CH 57

The Top Couple Is a Bit Sweet by Krish72818-22 minutes

After the iron-lunged male fan roared, those who understood in the audience laughed, while those who didn't understand were confused for a while, but then they also understood and laughed too.

The judges were all renowned directors and producers in the film and television industry. They had to give face to Song Yan, so they couldn't laugh too openly. Only Yu Weiguang, relying on the fact that he was Song Yan's teacher and had an extraordinary relationship with him, crossed his arms and laughed like a honking goose.

His laughter, which resembled a honking goose, was quite amusing. Some people didn't laugh because of the iron-lunged male fan's words but because Yu Weiguang's laughter hit their funny bones.

"Director Yu, calm down," the host relied on his strong professional skills to desperately control his expression, "Once this episode airs, the audience won't be able to see your face anymore. The screen will be full of geese."

Laughter filled the venue, while both Song Yan and Wen Li, on stage, looked extremely embarrassed.

Wen Li asked in a daze, "Can you guys edit this segment?"

The answer came from the audience below.

"You can't edit it!"

"No, you can't!!"

"Let Song Yan lose face when it airs!"

Song Yan: "?"

Are these people even his fans?

There was nothing Wen Li could do at this point. She had originally intended to help restore Song Yan's dignity, but she alone was too weak. There were too many live audience members standing against her.

Wen Li turned her head to look at Song Yan, intending to comfort him with a few words. However, when he caught a glimpse of her gaze from the corner of his eye, he pursed his lips, turned his face away, and avoided her directly.

She sighed inwardly.

Song Yan's temper was considered good. If it were her, she might have started digging a tunnel right on the spot.

The host immediately said, "Teacher Wen Li, take a look. This is the voice of the masses."

Once the masses heard their voices being taken seriously by the host, they immediately began loudly demanding their true desires.

Among them, the CP fans in the camp of the iron-lunged fan were the most arrogant.

"Kiss each other!"

"Kiss each other, kiss each other!"

"The voice of the masses demands that you both kiss!!"

Various situations often occurred in the presence of the audience. Many on-screen and off-screen couples had been teased like this. Those who liked to show affection would go along with the audience's wishes and kiss their partners. Those with thinner skin would cover their mouths and laugh as if they hadn't heard anything. The host would be responsible for defusing the situation and providing an exit. Generally, those who shouted like this were fans who were more lively and sought to create a lively atmosphere. If they really kissed, it would be considered a treat, and if they didn't, the disappointment wouldn't be too great.

The on-site staff and guests treated this as a normal interaction between celebrities and fans and didn't voice any objections. They were all watching the show. The host even deliberately asked, "With such high demands from the masses, how about the two teachers give us... hmm? A display of affection?"

"Kiss each other, please!"

"We've never seen you kiss before!!"

"Kiss, kiss, kiss! A deep kiss!!"

The host added fuel to the fire, but Wen Li instinctively couldn't agree. Otherwise, every time they had a joint appearance in the future, there would be no peace.

Wen Li's expression was clearly awkward. After all, she was a girl, it was normal for her to feel embarrassed and hesitant to take the initiative. The host turned to look at Song Yan.

"Teacher Song Yan?"

The man, who hadn't fully recovered from the awkwardness just now, raised the microphone and moved his lips. His Adam's apple moved up and down as he whispered, "We will talk about it at home."

"No..."

"No, you can't!"

"If you go home, we won't be able to see it!"

Yu Weiguang laughed like a goose once again, and after laughing enough, he finally remembered that Song Yan was his student and he should speak up to help. He turned to the audience members who were teasing and said, "Enough with that. Can't you see that it's going too far?"

This segment had an explosive effect, but it couldn't delay the performances of the following guests. The host didn't dwell on it any longer and said a few words to ease the situation for the guests, then asked the two guests to take a break.

After stepping down from the stage, Wen Li could finally sit down comfortably and rest. But Song Yan still had another performance to do, a collaboration with Ning Junxuan, so he had to quickly change out of his wig and costume.

This was Song Yan's second appearance, and within a short period of time, he would be entering two completely different roles. The previous one was a cunning Emperor with refined dialogue, while this one was a fierce and silent righteous police officer with straightforward lines and intense action scenes.

Wen Li watched his entire performance without blinking, and when the director called "cut", a sense of pride surged within her.

Her taste in men was truly exceptional!

After the program recording was completed, Wen Li went back on stage to present awards to the winning students. Wang Miao and Ning Junxuan didn't win the championship; they received the "Most Beloved by the Audience Award" and the "Most Popular among the Media Award" respectively. When Wang Miao received her award, she specifically thanked Wen Li.

"I want to thank Teacher Wen Li for her guidance these past few days. It was Teacher Wen Li who summarized her own experience, combined it with her new ideas, and taught me. I hope I can perform better under her guidance, which is why we have the Little Fox Fairy today."

Wang Miao's words were eloquent, not offending anyone, and genuinely acknowledging Wen Li's contributions.

The guest presenting the award happened to be Duan Hong.

"Teacher Duan," Wang Miao took the trophy, looked up, and spoke solemnly, "Teacher Wen Li is truly an outstanding actress worth learning from."

Duan Hong's face twitched slightly, and he nodded, "I know."

Wang Miao smiled and turned around noticing Wen Li's grateful gaze.

The final episode of [The S-Class Acting Awards] concluded with splendid performances from all the students and guests. The venue was filled with celebration, fireworks, and flying confetti. A group of bright-eyed young actors would officially embark on their professional careers.

After the program recording ended, Wen Li received an audition invitation from Qiu Ping.

"I know Old Zhou has already given you the script. Set a time for the audition when you return to Yancheng," Qiu Ping said before leaving in his car, "I'll treat you and Ah Yan to a meal then."

He had declined numerous invitations from Lu Dan before, using various excuses each time. But now, he unexpectedly took the initiative to invite her for a meal.

The feeling of winning people over with her own abilities was truly wonderful.

——

It was already late. There were many guests who came to the program recording today, including fans of the new student participants who organized to support them during the finale. To avoid accidents, the exit for the guests was not open to the fans.

Wen Li sat in the car heading back to the hotel and revisited Yu Weiguang's movie throughout the journey.

During the rehearsals, there wasn't enough time to carefully watch the original film. Now that the program was over, she wanted to see the differences between her performance and the actress who played the Empress in the movie.

She wanted to know how far she was from being a true big-screen actress.

In the movie, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were at odds with each other. They both knew that the only solution to this deadlock was to kill the other, yet they were unwilling to let go and continued tormenting themselves day after day.

They loved and hated each other, being both enemies and allies, deeply entwined in complex emotions. The demands on the actors were very high. While it was manageable to perform a short segment, it might be challenging for Wen Li to sustain it throughout the entire script.

She was relieved, "Fortunately, I only have to act in a small part of it."

"It's not necessarily the case. Movies have sufficient filming periods, and on set, directors strive for perfection, repeatedly guiding actors to find their best state. So, these two and a half hours are the essence. If given enough time, you can do it too," Song Yan said objectively.

Wen Li nodded and then asked him, "Hey, by the way, what important work did you have back then that made you turn down Director Yu's movie?"

"I forgot," Song Yan replied.

Wen Li clearly didn't believe it, "Forgot? You forgot something that made you turn down Director Yu's movie? Really?"

She thought that Song Yan must be hiding something. She tapped the back of the driver's seat and asked, "Ah Kang, what important work did your brother have that made him turn down Director Yu's movie?"

"Huh?" Ah Kang pondered for a moment and said uncertainly, "I remember my brother was on a break—"

"Ah Kang," Song Yan interrupted in a calm voice, "Don't say uncertain things."

Ah Kang also couldn't recall it clearly and nodded, "Okay, sorry, Sister Wen Li, I also can't remember."

"It's alright," Wen Li didn't really expect to find out the truth. She handed her tablet to Song Yan. Since watching a movie alone wasn't interesting, she asked if he wanted to watch it together.

Song Yan didn't have anything else to do while sitting in the car, so he decided to watch it with her.

In the movie, the struggle between the Twelve Bureaus and the Court had reached its climax. The atmosphere of the entire scene was extremely oppressive, the music was heavy and mournful.

After the chilling political plot, there came the only intimate scene in the movie.

Wen Li realized something was wrong and quickly put on her headphones. She also handed a pair of headphones to Song Yan.

The Empress Dowager was pinned to the corner of the bed by the Emperor. She immediately became anxious and asked Emperor what he intended to do.

The Emperor said, "Empress Dowager, I want you."

With the canopy of the bed hanging down and the flickering candlelight, this love born amidst political strife was against common ethics—secret, dark, intense, and addictive.

"In my childhood, I didn't receive the Emperor's love. My mother had a lowly status, and after receiving his imperial favor once, she never saw the Emperor again, eventually dying in despair. My brothers looked down on me. Whenever they went together to study in the right wing of the Imperial Extreme Gate, I was always left behind, too afraid to walk beside them. They would purposely slow down, making me late and eventually getting punished by the teacher's cane. No one spoke up for me, not even my study companion, who laughed along with them."

"At that time, I hated them, hated my brothers and their favored consort mothers. I vowed that one day, I would make them taste what it's like to be neglected. Later, when you entered the palace, you received all of the Emperor's favor. He stopped going to the other consorts' chambers for you. My brothers privately called you the enchanting concubine. At that time, I was grateful to you for making them experience neglect, but I also hated how easily you won all of the Emperor's attention."

"Why are you so lucky? The love that I and my mother never obtained throughout our lives, why can you effortlessly hold it in the palm of your hand?"

"You were born with everything. Your father and brothers were willing to defy my commands for you, your family protected you, allowing you to grow up safe and carefree. The old emperor loved you, neglecting the other consorts for you, turning into a weak ruler. And I, I am not a wise ruler either—"

The Emperor paused, his expression complex, while his caressing and kissing gestures remained tender.

"Knowing it's impossible, knowing it's unforgivable, the more I struggle, the more I love you."

"Empress Dowager, look at me, pity me. My heart is about to be shattered by you..."

This bed scene was filmed with such intensity, from the dialogue to the visuals, it was both shameful and exciting.

Wen Li swallowed nervously.

Fortunately, they weren't paying tribute to this scene.

The sacrifice would be too great. Compared to this, all the hugging and kissing in the idol dramas she had acted in seemed like child's play.

"Sister, Teacher Song, we have arrived at the hotel."

Wen Wen had just reminded them, but there was no response from the people behind her. So she raised her voice and shouted again, but still no response.

She turned her head and saw her sister and Teacher Song still looking down at their tablet, each wearing a headphone. Normally, they should have been able to hear her speak.

Were they completely absorbed in what they were watching?

She stretched her neck, wanting to see what her sister and Teacher Song were watching.

She glanced at the screen, and Miss Yu Wen Wen, who had never been in a relationship, immediately pulled her head back, eyes wide open, and her ears burning hot.

Her reaction was too exaggerated, which finally managed to distract Wen Li, who was fully focused on watching the movie.

"We have arrived at the hotel?"

Wen Li put away her tablet and said to Song Yan, "Let's continue watching in our room. We're halfway through; we might as well finish it."

Song Yan nodded, "Okay."

Watching her sister and Teacher Song leave, Wen Wen sat in the passenger seat, her mind repeatedly echoing the phrase "My OTP is going back to the hotel room to watch something indescribable". So, that's what Teacher Song meant when he said "We will talk about it at home" during the show's recording.

So explicit, so thrilling, so... sweet.

But she had no one to share this joy with. Ah Kang, that big straight guy, wouldn't understand. She couldn't even talk to her little sisters about it. It was her sister and Teacher Song's private matter and she had professional integrity. Her lips were sealed, she would never blabber this to the outsiders.

She was itching inside, desperately needing to find like-minded people to scream together. After returning to her hotel room, Wen Wen didn't even take a shower. She went straight to Weibo and entered the fandom's tag to find fellow enthusiasts.

The fandom was bustling now. The show had just finished recording today, but the spoilers were already out. However, due to the rules of the [The S-level Acting Awards], audience members were not allowed to bring their phones, so the spoilers were only in text form, with no photos or videos circulating.

Many CP fans already knew about the script leak for this acting awards show. Although it appeared to be a duo performance on the surface, it was actually an individual appearance. The assisting actors and scene switching were all done in collaboration with the trainees. The guest stars didn't work together. So when the tickets were publicly available, most of the buyers were solo fans of their respective favorite stars.

In the past few years, various media events at the beginning, middle, and end of the year were typical examples of emotionally deceiving CP fans. The organizers would seat their CP couple together but without any interaction. Only when they went on stage to receive awards would the hosts forcefully cue them to say a thank-you message to each other.

So the CP fans took it lightly.

Being in the same frame meant sugar was being delivered, eye contact equaled kissing, and saying a few words was equivalent to doing the deed.

So, even though there was no collaboration segment this time, a large army of CP fans, led by the unyielding male fan, still showed up.

And then, a huge surprise suddenly descended from the heavens.

The host announced that Wen Li's assisting partner was not any of the new trainees but Song Yan. The preview photo of the two displayed on the big screen; it was an emotional romantic scene from a period drama.

Over the years, how much ancient costume material did the editing queens in the fandom collect from their works? How many sleepless nights did they spend editing, resulting in countless dark circles? How many advanced editing techniques did they employ to create various wonderful imaginary works in their high-quality video posts?

BeautifulGrass3:「Dreams come true! A collaboration in a period drama. Although it's just a small scene, it's still visually pleasing to the extreme. No need for editing tricks anymore. I'll showcase my skills when the official episode comes out.」

「Grass queen, I love you! Grass queen, you're amazing!!」

「Wait, they have co-acted in a scene?」

「For the sisters who didn't attend the live performance, let me tell you, they did co-act in a period drama scene.」

「Hahaha, those of us who were there can confirm the atmosphere was super lively. Iron-lunged Brother is amazing. Even when Sanli used a microphone, her voice couldn't overpower him.」

「When everyone shouted for them to 'Kiss', I died laughing.」

Did Salt Grain Couple release any sugar today?:「Sisters, did they kiss or not?」

Original poster replied:「No, haha, how could they possibly kiss? Just those two, they're not like that. But Beauty said 'We will talk about it at home', so let your imagination run wild.」

「Talk! At! Home! Alright, I'm already imagining them wildly flicking their tongues at each other's lips.」

「Thank you, sisters. I'm already imagining them doing it.」

SaltGrain = SweetGrain:「I couldn't go to see it today because I have exams coming up qwq. The show won't air until next week. Can any sisters who attended the live performance reveal which film or TV drama scene SaltGrain acted out? I want to watch the original piece first to satisfy my cravings.」

Soon, someone in the comments directed them to the movie and the specific scene time.

「Is it really this one? This movie has a bed scene, right? It's super thrilling.」

「? Is our OTP finally standing up?」

Seeing the fans who didn't attend the live performance going crazy with their wild imagination in the fandom, Wen Wen was afraid that their expectations would be too high and that they would be disappointed when the show aired. So, she kindly pointed out in the comments.

「No, they didn't. The scene they acted out was just a wrist-grabbing contact.」

「...Thank you, sister. I'm already deflated.」

「Sister, you're so cruel.」

「Song Yan, Wen Li -- you have no heart.」

Wen Wen really wanted to leak the secret that even though they didn't act it out, they watched that bed scene together! They must have privately recreated that bed scene!

But she couldn't say it. She was an artist assistant with professional integrity.

She could only enjoy it alone while feeling sorry for the CP fans.