Zhang Zuting continued: “Under these circumstances, his mindset when drinking beer shouldn’t be like a desperately thirsty person, urgently gulping it down in one go. Instead, he should drink slowly, savoring it carefully.”

“He shouldn’t be drinking beer, but rather drinking emptiness, a sense of confusion.”

“The advertisements on the screen create an enormous psychological gap for him.”

“He doesn’t feel hope for his future, nor does he feel any meaning in his current life. He would feel that everything around him is meaningless. Only this can of beer in his hand, satisfying his appetite, has a tiny bit of value.”

“But even this tiny bit of value isn’t enough to make him ecstatic.”

“I think the male protagonist shouldn’t have so many expressions; instead, his emotions should gradually sink during the process of drinking the beer.”

“Originally, he won the TV quiz, earned money, and was very happy, so he rewarded himself with a can of beer.”

“But while drinking the beer, he sees those dazzling advertisements, sees that colorful world of the upper class. At this moment, he should instead feel a sense of emptiness.”

“If I were to act this part, I would try my best to show the male protagonist’s transition from happiness to indifference, and then to loneliness…”

“I think this is what Mr. Pei was trying to emphasize, right, Mr. Pei?”

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment: “Uh… more or less.”

You’ve already said all the right things, what else can I say…

Lu Zhiyao had a sudden realization: “I see!”

“It seems my understanding of the script was incorrect.”

“Thank you all for your guidance. Let’s shoot another take!”

Lu Zhiyao sat back down with full determination, ready to reshoot.

Zhu Xiaocai silently gave Pei Qian a thumbs up: “Professional!”

Pei Qian: “…”

That’s not what I meant…

Pei Qian felt a bit dejected. He vaguely felt that he really shouldn’t have interfered…

…

Reshooting the beer-drinking scene.

With a “thud,” a can of beer dropped from the food dispensing outlet.

Lu Zhiyao grabbed the ice-cold beer with condensation droplets, popped it open with a “bang,” then threw his head back for a big gulp, letting out a satisfied breath.

At this moment, his face still retained a smile and the satisfaction of drinking beer.

But gradually, his smile faded.

Lu Zhiyao looked at the small green screen beside him, his attention completely drawn to it.

He watched the green screen while silently sipping his beer in small gulps, imagining what would be on the small screen at this moment.

Right now, the small screen should be playing many advertisements for delicious food and fine wine: an upper-class person in his mansion or villa, pouring fine red wine into a decanter, then into a crystal-clear wine glass;

Exquisite dishes laid out on a pristine white table, making one’s mouth water.

A beautiful woman with bright red nail polish elegantly raising her wine glass, gently clinking it with the glass of a successful man across the table, then the wine flowing into her mouth through her gorgeous red lips…

Lu Zhiyao watched the green screen while taking small sips of his beer.

During this time, he raised his hand, wanting to click on the small screen, perhaps unable to resist the temptation of certain advertisements, but after much hesitation, he withdrew his hand and continued drinking his beer silently.

Finally, the can of beer was finished.

Lu Zhiyao tilted his head back, struggling to pour the last drop of beer into his mouth, then placed the empty can on the table, staring at it with a blank expression, staring at the colorful advertisements on it.

After a long while, Lu Zhiyao suddenly crushed the empty can in his hand, then threw it toward the garbage chute.

With a “clack,” the can hit the edge of the garbage chute and fell to the floor.

Lu Zhiyao didn’t pick it up. Instead, he slumped to the ground, leaning against the bed, hugging his knees, burying his head deep in his arms.

…

“Cut! Excellent!”

“That take was excellent!”

“This is exactly the right mindset for the male protagonist!”

Zhu Xiaocai couldn’t stop praising Lu Zhiyao’s performance.

Lu Zhiyao was also very happy, as his acting had been affirmed.

“I must thank Director Zhu and Mr. Zhang for their guidance. Of course, most importantly, Mr. Pei fundamentally changed my mindset, making me realize I was making the mistake of ‘trying too hard’ in my acting.”

Lu Zhiyao gave Pei Qian a grateful look.

Pei Qian: “…You guys continue filming. I’ll be leaving now.”

Zhu Xiaocai was surprised: “Mr. Pei, why not stay and watch a few more scenes? Having you here makes us feel more assured. Please help us identify more areas for improvement!”

Identify more areas for improvement.

Pei Qian was speechless. This was like losing the chicken and the rice as well!

He originally wanted to give some reverse guidance to slightly lower Lu Zhiyao’s acting skills, but unexpectedly, he had accidentally improved his acting!

If this continued, what would happen?

Pei Qian didn’t want Lu Zhiyao to win an Oscar for Best Actor someday and start his acceptance speech with “I want to thank Mr. Pei for his meticulous guidance on my acting.” That would be unbearable!

So, he really couldn’t watch anymore.

They could film however they wanted; he couldn’t interfere anymore!

Pei Qian felt like he was an observer in an experiment. Every time he observed, things would change; every time he interfered, things would develop in an even worse direction…

So, it was time to escape quickly.

Everyone was a bit disappointed, but they all knew that Mr. Pei was busy and couldn’t stay at the filming location all the time.

“Then, Mr. Pei, please go ahead with your work. I will follow the original intention of the script and perform this role well!” Lu Zhiyao’s statement was very sincere.

Pei Qian silently sighed.

The road ahead was long and arduous…

Watching Mr. Pei’s silently departing figure, Zhu Xiaocai couldn’t help but sigh.

“Mr. Pei took time out of his busy schedule to come here, correct a major misunderstanding for the actors, and then left in a hurry.”

“It seems he feels that after the actors have adjusted their mindset, there won’t be any major problems with the filming, so he left with peace of mind.”

“Yes, we must not disappoint Mr. Pei’s expectations!”

“Come on, everyone, let’s continue and shoot the next scene!”

Zhu Xiaocai and several main actors were all full of energy.

…

…

November 27th.

Saturday.

Liberal arts courses weren’t many and generally weren’t scheduled on weekends.

Tang Yishu had no classes today. After reading in her dormitory for a while in the morning, she came to the company around 10 o’clock.

Although she had already fed “Yintang” and cleaned its litter box before leaving yesterday, she was still a bit worried that it might be lonely in the company by itself, so she came to check.

The company door required an employee card to open, and this access control system was very intelligent. Regular employees’ cards could only open the door during normal working hours.

On weekends, evenings, or statutory holidays, regular employees’ cards couldn’t open the door. Only Mr. Pei’s, Assistant Xin’s, and a few administrative staff’s cards could open the door.

Considering the special nature of Tang Yishu’s work, the administrative department had also given her a card that could open the door at any time, making it convenient for her to take care of “Yintang.”

After work yesterday, Tang Yishu, accompanied by Hao Yun, carefully selected and bought a black women’s down jacket.

Hao Yun preferred pink or other brighter colors, but Tang Yishu insisted on buying this one, partly because it was cheaper, and partly because she didn’t know how to care for it and was afraid it would be difficult to clean if it got dirty.

Although the style of the down jacket itself wasn’t particularly attractive, it was warm, and Tang Yishu had a good figure that filled out clothes well, so the effect when worn wasn’t bad.

Arriving at the door, just as Tang Yishu was about to swipe her card to open it, she discovered the door was already open.

In the spacious office, Bao Xu was wearing headphones, fully concentrated on typing at the keyboard.

…He didn’t seem to be playing games.

Tang Yishu didn’t think much of it. In her understanding, coming to the office to work overtime on weekends when there were tasks to complete was quite normal and nothing to make a fuss about.

So, she took a plastic bag as usual and headed to the corner of the office, preparing to clean “Yintang’s” litter box.

However, as Tang Yishu passed by Bao Xu, he suddenly jolted violently, almost falling off his chair.

Tang Yishu was also startled and quickly stepped back. The two looked at each other in shock.

Tang Yishu lowered her head: “I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

After seeing it was Tang Yishu, Bao Xu relaxed a little, but then his expression became serious again: “Do not tell Mr. Pei that you saw me here today, understand?”

Tang Yishu nodded somewhat bewilderedly.

Bao Xu relaxed a bit, seeing that Tang Yishu looked honest and not like someone who would tattle, so he felt reassured and went back to revising his design draft.

According to Mr. Pei’s regulations, overtime had to be reported.

But Bao Xu couldn’t ruin his image! If he reported it, wouldn’t the persona he had carefully crafted in front of Mr. Pei be destroyed?

If Mr. Pei praised him in front of everyone, well, without saying anything more, another travel package would have to be arranged!

If he came secretly, Bao Xu’s access card wouldn’t be able to open the door outside of working hours.

So he came up with a plan. Every Friday, he would secretly exchange cards with a buddy in the administrative department.

The administrative department’s cards could open the access control at any time, so Bao Xu could come over on weekends to secretly work overtime, revise these design documents, and then upload them using Li Yada’s computer.

All document uploads left traces. If Bao Xu worked from home and transmitted from his own computer, Mr. Pei could potentially discover Bao Xu’s overtime by checking the upload records of the documents.

Now, by uploading from Li Yada’s computer, even if Mr. Pei checked, he wouldn’t be able to trace it back to him.

Perfect plan!

…

Tang Yishu stroked “Yintang” as it approached, then began to clean the litter box.

However, as she was scooping the cat litter with a plastic shovel, she felt something wasn’t quite right.

“Why would he specifically emphasize not letting seniors know about normal overtime?”

“He… couldn’t be doing something bad, could he?”

“Like stealing company secrets or something?”

Tang Yishu had no workplace experience, but she had read some novels and watched some TV dramas, so she had some speculations about Bao Xu’s slightly suspicious behavior.

As for whether these speculations were reasonable… Tang Yishu wasn’t sure.

She was a bit conflicted.

“Should I tell the senior about this?”

“It might be making a mountain out of a molehill.”

“But what if he is doing something bad?”