CHAPTER 377: SURPRISED CHALLENGE

Wen Nuan just couldn’t find her acting groove.

This was different from her usual performance.

Normally, Lin Ning would have stopped the take on the very first line and started cursing, instead of waiting for a laugh from Little White Mo.

When Wen Nuan turned her head, she saw that Lin Ning wasn’t even looking at the monitor. He was looking down at the script. The assistant director was giving instructions. When Lin Ning saw Little White Mo laughing, he looked up. "Continue. Take it again."

Little White Mo leaned closer to Wen Nuan. "Little sister-in-law, are you really okay with me kissing you?"

"I’m very professional," Wen Nuan said with a slight smile. Little White Mo raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I am too."

They did five takes, and all of them ended with one of them laughing at the end. On the fifth take, Wen Nuan asked, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Lin Ning finally looked up from his script. He threw the script to the side and walked over to the acting area. A makeup artist was touching up their makeup. Lin Ning asked Little White Mo, "Have you laughed enough?"

Little White Mo glanced at Wen Nuan. "Almost."

Wen Nuan didn’t know what kind of game they were playing. She only knew that under all this pressure, her performance was getting worse and worse. The people watching, like Li Yuanyuan, frowned.

Yang Yang said, "Is *Beauty’s Allure* a film with body doubles? How can this kind of acting be acceptable?"

Chen Xiuli said, "Gu Xiaobei praised her so much, but I didn’t expect her to be so useless. She’s not a professional at all, like she’s never been on a big stage before. Her presence is completely overshadowed by Ye Yan. She’s not showing any of Liang Hongyu’s characteristics."

Pei Qing also frowned. Wen Nuan’s performance today was a little out of line.

Peng Shuyao said with a smile, "Don’t say that about Wen Nuan. I bet when you first worked with a top male star, you were worse than her. Especially with Ye Yan, you guys would also feel nervous."

"Hmph, I wouldn’t," Li Yuanyuan said.

Chen Xueru just looked at the women without saying anything and focused on the acting area.

Chen Xiuli said, "Director Lin is in a good mood today. It looks like superstars are treated differently. Director Lin isn’t even scolding anyone after five takes. When did he become so patient?"

---

Lin Ning was directing Wen Nuan, while Little White Mo watched from the side. After he was done, Lin Ning asked, "Are you feeling pressure?"

Wen Nuan nodded honestly. Lin Ning clapped his hands. "Feeling pressure is a good thing. I know this is your first time working together, so you must feel a little uncomfortable. The last few takes were just practice. The next one is the real one. Wen Nuan, beat him. Don’t embarrass Anning. Don’t let a stinky man steal the spotlight in a movie that’s supposed to make you a star."

Little White Mo and Wen Nuan were speechless.

The clapperboard clapped, and the scene started all over again. Wen Nuan said her second line when Lin Ning stopped her. "Wen Nuan, what’s wrong with you today?"

His voice was very loud. Wen Nuan jumped in surprise. Lin Ning was a completely different person when he was on set. He was a quirky and bad-tempered director who demanded perfection.

She had been scolded by him many times while filming *Beauty’s Allure*.

Little White Mo raised an eyebrow. Lin Ning walked over, his eyes blazing. He lowered his voice. "Wen Nuan, let me tell you, no one in my film gets special treatment. Whether you’ve made it with your own abilities or if you were propped up by someone, show everyone. Don’t let people think you’re nothing without Ye Feimo."

Wen Nuan’s face changed. After Lin Ning said that, he didn’t care about Wen Nuan’s feelings. He clapped his hands. "Second group, Chen Xueru and Pei Qing’s scene. Wen Nuan, take a break for half an hour."

Lin Ning said those words in a very low voice, and only Wen Nuan and Little White Mo heard him. Lin Ning showed no mercy. His words were mean and sharp, as if he wanted to hurt someone, but Wen Nuan couldn’t argue.

Wen Nuan knew that she was not performing well today. She gritted her teeth, grabbed an ice-cold bottle of water, and went back to her car to rest. Cai Xiaojing wanted to go with her, but Little White Mo stopped her. "Sister Xiaojing, let’s play some cards."

"Wait. What did Lin Ning say to Wen Nuan? I’ve never seen Wen Nuan with such a bad expression on her face." Cai Xiaojing said with worry. It looked like she had been hit by a huge blow. Little White Mo said with a smile, "You don’t know Lin Ning. He turns into a tyrant when he’s on set. He even dares to scold me, let alone Wen Nuan."

Lin Ning pulled Cai Xiaojing to play cards, and he wasn’t interested in watching Chen Xueru and Pei Qing’s scene. Cai Xiaojing asked, "Why didn’t Lin Ning even watch you guys perform? And then he suddenly got so angry."

Little White Mo smiled and winked. "Kiss me, and I’ll tell you."

"My tofu is old now. I’ll have a daughter, and she can kiss you. Hurry up and tell me."

Little White Mo was a little embarrassed. "That works too. It’s simple. This is Wen Nuan’s first time working with me, so she’s bound to feel a little uncomfortable. We’re very close, but you know how possessive my cousin is. My cousin will definitely not be happy about Wen Nuan filming, especially a kissing scene, and with me. It’s hard for Wen Nuan to switch roles. The first scene today is a kissing scene, and no one mentioned it beforehand, so Wen Nuan’s performance is going to be below average. Why would Lin Ning need to watch the monitor? If it wasn’t good enough, I would have just laughed. Would I have to kiss my little sister-in-law seven or eight times to get it right?"

"Then what did Lin Ning say to Wen Nuan?"

"Nothing much. Just scolding her for being unprofessional. He asked her if she wanted to go back to school and learn how to act again, or if she could pay him to teach her. He called her a bad actress..."

"Bah! How could Lin Ning not know Wen Nuan’s acting level? He wouldn’t scold Wen Nuan like that."

"Wow, Sister Xiaojing, I’m your idol. And you just spat at me..." Little White Mo’s eyes widened.

Cai Xiaojing gave a lovesick smile. "My mistake, my mistake..."

---

Wen Nuan sat alone in the car, chugging the ice-cold bottled water. Lin Ning was right on the money. She and Ye Feimo had never talked about her feelings, but Lin Ning saw her weakness right away and stepped on it.

She knew her performance was terrible today, but who starts off with a kissing scene? Luckily it wasn’t a bed scene, or she might have been completely finished today. She probably wouldn’t have even been able to get through a single scene.

When she filmed the bed scene with the body double, the set was cleared, and she had on protection. She didn’t think too much about it back then. She just wanted to have a chance to do well. But now...

The kissing scenes in *Princess Qinglian* were all done with camera tricks, except for one scene where their lips actually touched. Their lips only touched for a second, and she felt a little uncomfortable, but it wasn’t really a kiss. In all seriousness, this was her first real kissing scene, and she was a professional actress, but she hadn’t even gotten through it yet.

*Feimo must be unhappy.*

Wen Nuan looked at the artificial peach blossom forest outside. Was her decision right or wrong all this time? Could she really kiss someone else without caring about Ye Feimo’s feelings? Wen Nuan was so annoyed.

"What did Director Lin scold you for? The queen of smiles is crying with a long face."