CH 28

Because Ye Kehuan accidentally touched a sensitive area, Jiang Laien was also stunned. The subtle feeling was really hard to describe.

After Ye Kehuan regained her senses, she immediately loosened her grip on Jiang Laien, and stood in front of the pot again with hot earlobes. Holding the handle of the pot, she started to fry the ribs inside, and said, “Fry them well and give each some sauce. When the ribs are all nicely colored, then…”

Jiang Laien stood by, trying to take Ye Kehuan’s words seriously, but she couldn’t concentrate. Jiang Laien kept feeling as if Ye Kehuan’s hands were still covering her body, and the electric current-like touch would not dissipate for a long time.

After a while, several dishes finally came out one after another, and the two took them to the dining table and sat down.

Compared with other places, the lighting in the dining room looked a bit dim, but in that way, the food on the table appeared fuller and richer. Jiang Laien had been stunned by those foods even before she began to move her chopsticks.

“The dishes you cooked really look delicious.” Jiang Laien put her hands slightly together and placed them on her cheek.

Ye Kehuan nodded.

But the fact was that, to Ye Kehuan, the deliciousness of the food on the table did not seem to be as good as one ten-thousandth of Jiang Laien sitting on her side. Yes, Jiang Laien seemed to be more delicious than all the delicacies of the mountains and seas. Ye Kehuan found some weird thoughts in her heart begin to stir.

Then, Jiang Laien poured two cups of drinks, one for Ye Kehuan, then lifted her cup into the air, smiling: “Okay, come on, we will celebrate you getting the role of Su He!”

“Okay.” Ye Kehuan’s lips curled slightly, and then she picked up her glass of drink, touched it gently, and drank the drink into her belly.

At the same time, in a certain villa.

Ye Kehuan’s rival, Cheng Yan, sat in front of a makeup mirror. After removing her earrings, she stared at herself in the mirror, and her eyes became blood red unknowingly.

“So, you mean, Director Chen asked Ye Kehuan to act as the heroine, and then he asked me to act as the vicious female partner Mo Jiaojiao?” Cheng Yan suddenly turned her head and looked at her agent, Liu Neng, who was standing next to her.

“Yes.” Liu Neng nodded.

“Ha.” Cheng Yan, after listening, suddenly slapped the dressing table. “What a joke for the ages?! Ye Kehuan playing the heroine, but I am playing the vicious female partner in it? Why?! Ye Kehuan, is there something going on between her and Chen Fei?”

“Yanyan, don’t be so impatient, we have to think of the good in everything, right?” Liu Neng put his hands on her shoulders, trying to stabilize her emotions.

“How do you think I can benefit? In a short period of time, the person surnamed Ye first took away my opportunity in the variety show, then took away my heroine role. What about you, what did you do? You didn’t get anything for me! Good Liu Neng, what can you do; I think you should just change your name to Wu Neng!” Cheng Yan began to shake her head on the spot. 1

Liu Neng frowned when he was being scolded, but he dared not speak, because Cheng Yan was born in a rich family and had a lot of businesses behind her, and he couldn’t afford to offend her at all.

“Yanyan, at least we got the chance to participate in a film by Director Chen, didn’t we? How many people don’t have that chance in their lifetime?” Liu Neng smiled.

Cheng Yan just tugged at the corners of her mouth, showing a nonchalant smile.

After Liu Neng cleared his throat, he continued: “What’s more, Ye Kehuan’s acting skills are so bad. When you compare, you will know which one is higher and lower. The audience are not fools. If they see you are so good but she is so bad… She is basically useless in terms of word-of-mouth, and there is a high probability that it will arouse public ridicule. At that time, we will buy a marketing account and praise you for stepping on her, and the public’s attention will return to you. Isn’t it good?”

When Cheng Yan heard this, her eyebrows moved slightly, her expression eased a little, and her lips curled: “Okay, I know, you will be condemned by the heavens if you are not worthy. The more she is proud of her horseshit luck today, the more likely she will be to fall to pieces.”

After seeing Cheng Yan, the super little princess, return to happiness, Liu Neng raised his hand and quietly wiped off a bead of sweat from his forehead.

After that, Cheng Yan looked at Liu Neng again: “Well, you go back, I want to rest.”

“Well, then, I’ll go first.” Liu Neng nodded and walked to the door.

In fact, after the news about Ye Kehuan becoming the heroine of the movie “Black Bites” came out, it did cause quite a sensation and a lot of splashes on the Internet.”

Some people had questions about Ye Kehuan’s participation in such a large-scale film:

[It is undeniable that Ye Kehuan performed very well on variety shows and was very pleasing, but it is also a fact that her poor acting skills are obvious, isn’t it? Can this be ignored? ? ?]

[I heard that Cheng Yan also auditioned for that role, but she was removed. Could it be that Ye Kehuan has been popular recently, so he is going to use her? Director Chen, please think twice!]

[Cheng Yan’s acting skills are like heaven and earth compared to Ye Kehuan. I’m unconvinced.]

…

However, some netizens expressed their support:

[Before Ye Kehuan participated on the variety show, didn’t you all think she would only leave soot behind and be a demon? But the result? If she got this role, it means that the director has taken a fancy to her, doesn’t it?]

[Yes, she used to have poor acting skills, but it doesn’t mean that she hasn’t made progress now. She can pass the screening of the director’s all-seeing eyes. Doesn’t it mean that she is quite capable?]

In addition, there were some passers-by who were a bit disgusted with Cheng Yan’s fans, and couldn’t help but post: “If your master can’t compete with others, you have to blame others for not giving opportunities to your master? What kind of strange logic is that? ^^”

Then someone commented: “+1. I am really annoyed just watching. If Cheng Yan is really so good, why would her chance be stolen? Let alone the unspoken rules, who doesn’t know how rich her family is. It should be her unspoken rules that drowns others.”

…

The comments were good and bad, some were optimistic and some were not, some were mocking Ye Kehuan, waiting for Ye Kehuan to get embarrassed, and some supporting Ye Kehuan and cheering for her. That would be true until the end of the movie’s opening night.

However, Ye Kehuan was now more Buddhist, and she was automatically filtering out the harsher sounds.

Since I am an artist, I should do my job well, complete all the announcements carefully, take performance classes seriously, and polish my acting skills.

What was more, everything was developing in a good direction. In a short period of time, Ye Kehuan’s Weibo followers could even be compared to Zhou Junyi.

In the past, her Weibo posts usually only had about 2,000 comments, but now they had more than 10,000. The number of fans in the fan club had increased visibly, and had a more comprehensive fan system, and even had their own name--Coke. 2 

In the past, even if she was silent for half a month, no one would remember, but now, if she did not post on Weibo for a few days, someone would jokingly ask her where she died.

Life was really peculiar. It went back and forth, and people’s views on others were always changing. However, in the end, as long as it was developing in a good direction, it was fine.

Ye Kehuan didn’t know how to repay them. She just watched many film and television works every day, asked people for advice on acting skills, and read many books, trying to improve herself so as to live up to her expectations.

In addition, whenever she saw fans posting pictures of her, no matter how ugly, she would carefully preserve the photos; she would also carefully read every handwritten letter sent by her fans, and after reading them, then carefully put it into a s small box she bought specially for storing letters.

A few months passed, and Ye Kehuan felt that her condition was getting better and better.

The official start time for the movie “Black Bites” was in the middle of December, in winter, and it was shot in Chongyuan City.

The temperature in Chongyuan City was lower than that in Senchuan City, and the cold wind blew on the skin, which was sharp as a knife and felt like it would erode bones. The streets there seemed to be completely blocked by an invisible fog every day, and the noon sun couldn’t see through it, but that kind of atmosphere was quite compatible with “Black Bites”.

After all, it was a suspenseful and supernatural film, which originally needed a misty and gloomy feeling.

There were two lodgings provided by the crew, namely Warwick Hotel and Huazi B&B. Warwick sounded grandiose, but in fact, the conditions of Huazhi were better for more ordinary chain hotels.

Because Jiang Laien and Ye Kehuan were both female protagonists, Chen Fei arranged them in the Huazhi B&B, each with one room, both on the third floor, and counter as neighbors.

The decoration of the homestay looked pretty good. The balcony was large. The sliding doors were hung with elegant and clear curtains. There was a bunch of dried flowers in the vase on the low table in the room. There were several oil paintings on the TV wall. The sofa was very soft and the whole feeling was very soft, cute and fresh. The homestay was even equipped with a small kitchen with a refrigerator, oven, microwave, etc., but, probably because of potential safety hazards, only electricity was allowed.

This was the most humane treatment from the crew that Ye Kehuan had been with. The accommodations provided by the crew she was staying with before were really in-humane and messy. She would wake up in the middle of the night to beat cockroaches and mice. If it weren’t for that reason, she would not have chosen to rent a house near the crew later.

It didn’t matter whether she was dirty or messy when filming, but she still wanted to have a more comfortable environment when she was resting, which would also help replenish her energy and let her devote more energy to the next day’s work.

After putting down their luggage at the hotel, the two of them went to the Juxing Restaurant and everyone in the crew ate together.  After all, it was a ritual they still had to go through.

Before they knew it, the two walked out of the hotel. Ye Kehuan let out a white breath, a little nervous. You know, it was not a variety show.

In the next second, Ye Kehuan and Jiang Laien pushed in and walked to the table where the important actors were sitting.

She saw that the people sitting there were all talented actors. The national rankings were extremely high. They belonged to the kind who would be recognized by anyone if they were asked.

For example, Zhang Haotian, who often played a badass in high-rated movies, and Lu Yan, who often played mother-in-laws in high-rated movies, were all known as quality guarantees. Zhang Haotian was even an actor when he was young.

In addition, at that table, there was Cheng Yan sitting, talking and laughing with others, her eyebrows and eyes were full of demeanor.

That day’s Cheng Yan was well-dressed, carrying the latest Hermes limited edition bag, wearing Prada clothes, wearing beautiful lipstick and exquisite eye makeup. It didn’t look like she was there for dinner. It was more like going to Didi.

When Ye Kehuan saw her, she smiled at her in a friendly manner.

When Cheng Yan looked at her, she chuckled and pretended not to see her.

Ye Kehuan didn’t care either, just sat down with Jiang Laien.

After everyone saw Jiang Laien and Ye Kehuan coming, they all took the initiative to talk to Jiang Laien, and automatically filtered her out.

Acting was different from filming variety shows. As an actor, the looks of her peers were more focused as to whether she had the strength. They felt that she was not capable, because the stereotypes were particularly strong.

For example, when it came to Ye Kehuan, who didn’t know that Ye Kehuan was the queen of bad movies, plus, they weren’t very popular. It was just that the reality show went viral recently. Therefore, everyone would rather chat with Cheng Yan, who played the vicious female partner, than her.

After all, Cheng Yan’s acting skills were still passable among the new generation of little flowers, and Ye Kehuan left no impression of them.

Everyone even wondered if Director Chen was drunk when he was selecting the cast, after all, Director Chen was a drunkard.

Cheng Yan smiled brighter when she saw Ye Kehuan’s cold reception and no one wanted to take care of her. Her agent was right, in the end, everyone had to speak with strength.

“Xiao En, is this the third time we have cooperated?” At this moment, Zhang Haotian looked at Jiang Laien.

“Yes, it’s the third time. It must be fate.” Jiang Laien responded with a smile.

“It is really comfortable to film with you. Basically, there is no NG. It is especially easy. Children with high savvy are different.” Zhang Haotian had always admired Jiang Laien.

“It’s great, that’s the blessing of your predecessor’s advice in this business.” Jiang Laien smiled very movingly.

“That also requires you to be talented. Hey, there are really not many children in the entertainment circle who are down-to-earth when filming like you. And talents like you are even rarer, and many people will be a bit fake. Looking for a stand-in, playing big names, not taking serious shots, making hype, or something.” Lu Yan said that she glanced at Ye Kehuan from the corner of her eye.

She had a deep prejudice against Ye Kehuan, because her acting career was really full of ups and downs, so she especially looked down on people who would turn tricks, and in her heart, Ye Kehuan was such a person.

That referred to what the grapevine said, and everyone there could understand who it was about.

Jiang Laien looked at her for a moment, and suddenly smiled: “Sometimes, I can’t say anything. There are some people working behind the scenes that outsiders can’t see.”

“Yes.” At this time, the actor Chen Jiaxin looked at Cheng Yan.” Moreover, the entertainment industry is not so unbearable nowadays. Yanyan is pretty good, and Bai Wei, who is full of potential, will definitely shine in the future.”

After listening, Lu Yan nodded immediately: “Ah, yes, yes, Yanyan is very good, her eyes are very playful, very vivid!”

In short, everyone deliberately avoided Ye Kehuan.

At this time, Cheng Yan laughed: “Everyone saying this, I am really flattered!”

After Jiang Laien swept her eyes around everyone at the table, she slowly took her hand off the table and placed it on Ye Kehuan’s lap under the table.

Ye Kehuan was taken aback for a moment, then looked at her. Then Jiang Laien patted her leg gently. Ye Kehuan understood that Jiang Laien was comforting herself silently, telling herself not to think too much, so she couldn’t help but smile.

No matter how cold it was in winter, Jiang Laien’s actions were warm to her heart, enough to dispel all the coldness.

In the next second, Jiang Laien opened her mouth and changed the subject: “When will Director Chen arrive?”

Zhang Haotian picked up his phone: “I just sent him a WeChat message, and she said he has already arrived downstairs.”

“Good.” Jiang Laien smiled.

After the topic was changed off, everyone began to talk about other things.

After Chen Fei arrived, the waiter began to serve dishes one after another. The dishes were very rich, complete with chicken, duck, fish, as well as vegetables and fruits. The taste was not bad, but Jiang Laien felt that there was still something missing compared to Ye Kehuan’s.

The meal had probably lasted nearly two hours, everyone was chattering and drinking, and unknowingly, it seemed that everyone had become completely acquainted, except for Ye Kehuan.

When the meal was over, when Ye Kehuan and Jiang Laien packed up and left the hotel, as soon as they opened the door, Jiang Laien was shaken by the cold outside.

When Ye Kehuan saw that, she stretched out her hand and twisted Jiang Laien’s coat: “You always wear too little, no wonder you are intolerant of freezing.”

After listening, Jiang Laien looked up at her and blinked innocently: “I just wanted to come out for a while. I only need to walk a few steps on the road. The restaurant has air conditioning, so I didn’t wear too much.”

When Ye Kehuan saw her winking innocently, she couldn’t help but say she was cruel, but after pulling the zipper to the top, she put the hat on her head, and then walked towards the hotel with her.

As she walked, Ye Kehuan suddenly said: “Just at the dinner, thank you.”

Jiang Laien turned her head to look at her and smiled: “Thank you, I didn’t do anything.”

Ye Kehuan lowered her head to look at her and smiled: “How can I say it, I can feel…”

Jiang Laien looked at her for a long time, laughed, and rubbed her hands again: “What do you feel?”

“Feel…” Ye Kehuan looked at her sideways. “You care about me.”

Jiang Laien continued to rub her hands, the corners of her lips still smiling: “Fool.”

Ye Kehuan discovered that Jiang Laien liked to laugh and scold her for being a fool. At the same time, she also found that she liked being scolded by her as a fool.

“Ye Kehuan.” At this moment, a strong male voice suddenly rushed out behind her.

After Ye Kehuan and Jiang Laien turned around, they discovered that the person who came was Chen Fei, who was wearing a cap that would last forever.

“Director Chen?” Ye Kehuan looked at him, wondering what was wrong, with him stopping her.

“The shooting will start tomorrow.” Chen Fei walked to her side, and when he spoke, some white air burst from his mouth.

“Yes.” Ye Kehuan nodded.

“Do you have a bottom line?” Chen Fei asked.

Ye Kehuan slowly squeezed her hands and nodded: “Of course.”

“That’s good,” Chen Fei touched his nose. “It doesn’t matter what others say, and when you question yourself, please remember that you were chosen by this old monster. This is your biggest hole card.”

After Chen Fei finished speaking, he chatted with Jiang Laien again, and then turned and left.

Ye Kehuan looked at his back and laughed. Director Chen had personality, and she liked it!

After returning to her residence, Ye Kehuan took out the script after washing up, carefully pondering the part that the director said would be filmed the next day.

The next day, Ye Kehuan would mainly shoot three parts. One was the one she played during the audition, but the next day they would film it in a longer and more detailed manner. It would also cover Su He and people calling to make an appointment at the bar to complain.

The second part was where she was ridiculed by Mo Jiaojiao, played by Cheng Yan, in the background when she was rushing for the announcement. After turning around and pointing to her face to counterattack, she closed the door and ran away.

The last part to be filmed was the scene where she and Jiang Laien met on a snowy night. In that scene, she first jumped out of the nanny car, and then when she was about to go back to her apartment, she discovered a series of things that happened after she found a long-haired woman in white clothes in front of her.

When it was over, Ye Kehuan found that she was okay in other places, but she couldn’t do that part.

Because she was not afraid of ghosts. She was not afraid of ghosts at all. She was full of socialist scientific concepts. How could she truly perform the feeling of being especially afraid of ghosts?

How should she deal with that kind of fear? She tried several times in the mirror, but found that her performances were either very fake and exaggerated, or they were too polite and perfunctory.

“How can I act better here…” Ye Kehuan pulled her hair, tangled it for a long time, finally running out with the script, walked to the door of Jiang Laien, reached out and knocked on the door, “Laien, are you asleep? Can I come in?”

“No, come in.” At that moment, Jiang Laien’s soft voice came out from inside.

With permission, Ye Kehuan opened the door and walked in without saying a word. As soon as the door was opened, she ran into Jiang Laien sitting on the sofa, applying some skin care products to her legs.

Her legs were already beautiful, and her skin was soft and smooth. Under that light, she naturally looked more moist and white. At first glance, she looked like a cat. She was light and exquisite. No matter where she was, she looked great.

Ye Kehuan couldn’t help staying in the doorway.

“What’s the matter?” Jiang Laien, who was applying body lotion to her legs, put the small bottle on the table next to her, stood up, and looked at her.

Ye Kehuan’s gaze condensed on her lap for a moment, retracted, closed the door, squeezed the script in her hand, and raised it into the air: “I found a very magical thing.”

“Huh?” Jiang Laien approached her, looked at her, and then at the script, her eyebrows were like willow leaves, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s the first time that Su He saw Qi Luo. Wasn’t she scared to death? I found that my acting was too fake. Maybe it was because I kept thinking about ghosts and weird things when I acted. Yes,” Ye Kehuan said, “I just don’t know what to do.”

“When filming, many times you have to let yourself take the role to feel. Imagine what you would do when facing a certain situation. But when you can’t substitute in, you can substitute in another way, such as… You don’t have to imagine what would happen to you if you met a ghost, just think about, say, meeting a mentally ill patient, and he will stab you, and you don’t have a weapon, what might happen to you.”

After hearing this, Ye Kehuan suddenly gained enlightenment, and realized: “That’s right, I understand why you are so good!”

“Well, do you want to practice this scene with me?” Jiang Laien flicked the script to the chosen page.

“Good!” Ye Kehuan nodded without saying a word.

Jiang Laien opened the script and looked at it.

Then Ye Kehuan intuitively looked at Jiang Laien’s profile. Gentle willow eyebrows, watery almond eyes, full and charming lips. Although she had a plain face, it was also poetic and picturesque. She was probably a descended fairy.

Just as Ye Kehuan was staring at her, Jiang Laien looked at her suddenly, smiled and asked, “What’s the matter, is there something dirty on my face?”

Ye Kehuan opened her lips slightly, raised her hand to touch the tip of her nose, and shook her head: “No.”

“Then what do you think after watching for so long?” Jiang Laien let go of the script.

Ye Kehuan looked into her eyes, only feeling that there were thousands of spring water droplets in those eyes, which made people feel like drowning in them.

“You are too beautiful.” Ye Kehuan finally spoke out.

After listening, Jiang Laien smiled lightly, stretched her eyebrows, and moved closer to her: “Really? To what extent?”

Ye Kehuan stared at her: “It will make people fascinated to a large degree.”

The author has something to say: I fell asleep while writing and writing last night…

TL/N

1 - This is a common retort/dissing scheme in Chinese. Liu means Six, and Wu means Five. Cheng Yan is putting him down. Another example would be saying something like, "If you are Liu Neng, then I am Ye (Seven) Neng!"

2 - So the word here is  可乐 (KeLe). They are using the first character of Kehuan and Le meaning joy. It is also the word for Coke or any cola.