I became famous in the entertainment industry by burning incense

Chapter 513 The dead are gone, but the living must continue.

At the guesthouse.

Jinli first opened the advertising shooting plan that Lu Wanwan handed her.

When signing the endorsement contract, Jinli mentioned that she would have to stay on set to film for the next few months and would not accept any other engagements or go anywhere else.

However, Black Bear didn't want to miss out on the traffic generated by the collaboration products' explosive sales, so he decided to send a team to Pond Village to shoot the advertisement.

The quiet room was filled with the faint hum of machinery—the air conditioner releasing warmth.

The torrential rain fell on the windows and the ground, creating a somber melody.

A moment later, Jinli put down the advertising plan in her hand and turned to look out the dark window.

In the dead of night, not a single streetlamp was on in the village, and the rain could only be vaguely seen by the light from inside the house.

Jinli stared at the rain outside the window for a long time, then sighed softly and reached out to touch her still rapidly beating heart.

Even after returning to the guesthouse, she was still not completely at ease and felt somewhat unsettled.

She thought for a moment, then pushed open the door and went to Xu Wenwen's place.

Upon arrival, they found several actors in the room. They were a little worried about Xu Wenwen's condition, so they took a shower and rushed over to soothe her emotions.

The actors tried to tell some happy stories or jokes to make Xu Wenwen laugh, but she kept her head down and remained expressionless.

It wasn't until Jinli arrived that her emotions began to fluctuate slightly.

Xu Wenwen said in a hoarse voice, "You shouldn't go tomorrow. I'm afraid you'll leave with him too."

Jinli was taken aback.

She quickly realized that Xu Wenwen wasn't talking about her, but rather using Xie Yingying's identity to talk to Yuan Xiaoxiao.

She has gradually moved on, but some people are still stuck in the past.

At this moment, Jinli wasn't thinking about the plot of the script, nor how to comfort Xu Wenwen. Instead, she stood in Yuan Xiaoxiao's shoes and said:

"I need to go there."

She stared at Xu Wenwen and said, word by word, "I want to see him alive or dead. I want to confirm with my own eyes whether that person is him."

Xu Wenwen suddenly broke down and shouted, "No, you can't go there. You'll definitely leave with him too. You can't accept him falling in front of you, you didn't grab his hand..."

It was me, I held you tightly, not letting you go any further. If you had moved a little closer, perhaps you could have caught him!
It's my fault, it's all my fault. If I hadn't held you—"

Jinli calmly said, "If you hadn't held me, I might have died too. You did nothing wrong, and I understand you."

“Yingying, you did the right thing in this matter. You can only blame the natural disaster, you can only blame myself for letting him go ahead, and you can only blame myself for not holding his hand.”

I watched helplessly as he disappeared before my eyes. I was about to grab him, I could have, but I saw him vanish right before my eyes…

Jinli's eyes were slightly red, and she held back her tears as she said, "It's my fault. If I hadn't insisted on going up the mountain to look for the missing villager, if I hadn't gone up the mountain first and had waited for the police rescue team, he might have been fine. It's my fault, it's all my fault!"

"No, it wasn't you. I didn't want you to disappear in front of me. I saw him fall down the slope with my own eyes. I didn't want anyone else to sacrifice themselves, so I held on to you tightly. If I let go, you could have held his hand. It was because of me..."

Xu Wenwen burst into tears and covered her head with her hands.

The other actors exchanged glances, none of them daring to speak for fear of disrupting the unspoken atmosphere.

At that moment, they understood what it meant to be immersed in a role and what it meant to be an actor.

Everyone felt heavy-hearted.

They suddenly realized that acting is not child's play, but rather portraying other people's lives, and respecting the characters in the play is what they should do.

No one, whether a big shot or a small one, is completely useless.

Of all those present, Ma Mingqi had the most mixed feelings.

His character, Wei Yaoyang, sacrifices himself in front of the village official; this is part of the play.

Given his position, he could have guided Xu Wenwen out of this situation, but he couldn't.

The moment filming wrapped, he stood in front of Xu Wenwen and said to her, "I'm back, don't cry."

I initially thought that Xu Wenwen's breakdown and crying in front of him was a sign that she was out of character.

But after that, he realized he had oversimplified the concept of "breaking out of character."

Xu Wenwen didn't break character; she didn't see herself as Wei Yaoyang in the play. His appearance clearly told her—

Wei Yaoyang is dead, he will never come back!

That weeping was a farewell to Wei Yaoyang's permanent departure.

It wasn't until Jinli continued her conversation with Xu Wenwen under the alias "Yuan Xiaoxiao" that Ma Mingqi discovered the mystery behind it.

"Ugh!"

He sighed deeply in his heart. He had originally thought he had some talent for acting and was quite pleased with himself.

But seeing Jinli and Xu Wenwen's interaction, he realized that he was still very, very far behind.

If every actor has to have the same acting skills as Xu Wenwen and Jin Li, then he simply cannot meet the standard!

Jinli hugged Xu Wenwen and gently patted her back to comfort her.

"Dawn comes every day, and what we need to do is to carry on his will and put it into practice."
-
It didn't rain the next day, but the weather remained gloomy.

Wei Yaoyang has already sacrificed himself, but his scenes are not over. This is the character's last scene, and also Ma Mingqi's last scene on set.

After filming this scene, he officially wrapped up his work.

Ma Mingqi was in a bad mood today and didn't like to talk.

But it wasn't just him; everyone in the entire crew was quiet, including the staff.

As the person in charge of Black Bear, Lu Wanwan is not only here to oversee Jinli's advertisement shoot, but also to formally discuss product placement with the "Mediocre" production team.

As a special person, Yip Wai-kit allowed her to visit the film set.

Lu Wanwan originally wanted to talk to Jinli about the advertising plan first, but she keenly sensed the atmosphere on set and decided to hold back for the time being.

On set, Jinli and other actors are making preparations.

Jinli held the "53" practice book in her hand, but unusually, she wasn't doing any practice questions; instead, she was spacing out.

Lu Wanwan found Jinli's two assistants and asked in a low voice, "Do you know what scene the crew is filming today?"

Chen Qin nodded: "I know, today's scene is about farewell and the body."

Lu Wanwan stammered, "The...the body?!"

No wonder the atmosphere at the scene was so heavy!

She asked quietly, "Do you think it was appropriate for me to talk to Jinli today?"

Chen Qin opened her mouth slightly, about to say something, when she was suddenly interrupted by another assistant.

Xiao Cheng pulled Chen Qin aside and said politely to Lu Wanwan, "We're not too clear on that. Why don't you discuss it internally first? We're not responsible for Jinli's announcements; we're just her personal assistants."

Lu Wanwan's lips parted slightly. She had no ill intentions; she simply wanted to hear what others thought.

However, Jinli's assistant was very cautious and dared not reveal a single word.

Before she knew what to do, the set was already set up, and the production crew called the actors over to assemble. The sky outside the window matched the script, but Director Ye thought for a moment and decided that they still needed to make it rain, so he called a water truck.

Artificial rain drizzled down on the ground, and the camera focused on the makeshift mourning hall in the middle.

In the center was a coffin draped with the Party flag, surrounded by many flowers, with Ma Mingqi lying in the transparent coffin in front.

The final scene was very simple: just walk through the entire scene with your eyes closed and no expression.

Previously, Ma Mingqi dared to make some small moves while filming, but at this moment he didn't dare at all.

If he makes any noise, he feels it's disrespectful to the character.

If someone is already dead, and he still dares to play around, then is he still a corpse?

Ye Weijie shouted, "Action!"

The entire venue was completely silent; even the staff dared not make a sound, except for the music of the Rebirth Mantra.

The room was so quiet you could hear the rain outside.

Ma Mingqi lay in a transparent coffin, and the makeup artist painted scars on his face and exposed arms to simulate the wounds from being scratched by stones and trees.

Village officials, including Yuan Xiaoxiao, stood motionless and distraught in the mourning hall.

Even now, they dare not admit this fact.

Wei Yaoyang sacrificed his life.

He has left this world forever.

Villagers kept coming over, sobbing, to offer flowers. One villager brought his child and knelt down in front of the altar to repent.

Last night, the village official braved the wind and rain to go up the mountain because he heard that a family's grandson had gone up the mountain and had not returned, so everyone went out to search for him.

Perhaps it was because the scene was so realistic, but the villager and his grandson both performed exceptionally well, expressing the fear, cowardice, and sorrow of rural people.

In addition, Wei Yaoyang's relatives also arrived and started punching and kicking the villager, while no one else dared to step forward to stop them.

"If your grandson hadn't gone off to play elsewhere and hadn't come back, my Yaoyang wouldn't have gone up the mountain to look for him, and he wouldn't have encountered the landslide!"

"It was you! You killed him! You're all accomplices, you're all responsible! You owe me my son! Why don't you all go to hell with me...?"

Seeing that the villager's mouth was bleeding from the beating, the others stepped forward to stop it.

Wei Yaoyang's parents lashed out at the other village officials, their eyes red as they glared at them angrily.

"Why was he the only one who sacrificed himself? Why wasn't it you who sacrificed yourself? Why? Why was it him who had to leave us... Waaah, he even said he was going home for the New Year this year. Why was it him who had to leave us..."

The parents collapsed to the ground in grief, weeping uncontrollably.

The staff members who were watching were also moved, and their eyes turned red.

Suddenly, Yuan Xiaoxiao, played by Jinli, went outside and pounded on the stone wall.

Soon after, her hand started bleeding.

It hurts.

But the physical pain is nothing compared to the mental anguish.

"Click!!"

Ye Weijie shouted, and everyone was fully engaged in the scene. He didn't reshoot.

These emotionally intense scenes are very physically demanding.

Some jobs involve sitting all day long and are not as strenuous as manual labor, but after a day's work, they are more tiring than purely physical labor.

That's because this kind of work is mentally taxing.

For the human body, whether it is mentally or physically harmful, it is a huge drain.

After filming this scene, Director Ye called for more reshoots of the details, then said, "That's all for today. You should all go home and get some rest."

It's only morning, and it's already over?

Seeing the surprise in the actors' eyes, Yip Wai-kit explained, "We originally scheduled a scene for this afternoon, but I noticed that you weren't in very good spirits, so we moved it to tomorrow. You can take a break first."

The dead are gone, and the living must move on.

Unrequited grief is irrational.

After Wei Yaoyang's funeral, the remaining village officials will have to continue handling the affairs of Chitang Village.

Previously, Wei Yaoyang and Wang Hongdou applied for a transfer order to another village, but due to various procedural issues, it has not been processed yet.

After a year of delays, it was finally approved, but then this happened.

With a heavy heart, Su Yue, played by Wang Hongdou, leaves Chitang Village almost as if fleeing, heading to another village.

She felt no less guilty than Yuan Xiaoxiao and Xie Yingying, because when she learned that a child had not returned, she was the first to suggest going up the mountain to search for the child.

Wei Yaoyang was merely echoing her ideas.

Su Yue kept thinking, if she hadn't made that request that day, would Wei Yaoyang have not gone up the mountain, and would he have avoided this accident?

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

A natural disaster left an indelible mark on every village official, making them less impetuous and more thoughtful, always considering things three steps ahead before taking a single one.
-
In the afternoon, Jinli took the initiative to approach Lu Wanwan.

Lu Wanwan thought Jinli would still be immersed in the character's emotions, and was thinking about how to communicate with her gently later.

But after seeing Jinli, she realized she had worried for nothing.

Jinli appeared perfectly normal; there was no sadness in her eyes, and she spoke gently:

“I’ve looked at the Black Bear’s advertisement shooting plan. The theme is great. Where do you plan to shoot it? I’m afraid I can’t be too far from Pond Village.”

Lu Wanwan snapped out of her daze and quickly said, "We'll film in Chitang Village. I went up the mountain today; there are many mountains here that can be used for filming, and the scenery at the top of the mountain is also quite nice."

As soon as she said it, she couldn't help but pat her mouth.

Didn't she plan to run out of Chitang Village in the morning and go to the mountains in the next village to take pictures?

I was so nervous facing Jinli that I accidentally misspoke and said it was filming on the hilltop of Chitang Village.

However, she initially decided to film on the hilltop of Chitang Village, as many of the local mountains met her requirements.

If she hadn't been afraid that Jinli would be reminded of Wei Yaoyang's sacrifice when filming on the mountain, she wouldn't have thought of changing the location.

Jinli was stunned to see her hitting herself. "You..."

Lu Wanwan immediately said, "We can change the location and stop filming in the mountains of Chitang Village. We can go somewhere else to film. What do you think of the mountains in the next village?"

Jinli shook her head: "I don't think it's very good."

"You may not know this, but the mountain range here is continuous and crosses many counties. The mountain in the next village and the mountain in Chitang Village are actually the same mountain. Let's take pictures here in Chitang Village. I have time this weekend."

Lu Wanwan frowned and asked cautiously, "Jinli, are you alright? Can you film the advertisement in the mountains of Chitang Village?"

Jinli looked at her expression and suddenly understood something. She smiled gently.

"It's okay. I'm a professional actor. I can tell the difference between acting and reality."