While Qi Gelong was internally criticizing the four actors who were about to beco his disciples, these four individuals were equally filled with confusion.
This production team seed quite different from what they had imagined!
Since this audition had completely disregarded acting skills, they hadn't received the script before their roles were confird. Seeing how casual the audition was, they had assud the production would be in a similar state—this film was probably just a practice project for Director Shao, and their roles would likely be insignificant...
But after receiving the script, they discovered it was completely different from what they had imagined!
Although the film was generally a cody, it wasn't without acting requirents. Each of their characters had monts to shine, and if perford well, could genuinely attract fans. But if perford poorly, harsh criticism was virtually guaranteed!
Xiao Sun's actor was relatively calm about this, as he was accustod to criticism from rapping as an idol and had developed strong psychological resilience. But the expressions of the remaining three actors weren't particularly pleasant.
The socially awkward Xiao Bai, who had been frightened into a five-minute shutdown just by seeing the chaos in the waiting room, learned he would suddenly be playing a character with significant screen ti and imdiately shut down again for half an hour, during which he could only walk with an awkward gait. If not for Xiao Zhu's actor's extensive experience with playing dead, which taught him how to avoid falling in various states, Xiao Bai would have tripped over his own feet countless tis.
When first confronted with this harsh reality, the four actors had harbored a faint hope that this might be a prank by Director Shao Yichen. However, after waiting and waiting, what they ultimately received was Director Shao casually leading them to et the lead actor, introducing them to each other, and finally saying: "Everyone, get acquainted with each other. You'll be working together in the sa production team, so I hope you can cooperate with each other, at least enough to complete the film smoothly."
After hearing these words, the five master-disciple mbers looked at each other, their gazes filled with confusion and bewildernt.
anwhile, the instigator, Director Shao, slipped away using the excuse of having other production matters to attend to.
Watching Director Shao's retreating figure, no one spoke. Though it was only mid-September, the atmosphere was as heavy as a winter night.
Finally, Qi Gelong sighed: "Since Director Shao has spoken, let's get to know each other today. Co, let take you sowhere, my treat—"
Hearing this, the four disciples' eyes imdiately brightened.
"How embarrassing to have you pay for us," Xiao Zhu's actor said verbally, while his face was clearly written with "anticipation." "Where are you taking us to eat? In my opinion, we don't need to go to so especially expensive restaurant. Just find a small roadside eatery, order four dishes, and that's enough. Please don't spend too much..."
Qi Gelong: "Who said I was taking you out to eat?"
The four disciples were bewildered: "Then where are you taking us?"
"Where am I taking you? To the hair salon!" Seeing that Shao Yichen had walked away, Qi Gelong finally stopped concealing his feelings. With a look of utter disgust, he pointed at the varying heights of the four disciples' hair, which resembled a freshly harvested wheat field. "Look at what's on your heads! This red hair—you call yourself the Great Sage Equaling Heaven? You look more like Bull Demon King!"
Xiao Sun touched his red hair: "Bull Demon King is fine too, it's powerful..."
Qi Gelong couldn't be bothered to argue and moved to the next person: "Your hair, at first glance, seems presentable, but looking closely, why is it green underneath? Is it sprouting?"
"It's called highlights," Xiao Zhu enthusiastically explained.
"Highlights? But you can't dye it green! Having green on your head, is that appropriate?" Qi Gelong moved to the next contestant while Xiao Zhu was still pondering the aning of "having green on your head." He looked Xiao Sha's actor up and down: "Young man, you have a good build, just a bit thin. Why do you look half-asleep—kidney deficiency?"
He squinted and examined Xiao Sha's actor more closely. This chicken-nest-haired individual had been quiet as a mouse since being caught after devouring ten packed als. He hadn't objected to being assigned to the crew, occasionally patting his stomach, unclear whether from hunger or fullness.
After observing Xiao Sha's hair for a long ti, Qi Gelong finally reached a conclusion: "I rember now, is this what's currently popular—what's it called, granny gray?"
"No, I have premature white hair," Xiao Sha simply denied.
Qi Gelong: "...Even premature white hair should be dyed black."
He approached his last half-disciple. Xiao Bai was still in the aftereffects of his thirty-minute shutdown, his expression sowhat dazed. Qi Gelong placed a finger in front of his eyes and found that the boy automatically looked at it, his eyes crossing as he focused.
...Hopeless, this one's a simpleton.
Qi Gelong examined the simpleton's mushroom haircut up and down. While it was certainly black enough, the style exuded a hint of foolishness. He suspected that this child's apparent lack of ntal acuity was largely due to this mushroom on his head absorbing too many wisdom brain cells.
No, for the sake of this child's intelligence, it must be cut!
Qi Gelong made up his mind and led the four disciples toward the nearest hair salon. On the way, the consistently dazed Xiao Bai finally ca to his senses. When he learned from the other three disciples that they were going for a team-building haircut, he tightly protected his mushroom hair: "No, no! This was cut by my mom! If I cut it, my mom will be angry—"
"Even if your great-great-grandmother ca to you in a dream and cut it, it's still not acceptable," Qi Gelong said decisively. "I suspect this mushroom is the culprit behind your social withdrawal. Today, your master will help you shave away these three thousand troubleso hairs!"
"Nooo—"
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
Three hours later.
The four disciples sat in front of mirrors, looking at each other, feeling as if everyone had beco strangers.
As an idol, Xiao Sun had dyed his hair yellow today, red tomorrow, blue the day after, and purple the day after that—the colors he had used could form a vibrant rainbow. He was the least resistant to hair dyeing among the four. However, since style changes needed to be communicated to fans, he didn't bother exchanging feelings about the new hairstyles with the others, but grabbed his phone, found an angle he deed perfect, and rapidly took photos with exaggerated facial expressions, as if having eyelid spasms.
After photographing, he selected the most uniquely angled shot, happily uploaded it to Weibo, and added a caption: "New style, new beginning [heart]."
After posting, he happily sat refreshing his account, but found few comnts. He imdiately slamd the table: "The company forgot to renew the paid comnters again! I need to quickly notify my manager to urgently buy a few hundred water army mbers to comnt and like!"
The other (self-proclaid) serious actors all turned away, unwilling to associate with such inflated traffic.
Among the other actors, Xiao Zhu was still trying to persuade the salon staff to secretly highlight purple into his black hair; Xiao Sha, having bid farewell overnight to the granny gray premature white hair that had accompanied him since childhood, was still adapting, staring at the mirror with eyes that looked perpetually sleepy; Xiao Bai, with round eyes, stroked his newly cut hair, trying hard to flatten a tuft sticking up.
"Don't press it down—that strand is part of the style. Press it down and you lose the special feature."
Xiao Bai looked up at the source of the voice, his already large eyes widening even further. He even forgot about his social awkwardness, asking in surprise: "Teacher Qi, you cut your hair too!"
Hearing this, the other three turned to look at Qi Gelong, all expressing exclamations of amazent.
"Teacher Qi, your haircut looks great!" Xiao Sun put down his phone and gave a thumbs up. "Very spirited!"
Xiao Sun wasn't lying. Previously, although Qi Gelong's hair was neatly combed, it seed he hadn't visited a salon for maintenance for so ti. It was a bit long, which, combined with his overall appearance, made him look sowhat dejected. But after getting a haircut, he suddenly looked more energetic, reminiscent of the smooth-talking Old Tang from the beginning of the script.
Hearing the positive feedback about his hairstyle, Qi Gelong was clearly much more comfortable. He unconsciously smoothed his hair and tilted his head: "Really? I also feel much fresher."
"Before filming this movie, I hadn't had any proper work for a long ti, and didn't have the heart to take care of my hair," Qi Gelong said, seemingly talking to himself yet also addressing the others.
"Having finally received this script and the opportunity to play the lead, I thought I should find a chance to get a new hairstyle."
"This salon is one I frequently visited during my acting days, usually requiring appointnts for styling. Today I was worried whether I could get an appointnt, but when I called the owner, he told to co right away, saying he wanted to personally give the most suitable style."
"While getting my hair done today, I chatted with the owner and recalled many past events. When I first accepted the role in 'Apricot Blossom Island Chronicles,' I was about your age and equally clueless. Getting that role was purely a stroke of luck—I simply benefited from being the youngest actor at the audition."
"So seeing you all like this reminds of my younger self."
As Qi Delong said this, he wiped his eyes with a smile: "My attitude wasn't great earlier. Thinking carefully, I was displacing my frustration onto you. How could newcors who just joined the crew have perfect styling, imdiately get into character, and have a complete understanding of their roles?"
"Forcibly bringing you here for haircuts was just because I thought it would better suit the characters in the script—it was my own stubbornness."
Qi Gelong was about to continue, wanting to tell them that he had been too emotional, having excessively high expectations for this film, and apologize to these young people. But unexpectedly, Xiao Bai's actor, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
His face was flushed red, as if speaking to such a senior actor had taken all his courage, but he still struggled to express himself: "No, I, I think the style you chose for us is really good! I like it very much, and feel like my thinking is clearer now that my hair is thinned!"
This comnt set off a chain reaction, with the others joining in: "Yes, yes, yes, I also feel my head is much cooler!"
"Black is best, black is dignified!"
"Thumbs up."
Seeing the young actors chattering and praising the styles, the last trace of Qi Gelong's resentnt disappeared. He nodded with a smile: "From today, everyone will be working in the sa crew, so let's work hard together—"
Before he could finish, his phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was Director Shao, who had slipped away earlier.
Under the watchful eyes of the four, he answered the call: "Hello, Director Shao... Yes, yes, we're all together now... No, we're not arguing, really, and certainly not fighting—I couldn't win anyway... Yes, yes, just tell what's up—What, so soon?!"
Qi Gelong's sudden exclamation startled the four disciples who were eavesdropping.
After Qi Gelong hung up, the four gathered around: "What did Director Shao say?"
Qi Gelong's expression still showed disbelief: "Director Shao said... the crew is ready, and we start filming next week."
Author's Note: Second update~
Thank you to the little angels who cast sovereign votes or watered with nutrient solution during the period from 2020-09-07 11:58:12 to 2020-09-07 20:58:29~
Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Jiang Fang Yi 30 bottles; Abu Bu Blowing Balloons 10 bottles; West Tower 8 bottles; Blueberry Carrot 5 bottles; gaial 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
Reviews
All reviews (0)