Filming officially commenced, with the first scene being the famous runaway chase scene where the male and female leads hold hands outside the campus.
Xia Weiliang had no scenes on the first day, but with her positive and eager learning spirit, she brought a small folding stool, a thermos, and a notebook.
Upon arriving at the set, everyone greeted her warmly. She smiled and approached Director Liu, without saying a word, she gently placed her small stool down, sat, and fixed her gaze on the monitor, watching more intently than Director Liu himself!
Director Liu was completely absorbed, then frowned, "Cut!"
Xi En and Zhang Miaomiao ran over, panting, "What's wrong, Director?"
Director Liu gestured for Xi En to rest. He then turned to Zhang Miaomiao and said, "This is the second time Ling Lu and Tai Ling have met. They are fleeing hand-in-hand because Ling Lu offended some powerful figures outside. But you, you tell me, what's with that look of yearning for elopement on your face?"
Zhang Miaomiao was stunned, "Director, I didn't..."
"Tai Ling initially found Ling Lu disagreeable! Disagreeable! For reasons unknown, he took a year off school, and his 'worldly air' clearly clashed with that of good students like you! On top of that, he provoked troublemakers outside the school. People like him are never guests in your ivory tower! Why are you acting so infatuated with him?!"
"I..."
Hearing the crew members chuckle, Zhang Miaomiao's face turned bright red.
Director Liu, who was usually as jovial as the Maitreya Buddha, always polite and smiling to everyone, transformed into a life-claiming Yama the moment he got on set.
No matter if you were a popular idol or a fresh young starlet, he would scold you without mercy!
Zhang Miaomiao had heard about this and was mentally prepared before taking the role, but she never expected to be thoroughly berated in the very first scene!
After all, she was the female lead!
"You must remember your character's traits. When you look at the male lead, you are disgusted, but this disgust cannot be fully shown on your face because you are a lady from a good family, and your upbringing forbids you from disrespecting others like that!"
Zhang Miaomiao asked with a trembling voice, "Then... if I can't show it on my face, how am I supposed to express it?"
Director Liu then called Xi En over and demonstrated it himself. "Pay attention to micro-expressions, especially the eyes. Look at me... I'm clearly disgusted, but I can't help but feel a little bit of curiosity... At this moment, your eyes are pure, bright, and innocent. Slightly furrow your brow... Pay attention to my hands. When he holds me, what's my first reaction? It's an unconscious struggle... See?"
Seeing Director Liu hold Xi En's hand and perfectly capture the demeanor of a young girl, Xia Weiliang was astonished, furiously scribbling in her notebook!
Xi En had collaborated with Director Liu before, so he was used to him playing a woman and could quickly get into character.
Xia Weiliang was truly impressed! This was what professionalism was!
You could give me a steamed bun, and I could make it taste like a truffle!
Following this, Zhang Miaomiao seemed to enter a rut, no matter how she acted, it was wrong. Either too deliberate or too vulgar. For the entire morning, she ran back and forth with Xi En more than twenty times!
They had deliberately chosen such a famous scene for the first take, hoping for a good start. Instead, it had completely fallen apart!
Director Liu, furious, threw off his earpiece, "Xia Weiliang!"
"Here!"
Xia Weiliang, trembling, quickly put down her notebook and stood up.
"You go act!"
"?!"
Xia Weiliang panicked.
What was going on?
If you wanted to give the female lead a way out, you didn't have to use her as a negative example, did you?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Miaomiao also visibly relaxed. Honestly, if they had to run like this any longer, she didn't know what would happen to her, but she was sure she wouldn't be able to look Brother En in the eye anymore.
Fortunately, Xia Weiliang was there to save the day, and she could finally rest comfortably.
With Xia Weiliang's jarring acting as a comparison, she could also save face at the appropriate time.
Zhang Miaomiao was quite gracious, walking to the side and saying to Xia Weiliang, "Thank you, Teacher Xia."
Xia Weiliang: "..."
Could her joy be any more obvious? Couldn't she use those micro-expressions and eye contact that Director Liu mentioned earlier?
"What? Can't you hear me, or does what I say not matter?"
Director Liu was in a terrible mood, and his loud voice made the entire crew tremble.
Now Xia Weiliang realized how gentle and watery Director Zhou must have been!
"It matters, it matters..."
Xia Weiliang was on the verge of tears.
Why didn't she just stay put and sleep more with Xiao Lan, and instead come here to take notes?
Now, the cannon fire was about to be aimed at her. When she got scolded later, should she cry, or cry, or cry?
Xi En was wearing a white shirt and a black suit jacket, with the top two buttons undone – the standard attire for a delinquent student.
To her surprise, when he put on the high school uniform, there was no sense of incongruity at all. The aura between a boy and a man was perfectly captured by him!
After running for so long, he stood there with his hands on his hips, appearing lazy yet exuding a fatal danger.
Is this Xi En?
No, this is Ling Lu.
From his posture to his gaze, and the arrogance in his eyes, he was Ling Lu himself, stepped right out of the novel.
Xia Weiliang stared at him, deeply shocked.
From the moment she arrived on set or took on this role, Xi En had been subtly and endlessly approaching the protagonist Ling Lu. Just like now, he was immersed in the character, viewing her – the female lead Tai Ling – through Ling Lu's perspective.
This realization immediately made Xia Weiliang nervous. She finally understood why Xi En didn't seem as clear on the monitor as he did now.
Because Zhang Miaomiao was not his female lead.
Or rather, Zhang Miaomiao at this moment was not yet.
This must be the legendary method acting, commanding respect, and being utterly captivating.
She slowly walked over, step by step, with cautious scrutiny, and her innate sense of superiority.
Compared to Ling Lu, she, the eldest daughter of the Tai family, was naturally filled with a sense of superiority.
"You are Ling Lu? I am the class monitor, Tai Ling. It's the start of the semester, why aren't you coming to class? You..."
Before she could even finish her line, he suddenly placed his hand on the back of her head, then pulled her into a hug.
With a smile, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Help me out. If you do a good job, I'll go to class."
She had intended to struggle, but upon hearing his words, she immediately froze, then took a small step back, trying to distance herself from his chest.
Just this small movement made Director Liu overjoyed!
That's right, this was the feeling!
She struggled to maintain the pose, her legs even trembling slightly, but her voice remained surprisingly calm: "Classmate Ling Lu, you mean, just a hug, and you'll agree to come back to class with me?"
Ling Lu's wolf-like, untamed eyes stared fixedly into the distance, his smile more unfathomable.
"You say you're the class monitor?"
"...Yes."
"What's your name?"
"...Tai Ling."