Chapter 84
"...Are you curious?"
Under He Yuan's curious gaze, Xu Gui said slowly and deliberately, "Unfortunately, this is a secret I can't tell you."
He Yuan: ?
“Actually, telling you isn’t impossible.” Xu Gui glanced at her and said, “The future can be changed before it even arrives. If I tell you now, the future might be changed… Are you sure you want to listen to me?”
He Yuan immediately covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head vigorously, saying, "I'm not curious at all, don't tell me anymore."
She was so excited about finally getting a chance to be the lead actress, and if her curiosity caused that opportunity to slip away, she'd probably slap herself a few times when she woke up in the middle of the night.
He Yuan calmed down and realized that she had no curiosity about this matter at all.
Xu Gui chuckled at her reaction.
He Yuan snapped out of her reverie and noticed what Xu Gui was holding. After glancing at it, she asked with some surprise, "Are you looking at a script?"
“Yes.” Xu Gui nodded, handed her the script, and said, “My agent showed me several scripts and said they were all good, so I chose this one… This role has few scenes, but it’s very powerful.”
He Yuan flipped through it. "Is it the character [Si Xuan]?"
Xu Gui nodded.
He Yuan glanced at the director and producer and found that they were very famous people in the industry. As for the script, it was also very famous in the industry, and many people were optimistic about the outcome of the filming. She never expected that the script would be handed to Xu Gui.
Clearly, Xu Gui's agent put a lot of thought into choosing the scripts. Although the roles offered to Xu Gui were not very important and had limited screen time, being able to appear in such good productions was already a rare opportunity.
Xu Gui scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I hadn't originally planned to read the script, but I saw yours last night and thought I'd take a look..."
The densely packed character biographies written on sticky notes on He Yuan's two scripts really shocked Xu Gui, giving her a real feeling about the word "acting" and making her more serious about the role she was about to play.
So she took out the script early this morning and only just finished reading it now.
He Yuan glanced at the script and found that it was only a small part, mainly the script for the part before and after the character [Si Xuan] appeared. That was all. This was quite common in the industry. Sometimes, actors might not receive the complete script until they had finished filming all their scenes.
Xu Gui leaned back on the sofa, looking somewhat bewildered, and said, "Actually, after thinking about it carefully, I have no idea how to act at all."
At the time, Kuang Ming said it was a great role for her and that she could make money, so she agreed without thinking. But now, after thinking about it seriously, she realized that she didn't know anything about acting, let alone how to act.
"I'm actually totally confused right now," she told He Yuan.
He Yuan glanced at her, pulled her up to sit, and said, "Actually, acting is quite simple, you see..."
She picked up a pen and paper from the side, wrote the name "Si Xuan" on the white paper, and said, "Before acting, we need to analyze the character you're going to play. For now, let's start with the background of 'Si Xuan'..."
"According to the script, [Si Xuan] is a great demon, an ancient great demon, which is why she was able to sacrifice herself to the heavens..."
When He Yuan talks about acting, she shines and shows great enthusiasm.
Xu Gui looked at her thoughtfully and said, "It seems you really love acting..."
He Yuan paused for a moment, then said in a somewhat complicated tone, "When I was a child, my family was poor. The farthest I ever went was to our town. My neighbors had a TV, and I loved going to their house to watch TV back then..."
That was her first time encountering "TV dramas" and "acting." The vivid characters on the television left a deep impression on her and planted a small seed in her heart.
In fact, most people do this when they are young: they imitate the characters on TV, drape a bed sheet over themselves, stick chopsticks in their hair, and imagine that they are those characters. For most children, this is just playing around and they forget about it when they get a little older. But for He Yuan, this is a dream that she has always kept in her heart.
She doesn't know when it started, but she began to fantasize that one day she could appear on television like the actors on TV, playing various roles.
She wants to become an "actress".
So, she dropped out of school, packed her bag, and headed north, starting to work in various film and television cities. Eventually, she arrived in City A and finally signed a contract with [Xinghai], where she settled down and put down roots.
Initially, her agent had high expectations for her. However, although she was a good actress, her appearance was not particularly outstanding. At best, she could be described as pretty and decent, but not exquisite. So, not long after, the agent abandoned her and left her to fend for herself.
All the roles He Yuan has gotten so far are ones she earned through her own efforts.
She jokingly told Xuguo, "I've been an extra for so many years, and I'm not just doing this for nothing. I have some connections... Don't underestimate extras just because they don't have much status. They're always on different sets and they're actually very well-informed."
She gets a role every now and then thanks to these friends, and when she's lucky, the role even has several scenes.
“I really love acting…” she told Xu Gui, then added, “But I also really want to become famous.”
She felt that her dreams and ambitions were not in conflict. She loved acting and wanted to become a big star. To outsiders, she seemed to be quite content and happy doing extra work and playing small roles for so many years.
However, only He Yuan herself knew how much burning resentment was buried beneath her calm and contented heart. She wanted to be famous, to become a household name and a big star.
After saying that, He Yuan was still a little embarrassed. She said to Xu Gui, "I don't usually talk about these things with others, because I'm afraid they'll laugh at me for being presumptuous and having unrealistic ideas."
But for some reason, I said it to Xu Gui.
He Yuan thought about it carefully and came to an answer: "Maybe he thinks that even if you listen to me, you won't laugh at me."
Xu Gui nodded and said earnestly, "I won't laugh at you!"
Upon hearing this, He Yuan couldn't help but laugh, and the laughter grew louder and louder. She leaned against Xu Gui and said, "Xu Gui, you're so funny."
Xu Gui: ?
*
With He Yuan's help, Xu Gui gained a general understanding of the character [Si Xuan] and had a better grasp of acting; at least he wasn't completely clueless anymore.
He Yuan ordered two cups of milk tea, which had already arrived. She handed one to Xu Gui and said, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. If you really want to act, Mr. Kuang should have an acting coach teach you before filming."
She thought Kuang Ming was quite reliable. He was a very capable person; otherwise, he wouldn't be their company's top agent, and he wouldn't have let Xu Gui go off to film without knowing anything.
This would not only damage his own reputation but also ruin Xu Gui's name.
Xu Gui asked in confusion, "Do I really have to act?"
He Yuan sipped her milk tea and mumbled, "It's not that you have to act, but for celebrities, acting is the way to maximize their fame... So, in our industry, there's a saying: 'If you sing well, you can act!'"
Anyway, whether they sing or dance, most of them end up acting, regardless of their acting skills. They just recklessly rush down the path of acting.
Of course, to this day, part of the reason is that acting is a quick way to make money.
Xu Gui nodded slightly, indicating that she understood—she had chatted with He Yuan for half a day today and had gained a general understanding of the entertainment industry.
For the next few days, Xu Gui didn't go out either, and followed He Yuan to learn how to act. Kuang Ming had originally been talking about whether to find her a teacher to learn acting, but after hearing Xu Gui say that He Yuan was teaching her acting, he came to the dormitory to watch the two of them teach, and then didn't mention it again.
"Miss He's acting is very good..." He was somewhat surprised.
Xu Gui proudly said, "Of course! He Yuan has been acting for twelve years. Don't let her young age fool you; she started acting at sixteen. She's a true veteran actress!"
He Yuan blushed at the praise and subconsciously said, "I'm not that amazing..."
Xu Gui said, "You're a great actress, that's a fact. Let's just admit it openly, why belittle ourselves? He Yuan, you should be more confident."
He Yuan was taken aback.
Xu Gui then said to Kuang Ming, "It's just that she's unlucky and hasn't met a good agent. If she had a better agent to plan things out for her, she would have become famous long ago... But it doesn't matter. According to my divination, she will become famous very soon!"
After she finished speaking, she nodded seriously.
He Yuan blushed at the praise—she rarely received such praise. She was born in a backward and isolated place, and her parents and relatives used a suppressive style of education, rarely praising her. After she started working, she was even less likely to be praised.
Xu Gui praised her so directly and confidently that she felt embarrassed.
After hearing Xu Gui's words, Kuang Ming's heart stirred, and he took a serious look at Xu Gui's roommate for the first time.
At first glance, she seems like an ordinary girl—this "ordinary" is in the context of the entertainment industry, since the entertainment industry is never short of beauties, and there have been countless stunning beauties throughout history.
However, Xu Gui said she would become a huge star...
Kuang Ming pondered.
...
Xu Gui had previously told He Yuan to give up the script for "The Murderer". After thinking it over carefully, He Yuan declined the director's invitation when he asked her out again.
The director was somewhat surprised, since in his view, He Yuan had no reason to refuse his invitation.
"Can I know why?" he asked He Yuan.
He Yuan said, half-jokingly, "Because someone did a fortune telling for me and said that I'm not suitable for taking on the role in 'The Murderer,' as it would be detrimental to my career." — She didn't directly mention Xu Guilai.
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