41: Chapter 41 Mute Order [The previous chapter has been revised. Please refresh if you read it last night. There will be another chapter before midnight.]

Yu Liang's first scene as Zhang Qiling was scheduled for after ten o'clock.

He arrived at the makeup room early in the morning, letting the makeup artist pat cold white foundation on his face and trace his brow ridges faintly.

Layer upon layer of foundation was applied, completely covering his naturally healthy wheat-colored skin. The curve of his brow ridges was narrowed by half a fraction, and the shadows on his jawline were applied more heavily than usual.

The person in the mirror gradually shed Yu Liang's original coloring. As long as he didn't speak, he could embody the character's indifference and detachment.

Director Pan Anzi was squatting in front of the monitor, checking camera angles with the cinematographer. When he caught a glimpse of Yu Liang walking out of the makeup room, he was visibly stunned for a moment.

Chen Minghao walked by, munching on an apple, and nearly choked: "Damn, brother, you've turned into a completely different person."

Yu Liang nodded, not saying a word.

To better adapt to the role of Zhang Qiling, Nanpai Sanshu had issued a gag order to this chatterbox back during the script reading.

Within the set, he was not allowed to say a single word outside of his lines.

Zhu Yilong sat on a rest chair, holding the script, but his gaze followed Yu Liang, tracking him from the makeup room door all the way to the set area.

Yu Liang noticed his gaze and smiled, nodding at him.

Zhu Yilong was visibly stunned for a moment, then immediately lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously flipping a page of the script.

In the days since joining the crew, Yu Liang had gained some understanding of Zhu Yilong.

This newly risen top star was quite different from other top stars he had met; he wasn't gentle and smooth like Lu Han, nor was he forceful and cold like Mentor Wu Yifan.

Zhu Yilong was usually quiet, shy, and even a bit socially anxious, but once it involved the script, he was like a different person. He could chase Nanpai Sanshu to ask about the character's backstory and the motivation behind the lines, going over every scene and sentence, often chasing Nanpai Sanshu all around the set.

Yu Liang found this person quite interesting; when not filming, he was like a quiet, good student, but as soon as he opened the script, he became a class representative chasing the teacher with questions.

The day after the gag order was issued, Yu Liang was going crazy from holding it in.

Chen Minghao, however, was thrilled.

This veteran actor was free-spirited and easygoing. He had played Taiyi Zhenren in "Lotus Lantern" and the Bull Demon King in "Magic Mobile Phone," and after filming, he loved to pull the on-site staff aside to tell jokes.

In the past, Yu Liang would have chimed in, but now he could only sit on the side, staring at Chen Minghao expressionlessly, using his eyes to convey all his protests.

Just then, Yu Liang saw Zhu Yilong walking toward Nanpai Sanshu with the script in his arms again.

Yu Liang's eyes darted, and he followed silently.

Nanpai Sanshu had just picked up his thermos, and before he could take a sip of hot tea, he saw Yu Liang standing in front of him with the script, his finger poking at a passage of dialogue.

"A-ba, a-ba."

Nanpai Sanshu nearly spat out his tea.

He tilted his head to look at the passage Yu Liang was pointing at—Zhang Qiling's lines, three sentences in total, with no issues at all.

"A-ba, a-ba, a-ba!" Yu Liang's finger changed direction, pointing toward the script in Zhu Yilong's hand.

"Just say it, then." Nanpai Sanshu was completely baffled by him.

"Then I'll really say it." Yu Liang was finally able to speak.

"Teacher Xu, look at this line of Brother Long's. The previous sentence says the tomb passage is to the west, and the next sentence says it's at the southeast corner. Isn't there a missing explanation in between—"

"Were you dazed when you wrote this? A bit 'dazed-pen'?"

"Dazed-pen?"

Nanpai Sanshu and Zhu Yilong fell silent simultaneously.

Is that even a word?

If not for the writing gesture Yu Liang made, Nanpai Sanshu would have felt that Yu Liang was taking the opportunity to insult him.

After a while, Zhu Yilong said faintly: "Brother, I couldn't even come up with that line when I was nitpicking."

But at this moment, Nanpai Sanshu wasn't dwelling on that.

Because he had an even bigger headache.

He slammed his thermos onto the table, looked at Yu Liang, then at Zhu Yilong, suddenly feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.

Zhu Yilong chased him to ask about logic, and Yu Liang chased him to ask about logic on Zhu Yilong's behalf. He, the head screenwriter, was cornered by two actors and couldn't even drink a sip of hot tea.

Nanpai Sanshu rubbed his temples and began to seriously reflect on whether something had gone wrong with his casting. Zhang Qiling was the character with the fewest lines in the entire show, yet he had chosen a chatterbox to play him.

Wait, isn't this guy a straight man?

You don't even have many lines as the straight man, so how are you more talkative than the lead comedian?

We've only been filming for a few days and you're already holding it in like this; what will happen in the coming months?

However, at this moment, a small commotion came from the entrance of the studio.

A black commercial vehicle parked outside, and a few production assistants trotted over to meet it.

The door opened, and Actress Li Xiaoran stepped out, wearing a beige linen long dress with flat shoes, her hair loosely tied behind her head, and sunglasses covering half her face.

The moment she took off her sunglasses, the young production assistants at the door all gasped.

"Actress Li Xiaoran!"

Fair skin, beautiful face, long legs—she was even prettier in person than on TV.

"Ms. Li... Ms. Li, hello." The lead production assistant obviously hadn't been notified in advance, and his speech was a bit stuttering.

"Hello." Actress Li Xiaoran smiled at him. "I'm here to see Yu Liang. Is he inside?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll take you there right now—"

Director Pan Anzi looked back, was stunned for a moment, and then quickly stood up to greet her.

"Ms. Xiaoran, welcome, welcome. Why didn't you let us know in advance?" Director Pan Anzi smiled and extended his hand.

"Hello, Director Pan." Actress Li Xiaoran shook his hand, her tone as casual as if she were just dropping by for a visit.

"I didn't have any scenes today, and I heard Yu Liang was filming here, so I came to take a look."

As she spoke, her gaze had already crossed Director Pan Anzi's shoulder, scanning the studio, and finally landing on the figure in black in the set area.

Then she walked up to Nanpai Sanshu first, smiling and extending her hand: "Hello, Teacher Xu, I've long heard of your great name."

"Ms. Xiaoran!" Nanpai Sanshu was slightly stunned.

He had seen many of Actress Li Xiaoran's works and was no stranger to this household-name actress, but this was the first time he had met her in person. "Why are you here?"

"I'm filming nearby and happened to be passing by today, so I dropped by to see Yu Liang. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

"No, no, Ms. Xiaoran, you're too polite."

At this moment, Chen Minghao stretched his neck from the crowd to look, immediately put down his apple, and trotted over, his face full of enthusiastic smiles.

To him, Actress Li Xiaoran was a goddess-level figure in his heart.

"Ms. Xiaoran! Why are you here!"

"Teacher Chen, you're here too?" Actress Li Xiaoran raised an eyebrow slightly.

Although she hadn't filmed with Chen Minghao, they often bumped into each other in the industry and knew each other well enough.

"Oh, I'm filming here, playing the second male lead." Chen Minghao scratched his head, his tone much more reserved than usual.

Watching the usually free-spirited Teacher Chen, who had a booming voice when telling jokes, looking so awkward, the on-site staff couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Oh, is that so?" Actress Li Xiaoran nodded and said indifferently, "I just happened to be passing by and dropped in to see Yu Liang."

Oh, she came to visit the set, and she came to visit Yu Liang!

Chen Minghao couldn't help but glance twice in Yu Liang's direction.

Actress Li Xiaoran sat down next to Nanpai Sanshu and watched a scene between Yu Liang and Zhu Yilong.

"Cut!" Nanpai Sanshu said in a low voice behind the monitor.

Actress Li Xiaoran didn't speak, just curled the corners of her mouth slightly.

She had her assistant bring down several boxes of cut fruit and iced coffee from the car.

Yu Liang's assistant helped take them and distributed them to the on-site staff.

A few production assistants took the iced coffee, their tone of gratitude several octaves higher than usual.

One of the production assistants, being very observant, shouted loudly: "Actress Li Xiaoran is here to visit the set; drinks on her, everyone!"

The distribution area was quickly surrounded by staff. Beads of water condensed on the cups of iced coffee, looking particularly tempting in the sweltering studio in Hengdian.

Everyone drank and whispered, speculating about the relationship between Yu Liang and this veteran actress.

On a film crew, there are only two reasons for celebrities to visit the set: one is to support a certain artist, and the other is to use the visit as an excuse to network with directors and producers to see if there are any opportunities for collaboration later.

And Actress Li Xiaoran's purpose in coming this time was clearly to support Yu Liang.

After watching Yu Liang's filming for a while, Actress Li Xiaoran chatted with Nanpai Sanshu for a few minutes.

Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Actress Li Xiaoran stood up to leave.

"Teacher Xu, I have a scene to shoot in a bit. Let's meet again when we have the chance."

Actress Li Xiaoran shook hands with Nanpai Sanshu, then turned her head and nodded at Chen Minghao, "Teacher Chen, goodbye."

Before Chen Minghao could respond, she had already turned and walked toward the door.

Yu Liang had just finished a set of shots. Seeing Actress Li Xiaoran stand up, he walked out quickly.

At the studio entrance, Actress Li Xiaoran was about to get into the car. Yu Liang called out to her.

"Thank you, Ms. Xiaoran."

Actress Li Xiaoran turned around, leaned against the car door, and looked at him with a playful smile.

"Just a 'thank you'?"

Yu Liang paused. Thinking of how he seemed to owe her a few favors.

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight," Yu Liang said.

Actress Li Xiaoran looked at him, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. "That's more like it."