The Movie Queen's Mouth is Blessed - Chapter 29

But in reality, Jiang Xiaobai thought, “What the heck is this? What are you doing?”

She knew this scene was supposed to be an emotional climax, but it didn’t need to be so intense, right? Li Biying’s performance was almost out of character.

A little white flower might turn into a little black flower, but Li Biying? She was turning into a man-eating flower!

Unlike Director Niu, who watched the scene through the lens, Li Biying faced Jiang Xiaobai directly. Her eyes were filled with venom, and her tone was fierce as if she were about to pounce and eat Jiang Xiaobai alive!

This expression momentarily took aback Jiang Xiaobai.

It was like hearing that a beautiful parrot could sing, so you excitedly went to see it, and it opened its mouth to sing —

“Sister, you sit in the boat, and I walk on the shore…”

“Director, it’s fine. We can do it again.” Li Biying said magnanimously, wiping away her tears and letting the makeup artist touch her face. However, she shot Jiang Xiaobai several challenging glances in between.

“Is it ready, Director? Xiaobai, are you ready?”

At this moment, Li Biying smiled gently, like a considerate and meticulous senior in the industry.

“I’m ready; thank you, Sister Biying, for not blaming me.” Jiang Xiaobai was happy to play along.

“Great, let’s start then.”

When filming resumed, they reached the same scene again. As Jiang Xiaobai suggested, Director Niu focused on Li Biying’s close-up this time.

“…Elder Sister Liu, were all these years of sisterhood just a lie?”

Li Biying exploded with emotion, even more intensely than before. Her performance was so over-the-top that her facial expressions were distorted, which was far from aesthetically pleasing.

Li Biying felt secretly pleased.

She had been in the industry for several years and had taken on many roles due to her popularity. She had a lot of experience on set. She remembered playing the second female lead in a drama while still a newcomer. During a confrontation with the lead actress, that veteran actress had deliberately suppressed her scene.

That lead actress was a Film Empress, already 32 years old, and had started as a child star. She was a seasoned actress, no doubt about it.

The veteran’s suppression completely threw off Li Biying. She couldn’t perform well in that scene, and her performance in all subsequent scenes with the lead actress was terrible. That drama was probably the worst of her career in terms of acting.

It left a deep shadow on Li Biying!

Fortunately, she never encountered such a situation again. Now that she was popular, no one dared to suppress her scene. She almost forgot that this method subtly punishes someone like Jiang Xiaobai!

After delivering her line, Li Biying waited to see Jiang Xiaobai’s reaction, confident she would be flustered again. But Director Niu interrupted her before she could see Jiang Xiaobai’s response.

“Cut!”

Director Niu frowned and walked over. “Biying, there’s a problem with your performance.”

Li Biying was confused. “A problem? Director, did you say that wrong?”

Li Biying turned around, bewildered. “What’s the problem?”

“Come and take a look yourself.”

Director Niu walked to the camera. “Too much is as bad as too little. Your emotions have gone beyond Mu Wanran’s character. You need to tone it down a bit. Otherwise, it will feel out of place.”

Director Niu had understood what Jiang Xiaobai meant by “overreacting, and I couldn’t react in time” —

Li Biying’s performance was so intense that it was as if she were about to kill someone. She looked more like a shrew than the kind and innocent Mu Wanran!

Seeing her distorted and ugly face on the monitor, Li Biying was stunned.

Is this… me?

No, I was fully immersed in the role, pouring my emotions into it. It should have been perfect, so why did it turn out like this?

The lead actress didn’t look like this when she suppressed my scene!

What went wrong?

Jiang Xiaobai watched Li Biying’s changing expressions from the side, shaking her head inwardly.

Does she really think anyone can suppress a scene? To achieve that level, the gap in acting skills between the two must be at least two levels.

If it were a seasoned actress, it might be different, but Li Biying trying to suppress the scene with her level of acting…

She must be overestimating herself.

Her face turned gray after Director Niu patiently explained the issues to Li Biying.

This feeling was terrible. She thought she was standing on a pedestal, teaching someone a lesson, but she was standing at the bottom of a well. She was the joke now!

Li Biying didn’t know how they finished the day’s shoot. She was out of character the entire time. Director Niu had to call it a day, saying they would continue tomorrow.

At that moment, she almost sighed with relief.

On returning to the hotel, Jiang Xiaobai told Dong Ran about the incident. “Today, she tried to suppress my scene. The other day, she had the magazine stir things up. As a rising star, isn’t she being too petty?”

Jiang Xiaobai was puzzled. She felt that the two of them were on entirely different levels. Li Biying’s hostility towards her was utterly unreasonable.

“Don’t pay her any mind. Just do your best. Also, try to avoid any obvious conflicts with her. It won’t be good if news breaks that the two of you don’t get along.”

Dong Ran glanced at Jiang Xiaobai a few times while speaking.

“What’s wrong, Sister Ran?”

“Nothing.”

Dong Ran didn’t say it out loud, but she was inwardly impressed by Li Biying’s perceptiveness.

Li Biying had been popular for a few years and had seen many newcomers rise. She and Jiang Xiaobai had worked together before, and she probably knew that Jiang Xiaobai’s career was about to take off. That’s why she instinctively wanted to suppress her.

As a senior, with her age and uncertain future in the industry, how could she remain indifferent when she saw a young, beautiful, talented girl?