Chapter 2

Meng Huai’an was a rising star in the entertainment industry’s investment circle. It was rare to see him in person, and Qin Lu’s curiosity was burning brightly. She couldn’t resist sharing more gossip with Lin Zao: “Cousin, there are three heirs in the Meng family. Meng Huai’an is the second son, and he has been studying abroad for a long time…”
Lin Zao shushed her. It was almost her turn to go on stage, and she needed to concentrate and immerse herself in the character. She had no interest in hearing about Meng Huai’an.
For Lin Zao, with her low educational background, she knew nothing other than making breakfast items like wontons and zhajiangmian. Thanks to her cousin’s guidance, she had finally found this high-paying job in acting. Ten thousand yuan a month! Lin Zao just wanted to act well and keep this golden rice bowl.
Lin Zao knew she wasn’t smart. Stupid people had to work harder. So, when her cousin taught her acting techniques, she studied with great dedication. Every time she took a job, Lin Zao used the opportunity to observe other actors’ performances, learning basics like blocking and how to face the camera. After two months, Lin Zao had accumulated quite a bit of experience.
For example, when the director asked the extra female supporting characters to look at the male lead with adoring eyes, Lin Zao would imagine that it wasn’t the male lead but her paycheck. Her expression immediately became authentic. When the director required them to look at the female lead with jealousy, Lin Zao would imagine the female lead was that top student in her class who always slept in yet still ranked first and received praise from teachers.
Qin Lu looked at her cousin’s serious side profile, resembling a student listening attentively, and felt a surge of emotion.
Her little cousin indeed wasn’t very smart. A line of dialogue that Qin Lu could memorize perfectly in ten minutes would take her cousin an hour, and even then, she couldn’t guarantee it was completely correct. However, her cousin had two advantages. First, she was incredibly beautiful—so beautiful that even though her acting was green, people still found her adorable. Second, she had a serious attitude. When someone puts one hundred percent passion into their work, they will inevitably become more and more outstanding.
“Good luck!”
Before Lin Zao went on stage, Qin Lu gently patted her cousin’s shoulder.
Lin Zao smiled weakly, lacking confidence.
——
This scene depicted Diao Chan’s first appearance before Dong Zhuo. Before Diao Chan presented her dance, Dong Zhuo was embracing a songstress, drinking wine while appreciating the conventional dances of several other songstresses.
The actor playing Dong Zhuo was named Sun Qingwen. Despite his refined-sounding name, he was actually a burly uncle standing 1.9 meters tall with broad shoulders and a strong back. To play Dong Zhuo, he had thick eyebrows and a beard covering his chin. With his tiger-like eyes slightly narrowed, he resembled an ambitious and treacherous hero without even trying.
Sun Qingwen had just gone to stretch his muscles. Upon returning, he saw a young girl in a red Liuxian skirt standing in the center of the set. She looked fresh and delicate like a flower, her big eyes watching him nervously.
Sun Qingwen had studied the script thoroughly and immediately guessed the new actor’s identity. He smiled and greeted Lin Zao: “Don’t be nervous. Later, I’ll grab your hand and pretend to throw it hard. You just fall to the ground yourself, acting as if I threw you.”
Lin Zao had been a bit afraid of him, but hearing this, her fondness for the uncle immediately skyrocketed. Previously, she had played an extra role as a beautiful maid. The philandering second male lead passed through the garden, discovered two beautiful maids, and forcibly hugged one to kiss her. However, upon seeing the female lead, who had a fierce personality, he immediately threw the maid away.
The second male lead had thrown her with excessive force, scraping the skin off Lin Zao’s wrist.
It seemed that the young heartthrob playing the second male lead was also clumsy; he didn’t know there was another way to act out a throwing scene.
“Thank you, Uncle Dong!” Lin Zao said happily.
Sun Qingwen: … He was only playing Dong Zhuo; his surname wasn’t Dong.
The crew members and actor assistants around them heard the conversation between the two.
Most people just laughed at Lin Zao, thinking the extra was too silly. However, Sun Qingwen’s assistant was very unhappy. Although Old Sun wasn’t extremely famous, he was a veteran actor with constant filming contracts, often playing generals and tough guys. It was one thing for a small-time extra not to recognize him, but calling him by the wrong name in front of everyone? Wasn’t that intentionally embarrassing Old Sun?
When Qin Lu heard Lin Zao make the mistake, her heart skipped a beat.
She knew Sun Qingwen, but this veteran actor was too low-key. He wasn’t a young heartthrob worth gossiping about. Plus, since she and Lin Zao were used to playing extras, hardly any proper actors would chat with them, so Qin Lu had forgotten to introduce Sun Qingwen’s identity to Lin Zao.
What had happened had happened, and regret was useless. Qin Lu silently noted this lesson. In the future, she must educate Lin Zao about all the actors they might interact with, just to be safe.
Sun Qingwen, whose face had been inadvertently slighted by Lin Zao, didn’t think too much about it. He just thought this extra actor was too young, looking like a high school student. Her peach-blossom eyes were watery and innocent, untouched by worldly sophistication.
The actors took their positions. Sun Qingwen first sat behind the antique-style desk, then patted his thigh and joked with Lin Zao, who was standing beside him: “Come on, Uncle will be your human cushion.”
Sitting on someone’s thigh is an intimate action, but Sun Qingwen smiled so kindly that Lin Zao didn’t have any awkward associations.
Holding up her skirt, she slowly sat down. Afraid that she was too heavy and might crush Sun Qingwen, Lin Zao subconsciously used her arms to support herself on the table right in front of her.
Sun Qingwen smiled and turned her toward him in his embrace, saying, “Focus on acting. You weigh less than two bags of rice; you won’t crush me.”
Lin Zao was amused by his joke.
The stylist came over, first arranging Lin Zao’s skirt to create the best shooting effect, then pulling down her collar to expose half of her shoulder.
Lin Zao was still not used to exposing her skin. Her ears grew hot, and she secretly glanced upward.
“Haha, Uncle isn’t looking at you. Diao Chan is much more beautiful than you.” Sun Qingwen looked forward, his big beard moving as he spoke.
Lin Zao: … What should she do if she liked this uncle more and more?
Sun Qingwen continued to explain the scene to her, detailing all the subtle movements a songstress should make.
Before filming started, the director came over to give some brief instructions. Since Lin Zao’s face would appear clearly on camera, he didn’t want the main actors to be in the right mood only for the scene to be ruined by an extra. It was like in some TV dramas where a funeral scene was being broadcast, but when the camera panned over, an extra wearing mourning clothes had a blank expression, which was too distracting.
Everything was ready, and the director shouted, “Action!”
The background music started. Lin Zao, playing the little songstress, leaned relaxedly in Dong Zhuo’s arms, her fragrant shoulder half-exposed. She raised the wine cup from the table slowly to Dong Zhuo’s face. Her wide sleeves slipped down, revealing her white, smooth arm. Dong Zhuo took the wine cup, looking absent-mindedly at the several songstresses dancing lifelessly in front of him.
Suddenly, the songstresses scattered, and a woman in a white dress entered gracefully, her face partially covered by her double sleeves.
Dong Zhuo narrowed his tiger-like eyes and placed the wine cup, which had been near his mouth, back on the table.
The songstress in his arms looked surprised. Following Dong Zhuo’s gaze, she looked over and became mesmerized along with him.
Diao Chan’s dance was graceful and enchanting. The little songstress was initially amazed, then frowned. Seeing that Dong Zhuo was indeed firmly attracted to Diao Chan, the little songstress bit her lip. She then pressed closer to Dong Zhuo, her small hand moving up his chest. Her gaze was bewitching yet carried a hint of grievance, and she spoke in a soft voice: “Prime Minister…”
Dong Zhuo impatiently grabbed her wrist and threw her aside.
The little songstress fell clumsily to the ground. Under the bright lights, her long hair was messy, and half of her shoulder was exposed. On her snow-white shoulder was a cinnabar mole, bright red and striking.
Lin Zao couldn’t see her own shoulder. She propped up her upper body, looked at Dong Zhuo with resentment, then pulled up her sleeve and lowered her head, exiting from the side.
Walking out of the camera’s view, Lin Zao relaxed. Holding her cuff with her small hand, she lifted her head, intending to look for Qin Lu. Instead, she accidentally collided with a pair of deep, cold black eyes like a dark pool. It was Meng Huai’an, the man who had excited her cousin so much.
The man was cold, and Lin Zao was a bit afraid. She quickly walked around him.
“You acted really well!” Qin Lu grabbed her cousin’s hand, very excited. She indeed hadn’t misjudged; her cousin’s performance today was almost comparable to that of a professional actor.
Lin Zao explained softly: “Teacher Dong and the director also gave me instructions.”
Qin Lu was torn between laughter and tears: “What Teacher Dong? That’s Sun Qingwen. Call him Teacher Sun from now on.”
As they were talking, the director called, “Cut!”
Lin Zao immediately turned around.
As long as the director confirmed that her part didn’t need to be retaken, she could go change her clothes, and the one thousand yuan would be easily earned.
Xu Jingjing and Sun Qingwen were also looking at the director, waiting for him to point out specific issues.
The director replayed the video, and the final frame stopped on the scene where Lin Zao was lying on the ground.
Meng Huai’an stood behind the director. Seeing the little woman lying on the ground again, looking fragile and pitiful, his eyes darkened slightly.
He was about to leave when he suddenly heard the director scold the assistant director sitting on a small stool next to him, who was watching the video: “Little Li, how did you find this extra? She’s more beautiful than Diao Chan. If you were Dong Zhuo, who would you choose? If this shot is broadcast, it lacks credibility.”
Brother Li broke into a sweat. He had been so focused on finding someone good-looking that he forgot this aspect. A famous director was indeed famous, pursuing perfection in every detail.
“Should I find another extra?” Li asked, wiping his sweat.
The director shook his head: “No need. The girl acted well. Just make her makeup uglier.” Actually, it was also his fault for not carefully checking the extra’s face before filming started.
Li understood. He dragged the makeup artist specialized for extras over to Lin Zao and whispered the makeup change requirements so that only the makeup artist could hear.
Both he and the director were considering Xu Jingjing’s dignity.
However, when Lin Zao’s new makeup was revealed, everyone knew what was going on.
Xu Jingjing lowered her eyes to look at the script, timely concealing the anger in her eyes.
Damn it. It was annoying enough to be overshadowed by an extra actor at other times, but now she had actually lost face in front of Meng Huai’an!
“Find out who that extra is,” Xu Jingjing whispered, handing the script to her assistant.
The assistant nodded.
Xu Jingjing looked up, pretending to casually scan in Meng Huai’an’s direction. Seeing that Meng Huai’an was still there, her fighting spirit reignited.
It didn’t matter. Soon, they would film Diao Chan’s most beautiful scenes!
——
Lin Zao thought it was just a normal touch-up. The director asking her to redo the scene meant her previous performance wasn’t good enough.
So, this time she acted with even more effort. When seducing Dong Zhuo, she used all her skills for acting spoiled with her grandmother: “Prime Minister…”
“Dong Zhuo” trembled.
The director frowned and called, “Cut!” The little extra’s call was too seductive. But since a songstress seducing someone should act like that, the director gave Sun Qingwen a look.
Sun Qingwen was embarrassed. He was in his fifties, yet his cultivation had been broken by a little girl.
Filming started again. Dong Zhuo, having mentally prepared himself in advance, was finally not disturbed by the songstress.
With the director’s “OK,” Lin Zao officially finished her job.
She happily went to remove her makeup and change clothes.
Over there, Xu Jingjing had touched up her makeup and looked toward Meng Huai’an again. She searched around but couldn’t find him.
Meng Huai’an had already gotten into the black luxury car parked outside the set.
He closed his eyes, his mind filled with the woman’s pitiful eyes and the cinnabar mole on her shoulder.
“Investigate that songstress.”