Chapter 102: So, Why Are You So Familiar with Daytime Dramas?

“Brother Ye Zhao, when you’re delivering your lines, don’t keep staring at me so intently. Try to be more relaxed and natural.”
...
“Isn’t the emotional handling here a bit too rushed? Brother Ye Zhao, Eiji Toono and my sister were drawn to each other in isolation, forming a forbidden love. Rather than love, they were each other’s spiritual support. After my sister passed away, Eiji’s pillar of strength collapsed. Since then, what’s kept him going is his hatred, his desire for revenge. Now that hatred has run its course, his emotional breakdown here should be more desperate, more intense, right?” Yukie Nakama explained the scene to him with clear authority.
...
“Xiaohui, I didn’t expect you to be so sharp.”
“Actually, all these mistakes were mine before, and my teacher corrected me countless times,” Yukie Nakama said with a hint of embarrassment. “So even though I speak so clearly, if I were acting it myself, I’d probably mess it up badly.”
“No way. At least when I act opposite you, you pull me into the role,” Ye Zhao, proud to be the “model big brother of Japan,” complimented her with a proud smile.
“Thank you.” Yukie Nakama sat down beside him and stretched lazily.
“I should be the one thanking you for taking time to practice with me.”
“Even if I didn’t practice with you, Brother Ye Zhao, I’d still rehearse in front of the mirror at home.”
Hearing that, Ye Zhao immediately recalled Yukie Nakama playing four different roles by herself. “By the way, do you still perform those overly dramatic plots in front of the mirror—the kind that wouldn’t even appear in daytime soap operas?”
“You’re using way too many sarcastic adjectives!”
“Have you never watched daytime dramas? The heroine from a poor background becomes a maid in a wealthy family but is forced into a relationship by the master. Her husband, to take revenge, disguises himself as a gardener to seduce the master’s daughter. When the master finds out, he kills the husband. Then the heroine discovers she’s pregnant with the master’s child, barely gives birth, and the child is taken away. She lives alone for thirty years, poor and ill, until she finally finds her lost child and dies with tears in her arms.” Ye Zhao smiled at her. “Isn’t that strikingly similar to the plots you come up with?”
“Not at all!” Yukie Nakama pouted.
Ye Zhao continued, “But Xiaohui, although actors must take on all kinds of roles, your manager should be very careful about signing you up for daytime dramas.”
“...” Yukie Nakama responded with a gentle push to Ye Zhao’s shoulder instead of words.
Ye Zhao leaned back into the sofa and laughed heartily.
Yukie Nakama stood up. “I’m heading home!”
Ye Zhao instinctively reached out to pull her back, and when his hand touched hers, he noticed her fingertips were a bit cold. He had heard that people with poor circulation often had cold fingertips, especially girls. For some reason, that thought struck him deeply.

The small hand in his grasp struggled slightly—not breaking free, but not clasping his hand either. When she sat back down on the sofa, Ye Zhao moved closer and said, “Even if I’m awful, can you not abandon me, just for the sake of your favorite Tomosaka-san?”
“What does Tomosaka-san have to do with this?” Yukie Nakama whispered.
“Everything. You’ve read the script—every scene I have is with Tomosaka-san and Domoto-san. If I don’t practice seriously, when filming begins, I’ll mess up constantly, and Tomosaka-san will have to reshoot again and again just to accommodate me. If you give up on me now, then your favorite Tomosaka-san will have a hard time.”
“...Alright, then, for Tomosaka-san’s sake, I’ll practice with you a bit more.” Yukie Nakama pulled her hand back, picked up the script from the table, and gave Ye Zhao a fierce look. “But to make sure you don’t hold Tomosaka-san back, next up is going to be devilish training mode.”
“Uh, Xiaohui, personal vendettas are against the rules.”
Yukie Nakama smiled sweetly. For a moment, Ye Zhao almost felt as if her arms had turned into dark wings.
...

The first scenes to be filmed in this episode were indoor shots, all taking place in the NTV-owned studio. Unlike the two-camera setup used for the first episode’s outdoor scenes, this stage shoot employed five cameras.

When a newcomer acts opposite an experienced veteran, it’s easier to get into character under their guidance. That said, this drama, essentially a showcase for Domoto Tsuyoshi to gain experience and fame, mostly features Domoto Tsuyoshi and the somewhat ornamental Tomosaka Rie as the leads. The rest are just background players, so acting opposite someone else is nearly impossible.

The actors Ye Zhao shared the most scenes with were Tomosaka Rie and Domoto Tsuyoshi. In this episode, he even got innocently caught in the crossfire, becoming an imagined rival in Kindaichi’s romantic affairs.

Though still classified as idols, Tomosaka Rie and Domoto Tsuyoshi have considerable acting experience. Both, at a young age, have either starred in their own dramas or held important roles.

Acting alongside such experienced but still developing actors might not fully draw Ye Zhao into character, but at least it keeps him grounded. Coupled with crash courses from the acting school and Yukie Nakama’s help, the initial scenes went very smoothly.

The current scene being filmed involved the group splitting up to find a way out of the forest after the first victim was discovered at the resort villa. Eiji Toono and Miyuki Nanase were paired together. Miyuki was startled by a pigeon that suddenly flew out, accidentally stepped into a trap, and was injured by an axe. Back at the villa, Kindaichi blamed Eiji Toono.

This scene was a duet between Domoto Tsuyoshi and Ye Zhao. Though both were leads, Ye Zhao’s role was essentially to accept Domoto’s reproach with a guilty expression.

Domoto’s acting was very spirited. Though officially an idol, he started as a child actor in a theater troupe. His body language, facial expressions, and character understanding are all well developed, making him a pleasure to act alongside.

When the director called “cut,” Domoto quickly released Ye Zhao’s collar and bowed sincerely. “Ye Zhao-san, I’m sorry for being so forceful.”
“No worries. Your acting is really good. It feels natural acting with you.”
“Well... if you don’t mind, you can just call me ‘Tsuyoshi-kun.’ I’m much younger than you.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll call you ‘Tsuyoshi-kun.’” Ye Zhao smiled and agreed. Domoto’s seniority was complicated—though younger than Ye Zhao, he’d been acting on stage since 1990, making him an actual senior from his theater troupe days. But since joining Johnny’s as an “undeclared newcomer,” he was still considered junior in the agency, and he was four years younger in age. That made addressing him tricky—a common dilemma for former child stars.

Since Domoto offered first, Ye Zhao happily went along with it.

Among the cast in this episode, Tomosaka Rie, Domoto Tsuyoshi, and Ye Zhao were closest in age. During lunch break, Ye Zhao had planned to continue chatting with director Tsutsumi Yukihiko but was stopped by Tomosaka Rie. Along with Domoto Tsuyoshi, the three sat outside the studio, eating and chatting.

“Ye Zhao-san, Tsuyoshi-kun, do you know about purikura?” Tomosaka Rie asked. The first purikura machines appeared in 1995 at RB, but they weren’t yet popular.
Domoto shook his head.
“Is Tomosaka-san talking about sticker photos?”
Tomosaka nodded vigorously. “Exactly! When I was shooting for SEVENTEEN magazine, the makeup artist told me about it. It sounds really fun.” Then she smiled wryly. “Ye Zhao-san, you’ve switched from calling Domoto-san to Tsuyoshi-kun, can you change ‘Tomosaka-san’ too?”
“What should I call you then? Tomosaka-ojousan?” Ye Zhao teased.
“No way, no way. I wanted you to call me ‘Meg-chan,’ but it seems you already have a Xiaohui nearby.” Tomosaka teased about the previous incident.
Ye Zhao wasn’t buying it. “More than one. I probably know a dozen people named ‘Xiaohui.’”
“Really?”
“Then how do you save so many ‘Xiaohui’s in your phone?” Domoto, from Kansai, was quick to joke.
“Of course, by their traits. Like the one from Kansai is ‘Leopard Print Xiaohui,’ the one who likes playing Super Mario is ‘Mushroom Xiaohui,’ and the clumsy one is ‘Klutz Xiaohui.’”
“What about TOMO-chan? What kind of Xiaohui would suit her?”
“Hmm,” Ye Zhao thought, “Probably ‘Gossip Xiaohui’ or ‘Drama Lover Xiaohui.’”
Ye Zhao and Domoto bantered back and forth until Tomosaka interrupted, fuming, “Hey, you two!”
Still, Ye Zhao eventually followed Domoto’s lead and called Tomosaka Rie “TOMO-chan.” As a sign of their growing friendship, they both stopped calling Ye Zhao “Ye Zhao-san” and switched to “Kanou-niisan.” In kanji, that might earn Ye Zhao a whole basket of teasing as “Brother Ye.”
...