Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune, I became a legend in the entertainment industry by avo

Chapter 122 The premiere of "Rickshaw Boy" concludes perfectly.

After the group scene ended, Zhang Qilin retreated to the side of the stage.

He had no scenes to film for a short period, so he went backstage to find a spot to rest.

On the other side of the curtain, Chen Mo stood in the shadows, looking at Zhang Qilin with a gloomy gaze.

He originally thought that Zhou Baocheng and his group could make Zhang Qilin make a small mistake on stage.

If there are any minor flaws in the premiere, the audience will naturally not vote for Zhang Qilin.

If he performs well tomorrow, he will have a chance to overpower Zhang Qilin and take the stage the day after tomorrow.

At the beginning, Zhou Baocheng's actions did indeed disrupt Zhang Qilin's rhythm a bit.

He watched from the side of the screen, feeling very excited, thinking that things had succeeded.

But what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.

After initially acting according to the agreed-upon plan, Zhou Baocheng subsequently reverted to his original approach.

Could it be that these people backed out of fear because there were too many guests at the event?

When they were urging him to compete with Zhang Qilin, they all patted their chests and said they were on his side, their tone very confident.

Now look what happened. They were just trying to make Zhang Qilin uncomfortable on stage, but after a few tries, they backed down.

Although he was furious, there was nothing he could do but wait until evening to call these people to his home to inquire about the situation.

The plot continues to unfold.

Xiangzi leaves Renhe Car Factory again because of Hu Niu's scheming and Liu Siye's humiliation.

The stage lights and shadows became oppressive, and most of the other rickshaw pullers also fell silent.

"Brother Xiangzi, are you really leaving?"

Xiao Shunzi squatted on the threshold of the rickshaw depot, watching Xiangzi pack his meager belongings. The playful smile on his face disappeared, replaced by a worry that only peers could understand.

He wanted to persuade him, but knew that Xiangzi was stubborn and wouldn't listen, so he could only make small talk: "It's so cold outside, staying in an inn is not like staying in the factory, where it's drafty on all sides."

Xiangzi gave a muffled "hmm".

Xiao Shunzi scratched his head, then suddenly lowered his voice and leaned closer: "If you ask me, don't take it too seriously. Tiger Girl is formidable, but Fourth Master—sigh."

He didn't spell it out, but that "hey" contained the rickshaw pullers' consensus on Master Liu's shrewdness and their sympathy for Xiangzi's situation.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and tried to dispel the heaviness with a lighthearted tone: "Alright, you find a place to settle down first. When I have some free time, I'll ask you to find some work. I heard a new porter's shop opened outside Xizhimen, lots of work, just a bit far away —"

His words were trivial, mundane, and even somewhat irrelevant.

This caused Xiangzi's tightly pursed lips to relax slightly.

This is perhaps the most basic form of care among people at the bottom of society.

Instead of grand theories, we talked about the most practical things like finding work and traveling.

When Zhang Qilin handled this scene, he portrayed Xiao Shunzi's awkwardness of wanting to comfort him but not knowing how, and his considerate act of pretending to be relaxed to cover up his worries in a delicate and natural way.

His small gestures—squatting, standing up, dusting off, and leaning in to talk—all exude a strong sense of everyday life.

The knowledgeable seniors in the audience nodded slightly. This young man had not only grasped Xiao Shunzi's quirky side, but also his warm side.

Xiangzi left after all.

Xiao Shunzi stood at the entrance of the car factory, watching that broad, sturdy figure disappear around the corner of the alley, his expression slowly fading.

He looked down at his shoes with exposed toes and rubbed the dirt on the ground with the toes of his shoes.

"Xiao Shunzi, come in and help carry the water."

Tiger Girl's voice boomed from the courtyard.

His shoulders twitched, and the sadness instantly vanished. He turned and replied, "Coming, coming."

When he ran inside, he transformed back into the slippery and clever Xiao Shunzi.

The performance continues.

Act III.

Tiger Girl and Master Liu had a complete falling out. Master Liu smashed his teacup and threatened to sever his father-daughter relationship with Tiger Girl.

Tiger Girl was no pushover either. She slammed her hand on the table, grabbed a small bundle, and left the rickshaw depot. Before leaving, she said, "I'm going to find Xiangzi. You can just keep your business and your rickshaws and live your carefree life."

The stage lights dimmed.

When the lights came on again, the scene changed to the small room that Tiger Girl rented in the tenement courtyard.

Tiger Girl sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), cracking melon seeds and nagging about Xiangzi.

Xiangzi sat silently on the stool, not uttering a sound.

Xiao Shunzi squatted at the door, twirling a straw in his hand, while his ears were perked up, listening to the sounds coming from inside the house.

He had no lines in this scene; he was just a background character.

But Zhang Qilin didn't let himself really become just a background character.

He twirled the straw in his hand absentmindedly.

But whenever Tiger Girl's voice rose in the house, his hand twirling the straw would pause, his eyes would glance into the house, and a gloating smile would appear on his lips.

Hearing Tiger Girl say, "Say something!"

He shrugged, suppressing a laugh, put a straw in his mouth, and moved back a bit, as if to say, "I don't want to get involved."

Some people in the audience noticed his subtle gesture and smiled knowingly.

Plays without dialogue are the most difficult to act in.

If you act too much, you'll steal the spotlight; if you act too little, you'll be invisible.

Zhang Qilin's performance was just right, like a clump of weeds at the base of a courtyard wall—unremarkable, but once you see it, you feel that the courtyard truly has human warmth.

The story is currently set in a somewhat oppressive and trivial family dispute.

But while following the main characters' dialogue, many people's eyes are inevitably drawn to the quiet yet vibrant backdrop by the door.

He made Tiger Girl's cottage a more complete setting, no longer an isolated stage for the two main characters.

It has become a real space with a neighborhood atmosphere and a sense of life.

The audience is not only watching Xiangzi and Huniu, but also perceiving the ecology of that large courtyard through the window of Xiaoshunzi.

Only when the lights dimmed again to prepare for the scene change did a faint sound emanate from the audience.

Some audience members were whispering to their companions about a detail they had just witnessed.

The old gentleman said to his companion, "Are all young people these days so capable of living within a play, and not just performing?"

The plot continues to unfold.

Another important scene for Xiao Shunzi is on a snowy night.

The dire situation of the elderly Ma and his grandson, suffering from hunger and cold, filled the stage and the audience with a heavy sense of oppression.

Xiao Shunzi huddled by the door, wrapping his worn-out blouse tightly around himself.

Seeing the old horse being helped in by the other drivers, and the little horse shivering from the cold, so thin it was skin and bones, all the cleverness on his face vanished.

Xiao Shunzi pulled out the few coins he had from his pocket and stuffed them into Xiao Ma's cold hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

That's not charity, but compassion for those of the same kind, and bewilderment at not being able to see where one's own tomorrow will lead.

"Uncle," he squatted down next to Old Ma, his voice low and heavy with a weight beyond his years, "You speak frankly, the truth. In this line of work, everyone will eventually fall and die in an operation, sooner or later!"

When he said these words, there was less of the usual glibness in his words and more of a cold, hard reality.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the numb or sorrowful faces in the dimly lit workshop.

As if asking Old Ma, or perhaps himself, his voice was even lower, almost a whisper: "When can we turn this upside down and let the poor breathe again?"

No one could answer him.

Old Ma just shook his head and coughed.

Xiao Shunzi turned his head to look at Xiao Ma, who was nestled next to Lao Ma, and tried to make his tone sound more relaxed: "Are you a teenager?"

"—Thirteen," Xiao Ma's voice was barely audible.

"Helping Grandpa pull the cart?" Xiao Shunzi asked, then, as if afraid of hurting something, quickly added, "You're quite shrewd; when we grow up, we won't pull the cart anymore."

Little Ma raised his dirty little face, a faint light in his eyes: "Why can't it work?"

Xiao Shunzi looked at him, at those still bewildered eyes, and suddenly smiled.

There was no mockery, no joke in that smile, only an almost cruel tenderness and a faint hope: "When you grow up, it will be a good time."

He said it softly.

Good times — when will they come?

No one knows.

After a brief silence, he asked again, "Where's your father?"

Little Horse stopped talking and lowered its head even further.

Xiao Shunzi's smile finally faded.

He didn't ask any more questions, but simply reached out and gently patted Xiao Ma's thin shoulder. The movement was clumsy, but it carried a hint of warmth.

Then he stood up, silently retreated to the shadows at the edge of the crowd, and said no more.

Only when this scene ended, the curtain slowly closed, and the stage lights dimmed did he let out a soft sigh of relief.

On the other side of the screen, Chen Mo's fists were clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.

Zhang Qilin's performance in that last segment was superb.

It was so good that it chilled him to the bone.

That sense of kindness and compassion that a young man from the lower class struggles with injustice but whose goodness is not completely extinguished.

Zhang Qilin brought to life that awkward tenderness when facing the weaker party.

He accurately captured and presented the kindness and complexity of a lowly person from the bottom of society.

If he wants to surpass Zhang Qilin, he must be fully focused and perform exceptionally well tomorrow.

The performance continued, and after several more acts, it was nearing its end.

Amidst the tides of time and internal strife, both the people and the car factory grew increasingly dilapidated, creating a bleak atmosphere.

Xiangzi experienced three rises and three falls, and finally his hopes were shattered, leaving him dejected and numb.

Tiger Girl died in childbirth, and Master Liu sold off his property and disappeared.

The once bustling car factory is now just a desolate ruin.

The curtain slowly closed.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, wave after wave, relentlessly.

The stage lights came on one by one, and the curtain was drawn back.

All the actors took turns going on stage to take their bows.

When Zhang Qilin followed the other supporting actors to bow, the applause in a certain area of ​​the audience became noticeably more enthusiastic, and some people even called out his name.

Although the sound was quickly drowned out by louder applause, it was still clearly audible.

The last time he took his final bow at the Grand Theater was when he played a minor role in "Teahouse".

This time, he finally had a role with lines, and his position was moved a bit closer to the center.

He believes that as long as he works hard, he will eventually be able to stand in the center and take his final bow.

After the curtain fell, the actors returned backstage.

Zhang Qilin walked to the makeup mirror and began to remove his makeup in front of the mirror.

Xiao Shunzi's shadow gradually faded from the mirror, and Zhang Qilin's clear silhouette slowly returned.

The young man in the mirror had bright eyes, still carrying the excitement and slight bewilderment from the performance.

"Well done," a deep voice said from the side.

Zhang Qilin turned his head and saw Yu Zhen walking over at some point, looking at him with approval on his face.

"Thank you, Teacher Yu," Zhang Qilin said sincerely.

Yu Zhen nodded, said nothing more, patted him on the shoulder, and turned to leave.

This simple action is worth more than many praises.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the backstage entrance.

Zhang Qilin listened carefully and realized that Huayi Brothers' senior executives had come backstage.

When the news spread, the atmosphere among all the actors backstage instantly underwent a subtle change.