The Perfect Relationship

Chapter 102 Entering the play

Yin Chang's assistant, Lu Lingjuan, knocked on the door of Mi Xiu's room with a worried expression.

"Mi Xiu, can you please talk to Yin Chang?" Lu Lingjuan pleaded at the door. "He only spoke to me three times since he left the set and hasn't had dinner. I'm really worried."

Mi Xiu shook his phone helplessly. "I just sent him a message on WeChat, but he hasn't replied."

Lu Lingjuan knew that Yin Chang and Mi Xiu had a good relationship, so she came to ask for help.

Mi Xiu told Lu Lingjuan, "Go down and buy two bottles of Gatorade for him to drink, I'll go see him after I eat my boxed meal."

Lu Lingjuan nodded gratefully and ran downstairs.

Mi Xiu was also present for the daytime scenes and suspected that Luo Chuan was targeting Yin Chang. After filming, he patted Yin Chang's shoulder to comfort him. But at that time, there were too many people, and it was not easy to talk. Later, in the dressing room, Mi Xiu had tried to talk to Yin Chang about other topics, but Yin Chang had been absent-minded.

After dinner, Mi Xiu went to Yin Chang's room. Lu Lingjuan came up from downstairs and handed the Gatorade directly to Mi Xiu.

As the door opened, Mi Xiu greeted Yin Chang with a smile, but was caught off guard by the piercing gaze from Yin Chang. Mi Xiu froze for a moment.

Fortunately, the gaze was fleeting, and Yin Chang stepped aside to let him in.

"I heard you didn't have dinner?" Mi Xiu took the initiative to ask teasingly. "What happened? Something bothering you?"

"Nothing." Yin Chang's voice was low.

With only the two of them in the room now, Mi Xiu no longer held back and asked directly, "Because of Luo Chuan?"

Yin Chang was taken aback for a moment, and looked confused. "What?"

Seeing Yin Chang's reaction, Mi Xiu felt less sure about his guess. After all, this was not Yin Chang's first time filming. In the past, he had experienced some occasional teasing and ridicule from the old experienced actors who didn't like the popular stars. But Mi Xiu knew that Yin Chang was a magnanimous person and rarely took things to heart except for problems regarding his family and close friends.

As expected, Yin Chang misunderstood Mi Xiu, and nodded, "Luo Chuan's acting skills are indeed remarkable and outstanding."

Mi Xiu quickly clarified, "No, that's not it. Did you know that this morning everyone was gossiping like crazy about you and Luo Chuan? Several of my group chats were blowing up. They dug up the history between Luo Chuan and your father and said that Luo Chuan was deliberately targeting you."

Yin Chang was stunned for a moment and then laughed out loud, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Mi Xiu said, "But today your mood was obviously not good. This wasn't the reason?"

Yin Chang slowly put away his smile and said in a low voice, "My previous interpretation of Cao Pi was completely wrong. I can't detach myself from the characters I play, and today... " He paused and reminisced about the feeling on set. "Today, I finally feel that I am the character."

"You're getting into character?" Mi Xiu looked at him confusedly.

Yin Chang remained silent for a moment before saying, "It feels like my body has been taken over. My actions are completely out of my control and are controlled by the character I play... Cao Pi."

Since that morning's scene of mourning Cao Chong's death, his brain had subconsciously been mulling over Cao Pi's past, from following his father in wars in the north and south, seeing the tragic scenes of bloodshed and war, to witnessing his older brother, Cao Ang, dying to save his father, while he himself survived by fleeing... He was then suspected by his father and became useless, while his talented younger brothers were praised... The fear, inferiority, and the urgent desire to be recognized were suffocating him...

All the details gained new meaning at the moment of realizing his misinterpretation.

And this state was brought out by Luo Chuan.

That morning, with the six consecutive NGs, and Luo Chuan's constant pursuit of excellence with his "not quite right" feedback, he ultimately achieved a breakthrough.

But unlike actor-king Luo Chuan, Yin Chang couldn't detach himself from the emotions of his character Cao Pi even after leaving the set. He often spaced out and even now, while chatting with Mi Xiu, he felt like half of his soul was being invaded by Cao Pi.

Yin Chang looked up at Mi Xiu, his entire being shrouded in a self-protective barrier. He appeared cold and callous on the outside, and asked Mi Xiu, "Have you ever experienced this feeling while acting?"

Mi Xiu replied, "No."

Yin Chang gave a hollow chuckle, a faint and rare melancholy permeating his smile. "I don't know what's going on, but I think I should thank Luo Chuan."

After leaving Yin Chang's room, Mi Xiu also found himself lost in thought. His manager mentioned recording a program in H City on the weekend, but she noticed that he wasn't quite himself. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Yin Chang's in a bad mood and now you are too?"

Mi Xiu earnestly asked his manager, "What do you think of my acting abilities?"

She replied, "It's good enough, but compared to your singing and dancing skills, it's quite inferior."

Mi Xiu continued, "And what about my acting compared to Yin Chang's?"

"It's about the same," his manager gave him a glance and said, "The purpose of this drama is to attract viewers with you and Yin Chang's star power. Your main occupation is still that of a singer and dancer, so there's no need to stress too much."

"Star power?" Mi Xiu flopped down on his bed and laughed. "Well then, they definitely got their money's worth. Yin Chang is more than capable of attracting viewers."

"What do you mean?" his manager asked. "Do you think Yin Chang has good acting abilities?"

Mi Xiu did not answer her question, instead said, "There was a young star who once envied me saying, 'Some people's efforts cannot compete against some people's talent.' I think I understand the meaning of that phrase now. But to feel this fact is truly a disheartening experience..."

His manager smiled and said, "Philosopher Mi are you feeling insecure?"

Mi Xiu crossed his legs and sneered, "Me? Insecure? Don't make me laugh. Just give me a microphone and I can move mountains."

The next day, Yin Chang returned to the set, where Luo Chuan's unique form of severity continued. It seemed that the director agreed with Luo Chuan now and if Yin Chang's performance was lacking in any way, he would be asked to do it again.

The cast and crew could feel a palpable change in Yin Chang's behavior off the set. He was polite but distant, emotionally removed from everyone. Yin Chang was less prone to laugh and rarely spoke, even with Mi Xiu, whom he usually got along with well.

After filming, he would return alone to his room and avoid any social activities.

Lu Lingjuan secretly confided to everyone that Yin Chang was having trouble sleeping, so he tried to rest as much as possible after filming. Everyone could see how "tormented" Yin Chang was by Luo Chuan on set and sympathized with him.

However, no one was more worried about Yin Chang's situation than Lu Lingjuan. She called Yao Manhuai several times and finally, Manhuai visited the set.

That night, after seeing Yin Chang, Manhuai left him alone because he was already asleep. Although he was not sleeping soundly, due to his lack of sleep, he was too tired to engage with anyone.

Manhuai didn't disturb Yin Chang and quietly left the room. She then called Luo Chuan, "I'm at your set. Can we meet?"