"Hahaha, you guys don't know—haha—"
Xiao Chen laughed while wiping tears from the corner of his eyes, his voice trembling with laughter: "At that time, Sister Sitong still wanted to take the opportunity to act all high and mighty, expecting Director Yan to apologize to her politely. But when she opened the door, she saw Director Yan pushing a huge cream cake toward her, singing a birthday version of an apology song. Everyone thought Director Yan was confessing his love, crowding around in layers. Her face instantly turned green, and she looked like she wanted to tear Director Yan apart right then and there."
Hearing Xiao Chen vividly describe the situation, Xiao He also found it hilarious, holding his stomach while roaring with laughter.
One could only say that Director Yan really had a talent for pissing people off.
Out of all the apology methods available, he chose the most clueless straight guy approach.
And this apology method was no different from pouring fuel on the fire.
At that time, almost everyone at the scene was struggling to hold back their laughter.
As for the other party involved, Yuan Sitong, she felt as uncomfortable as if she'd swallowed a fly. But facing the out Director Yan offered, and with her agent frantically blinking at her to take the hint, Yuan Sitong ultimately gritted her teeth and "forgave" Director Yan, returning to the set to continue filming.
—She had no choice but to forgive! If Director Yan pulled a few more of those tacky and embarrassing apologies, Yuan Sitong genuinely wanted to leave the production team overnight.
She had pretty much given up completely by now.
This Director Yan was shameless, thick-skinned, and impervious to both soft and hard approaches. Trying to make him understand how formidable she was would be impossible in this lifetime.
Yuan Sitong now just wanted to count the days on her fingers, staying as far away from Yan Shaohan as possible.
...
As for Xiao He's side, he had been so exhausted recently that he didn't even have the energy to enjoy other people's drama.
Playing the sunshine puppy who's actually black-hearted was simply hell mode for him.
When others got "cut," Yan Shaohan could still explain the situation and problems logically. But when it came to Xiao He, his "cut" became all about a feeling.
"Xiao He, your smile doesn't feel quite right this time, let's do it again."
"Xiao He, the eyes, the eyes—"
"Xiao He, how about you try crying? Like holding tears in your eyes, that might make them appear brighter on camera?"
"Xiao He, tone down the feeling, don't make that expression in this scene—"
Xiao He: "..."
If Yan Shaohan didn't usually have a decent relationship with him, Xiao He would really think this guy was deliberately targeting him!
Heavens above! Earth below! What exactly does Yan Shaohan want?!
What is this feeling he's talking about? Could he please explain in detail?
If you don't explain clearly, how am I supposed to know how to act?
When I practice in front of the mirror, I don't see any of those strange feelings you're talking about!
Damn it!!
For this filming, Xiao He had practiced the "harmless" bright smile in front of the mirror for a long time and had also received training from acting coaches.
He felt that although he might not completely achieve Director Yan's ideal Yin Qi-style "sunshine brand smile," he shouldn't be bad enough to repeatedly get NG, right?
Xiao He was really losing his mind.
During another break, Xiao He asked Liu Rulan with great lack of confidence: "Sister Liu, do you really think there's a problem with that scene of mine?"
-------------------
In this scene, Yin Qi stays behind at his sister's study to guard the home, while the assassins he sent out also arrive quietly at this moment.
However, the lead assassin didn't expect that his employer would also be one of the targets this time. After discovering this situation, the cautious assassin leader keenly sensed something wrong and prepared to retreat with his team, but it was already too late.
"Where are you going?"
Yin Qi's voice still carried a slight upward inflection at the end, giving it a youthful, spirited feeling, though upon closer listening, there was also an unusual chill to it.
With his hands behind his back, he stood in the center of the courtyard. The old tree behind him swayed slightly in the cold wind, blocking the assassins' escape route together with him.
The assassin leader tightened his grip on his gun, watching Yin Qi warily: "Didn't we agree?"
What does the employer mean by this?
"Eh?" Yin Qi tilted his head slightly. "Who said we agreed?"
The next moment, he had already appeared in front of the assassin leader, grabbing the other's neck with lightning speed.
"Cough cough—"
The assassin leader's face turned red with pain, unable to speak anymore. At the same time, he was utterly shocked, never expecting Yin Qi's speed to be so fast that it completely exceeded human limits.
He immediately pulled out the gun from his waist, wanting to aim it at Yin Qi, but didn't expect Yin Qi to simply smile at him, then apply slight pressure with his fingers—
"Crunch—"
The assassin leader's neck was instantly snapped.
"Old A—"
The assassin beside them exclaimed in shock, raising his gun to aim at Yin Qi. But Yin Qi simply grabbed his pistol while raising his left hand, using an extremely brutal method to punch through this assassin's head with one blow.
Blood mist still floated in the air as bullets from behind landed on his body. But what made everyone feel even more eerie was this scene—those bullets embedded themselves in Yin Qi's body, creating blood holes of varying sizes, yet he still stood there as if nothing was wrong, unhurriedly digging out the bullet stuck in the bone gap of his right shoulder.
The next moment, that bullet became a terrifying hidden weapon in his hand, whooshing back toward the assassins who had fired the shots.
The few people who were standing just moments before were hit by the flying bullets, uncontrollably throwing their heads back as they retreated—a crimson dot had appeared in the center of each of their foreheads, continuously bleeding.
"Thump thump—"
Several lifeless corpses fell to the ground one after another.
Familiar footsteps sounded from behind at that moment.
Yin Qi turned his head, instinctively raising a smile on his face—
"Cut!"
---------------------
Yan Shaohan: "The feeling is still not right, your smile isn't sincere enough."
Xiao He: "..."
Forget about a sincere smile—Xiao He's bitter smile now carried quite some infectiousness.
He genuinely couldn't bring himself to smile anymore.
But this happened to be a very important transition shot, and he absolutely had to achieve Director Yan's standard with his smile.
Liu Rulan had been watching from the sidelines, so she also knew about Xiao He's current frustration. However, she wasn't a professional and couldn't give Xiao He precise guidance.
"Why don't you go ask Director Yan again?" Liu Rulan said. "Actually, I think it's pretty good already."
She had watched Xiao He progress step by step. The current Xiao He had long lost the hostility and danger he had during their first meeting. The whole person could be said to be completely reborn, fully transforming into another person's appearance. Even Liu Rulan sometimes felt somewhat dazed, thinking Xiao He had completely become Yin Qi, a person who originally didn't exist.
However, the lead assassin didn't expect that his employer would also be one of the targets this time. After discovering this situation, the cautious assassin leader keenly sensed something wrong and prepared to retreat with his team, but it was already too late.
Xiao He let out a long sigh: "Alright, I'll go ask him again. If I still can't pass, I'm really going to fall apart."
The pressure of constantly getting NG was really intense, because this not only meant he needed to perform again, but also that other actors had to cooperate and perform again, and the rest of the production team had to operate all over again.
So Xiao He being stuck at this position and dragging others down with him made him feel absolutely full of guilt.
But just after finishing his conversation with Liu Rulan, before Xiao He could go ask Yan Shaohan, Gao Zhenxia, who had been watching from the side, slowly walked over.
"Ms. Gao."
Xiao He and Liu Rulan greeted simultaneously, while Xiao Chen very perceptively placed a stool: "Ms. Gao, please have a seat."
"Thank you."
Gao Zhenxia slowly sat down, her smile carrying kindness, her tone casual: "Little He, you've been working hard on your acting skills recently, right? Your acting feels much better this time compared to during the Killing Life period."
"Yes." Xiao He gave a bitter smile. "But I'm afraid I've made Teacher Gao laugh. Even after studying for so long, it always seems like I'm just a bit short."
Gao Zhenxia remained smiling, just staring at Xiao He for a while, then suddenly asked: "Little He, have you been obsessing over your acting skills issues recently?"
Xiao He was stunned for a moment, then somewhat awkwardly rubbed his nose: "Um, indeed. After all, I'm not professionally trained, my acting skills aren't as good as you seniors present here. This role is also a completely new challenge for me, so I've been somewhat..."
"Ah, so that's how it is."
Gao Zhenxia nodded understandingly, then chuckled lightly: "Little He, don't let so-called 'acting skills' lead you astray! Those things might not be suitable for you!"
Xiao He was stunned for a moment, then somewhat dumbfounded: "...Huh?"
If not focusing on acting skills, then what should he focus on?