Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

"Who exactly are you..." Liu Yifei's eyes reddened slightly. It was the first time she had met someone who understood her.

Zhao Huaiyuan stared at the other person and said calmly:

"Who I am is not important. What's important is whether you're prepared to go back to that film crew in three days and continue playing the role of Bai Xiuzhu, the character who causes you so much pain, or whether you're truly willing to live in your mother's shadow all the time, following orders like a puppet..."

"What gives you the right to say that? Are we that close? That's very rude of you!"

[Favorability 39→36]

Liu Yifei interrupted him, her cheeks puffed up with anger, making her baby fat even more noticeable.

"Boring." She stood up and was about to leave.

Zhao Huaiyuan didn't stop her, and said calmly, "I'm just giving you a chance."

Liu Yifei stopped abruptly, turned around, and said incredulously, "Give me a chance, you?"

She was a proud and arrogant woman, whose life had been smooth sailing. When had she ever lacked opportunities?

Zhao Huaiyuan smiled.

Everyone knows that.

Her mother, Liu Xiaoli, is a woman with an extremely strong desire for control.

From her daily life to accepting roles and even who she talks to, everything has to be approved by her mother.

Girls who grow up in such a high-pressure environment, though constantly under the spotlight, harbor a rebellious spirit much stronger than ordinary people.

"I want to make a short film to participate in the school's exhibition."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Don't rush to refuse. Sit down and look at the script. You're all grown up now. This time, don't let your mother decide for you. Choose for yourself." Zhao Ming pointed to the chair opposite him.

Although Liu Yifei was angry just now, it seemed that the other person had hit the nail on the head, but she just didn't want to admit it.

She sat down, picked up the script, and started reading.

At first she was indifferent, but gradually her eyes lit up.

Although "The Story of a Noble Family" was a hit that year, it was just a clichéd romance drama. What Zhao Huaiyuan presented was a suspense masterpiece that was proven by the market more than a decade later.

That kind of extreme reversal, and that thrill of repeatedly teetering on the edge of life and death.

This is irresistible to a teenage girl.

Rebellious at an age, with a quiet appearance, disliking a peaceful life, and a deep-seated desire for excitement—this is an age-old law; otherwise, so many people's youth wouldn't have been stolen away by that blond-haired kid.

Liu Yifei closed the script, her long eyelashes trembling. She looked up, her eyes sparkling with the excitement only a child could have:

"This female lead... is blind? And she's the kind of blind person who witnesses a murder but pretends to be blind?"

"To be precise, this is a character who, in order to survive, must pretend to be nonchalant in front of the killer."

Looking into her eyes, Zhao Huaiyuan knew that he wasn't doing enough to get Liu Yifei to agree to act in his script; he needed to win her heart first!

"How about this? In this story, you don't need to act out the love and hate of adults. You only need to do one thing, which is to suppress your inner feelings."

"And isn't that exactly what you excel at?" Zhao Huaiyuan smiled.

Liu Yifei was tempted.

She was truly tempted.

She had never played this kind of role before, but she felt it was much more fun than that crybaby rich girl!

She really didn't want to play the role of Bai Xiuzhu, who pretended to be mature, anymore!

"But……"

After the initial excitement, Liu Yifei seemed to remember something, and his eyes immediately dimmed.

"I don't have time. I only have three days off, and I have to go back to the film set in three days. Besides, I need my mom's permission to take on any role. She won't let me take any role casually."

It's her mother again!

"Two days, just two days, and if all goes well, maybe just one day!"

"How is that possible? Filming takes a long time just to set up the set and set up the lighting." Liu Yifei's eyes widened.

"Trust me, as for your mother, you don't have to tell her. We're all classmates. Helping a classmate film an assignment is just a small favor. There's no contract, and I'm not getting paid, so there's no issue of breach of contract. Even if your mother finds out, she won't stop me."

Liu Yifei was still hesitating. No matter what, her mother had arranged everything for her. She just needed to follow the plan step by step. In her entire life, she had never made a decision on her own.

For a moment, I felt both scared and amused!

Zhao Huaiyuan, observing her expression, knew that she had been persuaded but was still hesitant. He needed to add fuel to the fire, so he lowered his voice and said with exasperation:

"You're already so old, don't you even have this much freedom? This is just helping a classmate film an assignment, what's the big deal? When the film comes out, show it to your mom and the director, let them see if you can actually act!"

"Imagine that scene, their surprised expressions, wouldn't that feel great?"

Liu Yifei bit his lip, the scene flashing through his mind.

Was it good?

So cool!

The little devil deep inside her was nodding frantically. She was a good girl, but that didn't mean she didn't have a temper or a desire to prove herself.

"good!"

Liu Yifei took a deep breath and made up his mind, "I'll film! But I only have two days, I absolutely can't exceed that time, otherwise my mother will find out."

"It's a deal x2".

Zhao Huaiyuan smiled; the feeling of coaxing a little girl really made him feel like a bad person.

[Favorability 36→51]

After a few days of exploration, Zhao Huaiyuan had gained some understanding of the system.

This system is only for women and can display their level of affection.

A favorability rating below 10 generally means the other person dislikes or hates you. A rating between 10 and 39 indicates a complete stranger or someone you've met once but have little interaction with. A rating between 40 and 59 indicates acquaintances, but not friends; at most, it's just a business relationship.

As for what it's like to unlock one's inner voice above age 60, Zhao Huaiyuan has no idea.

Now that the main actors are in place, all that's left is the location.

Zhao Huaiyuan frowned, looking troubled.

"What's wrong?" Liu Yifei had already put himself in the director's shoes, and seeing the director looking worried, he immediately asked.

"You've seen this play too. The main character is a piano tuner who needs a grand piano and a villa that looks like a rich person's home. You know, there are a lot of poor students in our school. Where are we going to find a venue like that..."

Zhao Huaiyuan shrugged helplessly, "Renting is possible, but just moving the piano and setting up the venue will take more than two days, unless..."

He paused for a moment, then looked at Liu Yifei. "Unless there's a ready-made empty house with a piano."

If you directly ask to borrow the house, the other party will definitely be wary.

The only option is to retreat in order to advance, and to bring up the public enemy that is blocking their joint plan.

Liu Yifei is now on board, and she wants to make this short film more than anyone else to prove herself.

Liu Yifei blinked.

A villa? A grand piano? An empty house?

Hey, my godfather has a knack for this in Shunyi.

No one lives there normally; only the housekeeper occasionally goes to clean it. There happens to be a white Steinway in the living room.

But she hesitated for a moment. Bringing a strange boy home to film a movie sounded a bit crazy.

But then I thought, this is for art, to help people with their homework, and I'm taking the photos at home, so I don't have to worry about my mom finding out.

The most dangerous place is the safest place!

But isn't this too much of a coincidence?

How did he know his godfather owned this house?

She looked at Zhao Huaiyuan suspiciously: "Are you trying to take advantage of my family?"

Zhao Huaiyuan remained unfazed and continued spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"I swear to God, absolutely not. Of course, if our leading lady is willing to offer even the slightest favor—that is, bringing her own investment to the project—I'll put her as a co-producer in the end credits."

However, finding a large villa with a piano that's also vacant is too demanding. I doubt you have a solution. Oh well, let me think of another way.

"Who cares about your producer?"

Liu Yifei was amused. She didn't care about that, but she had already let down most of her guard.

This person is so interesting; she's really different from the people she usually interacts with.

[Favorability 51→52]

She feigned mystery, then said with a hint of smugness, "What if... I mean, what if I could actually solve the venue problem?"

Zhao Huaiyuan feigned surprise: "You can really solve that? One of those villas with a piano?"

Liu Yifei nodded, also lowering his voice like a thief, "My godfather has an empty house that seems to fit your requirements, as long as you don't break anything and clean it up after filming..."

"You're the co-producer, you're in charge!"

Zhao Huaiyuan immediately responded, a bright smile spreading across his face.

"Meet at the north gate tomorrow at 3 PM. We'll bring the equipment there. Remember, this is top secret for the production crew."

Liu Yifei had a vague feeling that he had fallen into a trap, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

However, the feeling of planning a secret operation with classmates is really exciting!

[Favorability 52→55]

..

The following afternoon.

The autumn heatwave is still fierce; the asphalt roads are practically melting. Cicadas keep chirping in the trees, complaining about how hot it is.

Beside the stone lion at the north gate of Beijing Film Academy, two boys are staring at each other.

Cao Yu carried a camera bag, with a folded tripod standing at his feet. Perhaps because he was sweating, sweat kept streaming down his face, and his T-shirt was almost soaked through.

Standing next to her was Zhu Yawen, who was wearing a specially selected leather jacket. Although it was extremely hot, she stubbornly refused to take it off, only constantly pulling at the collar to fan herself.

The two did not know each other, and on the few occasions they made eye contact, they simply nodded awkwardly in greeting.

A few minutes later.

"Dude... are you waiting for someone too?" Cao Yu wiped the sweat from his eyes and asked tentatively.

Zhu Yawen nodded. "Yeah, we're waiting for a director named Zhao Huaiyuan. What about you?"

"What a coincidence." Cao Yu chuckled, taking an unopened bottle of mineral water from his bag and handing it over.

"Me too. He contacted me yesterday, saying there's a big production with Liu Yifei as the female lead, and asked if I dared to operate the machine."

"Ah, you must be Senior Cao, the photography genius? My apologies for not recognizing you sooner."

Zhu Yawen belatedly realized what was happening and quickly said something, but then he suddenly froze.

"Wait... He told you that he contacted you because of Liu Yifei?"

"Yes, he said that Liu Yifei brought his own funding to the project, specifically requesting to shoot a short film for an international film festival. He said I needed a good cinematographer and that he could provide me with the equipment, so I came."

"Depend on!"

Zhu Yawen slapped her thigh suddenly. "This guy told me that Cao Yu, a photography genius, and Liu Yifei, the female lead, were going to make a short film that was sure to win an award, and he specifically asked me to play the male lead. I thought it was a windfall."

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

"Have we been scammed...?"

"It's getting late, and there's still no sign of the crew's car..."

No matter what.

They still have hope.

Hoping to have a go at sparring with their celebrity classmate Liu Yifei, no one mentioned leaving.

Just then.

"Beep beep...!!"

A van trailing a plume of black smoke screeched to a halt in front of the two men.

The car window rolled down, revealing Zhao Huaiyuan's harmless smiling face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, you two!"

Zhu Yawen's lips twitched; he felt truly deceived. "Director, is this the special car for the big-budget film crew you were talking about?"

"You need to spend your money wisely, don't you understand?!"

Zhao Huaiyuan jumped out of the car and, together with the two men, stuffed all the filming equipment into the trunk.

"Let's go pick up the female lead."

Cao Yu and Zhu Yawen sighed, and at the same time, they both thought the same thing.

If I don't see Liu Yifei later, I'm definitely going to beat someone up!

..

The car drove along Xueyuan Road for less than two hundred meters before stopping under a large locust tree by the roadside.

Under the shade of a tree.

Liu Yifei wore a baseball cap with the brim pulled down very low, looking around warily like a thief.