Upon hearing Yan Chi’s words, Gu Qingtong froze for a moment, and the uneasiness in her eyes turned into surprise. Her mischievous nature always led her to handle things on her own when faced with challenges. Moreover, Yan Chi had already helped her a lot, and Gu Qingtong didn’t want to burden her further by repeatedly using privileges on the set, fearing it might bring criticism to Yan Chi.
“No need to trouble Teacher Yan and the directors. I…..I’ll adjust and adapt on my own,” Gu Qingtong said while still sitting on Yan Chi’s lap, shaking her head. She then raised her face to look at the directors and crew on set.
Yuan Jingyu, however, respected Yan Chi’s opinion, especially considering their excellent performance in the previous private audition. In reality, newcomers faced obstacles when shooting such scenes, and Yuan Jingyu, speeding up the schedule, was counting on Yan Chi as a guiding force to ensure everything went smoothly.
However, it seemed that there was an overestimation of Gu Qingtong’s resilience. Reflecting for a moment, she agreed: “Okay, we can give it a try. After all, we still have plenty of shooting time today. If it helps you get into the role better, it might be a good approach.”
After saying this, she looked at Gu Qingtong reassuringly: “Qingtong, you don’t have to put too much pressure on yourself. You performed well during the last audition, and I was watching you on the monitor. Just follow Teacher Yan’s guidance.”
Indoor scenes involving the interaction between the two characters utilized basic filming and recording techniques, without the need for complicated camera movements, something Yan Chi was already familiar with.
Although not on set, she had withdrawn to a slightly distant location outside the translucent curtains and pearl screens, where the monitoring screen and the temporary area for handling footage were located. This provided more privacy for the two of them, even if the figures of the crew members could still be seen from a distance. It was much better than the previous tense atmosphere with everyone surrounding them.
The fixed camera position remained at the location where they had just shot the scene on the princess’s couch. It was already in recording mode and didn’t require additional adjustments. Yan Chi looked into Gu Qingtong’s eyes and patiently explained: “We’ll need to shoot these scenes twice. The first time, the fixed camera will capture our interaction, and the second time, I’ll use a handheld camera for close-ups of you.”
Feeling the familiar and gentle aura of Yan Chi in front of her, Gu Qingtong became even more reassured and obediently responded with a soft “Mm.”
Sensing that Gu Qingtong’s anxiety had been completely alleviated, Yan Chi’s voice gained a touch of depth. Her eyes, which were now focused solely on Gu Qingtong, also revealed a subtle smile.
“Haven’t we practiced many times? You know what Xuan Qingyun desires. In this scene, you’re the protagonist, so you’re allowed to do anything.”
Gu Qingtong was the only one who understood the meaning behind this “practice,” given her recent indulgent escapades. Being mentioned again by Yan Chi in a context beyond their intimate moments made her face instantly flush. Despite being the one who initiated those pleasures, Yan Chi’s words made it sound as if they had undergone countless serious rehearsals for this specific moment.
“As for the camera,” Yan Chi let out a slight chuckle, “don’t you think being captured like this adds more excitement?”
Hearing this, Gu Qingtong was left speechless. She had long realized that there was nothing Yan Chi feared; these situations only fueled her excitement.
“Let’s get started,” Yan Chi said, and the comforting look in her eyes naturally faded away. In an instant, her light-colored eyes were filled with a malicious tint, displaying the playful mockery from earlier. Caught in this gaze, Gu Qingtong felt as if she had reverted to the state of He Haomei, who was caught in a difficult situation and had to carry out seductive actions despite the discomfort.
Even though she was already trembling slightly from the provocative atmosphere, Gu Qingtong mustered the courage to get even closer to the character of Xuan Qingyun in front of her. Finally, a slender hand reached out, timidly brushing against the back of Yan Chi’s hand resting on the bed. The moment their soft skin touched, Gu Qingtong found a familiar sensation. Her fingertips traced the prominent knuckles and veins on Yan Chi’s hand. Both were beautiful hands, yet they seemed to perfectly reflect their personalities—one dominant and assertive, the other soft and delicate. This stark contrast turned the simple caress into a touch filled with tension. Gu Qingtong knew Yan Chi’s secret—when she was emotionally stirred, her pinky finger would tremble slightly. Sensing this subtle change, Gu Qingtong tightened her grip, holding Yan Chi’s hand. Her hand was smaller, and the grip was not as steady as Yan Chi’s.
However, this highlighted her gradually encroaching timidity and the difficult teasing she had to endure as if being “forced” to use all her tricks. Yan Chi, who had been mocking freely just now, remained silent with pursed red lips, allowing Gu Qingtong to lead her hand. The next action was the scene that Gu Qingtong had found quite challenging and had been avoiding. However, surrounded only by the drapes on the royal bed, there were only the two of them. Sitting intimately in Yan Chi’s embrace, just like the teasing from before, everything seemed just right. Even the camera in recording mode added a unique charm to the scene. Unlike the previous variety show challenges, Gu Qingtong now had an excuse to boldly make these actions, reminiscent of the “secret affair” from the past.
With this in mind, Gu Qingtong tightened her grip on Yan Chi’s hand, sinking her fingertips into the softness of Yan Chi’s palm. Finally, she guided it to the daring neckline of her sheer fabric. This small detail seemed to perfectly correspond to the nervous hesitation of He Haomei, who had been hesitant and anxious repeatedly. Subconsciously, even in her enemy, whom she was about to “seduce,” she sought a negligible sense of stability. At this moment, the impending fate of losing control and sinking deeper into herself had already begun to show. The sheer fabric was peeled away by Gu Qingtong herself, and she looked at Yan Chi in front of her. Her gaze, unlike the initial plea for mercy, now carried an invitation that suggested a balanced encounter. It seemed that no matter how deliberately she pretended to be helpless and disheveled before, when facing the real challenge, she would build up a bit of protective emotion to preserve her dignity.
It was precisely the pride that He Haomei never wanted to abandon.
Later on, Xuan Qingyun insisted on shattering this pride, making the other party completely belong to her, and willingly falling into the trap she had woven. This gaze was evidently more submissive to Xuan Qingyun than before. Thus, Yan Chi’s hand finally moved, and the icy fingertips, like a venomous snake spitting venom, descended along the sheer fabric. Through the delicate and translucent pink veil, Yan Chi’s fingers could almost be seen, clearly revealing their trajectory. It was indeed a blend of real and staged actions, a deliberate intertwining right in front of the camera. If Gu Qingtong hadn’t long been accustomed to Yan Chi’s body warmth and aura, she might have instinctively avoided it, just like the first encounter in the hospital.
At this moment, He Haomei shouldn’t evade either.
Having finally piqued her interest in taking action, she naturally had to obediently endure to please her.
Once immersed in the role, Yan Chi became even colder than usual. Her touch was no longer the affectionate caress of the past but rather cold and stern, carrying an air of conquest and warning.
Gu Qingtong could clearly feel the difference between Yan Chi and Xuan Qingyun. Perhaps the contrast was too stark, giving her the sensation that the person before her, behaving recklessly, wasn’t Yan Chi but rather a woman crazed and devoid of any affection, punishing herself.
This triggered an inexplicable sense of guilt in Gu Qingtong, causing her body, which had been enduring all along, to unconsciously shrink back.
How could Yan Chi not perceive her subtle change? Her hand didn’t stop but continued with a chilling mockery: “What’s this? Just now remembering how you wronged your deceased husband?”
This wasn’t a scripted scene, yet it unexpectedly fit quite well.
Gu Qingtong seemed to be caught in a secret, her breath trembling slightly before she finally said: “Mei’er…..naturally belongs to Your Highness.”
“Belongs to me?” Yan Chi pinched a spot that almost made Gu Qingtong lose focus, clearly not intending to go easy on her. “Now it’s my turn to serve you. Cat got your tongue? Do you need me to teach you how to speak?”
Originally, according to the script, they only needed to maintain a certain distance, and there could even be some fabric in between.
However, Yan Chi was determined to make it look real, so she actually pinched down. This caught Gu Qingtong off guard. Even others would think that their performance was exceptionally realistic. Yan Chi used to adapt to her, being extremely gentle, gradually igniting the fire until she couldn’t resist anymore. When did she become so rough and forceful with her?
Gu Qingtong had never experienced such sensations before. Despite being mixed with the almost unbearable pain, other sensations were magnified countless times. The forceful words from Yan Chi moments ago became a disguise to conceal her own distress.
Thus, Gu Qingtong transformed the soft and delicate hum, which she couldn’t help but reveal, into a sound that pretended to comply with Xuan Qingyun. However, Yuan Jingyu, who was watching the monitor from a distance, was startled. It wasn’t because the two performers did poorly; both the tension and the adapted storyline seemed flawless. It was the first soft hum from Gu Qingtong that triggered Yuan Jingyu’s memory. The characteristic soft, nasal tone was exactly what she unintentionally overheard when she visited Yan Chi’s room earlier.
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At that time, Yuan Jingyu found it strange. However, since Yan Chi voluntarily admitted that the sound was her own, she decided to let the matter pass without dwelling on it. But now, the sound had unmistakably reappeared. This time, Yuan Jingyu was quite certain that the sound she heard earlier was indeed Gu Qingtong’s own voice in Yan Chi’s room!
This clue allowed Yuan Jingyu to piece together memories of every detail about Gu Qingtong at that time, including the fact that she didn’t answer her call initially, and only hurriedly called back after she had left Yan Chi’s room, saying she was already asleep.
Even more, there were recent incidents, like seeing Gu Qingtong in the corridor in the early morning with disheveled clothes, and hasty rumors circulating around…..
Thinking about this, Yuan Jingyu’s breath paused, and her gaze became somewhat unsettled.
Yan Chi had not disclosed the true nature of her relationship with Gu Qingtong to Yuan Jingyu. She considered that if Yuan Jingyu knew they were legally married, it might lead to more scenes that Gu Qingtong would be reluctant to perform. Yuan Jingyu was unaware of their marriage and assumed they were just lovers. The fact that Yan Chi agreed to let Gu Qingtong play the supporting role already indicated that she, at the very least, didn’t object to Gu Qingtong.
The examples of emotions arising from acting are not unheard of, but…..
Yuan Jingyu had never expected that before the acting even started, the two of them would engage in real actions. Isn’t it a bit too much?
It seemed like Yuan Jingyu had insight into the relationship between the two. The natural expressions of seduction and enticement in front of the camera started to take on a strange flavor. Although their private relationship would make their on-screen chemistry more effortless, Yuan Jingyu couldn’t help but feel like she was freeloaded upon. Great, here she was, enjoying a “one-night stand” funded by public resources!
Any piece of gossip about Yan Chi could become a major sensation.
Eating the melon from a friend she had known for a long time, Yuan Jingyu, like others familiar with Yan Chi, was quite surprised.
Is she also the type to get lost in the role of love?
Yuan Jingyu seemed to have finally stumbled upon some huge gossip, feeling unusually uncomfortable inside. She looked around and unexpectedly found her assistant director, who was fixated on the monitor, wearing a sly smile.
The assistant director was Yuan Jingyu’s disciple—a young female director—who was allowed to stay on set for this intimate scene. Thinking that she might know something, Yuan Jingyu patted her and asked: “Xiao Li, what do you think of their performance?”
“It’s very fitting! It seems like they’ve completely immersed themselves in the scene compared to before.”
“Don’t you find it strange that they seem so familiar with each other? Yan Chi has never been this intimate with anyone before. Don’t you think their relationship is a bit odd?”
Yuan Jingyu was desperately hinting, feeling that it was too difficult to keep it all to herself, as if she needed to share the secret with someone.
“Ah….? But, Teacher Yan, she hasn’t acted in any scenes with intimate moments before,” the assistant director said, looking completely bewildered and failing to grasp Yuan Jingyu’s implication.
Finally, Yuan Jingyu gave up on probing and directly asked: “Then why were you smiling like that just now? Didn’t you notice something unusual?”
Upon realizing that she had been caught on the spot, the assistant director felt a bit embarrassed and struggled to explain to her mentor:
“No…..I’m actually a fan of the ‘Silent Gaze’ CP1Couple Pairing. I’ve been following their variety shows for a long time. Seeing them cooperate again in a drama naturally makes me happy…..was my smile too obvious?”
While Yuan Jingyu did discover Gu Qingtong through a variety show and was impressed by her looks, she wasn’t the type to follow romantic variety shows popular among the younger generation. In fact, she hadn’t even known the name of this particular CP until recently when it gained popularity. Yuan Jingyu now remembered the existence of the dating show involving the two, and she planned to catch up on it later to find more clues.
The assistant director misunderstood and thought that her mentor was reprimanding her for personal bias. She hurriedly explained:
“It’s not just me; many people in our crew are fans of the ‘Silent Gaze’ CP! We have all sorts of people, from staff to actors. But don’t worry, we won’t leak anything. In fact, we even have a groupchat where we enjoy discussing their interactions privately.”
Gu Qingtong encountered a young actress who approached her after leaving Yan Chi’s room last time, and she turned out to be a member of this CP group. In today’s entertainment industry, where marketing often relies on CP promotions, ‘Silent Gaze’ CP has managed to capture the enthusiasm of industry professionals, forming a fan community that appreciates every detail of their interactions. Gu Qingtong, however, was completely unaware that her actions and words, which she thought were well-hidden with Yan Chi, were being thoroughly analyzed and appreciated by these devoted CP fans.
“In her mind, Director Yuan secretly thought, ‘What you guys know is just child’s play. I personally overheard Gu Qingtong in Yan Chi’s room.’ She couldn’t help but feel a bit superior, but she certainly couldn’t express it verbally. She just said: “You’re in luck. Seeing how quickly they’re adapting, I plan to adjust the script to better match my initial ideas.”
As expected, according to Yan Chi’s understanding of Yuan Jingyu, her second reaction after breaking through their relationship was to add more intense scenes. True to her words, she opened the script document on her computer and began making modifications. Meanwhile, the ‘Silent Gaze’ side seemed even more anxious.
Simply because Yan Chi’s pinching action just now was somewhat rough and violent. The pain made Gu Qingtong’s eyes moisten again, unable to restrain the spreading of tears. Gu Qingtong knew her own weakness. In the past, every time she was mistreated by Yan Chi, she would cry. However, at that time, there was no prohibition against crying, and she would feel wronged every time, soft and tender.
But now, she had to play the resilient character of He Haomei, naturally not allowing herself to easily show weakness. Therefore, Gu Qingtong could only desperately hold back the tears, blinking her eyes with difficulty.
Yan Chi seemed to have found something quite interesting to play with, knowing that she was afraid, yet deliberately wanting to make her cry. However, the conquest belonging to Xuan Qingyun was greater than Yan Chi’s playful amusement, making this confrontation even more intense.
Gu Qingtong shouldn’t have hidden, but she was afraid that she would actually cry. Occasionally, she couldn’t tell if it was forced or she couldn’t help making some small cat-like sounds. This seemed to be the most excessive noise Gu Qingtong could make, apart from crying and calling someone ‘big sister.’ Knowing that she was particularly shy, those words were usually spoken by Yan Chi in her ear. But today was different; these were all Gu Qingtong’s lines. Due to restrictions, many things could only be hinted at, so efforts had to be put into the lines to let the audience imagine what they might have done.
Yan Chi had already seen this part and was quite eager to see how Gu Qingtong would deliver it. So, she continued to press on: “Engaging in such unrestrained activities, if you’re going to act, you should do the whole thing. Doesn’t the princess know how to? It would be too disappointing otherwise.”
As she spoke, the hand under the light veil paused, as if it was about to withdraw the next second.
“Mei’er, Mei’er can say.”
Gu Qingtong also seemed to summon great courage to utter those words.
“Mei’er feels itchy. Your Highness, go a bit lower, hmm—”
Yan Chi was clearly both urging her to speak and obstructing her at the same time. She embodied both the character of Xuan Qingyun and her own wickedness. All her actions were written in the script, merely requiring a semblance. The light veil served as the source of ambiguity and concealed the existence of Yan Chi’s sinful deeds. No one would know that their play-acting was genuine.
Gu Qingtong felt that her voice was about to be overwhelmed by tears, but she had to continue speaking with that soft and almost inaudible tone.
“The left side too, hmm, ah…..”
She wouldn’t naturally make such sounds, but Yan Chi had often done so in front of her. If Yan Chi was like a high mountain flower descending into the mortal world, adorned with unique colors, then Gu Qingtong was almost the only person capable of personally climbing, breaking, and enticing that high mountain flower.
She wouldn’t know that the awkward syllables she uttered could directly make someone half-melt. At this moment, all Gu Qingtong could perceive was that she was about to be overwhelmed and cry again. Not only Yan Chi but also several female staff on the side blushed simultaneously and exchanged glances. Did they perhaps act a bit too realistically?
Looking at the description in the script, even though they knew it was fake, it still made people unable to help but wonder what exactly the hand under the thin veil did to make Gu Qingtong react like that. Apart from making both of them blush and their hearts race, the assistant director naturally felt embarrassed and excited again. They also shared information with the group who couldn’t come to watch.
[Ah, ah, you guys couldn’t come see it, it was so thrilling! Director Yuan’s script is invincible!]
Immediately, someone replied:
[Tell us more! You are the hope of the whole village, quick, quick, quick, what general spoilers were in the script? It didn’t go directly to the real thing on the first day, did it?!]
[Come on, did you guys really think they went all the way? It was just for show, but Tong Mei’s lines were really—expressive, you know?]
[What was Teacher Yan’s reaction? Three seconds, I want to hear her exploding answer!]
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In this way, the shooting of this segment continued, and after it ended, there were close-ups shot by Yan Chi herself. If before, she had to overcome the unfamiliarity with the cameraman and let the camera play out her imagination, now, with Yan Chi in front of her, it felt like cheating. Whether she was treated as Yan Chi or Xuan Qingyun, Gu Qingtong could easily let go of the embarrassment in her heart and express her emotions. It made Gu Qingtong feel a bit uneasy that it was so effortless. When Yan Chi finally handed the camera back to the crew and shot her own close-ups, even the usually critical Yuan Jingyu couldn’t find any faults in this segment. She had been in the filming industry for a considerable amount of time, knowing how challenging scenes like these could be. In the previous movie, a simple scene involving two newcomers almost took one or two days to complete.
At this moment, the prepared afternoon for shooting two scenes unexpectedly only took up half of the time.
The only regret in her heart is that she should have written the part below the waist! It seems that she is still too conservative.
Yan Chi took a close-up shot, clearly able to easily get into the role. However, as soon as she saw Gu Qingtong, who wanted to escape, she insisted on keeping her and made Gu Qingtong sit across from her to repeat the scenes from before.
Gu Qingtong naturally knew she was doing it on purpose, but Yan Chi, with a straight face, said: “Without Miss Gu’s interpretation, I can’t grasp the character’s emotions well.”
Hearing this, Gu Qingtong was almost shocked. You can’t grasp it? Then no one can play it! But she could only pout and continue to be sealed under Yan Chi’s legs.
What’s even more outrageous is that Yan Chi, taking advantage of the character Xuan Qingyun that she portrayed being an unrestrained and audacious madwoman, continued to play around with her even when shooting close-ups in front of everyone. Although Gu Qingting was already accustomed to being in front of others without having to initiate herself, her ears still turned red with embarrassment.
As soon as these two scenes were truly completed, Gu Qingtong immediately stood up to leave. However, she almost forgot that she hadn’t put on her outer garment. The stylist hurriedly approached, holding her coat, and helped her put it on. Unexpectedly, in the haste, she bumped into the area where Yan Chi had pinched earlier.
She gasped and quickly moved back. Everyone’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to them, creating an awkward moment.
After learning about the situation, one couldn’t help but wonder…..did Teacher Yan…..really pinch her during the performance just now?
