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

Jiang Lai is now immune to the word "feeling".

When the director doesn't tell you the specifics of how to act, but only what feeling to convey, you need to learn to extract key words.

For example, when Lou Ye talked about love, it was about the subtle ambiguity between a man and a woman; when Jiang Wen talked about absurdity, it was about the stark contrast of seriousness.

Jiang extracted two words from Wang Jiawei's description: sexy.

How should a man portray sexiness? Jiang Lai pondered for a moment and felt that it should have an air of elegance.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Director, are there any specific requirements?"

Wang Jiawei sat down calmly, saying, "No, just do whatever you like."

Jiang Lai had already guessed this would be the case, so he said, "Could Sister Manyu help me with a scene?"

Before Wang Jiawei could speak, Zhang Manyu, who had been watching from the sidelines, stood up and smiled, "Okay."

The others present might not be familiar with Jiang Lai, but she did.

Although the film "Suzhou River" was not released in mainland China, it was shown in Hong Kong. Maggie Cheung, who has a particular fondness for art-house films, naturally saw this award-winning movie.

So when she saw Jiang Lai, she immediately recognized him as Ma Da from the movie, and she really liked Jiang Lai's portrayal of Ma Da.

"Hello, I'm Maggie Cheung." She walked over gracefully.

"Hello, Sister Manyu, my name is Jiang Lai."

Jiang Lai stood up. Even though the other person was almost 1.8 meters tall in high heels, he was not intimidated by her height at all. The two of them standing together actually gave off a feeling of being a perfect couple.

Wong Kar-wai glanced at Tony Leung silently, while Leung sat in the corner, secretly heartbroken.

"How should the two of us act?" Maggie Cheung asked.

Jiang Lai shrugged. "It depends on our teamwork."

Maggie Cheung covered her mouth and laughed, a few fine lines appearing at the corners of her eyes, yet her laughter was as light and carefree as a young girl's.

"Okay, Lai Zai, I'll totally go along with you." She teased, mimicking Jiang Lai's tone.

Jiang Lai clicked his tongue inwardly; he really felt that the nickname "Lai Zai" was awkward.

Seeing that the two people were already chatting, Wang Jiawei figured there was nothing wrong with them agreeing to act together, so he said, "Shall we begin?"

Jiang Lai nodded and sat down, and Zhang Manyu pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

Jiang Lai first arranged the mahjong tiles in front of him, then drew a set of tiles, discarded one, and picked up another. He appeared extremely relaxed throughout the process, as if he were actually playing mahjong with someone.

Wang Jiawei noticed that although Jiang Lai was very relaxed and slightly hunched over, his neck was very straight, and the lines of his spine were faintly visible when he reached out to grab the cards, indicating that he was putting in a lot of effort.

Even though you're in a mahjong room, there's a unique sense of elegance about it.

This immediately piqued Wang Jiawei's interest.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Lai maintained his mahjong-playing posture, took out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket, lit one and put it in his mouth, turning his face halfway to the side, revealing only his jawline, the corner of his lips, and a little bit of the white of his eyes.

Zhang Manyu instantly understood and instinctively took out a lighter to light his cigarette.

Jiang Lai took a big drag, and the smoke dispersed like thick fog.

He didn't smoke anymore. He rested the cigarette between his right fingers on the table, and the smoke from the burning tobacco rose straight into the air like a thin thread.

A faint smoke lingered around him, and the thin line made his silhouette appear both near and far.

Zhang Manyu was moved and naturally placed her right hand on Jiang Lai's back and then on his shoulder. Jiang Lai also affectionately touched her small hand, feeling the softness between her fingers.

After a while, Jiang Lai still didn't know what to do next, but Wang Jiawei still didn't call a halt.

He stopped in surprise and turned around. Wang Jiawei was sitting not far behind him, with his legs crossed, and his expression was unclear.

"Director, is this okay?" he asked directly.

Wong Kar-wai stared at him for a while before standing up and saying, "Welcome to the crew."

Four words, spoken in a flat tone, as if saying the weather was nice today.

But Jiang Lai knew that this was definitely too much.

"Congratulations on your arrival." Maggie Cheung smiled and extended her hand.

"Thank you, Sister Manyu. It seems we have a good understanding." Jiang Lai shook hands with her.

Zhang Manyu nodded. She felt that her cooperation with Jiang Lai just now was indeed very tacit. They knew how to act together without even having to say a word.

Seeing the two of them like this, Wang Jiawei started to have a headache. He had never wanted Jiang Lai's character to show his face, but he really liked the scene where he lit a cigarette with his face half-profile, so he was conflicted.

Although he passed the audition, Wong Kar-wai has his own shooting rhythm. His schedule for the next few days is already full, all of which are scenes between Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, so there's no time to squeeze in anyone else.

Wang told Jiang to wait at the hotel, saying he would let him know at any time.

In fact, Wong Ka Wai has always been like this. The reason he prefers to use Hong Kong people in his films is that they can be available whenever he calls. He himself knows that he is very slow in filming, and it is very difficult to coordinate the schedules of non-Hong Kong actors. Fortunately, Jiang Lai's scenes are only a few simple shots, so we don't have to wait too long.

Jiang Lai had no choice but to stay in the hotel in Hong Kong.

He was quite excited on the first day. He went downstairs to stroll around Tsim Sha Tsui, ate a bowl of wonton noodles, and then chatted with Zhang Ziyi on the phone for a bit in the evening.

He started to get bored on the second day. He paced back and forth in his room, watching TV over and over again, switching between several channels, all of which were in Cantonese, which gave him a headache.

On the third day, Jiang Zhiqiang happened to call.

"Hey, Mr. Jiang, I'm so bored in Hong Kong right now." Jiang Lai slumped weakly on the sofa.

Jiang Zhiqiang chuckled on the other end of the line, "So you're saying you passed the audition?"

"Of course," Jiang Lai began to complain. "The director just won't give me any definite answer, he just tells me to wait. I'm so bored I could die."

"That's just how Director Wong Ka-wai is, there's nothing we can do about it. Lai-zai, please bear with him. Well then, since you're just sitting around in Hong Kong anyway, I'll introduce you to someone to have some fun," Jiang Zhiqiang comforted him.

Who is it?

Jiang Zhiqiang went through the people he knew in his mind and suddenly thought of someone whose company was facing a crisis. Perhaps if the two of them got to know each other, Jiang could help the other party solve the problem.

"How about this, son, I'll call that person first and ask, then have him pick you up, okay?"

Jiang Lai shifted his position on the sofa, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay, then we'll have to hurry, Boss Jiang."

"Don't worry."

Jiang Zhiqiang hung up the phone and dialed another number.

In the afternoon, Jiang Lai was watching TV in his room when an unknown number called.

"Hello, are you Mr. Jiang Lai?"

"Hello, this is me. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm the person Boss Jiang invited to accompany you in Hong Kong. I'm in the hotel lobby right now."

"Okay, I'll go down now."

Jiang Lai hung up the phone, feeling that the voice sounded familiar, but he didn't think too much about it and walked out of the room.

Upon arriving at the hotel lobby, Jiang Lai spotted a familiar figure. He blinked, moved closer to take a closer look, and felt a surge of excitement.

"Brother Hua!?"

The man turned his head, as if to confirm, and smiled, saying, "Hello, Jiang Lai, right? I'm Andy Lau."