146: green tea

The meeting place was at a restaurant. Since Shen Lian didn't drink, he went to the cabinet alone to brew flower tea.

"Teacher Shen, please give me some guidance after we join the cast."

Shen Lian's hands didn't stop. Hearing this, he just glanced sideways at Shi Zhujie and asked coldly, "Guidance on what?"

Shi Zhujie sized up Shen Lian, emotions churning in his eyes.

He was a very jealous person. Wherever other artists were present, he always liked to put on airs and act cool. Indeed, in terms of hardware like resources, he had already far surpassed many people, and Song Yuan spared no effort in promoting him. However, after seeing Shen Lian up close, Shi Zhujie was still filled with burning irritation.

Shi Zhujie learned from Song Yuan that Chen Mu was able to enter Star Opening all thanks to Shen Lian's help.

And Chen Mu's status as Song Yuan's "ex-boyfriend" had always made him very uncomfortable. Naturally, he wouldn't have any good impression of Shen Lian by association.

Shi Zhujie even thought about following his old ways: if he didn't like someone, he would slowly deal with them once they were in the cast.

But Shen Lian was clearly not someone to be bullied.

"Teacher Shen," Shi Zhujie kept talking, "You'll understand one day that betting on Chen Mu was your biggest mistake."

Shen Lian: "Is that so?"

"What are you doing here?" Song Yuan walked up.

Shi Zhujie immediately put on an obedient and sensible look: "Just chatting with Teacher Shen. Director Zhao admires Teacher Shen so much, I hope Teacher Shen can guide my acting when the time comes."

If this was his level of face-changing, then he probably wouldn't drag things down too much during filming, Shen Lian thought.

Then Shen Lian took out his phone from his pocket and, under the gaze of Song Yuan and Shi Zhujie, dialed a number.

It was picked up quickly on the other end.

"Hello, Chen Mu," Shen Lian smiled faintly.

With that one sentence, the expressions of the two people opposite him changed drastically.

"Busy? Oh, an advertisement collaboration with Luan Foods? That's fine. Although it's a second-tier brand, it's an old one." Shen Lian leaned against the cabinet, taking a slow sip of his flower tea. "It's nothing, I just suddenly wanted to ask how you've been lately. As long as you're doing well, that's fine. I've taken a role in Director Zhao Wenshu's drama. Let's get together after the dinner party. Yeah, okay, bye."

Shen Lian put away his phone and then took his time to enjoy the expressions of Song Yuan and the other.

"I just happen to think highly of Chen Mu, so what?" Shen Lian asked Shi Zhujie. "Whether you regret it or not isn't for your mouth to decide. Director Zhao is a good person, and I don't want to cause trouble for his drama. So, General Manager Song, keep a close eye on your person."

"Shen Lian." Song Yuan said word by word. What was this? An in-your-face provocation? Shen Lian clearly knew he had always been thinking about Chen Mu... Song Yuan suddenly took a deep breath, feeling a sense of shame as if his hidden thoughts had been forcibly exposed.

Recently, he had been telling himself that Chen Mu was just one person and there were plenty of people like him. But when Shen Lian showed intimacy with Chen Mu, his mental defenses snapped.

What Song Yuan found even more unacceptable was that Shen Lian had been enjoying his unsightly state, including this very moment!

Shen Lian could tell from Song Yuan's expression that he had misunderstood, probably thinking there was something between him and Chen Mu. But it didn't matter; Shen Lian just didn't want them to feel good.

After several confrontations, Song Yuan clearly realized that Shen Lian was covered in thorns. Ordinary threats or bribes were useless. Getting information about Chen Mu from his mouth was a pipe dream.

Once the time to join the cast was set, Shen Lian went back to pack his things.

Taking a few changes of clothes was enough. Before leaving home, Shen Lian did nothing but focus on accompanying Chu Yilan.

No matter how long they had been in a relationship, Chu Yilan's possessiveness towards Shen Lian would never fade. Instead, it was like vines coiling upward, tighter and tighter. Fortunately, what Shen Lian was best at was giving him a sense of security. At times like this, Chu Yilan only needed to lower his voice slightly and say deeply, "I can't bear to let you go," and Shen Lian would give him the stars in the sky if he asked.

Actually, he didn't need the stars.

It was just rather hard on his waist.

The next morning, Shen Lian grit his teeth and climbed out of bed, refusing Chu Yilan's offer to take him to the Film City. The nanny van was waiting at the door. After sending Aunt Fen away and putting down his suitcase, Shen Lian held Chu Yilan and kissed him for over ten minutes at the entrance before letting him go.

"I'll video call you tonight," Shen Lian panted slightly. "If I don't have many scenes, I'll come see you."

Chu Yilan rested his hands on Shen Lian's lower back, supporting part of his weight, his eyes dark and deep. "Where's my flower?"

"I won't forget!" Shen Lian followed up. "I guarantee you'll have one every day."

Only then did Chu Yilan break into a shallow smile.

The two of them lingered for a moment longer before Shen Lian patted his back, picked up his luggage, and turned to leave.

Chu Yilan stood there for a while before straightening his collar and going to work.

Sun Binghe was sent away on an assignment these past two days and couldn't come. Shen Lian understood. Having an all-around assistant accompany him to the cast for petty schemes would be a waste of talent, wouldn't it?

It was also lucky he didn't come, otherwise Shi Zhujie would have been doomed.

When Shen Lian arrived, half of the main cast had already shown up. Shen Lian even saw an acquaintance—Liu Tang, one of the female guests from sea god descends.

Director Zhao named the script destined splendor. Liu Tang played the role of the little princess who went from being pampered and extravagant to steady and mature. She already had a cute and sweet appearance, so it could be said she was very suitable.

Liu Tang greeted Shen Lian warmly, and the two sat together with plenty to talk about.

Not far away, Shi Zhujie acted like an emperor, with a total of five assistants, large and small, around him. The tiny space could hardly hold them all.

"How exaggerated," Liu Tang said.

Shen Lian smiled indifferently. "I see you brought a female assistant. Perfect, she can keep my Youzi company."

"Sure!"

Zhao Wenshu came in from outside. Seeing Shi Zhujie's grand display, he frowned imperceptibly but said nothing. When his gaze fell on Shen Lian, it immediately relaxed.

"How's your study of the script going?"

Shen Lian: "Why don't you pick some lines, and I'll recite a segment for you on the spot?"

Hearing this, Zhao Wenshu felt reassured. As expected, he truly was the "lines machine" that both he and Dai Tong had agreed upon.

Zhao Wenshu was a strict director; whoever wasn't professional would get scolded, no nonsense. But when facing Shen Lian, he was always full of smiles, and sometimes his "haha" laughter could be heard from far away.

To Shi Zhujie, these scenes were extremely eyesores.

One late night, Shi Zhujie woke up and saw the light on in the study. Song Yuan wasn't there, but Shen Lian's information was displayed on the computer screen. This immediately made him feel like he was facing a great enemy. Even though Shi Zhujie knew Song Yuan was likely investigating Shen Lian because of Chen Mu, it didn't stop his love-struck brain from acting up, viewing everyone Song Yuan cared about as an enemy.

Shi Zhujie planned for a long time in his heart on how to make Shen Lian lose face, but within half a day, the one who lost face was him.

It was simple. Zhao Wenshu had each of them try out a segment.

Shi Zhujie's performance could be described as a total mess.

He stumbled through three minutes of lines, and not a single pause or tone was correct. This was simply torture for Zhao Wenshu.

Seeing Zhao Wenshu's face turn as black as the bottom of a pot, Shen Lian stepped up to perform a segment, making the director's face clear up.

Liu Tang held her water cup and laughed heartily.

Because Shi Zhujie failed his lines, Zhao Wenshu made him do it over and over. Whenever he failed and the director's face darkened, Shen Lian would step up. This went back and forth seven or eight times. The director's face went from cloudy to sunny and back again. Finally, he was exhausted himself and weakly waved his hand to indicate that was enough.

Shi Zhujie's face was flushed red. Shen Lian's smooth acting wasn't just a contrast; it was an insult.

Kid, Shen Lian thought, this is only the beginning.

Zhao Wenshu was very attentive to Shen Lian's makeup and costume.

The protagonist Shen Lian played, Emperor Lin Xiao, was someone who had lucked into the throne amidst the bloody struggle for power. If not for his bloodline, no amount of praying would have gotten him the throne. Such a "useless person" was fooled by powerful officials and despised by generals. He was as quiet as a mouse in the imperial court, destined to be a foolish puppet in the factional struggles. Yet, he worked tirelessly day and night, growing vigorously and quietly. By the time everyone realized, those previously timid and ignorant eyes had become firm and sharp.

In the early stages, Shen Lian had to play a coward.

Regarding Emperor Lin Xiao's later transformation into a decisive ruler, Zhao Wenshu wasn't worried. He was just afraid Shen Lian wouldn't be able to capture the initial humble and lowly state.

To put it bluntly, Zhao Wenshu didn't want Shen Lian to have an idol burden.

That didn't exist.

In a scene where Emperor Lin Xiao hadn't been picked out yet and was still struggling to survive in the deep palace, Shen Lian needed to wolf down food that had been knocked to the ground. That kind of humble fear, frantically filling his stomach while disregarding dignity with terror in his eyes—if it didn't pass once, he'd do it again.

The pastries were knocked to the ground, and a foot in a black boot ground down on them hard. Then, a shrill, mocking voice sounded from above: "Seventh Prince, eat."

At the command, like a tamed stray dog, the person on the ground used both hands and feet. The worn-out fine clothes had passed through many hands and were now covered in dust. This person grabbed a handful of pastry crumbs and took a hard bite.

It was as if it wasn't a pastry, but meat.

Those eyes revealed through the messy hair were filled with fear, grievance, humiliation, and even a will to die.

Indeed, living like this was no different from being dead.

But even so, this person swallowed every bit of the pastry, mouthful by mouthful, and finally licked the crumbs off his fingers. Not knowing how long he had been hungry, he could finally let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Hahahaha!" The people around laughed rampantly, but fortunately, they didn't continue to make things difficult for him.

The footsteps receded. The young Emperor Lin Xiao remained in a kneeling position for a long time. Only after the raindrops fell did he finally react. He turned around with difficulty and then lay flat on the floor, staring at the sky like a piece of rotten wood.

"Cut!"

Zhao Wenshu stood up. Without needing to say much, he just grit his teeth and kept nodding.

This meant he was extremely satisfied.

Shi Zhujie watched the whole process, almost bubbling with jealousy. No matter how arrogant he was, he still had that much self-awareness regarding whether he could perform this scene.

"As expected of Teacher Shen," Shi Zhujie chuckled. "It's as if you've really picked up things from the ground to eat before."

Shen Lian was helped up by the staff and was about to retort when he heard Zhao Wenshu say decisively, "What the hell do you know!"

Someone let out a snort of laughter.

Shi Zhujie stood there with a stiff face.

"Learn well!" Zhao Wenshu said. "This kind of acting can be considered on-site teaching. If you can capture even thirty percent of it, it'll be enough for you to play all the bad dramas currently on the market."

One of the labels for Shi Zhujie was "frequent bad dramas." Zhao Wenshu obviously knew this. In the heat of the moment, he didn't pay attention and blurted it out directly.

"Don't say that, Director Zhao." Shen Lian looked humble, raising a hand to rub the tip of his nose. "I still have a lot to learn."

Liu Tang screamed in her heart, "Green tea!!!"