The birth of an actor

Chapter 14 A Moment of Dreams at Beijing Film Academy
The road conditions in Yanjing in 95 were actually quite friendly to scooters; at least you didn't have to worry about being caught by the traffic police.

Anxin rode his bicycle north along the Third Ring Road after leaving Jishuitan Hospital. The road was mostly lined with bicycles, a far cry from the modern metropolises of later generations. He even saw vendors selling water and popsicles from large boxes at intersections, making it seem like a village within the city.

He rode all the way to the intersection of the North Third Ring Road and turned left. There were noticeably more cars on the street. He wasn't riding very fast, and it took him about twenty minutes to see the gate of the Beijing Film Studio and the men and women standing in the shadows on both sides of the gate.

Each person has a sign in front of them, either made of cardboard or white cardboard.

It looks exactly like a matchmaking corner from later generations.

Anxin slowed down her motorcycle and finally parked it on the sidewalk in an area where bicycles and motorcycles were relatively concentrated. Then, an old man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and, like a big rat, reached out his hand to Anxin:

"A motorcycle? Two cents!"

"...?"

An Xin was taken aback for a moment, then remembered the bizarre item "car viewing fee," and took out a green bill from her pocket and handed it over.

After the old man took the money, he turned around and left. Only then did An Xin notice where the old man, who was not exactly a Tier 0 character, was hiding.

Between the two scooters, there was a shady spot under the shade of a tree.

Once he sits down, a normal person would never see him unless they get very close.

Wow, that's pretty secretive.

He walked along the path toward the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio. As he arrived, people hiding in the remaining shade of the wall on one side of the road all looked over.

But upon seeing Anxin's age, he immediately lost interest, withdrew his gaze, and continued to look around listlessly.

Anxin was also observing, looking at what was written on the boards in front of them.

"Professional Actor - XX"

"Previously appeared in: [XXXX]"

"He can deliver lines and has a background in broadcasting."

Acting experience: 5 years

This is a rough template. You also need to write down your height or what you are good at. To put it jokingly, you could say you are 1.8 meters tall, a professional martial artist, and can do everything from stagehand to odd jobs. You just want the director to take you home.

That's roughly what I mean.

Anxin found it interesting, since he rarely came here in his previous life. From Renmin University to Uncle Li's place, he headed south directly from Xinjiekou Street; he really seldom came to this area.

He had been to the Beijing Film Academy many times, but that was to see the future female stars and to socialize with their female classmates. Who had time to look at this group of people waiting to be hired?
So he walked and stopped, and finally, he saw Fan Bing squatting on the ground wiping her sweat under the landscape bushes near the gate of Beijing Film Studio.

And in front of Fan Bingbing was also a white sign... To be honest, combined with her squatting posture, it looked like someone in a movie selling themselves to bury their father.

He walked up to the girl, a man full of flaws:
"Hey, hello."

As Fan Bingbing wiped her sweat, she subconsciously looked up and her eyes lit up instantly when she saw An Xin.

"Hey, you're here."

As she spoke, she moved closer to the low bush, ignoring the branch that had already pricked her arm, making a small patch of shade for him:

"Come in quickly, it's so hot!"

Anxinxin said, "That's right. It's almost noon, and the sun is at its strongest. The problem is that whether you move or not makes no difference; when you squat down, half of your body is still in the sun."

But he still squatted down, picked up the sign in front of the girl, and looked at it.

Xie Jin Star Academy

Professional Actor: Fan Bing

Height: 172 cm

Acting Experience: She collaborated with Liu Xuehua and Shao Bing in "The Strong Woman," playing Shao Bing's fiancée. She also participated in plays directed by Xie Jin, including "Thunderstorm," "The Herdsman," and "The Last Aristocrat."

"You...have acted in so many plays?"

Anxin was a little confused.

This is different from what you said before. Didn't you say that your drama "Strong Woman" hasn't been released yet?
You've only acted in one movie, haven't you?

Upon hearing this, Fan Bing gave him a look that seemed to say, "Young man, you're very young," and turned slightly to the side, covering her mouth as she said:
“I auditioned when I was in school and helped out students who were a year ahead of us.”

"...?"

Seeing An Xin's absurd expression, the girl shrugged indifferently:

"You have to exaggerate a lot, otherwise who will pay attention to me?"

"...So, you're going to exploit that director Xie Jin to the extreme?"

"What do you mean? 'Get a freebie'?"

"...Never mind, forget I asked."

Anxin shook her head helplessly and raised the plastic bag in her hand:

"Do you live far away? We need to go to your place first, and you need to put the things in here in the refrigerator."

"what?"

Fan Bing was a little curious, so she took it and opened the bag inside.

Unfortunately, the chicken inside was completely wrapped up in a plastic blanket, so she couldn't see it at all.

"The chickens are free-range in the mountains back home, and there's also some wild ginseng and deer antler slices. There's a pot in your rented house, right? Use it to make soup. It's incredibly nourishing, strengthens the body, and beautifies the skin—it's very effective."

"what?"

Fan Bing's eyes widened instinctively.

She didn't care about the chicken.

mainly……

Ginseng?! Deer antler?!

"Ah."

An Xin had just nodded when Fan Bing began to shake her head:
"No, no, it's too precious, I can't accept it! This is ginseng!"

“Ginseng of poor quality isn’t worth much where I live, and it’s mostly broken ginseng roots anyway. If it were a whole wild ginseng, it would have been sold for a lot of money long ago. Just take it. I’ll tell you how to make soup in a bit… Here you go.”

Without a word, An Xin forcibly shoved the plastic bag into her hand.

"Ah this..."

The girl hesitated for a moment before revealing her two canine teeth:
"Hehe, then I'll accept it?"

"Let's take it."

"It's mainly because you brought it all the way from your hometown for me, I felt bad refusing it, hehehe..."

"Ha~"

Anxin chuckled softly and said:

"Shall we go then? This photo..."

"Don't rush."

Before he could finish speaking, the girl interrupted him:
"The director inside is about to finish get off work. There are only four shifts a day: morning shift, lunch break, afternoon shift, and evening shift. These four shifts are very important. Will you wait with me for a moment? It'll only be ten minutes!"

"Wait... for the people inside to come out and see you?"

Upon hearing this, Fan Bing immediately nodded:

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"To get noticed?"

"Hehe, yeah, more or less! If people see me only once, they might not remember me. But if I come here every day, they'll see me every day, and if one day a character remembers me, that'll be perfect!"

"Uh……"

Looking into her sparkling eyes, I felt inexplicably at ease, yet also a little dazed.

To be honest, he really found it hard to imagine that this girl, who hadn't even grown up yet, would become such a sensation later on...

The more she acted like this, the more dazed Anxin felt.

Just then, the two of them heard a metallic twisting noise.

Fan Bing reacted much faster than An Xin. The moment she heard the voice, she stood up abruptly and tidied her hair.

Today she was wearing a yellow and white short-sleeved T-shirt and loose khaki pants. After getting up and fixing her hair, an aura of youth immediately emanated from her.

Anxin, being inexperienced, asked naively after seeing her stand up:

"what happened?"

As he asked, he saw a young man, probably around thirty years old and wearing glasses, walking out of the side entrance of the Beijing Film Studio. He was looking in that direction as he walked.

He didn't know if he spotted Fan Bing immediately or was startled by her sudden, rat-like scurrying appearance. But... he definitely looked at Fan Bing, and in doing so, he also saw An Xin slowly standing up.

Upon seeing the two people, he paused, glanced at them subconsciously, and then walked directly towards them.

An Xin could clearly hear Fan Bing's breathing become heavier, which made him realize... this might be the "opportunity" she was talking about?
Just as she was pondering this, she saw the man sizing up Fan Bing before his gaze fell on the sign in front of her.

After glancing at it twice, he suddenly beckoned in this direction:

"You two, come in with me for a moment."

"Good director!"

Before An Xin could even react, Fan Bing grabbed his arm and darted away.

Suddenly being dragged into this, An Xin was speechless, thinking to herself, "Are you sure they're calling us?"

There are quite a lot of people in this area.

Just then, he heard Fan Bing's mumbled words, her lips not moving:
"Don't speak, I'll ask."

"..."

Anxin remained silent, while the girl quickly took two steps forward after saying those words:

"Director, what's your surname? I'm actress Fan Bing, currently studying at Xie Jin Star Academy. This is An Xin, my classmate. We're together. Thank you for giving us this opportunity..."

I don't ask what kind of play it is, nor do I ask how much money I'll be paid.

He started by expressing his gratitude and then introduced himself.

So much so that when An Xin heard her words, she subconsciously turned around and glanced back.

The actors who had been hiding in the shadows were now all watching him.

Unconsciously, a thought popped into Anxin's mind:
"Perhaps, even if this person hadn't called out to her, she would have still rushed out?"

For no other reason than for an opportunity.

Just as I was pondering this, I heard this guy say with a laugh:

"I'm not a director, my name is Zhong Hua. I'm looking for you two because I need two young student roles in my film. The pay is twenty, but meals are included. Is that alright?"

"No problem, no problem. Director Xie mainly wants us to gain acting experience. We don't care about the pay; we don't even need to be paid!"

After the girl finished speaking, Zhong Hua was stunned:
"Director Xie...Director Xie Jin?"

"Yes, Director Xie Jin is our principal."

Fine.

girl.

Catching Director Xie's wool... never mind, you wouldn't understand wool.

You're pulling someone's hair like it's going to kill them.

Anxin is truly speechless.

But what's surprising is her shrewdness, or even cunning, in using someone else's name to gain attention.

There's a maturity beyond her years.

In this respect, Anxin felt that she couldn't compare to her.

As he sighed, Zhong Hua said:
"Good luck later."

"Yes, Director Zhong, don't worry, we promise we won't let you down."

As soon as she said that, Anxin broke out in a cold sweat.

no……

Miss.

I freaking don't know how.

I don't even know what the performance is, and we're just going to go on stage like this?

He quickly tugged at Fan Bing's arm, and the girl turned her head to see his speechless eyes.

But she didn't say anything, she just mouthed two words to Anxin:

"come on!"

"..."

I felt at ease and remained silent.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and follow Zhong Hua into the Beijing Film Studio.

At the same time, they began to observe the appearance of the film studio.

Unfortunately... you can't see anything from the outside. It's just an ordinary-looking office building with a clock tower, and you can see the shadows of a few factory buildings on the side of the office building.

Zhong Hua was leading the two people toward one of the factory buildings that looked like a warehouse.

Several people were standing at the factory gate, one of whom, a very stylish woman, was holding a parasol.

She held up an umbrella, and a middle-aged man was standing under it.

The two of them sharing an umbrella is considered to be.

Upon seeing the two people, Zhong Hua quickened his pace and turned his head to say:

"I'll go over there first."

"Okay, Director Zhong."

After the girl finished speaking, Zhong Hua started running.

Actually, the straight-line distance between the two sides isn't that far, maybe ten or twenty meters at most.

Fan Bing quickened her pace, saying to An Xin as she spoke:

"It's okay, don't be nervous. After you hear the director's instructions, I'll teach you how to act."

"..."

I felt at ease and remained silent.

To be honest, he was a little nervous at that moment.

It's like that guilty feeling you have when you haven't done your homework, but when the teacher checks it the next day, you insist that you did it and can go home to get it.

Although I quickened my pace, I hoped that this road, which was so close, would never be reached...

But just then, An Xin overheard the older woman's words:

"Are you kidding me? Why did you bring these two people here? Are they here to... steal the spotlight from my family?"

He didn't hear clearly who the person's name was after "my family," and it was clear that the older woman had already kept quiet.

But the moment she heard those words, Fan Bing stopped in her tracks.

Anxin also noticed the furrowed brows of the middle-aged man under the umbrella.

In an instant, his and Fan Bingbing's "status" became awkward.

Then, Anxin heard what the middle-aged man said:

"Xiao Zhong, these two won't do, go find two more."

"..."

The atmosphere froze for a second.

Then, seeing the somewhat embarrassed expression on Zhong Hua's face as he turned around, the girl who had stopped seemed to want to say something.

In the end, however, she chose a method that even An Xin found quite mature: she bowed to the three of them.

"Thank you so much, directors, for giving us this audition opportunity. We'll leave you all here now. Goodbye, directors."

She smiled politely, stood up, took a step back, turned around, and pulled Anxin back to the way they came.

"..."

An Xin was speechless at first, then surprised, and finally looked at her face with concern.

As if sensing his gaze, Fan Bing also turned her head, and after seeing An Xin's concerned look, she revealed a playful smile:

"Let's go, hurry up, they should be getting off work soon. Let's hurry back, the seats we just had are definitely taken. Let's go back and find a better spot."

There was no sense of loss, no sense of sadness.

As if nothing had happened, she quickened her pace and walked towards the gate of the Beijing Film Studio.

(End of this chapter)