Everyone in the cast went on break for that first day after New Year's Eve. The next day, they resumed the filming. Liu Man's last scene was going to be filmed on that evening at that garden villa.
In the script, this filmed happened right after Ji Ning spent the money on this second-hand garden villa, all the furniture, and all the decorations. The family of five were moving into their new home.
Ji Ning's bedroom was at the end of the corridor on the second floor, and she had her private closet and bathroom. It was the largest room out of the entire garden villa. Ji An's room was right next to hers, with only one wall in between. Gu Qing's room was farthest away from Ji Ning's; his bedroom was at the other end of the hallway.
The trio was fine at the start, until this morning. Gu Qing asked Ji Ning out for a chat, and they argued the garden. Gu Qing couldn't resist but hugged her. Meanwhile, Ji An was in her bedroom on the second floor. She didn't sleep, so she saw it all, and her jealousy made her lose her sanity.
When Ji Ning went back to her room, Ji An quietly followed her in. She then killed Ji Ning by strangling her with a plastic rope.
Liu Man, using the break time yesterday, thought a lot about how she would be acting in this scene.
The sky turned completely dark, and Liu Man's work started.
There were four cameras set up in the garden, and there were two more on the second floor. They would all be filming Ji Ning and Gu Qing's conversation in the garden later so they could have all the perspectives.
Liu Man changed into a pair of beige colored pajamas. The make-up artist helped her tie her hair up and purposely made it messy, so it looked as if she had just woken up.
The first scene started in her bedroom:
Liu Man laid on her bed under a thin blanket. The prop master had already adjusted the clock on the wall, so it read one o'clock in the morning instead of seven o'clock in the evening.
"Get in your positions, everyone," Ye Zian ordered, "Action."
A knock on the bedroom door suddenly came.
Ji Ning sat up on her bed, feeling very sleepy. She rubbed her eyes and took a look at the clock on the wall.
"Ning Ning, can you come outside for a second?"
Gu Qing's voice came from outside the door, which he purposely lowered.
]Ji Ning picked up the thin jacket beside her bed, put it on, and opened the door.
Gu Qing was standing at her doorway. He was also wearing his pajamas, but his hair wasn't messy. It was apparent that he hadn't slept at all.
"Why do you need me at such a late time? If you have anything to say, tell me tomorrow at school," Ji Ning whispered, afraid of being heard. She wanted to close the door but was blocked by Gu Qing's arm. He used his other hand to grab Ji Ning, dragging her outside.
"Okay, Liu Man, get off stage. Next scene! Yang Huayue on stage," Ye Zian ordered again, wasting no time.
Yang Huayue walked into Ji Ning's bedroom, also wearing a pair of pajamas.
The videographer aimed the camera at the doorway of Ji An's bedroom.
"Start."
Ye Zian said, then the scene began. The door was pulled open from the inside, leaving a small crack. An eye, coldly and darkly, looked out. The videographer gave these eyes a close-up that lasted seven seconds.
Yang Huayue's eyes were darkened with a deep shade of mascara, like bags under her eyes. When the light dimmed, it did look scary. Her eyes slowly panned from left to right, as if seeing Gu Qing and Ji Ning walk right past her door.
The scene of her eyes ended.
And then, they started to film Ji An watching Ji Ning and Gu Qing from her window. The director, videographer, and the other staff quickly moved to the garden on the first floor.
"Huayue, don't stand right in the middle of the window, move a bit, towards the left window frame. Hide half of your body behind curtains," Ye Zian held a speaker and said to Yang Huayue.
Liu Man was waiting in the garden with her puffer jacket. She was also looking towards the second floor. She thought Yang Huayue's costume this time looked scary. Yang Huayue was wearing a long, white night robe, and her long hair, which reached her chest were messy and uncombed. She was standing upright in front of her window, like a female ghost wearing a white dress.
So, in the script, the female lead, Yan Xialan, got scared by such a Ji An ten years later.
"Director Ye, is my current position okay?" Yang Huayue called down towards Ye Zian.
Ye Zian made an okay-hand.
The filming started.
The night was dark and misty, and only a white silhouette could be seen from the second window to the right on the second floor. The camera rose to midair and got nearer to this window, while the outline of this silhouette became clearer. It was Ji An, whose face seemed almost as pale as her night robe. Her large eyes were transfixed on a certain location in the garden, and her expression became twisted, hideous, and filled with hatefulness.
Then, abruptly, she seemed to have thought of something. She turned to go back into her room, and her silhouette disappeared.
"It's okay," Ye Zian watched the part they had just filmed, "Tell the editors to fix the coloring, and the lighting is still too bright."
The assistant immediately said, "Yes, sir."
"Qiao Xin, Liu Man, it's time for you to get onstage."
Liu Man heard the order and immediately took off her puffer jacket. The stylist came up to adjust the wrinkles on her costume. The scene that she and Qiao Xin were about to shoot was a bit special.
In the script, the duo had a conversation that lasted for two minutes, but Ye Zian said that in the end, the editor was only going to take the first three seconds and the last twelve seconds, which was a total of fifteen seconds of the scene. Their voices were also going to be wiped away, for this scene was only a piece of memory from Ji An. It was also one of the clues in the last part of the movie, and it was going to be a mime. A scene filmed from far away wouldn't include voices, and it wouldn't need any sound.
But Ye Zian still wanted Liu Man and Qiao Xin to act out the entire conversation, and every line from the script had to be said. He said this wasn't this useless, for this would make the plot more coherent and help the pair blend into the scene.
Ye Zian had already planned out where they were going to stand, and he drew out the markings on the ground. Liu Man stood on her mark and was face-to-face with Qiao Xin.
This was her first time being face-to-face with the male lead, Qiao Xin - It was also her only time.
"Are you completely memorized with your lines?" Qiao Xin suddenly asked her.
Liu Man didn't expect Qiao Xin would draw up a conversation with her. She didn't forget how Qiao Xin gave her a hard time by forcing her to drink at that dinner party two days ago.
She had nothing against him. A man challenging an innocent girl was ridiculous.
But, seeing that her part-time job was almost over, Liu Man didn't want anything wrong to happen, so she replied, "Yes, I've memorized it all."
Qiao Xin was going to say something else, but his eyes somehow went to Liu Man's chest. Liu Man's beige pajamas were a bit too thin that her underclothes could be seen. Of course, the director and the audience wouldn't see it since they would be watching them from the camera, but Qiao Xin could because he was standing straight across from Liu Man. Liu Man was a pretty girl with a clean, ingenuous temperament. From how she was wearing this pair of pajamas, she was very attractive.
Qiao Xin cooperated with many belles over the years, but he had to admit Liu Man was very intriguing. This was not about love but a man's physiological system.