Huayu: Reborn in 97, transferring to the Central Academy of Drama's star-studded class

After filming wrapped that day, Director Feng took Jiang back to Beijing.

Half a month of rural life felt like a lifetime ago.

Jiang Lai got out of the car and looked at the neon-lit streets, and for some reason felt like a country bumpkin visiting the city.

He was still wearing that tattered coat, but thankfully the cotton filling had all fallen out, so he didn't feel hot even in the summer.

Passersby would cast strange glances at them.

It wasn't that I looked down on Jiang Lai's clothes, but rather that he was standing with Director Feng at the entrance of a bathhouse with a hazy purple sign and enchanting lighting.

They come to this place, of course, to get a bath.

The bathhouse attendant looked at Jiang Lai, and without saying a word, put on the bath towel. His old face was tense and unusually serious.

He unleashed the highest level of his career, delivering a truly exhilarating and satisfying performance.

After finishing, the old master, wearing only shorts, sat on a small stool, lost in thought, rubbing his reddened eyes, and said with a sigh:

"Young man, I haven't massaged someone like you since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Massaging someone like you makes me feel like my life is worthwhile."

Jiang Lai found it incredibly frustrating. He couldn't understand the old master's melancholy about his career and was debating whether or not to go with Director Feng to experience the traditional massage on the second floor.

Director Feng said that after the massage, the whole body feels refreshed.

Jiang Lai felt an itch in his heart, like a cat scratching him, and with a determined heart, he followed them upstairs to the second floor.

The two acted furtively the whole way, after all, Director Feng was already somewhat famous at this time, so they had to be careful.

After entering a room, the two comfortably lay down on a massage bed.

A short while later, two robust men in white coats walked into the room.

They really were there for a massage, of course!

The two middle-aged men clearly didn't recognize Director Feng's short face. While they were getting cupping and massages, they chatted non-stop, and Jiang Lai naturally revealed all his family's secrets.

The two middle-aged men didn't believe it, thinking he was just bragging. They had been working here for so many years and had never seen any big stars or bosses come to spend money here.

Only Director Feng, who loves exploring back alleys, could find a place like this.

The two middle-aged men were very professional, pushing, grasping, kneading, tapping, and plucking, and finally slapping their backs with a unique rhythm, like drumming.

After the massage, Jiang Lai felt completely refreshed and couldn't help but give Director Feng a thumbs up.

Not long after, a young member of the crew came over with a new set of clothes. Jiang changed into them, but he didn't let them throw away the tattered coat, saying he wanted to keep it as a souvenir.

Director Feng doesn't understand, but he respects it.

The two started the next scene, and Ge You, He Bing, Liu Bei, Xu Fan and other main actors also came to accompany them. The group found a restaurant and had a good meal.

During the meal, Jiang Lai ate heartily without any manners whatsoever.

While everyone was still wondering, Director Feng explained the whole story.

Liu Beite patted Jiang Lai's head tenderly. Everyone present was at least ten years older than him, and they all treated him like a child.

But at this moment, I couldn't help but look at him with new respect, and truly regarded him as a professional actor.

Jiang Lai was speechless. He had read news articles in his previous life that said actors would experience real life for their roles. What was so strange about that?

Unfortunately, Jiang Lai only paid attention to dedicated actors, not actors who were built up by data in the era of internet traffic.

After the event, Jiang Lai returned home, unaware that Jiang Lai had been missing for a long time.

When she saw her son come home, she only said that he looked thinner and told him to eat more, and then continued sipping her tea and watching TV.

Jiang's father's philosophy on raising children has always been to let them roam freely, as long as they don't die.

Yes, a father's love is as solid as a mountain.

The next day, Jiang Lai was fully recovered and called Lao Li over.

In the play, he said he wanted to invest in a chicken farm for the village. Although it was a joke, he planned to take it seriously.

He told Lao Li the address and asked Lao Li to send someone there to actually set up a chicken farm. Lao Li nodded in agreement.

He then picked a Bentley from home and drove it to the film set, which he had promised Director Feng the day before to lend to the crew for filming.

Director Feng was overjoyed; bringing Jiang Lai into the crew was definitely the best decision he had ever made.

After that, he followed the film crew back and forth to film, and in the meantime, he wrote down all the observation notes. There was so much to write; Uncle Ge alone wrote several pages.

Then he witnessed a memorable scene: Yao Yuan held a press conference for Tang Lijun to bid farewell to the entertainment industry.

Jiang Lai considered it a memorable scene because when Uncle Ge was standing on the stage preparing to speak, he really wanted to shout:

"A strong wind rises, and the clouds fly high!"

Time flies, but don't ask why. It's because I'm not feeling well, because I'm too tired, blah blah blah.

By the end of August, the film crew hadn't finished shooting, but unfortunately, Jiang Lai had to start school.

Director Feng plans to hold a farewell party for Jiang Lai, but without telling her personally.

So when Jiang Lai was about to go home after work that evening, the lights suddenly went out, and the crew appeared pushing a cake.

It reads: Congratulations to Xiao Jiang on starting school.

Jiang Lai: "???"

This is truly heartbreaking; there's absolutely no surprise in it.

Jiang Lai forced a smile as he blew out the candles, then ate a bite of cake with the others, feeling as if it were his birthday.

Someone started it, grabbed a handful of cream and threw it at Jiang Lai's face, and a fight broke out instantly, with cream flying back and forth.

When there was no more cream to spray, a group of people rushed to the props department, brought over the beer used for filming, and continued spraying the beer.

The wine didn't intoxicate them, but the people themselves did. The workers probably realized they would never have the chance to see Jiang again, and they all grabbed his arms, tears welling up in their eyes.

"Mr. Jiang, thank you so much. It's the first time I've ever felt treated like a human being on a film set."

"And me, I didn't want to do it anymore either. Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for giving me the courage to continue pursuing my dreams."

"Nothing more to say, Mr. Jiang, it's all in the drink!"

A girl held up a beer bottle that was half-sprayed and downed it in one gulp with great bravado.

Jiang Lai was moved by the atmosphere and took a bottle of beer, which he opened and held up.

"I will remember everyone."

After saying that, he downed the whole thing in one go, then waved and turned around, leaving everyone with what he thought was a particularly dashing back view.

"Burp~"

"Damn, I drank too much."

Jiang Lai's alcohol tolerance is really bad. How bad? One bottle makes him dizzy, two bottles make him drunk, and three bottles knock him out, and that's beer.

When he woke up the next day, his head still hurt.

Oh, this damn hangover.

He raised his arm and smelled it. Even after taking a shower, there was still a strange smell of beer-soaked cream. He couldn't help but rub it with soap again.

After getting ready, Jiang Lai braved the morning mist and headed to school early.

After parking the car, he walked slowly with his hands behind his back, now particularly enjoying the feeling of everyday life in the city.

Because Dongmianhua Hutong is right next to Nanluoguxiang, there are so many hutongs here, and everywhere you look there are old-fashioned courtyard houses with green bricks and tiles, carved beams and painted rafters.

The elderly walk their dogs and birds, while young people ride their old bicycles to take their children to school. The breakfast stalls are crowded with people, creating a unique sense of laziness and leisure characteristic of this era.

Walking into the school, you'll see scattered students practicing their morning exercises everywhere—on the playground, in the performance building, and in the vocal music room.

Jiang Lai also walked to his usual spot, the corner of the eaves of an old bungalow.

He took out his basic script reading materials and randomly picked a tongue twister to practice.

"Go out the east gate, cross the big bridge, there's a jujube tree under the bridge. Take a pole and knock the jujubes down. Most of them are green, and few are red. One jujube, two jujubes, three jujubes..."

After counting a bunch of dates, he switched to another one and continued practicing.

When he took a speech class, the teacher talked about things like breath control, resonance, and articulation, but he didn't really understand.

The teacher agreed because it sounded like a broadcaster's voice.

He found it really strange; he'd never seen anyone act so affectedly during a serious film shoot.

As he was practicing, Jiang Lai caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up at it.

It was Zhang Ziyi.

The other person habitually walked this way, but when they saw Jiang Lai, they turned their head away awkwardly and went somewhere else.

Anger needs neither words nor outward expression.

Jiang Lai was still practicing his lines, and he still had that same expression.

The sound just kept getting louder and louder, drowning out everyone else.