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

After everyone's performances ended, Ms. Chang Li's comments were gentle and fair.

Everyone couldn't help but wonder, had the Great Demon King changed his ways?

"Clap clap clap!"

Teacher Chang Li clapped her hands to attract everyone's attention.

"Last semester we learned about animal simulation, and today we'll review it again. Zhang Ziyi, you go first."

Perhaps because the "Great Demon King" was behaving very gently at the moment, the students were no longer timid and hesitant. Zhang Ziyi also walked forward with a relaxed expression. She smiled and quickly glanced at Jiang Lai before looking away.

"I now want you to act like a docile sheep."

This topic was the result of careful consideration by teacher Chang Li. Last semester, she could see a stubbornness in the eyes of this girl. Even though her grades were always at the bottom, she always managed to show a tenacity to push through.

If Zhang Ziyi were to play a cheetah, she could certainly capture that sharp and aloof feeling, but that would be pointless. That's why they chose a gentle sheep, so that she could hide her sharp edge.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Ziyi lay down on the ground, bleated twice, crawled around twice, and then pretended to eat grass.

Teacher Chang Li didn't tell her to stop, so she could only continue repeating these actions until she really didn't know what to do next. Only then did she stand up and stammer out:

"Teacher, I... I'm done performing."

Teacher Chang Li didn't say anything, just stared at her with a stern face.

Sweat beaded on Zhang Ziyi's forehead. She dared not meet her teacher's gaze and lowered her head, her small hands constantly churning in her lower abdomen.

"That's it? What did I just ask you to act out?"

"Wen, gentle, sheep."

"Bang!"

Teacher Chang Li slammed her hand on the table, and Zhang Ziyi trembled.

"You know that too?! I didn't see any docility in your act, all I saw was you spinning around and gnawing! What? Were you acting like a dog eating shit? You haven't improved at all over winter break, you've even regressed!"

Zhang Ziyi's eyes instantly reddened, and she struggled to hold back her tears.

"Alright, stop crying and go home!"

Zhang Ziyi sat back down dejectedly, and the students below remained silent like ostriches.

This is the Chang Li they know and love! Her previous gentleness was all an act!

Jiang Lai and Liu Ye exchanged a glance. Liu Ye lowered her head and raised her hand as if to cry, while Jiang Lai pursed her lips and smiled bitterly.

However, this little trick naturally did not escape the notice of Teacher Chang Li.

"Liu Ye! You get up here!"

Caught off guard, Liu Ye jolted awake and hurriedly stood up and stepped forward.

Jiang Lai shook his head; it was obvious that the child was shaking with nervousness.

"You play a clumsy water buffalo for me."

The same applies to this topic. Liu Ye may seem carefree, but he is actually quite meticulous and sensitive. His eyes are clear and lively. He could play a deer without any problem, but he can take it a step further by portraying the opposite feeling.

Having learned from past mistakes, Liu Ye cleverly focused on the word "cumbersome" this time.

He crawled slowly on the ground, trying to emphasize his clumsiness, occasionally nodding his head forward and chewing a few times, but without making a sound, clearly knowing that water buffaloes generally don't bellow.

Jiang Lai felt that the performance was already very good, but Teacher Chang Li still kept a straight face and didn't say a word.

Seemingly knowing he was bound to be scolded, Liu Ye simply stood up, lowered his head, and adopted a look of resignation.

"Ha, at least Zhang Ziyi knows to say 'Teacher, I'm done acting,' while you're just waiting to be scolded?"

"Teacher, I, I've finished acting."

Jiang Lai clicked his tongue, and the burly man from Northeast China was shrunk by half a head after being scolded, and even started to stutter.

"I don't think you're acting stupid; I think you really are. What's wrong? You and Zhang Ziyi are addicted to being at the bottom of the class, aren't you? If you're still at the bottom this semester, you two are expelled! Don't say you're my students! Go back to your seats!"

Teacher Chang Li scolded him without any politeness. Liu Ye wiped his face, shrank back, sat down and covered his head. He no longer had the mood to joke with Jiang Lai.

"Jiang Lai, you've been watching for so long, why don't you come up and give it a try?"

Upon hearing his name, Jiang Lai's eyes lit up. Since he had just arrived, he wasn't as afraid of Teacher Chang Li yet; instead, he was eager to try.

He strode forward, put his hands behind his back, and asked excitedly:

"Teacher, what role should I play?"

Teacher Chang Li looked at the young man in front of her, lost in thought.

Calling Jiang up was a spur-of-the-moment decision, also to help him integrate more quickly, but coming up with a topic proved difficult—should it be something challenging or something simple?

After thinking it over, Ms. Chang decided to take it a step further. Although she hadn't had much contact with the young man in front of her, and he seemed gentle and composed in both attitude and personality, with nothing to criticize, Ms. Chang could still sense a sense of distance from him.

Yes, a sense of alienation.

The other person always has an attitude of being an observer of everyone and everything. It's not that they are carefree or insightful, but rather that they are indifferent and look down on others from a high place.

Even though Chang Li could sense that this person was genuinely interested in acting, it seemed more like a cynical and playful choice. For a moment, she was unsure what kind of topic to come up with.

If Jiang Lai could hear Teacher Chang Li's inner thoughts, he would probably be shocked, because this is indeed the mindset he has maintained since his rebirth.

After all, no one can truly integrate into the absurd idea of ​​going back to the past.

After a moment, Teacher Chang Li spoke seriously:

"I need you to play a dirty pig."

High and mighty? Aloof? Then let's send you crashing down into the dust.

This topic left Jiang Lai frozen in place. He had prepared himself mentally for everything, but he never expected it to be this: a dirty pig.

He suddenly realized that he was very resistant to playing this role. If it were a tiger, lion, or eagle, he would do everything he could to portray it without hesitation, but he couldn't do it this way.

As a rich second-generation heir, he has no worries about food or clothing. No matter how casual he is, he has an elegance and a cleanliness obsession in his bones. He washes his hands twice, and he needs ventilation when he smokes. He doesn't like to smell smoke in cramped places.

Looking back now, I realize I oversimplified the performance; it's not the kind of thing that's particularly entertaining or elegant.

Jiang Lai lowered his hands dejectedly, his voice low and somber:

"I'm sorry, teacher, I... I can't act."

"Can't act?" Teacher Chang Li glared, her voice rising. "Everyone else at least gets a chance to act, and you're just telling me you can't? Fine, if you can't act, then get out! The Central Academy of Drama doesn't welcome students like you!"

The atmosphere at the scene became tense. Zhang Ziyi and Liu Ye couldn't care less about being depressed and looked anxiously at Jiang Lai, while most of the others were just watching the show.

Learning to act means overturning the filters we used to see about acting, and overturning all preconceived notions.

The first stage is generally referred to as liberating one's nature, and most students are required to make themselves look ugly in front of others to break down their sense of shame.

Chang Li quietly watched Jiang Lai. The purpose of increasing the difficulty was to allow him to skip this stage directly. If he succeeded, the subsequent performance would be a natural progression; if not...

Teacher Chang Li didn't want to think about it.

At this moment, Jiang Lai lowered his eyes, no longer able to hear the sounds around him, and felt as if a kind of energy was constantly rising within him.

*Smack!*

Like a taut string snapping, Jiang Lai instantly knelt on the ground.

He leaned forward, his spine parallel to the ground, crawling on his hands and feet with small, rapid steps. His nostrils flared wide, his neck seemed to disappear, and his head, neck, and shoulders arched forward, emitting short, humming sounds.

It looks like a pig eagerly crawling towards its trough.

After crawling a few more steps forward, he fell headfirst to the ground, his lower body swaying as if he were hitting something. He opened his mouth and bit the air, even sticking out his tongue to lick the ground, making a gurgling swallowing sound.

Then, without moving his entire body, he took a few steps back with his hands and feet, rolled around on the spot, curled up his limbs and lay on his back, twisting his waist and humming happily.

After the performance, Jiang Lai stood up and casually patted his clothes.

"Teacher, I'm done performing."

A hush fell over the room. The students stared wide-eyed, as if they had just witnessed a pig scrambling for food in the trough and rolling around in the mud.

Teacher Chang Li was pleasantly surprised but remained calm on the surface, knowing that she had found a promising student.

"Very good, you can leave now, but next time, I want to see a thoughtful performance from you."

"Okay, teacher."

Jiang Lai strolled back to his seat, and although he appeared calm, he was secretly overjoyed.

He could tell from the teacher's tone and his classmates' expressions that he had performed very well.

So, such a person is actually a repressed pervert.

"Holy crap, bro, you were really good at playing that pig just now! How did you do it?" Liu Ye stared wide-eyed at Jiang Lai with curiosity.

Jiang Lai smiled slightly.

"Oh, I ate at a farmhouse restaurant."