“Huh?”
Huang Junwen was stunned for a moment.
He had originally wanted to say that they weren’t planning to film the self-castration scene in too much detail.
Jiang Nian just needed to lie on the stone slab, say his lines, and show that the deed had already been done.
But now, seeing how excited Jiang Nian was about it…
Huang Junwen figured there was really no point in saying that.
He nodded. “Alright.”
“OK!”
Jiang Nian responded, then walked over to the set.
He didn’t bother changing clothes—after all, this scene took place a few days later, when Lin Pingzhi was about to get married.
Speaking of this guy, his thought process was truly stubborn.
He kept saying the Evil-Resisting Sword Technique would make the Lin family line end.
Yet he had no idea how to be flexible about it.
He was about to get married and enter the bridal chamber—instead of enjoying a taste of worldly pleasure first and having a few kids…
He just had to get all fired up and go castrate himself.
If the Evil-Resisting Sword Technique required a virgin body to practice, that’d be one thing.
But nope—this thing had no such requirement.
Yue Buqun fooled around with Ning Zhongze for twenty or thirty years, nearly wore his kidneys out, and still practiced just fine after cutting it off.
All this to say, Lin Pingzhi was just too impatient, too young.
“That said, this is probably also why he became so deranged later on—even killing Yue Lingshan.”
“After the impulse faded and he came to his senses, he realized the Lin family could have had descendants, but he single-handedly threw it all away.”
“With that kind of blow, plus a blood feud, it’d be a miracle if he didn’t go crazy.”
“Of course, it’s also possible that old man Jin was so confused while writing that the whole thing was full of bugs.”
Jiang Nian silently assessed Lin Pingzhi in his heart.
Then he walked up to the camera.
With a single thought, Lin Pingzhi’s memories appeared in his mind.
Instantly, the aura around Jiang Nian shifted—becoming utterly desolate.
Lin Pingzhi raised his head, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky, then looked at the wedding chamber not far away, brimming with festive joy. Crystal-clear tears welled up in his eyes.
Did he love Yue Lingshan?
The answer was undoubtedly yes.
People aren’t plants and trees—how could they be emotionless?
Although he knew that Yue Buqun had arranged Yue Lingshan to be by his side and marry him with ulterior motives…
After spending so much time together day and night, he couldn’t help but develop feelings for this lively, adorable junior sister.
Lin Pingzhi knew very well.
If he swung his sword now, there would be no more possibility between him and Yue Lingshan.
The love in his heart would never have a chance to be expressed.
But…
Thinking of his parents, who died miserably at the hands of Mu Gaofeng.
Thinking of the hundred-plus members of the Lin family, all slaughtered by the Qingcheng Sect.
A blood feud like that—he had to avenge it.
Lin Pingzhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Tears slid down his cheeks.
When he opened his eyes again, the reluctance and longing in them were swept away.
Replaced by boundless sorrow and resolve.
“Sorry, junior sister. If there’s a next life, even if I, Lin Pingzhi, have to be your ox and horse, I will never let you down!”
Lin Pingzhi murmured in a trembling voice.
Then—shing—he drew the long sword from his waist.
This was the sword Yue Lingshan had given him when they first practiced swordplay together.
It was also the first gift he had received after his parents died.
Because of that, Lin Pingzhi treasured this sword dearly.
He cared for it meticulously every day, and even now, it remained razor-sharp.
He reached out, as if caressing a lover, his fingers brushing over the blade with extreme gentleness.
Feeling the coldness against his fingertips, hearing the faint hum of the trembling blade…
Lin Pingzhi swung his hand, and his long hair, neatly tied behind his head, cascaded down.
He grabbed the hair and bit it between his teeth.
Without daring to hesitate for even a moment.
He swung the sword, turned it.
Splurt!
As the mechanism on the prop sword was triggered.
The fake blood hidden inside shot out, splattering across the ground.
Lin Pingzhi raised his head. The intense pain made the veins on his forehead and neck bulge. His teeth, clenched around his hair, ground audibly. His eyes were wide open, filled with blood.
“Yu Canghai, Yu Canghai!”
“I want you to be like me—no children, no grandchildren, no children, no grandchildren!”
“Hiss—”
Watching Jiang Nian’s performance—eyes nearly splitting, almost crazed—
Every man present couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath, involuntarily reaching down to cover themselves!
Even though they knew it was just acting.
Even though they saw that Jiang Nian hadn’t actually swung the prop sword downward—he’d swung it in front of himself.
But the sheer intensity Jiang Nian projected was too powerful.
It made them involuntarily immerse themselves in it.
Creating the illusion that the one who’d lost his “happy root” wasn’t Lin Pingzhi, but themselves!
“No, no, we can’t be having that kind of illusion!”
Everyone shuddered, quickly patting themselves down.
Only after the sensation in their hands confirmed they were fine did they let out a long sigh of relief.
“Cut, cut!”
After checking the shot, Huang Junwen quickly grabbed the megaphone. “That’s a wrap, Teacher Jiang, that’s a wrap.”
Hearing that, Jiang Nian emerged from Lin Pingzhi’s memories, still wanting more. “That’s it? Director Huang, honestly, I feel a bit unsatisfied. How about I do another take?”
Huang Junwen immediately broke into a cold sweat. “No, no, no, please don’t do another take. This one’s perfect. Please, spare us!”
After witnessing Jiang Nian’s performance just now…
He really didn’t dare let Jiang Nian continue.
Because Jiang Nian’s acting was just too immersive.
Watching it, they all felt like they’d been cut themselves—almost couldn’t recover.
If Jiang Nian did another round…
They’d probably need two or three days to bounce back.
Seeing Huang Junwen’s reaction.
Jiang Nian felt a bit regretful and asked unwillingly, “You’re sure?”
“Absolutely sure!” Huang Junwen shook his head like a rattle drum.
“Alright then.” Jiang Nian didn’t push it.
He just turned to look at Huo Jianhua and the others, wanting to ask what they thought of his performance.
Only to find Huo Jianhua and the rest staring at him with terrified expressions, whispering among themselves.
Curious, Jiang Nian pricked up his ears.
And heard Huo Jianhua and the others saying:
“Holy crap, was Teacher Jiang really acting just now? That was way too immersive.”
“Be confident—drop the ‘was.’ I feel like Teacher Jiang wasn’t acting at all. That was pure method acting!”
“To be fair, yeah. That self-castration scene gave me the creeps, like I was the one getting cut. I don’t think that’s something mere acting could pull off.”
“By the way, have any of you noticed when he goes to the bathroom? Does Teacher Jiang actually have one? I’m starting to think Teacher Jiang might really be a eunuch!”
“Holy crap, who watches someone else in the bathroom? That’s creepy! But now that you mention it, I’ve been on set this long and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Teacher Jiang use the bathroom. He’s not really…?”
“Hey, hey, hey, enough, enough. Teacher Jiang’s looking over. Everyone act normal.”
Someone noticed Jiang Nian glancing their way, and the whispering Huo Jianhua and the others immediately shut their mouths, turning to Jiang Nian with smiles, as if nothing had happened, loudly praising his acting.
Seeing their exaggerated performances, Jiang Nian’s mouth twitched.
“As expected of actors—the art of saying one thing to your face and another behind your back is truly impressive.”
“If I hadn’t heard their conversation, I’d almost have believed them!”
Jiang Nian was speechless.
He thought Huo Jianhua and the others were way too two-faced.
Chen Qiaoen and the girls were much better.
They hadn’t said a word this whole time.
So he decided to go over and chat with them.
But before Jiang Nian could get close.
Deng Sha looked at him and suddenly asked, “Um… Teacher Jiang, are you actually a eunuch?”
The moment those words came out, everyone’s eyes fell on Jiang Nian.
Under all those curious gazes, the smile on Jiang Nian’s face froze.
Forget it—these women were no good either!
Damn it, when Huo Jianhua and the others were gossiping about him, at least they had the decency to whisper behind his back.
But you, Deng Sha—you just blurted it out loud.
What the hell.
“You tell me?”
Jiang Nian stopped walking and looked at her with a fake smile.
Deng Sha stared at him, thought about it very seriously, and then said, “Hard to say!”
“I swear to—”
Jiang Nian’s composure shattered on the spot.
He raised his hand, about to smack her on the head.
Was he a eunuch or not? Wasn’t that obvious?
What the hell do you mean, “hard to say”?!
Seeing this, Deng Sha wasn’t stupid—she quickly dodged and said with an awkward laugh, “Teacher Jiang, don’t be mad. I was just joking with you. Please don’t be like this.”
If she hadn’t said that, it might’ve been fine.
But saying that only made Jiang Nian angrier. He snapped:
“Who the hell jokes like that?!”
“Deng Sha, I think you’re asking for a beating. Time for me to loosen up your bones!”
With that, he charged straight at her.
Deng Sha screamed and scrambled behind Chen Qiaoen and Yang Rong, begging, “Sister Qiaoen, Sister Rongrong, save me! Teacher Jiang is going to kill me!”
Jiang Nian’s eyes bulged. “You’re calling for backup? Qiaoen, Rongrong, don’t help her. I’m teaching her a lesson today—she needs to learn the consequences of running her mouth.”
Hearing that, Yang Rong and Chen Qiaoen exchanged a glance, then tacitly stepped aside, clearing the way.
“???”
Her protective shield suddenly gone, Deng Sha was dumbfounded.
Wait—Jiang Nian said not to help, and you actually sold her out just like that?
She wanted to run, but Jiang Nian had already reached her. Where could she even go?
Looking at Deng Sha trembling with fear, Jiang Nian cracked his knuckles with a menacing grin. “Shasha, you’ve been pretty cocky lately. Did I give you too much freedom, made you forget who’s in charge? Come on, repeat what you just said.”
Deng Sha shrank her neck, her eyes darting around. “I just said… um… I said you acted so well that Teacher Huo and the others were almost scared into becoming eunuchs.”
Jiang Nian: “…”
Huo Jianhua: “???”
Han Dong: “Hey, Shasha, come here. Your Eunuch Han and Eunuch Huo want to have a word with you!”
Just as everyone was laughing and joking around, the atmosphere on set cheerful and lively—
Off to the side, Zhang Linyu, after taking a phone call, hurried over and handed the phone to Jiang Nian. “Brother Jiang, Sister Mi needs to talk to you.”
Jiang Nian asked, “What about?”
“Work stuff.” Zhang Linyu said. “You didn’t have your phone while filming, so she couldn’t reach you and called me instead.”
“Oh, alright.”
Jiang Nian took the phone and walked off to the side. “Hello? Sister Mi, what’s up?”
Yang Mi said, “Jiang Nian, do you remember what you promised me at the beginning of the month?”
“You mean the variety show?” Jiang Nian asked.
“Yes, that variety show starts filming in a couple of days. The location is in the capital. When are you free? I’ll buy your ticket.”
“Time… I’m free these next couple of days. Just pick a time and book it.”
“OK, then I’ll book you a ticket for tomorrow at noon. See you then.” With that, Yang Mi—efficient as ever—was about to hang up.
Hearing this, Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow. “Wait, hold on, Sister Mi. You’ve told me all this, but shouldn’t you at least tell me what the variety show is about?”
Yang Mi paused, her voice sounding a bit blank. “Huh? I didn’t tell you?”
“You didn’t say a damn thing! From the beginning of the month till now, all you said was for me to join a variety show. Not a single other detail. You expect me to guess?” Jiang Nian said irritably.
Although he wasn’t particularly keen on variety shows.
But since he was going to be on it, he should at least know something about it and prepare a bit in advance.
Otherwise, going in completely blind, not knowing what he’d be doing—how would that look?
“Oh, oh, sorry, sorry. I’ve been so busy lately I completely forgot. This variety show is a new one from Mango TV, called… Back to Field. It’s a very fresh farmstay-themed show. The regular cast includes variety show veteran He Jiong and seasoned actor Huang Lei. It might feel a bit boring, but no worries—just treat it as a vacation with me to relax.”
Yang Mi rattled off a whole bunch of information.
But Jiang Nian only caught the name of the show, and then his mind wandered.
“Back to Field?”
He repeated in disbelief, extremely surprised.
He was very familiar with this name, because in his past life, it was an incredibly popular variety show.
It ran for seven seasons and supported quite a few web novel authors.
But the problem was—in his past life, this show wasn’t first launched until 2017.
And now?
It was only 2012!
A full five years early!
What the hell…
“Could it be because of the parallel world again?”
Jiang Nian muttered to himself.
He figured that must be it.
After all, many things in this world were different from his past life.
A couple of days ago, while scrolling on his phone, he saw officials saying they were going to crack down on advertising chaos, that legendary author Jiang Bei got into a car accident after finishing Dragon Group 3, and that Genshin had started beta testing.
Compared to all that, a variety show being released a few years early seemed like nothing.
“That said, I really don’t want to deal with that guy Huang Lei!”
Jiang Nian rubbed his temples.
As a young person of the new era, like many others, he didn’t like dealing with people who were full of paternalistic energy—always talking about “levels” and lecturing people.
Coincidentally, Huang Lei was exactly that kind of person.
Jiang Nian found it hard to feel any goodwill toward him.
Not to mention that when he joined Back to Field, unless something unexpected happened, he’d have to eat Huang Lei’s cooking.
That guy was like Fan Debiao—couldn’t even cook green beans properly.
Although with Jiang Nian’s physique, a little food poisoning was nothing.
It was still torture.
“Suddenly kind of don’t want to go anymore…”
“This isn’t a vacation at all—it’s just asking for trouble!”
At this moment, Jiang Nian suddenly regretted it.
A month ago, when Yang Mi first told him about this, he should have asked more questions.
Now it was too late—he couldn’t even refuse properly.
