"Please help me."

·

What do you mean by that?

Ye Chu gently wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, hesitated for a moment, and finally took off that ridiculous hat. If Xu Hanwen saw it, she would get another scolding.

"Shishan..." Ye Chu tugged at the fur of her hat, wiping the sweat from her brow. I could tell she was stalling for time, trying to find the right words. There was no need. My mind had gone blank for a moment; asking that question was purely instinctive. Even if she had said the flowers were green today, I would have just nodded and said yes.

"Shishan," she finally said, "I used to have bad handwriting, but tracing requires concentration. Back then, I had to work as an extra for more than ten hours a day, and then spend a lot of time practicing calligraphy. It was really too tiring."

I've seen Ye Chu's calligraphy before; it's beautiful, elegant, and carries a touch of scholarly refinement. I complimented her at the opportune moment, "Really? You've made quite a bit of progress."

Ye Chu, unusually anxious, interrupted me: "Shut up! You—"

Even though it was about my business, Ye Chu seemed very anxious. This reaction lessened the chill in my heart somewhat. I said, "Don't rush. What do you want to say?"

Ye Chu said, "I'm human too, and I get tired, so for a while, I thought about slacking off. I bought a whole stack of calligraphy practice books with grooves. Do you know those kinds of calligraphy practice books?"

Ye Chu gestured, "It's that kind of calligraphy copybook where the characters are recessed. As long as you put the pen tip into the recessed characters, the pen tip will move freely along the grooves..."

What exactly is she saying?

Ye Chu frowned deeply, ripped open the collar of her heavy clothes, and took two deep breaths.

“I can copy dozens of these grooved calligraphy practice sheets at a time without getting tired. The handwriting I produce is beautiful, neat, and without any deviations.” Ye Chu lowered her head. “But later, my grandmother—who used to be a teacher—said to me: This won’t do.”

"The grooves guide the direction of the brushstroke, allowing beginners to easily follow them and master the direction of the strokes. Furthermore, due to the physical limitations of the grooves, even tracing with one's eyes closed won't result in mistakes, allowing for the rapid creation of large, beautiful characters. This, in turn, generates a great sense of accomplishment..."

Ye Chu stretched out her finger and traced the characters in the air in front of us: "Grandma said that this kind of passive calligraphy practice is a lazy way. It relies too much on the grooves, and when you leave the 'groove,' the characters will revert to their original shape."

"For young children and calligraphy beginners who cannot control their brushstrokes, grooves are effective. However, true writing requires constant and active observation and adjustment. Practicing with grooves year after year will only result in characters that are similar in form, not in spirit."

Ye Chu withdrew her finger and finally turned her gaze to me. There was pity in her eyes, but not the kind of affection I wanted. Instead, it was the regret of a teacher for the most diligent yet clumsy student in the class.

“Shishan,” Ye Chu said in a tone that was almost gentle yet cruel, “'Writing' is ultimately your own business. The sense of accomplishment guided by the groove is just an illusion. That won’t work.”

Ye Chu was very cautious and careful with her words, as if she was afraid of touching on something.

A gust of cold wind blew by, making me shiver as if I had been doused with cold water. I heard my own voice laugh heartily, "Haha, you seem to have quite a knack for calligraphy? Grandma sounds like a very impressive teacher too."

Ye Chu's voice, carried by the cold wind, reached my ears: "Shi Shan, it's just the two of us here. Let's be frank, *Tianban* is very important to me, but Li Yiming is even more important to *Tianban*. If you…"

"Ye Chu!"

Xu Hanwen's roar rang out behind us. The old man rushed forward, grabbed Ye Chu, pulled her hat over her head, and sprayed her face with water: "It's so cold, why aren't you wearing your hat properly? What if you catch a cold? Do you want the crew to stop filming just for you?"

Ye Chu could only apologize repeatedly, obediently buttoning up her clothes and putting on her hat. Xu Hanwen then noticed my presence: "What are you doing here?"

I said, "Ye Chu and I are discussing calligraphy."

"What the hell are you talking about, calligraphy!" Xu Hanwen cursed. "You had to do so many takes for that scene! I told you so..."

Beginner, beginner, beginner.

"Don't bring your things here..."

Grooves, grooves, grooves...

"Ye Chu has followed you through so many takes, even the janitor could recite her lines by heart!"

illusion.

"What, did you return your brain to Zhan Kexiang?"

An indescribable surge of rage suddenly welled up in my chest. I rushed forward, grabbed Xu Hanwen by the collar, and lifted him off the ground: "Watch your mouth."

When Xu Hanwen was filming, he seemed to be possessed, disregarding life and death. Instead of being angry, he laughed and said, "Do you think I wanted you? If it weren't for Ru Tai's eyes lighting up with green light the moment he saw you and his one-man rule, you wouldn't even be allowed to enter this film crew!"

"Enough!"

As our argument escalated, Ye Chu quickly stepped in to break it up. She was quite strong and easily pulled Xu Hanwen from my grasp; of course, Xu Hanwen wasn't grateful. He simply took a few deep breaths, quickly calmed himself, and said to Ye Chu, "Let's go back and reshoot."

Xu Hanwen has been suffering from sleep deprivation lately, and he seems to have developed bipolar disorder. Apart from Xue Haodong and Qi Ming, who are the best actors, everyone in the crew has to listen to his roar.

I know that the failure of "Qingyun Biography" made him eager to salvage his reputation, while the script for "Tianban" suited his taste perfectly, and Ru Guan's tyranny left him with a mountain of lawsuits. With multiple approaches combined, he became increasingly unable to control his anxiety.

However, this is not a reason for my anger.

The person I really want to grab by the collar and confront is someone else. But I can't. I have to respect her, cherish her, and treat her as my most important love. If I don't deceive myself like this, the whole show will be ruined.

Ye Chu left with Xu Hanwen. Before leaving, she looked back at me several times, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes.

She was afraid I would hold her back. She wasn't particularly skilled at portraying love. If she were paired with a co-star who couldn't perform well without getting into character, it would only make things worse.

Even so, she refused to use the grooved calligraphy practice book with me. Simply because her teacher told her that it was lazy.

When I realized this, I actually burst out laughing, even laughing until tears streamed down my face. How could there be such an idiot in the world?