From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

Yu Liang's first scene as Zhang Qiling was scheduled after 10 PM.

He arrived at the dressing room early in the morning and let the makeup artist apply cold white foundation to his face and draw light eyebrows.

With layers of foundation applied, his originally healthy wheat-colored skin was completely covered up, the arch of his eyebrows was narrowed by half, and the shadow on his jawline was applied more heavily than usual.

The person in the mirror gradually lost his cool demeanor; as long as he didn't speak, his indifference and aloofness became apparent.

Pan Anzi was squatting in front of the monitor, adjusting the camera positions with the photographer, when he caught a glimpse of Yu Liang walking out of the dressing room and was clearly taken aback.

Chen Minghao, who was eating an apple as he passed by, almost choked: "Damn, bro, you're a completely different person."

Yu Liang nodded without saying anything.

In order to better fit the role of Zhang Qiling, Nanpai Sanshu had already imposed a silencing order on this talkative character during the script reading.

On set, no one is allowed to utter a single word beyond their lines.

Zhu Yilong sat on a rest chair, holding a script in his hand, but his eyes followed Yu Liang from the door of the dressing room all the way to the set in the tent.

Yu Liang noticed his gaze and smiled, nodding at him.

Zhu Yilong was visibly taken aback, then lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously turning a page of the script.

Having been on set for a few days, Yu Liang has gotten to know Zhu Yilong quite well.

This newly crowned top star is quite different from other top stars he has ever met. He is not as gentle and smooth as Lu Han, nor as strong and aloof as Wu Yifan.

Zhu Yilong is usually quiet, shy, and even a bit socially awkward, but once it comes to the script, he becomes a different person. He can chase after the Third Uncle (Zhu Yilong's nickname) from the character's backstory to find out the motivation behind the lines, going through each scene and line, often making the Third Uncle run all over the place.

Yu Liang found this person quite interesting. When not filming, he was like a quiet and well-behaved student, but as soon as he opened a script, he became a class representative who kept asking the teacher questions.

The day after the gag order was issued, Yu Liangkuai went crazy from being cooped up.

Chen Minghao was overjoyed.

This veteran actor is easygoing and carefree. He has played Taiyi Zhenren in "Lotus Lantern" and the Bull Demon King in "Magic Phone". After filming, he loves to tell jokes to the crew members on set.

Yu Liang used to chime in, but now he can only sit to the side, staring blankly at Chen Minghao, expressing all his protest with his eyes.

Just then, Yu Liang saw Zhu Yilong carrying the script and walking towards his third uncle.

Yu Liang's eyes darted around, and he quietly followed them.

Nanpai Sanshu had just picked up his thermos and hadn't even had a chance to take a sip of hot tea when he saw Yu Liang standing in front of him with a script, pointing at a line of dialogue.

"Ah-ba, ah-ba."

Uncle San almost spat out his tea.

He tilted his head and looked at the passage Yu Liang was pointing to, Zhang Qiling's lines, which consisted of three sentences and had no problems.

"Ah ba ah ba ah ba!" Yu Liang changed the direction of her finger and pointed at the script in Zhu Yilong's hand.

"Just say it already." Uncle San was at a loss for words.

"Then I'll really say it." Yu Liang finally spoke.

"Teacher Xu, look at Brother Long's lines here. The first sentence says the tomb passage is in the west, and the second sentence says it's at the southeast corner. Isn't there a gap in the explanation?"

"Does your pen feel sluggish when you're writing? Is it a bit sluggish?"

"Confused?"

Third Uncle and Zhu Yilong both fell silent.

Does such a word exist?

If Yu Liang hadn't made a writing motion, Nanpai Sanshu would have thought that Yu Liang was using this as an excuse to scold him.

After a long pause, Zhu Yilong said quietly, "Brother, I couldn't have come up with that comment even if I were looking for something to criticize."

But at this moment, Nanpai Third Uncle was not troubled by this matter.

Because he had something more troubling to do.

He slammed his thermos on the table, glanced at Yu Liang, then at Zhu Yilong, and suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Zhu Yilong kept asking about the logic, and Yu Liang kept asking about the logic on Zhu Yilong's behalf. As the head screenwriter, he was blocked in the middle by the two actors and couldn't even get a sip of hot tea.

Uncle San rubbed his temples, beginning to seriously reflect on whether he had made a mistake in casting. Zhang Qiling was the least talkative character in the entire series, yet he had chosen a chatterbox to play him.

Wait, isn't this guy supposed to be the straight man?

You, the straight man, don't even have many lines, how come you can talk more than the lead man?

It's only been a few days since it was turned on and it's already this sluggish. What will it be like in the next few months?

However, at that moment, a small commotion arose at the entrance of the photography studio.

A black minivan stopped outside, and several staff members jogged over to greet it.

The car door opened, and Li Xiaoran stepped out, wearing a beige linen dress and flat shoes, her hair loosely tied back, and sunglasses covering half of her face.

The moment she took off her sunglasses, several young stagehands at the door gasped simultaneously.

"Li Xiaoran!"

Fair skin, beautiful face, long legs

She's even prettier in person than she appears on TV.

"Hello...Teacher Li." The lead stagehand had clearly not been notified in advance, and his speech was a little stammering.

"Hello." Li Xiaoran smiled at him. "I'm looking for Teacher Yu Liang. Is he inside?"

"Yes, yes, I'll take you there right away—"

Pan Anzi turned around and glanced back. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly stood up and went to meet him.

"Teacher Xiaoran, welcome, welcome! Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Pan Anzi said with a smile, extending his hand.

"Hello, Director Pan." Li Xiaoran shook hands with him, her tone as casual as if she were just dropping by.

"I happen to have no scenes to film today, and I heard that Teacher Yu Liang is filming here, so I came to check it out."

As she spoke, her gaze swept past Pan Anzi's shoulder, around the shed, and finally landed on the figure dressed in black in the cloth area.

Then she walked up to Nanpai Sanshu first, smiled and extended her hand: "Hello, Teacher Xu, I have long admired your name."

"Teacher Xiao Ran!" Uncle San was slightly taken aback.

He had seen many of Li Xiaoran's works and was familiar with this well-known actress, but this was the first time he had seen her in person. "What brings you here?"

"I'm filming nearby and just happened to be passing by today, so I thought I'd drop by to see Mr. Yu Liang. Hope I haven't bothered you?"

"No, no, Ms. Xiaoran, you're too kind."

At this moment, Chen Minghao craned his neck to take a look from the crowd, immediately put down the apple and ran over, his face beaming with an enthusiastic smile.

To him, Li Xiaoran was his goddess.

"Teacher Xiaoran! What brings you here!"

"Teacher Chen, you're here too?" Li Xiaoran raised her eyebrows slightly.

Although I've never acted with Chen Minghao, we see each other all the time in the industry and know each other fairly well.

"Oh, I'm filming here, playing the second male lead." Chen Minghao scratched his head, his tone much more reserved than usual.

Seeing Mr. Chen, who is usually carefree and has a booming voice when telling jokes, looking flustered at this moment, the staff on site couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"Oh, is that so?" Li Xiaoran nodded and said casually, "I just happened to be passing by and thought I'd drop by to see Teacher Yu Liang."

Oh.

This is a set visit.

And it was even a visit to Yu Liang on set!

Chen Minghao couldn't help but glance in Yu Liang's direction twice.

Li Xiaoran sat down next to her third uncle and watched a scene between Yu Liang and Zhu Yilong.

"Cut!" Uncle Three whispered from behind the monitor.

Li Xiaoran didn't say anything, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

She had her assistant unload several boxes of cut fruit and iced coffee from the car.

Yu Liang's assistant took them and distributed them to the staff on site.

The staff members accepted the iced coffee, and their tone of gratitude was several degrees more excited than usual.

One of the production assistants, quick to notice, shouted, "Teacher Li Xiaoran has come to visit the set! She's treating everyone to coffee!"

The distribution area was quickly surrounded by staff. Fine water droplets condensed on the inside of the iced coffee cups, looking especially tempting in the sweltering Hengdian studio.

As they drank, the crowd whispered amongst themselves, speculating about the relationship between Yu Liang and the veteran actress.

In a film crew, there are essentially two types of celebrity visits: one is to show support for a particular artist, and the other is to use the visit as an excuse to build rapport with the director and producer and explore potential collaboration opportunities later on.

Li Xiaoran's purpose in coming here was clearly to support Yu Liang.

After watching Yu Liang's on-site filming for a while, Li Xiaoran chatted with Nanpai Sanshu for a few minutes.

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Li Xiaoran got up to leave.

"Teacher Xu, I have another scene to film later. We'll see each other again sometime."

Li Xiaoran shook hands with Nanpai Sanshu, then turned and nodded to Chen Minghao.

"Goodbye, Teacher Chen."

Before Chen Minghao could respond, she had already turned and walked towards the door.

Yu Liang had just finished filming a scene when he saw Li Xiaoran get up, so he quickly walked out.

At the entrance of the photography studio, Li Xiaoran was about to get into her car when Yu Liang called her back.

"Thank you, Sister Xiaoran."

Li Xiaoran turned around, leaned against the car door, and looked at him with a half-smile.

"Just thank you?"

Yu Liang paused for a moment.

The thought that I seemed to owe her several favors made me feel guilty.

"I'll treat you to dinner tonight," Yu Liang said.

Li Xiaoran glanced at him, a slight smile curving her lips.

"That's more like it."