Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

One by one, the lights in the photography studio came on.

Xu Yao stood in the cloth area, wearing a dark gray T-shirt and jeans, his bare feet on the floor.

The makeup artist was touching up his eyebrows when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and glanced at it. A name popped up on the screen: Sister Xixi.

Xu Yao paused for a moment, then swiped to answer the call.

"Hey, Sister Sisi."

"Xiao Yao." Liu Yifei's voice came through the receiver, soft and gentle, with a calm and unhurried tone, "Are you rushing to your tour?"

"No, we're filming a music video today."

Liu Yifei said casually, "Xiao Yao, I'll be filming a movie next February called 'The Night Peacock.' I've secured a small role for you; remember to audition."

Xu Yao held his phone, his lips moving slightly: "Huh?"

Didn't I already say that I didn't want to pursue a career as an actor?

"Huh? What?"

Liu Yifei's voice carried a hint of unreasonable laughter, just like when she used to coax him into playing house in the courtyard in Wuhan when he was a child.

"I'm your sister, would I ever harm you? Be good, listen to me."

The phone hangs up.

Before Xu Yao could speak, his WeChat vibrated twice.

It was sent by Liu Yifei.

The first item is a location, the address of a hotel in Beijing, the audition location.

The second item was a job description. The interviewee was named Ma Lin, and a brief character introduction was attached: Ma Rong's son, a student at a Sichuan Opera school, who loves Sichuan Opera and has an unusual and obsessive passion for art.

Xu Yao stared at the two words "Marin" on the screen, his mind rummaging through his memories.

"The Night Peacock" is an art film released in 2016, starring Liu Yifei, Liu Ye, Yu Shaoqun, and Leon Lai.

He had never seen this movie in a theater in his past life, but he later came across it on a video platform.

How to describe the plot? In a word: chaotic.

Liu Yifei plays Elsa, a French-Chinese flautist who comes to Chengdu from Paris and falls in love with Ma Rong, a silk researcher.

Who is Ma Rong? He's played by Leon Lai.

Then Ma Rong's son, Ma Lin, who is now auditioning for the role, develops feelings for Elsa.

It wasn't the kind of normal liking; it was an obsessive, morbid infatuation tinged with some kind of abnormal idea.

They met at the swimming pool, he pursued her relentlessly, and eventually suffered a mental breakdown after witnessing his father's ambiguous relationship with Elsa, and was sent to a mental hospital.

Xu Yao was speechless.

No way! When we were kids, we played house in a courtyard in Wuhan. Liu Yifei played the mother, and she forced him to play the son, making him call her "Mom" for a whole summer.

Now that he's grown up and acting, he's going to play his stepmother again?

He remembers the ending of the movie very clearly: The Night Peacock ultimately grossed 3313 million.

Can you believe that a Sino-French co-production starring Liu Yifei, Liu Ye, Leon Lai, and Yu Shaoqun only grossed a little over 30 million yuan at the box office?

The Douban rating is also hard to describe; it's not good at all.

Xu Yao was not surprised at all by this ending.

It would be a miracle if this melodramatic plot didn't flop.

A French flautist travels to Chengdu and becomes entangled in romantic relationships with a father and son. The son even goes insane because of love and ends up in a mental hospital.

This isn't a script for a lunatic; no wonder the audience won't buy into it.

Moreover, the role he auditioned for, Marin, had few scenes, but the character was extremely awkward.

Stalking and peeping—if acted well, it's called "yandere"; if acted poorly, it's called "pervert."

My phone vibrated again. It was Liu Yifei's third message: "The role of Ma Lin doesn't have many scenes, but the character is very compelling and suitable for a newcomer to shine. Prepare well, I believe in you."

Xu Yao smiled wryly: Sister Xixi, you really know nothing about the future of this garbage movie.

After sighing, Xu Yao typed a few words in reply: "I understand, Sister Xixi. I'll give it a try. My acting skills are poor, so I might not be selected."

After hanging up the phone, Director Cat Tree saw him coming and waved.

"Finished the call? Come on, get ready to film."

One by one, the lights in the photography studio came on.

Director Cat Tree sat behind the monitor with a storyboard spread out in front of him, outlining the scenes to be filmed that day.

Rental apartments, bubble tea shops, and streets.

He flipped through the storyboard again and again, and made annotations in several places with a pencil.

He read the lyrics of this song many times.

A person who doesn't know how to charm girls, doesn't own a sports car or a mansion, can only love in the most clumsy way.

I desperately try to gain your attention, desperately try to be your backup plan, and desperately try to earn money just to buy you a gift.

It's not "I love you so much," it's an expression of "I'm not good enough for you, but I'm still trying."

The cat closed the storyboard, stood up, and walked into the cloth area.

Scene 1, a rented room.

The set is the living room of a rented apartment, with a gray sofa, wooden floor, a floor lamp, and several magazines and a half-finished glass of wine spread out on the coffee table.

The curtains were half-drawn, and the city night view outside the window was a composite image; it was just a green screen.

Xu Yao sat on the floor in front of the sofa, leaning back against it, with his legs stretched out and his bare feet resting on the edge of the carpet.

A phone rests on my lap, its screen lit up, the chat window showing the last message my girlfriend sent: "Let's... call it quits."

The cat perched beside him, pointing at the phone screen.

"You're in a state of mind right now, having just broken up. You're sitting here, your phone right next to you, and you've gone through your chat history countless times. You know she won't reply, but you're still thinking, 'Did I say something wrong? Did I do something wrong? If I had said that sooner, things wouldn't be like this.'"

Xu Yao nodded.

Cat Tree walked back behind the monitor and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Turn down the lighting a bit, don't make it too harsh. His face has angular features, use side backlighting to outline his features."

The lighting technician responded and adjusted the positions of the two softboxes.

In the monitor, Xu Yao's face was shadowed diagonally from below his cheekbones, and his jawline was sharp, masculine, and handsome.

The cat stared at the screen for three seconds.

"Alright, three, two, one, start."

The clapperboard is struck.

The piano prelude begins slowly, arranged by Tu Huiyuan, with simple and unhurried piano block chords, like someone sitting alone in the middle of the night.

The arrangement of the verses uses only piano, without any other instruments, not even the strings.

The entire studio was as quiet as midnight, with only the sound of the piano and Xu Yao's voice.

Xu Yao lowered his head and looked at his phone screen.

His fingers rubbed repeatedly along the edge of the screen, as if he wanted to tap something or send something, but he never pressed it.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a bad boy..."

Behind the monitor, Xu Yao's brows furrowed slightly, as if something suddenly welled up inside him, only to be suppressed. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his lips moved, but he ultimately remained silent.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to charm girls..."

His lips finally parted, and his voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

It's not a song for anyone else; it's a monologue.

On the monitor, his eyes were slightly red, but no tears fell.

The director began, "Yes, that's it. An adult's breakdown isn't about wailing and crying; it's about having red eyes, an Adam's apple bobbing, lips moving, but being unable to utter a single word. Hold on to that."

"I'm sorry, I don't have a sports car or a mansion..."

Xu Yao placed his phone face down on the floor, flipped it over, and turned it over so the screen was down. It was as if he was making a decision, or as if he was giving up something.

He looked up and gazed out the window.

The city night view outside the window hadn't been composited yet; it was just a green screen. But his gaze had already pierced through that screen, through the walls of the studio, through the entire city, looking at a place that didn't exist here.

"I'm sorry you were hurt before, I'm sorry you're waiting for the right love..."

His voice trembled slightly, but he remained composed.

The most difficult part of this song is not the high notes, but the feeling of "almost breaking down but still trying to hold on".

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to hide you away..."

He sang the last line, "Hide it away," very softly, like a sigh.

The piano notes stopped the moment the last note faded, and the studio fell silent for a second.

The cat's tree didn't yell "Cut".

He kept the camera panning, kept Xu Yao sitting there, and kept the floor lamp lit.

"Going to such lengths to make my presence felt, all for love..."

The string section came in at that moment.

Layer upon layer, like the tide slowly rising.

Xu Yao's voice also rose, slowly erupting from its restrained intensity.

"Looking forward to the day when we can show off our love..."

He lowered his head, his lips twitching slightly in a self-deprecating manner. It was the kind of expression that said, "I know it's impossible, but I can't help thinking it."

"I'm desperately trying to think of lines, please don't push me away..."

He looked up at the camera.

I'm not looking at the camera, I'm looking at "her" behind the camera.

There was expectation, pleading, and a humble plea in his eyes: "I've tried my best, please don't push me away."

"I'm just a fool who loves you..."

When he sang "idiot," his voice suddenly stopped, going from an explosive outburst to a halt, like someone who, after saying "I really love you," felt that the sentence was too silly and quickly added, "I know I'm an idiot."

A humble, simp-like otaku song, Xu Yao's carefully selected debut work.

Cat Tree didn't yell "Cut!" He just kept the camera panning around.

"Makeup artist, apply the tears."

On the monitor, Xu Yao's tears welled up in his eyes but didn't fall.

The director reminded him, "Yes, very good, but you can't cry. Hold back your tears."

The character's stubbornness lies in this: it's not that he's incapable of feeling sadness, but that he doesn't want others to see him sad.

"Card."

Cat Tree took off his headphones, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the image frozen on the monitor.

Xu Yao sat on the floor of the rented room, quickly wiping away his eye drops, then stood up and asked, "Director, how is it?"

"Xu Yao, have you studied acting?" the director asked curiously.

"No," Xu Yao replied.

"Then you're a genius actor. If you ever consider changing your career path, just let me know. Your image is already perfect, and with your acting talent, it's hard not to become famous."

Xu Yao smiled slightly: "Director, thank you for your praise."

"I'm not joking. Think it over carefully. It's perfect. You've passed."

The cat looked at Bai Lu again: "Now we'll film the female lead."

(P.S.: I've come up with a plan for Ju Jingyi's entrance, haha, I'm so happy! Chef Tian Tian is still a senior in high school, and I've almost figured out her entrance too, so stay tuned!)