Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Sister, do you really not like me...

Xia Nuan answered the phone, and both parties were silent at first.

Xia Nuan couldn't help laughing, and laughter also came from the other end of the phone.

Ji Mian: "I just knew you would play Mu Jin. When the producer approached me, he didn't tell me who the female lead would be. I didn't expect it to be you."

Xia Nuan: "I was quite surprised too. I only found out about your co-star after the official announcement on the Weibo account. To be honest, I was quite happy when I found out that you were the actor I was acting opposite."

Ji Mian chuckled softly, "I'm the one who's happy. Now everyone in the industry knows that you're the heroine of Su Yuzhou's new movie. I'm really honored."

Although the two hadn't been in contact for two or three months, they didn't seem unfamiliar when talking about acting and soon became familiar with each other again.

It would take another week or two before they could join the crew for filming. After reading the script of "Palace Wall" two or three times, Xia Nuan opened the novel and started reading.

Xinran Yiyue's novel, "Palace Wall," is a heartbreaking and physically torturous ancient romance. The Chixia Kingdom enjoys a strategic location southeast of the Yan Dynasty, boasting abundant resources and mineral production.

The Chixia Kingdom is located in a remote corner. As a vassal state of the Yan Dynasty, the Chixia Kingdom has never had any rebellious thoughts. It has always lived and worked in peace and harmony.

However, the fact that there were many mines in the country was deliberately spread.

The Yan Dynasty emperor found a pretext to invade Chixia. Even though the Chixia king offered all the minerals he had in his possession, he still suffered a devastating defeat. Within three months, the Yan Dynasty army had completely defeated Chixia, and all the royal family members except Mu Jin were killed.

At that time, Mu Jin was only nine years old. She had parents and an older brother at home. She was the Princess Chixia, who was loved by everyone.

As the Yan Dynasty army stormed the Red Xia Kingdom's gates, Mu Jin was entrusted by her mother to her personal maid to take her away from the Red Xia capital. The young maid died in Mu Jin's place, but before dying, she could not bear the enemy's torture and revealed the truth.

In order to avoid being hunted by the enemy, the palace maid Ma Ma changed Mu Jin into a boy's clothes, changed his name and surname, and lived in a small town called Fengyuan Town on the border of Yan Dynasty.

The maid knew that the queen's dying wish was for the little princess to grow up safely, and she wanted nothing else. But although Mu Jin had been playful since childhood, she was not an ignorant child after all.

On the surface, she was laughing so as not to worry the palace maids and nannies, but secretly she vowed to make the Emperor of Yan Dynasty pay the price.

Mu Jin changed her name to Linze and lived in Fengyuan Town for seven or eight years. She had long been accustomed to living as a man. She had been extraordinary in appearance since she was young, and as she grew taller, all the girls in Fengyuan Town fell in love with her.

The palace maid Ma died when Mu Jin was eighteen years old. After burying her, Mu Jin traveled all the way from Fengyuan to Nanling, the capital of Yan Dynasty, on the pretext of sightseeing.

Mu Jin knew that she couldn't alert the enemy. She stayed in Nanling for two or three years and finally figured out the current structure of the Yan Dynasty royal family and the various complicated networks of relationships.

Before Mu Jin's true identity was exposed, she approached Xie Yanming and treated him like a close friend, appearing to be loyal and dedicated to his plans. Xie Yanming developed a deep respect and admiration for Mu Jin during this process, and after several attempts to test her, he found nothing odd about her and ultimately truly considered her his friend.

Mu Jin's successful assassination of the Emperor threw the Yan Dynasty into chaos. Xie Yanming seized the opportunity to ascend the throne and proclaim himself Emperor. He ordered a massive hunt for the Emperor's murderer, and after many investigations, he finally discovered that Mu Jin was the mastermind behind the plot.

Mu Jin was forced to resume her female identity, and many of her friends she met in the early days developed strange feelings towards her.

Xie Yanming did the same thing, but instead of executing Mu Jin, he found a scapegoat and secretly brought Mu Jin to the palace to be raised.

His feelings for Mu Jin had changed, but Mu Jin had never been a love-sick person. She might have fallen in love with Xie Yanming at one point, but she was decisive and clear-headed from beginning to end.

An emperor would not be heartbroken because of his children's love affairs. Although he loves Mu Jin, it is impossible for him to be with her for the rest of his life, as there are many beauties in his harem.

The final outcome was a big BE. Mu Jin faked her own death and escaped from the palace, never to see Xie Yanming again.

The heroine's role in this novel was obviously very outstanding. Xia Nuan frowned and flipped through the script again.

Although this drama has been adapted to a certain extent and the male protagonist is portrayed more than in the original novel, the highlight scenes of the female protagonist have not been cut too much.

You should know that the current novel adaptations either change the heroine into a hero, or reduce the heroine's highlight scenes or simply give them to the hero, or randomly add, delete, and modify characters.

It's rare to find a script that isn't so haphazardly adapted, but Xia Nuan read the novel again.

Mu Jin in the novel is calmer than the one in the script. She does not have as many feelings for the male protagonist as in the script. She knows what she wants from the beginning to the end, but she just compromises.

However, the adapted script emphasized the portrayal of many emotional scenes. Mu Jin truly fell in love with Xie Yanming while getting along with her, but later chose to give up his feelings for the sake of family and country.

This script focuses more on the emotional entanglement between Mu Jin and Xie Yanming after her female identity is exposed.

Xia Nuan put the script aside. She needed to think carefully about how to act out the role.

Book fans online are very worried about whether Xia Nuan can play the role of Mu Jin well.

The only work that Xia Nuan can currently name is a rubbish ancient costume drama "A Concubine's Daughter Should Not Be Bullied". Although Xia Nuan's performance in the drama is acceptable, it is against the backdrop of other actors with extremely poor acting skills.

Being highlighted by the garbage doesn’t mean that Xia Nuan can be equally outstanding when acting opposite Ji Mian.

The male and female protagonists have so many rival scenes. If Xia Nuan can't keep up with Ji Mian's scenes, then the show will be almost worth watching.

Although fans of the book are not very satisfied with Xia Nuan, most of them are happy and looking forward to Ji Mian. Therefore, the fans of the book have mixed feelings about this drama.

Originally, this matter was just some book fans complaining, but no one knows who hired the internet trolls to attack Xia Nuan and started to talk about how bad her acting was.

Therefore, people don't pay attention to these things. Passersby who have not seen Xia Nuan acting generally have a bad impression of Xia Nuan. They think that Xia Nuan's acting skills are very poor and have no expectations for the TV series she stars in.

——

Xia Nuan reread the contract Lin Dayong had given her several times. Just as Lin Dayong had said, the conditions offered by Langfeng, as well as this contract, were already top-tier offers among its peers.

However, even if she starred in Su Yuzhou's movie, was Lang Feng so sure that she would become famous in the future? How could she be sure that Lang Feng would not do the same thing as Dahong Media? Moreover, the contract was signed for ten years, and people's hearts were unpredictable. Who could guarantee what would happen in the future?

But as a newcomer without a company to back her up, it was impossible for her to survive in the circle.

Xia Nuan pondered for a long time. Her and Lou Su's dating contract would end in less than a month. If Lang Feng was willing to wait, then they could wait until the end of their previous contract.

Xia Nuan didn't call Lou Su, but instead called Lin Dayong directly. "If your company can agree to my conditions, I will naturally choose Langfeng."

Lou Su was right beside them at the time, and Lin Dayong carefully glanced at his expression. "Of course, Lang Feng can wait. Teacher Xia Nuan, see you in a month."

After giving Xia Nuan some eye exercises and stuffing a few candies into her mouth, her tense nerves finally relaxed. She really needed a financial team to take care of her, otherwise it would be exhausting to worry about everything herself.

Xia Nuan fell asleep, and before dawn, she suddenly woke up.

Her back was already wet. Xia Nuan let out a long breath, rubbing her forehead, her expression a little weak. She had thought she had gotten over the drama, but she didn't expect to dream again.

Xia Nuan shook her head vigorously. Now she had to figure out her new role carefully and couldn't be disturbed by Wei Qiuyu anymore.

Xia Nuan made expressions in front of the mirror, but there was always a sense of sadness. She slapped her face angrily and let herself lie on the bed in a daze.

I will contact Teacher Qin later and go to school to listen to Teacher Qin’s class tomorrow.

"Hello, who is this?" Xia Nuan answered the phone without even looking.

"It's me—"

Mo Zhu hadn't even said his name yet, but Xia Nuan already knew it was him just by hearing those two words.

"It's you, what should I do? I don't want to receive your call at all now."

Although the words were very rude, Mo Zhuyuan could hear Xia Nuan's unspoken distress, "Let me sing a song for you."

After he finished speaking, he began to sing. It was a very cheerful song, but Mo Zhuyuan was tone-deaf and his singing was particularly funny.

Xia Nuan was amused and said, "Thank you."

"I was abrupt in calling you today, but do you feel better now? I'm completely different from that scumbag Lu Lifeng. But for your own good, I won't contact you for a while."

Mo Zhuyuan sighed, "I was thinking of asking you out for dinner. It seems I'll have to wait until you're done with the show. Okay, Xia Nuan, please get out of here soon. I still want to play with you. By the way, Ji Mian and I have acted in a play together before, and he has a strong ability to empathize. You'd better pay attention to him."

Xia Nuan: "Thank you, Mr. Mo, I understand."

As if they had made an appointment, not long after Mo Zhuyuan hung up the phone, Bo Wenjue called.

Xia Nuan had calmed down by then, and asked with a smile, "Bo Wenjue, did you and Mo Zhuyuan make an appointment? He just finished fighting, and you called me."

Bo Wenjue rubbed his head and groaned softly. How could they possibly have made an appointment? "I'm planning on going skydiving these days, and I wanted to ask if you'd like to go. If you want to have some fun, it's better to find something exciting."

"I haven't jumped with a parachute yet, although I'd really like to try, but I'm about to start filming, and I still have to work on the script." Xia Nuan smiled and declined, "But thank you for considering me."

Bo Wenjue said, "Okay, it's a good idea for you to start filming and get into the next character as soon as possible. Anyway, it's best for you not to see Bo Wenjue recently, so as to avoid difficulties in filming."

"Okay, okay, thanks for the reminder."

Not knowing whether Teacher Qin was free now, Xia Nuan sent a WeChat message and received a reply about half an hour later.

She later audited classes at a film school for six or seven days and learned a lot of new acting methods.

Ten days later, filming of "Palace Wall" started.

The director of "Palace Wall" is Zhang Quanqiang, who originally made documentaries. This is his second TV series. His previous one was also a period drama, but it has not yet been aired, so it is unclear how good Zhang is at directing.

Xia Nuan greeted Ji Mian and then began to talk in low voices.

After reading the script, the filming officially began.

Director Zhang's filming style is completely different from Su Yuzhou's. He rarely criticizes actors on the set and is usually smiling, but once something goes wrong, he will immediately become serious.

This scene is about Xie Yanming being assassinated, and Mu Jin pretends to help him to make Xie Yanming trust her more.

Mu Jin's leg was hit by an enemy arrow and blood was flowing.

The veins on Xia Nuan's hands bulged and sweat began to appear on her forehead. This scene mainly tested her eyes, and Xia Nuan performed well.

After filming this scene, Ji Mian pulled Xia Nuan up from the ground.

"Your acting is really explosive." Ji Mian looked at Xia Nuan with admiration. "I didn't expect your acting to have improved so much. Ah, I didn't mean that your acting was bad before."

After Ji Mian finished participating in "Rural Cottage" last time, he went home and inexplicably watched the TV series that Xia Nuan starred in. He especially watched the video that went viral at the time, which he watched many times.

But Xia Nuan's acting skills are obviously better than that time.

Ji Mian shook his hands in panic.

Xia Nuan raised an eyebrow, "I know what you mean. My acting is indeed much better than before."

"Let's go, Xie Yanming. You're really distracting me from the show."

The two of them walked off camera while chatting.

Reuters happened to capture this scene.

After the filming of "Palace Wall" started, both fans of the book and fans of Ji Mian were particularly looking forward to the broadcast of the show, and most of them were paying close attention to the developments.

Although this Reuters video is short, it creates a strong atmosphere and many fans are getting addicted to it.

Besides, Xia Nuan’s men’s clothing is so damn handsome.

Filming has only just begun a week ago, so there are relatively few leaks. But the one leak that exists has piqued the interest of many fans.

Many fans who were attracted by this leak started looking for footage to edit for the two of them. Unfortunately, Xia Nuan had too little footage, so they only had a few scenes to work with.

The atmosphere on the set of "Palace Wall" was very good. Aside from Xia Nuan and Ji Mian, the other roles were played by relatively unknown actors. Furthermore, Xia Nuan and Ji Mian also had a good relationship, so nothing bad happened on the set.

Although Xia Nuan was immersed in the role, she was not as depressed as last time.

When we first started filming, the director always said that Xia Nuan had a feeling of excessive sadness. Although she was also sad, it was different from the painful wailing of Mu Jin who lost his country and family.

But the further you go, the more natural it becomes.

As the filming progresses, more and more shooting leaks and official behind-the-scenes footage of "Palace Wall" are released.

Some people began to secretly support the real-life couple, but because Xia Nuan had already officially announced her relationship, these fans could only secretly get excited and did not dare to say it openly.

The super topic avatar of Xia Tian CP is not even a picture of the two of them, and the super topic description only has one sentence: This is just for fun, and it must not be related to real people!

That day, Xia Nuan was filming the scene where she was imprisoned in the palace by Xie Yanming, and she also changed into women's clothes.

Xia Nuan had her face pinched and was pushed down on the recliner by Ji Mian.

Mu Jin was drugged and had no power to resist, so she could only let Xie Yanming do whatever he wanted to her.

Xia Nuan handled the eye contact scenes very well here.

But what follows is a kissing scene, the first kissing scene between the two in the script.

The two of them locked eyes, and Ji Mian couldn't help but look away, then chuckled softly. Xia Nuan was ticklish, especially when Ji Mian leaned over and his breath touched her neck, which always made her want to laugh.

Ji Mian: "Director, we need to adjust a little. Now we want to laugh every time we see each other."

Xia Nuan poked Ji Mian with the script, "Don't do that, we've laughed so many times. We must pass next time."

After five or six NGs, I finally passed.

Xia Nuan sighed with relief. She stood up and stretched her muscles. Why did someone over there look so familiar? Xia Nuan looked closely and saw Lou Su in the crowd.

Ji Mian's smile became a little forced, "Your boyfriend is coming, so I'll leave first."

Although he said so, Ji Mian took the cup of water handed to him by his assistant, but his eyes kept following Xia Nuan.

Lou Su's assistant is distributing milk tea to the staff.

Xia Nuan walked to Lou Su's side and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you would come?"

Lou Su looked at Ji Mian behind Xia Nuan. They looked at each other, and Ji Mian nodded and looked away.

Lou Su whispered in Xia Nuan's ear, "If I tell you, you definitely won't let me come."

Xia Nuan smiled at the people around her and said, "Let's go to the lounge and talk. You came here suddenly today, so you must have something important to say."

Lou Su closed the door of the lounge, frowned, leaned against the door, and stared at Xia Nuan silently.

She picked up the thermos and took a sip of water, then turned and asked, "You're here probably about the dating contract. Actually, if you hadn't come today, I was planning to call you tonight to discuss this matter."

Lou Su spoke in a low, hoarse voice, "Are we breaking up?"

Xia Nuan nodded, even though Lou Su's wording wasn't quite right, since they had never been together after all.

"We can break up, but I don't want to announce it officially." Lou Su pursed his lips. He didn't look at Xia Nuan again, but lowered his head to look at his toes, like a child having a tantrum.

"No." Xia Nuan rejected Lou Su's proposal directly and decisively, "We must officially announce our breakup. There's no room for negotiation."

Lou Su chuckled softly, his voice low.

Xia Nuan inexplicably felt that the atmosphere was not right.

Lou Su raised his head and slowly approached Xia Nuan, pushing her into a corner. He propped himself up against the wall with one hand, looking down into Xia Nuan's eyes. Then, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he leaned over to her ear, his tingling breath tickling Xia Nuan's neck.

She pushed Lou Su away, but he grabbed her hand instead. His voice trembled. He was clearly trying to interrogate Xia Nuan, but it felt as if he was the one being hurt. He used that face to seduce Xia Nuan, "Sister, do you really not like me?"