Who Wants to Be the Affectionate Cannon Fodder?! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 48

Yu Lin trotted along behind Ning Jinghe and hopped into the car.

As they were about to set off, he instinctively pulled back the curtain to take a look. Jiang Shiyan had appeared at some point beneath the studio tent where work was wrapping up, staring in their direction with a grim expression.

Meeting his gaze, Jiang Shiyan let out a cold, twitching laugh. Just then, the assistant director came up to greet him; as Jiang turned his head, he took the opportunity to roll his eyes and was led toward Li Rui with an arrogant, “worth millions” air.

Yu Lin let the curtain fall, his face unchanging. What is his problem?

007 did not say that when you and Ning Jinghe walked past him earlier, you had let Jiang Shiyan’s gaze stare a hole into your faces without either of you even noticing he was there. Given Jiang Shiyan’s personality, the fact that he was only fuming from a distance was practically a miracle.

However, Yu Lin did not take Jiang Shiyan’s appearance seriously at all. After returning to the hotel, he took a quick shower, finished up briskly, devoured his dinner like a whirlwind, and knocked on Ning Jinghe’s door clutching his script.

Less than half a second after his hand stopped, Ning Jinghe opened the door. He seemed to be preparing to head out; his grey shirt was neatly ironed, with two buttons undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Tucked into his waistband, the shirt emphasized his long, straight legs.

In comparison, Yu Lin’s oversized short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts looked a bit sloppy.

Yu Lin’s gaze swept over him, and he ducked directly into the room, asking curiously, “Brother, are you going out?”

“No.” Ning Jinghe lowered his eyes, his lashes hiding an unnatural glint. He stepped aside to make room for Yu Lin and slowly pushed the door shut. “Find a place to sit.”

The words had barely left his mouth when he saw Yu Lin expertly nestle into the sofa.

Ning Jinghe: “…” Well, he was never one to stand on ceremony.

Yu Lin propped one hand on the back of the sofa, watching Ning Jinghe pass behind him to grab an iced Coke from the mini-fridge. Ning then picked up a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from the nightstand, put them on, and finally walked over to sit in the single sofa on the other side.

It was the first time Yu Lin had seen him wear glasses.

The Coke clinked against the wooden coffee table, and the frames reflected a cold light under the lamp. Combined with his outfit, every gesture Ning Jinghe made exuded an aura of ascetic, cool elegance.

“I thought you were going out to meet someone.” Yu Lin shifted to the side closer to Ning Jinghe, leaning half-way over the armrest with a hint of teasing in his voice. “You look so handsome.”

Ning Jinghe paused, forcing a calm tone to change the subject. “Which scene were you discussing with Li Rui earlier?”

This reaction made Yu Lin find him even more interesting. He propped up his head and studied the man for several seconds, but fearing that a direct exposure would lead to embarrassment and anger, he followed the lead and opened his script.

“The part where you think what you’re doing is dangerous and you say harsh words to drive me away,” Yu Lin said. “The director said I should be restrained, but Xiao Jingyan clearly has an extroverted personality.”

Ning Jinghe gave an “Mhm” and scanned the script Yu Lin had spread before him. It was covered in dense small print, written in a kaleidoscope of different colored pens.

Looking closer, he realized that Yu Lin had annotated the logic, tone, and expression for every single line, even adding “notable examples” at the end. Among those examples, nearly half were from Ning’s own performances.

Ning Jinghe couldn’t help but recall the rumors he had heard before joining the cast. Most of his friends in the industry knew he had high hopes for this drama, and upon discovering his partner was Shen Xingzhuo, they had all sent condolences and warnings.

The Shen Xingzhuo of rumor was unprofessional, a prima donna, an actor with exaggerated and self-important skills. His joy was a loud laugh; his anger was wide-eyed staring. To play a “high mountain flower,” he would be expressionless like a block of wood; to play a paranoid emperor, he would roar like a madman. He always used his mouth to express emotion, and his eyes were capable of nothing but glaring.

Yet, despite this, with the Shen family as a backer, a constant stream of resources continued to pour his way.

But after spending time together these past few days, he was a completely different person from the rumors.

The Shen Xingzhuo before him would watch other people’s films over and over to learn, and would write long character biographies and behavioral analyses word by word. He would reshoot a single shot multiple times. The youth galloping on horseback was valiant and dashing, and he was just as decisive during the night probe of the Minister’s manor.

Ning Jinghe even remembered every single injury he had sustained.

“Why?”

Yu Lin: “Hmm?”

Ning Jinghe said, “Why work so hard? They said you used to not even memorize your lines.”

This question truly stumped Yu Lin. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a good while before Yu Lin finally spoke: “I don’t know.”

“…I suppose I found that experiencing someone else’s life is actually quite interesting.”

Yu Lin felt that his life before his memory loss must have been very dull, and the people he met very dull. That was why watching Xie Zhirang struggle against fate was interesting, and experiencing a completely different life as Shen Xingzhuo was also interesting.

Ning Jinghe didn’t quite understand the meaning behind his words, assuming he had finally developed an interest in acting. He pursed his lips and didn’t say much more.

“My acting teacher in university said that acting is never about being ‘most accurate.’ What we need to do is show a state that fits the current logic of the character. For the same scene of grief and indignation, different people at different times will express it differently.”

Ning Jinghe’s voice was like a stream after the snow melts, crisp and gentle, telling a story.

“Some people wail, venting all their emotions. Some remain silent, relying only on trembling lips and facial muscles to show their feelings. You can’t say which one is completely correct, but as long as you can make the audience believe it’s a real reaction, it’s good acting.” Ning Jinghe paused, then continued, “There are also cases where you feel you’ve performed well, but the audience doesn’t believe it. This is caused by differences in everyone’s life experiences.”

After speaking, he turned his head and met Yu Lin’s blunt, serious gaze, and couldn’t help but feel his face heat up.

Those eyes, clear as a young beast’s, looked as if the whole world could only hold one person, watching and gazing with total devotion. It was like a butterfly flying over a calm, waveless green lake; a light touch set off a thousand ripples and tremors.

But the “butterfly” showed no lingering affection, simply asking innocently, “Mhm, he makes a lot of sense. And then?”

Ning Jinghe curled his fingers, his nails grazing the surface of the leather sofa, leaving a shallow mark. As if to hide his internal turmoil, he rubbed it with his thumb to cover the scratch.

“Both your and Li Rui’s ideas have merit. But you don’t need to over-design; just follow the reaction of that moment,” Ning Jinghe said. “Like the scene you did this morning, where Xiao Jingyan accompanies Xiao Xiyun to the Moon-Watching Tower to investigate and is blocked by a singing girl. Your reaction then was to play along on the surface but resist privately to buy time for Xiao Xiyun to gather information.”

“If I were Xiao Jingyan, I would probably bring a prop, like a folding fan, flirt back, and then brag to Xiao Xiyun about how popular I am, while actually helping her attract the singing girl’s attention. But if it were Xiao Jingke, he would just give a slight glance and walk straight away. Different people, different characters, different reactions. Even with pre-design, new situations can arise during filming.”

“Mhm.” Yu Lin nodded, somewhat understanding. He hadn’t expected Ning Jinghe to know what he had filmed this morning.

“You can try observing people in real life.”

After saying this, Ning Jinghe studied Yu Lin’s face again, only to find him looking down as if deep in thought. He asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, without any warning, Yu Lin moved. He propped himself up on the armrest and shifted to Ning Jinghe’s side. His thigh, leaning against the sofa, brushed against Ning Jinghe’s pinky. The wide leg of his shorts hiked up, and the burning temperature of his skin was transferred to Ning’s fingertips without reservation. Ning didn’t even have time to pull his hand away, sitting there stiffly.

Before he could react, Yu Lin leaned in, his warm breath falling on Ning Jinghe’s face, their noses only a line apart. The rolled-up script slid across Ning Jinghe’s chin, pressing against his bobbing Adam’s apple. It was a crude, green attempt at flirting, yet it forced his heart to drum wildly.

His bare calf accidentally bumped against Ning’s. Through the thin layer of fabric, the sensation was impossible to block. Ning Jinghe regained his senses and was about to pull away and resist.

“So when you get flirted with, you get shy first.”

His tone was normal, without any teasing or other emotion. But it was like a wildfire spreading across a prairie, instantly burning Ning Jinghe’s scattered thoughts to nothing.

He almost uncontrollably reached out his hand, but he didn’t know where he was reaching. Only one thought remained in his head: he had to keep the person who was always disturbing his peace of mind.

But Yu Lin was like a wily cat; before Ning could even touch him, he straightened up and retreated to his original spot. He nonchalantly popped the cap off a pen and scribbled a few words on his script, completely unaware of what he had just done.

Ning Jinghe’s hand caught nothing but air. He practiced some restrained breathing to calm his heart, which was screaming to escape his body. His voice was strained: “Don’t ever use me for experiments again.”

Hearing this, Yu Lin lifted his eyelids and blinked in confusion. “Are you angry?”

Ning Jinghe ignored him, staring gloomily at the sofa armrest as he caught his breath. Then he saw Yu Lin slide down from the chair and kneel on the floor, both hands resting on the edge of the armrest. He looked up, putting on a well-behaved expression: “I’m sorry. Don’t be angry, Brother?”

Like a cat playing nice after causing trouble.

Ning Jinghe turned his head away. “I’m not angry.”

Yu Lin didn’t know that for a person like him, saying “no” didn’t mean his mind hadn’t already played out eighty episodes of a drama. He innocently believed Ning Jinghe’s words and leaned his arm against the sofa. “Then shall we try the part where Xiao Jingke drives me away?”

Ning Jinghe… Ning Jinghe had absolutely no way out.

The two of them practiced the scene where the brothers pretend to break up multiple times, using both Li Rui’s and Yu Lin’s different ideas, and even came up with several new ways to play it.

The clock slowly turned past twelve. After the final rehearsal, Yu Lin collapsed back onto the sofa, his eyes struggling to stay open as he gave a yawn.

“…Brother, I’m sleepy.”

Ning Jinghe took a sip of water to moisten his throat, which was dry from reading lines. He poured a fresh cup of warm water to give to Yu Lin. But before he reached the sofa, he found the youth had already slumped over, sleeping soundly against the armrest.

The lamp cast Ning Jinghe’s shadow over Yu Lin’s quiet profile. Ning Jinghe set the cup on the coffee table. His gaze swept inch by inch over Yu Lin’s features, sliding past the small, straight nose and landing on the soft lips that parted with each breath.

To sleep in someone else’s room with such a lack of wariness and defense.

Ning Jinghe reached out his hand and finally caught the goal that had eluded him earlier; two fingers pinched Yu Lin’s cheek.

“Shen Xingzhuo, what exactly are your thoughts about me?”