Chapter 266: Tangerine Peel and Red Bean Paste Speak in the Sweetest Tone...

Upon hearing the director say that they would take a half-hour break, Li Sishi calmed herself down and looked toward the source of the sound.

"Okay, okay, let me jot this down. Lester said he's treating everyone to dessert. Tell me what you want so I can buy it for you..." A script supervisor was already calling out, holding a small notebook.

When filming in Hong Kong, crew members often coax the lead actors to treat the entire crew to afternoon tea, late-night snacks, and desserts. Sometimes, newcomers who have risen to prominence are even more observant and will take the initiative to treat others, following the lead actor's tradition of treating.

Li Sishi had been invited before, and she had also invited others before. Now, seeing Rong Juezhang, who was known for his generosity, treating her to a meal, she casually said while stretching her slightly stiff hands and feet, "I'd like a serving of tangerine peel red bean soup, thank you."

After telling the script supervisor her preferred dessert, Li Sishi, feeling less stiff in her limbs, slowly climbed down from the platform with the help of her assistant and other staff.

After telling Guan Chenfan, the director, that she was going to rest on the balcony and get some fresh air, Li Sishi slowly walked out onto the balcony with his permission.

She casually found a deck chair and sat down, half-lying there, looking up at the deep blue sky.

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself?" A familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

Li Sishi was too lazy to get up, but she just turned her gaze slightly to the side and said, "I'm a little tired, so I just want to be alone for a while and rest."

“Yes, indeed. Today’s filming took a bit long, and you had some scenes with a lot of emotional fluctuations…” Rong Juezhang nodded in agreement, then went over to another recliner next to her and lay down, as if he wanted to keep her company.

“If you have something to say, just say it directly.” Li Sishi looked up at the sky. “You’ve never been the kind of person who beats around the bush.”

“Actually, there’s not much to say. I just feel that as the ‘older brother,’ I need to care about ‘MayMay.’” Rong Juezhang lowered his voice. “You acted very well in the scene earlier.”

"Yes, I think so too." Feeling the cool night breeze blowing a few strands of hair across her face, the slight itching sensation made Li Sishi half-close her eyes. "If that's the case, you don't need to worry about me too much."

Having now lived two lives, those past memories, though an indelible part of her life, will ultimately become nothing more than a part of her "acting" in the face of a new life.

When acting, some people rely on imagination and association, while others rely on feeling and perception.

In the end, whether it's the former or the latter, even if the effects are different, they basically lead to the same goal.

By recalling her own wounds, she perfectly recreates the female protagonist in the play who has lost her "wildness" due to being manipulated by her scumbag husband. It is inevitable that she will feel subtle pain. But it is precisely because of this subtle pain that she can retain a clear-headedness that belongs to this new life in the dream of "reliving the past".

This film aims to both awaken others and save "itself".

Those past scars and marks will only allow her to go further in this new life—and this is the absolute key to the paradoxical existence of a "mature soul" beneath her youthful appearance.

However, these truths will forever remain buried deep within her heart.

Therefore, Rong Juezhang's concern made her understand that he and Director Guan Chenfan had misunderstood something—just like Zhuang Menghua before, people generally only thought that the reason she was "precocious" was because she encountered her biological parents' marital crisis when she was young, which is why she grew up too early.

"Actually, how different is my dad from your biological dad? Sigh, anyway, when I was little, I really felt like I'd rather not have a dad than have one." Thinking of his philandering father, who was known as the "King of Suits," Rong Juezhang sighed, "At least you had your mommy to love you back then, but what about me?"

"Luckily, I still have my seventh sister and my elder sister to take care of me. Otherwise, if I had been bullied to death by my father and his gang of bastards when I was a child, no one would have even known!" As fellow sufferers, Rong Juezhang couldn't help but use his own tragic childhood as a reason to comfort Li Sishi.

“For me, those things from the past… are actually long gone.” Li Sishi shook her head. “Because filming requires me to occasionally pull them out and use them, I’m a little ‘out of touch,’ so it just takes a little time to get back into the swing of things.”

Seeing that Li Sishi's answer didn't seem fake, Rong Juezhang turned his head and half-raised his upper body, staring intently into Li Sishi's eyes for a while before lying down next to her again: "It really is... I worried for nothing."

Although he is a senior artist who has been in the industry for many years, male artists in this industry are relatively easy to work with, so he has plenty of opportunities to collaborate with newcomers and juniors.

Rong Juezhang had seen many promising young talents like Li Sishi who had shown their abilities at a young age for various reasons.

—To take a recent example, Huang Qianyan, who can be considered Li Sishi's "senior sister," was still a newcomer with immature acting skills when she collaborated with Li Sishi on the first part of "Qianying Qiuhen." However, by the time they filmed the second part of "Qianying Qiuhen," Huang Qianyan had already begun to show the demeanor of an "older sister" and had transformed from "acting" to "acting skills."

However, as Huang Qianyan's acting skills improved rapidly, she inevitably encountered the problem of being unable to detach herself from the role after getting into it. He spent a lot of effort to help her adjust and sort out the situation, so that Huang Qianyan did not end up like those artists who went crazy while getting into their roles in the past, which made people sigh.

Even he himself once had an accident while filming in the capital that almost made it impossible to get out of character—this kind of "perfect immersion" in the role, where you completely treat yourself as someone else, is too terrifying. If you can't get out of character at that time, you may never be able to get out of character again in your life.

Moreover, Li Sishi had just incorporated her past experiences into the emotions of the character she was filming, and then fully immersed herself in the role through empathy...

It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried after he noticed the situation while off-camera.

If Guan Chenfan, as the director, hadn't called "Cut" and let the crew rest in time, he might have taken the initiative to "attack" first—regardless of what problems Li Sishi had, that lawyer Li, who was more like a father than a father, would definitely have a good talk with him, and he himself wouldn't be able to get over that hurdle.

Be loyal to what you have been entrusted with.

When he decided to include his cousin and junior, Li Sishi, in his protective circle, she became his lifelong responsibility.

This stems from inheritance and emotion, but it is more than just inheritance and emotion.

Of course, these subtle and complex thoughts cannot be revealed to Li Sishi, who is easily swayed by even the slightest bit of sunshine.

However, if it weren't for her "brilliant" personality...

So he wouldn't be so relaxed now—being able to adjust himself in time after "getting into character" and then "get out of character" is something that many seasoned veterans can't necessarily do.

But Li Sishi not only accomplished this at such a young age, but she did it exceptionally well.

This is something to celebrate...

"Thank you for your concern, cousin and brother." Although Rong Juezhang did not show his feelings on the surface, Li Sishi, who could always sense the difference in treatment in various subtle ways, was now extending the tone as much as possible when addressing him.

Seeing her like this, Rong Juezhang quickly waved his hand: "The one who cares about you the most is actually..."

"It wasn't me, it was the director. He thought you seemed a bit too immersed in your role, so he asked me if you wanted to take a break..."

At this point, he suddenly switched to a resentful tone to change the subject: "In order to buy you some 'rest time,' I have to treat the whole team to dessert tonight..."

"Should I put it on my tab?" Li Sishi asked with a half-smile.

“I never keep track of other people’s bills when I treat them!” Rong Juezhang laughed along, then reached out and poked her forehead again. “Whether I’m someone’s ‘brother’ or someone’s ‘husband,’ I should be the one paying!”

“‘Sad old man’ is actually unnecessary.” Seeing him joking with her, Li Sishi naturally retorted without backing down.

“It’s not that bad yet. Didn’t I just give you a crystal bracelet?” Rong Juezhang said, shrugging.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I need to pick up those scattered crystal beads so I can string them back together..." Li Sishi was about to get up when Rong Juezhang stopped her.

"No need, I've already had someone pick them up. I'll clean them up and string them together for you later." Rong Juezhang gestured to his assistant to confirm that all the crystal beads that had fallen to the ground during filming had been retrieved. Then he ran off and brought back two bowls of sweet soup, one in each hand.

"Eat quickly, we'll get back to work soon." Rong Juezhang stuffed the tangerine peel red bean paste that Li Sishi wanted into her hand.

So the two of them went from leisurely half-lying down to rather down-to-earth half-sitting, eating while chatting idly about trivial and pointless things.

"Hmm, the red bean paste with tangerine peel at this shop tastes pretty good. I'll remember it and buy it next time I have the chance... By the way, are you not going to have any more scenes? It's my 'home turf' again from now on..." Li Sishi said vaguely.

Their thoughts and words were extremely disjointed, yet these two were able to keep up and respond to each other.

Rong Juezhang gave a vague "hmm" in response: "I still have a little bit of screen time, but even if they added more scenes for my character, I wouldn't want to play it. This kind of man is just too much of a scumbag..."

Compared to the cowardly and afraid-to-die Thirteenth Master in "Rouge Box", the male protagonist of this movie who trains people like pets is even more detestable to him, from head to toe.

"I'm just waiting for 'you' to awaken, rise up properly, and give this scumbag male protagonist a good beating!" The sweet aroma of red bean paste lingered in his breath as Rong Juezhang used the sweetest tone to deliver the harshest accusation.