Chapter 153 Graduation Project

"Fanxi, you will have many works in the future, but there is only one graduation project. So you need to think clearly about what you want to photograph most, and make this work a unique memento in your life."

In the minimalist design space interwoven with black, white, and gray, Feng Huacan sat at the table, earnestly instructing Meng Fanxi.

The young man sitting opposite him had short, neat hair, and his clear eyes fell into deep thought after hearing Director Feng's words.

Graduation season is approaching. He has gained a lot in the past few years at Yunxi. Yunxi emphasizes students' practical abilities and has also cultivated his habit of always having equipment with him and always looking around. Gu Huailang later came to Yunxi as well, just like his choice in his previous life, and entered the film and television performance department of Yunxi.

With a free hardworking actor like Gu Huailang by his side at all times, he also shot many short films. Watching the performance from the director's perspective is another indescribable experience.

Of course, one of the biggest gains from Yunxi was getting to know Director Feng. Over the past few years, Director Feng has been like a disciple to him and Gu Huailang, imparting almost all his knowledge to them.

In particular, Director Feng even became his graduation project advisor. Meng Fanxi thought that a specially invited professor shouldn't have any guidance tasks, but when he tried to ask Director Feng, Director Feng agreed as if he had expected it.

There are no restrictions on graduation projects. As long as you present a sincere work that can impress the judges, you can graduate.

Meng Fanxi was initially somewhat apprehensive about his graduation project. After all, he had felt truly hopeless when he was working on his graduation project at a science and engineering school in his previous life, and he didn't even know how he got through it.

Now that he is doing the work he loves, and he can fully express himself in his graduation project, a spark gradually ignited in Meng Fanxi's eyes.

Seeing this, Feng Huacan knew that he had understood what he meant, and he picked up the teacup with satisfaction and sipped the tea carefully.

"Have you found a direction yet?" Feng Huacan asked.

Meng Fanxi pondered for a moment and said, "I have an idea that I have kept in my heart for a long time. If possible, I hope to realize it in this graduation project."

Feng Huacan raised an eyebrow: "Oh? What is it?"

Meng Fanxi smiled.

Graduation projects can take many forms, including short films, documentaries, and even commercials. Meng Fanxi almost immediately decided that he wanted to make a short narrative film.

When Meng Fanxi called, Xu You was in the recording studio, polishing the final product over and over again. When he saw that it was Meng Fanxi calling, his expression was quite strange. He immediately stopped working and answered the phone under the watchful eyes of all the staff in the recording studio.

"Hello? Fanxi, what's wrong?" They usually communicated by sending messages and rarely called directly. The original intention of teasing turned into worry about whether there was something serious the moment he answered the phone.

"Huh? Me?"

"...Not really. I'm willing to do so, as long as you don't despise me."

"...Haha, okay, I'll clear out my schedule for you."

The sound engineer watched as Xu You's expression underwent a complete 360-degree change, from worry to relaxation to surprise and happiness, a stark contrast to his serious and earnest demeanor in front of them.

Why are you smiling so happily in front of your teammates?

After hanging up the phone, Xu You coughed, adjusted his expression, and became serious after meeting the complicated gazes around him: "Continue."

Meng Fanxi breathed a sigh of relief after dealing with the easiest person, but it was only the beginning.

Next, instead of calling his teammates first, he called Wei Ye to inquire about their upcoming schedule.

Wei didn't say anything and just sent it over.

Perhaps finding it strange that there was a sudden change in schedule, he received a call from Wei Ye the next second.

"What's wrong? Why do you suddenly need everyone's schedule?" Wei asked.

"If I were to say that I have a bold idea..." Meng Fanxi deliberately hesitated, leaving some suspense.

"No!" Wei Ye's first reaction was shock. He immediately remembered how he had agreed to Zhang Yang's trip abroad when the six of them came to him together. Now he was actually a little regretful. "Don't cause any more trouble. I can't take it. Zhang Yang is finally coming back soon."

Meng Fanxi was amused by him. "What are you thinking?"

"Isn't it supposed to be based on the schedule, seeing when everyone's free, then gathering everyone together to announce some..." Wei Ye carefully chose his words, "...some major decisions?"

Meng Fanxi was speechless for a moment, as if that was true to some extent.

It's almost been four years since their debut. In other groups, the members would have moved out and had their own little world by now, but the six of them still live together, and no one has suggested moving out on their own.

Even Zhang Yang, who is currently studying abroad, still occasionally tries to find out if Wei You has moved in and occupied his room.

However, their busy schedules meant that their dormitory hadn't been able to get together for a long time, with someone always absent, though the group chat never stopped.

VIER has had almost no group activities for nearly a year, and there has been no shortage of speculation from the outside world. A large number of people are still unwilling to believe that they would wait until all the members are together just because one person is absent.

People are more inclined to believe that they care more about their personal careers and want to use the group as a stepping stone to make their personal careers even more brilliant.

Wei Ye's concerns seem to be not without merit.

"Alright, Brother Ye, I'm just kidding you. I just hope everyone can be the protagonist of my graduation project."

There was no sound coming from the phone receiver for a long time. Just when Meng Fanxi thought that Wei Ye's signal was bad or that he had moved away from the phone receiver, he heard Wei Ye slowly say, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have doubted you, the biggest fan leader."

Meng Fanxi checked everyone's schedules one by one, and his worries finally subsided. Everyone was free for a while afterward, so he confidently sent invitations to everyone except Zhang Yang.

He planned to surprise Zhang Yang and tell him later, since he would definitely be the most free member of the group after he returned, with plenty of time.

The teammates who received the invitation were more supportive than Meng Fanxi had imagined. They all tacitly expressed that they were not only willing to participate in the performance, but also willing to do odd jobs for him to help him reduce the filming costs, which made Meng Fanxi laugh and cry.

Even these actors, who have accumulated a lot of experience in acting, agreed to take the role without even reading the script. When he said that the script was not yet available, they were not worried at all and gave Meng Fanxi their full trust.

Of course, among them, Xu You is a complete novice in acting, except for having acted in music videos. Ren Yuchen and Lin Ruohe's primary task now is to teach the novice how to get started.

Meng Fanxi often received painful cries from Xu You: "Acting is so hard! What kind of role am I supposed to play?! These two devils almost turned me back into a caveman."

As for Gu Huailang, while Meng Fanxi was busy preparing the script, Feng Huacan had some free time, and Gu Huailang was the one who suffered. Whenever he had free time, he was dragged to Director Feng's place to help with odd jobs.

The days passed by in such a fulfilling way.

Zhang Yang returned to China in the morning. Only Meng Fanxi was available to pick him up at the airport because she was focused on her graduation project and hadn't taken on any new engagements. Everyone else was too late to come back.

So a rather comical scene unfolded at the airport.

After Meng Fanxi arrived at the airport, he started a group video call. No one answered the first time. It wasn't until the third time that his teammates gradually appeared in the video frame.

Almost all of them were lying in the hotel, fast asleep with their eyes half-open. Meng Fanxi openly pressed the screenshot button, planning to share this photo with everyone when they looked back on this period of their youth, so that they could also see these sleeping postures.

Wei Ye, who watched the whole process and witnessed Meng Fanxi personally leaving behind the dark history of everyone's sleeping appearance: "..."

On second thought, these people's sleeping postures had already been fully exposed on the sleeping prank variety show. They had no image at all, so he turned his head silently.

Lin Ruohe had just finished filming a night scene and had only gone to sleep a short while, but he had been talking about it since the day before, reminding Meng Fanxi to video call him when he went to pick him up at the airport. At this moment, he was still sleepy and his words were light and airy: "Is Zhang Yang almost here?"

There weren't many people at the airport. Meng Fanxi and Wei Ye, both wearing baseball caps, found an inconspicuous corner, put on their headphones, and whispered, "We'll be there soon. You can take a little more nap. I'll wake you up when we get out."

No one was being polite, and soon snoring could be heard coming from the earpieces; it was unclear who was making it.

Just as the five of them were about to drift off into their second dream, Meng Fanxi's slightly excited voice came through the phone: "It's out! It's out!"

Zhang Yang's appearance had hardly changed, except that he was tanned darker and his hair had grown a bit longer. However, this was all within Meng Fanxi's expectations. They had kept in touch all year, but now their video call had turned into a face-to-face meeting. The two gave each other a firm hug, and Wei opened his arms to welcome Zhang Yang's return.

VIER in its complete form is back!

After a long flight, Zhang Yang looked tired, but his smile melted away the chill of the morning. He opened his phone and saw Lin Ruohe, who was struggling to keep her eyes open; Xu You, who was starting to talk nonsense; Ren Yuchen, who was barely the most awake; and Gu Huailang, who had already fallen into a deep sleep.

He did the same thing as Meng Fanxi: he took a screenshot and saved it.

Meng Fanxi chuckled to himself as the three of them got into the car waiting outside.

While listening to Zhang Yang and Wei Ye share their thoughts on the past year, Meng Fanxi pondered how to invite Zhang Yang, since Zhang Yang still had quite a few scenes in the nascent script.

Seeing Xu You's struggle to learn acting, Meng Fanxi was conflicted. Zhang Yang had also never studied acting and was passionate about music. Although he knew that Zhang Yang would definitely accept if he made the invitation, Meng Fanxi still hoped that the script itself would be attractive to Zhang Yang.

After thinking for a long time, Meng Fanxi found an opportunity to speak tactfully: "Brother, I have a friend..."