People didn’t have high hopes for Jiang Nian.
They didn’t think this young actor, only twenty years old with barely any roles under his belt, could nail the effect the director wanted in just one take.
And honestly, even if he got lucky and pulled it off, it still might not be enough.
Because Zuo Yuanliang had set the bar so ridiculously low.
So low that there was no way to pick up where he left off.
Of course, Jiang Nian understood this, but he didn’t really care.
With the help of the “Du Gao” memories the system had given him, plus the extra insights he’d gained from his recent martial arts breakthroughs,
Jiang Nian had completely figured out the character of Du Gao.
Whenever he wanted, he could bring that character to life.
He went to the makeup room and put on Du Gao’s costume.
Then he sat in front of the mirror, watching as the makeup artist gradually transformed his face.
In his mind, he couldn’t help but compare it to Du Gao’s actual appearance.
His face was the golden ratio type.
Not the kind from those goofy TikTok videos, but a real one—similar to Edison Chen’s face shape—looking very sunny and handsome.
When it came to makeup, it was highly adaptable and versatile.
While it couldn’t completely turn him into another person, it could get him pretty close.
But that really depended on the makeup artist’s skill.
And it was pretty obvious.
The makeup artist for Chronicles of the Martial World was just average.
Or rather, her understanding of eunuchs was way too shallow, only scratching the surface of their soft and feminine traits.
So when she finished, Jiang Nian looked at his face—which was nothing but soft and feminine—and fell into deep thought.
He felt like he wasn’t acting as a eunuch, but as one of those overly sweet, cutesy boy band members.
The immersion was so strong he felt like he was about to start his period any second.
“Hold on, don’t pack up yet.”
Jiang Nian spoke up, stopping the makeup artist as she was about to put her things away.
Then, without waiting for her reaction, he picked up a makeup brush and started working on his own face.
Jiang Nian didn’t know much about makeup, but he could imitate what he’d seen.
With the help of the “Du Gao” memories,
a moment later, looking at his reflection in the mirror—now carrying not just softness but also an air of arrogance and fierceness—Jiang Nian nodded with satisfaction.
Even though his face didn’t quite match Du Gao’s due to their different features,
his presence was now very close.
If he didn’t have to go shoot right away, and had a little more time to refine his work, Jiang Nian was confident he could replicate Du Gao’s presence perfectly, without a single flaw.
The makeup artist next to him was completely stunned.
At first, when Jiang Nian picked up the brush again, she was pretty annoyed.
She felt like he was disrespecting her work.
After all, she had already finished his makeup—what if he messed it up?
But when she realized that Jiang Nian was actually making it better, and that his technique and skill were even better than her own teacher’s,
the makeup artist just found it completely absurd.
Seriously, you’re an actor, and such a young one at that—how do you have skills like this?
What is this?
Cross-industry competition?
No one knew how much the makeup artist’s ego had just been shattered.
After Jiang Nian took one last look in the mirror and confirmed that the small imperfections weren’t a big deal, he walked out of the makeup room and headed back to the set.
By now, over half an hour had passed since he went to get his makeup done.
The director was already getting impatient.
He was just about to send someone to check on what was taking so long when—
“Director, I’m ready.”
Jiang Nian’s voice came from not too far away.
Hearing that, the director looked over, about to ask why it had taken so long.
But the moment he saw Jiang Nian’s face,
the words got stuck in his throat.
And then, a chill ran straight up his spine.
He couldn’t help but say, “Perfect, absolutely perfect!”
Jiang Nian’s current look was almost exactly the same as the ideal “Du Gao” he had pictured when writing the script.
Especially that air of arrogance that came with gaining power, mixed with a bit of streetwise toughness because of his early life experiences.
“Amazing!” the director thought to himself.
Jiang Nian’s appearance was a pleasant surprise.
It not only made his impatience disappear,
but even restored some of the good mood that Zuo Yuanliang had ruined.
“Now I just need to see how well he acts,” the director thought, then picked up the megaphone. “Alright, everyone get into position. Du Gao, Scene One, Section One, First Take—get ready.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the actors on set didn’t hesitate. They quickly moved to their designated spots according to the script.
Once they were in place, the director checked the monitor to make sure everything looked good.
“Action!”
Hearing that, Jiang Nian immediately slipped into character.
The first scene of Du Gao was pretty simple.
Du Gao receives an order from the Grand Eunuch, saying that the martial world has been unstable lately. To keep the Emperor from worrying, he’s to go deal with the martial artists in the city.
While handling this, Du Gao runs into the female lead, who is part of the martial world. Because she’s so beautiful, Du Gao gets captivated by her looks and can’t help but start bothering her.
The female lead isn’t very strong. Feeling humiliated by how she’s being treated, she’s filled with anger and shame. Just then, the male lead appears.
And that leads to everything that follows.
On the surface, it looks like a brainless villain role—seems easy enough, just act evil and that’s it.
But actually, there’s a lot more to it.
You have to show Du Gao’s humble, loyal-dog attitude in front of the Grand Eunuch.
You also have to show his arrogant, untouchable demeanor when dealing with outsiders.
His seriousness when solving problems for the Emperor.
And his streetwise personality, shaped by his early life experiences, when he’s facing the female lead.
That’s four different shifts in attitude.
And all of them are packed into this single short episode, with the transitions needing to feel completely natural.
That really tests an actor’s foundation and their ability to control their performance.
If you go too hard, the performance ends up looking as weird and over-the-top as Xiang Zuo’s acting.
But if you hold back too much, the character won’t come through at all.
If it were any ordinary young actor, they’d probably be cursing their luck by now.
Because these demands are just way too high.
It’s like your company giving you two hundred bucks and asking you to hire Yu Hua to write copy for them.
Completely unreasonable.
But for Jiang Nian, this wasn’t a problem.
He pulled back that arrogant attitude from before, looked at the elderly actor in front of him, and delivered his lines with humble respect.
The sudden shift in his attitude and presence,
not to mention the old actor he was performing with,
even the director not too far away was taken aback for a moment.
“This guy… he’s actually got some skill!” the director thought.
Jiang Nian’s shift in attitude and presence had already calmed down a lot of the frustration the director had been feeling because of Zuo Yuanliang.
But soon enough, the director’s temper flared up again.
“Cut!”
“Uncle Wang, what’s going on with you?”
“Your lines! Du Gao finished his lines, and you were supposed to say yours—why are you just standing there?”
Hearing that, Uncle Wang, who had been acting opposite Jiang Nian, finally snapped out of his daze.
He looked at Jiang Nian, who had already returned to normal as if nothing had happened, with a look of utter disbelief.
“No way, did I just get intimidated by a rookie?!”
