272: Chapter 272 has no dialogue, but it's very important.

When Lin Chuyan was picking out glasses, he made it sound simple, but when it came to actual styling, he realized the stylists were truly professional.

Glasses alone wouldn't cut it; other styling elements had to be matched as well.

First, to better approximate the look of a college student in the early stages, the stylists designed his hair to be combed forward in a well-behaved, good-student style.

As for the glasses, after some discussion, they chose an oval acetate frame.

This way, Lin Chuyan's relatively sharp gaze could be downplayed in the early stages, serving as a form of concealment.

By the time he opened the PHS store, the stylists changed him into rectangular black-framed glasses.

His hair was intentionally parted with a subtle seam, so he wouldn't look too old, while still appearing slightly more mature.

By the time he was completely successful in 2006, Lin Chuyan's hairstyle was combed into a mature side-part.

The rimless glasses he picked out himself were considered ugly by the stylists... so they swapped them for something better-looking.

"Hmm, the change in his gaze is indeed clearer now..."

The stylists conferred, thought for a moment, and added a little red lower eyeliner; suddenly, he looked much fiercer, with a hint of someone who had lost their mind in a killing frenzy.

"Is this necessary?"

"Don't worry, Teacher Lin Chuyan. You don't need this eyeliner for every scene, but it's fine for key scenes."

"OK, I understand."

By the time the makeup test photos were finished, the entire morning had passed.

The process was quite smooth; the only issue was that there were quite a few girls watching.

"I spent nearly half an hour slacking off watching the live Lin Chuyan, and I even get paid for it. So sweet."

"Quick, someone hold me up. I just saw Lin Chuyan in a suit."

"He is truly handsome... Another day of being envious and jealous of Ruan Xingyu."

"He seemed to look at me just now. Did you guys notice?"

"..."

Previously, the girls were just here to look at a handsome guy, but now they were here as fans.

The news that he was going to act in the knockout had long been leaked by Entertainment Reporter Xiao Ba.

Without joking, quite a few girls even became extras just because of him.

However, Lin Chuyan was quite relieved.

Back when he was unknown, many bold girls dared to come over and tease him, but at least that had stopped now.

At lunchtime, he ran off to find his senior.

No choice; he was a "brother-con" now, the type who wouldn't separate if he could help it.

Zhang Wentang was one of the male leads and had far more screen time than him. He had already finished eating and was about to leave, but seeing him come over, he sat back down to chat for a while.

First, he introduced him to the two actors sitting on the side who looked a bit restrained.

He hadn't seen these two this morning.

"This is Xiao Lan, our little sister."

A quite pretty girl beside him nodded at him: "Brother."

"Hey."

What was amusing was that this actress was actually a few years older than him in reality.

But, well, they were actors, so it was normal. Age perception and such could be handled with makeup.

"And this, your sister-in-law."

Got it, the one he didn't like.

The two of them exchanged a simple greeting.

Zhang Wentang chatted with him casually: "Xiao Yan, do you have the play today?"

"Today is mainly for the makeup test... I do have a scene, but it's just as background dressing, no Lines. The director told me to find the state and get familiar with things, hehe."

"Oh, I remember, that scene with Zhang Daqing."

The brothers Zhang Daqing and Zhang Xiaoqing participated in the kidnapping of Bai Xiaochen.

Zhang Daqing accidentally strangled his younger brother Zhang Xiaoqing while drunk, and Cheng Cheng arranged for someone to put the body in a Jian Gong Group truck.

Zhang Daqing was also arranged by Cheng Cheng to be placed in Gao Qiqiang's trunk. If he couldn't see through the conspiracy, Gao Qiqiang might face legal charges such as kidnapping and illegal detention. As the investigation deepened, it would likely damage Gao Qiqiang's social image and commercial reputation, leading to an unstable position in Jian Gong Group, or even the loss of control over the group.

This was the backstory for this scene; Cheng Cheng was trying to weaken Gao Qiqiang's position in Jian Gong Group through this method and further control the group's business.

In this scene, Gao Qiqiang must see through the conspiracy and then work with An Xin to capture the people involved.

Zhang Wentang asked him casually: "Since you have no Lines, how do you plan to act?"

For those who don't make a living from Acting, they might think: Since there are no Lines, how else can you act? Just be a good background prop!

However, if it were just an average person, Zhang Wentang naturally wouldn't chat like this; that would be a bit presumptuous.

Moreover, he didn't need to lecture others; there were plenty of people in the entertainment industry who wanted to learn Acting from him, and saying things like that during a chat could easily cause offense for no reason.

But the other person was his junior brother, so he spoke without reservation. His mind turned, and he said whatever came to mind, thinking from time to time about guiding him.

However, Lin Chuyan was no longer the same person he used to be; he had already thought about this when he received the scene in advance.

"Brother, I think I'm especially important in this scene; it wouldn't work without me... Hahaha."

"Oh? How so?"

Good grief, someone with no Lines actually claiming they were especially important to the scene? Zhang Wentang was curious to hear his thoughts.

"Looking at the plot development, I appeared earlier when questioning your driver Lu Tao, and I played a role. Capturing Zhang Daqing is the follow-up twist to the Lu Tao segment, and Lu Tao is also in this scene; as a key figure in the previous events, I must be present."

"From the perspective of camera language, this scene is about prying information out of Zhang Daqing's mouth. If I'm not there, it's just you and Tang Xiaohu confronting Zhang Daqing. If I am there, it's the three of them—Qiqiang, Qisheng, and Tang Xiaohu—confronting Zhang Daqing. This has greater visual prominence and group effect, and psychologically, it makes it easier for the audience to accept this deterrent power."

"Anything else?"

"I don't think so?"

Zhang Wentang was very pleased, nodded, and continued: "There is one more point you didn't notice."

Lin Chuyan raised an eyebrow: "What?"

"Although you have no Lines in this scene, you go up and kick Zhang Daqing, you know that, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

Zhang Wentang explained, "Let me ask you, Gao Qisheng went from being beaten in 2000 to becoming the second-in-command in 2006, mostly using his mouth rather than his hands. How should that transition to the later part where he can chase down Li Hongwei, kick open a door, and beat someone up like that?"

Lin Chuyan understood immediately: "Got it! This is... an important link in the progressive shaping of the character Gao Qisheng. This is just a great scene to showcase leg strength, to help progress the state of this character!"

"That's a good way to put it: showcasing leg strength, rather than just simply kicking." Zhang Wentang clapped his hands, "You see, that makes sense. Otherwise, it's unreasonable; the chase and killing of Li Hongwei later is a bit too fierce. Although we don't need to explain everything, having such a transition is still very good."

"Indeed..."

Lin Chuyan felt ashamed. When he read the script, he hadn't even thought of this point, while his senior had noticed the unreasonable aspects of his younger brother Gao Qisheng's scenes.

"For that kick when the time comes, you should study how to 'showcase your leg strength.' I know the script just glosses over it in one sentence; I don't know if the director pays attention to it, but we need to take it seriously ourselves. This kick is very important. Yeah, just look at it and change it; make it look good..."

Lin Chuyan nodded in understanding.

No wonder his senior said that Acting was all about improvisation. Good grief, the first scene already showed him; they really just change things whenever they talk about it...