Studio Superstar: Chapter 38 Part 2

The whole studio was quiet.

The four people at the mentor table watched the group’s performance.

The short drama adapted the plot to some extent, but it didn’t change the shooting style of the original work.

It used a very plain and objective perspective to film the story of four families that might seem ordinary to others.

Over 80 years old, they were an old husband and wife who reached the age where they needed to plan their death.

Lu Yu, who was seriously ill and had no hope, was scheduled to die.

It had been two years since Luo Sheng’s wife committed suicide by jumping off the building. Now he came to buy a joint burial site.

Their son had just been in a car accident and died unexpectedly. Therefore, Yu Xiong and his wife came to buy a tomb for him.

Feng Wei lowered his voice and said to Guan Ruoying on the side, “Xue Xiao seems to have lost a lot of weight. Is he usually so thin?”

Guan Ruoying shook her head. “He has eaten very little this week.”

Feng Wei was a bit surprised. “Won’t it damage his body?”

Guan Ruoying replied, “I was worried at first. Later, I saw that he was quite measured.”

On the screen, the camera switched back to Xue Xiao and the old couple.

Guan Ruoying said, “Director Feng, don’t look at his usual appearance. His cute and lovely self, like a child, makes people feel uneasy. In fact, he is a person with a very clear career plan in his mind. He knows clearly what he should fight for and to what extent he should fight without affecting his future.”

If an already famous artist came to this stage, they naturally wouldn’t go on a strict diet for a week just for a few minutes of acting.

It wasn’t necessary.

Firstly, the effect wasn’t very good. Secondly, no matter how good the airing effect of this short play, the help to their career would be very limited.

Therefore, there was no need to be serious to this point.

However, what did Xue Xiao and the other 47 participants have now?

If they didn’t work to the limit at this stage, what would they have left when this show was over?

The ‘starting from scratch’ label on them doomed them to seize every opportunity.

At the same time, Xue Xiao also knew that he could never really damage his body.

The body was the capital of revolution. If it was broken in this place, he wouldn’t be able to go on even if his future was bright.

This type of artist was often very reassuring to agents. They dared to work hard, but they didn’t do it mindlessly.

Feng Wei listened to Guan Ruoying’s words and nodded thoughtfully.

He commented, “The skills of this group are online.”

Guan Ruoying nodded proudly.

Let’s talk about Huang Xiaolin. As a participant who didn’t perform well in the first round, Guan Ruoying really had a headache when she saw him choose the role of Yu Xiong in a muddle-headed manner.

An actor in his early 20s was playing a middle-aged man in his 40s. Many new-generation outstanding actors couldn’t do it. This required very high acting skills!

Sure enough. Huang Xiaolin worked hard, but he still had flaws. Such flaws needed life experience to fill in. Guan Ruoying always felt that this problem couldn’t be solved.

She hadn’t expected that after coming back from working outside for two days, Huang Xiaolin would’ve changed a lot.

At this moment, the Yu Xiong on the screen wasn’t perfect, but he could bring people into the play.

The dead silence and unwillingness in him, the confusion and depression that hadn’t recovered from the accident, and his collapse were all in his eyes.

Then there was Gu Ling.

Why did Guan Ruoying originally say that Gu Ling was only playing the role of Luo Sheng on the surface, but his soul wasn’t this person?

To take the most typical example, Luo Sheng suddenly stopped talking several times in the original work. This man stopped talking, and no one knew what he was thinking.

The first time Gu Ling performed this type of silence, Guan Ruoying just felt ‘blankness.’ But at this moment, there was something in his lost eyes.

Any viewers who saw his eyes would know that this man was trapped in the memories of the past.

As for Dou Mingjian—

At this point, the initial easy part of the play had passed.

Lu Yu and the old couple walked to the waiting seats while chatting.

Lu Yu’s father, played by Dou Mingjian and called Lu Dinghua, finished smoking at this time and entered the office from the outside corridor.

He looked up, and his eyes froze for a moment when he saw his son, who had become extremely thin.

It was like he still wasn’t used to it despite seeing it several times.

Just by seeing his expression, the audience could imagine how healthy and energetic Lu Yu used to be. They couldn’t help feeling nervous.

Then the moment Lu Dinghua clearly heard what Lu Yu was discussing with the old couple, his expression started to turn gloomy.

“Dad!” Lu Yu’s eyes lit up!

Lu Dinghua walked over and pretended to ask casually, “What are you talking about so happily?”

“Oh, it is about Feng shui.”

At the mentor table, Shen Tingyan quietly watched the progress of the plot on the big screen.

‘Spring Garden’ was a movie his father starred in. He had naturally watched it several times himself.

The original movie started with watching the grave picking at the cemetery, interspersed with clips of the pasts of all four families, foreshadowing emotions. This was until the four families finished picking the graves and gathered in the office. Once the contract was about to be finalized, Lu Dinghua had an emotional outburst.

This father went crazy.

He could no longer pretend to be normal or peaceful.

The moment he heard that Lu Yu was still in the mood to talk to others about the Feng shui of his grave, he couldn’t hide his collapse.

At first, it was sneering and ironic. He couldn’t believe that there were still people who believed in Feng shui.

The old couple had chatted with Lu Yu because they had nothing to say. Hearing Lu Dinghua’s sarcasm, the old couple was a bit embarrassed and started to smooth things over.

But no matter how they tried to smooth things over, Lu Dinghua would continue to find fault in their words and attack them.

Lu Yu became unable to smile. He tugged at Lu Dinghua’s clothes. “Dad, stop talking…”

Lu Dinghua took out a cigarette. The next second, he realized he couldn’t smoke in the office, so he stuffed it back into his trouser pocket. His eyes were bloodshot, and his beard was unkempt. He coldly told Lu Yu, “You are in such good spirits. Aren’t you tired after standing up for so long?”

Lu Yu was silent for a moment before saying, “I couldn’t get up before because I was in pain and vomiting.”

The process of treatment was as painful as the disease. Before this, Lu Yu never thought that stopping treatment would be such a relief.

He became able to get out of bed and eat a bit. Even if this relief was temporary, he would soon return to bed, becoming weaker and more painful until he was unable to turn things around… He was still grateful that before he really died, he still had the opportunity to walk with his feet on the ground like he did in the past.

Lu Dinghua stared at him.

He should be able to understand. He had watched Lu Yu being tortured by illness and drugs, but now Lu Yu was somewhat energetic.

This type of energy even gave him absurd hope, as if Lu Yu could gradually become healthy.

But it was all an illusion.

It was all an illusion.

It was like a dying flash.

He almost had the premonition that if he and his wife let Lu Yu come here with him today, this healthy illusion would disappear.

The final stage of the disease will be rapid and powerful.

They would regret agreeing to Lu Yu giving up treatment tonight.

The hands he put in his pockets were shaking, and his lips had become numb. “Is it still a good thing to give up treatment?”

“…Dad, haven’t we discussed this before?” Lu Yu looked away.

The old couple said, “…It is better to let the child sit down first.”

Lu Dinghua turned to them. “Who was it who pulled my son to chat just now?”

Luo Sheng, who was sitting in the second row, suddenly said, “Can you please speak softer?”

Lu Dinghua asked, “Is my voice very loud?”

“Dad…”

His voice became louder and louder, and the emotions became more intense. Lu Dinghua’s outburst was like a trigger that ignited everyone.

This was until Lu Yu yelled, “I’m not going home! Didn’t we agree that it doesn’t matter if there is treatment or no treatment? Even if treatment is given, it will be useless. The most it will do is let me live a few more days. How many more days can I live?”

His voice was extremely hoarse, like a broken bellows. “Ten days or one month? Will I still be awake at that time? Can sitting in front of a half-dead me for another month make you happy?”

Lu Dinghua’s eyes bulged, and his chest heaved violently. In the midst of everyone’s silence, he kicked the chair next to him. There was a bang sound. Then he turned around and strode to the cubicle next to the office hall.

The air started to feel suffocating.

……

There were some sniffling sounds from the audience.

Shen Tingyan was still calm.

Dou Mingjian’s outbreak was very exciting.

After so many years of acting as a background character, he might not have played a formal role, but his acting skills had been honed by himself and were very mature.

The appearance of Lu Dinghua was too gloomy and impulsive, which made people feel disgusted. However, once he fully presented his collapse and powerlessness, this disgust would turn into empathetic heartbreak and sadness.

This was a man who wanted his son to go back and continue receiving treatment, but he was unwilling to accept reality and wanted to fight to the death.

It was very well acted.

Xue Xiao, who played opposite him, was also great.

Shen Tingyan had to admit that when Xue Xiao shouted those words just now with tears in his eyes, his heart…

Shen Tingyan withdrew his hand resting on the mentor’s table. He crossed his arms over his chest and gently rubbed his thumb against his index finger in the darkness.

……

His thoughts stopped and continued.

If it was the him before today and Xue Xiao acted to this level, he would’ve given out his invitation card without hesitation.

The little guy’s progress was amazing. There were many problems in the last performance, but almost all of them were solved this time.

He simplified the complexity, reduced the redundant and cumbersome designs, and performed the remaining parts to precision.

The emotional outburst was still somewhat lacking, but judging from the rate of progress, a little bit of guidance could take it a step further.

But now Shen Tingyan had some doubts about whether to give out this card or not.

Xue Xiao liked him, and he liked Xue Xiao very much.

It might be the reason why the distance between the two of them had shortened very quickly in the past half month.

At this time, he didn’t expect it to lead to the current situation.

Xue Xiao filled out his name in the ‘favorite person’ column of the resume. Shen Tingyan still felt that it must be a liking for an idol. Xue Xiao wasn’t a ‘boyfriend fan’ at all.

As for the later changes… they were all unpredictable.

Now came the problem.

Shen Tingyan stared steadily at the young man on the screen.

After knowing that such closeness might further deteriorate the relationship between the two of them, did he still want to let it go?

…This wasn’t good for Xue Xiao.

Shen Tingyan started to consider it.

Su Shijin and Guan Ruoying were both good teachers. Feng Wei might be an old fox and was very annoying, but his teaching ability… was okay as well.

Xue Xiao’s performance was enough for them to issue an invitation card.

Even without coming to his side, the little guy could grow further under the guidance of anyone else.

Of course, Xue Xiao might be disappointed if he didn’t get Shen Tingyan’s card. But…

His thoughts stopped abruptly.

On the big screen, the spring breeze blew off the petals of the begonia flowers, falling like snow.

Xue Xiao’s performance in this scene and this shot made Shen Tingyan’s eyes widen.

White Lily

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