Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  "Director Chen, I want to adjust my mood a bit." Lin Xiao took a deep breath and apologized with a smile towards Gong Xuehua, then turned to Chen Jialin.

  Chen Jialin furrowed her brow, "Are you sure it's okay to adjust? There is no crying scene here, because the actor for Yun Cuo was originally supposed to be a newcomer. Such high-difficulty skills were not arranged. If all else fails, just follow the script."

  Lin Xiao shook his head firmly "I want to try."

  "Alright. You have fifteen minutes."

  Lin Xiao walked back to his seat, feeling a bit dizzy, and leaned against the seat with his eyes closed in contemplation.

  I've thought of the most difficult situations for myself, so why can't I bring myself to tears?

  Suddenly, his shoulder was patted and he reluctantly opened his eyes to find Qin Xin standing in front of him, holding a bottle of mineral water.

  The two of them exchanged a smile, just like old friends who had known each other for years. From that day on, after he understood Qin Xin's thoughts, both of them felt an added sense of being strangers in a strange land.

  "Don't worry, I just watched it and you did great." Qin said reassuringly.

  "Normally, it would be fine, but not today." Lin Xiao shook his head. "The sharpness has been covered by Gong Xuehua's snowflakes, and I'm afraid there won't be another chance like this in the future."

  "What chance?" Qin Xin didn't understand.

  Lin Xiao looked at her face and suddenly smiled "You, really... don't understand anything but still come to the entertainment industry, aren't you afraid of being taken advantage of?"

  Qin's pale skin flushed with a hint of "anger" red, arguing "Who says I don't understand anything, my teacher said I acted very well!"

  Lin Xiao smiled wryly. He had originally wanted to think about some sad things, but Qin Xin's meddling made him feel better and better over the next few minutes.

  Qin's pitch-black big eyes rolled around "Or... can you let Gong sister not play so well?"

  "No way!" Lin Xiao immediately refused. "This is an insult to the artist, and also an insult to her. Besides, which actor doesn't want to perform in a good play? She has no reason to bury her acting skills for me."

  "I was just joking..." Qin Xin said with a bitter face, but the next moment, her expression suddenly changed to one of surprise, like a startled little white rabbit, stuttering and saying "Chen... Teacher Chen... that, Lin Xiao, I'll leave first, wishing you a smooth journey..."

  "Teacher Chen? Is that you, Chen?" Just as Lin Xiao was about to get up, a hand landed on his shoulder and a familiar voice said, "Just sit there."

  "Is that... Teacher Chen?!" Not far away, Sun Lei's mouth was wide enough to hold an egg, he took a glance at Cai Dechuan, whose expression was no better than his.

  "Am I seeing things?!" Cai Dechuan exclaimed in shock "Teacher Chen personally guided him?! My god, if this news gets out, there will definitely be many people who want to keep an eye on this kid."

  Liu Songde, who was even farther away, directly spat out the water that had reached his mouth.

  "Isn't that just too lucky?" an actor said with a tone of resentment, "Although senior actors sometimes give pointers to newcomers, but that's Teacher Chen we're talking about! What right does he have to receive pointers!"

  "What's the hurry! If Teacher Chen directs him and he still can't act well, then..."

  The gossip of outsiders was unheard by Lin Xiao's ears, his gaze fell only on the person in front of him.

  "Do you know why you can't cry? Chen Daoming didn't mince words and said "You're escaping."

  "You must think that what you're thinking now is the most painful thing. Actually, it's not. There are more unbearable things in your heart that you don't want to think about." Chen Dao Ming sighed and said, "Crying scenes are like digging into one's own heart, revealing one's deepest wounds. This is an inevitable path for becoming a good actor."

  After finishing speaking, he patted Lin Xiao's shoulder again. "Act well, maybe this time you'll act well and next time I can call out your name."

  After he finished speaking, he left. Lin Xiao, however, sat in his seat deep in thought, the two short sentences earlier had struck him to the heart.

  "Escaping...?" He closed his eyes, and visions of his childhood flashed through his mind, the last life's childhood, parents, deceased grandmother, younger brother...

  A faint bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Chen understood what Ming meant, if he really couldn't cry, then think about something unexpected happening to someone closest to him.

  Gradually, his eyes felt a slight dampness for the first time. However, it was always like he was one step short, and no matter what, tears just wouldn't fall.

  "Don't escape." He muttered to himself, starting to imagine the scene when his grandmother passed away.

  At that time, he was still young and in a small county town of his hometown. When his grandmother passed away, he didn't feel much sorrow. Or rather, at that time, he didn't understand what real sorrow was. Now thinking back, he feels a little sourness in his nose.

  He was just a little short, he muttered to himself, thinking again of his grandmother's kindness and warm smile. Gradually, he finally felt that his eyelids could no longer hold back tears.

  "Heh." He suddenly opened his eyes, which were red and moist. But deep down, he felt an indescribable pain.

  "No wonder many actors take a long time to detach from their roles after filming, and I'm just a small supporting actor." His heart was filled with mixed emotions as he quietly took a sip of water.

  At this moment, the system voice that had been silent for a long time rang out again in an icy tone.

  "Ding" sounded, a +15 floated out, followed by two system voices.

  "Epiphany, breaking through 300 points of acting skills, reaching C-level standard. Acquired special skill: Round Harmony."

  "Special Skills: 300 points to reach the three-line artist standard, and every 100 points thereafter will learn new special skills. Harmony: Makes one's performance more infectious."

  +15 points for acting? He was stunned for a moment, earlier he had cried out loud, and yet the system had determined it as "enlightenment?"

  "Ready!" Just as he hadn't had time to experience the roundness, Chen Jialin's voice rang out.

  He and Gong Xuehua arrived at the scene, and with a clapboard and a shout of "A!", the previously stuck segment was re-shot.

  "Emperor... he wants is Rong Fei! It's Rong Fei!" Gong Xue shouted hoarsely, pounding the table "It's not me! It's not me!"

  "I know I'm of humble origin! But I entered the palace early!" She suddenly raised her head, staring tightly at Lin Xiao "However, a mother relies on her son's nobility! And I still have you!"

  "Mother." Lin Xiao had been brewing his emotions from the start, and after reaching 300 points, just like before, many places that he used to think were confusing suddenly became clear. He even felt that this time, his eyes turned red more easily than when he was resting earlier. Moreover, the entire movement seemed as smooth as flowing clouds and water, extremely natural.

  Gong Xuehua tightly hugged Lin Xiao: "Since I was over ten years old, I have been living in this deep palace. I've seen many deceitful tricks, but why doesn't the Emperor even come to see me now..."

  Two people leaned tightly against each other, Lin Xiao desperately recalling the scenes he had thought about during his rest, seemingly pained to the point of closing his eyes, but it didn't seem overly affected.

  "Huh?" Chen Jialin's eyes lit up, curiously asking Chen Daoming "What did you just say to him?"

  But he turned his head around and was stunned. Su Jin'ao and Chen Daoming were both staring at the scene in shock!

  Less than a minute's performance, yet it tightly attracted two movie emperors and queens. Only after this short segment did the two of them turn their heads in disbelief and exchange a glance.

  "Did you see that?" Su Qianhua's lips were slightly trembling, she rarely spoke, and it was the first time she had lost her composure like this.

  "Monster." Chen Dao Ming sighed and said.

  "What's going on?" Chen Jialin asked, unclear about the situation.

  "Director Chen, don't you think he's done much better this time than last time? No, better than all the previous times." This time it was Su Qinqin who explained.

  Chen Jialin nodded, he was indeed strange, in just fifteen minutes, he had changed into a completely different person, the whole atmosphere was like that of a third-rate actor!

  So he asked Chen what Ming had said to him.

  "This is aura." Shi Jinghuo said affirmatively, "Some actors always perform poorly, it's just that the acting trace is too heavy. Or the action is too deliberate. Some people, even some second-line actors, will have this problem. I've never seen a newcomer who can fully immerse himself in ten minutes and actually has an actor's aura."

  "Attitude is the prerequisite for getting into character. Director Chen, you also know that filming requires complete immersion, where one becomes the character themselves, which is extremely difficult. It can be said that this is the highest level of acting skills. Under the atmosphere of the surrounding actors, director, and film set, one forgets that they are acting. If one cannot achieve this, it can be said that they are just 'acting', with only good or bad differences."

  "This feeling can only be understood, not expressed. Once you understand, you'll get it. If you don't, no matter how long you explain, you won't know." He gazed intently at the two people on stage, sighing again "What a talent... Why bother singing songs before? Such a waste... Should have entered the film and television industry long ago!"

  It wasn't just these three who discovered this point, the audience outside the venue also found something wrong and began to discuss it, their voices gradually getting louder.

  "Awesome!" Sun Lei watched their performance in shock "Like two different people!"

  "This isn't Gong Xuehua covering for him, although Gong Xuehua's acting skills are also impressive. But a newcomer can burst out with such sharpness in this situation... Is Teacher Chen's teaching really that useful?" Cai Dekuan said with his eyes wide with surprise.

  "Alright, alright, it's been less than twenty seconds since we just spoke. Do you really think Teacher Chen is a Midas?" Sun Lei snorted.

  But not far away, Liu Songde and his group were even more furious. They couldn't understand why Lin Xiao's acting suddenly seemed to have improved, they only knew that they felt extremely uncomfortable now. The better Lin Xiao acted, the stronger their discomfort became.

  Some people's way of catching up is never about surpassing themselves, but rather pulling others down. Liu Songde undoubtedly belongs to this kind of person.

  "Pfft." He spat out a mouthful of saliva. "If I could get Teacher Chen to guide me, what would he have left to do!"

  "Good luck, kid!" "Shit, I stepped on dog poop!"

  All kinds of curses and even other sounds did not enter Lin Xiao's ears. What he was thinking about now was how to perform well in this play.