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

In late autumn, the weather was already cold, and the leaves on the old locust tree in Dongmianhua Hutong had long since fallen, as if foreshadowing the beginning of another cycle.

As dawn broke, Jiang Lai carried a steaming breakfast into the campus, his large hands habitually rubbing the stubble on his head, the prickly sensation strangely addictive.

He actually regretted shaving his head on impulse with Liu Ye and the others. There was no other reason; his head was cold.

When the wind blows, it feels like my scalp isn't even mine anymore.

I wonder how Uncle Ge copes when it's cold.

Jiang Lai thought to himself, "This is what I'm complaining about."

When they arrived at the place where Zhang Ziyi usually practiced his morning exercises, he found that Zhang Ziyi was already there practicing.

"Have something to eat first," Jiang Lai said, handing over the breakfast he was holding.

"Actually, you don't need to bring it every day; you can eat it in the school cafeteria."

Despite saying that, Zhang Ziyi still smiled and accepted the bag. Inside were several large steamed buns and millet porridge. She picked up the buns and started eating them.

"Of course it's different. Home is always cleaner than outside."

Jiang Lai opened the book, just about to pick a tongue twister to practice, when a big, dark head popped out, its little eyes full of expectation.

"Where is my Jiang'er?"

"You don't have any, go play somewhere else." Jiang Lai waved his hand as if shooing away a fly.

That big black head belongs to Liu Ye. He loves playing basketball and has finally tanned himself to a deep tan through tireless efforts. Especially after shaving his head, his face is black and his scalp is white, making him look like a braised egg that hasn't been fully cooked.

Hearing Jiang Lai's words, the guy sat down on the bench next to him with a wronged look, like a wronged little wife.

"Alright, I brought enough for two people, go ahead and eat," Jiang Lai said with a laugh.

This guy was instantly happy and excitedly ran to Zhang Ziyi to ask for a share.

"These buns are really good! I love the mushroom and pork filling." Liu Ye ate them in big bites, having already eaten two in the short time he was talking.

"Hey, leave some for me, you've eaten so much!"

"It's okay, she doesn't eat much."

Zhang Ziyi smiled, wishing time could stand still and last forever.

The morning practice session is over, and it's time to start the first dialogue lesson.

Jiang Lai hates lines class, but he hates vocal class the most, because both are even more abstract than acting.

For example, in vocal lessons, you might be asked to find a specific vocal placement. Sometimes you might be told to imagine the sound coming out from between your eyebrows, and other times you might be told to imagine the sound coming from the back of your head and going around to the front of your head.

Wattfa? Is that something a human should understand?

The same goes for dialogue classes; who would have thought that the first thing they did was make you run laps on the track?

The subsequent head resonance, chest resonance, and combined chest and abdominal breathing techniques, along with the dog-like hissing breathing, were simply inhumane.

It just goes to show that a bad student is a bad student. Take Yuan Quan, for example. His lines are superb. Not to mention his stage plays, his monologue in "The Captain" to comfort the passengers was incredibly moving.

With a heavy heart, Jiang Lai stepped into the classroom. Not long after, a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was in excellent spirits, walked in.

This is Xu Ping, the dialogue teacher for Class 96.

"Alright, let's start with some breathing exercises. Everyone, please stand up!"

Teacher Xu Ping's voice was booming, and the students immediately stood up straight.

"Very good, it seems you all remember what I said. Stand up straight, like your spine is being held up by a string."

The teacher walked around, nodded in satisfaction, and then addressed the group, "Now, take a deep breath and think about what I just said. Inhale through your nose and mouth, slowly, deeply, and steadily. Don't raise your shoulders! Don't raise your shoulders! Liu Ye! I'm talking to you!"

When he was suddenly called out, Liu Ye almost choked. He pressed his shoulders down hard, his face turning red.

"Alright, relax for now."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Teacher Xu Ping said with dissatisfaction, "It's been a year, and you still have this problem. When you inhale, you should let your breath sink down, not lift your chest and shoulders up. Where should you sink down? Oh right, sink down to your dantian."

Jiang Lai had always wondered if all teachers had the habit of asking and answering their own questions, especially this one, who would often ask a question and then answer it himself without waiting for the students to respond.

"When you take a deep breath, there should be a feeling of resistance. Where is that resistance coming from? The diaphragm, that's where you feel the pressure when you hold your breath. Let's do it again."

Teacher Xu demonstrated on his body, and the students followed suit and did it again. The teacher walked over to the boys and touched their stomachs to check if they were up to standard. The girls asked Yuan Quan to check them; this girl always had excellent grades.

Although Jiang Lai passed the test, he didn't really understand why. He only knew that holding his breath and tensing his abdominal muscles was enough to pass. He really disliked the concept of "feeling".

"Okay, remember this feeling from now on. Don't keep making me correct you. Let's start over. Hold your breath for 5 seconds, and then exhale slowly. It has to be slow, like you're slowly blowing air out through a very thin straw, making a 'hissing' sound. Don't stop, the longer the better."

A hissing sound echoed through the classroom, sounding exactly like a snake flicking its tongue, sending chills down everyone's spine.

After all the students had exhaled, Teacher Xu, hands on his hips, said, "Very good, but a few students couldn't even last ten seconds. If you have this lung capacity next time, you're out of class and have to go to the playground and run laps."

Yes, Jiang Lai was among those people. His face turned pale instantly. He didn't want to experience running around the track a dozen times again.

After several more sets of different breathing exercises, everyone broke out in a thin layer of sweat. Teacher Xu took a sip of water and continued to the next step.

"As we've said before, the emphasis in dialogue is the underlying logic. If the emphasis is wrong, and your line is 'I'm innocent,' but the audience interprets it as 'I deserve it,' then you're doomed, right?"

The students all laughed.

In fact, as long as you understand the character's emotions and behavioral logic, you can basically pronounce the accent correctly. The strangest thing about this is actually the Taiwanese side.

For example, the phrase "You idiot" in Mandarin would usually emphasize the word "idiot," but in Taiwan, the emphasis would be on the word "this," which makes it sound like a coquettish expression no matter the context in which the character says it.

So the logic of why the girls over there are all sweet girls is flawed.

The class continued, and Teacher Xu Ping said, "Next, let's practice the logic of stress. Let me give you an example: 'I never said I would help you.' How can we express different meanings through different stress positions in this sentence? Yuan Quan, you go first."

Yuan Quan stood up.

"Think about it, where is the emphasis placed to highlight that you really didn't say it, and it also has a slightly contradictory feel to it."

Yuan Quan quickly thought for a moment and said, "I never said I would help you."

The emphasis on the word "may" instantly conveys that the person never actually said that and genuinely didn't want to help.

"Very good, that's exactly what I mean. Please sit down," Teacher Xu praised.

Yuan Quan lowered his head slightly and sat down, a barely perceptible curve appearing at the corners of his mouth. This girl had always been quiet and reserved.

"Okay, think of one next, where to put the emphasis, meaning that someone else said, 'This time, Jiang Lai, you do it.'" Teacher Xu Ping called on him again.

Jiang Lai stood up and thought for a moment before saying, "I never said I would help you."

"No, think about it again." Teacher Xu Ping's eyes were encouraging.

Jiang Lai lowered his head and continued to think. If what he meant was that someone else had said it, then it was that he hadn't said it. With that thought, he decisively replied, "I never said I would help you."

"That's right, that gets the meaning right this time. Now, tell me again about your first answer. What exactly did you mean by emphasizing the word 'you'?"

Teacher Xu asked the question again, and the other students also thought about the answer.

Jiang Lai muttered to himself, trying to understand the meaning of the words, when suddenly a romantic drama unfolded in his mind.

The arrogant female lead said, "Why aren't you helping me anymore?" The cunning male lead replied, "I never said I was going to help you."

Jiang Lai instantly understood, but still hesitated before speaking: "Does it mean that I helped others, but not you?"

"Yes, not bad, you've improved. Sit down." Teacher Xu Ping nodded approvingly.

Jiang Lai breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sat down.

"Everyone understands now, right? Different emphasis positions can completely reveal different subtexts. A normal script can connect the plot and the preceding and following dialogue to give the audience a smooth logical experience. But what if the screenwriter leaves things open? You need to figure out the underlying logic of the emphasis yourself so that the audience can understand what actually happened to the character."

Listening to the teacher's words, Jiang Lai found the dialogue class quite interesting for the first time.

It's actually because she was praised.