Are they really going through with this? Li Ling was dumbfounded, raising her head in shock. "This... this... isn't appropriate, Director?" Jin Jingyao calmly replied, "You wanted to sign on the chest." Haha, she really did want to. As Li Ling thought this, her gaze subtly shifted downward. She had known from last time that some people, despite looking thin, actually felt quite nice to the touch. Under the auntie's intrigued gaze, Li Ling righteously grabbed Jin Jingyao's... wrist. Sign it then, who's afraid of whom— Hiss. His body temperature was so high. His pulse was also racing. Is he broken? Li Ling couldn't help but ask softly, "Director, are you okay? Do you have a fever?" Jin Jingyao glanced at her coldly. "Hurry up." The people behind were still pushing forward, and he was almost leaning against her. Even with a mask on, it was obvious that the other party was extremely annoyed. Li Ling said, "Oh, okay, right away." She was just saying it. She deliberately, mischievously, traced the pen tip along the overly prominent blue vein. "Is it okay to sign here?" she asked very politely. The pulse under her hand seemed to beat even faster. Li Ling suspected it was some kind of contagious disease; otherwise, why was her own heart also starting to race? Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump. Very powerful beats. From top to bottom, affecting her entire body. The light dimmed a bit, and the young man lowered his eyes, his face pale to the point of looking sickly, his eyelashes casting a shadow under his eyes. His body continued to emit heat, even though his gaze was as cold as marble without temperature. Li Ling didn't dare to look at him anymore. She decided to quit while she was ahead and quickly signed her name. Due to the speed and the need to be light-handed, the handwriting was almost illegible. Jin Jingyao glanced down. "Your handwriting is really ugly." Still got scolded. Li Ling pretended not to hear. "Next." She guessed the director would soon wash off the ugly writing on his wrist. But because the hoodie was too loose and the sleeve covered his wrist, Li Ling never found any evidence later. - After returning to the crew, Li Ling noticed that the staff's attitude towards her had subtly improved. At first, she thought it was because she had conquered everyone with her superb acting skills, but later she learned that the incident from the audition day had spread throughout the crew. Li Ling had already heard for the third time in the restroom someone vividly describing, "I was on set that morning, and I saw with my own eyes how she grabbed the director's hair and slammed his head against the table repeatedly!" Although each version she heard was different, this one was indeed the most thrilling. She listened with great interest and secretly said, "Good job!" Encouraged, the other person continued proudly, "The director was pinned to the table by her, forced to press his bloody handprint on the actor's contract, and she threatened that if he didn't, she would..." Li Ling pushed open the restroom door and locked eyes with the gesticulating Xiao Liu. The other person looked at her in horror, awkwardly spitting out the last few words, "... blow his head off." Li Ling's eyes lit up. "Teacher Liu, so you were here. I've been looking for you for a long time." Teacher Liu's face stiffened. "What do you need from me?" "You really helped me a lot during the audition. I don't even know how to thank you," Li Ling said sincerely. "If it weren't for your suggestion..." Teacher Liu suddenly burst into a fit of intense coughing. He lowered his head, pretending to nonchalantly adjust the cleaning uniform he was wearing. Does the work of a director's assistant also include cleaning toilets? Li Ling asked, somewhat puzzled, "Mr. Liu, are you also experiencing life?" Xiao Liu gave a dry laugh, holding the cleaning tools in his hand, and was about to push the door open when someone beside him stopped him, "Are you crazy? That's the women's restroom!" With a "thud," the other person hit their head on the door, sounding very painful. A companion behind them said earnestly, "Look at you, you've been doing this for almost three weeks and still make such basic mistakes every day..." Li Ling returned to the set, completely confused. There were two scenes on today's call sheet, with the morning scene featuring the male lead, Zhou Jing, alone. Zhou Jing was just a bottom-tier temporary actor, often without any serious work, being ordered around every day. The theater troupe had a new production, but ticket sales were poor, so he put on a heavy mascot costume and went out to hand out flyers. The rain was getting heavier, soaking the fur of the teddy bear costume, making it cling to his body. He clumsily used his paw to protect the flyers, looking around. He waited for a long time, but no one passed by. After a while, the assistant director called for a cut, and Jin Jingyao came to check the monitor. He took off the headpiece, revealing a sweaty forehead and wet hair, indicating how stifling it was inside. Someone suggested using a stand-in, but Jin Jingyao shook his head and refused, putting the headpiece back on. This shot might only appear for a few seconds in the film, but it took four hours to shoot that day. Li Ling was deeply moved by his dedication. Although she had no scenes in the morning, she still sat by the monitor, diligently reading the script. In fact, she had already memorized the lines perfectly. So she started practicing her signature. "What are you doing?" The giant teddy bear stood behind her, speaking in a muffled voice. Li Ling was startled, but calmly closed the script and smiled, "Director, I'm here to learn on set." The teddy bear took off the headpiece, revealing a handsome, sweaty face. "Practicing your handwriting on set," he said, not very kindly. Li Ling smiled ingratiatingly, found another piece of paper, and flamboyantly signed her name, even drawing a heart, "Director, has my handwriting improved?" Jin Jingyao didn't even look, just tore the paper in half and threw it in the trash. He turned around and, with no expression, told the assistant director, "Clear the set." Li Ling felt like her heart had been thrown into the trash too. Great, said the heart in the trash, I can sleep a few more hours tomorrow morning. The next morning at 6:30, Li Ling was woken up by a call from the assistant director, asking why she hadn't come to the set yet. Li Ling, still very confused, said, "I don't have a call time this morning." "So you're not coming?" The other person's voice was very low, angrily questioning her. Li Ling wondered if she was still dreaming. Did the assistant director always speak so harshly? "Um," she said, a bit dazed, "didn't the director say no unnecessary people on set?" There was a moment of silence on the other end, then the person's attitude softened, speaking gently, "You might have misunderstood. The director is very kind and always encourages us to communicate and learn on set, fostering an atmosphere of mutual inspiration, mutual promotion, and inclusiveness..." Li Ling almost fell asleep again. The atmosphere on set wasn't very inclusive. She ran into Xiao Liu at the restroom door, who was busy and sweating, mopping the floor while complaining to her: "The director is in a bad mood today, everyone is under a lot of pressure. People keep sneaking off to the restroom, making it impossible for me to keep the floor clean."Li Ling: "..." Xiao Liu continued, "It seems like there was a thief at the set last night. The trash cans were all rummaged through." "Was anything stolen?" she asked with concern. "No," Xiao Liu said, puzzled. "None of the camera equipment was touched. They just went through all the trash cans." "Did you check the surveillance footage?" "That person seems very experienced, only targeting the blind spots of the cameras," Xiao Liu said, frustrated. "It might be a cunning old hand." The restroom door opened, and both of them straightened up immediately. "Hello, Director." Jin Jingyao was very cold, not even glancing at them. Xiao Liu mustered up the courage to step forward. "Director, um, you said before that we would work for a month..." "Add another month," the other party said. Xiao Liu: ??? - In the afternoon, there was a scene between Li Ling and Jin Jingyao. The weather in the mountains was unpredictable, and it started raining shortly before filming. The assistant director asked if they should wait, but Jin Jingyao said no. He sat in front of the monitor, temporarily revised the storyboard, and quickly redistributed it to the various departments. Li Ling had no choice but to lie down in the pouring rain. The waterlogged soil was too slippery, as if it was slowly sinking, trying to swallow her whole. Li Ling lay flat, eyes closed, as the violent rain washed over her face, and the sharp grass roots scratched at her ankles. All sounds were swallowed up. The sound of the camera turning. The faint breathing of the crew. Footsteps emerged. They were heavy and slow, like the ancient and wild heartbeat of a rainforest, beating powerfully. A huge shadow completely covered her face. Jin Jingyao, dressed in a mascot costume, put down the flyers in his hand and picked up the woman on the ground in a horizontal embrace. The first time she was picked up, Li Ling marveled at the young man's strength, his movements steady and giving a sense of security. By the tenth time she was picked up, Li Ling wanted to ask if Jin Jingyao was using her for a workout. "Director, I'm really about to throw up," Li Ling said weakly. Jin Jingyao coldly said, "This take is done." The young man easily carried her all the way into the basement. The camera followed behind, capturing this long shot. The mascot bear carried the woman missing a leg, walking through the dim corridor. Her calf swayed with his movements, the stairs creaking underfoot, but his steps remained steady. She was soaked through, water constantly dripping down, like a broken moon fished out of a lake. A rain that drowned the world, and a man who stole the moon. "Cut," the assistant director called. Jin Jingyao withdrew his hands and took the portable monitor from a crew member to check the playback of the shot. The assistant director said over the walkie-talkie, "I think this take is pretty good, we can move on." Jin Jingyao said, "Stay away from me." "What, Director?" the assistant director asked, puzzled. "Not you," he said. Li Ling, who had leaned in to watch the playback, awkwardly moved to the side. They had indeed been very close just now, almost head to head. Water from her hair had been dripping onto him. "Sorry, Director, I didn't mean to," Li Ling apologized. "The screen is too small, I couldn't see clearly." Jin Jingyao ignored her. He bent down to pick up the portable monitor that had somehow fallen to the ground. The cameraman said, "Director, your face is really red. Are you getting heatstroke?" "I'm fine," Jin Jingyao said, putting the mascot bear head back on. "Continue." - The mascot bear gently placed A-Ling on the bed. He looked like a tattered monster, gazing at his sleeping beauty. The monster's face was indistinct in the dim, cramped room, but the shadow on the wall was enormous and sinister, as if it could devour the frail sleeping beauty at any moment. He slowly caressed her mutilated calf. Then he leaned down, drawing closer, as if carefully sniffing her scent. His massive palm traced along her slender, snow-white collarbone, gradually touching her mud- and rain-streaked face. He didn't seem to intend to clean her face. Instead, he wanted to dirty her. Dirtier and dirtier. Zhou Jing, almost obsessively, smeared the filthy mud and dirty water evenly over A-Ling's entire face, covering her eyelids, cheekbones, and lips. Yet his movements were so cautious, as if she were something fragile and easily broken. He gently combed her hair, tucking each stray strand behind her ear. Clumsily, he stroked her earlobe, as if playing with a pearl. The room was very quiet. His breathing was chaotic, suppressed, and heavy. Like an untamed beast. "Cut." Jin Jingyao immediately stood up, took off his headgear, and looked at the monitor. Sweat trickled down his temple, like a stifling rainy morning, lightning splitting the overcast sky. But his gaze was calm, his breathing steady. The chaotic, mad Zhou Jing seemed never to have existed in him. "No good," he said. "It won't work." It wasn't because of the actor's performance, but because the bear puppet's paw was too large, almost completely covering the actress's face, which wasn't the effect he had initially envisioned. Jin Jingyao changed the camera angle and readjusted the lighting several times, but it still lacked aesthetic appeal. Li Ling watched the crew bustling about, not quite understanding why they were complicating such a simple issue. "Why not just take off the gloves?" she suggested softly. "Right!" The cameraman's eyes lit up, eager to try. "The director's hands would look great on camera." The assistant director, however, showed a hesitant expression. He had worked with Jin Jingyao on several films and understood the director's personality better. The reason Zhou Jing appeared as a bear puppet in the script was, of course, because he didn't dare to face A-Ling with his true appearance. But they also speculated privately that it was because the director didn't want to touch the actress's face. That said, this was just the beginning; there would be a lot of physical contact later. The director couldn't possibly wear gloves throughout the entire film. Since he decided to shoot this script, he should have been mentally prepared. With this in mind, the assistant director also suggested, "Director, why don't you give it a try?" Jin Jingyao was silent for a moment. "I'll think about it." He turned and walked into the bathroom, locking the door. He tried to control himself, not to move forward, not to touch the faucet, but ultimately succumbed to the voice inside. Under the rushing water, Jin Jingyao lowered his head, washing his fingertips repeatedly, almost neurotically. The water was so cold it cut his skin like a blade. He looked up, meeting his own gaze in the mirror. The harsh white light illuminated the young man's face from above. It was as if he had returned to the interrogation room. In his imagination, the light dimmed, and everything plunged into darkness. Only he remained in the mirror, along with the untouchable policewoman. He looked into his own eyes. They were filled with filthy, impure desires that deserved to be judged.