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

Chapter 193 A play is a play, and life is life

"Then," Zhang Qilin's voice rang out again, "you heard it—the sound of the bolt being pulled back."

"Click."

He pulled the bolt of the rifle in his hand.

A girl suddenly covered her mouth, suppressing a scream.

"They've found you," Zhang Qilin said calmly, yet his voice was terrifying. "They know you're here. They're not in a hurry. They're enjoying this cat-and-mouse game. They're waiting for you to break down on your own, waiting for you to run away."

"Now," his voice suddenly rose, "run!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the girls rushed out from behind the box.

This wasn't the kind of acting run we did before; it was a real, frantic escape for his life.

That's an animal's instinctive reaction—to escape danger.

They ran past Zhang Qilin, past Huang Haibo and the others, until they reached the end of the street before stopping, bending over and panting heavily.

Some were shaking, shaking uncontrollably.

Some looked around blankly, as if they hadn't yet emerged from that situation.

Zhang Yi watched the playback on the monitor and then said, "Keep one more."

This time, when the clapperboard sounded, the girls still remembered the feeling from before. They rushed out from the starting line and ran desperately towards the finish line.

As they ran past the camera, some of them fell, but immediately got up and kept running.

Continue until you reach the finish line.

"Okay, stop," Director Wang shouted.

Zhang Yi watched the replay.

The way the girls ran in the video, the expressions on their faces, the things in their eyes—everything was right.

He said calmly, "That's enough."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Director Wang raised the microphone: "That take is done. Everyone go back for lunch, we'll continue filming this afternoon."

The staff began packing up their belongings, while the others returned to the hotel for lunch.

Zhang Qilin silently sat down on the spot. He closed his eyes for a moment, and after a while, his body felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and he relaxed.

"Hoo—" He opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

Huang Haibo watched from the side, secretly surprised.

He could sense that Zhang Qilin's military aura had dissipated, and he had reverted to the Zhang Qilin they usually encountered.

Just like that Instructor Li from earlier, he only temporarily borrowed this body. Now that the play is over, he has returned the body to Zhang Qilin and returned to his own era. Nie Yuan's gaze towards Zhang Qilin has changed.

He thought Zhang Qilin acted really well during filming that morning.

Looking at Zhang Qilin now, he felt that this person was more than just an actor.

He couldn't explain what it was.

But he could sense that Zhang Qilin possessed something that most actors lacked.

It's not talent, not skill, it's something more fundamental —

"Qi Lin," Huang Haibo walked over, "How are you feeling?"

Zhang Qilin looked up and smiled kindly: "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."

"It's normal to be tired," Nie Yuan said as he walked over. "Carrying that gear all morning, it's no wonder you're exhausted."

"You got out of character really fast," Gao Hu walked over and looked him up and down curiously. "I've seen many actors who are deeply immersed in their roles and need a long time to get out of character. But you, you got out of character in no time."

Zhang Qilin thought for a moment and said, "It's probably because I know that a play is a play and life is life. Instructor Li has his battlefield, and I have mine. I can't bring his battlefield into my life. That would be unfair to him and a drain on me as well."

He spoke so naturally, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary.

But Huang Haibo and the others understood.

This isn't a skill, it's a mindset.

It means clearly knowing where the boundaries are.

"Okay, you're awesome," Huang Haibo gave a thumbs up. "Let's go eat, I'm starving."

The group stood up and walked towards the hotel.

At that moment, they saw the girls in the distance, supporting each other as they walked towards the hotel.

Zhang Qilin thought for a moment and said to Huang Haibo and the others, "You guys go first, I'll go and give them some psychological counseling. That situation they just experienced might have had a bit of an impact on them, so we don't want them to have any psychological trauma."

Huang Haibo nodded in understanding: "Okay, Qi Lin, you go ahead, we'll go back to the hotel and wait for you."

Zhang Qilin nodded and walked towards the girls.

"This kid," Huang Haibo whispered to Nie Yuan, "is going to be something special in the future."

"This is already incredible," Nie Yuan said, watching Zhang Qilin walk towards the girl.

"I mean, it'll be even worse in the future."

"Um.

""

They stopped talking and turned to walk back to the hotel.

Zhang Qilin stopped in front of them and said gently, "I'm sorry, I startled you just now."

The girls looked up at Zhang Qilin and noticed that he was different from before, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

If Zhang Qilin had made them instinctively feel somewhat afraid just now, the Zhang Qilin in front of them now made them feel much more approachable.

One of the girls mustered her courage and replied, "Just now—I was really scared to death! I really thought someone was chasing me."

"I know," Zhang Qilin nodded, his eyes filled with affirmation, "so you acted very well."

"Can we—can we still act like this in the future?"

Zhang Qilin's voice became even gentler: "Yes, as long as you remember the feeling from just now, remember that desire to live, you can keep acting like this."

"But remember, acting is acting, and life is life. When you come out of the play, you are still you, children living in a peaceful era. Those terrible things are in the past and will never happen again."

77

The girls nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Zhang Qilin knew that they would understand sooner or later.

Maybe not now, but one day, when they grow up and truly understand this history, they will understand what all of this means.

"But—" a round-faced girl said hesitantly, "I just—I really thought they were behind the box. I think—I think I heard their footsteps."

"That's your brain cooperating with me in telling the story," Zhang Qilin patiently explained. "Human imagination is very powerful; it will take you into that world. As an actor, having a rich imagination can help you get into character better."

"But the important thing is that we must learn to control this imagination, to unleash it when we need it, and to retract it when we don't, just like—like turning a tap on and off."

He made a clumsy but vivid gesture of turning on a tap, which amused the girls and made them smile slightly.

"Come on, let's try to turn it off now," Zhang Qilin guided. "Close your eyes, take a deep breath, inhale—slowly—exhale—inhale again—"

The girls followed his instructions, closed their eyes, and adjusted their breathing.

"Now, silently tell yourself that what just happened was a play, a performance, that you are safe now, that you are at the Shiqiu Film and Television Base, and then say your name."

The girls silently repeated after them.

"Very good," Zhang Qilin continued, "Now, think back to what you saw on your way to the set this morning after you got up? For example, what did you eat for breakfast, or who told a joke in the car on the way here?"

He brought their attention back to reality.

"I ate xiaolongbao this morning," a girl whispered, her eyes still closed.

"I drank soy milk."

"When I came here, I saw many small flowers blooming by the roadside —"

The girls started talking all at once, and their voices gradually became more lively.

Zhang Qilin listened patiently, nodding occasionally and guiding them to share more details.

A moment later, when the girls opened their eyes again, their eyes showed a sense of relief as if they had survived a disaster, as well as excitement at having completed the challenge.

"How are you feeling?" Zhang Qilin asked.

"Much better," the girls said.

Zhang Qilin comforted them a few more times and then told them to go eat.

Not far away, Zhang Yimou was giving instructions on how to do things using a walkie-talkie.

Turning around, I saw Zhang Qilin and the group of girls.

His face was expressionless, but his eyes held admiration.

The person who was introduced to the film crew was initially thought to be a nuisance, but instead, he kept bringing surprises.

No, it's not just a surprise.

He has worked with countless actors, met all kinds of geniuses, and also seen many people who rely on their connections to get by.

But people like Zhang Qilin are extremely rare.

He is talented, hardworking, and, more importantly, he has no air of arrogance.

This is especially rare in today's profit-driven entertainment industry. At this moment, Director Wang walked over with a call sheet in his hand: "Director Zhang, please take a look at the shooting schedule for this afternoon."

Zhang Yi took the notice and glanced at it: "Tell all groups to prepare, don't delay."

Director Wang nodded, turned around, and left.

As Zhang Qilin walked into the restaurant after removing his makeup, he heard Huang Haibo raise his hand and call out, "Qilin, this way, I've saved you a seat."

Zhang Qilin nodded to them and went to get the food.

He had just finished getting his food when the girls walked into the restaurant and greeted Zhang Qilin warmly.

"Teacher Zhang!"

"Hello, Teacher Zhang!"

The crisp sounds rose and fell.

Zhang Qilin responded with a smile: "Hello everyone, go have some lunch, we have to continue filming this afternoon."

After saying that, he smiled and carried the plate to Huang Haibo's table.

In the following days, the crew spent most of their time filming war scenes.

Almost every day, someone finishes filming and leaves the set.

The members of the training team also finished their work and left one after another.

Before they left, they all exchanged contact information with Zhang Qilin and agreed to meet again when they returned.

Zhang Qilin would film during the day and would occasionally receive updates from Shen Ya about the progress of the stage play script at night.

During this period, Zhang Qilin also took photos of the two GGs he was endorsing during breaks in filming.

The endorsement fee arrived in early February.

Zhang Qilin called Shen Ya: "Go to Yiwu and see if there's a suitable factory there, then take it over."

"Brother Lin, what do you need the factory for?"

"There is a considerable market for the development of Qin Liangyu-related merchandise. With our own factory, we can better meet market demands in terms of product design and production."

"Okay, I'll go and check it out in person. Do you have any price requirements?"

Zhang Qilin silently calculated the amount of money he had on hand.

He received 1.5 million yuan for two endorsements, and 200,000 yuan as an initial payment after joining the cast of "The Flowers of War". He could also get another 200,000 to 300,000 yuan from his father under other names.

"Let's look for something with a budget of around 200 million."

"OK."

Zhang Qilin continued filming on set, and in late February, Bale finally joined the crew.

That day, after Zhang Qilin finished filming and returned to his room to rest, Director Wang informed him that he would be attending a small dinner to welcome Bale that evening.

Zhang Qilin doesn't have much of an impression of Christian Bale, only those few movies that have been released in China.

The banquet was held in the small banquet hall on the second floor of Xingfu Mountain Villa.

6:30

Zhang Qilin changed his clothes and headed towards the small banquet hall.

Several people were already seated in the hall.

Zhang Yimou was sitting in the main seat, talking to the person next to him.

Upon seeing Zhang Qilin enter, Zhang Yi nodded.

Zhang Qilin sat down in the seat with his name on it.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the door opened.

Led by producer Zhang Weiping, Bell walked in.

Zhang Yi stood up and quickly went to greet Bell. After greeting Bell, he began to introduce the people in the room to Bell.

What made Zhang Qilin frown was that these people on set were all department heads, and they were all very careful when speaking to Bale.

That wasn't deliberate flattery, but rather a subconscious, cautious approach.

Even Director Wang appeared very reserved when facing Bale.

He wasn't judging anyone; he just felt that it wasn't that serious.

Bale is a good actor and an international superstar, but ultimately, he's here to make movies.

We are colleagues, not superiors and subordinates.

This cautious atmosphere made the dinner party feel somewhat awkward.