Chapter 176
Considering the origin of the term "Stockholm", Jing Ling guessed that this script probably wouldn't be a beautiful story.
His fingers turned another page, and the main text appeared.
On the slightly yellowed paper, there are two completely different handwritings, one black and one red, one elegant and the other sloppy. The former should be from Li Yu's hand, and the latter is undoubtedly from Director Gu. He added notes and modified details on the original work with a red pen. It can be seen from these contents that he has not thought it all through, and occasionally you can see a big question mark.
After a quick glance, Jing Ling began to read the story carefully from the beginning.
At the beginning, this was just an ordinary love story that happened on a university campus, not much different from the romance novels on the market. Of course, if you really want to find it, it is not impossible. It is probably just that the identities of the male and female protagonists are slightly swapped. Zhou Xiao has a handsome face, a good figure, good grades, a good temper, and is good at playing basketball. Everything is good except that his family conditions are very poor. He completed junior high and high school with scholarships, and worked part-time whenever he had free time in college. He is a whole galaxy away from the popular domineering, tall, rich and handsome CEO. The heroine Huang Qingqing is a typical fair, wealthy and beautiful girl, but she is a bit introverted.
The two met by chance, and went from ordinary friends to boyfriend and girlfriend without any twists and turns, just like a silly and sweet romance novel.
In the eyes of their classmates, they are a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven. All the beautiful words can be used to describe them without seeming out of place.
During the summer vacation of Huang Qingqing's sophomore year, Zhou Xiao asked her to travel together. The story begins to take a turn from here, gradually revealing the filth and darkness beneath the beauty.
After a one and a half month trip, when they came back, the relationship between the two people seemed to be the same as before, but in fact, it had changed beyond recognition.
Under Zhou Xiao's gentle and handsome mask, he is a complete devil. He imprisoned Huang Qingqing in a dilapidated house in a remote mountain area. Her hands and feet were tied with rough ropes and she was unable to break free. The house was very empty, and the few scattered pieces of furniture were covered with thick dust. The beams were covered with spider webs, showing that this place had been abandoned for a long time. Not far from this house, there was another house that had been burned down to a frame.
There is a village nearby, but there is no one there anymore as everyone has long since moved away. In the wilderness, even if you shout at the top of your lungs, no one might hear you. What's more, Huang Qingqing's mouth was sealed with tape, so he couldn't even shout for help.
In the whole room, apart from the spiders on the web and the unknown insects in the corners, the only thing that kept her company was a tattered doll, which was also covered in dust. The craftsmanship was so poor that even the goods sold at street stalls could not compare with it. It was obviously homemade, with several dark stains on the doll, and no one knew where they came from. I don't know what material the doll's eyes are made of, and one of them has fallen off, leaving a dark hole. Combined with the environment, it gives people a terrifying feeling.
The light in the house is dim, and I can only distinguish between day and night. When the sunlight is good, I can barely distinguish between morning, noon and evening.
Zhou Xiao would not show up except for three meals a day.
Huang Qingqing didn't know why things turned out like this. She wanted to ask, but her mouth was blocked and she couldn't even say a word. Fear, resentment, doubt, and all kinds of emotions intertwined almost drove her crazy.
She had to tear off the tape on her mouth to eat; this was her only chance to speak, so she naturally would not miss it. What he got in return were punches and threats.
"Shut up. If you say another word, I'll beat you up and starve you!"
Zhou Xiao really did what he said. After the fight, he starved Huang Qingqing for two days. Once, twice, three times... Later she never dared to try again, and kept hoping that someone would come to rescue her.
Unfortunately not.
Day after day, she was not sure how much time had passed, twenty days, a month, or even longer. Her body was so weak from being tied up for a long time and being hungry that she felt like she would die at any time. She was almost in despair, when Zhou Xiao suddenly started to treat her well.
Then one day, he even told her a story.
"I know a little girl. She was very beautiful, well-behaved and hardworking since she was a child. She learned to cook at a young age. When she had time, she would clean the house and help her brother and father wash clothes... She was also a good student and scored full marks in every exam. The teacher encouraged her to study hard and strive to get into a middle school in the city, saying that there were stronger teachers and a better teaching environment there, and then go to a good university for junior high school and high school... When she took the entrance exam from primary school to junior high school, she lived up to everyone's expectations and was admitted to the best middle school in the city. This should have been a new starting point for her beautiful life, but it turned out to be the end... She died in this room in the end. She had been holding the doll in her arms before she died, and she refused to let go even after she died. Did you see the stain on it? It was her blood..."
"The person who killed her was young, so he said 'it was just a child's fault' and got away with it. Her parents paid a symbolic amount of money to the school, and her father accepted the money out of guilt and greed, and the matter was closed."
Huang Qingqing felt complicated after hearing the whole story. She couldn't tell whether she felt sympathy or jealousy. She wanted to ask, "Is she the person you once liked?" But before she could say anything, she saw Zhou Xiao turned his head and looked at her. His handsome face became hideous and terrifying, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had a murderous look.
"Huang Qingqing, don't you feel familiar with her? Or have you forgotten that there is a girl named Zhou Xiaomei?"
Huang Qingqing wanted to say that she didn't know any Zhou Xiaomei, but the words stopped at her lips because she remembered something. She was very sure that there was no girl named Zhou Xiaomei in her current memory, but she was not sure about her previous memories.
In her first year of junior high school, she was in a car accident and suffered serious head injuries. She had forgotten everything that had happened before. Later, she asked her parents about it out of curiosity, but they seemed unwilling to talk about the past. They only said that she used to study at Lucheng No. 1 Middle School, but later transferred to another school because of her family's business.
Lucheng... Lucheng...
The city she is in now is called Lucheng! The girl Zhou Xiao mentioned died here. She was admitted to the best middle school in the city, most likely Lucheng No. 1 Middle School. She also had a brother...
Zhou Xiao, Zhou Xiaomei, same surname, not much age difference...
Although he didn't remember anything, Huang Qingqing suddenly had a bad premonition.
Jing Ling could read ten lines at a glance in a book, but he read this script very slowly. He not only read the original content, but also carefully read the revisions made by Director Gu, trying to figure out the plot as he read.
At first I was just curious, but as I watched further on, I felt it becoming more and more familiar. At the very end, he finally remembered where he had seen it.
Or it would be more appropriate to say that I have heard of it.
That was one of the many worlds he had experienced. At the time, he was in the financial circle and theoretically should not have been exposed to this kind of news. However, a young girl who had just joined the company downloaded a movie from somewhere, saying it was a banned film from many years ago and was said to be very sad. She asked him if he wanted to watch it. He took a look and nodded in agreement since he was bored anyway.
The name of that movie is Stockholm Lovers. Not only is the plot almost the same, even the names of the male and female protagonists are the same!
Later, the girl in the company told him that the movie was based on a true event that happened a long time ago. He originally wanted to search for the news at that time, but then he became busy and had no time for it. Gradually, he forgot about it. Then he completed his task and left that world.
Now that I see familiar things again, memories are suddenly brought back.
After coming to this world due to an accident, Jing Ling once suspected whether this was a beautiful dream made up by the system for him. This world did not really exist, and when this life ended, the dream would also end. After he wakes up, perhaps still in that empty system space, that emotionless mechanical voice will sound again, saying, "Welcome back, Jing Ling!" and then continue to issue new tasks.
But now Li Yu's appearance has shaken the doubts he had hidden deep in his heart. If he guessed correctly, Li Yu should be from that world. I don't know whether he started over again with his memories or occupied this body halfway, but none of this matters. He only needs this as evidence to prove that this world really exists. After all, there is no need for the system to specially arrange for such a person to appear. It is meaningless at all.
Jing Ling narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Li Yu, hiding his curiosity very well, "Miss Li's story is very interesting, I wonder where the inspiration came from?"
Li Yu didn't think much about his question and replied, "I've read too much news recently and was inspired to write this story."
The four words "inspired by the moment" were not enough to explain the almost identical storylines and the names of the male and female protagonists, but Jing Ling did not expose it. He had long passed the stage of loneliness and helplessness. Whether in a familiar or unfamiliar world, he did not need the company of old friends from the same place to eliminate his loneliness, and Li Yu did not necessarily want to recognize him as a so-called old friend.
Even though some things have begun, they may not necessarily have a corresponding ending.
"Ms. Li is a very good storyteller." Jing Ling praised, and then turned his eyes to Director Gu. Before he could speak, he heard the latter ask, "How is it? This story is very interesting! When Xiaoyu first found me, I actually didn't want to shoot it. I was going to recommend someone to her at random, but after reading this story, I immediately decided to shoot it. As for the choice of the male lead, the first person that came to my mind was you, and only you!"
Jing Ling was quite amused when he heard this, and asked, "Director Gu, what kind of person am I in your eyes?"
Originally, these words from Director Gu were definitely compliments, and there is no doubt about it, but when combined with the plot of the story, they became a bit subtle. After all, the hero of the story appears to be perfect on the outside, but is actually a crazy and perverted person on the inside! According to his memory, the story of Li Yu was almost a copy of the plot of the movie, and the movie was adapted from a real event. He did not investigate the incident and did not know how much the movie had been changed, but some clues could be found in the movie.
For example, the story only says that he imprisoned the heroine for revenge, but there was more than one enemy at the beginning. Would he only take revenge on this one person? As for the cause of his father's death, on the surface it seemed that it was because he was drunk and happened to encounter a fire due to dry weather, and he didn't have time to escape and was burned to death. But is it really so? The movie specifically gave a close-up of the burning house and spent a lot of time and effort to portray that person, just to tell everyone that "good is rewarded and evil is punished in the end"?
Even if his guess was correct, the things the male protagonist did were nothing compared to what he did, but Director Gu didn't know his past. He didn't believe that someone who had only been together for a while could see so many things!
Director Gu naturally understood what he meant and immediately laughed. He reached out and patted his shoulder, saying, "You think too much, hahaha. What I mean is that your appearance perfectly fits the image of the male protagonist of the story. You are just the right age for college and your grades are also very good. I know this. I saw a video of you playing basketball not long ago."
"In movies, acting is important, but oftentimes, things don't always go as planned. There are always regrets. The appearance or age gap between the talented and the talented is too big, while the qualified people don't have good acting skills. This is very common in the entertainment industry, and you have to make choices. At this time, many people are willing to choose those whose appearance matches the character setting, at least they look interesting at first glance. Moreover, in the entertainment era, there are a wide range of age groups, and not everyone can tell whether the acting is good or bad."
After saying this, Director Gu's expression suddenly became serious, and he continued, "I have always believed in a saying that only by constantly injecting fresh and high-quality blood into an industry can it develop for a long time and become even better. The actors of the previous generation were all excellent, but time is not forgiving, and they are old after all. Not only actors, but also directors. We have been training and supporting newcomers, hoping that this industry can develop better, but the effect is not ideal. Although I don't like the current trend, there is nothing much to say. Whether it is market choice or human manipulation, it is not something I can change. All I can do is stick to my principles."
"Jing Ling, you are different from others. You are the best talent I have ever seen, the most gifted actor. You are born to be a one-person show! Your vision should not be limited to this small domestic circle. There is a wider world outside. The international stage is waiting for you. Don't be tempted by the immediate benefits!"
Jing Ling was listening attentively at first, but couldn't help laughing at the last word, because Director Gu's tone and demeanor were just like a passionate young man who was determined to move forward for his ideals. "Director Gu, you know that no one can resist money these days."
Director Gu heard this and said, "Don't be short-sighted. You have to look far ahead! Think about it, when you step onto the international stage, will you still have less money? At the same time, you can also gain fame. It's really the best of both worlds!"
Li Yu, who was standing next to him, probably couldn't bear to listen any more, so he pretended to cough and then reminded him, "Uncle Gu, audition."
Director Gu was stunned, "Oh, right, audition, today's main purpose is to audition!" As he spoke, he looked at Jing Ling again and pointed at the notebook in front of him, "I've shown you the script, just pick a paragraph and try it out."
Jing Ling nodded, and just like Director Gu said, he picked a passage at random and opened a page from the thick notebook.
It happened to be the period when the hero's love for the heroine temporarily overwhelmed his hatred, and his attitude towards the heroine gradually began to improve.
He put the script down and stood up, asking, "Right here, imaginary character?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Director Gu next to him also stood up, pointed at himself and said, "Perform to me."
Jing Ling was silent for a moment before he spoke, "Waist-length hair? Gentle and beautiful?"
Director Gu understood the meaning of his words in a second and glared at him fiercely. "You talk like you're in a fantasy movie and they can really find a giant monster for you to act opposite! The cute flower fairy might actually be a big bearded man wearing a green tights, and you can only accept it with a pinch of your nose and praise him for being beautiful and cute against your conscience! If you can dub, you just need to put on a sincere expression. If you can't dub, you have to control your tone! What can you do? Can you go on strike? Before the next day, the news about a certain star acting like a big shot will be all over you!"
Jing Ling replied unyieldingly, "Then I'll choose another part, like the one about beating someone up!"
Director Gu blew his beard and glared, shouting, "Shut up, hurry up!"
Chen Ze, who had been drinking tea quietly from beginning to end and trying to lower his presence and pretend that this person didn't exist, suddenly felt a subtle sense of pleasure in his heart after seeing this scene.
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