Chapter 363: Chapter 363

Huang Chengzi grabbed Sang Ning’s arm, frowning tightly. "Sang Ning, don’t push Xiao Yu too hard. That’s just her personality. Be more understanding."

Sang Ning ignored Huang Chengzi, letting her hold onto her arm.

"Say something. Why did you stop talking?" Sang Ning’s grip tightened as she grabbed Sun Bangyu’s chin and gave it a hard shake.

"S-Sorry!" Sun Bangyu gritted her teeth and apologized.

Seizing the moment when Sang Ning’s attention wavered, Sun Bangyu broke free and ran away, clutching her head.

Sang Ning turned to look at Huang Chengzi. As their eyes met, Huang Chengzi suddenly raised her hand to cover her own chin. "Sang... Sang Ning, you’re too harsh with Xiao Yu!"

"If I’m not tough on her, how will you know what hit you when you get killed during a scene with her in the future?" Sang Ning raised her hand and mimicked a karate chop, causing Huang Chengzi to shrink her neck in fright.

Getting too immersed in a role was indeed troublesome. Sun Bangyu’s issues were severe—if a future scene involved a killing, they couldn’t possibly let her actually be a Swordman, could they?

Sang Ning rubbed her forehead wearily. She had no idea what standards Qin Jiaxiang had used when selecting these students—how did they end up recruiting so many problematic individuals?

The training on the first day of camp officially concluded, and after returning to her dorm, Sang Ning washed up and collapsed into bed. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽

Maintaining good skin condition before the film officially began shooting was also an important task.

The next morning’s session was a culture lesson.

"Female Grandmaster" was an ancient martial arts-themed movie. To help the actors embody the temperament of people from historical eras, the production team had specially arranged culture classes to help the students cram ancient cultural knowledge.

For Sang Ning, studying wasn’t a painful task. In fact, she could learn another interpretation of ancient culture from the instructors, which was an enjoyable experience for her.

Acting was an entirely unfamiliar domain to Sang Ning, but the training camp’s curriculum was thoughtfully designed, progressing in a step-by-step manner. Even complete newcomers could quickly adjust.

After several days of lessons, Sang Ning didn’t feel stressed. If there was any source of discomfort, it was the bland food.

The one thing she found troubling was filming the personal promotional videos as part of the training camp. These videos were said to be used for generating buzz once the movie hit theaters.

Before officially shooting the videos, everyone was given two days to prepare. During these two days, students had to individually conceptualize the content of their promotional videos, ideally highlighting their unique traits. After the two days, the crew would arrange for photographers to record them.

To present an eye-catching experience for the audience, the core creative team of the "Female Grandmaster" production had primarily recruited new actors.

Getting to collaborate with a globally renowned director on their first movie was like winning the lottery for everyone.

Everyone placed immense importance on preparing for these promotional videos, racking their brains to come up with ideas that would leave a lasting impression on audiences.

Over the past two days, aside from attending classes and physical training sessions, whenever you saw the students, they would be in a dazed state as if their minds were wandering in outer space—all trying hard to come up with innovative ideas.

Over in the male students’ camp, there was even someone so absorbed in thought that he walked straight into a tree. Coincidentally, the tree had a wasp nest.

The collision startled the wasps, and even though he immediately ran, he was still surrounded by a swarm and got stung all over.

Although rescue was swift, his face still swelled up like a pig’s head, looking utterly miserable.

Everyone sympathized with this unlucky guy, as he encountered such bad luck right before filming the promotional video.

At this point, he didn’t need to think about whether he could leave a memorable impression on the audience—he had to focus on figuring out how to remind them what his original face looked like.

For Sang Ning, recording the promotional video was also an excellent opportunity to gain more fans. The promotional capabilities of a large production team were no joke; they certainly had the budget for marketing.

Filming personal promotional videos at a training camp was also like a hidden competitive battlefield, where no one wanted their ideas stolen.

But Sang Ning didn’t feel any strong sense of rivalry. In fact, the students even actively exchanged ideas with one another, showing a spirit of mutual support.

It made sense, considering the students were like recent college graduates—still inexperienced with work, still carrying traces of student life, and not yet steeped in worldly cunning. Their current attitudes were more about fighting side by side with passion and camaraderie.

Even someone like Wei Lejun, who usually seemed out of sync with the crowd, would occasionally share his ideas during recent nighttime dorm discussions—a sentiment of helpfulness, although his comments were often infuriating.

Sun Bangyu was particularly vexed about the content of her promotional video, as she felt she had no unique personal traits at all. When it was finally her turn to record, she imagined she would end up standing there in silence like a fool.

She sat at her desk, propping her head up and chewing on her pen, her face overshadowed by gloom.

Huang Chengzi happened to walk by and spotted the chaotic scrawl on Sun Bangyu’s notebook, so she asked, "Xiao Yu, are you stuck on what to include in your video?"

Sun Bangyu deliberately turned her head to seek Huang Chengzi’s gaze.

This was the result of Sang Ning’s recent rigorous training regimen imposed on Sun Bangyu.

Sang Ning had set a rule for Sun Bangyu: when speaking to others, she had to maintain direct eye contact as a sign of respect—even if she couldn’t find the words to say, she must at least establish some level of visual interaction.

Initially, Sun Bangyu resisted. Unless she was acting, having eye contact with others made her feel unbearably uncomfortable as if ants were crawling all over her skin.

At first, Sang Ning enlisted the help of the other two girls in their dorm to assist with her training.

Practicing with Huang Chengzi, who exuded a soft and non-threatening aura, was manageable. But when it came to Wei Lejun, whose face perpetually carried a "I’m so cool, I’m so impatient" vibe, Sun Bangyu became dispirited and cried countless times during the exercises.

Wei Lejun thoroughly enjoyed watching Sun Bangyu transform into a little crybaby. His favorite activity became locking eyes with Sun Bangyu daily.

It must be said, the method proved effective—Sun Bangyu quickly became desensitized to Wei Lejun’s intimidating glare.

Originally, it seemed like progress had been made and the matter was resolved. But then Sang Ning took things to an extreme, demanding Sun Bangyu practice eye contact with the male students.

Whenever a male student refused to cooperate, Sang Ning would resort to violence, forcing them to obediently help Sun Bangyu overcome her sensitivity.

The final result was that Sun Bangyu successfully overcame her fear and was finally able to make eye contact during normal social interactions.

But the male students became overly wary—in the presence of Sun Bangyu and Sang Ning, they would vanish without a trace like frightened rabbits.

After meeting Huang Chengzi’s gaze, Sun Bangyu finally nodded and replied, "Mhm-hm."

Not only had Sun Bangyu learned to exchange glances with others, but she was also speaking more than before.

Her inner world was astonishingly rich, and she had a tendency to immerse herself completely in imagining she was someone else—even to a borderline unhealthy extent.