29: Chapter 29 The Rival Collapses! The Male Lead and Second Male Lead Clash on Set!

"Attention, everyone!"

"Actors, take your positions!"

The director shouted the order, and the Film Crew's equipment whirred into action.

Lin Chen and Li Qingfeng walked into the temporary cave set.

Li Qingfeng sat cross-legged on a rock.

Lin Chen stood with his back to the camera, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Action!"

The director called for the start, and the camera zoomed in straight onto Li Qingfeng's face.

Li Qingfeng seemed pumped up today, and his expressions were spot on.

He first looked dazed, then his pupils dilated, and he stared ahead in shock, delivering his lines: "Chess... Chess King? Are you Dongfang Zhaoyu?"

With his love rival right in front of him, Li Qingfeng was performing above his usual level.

The director stared at the monitor and nodded repeatedly, though he couldn't help but worry.

The scariest thing about acting in a scene with another person is one side overacting.

If one side sets the bar too high and the other can't keep up, the whole scene falls apart.

As a total newcomer, could Lin Chen handle such an emotional outburst?

After Li Qingfeng finished his lines, the camera quickly cut to Lin Chen's back.

Lin Chen stood straight and tall, like a javelin.

After a one-second pause, he swung his right arm, and his wide white sleeve traced a dashing arc through the air.

He turned around gracefully. With his long hair flying, a handsome, otherworldly face with a faint smile appeared before the camera.

"Chess King? It's been a long time since I heard that title."

Lin Chen looked out of the cave with his hands behind his back, his eyes filled with the weariness and nostalgia of a master.

Immediately after, he walked calmly to Li Qingfeng, executed a dashing half-turn, and sat steadily on the prop rock.

"Are you here to learn how to play chess?" he asked, turning his face slightly, his tone flat.

"...?"

Li Qingfeng was dumbfounded.

His eyes stared blankly at Lin Chen.

His lips trembled several times, but he couldn't manage to utter a single word.

"Cut!"

The director roared through the megaphone.

The set instantly erupted; the entire Film Crew was in an uproar, with whispering breaking out everywhere.

What had everyone just seen?

Li Qingfeng, the male lead who had starred in several major productions, had been completely overshadowed by a layman who lived off women!

He was so suppressed that he forgot a line he had memorized perfectly!

Everyone present were industry insiders who made their living in the circle.

They could tell the level of acting at a glance.

Although the confrontation only lasted a few lines, even a blind man could see that Li Qingfeng had been unilaterally slaughtered by Lin Chen.

The gap was despairingly large.

Li Qingfeng didn't rely on acting skills anyway; any veteran actor could leave him in the dust.

Crushing him wasn't a difficult task.

What truly shocked everyone to the point of scalp-tingling was the terrifying level Lin Chen had displayed.

"My God, he... he actually displayed an aura? This is too ridiculous!"

"What kind of background does this kid have? How can someone who lives off women have such heaven-defying skills?"

"Nonsense, how could a man who can make five stunning actresses throw themselves at him be a loser? We all misjudged him."

In an instant, everyone's gaze toward Lin Chen changed.

Although jealousy remained, no one dared to show even a hint of contempt anymore.

On the periphery, Yang Mi and Dilraba stood side by side, their stunningly beautiful faces filled with confusion; they were completely dumbfounded.

"Good heavens, what kind of monster husband did we pick up?" Yang Mi's breathing grew rapid with excitement, her long, fair legs involuntarily clamping together.

"Sister Mi, let's just call the police. This husband must be a fake created by an immortal," Dilraba panted slightly.

They knew well that Lin Chen was a genius in music, Culinary Arts, and Medical Arts.

But acting was completely different.

This was a real skill that had to be cultivated bit by bit in front of the camera.

They were afraid Lin Chen would mess up and had even gone to comfort him personally.

Who could have imagined that this man's level was several dimensions higher than theirs?

Although acting can't be scored, it has levels.

The first level is called "playing the role convincingly."

Yang Mi and Dilraba were currently stuck at this level, only performing well when encountering suitable scripts.

Like Li Qingfeng, that poker-faced actor hadn't even touched the threshold; no matter what he played, he was just showing off.

The second level is called "Aura."

Actors who reach this level are all grandmasters.

Without saying a word, just relying on a look or a stance, they can force the audience into the play and manipulate their emotions at will.

Actors in the world who can touch this level are few and far between.

And just now, Lin Chen had perfectly released the master aura belonging to Dongfang Zhaoyu.

The powerful sense of oppression directly destroyed Li Qingfeng's psychological defenses, scaring him into stuttering and freezing on the spot.

...

The character Dongfang Zhaoyu was written very thinly.

Apart from a few lines, there was no background information.

What his personality was like, what he had experienced—everything was a mystery.

This is how most minor supporting roles in films and dramas are.

Screenwriters and directors pour all their energy into the main characters, so it's normal to gloss over minor roles.

To bring a character with a blank background to life, an actor must fill in the character's soul based on the main plot of the script.

For this scene, Lin Chen had written a character biography of several hundred words for Dongfang Zhaoyu.

From the sharpness of his youth to the pride of his fame in the pugilistic world, and finally to the return to simplicity after his great enlightenment.

With this biography as a foundation, the character's image instantly became three-dimensional.

In the script, the male lead met the long-dead Chess King in a cave dream.

What state should a peerless expert who has seen through the secular world be in?

Naturally, unrestrained and detached from worldly affairs.

What Lin Chen displayed just now was precisely this free-spirited aura of someone who has experienced everything.

The result was obvious; Li Qingfeng was completely broken by this terrifying sense of oppression.

At the moment of acting, Li Qingfeng felt that the person sitting opposite him was not his hated love rival, but an unreachable hidden master.

Facing such a grandmaster, he instinctively felt nervous and constrained, forgetting completely that he was acting.

"That grandson is too insidious! Brother Feng, I bet he's deliberately faking this unfathomable look, intending to embarrass you in public!"

On the sidelines, as Li Qingfeng was wiping his sweat and adjusting his breathing, Yang Lihua leaned in and whispered provocatively with a gloomy face.

Yang Lihua was so angry at this moment that he was about to explode on the spot!

The most stifling thing in the world is watching one's love rival show off wildly right in front of one's eyes.

"Can you shut your stinking mouth! Do you have to make sure everyone knows? Do you really take me for an idiot?"

Li Qingfeng turned his head abruptly, his eyes full of disdain and disgust.

It would be one thing usually, but he had just been rubbed into the ground by Lin Chen's acting, and he was already furious.

And this idiot was still buzzing in his ear non-stop.

Li Qingfeng decided not to endure it anymore; at worst, he'd just tear off the mask. Anyway, as the male lead, he didn't fear a supporting actor.

"You... Li Qingfeng, how can you be so ungrateful! You suffered a setback from someone else, and now you're turning to take it out on me?"

"Fuck you! If you have the guts, try saying one more word!"

Li Qingfeng flew into a rage, stood up abruptly, and grabbed Yang Lihua by the neck.

The assistants and crew members nearby were terrified and rushed over to break up the fight.

The entire Film Crew's attention was drawn over.

"Huh? Aren't they usually like brothers? Why are they suddenly biting each other?"

Dilraba was born to love the hustle and bustle, so she stood on tiptoe and tried to peer into the crowd.

If Lin Chen weren't here, she would have rushed over to watch the drama.

"They're just bored and full of it."

Yang Mi knew a little about the messy business of them fighting for attention, but she couldn't be bothered to care.

As long as it didn't delay the Film Crew's money-burning progress, it had nothing to do with her even if they killed each other.

Compared to the two clowns, Yang Mi's heart and soul were attached to Lin Chen.

She leaned toward Lin Chen, her body softening, and half of her delicate frame leaned directly against him.

"How many more trump cards are you hiding? Just lay them all out at once. You keep tossing them out bit by bit; are you deliberately trying to shock me and create surprises?" Yang Mi teased with charming, sultry eyes.

Lin Chen shook his head: "I do know a few other tricks, but I didn't deliberately hide them, nor did I intend to create any surprises."

Yang Mi was between laughter and tears, extending her fair, delicate hand to punch Lin Chen on the arm: "Would it kill you to say something sweet? You're such a stereotypical dense guy! You're lucky you have a face that could topple nations; otherwise, you'd definitely be a bachelor for life!"

Lin Chen curled his lips: "Not necessarily; some people just happen to like my type."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Yang Mi narrowed her peach-blossom eyes, revealing a hint of dangerous vigilance: "Who has such poor taste?"

Lin Chen turned his head, his gaze falling directly on Dilraba, who was beside him.

Dilraba's stunningly beautiful face froze instantly, and she jumped up in fright, hurriedly trying to distance herself: "Don't... don't spout nonsense and frame this young lady! I... I broke up with you yesterday! We are strangers now!"

Yang Mi scanned back and forth between the two, her tone meaningful: "It seems you two have been getting up to quite a few stories behind my back. Don't you plan to tell me about them?"

"Shut up! You're not allowed to say anything!"

Before Lin Chen could speak, Dilraba, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, bared her fangs and brandished her claws as she pounced into Lin Chen's arms.

Her long, fair, slender legs straddled him, and she sat directly on Lin Chen's lap.

She stretched out her small, fragrant hand to tightly cover Lin Chen's mouth, her large eyes flashing with the ferocity of "if you dare to speak, I'll bite you to death."