10: Chapter 10: Did I become part of the play?

Yu Liang tilted his head to avoid her, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "What did I say? I didn't say anything at all!"

"That look on your face! That expression said everything!"

"What did I say? I just said my Master won't let me practice anymore. Where did your mind wander off to?"

"You—!" Wang Churan was so angry she grabbed another throw pillow and tossed it at him. "Your head is filled with that stuff all day long!"

"I just said he wouldn't let me practice anymore, that's all."

"You're still saying it!"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop, I'll stop." Yu Liang raised his hands in surrender. "I'll be serious."

"Then be serious."

"Okay, okay, I'm being serious now." Yu Liang lowered his hands.

After fooling around for a while, Wang Churan sat back properly.

"Yu Liang," she suddenly became serious, "do you think I can play the role of Ye Linger well?"

"I've never played this type of character before. Ye Linger is the daughter of a military family; she knows martial arts, and her personality is cool and straightforward. I'm afraid I won't be able to capture that vibe."

Yu Liang glanced at her.

"Have you practiced physical form and posture?" Yu Liang asked.

"I have, we have it in our professional classes."

"Have you learned any martial arts choreography?"

"I haven't learned that."

Yu Liang thought for a moment and stood up.

"Get up."

"For what?"

"I'll teach you a few moves."

Wang Churan looked up at him. "Now?"

"Otherwise? Wait until we're on set to learn? When the director shouts 'action' and you can't even hold a sword steadily, won't that be embarrassing?"

Wang Churan hesitated for a moment before standing up.

Yu Liang walked to the middle of the open space and turned to face her.

"Ye Linger uses a sword, right?"

"Right."

Yu Liang remembered he still had a lightsaber in his suitcase that he used for filming transformation videos.

"Then let's start with how to hold a sword."

Yu Liang made a sword-gripping gesture, his right hand loosely closed with the thumb and forefinger facing up.

"The strength should be roughly... the level where you could hold an egg without breaking it."

"You can't break an egg with one hand anyway."

"Uh... then pretend you're holding a bird's egg."

Wang Churan: "..."

Yu Liang: "Anyway, you get the point."

Wang Churan mimicked his movement, gripping the 'sword' with her right hand.

"Like this?"

"Tuck your thumb in a bit more."

Yu Liang walked over and reached out to adjust her fingers.

"Yes, just like that. See, you're gripping too tightly. Relax."

When his fingers touched the back of her hand, Wang Churan stiffened slightly but didn't pull away.

"Next is the most basic thrust."

Yu Liang took two steps back and performed a standard thrusting motion.

Wang Churan watched, a bit dazed.

"You try."

She mimicked Yu Liang's movement, stepping forward and thrusting her right hand out.

"Use your waist for power, not your arm."

Yu Liang walked behind her and placed his hands on the sides of her waist.

"See, your waist is stiff."

With him holding her waist, Wang Churan's entire body went rigid.

"Relax."

Yu Liang patted the side of her waist. "As soon as you get nervous, the movement goes all wrong."

Wang Churan's ears turned red again.

Flustered, she stepped forward and thrust again, accidentally hitting the switch on the lightsaber.

"Oh? Yu Liang, your sword glows!"

—

"16th floor, 1603."

Guo Qilin lived upstairs; he remembered this was the room number Yu Liang had told him.

"Achoo!"

Whether it was a cold or an allergy, Guo Qilin had been sneezing ever since he arrived in Duyun, Qiannan.

His itchy nose made him rub it a few extra times; from the reflection on his phone, he noticed his nose had turned red from the rubbing.

"This should be the one."

Guo Qilin found the corresponding room number. Just as he was about to knock, he heard strange sounds coming from inside.

"Not done yet? Brother Liang, my arms are so sore."

...

"Need to change positions again?"

"Don't pull it out so fast!"

"Ah~ it hurts!"

"Brother Liang, slow down. I'm begging you, don't do it again..."

"Churan, hold on a bit longer, I'm almost finished."

...

"Wait... this... is it this intense?"

Guo Qilin stood at the door.

My brother's speed is much faster than his cross-talk raps.

Judging by this development, after finishing the 'rap', he must have started 'flushing the pipes' already...

"Is it appropriate for me to be standing here?"

"Why do I suddenly want to sing a song by Teacher A-Du?"

No, wait, maybe they're just rehearsing a script inside?

"Wait, one is Teng Zijing and the other is Ye Linger. These two shouldn't have any scenes together, right?"

"Brother, just open the door, brother. I can't cover for you anymore, brother."

"If you keep ignoring your brother's life like this, I'm going to post you on the gossip sites, brother."

Guo Qilin never expected that he would unintentionally become a part of their 'play'.

Guo Qilin felt his nose getting even redder, red like a Joker's.

...

Meanwhile, inside the room.

"Yu Liang, that... close the curtains first."

"It's all overexposed."

"Strange, why do I hear someone calling me?"

Yu Liang thought to himself: "Could it be that Da Lin is here?"

"Forget it, let's finish filming this segment first."

Yu Liang picked up his phone again to film the lightsaber transformation for Wang Churan.

"This transformation looks simple, but it's so troublesome to film."

"My arms are getting sore from holding them up," Wang Churan complained.

...

"It's filmed. Look, doesn't it have a great atmosphere?"

Yu Liang turned on the lights and showed the finished product to Wang Churan.

"You actually look quite good in this black camisole for the lightsaber transformation."

"Hmph, as if you need to tell me."

Wang Churan simply thought Yu Liang was complimenting her outfit.

To achieve the filming effect, she had already taken off her trench coat and knit sweater.

The two of them were standing very close.

With Wang Churan's height, she was positioned right against Yu Liang's chest.

When the water is full it overflows, when the moon is full it is... even more rounded and full, especially Wang Churan in her low-cut camisole.

Yu Liang looked down at everything.

Hmm.

She could be said to have 'revealed her full curves'.

"The real deal, much better than those padded frauds."

"What padded frauds?"

"Yu Liang, go to hell!"

—

The next day, on set.

Yu Liang and Guo Qilin had a short scene together.

After filming, the two sat on folding chairs in the rest area to relax.

Yu Liang suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Guo Qilin.

"By the way Da Lin, didn't you say you were coming over last night to play Valorant? I waited for you all night, why didn't you show up?"

Guo Qilin was scrolling through his phone; his finger paused for a moment.

He didn't look up.

"Yeah. I got delayed by sneezing on the way."

His voice was very calm.

Yu Liang: "Delayed by sneezing?"

"Wait, why is your nose so red?"

Guo Qilin instinctively touched his nose.

Glancing through the reflection of his phone, it was indeed still red.

This morning, the makeup artist had asked the same thing.

Guo Qilin gave Yu Liang a look:

"It's not a cold, I just ran into something dirty last night."

—

Three days later.

Filming for Teng Zijing's parts continued. Today they were filming in the side hall of the Fan Manor in the capital, the scene where Teng Zijing 'repays his debt' to Fan Xian.

"joy of life, Scene 52, Shot 1, Take 1, Action!"

Teng Zijing stood before Fan Xian, his back straight as a board, his facial expression stiff.

"I owe you a life, Young Master. How about this: I'll kill someone for you."