"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
In the lounge, Liao Ronghui, the manager of the ECL boy band, wiped the sweat from his face and carefully apologized to the woman in front of him.
What happened?
Liu Rulan curled the corners of her lips, elegantly raised her teacup, and said in a nonchalant tone, "I just came to take a look and pick up my artist. Why is Manager Liao so nervous?"
Not far behind Liu Rulan stood a tall and handsome young man. He didn't say a word, but leaned lazily against the window. His gaze, however, was so intense that it was fixed on Liao Ronghui's neck, giving him a dangerous feeling of suffocation.
Liao Ronghui's smile was more like a grimace: "It was our fault. We suddenly replaced Liang Cheng with Yan Lewen without immediately informing Manager Liu. It was our inadequate work. We are truly sorry. We apologize to Manager Liu and Teacher Xiao."
"The main issue is that Liang Cheng has been ill lately and isn't feeling well, so we thought we'd have Yan Lewen fill in as a guest for one episode, and then—"
"Is Liang Cheng sick?"
Xiao ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) He interrupted Liao Ronghui's explanation with a half-smile.
“Uh—” Liao Ronghui paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth, “Yes, he hasn’t been doing very well lately...”
"We still have to go."
Xiao He's expression changed instantly, and his aura suddenly turned cold. "The resources we provide are for whoever we designate. Even if he doesn't want them or can't do them, he must participate. Even if he's sick and about to die, he has to be carried here."
As Xiao He finished speaking, Yan Lewen and Liang Cheng also entered the lounge.
As soon as he entered, Yan Lewen sincerely apologized to Xiao He: "I'm sorry, Brother Xiao, I didn't know before that this resource was designated for Liang Cheng. Participating in this variety show was just in accordance with the company's arrangement. Fortunately, Brother Xiao and you found out in time, otherwise I would really be embarrassed to face Liang Cheng."
Liang Cheng looked at Xiao He with an apologetic expression, and finally bowed his head to express his gratitude: "Thank you, Brother Xiao, I'm sorry."
The resources we finally managed to secure from Brother Xiao were ultimately lost.
Liang Cheng himself felt like an idiot.
Xiao He twitched the corner of his mouth but did not respond.
Liu Rulan put down her teacup and gave a final warning: "We can give away this resource, and we can also take it back. I know very well what your company is thinking, but I advise you not to overreach, or you may damage the harmony among us."
Liao Ronghui immediately smiled ingratiatingly: "Of course, Manager Liu, don't worry, it definitely won't happen."
Liu Rulan glanced at her watch, then stood up: "Xiao He has activities this afternoon, so we'll be leaving now."
"Okay, Sister Liu, take care, goodbye."
"Um."
Finally, the woman, wearing high heels, calmly left the scene with her artist, completely unconcerned about the people behind her.
"Brother Liao, I'm going to film too. I can't keep everyone waiting too long."
Liang Cheng said something to Liao Ronghui, then turned and left.
"Brother Liao—"
Yan Lewen called out weakly, showing none of the arrogance he used to display when bullying Liang Cheng.
"Sigh, the industry changes constantly, and you can't afford to offend anyone."
Liao Ronghui glanced at Yan Lewen and sighed, "We can't afford to offend Xiao He, and we can't afford to offend Liang Cheng either. You should be more restrained in the future. Who can say what will happen in the future?"
Yan Lewen's face turned pale and then dark after being warned, before he finally nodded and said, "I understand... I'm sorry, Brother Liao."
Meanwhile, Liu Rulan returned to her car.
Old Qi started the car and drove back, while Liu Rulan glared at Xiao He: "Look at the mess you've made."
Xiao He shrugged: "I didn't want to get involved, but they were too nosy and took advantage of the resources we provided."
How they want to bully others and seize resources is none of his business.
However, his biggest mistake was secretly replacing the resources arranged by Liu Rulan with someone else.
The resource for "Ace Detective" came from the connections and favors Xiao He gained from Li Qing after acting in the short film. Later, when Liang Cheng spoke up for him and was criticized, Liu Rulan simply used this favor to give Liang Cheng a position as a regular guest on "Ace Detective," thus settling the score.
Now look what's happened! They've secretly taken the resources Xiao He had accumulated, they've shamelessly taken them all. Who wouldn't be angry?
Fortunately, it was discovered early. If the posters had already been taken and the promotion had started, it would have been difficult to get this regular guest position back.
Haha, those people are certainly cunning.
"Forget it, let's leave it at that. We've given them a warning this time, and they won't dare to cause any more trouble." Liu Rulan shook her head. "As for Liang Cheng, it's all up to his own fate."
If they get robbed again, they won't help anymore.
"Yes, thank you for your help, Sister Liu."
...
A few days later, in the company's practice room.
Xiao Hesheng lay on the ground, utterly dejected, while his acting teacher, An Chengguang, gripped the script in his hand, put his hands on his hips, and urged him sternly, "The birthday party is getting closer and closer, you need to pull yourself together! Hurry up, get up and continue!"
Xiao He: "...Okay."
He sighed deeply.
After adjustments, the script successfully reduced the weight of some character settings, especially in the final ending, where they deliberately downplayed the more complex characters and focused on performing other roles.
Nevertheless, Xiao He still struggled quite a bit, painstakingly working on the character design under An Chengguang's repeated encouragement.
There was no other way; in the final stage, Xiao He needed to seamlessly switch between twelve different personas. This stage was crucial and the highlight of Xiao He's acting skills, but it was also extremely difficult.
After all, even in the entire entertainment industry, not many actors would dare to guarantee that they could complete such a performance in one take, let alone a naive and arrogant "new actor" like Xiao He.
Even so, Xiao He still gritted his teeth and performed, analyzing each character one by one, trying to dissect their characteristics, and then amplifying these features during the performance so that the audience could distinguish them while watching the performance and not be confused.
-
"I should be able to find him."
The young detective sat in a chair, deep in thought.
The next moment, the person who had been sitting upright suddenly looked up, put his hands on the chair, crossed his legs, and showed a mocking expression: "Huh? You don't mean to arrest me here, do you?"
Then, he shrank back, his voice trembling slightly, filled with anxiety: "Don't stand here! We'll all die."
"Cough cough—"
The young man suddenly hunched over, his expression showing signs of weariness: "Anna, don't go over there, they're all crazy!"
The next moment, his expression changed again, but unexpectedly, An Chengguang on stage frowned and interrupted his performance.
"Xiao He, wait a minute."
The young man on stage paused, closed his eyes to calm himself, and said, "Teacher, please speak."
“Since you can’t make a breakthrough in female roles for the time being, add more body language.”
As An Chengguang spoke, he gestured for Xiao He to look at the script: "For this part, you can act like a normal 18-year-old teenager, only adding details and changing the character's gender characteristics..."
An Chengguang then explained many more points.
Time is running out, and the method acting style cannot fully adapt to the speed of personality switching on stage. The surrounding environment is also very stressful, and it needs to be done in one take. So, the performance style's skills are needed to use the public's stereotypes to highlight a character that cannot be fully adapted to.
Although this is indeed a shortcut, given the limited time for a stage performance, some of the twelve character settings will definitely suit the audience while others will not. What An Chengguang needs to do now is to help Xiao He focus on the character details that suit him, and then use shortcuts to complete the character settings that don't suit him.
This performance, once showcased, is a significant part of Xiao He's resume, a moment when he demonstrated his abilities. Directors were looking for roles that Xiao He could effectively portray, roles that were close to his own talent, rather than roles that clearly didn't require his involvement.
After all, what normal director would care whether a male actor can play a woman or a child?
Of course, exceptions exist.
