“Grand Official, what are you doing? Use your real skills and smash those mechanisms to pieces!”
Yuan Shanshan, the liveliest and most outgoing of the group, was already completely drawn into the scene. Seeing Jiang Nian in dire straits, she cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted.
The other actresses quickly joined in, egging him on.
“Yeah, yeah! Grand Official, you’re not actually weak, are you?”
“You’re about to fall—think of something!”
“…”
The set was buzzing with excitement.
Before Jiang Nian could even respond, the director shot them a dirty look. “Hey, hey—if you’re not acting, at least don’t cause trouble!”
The words snapped them back to reality, reminding them that they were watching a show, not performing in one.
Yuan Shanshan, the instigator, stuck out her tongue and scratched her head, putting on an innocent, harmless expression before shutting her mouth.
The others quickly covered their mouths too.
Fortunately, Jiang Nian wasn’t distracted by them. He remained fully immersed in his character.
Staring at the mechanisms inching closer and closer, his face went pale, beads of cold sweat trickling down his forehead…
Just when he thought he was done for—
At the very last second—
Click—
Lin’s mother rushed in at the sound, inserting a key into the mechanism, and pulled Lin Pingzhi to safety just before the trap could devour him.
Having narrowly escaped death, Lin Pingzhi’s face was a mix of lingering fear and relief.
His mother, too, was shaken. She hurried over to the trapdoor. “Pingzhi, quick—come up here!”
She reached out her hand. Lin Pingzhi didn’t dare hesitate and grabbed hold, scrambling out of the deathtrap with only seconds to spare.
Recalling the harrowing moment just past, his legs felt weak, nearly scared out of his wits.
He looked at his mother, still shaken. “Mother, what was that all about?”
His mother checked him over first, confirming he wasn’t hurt, then snapped at him impatiently: “Pingzhi, how many times have I told you? This is forbidden ground—no one is allowed in! Why won’t you listen?”
She probably shouldn’t have said that.
Because the moment she did, Lin Pingzhi’s face fell.
He looked at her, hurt. “Mother, I’m the only heir to the Lin family. Even if you don’t tell me your secrets now, you’ll have to tell me someday! Why can’t you just tell me now?”
If his parents hadn’t been so consumed by their business all these years, neglecting everything else…
And if they weren’t being so secretive now, he’d almost suspect they’d gone behind his back and had another child—and were planning to make that child the heir of the Lin family.
He was the eldest son, after all.
Since when did an eldest son get treated like this?
Listening to Lin Pingzhi’s aggrieved accusations, his mother understood that she and his father, Lin Zhennan, had deeply wounded his feelings.
But…
“Pingzhi, this martial world is not as simple as you imagine.”
“A common man may be innocent, but possessing a treasure makes him guilty!”
“Your father and I are keeping this from you for your own good—to protect you.”
“Someday, you will understand—”
Before she could finish, Lin Pingzhi cut her off.
“Someday, someday! Mother, you’re always talking about ‘someday’—but I’m already grown up now! I don’t want to live my whole life in the dark.”
On this matter, Lin Pingzhi’s stance was unyielding.
His mother was taken aback by his sudden outburst. “Pingzhi…”
Lin Pingzhi wouldn’t listen. “Mother, whether you tell me or not, I’ll say this: I’m not giving up. And if one day you see your own son crushed to death in those spiked rollers, I hope you won’t regret it!”
With those defiant words, Lin Pingzhi stormed out of the room in a huff.
“Good—cut!”
Director Huang Junwen called out immediately.
He looked at Jiang Nian with immense satisfaction.
One take. That was the gold standard of Jiang Nian, huh?
The others also snapped out of it and stared at Jiang Nian with surprised expressions.
Influenced by his established reputation, everyone had assumed he was just a “eunuch specialist.”
They’d thought it would be difficult for him to play Lin Pingzhi before that part of the story.
But reality had just given them a rude awakening.
Jiang Nian’s portrayal of Lin Pingzhi wasn’t just passable—it was flawless in one single take!
“Holy crap! Is Teacher Jiang really this good?” People were stunned.
“There’s basically nothing wrong with this Lin Pingzhi performance.”
“Exactly! The micro-expressions, the mannerisms—he completely brought out that pure, proud, filial, and naive spirit of Lin Pingzhi who doesn’t yet know the darkness of the world. But…”
“But what?”
“But maybe because Teacher Jiang has played so many eunuchs before, I can’t help feeling that something’s a little off. Not that his acting is bad, it’s just…”
“It just feels like Teacher Jiang is holding back a bit—like he’s not unleashing his full potential?”
“Yes, yes, exactly that! What Teacher Jiang is doing now is great, but compared to Du Gao’s performance, it’s slightly less impressive. It doesn’t have that overwhelming, absolute crushing aura!”
“Ah, come on—that’s obviously the case! Teacher Jiang is playing Lin Pingzhi at this stage exactly as he should be—before the family tragedy. He can’t just go full-throttle from the start—that’d make him the villain right off the bat!”
“Exactly. Lin Pingzhi’s character arc is all about growth, about transformation through hardship. If you set the bar that high from the very beginning, what’s left for the rest of the story?”
“…”
The buzz of discussion was filled with recognition and admiration for Jiang Nian’s acting.
“Teacher Jiang, you were fantastic!” Huang Junwen came over to Jiang Nian’s side and said.
Jiang Nian withdrew from Lin Pingzhi’s memories and smiled lightly. “Director, you flatter me. This is my first time playing this kind of character—I was worried I might have overdone it.”
“Not at all, not at all. You nailed it—that’s the true essence of Lin Pingzhi. It’s just…” Huang Junwen hesitated.
“Just what?”
“It’s just… the way you keep referring to yourself as ‘this grand official’—is that really appropriate? If I recall correctly, the script clearly has ‘I’ instead.”
Recalling the script’s contents, Huang Junwen spoke up.
During the shoot, he’d noticed that Jiang Nian’s lines were a bit off.
He’d replaced every instance of “I” in Lin Pingzhi’s dialogue with “this grand official.”
But since the actress playing Lin’s mother had seamlessly gone along with it without any issues, he hadn’t called a cut. Now that the scene was over, of course he needed to talk to Jiang Nian about the self-reference issue.
Jiang Nian had expected this.
Because of practicing the Evil-Warding Sword Technique, he couldn’t refer to himself as “I”—he had to say “this grand official.”
Otherwise, he’d lose ten proficiency points each time.
Sure, Jiang Nian knew acting was important. But no matter how important, it couldn’t compare to his proficiency points.
If he said “I” seven or eight times during a scene, losing seventy or eighty points…
Then he’d never finish training the Evil-Warding Sword Technique!
“Sorry, Director—it’s a habit. I’ll try to correct it.”
Regardless of what he actually planned to do later, at least he appeared sincere in the moment.
Seeing this, Huang Junwen didn’t press further.
After all, ever since Jiang Nian arrived yesterday, he’d been calling himself “this grand official” nonstop.
Clearly, this was a long-standing habit, not something aimed specifically at him.
“Alright then, Teacher Jiang. I’ll have someone dub over this part for you later. Take a break for now—I’ll review this scene and see if there are any minor issues.”
Huang Junwen said.
Jiang Nian nodded, then glanced at the chattering group of actresses not far away, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked over.
“So, who was it that said this grand official was ‘weak’?”
Even though he’d been fully immersed in the role, he’d heard every word they’d said.
The ladies clearly knew this was payback time.
Without a second’s hesitation, they exchanged glances and immediately pointed at Yang Rong beside them: “Grand Official, it was her! She said you were weak!”
Yang Rong: “???”
She stared at them in disbelief—you guys seriously just threw me under the bus like that?
Holy crap!
Some sisters you are!
Every person for themselves when trouble comes!
Yang Rong was about to blow a fuse, but just then, Jiang Nian’s gaze swept over her.
He looked at her, his tone a low drawl: “It was you?”
“Uh… that… Grand Official, I can explain—uh…” Yang Rong racked her brain for an excuse.
But whether it was Jiang Nian’s overwhelming presence or something else, the words were right on the tip of her tongue but just wouldn’t come out.
She was so flustered she wanted to slap herself: Stupid mouth, say something! Arghhh!
Seeing her frantic state, Jiang Nian barely suppressed a chuckle. “Alright, if you can’t get it out, don’t bother. If it’s you, this grand official will let it slide.”
“Really?” Yang Rong looked utterly relieved, unable to hide her disbelief.
The others were surprised too. Deng Sha couldn’t help asking, “Why, Grand Official? She literally doubted your ability! A man can’t be told he’s weak!”
Jiang Nian let out a soft sigh. “If it were anyone else, I’d never let them off. But… I owe Ling Shan. So I’ll let it go.”
Everyone froze for a second—then it clicked: the “Ling Shan” he mentioned was the character Yang Rong played in the show, Yue Lingshan.
“Holy crap, that’s brilliant!” Zhang Linyu, watching from the sidelines, exclaimed inwardly.
See, the actresses were teasing Jiang Nian because they’d been drawn into his performance and were still in character themselves. That’s why they said what they did.
It didn’t seem like a big deal on the surface.
But anyone with a bit of workplace experience would know: sometimes, a single joke can reveal a person’s character.
If Jiang Nian let it slide, he’d get labeled as easygoing.
Then everyone would feel free to tease him for fun, and over time, he’d lose all authority on set.
But if he clamped down, they’d accuse him of not being able to take a joke.
Yang Rong, in particular, would feel humiliated in front of everyone, hold a grudge, and keep her distance.
That would be terrible for the rest of the shoot—since Yang Rong’s character, Yue Lingshan, and Lin Pingzhi were supposed to be a couple!
How could they act that out if they were practically enemies?
Zhang Linyu had actually been thinking of stepping in and changing the subject, even if it meant making a fool of himself.
But to his surprise, Jiang Nian used just one line to not only defuse Yang Rong’s awkward situation but also make everyone smile warmly.
“Damn impressive,” Zhang Linyu commented.
Meanwhile, Yang Rong, upon hearing Jiang Nian’s words, felt her cheeks flush as the other actresses shot her knowing looks.
She gave Jiang Nian a light shove. “Pingzhi, you’re so annoying! We haven’t even gotten to that part yet—why are you saying stuff like that?”
“Yes, yes—this grand official spoke too rashly. I hope Ling Shan won’t take offense,” Jiang Nian replied with a smile.
He then sat down and started chatting with the actresses.
The conversation wasn’t anything special—mostly them asking how his acting was so good, praising his performance as incredible, stuff like that.
Watching from nearby, Han Dong couldn’t hide his envy. “Teacher Jiang is really popular—he’s already buddy-buddy with them!”
Huo Jianhua looked up, glanced over, and said, “If you want to, you could too. We’re all in the same production—what’s the problem?”
“Uh… I think I’ll pass.” Han Dong shook his head.
It wasn’t that he was too scared to talk to the girls.
It was more about the kind of role he was playing.
What was Jiang Nian? Lin Pingzhi—one of the most compelling antagonists in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer.
The hardships his character went through made the actresses empathize with him.
Meanwhile, Han Dong…
Thinking about Tian Boguang’s role, he figured if he went over there, he’d probably get chased away like some pervert.
Better to stay put and hang out with Huo Jianhua.
“By the way, Teacher Huo—where’s your phone? You got a new one?” Noticing the old-fashioned button phone in Huo Jianhua’s hand, Han Dong asked curiously.
Huo Jianhua shrugged casually. “Tossed the old one. Too confusing to figure out.”
“…6” Han Dong expressed his respect.
Just as the group was chatting away—
Huang Junwen sat in front of the monitor, replaying the footage a few times to confirm everything was solid.
Then he clapped his hands. “Alright, everyone—break’s over. Yang Rong, go change. We’re shooting the next scene now.”
Since they’d just finished Lin Pingzhi’s debut, naturally the next scene would be his first meeting with Yue Lingshan.
Yang Rong nodded and hurried off to the changing room.
Meanwhile, Jiang Nian used the time to film a few supplementary boat scenes involving Lin Pingzhi.
By the time those were wrapped up, Yang Rong had finished changing.
The logical next step would be to film Lin Pingzhi spotting Yue Lingshan in the water and then shoot the water scenes.
But since those scenes would leave their clothes soaked, and they still had land scenes to shoot afterward—risking colds and looking messy with wet outfits—they decided to switch the order instead.
They jumped straight to the moment after Lin Pingzhi had pulled Yue Lingshan out of the water.
Huang Junwen had thought that with Jiang Nian setting such a strong precedent, the rest of the shoot would go smoothly.
But to his surprise, almost as soon as they started rolling, his brow furrowed and he couldn’t help calling out “Cut!”
“Yang Rong, what’s going on? Right now, your character, Yue Lingshan, has just met Lin Pingzhi. They don’t even know each other yet, let alone get married. You don’t need to look at him with those longing, loving eyes—you don’t, got it?”
Yang Rong: “…”
