Chapter 683: Bearing The Burden
Translator: Yunyi Editor: Yunyi
Chen Xingyan didn't understand, nor did she want to understand. She simply got out of bed, tidied up a little and returned to the set. She couldn't leave!
Seeing the staff were busy setting up, she hurried over to help, "Let me do it, I'm strong..."
"Ms. Chen, if I'm correct, you have already been replaced by the director," the lighting designer said as he stared at Chen Xingyan. "It's best if you go home. Don't waste your time here."
Chen Xingyan did not admit defeat as she went to pester someone else. However, in just one night, everyone's attitude towards her had changed.
More importantly, when the director finally appeared on set, he treated her like she did not exist. He didn't even glance at her once.
Chen Xingyan had never been humiliated in such a way.
But, knowing that it was her own fault, she could only take a deep breath and blink back her tears.
"Director, please take me back. I will do well this time."
"Take you back? It wasn't easy for me to convince An Zihao into getting rid of you. You think I'd take you back?" the director laughed. His laugh felt extra sarcastic, "I previously gave you a chance, but you didn't appreciate it. You fooled around all day, disregarded everyone, and still considered being a stunt double your main goal. So, you can go do what you want now, no one is going to hold you back."
Chen Xingyan endured the director's humiliation and desperately held back her tears. After a few moments, she finally said, "I can help out on set for free..."
After hearing this, the director eyed Chen Xingyan from top to bottom, "In the end, you're indeed only good for menial jobs. Do as you please, just don't appear in front of me."
Chen Xingyan felt a spark of hope as she immediately recovered her energy and began helping out on set.
From a distance, Lin Sheng spotted the busy Chen Xingyan; a smile subconsciously appeared on his face, "If she's smart enough, she will know how to turn the tables."
"Yes, she should study your acting in detail," Lin Sheng's assistant laughed.
Even in the past, Tangning had studied plenty of Lin Sheng's notes and gained a lot of insight.
He was, after all, the winner of three Best Actor Awards. In terms of acting, he was on par with actors like Bei Chendong and was highly experienced.
"Let's go, it's time to start."
In reality, this was exactly what Chen Xingyan had planned. She was going to watch Lin Sheng act while she helped out.
As she watched the way that Lin Sheng expressed himself with ease and fluidity, she finally experienced the shock of acting.
Sometimes, Lin Sheng would even ask the director if he could demonstrate some of the other roles. The director allowed him because he was curious how Lin Sheng would portray them. However, only Lin Sheng's assistant knew that his motive was to show Chen Xingyan how each role should be expressed.
Night hit. After a long day of work, An Zihao returned to find that Chen Xingyan was nowhere to be seen. So, in the middle of the night, he gave her a phone call, "Why haven't you returned?"
Chen Xingyan was standing beside the lake where she had filmed the night before. Inside, she really wanted to overcome her fear, but she still lacked a bit of courage.
"I am helping out on set," Chen Xingyan replied. "I need to make money so I can pay you back."
"OK. Since you don't have anything else to do, staying there will at least cure your boredom," An Zihao's words were cold but polite. It made Chen Xingyan uncomfortable.
This seemed to be a response of disappointment.
"An Zihao..."
"Speak!"
"Don't worry, it's nothing," Chen Xingyan wanted to know if An Zihao found her annoying. But, she couldn't get herself to ask.
Ever since she was a child, everyone listened to her and she was used to it. So, she always did things independently and never understood how to work in a team. Worst of all, she always felt that as long as she was happy, it didn't matter if others weren't. But, she never knew that a person like An Zihao existed in this world.
She liked her independent self, but...
At this point, Chen Xingyan stopped herself from thinking any further. She suddenly placed her phone aside and jumped straight into the water.
She then did what she had read online and tried her best to stand calmly in the water. Slowly, she managed to do it. In the end, she spent the entire night, jumping into the water and walking back to shore until her hands were white and shriveled.
The next morning, as soon as Chen Xingyan saw the director, she ran over and stopped him, "Director, I'm not afraid of water anymore. We can continue filming."
But, the director scanned his eyes across her and said, "Just because you were afraid of water, was I supposed to allocate extra time for you to practice. Next time, if you're afraid of the mountain, should I flatten it for you? Either way, this is the least of our matters. What about acting? Can you even act?"
Chen Xingyan didn't know how to respond but she endured it as usual. At least, she had already overcome her worst obstacle.
Although the director was yelling at her, he had already made a lot of exceptions. Normally, when filming, the set would always be cleared. Yet, he allowed her to appear on set.
As usual, Lin Sheng liked playing some of the other roles. After a couple times, Chen Xingyan slowly understood his motive. So, she began to take notes.
Seeing her take notes whenever she had time, the director sneered.
The assistant director glanced at Chen Xingyan and chuckled, "She's quite persistent. After the way that you yelled at her, she still hasn't left."
"If she left just like that, An Zihao would really need to hang himself," the director replied disdainfully. "Even though she appears serious, her acting may not necessarily improve. We still need to wait and see."
As a result, Chen Xingyan was extremely busy on set. On one side, she needed to improve her relationship with the crew, on the other, she needed to study Lin Sheng's acting. At night, she would practice, and during the day, she did all kinds of manual labor. However, this type of training seemed to be quite effective.
Even though the director still refused to let her act.
Soon, a new female lead appeared on set. Chen Xingyan felt like she had failed. She had put in so much work, yet the director was not moved by her efforts.
"Xingyan, the new female lead has arrived. You should go home now," the staff were afraid that she'd get hurt, so they kindly tried to persuade her. "It's already been finalized. You can't change anything."
Chen Xingyan was upset, but...
...she continued to persist, "It's fine. Didn't you say that the lamp was too heavy? Let me move it for you."
"But, this is really cruel for you."
No matter how cruel things were, it was because she did not try hard enough!
She couldn't blame anyone.
Chen Xingyan wanted to call Tangning to vent and to ask for her advice. But, Tangning was about to give birth. She didn't want to cause trouble for others.
They found a new female lead, huh?
Then, she would need to first see how strong her competition was.