Even a clay figurine has a temper1
Can’t sleep without you
Feng Xiao and Lin Sifei sat in chairs while the makeup artist applied their makeup.
Feng Xiao glared at Lin Sifei, but received a smile in return.
She felt even angrier inside, her chest heaving incessantly.
On the set, Feng Xiao took a deep breath and looked up at Lin Sifei. She still looked down on her—relying on Luo Ke to rise to position2 and crawl over her head.
“Xingxing, let’s go home. I’m a little tired.”
“But I haven’t had enough fun yet,” Feng Xiao choked back.
Lin Sifei immediately rolled her eyes and turned her head away.
Director Chen frowned, revealing his face, “Feng Xiao, don’t be so aggressive. Xiao Xing has been required to be sensible since childhood; she wouldn’t show such obvious resistance.”
Hearing the piercing sound from Director Chen’s megaphone, Lin Sifei felt a headache coming on and reached up to rub her temples.
“Bring out the acting skills you used when you met Luo Ke that day—yin-yang strange air3, pretending to be innocent and naive.”
Feng Xiao glared at her. “What do you mean!”
“What do I mean? I’m directing your acting, of course.”
Feng Xiao glared at her fiercely. “I don’t need it!”
“I think you need it very much.” Lin Sifei fanned herself with her hand. “Hurry up, don’t waste my time.”
Feng Xiao glared at her, took a deep breath, and tried to empathize with Xiao Xing. However, it was too difficult; as soon as she saw Lin Sifei’s face, she felt resentment in her heart.
Lin Sifei looked at her, standing quietly.
This was a hurdle only she could cross herself. It wasn’t that Feng Xiao’s acting skills couldn’t reach the mark, nor that she didn’t understand the character; she was blinded by unwillingness and jealousy. If she straightened out her heart today, her future path would be smooth; if she couldn’t, the road ahead would be much harder.
The set quieted down. Lu Heng put down his water cup and looked over, and even Chen Qiyuan put down her script.
“Sorry, Director Chen, I might need a bit more time to adjust.”
Lin Sifei closed her eyes as a feeling of disappointment welled up in her heart. Director Chen watched the two of them on set, raising a hand to cover his forehead.
“Alright, alright. Chen Qiyuan, you come up first.”
Upon hearing her name, Chen Qiyuan immediately put down the script, took a deep breath, and walked stiffly in front of Lin Sifei.
Lin Sifei was in high spirits today and felt particularly inclined to be a mentor. “Everyone says you shouldn’t care so much about the lines. Your character has many emotional outbursts, especially facing me. Come, give it a try.”
Chen Qiyuan took a deep breath, but didn’t follow her instructions; she still couldn’t help but think about the lines.
Lin Sifei let out a long, melancholy sigh. Why are newcomers these days so disobedient?
Lu Heng, standing to the side, waved a mineral water bottle. “Give it a try, Chen Qiyuan. Believe in yourself, and believe in the person acting with you.”
Chen Qiyuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded seriously.
Lin Sifei secretly complained inwardly: It was clearly my idea. Why doesn’t she listen when I say it, but believes it when Lu Heng says it?
Lin Sifei cradled her own glass heart4 while acting out Xiao Yue’s glass heart.
The remaining scenes were mainly between Feng Xiao and Chen Qiyuan. Lin Sifei watched from the side and leaned closer to Lu Heng. “Lu Heng-ge5, if you have time, try to enlighten Feng Xiao. She probably has some resistance towards me; it might be better coming from someone else.”
“It’s not just resistance. Because your status is also that of a newcomer, being lectured by you naturally makes them unconvinced since they are arrogant.”
Lin Sifei raised an eyebrow, feeling that what he said made sense, so she had to accept it. “I really shouldn’t have shot my mouth off.”
“Exactly. You should spend time guiding me instead.” Lu Heng smiled and shrugged. “This person6 is very humble.”
“Your acting isn’t the problem. Mainly, your face doesn’t fit the current mainstream; you’re too masculine.”
Lu Heng raised his arm and showed off a muscle. “Aren’t muscles like this good?”
Lin Sifei burst out laughing. “But you should still watch out for Feng Xiao.”
Lu Heng’s smile vanished as he twisted the mineral water bottle in his hand. “Feng Xiao’s biggest problem is that she is jealous, and she vents her anger when jealous. If you give someone like that a hand, she won’t be grateful to you.”
Lin Sifei clicked her tongue. “Because she’s very much like someone I knew before. She was also very talented, but in the end, she destroyed herself.”
“There are plenty of people in the industry with talent who destroyed themselves.” He patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll ask around. If I can persuade her back, that would be best.”
Lin Sifei nodded, smiled, and looked back at the shooting location. She burst out laughing again; Chen Qiyuan was acting Song Qi like a spiritual little sister7 again, the erliuzi8 air was too heavy.
Sure enough, Director Chen yelled “Cut” again and lectured the two of them. Feng Xiao glared at Chen Qiyuan, took off her jacket, and threw it on the ground.
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow. So she’s one who bullies the soft and fears the hard9, he thought. He really didn’t want to get involved, but he had already promised.
Chen Qiyuan hung her head dejectedly. Lu Heng waved his hand again, calling her over. “Your understanding of a free-spirited girl is a bit strange. A free-spirited girl isn’t someone who flings her hair all day, curls her lip, and looks down her nose at people.”
“Actually, the character Song Qi is very close to your real self.” Lin Sifei interjected from the side. “Think about it: you have a friend who is being bullied, and now you want to defend her.”
Chen Qiyuan looked at her skeptically, then looked at Lu Heng. Lu Heng nodded in agreement. “It would be great if you just gave a true colors performance10.”
Lin Sifei was disbelieved once again and pouted in grievance.
Chen Qiyuan looked at Lin Sifei apologetically. “Sorry, you are very impressive.”
After saying that, she ran back.
After a day of filming, Lin Sifei was so tired she did stretches on the bed.
She had sent Luo Ke a message when she got back, but she guessed Luo Ke hadn’t seen it.
Lin Sifei picked up the hairdryer on the bedside table, took a deep breath, and blew dry her own hair.
“It wasn’t that hard.”
The phone on the bed vibrated. Lin Sifei immediately pounced on it. Picking it up to look, it wasn’t Luo Ke, but Chen Qiyuan coming to thank her.
【Chen Qiyuan: Thank you for your guidance today. My vision was too narrow.】
Lin Sifei raised an eyebrow and clicked on her profile picture; it was a smiling Samoyed.
【Lin Sifei: You’re welcome. Your acting still needs polishing, but overall you are very talented.】
【Chen Qiyuan: Thank you for your encouragement. I’m outside right now, do you want me to bring anything back?】
【Chen Qiyuan: [Image] [Image]】
Lin Sifei looked at the small night market in her photos, filled with sauce-covered ham, rice cakes, squid…
【Lin Sifei: Where is this? I want to go over and eat.】
【Chen Qiyuan: Turn right out of the hotel, keep walking forward, there is an alley.】
Lin Sifei immediately changed her clothes, grabbed her phone, and ran out.
She stood at the hotel entrance, raising both hands. “This hand is the right hand, go this way.”
She nodded and trotted over.
At the entrance of the alley, Chen Qiyuan was standing under a light wearing sunglasses. She waved when she saw her.
“You’re not wearing sunglasses.”
Lin Sifei touched her face. “It’s fine, I’m not a star yet.”
She dragged Chen Qiyuan into the alley, ordered a bunch of food, and when it was placed on the table, she snapped photos incessantly click click.
Chen Qiyuan bit into a rice cake and looked at her.
Lin Sifei sent the photos to Luo Ke, laughing hahaha, showing off that she could eat street food while Luo Ke couldn’t.
“Who are you messaging?”
“Girlfriend.” Lin Sifei pressed the send button and put down her phone. “Haven’t you heard the crew talking? The CEO of the Luo Group is my girlfriend. I rely entirely on her to get into the cast.”
Chen Qiyuan had certainly heard; that was the reason she didn’t dare believe her at first. Actors who take shortcuts—of course, they can just say “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” instead of memorizing lines. Real actors like them wouldn’t dare.
“You always say not to memorize lines, but… I still feel that if the lines are memorized thoroughly, it won’t affect my emotional performance.”
“But the problem is, you are constantly affected.” Lin Sifei bit into a squid. “You already know the lines very well, but you lack confidence. You forget your lines as soon as you go on stage; memorizing them countless times is useless in that state. You should grasp the emotional explosion point and integrate the lines into it. You will find that the lines aren’t that hard to memorize. It will be like they are printed on your brain, and you will blurt them out.”
“Really?”
“Just try it and you’ll know.” Lin Sifei raised an eyebrow and continued to bury her head in the food.
“If you eat this much, you’ll get fat.” Chen Qiyuan looked at the skewers in front of her, a little worried.
Lin Sifei finished the last skewer of enoki mushrooms and wiped the corner of her mouth happily. “I’m not afraid, I’ll just diet later.”
“So spicy, so full.” Lin Sifei stood up, saw ice cream being sold nearby, and immediately went to buy two, handing one to Chen Qiyuan.
“Let’s walk around nearby to digest.”
“Okay.” Chen Qiyuan looked at the ice cream, unable to resist the temptation, and lowered her head to eat it.
After walking a lap, Lin Sifei felt her stomach was much more comfortable, and the ice cream in her hand was finished. She took out a tissue, wiped her fingers, and looked around for a trash can.
“Over there.” Chen Qiyuan pointed to the opposite side of the road.
Lin Sifei trotted across the road, Chen Qiyuan chasing behind her.
Lin Sifei threw the tissue into the trash can, and another hand also reached over to throw a tissue.
Both looked up, their eyes widening.
“Yan Yafei!”
“Lin Sifei!”
Lin Sifei took a step back guardedly. “Why are you here?”
“I should be asking you that. I’m here filming. Your crew isn’t over here, so why are you here?”
“Our crew came here to shoot exterior scenes.” Lin Sifei curled her lip, not wanting to pay attention to her, and prepared to leave.
“Yafei, who is it?”
Lin Sifei looked up and locked eyes with Feng Xiao.
Feng Xiao rolled her eyes when she saw her. “Why are you here?”
Lin Sifei: “I came out to digest my food. But you—you know this Miss Yan?”
Feng Xiao: “Whether we know each other or not is none of your business.”
Lin Sifei looked at her slightly raised chin, strode up to her, reached out, and grabbed her wrist to pull her away.
Feng Xiao shook her off. “What are you doing!”
“It’s getting late, time to go back to the hotel and rest.” Lin Sifei frowned slightly. She didn’t want Feng Xiao getting involved with Yan Yafei. This kid was arrogant and radical; she was already prone to going astray.
Feng Xiao dodged her outstretched hand. “Yafei is staying in the hotel next to ours. We’ll go back together in a while. Besides, this is a public road with people coming and going; there is no danger.”
Lin Sifei pursed her lips and looked at her. Chen Qiyuan looked at them awkwardly. “Um, Feng Xiao-jie, let’s go back together.”
“Mind your own business!” Feng Xiao glared at her and went back to butting heads with Lin Sifei.
Lin Sifei closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Suit yourself.”
Even a clay figurine has three points of temper11, and she wasn’t one to like pressing her warm face against someone’s cold butt12. Her attitude toward Feng Xiao was essentially about cherishing talent and not wanting her to go down the wrong path. Since she didn’t appreciate it, she didn’t need to say anything more.
“Chen Qiyuan, let’s go back.”
Chen Qiyuan looked at the position she was stuck in, scratched her hair irritably, turned around, and chased after Lin Sifei.
“Feifei-jie.”
“Don’t call me that, just call me Sifei.”
“Sifei, why are you so angry?”
Lin Sifei brushed back her hair. “It’s nothing.” She paused, then warned, “That woman named Yan Yafei just now—stay away from her. If she starts playing mind games, you’ll just be cannon fodder13.”
Chen Qiyuan trusted her very much now, so she nodded immediately upon hearing this.
Behind them, Yan Yafei narrowed her eyes as she watched the backs of the two departing figures.
“Feng Xiao, that annoying woman who relies on connections you mentioned just now—that was Lin Sifei?”
“It’s her.” Feng Xiao turned her head away. Complaining behind someone’s back and then having the “tree hollow14” know the object of the complaint made her uneasy.
Yan Yafei grabbed her hand. “If it’s her, I understand. She just mocked me at a banquet before. We’re both newcomers… I only got a small supporting role in a TV drama, but she’s the female lead for a hot director.”
As she spoke, her eyes swept over Feng Xiao’s face. Seeing her look of indignation, the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
“It must be hard being in the same crew as her. But you shouldn’t clash with her head-on. She has backers behind her; if you have a conflict with her, you’ll be the one getting worn down by small shoes15 in the end. Endure it. Only by enduring it until we make a name for ourselves will we have a voice.”
Feng Xiao looked up at her, then closed her eyes.
Yan Yafei reached out and patted her back. “It’s okay. You are so amazing, you will definitely rise up. As for people like her who rely on backers, after a while, who will remember her?”
Feng Xiao nodded. “You’re right.”
Back at the hotel, Lin Sifei saw the message Luo Ke had sent on her phone and immediately made a video call.
The background on Luo Ke’s side was the study; it seemed she was still working.
Lin Sifei pouted, throwing the recent events to the back of her mind. Only she remained in her eyes.
She furrowed her brows. “Why aren’t you asleep yet? Was work that busy today?”
“Work is okay.” Luo Ke smiled and rubbed her neck. “Mainly, I can’t sleep.”
“Insomnia.” Lin Sifei bit her lower lip and thought. “I remember when I had insomnia before, my assistant told me to soak my feet in hot water, exercise a bit, take a shower, and then soak my feet again. It helps with sleep. You can try it.”
“Okay, I’ll try it in a while.”
Lin Sifei’s eyebrows shot up. “No, I’ll supervise you, otherwise you’ll work and forget again.”
She found a stand to prop up the phone and stood back. “Follow me, this exercise routine is suitable for beginners, and the results are very good.”
Luo Ke was helpless and could only prop up her phone as well and follow along.
“Alright, now go take a shower.” Lin Sifei wiped her sweat and took her phone into the bathroom.
Luo Ke burst out laughing, also walked into the bathroom, and closed the door. “I say, my Xiao Xiao, you don’t intend to video chat with me while showering, do you?”
Lin Sifei’s hand, which was placing the phone down, froze. Her eyes went wide immediately, and she held up the phone to accuse her. “Don’t talk nonsense!”
She blushed. “I’ll call you again after I finish showering. Don’t think about slacking off.”
After saying that, Lin Sifei hung up the video call directly. She covered her face and let out a collapsed “AH—”.
She turned on the faucet, and warm water poured over her forehead, flowing down her face. She reached out to wipe away the water and gasped for breath. “My IQ lower limit was really hit; it’s all because I was angered by those people.”
She pouted, standing with her hands on her hips in anger.
After she finished showering, she made the video call again. Luo Ke was also wearing a bathrobe. “Time to soak our feet now?”
Lin Sifei nodded and taught her what water temperature was appropriate.
Lin Sifei carried the water basin to the bedside and soaked her feet together with Luo Ke.
After a good while, she dried her feet and lay on the bed with Luo Ke.
“Do you feel a bit fatigued and want to sleep?”
“Mn.” Luo Ke responded softly.
Lin Sifei fell asleep holding the phone.
Luo Ke touched the screen. “Goodnight.”
The author has something to say:
Although the update is late, the word count is high! Hurry up and praise me!
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