Chapter 534 Idol and One's Own Life (6,000-word update!)
“Song Li, his family has been officials for three generations. He’s just acting for fun, just having some fun.”
Shen Yue whispered to Lu Yanhe what she knew.
Lu Yanhe was quite surprised.
"How could he be interested in acting?"
"I just think it's fun," Shen Yue said. "There are a lot of second-generation rich kids like this in the entertainment industry. I can run into them in almost every production."
Lu Yanhe looked at Shen Yue in surprise.
"That's really exaggerated? For every group?"
"This isn't the first time you've encountered this, is it?" Shen Yue looked at Lu Yanhe with even greater shock.
Lu Yanhe: "This is the first time I've ever encountered a second-generation rich kid like this. Of course, there are people with connections and such, but this kind of person is obviously just here to play around. I've never encountered one like this before."
Even Lian Bei didn't have a good look on Song Li's face.
As soon as he arrived, Lian Bei said, "Everyone has to wait for you when you're late."
Song Li didn't apologize; she just listened expressionlessly.
Seeing him like this, even Lian Bei was too lazy to say anything more.
He's not a professional actor, he's just here to have fun. Let's just finish filming his scenes and call it a day.
Lian Bei quickly gathered the actors for this scene and started filming immediately.
Filming is finished, but there are still scenes to film with Lu Yanhe and the others.
Lu Yanhe had already arrived at the scene, and Lian Bei didn't want to keep Lu Yanhe waiting too long.
Who knew that Song Li only had two lines, and she even stumbled twice. The worst part was that her performance was truly indescribable.
Lu Yanhe, watching from the side, was completely dumbfounded.
This person has absolutely no acting skills, and their performance is more than just stiff and awkward.
Lian Bei's face looked very grim.
He called "stop" twice, then personally led the performance to Song Li, explained how to act it out, and then demonstrated it for him to imitate.
However, this seemed to have no effect on Song Li at all.
There was no way to save his performance.
In the end, even Bei seemed to give up, shouting "Cut!" and letting the scene go, thus letting go of himself as well.
Lu Yanhe glanced at Song Li thoughtfully.
The latter also looked listless, as if he couldn't muster any energy.
-
"Director, will you use that shot in the end?" Lu Yanhe asked Lian Bei privately.
Lian Bei said, "Use no nonsense. Keep the audio track, use a wide shot, and only cut one or two static frames for close-ups. Let's see if we can handle it."
"Who was it that greeted him? I feel like he doesn't really want to act."
"At first I was very enthusiastic, but later I realized that I was acting terribly, so I lost interest." Lian Bei said helplessly, "He even asked me if he could stop acting. I couldn't say yes, since he only had one last shot left to film, so I just had to bear with it."
Lu Yanhe hadn't expected Lian Bei to have this kind of mentality.
-
After filming one scene, Lu Yanhe went to the dressing room because the next scene was scheduled for half an hour later.
After passing through the corridor, turn left to reach the lounge, and turn right to the end where there's a corner with a window where crew members usually smoke.
Lu Yanhe heard someone talking there.
"Sigh, I'm holding people back here. I don't want to act anymore, I want to go home."
The sounds were all muffled.
"This wasn't as interesting as I imagined, and it's not just about being good-looking. I felt like he wanted to yell at me several times, but he held back."
It sounds like Song Li's voice.
Lu Yanhe never expected to hear his voice.
The main thing was that what he said was unexpected and took Lu Yanhe by surprise.
Lu Yanhe had previously assumed that Song Li, being a second-generation rich kid with connections, would not care about the trouble he caused others, and would never feel "apology," "regret," or "disappointment."
Throughout the entire process, Lu Yanhe did not see any similar reactions or emotions from Song Li.
I never expected to hear this here.
Lu Yanhe didn't listen any further and returned to the lounge.
Wang Biao asked, "Brother Lu, was the person who spoke just now Song Li?"
"Judging from the sound, it seems so."
Wang Biao pursed his lips. "I didn't expect him to be so self-aware. I thought he was completely unaware of his own problems."
"I have the same preconceived notions as you."
Wang Biao: "But his presence here still caused trouble for the filming."
“Yes,” Lu Yanhe said, “Actually, we shouldn’t have agreed to let him act in these few scenes in the first place.”
“But, Brother Lu, didn’t you say before that some favors are impossible to refuse?” Wang Biao said. “What do we do in these situations where we can’t refuse?”
“Then let’s arrange a role that he can play, one that doesn’t require any lines or acting,” Lu Yanhe said. “Personal relationships are inevitable, but the premise is to ensure quality. For example, the shots he filmed this time are basically unusable and need to be processed in post-production. Even if the director is very skilled and has figured out how to handle it, it could have been handled better from the beginning, so as not to go through so much trouble.”
Wang Biao: "But in my opinion, there doesn't seem to be any 'connections' involved in 'Love Letter'?"
“Because I blocked them all.” Lu Yanhe said frankly, “This is also my first time directing a film. When I was filming, many people were skeptical and didn’t know if it would be successful. Unlike the second season of ‘The Seventeenth Floor,’ which already had a huge fan base, there were definitely many people who wanted to squeeze in. In other people’s eyes, ‘Love Letter’ is still a small production, and many people don’t think much of it.”
Wang Biao: "Okay, that's true."
-
Half an hour later, Lu Yanhe went out to film the last scene of the day.
The scene depicts Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige trapped in a sealed room. They must find a way to escape within five minutes, or they will be killed by poison gas inside the room.
The two arrived at the scene.
Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Bige, shall we go through it once?"
Chen Bige nodded. "Let's rehearse the positions. However, when we're actually filming, I might improvise a bit. The later the scene goes, the more anxious the emotions become. I'll let myself go a little and not follow the plan so much, giving off a real sense of panic."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said okay.
He said, "Actually, this is what I wanted to tell you too."
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Having filmed so many scenes together, Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige have developed an incredible chemistry.
They are both the type of players who improvise on the spot.
Once you're actually there, many new and unexpected reactions will emerge.
This kind of reaction wouldn't have come out unless filming officially started.
That's really strange.
However, both of them are capable of responding to each other's impromptu performances and are stimulated to produce even better reactions.
Therefore, when Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige were acting opposite each other, many actors would come to the set to watch even if they didn't have any scenes to film.
Everyone felt that the two of them acted with great enthusiasm and skill.
-
Song Li stood in the corner, watching Lu Yanhe and Chen Bige take the script and walk through the several shooting locations with the director. Then they stood together and talked about how to act later.
Another actor who co-starred with him in this drama was Mo Zhifan. Mo Zhifan was a graduate of a professional acting school, the same age as Lu Yanhe. Because he and Song Li were both members of the same team, they often spent time together. Mo Zhifan was also the person in the crew who had the best relationship with Song Li.
"Young Master Li, are you alright?"
Song Li crossed her arms, glanced at Mo Zhifan, and said, "OK my ass."
“Sigh, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. You’re not a professional actor, so it’s perfectly normal that you didn’t act very well,” Mo Zhifan said. “Even Director Lian’s dissatisfaction with you is mostly due to your attitude. You said that every time you were late, it was because you were afraid to come in outside the studio, afraid of acting, afraid of seeing the director, and you only came in after the director got angry. Didn’t that make the director even angrier? At least your attitude should be better. Now everyone thinks you don’t take filming seriously and that you’re just here to play around, which is why the director is so angry.”
Mo Zhifan spoke these words very softly, and only Song Li could hear them.
Song Li shook her head and said, "Forget it, one experience is enough. I won't act in it again."
This time, Mo Zhifan didn't try to persuade Song Li again.
Even a fool could see that Song Li was simply not cut out for acting, and it would be a good thing if she stopped acting altogether.
Mo Zhifan patted Song Li on the shoulder and said, "No matter what, I'll try my best to perform your last scene well. I'll come to rehearse with you tonight."
"Okay, thanks," Song Li said.
Mo Zhifan was silent for a moment, then seemed to remember something and asked, "But seriously, Young Master Li, what makes you interested in acting? I asked you before, but you wouldn't say. If you're really interested, why didn't you go to a professional acting school before?"
“My family didn’t agree,” Song Li said. “I didn’t really want to act, but after watching ‘Three Mountains’ once, when I saw Lu Yanhe’s scene in the temple, it was like a slap in the face. I don’t know how to describe it. I’ve watched a lot of movies, and I just watch them and think they’re good or bad, but when I saw Lu Yanhe’s scene, it was like I was bewitched. I was completely absorbed. His performance in that scene gave me goosebumps. I was shocked. I realized that someone could portray a completely different person in a movie, almost like they’ve gone mad. Actually, I didn’t want to act that much. I just wanted to get to know Lu Yanhe, so when I had the opportunity in the second season of ‘Seventeen Floors,’ I came.”
Mo Zhifan suddenly realized, "Then why do you have to suffer like this? You could just ask someone to find you an opportunity to get to know Lu Yanhe. I haven't seen you go to get to know Lu Yanhe yet."
Song Li looked embarrassed.
"How am I supposed to get to know him after acting like this? He probably hates me now. I heard he's someone who has very high standards for acting."
Mo Zhifan: "But that makes sense. Our show has been filming for so long, and Lu Yanhe basically only talks about the characters with the director and his co-stars on set. I bet he doesn't even recognize us who we are, since we don't have any scenes with him."
Song Li sighed.
Mo Zhifan was both amused and exasperated by his appearance.
"Brother, you're a young master, why are you sighing over such a small matter?"
Song Li: "You don't understand."
Song Li found it difficult to admit that she had a fan-idol mentality towards Lu Yanhe.
He used to be neither a fan of celebrities nor someone who was interested in the entertainment industry or stars.
That day, after watching "Three Mountains" and being amazed by Lu Yanhe's performance, I went to watch his other works.
After that, he became a fan of Lu Yanhe.
He would read any work that Lu Yanhe produced.
His mother was a dancer. When he was a child, his mother often told him that there must be something in life that has nothing to do with fame and fortune. It could be playing the zither, playing chess, calligraphy and painting, or poetry and songs.
When Song Li was a child, he hated this kind of thing the most. No, what he hated the most was that every weekend, his mother would take him to see a dance drama. Every time he sat in the audience to watch a dance drama, it was like being tortured.
Therefore, Song Li knew one thing from a very young age: he had no artistic talent.
When asked why he didn't go to a performing arts school, he said his family disagreed, which was true, but he himself hadn't thought much about it.
His grades were so bad that he couldn't get into any good schools, so he had to find a way to get in through unconventional means.
Because he inherited his mother's looks and indeed had a handsome face, some people suggested that he could try acting.
He didn't care; at the time, it didn't matter to him, nothing affected him.
His family strongly opposed it, because three generations of his family had been involved in politics, and they hoped that Song Li would continue down this path—even though he seemed to have no connection to it.
Later, Song Li went to military school.
That was a place and environment completely different from his previous life.
In that environment, he encountered many people and things he had never encountered before.
For example, unconditional obedience, collective living, some people writing diaries every day to reflect on themselves, and some people from rural areas saving all their money and sending it home.
Song Li resisted angrily, then was scolded and killed many times.
Everyone knows that his family has some connections, and you can tell by how the instructors and teachers at school treat him.
So, he was treated somewhat differently.
He, a man who had never had any artistic talent, was insensitive, and whose mother would call him a blockhead and a simpleton, suddenly began to reflect on his own life in that subtle difference.
It was also the first time I began to think about the meaning of life.
When he told his mother about it on the phone, she laughed and said that he used to be a blockhead, but he never expected that the blockhead would suddenly become enlightened in military school.
Is it enlightenment?
Song Li couldn't explain what exactly had moved her.
Then one day, he had a day off and nothing to do. The place was remote, with little entertainment, and the holiday was short, so he couldn't go far. After wandering around for a while, he ended up buying a movie ticket by chance and went to see a movie called "Three Mountains".
In that lonely mountain temple, three travelers unexpectedly encounter the fortune teller played by Lu Yanhe.
He spoke of their origins in a manner that was both mad and demonic, and also predicted their future.
Song Li's hands and feet were ice cold. In the dark screening room, he suddenly had the illusion that the fortune teller was standing in front of him, giving him a verdict.
His past life was carefree, yet also desolate.
What about the future?
Song Li couldn't share her confusion and bewilderment with Mo Zhifan.
Song Li will always remember that her chaotic life was given a wake-up call from that moment.
After leaving the movie theater, he searched for the movie and the character, and then he saw Lu Yanhe's past life experiences.
That was another life, a life completely different from Song Li's pampered past.
"We won't die, we definitely won't die here!" Lu Yanhe's voice trembled, yet he tried to project a resolute tone, pulling Song Li back from her daze.
Song Li returned to the present reality and saw that Lu Yanhe had entered formal performance mode. The autistic genius he was playing was walking through the secret room in front of him with a pace that was different from ordinary people but had its own rhythm, searching for clues to leave.
Chen Bige was frantically searching for something, her movements becoming increasingly exaggerated, as an uncontrollable tension and panic spread through her.
As Lu Yanhe searched, he muttered to himself.
"The sun points to the stars, the stars form the moon, five little people hold hands and laugh—"
Those are clues to escaping this locked room.
Song Li was completely immersed in Lu Yanhe's rhythmic beats, using them to control his body.
At this moment, Song Li realized that she completely understood Lu Yanhe, no, or rather, everything about the character Lu Yanhe was playing.
He used the rhythm of muttering this clue to stabilize his movement rhythm. He was just as tense and panicked. Faced with the pressure of the countdown to death, he was just as anxious, but he kept adjusting himself.
After Song Li understood, she took a deep breath.
This precise control over rhythm is something he could never achieve in his entire life.
Finally, Lu Yanhe found the switch to open the secret room.
The countdown to death has ended.
He turned around, his eyes revealing a pure and innocent joy at surviving the ordeal.
“I’ve opened this secret room,” he said to Chen Bige.
Chen Bige was covered in sweat and slid down to the ground, still shaken, as if he had been exhausted after strenuous exercise.
She nodded to Lu Yanhe and gave him a thumbs up.
"Okay, click!" Lian Bei said, "Let's take a look."
After checking and confirming that everything was correct, Lian Bei said with a smile, "It's approved."
Lu Yanhe stepped forward and helped Chen Bige up.
"We can call it a day now," Lu Yanhe said with a smile.
Chen Bige: "That scene was really tiring to act."
"You're amazing. You're completely immersed in the scene, your forehead is covered in sweat," Lu Yanhe said. "I was shocked when I saw you. You've completely drawn me into the role."
Chen Bige: "Let's stop flattering each other."
Lian Bei walked over, smiling, and said, "Let me praise you, it was fantastic, truly fantastic! You two truly deserve to be called Best Actor and Best Actress. I originally thought it would take at least seven or eight takes to complete such a difficult scene, but you got it right in just two takes."
Chen Bige waved her hand, "Seven or eight more. Look, I've only done two, and I'm already exhausted. My face has turned pale."
"I'm impressed." Lian Bei hugged Chen Bige. "Thank you, sister. Go back and rest now."
Lu Yanhe: "Okay, we're going back to rest. Director, you should also get some rest early. See you tomorrow."
He said goodbye to everyone.
Wang Biao brought over his water bottle and gave him some water to drink first.
Lu Yanhe was indeed thirsty.
He took the kettle and gulped down a large mouthful.
After getting into the car, Wang Biao excitedly told Lu Yanhe.
"Brother Lu, guess what I just overheard?"
He had an expression that said he'd overheard some gossip.
Lu Yanhe asked, "What?"
“Song Li came to act in ‘The Seventeenth Floor’ because he was a fan of yours and wanted to get to know you,” Wang Biao laughed. “But he was too embarrassed to come and get to know you because he acted so badly.”
"Huh?" Lu Yanhe looked at Wang Biao in surprise.
-
Since Lu Yanhe became famous, he has encountered all sorts of fans.
This is the first time someone like Song Li has come directly to a film crew to work with him.
The key point is that because I acted so badly, I'm embarrassed to get to know him?
Is your self-esteem that strong?
Lu Yanhe didn't know what to say.
Wang Biao: "This guy is really funny."
Lu Yanhe asked, "How did you know?"
“He was chatting with another actor and didn’t notice me behind him,” Wang Biao said. “The funniest thing is, isn’t he often scolded by the director for being late? Actually, he wasn’t late. He arrived but didn’t dare to come in. I guess he felt ashamed because he acted so badly. Sigh, I’ve really never seen anyone like him in the entertainment industry. It’s amazing.”
Lu Yanhe: "Don't go outside and talk about it with others."
"Okay, I'll keep my mouth shut." Wang Biao immediately made a gesture as if he were zipping up his mouth, indicating that he would definitely keep his mouth shut.
Lu Yanhe seemed to be deep in thought.
-
"Mom, I don't want to act anymore. I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for acting."
Song Li said this to his mother on the phone.
His mother laughed, "Have you come to terms with reality? It's better not to act anymore. Your father has always been against this, you know that."
“But I still want to work in this field in the future.” Song Li said as if she had made up her mind, “Mom, I like the film and television industry. I’ve been in this crew for so long. Although acting is a nightmare for me, I still like it here. I want to do this.”
Upon hearing this, his mother said, "Then you need to think carefully about how to tell your father about this."
“I’m not cut out for politics either. Can you talk to my dad for me? Someone like me, wanting to go into politics? I’d be blacklisted by the leaders on the first day.” Song Li said, “You know, I’ve always been lazy since I was a child, and I can’t keep anything to myself. How could I go into that den of tigers and dragons? My dad is the same, he still hasn’t given up. How can he keep dreaming like this for so many years without waking up?”
Just as Song Li finished complaining, he heard his father's voice yelling over the phone.
"Why don't you ask yourself why, after all these years, you haven't made my dream come true even once?! Get back here right now!"
Song Li: "...Damn it, Dad, how could you eavesdrop on my phone call with Mom? That's immoral."
Then, his mother said apologetically, "Son, I had the speakers on and forgot to tell you."
"..."
-
There will be more tonight.
Requesting monthly votes for the National Day holiday!
(End of this chapter)
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