154: Chapter 154 On-Field Events

Teacher Jiang Ying seemed eager to find a successor to carry on her legacy, wishing she could break down and digest all her knowledge to feed it to An Zhuo.

The two practiced while learning in the classroom, and a flush of excitement gradually appeared on the patient's pale face.

This was the student most to her liking that she had ever encountered in her life.

It was not that her Acting was earth-shattering or ghost-weeping; she certainly had a spark of talent, but there was still room for continued effort and reinforcement.

As a stage play actress, An Zhuo was still very green.

However, her understanding of the role of Fanyi was unprecedented, and her insights were incisive. She could articulate clearly what Fanyi was thinking in every scene and what kind of struggles she faced, and her performance was vivid and penetrating.

Teacher Jiang Ying even wondered who was really the one who had played the female lead in "thunderstorm" for nearly seven years?

Amidst this back-and-forth of "you speak, I agree" and "you act, I applaud," time flew by.

The students' assembly time had arrived, and they were being led by the teaching assistant toward Baihua Hall.

Counting back and forth, one person was missing, and after asking around, it turned out the missing person was none other than An Zhuo.

Nobody knew where she had gone, and Lou Jia could not reach her via phone calls or messages.

The teaching assistant felt a headache coming on; if Director Leng found out, they would surely be scolded again. Thinking of Professor Leng Xiaotan's high-pressure gaze, the teaching assistant's hair stood on end.

The children chattered as they entered Baihua Hall, and then fell silent in an instant.

They were all stunned by the scene before them.

Almost everyone on stage was an actor whose name the performance students could recognize; even the supporting actor standing in the corner playing the gardener, who had no more than two lines, was famous.

"thunderstorm" was indeed the pillar of the National Theater, and even the inconspicuous supporting roles had impressive resumes.

Director Leng was sitting right in the center, wearing a baseball cap and looking like an emperor preparing to ascend the throne. This play had undergone a series of upgrades at the beginning of the year; not only had the stage design been adjusted, but the lighting and script had also been further polished, requiring the actors to constantly familiarize themselves with the new blocking.

It was rare for several big names in stage plays to have their schedules align today, and the entire Film Crew intended to use this half-month to complete rehearsals and walk-throughs.

After all, tickets were about to go on sale, and according to custom, the Film Crew might begin a national tour next month.

Sitting next to Director Leng was a slender woman, who was none other than Teacher Xu, who was as famous as Teacher Jiang Ying in the National Theater.

South Ying and North Yan—this legendary tale of the two beauties belonging to the Grand Theater had been passed down for years, giving birth to many classic roles. The two had chased and competed with each other, keeping pace for many years.

Now, with one having bid farewell to the stage due to illness, this legend of the twin gems had come to an end.

Inviting Teacher Xu was Professor Leng Xiaotan's personal wish. This play was the lifeblood of Teacher Jiang Ying and many others, and regardless of who was being considered, it could not be ruined here.

As for Teacher Xu, she had not yet nodded in agreement to participate. Outsiders all said she had reservations and baggage, fearing she would ruin her own reputation. Some even speculated it was because she and Teacher Jiang Ying had been at odds for years, so she preferred to watch her rival's signature work fail.

All of this was wrong. While it was true the two had competition, their feelings of mutual support were deeper. Teacher Xu had been hesitant, not only because she did not want to meddle in her friend's masterpiece, but more importantly, she felt she could not capture the spirit and feared ruining the play.

But now, with absolutely no one daring to take the role, Teacher Xu was still sitting in the hall. If no one else could take the stage in the end, it would be better for her, this thick-skinned old veteran, to step up.

The teaching assistant was reporting to Professor Leng Xiaotan that the students here for the study tour had entered to observe.

"Is everyone here?" Professor Leng Xiaotan asked without lifting his head, flipping through the script.

The teaching assistant stammered for a moment, looked into the old man's sharp eyes, and chose to tell the truth. "There is still one student we haven't found."

"Who?" Professor Leng Xiaotan was already annoyed, and his tone was extremely poor.

"Uh—An, An Zhuo."

"Why haven't you gone to find her yet!"

"Yes, yes."

"What's the matter? It's just a student. The theater is big, and it's possible someone who likes to watch the excitement might have slipped into some corridor. It's just a study tour, just let them relax." Teacher Xu advised him.

Professor Leng Xiaotan could not say it directly; An Zhuo was actually the new Fanyi candidate he had intended to recommend. Now seeing her being so unreliable, not knowing if she was lost or deliberately late due to stage fright, he was even more ashamed to mention it.

Tang Xumi had already changed into a cheongsam and walked over aggressively. When passing the two, she deliberately greeted Teacher Xu.

"Teacher Xu is here too." The hostility in her tone was very obvious.

Teacher Xu couldn't be bothered to give this lightweight person a good look; she nodded arrogantly without even turning her face.

Tang Xumi was even angrier and walked straight onto the stage, intending to start performing.

"What, you still don't intend to loosen your stance? Then she will definitely head to Chuanxi." Teacher Xu nudged Professor Leng Xiaotan with her elbow.

"Let her go then. Her Acting isn't that great, and I can't tolerate her ruining my reputation. Let her perform once, you watch first."

Tang Xumi stood in the center, adjusting the microphone with an arrogant air, and contacted the backstage via headset to check the lighting and blocking, looking more like the female lead than the actual female lead.

"Wow, how imposing!" The students, unaware of the truth, cheered her on, and Tang Xumi tilted her neck even higher.

It was at this moment that An Zhuo quietly walked in from the back door.

The teaching assistant was overjoyed to see her. "Where did you run off to? Director Leng knows about you being late, you need to be careful in a while!"

An Zhuo nodded obediently and sat in the seat by the aisle in the middle that Lou Jia had specifically saved for her.

"What is the situation right now?"

"Watching the big female lead carry the whole stage." Lou Jia was always straightforward, making An Zhuo grin.

The classmate sitting in the row in front of them was clearly more aware of the inside story—the classmate whose mother worked at the theater. He turned his head to explain Tang Xumi's status to An Zhuo—

The B-cast for Fanyi, hoping to take advantage of the situation to get a promotion; her status was rising, and she was red-hot.

"Isn't it said that her Acting is average?" An Zhuo asked in a low voice.

"There's no other way, that's why I said she's taking advantage of the situation. If it weren't for Teacher Jiang Ying being ill, and her using the situation to command, it wouldn't have been her turn. In this theater troupe, no one is more like Teacher Jiang Ying than her."

An Zhuo focused her attention back to the stage, but her mind involuntarily recalled what Teacher Jiang Ying had said to her last. "Acting is just Acting yourself."

When filming "yi dao qing cheng," An Zhuo had just realized how to break out of her comfort zone and devote herself heart and soul to the Character. Through the serendipity of "thunderstorm," she further understood how to grasp the distance between the actor and the Character.

She had gained a lot; having a great senior teach her step-by-step really made her grow quickly.

"The weather is a bit muggy, isn't it?" Lou Jia took out a tissue to wipe the fine sweat from her forehead, which had formed from running over after saying goodbye to Teacher Jiang Ying.

The air pressure was low; it might rain.

The performance on stage was quite vigorous. Tang Xumi was indeed very like Teacher Jiang Ying, not only in looks, but even her temperament when taking the stage shed her own sharpness and turned into Teacher Jiang Ying's gentle roundness.

According to the "insider" in the front row, Tang Xumi had been selected into the troupe back then by playing the B-cast for Teacher Jiang Ying. Over these years, it was hard to say about Acting other things, but Acting like Teacher Jiang Ying was done with divine perfection.

An Zhuo watched for a long time and felt it was about the same level as her own analysis of the play.

Maybe not even as good as her. It looked like it, but the basic skills were insufficient; sometimes the breath didn't come up, and sometimes the eyes "dropped" to the ground.

It was just a low-spec version of "Character."

No wonder Professor Leng Xiaotan didn't think much of her.

Tang Xumi had gone down the crooked path of imitation; her basic skills lacked polishing and were a breath short. It felt like her years of experience in the top theater troupe had all been used in studying Teacher Jiang Ying's movements and expressions.

Fanyi was Acting on stage with great vigor; perhaps because she was holding back some frustration, her performance was incredibly smooth. Coupled with the optimized blocking and lighting, it was indeed quite capable of bluffing people.

Due to time constraints, she only performed one classic segment, but it could be called melodious and rhythmic, with proper modulation. It was unknown if it could catch the eyes of professionals, but it was enough to fool the performance students who were still in school.

After Tang Xumi finished her last line, the students around her all applauded. The effect was not bad, and several people clapped until their palms turned red.

The classmate in the front row turned back again and continued, "She performed much better than before. I've seen the whole show she performed previously; it didn't have this much momentum."

Mm-hmm, she did act well indeed. An Zhuo also applauded; she was worthy of being an actor in the number one ranked theater troupe, the ability was definitely there.

Tang Xumi took a sip from the thermos handed over by a staff member while looking proudly at Professor Leng Xiaotan and the others offstage.

The meaning was very obvious: other than me, who else could you choose?

Professor Leng Xiaotan did not react to her provocative gaze. He still had that thoughtful, deep-thinking look, appearing as if he hadn't taken Tang Xumi's showing off and self-praise to heart at all.

A sense of embarrassment and the awkwardness of being seen through enveloped Tang Xumi. These days, she had used both soft and hard tactics on Professor Leng Xiaotan, sometimes angry, sometimes sad, she had begged, and even gone so far as to threaten her future in the troupe, yet the other party always had this light and breezy demeanor.

It was as if he hadn't taken her to heart at all.

Not knowing where the sudden burst of energy came from, she pushed away the staff member who wanted to step forward to take off the microphone, and simply asked directly in front of everyone in Baihua Hall.

"Director Leng, do you think I am qualified to be the A-cast?"

Hiss—the surrounding students all gasped, and even An Zhuo couldn't help but purse her lips.

This was publicly tearing things apart and forcing the palace.

Professor Leng Xiaotan was really unlucky; not only did the actors and the play have problems, but he also had to be questioned directly to his face.

Everyone was looking at the man sitting in the front row, whether it was the students watching the excitement or the actors with worried expressions.

Someone wanted to step forward to persuade Tang Xumi, telling her to save some face.

The result was that they were all pushed away by Tang Xumi; today she would not stop until she achieved her goal, and she was determined to get an answer.