Chapter 26
And to be frank, when Mr. Yan looked at the angry little fellow in front of him, why did he look a bit... doting?
The crowd had no idea that they had already figured out the secret. Instead, they were trembling with fear at their own imaginations and tried hard to drive such absurd thoughts out of their minds.
It’s okay to gossip about small artists, but it’s better not to mess with big guys like Yan Yunzhen who have both the background and status to crush them...
Lu Zixi naturally had no idea what the people around him were thinking, so he sat next to Yan Yunzhen very naturally and watched Chang Yi's performance through the transparent glass wall.
To be honest, Lu Zixi actually enjoyed this feeling somewhat, as he hadn't spent time with Yan Yunzhen like this since their falling out. Many misunderstandings, left unexplained at the time, piled up, often never fully resolved. Lu Wenqi's identity provided a buffer between them, allowing them to temporarily put aside past grievances and coexist happily. Even though they were both more or less aware of each other's identities, they remained vague and refused to clarify. Perhaps he and Yan Yunzhen both understood that if they did, things would return to their previous awkward state.
Lu Zixi was still lost in thought, but Yan Yunzhen had already begun to look at it seriously. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Is Chang Yi's leg really injured?"
The walls of the audition area were covered in transparent glass, allowing for a clear view of what was happening on the other side. Chang Yi was struggling to crawl, half-kneeling on the ground, dragging one leg. Though it was early autumn, sweat formed on his forehead from the pain, his eyes gleaming with despair and struggle. His movements were stiff and slow, like those of a dying person. The director and assistant director observed his performance, whispering to each other before nodding their heads.
It has to be said that everything has its logic. The reason why Chang Yi has become one of the most popular young actors recently and was even chosen to play Yan Zhi is because his acting skills are really good among newcomers and his appearance is relatively pleasing. Yuan Hong is naturally happy to support him. His fame is inseparable from these three factors.
But now...
"He... doesn't seem to have a leg injury," Lu Zixi watched the performance for a while, hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "When I was a kid, I was naughty and climbed a tree. I fell from a tree and had to get a cast, so I know the condition of leg injuries very well. Chang Yi's current appearance doesn't look like a leg injury... It looks more like... what... lumbar muscle strain?"
Lu Zixi felt that although he had expressed himself tactfully, he had been clear enough. However, he did not expect Yan Yunzhen to still have a frown on his face and look lost in thought, as if he still had not understood.
"You just said, 'Let me see someone else's little soldier,' right?" Lu Zixi decided to get straight to the point. "So, that 'someone else' didn't operate properly and was too heavy-handed. Do you understand now?"
He had also heard those people gossiping about the relationship between Chang Yi and a certain "backer" named Liu, and thought Yan Yunzhen's words were a veiled sarcasm. But Yan Yunzhen was stunned for a long time before reacting: "You misunderstood. What I meant was, let you see other people play the role of the little military master... not let you see other people's little military masters."
Yan Yunzhen looked at Lu Zixi's expression, which quickly shifted from confusion to realization, and finally settled into embarrassment. He suddenly wanted to tease him: "How could it be misunderstood like this? You think he is someone else's little military master, then whose little military master are you?"
"Master Lu, I..." Lu Zixi resisted the urge to give him the middle finger and rolled his eyes, "I belong to no one!"
This very sensitive body once again refused to give Lu Zixi face. He could clearly feel that in just a few short words, his face had become hot as if he had a fever. He didn't know that in Yan Yunzhen's eyes, his bullied look was strangely charming, like a cat's paw teasing his heart, making him tremble with fear.
"By the way...how do you know he has 'lumbar muscle strain'?" Yan Yunzhen trembled and suddenly found another key point. His eyes narrowed and he glanced at him, "Have you ever experienced this?"
"Even if you haven't eaten pork, have you seen a pig run?" Lu Zixi looked at Yan Yunzhen's eyes, which suddenly became serious, and replied awkwardly, "No... no."
Yan Yunzhen continued to squint at him, and suddenly smiled.
This little guy, how can he be so funny?
While the two were chatting, Chang Yi, who was sitting on the other side of the wall, was about to finish his performance.
Young Junye knelt at the door, his lips trembling as he begged the doctor inside to save his life, promising to offer him anything in exchange once he fully recovered and could contact his family. But no matter what he said, the door remained coldly shut. The doctor inside had just come out to check on him and issued an ultimatum: his leg was beyond saving, he was only half dead, the clinic was crowded, there was no room for a dying man, and he was asked to die outside.
A variety of complex emotions flashed in the young soldier's eyes. He was silent for a long time, and finally leaned against the door frame, holding his almost scrapped rifle that he had used as a crutch all the way. He was extremely tired and his heart was dead.
He seemed to be regretting his past choices, regretting giving up his dreams and following his parents' arrangements. Young Junye closed his eyes and clasped the door with his hands. His throat was dry and hoarse from extreme dehydration, but he didn't care and tortured his vocal cords, using up the last bit of his strength to sing one last play.
When everything returned to silence, the door of the clinic quietly opened.
His final struggle against fate actually aroused the interest of the eccentric owner of the clinic, who decided to save his life with great interest.
"Young General, please," the man inside the door changed his previous indifference and said respectfully, "The owner of the hall asks you to sing a song for him."
The script ends here.
Chang Yi slowly climbed up from the ground, appearing shy yet excited as he accepted the praise from the surrounding directors. His performance was truly excellent this time. Putting aside all subjective factors, even a picky person like Yan Yunzhen had to admit that the feelings of despair, struggle, and pain were perfectly portrayed, so well that it made him feel...
Chang Yi is now in a painful struggle.
He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Lu Zixi, but Lu Zixi was just watching Chang Yi's performance intently. There was not much shock or appreciation in his eyes, let alone hostility towards his opponent. He just watched very seriously and then analyzed the opponent's performance carefully.
Yan Yunzhen, who had just been feeling a little uneasy because of Chang Yi's outstanding performance, immediately understood what was going on when he saw Lu Zixi's condition.
He almost instinctively believed that Lu Zixi would never let him down when it came to filming.
This is a huge treasure with unlimited potential.
"Number 22, Lu Wenqi, come over and put on your makeup," the staff member called over. "You'll go on stage after you're done."
"Ah? No need, just follow the order." Lu Zixi was stunned for a moment, not understanding why the other party wanted him to cut in line. "I'll take a look and it's the same."
"Director Gao told you to give it a try. If you pass, it's you. If you fail, it'll be No. 17. They're quite satisfied with No. 17."
Now, not only Yan Yunzhen, but even Lu Zixi himself looked a little serious.
To be honest, Lu Zixi usually doesn't care about a filming opportunity. It's just a role. If he loses it, he loses it. There may be better ones waiting for him, but this role is not good enough.
It's not just because this character is very similar to Lu Zixi himself, nor is it just because this character has rival scenes with Yan Yunzhen, and it's not just because the person competing with him for the role is Chang Yi, who wants to suppress him at every turn. But when all these factors come into play, he suddenly becomes restless.
He and Yan Yunzhen looked at each other, and just as he was about to take a step, Yan Yunzhen grabbed his wrist.
"Wait for me." Yan Yunzhen looked into his eyes seriously, "I'll change my clothes and act with you."
----
It’s the same play, the same scene.
After Lu Zixi changed his clothes and walked in, he could sense the lack of anticipation and eagerness in the gazes he was looking at. This suggested he hadn't made a good first impression, at least not as good as Chang Yi, who appeared to be diligent in exercising. But Lu Zixi wasn't flustered. First impressions are meant to be broken; the lower the starting point and the greater the contrast, the better.
As he limped past Chang Yi, he felt that the cold, venomous gaze seemed to be wrapping around him, which made him feel a little creepy.
There was a sentence almost written in that look, "It's all because of you."
Lu Zixi believed that he had a clear conscience, so he brushed past him decisively, picked up the prop gun placed beside him, leaned on the barrel, and slowly turned around. As he instantly immersed himself in the role, his eyes gradually turned from lively and clear to dark.
He stumbled two or three steps, then fell straight to his knees amidst the crowd's exclamations. The barrel of his gun suddenly slipped, and he fell to the ground. His hand tightly grasped the barrel of the gun, and the other hand supported the ground. The veins on his arm bulged, and he frowned and gasped for breath, looking like he was enduring great pain.
The makeup artist's skills were quite good. At this moment, Lu Zixi's hair was disheveled, his eyes were dark circles, and his face was crisscrossed with congealed bloodstains, which was very scary. He was lying on the ground, slowly raising his head. At first glance, he looked like a hellish Shura who had just crawled out of a pile of corpses.
Same beginning, completely different effect.
The directors were initially stunned, but were quickly captivated by his performance, each one becoming extremely alert. They wanted to know how this newcomer, with no previous acting experience and no formal training, could play such a crucial supporting role with so much experience and depth.
Soon, they realized the difference in the person before them.
His eyes were terribly empty and dark, like a bottomless well, which made people feel terrified.
If Chang Yi's young general was full of resentment, fatigue and pain just now, which made people feel sympathy for him, then the young general now is completely different.
Someone truly crawling out of a pile of corpses is terrifying. He wants to live, he just wants to survive. All anyone can see in him is a simple, unwavering desire for survival, the kind of feeling one experiences after complaining about exhaustion and pain to the point of complete numbness. Treating the most ordinary things as extravagant hopes is the truest form of despair. And only a young soldier like this makes one feel truly desperate.
But a desperate general is still a general, and he remains proud. He will never sit if he can stand, and never kneel if he can sit, and his back is always straight. Along the way, he stumbles and falls, always trying to stand up, but he can't hold on and falls down. His knees are bruised, but he still refuses to give up. Just from this posture, it can be seen that Chang Yi's interpretation of the young general who only knows how to roll and grind on the ground and struggle in pain is too thin and too inappropriate for the character. Just a few clips show the difference.
At this point, everyone had forgotten how different the physical features of this newcomer were from what they had imagined. Everyone held their breath and looked down with anticipation.
By the time he reached the clinic's entrance, the exhausted young soldier collapsed headfirst against it. Coughing, he struggled to sit up, leaning on the barrel of his rifle, while banging on the door, begging for help. Initially, he was still furious, with the energy to curse, but his voice grew weaker and weaker, until he could only repeat a few words, and then his voice gradually faded.
The people in the clinic still said the same thing: he is going to die, so we won't save him.
The young soldier just listened in a daze, holding his gun and leaning against the door panel.
His eyes suddenly turned red.
The room gradually quieted down, and at this moment, the tears of Young Master Jun burst out.
The onlookers were all shocked, because crying scenes were not part of the design. But when they thought about it, they felt that it could not be more real.
When the naturally proud young soldier realized that the owner's words might be true, that he would lose a leg from now on, he panicked. Only his pride kept him going, and he refused to show weakness. He kept telling himself to hold on, even if his pride was broken and he was completely crushed in the mud. But when the death sentence was ruthlessly handed down again and again, he couldn't hold on any longer. Crystal-clear tears flowed from his eyes, washing away the blood stains on his face. The more he cried, the more wronged he felt, like a bewildered child, and he couldn't stop crying.
He was a military officer, but he was just a young officer in his early twenties, still childish. His tears washed away the blood stains, revealing a fair and clean face of a scholar.
He should be proud and upright, but he also has the right to be weak.
In the end, the young soldier had completely abandoned all the threats and inducements, and he sobbed incoherently, "Please save me, I don't want to die."
This is much more realistic than the young soldier who was still bargaining at the critical moment of life and death and had the leisure to think about the grievances of his father.
This is a person's most intuitive reaction before life and death. He has to experience such a complete collapse first before he can finally see things clearly. Only then can he, in the last ray of light in his life, sing in a hoarse voice the tune of an opera, having seen through the world, and put a tragic end to his life.
“Cut!”
Director Gao shouted "cut" in a hurry without waiting for Lu Zixi to perform the last part.
Everyone else looked at him with dissatisfaction or strange eyes, but only he himself knew why he did this.
If you don’t shout “click” soon, the young master next to you will look murderous!
Sure enough, after a click, Lu Zixi's tears became much less, but he still buried his head in his arms and sobbed softly.
The director team's attitude was obviously unanimous in approval. Some people wanted to say something, but they were all stopped outside by Director Gao and his men. When they left, they even lowered the bed curtains on the glass windows for the two of them. They were extremely considerate and conscious.
Yan Yunzhen waited until everyone left before he sighed softly.
Due to the role positioning, Lu Zixi has basically not filmed crying scenes since his debut, especially crying like this. When Lu Zixi burst into tears, he felt that his whole heart was squeezed into a ball. The despair and confusion made him want to rush over and hug the person in his arms, let him lean on his chest, and then tell him softly, it's okay, I'm here.
He didn't expect that he would lose his composure so much that Director Gao could see through it.
"Why are you crying all of a sudden? I didn't even get any mental preparation." Yan Yunzhen squatted down, hesitated for a while, and finally poked the little ball of fur as he wished.
The hairball really exploded. She grabbed one of his sleeves and started wiping his face with it. After she was done, she said in a muffled voice, "I'll wash it for you."
"This dress is not mine." Yan Yunzhen looked at the Chinese medicine robe on his body and said helplessly, "It's okay, Yuanhong will reimburse the dry cleaning fee."
"Yuanhong is so nice." Lu Zixi muttered softly.
"Well, hello Yuanhong, come to Yuanhong." Yan Yunzhen rubbed his hair and said gently.
Fortunately, those people didn't avoid suspicion too obviously. Knowing that there was no movement inside, they slowly came back. The director team announced the audition result on the spot and hired Lu Zixi, but there was one thing - he had to first develop his thin body into the appearance of a military commander. Once the actors were ready, they would finalize the opening ceremony.
So, that night, Yan Yunzhen’s Weibo dropped another bombshell.
[@Yan Yunzhenzachariasv: @Lu Wenqi What to Eat Today v "No. 58 Medical Clinic", looking forward to working with you.]
The author has something to say: Today was a real surprise, thank you all so much for your support! I've carefully read every comment, thank you for your support! I'll continue to update daily, still in the early hours. Our goal is to have updates as soon as you wake up! (Actually, the author is too busy during the day and habitually cultivates immortality at night.)
Now, let me tell you something that shocked me: I felt like I was writing a red envelope group post and should have given out more red envelopes. Plus, the post wasn't popular at the time, so I promised red envelopes for the first three days of being a V-chapter commenter. I just checked and saw that I'd given out 105 yuan in red envelopes... That's 10,500 yen... Seriously, I'm completely stunned! This is the first time I've had so many comments that I could give out so many red envelopes! Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! Love you! You've made a perennial loser feel warm!
In the future updates, the first five commenters on each chapter will receive red envelopes. QQ love~
Finally! The author has collected 300 plus one more chapter! Muah ~
【Thank you list】
Thanks to llllQingchengWhoSpeaksOfSin! for the mines~
Thanks to Zigui x2, Yizhiyezi Miaonu identification completed x5, Yuguo Bailuzhou Lingxiao x24, Huazui Sanqianke x2, Shuangzhi x20, Dakeke x5, Tomato Tsundere Cat Gangster Isn't It Hotpot Kamisa x20, Red Blood Glaze's nutrient solution~
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