After Ye Shanshan finished performing, he quickly retreated to the sidelines, quietly drinking tea and seizing the opportunity to eat some snacks. He also listened to Zheng Dong discussing various contract terms, such as publicity share and remuneration.
As he was eating, Ye Shanshan noticed that the casting director, Director Sun, had been looking at him. Ye Shanshan flashed a friendly smile, with a dimple appearing at the corner of his mouth, completely different from the cold smirk he had as Hu Yan earlier.
However, Director Sun was impressed by Ye Shanshan’s previous portrayal with the “gun”. He put down his tea cup and asked, “Shanshan, have you memorized the script?”
“I have, and I’ve also read the original work. The script is very good, and compared to others, the character of Hu Yan really appeals to me.”
“How so?”
Treating this like an exam, Ye Shanshan instantly became serious and organized his words, “The key point of the character Hu Yan lies in the drastic contrast between his appearance at the beginning and later in the story. Initially, he appears as a ‘violinist at the music academy,’ helping the male lead Wu Qian once and gaining his trust, which forms the basis for later developments in the plot.”
“Later, they, along with eight others, are brought into the castle. The owner of the castle demands that they find the ‘Observer’ among them and kill them in order to earn the right to leave the castle.”
As Ye Shanshan spoke, he noticed that Director Zhang and Zheng Dong had stopped their conversation and were listening attentively to him. Ye Shanshan felt nervous for a moment and silently recited in his heart, “May the radiance of the great angel shine upon me,” before continuing,
“From this point onwards, the plot of the drama enters a more confusing and mysterious stage, and Hu Yan’s role is to lead people to doubt and test each other, gradually revealing their dark sides. In the process, Hu Yan is suspected by Wu Qian several times, but he calmly dispels the doubts without revealing his true intentions. He also successfully directs the attention of the others, particularly towards the female lead, Jiang Rui, who is Wu Qian’s ex-girlfriend, all while wearing a mask of kindness and sincerity.”
As Ye Shanshan spoke, he picked up the plastic pen again and twirled it between his fingers.
“My favorite part is the final scene, where only three people remain. Wu Qian reluctantly kills Jiang Rui, only to realize that the game is not over. He then discovers that the ‘Observer’ is actually Hu Yan. However, he refuses to believe it, leading to a tense confrontation between the two, which is the most emotionally charged part of Hu Yan’s character development.”
Director Sun nodded, seeing that Ye Shanshan had indeed read the script carefully, and his tone softened, “What do you think is going on in Hu Yan’s mind during this scene?”
“Hu Yan is actually struggling. Although it’s not explicitly stated in the script, he orchestrated this game to kill the people responsible for his family’s death three years ago, seeking revenge. However, he later realizes that Wu Qian has no direct connection to that incident. Despite this, his hatred has driven him to this point, and even though he considers letting Wu Qian go, he ultimately shoots and kills him. After all nine people are dead, his determination to survive also disappears, and he ends his own life with the last bullet. Although the ending is tragic, it is consistent with his character.”
After finishing, Ye Shanshan couldn’t help but ask Director Zhang, “Director, with all ten characters dead, can a drama like this really pass censorship?”
Even before filming began, Ye Shanshan was already very worried. He always felt that he would be criticized by the audience for such a storyline.
Director Zhang cleared his throat and then waved his hand, “Don’t worry, it can pass. If it doesn’t, I’ll treat you to barbecue!”
“!” Ye Shanshan ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes shining, “A single barbecue meal won’t be enough, we’ll need at least three!”
“Agreed!” Director Zhang was increasingly satisfied with “Hu Yan” the more he saw him.
“However, there’s one issue I want to address beforehand. The male lead in ‘The Observer’ is played by Yan Ying, and I believe you two have a good relationship. The male second lead is played by Xu Tian, and there seems to have been some conflict between you and Xu Tian’s former agent.”
Zheng Dong glanced at Ye Shanshan and then said, “Our Shanshan is very professional and won’t bring any personal grudges to the set. You can rest assured.”
Director Zhang nodded. He detested it when actors spent more time scheming against each other than focusing on their performances. However, he had a good impression of Ye Shanshan and looked at him warmly, “Hu Yan, see you on set the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay, thank you, Director Zhang!”
Exiting the teahouse, Zheng Dong was curious, “Shanshan, why did you decide to take on this role?”
He had given Ye Shanshan the script because he knew the movie would definitely be successful, with a high chance of winning awards. However, Ye Shanshan—Zheng Dong didn’t believe Ye Shanshan’s reasons about being attracted to the script and the character.
Ye Shanshan was fastening his seatbelt and spoke seriously, “Don’t you think it’s quite intriguing for someone who appears to be kind and just on the surface to turn out to be the big boss who would kill even himself when provoked? It’s really impactful.”
Thinking about the shocked expression on Gong Yue’s face when the movie’s secret was revealed at the end, he couldn’t help but smile triumphantly.
Happy, indeed!
Zheng Dong looked at Ye Shanshan strangely, “I didn’t expect you to be like this, Shanshan! It seems like I’ve seen too little of the world.”
Back home, Ye Shanshan quietly ate a few pieces of biscuits in the kitchen and then wiped away the crumbs from his mouth, mastering the skill of covering his tracks.
Counting on his fingers, he realized that he would have a day off the day after tomorrow when he joins the crew. His eyes lit up, and Ye Shanshan hurriedly ran back to his room, took out the hair dye, and decided to seize the opportunity to be his true self!
So when Ye Shanshan appeared in front of Butler Hawke again, Butler Hawke nearly cut his hand with the scissors.
“Master Ye, what’s this about?”
“Uncle, I’m going to see Gong Yue now. I won’t have lunch at home.” Ye Shanshan, with his freshly dyed hair, felt like he was standing at the top of the world, looking chic and stylish, and he had to show it to the big boss.
Uncle Hawke put down the scissors in his hand and smiled, “The young master will surely be pleasantly surprised.”
***
Entering the dedicated elevator from the underground parking lot, Ye Shanshan was very excited the whole way, completely ignoring what Gong Yue had told him before, “Don’t dye rainbow colors, that’s the bottom line.”
At this moment, the elevator suddenly stopped on the tenth floor. Ye Shanshan turned his head towards the door, and through the opening on both sides, he saw Gong Yue in a dark suit, with Eiste and several other assistants following behind him, reporting something.
Ye Shanshan blinked and waved, “Brother!” with a sticky-sweet tone.
Eiste followed the sound and quickly lowered his head, stepping back a step to take another elevator, not wanting to disturb the boss’s love affair.
However, he discreetly glanced up at Ye Shanshan in the elevator and sighed inwardly. Master Ye was indeed extraordinary, even his hair color was so unique. However odd his hair color was, it actually looked good!
Gong Yue looked at the person smiling brightly at him and took a deep breath before stepping into the elevator.
As the elevator door closed, Ye Shanshan noticed that the big boss was staring straight ahead without saying a word. Thinking he might be too surprised, Ye Shanshan cleared his throat.
“We’re so destined to meet like this, as if a gust of fate has blown us into the same elevator!”
“Mm.” Gong Yue’s mood was extremely complicated.
“Hey handsome, where are you going?” Ye Shanshan, not knowing what strange character he had set up, couldn’t contain himself.
This time, Gong Yue glanced at Ye Shanshan and then looked away, asking him in return, “To the office. Where are you going?”
“Of course, I’m going into your eyes and your heart!”
As the elevator door opened, Gong Yue frowned, turned around, and ordered, “Don’t say that to anyone else.”
However, looking at Ye Shanshan’s rainbow-colored hair, he felt that his order might not have much effect. After a few seconds of silence, Gong Yue changed the subject, “Have you eaten?”
Ye Shanshan shook his head, and his hair swayed with the motion. “No, I haven’t. I came to eat with you.”
Following Gong Yue out of the elevator door, Ye Shanshan enthusiastically redirected the conversation.
“Brother, I’m joining the crew the day after tomorrow, so I quickly tried this new color, just for fun. I’ll wash it off when I get back. Do you think it looks good?”
His eyes were full of anticipation.
Gong Yue looked at Ye Shanshan, mentally preparing himself. Then he reached out and gently rubbed his head, “It looks good.”
Facing Ye Shanshan, Gong Yue’s bottom line had always been as low as the Mariana Trench. Seeing Ye Shanshan smiling at him with red lips and white teeth, he sighed, “But this is a one-time thing.”
***
“The Observer” crew moved quickly. In the afternoon, the official account of the movie posted an update, “Welcome Hu Yan online!” and tagged Ye Shanshan.
The onlookers were shocked, the Observer, Director Zhang, and Ye Shanshan?
“The Observer” is a classic literary work published ten years ago with a strong fan base, and the early promotion of the movie was well done.
It was rumored online that the casting for the role of Hu Yan had not been finalized, and everyone was still eagerly anticipating who would ultimately be chosen for the role. It can be said that there was great anticipation from the public.
Moreover, the original work of this movie is so classic that adapting it into a film is aimed at winning awards. Even if Hu Yan is the fourth male lead, a high-quality award-winning film can still enhance an actor’s reputation. So the competition was fierce.
However, no one expected it to be Ye Shanshan.
So, after the official account’s update, within half an hour, several threads quickly emerged on the Haijiao Forum,
“Which big shot can analyze Ye Shanshan’s acting skills!”
“Why did Director Zhang choose YSS? Is it a discerning eye or blindness?”
Meanwhile, Ye Shanshan quickly retweeted on Weibo to claim the role, and following Zheng Dong’s advice, she wrote, “Joining the crew the day after tomorrow, please support ‘The Observer’!”
Then the fans exploded.
“——From a childhood idol to a husband, I finally waited for the third role of the dewy little male fairy, but what’s the result? The fourth male lead! But what can I do? I still have to choose to buy tickets to watch!”
“——I don’t want to say anything. #RaiseMoneyForTheOPToPlayTheMaleLead#”
“——After I die, my grandson will burn paper for me, saying that the little male fairy finally got the fourth role. So sad.”
“——What happened to the world that said it looks at faces? What’s wrong with this world… @Zheng Dong, we don’t ask for much, can we at least get the third male lead? We need some progress!”
Ye Shanshan spent twenty or thirty minutes scrolling through the comments, delighted that this time the queue wasn’t neatly organized. So he quickly opened his camera and took a selfie, accompanied by the caption,
“Can you sense the immense power from my photo?”
Before clicking send, Ye Shanshan also asked Zheng Dong on WeChat if he could post a selfie now that he had claimed the role of Hu Yan, just to be cautious.
Zheng Dong replied quickly, “You can.” He felt that Ye Shanshan’s peculiar style of painting was like before, taking a selfie with rough hair. Anyway, as long as it’s not a scandal, no artist would complain about being too hot a topic.
So Ye Shanshan clicked send with peace of mind.
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
