Chapter 70: The Celestial Beauty's Unfathomable Trust in Zhang Yang

[Zhang Yang]: ?
[Liu Yifei]: Heard you're quite a whiz at making coffee?
"I knew it." Zhang Yang tilted his head toward Guli Nazha, his gaze sweeping across her face.
It must have been this girl who couldn't keep secrets, posting photos on her QQ Zone to show off, only for Liu Yifei to see them.
[Zhang Yang]: I am indeed quite skilled at it. Even Sister Tang, Sister Shishi, and Nazha can't stop praising it.
[Liu Yifei]: Heh, men. You've never made any for me on set, and to think my... mom treats you so well.
"I've treated you to drinks a few times. You must have known I love coffee, yet you kept it from me. Just you wait..."
Liu Yifei bit her lip in displeasure.
Ever since Zhang Yang left with Nazha, she had found the remaining time on set rather tedious. Fortunately, they were finally wrapping up soon, and her mood had been improving.
Yet, seeing Nazha's QQ Zone post instantly swept away her good mood.
[Zhang Yang]: I didn't make you any because I knew you didn't like this particular style.
"I wouldn't make such a rookie mistake." Zhang Yang wore a faint smile.
Liu Yifei was someone who loved coffee, drinking it almost every day on the set of *The Four*.
Unlike Tiffany Tang and the others, Liu Yifei had a strong preference for black coffee—meaning no sugar and no milk.
"An excuse!" Liu Yifei pressed her lips together, her slender fingers tapping rapidly on the screen.
[Liu Yifei]: Do I look that easy to fool?
[Zhang Yang]: Fool you about what? Sister Yifei, isn't black coffee your absolute favorite?
"Huh?" Liu Yifei's eyes flicked.
She hadn't expected Zhang Yang to notice such a detail. He was actually quite observant.
Before she could reply, another message came in from Zhang Yang.
[Zhang Yang]: What I made for Sister Tang and the others was a "raw coconut latte"—sweet and milky. If I made that for you, you'd definitely think I was playing a prank, figure I was trying to poison you, and then beat me up.
"What nonsense, I'm not that unreasonable, nor do I have violent tendencies." A smile bloomed on Liu Yifei's face.
[Liu Yifei]: Well, at least you're self-aware.
[Zhang Yang]: Exactly. Me stealing a sip of your coffee is fine, but I'd never dare make one for you.
[Liu Yifei]: But since Nazha said it was so delicious, I'm quite interested.
[Zhang Yang]: Oh, that's simple. Next time we film together, I'll brew you a cup right on set.
[Liu Yifei]: That's more like it.
Liu Yifei nodded in satisfaction.

After chatting a bit more, she put down her phone and picked up her script.
Lifting her head, she caught Liu Xiaoli giving her a look of utter disgust.
"Mom, why are you looking at me like that?" Liu Yifei hugged Liu Xiaoli.
Liu Xiaoli said expressionlessly, "Judging by that worthless look of yours just now, how else do you expect me to look at you?"
Her mood had been fine, but suddenly she started getting angry. She thought something major had happened, only to find out it was because of a cup of coffee.
She was fuming a moment ago, yet after chatting with Zhang Yang on QQ for just a little while, she was all smiles.
She began to wonder if she had been too strict in the past, leaving Liu Yifei far too naive.
"What do you mean 'worthless'? I was just playing hard to get with Ah Yang for a bit of fun." Liu Yifei stubbornly defended herself, gesturing with her fingers.
If anyone had captured that gesture on camera and leaked it, Liu Yifei would have lost her South Korean market in a heartbeat.
"Who is playing hard to get with whom, exactly?" Liu Xiaoli gently shook her head. "Given Ah Yang's current popularity, when do you think you'll ever share a movie set with him again?"
Liu Yifei's smile froze: "..."
Liu Xiaoli continued, "When you're reviewing your next script, you might even end up proactively pulling strings for him."
Liu Yifei instinctively frowned. "Mom, I think you're overthinking it. Ah Yang would never calculate against me."
"Not necessarily." Liu Xiaoli held a different opinion. "My impression of Ah Yang is that his character is quite good, and he has both ability and talent. But that doesn't mean he doesn't strategize."
"Ah Yang is extremely smart, very good at socializing and turning situations to his advantage. When I say he calculates, I don't mean he steps on others for personal gain; I mean he's adept at seizing opportunities and riding the momentum."
Hearing this, Liu Yifei's expression softened considerably, her eyes turning serious. "Mom, I believe Ah Yang wouldn't calculate against me, even if he were riding the momentum."
"I'll prove it to you."
Changchun Film Studio and Beijing Enlight Pictures were planning to produce a movie titled *The Assassins*, and had already sent people to invite her to play the female lead. The male lead was Chow Yun-fat, alongside Alec Su, Annie Yi, and others.
Such a major production with an all-star cast was impossible for most first-tier actors to refuse, let alone Zhang Yang.
She would help Zhang Yang secure an audition opportunity, but she firmly believed Zhang Yang wouldn't accept it.
Unless Zhang Yang had no feelings for her and didn't care about his own self-respect.
"I'll wait and see." Liu Xiaoli could roughly guess what Liu Yifei was thinking and smiled.
She would gladly let herself be proven wrong; after all, she would treat Zhang Yang like a son from then on.

Zhang Yang was completely unaware of the conversation between Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei.
At this moment, he had already arrived on set with Tiffany Tang, the other two actresses, and Jiang Jinfu to begin filming.
"There were only three scenes scheduled for today, but we ended up filming five. This efficiency is damn impressive!"
"All five were done in one take. Of course the efficiency is going to be high!"
"Ah Yang's acting wasn't bad before, but he wasn't this freakishly good."
"He was already naturally talented, and then he spent two whole years focusing on his studies at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He's just gotten even more monstrous."
"It means we get to relax a bit more. Good thing."
"..."
At the end of the day's shoot, the crew members from Chinese Entertainment looked at Zhang Yang as if he were some kind of monster.
Whenever it was Zhang Yang's turn to film, he could pull it off in a single take, often even dragging his scene partners through in one take as well. He approached every scene with the meticulous attitude of shooting a feature film.
Even their agency's top star, Hu Ge, didn't possess this kind of efficiency and prowess when filming.
In stark contrast, Jiang Jinfu and Lin Gengxin didn't have such smooth sailing, suffering NGs every now and then.
Jiang Jinfu, in particular, was poles apart from Zhang Yang's performance. However, since filming had just begun, the directors were neither anxious nor angry, patiently coaching the actors, guiding them step by step on blocking, emotional delivery, and performance techniques.

"No rush to enter the dream a second time just yet."
After typing out some script notes on his computer, Zhang Yang lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and letting his thoughts wander.
He was currently in top form for acting, pushing the methodology approach to its absolute limit. He could fully utilize this period on set to deeply analyze character psychology and expression, ensuring a higher synchronization rate during his second dream immersion without wasting any opportunity points.
Lost in thought, Zhang Yang gradually drifted off to sleep.

For the next several days, he maintained a steady, high-level performance, boasting astonishingly high filming efficiency.
Not only that, but Nazha and Liu Shishi found it exceptionally easy to get into character when sharing scenes with him, often delivering transcendent performances.
Liu Shishi's scenes were mostly connected to Zhang Yang, so her performance this time around was equally dazzling.
Nazha had plenty of scenes with Jiang Jinfu and others, but whenever she hit a snag, she would turn to Zhang Yang for help, resolving issues smoothly.
Jiang Jinfu had no prior acting experience and could be considered a complete newcomer, so expectations for him were low, and everyone was quite forgiving.
By comparison, the performance of "veteran actress" Tiffany Tang turned out to be the most disappointing.
She was fine when acting opposite Zhang Yang, but the moment she shared a scene with Jiang Jinfu, she lost her focus entirely, performing even worse than the newbie.
"Tangtang, in this part you should..." The director was once again coaching Tiffany Tang and Jiang Jinfu.
Lin Gengxin walked over to Zhang Yang and chuckled teasingly, "Ah Yang, tomorrow is the seventh day. You're going to lose."
Zhang Yang glanced at him. "I almost forgot about that bet."
"Don't regret it later."
"Regret?" Lin Gengxin smiled calmly.
Tiffany Tang cared about her pride; how could she possibly ask Zhang Yang to teach her acting after having explicitly refused him before?
"Impossible, absolutely impossible."