Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase-Chapter 325 - 306: Unable to Hold the Scene

Two months later, Shen Jianian joined the crew.

The film crew held a low-key opening ceremony at Fengshan Film and Television City, without inviting any media, and not a single photo was circulated online.

Shen Jianian had her long hair braided, with a small bun on top of her head, a silver hairpin slanted in her hair, and a delicate row of tassels hanging beside her fair ear. She was dressed in a black, sleek outfit, carrying a long sword on her back. She looked simple, capable, and crisp, yet exuded an unadorned beauty.

This was her usual costume in the play. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

After two months of training, she could now perform various high-difficulty moves while suspended on wires, her figure had slimmed down a bit, and her cheeks visibly thinned.

Since Fu Jichen couldn’t always be by her side, he asked Cheng Jin to join the crew, preparing three meals a day for her, healthier and more nutritious than the group-ordered takeout boxes.

When it was mealtime, everyone picked up their boxed meals and found a place to eat.

Having checked the notice issued by the coordinator in advance, Cheng Jin appeared at the right time to deliver food to Shen Jianian.

Shen Jianian put down her long sword she carried, sat in the folding chair under the parasol, and first drank the soup from a bowl. The pork rib and yam soup that had been simmered for several hours was light and delicious.

Tong Yan held a boxed meal, poked the greasy chicken leg meat with her chopsticks, her nose twitched as she caught a delicious aroma, glanced in the direction of Shen Jianian, and murmured to her young assistant, "Look at her, does she look like she’s here to film? She’s here to enjoy a vacation. If it were another actress, daring to open a private kitchen in the crew, she’d have been labeled as a diva. She’s a newcomer without even a Weibo account, no fans to back her up, daring to act like this, I wonder who gave her the confidence."

The film crew led by Director Wang Kelun was different; from filming to wrap-up, no related news was allowed to spread, good or bad, all were strictly forbidden.

Not at all worried about publicity hype issues.

Unlike some shows, which generate various leaks from the start, hyping the buzz long before airing, allowing netizens to piece together the finale just by looking at the photos.

If any paparazzi dared to challenge here, Wang Kelun’s team would absolutely file an infringement lawsuit against them. This is also why Shen Jianian’s actions weren’t captured and spread.

Tong Yan picked a few grains of rice, stuffed them into her mouth, chewed and swallowed, feeling both tired and hungry, yet she had no appetite.

The young assistant handed her a drink, suggesting, "Why don’t we also hire a cook? Sister Yan Yan works so hard filming every day, she needs nutrition, health is the most important."

Tong Yan shot her a glance, "Learning the wrong things instead of the good ones. You think the director has no opinion about her doing that?"

The young assistant defended herself aggrievedly, "I see Director Wang doesn’t say anything."

Tong Yan sneered, "He certainly won’t say anything openly, given everyone’s watching in the crew, but who’s to say he won’t mention it in private, and once word spreads, who would dare to hire such a difficult person to serve in the future?"

"You’re right," the young assistant nodded like a pecking chick, understanding the lesson, "Let’s bear with it, and eat something good when free."

"No more eating."

Tong Yan put down the boxed meal, drank a few sips of water, and lay down on the chair to rest.

In the afternoon, the filming was a scene with Shen Jianian and Tong Yan.

They had two intense scenes together, one where Ruoyu discovered her assistant Yin Dai fell in love with someone she shouldn’t and confronted her. The other was where Yin Dai made a mistake due to personal issues, leading to the failure of an important mission, and Ruoyu punished Yin Dai.

Today they were filming the first scene, an indoor one.

Ruoyu bathed and changed clothes, her loose long hair damp, appearing even darker in color, her complexion fair, with just a slight layer of powder applied for a better on-screen look.

Yin Dai was already standing inside the room with her head lowered.

All the doors and windows were tightly shut, candles flickering in broad daylight, Ruoyu knelt before the desk drinking tea.

A piece of xuan paper laid out in front of her, painted with plum blossoms, Shen Jianian as Ruoyu remarked softly, "Prince Zhe likes plum blossoms the most; I see your painting is exactly like the screen in his hall."

Tong Yan as Yin Dai lifted her head, her gaze directly fixed on the person not far away. Knowing she had been found out, she didn’t craft a foolish denial, but instead advised, "My lord, people are driven by emotions and desires; without these, one can’t be called human. Unlike you, treating yourself as if..."

"Cut!"

Director Wang Kelun called to stop behind the monitor, leaning back.

He was still wearing a baseball cap, narrowing his eyes under the brim. Today, he wore ordinary black-framed glasses, not tinted lenses, and an implicit anger could be seen in his eyes: "What’s going on? Didn’t we just discuss the scene? Tong Yan, why do you have so much stubborn emotion! Right now, you’re showing emotion when you shouldn’t, and your superior caught you. You need to show fear, grievance, and pity for Ruoyu, pity that she doesn’t understand emotions! Instead of showing off and mocking, am I clear enough?"

Wang Kelun scolded people on set many times, almost everyone had been yelled at, but at this moment, he was indeed quite angry, possibly because he rested all noon, and the first scene in the afternoon was supposed to go well, but it went wrong.

Tong Yan twisted her hands together, looked back at the director, her face blushing: "Director Wang, I was wrong."

"Let’s do it again." Wang Kelun picked up the loudspeaker beside him, "Makeup artist, spray some water on Shen Jianian’s hair, wait any longer, and her hair will be dry."

Tong Yan’s face became even more flushed.

She calmed down a bit, reflecting on herself, she probably expressed her personal emotions towards Shen Jianian while acting, which is a big taboo for an actor.

She was not professional enough.

After adjusting, Tong Yan took a deep breath: "I’m ready."

In the same scene, the second take, Shen Jianian performed steadily, Tong Yan showed grievance: "Sir, people have seven emotions and six desires, I can’t control them... Sorry, I got the lines wrong."

She might have been too eager to perform well, which instead caused mistakes in the most basic line delivery.

The assistant braved the director’s glare, went over to give her artist the script, telling her to review it several times to avoid making mistakes again.

Wang Kelun pinched the bridge of his nose and started shooting the third time.

Tong Yan: "Sir, people have seven emotions and six desires; without them, they can’t be called human. Unlike you, who treat yourself as a weapon, you are the long sword behind you, only knowing how to kill, not understanding what emotions are. If you ever fall in love with someone, I believe you..."

"Cut!" Wang Kelun called cut again, "Tong Yan, I asked you to express grievance, not to be only grievance, your performance has no layers, didn’t you feel it yourself? How do you understand this? I see your fans on Weibo praise your acting better than professionally trained actors, like this, compared to them? You can’t even catch Shen Jianian’s performance!"

Shen Jianian touched the tip of her nose, turned her face away, praying in her heart that Director Wang wouldn’t make her the target of resentment, as Tong Yan already didn’t like her.

Tong Yan was scolded to tears by Director Wang, unable to find her state, both anxious and embarrassed.

Wang Kelun disliked seeing people crying the most, waved his hand, and said impatiently: "Stop filming, find your state, continue shooting in half an hour!"

With a shout, Wang Kelun fished out a cigarette pack from his pants pocket, bit the cigarette in his mouth, gritted the filter with his teeth, and lit it with a lighter.

Shen Jianian was also forced to take a break. She hired an assistant when she joined the crew for convenience, but she handled daily trivial matters herself if she could manage, not troubling the assistant, mainly because she wasn’t quite used to having an unfamiliar person serving closely.

She walked over to her assistant Xiao Yu, picked up her water cup, and drank a few sips of water.

Xiao Yu handed her a phone: "Your phone rang; it was Mr. Fu calling, I didn’t answer."

Shen Jianian said she understood, only glanced at the screen, and didn’t call back. She sat on the ground, hugged a nearby pipa, and casually plucked it.

From not being able to play a tune at first, she could now play quite skillfully, perhaps related to her musical background; her pipa teacher said she had a high comprehension ability and was improving rapidly.

The only pipa scene had not yet been shot, Shen Jianian took every chance to practice, striving not to mess up.

One of Ruoyu’s character traits is being unparalleled in pipa skills, though she didn’t consider her current level to be "unparalleled," she could only be more diligent in striving for her highest standard.

Wang Kelun, with a cigarette in his fingers, glanced at Shen Jianian. She slightly tilted her head, her hands hugging the pipa, playing idly, with melodious tunes resonating indoors, soothing the mind.

She was completely immersed in her self-constructed world, unaffected by those around her.

As filming time increased, Shen Jianian and the character Ruoyu grew closer and closer, almost becoming one, proving that he didn’t choose the wrong person, indeed, she was a talented performer; many expressions and emotions didn’t need teaching, she had her own understanding, performing them instinctively, sometimes even bringing him new insights and making him exclaim, "This scene can be acted this way too."

After a whole afternoon of grinding, this scene finally passed.

During this time, Shen Jianian got sprayed with cold water several times, though the camera didn’t capture her back, her clothes were soaked.

Returning to the hotel, she swiped the card to open the door, covered her nose, and sneezed. She looked up and saw the man standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, making a phone call.