19 Peach Blossom Tears

Suffice it to say that after all the horrors that had happened to her pre-rebirth, Su Qiao had become a pessimist through and through. This was why, instead of her nerves settling down after filming started without a hitch, she found them becoming increasingly frazzled instead.

Bai Meixin was as troublesome as she'd anticipated in terms of working with a complete beginner on the set but she hadn't tried to implicate Su Qiao for anything or oh-so-accidentally paint Su Qiao in a bad light. But Su Qiao was on edge the entire time because she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Luckily, all the scenes the director had chosen to film today involved high tension and nervous energy. Su Qiao was full of both without even having to make a decent attempt and in the eyes of the directors, it was like she was outdoing her usual standards of acting. Even Peng Lili was convinced that this was Su Qiao's successful retaliation and that this artist she had assisted for these last couple of years was finally going to spread her phoenix wings and sore to new, unreachable heights.

Not everyone bought it though. During the critical scene of the day, the one the argument one that the director wanted to film on this first day because he wanted to help Su Qiao and Bai Meixin find the contentious vibe between them, Mo Chen was standing behind Bai Meixin. Su Qiao, who was facing Bai Meixin had on, caught his eye by coincidence and saw him raise one sharp eyebrow at her. This was still in keeping with his characterisation and the director didn't call a cut but it successfully distracted Su Qiao and nearly made her forget her lines. She only managed to cover it up and compose herself because it was Bai Meixin who messed up first.

"Cut! Bai Meixin, I've told you a million times to be aware of where the cameras are."

They were already on their seventh take. Su Qiao wasn't perfect either and had made all sorts of rookie mistakes when starting out so she wasn't particularly impatient with Bai Meixin for this. But something didn't sit right with her. Bai Meixin was supposed to be the little daughter of the heavens, shouldn't she be naturally blessed at acting? Otherwise, how did her first drama last round become so outstanding that it won over all the viewers?

There had to at least be some logic to this, right?

[Oh, but wait,] Su Qiao reasoned with herself. This could also be one of those levelling-up novels where Bai Meixin would have to start with some flaws before growing stronger with hard work and her gifted talents. This was sounding more and more likely because Su Qiao hadn't forgotten the part she had to play in Bai Meixin's journey, which was to be Bai Meixin's foil and emphasise all her good qualities for her.

Su Qiao tried to predict Bai Meixin's next move. If Su Qiao looked at her objectively as the protagonist of a face-slapping novel, then Su Qiao's earlier action of lecturing Bai Meixin instead of helping her should garner some retribution. But Su Qiao hadn't done anything wrong per se and Bai Meixin had made a mistake, so the only way to turn the tables on Su Qiao was to pin the mistake on her?

Bai Meixin's eyes turned red at the corners, like the little petals of cherry blossoms. It was a very moving, piteous picture, the kind of weeping that made the crier look beautiful and gentle. It really fitted the saying 'to cry like pear blossoms that were damp with rain'. Even Director Ma's heart, which was famous for being hard as rocks when it came to his work, melted at the sight.

"All right, all right," he said, flustered that he had made a little girl upset, never mind that he regularly drove other new aspiring actresses to tears with just one strict glare. "You're very new, I understand. Just try and pay more attention to what you're doing and learn as much as you can as we go along."

Bai Meixin gave him an honest nod and a watery smile. "Thank you for understanding, Director," she said earnestly before lowering her gaze. "I—I wanted to know, would it be all right if I asked you questions about my acting? I know that Director Ma is very busy but…"

Her fingers twisted in the fabric of her floral skirt. It was a summery linen print that had a high wrinkle factor and if it were anybody else, Wardrobe would be up in arms and ready to unleash a furious tirade upon them. But Su Qiao was willing to wager that Bai Meixin would get away scot-free by virtue of being herself.

Director Ma frowned little. "Acting? I can help but you have so many seniors here to learn from too."

Su Qiao's eyes narrowed. Was this it? She looked pointedly at Bai Meixin, as though egging her on, but Bai Meixin didn't return her gaze, just clutched even more tightly at her skirt as though Su Qiao was scaring her.

Ah, yes. The self-victimisation game. Anyone could play it but Bai Meixin was a natural expert.

"I know that my questions are troublesome for the seniors…" Bai Meixin started hesitantly. "Like for this scene, I tried asking Senior Su Qiao after but she was right to get angry, I should have spoken up earlier during the blocking and I have learnt my lesson."

She bit her plush lower lip to hold back more tears. Real tears, Su Qiao knew, because as the protagonist Bai Meixin was self-righteously feeling like she was being bullied and still had to contain all her emotions to be the bigger person. All these 'grievances' that she was suffering at Su Qiao's hands were just going to make her more pitiable in the eyes of whoever was reading this novel in a different dimension and it would be all the more satisfying when Su Qiao fucked up later and ruined herself.

Director Ma's expression turned troubled. "This…" he mumbled, brows furrowing. The look he shot Su Qiao wasn't filled with dislike but Su Qiao could tell that he was displeased that she hadn't been a supportive colleague. He didn't call her out on it directly but what he said next made it obvious that his bias had slanted in a particular direction and it wasn't towards Su Qiao.

He sighed. "I emphasised that day during the welcome dinner that I believe in harmony on my set. Crew members should support each other in their tasks and seniors should assist juniors where necessary. Next time you need help, Bai Meixin, be brave and ask for it. And if no one wants to help you, speak with me and I will talk to them personally."

Su Qiao's lips pressed into a flat line. Just a couple of days ago, Director Ma's attitude towards her had been promising. Some of it might have to do with Yu Yaxiu but she knew that he'd been more than satisfied with her acting too. As a director that cared so much about the standard of his work, she'd been counting on that to leave a good impression on him so that she could use him as a stepping stone to having her name known within the industry.

And now, in just a couple of sentences, Bai Meixin had managed to undo at least half of Su Qiao's hard work.

Bai Meixin nodded again, more eagerly this time. Her entire face shone with a radiant earnestness that was difficult to look away from.

"Thank you, Director," she said sincerely. "I'll do my best and work hard." She bowed her head at him and also towards the film crew and then at Su Qiao and Mo Chen. "Everyone, I apologise for the inconvenience, especially Big Sister Su and Mo Laoshi, I am so sorry for the delay—"

"If you're sorry for the delay, why are you still wasting time?"

A pin-drop silence ensued as everyone turned to stare, gobsmacked, at Mo Chen. Even Su Qiao couldn't hide her shock but Mo Chen seemed unfazed by all the attention. His bored stare went past Bai Meixin's small pale face, disinterested in the antics that she had displayed.

"Mo Chen," Director Ma said but his tone was now a lot more tentative. This was the 'holy statue' he had invited into his temple and he had to treat it with respect no matter what. He'd never had the opportunity to work with this young legend before and had been worried that Mo Chen would be difficult to handle but he hadn't anticipated just how much. Still, to be able to direct a drama with a film emperor as his male lead was a one in a million chance that he wasn't going to give up on. "That's a bit harsh…Bai Meixin is still a newcomer, haha, I'll explain the camera directions to her once more and we'll strive to finish this in the next take."

He misunderstood Mo Chen's scolding to be the result of a lack of patience. But Su Qiao had a feeling it was more than that. She watched him intently as he turned his unflappable gaze on the director.

"Director Ma," he said calmly. "When I signed the contract, it was under the reassurances that the cast and crew were going to be very professional. I don't have any issues working with new actors but after seven takes full of different mistakes, each one more basic than the last, I can't help but wonder if the auditions process was fair. On top of that, instead of accepting the blame for not speaking up during blocking, all I see is a pity party and some subtle finger-pointing."

He held a hand up to stall Director Ma's protest and walked closer to Bai Meixin. The aura he radiated was imposing and she took a small step back, her cheeks colouring by default like a defence mechanism that was meant to make her look more harmless in the eyes of men. But to Mo Chen's credit, he didn't so much as waver in the face of her undeniable beauty.

"Ms Bai," he said perfunctorily. "May I ask you a question? I actually would like to know how you managed to pay such complete and utter attention to that one camera in the first sixth takes and then conveniently forget about its existence for the seventh. I've seen new actors struggle to remember from take to take but you've shown a remarkable aptitude for camerawork with spot-on positioning. I'm not convinced you really forgot."