Chapter 59.1

In a coquettish, elongated tone, Yun Feiwu asked her, “Is it okay?” which was irresistibly soft.

Xia Shutong felt a tingling sensation in her ears, a warm current flowed from her earlobe into her brain, spreading throughout her body. Without any hesitation, she bit her lip and nodded, “Okay.”

“First, let’s look at the script.”

They did not have enough time, and Yun Feiwu couldn’t teach much theory, so she decided to start with practice.

While looking for a section to start practicing, Yun Feiwu suddenly got lost in thought.

When they first started filming “Dark,” Yun Feiwu couldn’t find her rhythm. At that time, there was no professional guidance, and Yun Feiwu didn’t dare to communicate with the director. Off-camera, Xia Ruan would accompany her, practicing the script time and again.

Xia Ruan was an empathetic individual, capable of relating to characters and understanding their mental states just from reading a script once. Despite delving deep into her roles, she never lost her identity, never confusing fiction with reality, even when she couldn’t immediately disengage from her character. Yun Feiwu had once struggled with this blurring of lines between herself and her roles. It was Xia Ruan who suggested setting an “anchor point” outside of her roles.

“Having an anchor point ensures you won’t lose yourself,” she had advised.

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Yun Feiwu: “…”

“Ruan Ruan, I apologize. I didn’t mean that,” Yun Feiwu said, lowering her head in sincere apology. She licked her lips and pointed to another part, “How about this section?”

Xia Shutong glanced at it.

The newly selected part was an encounter between the two female leads during their second meeting. It wasn’t an intimate scene, but rather a brief interaction.

In this interaction, the female lead, Shu Jinyu, had “accidentally” run into Ke Yu while foraging in the mountains. Having dreamt about Ke Yu a few days prior, she became somewhat nervous and shy upon seeing her. She stammered and avoided eye contact while speaking. Ke Yu, meanwhile, had deliberately tried to entice her. Despite her gentle and innocent appearance, her actions became increasingly bold, leaving Shu Jinyu flustered and prompting her to flee with her basket of vegetables.

The focus of this scene was not just the interaction between the two, but the psychological states of both characters. The actors had to subtly convey their characters’ hidden feelings and thoughts without making them too apparent. Handling this correctly was crucial and a true test of their acting skills. Therefore, this part of the plot made excellent training material.

Just as Xia Shutong was about to nod in agreement, she hesitated.

She realized the interaction between the two female leads was a bit too flirtatious.

During the audition, she almost fell into someone’s arms when Yun Feiwu accidentally held her finger. The scene required her to flirt, but what if she lost control and the scene turned intimate?

“Cough, cough,” Xia Shutong had coughed heavily under Yun Feiwu’s expectant gaze, “I think this part isn’t quite right. Let’s move on to the later section.”

Xia Shutong had pulled the script to a later part and pointed to a monologue by Ke Yu.

“If it was hard to control ourselves during interactive scenes, we could just act out parts where only one character appears,” she had suggested. “I’ll let Maomao lead me into character that way, we won’t encounter any problems.”

“Alright,” Yun Feiwu had agreed, a smile spreading across her face. She took Xia Shutong’s finger, gently pointing to the script. “Let’s read the script first.”

As the day had given way to evening, the sky outside the window turned a dull, deep blue. Inside, the room was brightly lit.

From a distance, two tall and slender figures could be seen, sometimes intertwined, engrossed in something. Sometimes they separated, one leading with their arms moving around, the other following suit. At times, one danced in front of the room, while the other sat on the sofa, watching attentively.

This had gone on until late into the night.

…

The day of joining the production team had come quickly.

The filming location for “Tracks” was in the deep mountains of Chuan City, just a few dozen kilometers away from the first recording location of “Mountain and River”. The entire village had only about a hundred residents, almost entirely isolated from the world.

Led by Director Hua Zinan, the entire crew had kept a low profile. They hastily held a commencement ceremony at the village primary school before beginning to film. Fans and even those within the industry were scarcely aware that “Tracks” had begun shooting.

That evening, Director Hua Zinan and the main actors held a script discussion meeting.

Due to Xia Shutong’s lack of acting experience, Director Hua Zinan decided to film scenes involving Shu Jinyu and other supporting characters first. This would allow Xia Shutong to watch and learn, gradually getting into character. Then, they filmed scenes involving Ke Yu and the supporting characters. After that, Xia Shutong was almost completely immersed in the character and began to formally shoot scenes with Yun Feiwu.

This part was planned by Director Hua Zinan to take two weeks. Afterward, they would spend two months filming the main characters’ scenes in the mountains before moving to the city for continued shooting.

“Alright, let’s wrap up today’s discussion. We’ll officially start tomorrow,” Director Hua Zinan had said with a smile, closing the script and revealing fine lines at the corners of her eyes. “The staff outside are eating kebabs. How about we join them for a chat and get to know each other?”

“Sure, let’s follow Director Hua Zinan’s lead.” The group had walked out of the room, laughing.

Not far from them was the village school’s playground where many people had already gathered. Barbecue grills were being set up, filling the air with an enticing aroma.

Xia Shutong and Yun Feiwu were initially walking among the crowd, but after a few steps, they strayed from the group. They finally sat down, hand in hand, on the side.

The other actors discreetly quieted down, showing a tacit understanding and not disturbing the pair.

Yun Feiwu and Xia Shutong hadn’t publicly announced their relationship yet, but rumors were already circulating within the industry. Some people in the crew even speculated that Xia Shutong joined the production for Yun Feiwu. The veteran actors were initially worried. They wondered if Xia Shutong, a newcomer with no acting experience but financial backing, would hold back the production. They had all read the script of “Tracks” and didn’t want to see such a promising drama ruined by one person.

However, after the conference, everyone felt much relieved. Firstly, they trusted Director Hua Zinan’s judgment. Secondly, President Xia was very serious throughout, without showing any airs of a big boss. She asked questions immediately if there were any, and earnestly discussed with everyone. Xia Shutong’s appearance was naturally delicate, and as long as she shed that prideful demeanor, she was particularly liked by the elders.

After the meeting, these veteran actors couldn’t stop praising her in their hearts.

“Yun Yun and President Xia seem to have a good relationship,” observed Peng An, who played the role of a little hooligan, glancing to the side.

Peng An had been the Golden Osmanthus Best Actor two years prior and was only twenty-nine years old then. He had seen a steady influx of resources in recent years, essentially playing leading roles. However, this time, he had taken on the role of a cannon fodder thug, and no one understood why.

Another actor, who had spent time on the “Chasing Light” crew, had patted his shoulder and said with a smile, “Yes, they had a good relationship last year.”

“Yun Yun had always been alone and didn’t smile much, she was lonely. But now it’s better, finally, someone is by her side,” another actor sighed.

Almost everyone had worked with Yun Feiwu before, and some even had her play their daughter or younger sister when she was a child. Seeing her again, they truly treated Yun Feiwu as a junior.

At that time, Yun Feiwu and Xia Shutong were holding hands, sitting together in a corner of the playground. They were discussing something and pointing towards the sky as if looking at the stars. Through a layer of misty smoke, the scene appeared serene and beautiful.

Peng An glanced at them and smiled softly.

“Xiao An, you’re about their age, you should have a lot in common with them. Why don’t you bring them some grilled skewers?” someone had suggested.

“Me?” Peng An had waved his hands, and his auntie’s laugh had faded from his face, “That wouldn’t be appropriate. It would disturb them.”

“Hey, whoever goes would be disturbing them anyway. Xiao Peng, you’re the youngest, you go!” someone had joked.

In the end, it was the aunt who played another volunteer teacher who brought the grilled skewers over, “President Xia, Yun Yun, want to try some? They’re pretty good.”

“Thank you, Sister Wang,” Yun Feiwu raised her head and gave a small smile, but only took one skewer from her, “We’re not very hungry, one skewer is enough.”

She then carefully blew on it and brought the skewer to Xia Shutong’s lips.

“Delicious,” Xia Shutong’s eyes had crinkled in delight, “You should try it too.”

During the script reading earlier, Xia Shutong had been gentle, but she had never smiled like this before. She looked like a little girl in love.

Feeling like a third wheel, Auntie Wang: “…”

She quickly retreated into the crowd.

And then chatted with others: “Ah, young people in love are so sweet. At my age, watching them still makes my heart feel like it’s filled with honey.”