Chapter 71: Lin Gou: I Am the Clown

“Hey, A-Yang my little junior, why don’t you just admit defeat?” Lin Gengxin draped his arm over Zhang Yang’s shoulder. “I’m a generous guy, I’ll let you surrender and only lose half your bet.”

Lose half by surrendering?

Do you think you’re some kind of gambling master or sage?

Zhang Yang shook off Lin Gengxin’s hand, his eyes serious. “Since you’re being so magnanimous, Lin the Dog…”

“Hm?” Lin Gengxin lifted his chin slightly, anticipating the response he desired.

But Zhang Yang abruptly changed tack. “Then I can’t be stingy either. I’ll give you the same opportunity to surrender. If you do it now, you’ll only lose half of what I promised.”

Lin Gengxin sighed and shook his head, murmuring. “A-Yang, let me tell you, you really don’t understand women. They all hint for men to take the initiative. Tangtang-jie has such strong pride, how could she ever bow down to you?”

Lin Gengxin felt that Zhang Yang was great in every way, except he had too much of a bad mouth.

Zhang Yang: ”…”

You don’t understand women? he thought. And you think a steel-straight guy like Lin the Dog does?

Typical Lin the Dog behavior – all the tricks of a shameless groveler.

“We’ll see,” Zhang Yang scoffed.

Not far away, Li Guoli finally let Jiang Jinfu and Tang Yan go, telling them to think about their situation on their own. He then turned and said, “Have Shi Shi get ready. We’ll be filming her scene with the Demon Lord next.”

Staff immediately headed to the dressing room to inform Liu Shishi.

Tang Yan, disheartened, made her way to the break area and sat down, listlessly chatting with her assistant:

“Tangtang, is my acting really that bad?”

In the past few days, her confidence had taken a serious hit.

It was one thing to fall short of her old friend Liu Shishi; she could attribute that to the nature of the role. But to be noticeably outdone by “pure newcomer” Nazha was troubling.

Even Jiang Jinfu had shown remarkable improvement, gradually getting into his stride.

When the time came for all six leads to film together, wouldn’t she be the only one dragging down the group as the female lead?

“Tangtang, you’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” Dinger knew Tang Yan’s sensitive nature and what she needed to hear at that moment. He offered words of comfort: “Jiang Jinfu’s rapid progress isn’t surprising. He started from a low point, so improving from a 40 to a 60 was relatively easy. Advancing from a 60 to a 70 is a different challenge. Besides, he’s been working tirelessly, constantly seeking guidance from the director and Big Bro Yang.”

“Nazha might be a natural talent. I heard she’s been apprenticing under Big Bro Yang for almost two months now. Xiaoxue’s role is also inherently easier to portray, so fewer retakes make sense for her,” Dinger added.

“Look at Po Shi and A-Yang; they perform well when acting together, but doesn’t she still frequently fail when acting with others?”

Tang Yan nodded thoughtfully. “So, the difference is that he has A-Yang teaching her acting, while I don’t?”

Ding-dong: ???

Is this what I meant? Wow, you really are a top-tier interpreter.

Just then, Li Guoli’s voice came from ahead: “Aikson.”

Slap!

Before the green cloth backdrop, Liu Shishi stood in a black set of battle armor, her face painted with smoky makeup, rehearsing her lines with the actor playing the Demon Monarch.

After a few exchanges, Li Guoli suddenly shouted: “Cut!”

The scene froze. Li Guoli offered guidance: “Shishi, something’s off here. Ning Ke should be deeply troubled in this scene, but I can’t feel any emotional fluctuation from you.”

“My apologies, Director. Let me find my footing.” Liu Shishi instinctively looked towards Zhang Yang.

Slap. Zhang Yang brushed away Lin Gengxin’s hand and walked towards Liu Shishi.

Lin Gengxin: ?

“Po Shi-jie, let me help you,” Zhang Yang said, stepping in front of Liu Shishi.

“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.” Liu Shishi smiled warmly, like unto a fine orchid. She had worked with Zhang Yang several times before and no longer felt the initial awkwardness experienced in their first session.

“Let’s approach this just like before: first, pinpoint your entrance, then find the right direction,” Zhang Yang patiently explained. “You’re a demon princess, a general of the underworld, but you’ve also taken on Ning Ke’s identity. You schemed for your father, yet genuinely fell in love with Yu Wento, only to be killed by a mortal now.”

“When acting, you don’t need to portray multiple characters, but you must capture complex emotions. Continuously delve deeper into them, achieving a balance between depth and simplicity…”

As Zhang Yang spoke, he subtly channeled Yu Wento’s essence.

Liu Shishi couldn’t help but be drawn into the role, rediscovering the perspective she had experienced in dreams.

Ning Ke was a character with a complex background, leading to conflicting personal stances and thus, convoluted thoughts.

This complexity couldn’t be merely conveyed through costume or makeup; it primarily relied on the eyes, expressions, and tone of voice.

Under Zhang Yang’s guidance, Liu Shishi found the right feel, her body settling into a comfortable rhythm.

Zhang Yang, sensing the moment, stepped back.

“Aikson.”

The shooting resumed.

Now aligned with her character, Liu Shishi’s performance was exceptional.

As a celestial puppet, she wore colored contacts, ensuring her “un-blind” gaze seemed almost sentient.

The frustration of being killed by a mere mortal, the respect towards her father, the love for Yu Wento, and her stance in the human-demon conflict—all these were subtly conveyed through her tone and micro-expressions during simple dialogues.

“Cut! That’s a wrap!” Li Guoli’s face broke into a satisfied smile.

With Zhang Yang around, everything had become so much easier for him. He even felt that Zhang Yang deserved a position as assistant director. While they might not be able to pay him more, he thought it wouldn’t hurt to suggest to Cai Yining that Zhang Yang could have the title.

Many who had witnessed the whole scene fell into silence. Dingding suddenly turned to Tang Yan and said, “Tangtang-jie, you were right. I felt their good performance was because of Yang-ge helping them.”

“Then why don’t you ask him to help you too?”

In truth, during the scenes with Zhang Yang’s participation, Tang Yan’s performance had also been quite good. This only highlighted Zhang Yang’s exceptional abilities.

“But I just said a few days ago that I didn’t want him teaching me,” Tang Yan’s expression turned slightly awkward. “I even deliberately gave him a hard time. Now asking him for help would be pretty embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”

Dingding picked up the softening in her tone and quickly pressed her advantage. “Tangtang-jie, sometimes we have to choose the lesser of two evils. Which is more shameful—changing your stance and asking Yang-ge to teach you, or failing as the female lead compared to newcomers?”

“This isn’t just about our performance in the crew; once the series airs, viewers will see it too,” Dingding added.

“Besides, Yang-ge owes you a favor. You’re not begging him; you’re just asking him to repay you.”

Convinced, Tang Yan nodded firmly. “Alright, go fetch him. I’ll talk to him.”

Dingding smiled with relief and immediately jogged off to find Zhang Yang.

“Ah, Yáng, impressive! You engage Po Shi-jiejie so effortlessly. You’re definitely destined to be a Film Festival winner someday,” Lin Gengxin praised.

“Oscar?” Zhang Yang replied.

“Are you planning to renounce your citizenship?” Lin Gengxin asked with exasperation.

Want an Oscar? Unless you aren’t a citizen of China, or like Li An and his ilk who studied abroad, living as a non-resident with countless professors and students who count on them.

Zhang Yang sighed. “Guess I’ll just aim for the Hong Kong Film Awards then.”

Lin Gengxin was left speechless.

Speaking of being heavy, now he’s even puffing up to look bigger.

Just then, Dingding approached Zhang Yang. “Brother Yang, Miss Tangtang wants to discuss something with you.”

Zhang Yang glanced at Lin Gengxin, a smile tugging at his lips. “Is it about our scenes?”

Dingding nodded.

There’s nothing really secret about this matter.

“Go tell Miss Tangtang that if she needs me, she should feel free to reach out,” Zhang Yang said with a smile to Dingding. “As you know, it’s my duty.”

Dingding understood he was talking about repaying favours. She nodded. “Okay.”

After she left, Zhang Yang looked at Lin Gengxin. “If you hadn’t reminded me about the time earlier, I wouldn’t have held back when guiding Po Shi-jiejie. Miss Tangtang might not have sought me out so soon for help. So, thank you.”

Lin Gengxin remained silent.

If I had known this beforehand, I wouldn’t have told Zhang Yang about the time limit.

In seven days, even if Tang Yan sought Zhang Yang’s help to improve her acting, it would still count as a win for me.

Too late! I deeply regret it!