Chapter 48 - 2#
Just for this “lively swallow,” Jing Shun had practiced on the drawing paper over a hundred times, all for this moment of mastery through repetition!
Amid the brief exchange, muffled gasps sounded around him again—
Because the monitor screen had moved up, zooming in on Jing Shun’s overly beautiful face. A faint golden halo refracted at the edges of his eyes, making even the tear mole beneath seem sacred.
The young painter sat in his wheelchair, his gentle voice transmitting through the microphone: “That’s all for today’s sharing. Thank you to all the friends who participated. I hope to see you again next time.”
The background actors in the audience clapped at the right moment and reluctantly stood up to leave the lecture hall.
Yan Zijing, portrayed by Jing Shun, didn’t cast any extra glances toward the audience but carefully peeled the tape off the drawing paper.
He looked at the swallow in the lower-right corner, the paint still wet, his gaze flickering slightly. Just as he was about to wipe away this trace of “freedom” with his fingertip—
Suddenly, someone called his name: “Mr. Yan Zijing.”
Yan Zijing maneuvered the wheelchair to turn around, fixing his eyes on the two unfamiliar faces before him. “Yes, may I ask who you are?”
Ling Zhuo, played by Jin Yulin, directly produced his credentials. “Jiangdu City Criminal Investigation Unit. I’m Officer Ling. We have a case here and would like to request your cooperation, Mr. Yan.”
The B-group camera positioned itself in time, zooming in on those eyes hidden behind Jing Shun’s glasses.
Yan Zijing met the identification badge that proclaimed the officer’s identity. His eyes narrowed with near-surgical precision for a brief moment. A flicker of instinctive wariness and surprise seeped from the depths of his pupils, then vanished as quickly as it came.
“…”
Zheng Chun’an watched the camera capture this moment, gripping the loudspeaker in his hand with some surprise.
Had he underestimated Jing Shun?
Such a subtle shift in expression—the overall movement so minute it was controlled merely by the eyelids—would be virtually impossible for an average actor to pull off!
To achieve this expression, it could only be the most natural reaction of the character itself. In other words, at this moment, Jing Shun was Yan Zijing.
He wasn’t just “performing” the current scene; from Yan Zijing’s perspective, he had silently connected the cause and effect of the events, allowing this genuine reaction to emerge.
Even if it lasted only a second, that was enough!
Zheng Chun’an silently applauded, and the performance before the camera continued.
Faced with the other person’s self-introduction, Yan Zijing merely lowered his gaze, placing the painting on his knees. When he looked up again, his expression was completely unremarkable.
“Officer Ling, please go ahead.”
“Teacher Yan, no need to be so formal.”
Yue Qiao’an, played by Fu Changting, stepped forward, smiling as he fixed his gaze on Yan Zijing’s face. “A week ago, we discovered a male corpse downstream of the Ning River.”
Yan Zijing picked up the thread. “I know. It’s the actor Pan Tong.”
This case had not only made the social news but also trended on Weibo.
A male actor with a briefly popular role had met an unnatural death? Anyone would gossip about it for a while, but few netizens knew—
“Pan Tong had been secretly married for a long time. His wife, Song Ci, went missing ten days ago.”
“…”
Yan Zijing was silent for two seconds, then frowned. “Sorry, I’ve only seen reports about this actor in the news. I’m not familiar with his family matters.”
A hint of veiled scrutiny crept into Yue Qiao’an’s eyes. He took another step forward. “We found that Song Ci’s last public appearance was at your art lecture.”
As he spoke, Ling Zhuo pulled out a photo of Song Ci and pressed, “Mr. Yan, does this ring a bell?”
Yan Zijing stared at the beautiful woman in the photo and shook his head. “Sorry, too many people have attended my art lectures. I don’t remember everyone.”
Yue Qiao’an fixed his eyes on the man before him, raising an eyebrow slightly. “Oh? Not even a little?”
The words sounded like a light, teasing question laced with laughter, but each syllable carried oppressive weight! Fu Changting, a three-time Golden Screen Award winner, had impeccable line delivery.
The assistant director sensed Fu Changting’s aura and felt a trace of concern:
The crux of this scene was the subtle back-and-forth probing between the two parties. Though the questions and answers seemed casual, not a single word could afford to be careless!
Even in the confrontation of presence, no flaw could slip through!
Now that Fu Changting’s character presence had fully kicked in, the assistant director wondered if Jing Shun could hold his own in this scene.
Just as he was thinking this, Yan Zijing, portrayed by Jing Shun, showed a helpless yet subtly ambiguous expression and countered, “Is this officer very eager for me to remember? But I’m sorry, I truly don’t recall.”
Their gazes met—one dropping, one rising.
A silent standoff spread, neither willing to yield.
Suddenly, a faint kitten meow broke the thickening atmosphere.
“Meow~”
“Sorry.”
Yan Zijing bent down. From the loose side pocket of his wheelchair, he carefully cradled a pure white kitten.
Both of the kitten’s front paws were wrapped in gauze, clearly badly injured. He looked down, stroking the kitten’s nape to soothe it. “There, there, don’t be scared~”
Ling Zhuo noticed the faint bloodstains on the gauze. “What happened to this cat?”
“I picked it up from the trash heap downstairs two days ago. The vet said it’s less than two months old but had already been abused—”
“When I found it, the skin and flesh on its front legs had been cut off, leaving only bloody bone. It had just one breath left.”
Jing Shun, with his formal acting training, hadn’t let his line delivery skills slip over the years. Using the calmest tone to describe the cruelest methods of torment, he made every listener outside the frame feel compassion.
“The vet said it surely wouldn’t survive, but I still had them save it.”
Yan Zijing’s movements as he petted the cat remained gentle, his gaze fixed on the gauze-wrapped front paws carrying fragile pity. “I can’t heal myself anymore, but I want to heal it.”
The pre-planned master camera slowly pulled back—
Sunlight from outside streamed in behind Yan Zijing, as if gilding him in a holy halo, rendering the whole scene warm and beautiful.
A man who, though his own legs were powerless, couldn’t bear to see another living being suffer—how could such a person be the murderer in a serial homicide case?
Some staff members, already deceived by Jing Shun’s portrayal of Yan Zijing, couldn’t help murmuring, “He doesn’t seem like a villain at all? Could there be a twist?”
Not all staff had the full script in hand.
Many only knew that Jing Shun’s character was probably the antagonist, but they didn’t know exactly what this antagonist had done.
The assistant director caught the murmurs behind him and smiled.
That was exactly the effect!
Even if he was a villain, he had to keep the audience guessing!
The coherent plot continued.
Hearing Yan Zijing’s words, Yue Qiao’an glanced subtly at the wheelchair beneath him. Just as he began to suspect the man was deliberately changing the subject—
Yan Zijing proactively offered, “My studio has surveillance in the basement. If you want to confirm whether Ms. Song Ci attended a lecture, I’m willing to have the footage reviewed for your investigation.”
This was exactly Ling Zhuo’s intention. He nodded. “Alright.”
“Please, follow me.”
Yan Zijing turned the wheelchair, bypassing the two men in front of him.
The C-group camera outside the door moved in, deliberately creating a slight sway, while the main image on the off-camera monitor shifted—
Yan Zijing, as played by Jing Shun, left the sunlit lecture hall and entered the dim corridor.
The last glimmer of light disappeared from his glasses.
The gentle gaze Yan Zijing had hidden beneath vanished with it. With his back to the two main characters, he revealed a chilling, eerie smirk.
Just for a second, enough to make hearts pound and chills climb straight from the feet!
“I… damn!”
Yu Zhen quickly covered his mouth to stifle the instinctive exclamation of shock. He stared incredulously at Yu Xiuzhu beside him, his heart still pounding from that fleeting image.
Too amazing!
Though he hadn’t known Jing Shun long, he had never seen his friend display such a cold, sinister look.
Whether compared to Yan Zijing inside the hall or to the real-life Jing Shun, it was like a completely different person! As if the soul had been swapped!
Could an actor’s skill truly reach such heights?
Zheng Chun’an, seated before the monitor, had already called, “Cut!”
Yu Xiuzhu, noticing the director’s satisfied expression, finally relaxed his long-tensed nerves.
It seemed Jing Shun was about to create another great character.
…
With such a large batch of scenes, it was naturally impossible to get all the shots right in one take.
Jing Shun, Fu Changting, and the others collaborated, shooting the scene six times in total before completing this segment.
Jing Shun’s performance not only remained unaffected but improved with each take. By the end, even Zheng Chun’an couldn’t help but publicly praise him.
The first day’s overall workload wasn’t heavy. Jing Shun performed outstandingly, and they wrapped up early, before seven in the evening.
…
In the single-person break room, Jing Shun took off his makeup simply and pulled himself out of the character’s mental state.
He didn’t feel tired at all; instead, he experienced a long-missed sense of fulfillment and joy.
After years away from the camera, not only had he not messed up, but he’d earned unanimous praise from the crew.
Jing Shun was thrilled, eager to share this feeling with someone. He retrieved his watch from Yu Xiuzhu’s hand, and before he could even look down to unlock it—
Yu Xiuzhu caught his barely concealed excitement. “Already thinking about texting Chi Gui as soon as we wrap?”
“…”
Jing Shun paused.
Caught red-handed, he felt a bit embarrassed and tried to play it cool. “No, I was just checking the time.”
Yu Xiuzhu teased, “Oh, really? But Chi Gui has been waiting in the parking lot for almost two hours now. He said he dropped by after work. He didn’t want to disturb your filming, so he told me not to tell you until now.”
Yu Xiuzhu found it odd. How could the chairman of the Chi Corporation have so much free time? Every time it was “on the way.”
“…”
Hearing this, Jing Shun tried hard to suppress his smile. “Brother Yu, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Yu Xiuzhu continued joking. “I was afraid you’d wag your tail like a puppy and run off in a flash.”
“Not at all.”
Jing Shun retorted verbally, but his eyes kept drifting toward the break room door. “Yu Zhen hasn’t come out of the bathroom yet? How about we go wait for him at the parking lot?”
The moment he finished, Yu Zhen pushed open the door. “Jing Shun! I heard that!”
His friend wore an indignant expression, shutting the door behind him to complain. “You’re ditching your friend just for your man! I came here to accompany you while filming, and you dare leave me behind?”
“…”
Jing Shun coughed softly, denying it. “You misheard! Work’s over. Let’s go.”