Chapter 112: Acting as a Substitute

He hurried over to the female student, holding the umbrella over her head without saying a word.

Her eyes were swollen from crying. Slowly, she looked up and, seeing him, a smile blossomed across her face. She stood and threw herself into his arms. “I knew it—you like me. You really like me.”

Mo Qi, overhearing the heroine’s line, was on the verge of slamming the table. Screenwriter, enough already. Could you please write some different lines?

The umbrella was knocked aside by the girl. The young professor hesitated briefly, then slowly raised his hand to embrace her, his voice full of concern: “Why are you so foolish?”

“I’m not foolish at all.” The girl wrapped her arms around the young professor’s neck, gradually pulling back slightly from his embrace, their eyes locking. “As long as I can be with you, I’m willing to do anything.”

The young professor gazed at her tenderly, reaching out to gently brush the damp bangs from her face and tuck them behind her ear.

The girl rose onto her tiptoes and leaned in slowly, ready to kiss him.

“Kiss! Kiss!” The director grew anxious.

But the girl froze, her cheeks flushing as she released Shen Yijue and bowed apologetically toward the director. “Director, I’m sorry!”

“The earlier parts were great. Let’s just do this again,” the director said. “Xiaoyu, your emotions are very full. Don’t worry about anything else. Close your eyes and just kiss him slowly.”

“All right, okay!” Xiaoyu nodded.

They resumed filming this segment.

The embraces went smoothly, but whenever it came time to kiss, the girl would freeze.

“Director, I’m sorry! I can’t do this!” Xiaoyu apologized profusely, bowing repeatedly. For some reason, whenever she was about to kiss Shen Tianwang, he radiated an unapproachable aura that made her afraid to come any closer. Was it just her imagination?

They shot this segment over twenty times, yet Xiaoyu still got stuck at the final moment.

Not only was she upset to tears, but even the crew members were growing impatient.

After all, staying up late tends to fray tempers.

“Director, I’m sorry, I can’t film this scene.” Xiaoyu cried desperately. This was her first time working on a film, having just graduated from film school. When nervous, all she could do was cry.

The director paced back and forth in front of the monitor, clutching the script. Suddenly, he noticed Mo Qi. She was about the same height as Xiaoyu and had a similar side profile.

If filmed in the rain with some post-production effects, no one would notice the difference.

“Mo Qi, your height and side profile are quite similar to Xiaoyu’s. Could you be her body double for this scene?” The director smiled ingratiatingly. “Of course, I’ll pay you. Could you help us out?”

“Director, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Mo Qi said hesitantly.

The director started pleading, “Our entire crew has been working late for almost half a month. Everyone’s exhausted. We thought we could finally wrap up early tonight, but now it’s past three in the morning. Please, just help us this once.”

Shen Yijue came over, wrapped in a towel and soaked through, though he showed no sign of discomfort.

“You can get a feel for acting in film ahead of time,” he said.

Everyone, including the director, crew, and even Xiaoyu, looked at Mo Qi expectantly and with sympathy.

Mo Qi sighed. “Fine. Director, I’ve never acted in a film before. I’ll give it a try, but if it doesn’t work, there’s nothing more I can do.”

“All right, all right.” The director immediately waved his hand and shouted with enthusiasm, “Makeup artists, crew, take Mo Qi for makeup and costume now!”

Mo Qi resignedly followed the makeup artists and crew to change and get made up, feeling utterly powerless to complain. She had come to the set to observe and learn acting, not to be dragged in as a body double. Moreover, her first film experience was with a double—how did that happen?

The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. But once filming started, she gathered all her composure.

The camera moved in from the side, showing Shen Yijue’s face fully but only a small portion of Mo Qi’s side profile.

The two locked eyes tenderly. As the female student, Mo Qi slowly leaned in. Shen Yijue cooperated by slightly lowering his head.

“Kiss! Kiss! They kissed!”

Mo Qi barely pulled back a little, but Shen Yijue reached out and cupped the back of her head.

Mo Qi grit her teeth, whispering, “Let go.”

Shen Yijue said, “Focus on the scene.”

What did he mean by focus? He was clearly using the scene as an excuse to kiss her. Who kisses with their tongue in a filmed kiss scene? Was he trying to fool her?

After a few seconds, the director finally waved his hand. “Cut! Excellent! Keep that state, just two more takes and we’re done!”

Xiaoyu sat by the monitor, blinking in disbelief. When Mo Qi came over to watch the playback, she sincerely praised her, “Mo Qi, you’re so brave. I was too nervous facing Shen Tianwang to finish the kiss.”

Of course, Mo Qi didn’t share that feeling but didn’t want to discourage the young girl. “Do you have any pets?”

“Yes, a Labrador.”

“You must kiss it when you play with it, right?” Xiaoyu nodded. Mo Qi continued, “Then when you act, just imagine Shen Tianwang is your Labrador. That should help you relax.”

After saying this, Mo Qi went to remove her makeup and change clothes.

Xiaoyu pouted in confusion. “Is that how it works?” But at the time, she was sure if she kissed him, Shen Tianwang would twist her neck off.

Shen Yijue followed behind Mo Qi and said, “Imagine me as a big dog?”

Mo Qi stopped, laughing awkwardly. “No, no, who said that? If you really want a metaphor, it would be a tiger or a leopard. You don’t understand. Ha ha, ha ha!”

“What do you want for a late-night snack?”

“Huh?” Shen Yijue suddenly changed the subject, and Mo Qi was a bit slow to catch on. “At this hour, there’s only the all-night food stalls, right?”

“Let’s go home to eat,” Shen Yijue said, and then he entered his private makeup room.

After they finished removing makeup and changing, the crew started packing up their equipment, preparing to wrap for the night.

Mo Qi, an outsider with no status, said nothing.

Shen Yijue stopped and said, “Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Tomorrow I’ll have Xiao Zhang bring lunch for everyone.”

Shen Tianwang’s lunches were always excellent, and everyone was delighted. “Not hard at all, thank you, Shen Tianwang!”

After greeting the director, Shen Yijue led Mo Qi toward the van. Xiao Zhang was already waiting inside.

“Brother Shen, do you want to grab a late-night snack or go straight back to the apartment?”

“We’re closer to the villa here. Let’s go there.”

“All right.”

Mo Qi wasn’t surprised that Shen Yijue had a private villa. What she hadn’t expected was the scale of the place.

This wasn’t just a villa—it looked more like a castle.