This sentence sounded like a teacher posing a question to a student.
Hua Yanqiu’s attitude was indeed exactly that. She was satisfied with Shen Manyu’s previous explanation, but at the same time, she was testing her deeper grasp of the character’s persona.
Shen Manyu pondered for a moment, weighing her words before responding: “The wealthy young lady cannot understand the sacrifice of the insurgent army—composed of the nation’s own commoners—who used their bodies and lives to carve out a path of blood against a powerful enemy.”
“She comes from an affluent background and had just returned from traveling abroad; she had witnessed the strength and prosperity of the enemy firsthand. The instinctive human tendency to admire the strong left her without the slightest desire to resist the extremely powerful invading nation of that time.”
Recalling the script, Shen Manyu continued: “There should be several turning points here. Her rebellious younger brother joins the insurgent army, and during the rebellion, he is captured on the spot by the Female General and killed by her own hand right in front of the girl.”
“She may be numb to the fates of others, but her devotion to the family members she was willing to sacrifice her own body to protect far outweighs the value of her own life.”
“Her brother’s death is a scar on her heart that can never be healed, and her hatred for the Female General stems from this moment.”
“Later, her family’s business offends the high-ranking authorities, leaving the lives of the entire family hanging by a thread.”
“Yet, the Female General, constrained by her status and sense of loyalty, ignores the wealthy lady’s bitter pleas. The family is destroyed, and in the end, she is the only one left alive in the world.”
“She is indeed a selfish person, but after experiencing the heart-wrenching pain of her family’s total demise, she begins to feel some empathy for the victims who were previously displaced by war and separated from their loved ones by death.”
“She is just a profit-driven ordinary person; she doesn’t understand concepts like national righteousness or the idea that ‘when the nest is overturned, no egg stays unbroken.'”
“Even when she saves people later, it isn’t out of compassion or a sense of duty, but simply because her family is gone and she has lost the will to live. This doesn’t conflict with her persona; the decision she makes is fundamentally built on a foundation of selfishness and self-centeredness.”
Director Chu’s film felt less like a fabricated drama and more like a documentary with real-life prototypes.
He did not portray the wealthy lady as a compassionate, kind, or pure person. She was not a perfect character; one could even say she was quite unlikable.
She used any means necessary to survive, was inherently selfish and cowardly, and remained indifferent to the tragic experiences of the lower-class citizens, never once harboring a thought of saving them.
The Female General was also unlike characters in conventional movies where the “evil” role is eventually moved by the righteous protagonist and finally wakes up to join the side of justice.
Because they were imperfect, they felt exceptionally real. It was as if they were the audience themselves; their character flaws were weaknesses that any ordinary person might possess.
The audience would unconsciously project themselves into their perspectives, only to realize despondently that if they were in the same position, they would very likely make the same wrong decisions.
The audience had no control over the life or death of the characters; they were powerless bystanders, witnesses to this story.
They could only stand by and watch as the characters remained obstinate, sinking deeper and deeper into an immoral love from which they could not extricate themselves. Knowing from the very beginning that it was a tragedy, leading all the way to a predetermined and miserable end, everything felt like a fated conclusion.
It was as if an invisible giant hand were pushing them forward, step by step, into an abyss from which there was no return.
Hua Yanqiu nodded slightly. Everything Shen Manyu said was basically correct. She didn’t seem like a newcomer to the industry at all; her level of script comprehension alone could rival some of the veteran actors in the business.
It was clear that she had truly put her heart into reading the script.
Seeing this serious attitude, Hua Yanqiu had already begun to feel a sense of satisfaction toward this “student.”
Shen Manyu played the wealthy young lady in the play, while the Female General was Hua Yanqiu’s role.
Therefore, once Shen Manyu finished explaining her understanding of the wealthy lady, Hua Yanqiu did not ask her to continue.
For the moment, she had nothing to add, so she put down the script and said softly: “Since you’ve finished reading and understanding the script—didn’t you come here to run lines with me? Let’s do it now.”
Shen Manyu was startled by her words, suddenly snapping out of the script’s world—away from the love and hate between the innocently cruel wealthy lady and the cold-blooded executioner of a Female General.
Hearing Hua Yanqiu’s words, her chest tightened. She couldn’t help but clench her fists, her palms faintly damp with sweat.
Her voice was a bit raspy when she spoke. Realizing something was off the moment the words left her mouth, Shen Manyu coughed lightly to restore a normal tone: “Which scene should we do?”
The expression on Hua Yanqiu’s face remained as cool and indifferent as ever, but the eager light in her eyes occasionally made her appear—quite contradictorily—to have a touch of childlike mischief.
She, too, was a mystery—a mystery that Shen Manyu could not yet fully solve.
Her ethereal, cold exterior and her rich inner world were two extremes; most people could only see the coldness that kept them thousands of miles away.
Only when one gained her favor and was permitted to draw closer could they discover the abundant emotions hidden beneath that indifference.
“How about… this scene?”
Hua Yanqiu drew out her words, her tone playful and teasing. She flipped the script to a specific page and pressed her palm lightly against it.
Then, with a flick of her wrist, she turned the page toward Shen Manyu so she could clearly see the content.
“The preceding scene is a gathering organized by wealthy merchants to curry favor with the Female General. At the party, the General falls in love with the wealthy lady at first sight. Under military pressure, the lady’s father is forced to personally hand her over to the General.”
“This scene depicts the Female General’s forceful seizure—compelling the wealthy lady to give up her body.”
“The young lady is both shocked and terrified, feeling utterly humiliated. Yet, under the threat of death, she is forced to submit to her despite her profound reluctance.”
Shen Manyu’s skin was very fair; consequently, the faint blush blooming across her delicate complexion was particularly striking.
She looked down at the script before her. The black ink on white paper looked perfectly formal; the regular block characters gave an impression of stiff rationality, as if the text itself were the definition of seriousness.
But as those serious characters combined, the solemnity between the lines was shattered by the suggestive meaning of the sentences.
Individual words seemed harmless enough on their own, but when the completed sentences leaped into her eyes, influenced by the subjective lens of her own emotions and experiences, the straight lines of the text seemed to take on a decadent, hazy atmosphere.
Though even the tips of her ears were flushed red, and her lips instinctively pressed downward, Shen Manyu refused to remain at a disadvantage in front of Hua Yanqiu. She forced herself to stay composed and nodded slightly. “Alright.”
Sister Qi opened her mouth, several times looking as if she wanted to intervene. She had the urge to stop them, but Shen Manyu was a lead actress after all; if she were to stay with the production, they could never escape these intimate scenes.
Unless… even if her understanding of the script was on point, her acting skills couldn’t keep up. It was possible to know exactly what to do and how to inhabit the character, yet fail to produce the desired “flavor” in performance.
Previously, Sister Qi had hoped Shen Manyu’s acting would be decent enough not to drag down the production’s progress too much.
Now, her mindset had shifted; she actually began to pray that Shen Manyu’s acting would be so bad it was unbearable—bad enough to completely shatter the “filter” Hua Yanqiu had developed due to the girl’s beauty.
Otherwise, you have a stunning woman whose looks alone could make any visual-lover’s heart race, who is also highly capable and has earned special recognition in the very field Hua Yanqiu takes pride in…
That was a recipe for total surrender!
Hua Yanqiu set the script aside and asked, “Have you memorized all the lines?”