From unemployment in crosstalk to top star in Chinese entertainment

Everyone offered their congratulations to Yu Liang.

In the end, only Wang Churan and Guo Qilin remained.

Guo Qilin glanced at the two of them, then, feeling that he was in their way, wisely stepped aside.

"What are you planning to do next?" Wang Churan asked.

Yu Liang thought for a moment,

"I'll go back to Beijing and rest for a few days to get myself out of this role."

Wang Churan nodded.

Li Xiaoran walked over.

Actually, she had been standing to the side the whole time.

"I heard that Hunan TV and Douyin have teamed up to produce a variety show, I think it's called something like 'The Actor's Singing'."

"The actor's singing voice?"

"It's a show where actors sing." Li Xiaoran gave him a meaningful look. "You sing so well...you could give it a try."

Yu Liang didn't respond.

It's not that he doesn't want to accept the offer, it's that he doesn't know what to accept.

The show "The Actor's Singing" didn't exist in his previous life, and he had never heard of it in this one either.

But he could roughly imagine what the combination of Hunan TV and Douyin would be like.

Presumably, words like traffic, trending topics, crossover, and breaking into new circles are the key words for the Chinese entertainment industry in 2018.

It seems that some things are quietly changing because of his rebirth in this life.

Could this be the butterfly effect?

When will it be recorded?

"It seems to be still in preparation; the specific date hasn't been set."

Li Xiaoran thought for a moment, "I only heard it mentioned by my agent. If you're interested, I can get you their contact information."

"Okay." Yu Liang nodded. "Thanks, Sister Xiao Ran."

"Don't thank me yet." Li Xiaoran patted his shoulder. "Wash the blood off your face first. You'll scare children if you go out looking like this."

Yu Liang looked down at himself.

The costume was covered in dust, with a tear on the back and dark brown bloodstains on the collar.

It's a mix of real and fake; it's hard to tell which part is a prop and which part is from a scratch I made myself.

The same was true for his hands; there was ash stuck between his fingers, and a dried blood line under his fingernails.

He definitely needs to take a shower.

The props team is dismantling the wreckage of the horse-drawn carriage.

Teng Zijing's dagger lay on the ground, stained with dark red blood.

Several stagehands squatted on the ground picking up broken planks, piling up the usable ones and throwing the unusable ones into woven bags.

One street, one play, one life.

Teng Zijing's story ends here.

Yu Liang stood at the door of the dressing room and glanced back at Niulan Street.

The lighting technician was dismantling the last light, and the light stand made a metallic clanging sound as it was laid down.

The street is turning back into a set; the bloodstains on the bluestone slabs will be cleaned up tomorrow, and then the next scene will begin.

Three months ago, when he first stood on this street, he wasn't quite sure if he could play the role well.

Now he knows.

He took off his costume and folded it neatly.

The piece of fabric on my back that was worn through was stiff and hard, soaked with sweat and dried again countless times.

There was a faint yellow sweat stain around the inside of the collar, and the cuffs were frayed.

The young woman from the costume department reached out to take it.

"Teacher, let me help you."

"It's okay, I can do it myself." Yu Liang shook his head.

Afterwards, he went to Guo Qilin's RV to take a shower and change into clean clothes.

Wearing a black down jacket, dark gray sweatpants, and with her hair half-dry and bangs hanging down her forehead.

I look very different in the mirror compared to three months ago.

The wind and sun on the film set gave his once youthful face a more mature look.

He got out of the RV and walked toward the monitor booth where the director was.

I noticed a group of people gathered in the parking lot not far away.

To be precise, it was a group of girls.

Holding up their phones, light boards, and banners, the crowd blocked the entrance completely. Security guards stretched out their arms to maintain order, but the human wall was still being pushed and swayed.

Yu Liang stopped in his tracks.

In the middle of the crowd stood a young man in a black overcoat. He was tall and slender, with refined features and a sharp, knife-like jawline. He was signing autographs for fans, his profile gleaming white in the phone flashlight.

Xiao Zhan.

Yu Liang recognized him.

At that time, the Chinese entertainment industry was still dominated by the "Four Big and Three Small" groups. The four former EXO members who returned to China, along with three popular idols, shared half of the traffic market.

Xiao Zhan is not among them, at least not yet, but Yu Liang knows that it's only a matter of time before he becomes a sensation and rises to fame overnight.

He stood at a distance and watched for a while.

Xiao Zhan was surrounded by a group of female fans taking pictures, with a practiced, perfectly timed smile on his face.

He's neither indifferent nor overly enthusiastic, just the right amount of time to make every fan feel, "He's looking at me."

Staff members were blocking people from entering, their tone polite but their actions firm: "Excuse me, the autograph session is over. Ms. Xiao still needs to go in for makeup."

Another round of screams erupted.

Yu Liang turned her gaze back.

He recalled the first time he became popular on Douyin.

The comments section was flooded with requests for "outfit advice," and the private messages were overflowing with selfies and questions from girls.

At that time, he felt that being noticed was a wonderful feeling, like suddenly stepping from a black and white movie into a color screen.

But that's different from the attention we're seeing right now.

The girls around Xiao Zhan had something in their eyes that Yu Liang was very familiar with.

It's not just liking, it's fanaticism. The kind of fanaticism that can elevate someone to the heavens and crush them into the mud.

He knew what Xiao Zhan had gone through later.

The 227 Incident. A nationwide boycott. All commercial deals gone. From a top star to someone "unspeakable." Then, a slow comeback, starring in "That Sea" and "Bone Freedom," gradually pulling himself out of the mire.

Yu Liang stood at the entrance of the film and television city, the cold December wind blowing in through his collar.

He suddenly thought of a question.

If one day I were to be placed in that position, loved by millions of people at the same time, and then hated by millions of people at the same time...

Can he handle it?

He didn't know if he could.

But thinking about those things now is too far off.

He's currently a low-paid supporting actor, and he just finished filming a scene.

Yu Liang adjusted his hat, walked around the crowd, went to the director, and pushed open the door to the monitor booth.

Sun Hao was the only one left in the studio. The monitor screen was still lit, frozen on the last shot of the day—Teng Zijing lying on the ground, her eyes staring at the sky, her pupils "unfocused".

Sun Hao sat in the director's chair, holding a cup of tea that had gone cold. When he saw Yu Liang enter, he pointed to the folding chair next to him.

"sit."

Yu Liang sat down. The chair was icy cold, and it felt uncomfortable on his bottom.

Sun Hao didn't speak immediately. He rewound the monitor feed slightly, focusing on Teng Zijing's last glance before she died. He froze the frame. Then zoomed in.

In the video, Yu Liang's gaze pierces through the screen, fixedly staring into the void.

Reluctant yet resigned. Entrusting oneself to peace of mind. Gentle yet resolute.

Sun Hao stared at that scene for a long time before turning his head away.

"Do you know why I had you try out for Teng Zijing?"

Yu Liang thought for a moment: "Because of my video of me wielding a knife."

"That's one thing." Sun Hao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and frowned, probably because it was cold. "The second thing is a line you said during your audition."

Which sentence?

"You said that Teng Zijing suppresses her emotions."

Yu Liang didn't say anything.

"I thought to myself, this crosstalk performer knows his stuff."

Sun Hao put down his teacup and leaned back in his chair.

"In all my years of acting, I've seen two types of actors. One type is the academic type, with solid lines, precise blocking, and every expression is textbook perfect. But they have one problem—"

"It's too clean."

"Their performances are 'acted' out. You know he's acting, and he himself knows he's acting. The audience knows he's acting too. Everyone knows he's acting, but no one is moved."

Yu Liang listened quietly.

"There's another type," Sun Hao paused, "self-taught. They haven't studied acting, but they have life experience in them. If you ask them to read lines, they might stumble and stammer; if you ask them to move, they might walk out of the frame. But there's something they have that the academics can't learn—"

"reality."

Sun Hao looked at Yu Liang.

"On the day of your audition, when you recited 'I'm afraid that the loyalty I'm protecting with my life will just turn out to be a joke,' your voice was trembling. It wasn't an act; it was genuinely trembling."

"I knew then that Teng Zijing was yours."