Reborn as a comedic artist

Three days later, in the afternoon.

In mid-June, the air in Chengdu was filled with the dry, dusty smell, mixed with the acrid odor of freshly mixed cement, which wafted straight into the nostrils.

A red Honda Civic was parked outside the fence of a self-built house in the south of the city.

The car door opened, and a wave of heat hit me.

Huang Yuxi, dressed in a red dress, frowned as soon as she got out of the car.

"Cheng Ming, are you sure that fatso is here...? This place is so hot even a dog would hate it. With his personality of preferring to lie down rather than sit, how could he possibly stay here for three days...?"

Huang Yuxi wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead, looked at the dusty small construction site in front of her, and spoke with a hint of doubt.

"Advisor, you're underestimating our Brother Shuo. For art, let alone carrying cement, he'd even jump into a sewer to unclog it, as long as it makes him famous."

Cheng Ming was dressed simply in a T-shirt and shorts, with a worn-out backpack slung over his shoulder to carry his camera and accessories.

Holding a DV camera in his left hand and a plastic bag full of bottled water in his right, his few pockets were bulging, clearly indicating that he was fully armed.

The two of them trudged along the gravel path, their steps uneven.

After walking around a pile of steel bars, Huang Yuxi suddenly stopped in her tracks next to a noisy concrete mixer.

If she didn't look closely, she wouldn't have recognized the person in front of her as Wang Shuo.

The chubby photography student, who was usually fair-skinned and always spouting nonsense, was now wearing a worn-out vest with a towel draped over his shoulder, the original color of which was no longer discernible.

The once fair and tender skin was tanned to a dark brown color, and there were even several areas of obvious peeling.

His round face had thinned a little, and his eyes revealed a numbness and weariness that only the working class at the bottom of society possessed.

...........

"rise--!"

Wang Shuo let out a low roar, exerted his strength in his waist, and hoisted a 100-pound bag of cement onto his shoulder.

In that instant, the veins on his neck bulged, and sweat dripped down his chin, creating small craters in the dust at his feet.

"Oh my god... this fat guy... is he serious...?"

Huang Yuxi couldn't help but blurt out a phrase in her dialect, her beautiful eyes widening in surprise.

She was genuinely a little heartbroken.

Although he always threatened to break Wang Shuo's legs, it was out of frustration and disappointment.

Seeing her students like this, the protective instincts of a Northeastern woman instantly kicked in.

"Alright, stop looking. This is the basic quality of the experiential learning approach..."

Cheng Ming put down the plastic bag in his hand, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.

Wang Shuo is indeed a ruthless person.

He may seem silly most of the time, but he's really willing to go all out when it matters.

It would be an injustice if a fat person didn't become famous.

With that fierce determination and his natural dramatic flair, today's filming is definitely going to be a success.

"Fatty...!"

Cheng Ming called out.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Wang Shuo stiffened and slowly turned his head.

Upon seeing Cheng Ming and Huang Yuxi, this 1.85-meter-tall Shandong man's lips trembled slightly, and he almost burst into tears on the spot.

The feeling was like that of a bonded laborer in the old society finally meeting the People's Liberation Army.

"Old Cheng...Advisor...!"

Wang Shuo unloaded the cement from his shoulder, wiped the dust from his face, revealing two rows of large white teeth, but his smile carried a hint of weariness.

"You've finally arrived... If you hadn't come, I would have been reduced to ashes..."

"Looks like your life experience was a great success." Cheng Ming walked over and handed him some water.

Without saying a word, Wang Shuo unscrewed the cap and gulped down the water. After downing half the bottle, he let out a long burp: "Awesome! I've finally figured it out these past few days: money is hard to earn and life is tough. If anyone ever tells me that manual labor is easy again, I'll argue with them."

"Alright, stop joking. If it really doesn't work out, just give up. There's no need to push yourself so hard..."

Huang Yuxi looked at the chafed skin on his shoulder and her tone softened.

"That won't do!"

Wang Shuo slammed the water bottle on the ground, and his expression changed instantly.

"I've endured all the hardship and suffering. If things go wrong now, all that cement I've carried for the past three days will have been for nothing...? Lao Cheng, where's the script? Hurry up, after filming I want to go back to my dorm to enjoy the air conditioning, I want to eat hot pot, I want to drink iced cola...!"

"Like I said, we don't have much time left. There are still a few scenes that require your personal involvement. If you can do them in one take, then do it in one take, given the environment..."

Cheng Ming took out the few pages of A4 paper with the script written on them from his bag and handed them to Wang Shuo.

Cheng Ming's smile faded, and his expression turned serious: "The lighting is perfect now. We don't need special effects to create that heat and dust. Let's finish this quickly..."

....................

After half an hour.

Being a photography major and with a script that wasn't too difficult, Wang Shuo, who knew the script by heart, tossed it aside.

He pointed to his head, then to a few coworkers watching him curiously: "I've already told them everything. This is a natural performance, absolutely authentic..."

"Then turn it on."

Although Huang Yuxi said she felt sorry for him, her actions were anything but hesitant.

She took the camera from Cheng Ming, skillfully checked the parameters and adjusted the white balance. As the instructor of the photography department, and also a media student herself, her skills were naturally excellent.

"Action!"

At Huang Yuxi's command, the two people who were joking around instantly changed their demeanor.

In the lens.

Wang Shuo is no longer Wang Shuo; he is now the once spirited but now utterly destitute "Photographer Shuo".

He was wearing camouflage pants covered in cement dust, and a pair of worn-out canvas shoes. He was holding a shovel and shoveling sand.

The practiced movements and the empty gaze made one feel a tightness in their chest just by looking at them.

Just then, a figure burst into the frame.

Cheng Ming.

He had his hair all messy, deliberately pulled his collar askew, and smeared some ash on his face, giving off the neurotic vibe of a down-on-his-luck artist.

It must be said that Cheng Ming's expert-level acting skills may still be lacking compared to those of national-level actors.

But it's more than enough for a remake, and even in today's entertainment industry dominated by young heartthrobs, it's a rare find.

"Brother Shuo, Brother Shuo, Brother Shuo...!"

Cheng Ming shouted as he quickened his pace, staggering as he chased after them through the pile of rubble.

Wang Shuo heard the voice, and his back stiffened noticeably.

He didn't turn around, but instead sped up the frequency of shoveling sand, and even picked up a bag of cement to leave. His expression of avoiding a plague god was absolutely hilarious.

It was as if Cheng Ming wasn't his brother, but a creditor coming to collect a debt from him.

But Cheng Ming was like a piece of chewing gum, sticking to it tightly and grabbing Wang Shuo's arm.

"Brother Shuo, don't go...!"

Wang Shuo was forced to stop, turned around, and frowned deeply.

A mixture of disdain, helplessness, and a hint of embarrassment at being exposed for his miserable state was evident on his face.

"Alright, alright! Get to work, will you?! What are you looking at? Hurry up and move it, or the foreman will dock your pay again!"

Wang Shuo shook off Cheng Ming's hand and yelled at several fellow workers who were carrying bricks nearby.

The workers, playing themselves, smiled憨厚ly and continued working with their heads down; the background was frighteningly realistic.

........................