After Flirting with the Wrong Stand-in, I Overturned (GL) - Chapter 40

“A-Xuan.” Lin Shuyan finally couldn’t help but throw herself into her arms.

“You,” Ren Xuan wrapped her arms around Lin Shuyan’s shoulders, asking in disbelief, “What did you just call me?”

Lin Shuyan blushed at the name she had blurted out uncontrollably, burying herself in Ren Xuan’s embrace, almost unwilling to come out. But the name filled her heart with joy, and she whispered it again, “A-Xuan.”

“Can I call you A-Xuan from now on? Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course.” Ren Xuan nodded with a smile. “Yes.”

Seeing her agreement, Lin Shuyan called the name several more times. Every call had an echo. After they doted on each other for a while, Lin Shuyan rubbed her nose and asked, “Are you going back tomorrow?”

“I’m not,” Ren Xuan shook her head. “I can stay here for one more day. Are you happy?”

Happy. “But I…” Lin Shuyan remembered her full day of shooting and felt a bit despondent. “I won’t be able to accompany you.”

“I’m a grown adult,” Ren Xuan laughed. “I don’t need you to accompany me every second.”

Despite those words, Lin Shuyan secretly thought to herself that she would try her best to rush through her schedule tomorrow to come back early—even an extra twenty minutes would be good.

When Lin Shuyan came out of the bathroom, she saw the hairdryer placed next to Ren Xuan; it was clearly prepared long ago. “Come here,” Ren Xuan beckoned to her.

Lin Shuyan did not hesitate, sitting obediently in front of Ren Xuan, trustingly handing over her long hair to be tended to. After about ten minutes, most of her hair was dry, and Ren Xuan picked up a comb to smooth it out.

“There.” Ren Xuan put away the hairdryer and comb, turning Shuyan around to face her. “Still planning to look at the script?”

This was almost a habit for Lin Shuyan—reviewing the lines and the character’s psychological journey one last time before bed.

“A-Xuan,” Lin Shuyan suddenly felt an urge to go on strike. Lying in Ren Xuan’s arms, she looked up and said, “I want to be lazy today.” She didn’t want to do anything right now except lie quietly in Ren Xuan’s embrace. It felt so good.

Ren Xuan, sitting on the sofa, couldn’t help but laugh at her expression. “Really don’t want to look at it?”

Ren Xuan knew exactly what Lin Shuyan’s attitude toward acting was; she knew Shuyan was just saying it. Sure enough, after lingering for another ten minutes, Lin Shuyan sat up straight on the sofa.

“A-Xuan,” Lin Shuyan’s mind whirled, and a thought suddenly surfaced. “How about… you help me run my lines?”

“Run lines?” Ren Xuan quickly understood. “I’ve never acted before.”

Does that mean no? Shuyan thought about pestering her a bit, but then heard Ren Xuan add, “However, if you just need someone to read the other part, I can help with that.”

“I’ll go get the script!” Hearing this, Lin Shuyan excitedly searched her bag. To facilitate her practice, she had two copies—one with her lines highlighted, and one for her scene partner.

As for the person Lin Shuyan had the most lines with, it was naturally Rong Yu.

“We are at—” Lin Shuyan first flipped through her script, then turned the corresponding page for Ren Xuan. “We are here.”

The Princess of Qin was being filmed roughly in the order of the broadcast sequence. The next scene involved Qin Yuantang starting to suspect Ning An’s identity. Their marriage, to put it accurately, was a political union. Those who didn’t know the inside story assumed the Emperor favored the Eldest Princess so much that he even married his own sister into the General’s estate. Initially, Qin Yuantang thought so too. Tomorrow’s scene was the moment a seed of suspicion toward her brother was planted in her heart.

“General Ning,” after several months of marriage, the Eldest Princess and Ning An were still polite and formal, let alone consummating the marriage. “You seem to be injured?”

“It’s no matter,” Ning An looked at her wound dismissively. “I’ll just apply some medicine when I get back.”

“Xiao Tao.” Qin Yuantang ignored her words and looked at the red, swollen wound. She turned and instructed directly, “Go to my room and get the medicine box.”

“Really, there’s no need.” Ning An wanted to refuse again, but Xiao Tao was fast, running out in a flash.

“General Ning,” Qin Yuantang asked suddenly, “Do you remember? We met when we were children.”

Ning An’s heart stopped. She didn’t understand why Qin Yuantang would suddenly bring this up out of nowhere. She and her brother were twins; as a child, she loved to wear her brother’s clothes and sneak out to play. Encountering Qin Yuantang in the palace had been a total accident.

Logically, the Princess should think that the person she met then was the brother—who was supposedly the man standing before her now. What confused Ning An was why she was asking now.

“I,” Ning An replied cautiously, “My memory isn’t very good. Did the Princess and I know each other before?”

“The long street east of the Cold Palace, and the pavilion at the northeast corner of the Imperial Garden.”

Hearing Qin Yuantang name the locations accurately, Ning An grew secretly anxious. “The Princess… the Princess remembers so clearly,” Ning An said with an embarrassed expression. “My memory is quite poor.”

Xiao Tao arrived with the medicine box. Qin Yuantang opened it, took out the anti-swelling powder, and signaled Ning An to straighten her arm. Helpless, Ning An obeyed. “I’m troubling… the Princess.”

“It’s no trouble.” As Qin Yuantang spoke, the pressure from her hand increased significantly. Ning An instantly grimaced in pain. She was about to cry out when she met Qin Yuantang’s perfectly innocent face, and the words died in her throat.

“How is my handiwork?” Qin Yuantang asked after tying a bow on Ning An’s arm.

“It’s… quite good.” Ning An suffered in silence but still had to offer a hypocritical compliment.

“That’s good then,” Qin Yuantang smiled slightly. “I see that the General’s wound won’t heal anytime soon. Tomorrow at this same time, the General should come over to have the dressing changed.”

In her helplessness, Ning An nodded stiffly and dragged her heavy footsteps back to her own courtyard. Her guards, seeing the General looking so wilted—without a shred of the spirit she usually showed on the battlefield—rushed forward, assuming some major catastrophe had occurred.

“I’m fine.” Ning An managed a forced smile for the guards.

With a pfft, Lin Shuyan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Ren Xuan quickly put down the script. “Was I doing it wrong?” She wasn’t a professional actor after all; though she tried to get into character, saying these things face-to-face with Lin Shuyan made it hard to stay immersed.

“No.” Lin Shuyan was still laughing. Once her laughter subsided, she said, “A-Xuan, the expressions you made as General Ning weren’t quite right.”

Taking that segment of the scene as an example, General Ning’s internal monologue naturally couldn’t be played out entirely through words and actions, but a little should still leak out.

Facing the Eldest Princess’s deliberate mention of the past, she should be nervous, suspicious, formal, and utterly at a loss. These were expressions Lin Shuyan rarely saw on Ren Xuan. Her A-Xuan handled company affairs with ease, was both strict and kind to Ren Ke, and toward Shuyan…

In their relationship, Ren Xuan was so good to her—so good that the one who was nervous and at a loss was Shuyan herself.

“Maybe you should just memorize your lines.” Ren Xuan awkwardly put the script down. She rarely watched dramas, let alone understood the nuances of acting.

“A-Xuan already did a great job.” Lin Shuyan looked at Ren Xuan with eyes full of admiration. She meant it; many people couldn’t even read the lines properly when they first got a script, let alone try to figure out the character’s specific expressions and thoughts.

“So,” Ren Xuan laughed, “I’ve received praise from a professional?”

“Of course.” Lin Shuyan nodded without hesitation. Besides, she had seen another side of A-Xuan.

“As long as I didn’t affect you negatively.” Ren Xuan didn’t understand acting, but she knew how important a good partner was for a performer to stay in character. If she had been busy here for a long time and ended up making it harder for Lin Shuyan to get into character, it would be a net loss.

“Not at all,” Lin Shuyan guaranteed. Practicing in front of A-Xuan and playing this character made her very happy.

Unfortunately, it was getting late. Lin Shuyan knew Ren Xuan had rushed here on a flight after work, so she should let A-Xuan rest.

“I want to read a bit further,” Ren Xuan said suddenly. Since they had read this far, she was suddenly curious about the daily life of the General and the Princess.

Lin Shuyan handed the entire script over without a word. Ren Xuan’s fingers rested on Lin Shuyan’s neat handwriting. She looked at it for a long while. When she looked up, the person beside her had disappeared. The light in the other bedroom was on.

Having satisfied herself with tidying the bed and the small table, Lin Shuyan looked up to see Ren Xuan leaning against the doorframe. “A-Xuan.”

Did A-Xuan see everything? Shuyan suddenly felt shy again.

“The staff already cleaned it.” Ren Xuan walked into the room. “My Shuyan has the potential to be a ‘Snail Girl’ (a folktale character who cleans houses in secret).”

“I just came to take a look.”

“Satisfied now?” Ren Xuan asked with a smile.

“You… you should rest.” Lin Shuyan couldn’t find a comeback, so she changed the subject.

“Goodnight.” Ren Xuan stepped forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Lin Shuyan’s face was full of happiness. She returned the embrace and said quickly, “Goodnight, A-Xuan.” Then she ran off. Ren Xuan chuckled softly behind her.

After a good night’s sleep, Lin Shuyan rushed to the set early. Ren Xuan only had breakfast with her. She planned to rest at the hotel during the day, but a call from Ning Yinman summoned her out.

“Didn’t you say you were going to visit the set?” Ren Xuan looked at her friend with amusement. The two had come here together; Ren Xuan had a clear goal, while Ning Yinman was acting contrary to her usual self, behaving cautiously like a thief.

“What’s the point of visiting the set every day?” Ning Yinman waved her off, asking enticingly, “Don’t you want to see what they’re acting in this time?”

“They?” Ren Xuan smiled. She only had Shuyan to watch.

“It’s just—” Ning Yinman wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. “Do you even know what kind of drama your girlfriend is acting in?”

“Period drama.” Ren Xuan answered fluently, only to receive a roll of the eyes.

“It’s two girls!”

“I know.” Ren Xuan remained calm. “Shuyan told me before she took the role.”

Ning Yinman was suddenly filled with envy. How obedient her girlfriend is, consulting her before filming. Ning Yinman circled around for a while before finally stating the idea she had been mulling over for hours.

“Disguise?” Ren Xuan looked at Ning Yinman as if she were an idiot. Given how often Ning Yinman’s face appeared at film sets, trying to go to the studio in disguise without being recognized would be a real challenge for the makeup skills.

“Aren’t you an investor?” Ren Xuan asked pointedly. “Why the secrecy?”

“I—” Ning Yinman was stumped. “I want to see the real state of the crew and my investment, isn’t that allowed?”

“It is.” Since the excuse was found so quickly, how could Ren Xuan say no?