Ms. Liu, You Wouldn't Want Yifei to...

"Cut."

"Liu Yifei, what's going on with you? Where's the emotion? Let it burst out! How many times has it been now?"

Wei Jin's voice rang out on set, somewhat irritable, and the actors and crew fell silent as cicadas in winter.

It was the first time they had seen Wei Jin lose his temper since filming began.

It wasn't that Wei Jin wanted to blow up. It was just that they had done dozens of takes of a single shot, and his patience had been worn down to nothing.

"Sorry, Brother Wei Jin..." Liu Yifei apologized, sounding a little aggrieved.

"On set, call me director. I don't want to hear sorry... phew... Forget it. Everyone, take a break."

Wei Jin forced his agitation down and gave everyone some time to settle themselves. He waved his assistant, Li Na, over and asked her to bring him his cup.

Nearby, Liu Xiaoli was comforting Liu Yifei, who was crying quietly.

For several days in a row, Liu Yifei had been unable to get into character, so Wei Jin had no choice but to have the production assistant move the other scenes forward.

At lunch that day, Liu Xiaoli sought Wei Jin out alone.

"Director Wei, I'm sorry. Sissi is still young, and her understanding of the role and control over her emotions may not be quite there yet. Please bear with her."

"Ms. Liu, for a film to turn out well and succeed, it's not enough for just one person to be good.

"But conversely, it only takes one person doing a poor job to drag a film down."

Wei Jin's words were rather blunt. He had been worn down until he had no temper left. He had never expected this and somewhat regretted his decision.

"There are so many people in the crew. Every day we lose costs money, and it's irresponsible to the investors."

Liu Xiaoli hadn't expected Wei Jin to be so harsh. She had misjudged things too. The roles Liu Yifei had played in television dramas before had been fairly one-dimensional, and all she had needed to do was play herself. Now that she had run into something that tested her acting even a little, she was at a loss. For a moment, Liu Xiaoli had nothing to say.

"Television dramas aren't the same as films. TV is a small screen, and viewers don't really see your facial expressions, so getting by is good enough. Films are different. Your close-ups are magnified many times over on the big screen. If you're even a little out of touch with the emotion, it's easy for the audience to be pulled out of the story, and the whole performance falls apart."

Wei Jin realized his tone had been a little harsh just now. After all, Liu Xiaoli was the same age as his father, so he offered a brief explanation:

"So it's not that my standards are too high. If the acting is bad, it ruins our entire film. I can't lower my standards."

"Then, Director Wei, could you talk Sissi through her scenes and help her get into the right state to perform?"

Liu Xiaoli ventured a request.

"Hmm... all right. Have her come to my room tonight, then. Just her."

Wei Jin answered after thinking for a moment.

"?? Just her?"

Liu Xiaoli was a little uneasy.

"You're overthinking it. I just think you've protected her too well. She hasn't encountered the dangers of the world, so she can't experience other emotions. When you're around, she always feels someone is protecting her and can't let her emotions out."

Wei Jin quickly explained.

"Ms. Liu, you wouldn't want Yifei to remain unable to get into character, would you? When the film comes out, if she gets criticized for bad acting, it could affect her acting career."

After a long silence, Liu Xiaoli finally nodded in agreement.

That evening, Liu Yifei knocked on a director's door for the first time in her life. Wei Jin opened it and led her inside.

Sitting on the sofa, Wei Jin looked at Liu Yifei. Her face was slightly flushed, and she wore tight jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Was she really that guarded against him?

What a joke. The girl hadn't even developed yet, with a flat figure like that. Wei Jin had no designs on her. Besides, she was only seventeen. Wouldn't that be criminal?

Both of them were quiet, and for a while, neither spoke.

Liu Yifei was silent because she felt a little embarrassed about entering a man's room so late at night.

Wei Jin was silent because he was thinking about how to make this girl, who had been protected like a princess since childhood, let her emotions burst out.

After a long while, Wei Jin broke the silence first.

"Do you know your acting is bad?"

"No. No one ever told me that before."

Liu Yifei genuinely didn't know. After all, she had only needed to play herself in her previous roles. Television directors didn't demand much either; if a take was passable, they let it pass, and they wouldn't go so far as to scold a young girl.

"You must go online, though. Do you know how people judged your acting in The Story of a Noble Family? Like a piece of wood. Such a wonderful character, and you played her like a piece of wood. You were just reciting your lines."

Wei Jin spoke without holding back. Only when the girl's eyes were about to fill with tears did he try a different approach.

"Is there something you like doing? Something you love with all your heart?"

"Yes."

"Then imagine your mother won't let you do what you like."

Wei Jin coaxed her along patiently.

"She wouldn't. Mom loves me so much..."

Liu Yifei was somewhat resistant.

"Your mother has done exactly that. Are you going to listen to her? Will you keep being a good little girl, or will you bravely pursue what you love?"

Wei Jin kept applying pressure.

"I... I don't know..."

"Are you going to let your mother control you like a puppet for the rest of your life? Will you even let her choose who you marry?"

Wei Jin seemed to have turned into a devil, relentlessly brainwashing the girl.

"That's not true. Mom loves me. She wouldn't hurt me. She wouldn't..."

"Your mother just wants to control your life. She's raising you to follow the path she dreamed of. She's using your life to fulfill her own dream. She doesn't love you at all."

Wei Jin felt he was about to turn into a great villain. He seized Liu Yifei by the shoulders and roared.

"That's not true! Don't you talk about my mom like that! You bad man! I'm never speaking to you again! Smack... sob..."

Crying and shouting, Liu Yifei struggled and slapped Wei Jin. She really was a sheltered princess; she didn't even know how to curse.

"Good. Now remember that feeling."

"Go away. I don't want to see you... sob..."

Liu Yifei was still caught up in her emotions when Liu Xiaoli's voice came from outside the door.

"Sissi, are you all right? Answer me."

Liu Yifei calmed herself a little, opened the door, and leaned gently against her mother, crying.

Liu Xiaoli gently patted her daughter, then checked her clothes and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Jin rubbed his cheek and said:

"Yifei, remember what you felt inside when you slapped me just now. That's how you need to let it out. Understand?"

Liu Yifei was still sobbing softly, but she understood the painstaking care behind Wei Jin's actions and nodded gently.

Liu Xiaoli then left with her daughter, a suspicious look on her face.

Left alone in his room, Wei Jin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had chosen this actor himself, so even if he had to cry and kneel, he would have to train her well.

During this period of filming, Wei Jin hadn't been sleeping well without anyone to share his bed. He wondered whether he should hire an assistant who could sleep with him. His current young assistant, Li Na, was too flat and wasn't his type.

Meanwhile, on the way back to their room, Liu Xiaoli tried to sound Liu Yifei out about what had happened, but Liu Yifei kept her lips sealed, saying only that she was tired and needed to rest.

Over the next few days, something astonishing happened. Liu Yifei seemed to have suddenly found her footing. Although she still needed retakes occasionally, she was fully back on track, and filming sped up considerably.