Chapter 47: The Snow Goddess Dragon and Teacher Yan, the Role Model

Huailai County, under Zhangkou City in Hebei Province, was originally an ordinary small county in northern China.

But because it contained a unique landform known as the [Heavenly Desert]—a miniature desert—and was only about 100 kilometers from Jingcheng, its location was convenient.

As a result, it attracted many film and television crews and became a famous desert filming location.

For example, the crews of [Return of the Pearl Princess], [The Great Decisive Battle], [Romance of the Three Kingdoms], and [The Grain Treasury] had all filmed here in this miniature desert.

The crew of [Snow Goddess Dragon], which had since changed its name, originally planned to shoot desert scenes in the northwest, but was later recommended the [Heavenly Desert] by Yan Li.

After Li Peng sent people to inspect the site, he decisively chose to switch locations.

[Snow Goddess Dragon] had limited funding and low requirements, so the simpler and cheaper the setup, the better; who would want to travel all the way to the northwest for sand when they could stay near Jingcheng?

This also eased Yan Li’s mind considerably—if the crew had gone to the northwest, he’d have been too far away to properly monitor things, and he truly wouldn’t have felt comfortable leaving Dong Xuan alone there.

Now, with Jingcheng so close, if anything happened, he could just call and drive over in one or two hours.

“Manager Li, Director Zhang, Teacher Dong Han…”

Yan Li continued playing the agent, bringing the new cast member Dong Xuan to meet the crew’s senior figures and several lead actors.

Before arriving, he had done his homework; no wonder [Snow Goddess Dragon] was willing to cast Dong Xuan, a newcomer—this crew simply had nothing impressive to offer.

Director Zhang Jun had previously served only as assistant director and producer; this was his first time directing independently.

Screenwriter Dong Han was no famous writer; his only notable work prior was [Emperor Jiaqing Tours the Taiwan Province], a title that revealed it as a local Taiwan historical drama, with extremely limited viewership on the mainland.

Male lead Ren Tianye was a newcomer, having appeared in only one or two dramas with zero fame.

Male third lead Qiao Zhenyu was also a young actor with barely two years in the industry and little recognition.

One thing worth noting was that Qiao Zhenyu had previously starred in a drama called [Date at the Aquarium].

The drama was produced by Stone Boss of Baoshi Entertainment, with Lu Yi, Tong Dawei, and Ren Quan as the other three leads.

But Yan Li found no connection between Qiao and Stone Boss in the system; it made sense—he’d only played a supporting role in that drama, so no major sacrifice would have been necessary.

In contrast, Tong Dawei had immediately landed the male lead alongside Xu Jinglei in a film and a Haiyan drama, while Huang Xiaoming had outshone the popular young actor Lu Yi to secure the lead in the “50-million-yuan epic” [The Great Han Emperor], making suspicion inevitable.

With no fame among the director, screenwriter, male lead, or male third lead, the female lead was a complete newcomer—the most well-known person in [Snow Goddess Dragon] was the male second lead, Sun Yaowei.

He was a singer by origin, once fairly successful in Hong Kong and Taiwan, even dubbed one of the Four Little Kings of Xiangjiang.

Later, he attempted to break into the Japanese market but was blacklisted after a falling-out with his company, then turned to acting, starring in dramas like [Princess Huaiyu], gradually pulling himself out of his career slump.

If Sun Yaowei’s acting range hadn’t been so unsuitable for the male lead Sima Changfeng, the role might never have gone to Ren Tianye.

All other actors were equally unremarkable.

After all, anyone with real fame or talent wouldn’t waste their time in such a minor crew.

But conversely, the environment of a crew like [Snow Goddess Dragon] was very friendly to newcomers like Dong Xuan.

None of them were big stars with the status to be arrogant or difficult; as long as Dong Xuan worked hard, she’d likely face no trouble at all as the female lead.

…

After touring around, Dong Xuan went for her costume and makeup, while Yan Li went to chat warmly with Li Peng.

It was both to further build connections and to signal to the rest of the crew that Dong Xuan had backing, helping her secure a more relaxed and harmonious working atmosphere.

Yan Li knew this tactic well!

In [Heroes of the Sui and Tang], he’d bonded with assistant director Wang Decai and befriended Nie Yuan; in [Conquest], he’d recognized Jiang Shan as his sister—each move was a way to find a “backer.”

About two hours later, after Dong Xuan finished her costume and makeup, Yan Li went with Li Peng to see it.

Seeing Dong Xuan in costume, Yan Li’s eyes brightened.

To be honest, the costumes in [Snow Goddess Dragon] weren’t particularly good—simple and plain—but precisely because of that, they suited the female hero’s identity, appearing neat and decisive.

Yet the most impressive aspect of the design was the forehead band added to Dong Xuan, with a pendant hanging in the center, like the finishing touch; paired with her delicate, pale face, it gave her a cool, martial charm.

Li Peng also praised it highly; he’d been somewhat uncertain before, but after seeing this look, he immediately felt three-tenths more at ease.

[Snow Goddess Dragon] centered on the female lead; whether she was beautiful directly determined whether the drama could capture the audience’s attention from the start.

Without doubt, Dong Xuan had delivered a satisfying performance to the [Snow Goddess Dragon] crew.

Dong Xuan paid little attention to Li Peng and the director’s praise; she blinked her beautiful eyes, stealing glances behind at Yan Li, as if asking for his opinion.

He gave her a thumbs-up, mouthing the word “beautiful,” and instantly her eyes curved into a smile, transforming from a cold, elegant heroine into a blushing young bride.

After the costume and makeup session, Dong Xuan returned to her room with Yan Li.

As the female lead, and with Li Peng’s protection, even with the crew’s tight budget, she was given a private room.

As for Yan Li, he could stay in Dong Xuan’s room or rent his own—it didn’t matter to [Snow Goddess Dragon], and they wouldn’t pay for either.

Yan Li feared rumors within the crew might disrupt Dong Xuan’s filming, so he rented his own room.

But the effort seemed pointless—Dong Xuan’s openly affectionate behavior made it obvious to anyone that their relationship was far from ordinary.

Back in the room, Dong Xuan was still excited and nervous, unwilling to rest, so Yan Li voluntarily suggested rehearsing tomorrow’s scenes.

This was her first time filming, her first time playing such an important role; internally, she was overwhelmed, even paralyzed by pressure, unsure how to perform.

Yan Li taught her how to relax, shared small tips for film shooting, helped her analyze the character, and studied together how to make her performance more compelling.

Dong Xuan couldn’t even imagine how she would have survived without Yan Li there to support her.

“You’re so good to me.”

Dong Xuan looked at Yan Li before her, her eyes blazing with affection as if she wanted to melt him into her heart and keep him forever…

Bang—

Yan Li rolled up the script and tapped her head; only when she clutched her head in pain did he grumble,

“Listen properly. Don’t think about all that nonsense.”

The undergraduate girls were beautiful, but their professional attitude and discipline were terrible.

The junior needed him to direct her kissing scenes; this senior wasn’t doing her job—she just wanted to cling to him all day, ignoring her duties, utterly unprofessional.

“Memorize these three pages of dialogue and rehearse these scenes properly—no sleeping until you’re done.”

Yan Li assigned Dong Xuan “homework,” coaching and scolding her in performance, thoroughly enjoying his role as a teacher.

Of course, ultimately failing to resist temptation and abandoning his “role model” image was another matter entirely.

…

Yan Li stayed with the [Snow Goddess Dragon] crew for over a week.

With his help, Dong Xuan quickly adapted to life on set, and Yan Teacher’s generous instruction rapidly improved her acting; she had already begun to grasp the character of Lady Shangguan Yan.

Later, Yan Li, in line with the director’s requirements and after several adjustments, designed a signature move for Dong Xuan.

That is, before combat, she would tuck a strand of hair between her lips—dashing and alluring.

Dong Xuan herself didn’t particularly like the move, feeling it made her hair all wet with saliva.

But it wasn’t without benefits—sometimes, when she bit her hair and gazed dreamily at someone, his energy would instantly spike…

(End of Chapter)