The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1821 Keep your distance
They went back and forth, teasing each other.

Everything relaxed, and it seemed like just casual conversation between friends, a conversation without any real substance, with no intention of seriously discussing anything, but the conversation contained a wealth of information.

Then, the two of them went about their own business, but it didn't feel abrupt or strange. There was a tacit understanding and comfort in the quiet.

Jasper leaned forward, offering the cigarette he was holding across the coffee table. "Here, give it a try." Clearly, this wasn't an ordinary cigarette.

Theo tried to sit up, struggling slightly, his limbs dangling in the air, looking rather disheveled.

Emmanuel was taken aback, Alfonso was taken aback, and all the staff behind the monitor were momentarily stunned.

Perhaps Michael Caine is the only exception.

Michael Caine, standing off-camera and looking over at Emmanuel, remained completely calm and casually made a sarcastic remark.

Are you performing comedy?

The entire set was slightly taken aback. These were lines from outside the script, improvised on the spot, but what was with this irresistible comedic effect?

Theo seemed unsurprised, shrugging slightly. "Getting ready for the new job."

Theo took the cigarette from Jasper. "People always need some laughter, no matter what."

In the footage, Anson appeared calm and composed, as if nothing had happened.

Off-camera, crew members were struggling to suppress their laughter, and Scarlett Johansson simply stuffed her fist into her mouth.

Brush brush.

All eyes turned toward the director.

Without a doubt, "Children of Men" is not a comedy, and has absolutely nothing to do with comedy. Alfonso Cuarón is not a director who makes comedies. However, Anson's performance just now went off track, even off track in nature. In a serious film that discusses the end of the world and the extinction of mankind, is such a comedic moment really appropriate?

"Children of mankind" is not, and should not be, "the hangover".

However, Alfonso did not respond.

Alfonso was completely oblivious to the gazes pouring in from all directions, his eyes fixed intently on the monitor, his expression blank, utterly absorbed in the moment.

In Alfonso's view, these seemingly insignificant details reveal Theo's true character: a kind of comical mockery, a kind of cynicism, and a kind of unbridled freedom.

In this scene, Theo and Jasper are not serious to begin with, and they banter and tease each other. If Anson's performance were too serious or formal, it would make the whole atmosphere seem strange and abrupt. The casual and subtle details make the scene more balanced.

Alfonso realized that Anson was getting into the game, or at least was getting into it.

Emmanuel was stunned, but looking through the camera lens, the person in sight at that moment was Theo, who was completely relaxed.

Theo took the cigarette. He could feel Jasper's burning, expectant gaze. He took a drag, then exhaled the swirling smoke.

and then?
Theo was unsure what Jasper wanted to see or how he should react.

Jasper coughed.

Theo looked at Jasper with a puzzled expression, seemed to process what he was seeing for a moment, but still didn't understand. "Cough?"

Jasper coughed.

He even demonstrated it, although the action looked more like vomiting than coughing.

Theo: ? ? ?
Still half asleep, Theo coughed twice, and then—

Cough cough cough. Cough cough cough.

Theo started coughing violently, unable to stop, looking as if he was about to cough up his entire lungs. He choked on his cigarette smoke and saliva, almost bringing tears to his eyes, and looked at Jasper with a confused expression.

Jasper looked at Theo with bright, expectant eyes. "Did you taste it?" Theo: ?
"strawberry."

Theo: ?
"This is strawberry flavored. Hehe. Hehe."

Theo: ...

Jasper looked at Theo, who was completely bewildered and unmoved, and smiled somewhat awkwardly. This was supposed to be his masterpiece, but it had been met with a cold shoulder.

Although Theo did not react in any particular way, it was precisely because of this lack of reaction that Jasper's expectations were dashed.

Bathed in Theo's gaze, Jasper felt slightly embarrassed and quickly changed the subject, "So, the Human Task Force is having dinner, and the smartest people in the world are gathered here..."

Theo twirled the cigarette between his fingers, his cough still not completely subsided. It seemed that because of the cigarette and the cough, an inexplicable anger surged up. His gaze fell on the brochure full of nonsense, and without taking care of his friend's disappointment and regret, he rudely interrupted Jasper.

"'Humanity Task Force,' ha. How can anyone believe such nonsense?"

"Feel sorry."

Theo realized he had been a bit impulsive, raised his hand to signal, and abruptly stopped, handing the cigarette to Jasper. When he spoke again, his tone had softened slightly.

“Even if these people and these secret bases really exist… Oh, damn, this is really powerful…” Theo felt dizzy as those auras and tail energies penetrated his lungs and pierced his nerves, rushing into his heart through his bloodstream, causing his heart to pound wildly. The nerves on his temples instantly tensed up, unable to be suppressed.

Dizziness. Heaviness. Confusion.

The emotions that had just barely calmed down broke free of their reins again, and the thoughts in her mind surged out all at once, breaking through layers of armor and baring their fangs and claws as they rushed out, grumbling and complaining in a nonchalant tone, revealing the true feelings that she had carefully concealed.

"Even if they do find a solution to infertility, it won't matter."

"It's too late. The world is already destroyed."

Emmanuel was completely unaware that he was holding his breath again.

The camera lens clearly showed the complex emotions in those eyes, not just anger and despair, nor just sadness and pain, but more like a black hole.

The black hole, boundless and unfathomable, is a place where you can explore with all your might but never reach its limit. It swallows all your emotions, leaving you numb in the end.

He thought he didn't care, he thought he had gotten used to it and was indifferent to it, but the true emotions that were inadvertently revealed still hurt people.

The camera remains unchanged, without any special focus, but the exposed, scarred soul seems to have firmly captured the viewer's attention.

Theo lowered his eyelids, avoiding Jasper's gaze, and instead looked at the chess set on the coffee table. He picked up a chess piece and started playing with it for no apparent reason.

The sound didn't rise or quicken; on the contrary, it settled and slowed down, as if it were plunging into that black hole and continuing to fall.

"You know what? It's actually too late before infertility even occurs."

Calm, gentle, light, the last note quietly dissipated into the air, like a fragile object.

Emmanuel's camera lens was still below, capturing the bewilderment in those downcast eyes from below. That clear blue had been submerged in the boundless darkness. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it was not a fragile item, but a defective product that had long been broken but had been patched up with super glue.

It appeared unharmed on the surface, but upon closer inspection, it was covered in wounds.

You can even see the fine lines clearly visible on the outside. He thought he had hidden it well, but in reality, it was just clumsy self-deception.

That fleeting glance, though gone in an instant, lingered in the air like wisps of smoke.

So simple, so quiet.

Yet it surged and roared.

(End of this chapter)