Chapter 25: Scene Practice

Nian Qiao really was the queen of flirting. If Ding Sishu had half of Nian Qiao’s skill, she’d never worry about finding a girlfriend again! She could follow the example — find her cousin to practice on someday. But she could already imagine her cousin’s reaction. Better not to use acquaintances. It wasn’t conducive to good performance.

After two days of training, Ding Sishu returned to the “October Beacon Fire” set with Nian Qiao.

After Nian Qiao did two takes, the director’s face indeed turned complicated. In front of Nian Qiao, he stayed polite. “Miss Nian, would you like to rest a little longer?”

“I’m just a bit off today.” Nian Qiao said.

“Not at all.” In daily life, that was when you had to rely on acting skills. On that front, Ding Sishu felt the director’s team acted better than Nian Qiao.

Nian Qiao sat to the side, watching the filming, then turned to Ding Sishu beside her. “Run lines with me?”

…Please no. I’m afraid I’ll break character and laugh.

“It’s fine. You can read off the script.” Nian Qiao said.

This was Ding Sishu’s first time rehearsing lines with Nian Qiao. While Nian Qiao recited her lines, Ding Sishu wanted to ask the male lead, Jin Yang: how did he manage not to laugh? Seasoned experience? After all, the entertainment industry was full of all kinds of celebrities, good and bad. Nian Qiao’s line delivery was better than her acting. As netizens said, Nian Qiao had a nice voice, just a bit bland. Ding Sishu finally understood what “bland” meant today — it meant her voice had no ups or downs. And where it did rise and fall, it felt awkward.

Nian Qiao took out a voice recorder and recorded their voices. When it played back, Ding Sishu found her own voice equally strange. Compared to hers, Nian Qiao’s voice sounded totally normal. No wonder fans said “you do it, then.”

“It’s a little weird.” Ding Sishu felt embarrassed. She’d been judging Nian Qiao when her own was several tiers below.

“Your voice isn’t opened up.” Nian Qiao said, touching Ding Sishu’s throat. “Try using your breath.”

Nian Qiao’s hand was cold. She had a naturally cool constitution — Ding Sishu had sensed that before.

“Miss Nian, you graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, right?” Ding Sishu said. “I heard you used to warm up your voice in the mornings.”

“That was back then. I don’t know what they do now.” Nian Qiao said. “I graduated a long time ago.”

“Was it fun studying at the Beijing Film Academy?” All those handsome men and beautiful women.

“Would you like to go to school?”

Ding Sishu’s cheeks flushed. “I’ve never been to university.”

“Further study would be good.” Nian Qiao said. “But it depends on the individual. If you have the inclination, that’s great. If not, don’t force yourself.”

Ding Sishu nodded. She was afraid Nian Qiao would laugh if she said it, but although she’d gotten a fake certificate, she really only had a high school diploma. When she came back home, her parents had mentioned self-study undergraduate programs. Adult education exams, the non-full-time kind.

After running lines, Nian Qiao went back to filming. Ding Sishu couldn’t say whether her performance was good or not. Nian Qiao’s acting was… average. It was watchable, really. Maybe netizens just had too high expectations of her? “Contending for the Phoenix” had been so famous back then. Everyone had expectations of that idol. Hong Kong and Taiwan had no successors, and on the mainland, the so-called actors among the popular stars — few of them actually made serious films. They did variety shows, commercials, business. Nian Qiao was already an exception. Though her acting was poor, she kept working. Was that a compliment? Ding Sishu thought about it and decided not to defend Nian Qiao. She just liked some of the pure-appeal fans’ posts. Nian Qiao’s looks really were top-tier. Having spent this long with Nian Qiao, Ding Sishu had seen many female celebrities. Standing among the brightly-plumed stars, Nian Qiao still stood out. It was true too — in the industry for so many years, not loving to hype herself, and with weak acting… if it weren’t for that face, Nian Qiao probably would have been washed away long ago.

“Inside scoop! Qiaoqiao is taking ‘Bayonet Squad’!” After lunch, Ding Sishu played with her phone for a moment. Before she could scroll long, the fan’s message came in.

“Ahhh I’m dying! Nian Qiao, doing a variety show?! I’m so there, so there!” The fan said.

“Why aren’t you more excited?” The fan said.

“I’m totally excited! Is the source reliable?”

“My college roommate’s friend works at the Satellite TV station. I heard Qiaoqiao’s studio signed on for some national defense education special program.” The fan replied. “That ‘some national defense education special program’ is obviously ‘Bayonet Squad’! And recently, season two of ‘Bayonet Squad’ was auctioning off ad slots.”

“Didn’t you say Qiaoqiao emerged unstained from the mud?” Ding Sishu replied.

Before, when some starlet had fought for attention on a variety show, the fan had sniffed dismissively. “That’s why my Qiaoqiao never goes on variety shows.”

At the time, other fans had started a fight over it. “[Puke] Nian fans can REALLY feel superior now? Your idol would love to go — she’s just weighed down by her image, scared of ruining her persona!”

Plenty of passersby also thought Nian Qiao lacked variety show spirit.

“[Shy] I’d gladly sink into the mud with Qiaoqiao.” The fan replied.

This was a longtime fan of Nian Qiao, having followed her for years. She called herself a brainless fan. Whatever Nian Qiao did, she’d support it.

“Face-fans rule the world[tears] waited so many years, and Qiaoqiao finally gives us a treat!”

The fan and Ding Sishu exchanged a few more excited messages. Ding Sishu thought — if Nian Qiao suddenly backed out of “Bayonet Squad,” the fan would probably cry herself sick in the bathroom. The fan was so thrilled about Nian Qiao doing a variety show that she didn’t dig into the Nian Qiao Studio matter. After all, Nian Qiao’s affairs were nominally still handled by Huateng. You could guess though — even if Nian Qiao left the company, the fans would say: “Good riddance. Signed for so many years, I’ve been sick of Huateng.”

Celebrities’ fans basically had no principles.

Coming out of the break room, Nian Qiao was still touching up her makeup in the dressing room. The filming schedule had been brutal these days — Nian Qiao got up at three or four in the morning and worked until eight or nine at night, sometimes filming right through to the next day. Back at the hotel, Nian Qiao didn’t sleep right away either. As a female celebrity, she had to remove her makeup and do her skincare routine first. Ding Sishu, who wore no makeup, would hit the pillow and pass out. When she woke up, she’d wash her face and shower at the same time. Very efficient.

The result of her efficiency was that when she got back to her rental, her cousin grabbed her by the face. “Who are you? Where did you hide my Shushu?”

“Sis…”

“You even imitate Shushu’s voice?”

“Stop messing with me.”

“You’re messing with me.” The cousin said. “Ding Sishu, are you even a woman? Look in the mirror. Look how dark you’ve gotten.”

“I was never fair-skinned.” After checking the mirror, Ding Sishu scratched her ear. Indeed, she had gotten a bit darker.

“With that smile, your teeth are going to double as a flashlight.”

“Really?” Ding Sishu flashed her little white teeth.

This indirectly led to a flood of bullet comments when Ding Sishu appeared on the show. “Who’s that dark thing behind Nian Qiao?”

But that was a post-broadcast matter. During recording, Ding Sishu followed Nian Qiao onto “Bayonet Squad.” The news that Nian Qiao was recording a variety show exploded onto the hot search. The comments were remarkably uniform.

“???”

“!!!”

One comment finally stood out:

“My granddaughter said, Grandma, that actress you like is going on a variety show.”

There had been no warning. Nian Qiao’s variety show appearance was a bolt from the blue. Hordes of netizens swarmed the Satellite TV station’s official Weibo. “Little wretch, you kept that too quiet.”

“[Tears] Is it real? Don’t let us get excited for nothing!”

“Publicity stunt?”

The station kept it vague, merely reposting the gossip. “Ah.”

“Probably a stunt. Everyone go home.”

“Front-row seats for popcorn… nah, I’ll leave too.”

“Waiting for updates!”

An hour later, with the Nian Qiao Studio’s approval, the official account stopped being coy and posted a very formal announcement. “Bayonet Squad” also had an official account — both accounts posted the news of Nian Qiao recording the show simultaneously. “#BayonetSquad# A famed young talent, she is the nation’s Yu Jianhuan. Radiant and dazzling, she is the prize-winning Zhan Tong. Years in the industry, she is the undisputed goddess Nian Qiao. Thirteen years of performing, Big Qiao has continuously challenged herself, bringing one vivid character after another to life. She once said the hardest role to play is herself. Returning to her true self, casting off all halos and glory, let us together await the Big Qiao beyond the screen#NianQiaoBayonetSquad##NianQiaoVarietyDebut#@Nian Qiao.”

“WTF???” The top hot comment came from a male internet celebrity who adored Nian Qiao and styled himself “Nian Qiao’s First Wife.”

The internet celebrity’s nickname was Liangliang, a fairly well-known joke writer. Beneath his comment trailed plenty of teasing. “Liangliang’s caught wind of Nian Qiao again.”

Liangliang loved Nian Qiao. Not only did he comment on her posts, he commented on everything related to her — basically instant comments every time. Netizens said Liangliang could smell her from miles away.

Countless mocking replies followed. “[Doge] Don’t bully Liangliang. Liangliang is a military wife now.”

“[Tears] Ahhh, Satellite TV Daddy! I’ll never say your original dramas are bad again!” Countless netizens replied.

“[Picking nose] The copy’s not up to standard. ‘The hardest role to play is oneself’ was clearly Old Xiao’s quote.”

“She is the free-spirited Yu Jianhuan, the devoted Zhan Tong, and even more so, the real Nian Qiao. Looking forward to seeing Big Qiao beyond the screen#NianQiaoBayonetSquad##NianQiaoVarietyDebut#.”

Soon, Nian Qiao reposted it. “[Fist][Fist][Fist]”

“I hate you the most! Every time you say nothing and then give us a huge surprise like this! Hmph!”

“[Poor] Baby, have you recovered? Maybe you should rest a while?”

“The goddess’s first variety show — I can’t wait[HaHa]”

Within half an hour of the repost, Nian Qiao’s Weibo comments exceeded ten thousand. The topic of Nian Qiao doing a variety show rocketed to the top of the hot search.