Chapter 26 "Mingyan is not a useless flower..."
A corner of the white cloth was lifted, letting in light and Ji Sihan's shocked voice.
Yun's eyelashes trembled slightly; she had been woken up.
Gu Mingyan woke up immediately and mumbled, "Who is it?"
After recognizing Ji Sihan, she unceremoniously rolled over, burying her face even deeper into the warm collar of her coat, and whispered to Yun Qingqing, "...Qingqing, you're right, this feeling of getting paid to sleep is actually kind of nice."
Yun gently curved her eyes and replied with a smile in a soft whisper, "Right?"
【？？？？？？？】
[I'm dying of laughter!! No wonder they were so still, they were just asleep!]
[Yun Qingqing looks so cute with her sleepy eyes, I want to pet her.]
[Hahaha, compared to Meng Xian, whose snot was freezing, they're so comfortable.]
[What the hell is this paid sleep? It feels like Miss Gu's style is getting more and more distorted by Yun Qingqing.]
Standing a few steps away, Meng Xian could clearly see the rosy complexions on Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan's faces, the result of a good night's sleep. Compared to her own frozen body, an indescribable sense of absurdity welled up inside her.
She endured the cold and fatigue here, diligently memorizing her lines and striving for a good performance, but all the buzz and attention she received was stolen by two sleeping corpses?
What kind of logic is that?
"Cough!" Xu Hui coughed heavily, his face looking rather pale.
He walked to the center of the area and sternly swept his gaze over the two people still lying on the ground. "Gu Mingyan, Yun Qingqing, what are you two doing? Acting is a serious matter. Please show some professionalism!"
Yun Qingqing slowly sat up and casually pulled Gu Mingyan along.
The two stood up together and dusted themselves off.
Faced with Xu Hui's accusation, Yun Qingqing showed no sign of panic: "Teacher Xu, may I ask how to professionally portray a corpse that has fallen from a height?"
Xu Hui frowned and replied, "The most basic thing is that you can't move and you can't make any noise."
"Teacher, did we just move?" Yun asked, tilting her head slightly.
Xu Hui thought for a moment, then said reluctantly, "...No."
"Did we make a sound?" Yun asked softly again.
Xu Hui's face flushed red, and he said stiffly, "...No."
“Then we neither moved nor made a sound, which perfectly meets your basic requirements for a ‘corpse’?” Yun said sincerely.
[A logical genius! I can't refute him!]
[Haha, in some ways I actually think their acting was quite professional; I was genuinely a little scared just now.]
Xu Hui was speechless for a moment after being rebuked, especially when he saw the expressions of the other guests around him who wanted to laugh but dared not, and a surge of anger rose to his head.
He came from humble beginnings and looked down on those arrogant "second-generation stars" and "second-generation rich" who could obtain resources without effort because of their family background. Gu Mingyan was a typical example of that kind of person in his eyes, with terrible acting skills but endless resources.
He had originally cast her as a corpse with the intention of seeing her make a fool of herself, but he never expected that the girl named Yun Qingqing would embarrass him with just a few words.
His face darkened, and he stopped dwelling on the issue: "That's enough for the impromptu practice. Now, we'll move on to the formal teaching session, where I will address each of your performances one by one."
He deliberately skipped Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan first, and started giving guidance to Meng Xian.
Seeing Meng Xian's humble and respectful expression, Xu Hui was very pleased and praised her acting skills.
Next came Jiang Mingqian, Ji Sihan, Nan Xu, and Ding Manni. Xu Hui gave brief comments on each of them, some praising and some criticizing, but generally within the scope of professionalism.
Finally, his gaze fell on Gu Mingyan, and his eyes turned noticeably cold.
"Gu Mingyan," he said calmly, "You didn't show any basic skills when you played the corpse just now. How about this, you improvise another scene."
Gu Mingyan nodded indifferently: "What should we perform?"
Xu Hui laughed: "Just play a concubine who, when the country is destroyed and her family is destroyed, refuses to abandon the city and flee with the emperor, but instead draws her sword and angrily rebukes the emperor."
Upon hearing this, Yun Qingqing frowned.
Although this scene may seem like just a scenario, it is actually extremely difficult.
It requires actors to portray a complex and intense mix of emotions—anger, despair, resentment, loyalty, and betrayal—in a very short time, posing a significant challenge to their diction, emotional delivery, and physical expression.
Let alone Gu Mingyan, even experienced actors would find it difficult to handle in a short period of time.
This is less a teaching exercise and more a deliberate attempt to make things difficult.
Meng Xian stood to the side, her fingers lightly tracing the corner of her lips, subtly concealing her gloating smile.
Sure enough, as soon as Gu Mingyan uttered her first line, Xu Hui rudely raised his hand to interrupt her.
"Stop!" he said sternly. "You've got the emotion, but it's superficial. You're 'acting' anger, not real anger! Start again!"
Gu Mingyan pursed her lips and started again.
She tried to deliver her lines more decisively and forcefully.
"No!" Xu Hui called out again, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. "The limbs are too stiff; they look like mummies."
From then on, every time Gu Mingyan tried, Xu Hui would interrupt and belittle her for various reasons.
"The delivery of lines is terrible; the words lack weight!"
"The emotional transitions are abrupt; are you reciting a text?"
"You don't even have the most basic sense of conviction! Who do you think you are right now?"
"With this level of quality, I really don't know how they filmed those shows before!"
Each sentence was more jarring than the last, each sentence more merciless than the last.
Xu Hui belittled Gu Mingyan's acting ability to the point of worthlessness, as if she were not a student who came to learn, but some incompetent fool who was just filling in the gaps.
Gu Mingyan's cheeks gradually flushed red, and her eyes also became faintly red.
She was rarely reprimanded so ruthlessly to her face, but Gu Mingyan still had an instinctive respect for the identity of "teacher" in her bones, so she suppressed the rebuttal that was about to come out of her mouth. She just gritted her teeth and did it again and again according to Xu Hui's requirements.
"Make your emotions even stronger!" Xu Hui continued to accuse, "You're here to denounce that coward who abandoned his country and its people! This isn't a child throwing a tantrum! Show me your full strength!"
Tears welled up in Gu Mingyan's eyes. She forcefully drew the prop sword from its sheath and shouted her lines at the top of her lungs—
"You tyrant! You—"
A clear, sharp crack abruptly interrupted her performance.
That prop sword, which looked quite heavy, actually broke in two!
The first half of the sword flew off, drawing an arc in the air before crashing straight down on Xu Hui's head.
"Ah—!" Xu Hui only saw a metallic glint coming straight at him and was immediately terrified.
He let out a terrified scream and cowered in panic, clutching his head.
"Bang!" The broken sword flew past his ear and hit the wooden floor.
"Teacher Xu!"
"How are you, Teacher Xu?"
Only then did everyone realize what was happening, and they all swarmed around it.
Xu Hui was slumped on the ground, his hands tightly clutching his head.
After a long while, he finally released his grip, still shaken, and angrily pointed at Gu Mingyan: "Gu Mingyan! What do you mean by this?! Teaching is teaching, but you actually tried to murder me with props?!"
Gu Mingyan was also stunned by this unexpected turn of events, and instinctively protested, "I didn't! The sword broke on its own!"
"It broke on its own? How could it just happen to fly towards me?" Xu Hui's face turned ashen with anger.
With a disapproving look on her face, Meng Xian stepped forward lightly: "Mingyan, you really went too far this time. Even if you have feelings about the teacher's guidance, you can't take it out on someone else."
Faced with her gentle rebuke, Gu Mingyan felt utterly speechless again: "I already said I didn't do it on purpose! It was a problem with the props!"
Many people in the live chat are criticizing her:
[They wouldn't even let us criticize their bad acting, now they're resorting to physical attacks, 6.]
Poor Meng Xian, she tried to mediate but got yelled at. It's really hard to be a good person.
If this actually hits someone, wouldn't that be intentional injury?
However, unlike Gu Mingyan's previous situation where she was universally disliked online, the current comments are not completely one-sided; quite a few people are still speaking up for her.
To be fair, wasn't it Xu Hui who started the personal attack? Go watch the replay; can that really be called teaching?
This is going too far. Even a clay figure has some temper, let alone Gu Mingyan.
[I just saw it. Gu Mingyan drew her sword vertically upwards, while the broken sword flew out horizontally. The direction of force is incorrect; it's more like the sword itself was cracked and was flung out.]
I always felt there was something strange about Meng Xian's words; it was as if she was directly accusing someone of deliberately seeking revenge.
Amidst the chaos, Yun Qingqing's gaze fell upon the broken sword lying not far away.
She walked over, bent down, picked up the broken sword, and carefully examined the break.
"Gently?" Gu Mingyan sniffed, looking at her with confusion.
Yun gently touched the rough, porous, and air-bubbly fracture with her finger, then squinted.
"System, is there a problem with the quality of this sword?" she asked.
"Of course there's a problem," the system honestly stated. "These cheap, low-quality alloy tools only cost about twenty or thirty yuan each. They're made from recycled waste materials, contain many impurities, and are prone to cracking and breaking easily due to uneven stress or after being dropped a few times."
Yun tilted her head slightly: [Yuncheng University is supposed to be a top-tier university, and the props used by the performing arts department are of this caliber?]
"Of course not," the system said. "These props were procured by Xu Hui, who specifically sought out the cheapest channels to buy substandard goods and profit from the price difference."
I see.
Yun Qingqing understood.
Over there, Xu Hui was still angrily condemning, "Gu Mingyan! You have to give me an explanation today! If I hadn't dodged in time, I would be the one with a bloody head right now! This is intentional assault! It's attempted murder!"
Meng Xian sighed softly: "Mingyan, you should have the courage to admit your mistakes. Teacher Xu is a bit strict in her teaching, but it's for your own good."
Gu Mingyan was so angry at their back-and-forth that her chest heaved. Just as she was about to retort, Yun gently pulled her wrist.
Yun Qingqing ignored Xu Hui's clamor and went straight to the shelf in the corner where props were piled up, where there were several longswords of the same style.
"Yun Qingqing! What are you doing!" Xu Hui's eyelids twitched suddenly, and an ominous premonition surged into his heart.
Yun Qingqing acted as if she hadn't heard, deftly carrying over all five remaining prop swords from the shelf and placing them in the center of the arena with a clatter.
Then, amidst everyone's puzzled gazes, she casually picked up one of them.
"Hey, don't mess with the props!" Xu Hui's voice was a little weak as he tried to stop him.
Yun gently raised her eyes and calmly glanced at him.
Then, she gripped the hilt, drew the longsword from its sheath, and without hesitation slammed it onto the floor, snapping it in two—
"Clang!"
A crisp, teeth-grinding cracking sound rang out.
That seemingly high-quality longsword was easily broken in two.
Everyone was stunned; even Xu Hui's angry expression froze on his face.
Yun Qingqing remained calm, threw away the broken handle in her hand, and drew out a second one, repeating the same method.
"Clang!"
Equally crisp, equally effortless.
The third one.
"Clang!"
The fourth one.
"Clang!"
The fifth one.
"Clang!"
In just over ten seconds, a pile of broken swords lay scattered on the ground.
Yun Qingqing casually said to Xu Hui, "Teacher Xu, do you see? This sword itself is defective. Mingyan didn't have foresight, how could she have known that the teaching props provided by the school would be of such poor quality?"
Gu Mingyan stared blankly at the pile of broken swords on the ground, then looked at Yun Qingqing, and her nose tingled with emotion.
[Tsk tsk, it breaks in half with a single snap, there's no way it's going to break!]
[What kind of junk equipment is this? If someone were to use it for sparring practice, wouldn't something terrible happen?]
So it has nothing to do with Gu Mingyan, right? It was just bad luck that the bullet hit Xu Hui on the head.
Yun Qingqing looked at Xu Hui's increasingly grim face and said slowly, "So, instead of arguing about where the prop sword will fly after it breaks, shouldn't we first ask why the person in charge of purchasing the props used substandard products to appease the students? And where did the money saved go?"
"You... what nonsense are you spouting!" Xu Hui's eyes flashed with panic. He immediately forgot about the live camera and quickly and sternly rebuked her, "What does this have to do with the quality of the props? Gu Mingyan is nothing but a despicable scoundrel. She has no acting skills and no works. She just does whatever she wants because her family has a lot of money!"
Gu Mingyan clenched her fists.
Damn, why is this involving personal attacks?
She really wanted to give Xu Hui a good scolding, but once the words were out, she felt that what he said didn't seem to be wrong.
She is indeed a poor actress and doesn't have any noteworthy works.
“Teacher Xu,” Yun stepped forward gently, shielding Gu Mingyan behind her, “Mingyan has many good qualities. She is generous, simple-minded and straightforward, sincere to her friends, and will work hard to do what she believes in. It’s just that you can’t see them because you have preconceived prejudices and tinted glasses.”
Gu Mingyan froze, staring blankly at Yun Qingqing's upright but not tall back.
Yun Qingqing finished speaking with a smile: "Also, as you know, our Mingyan is quite wealthy. As long as she has money, she can act in whatever dramas she wants. You don't need to worry about her not having any projects."
Xu Hui: "..."
[Hahahaha, shrimp and pork heart! Yun Qingqing made Xu Hui's face turn green with anger!]
[I think Yun Qingqing is right. Even if Gu Mingyan's acting skills need improvement, we can't judge her as a whole.]
[Speaking of which, how did Yun Qingqing come up with the idea of breaking other swords? In just a few moves, she cleared up the misunderstanding that Gu Mingyan had intentionally hurt someone.]
Yun Qingqing added insult to injury: "And teacher, since you're so desperate, could it be that you're the one who's procuring substandard props and pocketing the kickbacks?"
Xu Hui's face instantly turned from red to white, then from white to green. He pointed at Yun Qingqing and stammered "You...you..." for a long time, but he was so angry that he couldn't say a word.
Yun Qingqing had already stopped looking at him.
She turned around and very naturally took Gu Mingyan's hand.
That hand was a little cold and trembling slightly.
Yun gently gathered her gaze, then looked up and gave Gu Mingyan a faint smile:
"Let's go and report the problem with the props in the Performing Arts Department to the leaders of Yunnan University."
Gu Mingyan stared at her blankly.
Then, she turned around and gripped Yun Qingqing's hand even tighter.
“…Mmm.” She heard herself respond softly, her voice slightly nasal.
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