Chapter 76

He spent every day trying to seduce her, and as a sexually active adult woman, she simply couldn't resist.

As dusk fell, Shen Li finished showering and drying her hair. She picked out a sexy slip dress from the bottom of her wardrobe and put it on. Then she sat on the sofa, playing soothing music on her phone, slowly applying body lotion, and waiting for her little dog to come to her door.

After applying body lotion, I scrolled through short videos for a while. An hour passed, but there was still no knock on the door.

What happened?

He didn't mean it that way; she's overthinking it.

But the schedule has been packed these past few days, and I've been managing to finish work early every day.

Thinking of this, Shen Li opened WeChat and sent a "What are you doing?" emoji.

Pear's puppy: Just finished a bath, time to blow-dry my hair.

Taking a shower so early, just like her, means she's planning to come over.

Shen Li pursed her lips and replied: Oh, then hurry up and blow it!

After sending the message, she tapped her fingers on the screen, waiting.

A few minutes later, there was still no movement outside the door, and then another message came.

Pear's puppy: Have you taken a bath?

Shen Li replied with two words: "Washed." She thought, "Hurry up and come," but the other end kept typing for a while before finally sending two words: "Goodnight."

She glanced at the fading sunset on the horizon and sent two question marks: Are you sleepy? Can you sleep this early?

Pear's puppy: Not very sleepy, can't fall asleep

Shen Li was too lazy to waste words with him and directly expressed her thoughts via voice message: "You said a lot of flirtatious things on set just now, but you didn't mean it that way?"

After saying that, she sent a sexually suggestive emoji.

Two minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

Shen Li slipped on her slippers to open the door, but as soon as the door opened a crack, someone slipped in and closed it.

Luo Mingxiu hugged her and sniffed: "Did you wear perfume?"

"Body lotion." Shen Li tapped his nose, then he picked her up by the waist, took a few big strides, and pressed her onto the bed.

The form-fitting slip dress perfectly accentuated Shen Li's figure. Luo Mingxiu's gaze moved from top to bottom, inch by inch. He called out to her in a low, husky voice, "Sister."

"Hmm?" Shen Li responded.

"I'm going to call you that all night long." Luo Mingxiu was still jealous of that kid.

"Mm." Shen Li nodded, her eyes sparkling.

Luo Mingxiu's eyes darkened, and he leaned down to lightly touch her shoulder and neck with his lips, his breath spreading outwards little by little.

“Wait,” Shen Li tilted her head as she reached for her lips, “You still haven’t answered me whether those flirting meant that. I don’t want to force anyone.”

“How could I be forcing myself? I’ve made it through,” Luo Mingxiu smiled. “I’ve been enduring it for so long. If it weren’t for my sister’s health, I would have wanted to every day…”

Shen Li raised her hand and covered his mouth, silencing his next lewd remarks.

"So you're sure you're not tired today?" Luo Mingxiu asked, fiddling with her shoulder strap.

"Mm." Shen Li nodded again, this time as both a response and an invitation.

As the shoulder strap slipped down, Luo Mingxiu lowered his body and continued kissing her, sending shivers down her spine wherever he touched her.

"Sister, are you comfortable?"

"Isn't it incredibly awesome?"

"Shut up."

That night, Shen Li felt extremely sensitive to the term "sister," and Luo Mingxiu seemed excited by her reaction, the word "sister" constantly echoing in his ears.

The next day, the morning breeze rustled the leaves, and birdsong woke the person in bed.

Shen Li opened her eyes and moved the arm around her waist away, but it was wrapped around her again the next second, and the person behind her groaned in silence.

"Get up." Shen Li moved her body.

A knock came at the door.

She turned and patted the person next to her awake: "Get up, it should be Xiaoyu."

Luo Mingxiu got up, put on his clothes, rubbed his eyes, and went to open the door.

"Sister Li, I went to that breakfast shop you mentioned yesterday and brought you some." Xiaoyu looked down to take the breakfast out of the bag, not noticing that the person who opened the door wasn't Shen Li.

She looked up, paused, and her panic was visibly obvious: "Oh, Brother Luo, good morning, here's your breakfast, I'm leaving."

After saying that, she immediately hung the breakfast on the doorknob, turned around and ran away in a flash.

"Is that Xiaoyu?" Shen Li came out of the bathroom, wiping her face with a towel.

"It's her, she brought you breakfast." Luo Mingxiu put the breakfast bag on the table, turned around and saw Shen Li changing into her nightgown with her back to him, and there were still marks he had left on her shoulders and waist.

Especially the red marks in her lower back, they look as beautiful as a flower tattoo.

After changing her clothes, Shen Li turned around and saw Luo Mingxiu still standing there. She crumpled her nightgown into a ball and threw it over his head: "Hang it up for me. Just hang it on the outside of the closet. It's not breathable inside."

"Okay." Luo Mingxiu looked at the bundle of clothes, then glanced at the way Shen Li was staring at her, resisted the urge to take a deep breath, and obediently hung it up.

"Go back to your room and wash up. Xiao Wen should be calling you for breakfast soon." Shen Li said, seeing that Luo Mingxiu hadn't moved.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" she asked.

"Hmm," Luo Mingxiu suddenly lowered his head and asked in a very low voice, "How were you feeling last night? Did you feel unwell?"

These words immediately triggered Shen Li's nerves, and some blush-inducing scenes flashed through her mind: Luo Mingxiu was very gentle last night.

In order not to affect the filming the next day, he followed her instructions throughout. She could feel his restraint. When he asked her not to keep kissing his neck, he did so and left no marks.

There were so many sweet talk things that Chen Li's mind was all foggy.

“I don’t feel uncomfortable at all,” Shen Li said as she walked toward Luo Mingxiu, “It feels great.”

Luo Mingxiu's eyes were clearly surprised, his ears turned bright red, and he couldn't look her in the eye at all. He took a couple of steps, looking left and right, as if he couldn't find his way, then turned around and rushed out the door, laughing happily.

"Then I'm leaving."

"Okay, let's go." Shen Li smiled and waved at him.

I don't know what she's shy about, even though she's rambling on and on after taking her clothes off.

When Xiao Wen returned, he was about to knock on the door of his room when he saw Luo Mingxiu coming from the other side. He let out a strange cry and was given a warning look by Luo Mingxiu.

“Brother, I’m so happy for you because you and Sister Shen Li are so loving,” Xiao Wen said as she entered the room and sat on the sofa while he washed up. “By the way, Brother Liang just called you but you didn’t answer. He said he had something to tell you.”

“Let him send the message,” Luo Mingxiu said.

“I told him,” Xiaowen said. “He said it was a huge surprise and he had to call to express his joy.”

Luo Mingxiu, with a toothbrush in his mouth, said, "I know, I'll reply to him later."

He returned the call after having breakfast. There was still half an hour before work started, so he took advantage of that time to call Liang Jin back.

"Hahahaha Luo Mingxiu!" As soon as the call connected, a burst of cheerful laughter came through and almost pierced Luo Mingxiu's eardrums.

He frowned and quietly lowered his voice: "Speak quickly, we need to start filming."

“Great news! I guarantee you’ll be even more motivated to film. You know Klaus Weber, right? He wants you to star in a movie.”

"Huh?" Luo Mingxiu's voice suddenly rose, and everyone around him looked at him. He walked to a corner and lowered his voice, "Are you still asleep, or did you receive some strange email? Be careful of overseas scams."

“If your sister Yaxin hadn’t told me herself and even had me speak with Mr. Weber, I would have thought it was fake too,” Liang Jin said excitedly. “It’s like this, Yaxin is currently abroad, and her work has been shortlisted for an international film festival.”

"This exhibition not only evaluates the shortlisted works, but also has an award for emerging directors, which means that the shortlisted directors can introduce their past works and gain exposure."

It was her first time participating, and she had no experience. She hadn't prepared anything; all she brought on her hard drive was her resume and a speech she had prepared as a youth diary when she returned to her alma mater.

"Then they used this as a case study. Coincidentally, Dark Corner has recently become a hit overseas. The director already had an impression of you, and with Ya-xin's comment, he understood you even better. After the event, he approached Ya-xin and asked for your contact information."

"This is too much of a coincidence." Luo Mingxiu still couldn't quite believe it; rather than disbelieving, he simply couldn't believe it.

Mr. Weber is an internationally renowned director who has worked in Hollywood, won an Oscar, and been named one of the three best directors in Europe.

He doesn't have many works; he takes a break for several years after making one film. But almost every film he makes wins an award. When he's not making any new films, he's active on the jury seats of major film festivals.

"I know you find this incredible, but take your time to process it. It took me several days to process it, and I made further contact with the director's team before I told you this news."

In short, the director just finished writing the script and is in the final revision stage. There's a Chinese character in the play and they need to find a domestic actor. I've sent you your information, and you'll receive the script in a couple of days..."

Liang Jin kept repeating the precautions, while Luo Mingxiu's ears were ringing. His feelings were complicated: shock, joy, excitement? But besides these, there was also a trace of melancholy.

Why?

Was he unprepared for the opportunity to take charge on his own so quickly?

Should we tell Shen Li?

Oh, right, Shen Li.

Luo Mingxiu's heart skipped a beat, and he finally realized where his melancholy came from.

The film was to be shot overseas, and Mr. Weber, the director, was familiar with the process. He was known for his meticulous, slow-paced approach, refining the film as it was shot; his other works typically took about a year to complete.

Is he really going to invest so much time and effort to take on this role?

He wasn't sure.

.

As spring draws to a close, the production team is also wrapping up the project. The latter half of the story is almost entirely told from the perspectives of the female lead and the police, as well as the male lead and the police.

Their scenes were arranged in this way, with fewer and fewer scenes of the two actors facing each other on the rehearsal schedule, and their dialogues with other supporting actors highlighting a psychological game.

The power struggle between the two sides is not a waste of camera time, but rather a prelude to the final confrontation between the male and female protagonists.

This is a scene highlighted with a highlighter on the final few pages, a scene that the director paid great attention to. "Restoration" is an original script by Director Xie, and during filming, he almost constantly revised it while shooting, adding and cutting ideas continuously.

In the final match, he needed to sort out all his thoughts.

So the day before the filming of the main scenes, Director Xie gave the entire crew a day off and locked himself in his room to consider the plot.

Of course, both the director and the actors value the main event.

Shen Li and Luo Mingxiu were also busy with their research in seclusion.

"I sent the video of our previous private rehearsals to Director Xie to get some ideas from him." Shen Li was nestled on the sofa watching her tablet when Luo Mingxiu brought over his computer and started fiddling with something from the very beginning.

“We can also compare it with previous performances,” Luo Mingxiu said to her after fiddling with the equipment. “I have frame-by-frame analysis software on my computer. I just imported all the rehearsal videos that Xiaoyu helped us shoot into it.”

"That's great." Shen Li's eyes lit up, and she got up and sat down on the carpet with him, her eyes fixed on the computer screen.

The software is somewhat like a professional film analysis tool, with each shot segmented and blank columns below for annotations such as shot language.

"It's so convenient to be able to export a table directly without taking screenshots one by one," Shen Li said, sliding the mouse to get a general understanding of all the functions.

"In this way, we can write down the parts that need improvement as we watch, including any ideas about the visuals, plot, etc., and then send them to the director. Maybe they will be helpful for him to revise the script."

"Okay, let's start watching," Luo Mingxiu said, clicking play. "You tell me, and I'll operate it?"

“Okay, I’ll control you with my voice.” Shen Li took the script and looked at it.

They paused, discussed, skipped, and rewound—and so they watched five videos totaling two and a half hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

After analyzing the data, Luo Mingxiu organized the text, sent the table to the director, and then turned around to see that Shen Li had already fallen asleep with her head tilted to the side.

The phone screen on the table was still lit up, covered with dense notes about performance directions for improving the plot, some of which were her own, and some of which were his.

The notes of a top-tier actor are an absolute treasure. Luo Mingxiu ran his hand through them from beginning to end, wanting to take a closer look.

“I’ll send it to you on WeChat,” Shen Li said, half-opening her eyes. “Why are you sneaking around? We discussed all of this.”

Luo Mingxiu got up and sat down next to her, kissing her forehead: "I thought you were asleep."

"I'm not that sleepy," Shen Li rubbed her eyes. "It's just that I've been staring at the screen for too long, so I need to close my eyes and rest. Aren't your eyes dry from staring at the computer all the time?

She got up, walked to where her bags were hanging, took a box of eye drops out of her bag, and tossed it to him: "Here, use a few drops."

Luo Mingxiu tilted his head back and dripped two drops, then blinked at her: "You drip too."

“Okay,” Shen Li walked over and lay down, resting her head on his arm and opening her eyes with her hand. “Come on.”

Luo Mingxiu gently squeezed a drop inside, and did the same on the other side.

Shen Li closed her eyes and rolled her eyeballs to let the eye drops moisturize her from all sides. She felt a warm touch gently touch her left eyelid and then quickly move away.

She opened her eyes and glared at him: "You've launched another sneak attack."

Luo Mingxiu brushed away a drop of moisture from her eyelashes with his fingers, then lowered his head and touched her other eye with his lips: "I'm perfectly aboveboard."

The director replied with the results of their research over several hours, saying it had inspired him, and he quickly sent them the revised version of the key scene.

"It's pretty much as we expected. The lines haven't been changed much, and we've just adjusted the pacing of the scenes." Scrolling to the bottom of the page, Shen Li closed the document and breathed a sigh of relief. "We've already analyzed all of this in advance. We can just follow it when we act tomorrow, and it won't be a mess."

Luo Mingxiu also read the revised script from beginning to end, and it was indeed similar to the changes they had discussed.

He looked at Shen Li with admiration in his eyes: "How did you know he would change it like this? To be honest, when I found out last night that he was going to change the script, I panicked. I've never encountered a situation like this before."

"I rarely encounter this situation. Panicking won't help. The important thing is how to solve it. As long as you seriously study the character, as the filming progresses, the actor's understanding of the script is actually no worse than that of the screenwriter or director. Besides, it's impossible to make major changes when filming is almost over."

This was Director Xie's first time writing and directing a script himself, and he was under a lot of pressure, wanting it to be perfect. So we analyzed it for him, clarifying his thoughts from different angles, which helped him make choices about his ideas.

After Shen Li said that, Luo Mingxiu suddenly understood. The script itself didn't have any major problems. It was just that the director was putting psychological pressure on himself because filming was about to wrap up and he was facing the last important scene.

But as an actor, especially in situations where the script and director are the sole creators, you can't directly argue with them about what's wrong with it.

What should change and what should remain the same? We need to give him enough space to think, combine his own performance with the script, and work with him to figure out the feasible aspects of the changes.

“We actors and directors all work towards a common goal: for the show to be well-received by the audience. So I think it’s best to avoid unnecessary arguments,” Shen Li said, proudly raising her chin at Luo Mingxiu. “Am I amazing?”

Luo Mingxiu smiled and said, "Yes, impressive."

"Learn from this." Shen Li stretched her neck and opened her arms, giving a big yawn, looking just like a kitten that had been curled up in its bed and had just woken up.

It's the kind of cat that's smart and clever.

Luo Mingxiu stared at her movements, his heart racing. He clenched his fist in the air, his Adam's apple bobbing as he desperately suppressed the urge to pin her down and kiss her passionately.

The phone on the table vibrated twice. Luo Mingxiu picked it up and saw that it was Liang Jin.

Liang Jin: I've sent Mr. Weber's script to your email. Remember to prepare for it when you have time. The director hasn't said anything about the audition format yet. I'll let you know when I have any news.

Luo Mingxiu stared at the message for a full half minute, glanced at Chen Li, and then his fingers landed on the keyboard: Brother Liang, I'm not too keen on this role... I'll think about it some more.

I typed and deleted, typed and deleted again, but in the end, I still couldn't send out my true thoughts.

He replied with a "good" and then turned his gaze back to Shen Li.

"What's wrong? Do you have something to say?" Shen Li looked at the person who was deep in thought beside her. Although she had been writing and drawing on the script, she could still see out of the corner of her eye that Luo Mingxiu kept looking at her, as if he had something to say. So she simply asked.

"It's nothing serious." Luo Mingxiu packed up his computer and stood up. "Brother Liang wants to discuss a business matter with me. I'll go back and video chat with him first."

"Oh, okay." Shen Li's gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds, and she wanted to ask something more, but then there was a knock on the door.

Luo Mingxiu went over and opened the door, and Xiaoyu came in: "Sister Li, filming wraps up tomorrow, and many actors have to catch their flights. Director Xie said we should have dinner together tonight."

"Hmm," Shen Li replied, but her gaze fell on the empty doorway, a strange feeling stirring within her.