhang Yuan had joined the crew of *Conquest* halfway through and had missed the opening ceremony on the other side; this was his first time participating in such an event.

Red carpets, red tablecloths, red ribbons—even the cameras were covered with red cloth.

This was a custom that had drifted over from Hong Kong, claiming that covering the cameras with red cloth could ward off evil spirits.

Decades ago, when camera technology was underdeveloped, film was frequently scratched and ruined by machine parts. Since Hong Kong was already superstitious, they had developed this ritual.

However, ever since *The Grand Mansion Gate* set the precedent for using high-definition digital cameras in Chinese television, the mainland film and television industry had gradually abandoned old film cameras.

The crew of *The Story of a Noble Family* was well-funded and naturally used digital cameras, so the risk of scratching film didn't exist. This ceremony was more for early publicity.

After the pre-arranged photographers took some photos, the ceremony concluded smoothly following the ribbon-cutting.

"Next, all lead actors will undergo makeup and costume fittings, followed by a collective script reading session," Li Dawei immediately arranged once the ceremony ended.

The workflow and arrangements of a large-scale production were clearly much more tight and professional, which was an eye-opening experience for Zhang Yuan.

The first to finish changing into his costume was the male lead, Chen Kun. As soon as he appeared, many female staff members let out audible gasps.

"So handsome!"

And indeed, he had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, with a well-defined brow, possessing a touch of feminine grace amidst his masculinity.

Chen Kun raised an eyebrow slightly, instantly embodying the image of a flirtatious young master, causing the eyes of half the women present to sparkle.

Shortly after, the female lead, Dong Jie, finished her makeup and bowed to the crew.

In the drama, she played a female student, and her current look indeed highlighted her pure and lovely temperament, making her look quiet and elegant.

Dong Jie was only twenty years old this year, making her a perfect fit for such a role. But despite her young age, she had debuted early.

In 1996, she rose to fame on the Spring Festival Gala playing a palace maid in Zhao Lilong's *The Working Adventure*, and subsequently worked with the veteran director Zhang Yimou in the film *Happy Times*.

The cast of that film, besides her, included Zhao Benshan, Fu Biao, and Li Xuejian—all masters of acting.

However, it was truly this production, *The Story of a Noble Family*, that made her a household name nationwide.

This time, it was the turn of the male staff members to have stars in their eyes, while the women who had just been lusting after Chen Kun's beauty immediately cast them disdainful looks.

[Double Standards]

While Dong Jie had debuted early, Liu Xixi, who was also in this production, was only 14.

But if one were to talk about someone who had become a veteran actor at a very young age, it would be the person below.

Playing the eighth daughter of the Jin family, Shu Chang, wore two small braids and gave a shy smile to the crowd, looking very well-behaved.

She appeared in a movie at age five, hosted *The Big Windmill* at ten, and last year participated in *The Secret History of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang*, playing Consort Donggo alongside veteran actors like Ning Jing, Siqin Gaowa, and He Saifei.

Furthermore, she was the same age as Liu Xixi; in fact, in terms of birth month, Shu Chang was even younger.

While this was Liu Xixi's first time acting, Shu Chang gave the impression of someone who had been working for half a lifetime.

Next, the main cast members appeared one by one. The director nodded from time to time, very satisfied with the styling and character portrayals.

Finally, it was Zhang Yuan's turn to appear. His character, Liu Chunjiang, was like Chen Kun's Jin Yanxi—also a young master.

However, while Jin Yanxi was a philanderer and unlearned, Liu Chunjiang was academically successful, a highly skilled doctor, and very devoted to his feelings.

The two shared the same social status but different fates; their personalities were complementary, like characters looking into a mirror.

Zhang Yuan walked toward the crowd with a confident stride. Similar to Chen Kun's entrance, many female staff members let out gasps.

"This one is quite handsome too."

"I didn't expect Chen Kun to have competition!"

"I still prefer Chen Kun; he's more dashing."

"I'm different; I like this one. He looks sunny."

At this moment, Zhang Yuan was wearing a linen-colored Republican-era suit. A silk handkerchief was tucked neatly into his breast pocket, his tie was perfectly straight, and his black leather shoes were so shiny they could reflect the underside of a girl's skirt.

As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man." Now that he was made up and dressed in proper attire, Zhang Yuan was startled by his own reflection in the mirror.

Liu Xiaoli, standing in the crowd, was also staring blankly.

The reason she had previously mistaken Zhang Yuan for a laborer was because he had been dressed shabbily.

But now, after changing his outfit, even someone as experienced as her felt, for a moment, that Zhang Yuan looked like a young master from a prestigious and wealthy family.

Not just the women, but the male staff members were also whispering among themselves, offering occasional praise.

Chen Kun's handsomeness carried a hint of "effeminacy," the type that men might find unappealing or even off-putting, but women found exceptionally attractive.

Zhang Yuan, on the other hand, belonged to the "sunny and cheerful" type—the kind men wanted to become and women wanted to approach.

Director Li Dawei gave Zhang Yuan a thumbs-up, praising him silently with a smile.

"Alright, now for the script reading. Everyone, please share your opinions. If you have any thoughts, feel free to bring them up." After the styling demonstration, it was time to study the script. Having everyone together was intended to help the actors get acquainted quickly.

"Director Li, after reading the script, I feel that Jin Yanxi's character has poor moral character. He is so heartless to his wife; it's almost inhuman. Can it be improved?" Chen Kun was the first to speak.

A character's image could affect an actor's commercial value, so it was normal for Chen Kun to have such concerns.

*Kun-kun... no, Brother Ji... no, Excellency...* Zhang Yuan thought for a long time before speaking.

"Brother Kun, actually, the Jin Yanxi in the original novel is several times worse than the one in the script. This version is already quite restrained."

"Zhang Yuan is right," Director Li echoed. Seeing the director agree, Chen Kun fell silent.

"Director Li, I feel that Xixi's makeup and styling are a bit too mature. I think it would look better if she looked more pure."

Liu Xiaoli stayed almost inseparable from her daughter. The film industry was a chaotic place, and one couldn't say there was anything wrong with her doing this; after all, the girl was young, and in a pack of wolves, she would be nothing but meat.

"Actually, I think Xixi's makeup is still a bit too heavy," Zhang Yuan offered a dissenting opinion.

Seeing this, Liu Xiaoli thought to herself: *Is this kid intentionally contradicting me to get revenge for treating him like a laborer earlier?*

But before she could retort, Director Li spoke up: "Zhang Yuan, explain your reasoning in detail."

"It was written in Zhang Ailing's *Red Rose, White Rose*." Zhang Yuan looked at the mother and daughter, thinking to himself that the aunt was right—at Xixi's age, wearing a floral dress, tying her hair in a thick ponytail, with light makeup and a faint touch of powder, her face would show fine peach fuzz under the sunlight. That was her most beautiful state.

But the character was not the person!

"Perhaps every man has had two such women—at least two."

"If he marries the Red Rose, over time, the red becomes nothing more than a speck of mosquito blood on the wall, while the white remains the 'bright moonlight before the bed.' If he marries the White Rose, the white becomes a grain of rice stuck to his clothes, while the red becomes a cinnabar mole on his heart."

"The 'bright moonlight,' the 'cinnabar mole,' the 'rice grain,' and the 'mosquito blood' mentioned here perfectly correspond to the character transformations of the two female leads, Leng Qingqiu and Bai Xiuzhu."

"In the early stages, Leng Qingqiu is the bright moonlight, and Bai Xiuzhu is the mosquito blood."

"But in the later stages, once Jin Yanxi marries Leng Qingqiu, she becomes the rice grain, while the beautiful Bai Xiuzhu becomes the cinnabar mole!"

"Styling serves the character. Therefore, in the early stages, Bai Xiuzhu's makeup shouldn't just be heavy; her lip color and eyeshadow should lean toward a deep red to better highlight her 'mosquito blood' persona."

After Zhang Yuan finished speaking, all the actors present stared at him blankly.

What was this young man's background? He could speak so articulately about something as small as styling, even quoting classics and integrating them with the script and characters in a way that left no room for rebuttal.

Including Chen Kun, Dong Jie, Xu Lu, and the others all became interested in this actor they had never met before. Even Liu Xixi lifted her head to look at him.

Zhang Yuan liked a particular phrase from Xixi.

"Huh?" The little girl didn't understand at all.

"Zhang Yuan makes sense!" Director Li immediately called the makeup artist to implement the idea.

The rest of the script reading session almost became Zhang Yuan's personal stage.

As for Director Li, he seemed possessed by the spirits of Zhang Fei and Li Kui, only saying two things

"Me too."

"Brother is right."

After the first day of life on set ended, all the lead actors returned to their rooms, pondering one question.

"Just who exactly is this Zhang Yuan?"

(End of Chapter)