Just as Huang Junwen was looking at Jin Yong, feeling smug inwardly.
Off to the side, Huo Jianhua and the others snapped back to their senses and immediately exploded.
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Important things need to be said three times—damn, Teacher Jiang’s acting is just godlike!”
Han Dong grabbed his hair, looking at Jiang Nian with sheer terror in his eyes.
Huo Jianhua was incredulous: “Can a human face really make an expression like that? Damn, just now when I looked at Teacher Jiang’s eyes, I actually felt like I was getting drawn into the scene.”
Drawing people into a scene with just a single glance.
At first listen, that sounds absurd—but in reality, it was absolutely absurd!
Based on the people he, Huo Jianhua, had worked with over the years.
Those who could pull that off numbered no more than ten.
And someone as young as Jiang Nian? To this day, he was the first!
“This must be a lucky coincidence, right? It has to be, otherwise it’s just too ridiculous!”
Huo Jianhua thought to himself.
Yuan Shanshan was tongue-tied: “How is Teacher Jiang’s acting this terrifying? Even if you started practicing from inside the womb, you probably still couldn’t reach his level!”
“Honestly, the acting itself is fine, but I think what’s really scary is Teacher Jiang’s thought process. Say nothing else—just this expression, even if you gave me a lifetime to think, I might not be able to come up with it. But not only did he think of it, he actually pulled it off. Is he some kind of innate acting holy body or what?”
Chen Qiaoen was more experienced. Though shocked, she quickly spotted the key point and called it out.
Hearing this, everyone nodded, finding it extremely reasonable.
Only Deng Sha—that quirky little girl—after pondering for a moment, gave a completely different answer:
“I think Teacher Jiang isn’t an innate acting holy body, but an innate eunuch holy body!”
“Don’t know if you guys noticed, but the closer we get to the plot where Lin Pingzhi castrates himself, the better Teacher Jiang performs.”
“It feels to me like… he’s been unleashed!”
Two days earlier, Deng Sha had already felt this way.
Jiang Nian’s acting was getting better day by day.
At first, she just assumed Jiang Nian had adjusted his condition.
But then she noticed that after Jiang Nian had one explosive moment, his acting state quickly dropped again.
She realized that wasn’t the case.
So she observed carefully and discovered that whenever Jiang Nian was in top form, without exception, he was performing scenes just before Lin Pingzhi’s self-castration.
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
“You can even do that?”
“SHA SHA, you’re not just making things up, are you?”
“Yeah yeah, it’s not that we don’t believe you, but this kind of thing sounds really far-fetched and unrealistic.”
“If you said Teacher Jiang’s acting suddenly skyrocketed when he was playing a eunuch, I wouldn’t say much—after all, Teacher Jiang did start out playing eunuchs. But he hasn’t even played a eunuch yet, it’s just the plot before the eunuch part. You saying his acting suddenly skyrocketed—that’s a bit hard for me to believe.”
“Same here.”
Everyone discussed it animatedly, all thinking Deng Sha’s words were nonsense.
Seeing their reaction, Deng Sha grew anxious: “What I’m saying is true!”
“Mmhm, we know what you’re saying is true, no need to get so worked up.”
Chen Qiaoen coaxed her like a child.
Seeing this, Deng Sha’s anger surged from her heart and evil grew from her guts.
She stomped her foot hard: “I am being completely serious about this!”
“We’re also being completely serious in our response to you.”
“You guys, you guys—”
Seeing them all respond with the same tone and manner, as if they’d coordinated it beforehand.
Deng Sha was furious: “You’re all bullying me!”
“Aiya, no we’re not, we just happened to think of the same thing at the same time.”
Yuan Shanshan said with a grin, making it clear she wasn’t taking the blame.
Then she looked at Yang Rong nearby, who had been silent all along, and asked curiously: “Rong Rong, what are you thinking about? Why haven’t you said a word?”
Yang Rong, after deep thought, raised her head and looked at her: “I feel like what Sha Sha said is true.”
“Huh?”
At these words, everyone was stunned.
Yuan Shanshan’s mouth twitched: “Rong Rong, you’ve been led astray by Sha Sha, haven’t you? How could this possibly be true? You’re joking, right?”
But Yang Rong had a completely serious expression:
“No, I’m not joking. You all know my character in the show is Yue Lingshan. If you ask who has the most scenes with Teacher Jiang, I’m second to none.”
“After Sha Sha said all that just now, I kept thinking back to the situations when I was filming with Teacher Jiang, and then I realized—Sha Sha was right!”
“Though it sounds a bit far-fetched, whenever it involves eunuch-related plotlines, Teacher Jiang’s performance really does improve by leaps and bounds!”
“I’m really looking forward to the scenes after Lin Pingzhi’s self-castration now, to see how far Teacher Jiang can take his performance!”
As her voice trailed off, for a moment, the whole room was dead silent.
Seeing someone supporting her—and it was Yang Rong, the person with the most scenes alongside Jiang Nian, the most authoritative source.
Deng Sha’s confidence instantly soared. She crossed her arms and said aggressively: “Haters, speak up! Even Sister Rong Rong, the official love interest, says so—let’s see how you can still doubt it!”
But at this moment, no one paid her any attention.
Everyone’s focus was on what Yang Rong had said, and their expressions gradually turned strange.
Because if this were really as Yang Rong described.
Then wouldn’t that mean…
“Teacher Jiang really is an innate eunuch holy body? Damn, he’s not actually a real—”
Han Dong blurted out instinctively, but before he could finish, he realized his words were inappropriate and quickly covered his mouth.
No one minded his slip of the tongue, because at this moment, they were all thinking the same thing!
After all, what normal person would specifically fixate on plotlines that make men physically uncomfortable?
And the closer it got, the more excited he became.
If someone said there was nothing wrong with that, who would believe it?
“Better keep some distance from Teacher Jiang from now on.”
Involuntarily, this thought flashed through all the male actors’ minds.
Not out of discrimination—it’s just that the stereotype of eunuchs is that they’re sissies and perverts.
Though it wasn’t about abnormal orientation, well, with people, it’s either you stab someone or you get stabbed.
None of the men present wanted to be targeted by Jiang Nian and become either one of those two.
So keeping their distance was the safest and best strategy!
Just as they were silently calculating in their hearts, thinking about whether they’d done anything in the crew recently that might cause them to be targeted by Jiang Nian—
“Yo, what’s going on? You were all chatting so happily just now, why’s everyone gone quiet?”
Jiang Nian walked over from the side and asked curiously.
He’d noticed the situation here earlier, but since he’d just finished filming and was really thirsty, he’d gone to grab some water to quench his thirst.
He hadn’t expected that when he came back, the place would be completely quiet.
It genuinely left him baffled.
But he didn’t pay attention to these minor details. He walked straight to Huo Jianhua and naturally wrapped an arm around his neck: “Teacher Huo, I heard you guys mention my name just now. Were you talking about me?”
“Ah, yeah.”
After learning that Jiang Nian might be abnormal, Huo Jianhua was on high alert.
He looked left and right, his gaze finally landing on Deng Sha. He silently apologized in his heart, then said directly: “Teacher Jiang, it’s like this—Deng Sha was just saying you’re weird, that you perform exceptionally well whenever you play a eunuch, and she was gossiping about you behind your back.”
“Hm?”
At these words, Jiang Nian immediately turned to look at Deng Sha, his brows furrowing.
Hearing this, Deng Sha was stunned. Then she met Jiang Nian’s gaze and immediately jumped up: “Teacher Huo, you set me up! Teacher Jiang, listen to me, I wasn’t gossiping about you, I was just praising your acting skills, I didn’t say anything else!”
“Really?”
“Really! Absolutely true! You might not trust others, but don’t you trust me? I’m the most honest person there is.”
After saying this, Deng Sha kept winking at Jiang Nian, trying hard to put on a cute, innocent, harmless look.
Jiang Nian’s mouth twitched: “The fact that you’re reacting so strongly actually makes me think you were gossiping about me behind my back. A guilty conscience.”
“I really wasn’t!” Deng Sha let out a sharp shriek.
It looked like she was about to start throwing a tantrum and making a scene.
Fortunately, just then.
“What’s going on?”
A call came from nearby. Turning to look, Huang Junwen and Jin Yong were walking toward them.
Seeing this, Deng Sha’s about-to-go-crazy behavior immediately halted, and she quickly composed herself.
Jiang Nian and the others were all familiar faces—acting crazy in front of them was no problem.
But in front of outsiders, she still wanted to keep some dignity.
Deng Sha put on a sweet, fake smile.
Jiang Nian replied casually: “Nothing, we were just chatting. Director Huang, Mr. Jin, is something up?”
Because at the start of filming, he’d happened to overhear Jin Yong’s evaluation of him outside Hu Yijuan’s door.
He understood the other party didn’t think much of him, so Jiang Nian’s attitude toward him was rather average—one could even say cold.
Seeing this, Jin Yong smiled bitterly.
Then he took a deep breath, cupped his hands toward Jiang Nian, and said: “Teacher Jiang, I’ve come this time to apologize to you!”
“Oh? Apologize?” Jiang Nian frowned.
“Yes, to be honest, regarding your casting as Lin Pingzhi, I’ve always had objections. I even went to the director wanting to replace you. But today, I realized I was wrong, Teacher Jiang. You are a person of great ability. Having you play the role of Lin Pingzhi is Lin Pingzhi’s fortune, and also my fortune as the author. Here, I sincerely apologize for my previous prejudice against you, and I hope you can forgive me.”
After saying this, in front of everyone, Jin Yong didn’t care about his image and directly bent down, giving Jiang Nian a proper bow.
That sincere attitude left everyone present stunned.
Wait, what?
Jin Yong apologized to Jiang Nian?
And he actually bowed to apologize?
Holy crap!
In an instant, everyone’s gaze toward Jiang Nian changed.
They didn’t know about the grievances between Jiang Nian and Jin Yong, but they knew one thing—Jiang Nian, through his own acting skills, had actually made the author of “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” submit to him.
And from the looks of it, this wasn’t just courtesy—it was genuine admiration!
This is just…
“Badass!”
