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

"What utter nonsense is this?!"

Chang Li, the Great Demon King, flew into a rage, and the bottom three trembled in fear.

Today is the day of the performance, and the venue is a large rehearsal room with a stage. In addition to the students from Class 96, there are also a few people from other departments sitting in the audience to watch the fun.

For the first two weeks after school started, the "Big Boss" didn't have many requirements, and we could create freely. After that, the "Big Boss" would give us a theme every week.

Having a theme may seem to make things simpler, but it actually tests your storytelling ability even more.

The trio's theme was "A Movie Ticket".

The story they made up was about Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi playing a couple who went to see a movie together, only to find that they had lost a ticket when they got to the movie theater.

Liu Ye appears on stage, playing a scalper who plans to sell tickets to the couple at a high price. Then Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi start arguing with Liu Ye about the ticket price, blah blah blah.

As they argued, Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi started arguing again. One said they shouldn't have come to the movie, and the other blamed the other for not checking the tickets properly. They argued fiercely, blah blah blah.

At this point, Liu Ye, who was a scalper, comforted the couple, saying that it's not easy for two people to fall in love, and they should cherish each other, blah blah blah.

In the end, Jiang Lai and Zhang Ziyi reconciled and embraced each other affectionately. Liu Ye was also moved by the two and sold the tickets to them at the normal price, and the story ended.

After watching the performance, the Great Demon King sneered and spoke fluent Chinese.

The only things I could hear were:

The story is illogical, the acting is exaggerated, the dialogue is childish, there are no expressive eyes, no brains, blah blah blah.

With each word the Great Demon King spoke, the trio shrank a little, utterly defeated.

Only when he was hoarse from talking did the Great Demon King stop to drink some water, wave his hand impatiently, and continue watching the next group's performance.

The three sat in the audience, looking as if all their energy had been drained. Zhang Ziyi said she was going to the restroom and hurriedly ran out of the rehearsal room.

Jiang Lai saw Liu Ye staring blankly, as if he had lost his soul, patted him on the shoulder, and got up to walk towards the restroom.

"Splash splash splash splash"

Jiang Lai turned on the tap and washed his face. Looking at himself in the mirror, he suddenly regretted coming to school. If even a person with a soul that was decades old couldn't handle it, let alone those two kids.

He patted his face, silently encouraging himself.

Deep down, he still had a stubborn streak of never giving up.

As Jiang Lai entered the corridor, he faintly heard the sound of crying coming from the stairwell. Curious, he walked over, pushed open the door, and met Zhang Ziyi sitting on the steps. Her little face was already streaked with tears.

The little girl smeared her face haphazardly a couple of times and quickly turned her head away.

Jiang Lai was caught in an awkward situation, unable to advance or retreat.

Just as Jiang Lai was about to give up and retreat, Zhang Ziyi spoke up:

"You, what brings you here?"

"Ah, me, I was just passing by."

Zhang Ziyi chuckled. The corridor was in the other direction from the rehearsal room and not close to the toilet, so she didn't believe it was just passing by.

Actually, she was overthinking it. The reason was simply that a little girl was crying so loudly that someone heard it and became curious.

Curiosity killed the cat.

"Was my acting really bad?" Zhang Ziyi asked dejectedly.

"No, no, you acted wonderfully, it's just that that old hag has no taste."

Jiang Lai waved his hand frantically, while Zhang Ziyi grinned, looking like he wanted to laugh but couldn't.

"Come here."

"what?"

"Come here!"

"Oh, oh."

Jiang Lai walked over and sat down next to Zhang Ziyi in a daze. There was enough space between them for Liu Ye to squeeze in.

Zhang Ziyi shifted her hips closer, and Jiang Lai moved to the side as well. She simply grabbed Jiang Lai's arm, leaned on his shoulder, and started wailing again.

"Wow--"

"I know, I'm actually very bad. I'm not as good-looking as Zeng Lai, nor as good as Zhang Tong, nor as skilled as Hai Lu's martial arts, nor as hardworking and talented as Yuan Quan."

She became more and more upset as she spoke, and cried even harder.

"Wow—I'm not as cute as Hu Jing."

Feeling the little one sobbing against his shoulder, Jiang Lai felt a bit helpless. He really didn't know how to comfort people, and he didn't know where to put his hands. He could only support himself against the wall with one hand and stretch the other out straight.

"But I refuse to accept this! I want to do better than them, I want to be better than them!"

"You will, I believe in you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ziyi stopped crying, and her voice became much calmer.

"You know what? Actually, I don't want to let Teacher Chang Li down. She told me privately that she has high hopes for me and hopes that I can live up to my talent. I really don't want to let my teacher down."

The little one on his shoulder sobbed softly again, and Jiang Lai spoke gently:

"I believe in you, I believe you will definitely become the best actor."

After he finished speaking, the hallway fell silent.

The two remained silent and sat there quietly.

As night fell, moonlight streamed through the windows into the dimly lit hallway.

Like a spotlight, it shone on a pair of people who were embracing but not quite embracing.

At 9 PM, the Demon King finally let the trio off the hook, letting him admit that their performance was barely passable, but that they should come up with a more intelligent storyline next time.

After saying goodbye, Liu Ye and Zhang Ziyi hurriedly ran towards the dormitory, as the dormitory would be locked soon.

Although Zhang Ziyi is a local, she said that she chose to live in the dormitory for the convenience of studying.

Jiang Lai did not choose to live on campus because he had a car.

He skipped towards the school gate, his mind filled with thoughts of today's performance.

Suddenly, two figures blocked his way, their smiles lewd.

Jiang Lai was initially on guard, but after seeing clearly, his eyes widened.

"You, who are you?"

Inside a coffee shop.

Jiang Lai flipped through the script in his hand, looking at the person opposite him with suspicion.

"Director Feng, are you saying that my dad is letting me decide whether or not to invest in this movie, and he doesn't care?"

"Yes, yes."

Feng Xiaogang, sitting opposite him, nodded repeatedly and grinned, saying:

"President Han and President Zhang have spoken with your father, and they said that you have given your approval before this matter can be settled."

"Director Feng, please don't use those formal terms, just call me Xiao Jiang."

"Hey, I've really gotten a great deal! I'll take the liberty of calling you Little Jiang."

Jiang Lai nodded and continued flipping through the script, when suddenly he felt a surge of interest.

"Can I act in this movie?"

Feng Xiaogang and screenwriter Wang Gang exchanged a glance and smiled:

"Um, let's discuss this together, please wait a moment."

As they spoke, the two ran to the entrance of the coffee shop.

Wang Gang said anxiously, "The actors have basically all been cast. If we don't let him act, will they not vote for us?"

Feng Xiaogang didn't speak, but frowned, lit a cigarette, smacked his lips, and said:

"No, give him my role. I'm the director, so it doesn't matter whether he acts or not."

Wang Gang became even more anxious, "His age is a factor, and he doesn't match up with Ge You and He Bing!"

"Then, then, then what do you suggest we do!"

Director Feng was so anxious he blurted out something.

Wang Gang paced back and forth, going over all the characters in the script in his mind.

"Hey! Boss You, could you let him act? Didn't Old Ye say he might not have time?"

Feng Xiaogang pondered for a moment, "Can he even play this minor supporting role? Besides, his age doesn't match the character in the script!"

"Hey! Let's not think about this at this point. If the age doesn't match, we can rewrite the script. Just ask him if he's willing to act! Let's go!"

"Hey! I'll finish this puff."

Jiang Lai waited for a while before Wang Gang and Feng Xiaogang returned. After they sat down, Wang Gang gave a signal with his eyes, and Feng Xiaogang put on a smile again.

"Um, Xiao Jiang, we just discussed it, and we still haven't found someone to play Boss You in this play. All the other roles have been cast. What do you think?"

Jiang Lai closed the script.

"Okay, I'll act it out."

Wang Gang and Feng Xiaogang looked at each other in bewilderment.

So easy to talk to? All that worrying for nothing.

An hour later, the three of them finalized the details. Jiang Lai said that he would handle the follow-up matters of the investment with his butler, Lao Li, and he would just wait for the film crew to start shooting.

Director Feng said that filming would start around July or August, which would coincide with summer vacation and wouldn't interfere with his studies, making Jiang Lai even happier.

Feng Xiaogang was clearly the happiest, rubbing his teeth and laughing nonstop.

The original funding gap was about one million, but Jiang Lai generously raised it to two million.

Anyone would be happy about this, getting an acting role for free – it couldn't be better.

Back home, Jiang Lai tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, feeling both excited and worried.

The excitement comes from the fact that I can finally act in a movie, especially a film like "The Dream Factory," which pioneered the Lunar New Year film season.

The worry stemmed from the fear of not performing well, so I resolved to keep trying.

In the middle of the night, Jiang Lai still couldn't sleep, so he simply got up, drove around the streets.

Before he knew it, he had driven to the vicinity of the school. After thinking for a moment, he came to Shichahai and strolled leisurely along the lake.

"Wow—ah—ah—"

A heart-wrenching cry broke the silence, and Jiang Lai immediately spotted a figure standing by the lake.

"Holy crap?! Are they going to jump into the lake?!"

He strode over and grabbed the man, pulling him back.

"Liu Ye??"