It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Li Cheng decisively changed the subject: "I just bought a ticket to see your play."

"Hey, you just saw that?"

Annie's attention was easily diverted, and she said with a little smugness, "Haha, how was it? Not bad, right?"

Chapter 107 On the Self-Cultivation of Actors

Annie asked smugly, "Haha, how was it? Not bad, right?"

That's a good question!

Li Cheng was overjoyed upon hearing this and secretly gave her a thumbs up—he had been wondering how to bring up the topic, but Annie had unexpectedly offered herself up.

"Your performance..."

He first drew out a long tone, then suddenly sped up and said in a serious tone, "Not quite right."

"Haha, actually I'm not that great... Eh?!"

Annie's first reaction was to show a smug expression, as if she had been praised.

But after hearing Li Cheng's reply that not only didn't praise her but also negated her acting skills, she immediately showed a bewildered expression, as if asking, "What are you talking about?"

She was a little puzzled.

Although Therese encouraged and praised her during her initial performance attempts, Anne was still instinctively lacking in confidence at that time.

However, as the troupe gradually recognized and praised her talent, and as she received positive feedback from the audience after the official performances, Anne successfully established a solid foundation of self-confidence and the belief that "I can do it."

That's why Annie never expected Li Cheng to reject her performance.

"I said, your performance wasn't very good." Seeing this, Li Cheng repeated himself seriously.

"why?"

Anne's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but raise her voice.

Li Cheng retorted seriously, "Do you think you're good enough as you are now?"

When Annie heard Li Cheng's question, she lowered her head thoughtfully.

"Huh, she reacted so deeply today. Could it be that she's finally figured it out...?" Li Cheng was somewhat surprised. Although he didn't say anything, he was looking forward to seeing what kind of answer Annie would give.

1min...2min...3min...

After a long three minutes of deep thought, Annie raised her head with a serious expression and gave her well-considered reply: "What do you mean?"

Li Cheng: "...?"

You actually took three minutes to think about this sentence?!

I shouldn't have had too many expectations... Li Cheng's lips twitched, and he decided to get straight to the point: "What I mean is, although you can make a living by performing now, that alone is far from enough."

Why isn't that enough?

Annie tilted her head to the right, looking confused.

"..."

Li Cheng sighed in despair: "In other words, it's not enough to just please a portion of the audience. You need to do better, to be excellent, even to be the best, so good that you become famous in all the theaters in London, and even His Majesty the King would come to see your play because of your reputation."

"Don't forget your father. Only if you do what I just said will Mr. Stoller change his mind and support you becoming a so-called 'actor'."

"I see."

Anne scratched her head in distress and said, "But I feel like I'm not quite up to it."

Have confidence in yourself.

Li Cheng offered a few words of comfort.

Annie looked at Li Cheng with the kind of look one would give an idiot: "But you just said yourself that I'm not very good at it."

"..."

"Stay calm, stay calm..." Li Cheng took several deep breaths.

At that moment, he deeply understood just how much responsibility Miller had shouldered as Anne's mentor...

Originally, Li Cheng's plan for this visit was to set Annie a vague and unrealistic goal to motivate her, while also helping her with his prepared acting tips, assisting her under the guise of friendship.

Of course, he would make it clear to Mr. Stoller that he was doing all this, and with Mr. Stoller's discerning eye, he would surely see the good intentions behind Li Cheng's actions—neither discouraging Annie's hobbies nor failing to make her back down.

In the end, when Annie realizes she can't do something after trying, she will feel genuinely negative and give up, at most treating it as a role-playing game in the future.

The original plan was like this...

Li Cheng was inwardly weeping. Annie's self-destructive attitude of "So what if I can't do it? What does it matter to me if I continue?" left him feeling helpless.

However, he couldn't let his hard work go to waste, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue.

"Don't worry, I came to see you this time to help you improve your acting skills."

Li Cheng placed his hands behind his back, his expression serious, exuding an air of superiority.

"Huh?"

Anne was shocked, but suddenly she seemed to realize something and took two steps back: "Could it be like Sister Torres, using the guise of 'personal guidance' to improve my acting skills... Li Cheng, you can't do this! Doing this would be letting Newton down!"

What the hell is this Sister Torres?! What the hell is this personal guidance?! What the hell is this disrespectful to Newton?!

"I'm talking about genuinely helping!"

Li Cheng couldn't help but shout.

"Is there any other kind of inappropriate help?" Annie continued in shock. "Speaking of which, Li Cheng, you seemed to be giving me a really lewd look in the room earlier..."

That was an academic, inquisitive look! I can't possibly be lecherous in front of you, okay?

Li Cheng didn't want to waste any more time on this topic. He coughed twice to distract Annie, saying, "Do you remember how St. Tom learned martial arts?"

"How did you learn that?" Annie asked curiously.

?

Don't ask so casually! Read the book carefully! There's a passage in St. Tom's memoir that mentions he found the manual after accidentally falling off a cliff as a child!

"Saint Tom learned it through a secret manual."

Exhausted, Li Cheng pulled a blue-covered thread-bound book from his pocket and held it up in front of him: "I also have an actor's manual here, which was passed down from my ancestors. It is said to be dictated by Shakespeare and written by my grandfather. This is a copy."

Anne looked closely and discovered that the title of the book was written in large, alarming red ink on the cover.

On the Actor's Self-Cultivation

"A book?"

Anne's interest vanished almost instantly; the girl, who disliked studying, expressed her complete aversion to reading.

"Stop talking nonsense and show me!"

Forget about putting on airs, Li Cheng angrily shoved the secret manual into Annie's hands.

Although it's certain it won't work, and Annie certainly can't do anything that's just nonsense in the manual, and the original plan will probably fail anyway, he still has to let her try to learn from this manual to show his support for Annie—and to make sure his hard work isn't wasted.

"Okay, let me take a look."

Under pressure from Li Cheng's insistence, Annie reluctantly turned to the first page, where she found the preface.

Acting skills can be discussed, but they cannot be explained using ordinary reasoning; acting skills can be named, but that is merely a superficial naming.

No need for excessive explanations, flashy costumes, or even props... true acting only requires the actor to stand there, and the audience will naturally understand who the actor is playing and what they are portraying.

Chapter 108 Brothers' Chests

Li Cheng, drawing on some ancient classics he had read before, deliberately wrote "On the Self-Cultivation of an Actor" in a style that seemed profound yet enigmatic.

Just like horoscope predictions or Taoist fortune telling, the whole thing is correct, but it's all nonsense.

This was originally part of a plan to fool Anne, but now he's no longer trying to come up with any plan; he's simply pushing the book onto Anne out of the mind that he can't waste his efforts.

However, to Li Cheng's surprise, Annie seemed quite interested in it, and actually stood there reading it carefully word by word.

real or fake?

Li Cheng frowned as he looked at Annie, who was engrossed in reading—if her mentor could see this, he would probably be so excited that he would turn over in bed a few more times before going to sleep.

He didn't quite believe Annie understood it, since he had no idea what it said.

Li Cheng guessed that Annie might have immersed herself in the fantastical world of the movie star, imagining herself as a legendary actor who could ignite the audience's emotions with a single subtle glance, and treating "On the Self-Cultivation of an Actor" as a fantasy novel.

Unbelievable, this even works...

However, Li Cheng quickly gave up on this pointless speculation—trying to guess Annie's thoughts would only drag his IQ down to the same level.

He then relaxed and took his time to observe his surroundings.

Li Cheng then noticed a gaze unabashedly fixed on him. He squinted and saw a familiar woman with light blonde hair, wearing a brown trench coat.

Therese had finished her 'work' sometime earlier and was spying on them from a short distance away. When Li Cheng looked back warily, she simply made a 'Y' sign and gave a subtle smile, then turned and walked away gracefully, quickly disappearing around a corner.

Ok?

Li Cheng suddenly had a guess.

He walked past Annie to the door of the lounge and carefully examined the lock... As Li Cheng expected, the thing was damaged. Judging from the brand-new metal piece at the broken connection, the damage was probably caused by an accidental violent impact that caused the lock to be broken open.

"That petty bastard!"

Li Cheng muttered a curse under his breath at the door lock.

The locker on the lounge, which was frequently used as a dressing room, was broken. Obviously, this couldn't have been kept from Therese, who was also the theater owner. However, she didn't mention it when Li Cheng asked her about it before, which was clearly a small 'repayment' for him disturbing her work.

While Li Cheng was experiencing toothache, he glanced back at Annie and noticed that something seemed off about her.

Although Annie was still seemingly reading, she hadn't turned a single page in her hand for a long time... Li Cheng walked over to her and noticed that although Annie's pupils were still fixed on the pages, she had entered a dazed state resembling sleepwalking.

"I see, I understand now..."

Just then, Anne suddenly began to murmur unconsciously, like a real sleepwalker.

???

Li Cheng bent down to check the book title, and after finding it correct, he fell into deep confusion.

What do you know?

If he hadn't written the book himself, I probably would have really thought that Anne had entered a legendary state of enlightenment and ascended to heaven in one fell swoop.