Mr. Lu, stop being such a jerk. Your wife is your nemesis's white moonlight.

The plane landed smoothly in Bincheng.

By the time we finally got to the film crew's hotel, it was already 8 a.m.

As soon as Xu An'an stepped into the hotel lobby, she felt an unfriendly gaze fall upon her.

But she didn't have time to pay too much attention. She hadn't slept much on the way, and now she was so sleepy that she didn't even know what the world was like.

Xu An'an slept until 1 p.m. before getting up to attend the afternoon script reading session.

She paused as soon as she got off the elevator.

Not far around the corner, Yan Heng was standing with a slender woman, and they seemed to be entangled in something.

The woman looked very familiar; she was a rising starlet.

Xu An'an understood.

It's perfectly normal for young actors to want to find a powerful backer in the complex entertainment industry.

What's more, Yan Heng is so young and so handsome.

Surprisingly, Yan Heng is bisexual...

Too lazy to get involved in these things, Xu An'an lowered her head, intending to pretend she hadn't seen anything, and quietly slipped away along the wall.

"Xu An'an, wait a moment."

A deep male voice suddenly rang out, and Xu An'an froze, forced to stop and turn around helplessly.

Yan Heng deftly shook off the popular young actress's hand, his face as cold as Arctic ice.

"Miss Ye, I think I have made myself clear. Please leave."

Ye Xiaohua's face turned pale and then red, and she had no choice but to turn around and leave.

As she brushed past Xu An'an, she glared at her fiercely, as if Xu An'an had ruined her great opportunity.

Yan Heng walked up to Xu An'an, the coldness on his face fading. "Didn't I tell you to rest a little longer and start work tomorrow?"

"I've already slept well, and I'm just killing time anyway," Xu An'an replied lightly. She had joined the crew quite late and didn't want to delay the production schedule any further.

"Okay, I'm going out for a meeting later, and then I have a dinner appointment. I'll be back tonight."

"oh."

--Um?

Xu An'an only realized after answering that he needed to report to her where he was going.

And he'll be back at night?

Xu An'an's eyes widened: "You're staying with the film crew too?"

Yan Heng cleared his throat awkwardly: "Breaking the Cocoon is the company's major project this year, and I need to oversee the production."

The CEO is personally overseeing the team?

Tsk tsk,

That's really dedicated!

Xu An'an patted Yan Heng on the shoulder generously: "Don't worry! I'll definitely give you a good performance!"

Yan Heng's expression hardened, and he grabbed Xu An'an's wrist, narrowing his eyes dangerously: "Xu An'an, did you do this on purpose?"

Xu An'an chuckled, "Okay, okay! Let go, it hurts!"

Just like before, she gets angry as soon as "older sister" is mentioned.

As he watched those two shallow dimples sway before his eyes, Yan Heng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he loosened his grip.

Xu An'an rubbed her wrist, glanced at Yan Heng's handsome face which was expressionless but looked slightly tired, and suddenly remembered Song Zhe and that young woman surnamed Ye from earlier.

After hesitating for a moment, he spoke earnestly in a voice only the two of them could hear: "I know you're young and fickle. But try to be more restrained... Being too flirtatious... is never a good thing."

After saying that, she waved her hand and turned to walk directly into the conference room.

"...?"

Yan Heng stood there, stunned, a huge question mark rising in his mind.

...

Shao Feng went out to scout locations, and the reading session was hosted by assistant director Li Li.

This discussion is a significant plot twist in the film: the protagonist, Chen Nian, returns home to find that her mother has not only torn up her cherished paintings but also killed the puppy she secretly adopted. In her grief, she experiences her first awakening.

The actress playing the "mother" finished reciting her last harsh line, and the scene ended.

The entire venue was still immersed in a depressing atmosphere.

Suddenly, an actress next to me threw down her script and scoffed:

"Director, I think Chen Nian's reaction just now was too weak!"

Xu An'an looked up at her and saw that the name tag read Ye Ruyan. Oh, it was that little flower from before.

"Such a strong conflict, and all you do is dryly shed tears?" Ye Ruyan crossed her arms and glanced at Xu An'an with utter contempt.

"Has Teacher Xu been staying at home for too long and forgotten how to act?"

In an instant, the conference room fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Xu An'an.

Xu An'an rolled her eyes inwardly. She had read the script many times during this period and was very confident that this scene was meant to portray Chen Nian's important transformation after being put in a life-or-death situation.

This emotional shift of losing something needs to be carefully crafted; otherwise, the subsequent build-up can easily become hollow and weak.

To say something like that... I don't know if this Miss Ye is genuinely stupid or just pretending.

However, in any case, this trick was far too childish for her.

Xu An'an put down her pen, smiled slightly at Ye Ruyan, and asked, "So, if Miss Ye were to act in this role, how would you portray it?"

"Of course they resisted!"

Ye Ruyan propped herself up: "At a time like this, you have to jump up and make a scene! How can the audience sympathize with her when you act so pathetic?"

"Actress Xu, you've been out of touch with the market for too long. You probably don't know that today's audiences like female leads who dare to rebel! Your acting style is outdated!"

Before she could finish speaking, several people around her began to whisper in agreement:

"Yes, Ruyan is right, today's audiences love intense conflict!"

"Yeah, acting like that is so frustrating, like being a punching bag!"

"An award-winning actress, my foot! Can she even act...?"

The conference room gradually became noisy, and more and more people cast glances at Xu An'an with a mixture of curiosity, sympathy, and scrutiny.

Ye Ruyan curled her lips into a smug smile, waiting to see Xu An'an make a fool of herself.

Under everyone's gaze, Xu An'an slowly put down the script in her hand.

She didn't look at Ye Ruyan again, but instead, with a smile in her eyes, she calmly swept her gaze over everyone present.

After a while, a pleasant voice rang out in the conference room:

"You say she's weak because you don't know that true awakening is silent."

Xu An'an's voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear.

"Chen Nian's paintings, which she considered her spiritual sustenance, were torn up, and her only source of warmth—her puppy—was also tortured to death. For a 16-year-old girl, this was not an ordinary setback, but a massacre of her tender soul."

"Psychologist Pierre proposed the concept of 'dissociation' in the 19th century—referring to the state of being when pain exceeds a person's limit of endurance. She will not be angry, nor will she even feel pain. She will suddenly detach herself, like an observer, watching herself crumble bit by bit. Therefore, silent tears are not cowardice, but the true state of spiritual death."

She slowly rose and walked step by step to the center of the room.

"As for resistance," she looked at Ye Ruyan, her gaze suddenly sharpening, "is only making a scene considered resistance?"

Seeing Ye Ruyan flinch in surprise, Xu An'an smiled gently, staring into her eyes with a tender mockery: "That's just the venting of an incompetent person."

"True resistance is surviving the most brutal persecution, and clinging to your last breath in the most desperate moments! That last breath is the spark that allows her to break free from her cocoon and transform, the most powerful resistance against fate and her abusers!"

Finally, she turned to the group of people who had been whispering, her tone gentle yet firm:

"You say audiences like strong conflict, and I don't deny that. But does strong conflict mean just rigid shouting and yelling? Without a gradual build-up of emotions, even the strongest conflict will only seem fake and exaggerated!"

"Finally, I'd like to ask my colleagues here: what was our initial intention in making this film about women's growth? I believe that many of our viewers will be girls like Chen Nian—equally insecure, sensitive, and timid... They may be facing various difficulties right now. When they see that even an ordinary and timid person like Chen Nian can ultimately stand up and transform herself, won't they feel that they too can be like Chen Nian, bravely fighting against fate?"

"Isn't this the very power that all of you filmmakers here want to convey?"

Xu An'an spoke the last sentence very softly, but every word seemed to strike the heart of everyone present.

The conference room was completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.

A few seconds later, sporadic applause broke out, which quickly turned into a thunderous response from the entire audience.

"Great! Well said!" Shao Feng clapped as he walked out from behind Xu An'an, his face full of undisguised excitement and approval.

Teacher Shao?

When did he come back?

Xu An'an felt a little embarrassed thinking about how she had just tried to teach Shao Feng a lesson.

"You all need to learn from her! An'an has truly mastered the role! That's an award-winning performance!"

After saying that, Shao Feng turned his head and glanced at Ye Ruyan, "People aren't afraid of being stupid, they're afraid of being dumb! Being so dumb that you can't even tell the difference between good and bad acting, what kind of actor are you! You should really change careers as soon as possible!"

Ye Ruyan dared not raise her head, feeling utterly humiliated.

The assistant director quickly stepped forward with a smile to smooth things over, saying, "You truly deserve to be called a great actress! You've already helped these young actors so much since you arrived today."

"We're having a welcome party tonight, especially for Miss Xu. You absolutely must come! We'll have a great time!"

With so many people in front of her, Xu An'an couldn't refuse, so she could only smile and agree.

Only after the crowd dispersed did Ye Ruyan slowly raise her head.

She had never been so embarrassed in her entire life!

"Xu An'an...you just wait!"