When it was time to start shooting again, the assistant felt a bit uneasy to go back behind the camera.

With the call “start shooting” the camera started moving.

Director Xie frowned and stared closely at the monitor, and could not help but utter an “eh”. His hands, which were propped on his knees, gradually loosened, his body leaned back slightly, and his expression relaxed.

The deputy director breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Director Xie was satisfied this time. 

He looked curiously at the assistant cameraman and didn’t know what had just happened that made him suddenly enlightened.

The scene of Pei Ran giving advice to the assistant cameraman was noticed only by Song Yimian, who had been paying attention to Pei Ran. He asked Pei Ran curiously, “What did you just say to him?”

Pei Ran smiled and said, “Director Xie’s style is a comparison. Well, there are a lot of tricks in it. I happen to have done some research on this, but I didn’t expect to be able to help.”

Song Yimian nodded knowingly. 

So, when Shen Huai finished his phone call, settled the matter and returned to the set, he saw Song Yimian, obediently following Pei Ran like a pupil. He listened to Pei Ran talking and nodded like a chicken pecking rice. 

Shen Huai: “…”

Shen Huai had ordered hot drinks and fruits that had just arrived. Seeing this, Director Xie let everyone have a rest, eat something, and then resume shooting later..

Song Yimian was immediately pulled away by several young actors who he had a good relationship with.

Pei Ran slowly strolled over laughing and said to Shen Huai, “This kid is quite interesting.”

His tone and smile were very kind, but it was somehow inconsistent with his childish face.

Shen Huai: “..”

On the other hand, Director Xie invited the assistant cameraman to his side. Obviously, the assistant cameraman’s sudden “enlightenment” made Director Xie aware of the problem.

The assistant cameraman was honest. He directly told Director Xie what Pei Ran had said to him.

Director Xie took a surprised look at Pei Ran. He looked at the young man who was young and good-looking. He thought he was an artist signed by Shen Huai. How could he be so knowledgeable about operating the camera? 

At this moment, everyone was resting, so Director Xie simply walked over to ask in person.

Director Xie thought that Pei Ran had only read some related books, but he found that he was very familiar with the operations of the movie crew, and even seemed to have stayed in many crews.

Director Xie couldn’t help getting interested, and the range of their conversation was becoming wider and wider, not limited to the movie “Red Actress”.

It was rare for Director Xie to meet a person who he could talk to so vigorously. Their movie ideas were very similar. Pei Ran seemed young, but was very knowledgeable.

Thanks to that, Director Xie’s heart sprang up, and when talking with Pei Ran he also sensed some undertones like “I will listen to you, I am interested in directing”. 

Pei Ran did not hide it, just nodded his head and said, “I want to try.” 

Director Xie was a straightforward person. In addition to his appreciation of Pei Ran, he said directly, “Then you should first follow the crew and help the cameraman, and we will have a good chat after the shooting.”

Pei Ran smiled and said, “Thank you so much for your appreciation. Then I will be obedient and respectful.”

Shen Huai: “…”

Originally, he just wanted to bring Pei Ran to the cast to feel the atmosphere. After all, Director Xie had a reputation of being strict. He didn’t dare to hold too much hope, but had to find another opportunity. Just now he went out to make a phone call regarding this matter.

He didn’t expect that Pei Ran would just chat with Director Xie and get himself into the cast directly or make Director Xie invite him on his own initiative. 

Shen Huai now felt that if it were not for the need of a guardian because of his current  identity, Pei Ran might not have come to him at all. It was probably his own luck that let him sign this big guy.

Director Xie was very satisfied with Pei Ran, and chatted with him. This made him sentimental. “I think I was your age when I started dreaming of becoming a director. At that time, no one in my family was engaged in the literature or art circles, and they all thought I was crazy. I couldn’t be convinced and went to Zhongjing alone, and finally I fulfilled my dream. I’ve been working for most of my life.”

Pei Ran listened quietly, and he could see that even after so many years, Director Xie’s eyes were shining when he talked about movies.

Director Xie stopped reminiscing about old times and asked with a smile, “Do you know what was the movie that brought me into this industry and changed my life?”  

Director Xie had said this many times in interviews, but Pei Ran naturally didn’t know it, so he asked, “Which movie was it?” 

Director Xie answered in high spirits, “It was Pei Ran’s ‘Rebirth’ . When I saw this movie in the cinema, I got goosebumps all over my body. I will never forget that feeling for the rest of my life.”

Pei Ran: “…”

Shen Huai “…”

After Director Xie said that, he asked Pei Ran, “This movie is so famous, you should have seen it?”

Pei Ran: ”…”

Not only had he seen it, he had also acted in it.

Director Xie seemed to have found a confidant. Without the reserve of a big director he excitedly talked with him about the famous scenes in this movie.

Until the end of the break, Director Xie was still thinking about it. While pulling Pei Ran to the monitor he suddenly remembered something. “By the way, I was so busy talking to you that I forgot to ask for your name.” 

Pei Ran had just experienced first-handed his fan’s enthusiastic worship and even though his manners had never been immaculate, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of embarrassment at this moment. 

“Pei Ran.”

Director Xie: “…”

It was only after today’s filming was over that Chu Mei Bo and Guo Wenyuan came over to Shen Huai. 

The others thought that they would disturb Shen Huai and the rest, so they talked to them with a smile and left one after another. 

Guo Wenyuan had earlier booked a restaurant nearby, but he didn’t let his assistant follow him, so the five of them went to the restaurant.

When he was in the car, Shen Huai noticed that Song Yimian behaved very naturally when facing Guo Wenyuan, as if the shadow from that year had gradually disappeared.

In “Red Actress” most of Song Yimian’s scenes were with Guo Wenyuan. At first, he was not used to it, but Guo Wenyuan was very dedicated, and he often mentored him, which was totally different from the horrible figure in Song Yimian’s memory.

In fact, Song Yimian was not really that oblivious. There were some strange things about Ye Cang and Chu Mei Bo, the familiarity that Chu Mei Bo and Guo Wenyuan sometimes showed when they chatted,  and the relationship between these people and Shen Huai. But Song Yimian’s advantage was that he never tried to get to the bottom of this matter. He only knew that the people he knew had helped him a lot. 

So, after dinner, Song Yimian made an excuse of going back to read the script and left ahead of time, giving the other four people some privacy.

After Song Yimian left, Guo Wenyuan behaved  unnaturally formal. He could see that something was wrong with Pei Ran before, but he didn’t know his real identity. Only after Shen Huai introduced him did he understand.

He hadn’t entered this circle because of Pei Ran like Director Xie, but for their generation of filmmakers, Pei Ran was the bright moon in the night sky, which couldn’t be bypassed at all. So Old Guo, who never cared about anything, reined himself a lot in front of Pei Ran.

Chu Mei Bo was much more natural in comparison. Anyway, it was her junior who was present.

Pei Ran grasped it at a glance. He saw Chu Mei Bo and Guo Wenyuan acting together. He was also very kind to the two. In addition, everyone was “colleagues”, which was obviously not conducive to future friendship, so he quietly changed the topic and talked about  “Red Actress”. 

When it came to professional issues, the three of them obviously had more to say, and soon they were very happy talking with each other. Mr. Guo and Chu Mei Bo also took out their mobile phones and exchanged WeChat with Pei Ran.

If one knew the real identity of these three people, the scene before their eyes would really be magical, but the three people adapted well. Mr. Guo even invited Pei Ran to play games together next time.

Shen Huai: “…”

He couldn’t decide if he should cry or laugh, when he saw these three big shots at this moment. He thought of Ye Cang. He saw Ye Cang’s work schedule before and it would take several days until they could meet again.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door of the private room. Shen Huai thought it was a waiter and casually said, “Come in.”

The door was slowly pushed open. A man wearing a hat and sunglasses came in and Shen Huai quickly stood up.

Ye Cang closed the door whit his back, and then took off his sunglasses. “Huai, good evening.”

Shen Huai was surprised and delighted. “Weren’t you still working outside?”

Ye Cang laughed. “I asked Director Ming to help me hide it from you. I came here to surprise you.” 

Shen Huai took a step forward and seemed to want to hug Ye Cang, but he realized that he was not at home now, so he paused.

However, Ye Cang took a step forward and hugged him closely.

Shen Huai also extended his hand to hug the other person for a while, then loosened it and unconsciously held his glasses, covering up his excitement.

Ye Cang casually interlocked their fingers and sat down. 

On the other side of the table, the tree big shots that were forced to eat dog food couldn’t stand it any longer. Guo Wenyuan coughed softly, “Comrade Ye Cang, I understand that you have met again after a long time and want to express your feelings, but at least you should pay the three living people in the room some attention.”

Shen Huai was suddenly excited and could not control his emotions for a moment. When he came to his senses, he was a little embarrassed, so he had to leave the private room temporarily under the excuse of ordering more food. 

Compared with Shen Huai, Ye Cang was more cheeky. “Comrade Guo, you need to be conscious when you are a light bulb. Don’t you see the other two didn’t say a word?”

Chu Mei Bo looked at Ye Cang with a smile. “I thought you and Junior Shen were busy working, so it’s hard for you to see each other. After dinner, I was going to leave in order to give you two some space. But now, I think of myself as a light bulb, so I should stay for a while longer.”

Pei Ran: “Seconded.”

Ye Cang: “…”

Guo Wenyuan looked at Ye Cang and immediately clapped the table and laughed. 

So when Shen Huai came back with more dishes, he saw Ye Cang and Mr. Guo starting to quarrel with each other again, while Chu Mei Bo and Pei Ran watched them with a smile. 

Shen Huai: “…”

In the past, there was only Sister Mei watching the drama. Now it seemed that they had to add seats. 

However, Ye Cang was no less sharp tongued than Mr. Guo. In the end, he was unwilling to admit defeat. Mr. Guo was in a good mood and couldn’t help drinking a few more cups. When he went to the toilet, he happened to meet Ye Cang.

Mr. Guo was still angry. After all Sister Mei and Pei Ran were both big bosses who couldn’t be offended. Xia Shiyu was a goddess who he was reluctant to give up. Only Ye Cang could give him the pleasure of a cannon fodder.

Unexpectedly, Ye Cang suddenly asked coldly, “Do you know Pei Ran’s identity?”

“Of course I know it,” Mr. Guo said, raising his eyebrows.

Ye Cang: “Oh, so you know his relationship with Tang Wanjun?”

Mr. Guo: “…”

Ye Cang said with pity, “I sympathize with you, really.”

 

Edited by : LuLu

Proofreader: Taalia

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