Chapter 5: Xiao Chen, Feel Free to Ask Me If You Ever Have Any Questions

At nine in the morning, the film set gradually came alive.

Old Zhang, the lighting technician, held half a fried dough stick in his mouth as he adjusted the equipment. The makeup artists hurried about with their toolkits, while the stagehands pushed the dolly carts, creating a rumbling sound.

Jiang Ye was helping the sound engineer organize the microphone stands when he suddenly heard Su Youpeng’s slightly hoarse voice: "Alright, let’s run through the scene once!"

“Run through the scene?”

Chen Duling immediately put down her script and hurried over to the director’s side.

She stood straight, hands clasped in front of her, as attentive as a student listening to a professor’s lecture.

Only her wide, unblinking eyes were fixed intently on Su Youpeng, as if afraid to miss a single detail.

“Watch my expression changes carefully,” Su Youpeng said, suddenly turning his back to demonstrate, “from surprise to sadness, there should be a gradual transition…”

Chen Duling immediately rose onto her tiptoes, her slender neck instinctively stretching forward.

Seeing her view blocked, she pursed her lips, quietly shifted half a step to the left, then subtly moved to the right, adjusting like a cautious kitten seeking the perfect angle.

“The key is the timing of this turn…” Su Youpeng said as he turned back.

Chen Duling instantly lowered her gaze, pretending to study the script.

When the director turned away again, she quietly looked up, only to catch the back of Su Youpeng’s head.

Her lips parted slightly, as if wanting to ask something but hesitating to interrupt.

Her usually cool, composed face was filled with anxious urgency—clearly almost bursting with impatience but still forcing herself to stay calm.

“Pfft…”

A soft laugh made Chen Duling whip her head around.

Seeing it was Jiang Ye, she immediately tightened her expression and silently glared at him with her eyes: “No laughing!”

But the faint blush on her ears and the slight puffing of her cheeks rendered the warning utterly ineffective.

Jiang Ye, far from restraining himself, laughed even more brightly.

“This little script supervisor,” Chen Duling stepped next to him, her voice cool as a mountain spring, “seems to have strong opinions about my learning methods?”

“No, no,” Jiang Ye feigned seriousness, waving his hand, “it’s just that Teacher Chen looks especially…”

“Funny… no, especially adorable!”

“I’m observing performance techniques,” Chen Duling explained with a serious face, though her fingers unconsciously twirled a strand of hair, betraying a trace of nervousness.

Seeing her look a bit downcast, Jiang Ye lowered his voice: “Actually, I have a little trick…”

“You?” Chen Duling raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Yeah, just call me Teacher Jiang…”

“Stop bragging! Go play somewhere else and don’t mess around…”

“I’m not bragging…”

“Then tell me…”

“???”

“What’s wrong?” Chen Duling’s eyes flashed with slyness. “Can’t do it anymore?”

Jiang Ye blurted: “Who says I can’t?”

He looked around, then leaned in and whispered, “The essence of the director’s turn is…”

He covered the page with the script and quickly drew an arc on the paper. “The emotion should be like a parabola, with the highest point here…”

His fingertip tapped lightly on the paper.

Chen Duling involuntarily leaned closer, a strand of hair falling down.

Jiang Ye gently brushed the hair aside with his pen and continued, “Remember this rhythm, and you won’t be flustered during the turn.”

As the two of them focused on their exchange, Su Youpeng’s voice suddenly came from behind: “Little Jiang, I see you two are pretty engrossed?”

They both turned around simultaneously. Chen Duling stepped forward slightly without showing it: “Director, Jiang just helped me confirm the blocking…”

Su Youpeng smiled and interrupted, a sharp gleam in his eyes: “I heard everything just now. Little Jiang, why don’t you tell us how this scene should be handled?”

Jiang Ye scratched the back of his neck, a little embarrassed: “Director Su, I was just casually saying…”

“Don’t be modest,” Su Youpeng waved his hand, “I think you made a lot of sense.”

Jiang Ye wasn’t being modest; he was just afraid that if he spoke too well, Su Youpeng might lose his job…

But there was no reason to be timid.

“Director Su, when I was hanging around the crew with my uncle before, I saw some methods newcomers use to learn. Maybe it can help Teacher Chen.”

He walked to the center of the set, his tone calm: “Running through a scene is like learning to dance—you have to memorize the steps first before you can bring out the style.”

He naturally demonstrated a few basic blocking moves. “Newcomers’ biggest mistake is focusing too much on expression and neglecting the basic movement.”

Su Youpeng nodded thoughtfully.

Jiang Ye continued: “For example, in this scene, Teacher Chen can remember three key points…”

He precisely stepped on three markers. “This way, you don’t have to think about blocking and can concentrate on the emotional shifts.”

His explanation was straightforward, neither showing off nor lacking in professionalism.

At the crucial moment, he looked at Chen Duling: “Teacher Chen, you’re a science student, right? You can think of it like solving a problem—first build the framework, then fill in the details.”

?????

How does this guy know everything?

Chen Duling listened to his meticulous explanation, eyes slightly widening.

After Jiang Ye finished, Su Youpeng fell into a brief silence.

He nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly clapped: “That’s all for today. Everyone take a twenty-minute break.”

As the crew dispersed, Su Youpeng called over the assistant director, Gao Chuan: “Old Gao, did you recommend this Little Jiang?”

Gao Chuan’s heart skipped a beat, sweat instantly breaking out on his back: “Director Su, did this kid get into trouble?”

He lowered his voice, looking distressed: “I just knew young people can’t be trusted! Don’t be mad, I’ll go teach him a lesson right now…”

He was about to turn, but Su Youpeng stopped him: “Wait, the theory he just explained about running through the scene…”

“It’s all nonsense!” Gao Chuan immediately interrupted, “This kid just loves to show off. I’ll make sure to discipline him later!”

Su Youpeng: “……”

He rubbed his temples helplessly: “I mean, he explained it very professionally.”

Gao Chuan’s expression instantly froze: “Huh?”

“Even more clearly than I did,” Su Youpeng added. “I’m planning to make him my assistant director.”

“I’m a first-time director too, often juggling too many things.”

Gao Chuan immediately changed his tone and patted his chest: “Director Su, you really found the right person! This kid grew up on sets. His uncle is Lin Jianjun, a senior producer in the film division of Glorious Media!”

“I saw his potential at a glance and specially brought him in!”

Su Youpeng looked at him with a half-smile: “Oh? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“Well…” Gao Chuan rubbed his hands nervously, “I wanted him to get some grassroots experience first!”

…

“Quiet! Announcement.” Gao Chuan stood in the center holding a megaphone. “From today, Jiang Ye will serve as assistant director, responsible for coaching new actors on scene interpretation.”

The set immediately buzzed with excitement.

“What’s going on?”

“Hasn’t he only been here three days?”

“What’s this kid’s background?”

“I heard his uncle is an executive at Glorious…”

“Damn, another privileged kid!”

Amid the chatter, Jiang Ye strode over to Chen Duling with a cheeky grin.

“Little Chen~” he deliberately dragged out the tone, “if you ever don’t understand something, come find me anytime. Don’t be shy.”

?????

“Little…?”

“Little Chen???”

Chen Duling was so furious she nearly bit down on her own teeth!