Chapter 30: The Energetic Girl

“CUT…” Xu Ke’s expression was extremely bad. Though not yet angry, he was already quite annoyed. He rushed into the performance area and shouted at Xiao Ran on horseback, “A Ran, what the hell are you doing? The movie is almost finished, and you can’t even perform this final scene properly?”
Under the sympathetic looks from Lin Qingxia and the other two beautiful women, Xiao Ran forced a bitter smile and assured Xu Ke, “Director Xu, I…”
“No need to say more. If you can’t pass this time, no one leaves today!” Xu Ke, with a grim face, stormed over to the camera. “Take a break, A Ran. Think about what’s missing in your performance!”
With the help of the crew, Lin Qingxia, Zhong Chuhong, and Ye Qianwen dismounted and went over to Xiao Ran to comfort him. “A Ran, Director Xu is like this during filming. Don’t overthink it!”
Xiao Ran shook his head without saying anything. It wasn’t Xu Ke’s temper that upset him. The director is the overall commander on set and must have enough strength to control everyone under him. It’s normal for them to have bad tempers. How many directors haven’t cursed on set? Not to mention the directors, even these three delicate-looking women had cursed at many crew members from the streets.
He just didn’t understand what was wrong with this final scene. They were filming the ending scene of “The Female Warrior on Horseback,” the scene where everyone goes their separate ways. The emotional relationships among the characters in this film were very complex, and they had to suppress those emotions while portraying a sense of dedication to the country and the people—without making it too heavy.
The only scene in the film that required some acting skills through eye contact posed a challenge for him. After all, he wasn’t Leung Chao-wai, who had won five Golden Horse Awards and could make people submit just by his performance, without dialogue.
Sitting aside, Xiao Ran gently tapped his head. He needed a technique to express these emotions. He kept recalling the performances of many skilled actors, but none of them seemed applicable to this situation. Suddenly, he remembered something mentioned in an article about Leung Chao-wai’s interview at TVB’s training class.
The article said there were many candidates in that interview, and they were asked to act out a breakup. Most people acted as if they were in despair, but Leung Chao-wai’s performance was unique. When he heard the words of breakup, his hand, which was lighting a cigarette, paused slightly. When Xiao Ran read this article, he had imagined Leung Chao-wai’s gesture and thought it was an excellent way of acting.
Perhaps he could try using a similar gesture? With this thought, his heart stirred slightly. In this film, Lin Qingxia played the girl he liked. If she said the lines about going their separate ways, and he performed the gesture mentioned earlier, it might work!
After picturing it in his mind, Xiao Ran stood up easily and went over to Xu Ke. “Director Xu, it’s fine now. But I think Sister Lin should say those lines, not me.”
“What’s the difference?” Xu Ke looked at Xiao Ran with a strange expression. “Since you’ve made up your mind, let’s get shooting!”

As the shout of “ACTION” echoed around, Xiao Ran and the other five main characters gathered together on their horses. Lin Qingxia glanced around before fixing her gaze on Xiao Ran and said with a cheerful smile, “Let’s part ways here. See you again after the revolution succeeds!” Before her words faded, Xiao Ran, who was shaking hands with others, paused briefly as he reached out before quickly returning to normal. He also fixed his eyes on Lin Qingxia’s face and said, “See you again after the revolution succeeds!”
“CUT! Great, absolutely great!” Xu Ke, watching the scene, suddenly became excited. Seeing Xiao Ran walking over with a smile, he quickly asked, “How did you suddenly get it? If you can perform like this throughout the whole film, that would be amazing!”
Xiao Ran smiled without answering—this was the advantage of having broad experience. He had never had much confidence in acting, but now he suddenly felt confident. With a good start, everything would follow naturally.
Next, Xu Ke announced to the crew that filming was officially over, triggering cheers from everyone. Filming was always like this—although there would be another film after this one, completing one was always a joyous moment, just like finishing a novel brought great satisfaction.
Lin Qingxia even came over happily and wrapped her arm around Xiao Ran’s, talking about how nervous she had been during filming. Xiao Ran chuckled lightly. Her situation wasn’t even that much better—he remembered one scene where she and Zeng Jiang were supposed to act together, but she was so nervous that Zeng Jiang scolded her harshly.
Back then, Lin Qingxia cried bitterly, and no one could calm her down until Xiao Ran, who had just started working there, handed her a tissue, gradually soothing her. It was only that day, when Xiao Ran took Lin Qingxia home, that he learned she had felt competitive pressure from the crew, including Ye Qianwen and Zhong Chuhong, which made her so nervous she made mistakes. Now that Lin Qingxia was teasing him like this, Xiao Ran naturally didn’t dare bring that up in return. However, after that incident, the relationship between Lin Qingxia and Xiao Ran improved significantly.
Around the filming site, there was also a crowd of fans waiting eagerly. Of course, Xiao Ran wasn’t among them. But when he glanced around, he surprisingly saw Yang Wei—something unusual, as he had no idea Yang Wei was also a fan.
Yang Wei waved at him excitedly, and Xiao Ran signaled that he would talk to her later. Only after Xu Ke finished handling the post-filming arrangements did Xiao Ran go out to find Yang Wei.
Yang Wei wasn’t alone—there was a beautiful girl with her, radiating youthful energy in her features. Before Xiao Ran could ask, Yang Wei introduced her. It turned out the girl was Yang Wei’s friend, Liu Mei, who was studying theology at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Xiao Ran knew a bit about this university. It was a quite famous institution, and what set it apart from ordinary schools was its apparent connection to Christianity. If he remembered correctly, it was an institution rooted in Christian values, officially renamed Baptist University in the 1990s, though it was still called Hong Kong Baptist College at the time.

This school is truly remarkable; many famous directors in Hong Kong’s film industry graduated from here, such as Alan Mak, the director of “Red Lipstick,” and Peter Chan, the director of “Made in Hong Kong.” The Department of Communication Arts is divided into three majors: Film and Television, Broadcasting, and Journalism. So, this girl must be from the Film and Television major.

Of course, it seems like a long time ago, but in reality, Xiao Ran merely reviewed it briefly in his mind. The girl showed evident excitement upon meeting her idol, almost rushing up to scream in delight: “Are you Xiao Ran? You know what? My classmates and I really admire you!”

“Why admire me?” Xiao Ran truly didn’t understand why she would admire him. After all, he wasn’t yet a “famous” director—what was there to admire?

But soon, he was completely captivated by her voice! Truly captivated. As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Qingxia and two other beautiful women stepped forward, ready to leave. The girl with the willow-like eyebrows spotted the three celebrities at once and let out a scream so loud it seemed to shake the heavens and move the ghosts. She rushed toward them at lightning speed.

At that moment, Xiao Ran suddenly thought that if this girl acted in a horror movie, she wouldn’t need acting skills or a plot—just that scream would be enough to scare people to death. Of course, this conclusion was based on his still-piercing ears.

Obviously, Lin Qingxia and the other two were also greatly shocked. Their assistants hurriedly tried to stop this suspicious girl. Xiao Ran frowned at Yang Wei and rushed over, while the girl had already gotten signatures from the three women, leaving her overjoyed.

“Aran, do you want me to give you a ride?” Lin Qingxia always asked this. Xiao Ran wasn’t always comfortable letting this beauty give him a ride, so he hesitated about whether he should buy a car. But for him right now, that was clearly impractical.

“Sis Qingxia, if you keep giving rides like this, Qin Han will get jealous. There were already photos of you two together in the newspaper last time,” Zhong Chuhong said from her car, teasing Lin Qingxia before turning serious toward Xiao Ran. “How about this? Let me give you a ride today! Next time, the news might say something like ‘Xiao Ran and I are together!’”

The photo incident mentioned by Zhong Chuhong wasn’t a big deal—the newspaper only published the photos without making any unfounded assumptions. Neither Xiao Ran nor Lin Qingxia took it seriously. Instead, Xiao Ran marveled at how well journalists and celebrities got along these days; everyone knew what should and shouldn’t be published, unlike the chaotic situation in the future.

Xiao Ran smiled and declined, then calmly took a taxi away with Yang Wei and the excited girl for signatures. In the car, he looked at Yang Wei and the girl still thrilled from getting signatures and said, “What do you want from me? You can tell me now!”

“Actually, it’s nothing much. It’s just that Liu Mei really wants to meet you. She says she wants to learn scriptwriting skills from you!” Yang Wei, uncomfortable with Xiao Ran’s gaze, turned her face slightly away and explained softly, “I didn’t know Brother Ran was so busy; otherwise, I wouldn’t have disturbed you!”

“It’s okay, I won’t disturb you. I’ll be quite free these days!” Xiao Ran smiled slightly; he didn’t look like a 21-year-old at all. He stared at Liu Mei and asked, “Xiao Mei, what do you want to know?”
“Nothing else. I just want to learn some skills in writing scripts!” Liu Mei’s enthusiasm faded gradually as she looked at Xiao Ran with admiration in her eyes. “Your scripts are amazing. I really admire you!”
Amazing? It seems not really, right? Xiao Ran was slightly stunned. The scripts he had plagiarized so far hadn’t won any awards, so the word “amazing” probably didn’t apply. Thinking of this, he suddenly became interested in the girl. “Tell me, why do you think they’re amazing?”
“I won’t mention ‘Saving the Police Officer from a Thousand Miles Away’—it’s just a bit innovative!” When talking about scripts, Liu Mei’s eyes lit up, showing a peculiar obsession. “But ‘Police Story’ was written very well; it expanded Cheng Long’s acting range significantly. Even more impressive is ‘Mr. Zombie’—the idea of using a zombie theme is already remarkable, and the story is also well-written. That’s definitely amazing!”
“But I think what makes your scripts truly outstanding is that no matter how you write them, they always capture the audience’s hearts.” As Liu Mei spoke confidently, her beautiful eyes showed a strange sense of self-assurance. “Just look at the box office earnings of two tens of millions for your scripts!”
“‘Happy Ghost Meets Ghost’ didn’t reach two tens of millions, did it?” Xiao Ran was truly very interested in this girl—of course, not because of her beauty, but because of her analytical skills.
A teasing smile appeared in Liu Mei’s eyes as she couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s a sequel. It’s already amazing if it achieves the same box office as the first part. It has nothing to do with you! That’s why I admire you!”
“Are you studying screenwriting?” Xiao Ran was shocked. Not many people could see this clearly these days. And for a girl to realize this was quite remarkable.
“No, actually, Xiao Mei is studying directing!” Seeing Xiao Ran pay so much attention to Liu Mei, Yang Wei felt inexplicably uncomfortable and quickly interjected, “I don’t even understand why she, who studies directing, would come to see you, a screenwriter!”
“Most of these things were told to me by my cousin, but I also have my own thoughts!” Liu Mei seemed afraid that Xiao Ran would think she was foolish and quick to defend herself. “My cousin is very capable, but I think he’s not as good as you!”
Cousin? Xiao Ran’s intuition told him this person was not ordinary. But who exactly was she…

(First of all, I want to make it clear that I’m not complaining at all. Everyone has been complaining about the speed these days, but I think it’s quite good considering I have to research countless materials every day. Do you know how much content is involved in this book? I can tell you that in each chapter, I strive to reveal some lesser-known information. It may not be highly informative, but it’s at least professional or somewhat secretive. I spend over ten hours a day writing, so the speed isn’t fast to begin with, and another half of that time is spent researching. Therefore, I really hope you can understand. For example, the speed of my previous book, “Spy Conspiracy,” was more than twice as fast as that of “Tycoon,” because it was entirely based on original ideas without the need for research!)
(However, there’s still room to improve the speed. Readers who are familiar with my painstaking writing habits probably know that I write slowly at first before speeding up. I think I can maintain a faster pace in the middle and later stages.)
(TO, stop talking nonsense. Judging from your tone, since you know about Dao Dao and Xiao Qi, you should also know who I am! I’m already considered a senior in this field.)
Main Text, Chapter 31: A Superb Encounter