They were chatting so Xue Xiao simply made a voice call to Zhang Chengyu.
He took out the script again. Just like he did when he was still in the Nanhe Film and Television City, he excitedly discussed with his master what he had just thought of, how he would act when he encountered this plot in the future and what he would have to change when he encountered such a plot.
They unknowingly chatted for more than an hour. It wasn’t until the light of a flashlight came from below that he closed his mouth and poked his head out in a confused manner.
Old Gao was standing downstairs.
Six floors away, Old Gao shouted, “I was wondering who was chattering on the rooftop. Xue Xiao, you haven’t gone to rest yet?”
Xue Xiao smiled and waved. Then he suddenly saw that there was Shen Tingyan next to Old Gao.
The man had just taken out a cigarette and raised his head following the movement.
Xue Xiao’s eyes lit up and he waved happily again.
Shen Tingyan paused before chuckling.
Old Gao muttered, “Double standard child.”
Shen Tingyan lit a cigarette, took a puff and slowly blew it out. “It is a normal reaction.”
“F*k, get lost!”
The two of them walked to the place where Shen Tingyan parked. After remembering the situation in the meeting room just now, Old Gao smiled proudly. “How is it? Xue Xiao isn’t bad, right?”
Shen Tingyan was walking in front of him and Old Gao couldn’t see the man’s expression. He could only see the smoke being swept away by the wind and the man’s lazy and wanton attitude.
On the rooftop, once he could no longer see the backs of the two people, Xue Xiao turned around and leaned his back against the railing.
He raised his head and looked at the sky full of stars in the summer night.
Zhang Chengyu asked, “Why aren’t you talking?”
“I met Teacher Shen just now,” Xue Xiao muttered. “Master, I was thinking…”
People could be greedy.
Some people were greedy for money while others were greedy for fame.
Xue Xiao was the same.
He was greedy.
In addition to acting, he unexpectedly found himself greedy for another thing today.
He wished that the man’s gaze would stay on him a bit longer.
He hoped that the man’s gaze as he watched Xue Xiao perform would be more serious.
What would Shen Tingyan’s eyes become when he really became serious?
Xue Xiao couldn’t help imagining it.
The stars seem to have become brighter.
—
At 8 o’clock the next morning, the second half of the recording officially began.
In the midst of the criticism and praise, the tenth participant who appeared completely surprised everyone with their solo performance.
The man stood on the top of the pool, his back facing the crystal water droplets spraying down. His eyes seemed to be burning with flames, hot and deep.
His lines suppressed the audience silently and every word seemed to have a heavy weight, smashing heavily on the ground and making people tremble.
With open arms, he embraced the sun. His stretched limbs seemed to gather all the light in his arms and the audience could no longer take their eyes off him.
It was Gu Ling.
Xue Xiao sat under the stage and watched this performance blankly. At a certain moment, he seemed to feel something and instinctively looked at the mentor seats.
Then he silently tightened his fingers.
Shen Tingyan looked at the roster of participants again for the first time in this round of the competition.
He looked down at the information on the roster. Then after two or three seconds, he raised his eyes.
His gaze was calm and focused.
—
At 6 o’clock in the evening, the next day’s performance ended completely.
At 7 o’clock, the mentors finished scoring.
At 9 o’clock, the participants met again in another studio. The four mentors personally announced the results of the first round to them.
Each participant had a total score of 20 points and each mentor had 5 points. It would be announced starting from last place.
Fan Xue: 2 points.
Guan Ruoying and Feng Wei each gave 1 point to save face while Su Shijin and Shen Tingyan didn’t even give him face.
Fan Xue didn’t raise his head. Everyone could only see that his ears were blood-red like he was ashamed.
Second from the bottom…
Third from the bottom…
Chang Yun got 11 points. He ranked in the middle and wasn’t high or low.
He was still satisfied with this result. After all, he also knew that he wasn’t an acting genius. He would start steadily and then study it seriously!
Jiang Lianlian scored 13 points.
She took a deep breath and nodded. Then she told the four mentors, “Thank you, Teacher!”
Jin Xiaochen was the same as Jiang Lianlian. They both got 13 points.
Due to the limited score range, there were actually many students who had tied rankings.
Zhao Dong scored 15 points and there were five people with the same score as him. They occupied the 8-13th places. Finally, he was counted as 8th place.
After reporting their names, it was the turn of 7th place.
Shen Tingyan said, “Seventh place, Xue Xiao. 16 points in total.”
The applause of the participants rang out enthusiastically. Shen Tingyan casually raised his eyes and paused.
Among the 50 participants, Xue Xiao was still the easiest one to find.
Hearing his ranking, in the midst of the encouragement around him, the young man smiled shyly as he was rubbed on the head by Chang Yun beside him.
After smiling, he looked at Shen Tingyan, still very well-behaved.
Only, there was a difference…
Sensing Shen Tingyan’s pause, Feng Wei glanced at him.
Shen Tingyan put down the microphone with a normal force and Feng Wei continued to the next person.
After one round, second place was still announced by Feng Wei.
“Second place, Dou Mingjian. 18 points in total.”
Dou Mingjian was the oldest one among the 50 participants. He was 45 years old this year.
He spent five years as a group performer and ten years as an extra. The middle-aged man with rich experience in the industry was down-to-earth. Today, he brought a wonderful performance to everyone with the solid foundation tempered in his body.
He smiled in an embarrassed manner and said in a thick voice, “Thank you, four teachers!”
Finally, it was Su Shijin’s turn.
“First place, Gu Ling. A total of 19 points.”
The audience exclaimed.
This result wasn’t unexpected but it was also expected. After all, Gu Ling was an amateur!
Before today, no one expected that an amateur would shock the entire audience and win first place in the first round of the competition as soon as he made a move. What level of acting talent was this? It was too scary!
If this wasn’t a dark horse then who was?
“Yes, this child!” Chang Yun put an arm around Gu Ling’s neck. “I’m going to call you Teacher Gu later!”
“Too awesome…”
“By the way, I want to know who didn’t give him the point he fell short of…”
“Don’t make trouble!”
“Hahaha!”
In this room full of congratulations, Gu Ling wasn’t shocked. He bowed to the four mentors and showed great calmness.
Guan Ruoying said, “The score has come out. Then we should also divide you into classes. Shall we just do it directly by points?”
She looked at the other three, nodded and simply said, “Students with 8 points and below are Class C, students with 9-14 points are Class B and students with 15 points and above are Class A. Everyone, remember your class. After a day off tomorrow, the show will give you the schedule for each class. Remember to go to class on time.”
“Thank you, Teacher!”
Su Shijin said, “By the way, the show made some small things and I will give it to you as a small gift.”
She beckoned and a young lady of the show quickly ran over and handed over a cardboard box.
Everyone looked at it curiously. Su Shijin didn’t keep them in suspense and took out a badge from the cardboard box.
This badge was made of a metal texture and had gold letters on a silver background. The words ‘start’ were written in dashing letters and the workmanship was very exquisite.
Everyone was stunned.
What did this little gift mean?
“Everyone knows the structure of a story. If your acting career is regarded as a life story then you are now in the ‘starting’ position.”
“No matter whether your starting point is high or low, your story has only just begun. Run fast or run slowly. Who will fall behind and who will overtake? At this moment, none of us know.”
Everyone understood the intention of the show and couldn’t help holding their breaths.
“Your end is still far away and there is such a long way in between,” Su Shijin said. “Let’s work hard!”
Blood rushed to their hearts.
No matter whether they were frustrated or proud from the first round, at this moment, everyone’s mentality calmed down back to the starting point. Their fighting spirit was once again ignited.
In response to Su Shijin, the ‘Yes!’ from everyone shook the studio!
50 participants walked down the stairs and lined up to receive small gifts in front of the four mentors.
According to the order, Xue Xiao walked in front of Feng Wei.
Feng Wei handed him the badge. The cold metal fell in his palm and Feng Wei told him, “Jiayou.”
Xue Xiao raised his head, nodded heavily and said, “Thank you, Director Feng.”
Once he was done, Xue Xiao walked around the outside of the group while putting the badge on himself.
A deep voice suddenly stopped him.
“Xue Xiao.”
Xue Xiao stopped and looked back.
Shen Tingyan was handing a badge to a certain participant. He didn’t look up and only said casually, “It is too low. It is ugly.”
Xue Xiao realized what he was talking about and quickly lowered his head.
…He was indeed about to pin the badge to his stomach.
“Put the badge on your chest.” Shen Tingyan’s voice was soft. “Put this word on your heart.”
Xue Xiao trembled.
After a moment, he answered in a low voice.
He took the badge off and moved it to the left side of his chest.
In the summer, only a single shirt was worn.
The brooch pierced the cloth and rubbed against the skin, leaving a cold touch as he passed by. It seemed to inject a small spring into his chest cavity and the annoyance of the whole day seemed to be swept away.
Xue Xiao raised his head again.
Shen Tingyan lowered his head and took out a badge again.
Xue Xiao’s heart was thumping heavily.
He pursed his lips and smiled. Then he whispered, “Thank you, Teacher Shen.”
Avid fan of danmei novels! If you want access to advance chapters, you can subscribe on Patreon. Thanks!
https://www.patreon.com/WhiteLily476
Thanks for the chapter! Adorable!
Thanks for the update
Who is Gu Ling again?
Thanks for the chapter.
the roommate who borrowed books
Lol thanks, i have a hard time to remember who this Gu Ling is 🤣
did shen tingyan sensed xue xiao’s mood or something? xue xiao himself said that he felt the annoyance of the whole day but he felt better after shen tingyan said those words. did he do it on purpose?
Xue Xiao is soft person with hard head, and Zhao Dong had said he is presumptious (regarding building character before).. so I think Xue Xiao quite annoyed with himself scoring 16 or something along the line. So Shen Tingyan words cheered and encouraged him, thus he felt better.