Chapter 4
Half an hour later, the materials in everyone's hands were taken away and five examiners entered the room.
He Tong looked over and saw two "familiar faces": Director Liu Ke and screenwriter Mao Pengxing, who later became a very famous golden pair in the circle.
There are usually three or four examiners for an arts exam. It seems these two are non-staff examiners. Who knows, maybe this question is from Mao Pengxing's script. Having a director in the performance exam is a tradition at Yanchuan.
Then another staff member came in and placed a square table and a bench in the middle of the room.
The camera was turned on and the candidates began to perform in turn.
The exam went very quickly, with each person completing their performance in about three to five minutes. Some left immediately after the performance, while others stayed to watch.
As He Tong expected, many candidates fell into the trap.
Because the material stated that one could write their own lines, many people put a lot of effort into coming up with creative lines, hoping to show off their talents and get high scores. Several of the previous performers had used the square table as a discussion table, some flaunting their backgrounds, some trying to reason, some negotiating terms, and so on, using all sorts of tricks.
He Tong shook his head. No wonder they said it was hard to get into Yan Chuan. It really wasn't easy.
After a while, it was He Tong's turn to play.
He stood up, walked to the center of the venue, bowed to the examiners and introduced himself, then stepped back a distance and began his performance.
He Tong lowered his head, then raised it again. The smile he had just worn had completely vanished, and a sharp edge instantly evoked in his eyes and brows. His back was straight, his waist tense, his legs pressed together, and his entire body instantly entered a state of readiness, like a sword unsheathed, ready to draw blood.
In the examiner's seat, Liu Ke saw He Tong's standing posture, raised his thick eyebrows, and sat up straighter unconsciously.
He Tong took long, steady steps, yet his footsteps were strangely quiet. One could imagine that if he had worn cloth boots instead of sneakers, there would have been no sound at all. In just three steps, the image of a master of martial arts was imprinted in everyone's mind.
Then, He Tong raised his clenched left hand, slightly bent his elbow and swung it, his head also shaking slightly, without stopping, he walked towards the seat next to the square table.
Seeing this series of actions, even Mao Pengxing sat up straight and said softly, "Okay."
Liu Ke echoed, "The sword pierces the curtain. Finally, someone has grasped the key element of 'sword'. For a young swordsman obsessed with martial arts, constantly seeking battles, the sword is his life."
When He Tong reached the square table, he paused with his raised foot, then retracted it and stood there straight. After a moment, he tilted his head slightly and frowned slightly.
After a moment, he turned around, took a step towards the table, stopped, and said, "Where is he?"
His voice changed from the gentle one when he introduced himself to a clear and sharp voice like ice colliding with each other.
Liu Ke nodded repeatedly as he watched. Mao Pengxing raised his eyebrows in praise, "That's the kind of personality he has! Only by being single-minded can he master powerful martial arts at such a young age. How can someone who is solely focused on martial arts understand the world of human nature? They should be straightforward."
After asking this question, He Tong slowly scanned the three sides of the square table and asked again: "Where is he?"
The next moment, he suddenly squatted into a bow stance, his upper body leaning back like a waist, his shoulders shaking slightly, as if he had avoided an attack, and then half turned his body along the momentum of the bow stance, then raised his leg and stepped down hard, causing the bench to flip in a wonderful arc in the air.
As the bench hit the ground with a thud, he took a cross-step, tilted his shoulders slightly, and slid to the side like a fish. Then he raised his hands, made a sword-drawing gesture, paused in mid-air, and asked for the third time, "Where is he?"
The side-splitting movement had been so swift and smooth, seemingly completed in a breath, a blink of an eye. Even without a supporting actor, everyone could still see He Tong holding a figure in his arms, a half-drawn sword poised at the figure's neck.
After a moment, He Tong sheathed his sword, folded his left hand into a flower, and let it hang naturally. He turned, took a few steps, and then stopped. He made a gesture of reaching into his bosom with his right hand, then half-turned, tossed it back, and said "thank you" before turning around again, "lifting the curtain" and leaving the tavern.
The examiners were a little surprised by the previous solo martial arts scene, but this scene made Mao Pengxing laugh out loud: "He even knew to save the money. He is indeed a disciple of a martial arts family."
When He Tong turned back around, his gentle expression had returned to the one he had before the performance. He lifted the bench and bowed to the examiners again. "My performance is over. Thank you all for watching."
Liu Ke waved at him from above.
He Tong walked forward and heard Liu Ke ask: "What kind of person do you think the swordsman you play is? If he were a character in a movie, how would you position him?"
He Tong's eyes flickered, and he understood in his heart that this character was indeed in the new script.
He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then quickly replied, "He's a pure man whose heart is only filled with swords. If he were in a movie, I think he'd be a supporting character with a growth potential. Early on, he could be the clue that leads to the protagonist, and later on, he could change direction in two ways."
Mao Pengxing then asked, "Which two directions?"
"He has been obsessed with swords since childhood. The sword has made him who he is, but it has also trapped him. If he cannot escape the sword's prison, he will become a sword slave, seeking sword skills at all costs. If he can be enlightened and break free from his cocoon, he may grow into a great hero."
Liu Ke and Mao Pengxing smiled and nodded without saying anything else. The examiner next to him encouraged He Tong a few more times and then let him go.
There were still some candidates who needed to perform, so He Tong didn't plan to stay any longer. He just wanted to go back early and video chat with his brother Ye in the evening.
As he walked, he lowered his head and sent a message to Uncle Zou to report that the exam was over. Just as he passed by a few candidates, a low voice with contempt reached his ears.
"Some people just can't stand seeing others do better than them. They don't have the courage to compete for the leading role, so they force themselves to play a supporting role."
He Tong looked over and saw a small group: a boy surrounded by another boy and a girl. Although they were some distance away from the examiner, He Tong and the others had been talking quite loudly, so they could hear what they were saying.
At this time, the boy next to him said, "Brother Ruan, Director Liu just praised your performance. The leading role is definitely yours."
After hearing this, He Tong remembered that the boy in the middle had also been called forward by the examiners and had a few words with them, but the main speaker at that time was the school teacher.
He Tong turned around and walked towards the three people.
He was half a head taller than the tallest of the three people, and he was wearing a sleeveless shirt today, revealing his strong biceps. Once he got close to them, he brought considerable pressure to the three people. The man and woman who had just spoken couldn't help but shrink back.
The boy in the middle had a stiff expression, but he still managed to say, "Classmate, what do you want to do?"
He Tong ignored him completely, raised his phone and pressed the record button, glanced at the candidate badges pinned to the chests of the three people, and read out their names one by one.
The girl who was half-hidden behind the boy in the middle whispered, "What the hell are you doing!"
He Tong smiled at them and said, "I advise you not to look for Xingchen when signing with a company in the future."
After saying that, he turned around and walked away, ignoring the shouting behind him.
If he is so stupid, he will filter it out for his elder brother Fang first to avoid him from causing trouble after signing.
After seven o'clock in the evening, He Tong called Ye Yuze on video.
In the camera, Ye Yuze had wet hair, with water droplets trickling down his face and across his slender neck. A few drops of water also dripped directly from his forehead and caught on his half-closed eyelashes.
He Tong was struck by the close-up view of the beauty emerging from the bath, and took a screenshot faster than his brain could move his hands.
"Um?"
Hearing the strange sound, Ye Yuze asked inquiringly while putting the towel on his head.
He Tong finally came to his senses and said, "Brother, have you eaten?"
Ye Yuze turned his phone around, took a picture of the food he had eaten behind him, then put the phone aside and started to wipe his hair.
"How was the filming today? Did the show go smoothly?"
"They were all my solo scenes, and the filming went smoothly."
"How is Director Yu? Is he easy to get along with?"
"Not bad. He used to shoot landscape and humanities documentaries."
He Tong automatically translated it and realized that Ye Yuze's "okay" basically meant "easy to talk to," so he felt relieved. As for the latter sentence, it was probably a compliment to the other person's film. He Tong planned to find it and watch it later.
"By the way, do you want to lose weight?"
He Tong suddenly thought that the food he saw just now seemed to be quite small.
"You need to control your diet, but you don't need to deliberately lose weight. After filming the scenes at the studio, we will go to the exterior scenes, and the indoor scenes where I am seriously ill will be filmed last."
A large portion of the film was shot on location, requiring extensive travel across the country. The deadline was tight and the workload was demanding. By the time filming was complete, I guess Ye Yuze would be just the right person for a serious illness scene. After all, he's naturally thin and looks like he could be blown away by the wind.
"Then I'll tell my assistant to bring some candy with you. Be careful of hypoglycemia. If you feel dizzy, just hold one in your mouth."
In fact, Ye Yuze doesn’t eat much normally, but He Tong still feels a little distressed.
Ye Yuze raised his lips slightly and responded softly.
He Tong added, "I'll go over there tomorrow and play a minor role for you guys. So, if you round it up, we'll be debuting in the same film."
Hearing this, Ye Yuze frowned slightly: "There is a role suitable for you."
He Tong knows that he is the assistant who follows the protagonist in the second half of the story. He is a very likable character.
The protagonist, Bai Ruyun, encounters this young boy in a small town, searching for his younger sister, who had been sold by his family. Bai Ruyun helps him and takes him and his sister away from their benighted hometown. Grateful for Bai Ruyun's kindness, the boy continues to care for Bai Ruyun even when he is gravely ill.
However, when they approached Yu Zheng to propose investment, Yu Zheng had already signed an investment and that investor wanted that role.
"It's okay," He Tong said indifferently, "Next time, let's find a drama to independently finance and choose any role we want."
At this time, Ye Yuze finished wiping his hair and moved closer to the camera.
"How did you do on the test today? Did you get first place?"
He Tong felt his heart beat harder again. He quickly reached out to touch his chest, then praised himself.
"Anyway, I'm going to take this reward."
"Okay," Ye Yuze raised an eyebrow, "I'll wait and see the results."
The next day, He Tongfei went to the movie studio.
However, things didn't go smoothly all day. First, the plane was delayed for four hours, taking off at 1:00 PM instead of 9:00 AM. Then, on the way from the airport to the movie studio, there was a traffic jam due to an accident ahead. By the time He Tong finally arrived at the hotel near the movie studio, it was almost 6:00 AM.
After hurriedly throwing his luggage into the room, He Tong immediately followed the assistant Xiao Zheng who came to pick him up at the airport to the crew.
The crew has a scene at dusk today and is still busy at this time.
As a result, just as He Tong saw the filming scene in front of him with a bunch of lights and cameras, he heard a sharp shout coming from there.
"If you don't want to act, get out."
It was the voice of his brother Ye.
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