Chapter 274: Don't be too hard on yourself either

The director was also dumbfounded; Shen Li's impression on him had always been very professional, serious, and humble.

What was wrong with her today? He hadn't even blamed her for not performing well.

Seeing that Sui Yu was about to speak again, Xiang Tian hurriedly said: "Alright, alright, Ah Li, you rest for a while; your hands are frozen red."

After saying this, he signaled the staff to clear the set for this scene and return to the village to shoot the next one.

As Sui Yu left, she glared fiercely at Shen Li, muttering unconvinced: "Inexplicable!"

Shen Li didn't pay her any mind and walked straight to a stone by the river, staring blankly at the quietly flowing river in front of her. She didn't care at all about her hands, which were aching from the cold; she just felt very disappointed in her heart.

The sudden surge of hostility just now, although partly because Sui Yu touched her bottom line about not using a body double, was actually more because she was angry at herself.

The feeling of powerlessness in performing in an area she wasn't skilled in made her somewhat restless today, and Sui Yu had no sense of propriety. If it were before, Shen Li definitely wouldn't have lowered herself to her level, but today she hadn't controlled her emotions.

"Ah Li!"

At this moment, Tan Yue ran over from not far away: "Why aren't you going back? I saw the director and the others all went back!"

Shen Li came back to her senses, suppressed the emotions in her eyes, and turned around: "It's nothing, I just wanted to calm down by myself."

Seeing that her mood wasn't right, Tan Yue asked tentatively: "What's wrong? Didn't perform well?"

Shen Li's expression was bitter as she twitched her lips into a wry smile: "It's not that I didn't perform well; it's that I don't know how to perform at all."

Tan Yue knew that the scene Shen Li was shooting by the river today was washing clothes. For a child like her who grew up in the city, she probably hadn't washed clothes by hand much, let alone scrubbing them on a stone slab by the river.

"Oh my, what actor is omnipotent? I've even seen veteran actors with decades of experience cry on set because they couldn't find the right comedic rhythm!" Tan Yue said earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Shen Li couldn't help but be startled: "Really?"

"Yeah!" Tan Yue nodded, leaned in, and whispered: "It was that..."

Hearing the name, Shen Li's eyes widened: "You've seen her cry?"

"I've seen too many things like this when I was an extra." Tan Yue said, taking the opportunity to comfort her: "So don't be too hard on yourself or get stuck in a rut. You haven't even been in the industry for a year; how could you possibly perform to your own satisfaction every single time?"

This way of comforting people with real-life examples was indeed effective, and Shen Li felt much more relieved.

Sure enough, she was always too stubborn about things related to acting, but this clearly wasn't her personality.

And just at this moment, a girl wearing a floral top and gray pants walked toward the river carrying a basin of clothes.

Seeing Shen Li and Tan Yue from afar, the little girl stared at them curiously while going to the stone slab on the other side.

Everyone knew that a film crew had come to the village to shoot a movie. At first, some people were curious and always went to watch the fun, but after these days, there were no more onlookers. After all, in the countryside, from the elderly down to the children, there was endless work to do every day.

The girl looked to be thirteen or fourteen years old, her frame very, very thin, but that basin of clothes, piled high, seemed like nothing in her hands.

Shen Li noticed the girl, her gaze subconsciously drawn to her, and she saw the girl skillfully pick up a black jacket, swish it in the water to wet it, and then start scrubbing it on the stone slab.

She washed with rhythm; every time she scrubbed, one could hear the sound of the fabric rubbing against the stone slab.

Then she applied soap and continued scrubbing. After the soap rubbed into gray-black foam, the girl threw the clothes into the river to rinse them once, and a piece of clothing was washed clean just like that.

Shen Li was mesmerized for a moment. This was the effect she should have performed. Seeing it with her own eyes now, she realized how clumsy and unnatural her performance just now had been.

She instinctively took a step toward the little girl's position, and Tan Yue hurriedly followed.

The little girl felt someone approaching and couldn't help but stop her work and look back. There was no fear on her naive, childlike face, only curiosity. She looked at Shen Li and asked in a crisp voice: "Sister, do you need help?"

She didn't know what the sister in front of her wanted to do, but she thought that since the sister had walked to her side, she might need her help.

Seeing this, Shen Li smiled slightly and simply squatted down beside the girl: "Sister wants to learn how to wash clothes from you, is that okay?"

"Wash clothes?" The little girl was a bit surprised, looking at Shen Li with an uncomprehending expression: "Do you need to learn how to wash clothes? All the girls in our village know how."

"I know, in the city, everyone uses washing machines, right?"

Shen Li nodded: "Yes, so Sister doesn't know how to wash clothes on a stone slab by hand. Can you teach me?"

"Of course you can, it's actually very simple." The girl said, taking a piece of clothing out of the wooden basin and handing it to Shen Li: "Sister, you do it with me; you'll learn it in one go!"

And so, Shen Li started learning to wash clothes by the river with the little girl.

And Tan Yue behind her took out his phone at some point and recorded the whole scene.

In the village, Sui Yu sat in the courtyard outside the male actors' dressing room, wiping her tears, accompanied by soft sobbing, as if she had suffered a great grievance.

Therefore, she quickly attracted the attention of several male actors. Regardless of whether they wanted to or not, they couldn't pretend not to see her crying in the courtyard, so the boys stepped forward one after another to comfort her.

"Do you guys think I was being kind? She's actually so unreasonable!"

"It was clearly her own failure to perform well; what does it mean to vent her anger on me!"

"Besides, using a body double isn't something shameful. If everyone were like her, then body double actors would all be unemployed!"

"It's really treating kindness like a donkey's lungs. I saw she was young and inexperienced, so I wanted to help her more."

Sui Yu seemed to have a belly full of bitterness, complaining while crying.

"Alright, Sister Sui Yu, Shen Li definitely didn't mean it. She's also restless because she didn't perform well."

"Don't cry, Sister Sui Yu. If she doesn't appreciate it, then don't bother with her in the future."

"We're all in the same crew, and we'll have to work together later. Sister Sui Yu, don't lower yourself to her level."

The male actors surrounded her. A few who felt Sui Yu had no problems also spoke up to coax her, but there were also those who didn't speak. Those who didn't speak had also gradually seen through this person's character after spending time with Sui Yu during this period.

Some men weren't unable to see that the girl was pretending; they just weren't willing to expose her.

After a while, Sui Yu wiped away her tears and stood up, saying with an embarrassed expression: "I was just too heartbroken. I wouldn't shed a single tear no matter how hard or difficult filming is usually, but I really didn't want to cry in front of you today. I'm really sorry." ===== CHAPTER 275 =====