Chapter 51: I'm Progressing, Are You? (Please Favorite, Please Recommend)

Just as Qi Hui and Jing Tian were chatting about black silk stockings, Lei Jiayin and Li Caihua began filming on their side.

"Any questions?" the executive director asked, looking at Li Caihua and Lei Jiayin.

With the director away, he was the one in charge.

Having finished the originally planned shots, he decided to push the shooting schedule forward and film some new scenes.

To prevent any uncontrollable factors from arising, he chose a fairly simple scene.

The kind of scene in a room, one man and one woman, with a very simple plot... and it had nothing to do with Japan.

It was a scene where a "simp" confesses to his goddess.

This scene involved Lin Yide, played by Lei Jiayin, having a showdown and heart-to-heart with Ai Li, played by Li Caihua, attempting to make things work with his goddess.

But the result... Ai Li, with a cold expression, also had a showdown with Lin Yide, bluntly stating she had no feelings for him and rejecting him without ceremony.

The reason given was simple: "I am no longer the me from five years ago, but you are still the you from five years ago!"

"I am progressing, and you?"

Finally, Lin Yide knelt to beg for love, but was rejected by Ai Li in the same manner.

This scene had no intense visuals and was not difficult to film; it relied solely on the acting skills of the two leads.

Even if there were problems, they wouldn't be too big... the executive director thought to himself.

"No problems," Lei Jiayin said in a low voice, facing the executive director's question.

He wanted to finish quickly and leave; he had to go back to video chat with his fiancée on QQ.

Li Caihua crossed her arms over her chest, her face flat and indifferent: "None."

The executive director looked at her appearance, and his eyes lit up: "Good, just like this, keep it up, Ai Li is exactly like you."

Li Caihua was currently wearing a cold white slim-fit suit, arms crossed over her chest, head held high, looking as if nothing pleased her.

It fit his vision of Ai Li perfectly... no, it was exactly the same.

"Let's start quickly," Li Caihua said flatly. "Don't talk so much nonsense."

With Director Lin not on set, she didn't have many reservations.

On set, the only people who could make her restrain herself slightly were the producer and the director; besides them, there was only Choo Ja-hyun.

As for the male actors in the same group... she wasn't familiar with Qi Hui, Chi Shuai was a moron, and Lei Jiayin was the most countrified.

His mouth was full of dialect, his clothes were tacky, and he had no redeeming qualities.

The executive director's face stiffened slightly; he knew Li Caihua was difficult to get along with, but he hadn't expected it to be this bad.

"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Tapping her arm with her finger, Li Caihua called out impatiently.

Lei Jiayin frowned but said nothing.

"Alright, actors in position." The executive director was also a bit annoyed, but work was important, so let's film: "Camera crew, get ready."

At the command, the clapperboard operator ran over quickly with the slate.

"3, 2, 1, action!"

*Clap~*

The clapperboard came down, and filming officially began.

The camera moved, slowly filming from the entryway toward the living room.

The first to enter the frame was Ai Li, with her back to the camera; she had her arms crossed, looking out the window, her white women's suit appearing exceptionally cold and detached.

The second to enter the frame was Lin Yide, sitting on the sofa, his fingers constantly interlaced, showing his inner nervousness and anxiety.

"Um... I'm a bit slow," Lin Yide said, lacking confidence. "I don't know how to say pretty things, so I won't beat around the bush."

"Why do you always avoid me?"

Ai Li turned abruptly, lips pursed, face cold, looking down slightly at Lin Yide:

"I just want to tell you that I don't want to take our relationship any further, please give up on me."

"What did you... what?" Lin Yide stood up, slightly dazed and shocked.

"Fine, then I'll be blunt. The Ai Li you loved five years ago is already dead; the one who has returned now is not Ai Li."

"You're lying, you're still the Ai Li I love. We've lived through so much together, how can you just abandon it like that?"

"I didn't abandon you, you abandoned yourself. The world is changing, I am progressing, and you..."

"..."

Behind the monitor, the executive director watched the two actors trading lines and nodded with satisfaction.

Lei Jiayin was a naturally good actor; as long as he didn't have any issues himself, he basically wouldn't make mistakes.

As for Li Caihua... he felt this woman wasn't acting.

The impatience, disgust, and aversion toward Lin Yide were all expressed vividly and realistically.

This woman doesn't actually hate Lei Jiayin, does she... the executive director thought to himself.

Thinking of this, he frowned; were Hong Kong actors trying to stir up trouble?

He admitted that in many places, the mainland gave preferential treatment to Hong Kong actors; under the same circumstances, Hong Kong actors could be a cut above.

However... we can give, but you cannot snatch!

The executive director frowned slightly and slowly sat up straight.

But fortunately, the anticipated trouble didn't appear, and the two actors on set quickly finished their performance.

"Very good, cut!" The executive director breathed a slight sigh of relief.

On set, Li Caihua and Lei Jiayin, who had been kneeling together, slowly relaxed.

After the two caught their breath, the executive director continued to call out: "Let's do it again, we need to pick up a few shots."

"Camera crew ready, 3, 2, 1, action!"

Li Caihua and Lei Jiayin composed their emotions and did it again.

The cameramen changed to another angle to film, getting a few more close-ups of the two's body language and faces.

"Good, cut!" the executive director called out: "Take a break, prepare for the next take."

"Makeup artist, give Old Lei a drunk makeup look."

"Assistant, help me call Qi Hui; we need a shot of him here."

The executive director gave instructions methodically.

Having been put through the wringer by Director Lin for so long, he naturally had some skills he could show off.

The next scene was Lin Yide throwing a drunken tantrum and forcibly hugging Ai Li.

Then, Hong Shixian, who happened to pass by, would see it.

Then, Hong Shixian would drop off a gift and leave without saying a word.

To be honest, the relationship between the three was extremely chaotic.

Lin Yide was Hong Shixian's brother-in-law and classmate; Ai Li was the adopted sister of Hong Shixian's wife and his affair partner.

And Lin Yide and Ai Li were adopted siblings, as well as childhood friends and former lovers.

This relationship couldn't be expressed by an equilateral triangle; it required spatial geometry.

Not long after, all parties were ready.

Qi Hui had also changed into a wine-red dress shirt, waiting for the director's instructions on the side.

"Everyone in position!"

"3, 2, 1, action!"

In the hallway, Lin Yide swayed, drunkenly pounding on the door: "Ai Li, open the door... Ai Li, open the door..."

Finally, his head tilted, and he passed out drunk by the door.

"Very good, this shot is great!" the executive director called out excitedly:

"Teacher Li Caihua, get ready, action!"

At the command, Ai Li slowly walked into the frame from off-camera, looked at Lin Yide passed out at her door, and kicked him with disgust: "Get up."

In his drunken state, Lin Yide swayed, frowning slightly; those two kicks weren't heavy, but they had some force behind them.

"Hey, get up!" Ai Li kicked him hard two more times.

Seeing Lin Yide had no reaction, she turned, picked up her phone, and called Lin Pinru:

"Hey, Pinru, Yide is drunk at my door, come over and take him away."

After speaking, she hung up the phone.

Just then, the drunken Lin Yide swayed and stood up, then lunged over, suddenly hugging Ai Li:

"Ai Li..."

"Ah... let go!"

"Ai Li, I won't let go, unless you marry me..."

"Damn it, you're hurting me!" Li Caihua shouted, elbowing Lei Jiayin in the chest, then pushing him away.

"Oh, what the hell?" Seeing this, Qi Hui stood up abruptly; those two hits weren't acting.