Chapter 9: This Guy Doesn't Play by the Rules

In a corner of the makeshift dressing room for the *Left Ear* production, a few stagehands and lighting assistants huddled together during a break, cracking sunflower seeds.

Old Zhang lowered his voice, acting mysterious. "Have you guys noticed? That Assistant Jiang on our crew has been acting weirder and weirder lately."

Xiao Wang immediately leaned in. "What do you mean? Isn't he just some kid with an uncle in a high-ranking position at Enlight Media?"

"Naive!" Old Zhang spat out a seed shell. "Have you ever seen a nepotism hire get the director to teach him how to film scenes hands-on? The day before yesterday, during that rooftop scene, Director Su literally handed the monitor over to him!"

Xiao Li’s eyes widened. "Are you serious? I was too busy touching up Ma Sichun’s makeup..."

"It gets even weirder," Old Zhang said, glancing around. "Our lead actress, Chen Duling—she’s a total amateur. Why on earth is she the lead?"

Xiao Wang gasped. "Old Zhang, if you’re implying..."

"I’m just saying two things," Old Zhang said, ticking them off on his fingers. "First, Director Su agreed to cast her as the lead; the relationship between those two speaks for itself. Second, she and Assistant Jiang are now inseparable, coming and going together every single day..."

The powder puff in Xiao Li’s hand dropped to the floor with a soft thud. "You mean... Assistant Jiang is cuckolding Director Su...?"

"Shh..."

"If we weren't all from the same company, I wouldn't even dare mention it. Don't go spreading this around!"

"Don't worry, we're just talking among ourselves."

"But that kid has some nerve, doesn't he? Isn't this just completely disregarding the rules?"

Just then, Ma Sichun’s assistant, Xiao Zhao, pushed the door open, and the three of them immediately pretended to be discussing lighting plans.

Once Xiao Zhao had grabbed her items and left, Xiao Wang asked impatiently, "So, what’s going on between Ma Sichun and Ou Hao lately?"

"Shh..." Old Zhang lowered his voice. "Last week, I was out running by the beach. You know what I saw?"

"What?"

"Assistant Jiang and Ma Sichun! They were wrapped in each other's arms!"

He suddenly pursed his lips and made a "mua" kissing sound.

"You saw them kiss???"

"I... I swear on my life!!!"

"Impossible!" Xiao Li exclaimed. "Isn't Ou Hao his buddy?"

"They were playing basketball together just a few days ago. Wouldn't they have had a falling out by now?"

Xiao Li suddenly slapped his thigh. "Wait! I went to Ou Hao’s room to deliver a script in the middle of the night the day before yesterday, and it was Assistant Jiang who opened the door! His hair was still wet!"

All three of them gasped in unison.

Xiao Li held a sunflower seed near his mouth, frozen. "Could it be that this kid..." He held up a '1' with his left hand, a '0' with his right, and finally crossed his hands together.

Old Zhang smiled enigmatically. "Young man, ever heard of a menage a trois?"

"Holy crap!" Xiao Wang’s clapperboard hit the floor. "The entertainment industry is this wild?"

"You’re just inexperienced. This is nothing," Old Zhang said, crossing his legs. "Last year in Hengdian..."

"What happened?"

"I'm out of cigarettes..."

"???, Brother, take mine!"

"I'm used to smoking Chunghwa..."

"This... I'll go buy some!"

Suddenly, the production horn blared: "Attention everyone! We're filming Jiang Jiao's rooftop scene in five minutes!"

The three scattered like birds and beasts.

Old Zhang shouted back over his shoulder while running, "I'll finish the story on the boat to Dongji Island tomorrow. Make sure to get the soft-pack Chunghwa; I can't handle the hard ones..."

...

At the director’s tent, Su Youpeng took off his headphones and patted Jiang Ye, who was organizing the storyboard sketches. "Xiao Jiang, are you interested in working with me after you graduate?"

Jiang Ye didn't stop what he was doing. "Director Su, I’m only just about to start college."

"You kid..." Su Youpeng shook his head with a regretful smile. "The adjustments you made to the blocking in yesterday's scene—I think you were right. The effect was definitely much better!"

He pointed to the monitor. "How about you try directing Guan Xiaotong's scene today?"

Jiang Ye finally looked up. "Me? Is that appropriate?"

"None of that," Su Youpeng said, pulling him toward the monitor. "Consider it your coming-of-age gift. Just call me Brother Peng from now on."

When Jiang Ye sat in the director's chair, the entire crew seemed to hit a pause button.

The lighting director, Old Zhang, let the apple in his mouth fall into the equipment case; the script supervisor, Xiao Wang, mechanically flipped through the call sheet, misreading the third scene as the thirteenth; even Guan Xiaotong, who was touching up her makeup, stopped mid-stroke with her mascara wand, looking toward the monitor with suspicion.

Su Youpeng sat behind Jiang Ye, smiling like a proud father.

"Old Zhang..." Xiao Wang whispered behind his clapperboard. "Is this... a regime change?"

Old Zhang reached for a cigarette with a profound look. "I told you this kid wasn't simple..."

"Could it be that even Director Su has been..."

"No, I see it now. Could this guy be Director Su’s son?"

"Hey, now that you mention it, they do look a bit alike!"

"Shh, let's talk about it later!"

...

"Jiang Jiao's rooftop money-tossing scene, ready for the take!"

Guan Xiaotong stood at the edge of the roof, adjusting her school uniform collar, holding a stack of prop money.

Jiang Ye picked up the walkie-talkie: "Xiao Guan, when you toss the money, can you pause for two seconds? I want a close-up."

Guan Xiaotong nodded. "Understood, Brother Jiang Ye. Hold the money and look at it for a moment before tossing, right?"

"Exactly, it makes the emotion more intense." Jiang Ye turned to the cinematographer. "Mr. Wang, could we get a close-up of her hands, please?"

"Action!"

Guan Xiaotong looked down at the money in her hands, her fingers trembling slightly.

Suddenly, she raised her hands and threw the money into the air. Amidst the fluttering bills, she shouted her lines with red-rimmed eyes: "Zhang Yang! Do you really think I care about this?!"

"Cut! Very good!" Jiang Ye watched the playback on the monitor. "Xiaotong, the way the tears fell when you turned around was excellent."

As expected of a former child star, Jiang Ye thought her acting was significantly better than Chen Duling's.

Su Youpeng walked over to look at the frame. "This take is a wrap."

He smiled at Jiang Ye. "You’ve got a sharp eye for emotional beats."

Staff members whispered on the sidelines:
"This rookie director knows his stuff..."
"I heard he hasn't even started at the Beijing Film Academy yet..."
"Is that for real?"
"Next is You Ta's confession scene, Li Er's cousin is up!"

Hu Xia sat on the steps, holding a guitar. Jiang Ye suddenly squatted down next to him: "Brother Xia, for that last line, could you say it toward the empty seat on the left?"

"Hm?"

"The camera will pan out from Li Er's empty seat; it adds a sense of longing."

During the shoot, when Hu Xia looked into the void and said, "I like you; it’s my exclusive memory," every female staff member on set collectively clutched her chest.

Su Youpeng stared at the footage just captured on the monitor, then suddenly grabbed the assistant director. "Old Gao, how long has this kid been with the crew?"

Gao Chuan flipped through the call sheet. "By my count... twenty-seven days?"

"Damn it!" Su Youpeng looked at Jiang Ye, who was currently directing Guan Xiaotong. "This posture, it reminds me of when we were filming *The Message*..."

Gao Chuan was shocked. "Director Su, weren't you just an actor in *The Message*? Did you work as a director back then, too?"

"Weren't the directors Chen Guofu and Gao Qunshu?"

"..."

"I know!" Su Youpeng glared awkwardly. "I was just using it as a comparison!"

He stroked his chin, sighing. "This kid reminds me of myself when I was young..."

Gao Chuan was puzzled.

When he was young?
The Fifth Prince from *My Fair Princess*?
"You're heartless, you're cruel, you're unreasonable!"?

Though, the layers of performance in Director Su's work back then were indeed the "pinnacle of Qiong Yao-style acting."