Chapter 6: Starting Out Sharing Scenes with a Golden Horse Actor and a Flying Apsaras Actor

【Daily Info 1: Zhang Songwen, Zhou Yi, and Lin Jiachuan had a late-night dorm chat last night, all agreeing that their roommate Yan Li is loyal and kind-hearted—no better friend or brother to have—but the one complaint: his romantic luck is too strong……】

【……】

【Daily Info 3: Dong Xuan still doesn't want to break up; her threats to split up and cold wars are meant to control Yan Li, to make him behave more obediently in the future.】

【……】

【Daily Info 5: Zhang Zhengyong, who plays Shi Danai in "Heroes of Sui and Tang," originally wanted the role of Yuwen Chengdu—but Yan Li, through assistant director Wang Decai, snatched the part, sparking resentment toward Yan Li (Note: Zhang Zhengyong has trained in Sanshou for years and won an amateur championship).】

【……】

【Daily Info 7: Xie Junhao, who plays Emperor Yang Guang of Sui in "Heroes of Sui and Tang," is introverted and highly professional (details)……】

【……】

【Daily Info 9: Huang Shengyi, yesterday, was reminded of sweet memories of her senior Yan Li coaching her on kissing scenes, triggered by her roommate's romance……】

【……】

After his daily morning routine, Yan Li first checks the system's intelligence reports.

Today there are ten full reports, but half are useless or insignificant, so he skims them quickly.

Report 1—the brothers' behind-the-back meeting—doesn't concern Yan Li; besides, this isn't something said only in private—they've talked about it face-to-face too, and Zhang Songwen and Zhou Yi specifically brought it up with him.

Report 3 is the key reason Yan Li remains calm about the breakup with his "ex-girlfriend" Dong Xuan.

He sees her entire hand; he holds absolute advantage, so there's no rush.

Reports 5 and 7 are the most important to Yan Li.

Especially Report 5—a potential enemy, and a damn martial artist. Yan Li even considered asking the prop department for a short staff or dagger for self-defense.

Report 7 mainly helps Yan Li understand actor Xie Junhao better, since the character he plays, Yang Guang, is one of Yan Li's most frequent scene partners.

Notably, the "(details)" in the report, Yan Li opened and scanned a few lines.

It included Xie Junhao's hometown, resume, personality, preferences, social connections, and a few personal privacy details.

Yan Li calls this type of report 【Character Intelligence】—it's rare and valuable, detailed and comprehensive, with extremely low output volume.

Yan Li has had the system for months; including this one on Xie Junhao, he's received only three Character Intelligence reports total.

One of them was Wang Decai—Yan Li used that advantage to befriend him and land a role in "Heroes of Sui and Tang."

So Yan Li feels a bit disappointed; Xie Junhao's data isn't particularly useful to him.

If this Character Intelligence had been about the producer or director—a real power player—Yan Li might have secured his next role before filming wrapped.

As for Report 9, Yan Li still insists that coaching on kissing scenes is still acting coaching—"pure" people remain pure……

…

After washing up, he went downstairs for breakfast—he'd asked yesterday, and the crew provides breakfast, but you have to pick it up on set.

He had no scenes this morning, so he didn't bother trekking far to save a meal's cost—just grabbed breakfast at a nearby stall.

Then, back to yesterday's little grove, same routine: practicing fist forms and memorizing lines.

After just two rounds of fist forms, Yan Li saw the long-haired girl again—same T-shirt and jeans, but today's pants were tighter, highlighting her long, slender legs.

Seeing Yan Li again, the girl looked surprised, then smiled and waved.

"Good morning."

"Hello."

Yan Li nodded in greeting, didn't chat further; with yesterday's groundwork, he wasn't as shy anymore, just continued his own fist forms.

The girl paused, watched with interest for a while, then left for her usual spot, headphones on, reading or memorizing her script.

Today was overcast, so she stayed longer—until eleven, when Yan Li's stomach growled and he was about to pack up, he saw the long-haired girl returning past him.

"Leaving?"

"Yeah, I've got scenes this afternoon."

Of course she's an actress—Yan Li wasn't surprised, chatted briefly, then they parted ways.

But he was surprised: this girl was from the "Huanzhu Gege 3" crew.

Earlier newspapers said "Huanzhu Gege 3" was shooting in Yang City—how did they end up in Hengdian?

Hmm, maybe the crew split up—one group in Yang City, one in Hengdian.

Like "Heroes of Sui and Tang"—Group A shoots Qin Qiong selling his horse, Group B shoots the Sui imperial palace, no overlap, efficiency doubled.

After lunch, Yan Li got his makeup and costume, then went to Group B to wait for filming.

Today he only had two scenes, but no lines or close-ups—just background filler for Yang Guang and others, finally uttering two lines.

"Mr. Xie, I'm Yan Li, playing Yuwen Chengdu."

"Hello, Mr. Yang, I'm Yan Li, just graduated from Beijing Film Academy, playing your son Yuwen Chengdu in the drama—please take care of me."

"Xie" is Xie Junhao; before joining the crew, Yan Li had watched his acclaimed film "South Sea Thirteen," for which he won the Golden Horse Award—he's one of the most prestigious actors on set.

"Yang" is Yang Shulin, who plays Yuwen Chengdu's father, Yuwen Huaji.

This man had no fame; Yan Li didn't know him until he asked Wang Decai, then realized he'd failed to recognize Taishan.

Just in May, Yang Shulin won the new Flying Apsaras Award for Best Actor for the TV drama "Public Servant."

Holy hell—a Golden Horse Actor and a Flying Apsaras Actor—two powerhouse scene partners made the rookie Yan Li feel immense pressure.

Xie Junhao rarely speaks, partly due to personality, partly because his Mandarin is poor.

He even speaks Cantonese on set—but Yan Li has watched many Cantonese films, and his roommate Zhang Songwen is from Guangdong, so he's asked for help before and can roughly understand.

Still, Yan Li plans to review Xie's lines again when memorizing his script.

Otherwise, if he doesn't understand something, he might misreact during the scene.

Xie Junhao is a Golden Horse Actor—he can speak Cantonese without caring if his scene partner understands; Yan Li, a newcomer, can't afford too many retakes.

In contrast, Yang Shulin is much friendlier—he chats with Yan Li, chuckling, and gives him tips on set procedures and etiquette.

Every crew, even every director, has their own on-set habits—blocking, rehearsing, shooting, breaks—all vary; learning more helps Yan Li integrate into the crew faster and more smoothly.

Before filming, we rehearsed the scene where Yang Guang kills his brother and takes his brother's wife.

The plot is that Yang Guang previously framed the Crown Prince, seized the succession, but his lust exposed his true nature, causing Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, to fly into a rage and plan to depose Yang Guang as Crown Prince.

However, the news leaked, and Yang Guang found out; he decided to go all in and led troops in a palace coup.

Before the coup, he first killed the deposed Crown Prince, and, in a particularly twisted act, abused the deposed Crown Prince's wife right in front of his brother.

Yuwen Huaji sat beside them; Yan Li, the physical powerhouse, ordered men to pin down the deposed Crown Prince, then personally tightened a piece of cloth around the deposed Crown Prince's neck, pulling with increasing force.

Yang Guang embraced the struggling deposed Crown Prince's wife, groping her, and occasionally taunted the deposed Crown Prince, who had already rolled his eyes back.

"Big brother, don't worry—after you're gone, I'll take excellent care of your wife."

"My breathing is quite labored right now, but if my sister-in-law soothes me, I'll feel much better."

"…"

Yan Li had read the lines beforehand, but once he actually performed them, he couldn't help but marvel.

This damn screenwriter must've written porn films before!

Xie Junhao, as expected of a Golden Horse Award-winning actor, not only portrayed Yang Guang's debauchery and cruelty perfectly during filming, but crucially, his demeanor was never sleazy.

That was rare!

Because Yan Li had similar scenes himself and had spent the past two days refining his performance, he understood better than anyone the weight of Xie Junhao's scene.

As a result, on the way home after work, Yan Li kept pondering how Xie Junhao had achieved it.

Only before sleep did he begin to grasp the method.

Others filming such scenes mainly lean into the sexual aspect, automatically slipping into the mindset of a thug.

But Xie Junhao was different—he didn't play a thug; he played Yang Guang in the drama.

The drama's Yang Guang was lustful and debauched, but to him, women were more like prey and playthings; his goal wasn't to release base desires, but to savor the thrill of hunting, conquering, and doing as he pleased.

Combined with Yang Guang's status in the story and Xie's personal image, most viewers would find him deranged, insane, and terrifying—but never sleazy.

Yan Li wanted to achieve the same, but after considering the plot and lines for Yuwen Chengdu's scene, he realized he couldn't follow Xie's approach.

Even if Yuwen Chengdu simply threw the female lead to his men to be violated, Yan Li could still lean into portraying him as cold-blooded and ruthless.

But Yuwen Chengdu personally led the line—and waited in it for days—no matter how hard he dug into the character's psyche, it was useless…

(End of Chapter)