Chapter 185 The Matter of Acting

Liu Zeliang waved his hand and shook his head without hesitation, "I won't appear on camera!"

Luo Yuzhong: "Go for it. There's no one else who can act now, so we're counting on you."

Liu Zeliang immediately said, "Wait for Yang Fan a little longer."

"Wait my ass! That bastard must have been drinking again last night, and he's still fast asleep!" Luo Yuzhong roared angrily. "I shouldn't have been soft-hearted when he begged me to give him a chance!"

Liu Zeliang sighed, "Then...then you do it yourself, don't ask me."

Luo Yuzhong: "I'm the director!"

Liu Zeliang: "I'm also the director of photography!"

Luo Yuzhong: "I don't have your good temper, so I can't portray Teacher Liu's temperament. You're usually so fussy, you're more suitable for this role!"

Liu Zeliang: "Me, being fussy? Forget about it!"

Luo Yuzhong and Liu Zeliang stared at each other, while the others remained silent.

The students at the scene were stunned, staring in astonishment at the two men, both over forty, and were momentarily confused about what was going on.

Not to mention the students, even Lu Yanhe himself couldn't understand what was going on, and he looked completely bewildered.

The two men stared at each other for a while, and finally, Liu Zeliang gave in, glaring at him dejectedly.

"Being your photography director is the worst luck imaginable; I'm even being your extra now."

Luo Yuzhong: "Enough with the nonsense."

He turned to look at Lu Yanhe, "Little Lu, come here."

Lu Yanhe hurried over.

Luo Yuzhong said, "Look, Teacher Liu really is Teacher Liu now. You'll act with him later."

"Where's the script?" Liu Zeliang asked.

Luo Yuzhong asked loudly, "Where's the script?"

Someone immediately brought over a spare script.

Luo Yuzhong said, "You should go and perform all over the theater."

-

Lu Yanhe was feeling very uneasy.

During my first filming experience, I was suddenly replaced by a different co-star.

This is also...

However, it made no difference to Lu Yanhe, as he had never met Yang Fan before.

On the contrary, he was more familiar with Liu Zeliang.

Liu Zeliang is a renowned director of photography in the industry, and he is almost always the first choice to handle the photography for top-tier projects every year.

On set, Liu Zeliang is usually a cheerful person who can joke with anyone and doesn't have the aloofness of a master.

Lu Yanhe looked at Liu Zeliang.

Liu Zeliang was also looking at him.

The two were silent for two seconds. Liu Zeliang said, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not a professional actor. You're the actor. You should lead me through the scene."

Lu Yanhe wanted to protest his innocence, but he wasn't a professional actor!

But he didn't dare to be so presumptuous in front of Liu Zeliang, and silently swallowed his words.

-

"Report." Lu Yanhe said to Liu Zeliang as he entered the room.

Liu Zeliang leaned on the podium with one hand, turned to look at the late student, and his face lit up with a smile. "Oh, you're back! Didn't you just finish the competition yesterday? Why are you back today?"

He is clearly not a professional actor, but he is exceptionally relaxed, natural in demeanor, and speaks like a teacher, exuding a sense of ease.

Lu Yanhe said, "I took the earliest flight back today."

"Okay, have a seat." Liu Zeliang nodded, gesturing for Lu Yanhe to sit down.

Lu Yanhe then walked towards the back of the classroom.

The students in the classroom were all looking at him.

Liu Zeliang's voice rang out behind him: "Classmates, this is Yao Yu'an, who won the gold medal in the National Undergraduate Modeling Contest yesterday. He's your senior, and he's here this year to make up for the credits because he was preparing for the competition last year."

A group of people exclaimed "Wow!"

Lu Yanhe sat down in the last row.

Suddenly, a girl in front of him turned around and glanced at him.

He was taken aback when he saw the girl's eyes.

This girl is, of course, Jiang Yuqian.

"Click!"

As soon as Luo Yuzhong shouted, Liu Zeliang on the podium stopped and turned to look at Luo Yuzhong.

"Did you pass?"

Luo Yuzhong laughed and said, "How could I not take your part? You acted really well. But we were mainly filming Xiao Lu and Yu Qian just now, so we didn't catch your excellent performance. We'll have to do another take."

Liu Zeliang's face fell.

He looked at Luo Yuzhong speechlessly, "I said you did this on purpose, didn't you? Just now I asked you if I wanted to act seriously, and you told me yes."

Luo Yuzhong said, "You need to act seriously for Xiao Lu to get into character. This is his first time acting, so you, as a senior actor, should guide him."

Liu Zeliang looked like he was about to swear at any moment, but he managed to hold back for a while.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside.

Yang Fan, his face flushed, pushed open the front door of the classroom and entered, walking towards Luo Yuzhong with an uneasy and guilty expression.

"Director, I'm sorry, I—"

"Didn't I have someone tell you not to come?" Luo Yuzhong interrupted him, speaking coldly.

Yang Fan immediately said, "Director, I didn't mean to, I—"

"I don't want to hear any more of your excuses. You went drinking again last night, didn't you?" Luo Yuzhong's eyes seemed to hold the light of swords as he looked sharply at Yang Fan.

Yang Fan wanted to say more.

"How about I get you tested now? If the test shows you haven't been drinking, I'll apologize to you," Luo Yuzhong said directly.

Yang Fan's face was ashen.

"Director, I know I was wrong, please give me another chance!" Yang Fan suddenly became agitated. "I definitely know I was wrong, I won't do it again, I will play this role well, really!"

"No need." Luo Yuzhong waved his hand dismissively. "I've already given you the opportunity, but you didn't cherish it."

Yang Fan wanted to say something more.

Luo Yuzhong suddenly roared again, "Get him out! What's the point of keeping him here?"

Yang Fan stared at Luo Yuzhong in shock, as if he had never expected Luo Yuzhong to be so heartless towards him.

"director!"

"Don't call me director!" Luo Yuzhong roared.

A terrible silence fell over the scene once again.

After driving the people away, they continued filming.

Lu Yanhe was somewhat affected and his condition was not right.

He thought Luo Yuzhong was going to yell at him, but he didn't yell at him at all. He just called him over, gave him a few instructions, and then started filming again.

-

At noon, the film crew ate lunch at the school cafeteria.

A small canteen was specially set up for them to eat at tables.

Lu Yanhe sat at a table with the director and the others.

He filmed all morning, and since it was his first time acting, he was a little dizzy but also excited.

From initial unfamiliarity to later familiarity, Lu Yanhe finally overcame his complete fear and unfamiliarity with acting.

"It was Lu Yanhe's first time acting today, and he showed good comprehension. He understood everything immediately," Luo Yuzhong praised Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe was flattered and said, "Thank you, director."

Luo Yuzhong: "It's because you're carrying too much psychological burden. Why are you putting so much pressure on yourself as a young newcomer actor? It's normal for you to perform poorly, so why do you set such high standards for yourself in every scene?"

Before Lu Yanhe could even speak, Liu Zeliang interrupted, saying, "Isn't it because you have a bad reputation? Little Lu is afraid that if he messes up his performance, you'll scold him."

Lu Yanhe quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, it's just my personality. I always want to do my best within my capabilities. I know that this puts a lot of pressure on me, but I can never adjust to it."

"It's a good thing. An actor should have high aspirations and not just act in any role." Luo Yuzhong said, "Your sister Yuqian is an example of this. She has high standards for herself. Even in some low-class roles, she doesn't put much effort into her roles and performances. You can see her dedication."

Jiang Yuqian looked both amused and exasperated, and said, "If you, director, cast me in more roles, I won't be doing those low-class movies."

“You two are really good kids, but please don’t end up like Yang Fan.” As he spoke, Luo Yuzhong suddenly sighed. “You don’t know, Yang Fan was actually a very good actor when he was young. His first film was with me. It’s just a pity that something happened in his family later, and he developed an alcoholic disorder after that. Not only did he lose his former talent and inspiration in acting, but he also lost his professionalism. This time, he begged me for a long time, hoping that I would give him another chance. He promised me that he would quit drinking during filming and would not delay filming again. But he couldn’t even hold on for a day, which disappointed me.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuqian said, "Director, don't worry. I know what my dream is. In order to realize my dream, nothing else will affect my acting."

Yang Fan's matter made Lu Yanhe fall into deep thought.

Liu Zeliang clicked his tongue and said, "You two are really good-looking. It's a pity that you only have so few scenes together in 'The Golden Era,' which adds up to only two episodes. If you were cast in a drama to play a romance between an older woman and a younger man in the future, it would probably be very interesting."

Lu Yanhe choked instantly.

Jiang Yuqian laughed, "Don't tease him, he's shy."

Liu Zeliang immediately lectured him: "Yan He, a man can't be thin-skinned, he needs to train himself."

Luo Yuzhong gave him a disdainful look and said, "Don't mislead Xiao Lu with your shameless ideas."

Liu Zeliang: "How can you say I've led Xiao Lu astray? This is called wisdom in life!"

"Your wisdom about life is practically worthless," Luo Yuzhong retorted mercilessly.

Lu Yanhe laughed.

I couldn't help but laugh.

-

The actual process of filming on set is not that interesting; most of the time, it's even tedious.

Most of the time, Lu Yanhe was waiting.

There weren't many opportunities to actually capture him on camera.

But during those performances, Lu Yanhe felt an instinctive sense of excitement.

The excitement of playing another person.

It felt like I was truly experiencing another person's life.

The first day's scenes were all transitional scenes like those in the morning, with almost no difficulty.

As a result, they continued filming into the night.

Luo Yuzhong specifically asked him to tell Jiang Yuqian, "We'll have to film extra nights these days. We were originally going to borrow this place for nine days, but they only agreed to give us five days. Time is a bit tight."

Lu Yanhe nodded naturally.

Jiang Yuqian had no objections and readily agreed.

That evening, Lu Yanhe faced his scene with the most lines he had ever had.

It's a scene where he and Jiang Yuqian are walking on a path on campus, talking about their future dreams.

This scene also marks the moment when the two confirm their feelings for each other.

This was added by Luo Yuzhong on the spot.

This scene was not originally scheduled to be filmed on the first day.

Jiang Yuqian asked Lu Yanhe if he had memorized his lines, and Lu Yanhe said he had.

Jiang Yuqian nodded and said, "Give me ten minutes, I need to memorize my lines."

She took the script, went to a corner, and began memorizing her lines by herself.

-

This road will need to be cleared during the actual filming.

There were only the two of them.

In the drama, it was already past midnight, and the campus was deserted. Only the two of them had just finished their work in the student council and were coming out of the office.

The movement in this scene isn't difficult. After coming down the steps, just keep walking forward along this path.

A very beautiful road.

The wide avenue was lined with plane trees on both sides, and the lush leaves of the plane trees made the road look like a passageway through a mysterious palace.

The dim yellow streetlights created a hazy atmosphere.

When filming the first take, Lu Yanhe and Jiang Yuqian walked side by side, with only half a body length between them.

"Everyone's asleep." Jiang Yuqian looked around to make sure no one was there, then looked a little helpless. "The dorm supervisor is definitely going to nag me again."

Lu Yanhe turned his head and glanced at Jiang Yuqian.

At this point, he had actually started to develop feelings for Jiang Yuqian.

They just didn't say it out loud.

Jiang Yuqian happened to look up at him at that moment.

Their eyes met briefly before they looked away simultaneously.

"Senior, what do you want to do in the future?"

"I?"

"Hmm." Jiang Yuqian suddenly took a few steps forward, jumped down the steps, stood at the bottom, and looked up at Lu Yanhe, who was still standing on the steps. "Senior, what kind of job do you want to do?"

Lu Yanhe stared at the girl with delicate and beautiful features under the streetlights, momentarily stunned. This wasn't acting; he was genuinely captivated.

He had never seen Jiang Yuqian so girlish before.

Her eyes, when she looked at him, held a bright, yet concealed, affection.

Lu Yanhe snapped out of his daze and said, "Architect."

"That's amazing," Jiang Yuqian said. "I never even thought about what I could do in the future."

She smiled brightly, turned around, and walked forward.

Lu Yanhe followed.

“Everyone says that the construction industry is not suitable for girls, and that working on construction sites is very tough,” Jiang Yuqian said. “My parents have always been against me entering this industry, and it took a lot of effort to convince them before I chose to study this major.”

“Now that we have a goal, we should work towards it. Nothing is more important than wanting to do this,” Lu Yanhe said.

Jiang Yuqian stopped in her tracks.

She turned to look at Lu Yanhe, her eyes clear and bright.

"So—senior, do you think I could become an architect?"

"Yes, of course." Lu Yanhe nodded, his tone sincere and not perfunctory. "Your professional skills are very strong."

"How does it compare to you, senior?" Jiang Yuqian suddenly laughed, her eyes curving into beautiful crescent moons. "Do you think I'm better, or do you think you're better?"

Lu Yanhe was taken aback at first, then chuckled softly.

"It's not enough to just say it; we'll have a real competition when we become architects."

"Will the senior still keep in touch with me after graduation?"

Lu Yanhe's gaze fell on Jiang Yuqian, and a gentle look gradually appeared on his face. "Of course."

(End of this chapter)