14: Chapter 14 Li Mujian's Assessment

Xingxing: "So what are you planning to learn? It wouldn't be Singing again, would it?"

Lin Chuyan: "I already found a teacher for Singing yesterday. Their professional ability can only be described as top-tier in the industry."

"The top-tier person you're talking about wouldn't be me, would it?"

"That's right, Teacher Ruan."

"Tuition [Seduce]"

"Name your price [Leisurely]"

"I haven't thought about it yet, let's talk about it later~ So what are you going to learn this time?"

"I was thinking of learning Acting."

Ruan Xingyu had a giant question mark over her head: "?"

"What? You don't believe me?"

"You're an actor? No way, right?"

"You can't laugh when I say it."

"Cat nodding.gif"

Lin Chuyan spoke plainly.

"Actually, I'm an idol, the kind that relies on their face to make a living."

"Hahahaha!"

"But I don't want to be satisfied with just relying on my face. I want to learn Acting, learn Singing, carve out a career in the entertainment industry, and make my fans proud of me."

"Hahahaha!"

Lin Chuyan shrugged. These days, nobody believes the truth.

"What happened to not laughing?"

Xingxing: "Send a photo, thanks!"

Now it was Lin Chuyan's turn to send a question mark: "?"

What kind of straight-guy comment is that? Asking people to send photos at the drop of a hat?

Xingxing: "I want to see the idol!"

"Maybe another day. I have a heavy idol burden, and I didn't really fix myself up today, so I'm not in the best state."

Ruan Xingyu didn't insist; after all, she didn't believe the other party was some kind of idol.

However, the way she was holding her phone and grinning foolishly once again stunned her assistant, Wen Qi, who was watching from the side.

"Sister, you seem very happy?"

"Do I?"

Wen Qi narrowed her eyes: "It's like you've got a coat hanger in your mouth; you can barely close it."

They arrived at Li Mujian's residence amidst the casual, intermittent chatting. Lin Chuyan told Ruan Xingyu, then put away his phone and got out of the car.

The old man had set up a courtyard in the suburbs, planting quite a few flowers and plants. Crossing this small garden, the two carried fruit and went up to knock on the door.

The person who opened the door was an old lady, likely Li Mujian's wife, Zhou Xiaomei, who was also a famous stage actress.

"Hello, Teacher Zhou. I am Wu Yue, and this is Lin Chuyan. We had an appointment with Teacher Li."

Lin Chuyan quickly greeted her as well.

The old lady looked kind and benevolent. She acknowledged them without saying much, nodded, and welcomed them inside, though she gestured that there were other guests at home.

Wu Yue was a bit unsure: "Should we wait a bit before going in?"

Zhou Xiaomei shook her head with a smile: "The person inside is also a student. It's just casual chatting; there's no need for such formalities. Come in, come in."

Upon entering the living room, sure enough, Li Mujian was drinking tea and chatting with a man in his 40s.

Li Mujian was already seventy this year. Perhaps because he had been taking good care of himself in recent years, his energy looked quite good.

His face bore the marks left by time, and each line seemed to be telling stories of past experiences.

His eyes were particularly bright, devoid of any cloudiness. He looked up at Wu Yue, then past him at Lin Chuyan, staring intently for a moment. As if greeting a friend, he beckoned: "Xiao Yan, come over and sit here."

The old man said it, so he did it. Lin Chuyan didn't hold back; he sat down as instructed and greeted the two elders.

The man in his 40s sitting opposite him had a dignified face, sharp features, and a straight nose bridge. His hairline was a bit far back, but his hair was combed meticulously. He looked composed and approachable. He was neither fat nor thin, with a well-proportioned build, and radiated an elegant, scholarly aura from the inside out.

Awkward.

Lin Chuyan actually found him quite familiar; he had definitely appeared in many movies and TV shows. He ran through the names in his mind, but simply couldn't recall his name.

At this moment, although the man made eye contact with Lin Chuyan, he continued the previous topic with Li Mujian: "I'll bring those two pots of orchids over tomorrow; they look nice."

Li Mujian waved his hand: "Don't bother. I don't have your skills; I wouldn't be able to keep them alive. If you didn't come over to look after them so often, the ones in the yard would barely survive either."

Changing the subject, he added: "Actually, that's perfect, Zhang Wentang. Help me run some scenes in a bit. I've been retired from Acting for years, but this young kid begged me to teach him Acting."

Zhang Wentang chuckled: "Teacher, this is you getting restless after a long period of quiet. That's a good thing."

He was a very smart person. He knew that if his teacher didn't intend to take on a student, he would have just refused directly, right? Why go through the extra trouble of bringing him inside? He just didn't know if this young man was actually up to the task.

Right, Zhang Wentang!

Lin Chuyan remembered.

The golden supporting actor of the film and television industry. Top-tier Acting skills, and crucially, not expensive. Big directors loved using him. While he couldn't be given the lead role, for some third, fourth, or fifth-tier roles, as long as he was there, he could add a lot of color to the production.

Li Mujian said to Lin Chuyan: "Let's take care of business before we exchange pleasantries. I'll give you a prompt, we'll improvise, and if I think it works, you can stay."

The implication was that if it didn't work, he could get lost, and the pleasantries could probably be skipped too.

"I heard from your agent that you recently filmed a movie?"

Lin Chuyan nodded: "It's just an internet movie, playing a character who helps the police catch the killer to avenge his beloved woman."

Li Mujian glanced at Wu Yue: "I also heard that your Crying Scene in this movie was good, your Lines were decent, and the director appreciated you so much that they even proactively added scenes for you?"

Lin Chuyan was sweating buckets.

Brother Yue, you really dare to brag!

But he couldn't blame Wu Yue; this was the same principle as writing a resume—if you don't write it well, you won't even get a chance at an interview.

Before he could answer, Li Mujian chuckled: "Since that's the case, for our scene run-through in a moment, I have two requirements: first, no shedding tears, and second, speak as little as possible."

"..."

Lin Chuyan didn't know what to say, so he could only nod and agree. Regardless of anything else, he had to take it on.

Ding!

The system sound suddenly rang out.

[New Quest Triggered: Apprenticeship]

[Quest Requirement: Successfully become Li Mujian's apprentice]

[Quest Reward: Treasure Chest (Silver)]

There was no time to think; Li Mujian started giving the prompt.

He reached out and pointed at Lin Chuyan: "You are playing a father, middle-aged, whose eight-year-old son passed away last month. Tonight is New Year's Eve, you are home alone, and your good friend Zhang Wentang suddenly drops by. You two start chatting."

"As you talk, Zhang Wentang suddenly mentions the child with guilt, saying he is sorry, saying your son only had the accident that led to his death because his son instigated him to go out and play together."

"Remember the requirements I mentioned earlier: Zhang Wentang can cry as much as he wants, but you must hold back your tears. Zhang Wentang can keep talking, but you can have at most three Lines."

Zhang Wentang listened and smiled without speaking. This was not difficult for him; it was just an improvised performance, but he didn't know if the kid could handle it.

Being restricted from crying and not being able to speak Lines freely, in his view, wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

After narrowing the scope of the performance, there were only two outcomes—

Either the person lacked the aptitude and had no idea how to act, or by breaking the mold, they would be stimulated to produce an even more brilliant performance. It all depended on whether the other party had the ability.

If he didn't have that ability, he wouldn't be worthy of being taken on by a teacher who had retired from Acting for many years.

Lin Chuyan started adding attribute points after hearing this.

Can't speak Lines, right? Very well. All 12 base attribute points were added to Acting, bringing it directly to 26.

To his surprise, Crying Scene and Eye Acting also automatically gained 1 point each. It seemed that Acting could affect other related skills.

Crying Scene is forbidden, right? Then the remaining 4 points of special skills would undoubtedly all be added to "Eye Acting".

After everything was ready, Lin Chuyan began to study Li Mujian's prompt word for word.