Chapter 147: The Peacock Spreads Its Tail

Although the moment of realizing the truth can feel like the sun breaking through the clouds and the wind and rain blowing away, in such a torrential downpour that seems to drown everything in front of you, this fleeting romance will eventually turn into a sweet yet helpless ordeal.

Especially for the effect of the rainstorm, not only did they actually choose a rainy night, but they also went all out to have a water truck spraying water nearby. Under such double pressure, they not only had to insist on performing a play that could touch the audience's hearts, but also had to maintain the beautiful image of the male and female leads in a youthful and romantic film. As the two protagonists, they not only had to "get into character" but also "get out of character".

The mermaid took advantage of the kiss to retrieve the mermaid pearl, so the kiss scene still needed post-production special effects. However, the emotional clash in this scene was far more intense than the previous simple "artificial respiration" scene. The two endured the rain for a while, allowing the director to capture enough footage from various angles before they began to express their feelings to each other.

After filming the two of them, Li Sishi maintained her composure and then accepted another close-up shot.

Compared to the intense kissing scene in the rain, the close-up shot of the mermaid smiling and shedding tears in the rain, as if she had realized something, was the scene that truly tested her.

Like hearing the sound of flowers blooming by chance in the mist, under the gaze of a close-up shot, in the gradually thinning night rain, the pale blue light reflected on her body, casting a cool glow. Then, her long, wet eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a single tear suddenly fell, disappearing into the water and dust that filled the sky and the earth.

Only the camera faithfully recorded this tear that fell with a smile, and in the future, technology will be used to add a dazzling seven-colored brilliance to it.

Ordinary mermaid tears are already several times more beautiful than so-called pearls produced by other animals, but the most beautiful and dazzling seven-colored pearls in the world are formed from the clear tears of mermaids touched by the whirlpool of emotions. Their beauty and brilliance far surpass ordinary mermaid tears, and can only be described as "treasures".

Using the mermaid's tears to secure funding and solidify their foundation, the troupe survived the impact once again thanks to the two young and talented actresses putting aside their past grievances and working together again.

Knowing that the mermaid would return to the sea before the festival next year, King was depressed for a while. Then he decided to follow the example of the bird and compose a love song between a human and a mermaid as the end of this dreamlike encounter.

However, the mermaid tears that had been sold to raise funds were of such exceptional quality that the new owner of the rival troupe noticed something amiss. The rival troupe owner then used his ancestral...

Records suggest that these high-quality pearls were not derived from mollusks, but rather from another legendary, magical creature.

In order to make money by exhibiting the rare mermaid, the owner of a rival theater troupe secretly used underhanded means to forcibly kidnap and imprison the mermaid, sealing her in his swimming pool. He even specially laid out an electric fence over her, waiting to make a fortune by using the mermaid after publicity.

The owner of the rival theater troupe, who is the final villain in the entire series, is actually Le Yun, the mentor of Li Sishi and Cheng Erjian, making a cameo appearance.

It must be said that in addition to his outstanding achievements in the music industry, Yue Yun also has a certain level of acting skills. Looking at the mermaid's greedy and ruthless eyes on the surface of the swimming pool, and staring at the person who meets his gaze in the close-up shot, one cannot help but feel a chill.

Of course, once away from the camera lens, Le Yun instantly reverted to the cheerful and somewhat naive senior master, seemingly carefree but actually quite meticulous. While watching the scene on the monitor where the male lead and his group quietly sneaked into the villa's swimming pool to rescue the female lead, he quickly noticed something from his two apprentices.

So he spoke with the director who shared the same name as him, a connection they seemed to have, and reviewed previously filmed footage. Then, amidst the comments praising Cheng Erjian's increasingly "improving" acting skills...

In some clips, I noticed something strange about my eldest apprentice, who was afraid I'd be single forever.

Sighing inwardly at her apprentice Cheng Erjian's slowness, Le Yun turned to look at her composed young apprentice Li Sishi: "Alas, although the King of Xiang has a vague dream, the goddess must also have a heart, otherwise it's like forcing a melon to ripen—it won't be sweet."

Although Le Yun thought his eldest apprentice, Cheng Erjian, whom he had personally trained, was quite good, his youngest apprentice, Li Sishi, was an even more "beautiful and intelligent catch." While he had many suitors, both overt and covert, some of whom he disliked, there were also promising young men like Shang Hanyou and Ling Chen, whom he found quite agreeable.

If Li Sishi weren't still too young and unsettled, and too busy balancing her career and studies to pay attention to these things, she might never have waited for Cheng Erjian to realize his mistake. Instead, she would have been snatched away by some cunning and decisive person who would then guard her closely and hide her away in their arms...

Well, this isn't the feudal era of arranged marriages anymore. Young people have their own destiny. This old man will just sit quietly to the side, enjoying his tea and music, and calmly watch how they develop in the future.

That's what I thought, but after all, Cheng Erjian was my apprentice, Le Yun...

He still had a bit of a biased intention. After his cameo appearance, he pointedly pulled Cheng Erjian aside and told him that since it was a rare opportunity to work together in the same production, he, as the senior, had to take good care of his junior sister.

Such instructions were exactly what Cheng Erjian, who was hesitant, wanted. Suddenly, he seemed to have a magic sword. Taking advantage of the excuse that he was taking care of his junior sister and that the male and female protagonists needed to communicate more, he got close to Li Sishi quite a bit. He also kept a good sense of propriety, making Li Sishi unable to distinguish whether this should be classified as brother-sister affection or romantic love.

Of course, those involved are often blinded while bystanders see things clearly. Wan Jiamei, who was watching the peacock display its tail feathers, almost rolled her eyes at him: "Tsk, men who have figured things out but haven't officially entered the competition are so annoying. They dance like a male peacock in mating season all day long, showing off all sorts of fancy tricks to get attention!"

Although both Cheng Erjian and Ling Chen are considered top-tier examples of the "light-faced" type, she still prefers the reserved, elegant, and gentle nobleman type like Ling Chen compared to the more familiar, clumsy, and peacock-like man around her...

Perhaps it was the double blinding effect of the fan filter and the CP fan filter that made Wan Jiamei subconsciously ignore the many silly and outrageous behaviors he displayed in public when participating in various events in the early morning, and only deeply engraved the elegant, refined, and noble persona he had shown in recent years in her mind.

However, Wan Jiamei is not the only fan who completely forgets that Ling Chen originally played a playboy. In fact, Lei Jun has successfully transformed Ling Chen's image over the years. Not to mention the new fans, even the old fans who watched Ling Chen transform from a playboy to a nobleman in the early days felt that their idol had grown up and matured, so he changed his style.

While this persona of suppressing his true nature brought him to a new peak, it also showed signs of limiting his acting roles: fans who were used to seeing him as a rich young master were finding it harder to accept his other on-screen personas.

However, this kind of mild-mannered and flawless persona is the biggest hurdle for artists who want to win awards and recognition. Unless they can perform exceptionally well, they will only get nominated.

So, in the early hours of the morning, he also took advantage of this opportunity to break through and rebuild his image, not just in the play.

It also applies to life off-screen.

Especially since he failed to officially announce anything sensational with Li Sishi during the recent period due to their rumored romance, those gossip magazines have been writing, both openly and subtly, that since he didn't even manage to hook up with the legendary Miss Hong Kong, he might just be a "gay enthusiast" using various rumors to cover up the truth—and then his...

Even the mother of a successful businesswoman working abroad couldn't help but call him back, telling him that if what was written in the magazine was true, she hoped he would give her a "warning" beforehand.

Just so she doesn't one day see a magazine confirming her son's sexual orientation and only then belatedly discover the truth...

Amidst the smirk of his newly made good friend and music collaborator, Lai Chung-tak, he spent the better part of an hour explaining to his strong-willed mother that he absolutely, positively, and definitely did not switch to gay mode midway through his relationship. Only then did he whisper into the phone that he actually had a girl he liked, but he hadn't pursued her yet and was too busy with work, so he hadn't shared any relationship news with the world.

"Then you should work harder, but also be careful not to give the girl any misunderstandings. Actually, his family didn't really support him being in the entertainment industry, but unfortunately, he insisted on going through the motions and achieved some success, so they couldn't interfere too much."

He only calls to "warn" someone to tone it down when they get too wild on and off stage and don't care about their image.

"Okay, okay, I know. Take good care of yourself out there." After giving a final few words of advice in the early hours of the morning, she hung up the phone with a sigh.

"I never expected King Ling to have this side to him..." Li Zhongde teased him, then quickly grabbed his guitar and moved two steps away from Ling Chen's laughing fist. "Hey, hey, you're still waiting for my song 'The Salted Fish Turns Over,' don't get angry and ruin everyone's livelihood!"

"I don't need to bother with you." Ling Chen glared at him playfully, but then remembered something because of that "turnaround" incident. While everyone was waiting for their lunch boxes, she dialed a very familiar phone number.

"Hello?" But to his surprise, the voice on the other end of the phone was not the female voice he longed for, but a male voice that sounded somewhat familiar.

Ling Chen was taken aback at first, then thought about it carefully and finally figured out who the voice belonged to—oh, isn't this his "future uncle" with whom he got along very well?

I'm relieved!

"Hello? Is this Pasta? I'm looking for Ah May, is she not here?" Realizing that the person answering the phone for Li Sishi was someone she didn't need to worry about at all, Ling Chen relaxed considerably and smiled as she said to the person on the other end of the line, "Could you please pass the phone to her for me? I need to talk to her about something..."