Chapter 52: Yan Li: I Especially Loved Your Performance as Jin Suo

In front of the hotel elevator.

Liang Guanhua was a kind and generous man. Having had a pleasant chat with Yan Li and learning that he was a newcomer, he took the initiative to act as a bridge to help him integrate into the crew as quickly as possible.

"This is Yan Li, also part of our crew, playing the role of Song Dian."

With that, he tossed a compliment to the two actresses: "I suppose these two need no introduction from me."

Of course, Yan Li didn't need Liang Guanhua to introduce them; he indeed recognized both of them.

Zhang Ting: The dramas *Two Champions of Kung Fu* and *Travellers Across Time* had made her hugely popular in the mainland, and she was currently considered one of the hottest young starlets in the industry.

Fan Xiaopang: One of the "Three Beauties of My Fair Princess." Although she was at the bottom of the trio in terms of status, she had still accumulated considerable recognition. Combined with her decent career development in recent years, her prospects were quite promising.

"Hello, teachers."

Yan Li greeted them politely. Generally, when meeting people for the first time and feeling unfamiliar, he would uniformly address them as "teacher."

There was no help for it, especially when dealing with young female artistes like these. Calling them beauties or pet names seemed too frivolous; calling them older or younger sisters made it awkward to gauge their age, and one never knew if they were comfortable with such relational titles; calling them by their name alone made it difficult to strike the right balance between intimacy and distance.

With someone like Liang Guanhua, who had age and seniority on his side, he could afford to put on the airs of a senior. Yan Li, as a young newcomer, could only play the humble junior.

Perhaps upon seeing a handsome man, Zhang Ting was much more lively than she had been with Liang Guanhua, saying with a cheerful smile:

"Don't call us teachers; you're making us sound old."

Fan Xiaopang was more formal, taking the initiative to offer a handshake and uttering polite remarks similar to looking forward to a pleasant cooperation.

This was probably also related to the fact that Yan Li's character, Song Dian, shared quite a few opposing scenes with hers.

Yan Li also proactively extended goodwill: "I am also deeply honored. When I was watching *My Fair Princess* back then, I especially loved your performance as Jinsuo."

"Is that so?"

The smile on Fan Xiaopang's pretty face faded by an imperceptible margin.

Since it was merely an accidental encounter to exchange a few words and greetings, the two young women soon left. Before stepping into the elevator, Yan Li couldn't help but look back at their retreating figures as they chatted and laughed.

Come to think of it, Yan Li felt he had quite a predestined affinity with *My Fair Princess*.

He had only acted in three productions so far: he had run into Qin Lan in Hengdian, had already met the new versions of Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei, and Xiao Jian, and now he had run into the classic version of Jinsuo.

However, Fan Xiaopang in the flesh looked somewhat different from the Jinsuo in Yan Li's impression.

In his memory, Jinsuo was a subordinate maid, a little girl who spent her days crying.

The current Fan Xiaopang had perhaps blossomed and was considerably prettier than during her *My Fair Princess* days.

Her skin was fair, tender, and hydrated, her facial features delicate and three-dimensional, and her palm-sized melon-shaped face possessed a purity tinged with a bright allure, giving Yan Li a slight flash of amazement.

As for Zhang Ting—forget it, she wasn't Yan Li's preferred type.

Noticing Yan Li's gaze, Liang Guanhua assumed it was just a young man losing his head over a pretty girl at first sight, and he teased with a smile:

"Hey, snap out of it. Those two are not easy to pursue."

Hearing this, Yan Li let out a speechless chuckle. He had no ulterior motives; he was simply surprised by Fan Xiaopang's transformation and appreciative out of a pure love for beauty.

He hadn't even won over Qin Lan back in Beijing yet; where would he find the bandwidth to flirt with other girls?

However, seeing Liang Guanhua misunderstand, Yan Li didn't explain, offering only a foolish, honest smile.

"Even if I wanted to pursue them, I wouldn't dare. I'd much rather chat with a teacher like you. Women are just too much trouble."

"You shouldn't think like that."

Liang Guanhua patted Yan Li on the shoulder: "You're a strapping young man, and quite handsome to boot. How can you be afraid of girls? Later on, I'll teach you a few tricks, guaranteed to help you land a girlfriend."

Yan Li politely declined: "I think being single is pretty great."

"You're still young and don't understand. Once you have a woman, you'll know. Come, come, let me tell you—don't look at me like this now, back in my day..."

Liang Guanhua also felt a kindred spirit in Yan Li. Coupled with the latter calling him "teacher" at every turn, it had hooked his addiction to playing the mentor, and he began recounting his youth to teach Yan Li how to pick up women.

Yan Li felt quite helpless. He had originally wanted to consult Liang Guanhua about acting; how did it devolve into this?

This was something he didn't need to learn!

...

In the afternoon, Yan Li tried on his costume and makeup.

The character of Song Dian that he portrayed was the Superintendent of Suzhou during the Yuan Dynasty, so most of his attire consisted of official robes and armor.

At the same time, in order to reflect the Mongolian elements of the Yuan Dynasty, they incongruously slapped a sable-fur hat on him.

Yan Li accepted it quite well, mostly because he had seen the promotional stills for the male lead Shen Wansan in the makeup room.

Apart from having the back hair extended, Dicky Cheung's hairstyle featured front bangs identical to modern hair, which directly made Yan Li understand the costume and makeup standards of *The Pot of Gold*.

It was already a mercy they didn't slap a Qing Dynasty official's queue on him; what more could he ask for?

Although the costumes and makeup were mediocre, Yan Li's face and physique carried them well. Several of the outfits looked quite striking, especially the armor set, which made him look tall, straight, and dashing. For a time, the makeup artist was actually a bit worried, fearing he would steal the spotlight from the male lead.

Dicky Cheung was considered quite handsome in his youth, but now he walked the path of strength and humor; it would truly be a stretch for him to hold his own against Yan Li.

In the end, Cheng Lidong, who had hurried over upon hearing the news, made the executive decision: "Such a handsome Song Dian losing a woman to Shen Wansan—doesn't that all the more prove the male lead's charm?"

Yan Li gave a thumbs-up: "It has to be President... Cheng."

In the evening, Cheng Lidong carved out some time to host a small welcome dinner for Yan Li. By the time he returned from the meal, it was already close to eleven o'clock.

After all, being new to the crew, Yan Li still cared quite a bit about intelligence gathering. He simply took out his script to review it and waited for today's intelligence update.

In *The Pot of Gold*, the character Yan Li played was named Song Dian, an overall rather tragic villain.

Song Dian achieved success at a young age, held a high and powerful position, and was blessed with good looks. However, Zhao Xue'e, the woman he loved, insisted on marrying Shen Wansan, who was merely a poor kid at the time, and the two consequently harbored a grudge.

Later on, Song Dian hooked up with the villain Su Bancheng (played by Liang Guanhua), opposed Shen Wansan in various ways, and even married Su Bancheng's sister, Su Liniang.

That's right, this Su Liniang also had a crush on Shen Wansan, and later turned mad out of love warped into hatred.

This was also the aspect of the character that Yan Li found hardest to empathize with; he had truly never experienced such a tragic situation.

Song Dian suffered successive blows in his romantic life, and his career wasn't faring any better!

Because Zhu Yuanzhang's forces attacked Suzhou, Song Dian—having been a high-ranking official of the Yuan Dynasty and having defected to Zhang Shicheng—was arrested. Thanks to Shen Wansan's intercession, he managed to spare his life at the cost of being stripped of his official rank and having his legs crippled.

Upon returning to the Su household, Song Dian was jobless and disabled, holding no further utility value, and thus was subjected to all sorts of bullying by his wife and brother-in-law. Ultimately, consumed by remorse and despair, Song Dian shared a meal of reconciliation with Shen Wansan and drowned himself in the lake.

This character was actually not very likable. However, because of his repentance and suicide, he managed to redeem some favorable impressions.

It was precisely because Yan Li saw potential in this ultimate ending—feeling that Song Dian possessed a certain psychological depth rather than being a purely flat-faced villain—that he chose this role.

Presently, Yan Li had already memorized all of Song Dian's lines and had conducted a certain amount of character analysis and interpretation.

The overall acting difficulty wasn't too high; the only thing worth mentioning was the final suicide scene. Yan Li wanted to use this scene to make the character's image more fleshed out.

After reviewing the script, pondering, and marking his scenes for the next few days, the time reached the small hours of the morning, and Yan Li opened the system.

[Daily Intelligence ①: Because Fan Bingbing's career has been left in the dust by the other two actresses of *My Fair Princess*, and because her role was merely a maid, leaving her in an awkward career positioning... she holds complicated feelings toward her representative role of Jinsuo and is rather reluctant to have it brought up. Yan Li inadvertently touched upon her sore spot, causing Fan Bingbing's perception of Yan Li to be thoroughly mediocre...]