Lin Qian was still brooding the next morning. Desperate to lose weight quickly, she barely touched her breakfast before heading to the set.
Her filming schedule was light that day. She nailed every take on the first try, leaving her free to do as she pleased for the rest of the time.
While other minor actors trickled away, Lin Qian wandered around to scout the key filming locations. She paid special attention to Bei Qiang, one of the leads, committing her shooting schedule and locations for the next few days to memory.
As a Double Golden Film Queen, Bei Qiang was renowned for her acting prowess, boasting a massive, devoted fanbase across all ages. Industry whispers described her as brisk and candid, a consummate professional who rarely demanded a closed set. Lin Qian hoped to drop by and observe her whenever she wasn’t filming.
Having mapped out her plan, she headed back to the hotel, stopping at a cosmetics shop along the way to pick up a few things.
***
On the second day of filming Ruyi Ling, Lin Qian sat on a small stool wrapped in her coat, diligently studying her script. An actor of her standing naturally had no private dressing room, forced to remain on standby on set all day to accommodate everyone else’s schedules.
The cold bit into her skin. Tucking most of her hands into her sleeves, she turned the pages with two fingers, her long, clear-tipped false nails gleaming with a chilly luster in the daylight.
Footsteps approached, accompanied by Xin Yaqi’s coquettish laughter as she greeted the crew and chatted familiarly with the assistant director.
Just before filming began, Xin Yaqi made a point of strolling past Lin Qian. Glancing down at the script, she let out a sneer.
“Working so hard, are we?”
Lin Qian merely offered a cool glance and said nothing.
Xin Yaqi had a tantrum scene scheduled for that day. Since the script kept the action simple, she had plenty of room to improvise.
Her character was a foolish, quick-tempered noble lady whose outbursts amounted to smashing things and scolding underlings. Lin Qian, cast as her maid, was directly in the line of fire.
Picturing how she would ruin that pretty face of hers, Xin Yaqi delivered a smug warning. “Make sure you act your part well later.”
Lin Qian knew Xin Yaqi planned to use the scene to settle a personal score, but her expression gave away no fear. Looking directly at Xin Yaqi, she meaningfully curled a knuckle and rubbed her own nose.
Xin Yaqi immediately remembered the comment about light shining through her nose. With Ruyi Ling‘s tight filming schedule, she hadn’t found the time to get it fixed yet. Worried that Lin Qian might blurt it out in front of everyone, she walked away in frustration.
A few minutes later, the cameras began rolling.
Working herself into a rage, Xin Yaqi screamed and swept everything off the table. To Lin Qian, she looked less like an imperial noblewoman and more like a common shrew.
Slipping into her role as the palace maid, Lin Qian stepped forward to urge her to calm down. As she reached out to steady her, she kept an eye on the doorway.
Chi Juanbei, the male lead, was filming next door today, making it quite likely he would pass by. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight.
Xin Yaqi had been waiting for Lin Qian to reach for her. She seized Lin Qian’s arm and raised her other hand high, intending to slap her across the face.
Her false-nailed fingers curling into a tight fist, Lin Qian didn’t resist.
“Cut!” the assistant director called out.
Xin Yaqi’s hand stopped inches from Lin Qian’s cheek. She turned toward the director, bewildered.
“Xin Yaqi, the emotion is off. Even in a rage, your expression can’t look that hideous. It’s too ugly. Take it from the top.”
Xin Yaqi gave an awkward smile. “All right, understood.”
Turning back toward Lin Qian, she was infuriated to find the other woman grinning back at her with genuine amusement. Xin Yaqi glared at her viciously, the look screaming: Just you wait.
On the second take, Xin Yaqi kept her expression in check and managed to avoid another cutoff, finally getting her wish to slap Lin Qian across the face.
She had misjudged the angle, though, so the blow did not land with full force. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes before she feigned an apologetic expression and turned to the assistant director. “I’m so sorry. I don’t feel I was quite in character just then. Could we go again?”
After a brief pause, the assistant director nodded. “Fine.”
Xin Yaqi shot Lin Qian another smug look. In just a few minutes, Lin Qian’s fair, tender skin had turned red, already showing signs of swelling.
As the makeup artist powdered Lin Qian’s face, Xin Yaqi said with false sympathy, “Lin Qian, it’s all for the scene, so please don’t take it personally.”
Lin Qian’s gaze turned dark and inscrutable. “I won’t.”
Once her makeup was touched up, the shoot resumed. Xin Yaqi raised her hand once more, ready to deliver another slap.
With little hope of rescue, Lin Qian glanced toward the door, only to see Chi Juanbei’s figure actually materialize in her line of sight. He was standing just out of frame, watching the set.
Lin Qian’s hand had already begun to lift, intending to catch Xin Yaqi’s wrist and strike back. But in a split second, she changed her mind. Closing her eyes, she took another slap across the face.
Unlike the previous take, she now radiated an air of helpless innocence, looking small and thoroughly pitiable. Quite a few crew members on set winced, unable to bear the sight.
Sure enough, Xin Yaqi pulled back and offered a stream of apologies to the assistant director. “Oh dear, I messed up again. Let’s do another take.”
Losing his patience, the assistant director snapped, “Last time. Do it right.”
Lin Qian’s cheek had already swelled. If she took another blow, no amount of powder would be able to conceal it. Yet she merely pressed her lips together and walked despondently back to her mark, submitting quietly to the crew’s decision.
Halfway there, she heard someone ask in surprise, “Teacher Chi, what brings you here?”
Pretending she had only just noticed Chi Juanbei’s presence, Lin Qian paused in her tracks. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with a mixture of grievance and humiliation.
Meeting her gaze, Chi Juanbei was startled to see how badly swollen her face had become. It looked as though she had been slapped a dozen times.
Having grown up around film sets, he was well-acquainted with all the petty tricks actors pulled. A single glance told him that the woman acting opposite Lin Qian, whose face had clearly been cosmetically altered, held a personal grudge and was using the scene to vent her spite.
The assistant director seemed to have figured it out as well. Rather than publicly embarrassing the plastic surgery-faced woman, he gave her one last chance.
Chi Juanbei quietly reasoned with himself that Lin Qian had already taken so many slaps; one more would end it. Given how arrogant and domineering she used to be, maybe she needed to learn a lesson.
Yet as Lin Qian looked his way, the light in her eyes gradually fading, Chi Juanbei couldn’t hold back. “What’s going on with this scene?” he asked, his voice cold.
No one on the crew dared cross him, especially with his mother, Bei Qiang, filming nearby. The assistant director was even more desperate not to offend him.
Smiling quickly, the assistant director replied, “The actress is doing a scene where she loses her temper, but she’s struggling to find the right mindset.”
“If she can’t even handle a simple tantrum, she should just pack up and go home instead of wasting resources.”
A casual word from Chi Juanbei had the power to blacklist Xin Yaqi entirely. Her cheeks flushed scarlet, and she didn’t even dare meet his gaze.
Lin Qian, on the other hand, felt a spark ignite in her eyes again, watching Chi Juanbei with pure admiration.
Catching Lin Qian’s look brought a flicker of satisfaction to Chi Juanbei’s chest, though his expression remained frosty. “Besides, is slapping someone the only way to play throwing a tantrum? If you can’t pull that off, can’t you try a different approach?”
Xin Yaqi didn’t dare stay silent this time, murmuring submissively, “Teacher Chi is right. I’ll play it differently.”
Only then did Chi Juanbei show some mercy and let her off the hook. “Keep filming.”
With Chi Juanbei supervising on the sidelines, Xin Yaqi was on high alert during the fourth take. She didn’t dare lay a finger on Lin Qian, and the scene wrapped without further incident.
As soon as they finished, Chi Juanbei walked away. Lin Qian said her goodbyes to the crew, which left her a step behind in catching up to him.
Picking a direction, she broke into a run. Fortunately, luck was on her side, and she spotted him just ahead.
“Teacher Chi, please wait!”
Chi Juanbei stopped and turned around. Back in her youth, Bei Qiang had been the undisputed goddess of historical dramas, and Chi Juanbei had inherited all of her finest features. He could effortlessly pull off any role, from an ethereal cultivator to a regal, commanding imperial prince.
Lin Qian could not help but marvel to herself. The men in this novel might be terrible, but every single one of them was breathtakingly handsome.
Trotting up to Chi Juanbei, Lin Qian wiped an imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.
“Thank you for earlier,” she said gratefully.
A brief flicker of awkwardness crossed Chi Juanbei’s eyes. “I just can’t stand actors who don’t take their work seriously,” he said stiffly. “It had nothing to do with you.”
“Right,” Lin Qian agreed, looking completely convinced. She offered him a sweet smile. “Still, it’s thanks to you. You really helped me out a lot, and I honestly don’t know how to repay you.”
The warmth in her gaze caught Chi Juanbei off guard. Looking away, he muttered awkwardly, “Who cares about your payback?”
Her smile faded, and her head drooped in disappointment.
Finding himself swayed by her mood, Chi Juanbei felt a surge of irritation. Without thinking, he blurted out, “Lin Qian, didn’t you used to throw your weight around? How did you end up letting people walk all over you like this?” He did not even notice the lingering frustration in his voice, annoyed that she was not standing up for herself.
Lin Qian bit her lower lip and stayed silent, yet the answer was written plainly in her eyes.
Because no one protects me anymore.
To keep the guilt from creeping in, Chi Juanbei told himself she had brought this on her own head by causing trouble for Sister Qingqing. It was entirely her own fault.
Still, another voice whispered inside him, reminding him that they were the ones who had given her hope, only to crush it with their own hands.
After a moment, Lin Qian took a deep breath and offered an easy smile. “We were filming, and taking hits comes with the job. She only slapped me twice, really. It doesn’t hurt much, and it’ll heal in a couple of days.”
Chi Juanbei stared at her, speechless.
What does she mean, ‘she only slapped me twice’? Did she want more? How could anyone be so foolish? If he hadn’t stepped in, another hit would have left her bruised for a week.
“Lin Qian, you really are…” Gritting his teeth, Chi Juanbei flicked his sleeves in frustration and stalked away.
Once he vanished from sight, a knowing smile touched Lin Qian’s lips. She raised one hand, examining the press-on nails glued to her fingertips.
When she applied them that morning, she had deliberately filed the tips into sharp points. If Chi Juanbei hadn’t stopped Xin Yaqi on that third strike, Lin Qian would have seized her wrist and slapped her right back.
Then she would have looked her in the eye and said, Didn’t you say you couldn’t get into character? Let me teach you how.