HuaYu: A Great Director Starting with Dream of the Red Chamber

With the Venice tickets secured, Li Yan's days suddenly became much more relaxed.

In late June in Beijing, the summer heat was just beginning to show, and cicadas on the branches were already chirping intermittently.

In this kind of weather, lying sprawled under the shade of a tree really made Li Yan feel listless and unable to muster the energy to do anything.

From GG to short films, the full-load state of working non-stop for half a year was suddenly pulled out.

This feels a bit like... a period of reflection.

Aside from the occasional reminder that he was penniless due to his nearly empty savings, life was still quite good.

I get up early to go for a run, water the flowers, and feed the big orange tree that's been sneaking into the yard lately, begging for food and water.

I went to Teacher Guo's house for lunch again and listened to the two old men arguing heatedly about whether they could take back their moves.

In the afternoon, I would hide away at the company, enjoy the air conditioning, and chat on the phone with two super-busy celebrities.

Seeing Yang Mi and Jing Tian exhausted, I sent them MMS messages with pictures of beer, barbecue, and chilled watermelon to stir up some envy.

Yes, happiness is always relative.

Why hasn't WeChat been released yet? Sending MMS messages is so expensive.

"Buzz..."

The phone on the coffee table vibrated; it was a multimedia message from Jing Tian.

The photo shows a box of actors' special meals that doesn't look very appetizing, accompanied by a string of crying emojis:

"Li Yan, you bastard! I'm eating grass while you're eating meat! I'm going to bite you to death when I get back! Where's the script?! Where's my script?! (frustrated.jpg)"

Li Yan replied with a smile that didn't even register:

"I'm writing, I'm writing. (New folder created on computer.jpg)"

My phone vibrated again.

This photo is completely different; it's a selfie.

Long, slender legs clad in black stockings were crossed on the back seat of the van.

"The new poster shoot just finished, but isn't the leg retouching a bit too much? Director, could you take a look? (Look at the legs.jpg)"

Li Yan raised an eyebrow, saved the message, and then replied with two words: "So-so."

Yang Mi replied instantly: "Ha, whose eyes were glued to you that day? Hypocrite!"

Sigh, such uneventful days...

He tossed his phone aside, nestled comfortably into the beanbag chair in the corner, and covered his face with a copy of "The Grammar of Film Language."

I was just about to take a nap.

A series of stuttering sounds, through the book on my face, pierced my ears.

"Eight hundred... standard-bearers... rush up the north slope, artillerymen... run side by side... to the north..."

Li Yan sighed helplessly and took the book off his face.

Beside the green ivy by the window, Naza was practicing tongue twisters with a bitter and resentful expression in front of the full-length mirror.

After returning from Xinjiang Province, the girl successfully signed a contract with the company.

It was her older sister, Gulnati, who personally brought her here.

As soon as my sister entered the company, she immediately spotted the composed and handsome Li Yan behind the desk. He was the one who had not only made Yang Mi famous but was also so young. That guy's eyes shone brighter than Naza's.

They're sisters; if one's a sucker for good looks, the other's can't escape it either. You can't lie about genes.

In particular, according to Ding Xiaoshuo, they even found a private tutor for Nazha from a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama, preparing to send her to take the college entrance exam.

Without saying a word, Gulinati sold his sister... well, signed the contract.

Before leaving, she insisted on taking a photo with Li Yan, saying she wanted to make her flight attendant friends jealous.

So, Naza suffered.

"The artillerymen...are afraid of...bumping into the model soldiers..."

He was practicing very seriously, his little brows furrowed together, and his pretty face was filled with the words "bitter and resentful".

"Nazar, classmate,"

Li Yan couldn't listen to it anymore, so he sat up and rubbed his ears.

"Why are your tongues getting more and more arguing the more you practice?"

Naza didn't even notice that Li Yan was there, and was startled when he heard the voice.

Today she wore a white, tight-fitting short-sleeved T-shirt and low-waisted jeans. With the slightest movement, a section of her fair and slender waist would be revealed, which was incredibly eye-catching.

Naza turned around, her hands hanging limply at her sides, her watery eyes looking at Li Yan with a pitiful expression:

"Oh, director, this is too difficult! My tongue just won't obey me..."

Seeing her clumsy yet beautiful appearance, Li Yan had no choice but to get up and slowly walk over.

"It's not a problem with your tongue, it's a problem with your breath. Right now you're using your throat the whole time, but the root of your lines is in your dantian (lower abdomen). You need to sink your breath down."

"Dantian? Is it below the navel?"

Naza pointed to her stomach with some uncertainty.

"You're in the right position, but you're not applying the right amount of force."

Li Yan shook his head and walked behind her.

"Don't move."

He naturally reached out, across her waist, and placed his palm on her lower abdomen.

Naza froze instantly, his flat stomach tightening as if struck by an electric current, and he instinctively gasped for breath.

"hiss……"

Li Yan's palms were large and very hot.

Through the thin fabric, the warmth of his palm almost instantly seeped into her skin, burning down her lower abdomen all the way to her ears.

"What are you so nervous about? I'm not going to eat you."

Li Yan could feel the slight trembling of Na Zha's body, but he wasn't thinking about it that much at the moment.

He pressed down slightly, then leaned down and whispered in the ear:

"Relax...exhale."

Naza's mind was completely blank at this moment, and tongue twisters had long since flown to the winds.

I could only subconsciously follow the instructions and exhale slowly.

As she exhaled, her body inevitably leaned back, gently resting against Li Yan's broad chest.

From a distance, it looked as if Li Yan was holding her in his arms from behind.

Li Yan gently supported her waist with his other hand to help her steady herself.

The instant skin touches.

The delicate, smooth texture made Li Yan's voice sound a little dry.

"Inhale..."

Li Yan tried her best to make her voice sound normal, but the warm breath she exhaled still inevitably fell behind that thorny ear:

"Can you feel my hand? Use your lower abdomen to push against my palm... resist it, push hard."

"Well……"

Naza bit her lip, trying hard to control her muscles to "push" against the burning hot hand.

But this action made her feel quite ashamed.

Every rise and fall, every confrontation, brings a tingling, numbing sensation.

She could even feel the heartbeat in the man's chest behind her.

"Don't move."

Li Yan noticed that Na Zha in his arms was squirming around like a restless kitten. The sensation under his palm made his throat tighten, and he couldn't help but warn her.

"Now, try making the sound 'ah,' let the air come out from here, and push it away from my hand."

"what……"

Naza obediently opened her mouth.

The sound that came out startled her, and she was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into a hole.

Soft and trembling, the last syllable of her voice carried a sweet, cloying breath that stirred the heart.

It doesn't sound like vocal practice, it sounds more like...

The temperature between the two of them was getting hotter and hotter, and the air conditioner seemed to have lost its effectiveness.

The atmosphere became ambiguous.

The person in the mirror had dazed eyes, a flushed face, and a faint milky scent.

Li Yan's hand, which was resting on her lower abdomen, seemed to be stirring with desire.

"cough……"

Li Yan suppressed the agitation in his heart and took a deep breath.

He turned around, grabbed the tea from the table, and gulped it down before forcing himself to remain calm and saying:

"Alright, remember that feeling from just now. You need to learn to use your dantian (lower abdomen) for breathing... Think about it again on your own."

As the chest behind him left, Naza felt a strange emptiness in his heart, along with a touch of shame.

She clutched her burning belly, blushed, and whispered an "Mmm".

Then, without daring to look at Li Yan even once, she turned and ran towards the restroom:

"I'm going to... wash my face!"