On the sideline.
Gu Nian was in a daze while staring at the script and she heard Director Geng's voice through the loud speaker. "You are up, Little Ding Qiao."
Gu Nian, "… …"
Him and his Little Ding Qiao.
Gu Nian begrudgingly put the script down, stood up with her eyes drooped and walked toward the filming area in the middle.
The lighting team was rearranging per the director team's request. The film hadn't started officially yet and Zong Shiyi was standing next to Luo Xiu, saying something to him.
When she saw Gu Nian approaching them, she quickly took half a step back and smiled at them. "I shall excuse myself now."
Gu Nian, "?"
Before Gu Nian could figure out what she meant by that, Zong Shiyi had already walked away in that same long dress that she had on as well.
Gu Nian turned around and asked, "Did she say anything inappropriate to you?"
Luo Xiu started to smile when he saw her, "Such as?"
Gu Nian, "Um, you know, mocking you and all?"
Luo Xiu lowered his eyes and smiled. "No, you don't need to worry about that."
"Oh, good."
Seeing how the girl had let out a sigh of relief and returned to her usual languid state, Luo Xiu's eyes flickered and he asked, "Were you disappointed at my performance earlier?"
"Huh?"
Gu Nian looked up at loss and she saw her precious son looking at her with his clear brown eyes. He seemed a little forlorn.
Gu Nian's heart ached. "No! Of course not!!"
Luo Xiu lowered his eyes, his voice low. "But Director Geng seemed very upset."
"That was him with his temper in check." Gu Nian blurted out the truth, then quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Director Geng has very high standards and you are still new at this. It is unavoidable. Don't worry too much about it."
"Alright."
Gu Nian thought about it some and took the opportunity before the filming began to give her precious son pointers. "Only the director teams had monitors on the close ups during the previous scene. I wasn't able to see what happened but from what Director Geng had said, your expressions and the look in your eyes did not match what they should have been."
Luo Xiu looked at her without blinking. His voice mellow, "What do you think I should do then?"
Oblivious to it all, Gu Nian lowered her eyes and pondered over it. Then, slamming her fist down into her palm, she said to him, "Under the circumstances, if you are really having a difficult time being in character, you can think of your co-star as the person that you are fond of romantically.
"… …"
Not receiving a response after half a second, Gu Nian turned around. Noticing that Luo Xiu's look was exactly the same as before, she decided to elaborate on her point. "Um, perhaps, you can substitute her with the girl of your puppy love."
Luo Xiu lowered his eyes.
Gu Nian asked nervously, "What's wrong?"
"I don't have one."
Gu Nian, "? Don't have what?"
"… …"
Luo Xiu looked up at her and said nothing else.
His brown eyes looked like two clear ambers. Her reflection reflected clearly in the dim light of his eyes.
After looking at him for wo seconds, Gu Nian asked, stupefied, "You've never been in a relationship before?"
Luo Xiu looked away a little. A certain kind of emotion, suppressed, flashed past his eyes. He turned back over and smiled at her tenderly. "I'm sorry."
Gu Nian recollected herself and had on her a solemn look. "That's not something that you need to apologize for."
"But your earlier reaction seemed to suggest that that isn't normal."
"… I don't mean it that way. I apologize if my reaction made you feel that way." Gu Nian hesitated a little and said honestly in a low voice. "I just felt someone as tender and good looking at Mr. Luo Xiu must, for sure, have a girlfriend during your school years."
Luo Xiu paused a little.
Gu Nian, not noticing the change in his look, sighed with regret. "If you had never been in love before, then many of the romance scenes for someone your age would be challenging to you… My mistake. That had never occurred to me before."
Luo Xiu recollected himself after a little while and chuckled.
Gu Nian looked up, at loss. "What is it?"
"Nothing." Luo Xiu looked up. "I just feel that the way you think is very peculiar, and cute."
Gu Nian, "… …"
Gu Nian: Did her precious son just call her cute?
Knock.
Her image of being a great mother was on the verge of collapsing.