Chapter Twenty-Six

  The hamster in the food bowl stared numbly as Xu Wenjie finished this important scene, which should have been the first time to show the contradictory character of "Qiao Sheng" in the play, with a special acting method while crying. When the assistant director shouted "cut", Xu Wenjie wiped away his tears and calmed down, then looked around at the people nearby, only to find that everyone's expression indicated that they were all feeling unwell at this moment.

  What's with the hamster's stubbornness?

  What's the contradiction of Hamster spirit?

  What about Hamster's struggle?

  Cry me a river!!!!!!!!!!

  Everyone's heart is racing with the Grass Mud Horse, and they all fell silent. However, only Jiang Chuan, whose brain circuitry was not in the same dimension as everyone else, put away his wooden sword and asked Xu Wenjie in a puzzled tone, "Excuse me, why are you crying?"

  Xu Wenjie: "Huh?"

  Jiang Chuan thought for a moment, furrowing his brow: "Am I too fierce?"

  Everyone: "......"

  Xu Wenjie was startled, his face turned red and he quickly lowered his head. Even the surrounding crowd that had gathered to watch with interest were stunned, probably because they didn't expect Jiang Chuan to be so bold and actually ask out their confusion. As they all gave Jiang Chuan a thumbs up in their hearts, behind them, a hamster squatting in its cage far away, loudly used its paws to give its owner a big thumbs up.

  Well done, consider retrieving the "Pig Teammate" title that was placed on your head.

  Xu Wenjie was so nervous that he didn't even dare to lift his head to look at Jiang Chuan, who was becoming increasingly bewildered.

  At this time, after Jiang Luocheng left, the person with the most say on the scene - that is, the producer teacher stared at the director's monitor with a serious expression... He carefully guessed the expression on the old man's face and waited patiently for the producer to smash the monitor into Xu Wenjie's face. However, the deputy director sitting next to the producer unexpectedly said: "Although this performance is different from what we previously thought, it seems that it's still quite unique. What do you think, teacher?"

  Everyone: "......"

  The director turned his head and glanced at the deputy director, that faint gaze clearly indicated: I don't think it's good.

  The deputy director didn't know if he had eaten a big pig this morning, but under the teacher's gaze, he could still turn his head with a normal expression. First, he flipped through the data board in his hand, then raised his head and smiled to greet Xu Wenjie: "Xu Wenjie, right? Come over and tell us why you thought of using this approach to perform this scene?"

  Xu Wenjie heard this and his eyes, which had been darting around due to tension, revealed a look of surprise without any concealment. In the silent gaze of the crowd, he took a slight step forward and said in a hoarse voice that was still slightly husky from crying: "I just saw Yan Ge's performance as Qiao Sheng, and I realized that no matter what, I couldn't possibly compare to his acting skills..."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  That's for sure.

  Xu Wenjie paused and continued: "Not to mention surpassing him—"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Transcend?

  Young man, who gave you such great confidence and audacity?

  He jumped down from the swing and rolled around in the wood shavings, at the same time he heard Xu Wenjie's voice slowly rising: "Teacher Jiang's script was originally tailored for Yuan Jianran, so except for Brother Ran, I guess no one can perform this role with its original flavor. So for now, the only way is to change."

  The hamster's rolling motion stopped suddenly.

  Deputy director retorted: "Change?"

  Xu Wenjie looked a bit embarrassed, but the longing in his sparkling eyes betrayed him - as if he had already seen the dawn of victory flashing within arm's reach.

  He seemed to have subconsciously turned his head to glance at Xu Qianqian, who was standing under the light with her arms crossed, nodding almost imperceptibly... Xu Wenjie was as if he had instantly received encouragement, took a deep breath and said seriously to the deputy director: "What I mean is that we can let the person playing this role grow up with the character."

  The deputy director rubbed his chin: "Oh?"

  Xu Wenjie said: "When I was acting, I thought that if I were Qiao Sheng at that time, what would I do? ... At the time, I thought that if I had just refined my skills and came to the human world, everything I saw would be good, but suddenly on a happy day, I met a cruel and evil Taoist priest. I think that apart from being frightened, there was nothing else to think about, so I simply cried out, expressing the timid part of Qiao Sheng's nature - as for the rest of the things that should have been expressed in the script, I think it can be temporarily not expressed, and with the development of the plot, Qiao Sheng will gradually grow up. When the time comes, the actor will also gradually understand the role, and it won't be too late to add it later."

  "This is what I meant, the actor and the role grow together." Xu Wenjie said, bowing respectfully in the direction of the deputy director and producer, and added, "Considering all of the above, so I took the liberty to act like this."

  For a moment, everyone's face showed a fleeting blankness.

  The deputy director nodded frequently, looking surprisingly satisfied.

  The hamster lying on the wood shavings scratched its belly with its hind legs and said, "Squeak."

  What's going on?

  Comrade assistant director, has your brain been pinched by a door? You actually believe in such nonsense!

  It's as if being serious about it——

  "Nonsense!"

  “……”

  The hamster in the cage suddenly twisted its little head and immediately saw the producer sitting behind the director's monitor - probably this producer, who was known for being strict but respectful of actors' opinions, really had a bad mood today. At this time, that aged face turned black like coal, he stood up, slammed the rolled-up script on the table, turned his head and scolded the deputy director beside him: "Little Guo, you're messing around while Xiao Jiang is not here, have you thought about how to explain it to him when he wakes up?!"

  Deputy director: "Ah......ah?"

  The deputy director with a face full of cream looked innocent and confused.

  At the same time, Xu Wenjie seemed to have also sensed that something was off, and his originally confident expression changed slightly.

  Xu Qianqian, who was watching from the side, also slightly furrowed her brow.

  Under the gaze of everyone, Director Wang walked out with unstable steps after aging - some sharp-eyed staff saw him and went to support him, but he didn't expect that he would slap away the person's hand with a wave of his hand, bypassing the camera, and came to Xu Wenjie who was stunned in place. The first sentence as soon as he stood firm was: "Mr. Xu, acting should have its rules, taking advantage of loopholes is not allowed."

  Xu Wenjie's face was blank for a moment, then immediately stained with panic, the little blood color on his face faded away, he blinked and called out: "Teacher, I——"

  "Originally, we thought your appearance and physique were not bad, similar to Jian Ran's. My assistant director and I were considering taking a risk to try out a newcomer. The producer looked at Xu Wenjie with a stern gaze, his hands behind his back, "Now it seems that indeed it won't work - you kids, compared to those old actors who have worked their way up step by step over the years, are just one word: superficial."

  A sudden and unexpected carpet bombing without any high-energy warning signs.

  The few actors who could be considered "new" in the scene quietly cast their eyes on Xu Wenjie, who had wronged them.

  Xu Wenjie was dumbfounded.

  Probably didn't expect the style to change so suddenly - in front of me was the imminent victory, but I didn't think that when I raised my head, what greeted me was the end of the world.

  The director slightly straightened his back, with no smile on his face: "Here, I'd like to solemnly ask you to respect the original author and screenwriter of this play."

  Xu Wenjie hastily said: "Teacher, I didn't..."

  The teacher who was in charge raised his hand and waved it, interrupting Xu Wenjie's words. He then put his hands behind his back and said slowly...

  "The script created by the authors with their heart and soul is like a mother giving birth to life - can any mother in the world bear to let her child grow up crooked? So I believe that the final script they create must be the best, most suitable one - ah, although at first I also thought that Xiao Jiang's script seemed a bit strange in its conception and theme..."

  Everyone: "......"

  "But did I say anything?"

  Everyone: "......"

  You said it.

  Homosexual, gay, lesbian, and other related terms have almost become popular buzzwords in the drama circle.

  For example—

  "Xiao Huang, which drama did you follow today?"

  "That scene of gay chicken love."

  "Oh, what hard work."

  "Not bitter, not bitter."

  The screen is too beautiful, I dare not look again - Teacher, you are also very straightforward... In the midst of the crowd's chaos, he quietly and silently raised his paws to cover his eyes.

  At this time, he didn't feel the atmosphere in the scene changing subtly from the initial seriousness. The monitor's face was still serious and then lectured seriously again.

  "Because of the actor's arbitrary behavior, they deviated from the script and randomly added lines, thinking that it would make the character more vivid. Then, they thought this would elevate the entire script. This kind of thing is impossible. In every industry, everyone has their own role. A TV series is a collaborative effort born from the hard work of all parties involved. If an actor has the ability to single-handedly create a good script, then what's the point of having a director, a screenwriter, or even me as the producer?"

  The teacher dictated one word at a time, and with a loud voice, finished speaking in one breath.

  The result was thirty seconds of complete silence in the entire studio.

  Even the cautious mouse in the cage was shocked, and when he came to his senses, he found himself kneeling on the wooden shavings, having unhesitatingly sacrificed his knees.

  Jiang Luocheng, with a producer who understands you so well by your side, you can now smile all the way to the afterlife.

  Although your script is just a "gay rape" plaything in his eyes.

  He carefully stuck his big face to the wall of the cage, looking out through the transparent acrylic plate - only to see that under the spotlight, after being scolded by the director in a serious tone, Xu Wenjie's small face turned from white to red and then back to white again, as if he had been slapped hard, even his assistant director who was watching him closely also sat there with his mouth agape, not daring to make a sound.

  The director said, as if the previous knife stab was not deep enough, stretched out his hand and patted Xu Wenjie's shoulder: "You go sit aside, watch how others act, and think carefully."

  Then turned his head and looked at the assistant director: "Little Guo, I won't tell on Little Jiang, you think about it yourself whether this is the reason."

  Deputy director: "Yes, yes, yes."

  High energy all the way.

  It's just like a teacher scolding a little student.

  And Xu Wenjie lost this role too.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Serves you right.

  The hamster squatting in its cage suddenly felt that it could keep a hamster diary, and solemnly wrote on today's page -

  On xth month, xth day in 2015.

  Today was taken out by the owner to play, and the whole day was spent in the surprise of watching Xu Wenjie being slapped in various ways, today was really fun.