The next day, Yi Ling helped Yan Huan pack. Luo Lin had already helped arrange their lodgings; they would not be staying at a hotel this time, but in a private guest house. It was located in a quiet neighborhood, and they would have the whole place to themselves. Yan Huan had readily agreed to the arrangement; she was not particularly choosy about her lodgings.
Once Yan Huan had gotten into the car, she got out her phone and contemplated it as she chewed on her lip. She was so lost in thought it took a sharp, biting pain from her lip and the taste of blood to wake her from her reverie.
She unlocked her phone and wrote a message to Lu Yi.
“I’m off to shoot a TV show. See you in a few months.”
It would take several months to finish shooting Please Close Your Eyes. After that, her schedule would continue to be packed: her career was really taking off now, and her agency would have her next project lined up for her by the time she was back to take full advantage of the momentum.
Ding! That was the sound of Lu Yi’s reply reaching her phone.
“Noted. I’ll take care of Little Bean for you.”
Yan Huan pressed her phone to her chest as she thought of how she had left Little Bean at Lu Yi’s doorstep earlier that morning. She could not help wondering what Lu Yi’s face looked like when he opened the door and saw Little Bean; she guessed that he had probably let out a long sigh of resignation.
Just then, the car came to a complete stop.
“We’re here.”
Yan Huan stepped out of the car with her bag, and followed Yi Ling to their lodgings.
Luo Lin was waiting outside. She helped Yan Huan with her bag and told the actress as they walked, “I’ve cleaned the place, you can move in immediately. It’s not as luxurious as a hotel, but you’ll get a lot more peace and quiet here. It’s a lot more private, too.”
“Thanks.” Yan Huan entered the guest house, and found the place to her liking. It was, as Luo Lin had said, a nice place to live in.
Yan Huan did not mind where she stayed in, as long as it was peaceful and quiet.
Yan Huan was very impressed with Luo Lin. The assistant had proven herself to be a true professional: she thought of everything, and had prepared even the things that most people would not realize was lacking until they needed them.
Yan Huan got out her script for Please Close Your Eyes and began to leaf through it. She had read the script countless times, but she wanted to know it like the back of her hand.
The main character of the story was an outstanding policewoman with top-notch martial arts skills. The story was divided into six arcs, spanning a total of 36 episodes. It was a relatively short series, but every episode was full of action and suspense.
Most of the episodes revolve around the main character solving crimes. The mysteries were written in such a way that most of the audience would come up with a variety of wildly differing theories on who had committed the crime and why. The truth, when it was finally revealed, would always turn out to be something else entirely, catching the audience by surprise.
The unpredictable, out-of-left-field twists were what Yan Huan liked best about the show. She did not remember how the show had fared in her previous life, and could only hope that the audience would enjoy the show as much as she did this time around.
But it was not her place to worry about the ratings or audience reception. As an actress, it was her job to bring her character, Yu Jie, to life in Please Close Your Eyes.
She was a decent martial artist now. The agency had arranged for a martial arts teacher to coach her, and then Lu Yi, an expert in the ancient martial arts, had personally trained her for about two weeks. She had benefited a lot from Lu Yi’s lessons; the ancient martial arts were not only lethal, but also beautiful and elegant to watch.
Even the martial arts choreographer was full of praise for Yan Huan; her beautiful yet lethal moves were a welcome addition to her character, Yu Jie.
Her training had left her arms and legs sore for several days. She had thought of throwing in the towel, but she gritted her teeth and persevered. Now, she was pleasantly surprised to see that her sweat and tears had paid off.
Please Close Your Eyes was set in modern times, but there was so much fighting in the show it could have been a Wuxia epic. Yan Huan spent most of the day on her feet, moving around and performing stunts. By the end of the day, she was so tired she did not feel like talking.
“They have stunt doubles, you know. Why must you insist on doing your own stunts?” Yi Ling asked as she massaged Yan Huan’s shoulders. It was a rhetorical question; she knew Yan Huan was as stubborn as a mule.
“I started out as a stunt double, you know,” said Yan Huan. She lay sprawled on her bed, too tired to move. She felt as though her body would fall apart if she got up.
She did not see the point in using a stunt double. It seemed like a lot of extra hassle to get someone else to do her stunts, when she could pull them off herself. It would be less taxing for her to use a stunt double, sure, but she would miss out on the opportunity to hone her acting skills. She was a good actress, but she was still a little rusty after having retired from acting for several years in her past life. She needed all the practice she could get to reclaim her former glory; even more so because she intended to surpass her past self and climb to even greater heights.
She needed time. She needed work. She needed to hone her skills.
A few days later, she accidentally cut her leg during a stunt and had to get it bandaged. Luckily, she was able to hide it because her character wore trousers.
Several days later, she bruised her face badly in a fall. Luckily, her character was supposed to look all beat-up in the story as well. She did not have to fake her bruises with makeup now.
The director’s eyelids began to jump and twitch.
He had never seen an actress as fearless and as committed to the project as Yan Huan—she was literally putting her life on the line. He was glad for it, in a way; a half-hearted performance would always be second best to a performance that was truly sincere and authentic.
The director broke out in a cold sweat every now and then as he watched Yan Huan perform her dangerous stunts. It was thrilling watching her perform live, and he knew he could make her stunts even more exciting and mind-blowing with proper editing.
The shoot for Please Close Your Eyes went smoothly. Yan Huan’s zealous commitment to her role was so infectious the other actors caught her enthusiasm and tried their best to match her efforts. The mood on the set was one of eager optimism: everyone was motivated to improve on their best performances. As soon as a take was approved, the actors took the initiative to share their thoughts on the next scene and discuss the best approach to filming it. By the time the cameras rolled again, everyone already knew what to do.
Yan Huan had expected the shoot to take four to five months, but they finished it in a little over three months. It was at least two weeks ahead of schedule.
After the wrap party, all there was left to do was to wait for the higher-ups to secure a slot for the show on the TV stations.
Yan Huan returned to her apartment in Sea City. She had only gotten a few days’ rest when her agency called to inform her that three of her roles had been nominated for this year’s Golden Phoenix Award. The award ceremony for achievements in the domestic film and TV industry.
Best Supporting Actress, Journey to Fairyland, Love and Tribulations.
Best Actress, Best Newcomer, Divorced.
Journey to Fairyland and Love and Tribulations had dominated the TV ratings last year, while Divorced had grossed over 600 million yuan at the box office since debuting on New Year’s Day. It was a spectacular box office record that was unlikely to be matched by any other movie for the rest of the year. Yan Huan’s mature, realistic performance in the movie and the way the story had resonated with audiences of every age and background set it above the pack. There was a good chance that the movie would sweep the awards.
Yan Huan did not know how many awards she would be able to win.
She did not spend a lot of time thinking about the Best Actress award. She remembered that Liang Chen had won the award this year, in her previous life, and she had won it fair and square. Yan Huan knew better than to expect her tiny butterfly wings to turn the entire world upside down; Liang Chen was still going to get the Best Actress award this time around.
But Yan Huan did not mind. There was no denying that Liang Chen was a better actress than she was. Yan Huan mentally vowed to surpass Liang Chen in the future. She would continue climbing to ever greater heights; she wanted fame and wealth, but more than anything else she wanted to surpass Liang Chen on her own merits.
