Chapter 66 - Chapter 66: Chang Ning
Chapter 66: Chang Ning
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Gu Yuwu arrived, she saw a few people surrounding Lin Xiaowan and chatting with her.
Lin Xiaowan, who was surrounded and sitting on the mock throne, felt slightly helpless. She looked at them and listened silently. It was obvious that she did not know what to say.
Gu Yuwu saw Chang Ning leaning next to Lin Xiaowan and felt more assured. She knew that Chang Ning was in fact very down-to-earth and had a good personality. The latter was not scheming and was very good at maintaining the atmosphere. She strode over and asked, “Have you gotten familiar with everyone?”
Lin Xiaowan’s eyes lit up as soon as someone she knew arrived. With someone to rely on, she immediately lost her timid appearance.
After chasing the others away, Gu Yuwu informed once again that the filming of her scenes would only start tomorrow. She took a seat next to Lin Xiaowan and asked, “It’s not that scary, right? The number of people when filming tomorrow is more or less the same. The only difference is they’re working now, but tomorrow, their focus will be on you while they work.”
After that, Gu Yuwu continued to say, “Come on, show me how you look as a goddess.”
Lin Xiaowan was not very good at meeting people’s eyes. It was even more difficult for her to look at someone condescendingly and arrogantly. As such, she stared ahead at the ground and pursed her lips slightly. After a moment, she felt a little discouraged and said, “1 think 1 need to work harder. What if I don’t do well tomorrow? With so many people staring at me, I’m afraid 1 won’t perform well.”
In fact, Lin Xiaowan already had a certain understanding of the character she was playing. She also had her own idea on how to interpret the character. However, no matter what, she had no foundation in acting at all. Along with a few other personal reasons, it was only natural that she lacked confidence.
Gu Yuwu thought about it for a moment before saying, “You have a one-on-one scene with the priestess tomorrow. You just met her. Chang Ning is playing the priestess. You can try practicing with her.”
Lin Xiaowan knew that watching and experiencing it for herself was very different. She gritted her teeth and nodded. “Alright.”
Chang Ning played the part of the third female lead. She was arrogant and cold, and it seemed like she could see through things with just a glance. Her words were also blunt and cold. However, in fact, she was very considerate and cherished the people around her a lot. She was the kind of person who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
Gu Yuwu said, “There’s be a lot of scenes during tomorrow’s shoot. There will be a lot of takes. There will be people with cameras next to you to take close-up shots…” She gestured around at the staff members and continued to say, “I won’t ask the staff members to leave when you practice with Chang Ning so you can get used to it, okay?”
Lin Xiaowan wanted to test herself as well so she nodded. “Okay.”
Gu Yuwu praised her immediately. “You’re doing great, Xiaowan. You sat here in your costumes in front of so many people, and you were also okay with being watched. You even agreed to practice with Chang Ning. It’s already very impressive. Don’t worry about doing well. You’ve already done very well.”
Gu Yuwu gave Lin Xiaowan a thumbs-up when she spoke.
A smile appeared on Lin Xiaowan’s face immediately. Clearly, she liked being praised.
When Chang Ning appeared again, she was still wearing a blue brocade robe and black boots. The brocade robe was embroidered with a soaring white crane. Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with a red crown. She was dressed very differently from the other two female leads. She was dressed more valiantly.
“Hello, Goddess, we meet again!”
Chang Ning strode over with a smile on her face. Although they had just met, there was no sense of alienation at all.
Lin Xiaowan tidied her clothes and said, “I’m sorry to trouble you with this…”
“It’s no trouble at all. It’s my honor to be able to practice with you,” Chang Ning said as she moved to stand in front of Lin Xiaowan.
As soon as she stood in front of Lin Xiaowan, her smile vanished immediately, and her tone was a little disdainful as she said, “May I know why the Divine Goddess wishes to speak to me in private?”
Lin Xiaowan was shocked by Chang Ning’s abrupt change in attitude. It took a while for her to realize that Chang Ning had gotten into character. Fortunately, her script was flipped open to the page of this scene. She glanced at it and stammered, flustered, “Y-you… You seem to have forgotten your duty as a priestess.”
After saying this, Lin Xiaowan immediately covered her face and apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. 1 was caught off guard earlier.”
Chang Ning smiled and said, “It’s okay. This is very normal. Everyone’s like this in the beginning.”
Lin Xiaowan was truly shocked by the speed that Chang Ning got into character. During the first few days of filming, she did not see Chang Ning act. Today was the first time she had seen Chang Ning acting. Chang Ning was calm, composed, magnanimous, and brave.
Chang Ning was very different from the character she played, but she could get into character so quickly. She was relaxed, and her control was very good. Her emotions were also very good. All in all, she grasped her character very well.
Lin Xiaowan took a deep breath and said, “Let’s try again.”
The two young women practiced over and over again even though it was just a very brief scene. Although Lin Xiaowan only had a few lines, Chang Ning patiently accompanied her to practice. They even discussed the character of the goddess and the reason why the goddess decided to sacrifice her divine bone to help everyone in the end.
Lin Xiaowan shared her thoughts. “I think the goddess doesn’t like her life very much. Look, the cultivation world is so big, and there are countless sects. As such, the divine realm must be even bigger. However, she’s alone in such a huge place; there’s no one around her at all. There’s nothing she can do but watch what’s going on in the lower realm every day.”
Chang Ning nodded. “Yes, yes, that’s what 1 thought as well. When we opposed her and she stopped helping us to kill demons, 1 suspect that she did it out of boredom and just wanted to see us in a sorry state.”
Chang Ning nudged Lin Xiaowan and asked teasingly, “Tell me, what are you thinking? Did you laugh out loud when you saw us fleeing for our lives, injured? Was it amusing?”
Lin Xiaowan instinctively shook her head. “No, no, not at all…”
After a while, Lin Xiaowan could recite her lines smoothly, but when faced with Chang Ning, her aura was still a little too weak. She was supposed to be the goddess, but her aura was suppressed by Chang Ning. If there were other people in the scene, it might not be too bad. However, in a one-on-one scene with Chang Ning, the difference in aura would be very obvious.
Lin Xiaowan felt a little discouraged. She asked curiously, “How did you do it? You’re able to get into character so quickly…”
“It’s all about your state of mind,” Chang Ning said seriously, “I think I’m Feng Xiaohe. When I say my lines, I’m Feng Xiaohe. 1 don’t treat you as Lin Xiaowan, but I treat you as the goddess.”
Feng Xiaohe was the name of Chang Ning’s character in the drama.
“You have to think of yourself as the goddess to play this role well,” Chang Ning said, “In fact, it’s a little like playing a murder mystery game. Have you played it before?”
Lin Xiaowan shook her head, but she roughly understood Chang Ning’s meaning.
Chang Ning clicked her tongue. “If there’s a chance, let’s play together next time. You’ll understand what 1 mean then.”
Chang Ning continued to say, “Let me give you a simple example. When we discussed the plot, stop referring to the goddess as ‘she’, and use T instead.”
Lin Xiaowan thought about it for a moment before she said, “1 feel like the divine realm is really lonely. 1 helped you in the end, because without my help, all of you would be forced to separate. All of you would be doomed to guard the realms and experience the same loneliness as 1 did…”
Chang Ning clapped her hands and looked at Lin Xiaowan with approval as she said, “Good job!”