After spending time together, Song Yimian developed a blind trust in Shen Huai, knowing that he was definitely not the kind of person Hua Rong was. Moreover, after reading the script, he really liked the character Pu Ye and was reluctant to give him up.
He'd been in this industry for two years and knew it was far less glamorous than it appeared. But since he decided to stay, he had to face these issues head-on.
He's a man, so he has to be strong. He can't always rely on others, and he can't always hide behind Shen Huai.
He was grateful to Shen Huai for protecting him silently all along, but he couldn't take advantage of that protection and stay in his comfort zone forever, never venturing out.
He might encounter people like Mr. Guo again in the future. Should he run away every time? He needs to learn how to deal with these kinds of people.
Seeing Song Yimian's determined gaze, Shen Huai sighed softly in his heart.
Song Yimian has a mild temperament, which makes people feel that he lacks some passion. Although he is very passionate about acting, he lacks ambition. Shen Huai has always wanted to find an opportunity to wake him up, but unexpectedly, Song Yimian himself has changed first.
Since that's the case, Shen Huai stopped hiding his intentions and said frankly, "It's a good thing that you're able to take the initiative to face it, but don't put all the pressure on yourself right away."
“The acting industry is highly competitive nowadays. For a film like ‘East City Fog,’ there are still many people in the industry who are optimistic about it. There are more actors who want to compete than you can imagine. What you need to do is not only overcome psychological pressure, but more importantly, to play the character of Pu Ye in a brilliant way. Compared to that, your difficulty is actually greater, and you may not even be able to be selected in the end.”
Upon hearing Shen Huai's words, Song Yimian felt a chill run down his spine, realizing that he hadn't thought things through enough.
He was only focused on the fact that Guo Wenyuan was the lead actor and producer of the drama, without considering that he might not even have been chosen for the role at all. If he were to wallow in self-pity and preoccupied with how to face Guo Wenyuan, he would be putting the cart before the horse and giving up the opportunity himself.
Shen Huai's words were like a wake-up call, completely waking Song Yimian up.
Song Yimian immediately straightened his attitude and said with some shame, "Brother Shen, I understand. I will definitely study the script carefully."
With that thought, his fear of Guo Wenyuan lessened somewhat. He bowed to Shen Huai before taking the script and leaving.
After Song Yimian left, Shen Huai turned his attention to Tang Wanjun.
In his memory, Tang Wanjun was cunning and cheerful, loved to eat, play and enjoy life. Even in history, she was a queen of love songs who swept across Asia. So much so that Shen Huai forgot how she struggled to reach the top in the fiercely competitive Hong Kong entertainment industry back then.
Ye Cang and the others all regarded the sweet and lovely person in front of others as Tang Wanjun's mask, but who knew that everything she was showing at this moment was not her mask?
Furthermore, Tang Wanjun was murdered. Although this is an unsolved case in history, Tang Wanjun may not have been unaware of who the murderer was. However, her seemingly carefree demeanor made others forget about the incident.
This reminded Shen Huai that although Tang Wanjun seemed to be trying her best to find out how to be resurrected, she herself actually had no desire to be resurrected at all.
Shen Huai paused for a moment before saying, "The past is the past. For you now, everything is brand new."
Tang Wanjun looked at Shen Huai, blinked away the complicated look in her eyes, and smiled, "Yes, that's what I think too."
Shen Huai sensed a hint of sarcasm in her words and felt somewhat helpless.
He didn't mean to persuade Tang Wanjun to let go of her hatred, but it wasn't a good thing for Tang Wanjun to be trapped in the past.
However, Shen Huai knew that she was very wary and wouldn't easily open her heart, so he didn't press the matter further, simply saying, "If you have any requests, you can make them, as long as they're not excessive..."
Before he could finish speaking, Tang Wanjun exclaimed with delight, "Really?!"
"Can I add a serving of braised pork intestines to every meal?"
Shen Huai remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "...Okay."
So much so that later, rumors circulated throughout Morningstar Company that President Shen's favorite dish was actually pork intestines, but that's another story.
-
Soon it was time for the audition for "East City Fog".
To outsiders, Guo Wenyuan's actions seemed like a blunder. He chose a little-known IP, and although he found the renowned screenwriter Yu Fan, he chose a non-professional director with little to no work.
It's fortunate that he has money; if anyone else in Guanrui Investment Department had dared to do that, they would have been fired immediately.
I wonder how many people are waiting to see Guo Wenyuan make a fool of himself. Some even think that before the filming even starts, this notorious playboy will lose interest and go off to do something else.
To everyone's surprise, Guo Wenyuan actually did a pretty good job, and single-handedly built up the film crew.
When he auditioned, he didn't choose a fancy hotel for the sake of extravagance. Instead, he chose a relatively inexpensive ordinary hotel. Many people who previously thought he was a spendthrift playboy were now completely surprised.
Moreover, there were quite a few people auditioning, including acting students, popular young actors, and even some supporting actors whose names you can recognize from movies and TV series. For a production team like this, it's quite a good lineup.
Aside from some who wanted to use the opportunity to build a relationship with President Guo, quite a few came specifically for the show.
When Shen Huai and Song Yimian arrived, they attracted a lot of attention, not because of Song Yimian, but because of Shen Huai's identity.
The incident that caused such a stir online exposed Shen Huai's identity. Originally, it was thought that the Shen family intended to enter the film and television industry, but it turned out to be just Shen Huai's personal hobby.
Guo Wenyuan used to visit Shen Huai frequently, which many people in the industry knew. Now, they naturally assumed that Song Yimian was a relative. Many people whispered among themselves. They didn't dare to do anything to Shen Huai, but their gazes toward Song Yimian were not so friendly.
Song Yimian hesitated for a moment.
Shen Huai noticed this and said, "Don't think too much. Forget everything else and just immerse yourself in the role."
Song Yimian snapped out of his daze and nodded vigorously.
Shen Huai didn't try to cut in line because of his relationship with Guo Wenyuan. Instead, he took a number and waited in line with Guo Wenyuan.
Tang Wanjun, sitting on the windowsill, scoffed at the sight, "Since you have connections, why not use them? These people won't be grateful for your fair competition; on the contrary, they'll just think you're stupid. Even if you win by your own merit, they'll still think it's because of connections. So why bother?"
Shen Huai felt somewhat helpless. Ever since that conversation in the office that day, Tang Wanjun no longer seemed to always maintain a cheerful and innocent demeanor in front of him, and would occasionally say things like that.
There were too many people around, so Shen Huai couldn't say anything and could only listen for the time being.
-
Inside the audition room, the air was deathly silent.
Guo Wenyuan stared at the actors coming and going with a grim face. After the audition for "Red Actress", Guo Wenyuan didn't dare to have too high expectations, but the result still made him very angry.
He didn't care about being an actor or whether they were a professional or not, but since they were going to audition, they should at least read the script and understand the character they were going to play. All that flirting and showing off was just making his eyes hurt.
And so, Lao Guo's sharp tongue was unleashed once again.
This time, however, he was both the producer and the investor, so even if what he said was unreasonable, he had to be listened to. But he also had a lot of reason and evidence, and some of the more sensitive people were even scolded and left in tears.
Screenwriter Yu Fan and director Shao Ning both glanced at Guo Wenyuan in surprise, then looked at each other again.
Yu Fan originally didn't want to accept the offer. As one of the top screenwriters in China, he cherished his reputation and didn't want to mess around with Guo Wenyuan.
Later, Guo Wenyuan came to him in person. He really couldn't afford to offend him, so he had no choice but to reluctantly accept the script.
During the collaboration, he discovered that Guo Wenyuan respected the script very much, which made him take it much more seriously as well. In the end, he was very satisfied with the final product. Afterwards, he met with Shao Ning and found that although the other party was not a professional, he still had some skills, which gave him some confidence.
Seeing Guo Wenyuan's performance during the audition process, his comments are always insightful. Putting aside everything else, his keen eye and his research on the script prove that he was not just doing this on a whim.
Thinking about it this way, Liao Fan became much more serious.
Guo Wenyuan never expected that this audition would completely change the two main creators' opinion of him, and he is now very depressed.
In fact, some problems had already been discovered before his death. With the rise of the fan economy, actors' appearances have become their greatest weapon. For fans, even if an actor's acting skills are lacking, as long as they like them, they are willing to support them. Over time, even some originally talented new actors have gradually become complacent.
The situation is getting worse, with all sorts of disfiguring acting skills appearing on television, making Guo Wenyuan almost desperate.
However, as a producer, he quickly composed himself and called the next person.
Song Yimian was called, took a deep breath, and then walked into the audition room.
As soon as he entered, he saw Guo Wenyuan sitting in the middle. He hesitated for a moment, but quickly straightened his back and walked to the group.
He glanced vaguely at the top of Guo Wenyuan's head and introduced himself to the others.
Guo Wenyuan also recognized him. Shen Huai had told him about Song Yimian's audition before, but Shen Huai did not ask him to go easy on him. Instead, he asked him to strictly follow the role.
Although Guo Wenyuan had previously mentioned that he would compensate Song Yimian on behalf of the original owner, now that he is the producer, he has to be responsible for the production team and will not show favoritism.
Moreover, Guo Wenyuan was indeed curious about how much Song Yimian would grow after being trained by Shen Huai and Chu Meibo.
Judging by appearance alone, Song Yimian is quite good-looking, with handsome features and a scholarly air, which perfectly matches the description of Pu Ye in the original work.
Guo Wenyuan signaled to Shao Ning to begin.
Shao Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Try the part where Pu Ye kills his friend after his identity is discovered."
Song Yimian nodded and walked to the side to begin preparations.
When Shao Ning called "Action," an assistant actor stepped forward, his face full of anger, and said, "Chang Ye, why did you do this! That person's identity is questionable, why did you help him escape!"
Song Yimian had his back to everyone, but they could clearly see that his body paused slightly.
When he turned around, he had a gentle smile on his face: "You saw everything?"
The supporting actor paused for a moment, then said, "You..."
Urano approached him step by step, a smile always on his lips, and then plunged the knife directly into the other man's chest.
The other person seemed to want to struggle, but he held them tightly in his arms. From a distance, it looked as if the two of them were just embracing.
Urano felt the body in his arms stop moving, and the smile on his lips seemed to deepen a little: "I'm sorry, my name is Urano Shoji."
When Song Yimian finally let go, he hurriedly apologized to the supporting actor.
It took Guo Wenyuan and the other two a moment to come to their senses.
It must be said that Song Yimian's performance in this segment was outstanding, especially his final smile, which was truly stunning.
Shao Ning and Yu Fan both nodded, then looked at Guo Wenyuan.
At this moment, Song Yimian couldn't care less about his discomfort and looked nervously at Guo Wenyuan.
Guo Wenyuan did not answer immediately, but stood up and said calmly.
"Come with me, let's try one more time."
☆, Chapter 120
Song Yimian was stunned, his face turning slightly pale.
He can now act in front of Guo Wenyuan, but acting opposite Guo Wenyuan is still an insurmountable hurdle for him.
Guo Wenyuan had already come out. Song Yimian gritted his teeth, clenched his fists tightly, and closed his eyes again.
At this point, he no longer cared about his fear of Guo Wenyuan, but was only focused on winning the role.
During this period, Song Yimian made very careful preparations, even taking the script with him when eating and going to the toilet. He wrote a complete character biography for Pu Ye and practiced it many times in front of the mirror, almost to the point of obsession.
He kept telling himself that he was not Song Yimian, but Pu Ye.
When he opened his eyes again, there was no longer any tenderness in his gaze that belonged to Song Yimian; only cold indifference remained.
This scene depicts the protagonist, Ning Shen, being captured by the Japanese army. Urano is tasked with interrogating him, trying every possible way to get Ning Shen to talk. Ning Shen feigns ignorance, and the two engage in a battle of wits. In the end, Urano, enraged, tortures Ning Shen and throws him into prison.
This scene is quite challenging, requiring a high level of emotional control and precise rhythm in the dialogue between the two characters. However, if performed well, this scene can be quite stunning.