For the next four months, Wen Xingze devoted himself to the filming of "Dust Planet".
Li Mingzhou is a good director, and "Dust Planet" is undoubtedly a good crew. In these four months, Wen Xingze has learned more than all his experiences in the past few years combined - of course, he encountered many difficulties during this period, but he overcame them one by one in the end.
Moreover, Wen Xingze is the type who gradually gets better.
By the end of filming for "Dust Planet," Wen Xingze seemed to have completely merged with the character, Xia Huai. This was evident not only to the director but also to the many film-inexperienced crew members. This was especially true during the final climax—a scene filled with wailing and screaming on the final battlefield, with the sky about to fall. Xia Huai, his tattered uniform draped over his shoulders, smiled faintly before plunging into a fiery furnace...
Xia Huai, the star of the empire and the youngest major general, has experienced glory and disgrace in his life. He also stumbled in the mud and fell into depravity. In the end, he finally reconciled with himself and the world, and before all the beauty, light and peace were about to come, he chose to die as a soldier.
But Dust Planet is not a tragedy.
As to whether Xia Huai is really dead, the ending of the movie leaves an ambiguous and open suspense: the last shot of the movie is three months later, when the android finds a tattered military uniform and a gun with a dark silver rose pattern in a ruin.
This scene overlaps with the moment Xia Huai first found the android in the garbage dump. The camera then zooms out, capturing the vast, silent, deep blue night and the dazzling aurora in the sky...
The bionic man stood there for a long time, his eyes suddenly turned red, and he ran forward with all his might.
The movie ends here.
Although Wen Xingze and Chi Yan's acting was initially a bit awkward, it became increasingly well-matched, reaching a point of perfection and sheer brilliance. It's hard to imagine these two roles being played by someone else.
Wen Xingze's expressiveness and emotional appeal reached their peak in these last few scenes.
He completely lifted the spirits of the entire crew, and more than one crew member would secretly cry uncontrollably during breaks over Xia Huai's experiences and ending. After filming the final climax and ending, Li Mingzhou, who had always been generous with his praise for Wen Xingze, fell silent. He simply said, "It's done," and hurried off. That night, after finishing work, Li Mingzhou sat alone in the screening room, lit a cigarette, and put on his reading glasses, watching the two scenes over and over again all night long.
The assistant director who was passing by and witnessed all this was shocked.
Director Li has been filming for so many years, and he's seen all kinds of wonderful acting. The last time he acted like this was several years ago when he was filming "Grass and Trees" with Chi Yan...
Wen Xingze will probably win an award with "Dust Planet".
And it’s definitely not a small prize.
“…”
But Wen Xingze himself knew nothing about this.
After filming "Dust Planet", it took him quite some time to completely get out of the role, and then he went to film "The Miracle Ze Ze Around the World" with the Spanish old man Griffith...
Along the way, the travel system in "Child Development Plan" activated several more areas, leaving only one unactivated area: "Divine Realm." However, after searching through maps of both universes and failing to find this place, the parents had to put it on hold for the time being.
There's still plenty of time anyway.
Time passed by so quickly, as if in the blink of an eye, we had gone from deep winter to summer again.
The past six months can be said to be the culmination of years of accumulated experience. Wen Xingze's popularity has continued to rise steadily, but he has always lacked a work that can truly prove his strength and acting skills.
——It was not until the seventh day of July this year that "Dust Planet" was officially scheduled to be released.
Early morning in the capital during summer.
A hazy light streamed through the window, the central air conditioning humming steadily. A young man lay in the slightly sunken center of the bed. His sleeping position could only be described as free, with most of his face and body buried in the quilt, revealing only the tips of his snow-white, slightly pink ears.
A green plant was stretching out on the windowsill; it was a pot of daisies that had just been watered.
The electronic calendar on the desk shows the time, July 28, 8:.
A camera fixed somewhere carefully recorded this scene. The camera was filming a vlog, and the content of the vlog was to record the boy's entire day.
The whole picture looks exceptionally quiet and beautiful.
What broke this warm scene was the knocking sound outside the window. The sound was very faint, but very crisp, and it came one after another.
It was a small, silvery bird with a beautiful tail. It was pecking at the window.
The sleeping boy was awakened by the sound.
His eyelashes fluttered, and after a moment he opened his eyes and sat up in confusion. His forehead hair had completely curled up in sleep, and he sat on the bed in a daze with a head of stupid hair.
"What day is today... the 28th?"
He yawned.
The bird outside the window tilted its head to look at him, and after a moment it chirped twice.
The boy then noticed the window again, and he yawned as he went to open it. As soon as he opened the window, the bird flew in eagerly, circled around the boy twice, and then found a suitable spot above his head and sat down.
Obviously very satisfied with this 'bird's nest', the bird tilted its head and rubbed against the boy affectionately.
Camera: “…”
Wen Xingze: “…………”
Wen Xingze woke up completely at this moment.
Wen Xingze had just returned to China this week after finishing a filming assignment. After a full day of sleep to adjust to the jet lag, he still felt sleepy when he woke up. Feeling the familiar weight on his head, Wen Xingze had to resign himself to his fate, realizing that his sleep for the day was over.
——Starting from July, no matter where Wen Xingze was, the bird would come and knock on his window at eight o'clock every morning, then sit on his head and sleep soundly until nine o'clock before leaving.
Not only does it sleep by itself, it also doesn't allow Wen Xingze to sleep. If Wen Xingze shows any sign of wanting to stay in bed, the bird will cover his nose with its wings.
This is a bit too much!
But after a month, Wen Xingze's mentality has changed from the initial shock and depression to the current normality. But today is different.
In order to promote his upcoming works, the company opened an account for him on Zimu Station a few days ago, hoping that he could shoot a vlog to record his day as the first video of the account.
Wen Xingze glanced at the camera in the corner and finally remembered his vlog assignment. He figured things had come to this point, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he just kept filming. He could edit it later anyway.
It’s a great day today. The whole city outside the window is waking up and the sky is blue.
With a bird on his head and slippers on, Wen Xingze skillfully went to wash and dress. The housekeeper had gone home on leave today, so Wen Xingze bit his toothbrush and went to the door to pick up the fresh milk and newspaper he had ordered.
In the open kitchen, Chi Yan, wearing an apron, was frying eggs. Wen Xingze walked over and exchanged a kiss with him.
"Are you going over there later?"
"Um."
Chi Yan can only stay in this world for a short time every day recently, but he comes to make breakfast for Wen Xingze every day.
The TV was broadcasting the morning news, but it was soon switched to the children's channel, playing "Pig Man Braves in Another World".
...Without a doubt, the culprit was the vampire prince sitting at the table, dangling his legs. Lan took a sip of the milk, then happily flew over with his bat wings flapping, "Your Majesty!"
The one coming today is Lan.
Wen Xingze let him sniff all over his body. Lan wanted to confirm that he was the first parent to see the cub that day. This was the habit of the parents of the Vinegar Spirit Vampire Clan.
Lan soon discovered the bird above Wen Xingze's head. He was very unhappy and reached out to pick up the bird and started arguing with it.
Wen Xingze picked up the newspaper and placed it in front of the microwave. A steady stream of air blew out of the exhaust fan, and every three minutes, he gently turned a page of the newspaper.
The words on the microwave screen read: "Wang, thank you, newspaper."
Although robot parents can hack into any system backend on Earth at any time and know everything they want to know, they still persist in reading newspapers every day, perhaps as a special sense of ritual.
Newspapers are also subscribed for them.
Wen Xingze bit his face and said vaguely: "No, thank you, I love you."
In another universe, at the base of the Mechanical Planet, the old robots, led by No. 015, were being 'teased' and were at a loss. There were clicking sounds in their joints, and they felt their cores begin to heat up, and all kinds of data were about to be overloaded and overflowed.
At this moment, the quarrel between Lan and the bird has come to an end. The vampire and the bird are too lazy to pay attention to each other. They sit at the two ends of the sofa, staring at the TV with bright eyes.
Wen Xingze first touched Lan's head, then touched the bird's head, and then sat down at the dining table.
The images on TV were noisy, with all sorts of clumsy fighting sound effects from cartoons, accompanied by kitchen fumes, the sizzling of frying eggs, and the friction of paper as newspapers were flipped. The whole room was filled with the unique bustle of everyday life.
And Wen Xingze likes this kind of noise.
Wen Xingze wasn't like he used to be. He had plenty of time off after a meeting. After breakfast and saying goodbye to the parents and Chi Yan, he headed to the company. He had a magazine interview in the morning, and Jiang Ye seemed to have other plans for the afternoon.
10:00 am, recording studio.
A reporter from the magazine was asking questions, while a photographer was snapping photos nearby. The air conditioner was a bit low. Wen Xingze touched the tip of his nose with his index finger, feeling drowsy and a bit like sneezing.
Before he could say anything, everyone's cell phones suddenly lit up.
"The air conditioner temperature is too low. It is recommended to increase it by at least four degrees." Siri said politely.
"You should be able to do this on your own," Xiao Ai's voice also rang out, "or do you need my help?"
AI Cortana: "Let me do it. It's more efficient this way."
The next second, the air conditioner made a beeping sound, and the temperature rose four degrees in a row, while changing to the up and down wind sweeping mode.
Everyone: “…”
The reporter and photographer hugged each other tremblingly.
Wen Xingze suddenly woke up and put on his Bluetooth headset. Sure enough, he heard the dwarf parent's childish and dissatisfied voice: "This is too unhealthy, kid. In the interstellar world, this old-fashioned air conditioner has long been eliminated. The probability of catching a cold after being directly blown by low-temperature air conditioning is 45.68%."
"Besides, because you're so addicted to working, your hair is falling out 1.124 times faster than before. Son, doesn't your head get cold when the air conditioner blows directly on you?"
Wen Xingze: “???”
Killing people and destroying their hearts!
Wen Xingze wanted to cry.
After finally getting through the entire day, Wen Xingze was finally able to leave work at 5 p.m. However, he didn't expect that he would be blocked by fans holding light signs as soon as he stepped out of the office.
They had heard rumors from somewhere that Wen Xingze would be coming to the company today, and they had actually been waiting there. Wen Xingze had been abroad for the previous two months and hadn't revealed a specific date for his return, so his fans hadn't been able to pick him up at the airport. The enthusiasm they had been building for so long was suddenly out of control.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Ze look over here!!!”
"So handsome, are you wearing casual clothes today? So cute!"
"Sign, sign..."
Wen Xingze has always been grateful for the love and support from fans. He just signed two autographs when he realized something was wrong - there was an endless stream of people surrounding him, just like a zombie siege, the situation was getting more and more crowded. Even the battle-hardened security guards of Shengtian Entertainment were a little overwhelmed!
"Sorry, I'm going to the bathroom." Wen Xingze sounded the alarm in his heart, put down his pen and turned around.
The fans reacted even faster: "...He's trying to run away, stop him quickly, don't let him get away!"
It was like the set of a police and gangster movie.
The fans reacted quickly, but Wen Xingze's reaction was even faster. Seeing that the fans behind him were about to catch up, Wen Xingze turned a corner, found a random locker, and opened the door...
Behind the door is the endless deep sea.
Wen Xingze immediately stepped in and closed the door.
The ocean is vast and deep, with beautiful corals, starfish and lantern fish.
"Trapped again?" The blue-tailed mermaid lazily lay on the humpback whale, her long hair bound with bright red shark beads, her veil fluttering with the tide. "I'll take you back. This won't happen again."
Wen Xingze lay down on the humpback whale, feeling very confident: "I said the same thing last time."
Humpback whales make happy sounds.
The mermaid elder snorted and stopped talking. When they reached their destination, they were silent for a long time. Then he said awkwardly, "If your job is too tiring, you might as well quit. Your family is not short of money."
Wen Xingze suddenly felt very satisfied and said okay.
Six o'clock in the evening.
After going through untold hardships, Wen Xingze finally returned home.
"Wen Xingze!" Wen Xingze answered Jiang Ye's call. Jiang Ye was scolding him, "How many times have I told you to check the situation before leaving the company, and to wear sunglasses and a mask. Do you still think you're just an obscure idol with only seven followers on Weibo?!"
“…You’re almost the top star!”
Yes.
A year ago, Wen Xingze was still an 18th-tier actor who lived in a basement, rode a tricycle, and occasionally set up a stall at the vegetable market, but now he is no longer the same as before.
After gaining a small reputation through a few variety shows, his popularity exploded after the launch of "Meeting the Dragon Night", and then came "Dust Planet". Although "Dust Planet" has not yet been released, it has officially brought him many announcements that he would never have dared to think about before, and just this summer, "Dust Planet" is scheduled to be released.
He has tens of millions of followers on Weibo, ranks at the top of the super topic influence list, and has received many advertising endorsements and good film offers one after another.
——He is almost a top star!
Wen Xingze never dared to imagine that he would be stopped by fans asking for autographs when he went out.
The reason I use the word "almost" is because everyone knows that he still lacks a proof of strength, a masterpiece. And there is no doubt that "Dust Planet" is that masterpiece.
Everyone is waiting.
Waiting for the release of "Dust Planet" - no, to be more precise, waiting for the first award of "Dust Planet".
Faced with Jiang Ye's criticism, Wen Xingze knew that he was in the wrong, so of course he had to promise that he would never make the same mistake again.
"You must be extra careful next time, okay?" Jiang Ye paused, then said, "By the way, don't rush to sleep tonight... maybe there will be good news."
Good news?
Wen Xingze hadn't reacted yet until he suddenly remembered it when he was video chatting with the Dragon Clan parents in the evening.
The time difference between Country A and China seemed to be sixteen hours. And the nominations for a prestigious film award seemed to be about to be announced, and "Dust Planet" was also nominated.
After realizing this, Wen Xingze immediately felt unwell and started to get nervous, just like he was three hours before the college entrance examination results came out.
"Cub?" The video showed the endless snow-capped mountains of the Dragon Tribe's main planet. The Dragon Tribe's parents sat around the campfire, looking at Wen Xingze with concern. "What's wrong?"
Wen Xingze told them about the film awards.
The dragons fell silent.
A moment later, Lei Qi spread his wings and flew into the sky, breathing fire. Some of the other dragons stomped their feet wildly, while others rolled excitedly on the ground. The ground in the video was shaking!
"Zizi is going to win a prize, roo——"
“So nervous!”
"I'm so excited," Astor said, holding the small lens in his paws and moving his big head back and forth in the snow. "Our cub is so great."
Wen Xingze was touched by her cuteness and suddenly felt less nervous.
At this moment, the door suddenly opened.
Chi Yan walked in from outside, holding two express packages in his hands. He took off his mask and looked at him with a pair of dark eyes calmly: "On the video?"
Wen Xingze was about to nod when the video call was disconnected because the receiving source was damaged and the network was unstable.
Wen Xingze: “…”
Chi Yan nodded and put the express on the table, indicating that it was from Wen Xingze.
“?” Wen Xingze walked over to open the express and found two packages with [Guangta Logistics] printed on them.
One was a piece of raspberry wine sent by an orc’s parents, with a menacing note next to it saying “Minors can only drink one small cup a day, and will be fined if they drink more.”
The other one was a tomato sent by the elf parents... It was not a picked tomato, but a potted plant. Wen Xingze watched the seeds in the soil take root, sprout, bloom and bear fruit.
A plump and fresh tomato fell into Wen Xingze's palm. A butterfly paused at the tip of Wen Xingze's finger, then turned into a spot of light and disappeared.
"Barbecue tonight?" Wen Xingze held the tomato and looked at it for a while, then poured out the raspberry wine, feeling extremely satisfied.
Chi Yan agreed.
They set up a barbecue grill on the third floor in the open air.
The best thing to do in summer is to have a barbecue with the one you love, drink some wine, and watch the stars in the sky in the evening breeze.
Chi Yan also made a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. The tomatoes were fresh tomatoes sent by the elves' parents, so tender, sweet, and delicious. The iced raspberry wine was also just the right amount of mellow, sweet and delicious, not too strong but with a long aftertaste.
The chicken wings on the grill were golden brown on both sides, slightly crispy and glistening with oil. Brushed with honey and barbecue sauce, and sprinkled with white sesame seeds. The whole skewer trembled, dripping with juice and splashing with sparks...
Not to mention the half-fat and half-lean tenderloin skewers sizzling on the stove, and the grilled fish drizzled with lemon juice, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
After eating and drinking, Wen Xingze slowly moved into Chi Yan's arms.
Chi Yan is still shy. After a moment of silence, he kissed his earlobe.
"I think it's very good...very good." Wen Xingze said.
It was an ordinary day in summer. The starry sky was vast and boundless, and the chirping of cicadas and the night wind blended into a beautiful song.
At this time, Wen Xingze just thought that days like this might continue until many years later... When he becomes very old, the years will still flow forward peacefully.
This is a million times better than any dream Wen Xingze could have imagined.
He is only twenty-four years old this year, Wen Xingze thought confidently. He hasn't even celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday yet, nor has he married his fiancé Mr. Chi. The long years he is about to spend with his parents and Chi Yan have just begun.
He is young and does not need to worry about life and death.
"It can't be better than it is now." Wen Xingze gestured, a little drunk.
Chi Yan lowered his eyelids, and after a moment, a faint smile suddenly appeared in his eyes.
"Really?" he said. "I think so."
Wen Xingze: “?”
"Xiao Ze, look at your phone."
Wen Xingze had turned off his phone two hours ago. Chi Yan's tone suddenly gave him a premonition. Wen Xingze sat up straight and his heart began to pound.
He turned on his phone, and in the few brief seconds it took, his palms were covered in sweat.
As soon as he turned on his phone, all sorts of notification sounds started bombarding him. Missed calls, text messages, and unread WeChat messages kept pouring in. Wen Xingze didn't have time to check them all, so he opened Weibo first.
…When he read the first few lines, Wen Xingze's heartbeat reached its peak, then slowly slowed down. He felt like the dust had finally settled.
The world was silent around him.
The first thing he heard was his own breathing, and then he felt the warmth of Chi Yan's palms as his fingers were intertwined with his.
Wen Xingze closed his eyes, then opened them again and started reading from the first line.
"Tonight, at 9:16 PM Beijing time on July 28th, the list of nominees for the 95th Academy Awards was officially announced. 'Dust Planet' received twelve nominations, including Best International Film, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor..."
This is Wen Xingze's first film appearance.
This was his first film, starring him, despite cultural differences and a lack of objective appreciation for Chinese films worldwide. He actually managed to carve out a path to be nominated for Best Actor, and was a potential winner...
The whole country is boiling!
The entire galaxy was in an uproar.
The parents were even happier than Wen Xingze himself. They seemed to be in a state of mind where they could not wait to throw a big banquet to entertain the guests and use loudspeakers to announce the news to the whole world as if their children had been admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University in the college entrance examination.
They are the ones who know best how much effort Zaizai has put in to get to where he is today, and how much he wants this nomination.
However, this unreserved joy did not last long.
Just as parents of all races were eager to call, video chat, or even go directly to that world to hug their babies, a very familiar, yet unexpected, mechanical sound suddenly sounded, accompanied by the background music:
"On the distant ancient blue planet, there lived a human like this. His name was Wen Xingze, and he lived in the capital of China. Since last summer, you and your child have spent a long time together, accompanying him through the lowest point in his life, helping him grow and weather the storms, ultimately achieving his current glory..."
"Congratulations, parents! You have successfully achieved the normal ending [A Happy Life] of the 'Child Development Plan' and cleared the game!"
The parents were silent, and suddenly had a bad feeling.
The mechanical voice continued:
"All good things must come to an end. After completing the game, my child will continue to live a happy life on Earth. I am very grateful to my parents for their companionship and dedication during this time."
"And, see you again if fate allows."
"Because the game's ending has been successfully achieved, in order to prevent excessive chaos in the causal chain and further interference with Earth civilization, the connection between the two universes will be severed, and the Light Tower system will be shut down."
"Countdown to three..."
"two."
"one!"
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