Hidden Affection - Chapter 09

After replying, Ning Zhi finally realized that she had actually started a back-and-forth conversation with this person.

She clicked on 0929’s profile picture, and the gender was naturally obvious. This app has a real-name registration system; once it detects that the gender on the ID card is male, registration cannot be completed.

As for relationship status, it was the same as hers—married.

Ning Zhi: “……”

She was a bit puzzled, not understanding why this dating app required relationship status during registration.

Although she had never used one before, she had heard a lot about them. Aren’t dating apps just for developing ambiguous relationships? How could one develop anything if already married?

She curiously looked up information about other users.

She found a wide variety: some were in ambiguous relationships, some in love, some in cold wars, and so on. There were fewer married ones, but they existed; on the contrary, singles were quite inconspicuous.

Alright, she understood—it was probably some kind of strange pleasure.

…

…

After she wandered around and returned to the message tab, 0929 still hadn’t replied to her.

The conversation stalled on her line, “You still can’t call it a puppy.”

Ning Zhi felt a bit bored, so she threw her phone aside and picked up the script to read.

She had almost worn out the script from flipping through it so much, and after a whole day of filming, Ning Zhi realized that rote memorization was useless; the key was to understand and internalize it.

Simply understanding it wasn’t enough; you also had to know how to act.

And acting is a very difficult skill.

Tomorrow we will be shooting the first few scenes of the movie.

Director Meilan has a habit when directing; she likes to start from the beginning and shoot in the order of the movie’s storyline.

This habit was heavily criticized in the early years.

On one hand, other directors would group an actor’s scenes together to accommodate their schedules, so the actor could shoot all those scenes at once and then move on to other commitments. But Meilan doesn’t do that. However long this movie takes to shoot, the actors have to stay on set for the entire duration, and if they need to leave for any reason, they have to ask for leave.

On the other hand, the location is also an issue. Many shooting locations need to be rented, and the sets have to be built by themselves, all of which cost money. Generally, directors will shoot all the scenes in the same location together to save a lot of expenses.

But Meilan didn’t care about any of that; she just wanted to follow her own ideas.

Fortunately, she was very capable. With several consecutive high-quality works, she built herself into an internationally renowned director in her early thirties, an age considered “young and promising.”

Thus, the habit that was once criticized by actors and the media transformed into a distinctive personal style of Director Mei, and whenever mentioned, it always earned a few compliments.

So yesterday, Director Mei told her to first take out this piece for filming, and she was a bit surprised. But after shooting today, she understood Director Mei’s intention.

It was meant to let her, as an outsider, experience what acting really is and what it means to get into character.

Today’s scene was chosen very cleverly. At the beginning, she had to grasp Chi Sheng’s state of mind at that time, portraying the innocent and spirited naivety of youth who doesn’t yet know sorrow. This was the hardest part; Ning Zhi had to control her expressions and demeanor herself—how to smile, what tone to use, and how to reflect that innocence mixed with pride in her eyes and brows. She had to adjust little by little, gradually approaching the image that Mei Lan had in mind.

And once she overcame this difficult part, everything afterward was beyond her control. Shen Yizhi’s presence was so intense—her kiss, her lips, her soft body, her eyes as boundless as spring water. They were close, whispering by each other’s ears, reluctant to part.

Ning Zhi couldn’t help but be moved, nor could she help but be lost.

Zhuangzi’s morning dream of butterflies—whether he knew he was dreaming or not didn’t matter, because he was already part of the play, because he was overwhelmed by his feelings.

Ning Zhi was so absorbed in her thoughts that she unconsciously touched her lower lip, dry and burning.

She wanted to make this move in the elevator, but since Shen Yizhi was there, she could only hold back.

She stood up, grabbed a bottle of ice water, and gulped down more than half of it before she finally calmed down.

She must clearly distinguish between on-stage and off-stage; Shen Yizhi is not Ruan Yinmeng, and she is not Chi Sheng.

She told herself this several times and was relieved that she didn’t have a scene with Shen Yizhi tomorrow.

It was a good chance for her to cool down, but she must not let herself sink deeper into it.

Tomorrow, the person acting opposite her will be an experienced actor.

That veteran actor is a grandmother with forty to fifty years of acting experience, who has a kind and gentle appearance. She often plays the elder lead roles in films and TV dramas and is affectionately known by netizens as the “National Grandma.”

This time, she is also playing the role of grandmother to Ning Zhi.

Ning Zhi recreated the scene in his mind, then walked over to the table and sat down, trying to act out the scene with himself.

The opening scenes are all everyday life; everyday scenes are plain, mostly just introducing the background and character relationships, setting the stage for the upcoming story.

Ning Zhi rehearsed several times by herself but still felt very uncomfortable.

No matter how she adjusted her expression and tone, her performance remained awkward.

She kept pushing herself, working until past midnight, yet still wasn’t satisfied.

Drooping his head in dejection, he flopped down, and the phone he had casually tossed aside vibrated. Ning Zhi let out a long sigh and listlessly picked it up to take a look.

It was a message from 0929 just now, containing only one sentence.

Go to bed early, don’t stay up late.

These six short words, in the quiet and dim late night, surprisingly revealed a hint of care.

Mind your own business, Ning Zhi grumbled irritably, we’re not even close.

She didn’t reply, threw the phone aside, pulled the covers over herself, and closed her eyes.

The next day, she arrived at the set feeling groggy and only started to feel a bit more awake after finishing her makeup.

Upon arriving at today’s shooting location, Mei Lan was standing by the balcony door, gazing outside, seemingly lost in thought.

This room is not the same as the one from yesterday; yesterday’s was Ruan Yinmeng’s home, while this one is Chi Sheng and Grandma’s house.

This building has a total of five floors, with two households on each floor. Chi Sheng and Grandma live on the second floor, and Ruan Yinmeng lives on the third floor.

The stairs in this type of building are very narrow; two people walking side by side would bump shoulders.

Whenever Chi Sheng steps out of the house and looks up, he can see the entrance to Ruan Yinmeng’s home upstairs through the gaps between the staircases.

Ning Zhi guessed that Director Mei had actually inspected this type of building on site, because it was constructed very authentically. The kind of house she lived in as a child was just like this.

Only after she approached did she clearly see that Mei Lan was looking at the row of flowers placed on the balcony railing.

At a glance, there seemed to be five or six clusters, all planted in very ordinary unglazed ceramic pots. The last cluster was planted in a white enamel cup. These enamel cups used to be very common, entirely snow-white with no patterns. Because they were large, when the bottom of the cup was damaged and leaked water, some thrifty families couldn’t bear to throw them away, so they would fill them with soil like this and plant some small flowers or plants.

Ning Zhi took a careful look.

On the snow-white enamel cup wall, a pattern was painted with pigment: a street lamp, its light glowing with an orange-yellow hue, and on the ground, the lamp’s slender shadow was also depicted.

Inside the cup was planted a sensitive plant,

The gaze of Mei Lan was fixed exactly on this sensitive plant.

She was so absorbed in looking that she didn’t even notice Ning Zhi walking up beside her.

It wasn’t until Ning Zhi called out, “Director.”

That she seemed to be awakened, blinking her eyes, and then looked at Ning Zhi, smiling slightly: “You’re quite early. Let me tell you about today’s scene.”

As she spoke, she walked into the room.

Passing by the calendar hanging next to the bedroom door, Mei Lan stopped and moved the calendar a few centimeters to the right. Ning Zhi followed behind her, unable to see any visual difference between the position before and after the move.

But when she reached the door, the difference became apparent.

After being moved, standing by the door and turning to look, one could clearly see the date on the calendar. If it were in the original position, it would appear somewhat blurry.

Ning Zhi inexplicably felt that Director Mei seemed as if she had personally seen that room from the movie.

She even took care of such details.

No wonder she can be a director, she thought to herself in amazement, this is really impressive.

They sat down on two stools in the corner. Ning Zhi took the opportunity to bring up all the problems she encountered while rehearsing alone last night and asked for advice, which Mei Lan answered one by one.

After answering the last question, Mei Lan unconsciously took a cigarette out of the pack, didn’t light it, but held it in her hand, occasionally stroking it.

Acting is a craft that requires patience and meticulous effort. You’ve just begun to grasp the basics, so don’t rush to achieve everything at once. Feel more, experience more; as long as you improve a little with each shoot, that is success.

Mei Lan’s words carried a tone of guidance and reassurance.

Ning Zhi nodded, grateful for her advice, and sincerely said, “I won’t hold the crew back.”

Mei Lan was momentarily taken aback, about to say that he hadn’t understood her meaning, when the veteran actress playing the grandmother arrived.

This is an elder, older than the combined ages of Ning Zhi and Mei Lan.

They all stood up and greeted the elderly lady.

The previous conversation came to a halt.

Everyone was present, each group was in position, and Ning Zhi found her spot, waiting for the director’s command to start.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of Shen Yizhi entering the door.

She had no scenes today, so why did she come?

Her gaze was always irresistibly drawn to Shen Yizhi, and she involuntarily turned to look.

Their eyes happened to meet.

Shen Yizhi smiled, her eyes bright and charming.

She did smile at times, but most of the time it was faint, carrying a clear sense of distance.

But today’s smile was especially deep, as if she was in a very good mood.

Did something good happen? Ning Zhi was both puzzled and somewhat confused.

With Shen Yizhi’s status, what kind of good thing could make her wear happiness on her face?

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