Crossover Actors

Translator: Hua

Qu Yanting withdrew his arms from the tabletop, his sleeves were stained with dust. He raised his forearm and patted it, making his hands dirty. Through these series of actions, he pretended not to hear Lu Wen’s question.

　　

Lu Wen’s nerves were thicker than the pillar of the Forbidden City. He could see that Qu Yanting was avoiding it. Without questioning, he walked under the grapevines and handed a pack of soft wipes to wipe his face.

　　

Qu Yanting caught it and took out a piece to wipe his hands. Lu Wen sat down in another chair, with his waist hanging, his shoulder blades leaning against the back of the chair, in a tired, paralyzed sitting posture.

　　

The broken chair was uncomfortable, and Qu Yanting said: “There is still another scene left, let’s take a rest.”

　　

Lu Wen said: “I’m resting.”

　　

In fact, physical exhaustion was nothing, it was mainly the void of the soul. Lu Wen touched his face from time to time. Although the filming was finished, he always felt the sensation of hot tears slipping through the corners of his eyes.

　　

Qu Yanting understood this situation. When actors had completely entered the state of the role, their emotions rose and fell. After that, it would take time to withdraw from the role. Everyone was different to a certain degree.

　　

When he was studying in the Department of Directing, he learned how to communicate between directors and actors. In a sense, the director was like the psychiatrist of the actor, adjusting and intervening in the actor’s state at any time before, during and after the filming.

　　

Qu Yanting was not sure whether Lu Wen was willing to talk. He first raised a probing question: “Ren Shu said, this is your first serious crying scene?”

　　

Lu Wen said, “Hmm”, with a strong nasal sound: “It’s not just filming, living to this day, it’s the first time I cried like this.”

　　

His expression did not seem to be lying, Qu Yanting said, “It means you are doing well.”

　　

Lu Wen admitted this: “So I had no confidence before the filming, I’m afraid I can’t act well. It doesn’t matter if I get scolded or not. The main thing was that, if I made everyone stay up with me all night, I would feel very ashamed.”

　　

“Now the filming is finished smoothly.” Qu Yanting mobilized Lu Wen’s emotions with praise, “You did a great job.”

　　

Lu Wen couldn’t help feeling pleased with himself: “Everyone, including the director, applauded.”

　　

Qu Yanting laughed and strengthened his confidence: “You acted very well, unexpectedly.”

　　

Lu Wen grinned contentedly and smiled to himself.  A few moments later, his smile was a little frozen. He closed his mouth, watching the layer of dust on the table in silence.

　　

After a while, he confessed: “Actually I cheated.”

　　

Qu Yanting was puzzled: “What?”

　　

Lu Wen said: “Speaking of the dead father, at that time, I thought of my mother.”

　　

Qu Yanting remembered Lu Wen saying he grew up in a single-parent family. He thought of his mother through the dead father Ye, which showed that Lu Wen’s mother was no longer here.

　　

He used himself as a scale to measure others, and because of this reason, he would ask any detailed questions.

　　

Lu was obviously much more cheerful than before, and he unconsciously entered a state of confession: “My mother had a difficult childbirth when she gave birth to me. I have never seen her, only seen her pictures, at that time…I thought of her anyway.”

　　

“You didn’t cheat.” Qu Yanting said softly, “Your mother is helping you.”

　　

Lu Wen’s expression was very dazed for a moment. After experiencing Qu Yanting’s words, he suddenly relaxed as if the knot in his heart had been untied.

　　

Lu Wen hasn’t forgotten the scene of Qu Yanting sitting here alone, he walked around, wondering if Qu Yanting also had a knot in his heart.

　　

“You were in a bad mood just now?”

  

“No.”

　　

　　 

“Why not, you can tell me.”

　　 

“Why?”

　　

“I told you all.”

　　 

“You said it on your own initiative.”

　　

“Obviously you induced me to say it.”

　　 

“If I induced you to do something else, would you do it?”

　　

Lu Wen was not good at speaking skills, and was choked to death with a few words. He had good intentions and wanted to be a bosom brother, or the tree hole1Chinese internet buzzword refers to a place where you can tell the secret without worrying about it. Because the tree hole does not have the function of speaking, it will never tell the secret., but obviously Qu Yanting didn’t need it.

　　

He felt that no matter what emotions, Qu Yanting always only showed a shallow layer, and buried the rest deep in his heart. He had no way to detect, nor did he have a reasonable qualification.

　　

Lu Wen was defeated, sullenly snatched back the wet tissue: “Used up and did not return me, I still need to use it.”

　　

Although Qu Yanting did not confide, he managed to put his thoughts behind him and began to bully people: “You use it. Wipe two more, your face doesn’t look handsome anymore.”

　　

Lu Wen immediately took out his mobile phone, opened the front lens, and saw clearly under the dead light of the broken light bulb. His entire face was crying and swollen, not to mention his eyes, his double eyelids were as wide as two sliced ​​noodles.

　　

“Fuck me!” Lu Wen stood up in shock, “I am more sad than Ye Shan now!”

　　

Qu Yanting was joking, but he didn’t expect that this person’s idol baggage would be quite heavy. Lu Wen walked away and said as he walked, “I need to apply the mask first.”

　　

“For what?” Qu Yanting muttered, “It’s enough for actors to act well.”

　　

Lu Wen slammed the brakes and stopped to solemnly declare: “I am a handsome guy first, and then an actor.”

　　

Qu Yanting was rarely this speechless. The most indispensable thing in the entertainment industry was flower vases2In the entertainment circle, this term refers to good looking people who don’t have any skills. The became famous by relying on their face.. Every vase tried their best to prove that they were a qualified actor. There must be something wrong with this male lead.

　　

He said nonchalantly: “What’s the use of being handsome.”

　　

Lu Wen gave a cold snort and secretly revealed: “How could it be useless ah? Some people like handsome guys. Once you like them, you let them shoot movies and give them the resources. How cool it is.”

　　

Qu Yanting understood the implication and asked, “Have you met such a person?”

　　

Lu Wen sneered, your acting is so real. He replied: “Yes, I met one in our crew.”

　　

Qu Yanting was surprised. When he returned to his senses, Lu Wen had already run away. He stayed under the vines, thinking wildly, waiting for the next scene to start filming before returning.

　　

In 302’s bedroom.

　　

Tao Meifan’s scene was over. The next one was Lu Wen’s one-man show. On the night when Ye Shan and mother Ye clashed, Ye Shan dreamed of his deceased father in the early hours of the morning and awoke from the dream.

　　

Lu Wen put on cotton shorts and a vest laying on the bed. Two months had passed since the overall set was completed. The sheets and quilt had not been changed or washed. He leaned uncomfortably against the head of the bed.

　　

Ren Shu sat by the bed: “Xiao Lu, you are too stiff.”

　　

Lu Wen remained motionless: “Yeah.”

　　

“You little shit, move away.” Ren Shu lifted the quilt, revealing Lu Wen’s straight legs, and helped him pose, “You usually sleep like this? Don’t you have cramps?”

　　

Qu Yanting arrived at the door and paused. He watched Ren Shu break Lu Wen’s knees and bend Lu Wen’s calves at a slight angle. He stared at the edge of the bed, silently walked to the seat.

　　

Ren Shu said: “Xiao Lu, you lie down.”

　　

Lu Wen slipped into the bed, facing up for fear that the pillowcase would rub his face. The quilt was placed on the chest, while his shoulders and arms were exposed in the air.

　　

He asked: “Director, is my face still swollen?”

　　

Ren Shu glanced at Lu Wen, his face was okay, his eyes were still red and swollen, it wouldn’t look good in close-up shots. He asked the assistant to bring an ice pack, put it on Lu Wen’s eyelids, and apply the cold compress for a while.

　　

Lu Wen: “Director, make me handsome.”

　　

“That’s simple.” If the acting was bad, Ren Shu would be angry, and if he acted well, he would give him a good face, “You’re so handsome, it would be hard to make you look ugly on the screen.”

　　

The camera was shot from the side of the bed, and the position of the actor must be controlled. Ren Shu grabbed Lu Wen’s bare shoulders, twisted it over and fiddled around, looking for the best angle.

　　

Lu Wen was turned over, he grunted in dizziness.

　　

Qu Yanting looked on coldly, holding the cold strong tea in his hand, with a shallow frown.

　　

After looking for a good angle, the double was in place on the upper bunk bed, and Ren Shu returned to his seat, only to see Qu Yanting coming back. He asked: “Where did you go?”

　　

“Get some air.” Qu Yanting said, looking at the other party’s face from the corner of the eye. The tiredness couldn’t hide his good mood, “What are you happy about?”

　　

Ren Shu replied: “What can I be happy about as a director? The filming went smoothly. Xiao Lu performed the last scene very well. You saw it too, didn’t you?”

　　 

Qu Yanting said: “I wonder how this one went.”

　　

“It should be no problem.” Ren Shu said, “This is Lu Wen’s audition segment.”

　　

There was no light in the house. The lighting technician set the light outside the window, white, like moonlight coming in. The camera cut to the upper bunk first, Ye Xiaowu was laying down on the bed and fell asleep, with one leg stretched out and his calf hanging in the air.

　　

Ye Shan lay flat on the lower bunk, tilted his upper body, and pressed his left cheek against the pillow. There was a layer of sweat on his forehead, his lips were slightly opened, panting. He was tossing and turning on the mattress.　　

　　 

Suddenly, Ye Shan opened his eyes and woke up from his dream.

　　

Perhaps because of mother Ye’s words, he dreamed of his father who had passed away for ten years.

　　

Ye Shan gripped the quilt tightly, staring at the top bunk for a long time. As soon as he closed his eyes, the pictures in his dream were overwhelming, and he could no longer fall asleep.

　　

Wiping off the cold sweat on his head, Ye Shan sat up and got out of bed gently. He tucked Ye Xiaowu’s legs back, and tucked the quilt for the other party.

　　

He sat down at the table, turned on the lamp, and the alarm clock showed that it was 3:30 in the morning. The notebook had been torn up, so he didn’t need to take any more notes. He just sat dazed in his chair.

　　

For a long time, as if he had gathered enough courage, Ye Shan bent over and opened the drawer at the bottom layer, which contained an old faded envelope.

　　

Ye Shan took out the envelope, opened it carefully, and pulled out an old photo and two movie tickets from it.

　　

It’s been too long and the ticket stub had already become yellow and brittle, the printed handwriting also became blurred. This was bought by father Ye before his death, and the movie’s title is  “Echoes of Heaven”.

　　

Ye Shan looked at it for a while, put down the movie tickets, and picked up the old photo of father Ye.

　　

The scene at this time overlapped with the audition footage. In the monitor screen, Lu Wen was holding the photo in both hands, leaning on the back of the chair, with the camera lens cutting a close-up shot from the side.

　　

Ren Shu said to Qu Yanting that during the audition period, 80% of the actors cried, ranging from sobbing to bawling. Those who couldn’t cry just grimace. 

　　

His comment at the time was only one sentence, If you were Ye Shan, are you not afraid of waking up Ye Xiaowu?

　　

Qu Yanting looked at the screen. In the close-up shot, Lu Wen was sitting on a chair, his back bent slightly, his body and spirit were relaxed. He looked at the photo quietly, without a trace of pain on his face, his eyebrows, his eyes, and the corners of his lips and mouth were all in peace under the faint moonlight.

　　

After taking a long shot, Qu Yanting discovered that Lu Wen hadn’t blinked his eyes from beginning to end.

　　

After a long time, Lu Wen pressed his lips and seemed to smile.

　　

He rubbed the edge of the photo with his fingertips, and then moved to the portrait. When he was about to touch the face of father Ye, he paused, his fingertips trembled, and finally he retracted his hand timidly.

　　

Lu Wen pressed the photo and the movie ticket together, moving slowly, looking so reluctant. He put it back in the drawer and raised his face to the window. His unblinking eyes finally felt sore, diffused with the mist, and finally two lines of hot water fell from the corner of his eyes.

　　

Qu Yanting’s arm felt hot. Ren Shu leaned over and quietly said to him: “Now you understand why I chose him.”

　　

Understood, Qu Yanting understood because of this last scene.

　　

Ren Shu suppressed his excitement, and made a bet: “With this momentum and level of development, Xiao Lu doesn’t have to worry about filming resources in the future.”

　　

Qu Yanting’s expression finally moved slightly: “You are so sure?”

　　

Ren Shu was in high spirits and boasted: “At least I appreciate him. I’m also a somewhat famous director right?”

　　

Then there was a short silence.

　　

“Ren Shu.”

　　

 “What?”

　　

Qu Yanting asked hesitantly: “…Do you like handsome guys?”

　　

Ren Shu: “Huh?”

 

1Chinese internet buzzword refers to a place where you can tell the secret without worrying about it. Because the tree hole does not have the function of speaking, it will never tell the secret.2In the entertainment circle, this term refers to good looking people who don’t have any skills. The became famous by relying on their face.