No one knew what Jin Jingyao did in the bathroom. The temporary janitor, Xiao Liu, was called over and reluctantly knocked on the door. "Bro, it's me." "Get lost," said the person behind the door. Xiao Liu left with a hurt expression, holding his cleaning tools. After a long time, the director finally walked out of the bathroom with a blank expression. Li Ling noticed that his face was very pale, almost like a bloodless plaster statue. The assistant director asked, "Director, do we need to reshoot?" Jin Jingyao: "Yes, I'll shoot it." Everyone looked at him in surprise. "You're going to handle the camera yourself?" The assistant director asked in disbelief. Jin Jingyao turned to strap on the Steadicam and put on the monitoring headphones. The lighting crew followed to make adjustments, and the assistant director called for the stand-in actor. The stand-in actor was so happy he almost fainted. "I never thought I'd see the director pick up the camera again in my lifetime," he said excitedly to Li Ling. "I heard Director Jin originally aspired to be a professional cinematographer, but then he started making films by chance." Li Ling: "Uh, a few days ago, the art department told me that he showed exceptional drawing talent from a young age, toured the Louvre at three, knew the Vatican like the back of his hand at five, and considered the Uffizi his second home..." "They must be talking nonsense!" the other said indignantly. "You know He Wei, right?" Li Ling was taken aback and then said, "He Wei... hasn't he been dead for many years?" "Back in the day, he was also a renowned director in the film industry," the stand-in actor said proudly. "Before Director Jin debuted, he worked as an assistant cinematographer for He Wei. Impressive, right?" "Impressive," Li Ling naturally gave a thumbs up and then inquired, "Which film did they work on together?" "I don't really know," the other pondered. "But considering Director Jin's age, it should be one of He Wei's later films, maybe even his last work?" Li Ling's expression changed slightly at the mention of "last work," but she still pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I see." The actor was called to standby, but Li Ling remained somewhat uneasy. As soon as the camera started rolling, the director called for a stop. "What are you thinking about?" Jin Jingyao asked her calmly. "Sorry, Director," she avoided his gaze. "Let's do another take." He scrutinized her closely, his gaze like an intangible thread probing deep into her mind. "Five minutes," he finally said. Li Ling suspected that Jin Jingyao was possessed; otherwise, why was he suddenly so agreeable? "Thank you, Director," she smiled at him. "Four minutes and thirty seconds." Li Ling: "..." Five minutes later, the shoot resumed. Li Ling lay flat on the bed, closing her eyes. The camera was rolling, and the teddy bear gently touched her face. Everything was going smoothly, step by step. Suddenly, she felt an even stronger sense of being watched. It didn't seem to come from the male actor she was performing with. But from the camera that was getting closer and closer. The noise of the machine's operation was close to Li Ling's ear, like a kind of savage breathing. She could almost sense the black, enormous lens, like a swollen, bloodshot eyeball, staring at her emotionlessly. Jin Jingyao called "cut" again, and Li Ling immediately opened her eyes, instinctively saying, "Sorry, Director, did I..." She met the young director's gaze. "You're fine," he said very calmly, turning to look at someone else. The problem was with the stand-in actor; his movements were not accurate enough. It might also be that Jin Jingyao was overly strict and perfectionistic, demanding absolute precision from the other party. Under his guidance, they repeatedly adjusted their movements and angles, trying several more takes. Li Ling had to wash her face clean again and again, only to dirty it once more. She even felt that if he could, Jin Jingyao would want to take a ruler to measure her face. Then, along her contours, he would divide it into clear regions, solid lines, and dashed lines. He would paint her face like a blank sheet of paper. He patiently taught another person how to dirty her. But in reality, throughout the entire filming process, it seemed that no one ever truly touched this actress. The director did not allow anyone to do so. Including himself. - The shot personally handled by the director ultimately received unanimous praise. The camera was extremely, extremely close, to the point where it gave a sense of overly intimate intrusion. The heroine's facial features almost filled the entire frame. Light subtly seeped into a corner, inch by inch illuminating the raindrops sliding down her skin. The hand resting on her face seemed like a blurred shadow, indistinct and therefore unimportant. It was the photographer touching her with the lens. Being watched is a form of contamination. Seeing, freezing the moment, is the most dangerous caress. - In the following period, Li Ling finally saw the Jin Jingyao from the director's documentary. His filming speed was not fast, but the rhythm was very precise. Although his demands were extremely high, he at least knew very clearly what he wanted. He was not the type to be obsessed with being high and mighty, issuing orders. He had a deep understanding of every role in the filming process and did not mind getting hands-on. Perhaps this is why, although Jin Jingyao appeared cold and authoritarian on the surface, most of the crew did not resent him. Because he did not see himself as an authority, but treated everyone as equal partners. It must be admitted that there are indeed reasons why this person could achieve such success at a young age. But what puzzled Li Ling was that although they were clearly filming the same movie, their chances of meeting were becoming fewer and fewer. To speed up progress, the crew recently split into Group A and Group B for filming. As long as the scenes did not involve Jin Jingyao, he would immediately retreat to the director's workspace. Even for scenes with Li Ling, some were completed by a young stand-in actor. And for the scene Li Ling was to shoot today, where A-Ling wakes up from a coma for the first time, Jin Jingyao was still not on set. - A-Ling groggily opened her eyes, just in time to see a huge monster with its back to her, walking down the stairs. She started trembling all over, covering her mouth, trying hard to control her breathing. The monster seemed to sense something and moved closer to her. She was so scared she almost screamed—the strange face grew larger and larger until she realized that what was in front of her was just a dirty stuffed bear. The fur on the stuffed bear's face was matted, and its large black eyes, like two severely worn pieces of frosted glass, hazily reflected A-Ling's face. "Who are you?" she asked, somewhat confused. The stuffed bear didn't speak, pointing to her leg. A-Ling's expression changed, and she forced a smile: "What's the matter, never seen someone missing a leg?" The other party silently looked at her. "Ugly, right." A-Ling snorted, mockingly said, "Actually, compared to you, I look more like a monster." The stuffed bear shook its head and made a clumsy heart gesture, as if to say she was cute. A-Ling burst out laughing. She pretended to reach for his headgear, but he dodged her. He stood up. A-Ling lay on the bed, staring at his back, the smile on her face gradually fading. She said, "Stop pretending, Zhou Jing, I know it's you." The teddy bear didn't react, wobbling as it pushed the door open and went out. Its back looked desolate, as if it had been abandoned by its owner and was about to jump into the trash can by itself. Moments later, a loud crash echoed in the room. A-Ling had fiercely thrown the glass cup beside her against the door. The glass shattered on the floor, breaking into pieces. She collapsed onto the bed, panting heavily, tugging forcefully at her empty pant leg. The camera zoomed in on A-Ling, showing her drenched in sweat, gritting her teeth, her eyes sharp yet helpless, like the shattered glass on the floor. The crew had been filming for some time, and Li Ling had integrated well with her character, improving quickly, and rarely making serious mistakes recently. But for some reason, she couldn't get through this scene. Li Ling tried again and again, but the young director's voice over the intercom kept repeating coldly, "No." It was like a broken old recording. He wasn't on set and didn't want to tell Li Ling what the problem was. In the end, they wrapped up for the day as night fell, with nothing accomplished for that scene. - Since the trash can rummaging incident, temporary toilet worker Xiao Liu had an additional task: night patrols of the set. He didn't particularly like this job. Film sets were often rumored to be haunted, especially this eerie, dilapidated old theater. Shivering, he trudged through the darkness with a flashlight, its beam trembling as it illuminated the damaged paintings on the theater walls. Each painting, swaying in the interplay of light and shadow, looked increasingly eerie, as if the human skin was about to peel off. Suddenly, he heard a sinister voice say, "What's the matter, never seen someone with one leg?" Holy crap! He shut his eyes tight, his legs going weak, leaning against the wall while frantically reciting the virtues of prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony in his mind. The voice changed to a mournful tone, "What's the matter, never seen someone with one leg?" Xiao Liu: "..." He was about to wet himself in fear. Mom, help! At that moment, he heard a dubbed voice, passionate and articulate, saying, "What's the matter, never seen someone with one leg?" Xiao Liu: ??? With tears in his eyes, he tiptoed over and found Li Ling sitting alone against the wall, reading lines from a computer screen. What a diligent woman. Xiao Liu keenly sensed that this might be a good opportunity to reduce his sentence. He secretly took a photo and sent it to Jin Jingyao: "Bro, she's working so hard." Jin Jingyao quickly replied with a question mark. Xiao Liu felt he wasn't very polite. Then Jin Jingyao sent a greatly enlarged image. On the computer screen that Li Ling was staring at intently, there were eight neatly arranged photos of handsome male college students. Xiao Liu: ? "Cousin, why did you zoom in so much to look at her computer screen?" he asked, confused. Xiao Liu and Li Ling were actually quite far apart, and he couldn't see that clearly with his naked eyes. After a moment of silence, Jin Jingyao said, "Add one more month." Xiao Liu: !!! Devastated, he walked straight towards Li Ling. Seeing him, she shamelessly and proudly waved, "Teacher Liu, come help me choose!"Xiao Liu: "Choose... choose what? The set is not a lawless place, I suggest you focus on acting." "I know," Li Ling said, "I want to find an acting coach." Xiao Liu was greatly shocked: "...This, this is a coach?" Li Ling said innocently, "This is a student from the acting department. Coaches are too expensive, students are more cost-effective." Xiao Liu was silent for a moment, his expression suddenly becoming very subtle, complex, and hesitant. Li Ling: "Teacher Liu, what's wrong with you?" Xiao Liu glanced at his phone: "Uh, it's just that the director wants you to go to his room now.""