On the way to the film set, Qin Lie sat in the passenger seat and glanced back at Cheng Che.
"Don't feel pressured for today's scene," Qin Lie said casually. "It's a kissing scene, every actor has to go through it. Set up the camera, get the lighting right, just go up there and do the movements correctly. If the emotion is right, we'll get it in one take."
Cheng Che leaned back in his chair, looking at him without saying a word.
"And you absolutely mustn't be nervous," Qin Lie continued. "If you're nervous, Ning Qing will be nervous too, and if both of you are tense, the scene will look unnatural. Just think of it as doing a math problem; if you take the right steps, the result will naturally follow."
Cheng Che's mouth twitched.
" Brother Qin," he said, "I know. I'll try my best to finish it in one go."
Qin Lie nodded, then hesitated for a moment.
"But don't be too fixated on getting it in one take," he said, his tone becoming slightly ambiguous. "Sometimes, a few takes can be more effective. The director can adjust the camera angles, and the actors will appear more natural."
Cheng Che looked at him, stunned for a moment.
"How about a few more times?"
"Yes. Let's do it a few more times." Qin Lie nodded, his expression quite frank. "With kissing scenes like this, the first take is usually awkward. It's only on the second and third take that you really let loose."
Cheng Che stared at him for two seconds, then chuckled, " Brother Qin, I didn't expect someone with thick eyebrows and big eyes like you to be so flamboyant."
Qin Lie was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and chuckled as he cursed:
"I'm teaching you acting! What are you thinking?!"
Chen Wei sat in the back, covering her mouth and laughing.
When Cheng Che arrived at the film set, he noticed that the atmosphere was different from usual.
The corridor at the entrance to the film set was quiet. The fans who usually squatted outside the cordon were gone, the extras who crowded around the monitors were gone, and there were fewer staff members walking around.
A sign stood at the entrance that read, "Filming is being conducted behind closed doors today; all visits are prohibited."
Cheng Che was stunned for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.
The area has been cleared.
Good thing.
If there were hundreds of people watching, he really wouldn't know how to act.
He'd never kissed anyone before, and the thought of kissing a girl in front of so many people felt incredibly awkward.
Ning Qing was already in the dressing room.
She sat in front of the mirror as the makeup artist touched up her base makeup.
When Cheng Che walked in, she saw him in the mirror, her eyes flickered for a moment, and then she quickly looked away.
"Good morning," Cheng Che said.
"Good morning." Ning Qing's voice was even softer than yesterday.
The makeup artist did Cheng Che's makeup, and the stylist brought out the clothes the two of them were wearing that day.
Ning Qing was wearing a light pink ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her hair was half-up and adorned with a jade hairpin.
Cheng Che wore a dark blue robe, his hair was half-tied up, and he wore no crown, looking neat but not ostentatious.
After changing their clothes, the two were taken to the film set.
Today's scene is set up in an artificial flower field.
Pink and white petals covered the ground, with an antique-style pear tree in the background, its large canopy covered with white blossoms.
A gust of wind blew, and the petals drifted down.
Director Zhou, standing behind the monitor, nodded as he saw the two approaching. "Let's go through the positions first. Walk from over there to this side and stop under the pear tree. Cheng Che, you come from the left, Ning Qing from the right. Make eye contact, move closer, and then kiss. The movements should be natural, not like a staged photo."
The two nodded.
Then the makeup artist handed me two pieces of chewing gum.
"Chew it," the makeup artist said. "To freshen your breath. We always do this before kissing scenes."
The two of them took the gum, silently put it in their mouths, and stood at opposite ends of the sea of flowers, chewing it.
They exchanged a glance across a sea of flowers, then simultaneously looked away.
Director Zhou shouted, "Ready!"
Cheng Che walked over from the left, and Ning Qing walked over from the right.
Petals spread out at their feet, and the wind blew petals from the pear tree down, landing on their shoulders.
They stopped under the pear tree and looked at each other.
Ning Qing looked up, Cheng Che looked down. The two were very close, close enough that they could see their own reflections in each other's pupils.
" Cheng Che, turn to the side a little. Ning Qing, tilt your head back. Okay, let's get the mood going, you go first."
Cheng Che looked at Ning Qing and slowly lowered his head.
Ning Qing looked into his eyes until they were close to his lips, and then he closed them.
The moment their lips touched, a thought flashed through Cheng Che's mind: it doesn't seem so difficult after all.
But the next second he realized he was wrong.
Ning Qing gripped his collar tightly, leaning forward half an inch.
Her hands were trembling, very slightly, but he could feel it.
But her nervousness actually relaxed Cheng Che, as if he suddenly knew what to do.
He slid his hand from her shoulder to her waist, pulling her slightly towards him.
Her waist was very slender, and you could feel a little warmth through the fabric of her ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).
He tilted his head slightly, moving his lips slowly from the corner of her lips to the center.
Ning Qing's eyelashes trembled slightly. Her eyes were closed, but her eyeballs moved gently beneath her eyelids, as if she wanted to open them but dared not.
Her ears turned red from the tips to the roots, her breath hitched, her fingers loosened and clenched again, and she pulled her clothes closer together.
A petal landed on Cheng Che's shoulder, then slid down, brushed past Ning Qing's hand, and fell onto the ground between the two of them.
[ Iconic Moment ] Triggered!
But nobody cares about it.
The entire film set was quiet.
The lighting technician stood there, carrying the light stand, and forgot to move. The makeup artist covered her mouth and didn't say a word. The young girl from the props team squatted on the ground picking up flower petals, but after a long time, she hadn't picked up many. Her eyes kept glancing towards the pear tree.
"So beautiful," a makeup assistant whispered, only to be nudged by a colleague's elbow, causing her to quickly shut her mouth.
But the voice seemed to open a crack, and soft whispers began to circulate around it.
"That shot is amazing."
"In all my years of acting, this is the first time I've seen a kissing scene filmed so beautifully."
"The sight of the petals falling made me almost forget I was working."
Director Zhou did not call "cut".
Only after their lips parted did Ning Qing lower her head and take a half step back, her hands still clutching the hem of her skirt, her ears turning as red as if they were about to bleed. Cheng Che touched his nose and turned his head to look at the monitor before Director Zhou finally spoke.
"That's a good take," he said, sounding satisfied. "But let's do one more take. Change the camera angle, shoot from the right. Keep that rhythm, but this time relax a bit."
Cheng Che nodded.
Ning Qing nodded without saying anything, but her ears turned even redder.
When the second time started, the two weren't as awkward as they were the first time.
When Cheng Che's hand touched her waist, Ning Qing's hand immediately gripped his sleeve.
She didn't close her eyes when she kissed him; she looked into his eyes until the very end before finally closing them.
Director Zhou whispered behind the monitor, "This is good."
After the second take was finished, Director Zhou finally clapped his hands in satisfaction:
"Alright, keep this one. Keep both, and we'll see which one is better when we cut them."
The people on set slowly started moving.
The lighting technician moved the light stand aside, the makeup artist went over to touch up Ning Qing's makeup, and the young girl from the props team finally picked up the flower petals from the ground.
"I think the first one is better," a stagehand whispered to the person next to him.
"I think the second one," someone next to me replied, " Ning Qing's look in that second scene was spot on."
"They're both good. Either way, they'll be a hit if they air."
Ning Qing stood under the pear tree, head down, touching up her makeup. Cheng Che walked over and stood beside her for a moment.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Ning Qing looked up at him, her face still flushed, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly:
"It's okay. You acted very well."
"You too," Cheng Che said awkwardly.
Then the two of them fell silent again, but this time it wasn't because they were nervous, but because they didn't know what to say.
Several makeup artists nearby watched this scene, bumping arms with smiles on their faces.
Cheng Che had just breathed a sigh of relief when the screen of his phone in his pocket suddenly lit up.