Chapter 22
After Chen Zhiyi filled in the blank questions, only an hour of tutoring time had passed. Lin Ting originally wanted to leave early today, but there was a piece of paper next to her elbow that read "Performance Practice - A Scene from Huanzhu Gege". She picked it up and looked at it, then frowned and her clear eyes were filled with doubt.
Chen Zhiyi coughed lightly, his tone particularly gentle, as he was asking for a favor out of personal motives. "Sister, I have a small quiz in my next acting class, and the content of the test is this passage written on the performance paper. Could you help me rehearse it beforehand?"
"Huh!" Lin Ting was so shocked her jaw almost dropped. "You've got the wrong person. I know absolutely nothing about acting. You can ask me to read what's on the paper without any emotion, though." She quickly put the paper back in its place.
"Then just read it, consider it as helping me with positioning."
"Is there no one else?"
"No."
"How could that be? You can ask Du Yuan or other classmates or friends?"
"Du Yuan is a boy, so it's not appropriate. The classmates only interact at school and don't keep in touch with each other privately."
"What about Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen?"
"It's even more inappropriate for them to be elders."
“Then I am also an elder, your family tutor.”
"But you just said that we siblings have a very close and deep relationship."
Lin Ting was momentarily speechless. Hadn't he just shot himself in the foot? He had only said those things to get information out of him, but he hadn't expected this turn of events.
Seeing Lin Ting's speechless expression, Chen Zhiyi felt a surge of secret joy. He loved seeing her anxious and bewildered little face. She was only four years older than him, but she always had a serene and composed demeanor. Just now, she was so lively and playful when she talked about gossip.
"Then, what about your classmates at the training institution? Shouldn't you practice together often?"
"This is a performance practice that will be assessed. The students are all competitors. If you rank in the top three in the assessment, Teacher Wang will give you an extra performance class. His classes are really good. You will have a better understanding of the performance techniques if you take an extra class. The students are all very hardworking."
"Is your family short of money? Do you need to work so hard?"
“My family doesn’t lack money, but I do lack these classes. I don’t want to miss a single one of Teacher Wang’s classes.”
Is this a complete blockade, leaving no choice at all?
Chen Zhiyi feigned pitifulness and held the script in front of Lin Ting again, saying, "Sister, just do me a favor and cooperate with the performance."
Lin Tingting disliked the word "acting." Life is a play, and you have to act it out today and continue tomorrow. On top of that, you have to act again. Doesn't that feel tiring? How much genuine affection is left in this world?
She took the paper, glanced at the lines, and read things like "Mountains may crumble, heaven and earth may unite," "I hate how incompetent I am," and "I'm blind, I can't see anymore." Suddenly, everything went black; she had truly gone blind.
“We should all have seen this TV series. This is a very classic and touching love scene. It’s only about half a page of dialogue, with only about 20 lines in total,” Chen Zhiyi explained in detail from the side.
Lin Ting had seen it, but she didn't find it touching at all. She just thought it was pretentious. Instead of getting proper treatment for her blindness, she was still indulging in love.
"Is this the only clip available? Aren't there any others?"
"No!" Chen Zhiyi replied crisply, leaving no room for retreat.
Hu Shuo, the acting teacher gave them three clips to choose from. One was the heartwarming scene of the mother and son recognizing each other at the end of "Mom, Love Me Again," but there wasn't much to empathize with. Another was the classic rooftop scene from "Infernal Affairs." That scene was cool, but for a model young man raised with a strong sense of social honor and shame, who had always abhorred crime and upheld righteousness, it was too much of a stretch. When Chen Zhiyi saw the third clip, he thought of asking Lin Ting for help with the scene. In real life, he couldn't find a reason or way to get close to her, so perhaps this way he could get closer to her.
"Sister, there are three different forms of love in Princess Pearl. Which one do you personally prefer?"
"for example?"
"For example, the Fifth Prince and Little Swallow are childhood sweethearts, Ziwei and Erkang are deeply in love, or Xiao Jian and Qing'er are soulmates."
Lin Ting raised her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "I like Rong Momo. She devoted her life to serving her master and pursuing her career."
Wow! That's an amazing answer!
Chen Zhiyi pursed his lips, finally understanding the idiom "unromantic".
"I've memorized all the lines. Let's get started on rehearsing!" Lin Ting has always been efficient and decisive in her work.
She actually read it aloud like a textbook, without any emotion, which was quite strange.
She leaned against the table, holding a piece of paper in her hand, her gaze never falling on Chen Zhiyi, and read aloud like a robot's monologue, "If I can no longer see, I would rather die, I would rather not live. If I can no longer see, what meaning does this world have for me?"
Chen Zhiyi suppressed a laugh, walked up to Lin Ting, and reached out his hands to cup Lin Ting's face.
Lin Ting jumped back, her eyes wide, "What are you doing?"
Chen Zhiyi pointed to the lines, saying, "There are action requirements above. When I say the following lines, I have to cup your face in my hands."
Lin Ting then noticed that each line of dialogue was followed by an action marked in parentheses: cupping her face, shedding tears, hugging forward, and hugging backward. Because the font was small, she hadn't paid any attention to it.
What do "holding someone in the front" and "holding them in the back" mean?
"It means exactly what it says, hugging from the front and hugging from the back."
"I was just helping you with your positioning, you don't need to be so realistic."
"I already said it's just blocking, so I definitely have to do all the lines and movements perfectly. Don't worry, sister, it's all fake movements. I definitely won't take advantage of you." Chen Zhiyi's voice rose at the end, making it sound like he was making a vow.
If she hides now, she'll be the one with a guilty conscience.
Lin Ting frowned, then put down the script and leaned forward slightly.
At this moment, Chen Zhiyi truly felt that he was a born actor. Although he was overjoyed inside, he had to be trapped in the sad and heavy atmosphere of the play. He reached out and cupped Lin Ting's face with both hands, his eyes full of affection, "From now on, I will be your eyes."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Ting immediately turned her back to him and continued with the next line, still without any emotion, "I can't see your face, I can't see your eyes, I can't see the way you look at me, I can't see the flowers in every house and the water in every household, I can't see the paradise we dreamed of, and I can't see our secluded valley."
Chen Zhiyi reached out from behind and gave Lin Ting a light hug. She knew there was a hugging motion, but she still couldn't help but glare at him. Fortunately, it was just a hugging motion without any physical contact; there was still a little distance between them. But for Chen Zhiyi, even these small gestures were enough to make him happy.
The scene of the two acting together was quite comical. One of them was expressionless and occasionally showed a hint of disgust, while the other was immersed in the role and had all the emotions one would expect. Those who knew the situation would know that it was just acting, but those who didn't might think that a heartless woman was dumping a devoted man.
...
"No, no, I don't want your pity. Go find Qing'er." For some reason, Lin Ting found it funny. Sometimes, romantic dramas are just pointless whining. Even though she was the most vulnerable and needed someone to rely on at that moment, she still drove the person beside her to someone else's side. It was just a mischievous, saintly heart.
People always try their best to pretend to be strong. After pretending to be strong for so long, they really think they are an impenetrable fortress. But when you squeeze them, they are made of paper!
Lin Ting herself was like that, relying on her pride and stubbornness to get by.
"What Qing'er? Didn't we agree that I would only part from you when the mountains crumble and the world is at peace? You're giving up on our deep feelings so easily. Are you still the Ziwei I love most in my heart?" According to the script, this should be a frontal embrace, the last intimate action in the scene. Chen Zhiyi was a little reluctant. His inner turmoil made him suddenly hold Lin Ting's neck tightly and pull her into his arms. Her left ear was right next to his left chest.
However, Lin Ting lost her balance due to the excessive force, and then tripped over the leg of the chair next to her. She couldn't hold on and was about to fall. In her instinctive reaction, she tried to grab Chen Zhiyi's clothes to steady herself, but ended up pulling him down with her and falling to the ground together.
He touched her soft breasts again, his face so close, her breath filling his nostrils, carrying that sweet scent of gardenias once more. A strange, burning heat surged through his brain and lower body again. The unspoken, wet scenes of last night flashed through his mind. The boy, frozen like ice, lay on top of Lin Ting, too afraid to move, his face ashen, his Adam's apple bobbing repeatedly.
Lin Ting was stunned by this sudden surprise, her eyes wide open. At this moment, Chen Zhiyi's features seemed to be magnified several times in front of her, his eyes staring straight at her, deep as the sea as if they could swallow everything. The beauty mark under his right eye was like starlight jumping out of the deep sea, making people involuntarily sink into this sea, and a dense itch grew in their heart.
This feeling made her feel both unfamiliar and panicked, as if some force was pushing everything in an uncontrollable direction.
She immediately pushed Chen Zhiyi away, scrambled to her feet, grabbed her bag, her eyes darting around in a panic, and forced a smile as she said, "That's enough for today, I'm leaving now." With that, she quickly fled the room.
Chen Zhiyi was still slumped on the ground, recalling everything that had just happened. How could he have suddenly lost control again? It seemed that ever since he met her, he had been out of control. He wasn't a lustful person, but he had repeatedly reacted to her. He looked at the large lump on her genitals, wondering if she had felt it just now.
He looked down and asked, "Brother, you really don't know your place or the time. Were you being too reserved before? Now you can't stop yourself so easily?"
The brother naturally wouldn't answer.
Hold!
How annoying!
That evening, after much deliberation, Chen Zhiyi sent Lin Ting a message: "I'm sorry, goodnight!" He wanted to gauge her feelings, and thankfully she replied, "It's okay, goodnight." He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
But since then, Chen Zhiyi clearly felt that Lin Ting had developed a grudge against him, and her attitude became much more distant, as if she had returned to the time when they first met, always keeping her distance from him.
He disliked this situation but didn't know how to break the awkward silence.
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