She was a ridiculous person doing ridiculous things, but she didn't think she was ridiculous, which was the most ridiculous thing about her!

Zhuang Sheng felt a dryness in his throat and involuntarily swallowed. Just when he thought the scene was about to end—

A non-existent gust of wind blew by, and Ye Chu was swayed and stumbled by the snowman's big belly, falling out of the room!

A perfect chair drop.

Ye Chu didn't utter a single word from beginning to end. But Zhuang Sheng could hardly take his eyes off her.

In his previous performances with Wu Jianing, knowing they were performing comedy, he often exaggerated his expressions and used large gestures. However, fearing damage to his image and being captured in unflattering photos by haters, he would often back down at the last minute. He considered his performances quite humorous. But compared to Ye Chu's performance, it was like comparing a fish eye to a pearl.

Zhuang Sheng had only seen this kind of natural, effortless chair-dropping on the comedy sketches of his earlier years.

"Click!"

One take.

In the second scene, Ye Chu, dressed in this large snowman costume, walks into the bookstore and begins talking to Old Mrs. Hu.

What other tricks can Ye Chu play with this snowman?

To Zhuang Sheng's astonishment, Ye Chu actually sat down in front of Old Mrs. Hu while holding the snowman's headdress in her arms.

The summer heat was intense, and Ye Chu, wrapped in the mascot costume, breathed heavily and rapidly. As a result, the snowman's pointed nose rose and fell with her breath, pushed up and down by her chest, in and out repeatedly…

When it's taken down, the snowman will comically deflate; when it's put back up, its pointed nose will almost poke into Grandma Hu's body, touching her skin.

Zhuang Sheng had no idea how Teacher Qi Ming managed to hold back his laughter and calmly rehearse his lines with Ye Chu. At least the people behind him were trying their best to suppress their laughter.

Of course, a normal person's breathing wouldn't be that deep. Zhuang Sheng looked left and right, and finally quietly moved to another camera position. Only then did he realize that Ye Chu was actually in the blind spot of the camera, with her hand inside the hood, controlling the snowman's nose in rhythm with her breathing and speaking.

When Jian Xiaojun was writing the script, no advertising sponsorships had been secured. These were all things that weren't in the script—meaning Ye Chu improvised entirely on the spot!

Ye Chu intentionally created comedic moments in the script. She made the most of everything, combining the scenes and props.

Moreover, she only studied the script for one day.

After the scene ended, Ye Chu had to quickly change costumes to continue filming the next scene. The mascot costume from the advertiser wasn't worth much, so Ye Chu immediately ripped it off. Only then did Zhuang Sheng notice that, in the sweltering summer heat, Ye Chu was completely soaked in sweat from being in the mascot costume. But from changing costumes to filming starting and ending, she didn't utter a single complaint.

Zhuang Sheng heard Wu Jianing beside her gasp softly.

Zhuang Sheng couldn't help but look at Qi Ming, who had a completely normal expression on his face, as if this was normal for Ye Chu.

Thump, thump.

Zhuang Sheng heard his own heartbeat.

Ye Chu's scenes were fragmented. The plot was also disjointed. However, the more Zhuang Sheng watched, the more shocked he became.

In one scene, Ye Chu needed to wear a muscle suit.

"Why are you wearing this?" Qi Ming angrily rebuked, "It's immoral, it undermines social order, it's utterly absurd!"

"Our male lead is hiring a stunt double. I think his physique is similar to mine. What if I take advantage of his weakness?" Ye Chu buried her head in her muscle suit. "Hey, why are there two bumps missing from this muscle suit?"

Fatty Zhang said while cracking sunflower seeds, "It's outrageous."

Huang Feizhang looked away in dismay: "You? When I deliver takeout on set, all the male leads are tall and strong, even if you were flattened, they'd still be taller than you." He then made a slapping motion.

Ye Chu picked at the belly button of the muscle suit and struggled to pull it off (Zhang Pangzi showed a pained expression), thinking, "You reminded me, the filming of 'Water Margin Romance: The Secret History of Ximen' in the next group hasn't finished yet. If this film is rejected, I'll go to the next group to compete for Wu Dalang."

In Zhuang Sheng's eyes, this kind of scene was tantamount to vilifying herself. Neither Zhuang Sheng nor Wu Jianing would be willing to act it out. But Ye Chu didn't slack off at all, seemingly unconcerned about how many unflattering pictures her scene would be captured by haters.

"I've never seen such a bizarre script since Cangjie invented writing."

"Xiao Ye hasn't done any extra work for three days. Is the entertainment industry about to be demolished?"

"Zhang Pangzi burns incense and prays to Buddha every day before chopping roast duck, that's benevolence; Lao Lu gives away unsold phone cases to everyone at the end of each year, that's righteousness; Huang Feihong delivers takeout and cries and begs for good reviews every day, that's courtesy; no matter where Grandma Hu hides her secret stash of money, Qiao Shan can always steal it, that's wisdom; even if Wu Yue owes money to twenty-five online lending platforms, she can still borrow money from the twenty-sixth platform to pay it off and achieve a balance between income and expenditure, that's trustworthiness—this is our Happy Street of Benevolence, Righteousness, Courtesy, Wisdom, and Trustworthiness!"

"I can't believe it, there's actually someone whose brain intelligence is lower than my paycheck..."

Huang Feizhang slammed his fist on the table and started arguing with Mei Yaohong. The two of them, one speaking in a southern dialect and the other in a northwestern dialect, argued amongst themselves, creating quite a scene.

Behind them, Ye Chu walked gracefully over, carrying a box of soap as if it were an imperial seal.

Ye Chu said in a high-pitched voice, "Father Emperor~~~ This is a calming soup that your daughter made..."

Qi Ming shouted, "Ye Zi, be careful not to twist your hip!"

The scene was very noisy. However, Mei Yaohong, Huang Feizhang, Qi Ming, and Ye Chu each spoke their own lines without any confusion, and everyone could clearly hear what they were saying. Zhuang Sheng and Wu Jianing had never achieved this level of coordination with the others before.

Scene after scene was filmed. Ye Chu's performance was flawless, her lines, blocking, expressions, and movements were all perfectly executed. And the collaboration between her and Qi Ming, Huang Feizhang, Mei Yaohong, Zhang Pangzi, and others was seamless!

The performance emphasizes both "restraint" and "extension".

Ye Chu's performance was masterful, displaying both unrestrained humor and deadpan wit. Every nuance of her acting, from laughter to anger, was crafted with artistry; every emotion, from joy to sorrow, was distinct and never repeated. Qi Ming and the others, on the other hand, were able to seamlessly follow her lead, knowing when to rein in her performance and vice versa. Their dynamic interplay was perfectly balanced and effective.

This is true tacit understanding. Only comrades who know each other well and have fought together can achieve such cooperation.

Zhuang Sheng realized for the first time that his previous opinion that Huang Feizhang and others were of average skill was not because of their poor acting skills, but because he and Wu Jianing were not good enough.

His and Wu Jianing's performances were too unrestrained and superficial, yet they were also restrained for the sake of their image. In the end, they were neither restrained nor unrestrained. If Huang Feizhang and others had been even more unrestrained, the whole play would have become very noisy.

To accommodate them, Qi Ming, Huang Feizhang, and others had to suppress their abilities and cooperate with them to complete the performance. Just like how the amount of water a wooden bucket can hold often depends on its shortest stave.

Now that Ye Chu is here, these good actors have broken free of their golden shackles and jade locks, and are like fish in water, soaring to new heights.

This is what makes comedy truly natural.

Zhuang Sheng suddenly remembered that Jian Xiaojun was the author of "The Mute Woman".

When she was creating the script, did she have the actors from "The Mute Woman" in mind? Did she subconsciously think that the actors who would interpret her script would definitely be those same good actors?

Zhuang Sheng felt a lump in his throat and suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

The final straw that broke the camel's back was Ye Chu's sleeping scene.

Before Ye Chu became famous, she slept on the floor in Xingfu Commercial Street, a detail that Jian Xiaojun did not change. The first season of "Xingfu Street Chronicles" has a total of thirty episodes, and there are as many as sixteen scenes of Ye Chu sleeping on the floor.

These scenes were filmed in one take. Ye Chu needed to constantly change clothes, makeup, and make minor adjustments to the scenes to complete the shoot.

One, two, three, four... Zhuang Sheng counted silently.

In the sixteen scenes where Ye Chu sleeps on a makeshift bed on the floor, no two of her expressions or movements were the same.

The smugness of receiving the script, the worry about the demolition of Happiness Street, the sadness of having someone steal the role, the excitement of acting in a good script, the contemplation of practicing acting skills, the sweltering heat of summer nights, the impatience of mosquito bites, the exhaustion of filming at night, and... a good night's sleep.

In the footage, Ye Chu has her eyes closed, wrapped in a tattered blue floral quilt, her expression serene, as if she's having a sweet dream. There's absolutely no indication that she's slept on this worn-out floor mat more than a dozen times.

Off-camera, Zhuang Sheng was in turmoil.

It was already dark; the night sky resembled a piece of black velvet embroidered with silver threads.

The crew members dared not whisper, but they kept exchanging glances, their amazement evident. Wu Jianing stood by the monitor, head bowed, stunned.

Teacher Qi Ming, being too old to keep up, has already passed away. Mei Yaohong and the others finally decided that since Ye Chu was so tired today, they shouldn't go out to eat, but just order some takeout to fill their stomachs at the hotel. Anyway, there's a sequel to the movie "Happiness Street," so they won't miss this meal.

Zhuang Sheng suddenly realized that he didn't understand Ye Chu, and never had.