Shen Huai stood behind the cameraman and quietly looked at Chu Mei Bo in the camera.

He watched another person put makeup and change clothes step by step. At the moment she came out of the dressing room, Director Yu and the others all froze. The makeup artist hadn’t changed her appearance, but when she stood in front of the crowd, she was like another person.

The willow eyebrows frowned slightly, a pair of watery eyes seemed to be filled with spring water, her complexion was a bit pale, but it only highlighted the delicacy of her facial features. Standing there, she looked very weak and thin, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.

Chu Mei Bo always showed a bright and generous appearance. All her previous roles, no matter if it was Kwai Ji, Wen Nan or Yun Chui Yi, were also relatively strong female roles. So much that even Shen Huai himself forgot that her delicate face was originally gentle and pitiful.

At this moment, Chu Mei Bo had completely changed her temperament, and therefore perfectly highlighted the advantages of this face.

No matter how fanciful Rong Qi’s appearance was in other people’s hearts, Chu Mei Bo, who appeared in front of them at this moment, could definitely bear the title of the first beauty.

Shen Huai could already imagine how many waves Chu Mei Bo’s performance would cause after this episode was broadcasted.

Shen Huai looked at her in the camera, from the beginning, when she was confused and weak, to the general reminding her that her current situation was that of a person being surrounded by wolves, like a slap in the face. She started staying up all night to study those difficult government orders and took the initiative to find several important ministers to cooperate with, who despised her as a dancing queen mother. She went from grievance to patience, and finally, when she had real power, her face was still weak, but her eyes no longer looked weak.

The performance of every change and stage of Rong Qi was extremely vivid under Chu Mei Bo’s  interpretation. 

Compared with her, Xu Anqi’s luster was much dimmer.

In addition to her pettiness at the beginning, Xu Anqi also took the initiative to play with Qiu Jie several times in the middle. However, these little tricks, in front of a good enough actor, were somewhat self-defeating.

Xu Anqi seemed to become aware of this, and she no longer avoided being brought into the play by Chu Mei Bo. She was already a very talented actress. Once she no longer tried to domineer the story, her understanding of the characters made her character shine immediately.

However, Shen Huai sighed secretly.

In the past, he may not have had the slightest emotion for Xu Anqi’s performance, but he may have been with Ye Cang and Chu Mei Bo for too long, and their enthusiasm for art had also infected him.

Therefore, he could see that Chu Mei Bo guided Xu Anqi under the radar, and he could also see Xu Anqi’s simple dedication to acting in her eyes.

 

–

 

When the recording was over, it was was already evening.

In the last scene, when Empress Dowager Rong was dying, Chu Mei Bo performed behind a curtain and the camera focused on the supporting actor who played the young emperor and on several other guests.

The Empress Dowager Rong was weak, but still forced herself to ask the young emperor not to remove the cabinet, yet he refused her.

With ambition in his eyes and a strong voice, he said that he was fed up with the feeling of being controlled by the cabinet and that he would pull the imperial power back in his own hands.

The shadow behind the curtain did not move for a long time and finally gave a deep sigh.

The faces of the several other actors all showed a sad look, even though they knew that all of this was fake. But at the end of the day, they really seemed to see the woman who provoked the most important changes in the imperial dynasty, but all her efforts came to naught in the end.

As onlookers, even if they knew the result, they couldn’t do anything about it.

This was the ruthlessness and helplessness of history.

When Director Yu called “cut”, the three regular guests slowly regained their senses, hammered the aching place with a hammer, and joked with each other. However, Xu Anqi still knelt on the ground in a daze, as if she had not come out of the plot.

In the last scene, she almost fainted from crying, and even though it was over, there were still traces of tears on her face.

Meng Honghe had always appreciated dedicated people. Seeing this kind of Xu Anqi, he became even gentler. “Anqi, wake up, come back.”

Xu Anqi turned her face and seemed to wake up suddenly, wiping the tears on her face awkwardly.

Several guests thought that she was still immersed in the mood of the act, so they made a joke tacitly. Xu Anqi smiled, but her face was still a little bleary.

She was no longer immersed in the act, but she recalled everything from the act just now.

In the second half, she completely let herself go in the play. At the end of the play, she realized that she had not experienced such a sound performance for a long time.

In the past two years, repeated performances had gradually eroded her love for acting and her original desire to enter this circle.

She thought of her joy and devotion when she performed a play on the school stage. She thought she had already forgotten it, but her cooperation with Chu Mei Bo made her wake up abruptly.

Xu Anxi pursed her lips and looked up to see Shen Huai.

Instead of glaring at him like before, she was surprisingly calm.

When the two walked out of the studio, Shen Huai said faintly, “I heard that you are interested in starring in Lu’s new movie.”

He didn’t say it as a question, but as an affirmative sentence. The news had not yet been disclosed, but he seemed to have confirmed the result.

Xu Anqi was not surprised. In the past, when she was still under Shen Huai, she found out that he was very intelligent and well-informed. Him knowing this was nothing.

However, Shen Huai unexpectedly still paid attention to her affairs, which surprised Xu Anqi.

Xu Anqi chuckled, “I want to transform, and Director Lu wants to try something new, so we have what the other needs.”

“I’ve read Director Lu’s script. It’s very good and the role is also very suitable for you,” Shen Huai said slowly. “I’m glad you could figure it out.”

For a moment, Xu Anxi lost her mind and thought she had returned to three years ago when Shen Huai was still her agent.

She looked steadily at Shen Huai and suddenly said, “Shen Huai, you have changed.”

Shen Huai was stunned.

“You… you are starting to act more human.”

After saying this, Xu Anqi seemed a bit uncomfortable and said harshly, “But I will not take advantage of you, and I will exchange a message with you.”

“Hua Rong seems to have sent people to check Chu Mei Bo. Apparently they’ve made progress recently, so you should be more careful.”

Shen Huai had received the news from the person who was monitoring the Chu family. Recently, some people had been secretly probing into Chu Chu’s past, but he didn’t expect it to be Hua Rong.

Although Shen Huai had already taken measures, he sincerely thanked Xu Anqi.

Xu Anqi seemed to breath a sigh of relief, but she still said, “I’m just returning the favor. I have never owned anything to others, especially not to you Shen Huai.” 

“It’s like I said before, I will perform better now than when I was under you! I will do it!”

After Xu Anqi finished, she raised her chin and left.

Shen Huai was helpless, but when he remembered her saying he was “more human”, he couldn’t help touching his cheeks, and unexpectedly thought of Ye Cang.

Ye Cang always said that the person he always wanted to thank the most was him, but for Shen Huai, it was not the case.

At this moment, Ye Cang who just came to pick up Shen Huai, happened to pass by Xu Anqi. Both of them paused and then gave each other a disgusted look.

Xu Anqi snorted coldly and then stormed off.

Shen Huai looked up and happened to see this scene. Ye Cang, with an inexplicable face, came over and complained to Shen Huai, “Why is she here? Is she bothering you again?”

Shen Huai: “…”

He could only tell Ye Cang why Xu Anqi had came.

Ye Cang was surprised and said, “How could she be so kind?”

Shen Huai paused and finally couldn’t help asking, “I could never figure out why you are so hostile towards Xu Anqi?”

Ye Cang glanced at him faintly. “Maybe, this is the intuition of a love rival.”

Shen Huai: “…”

Just when Shen Huai was about to say something, his cell phone rang. When he saw the cell phone number, he lowered his eyes.

The owner of this number was the one he sent to check the girl they met in Songjing town before. Now that the other party called, there should be some news.

He turned slightly sideways and answered the call.

Something was said on the opposite side and Shen Huai answered lightly, then hung up the phone as usual.

Ye Cang was a bit curious. “Was that a call from the company?”

Shen Huai gave a “uh-huh” as an answer.

Ye Cang thought that Shen Huai’s attitude was a bit strange, but he couldn’t think of anything.

Shen Huai felt sorry for Ye Cang, but the girl was really a little strange. Shen Huai remembered clearly that when she saw Ye Cang, she showed a frightened expression. He didn’t want Ye Cang to be involved until he found out the truth.

Shen Huai calmly changed the topic, distracting Ye Cang and leaving this matter behind them for the time being.

The two of them didn’t participate in the dinner party of the program group but casually went to eat something outside. After returning to the hotel, Shen Huai took advantage of Ye Cang taking a bath and called again.

“Tell me, what is going on?”

The person on the other side hurriedly gave Shen Huai all the information he had found recently. The girl’s name was Yin Jingyi, a junior in the Art Department of the Dongjiang University of Fine Arts. Her parents were both doctors and were usually very busy and paid little attention to their daughter’s situation. Yin Jingyi was bullied at school because of her obesity. Her personality was withdrawn and gloomy, but apart from that, there was nothing suspicious about her.

Shen Huai frowned deeply.

But if there was really nothing wrong with Yin Jingyi, why did she look like that when she saw Ye Cang?

Shen Huai pondered over it for a while, but he couldn’t come up with any clue, so he could only let the other person continue paying attention to Yin Jingyi. He was busy with the press conference of “Red Actress” recently, and was about to go abroad with Ye Cang. He really didn’t have time to go to Dongjiang city.

However, he still made a decision that when he and Ye Cang came back from the United States, they would go to meet this junior Yin Jinqyi.

Edited by : LuLu

Proofreader: Taalia

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