True Star Chapter 43

None of Tang Feng’s parts today had spoken lines, so he only had to pretend to play the guqin and share illicit glances with the female lead. The props had been set up, and the director yelled the command to begin.

Although the usual English order, “Action!”, had now become “Kais.h.i.+!”,Tang Feng nevertheless felt goose b.u.mps forming on his skin as he heard the director’s commanding voice. A long-lost feeling seized his heart.

Outside the camera, Tang Feng was himself. However, once he stepped into the camera’s eye, Tang Feng became just a character of the story.

A slow breeze softly brushed the black strands of his hair onto his face. At this moment, he was no more than a court musician bound to the imperial palace by invisible chains. His entire life’s thoughts and feelings, words that could not be said, the endless loneliness, could only be expressed through the chords at his fingertips.

All around him was the joyous chatter of the emperor’s wine banquet, but he heard only the sounds of the guqin.

Without any descriptions, and without any close-up shots, just by sitting there, he was like a painting.

Standing by the sidelines, Xiao Yu gaped with her eyes wide open. She had had a hunch since the first time she saw Tang Feng; that he would create great results in the future. Even then, as she watched his performance before the camera, she was still inevitably shocked.

That was what one would call acting, wasn’t it? There was no need for any dialogue or any exaggerated facial expressions. Tang Feng’s downcast eyes carried sadness within them, and the corners of his lips held a strand of solitude. It was simple and clear.

A thousand words couldn’t win over the bit of melancholy caught between his brows.

The scene was still a faraway shot of the entire festivity, but the noisy and bustling surroundings only served as a foil for the white clad figure.

The focus of this scene was never supposed to be the musician hidden within the crowd, yet the musician was exactly the highlight of the scene.

Xiao Yu grinned. She grinned and grinned, and suddenly, she felt an urge to cry. True pearls do s.h.i.+ne.

Acting as a court maid in the scene, the female lead meandered her way through the crowd until, suddenly, the musician looked up and met her eyes, which carried the same loneliness as his within them. He saw a young girl’s confusion and helplessness toward her future. He saw his past self through her, and in their similarity or perhaps out of pity, the musician smiled faintly at her.

Like a clear spring besides a lake of scorching fire, he cleansed the girl’s heart that had fallen into the dark abyss.

Someday, he would give his life up for her.

Someday, she would be the owner of the imperial harem. Looking at the countless people that pa.s.sed before her eyes during the banquet, would she still remember that one man who gave her a peaceful smile?

Perhaps she would, and because she would remember, she would become even more laden with grief. She would live on, carrying his hopes and happiness for him.

“Cut! Alright, done!” The director ordered. The scene was finished in one shot.

Actors had to enter their role quickly, but they had to leave just as fast. The lives of the people in the story were, in the end, simply written by someone. Yet, one’s own life had to go on.

Tang Feng stood up from his seat and casually brushed his hair away from his face. A delicate and pretty lady walked up to him. It was the one whom he had exchanged eye contact with earlier, the female lead highly praised by the producer of this series.

“I’m Tang Tian Tian, coincidentally the same last name as yours. Maybe we shared similar ancestors.” The girl laughed heartily as she held out her hand, “Your acting earlier was wonderful. It drew me in instantly.”

“Tang Tian Tian. Tang is naturally sweet, but I think you’re even more so. Even your words are sweet.” Tang Feng smiled and opened his arms “If we share ancestors, then you might be my distant sister. Little sister, come give your big brother a hug.”

Tang Tian Tian coolly went up and gave the man a hug.