Still More?

"Zihan!"

A girl ran over with a jacket in her hands, apparently intending to drape it over Chen Zihan's shoulders. But Chen Zihan had already wrapped herself in a coat.

"This is Shen Qi. He plays Yin Zhiping. And this is Yang Mi. She plays my younger sister."

Chen Zihan introduced them to Shen Qi.

Although the script had changed the character's name to Zhen Zhibing, people still often called him Yin Zhiping out of habit.

"Oh, Guo Xiang! Nice to meet you!"

Shen Qi greeted her.

He had thought she was Chen Zihan's assistant, and he'd been surprised that even her assistant was so pretty.

He hadn't been in show business long and had never paid much attention to it before, so he didn't recognize Yang Mi.

She might have been five or six years younger than him, but she had started acting much earlier.

At four, she had played Princess Xianyi in Emperor Tang Ming. She'd also appeared in Stephen Chow's The King of Beggars.

Yang Mi had even played the third female lead in House of Pink Ladies, starring Tong Dawei and Sun Li. Unfortunately, the role hadn't made much of a splash.

"Are you... cold?"

Yang Mi stood there holding the jacket, unsure whom to give it to now.

"No, thanks."

That's obviously a woman's jacket. Even if I were cold, I couldn't wear it.

"What are you doing?"

Yang Mi knew her question was a little awkward.

Even if this handsome guy was playing Yin Zhiping, she couldn't resist trying to talk to him a little longer.

"Taking notes... He does that all the time."

Chen Zihan explained on Shen Qi's behalf. She'd also noticed that he only paid attention to performances he thought were worth watching.

When she'd acted earlier, he hadn't taken any notes.

Now Li Mochou was on set, and he'd started writing again.

How infuriating!

"Well, my acting is pretty bad, and I've never studied it formally. I have to work that much harder."

As Shen Qi spoke, he used the Parchment he had just filled with notes.

That was right. Even when he had no scenes to shoot, he used the performances he'd recorded.

He didn't have to act immediately afterward. He could still grasp other people's techniques and improve his own acting.

By recording and using them over and over, he was steadily moving toward Sequence 7.

When he'd advanced to Sequence 9, the Magic Book had only gained an Omni-Purpose Parchment. Nothing else seemed to have changed.

Or perhaps something had changed, and Shen Qi simply hadn't noticed.

When he'd advanced to Sequence 8, the Magic Book had gained the Free Access ability.

He couldn't wait to see what new ability Sequence 7 would bring.

People were greedy like that.

When he'd first gotten the Magic Book, he'd thought being able to record other people's acting was enough to give him a bright future.

But once he had the Omni-Purpose Parchment, he'd started recording martial arts, horseback riding, dialects...

Then, when the Magic Book began appearing and disappearing at will like a magic trick, he'd started hoping for even more.

He'd even wondered if he might someday learn real magic.

Like Harry Potter.

Something to look forward to gave him motivation. He was brimming with energy.

Even when all that recording made his head ache, he kept at it.

Shen Qi had tested it, after all.

A headache was just a headache. One night's sleep, and it was gone by morning.

There were no lingering effects at all.

If anything, he woke up feeling refreshed from head to toe.

The next time Yang Mi saw Shen Qi, he wasn't on set taking notes. He'd become a member of the stunt crew instead.

"Three, two, one, lift!"

At the stunt coordinator's command, several people hoisted Huang Xiaoming into the air.

Huang Xiaoming went through his moves overhead while the crew, under the stunt coordinator's direction, raised and lowered him on the wires. At times, they even had to send him flying sideways and diagonally.

Shen Qi worked quickly and steadily.

If they hadn't known him, nobody would have guessed he was the actor playing the "Dragon Knight."

"All right, bring him down. Slowly. Get ready to switch to Liu Yifei."

Zhao Jian was pleased with those moves of Huang Xiaoming's.

"Shen Qi, let's get together tonight!"

Huang Xiaoming rubbed his wrist, sore from swinging the sword, while someone helped him out of the wire harness.

"Again? Didn't we have drinks the day before yesterday?"

I seriously suspect you're up to something.

Shen Qi answered over his shoulder as he gathered the equipment from the ground. He failed to notice a length of rope tangled around his foot.

When he bent to pick something up, he stumbled a few steps and nearly fell.

Rushing water lay just ahead. This was the middle stretch of a two-tiered waterfall, with an even higher drop farther downstream.

If he really fell in...

Yet just as Shen Qi was feeling confident, something went wrong.

He couldn't keep his footing!

A slick patch of moss lay under his feet.

The colder weather had turned it somewhat yellow, but stepping on it still sent him slipping.

Shit, I got careless!

I should've checked the ground by the water beforehand.

We might not be filming here, but anyone who wanders over could still be in danger.

Shen Qi might as well have been demonstrating exactly what not to do.

Huang Xiaoming immediately tried to help.

If he managed to grab Shen Qi, they would have returned the favor in kind.

They'd each owe the other their life.

Unfortunately, the crew hadn't finished removing Huang Xiaoming's harness.

And plenty of people were gathered around him.

As Shen Qi lost his balance, he flailed for something to hold on to. To his surprise, he caught something.

But his grip was too weak.

He dragged that "something" with him and plunged into the water with a splash.

"Save them! Hurry!"

"Help! Liu Yifei fell in!"

"Quick—"

"Huh? They're up!"

Only when Shen Qi heard the shouting did he realize he had Liu Yifei in his grasp.

Wait, you're the female lead. Why did you have to get mixed up in this?

Shen Qi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He'd taken a tumble and gotten soaked, but with his height and weight, he could easily have climbed back out.

Instead, he'd brought someone along who made it harder.

It took considerable effort to hold on to her and keep the current from sweeping her away.

Then he looked at the female lead he was holding.

She was drenched from head to toe.

Her cheeks were puffed out as she held back tears, looking like a startled quail. She was the very picture of humiliation.

Of course, Shen Qi couldn't tell her, If you can't manage it, don't go playing the hero and trying to save—

Whatever the outcome, she had reached out to catch him when he lost his balance.

It hadn't ended well, but her intentions had been good.

You could even call it a lifesaving favor.

At worst, she had overestimated what she could do. Not only had she failed to save him, she'd fallen in herself.

Hearing the commotion, Liu Yifei's mother, Liu Xiaoli, hurried over. She took her daughter from Shen Qi, then quickly accepted a padded coat from an assistant and wrapped her up.

People crowded around Shen Qi too, asking if he was all right.

He was especially well liked on the crew.

Huang Xiaoming even tried to put his own coat on him.

The fuss soon died down. They'd had a scare, but no one was hurt.

If Liu Yifei hadn't reached out to grab Shen Qi, he might only have gotten his clothes a little wet.

Whatever the case, Shen Qi had to thank her.

As he approached, he heard her speaking.

"...Luckily, Shen Qi pulled me out. My costume got dirty, though. I wonder if I'll have to pay for it..."

It was Liu Yifei.

She had changed clothes and was sitting in a chair, drinking from a thermos bigger than her head.

Her mother had just finished blow-drying her hair.

When she saw Shen Qi coming, Liu Yifei lowered her head awkwardly, unsure what to say.

Reaching out to grab him had been instinctive.

Only after he'd dragged her into the water had she realized how rash she'd been.

Fortunately, Shen Qi really had saved Huang Xiaoming earlier. Otherwise, the director would certainly have scolded him.

Dragging the female lead into it could have delayed filming badly!

"Thank you for what you did back there. If you hadn't caught me, I might have gone over the waterfall."

Shen Qi lied without batting an eye.

If he didn't put it that way, he wouldn't be there to thank her. He'd be there to demand an explanation.

Come on, admit it. Did you push me in?

His thanks were a little vague, but they sounded so sincere that even Liu Xiaoli felt reassured.

"It's all right. What matters is that you're both safe. Make sure you stay warm too. Have some... hot tea."

The whole thing had been absurd, but she knew Shen Qi wasn't to blame.

Besides, nothing serious had happened.

As for paying for the dirty costume, that was just her daughter talking nonsense.

After an accident on set, the actors could have asked the production for compensation, not the other way around.

She had meant to offer Shen Qi some of the ginger tea in the thermos, but her daughter was drinking straight from it. She couldn't bring herself to offer it.

Shen Qi chatted with them briefly, then politely took his leave.

Liu Yifei wished she could hide her face.

Please stop thanking me. Just forget this ever happened!