Chapter 215 - 180: Sudden Warmth, Yet Still Cold; Crying Endlessly; Learning to Make Peace with the World

’Xiao Han is a professional in her field, highly competent, and has a stable job. On top of that, she’s beautiful. As far as he knew, she had plenty of suitors!’

’If she were his daughter, he’d dote on her endlessly! How could he ever be angry with her!’

Han’s mother walked dazedly toward the Funeral Master’s office. Halfway there, she ran into Han’s father, who had come out looking for her.

His face contorted with rage, he slapped her across the face.

"What are you losing your mind for? We can’t miss our son’s auspicious time! Whether he’s a dragon or a worm in his next life all depends on this! A master calculated it! It’s said to be incredibly accurate!"

To make this auspicious burial time, they were skipping the traditional wake and sending their son straight to be cremated.

With her son’s next life on one hand and the daughter she hadn’t seen in years on the other, Han’s mother hesitated for only two seconds before silently following her husband away.

Han Su stood behind a spherically pruned pittosporum shrub, watching helplessly as they left. Tears instantly streamed from her eyes.

They had filmed three scenes in a row that morning, each taking about an hour to shoot. Ni Bingyan’s eyes ached from all the crying. Knowing there was another crying scene that afternoon, she hurried back to her RV, pulled the curtains shut, and took a quiet nap.

Once she had rested and regained her strength, filming for the afternoon began.

In this scene, she was to hide in the cemetery and cry—crying over her parents’ injustice, her own fate, and her deceased brother.

Then, her love interest, the medical examiner, would come over to console her.

’Ni Bingyan didn’t get it. Why did this kind of drama have to include a romance plot?’

’Even if romance was a ratings magnet, wasn’t it weird to have a love scene in a cemetery?’

If she found it awkward, Gao Junhui, who was used to playing domineering CEOs, found it even more unbearable.

"CUT! CUT, CUT, CUT!"

"Male lead! This is the woman you’re in love with! Are you looking at her or a pig’s ear? Can you stop being so sleazy?! You’re supposed to be a cool, brilliant medical examiner, not some greasy butcher from the village!"

Ni Bingyan was speechless.

’Such a colorful vocabulary,’ she thought. ’Why not write novels instead of being a director?’

’What did butchers ever do to you?’

"And you! Han Su! You’re supposed to be an emotionally fragile young woman! The man you like comes to comfort you, and that’s the look you give him? Where’s the love? Aren’t you touched at all? You’re as dense as a block of wood! At this rate, when are you ever going to get a boyfriend?!"

Ni Bingyan really wanted to say that she wasn’t "touched" in the slightest. In fact, she didn’t even dare to *move*.

’Who knew how many invisible spectators were here, enjoying the drama?’

’Being all lovey-dovey in front of so many people... even if it’s just acting, it’s still embarrassing, right?’

Seeing her awkward expression, Li Yiru immediately started shooing people away. "All you gawkers, back off! What are you looking at? Wait for it to air on TV, then you can watch all you want! Watch it on ten screens at once for all I care!"

Seeing her lose her temper, the crowd grumbled and sheepishly dispersed.

’Filming in a cemetery was a rare sight. It was a shame they weren’t allowed to watch.’

’What a pity for that actress. Such a pretty girl, getting yelled at by that Tyrant Flower so much she didn’t even dare to breathe.’

Ni Bingyan had no idea she had become a "poor little thing" in the eyes of the crowd; she was still busy trying to get into the right emotional state.

As time went on, she discovered a trick: if she pictured the medical examiner as a walking stack of cash, she could finally produce the required look of adoration.

After that scene was wrapped, they moved on to the one where Han Su is confronted by her parents.

According to the script, Han Su had worked the night shift and was supposed to have the day off. However, because of the unexpected situation with her brother, she hadn’t been able to leave.

After venting her feelings at the cemetery and having a deep talk about life and philosophy with the medical examiner, she didn’t realize how late it had gotten.

As dusk settled, she grabbed her bag and hurried to leave, only to be met by Han’s father and Han’s mother lying in wait at the main gate.

Seeing their ambush had succeeded, the couple quickly blocked her path.

"Little Su!"

"My good girl!"

Han Su had never seen her parents look so delighted to see her. As they grabbed her by the arms, she was a little stunned.

She was at a loss for words when she heard her mother say, laughing through her tears, "Your brother really couldn’t rest easy. He guided us to you before he passed on!"

Han Su’s expression instantly turned cold.

Her mind flashed back to her childhood.

When she got first place on her exams, her parents wouldn’t praise her. Instead, they’d praise her brother.

"She’s your sister, all right—just as smart as you!"

During the New Year, when her brother broke a bowl, the whole family applauded.

"That’s my boy! Breaking things on New Year’s is good luck—it means peace for the coming year! What a wonderful omen!"

She was little then, too. Seeing this, she deliberately pushed a bowl off the table. It hit the floor with a CRASH, shattering into a thousand pieces.

In response, her mother gave her a backhanded slap. "You’re a big girl now, and you can’t even hold a bowl steady!"

If it hadn’t been the New Year, she probably would have been denied dinner and forced to stand in the corner as punishment.

...

These past events would be performed by younger actors and edited into the final cut as a flashback sequence.