Su Yan stood still, without the slightest movement.
"Sister-in-law, this coral was bestowed by Prince Cheng, and my husband has instructed that without his permission, it shouldn’t be shown to others."
Jiang Yuzhen’s gaze shifted, a flash of annoyance crossing her eyes.
"Am I an outsider? Hiding and hoarding a mere piece of coral, afraid that I’ll steal it?"
"My husband certainly didn’t mean that," Su Yan said. "He has already reminded me, and I must listen to my husband. Sister-in-law, why don’t you wait for him to return and then talk to him about it?"
Jiang Yuzhen rolled her eyes, her patience wearing thin. "Forget it, forget it. I came to see it because I thought it was a rare curiosity. If you insist on stopping me, it’s not like I can barrel in to see it. But don’t keep invoking Song Chi—ah no, He Mu, my apologies."
She corrected her slip of the tongue immediately and continued to walk down with an unchanged expression, "So what if he’s clinging to Prince Cheng’s coattails? No matter what, I am still his elder sister!"
A flash of anger crossed the depths of Su Yan’s eyes, but she bowed her head.
"My husband has always held great respect for my sister-in-law."
That concluded the scene.
Jiang Yuzhen laughed heartily and turned to ask Director Kang, "Director Kang, is that how it should be performed?"
Different from the critical and uncompromising He Zhen in the play, the real-life Jiang Yuzhen was generous in spirit, straightforward and jovial in front of Kang Xin, speaking her mind without the tension that Zhou Yun, Su Yan, and the others showed towards the esteemed director.
Kang Xin said, "You seem too disdainful. At this point, He Mu has already entered Prince Cheng’s Mansion. You refuse to admit defeat verbally, but internally you’ve changed. Previously, you looked down on He Mu, the worthless brother, now it’s just pretense."
Jiang Yuzhen pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, "Ok, got it. I’ll adjust it when I perform formally later."
Then, turning to Su Yan, Director Kang continued, "Su Yan, the same goes for you. You’re just verbally yielding to He Zhen, but in your heart, you are not intimidated. You’re not afraid of He Zhen making a scene. As the conversation goes on, you need to become increasingly steady. Whatever your reaction, the premise is that you don’t care about He Zhen’s attitude. By this point, you already consider He Zhen to be a trouble-making relative, and all you’re thinking about is how to quickly send her off."
Su Yan asked, "Director, was my performance just now too restrained? Should I display a stronger presence?"
Upon hearing this, Kang Xin waved her over and continued to discuss the acting with her.
Zhou Yun turned around to find that Song Chi had appeared behind her at some point.
"What do you think?" Song Chi asked.
Zhou Yun glanced around. There were too many staff members; it was noisy, and anything she might say could be overheard by those nearby.
Song Chi gestured for them to move to a different spot.
The two went to a corner.
Zhou Yun said, "Su Yan is more skilled at acting than I had imagined, but it seems like her performance is not quite on point."
Song Chi asked, "Where do you think she’s not hitting the mark?"
"If you don’t consider the plot, her acting segments could actually be cut into gifs to post online, and there would surely be many people who say she’s beautiful, that her acting is good. But within the context of this particular scene, something is not quite right," Zhou Yun said.
Song Chi nodded and said, "You’re right. Su Yan’s performance just now was too formulaic. Her strength is that she has a strong ability to convey emotions and can get into character quickly. However, her weakness is that she has acted in too many plays; she laughs when it’s time to laugh, cries when it’s time to cry, is sulky when it’s time to be sulky, and is angry when it’s time to be angry. It’s the same routine, the same expression. Why she laughs, why she cries, why she’s unhappy, why she’s angry—each play, each scene, each character’s personality is different, so the emotions should also be different, the origin should be different. If she doesn’t thoroughly research and understand this, she’ll perform incorrectly. Many times, you’ll see performances that seem very impressive at first glance, but are actually just state acting, not character portrayal."
Zhou Yun nodded in understanding.
"Yuzhen’s acting is actually about the same as Su Yan’s, with similar control, and the two of them have about the same level of understanding of the script and characters," Song Chi said. "But Yuzhen understands what the director is saying, she knows where her problems lie, and she can adjust quickly, so she can accurately carry out the director’s intentions. The other person is too confident, doesn’t think her own performance is bad, because she also has a group of fans who think she’s a good actor, only feeling that the director’s demands are too high, too detailed."