Chapter 177 I am
Although the other party relaxed quickly, the two of them were completely stuck together. Such an obvious change was impossible for Wang Mingzhi to ignore.
Is there anything wrong with asking Lu Yao to go eat together?
Wang Mingzhi blinked.
"I haven't seen him since the evening. Where did he go?"
In a direction that Wang Mingzhi couldn't see, everyone's expressions froze for a moment.
Xin Yi's voice rang out immediately.
"He went to practice chess, preparing for the October competition."
Wang Mingzhi looked confused: "What competition?"
"A Go game."
Wang Mingzhi shut his mouth.
When his idol is already so busy, why does Lu Yao still want to play Go?
He is a ruthless person.
Wang Mingzhi could only regretfully give up the idea of bringing Lu Yao along and continued walking towards the lounge.
He was busy calling Luo Wenbo and others, but he didn't notice that Qiu Yuge, whom he was hugging, and the people around him were absent-minded.
By the time it was time to eat, the members' absent-mindedness disappeared.
Although everyone present hadn't seen each other for a while, they still seemed very close. They ate their meal with laughter, listening to Luo Wenbo share the interesting things about preparing to go abroad, listening to An share that he was about to enter the third year of high school and felt very painful, and listening to Wang Mingzhi share his acting skills... The guests and hosts had a great time during the meal, until they got into the nanny car and could no longer see Xin Yi under her steady driving. Only then did they put away their smiles and worry appeared on their faces.
When I returned to the villa and saw the dark and empty room, my worry reached its peak.
Bai You stared at Xin Yi and asked, "Can we ask?"
Xin Yi shook her head: "No."
Bai You pursed his lips.
Cang Zizhen sighed and pulled Bai You upstairs.
Zhu Xiangming's face also lost its usual relaxed expression. He followed Qiu Yuge and Yin Hongxue with a worried look on his face.
It was clearly a workday with filming every day, but everyone did not sleep well. The next day, when they saw the dark circles under each other's eyes downstairs, they all laughed bitterly at the same time.
And under Xin Yi's nose, all they could do was smile bitterly and nothing more.
The five of them got into Xin Yi's car and rushed to the set again. When they arrived at the set and saw Lu Yao putting on makeup in the lounge, everyone's expressions instantly brightened.
Wei Gu, who left with Lu Yao, is now sitting on the sofa in the lounge to rest.
"You're back." Bai You appeared beside Lu Yao as if he had teleported. Just as he stood still, before he could say the next word, his expression changed: "You're injured!"
As soon as he approached Lu Yao, he smelled a strong fragrance, and underneath this fragrance, there was a familiar smell that he could not ignore.
That was the smell of blood that he had smelled on Lu Yao several times before.
Bai You's voice was so low that the makeup artist couldn't hear what he was saying. However, Qiu Yuge and the others had already realized something from Bai You's expression. The next second, everyone gathered around, forcing the makeup artist to speak up, "It's too crowded, too crowded. Give us some space."
In the small dressing room, there were a makeup artist, six members, Xin Yi and Wei Gu. It was really not a good place to talk.
Everyone could only suppress their worries, sit in their seats, and start putting on makeup.
After putting on makeup, the filming started without stopping. Even if everyone had many questions in their minds, under the watchful eyes of the staff on the set, they could only quietly swallow all the questions and focus on the filming.
If you are not calm, the effect of the shooting will be greatly reduced.
The director stared at the screen for a long time, and finally couldn't help but shouted CUT.
"Stop, stop, come here." The director took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. "What's wrong with you guys today? You're in such a bad state! Weren't you fine last night?"
"See for yourself!"
The director pointed at the screen and asked everyone to watch the clip they had just performed.
In the club classroom, Zhu Xiangming stood in the middle of the crowd and began to read: "You know what? Bottled water is just bottled water, a pillow is just a pillow, and advertising is just for advertising."
Silence.
"Don't you have any ideas?" The director looked at everyone.
Zhu Xiangming apologized in a low voice: "I'm sorry, Director. I'm not in a good state."
"Did I call you over here just to hear your apology? If you're not in good shape, just adjust. Or do you think this is enough to act like this?"
Zhu Xiangming buried his head even lower.
The director looked around and continued, "And you—"
"Okay, Director." Lu Yao suddenly interrupted.
He was slightly taller than the director, and now with his eyebrows slightly lowered, he looked down at the angry man: "Your behavior is of no use to everyone adjusting their state. Take a half-hour break and continue filming in half an hour."
After saying that, Lu Yao turned around and left with his five dejected teammates.
His calm tone, matter-of-fact attitude, and unyielding tone all made the director open his eyes wide.
No, what is this doing?
The actors just took a break when they said so?
He is the director, isn't he?
Also, what about the three no's that Lu Yao mentioned?
What's with this tough aura written all over his body?
The director wanted to go over and call them back to continue filming, but his subconscious told him that he had better listen to Lu Yao and take a half-hour break.
"I'm not listening to the actors, no." The director whispered, "I'm just being considerate of the actors' poor condition and giving them time to rest."
"Yes, that's right. I'm a really good director."
After he finished speaking, the director picked up the speaker, pointed it at his own mouth, and said loudly: "Everyone! Take a half-hour break!"
Lu Yao had already quickly brought the group back to the lounge.
"You wait outside." And when Wei Gu and Xin Yi wanted to follow him in, he locked them outside.
Wei Gu opened his mouth to say something, but Xin Yi was already standing by the door.
Wei Gu: ...
Okay, you are obedient and you are awesome.
Wei Gu stood on the other side, and the two of them stood on the left and right like door gods.
As soon as the door closed, Lu Yao turned around and looked at his teammates without saying a word, but no one dared to breathe.
Momentum will not disappear just because of young age.
Zhu Xiangming said hesitantly: "I'm sorry, I'm not in a good state."
Lu Yao shook his head: "I'm not here to listen to your apology."
"I just have one question, why are you standing here?"
Zhu Xiangming looked up blankly at Qiu Yuge.
Why are you standing here? Because Lu Yao brought them to the lounge?
Because there is an announcement today?
Everyone looked at each other, but only Cang Zi really understood something.
"To increase popularity?"
The reason for shooting self-produced dramas is that according to the company's past experience, when a group first debuts, a TV series with the members as the protagonists can increase the public recognition of the group, bring in more fans, and also accumulate experience for the group's subsequent work... There are many benefits.
So they naturally inherited this tradition.
Lu Yao's expression didn't reveal whether he was satisfied with the answer or not. He nodded slightly and said, "Then why do we need to increase our popularity?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Doesn’t everyone in the entertainment industry want to increase their popularity?
Increasing popularity means more people like it, better resources, and more money.
But when Lu Yao asked this question, were these the answers he wanted to hear?
Yin Hongxue pursed her lips, a confused look in her eyes.
"I don't know." This question has been lingering in his mind since the debut planning began, and until now, he has never found the answer.
He used to think he had reached a reconciliation with himself, but the problem would not disappear just because he escaped.
Lu Yao frowned: "Before you formed the group, you were clearly very eager to debut and form a group."
“Why did it change after the group formed?”
"You've completely lost the effort and determination you had back then. Now, any little thing will affect your state. Why?"
"Just because you have it, you won't cherish it?"
Zhu Xiangming lowered his head even lower.
After forming the group, he did relax a lot and couldn't muster the energy to practice as hard as before. He knew this shouldn't be the case, but after years of practice and even the pressure of the debut plan in the last few months, people are always inevitably tired.
At that time, he had the goal of debuting as a group, which forced him to cheer up and deal with the pressure and competition. But now he has reaped the rewards of years of hard work. If he continues to work as hard as he did then, what is the goal?
For popularity? But they are already very popular now.
Every time she shoots and every time she appears at the airport, she is surrounded by countless fans.
Even now, whenever he looks outside the studio, he can see many fans hiding in the buildings.
Carry a camera and film them.
What would happen if it became more popular?
Zhu Xiangming couldn't imagine it.
No one spoke.
A look of disappointment appeared on Lu Yao's face.
"I don't want to stop."
Bai You said weakly: "We won't stop, but..."
But what? He didn't know either.
"That's enough." Cang Zizhen's voice rang out. He stared at Lu Yao, looking so serious and solemn for the first time. "You said we weren't working hard enough, but what about you? What are you doing all this for? You asked why we're standing here, so why are you standing here too?"
"What on earth do you want to do? What did you do last night? You sprayed such strong perfume, what were you trying to cover up?"
As soon as this series of questions came out, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.
Everyone looked at Lu Yao.
The five people stood together, and Lu Yao stood at the door facing them, clearly separated.
The distance between them was like a rolling river, roaring past at this moment.
They had pretended that they couldn't see for too long, and at this moment when they were the only ones there, they finally couldn't help but ask.
Lu Yao gave the answer as usual.
“I want to be on stage.”
"I was on a mission last night."
"To cover up the smell."
He spoke a string of words without stopping, then paused for a moment before continuing.
"But none of that matters."
Everyone: ? ?
Not important? Then what is important?
"The stage is the most important thing."
"Isn't it because of the stage that you've persisted until now?" Lu Yao asked in return, "The moment you stood on the stage, seeing the countless audiences who came for you, sharing the same breath and heartbeat for the brief duration of a song, wasn't it because of this feeling that you stayed so long?"
They...really?
Bai You lowered his eyes.
He is, he certainly is, of course he is.
But this world is too complicated, and the reality that comes at him cannot accommodate such a pure thought. He has to spend his energy thinking about other things every day.
Busy schedules, tedious work, fans everywhere... Enjoying cheers and applause on stage, feeling the love and admiration? These are too far away from them.
Applause can make people addicted, and distance can make people lost.
Every day he left the stage, he was forgetting the excitement of his first time on stage and the feeling of hearing the crowd shouting his name for the first time.
Real faces have become strings of meaningless numbers, fans’ shouts have become compliments that will never again stir up a stir in the comment section, and the waves of enthusiasm off the stage have become more and more popular searches on Weibo.
So, is he still?
Qiu Yuge spoke for the first time: "Is it you?"
Lu Yao nodded without hesitation: "I am."
Two such simple words, but they sounded like thunder in everyone's ears.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com