Chapter 10

Fang Jianyuan's family had a small three-story building. The family lived on the second floor, and the third floor was vacant for rent, and the first floor functioned as a store. His dad worked all year round away from their home town and could only go back during Chinese New Year. In the summer vacation of his freshman year at university, only Fang Jianyuan and his mother were home.

At that time, as summer vacation began, the weather was already hot and stuffy. In the afternoon, his mother went to play mahjong at the mahjong hall next door while Fang Jianyuan tended to the small grocery store alone.

There was a floor fan in the corner, its head swivelling side-to-side, creaking with every turn, and yet the wind couldn't dispel the heat.

That was when Yu Haiyang appeared in front of Fang Jianyuan for the first time.

Xia Xingcheng sat behind the counter, tidied up the table, spread open the store's accounts book and leaned over it.

Yang Youming stood by and let the makeup artist fix his makeup. His assistant was a woman in her thirties named Li Yun, who had been working with him for many years. She was currently standing next to him while joking with him.

Xia Xingcheng didn't deliberately stare at Yang Youming, but in his peripheral vision, he noticed that Yang Youming's posture was very relaxed, and he himself was probably the only one who felt nervous before the shoot.

Yesterday's shoot went very smoothly, yet it didn't bring him any reassurance he expected it would. On the contrary, it made him feel even more pressured. He was afraid that he couldn't match up with Yang Youming's acting, and he was also afraid that He Zheng wouldn't be satisfied with his performance

Additionally, when he saw Yang Youming now, he felt an unspeakable tension.

He Zheng called out to everyone to get ready to officially begin shooting.

Xia Xingcheng was already looking down at the book until He Zheng's voice rang out.

"Action!"

The set immediately quieted down, and the sound of the broken prop fan was all the more clear.

Xia Xingcheng, who was looking down at the book, did not hear the footsteps, but felt a shadow cast on the book in front of him, blocking the outside light.

He looked up and saw Yang Youming standing in front of him.

"Do you want to buy anything?" Xia Xingcheng subconsciously swallowed before asking.

Yang Youming put his hand on the counter. He glanced at the shelf behind Xia Xingcheng and said, "Get me a pack of cigarettes."

Xia Xingcheng hurriedly stood up.

At the same time, He Zheng also called cut.

"You're too stiff," He Zheng said to Xia Xingcheng. "He's currently just an ordinary guest. What are you so nervous about?"

Xia Xingcheng nodded. He took several deep breaths and moved his neck and wrists to show that he was ready to restart the scene.

He relaxed his posture a little.

Yang Youming came in and said, "Get me a pack of cigarettes."

Xia Xingcheng let out a gentle 'En', then stood up and turned to the shelf to reach for the cigarettes.

At this time, Yang Youming walked straight past the counter and looked around the small grocery store.

Xia Xingchen's hand had not yet touched the cigarettes when he looked back, "What kind of cigarettes do you want?"

Yang Youming paused and asked him, "Do you have a room for rent?"

A small rental advertisement was posted at the door of the grocery store.

Xia Xingcheng said, "Wait a moment." He went to the door and shouted to the mahjong parlor next door, "Mom!"

When the shoot halted, He Zheng reviewed the monitor once and said, "One more time, relax."

It didn't go so well.

During yesterday's passionate scene, Xia Xingcheng was completely led by Yang Youming so it went well without any major hiccups. When it came to the first scene today, He Zheng still wasn't satisfied after repeating it several times.

"Right now, you're acting, but you're revealing too many traces that what you're doing is acting," He Zheng commented.

He Zheng was an uncompromising person, but he was so demanding that he wouldn't mind repeating a scene over and over again, insisting on achieving a final result that would satisfy him.

In this state, Xia Xingcheng was at a loss and only grew increasingly uncomfortable.

At last, Yang Youming proposed, "Let's have a break."

He Zheng nodded.

Xia Xingcheng went back to his little recliner and sat down, taking a paper towel and dabbing his sweat. After the makeup artist fixed his makeup, he grabbed a small fan and directed it onto his face while reading the script spread out on his leg. What he wanted was to be given directions on how to act, such as the tone of each line and the rhythm of each action, but he was only told to start all over again.

For him right now, having too much creative freedom binds his hands and feet. He doesn't dare to act freely, because it seemed that no matter how he acts, the director wasn't satisfied.

However, He Zheng was not a small director that he worked with in the past, but a big director he's unable to refute at present.

Xia Xingcheng read the contents of the script that was scheduled for today's filming.

Suddenly, someone crouched down in front of him and handed him a bottle of ice water. Xia Xingcheng looked up and found that the man was Yang Youming. His heart jumped and he wanted to stand up immediately.

Yang Youming reached out and pressed his hand on his knee to stop him from getting up and said, "I told Li Yun to buy it. Have a drink." With that, he unscrewed the lid of the bottle before passing the bottle to Xia Xingcheng's hand.

Xia Xingcheng didn't drink it. He said, "Ming Ge, please sit down first."

Yang Youming still crouched in front of him, looking up at him slightly as he spoke, "Is it me who's making you nervous, or is there something else that's making you nervous?"

Xia Xingcheng was stunned at the question, and he said, "I'm sorry." Because it seemed he was dragging Yang Youming down.

Yang Youming smiled, and his eyes curved with a little tenderness that words couldn't express, he said: "I'm Yu Haiyang, you're Fang Jianyuan, if someone needs to apologize, it's me to you, not you to me."

Xia Xingcheng looked at him in a daze.

Yang Youming said, "You're not Xia Xingcheng playing Fang Jianyuan. You're Fang Jianyuan, a freshman. How would you react when you meet a strange man coming to buy something, and how would you react when you hear him say he wants to rent a room?"

Xia Xingcheng pursed his lips. "Ming ge, if it were you, what would you do?"

Yang Youming said to him, "If I told you, it would be my take on Fang Jianyuan, not yours."

Xia Xingcheng held the cold bottle of mineral water with both hands.

Yang Yuming continued, "What do you pay attention to when you act? 'Where the camera is aimed? Will the fan's noise affect the sound of the lines? Do you look good in the close-up shots? Is the director satisfied?'"

Xia Xingcheng did not answer.

Yang Youming said, "You can just look at me. Those things are not your concern, It's not your responsibility to worry about whether things will go wrong. It's his responsibility. There's only the two of us in this scene, so just look at me. Fang Jianyuan saw Yu Haiyang for the first time. What should you think and say? Put yourself in Fang Jianyuan's shoes and think again."

Xia Xingcheng looked closely at Yang Youming without blinking.

Yang Youming stood up and slightly bent down to pat the top of Xia Xingcheng's head. "Fang Jianyuan won't be so nervous when an unfamiliar man comes shopping. He won't be vigilant until that man starts looking around. It's only when you hear him asking about a room for rent that you relax again. Think for yourself."