Chapter 76

  The next day, he appeared in front of Fang Yu with a black eye circle, and the agent who was sitting at the breakfast table and shaking his legs looked at the young man with black hair, sipping soy milk while mocking without sympathy: "The black eye circles are so heavy, it seems that you accompanied Jiang Chuan to read the script yesterday, the content of the script is exceptionally... intense?"

  I stayed in Jiang Chuan's house for no more than thirty minutes before being driven out.

  "Why?"

  "He mentioned those two young hamsters of his... who didn't live long."

  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  "Shut up."

  He sat down at the table with a gloomy face, ordered a basket of steamed buns from the boss, picked up a bun and dipped it in vinegar, took a bite and the fragrance filled his mouth with oil. On one hand, he felt that the truth that only by being alive can you enjoy good food was indeed reasonable. On the other hand, he couldn't help but feel heartache for having to live such a bitter life just to get a taste of something delicious.

  The script has been unscientific from start to finish.

  It's always frustrating to watch TV shows or movies where the main character keeps secrets from important people. This often happens when an animal seeks revenge after being mistreated by its previous owner, only to be reunited with them later. Sometimes I get so worked up that I want to jump into the screen and grab the main character's collar, telling them "this person you've been tormenting is actually your beloved pet xx! Can't you see it?! You two should just reunite already!" After getting all riled up, I also can't help but scold the scriptwriter for coming up with so many unnecessary plot twists and deceptions.

  Now he knows he was wrong.

  It's not the pet xx's fault from head to toe, nor is it the screenwriter's fault.

  Last night, Yuan Jinyan tried to deviate from the script and test the law with his body. The retribution came particularly quickly: not to mention that the host hugged his beloved xx and cried tears of joy, but in fact, his master was not only extremely cold, but also directly swept him out of the house and threw him into the corridor to blow wind.

  He still had a particularly angry look on his face, as if someone had offended him - what's wrong with the world, who would have the nerve to offend him by eating two hamsters?!

  Jin Ran was gnawing on a bun, when he looked up and saw the crew of "The World's Most Beautiful Woman" floating by. A large figure flashed at the door, and Ding Bao rushed in to buy two baskets of buns. Just as he was paying the boss, he raised his head and saw Jin Ran, and suddenly smiled and put away the money, saying "forget about it". Jin Ran was speechless, when he heard Ding Bao ask: "Isn't your drama 'Da Chuan Na' still not in production? The crew just arrived today, what's with you getting up earlier than a cat?"

  I didn't have the nerve to say that I was restless all night and couldn't sleep, so I changed the subject and teased Ding Pangpang: "You just bought two baskets of buns, you're so stingy! Your crew has so many people, can't each person just take a bite?"

  "I eat alone," said Ding Bao, "They're hungry and don't even know how to buy food?"

  At this time, the boss took out a box of packaged buns and walked out, and with a serious expression, asked the boss to pack two more baskets for Ding to take away together. The latter smiled and said, "It's too much trouble, why be so polite?" The young man with black hair scowled and said, "Cut the crap, it's for my junior brother."

  Ding Bao walked away with four steamer baskets, humming a happy tune as if nothing had happened. Jian Ran lowered his head and continued eating breakfast, while Fang Yu stood by, propping up her chin and saying, "I think two steamer baskets are not enough to clear your guilt from last night."

  "I think so too." Jian Ran raised his head, wiped his mouth and said calmly, "So I've decided to go to Jiang Chuan's scene later and kneel down. He performs for as long as I'll kneel, do you think this can clear my guilt?"

  "You're such a big deal, even kneeling in someone else's home is an inconvenience."

  "Hmm, hehe."

  A black-haired young man looked unhappy and didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes, so Fang Yu stopped teasing him. After finishing their meal and standing up to leave the breakfast shop, they found that the sun had already risen outside. From a distance, they could hear the sound of firecrackers popping from Jiang Chuan's film crew, which lasted for a while before stopping. At this time, Jin Yan took out his phone to check the time and discovered that there was less than half an hour left before the scenic spots in the film base opened. As a somewhat famous star, he couldn't just wander around everywhere, but he didn't know where to go either. Following Fang Yu to the film crew would mean seeing Jiang Chuan again, which made him feel a bit awkward. After hesitating for a while, he decided to return to his hotel, go online, and take a nap until lunchtime.

  As a result, he hadn't even arrived at the hotel yet when he saw a group of little old ladies carrying baskets and chatting as they walked by him. Each old lady's basket had incense and paper money in it. He raised an eyebrow, took a few steps back, and stopped one of the old ladies to ask: "Auntie, what day is today that you're carrying these things?"

  "Oh my, this young man is quite handsome, is he a star?" The old lady smiled with her eyes open, "The young man's life has been muddled, today is the 15th of July, the ghosts come ashore, the gates of hell are opened to burn some silver money for the deceased relatives."

  He listened carefully, thought for a moment, and indeed today was the 15th of July on the lunar calendar. However, he didn't have anyone to offer sacrifices to, but in the end, he still walked to a store that sold yuanbao candles and bought some incense and paper money. He then thought that if he waited a bit later, he could go to the pet store where Xiao Hei had passed away early and buy a bag of mouse food - at night, he would light some incense, burn some paper money and mouse food for his fellow mice who had sacrificed themselves, and it would be... letting them live a life of wealth and dignity as mice in the afterlife?

  Thinking so, Jianran bought a paper-made villa for Xiaohei with ease.

  The boss who was selling things quickly and skillfully packed the items for Jian Ran, and then warmly asked: "Do you want to buy two sets of clothes and shoes?"

  "No," said Jian Ran without hesitation, "it's too big, it won't fit."

  He thought the young man with black hair in front of him had a child who died prematurely, and the boss's eyes immediately became extremely sympathetic. He decisively stuffed several more stacks of cash into his hands, and hastily said: "No need, no need, it won't cost that much money..."

  The boss's eyes became even more sympathetic.

  As he was leaving the Yuanbao Candle Shop, Jianran had a big bag of things in his hand and walked back a few steps. Before he could even cross the road, he suddenly realized that burning paper money for the hamsters seemed particularly ill-advised. He put down the big bag of things and looked around, preparing to find a place to get rid of them. At this time, the phone in his pocket rang again.

  He carefully took it out and looked at it, only to find that it was Fang Yu. The person on the phone said "Look up", Jian Ran looked up, and immediately saw the agent Mr. waving at himself across the road - the young man with black hair made a silly face and remained silent for a while, then hung up the phone after saying "Are you addicted to Japanese dramas?" At this time, a crowd of people had already gathered on the other side of the road, ignoring the red light that was even more dazzling than the scorching sun, and they crossed the road in a lively and noisy manner. By the time the green light came on, Fang Yu was already standing in front of Jian Ran.

  "Why don't you go watch your own Jiang Chuan run over here?"

  "I'm going to your house, Jiang Chuan, to buy some cooling tea to relieve the heat. The big pot of rice on set is useless, and drinking it will only give you diarrhea." Fang Yu looked down at a large bag of valuable items placed by his feet, first stunned, then seemingly remembering what day it was today, and asked him, "What's with such a big package? Is your family going to burn all eighteen generations of ancestors on the Ghost Festival?"

  "Mind your own business." Jianran expressionlessly picked up the bag, "Nothing to do with you, I'm leaving. My great-grandfather appeared in my dream last night and told me he's gone bankrupt, asking me to burn money for him at dawn without any delay."

  "Something's up, I was just about to call you." Fang Yu hastily grabbed hold of the black-haired young man who wanted to leave. "Let your great-grandfather wait, the dead need to eat and the living need to make a living - I just received a call from Bai Yan Ge teacher, the 'Star Fire' crew arrived in H city today, and they're currently at G city airport preparing to board."

  "It's not like it's a big deal if they arrive early, right? It's pretty normal for them to send some troops ahead of time," Jian Yan said with some confusion. "Unless... unless you want me to personally go pick him up?... Of course, since he is from Chuan Na, it's not entirely impossible."

  "Your driving skills, someone would dare to sit in your car when picking up! They came ahead of time and you can't just idle around. I heard that the original actor who was supposed to play Tanaka Michio's role yesterday fell down and broke his leg, he won't be able to get out of bed for a few months now, so your drama team has to temporarily change actors - I'm saying, are you carrying some kind of debuff or something? Why does the drama team always have to change the main actor or supporting actor when it's related to you?"

  “……”

  "After the crew is pulled over, several actors will come to audition. The directors mean that since you are all here anyway, just cooperate and work together..."

  "Are you an actor coming over for an audition? Will they cover your airfare?"

  "It shouldn't be included, right? I chose this because it's a play in Chengdu, if I didn't get chosen... let's just say I came to H city for tourism?"

  "Which actor came to the film and television base for a tour after eating his fill?"

  "Don't mind such details."

  Jianran nodded and carried a large bag of underworld goods from start to finish. When speaking with Fang Yu, the two conveniently found a small alley to burn the items. Lifting his head to look at the big sun above, Fang Yu couldn't help but say "Your great-grandfather was really impatient, wasn't he? This bright day..." As Jianran took out a paper bag filled with things - the kind with the recipient's name written on it - Fang Yu exclaimed like he had discovered new land: "Damn, your great-grandfather is called Xiao Hei?!... How come it's the same name as Jiang Chuan's pet hamster?"

  "Back then people were uncultured, what's wrong with calling him Yuan Xiaohei?"

  Fang Yu rolled her eyes and signaled the young man with black hair to hurry up and burn it. The two of them puffed and panted as they lit the fire, waiting for the paper bag with the recipient's name on it to burn through and reveal what was inside. Fang Yu then used a branch to rake at it: "Not even giving a pair of shoes, you ungrateful descendant."

  "My great-grandfather didn't walk." He said with a straight face, "Can't eight bearers carry him in a sedan chair?"

  "You're just as pretentious."

  “……”

  He gave the ancestral hamster a big bag of stuff, and after smelling it carefully, he found that his whole body was filled with a smoky smell, just like cured meat. He thought for a moment that the crew of "Star Fire" had probably just taken off by plane and didn't have much time, so he decided to go back to the hotel to take a bath - he didn't want any strange rumors to spread online after the audition was over, such as: Yuan Jiran has body odor, and it smells like cured meat.

  At this time, Fang Yu also bought a cool tea and told Jian Ran that he would come to find him later, and the two parted ways.

  On the way back to the hotel, Jian Ran met Xi De again. This guy should have no scenes today, so he participated in the boot ceremony and came back. When he saw Jian Ran, he immediately walked over. As a result, before the black-haired young man could open his mouth to speak, he suddenly sniffed, frowned, took a step back, and asked: "What smell?"

  "Today is our country's traditional holiday, which is to burn some money for the deceased relatives so that they can use it in the underworld," Jin Yan said, staring at Xide's eyes. "Just now I went to burn something for Jiang Chuan's two hamsters."

  Xide sneezed.

  "I don't know if the hamsters can accept it, especially that one called Xiao Hei. Jiang Chuan said it was very picky when it was alive." Jian Ran said again.

  Xide let out another sneeze.

  "I hope the two hamsters are doing well in heaven." The black-haired young man patted his shoulder contentedly when the red-haired boy let out his third sneeze, then leaned over and asked with concern, "Do you have a cold?"

  "No."

  He murmured an "oh" and bid farewell to Shide in a fairly good mood, returning to his hotel.

  ……

  At noon, the vanguard of the "Star Fire" crew arrived. After confirming the time with them and starting the audition in the afternoon, I began to search for Jiang Chuan all over the world.

  He successfully found the man in a corner of the restaurant - at this moment he looked like he had already returned to his room, taken a bath, and was sitting there eating alone, looking very cool. Jian Ye also ordered food and sat down next to him. Jiang Chuan raised his head and glanced at him, and Jian Ye met his gaze for an instant. He didn't know what got into him, but without thinking, he opened his mouth and said: "I went to burn some paper money for your two hamsters this morning... Oh, you probably don't understand, this paper money is something our country uses during the traditional Ghost Festival..."

  Before he had finished speaking, the people around him stood up and threw their empty lunch boxes into the trash can without looking back.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  The broker sat down beside the young man with black hair, stretched his neck and looked at the tall back of the man who was walking away, and sighed: "What did he say again?"

  Jian Ran: "I told Jiang Chuan that I burned paper money for his hamster."

  "Agent: "You should change your name too, don't be called Yuan Zhenran anymore, how about Yuan Qianqian, the 'owe' in 'deserve a beating'."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  ……

  In the afternoon, with a broken heart, he came to the indoor studio as agreed with Bai Yan Ge teacher, and then found out something that completely shattered his glass heart: no one had informed him in advance, and among the people who came for the audition was actually Xu Wen Jie.

  Xu Wenjie!!!!!!!!!!

  If it wasn't for seeing him today, Jian Ran almost thought he had quietly died in some corner of the universe. He hadn't come out to hop around for a long time, and his complexion looked better than before, although he was still thin, as if a gust of wind could blow him away. He sat there talking to his agent, with a script on his knee, looking very well-behaved.

  "What's he got to be proud of?" Jian Yan asked with a serious face.

  "Shaodong is indeed a bit of an idiot," Fang Yu said. "A pair of shameless people, they like to buy one and give one away. I reckon they have some private dealings with the person in charge - previously we had no cooperation at all, it was hard to get someone in, but now that you're already on the crew, it's not so difficult to sneak a few more people from the same company in... even something like bribery is unavoidable, and besides, Tianzhong's role wasn't very challenging to begin with."

  Jian Ran: "Oh."

  TaNaka Michiichi is indeed different from Lieutenant Commander Saito. If Saito is a villain with flesh and blood, with a certain level of intelligence and water quality, then Tanaka's role is simply to disgust people from start to finish, without any inner depth, just a pure clown. It's basically impossible to bring out an earth-shattering performance from such a character - even in the best TV dramas, there will be simple villainous characters that appear to give the audience some relaxation time.

  Although it is true, but thinking of Xu Wenjie appearing in Kunna's play...

  Jian Ran: "Fang Ge, it's not that I'm being petty..."

  Fang Yu: "I understand, no need for small talk, just say what you want."

  "Thank you very much for your understanding."

  He stood up straight, stretched his muscles and adjusted his state a bit before asking the staff to hand over the script. He took a look at it and saw that it was about Saito and Tanaka discussing their next plan together on one occasion. The cunning Tanaka's sinister scheme won Saito's praise - the requirement for the actor is to perform Tanaka's dark and sinister side.

  Tanaka's persona is a pretty boy.

  So when the people who tried out for roles today arrived one after another, I carefully took a look and found that most of them were indeed young pretty boys, with some unfamiliar faces, but they seemed to be quite familiar with the crew members, probably because they had been active in TV dramas like "Chu Nan" before, and there were also some current idol actors, who probably hoped to have an opportunity to transform slightly.

  After finishing the preparation on this side, he stood behind the prop table wearing shorts and big pants. His role in this shot didn't have many lines, mainly Tian Zhong's actor was speaking - it seems that older actors like Jing Ran would sometimes take care of the rhythm and emotions of newcomers while acting, which is called "bringing the play" - Jing Ran's ability to "bring the play" is still good, so new actors who have acted with him all praise him, thinking he is a very good person who takes care of his juniors.

  Today, a new role audition, originally just to come and get a feel for it, in theory, he went to that one station seriously or not performing has no big deal, the first few actors came up to try when, he also performed very casual, basically can clearly see that he was following those actors' rhythm, every eye movement and line were given very timely and accurate, indirectly covering up the actor's lack of sense of rhythm due to nervous emotions.

  The trial lens has been going very smoothly.

  Until someone called out Xu Wenjie's name.

  The black-haired young man who had been sitting behind the desk and acting with the mirror actor stood up - but since there were no special requirements for how the actors should act in the script, no one raised any objections to Yanran's actions until he glanced at the camera and spoke his first line.

  "Tanaka, what's your view on this operation?"

  Before this, the black-haired young man would always greet newcomers and make sure they were in a good state before reciting his first line. But this time, he didn't say anything to Xu Wenjie. When he came to stand in front of him, he directly entered character.

  Xu Wenjie was visibly stunned, and there was a pause of about 2-3 seconds before he began to recite his lines according to the script. He seemed to be unfamiliar with the lines and was nervous, so he spoke at a slightly slower pace. However, Jian Ran, on the other hand, did not slow down his own lines to match Xu Wenjie's pace as he had done previously. Instead, he continued at a normal speed. After Xu Wenjie finished speaking, Jian Ran barely paused before smiling coldly and reciting his line: "You say, you are your own scheme?"

  When the young man with black hair stopped pacing beside the table and turned to look at Xu Wenjie not far away, the ridicule and disdain flashing in his dark eyes vividly concealed Qifu's proud character - he was a arrogant, young and already had a military rank, not only looked down on his enemies, but also looked down on his allies, which was also the main reason why he ended up with a tragic end.

  Before, it was all "accompanying acting", but at this moment, when he suddenly became serious about his painting style, even the two directors behind the monitor didn't react in time. The whole trial film segment became very strange. When the camera turned to Jianran's side, without looking at his clothes, every line of dialogue, every action, and even his eyes were all in place; but when the camera turned to Xu Wenjie's side, it completely changed into another style. He didn't keep up with the lines, expressions, or reaction speed.

  Now even a blind person can see that Xu Wenjie was subjected to ruthless and inhumane suppression, and was directly crushed into nothingness in the stark contrast.

  Under the circumstance that Jian Ran had completely grasped the entire scene's dialogue rhythm, he was utterly defenseless. At the end of the scene, when Jian Ran grabbed the script on the table and slammed it onto the table, shouting out the classic anti-Japanese drama lines "Ba Ga", he retreated two steps in a row, his face deathly pale.

  The crow and sparrow on the scene were silent.

  Until Bai Yan shouted "Cut", the coldness on his face instantly disappeared without a trace. He didn't even look at Xu Wenjie, but looked directly at the actors who were still waiting and watching him with lingering fear, and said expressionlessly: "Next one."

  Xu Wenjie stood still on the spot, his face looking extremely ugly for a moment.

  The atmosphere on the scene was also quite awkward. Many people who were familiar with the idol entertainment circle knew that Jian Ran didn't like this eighteen-line small star who imitated him, so everyone didn't dare to speak out loud. However, Xu Wenjie's expression looked too pitiful at this moment. Director Baiyan Ge, who didn't know the truth, was always a peacemaker and coughed lightly: "Xiao Ran, don't be so serious suddenly, look at how you scared Comrade Xiao Xu, I think you've led other people well before, why did you suddenly..."

  "Suddenly I feel that now and in the future, I won't be able to bring a complete play." Jing Yan heard this and turned his head to say with a gentle tone, "Bringing is emotional attachment, not bringing is one's duty——it can't be that from now on, every time there's a scene with Tian Zhong and Qi Fang, Qi Fang's painting style will suddenly change?"

  Li Rui director behind the monitor lifted his head: "Makes sense, Old Bai, I think Xiao Ran's handling of this is correct."

  "But all the previous actors have brought this, right?" said Shirai Kaori. "It seems a bit unfair to Xiao Xu like this, Xiao Ran, I think you should give him another chance before taking over the lines, he's been doing pretty well so far, don't suppress his performance, try it out..."

  Not tight?

  Haha, no way.

  "Overthrow all the Xu families in the world", is this biological instinct or what?

  Looking around at the group of actors who had not yet auditioned, they were all looking at him with a mixture of fear and trepidation, as if afraid that they would end up in a similar awkward situation like Xu Wenjie; then turning his head to look at Bai Yan Ge, it seemed like he really wanted Xu Wenjie to "do it again", but after a brief pause, he shook his head and said in a still very polite tone: "In that case, why don't the teachers just let them audition on their own? My performance is also quite unstable, and I'm afraid of creating an unfair situation for them once again..."

  "Ah, this situation is not impossible either." said Shirai Kaori, "Then Xu Wenjie, let's start with you, the following will be individual screen tests, grasp your own rhythm... don't worry, we'll weigh everyone's overall situation and decide who will play this role in the end——Xiao Ran, why don't you also take a look on the side?"

  "No."

  After finishing speaking, he ignored Bai Yan's shouting behind him and hastily walked out of the studio without looking back.

  ……

  Today, Jiang Chuan and the others were filming indoors. The good thing was that there were a few air conditioners in the indoor setting that didn't have very good cooling effects, but it's better than nothing. At least there was a roof to block out the sun. When I walked over wearing my slippers and shorts to watch the commotion, I saw Jiang Chuan had already changed out of his costume. He was sitting in a corner wearing a t-shirt and reading the script. The heavy helmet from last night was placed aside - the price of seeking coolness was that the lighting wasn't very good without windows or lights open, and the shadows cast by the setting almost completely obscured him. I also didn't know how he could read the script in such a dark environment.

  He walked over calmly and sat down beside him.

  The person who had been arguing with him all morning didn't even lift his head and said: "Get out of the way, you're full of hot air."

  He casually wiped his face, feeling refreshed and dry. He then glanced at the man sitting next to him, who was drenched in sweat, looking like he had just been pulled out of water. There was even a white stain on his black T-shirt where the sweat had seeped through. Thinking that this was the man's way of venting his anger, he didn't move and continued talking: "One of the actors from my crew got into trouble, so after they brought me over this afternoon, we started re-selecting roles again, and I went along with it."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Guess who's coming?"

  "Say it if you want to say it, otherwise get out."

  Jian Ran: "There is Xu Wenjie."

  As soon as the words fell, he felt that the people around him had quieted down for a while. Then, he heard the slight sound of Jiang Chuan closing his script. He didn't turn his head to look, but instead held his face and started muttering like a machine gun: "I'm so fed up with that bastard Shaoyong Dong! When I first joined the company, I refused his invitation to dinner, and he's never given me any good resources since then. Any resources I got were from running around myself or with other bosses, and he just took the money with a clear conscience, acting like I owed him a favor. Now that Xu Wenjie is here, he won't bother me anymore, but he still has the nerve to come in front of me with Xu Wenjie, disgusting! You have no idea how happy I was when I got the role of Chuan Na! I felt like my life had hope again! For this play, I even swallowed my pride and didn't go to the police station to catch Xu Qianqian. Who knows how much humiliation I endured? And then I took on this role, but before I could even enjoy it for two days, Xu Wenjie came along and got the role of Chuan Na without making any sacrifices! What's his basis for that? He's not as tall as me, not as handsome as me, not as good at acting as me. Is it just because he has a backer that he can come and disgust the working people like this?"

  Just as he hadn't finished speaking, he suddenly felt his wrist being pulled by the person beside him - accompanied by a faint scent of sweat, he was slightly stunned, and subconsciously turned around following the force, before he could even ask why the man had grabbed his hand, his lips were touched by a somewhat dry, fiery sensation.

  Once touched, then separated.

  He hadn't even had time to react and figure out what was happening.

  The aura surrounding him has already dissipated.

  Not far from them, the crew of "The Legend of Miyue" was still filming in a lively and bustling manner. However, at this moment, in this dark corner, it seemed as if they had suddenly been dug out and thrown into another dimension - silence, deathly silence.

  "......Have you been drinking?"

  "No."

  Jian Ran: "……I didn't either, so what were we just doing?"

  "Comfort you."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Jiang Chuan picked up the script again, flipped through it and asked coldly: "How is it?"

  "Not bad, shall we try again?"

  "Get out."