Chapter 43

Nian Nian’s acting career faced a big challenge.

She couldn’t act in a crying scene.

In the scene, Nian Nian, playing a little beggar, pawned a jade pendant to buy medicine. When she returned home, she found her mother, who was gravely ill, taking her last breath.

This was a tearful scene where a mother and daughter were about to be separated forever. The young actors had to pour their emotions into the scene to perform it well.

But no matter how many times she tried, Nian Nian just couldn’t cry.

After filming a few scenes, Nian Nian began to feel that acting seemed fake.

For example, the blood wasn’t real but tomato juice, and the sword wasn’t a real sword, just a toy that could retract… 

Nian Nian thought the grown-ups filming the show looked a bit silly. How could anyone believe something so fake?

Even the auntie playing the beggar’s mother made funny faces to make Nian Nian laugh one second, then pretended to be weak the next. When Nian Nian had to film the crying scene, she kept thinking about the auntie’s funny faces and wanted to laugh instead of cry.

The director paused the filming to explain the scene carefully: “Nian Nian, imagine the person lying on the bed is your mother, the one who gave birth to you and raised you. You have no other family, just your mother. You love her very much, but now she’s about to leave you forever because of illness. You’ll never see her again. You’ll be alone in this world, with no one to love or care for you…”

Nian Nian listened closely. Suddenly, she started feeling really sad. Was she going to lose her mom? Was her mom going to leave her soon?

Tears welled up in her eyes; she didn’t want her mother to leave her.

Seeing the child immersed in the role, the director quickly signaled the crew to start filming from the crying scene.

Nian Nian sat by the bed. The “mother” on the bed weakly held her hand and whispered with her last breath: “Good child, you must live well.”

Then, the “mother” weakly let go of Nian Nian’s hand, her eyes closing slowly as a tear slipped down her face into her hair. Her body grew cold, as if she had gone to another world.

The tears that had gathered in Nian Nian’s eyes finally rolled down her cheeks. She started crying softly, then began sobbing. The scene could have ended there.

But just as the director was about to call “cut,” Nian Nian did something unexpected. She climbed onto the bed, snuggled up to her “dead” mother under the blanket, and while crying, patted her “sleeping” mother with her dirty little hands as if trying to comfort her.

Nian Nian performed so well that many of the crew members were moved to tears. It was as if a real child had been heartbroken by her mother’s death.

Finally, the director called “Cut,” and Shen Mingyou, who had just returned from the martial arts team, rushed over to pull Nian Nian out from under the blanket.

But Nian Nian was still crying, as if she couldn’t escape the sadness of the role. The director, seeing that the child was emotionally overwhelmed, hurried to comfort her: “Nian Nian, the auntie who played your mother is fine. Everything’s okay. Don’t cry.”

The extra who played the mother also crawled out from under the blanket and tried to cheer her up: “Nian Nian, look! I’m not dead. I’m alive and well.”

But Nian Nian, buried in sadness, couldn’t hear them. She continued crying, burying her head into her “mother’s” neck.

Shen Mingyou had no choice but to pick her up and comfort her.

“Nian Nian, it’s okay. That was just acting. It wasn’t real,” Shen Mingyou gently patted her back and coaxed her softly.

But Nian Nian kept crying so sorrowfully.

Jiang Chen, who had never acted, didn’t quite understand why someone couldn’t just act, but seeing his daughter cry made his heart ache. Seeing her drenched in sweat from crying, he grabbed a small fan to cool her down.

It took a while for Nian Nian to stop crying. She looked up at her mother pitifully and asked, “Will Mom die too?”

Nian Nian had never really thought about death before. But after acting, she realized that people could die and never wake up again.

She didn’t want her mom to die.

“Nian Nian, everyone is born and eventually dies. It’s a natural part of life.” Shen Mingyou gently wiped her tears, looking into her daughter’s eyes. “But before that happens, Mom will have plenty of time to be with you, watch you grow. Instead of worrying about death, we should focus on living every day happily, right?”

Shen Mingyou never talked down to her daughter, even though Nian Nian was still a child. Kids might not understand everything adults say, but they remember.

Nian Nian didn’t fully understand her mother’s words, but she knew her mom would still be with her for a long time.

After crying, Nian Nian perked up and started running around the set again, ready to finish her next scene.

By afternoon, young actress Nian Nian had finished filming. The director gave her a beautiful bouquet of flowers as a gift. Nian Nian was overjoyed, holding the flowers.

But when the makeup artist tried to clean the dust from her face and hands and change her out of her dirty costume, Nian Nian suddenly didn’t want to. She even refused to wash off the black dirt on her hands.

She consulted with the makeup artist, “Auntie, can Nian Nian wear it a little longer?”

Seeing that Nian Nian liked her makeup so much, the makeup artist felt it was a recognition of her skills and happily agreed, promising to let her continue playing on set in the tattered little dress and dirty makeup.

Jiang Chen had work in the afternoon and left the set early. Shen Mingyou was filming a scene, and when she got busy, she left Nian Nian with her assistant, Xiao Xi.

Nian Nian followed Sister Xiao Xi around the set to watch everyone at work.

While Nian Nian was walking around, a group of people arrived on set.

Leading them was a woman in a white shirt and white suit pants. She looked smart and confident, walking powerfully in high heels.

Two staff members moving equipment nearby saw the group and immediately turned to avoid them.

But a little kid next to her, trying to avoid the equipment, tripped over her own feet and fell forward in an awkward position.

Sensing danger, Nian Nian instinctively grabbed the white suit pants in front of her to avoid getting hurt.

Nian Nian looked up at the owner of the white suit pants.

She was a very good-looking auntie, wearing a white business suit. A large group followed her. She looked cool and important, like a big boss, just like her father.

Thanks to holding onto the suit pants, Nian Nian wasn’t hurt, but she left two dirty black handprints on the white pants.

Nian Nian: “…”

The Lin Group is the biggest investor in this drama. When smaller investors mentioned visiting the set, Lin Jing decided to join them.

The Lin Group, with its strong foundation, couldn’t be compared to small companies. As soon as Lin Jing and her team arrived, the producer greeted them.

Then, they ran into little Nian Nian wandering around the set.

Seeing the situation, the producer quickly stepped forward to handle it.

But Lin Jing raised her hand to stop him, so he remained silent.

Nian Nian quickly stood up, looked up at the pretty auntie, and said, “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Nian Nian was upset. Such a nice white outfit now had her handprints on it. If she had known, she wouldn’t have hesitated to wipe the dust off her hands. “Auntie, I’ll ask my mom to buy you new clothes, okay?”

Lin Jing: “Is your mother rich?”

Nian Nian nodded. Her mother bought her lots of clothes, so she must be very rich.

“I don’t need your mom’s money.”

“Then what does Auntie want?” Nian Nian asked, not sure what else she could offer besides money.