66: Chapter 66 Brother Bo

Lay Zhang posted a video on Instagram. In the practice room, the lights were dimmed to a dark blue. He sat alone in front of a piano, playing the piano part of the verse of "7 Years".

"Brother Mo, when you were twelve, you were learning piano in Changsha, and I was learning to dance in Changsha. Your hand positioning was wrong, but you worked hard; my movements weren't standard, but I also worked hard."

"Now, the Billboard champion and runner-up spots are both yours, and I'm still dancing. Thank you for looking back."

Chen Mo replied underneath: "Keep working hard just like your name suggests; the more you think, the worse it gets."

Lay Zhang replied with a fist-and-palm salute emoji.

That same evening, Lu Han also posted on Weibo. There was no image, just a single line of text: "Run out, and if you can come back, that's good — said by Chen Mo. @Chen Mo"

The number of likes broke one million in less than an hour.

The top comment in the section read: "Lu Han quoted Chen Mo! Two top-tier stars, one writing songs in Los Angeles, the other forming a band in Beijing. Different paths, same kind of running."

Huang Zitao replied under Lu Han's post: "Brother, when are you going to quote me too?"

Lu Han replied: "You say something worth quoting first."

Huang Zitao replied with a row of crying emojis.

The comment section was filled with laughter.

Chen Mo saw Lu Han's Weibo post and noticed that Lu Han had sent him several private messages, so he simply replied: "How is the practice going?"

Lu Han had sung a few well-known songs, but overall, his progress hadn't been very significant afterward.

Lu Han replied instantly: "The new song is called 'Reboot', it has a heartbeat-rhythm drum beat. I've been practicing for a few months."

He immediately added: "If possible, please help me listen to it. This is a work I've been deeply focused on in recent years. Thank you!"

"Send the demo to me."

Lu Han sent an audio file; the filename was "Reboot_demo_0710".

Chen Mo downloaded it, put on his monitor headphones, and pressed play.

The intro was drums, going from slow to fast.

In the verse, Lu Han's voice was much steadier than before. When the chorus exploded, the drum beats and the bass locked in together, with guitar syncopation and keyboard underlying it.

After listening, he replied to Lu Han: "In the third measure of the chorus, make the snare drum reverb a bit shorter to make the drum beats drier."

Lu Han replied instantly: "I'll change it right now! Thank you!"

Chen Mo felt pretty good about giving this kind of guidance; it wasn't that he liked acting like a mentor, it was just that they were both Chinese musicians.

You have to keep an open mind.

In mid-to-late July, the third episode of "Go Fighting!" aired.

Chen Mo's segment was edited down to forty minutes, from him turning pulling a car into driving a car, to flipping two bombs in a row in the nine-grid game and finally choosing to take all of Sun Honglei's points, and then to that line after the rooftop trust fall, "Little Chen, you're heavier than you look."

On the night it aired, "Chen Mo Go Fighting!" surged to number one on the Weibo trending list, "Chen Mo drives a car" surged to number three, and "Sun Honglei's debt has been repaid" surged to number five.

On Bilibili, the segment where Chen Mo pulled the car was edited out separately, and the barrage comments were so thick that one had to turn them off to see the screen clearly.

The most liked barrage comment read: "Director Yan was stunned behind the monitor for several seconds; it wasn't an editing effect, he was genuinely stunned."

Huang Bo posted a message on Weibo: "I said it the day we finished recording: this guy Little Chen is someone you can get along with. During the car-pulling segment, he looked at me before getting in the car. I knew he was going to cause trouble, but I didn't say anything because I wanted to see Director Yan's expression."

The attached image was a screenshot of him squatting on the ground, laughing until his shoulders shook.

Chen Mo replied: "Brother Bo, you were laughing the loudest at the time."

Huang Bo replied: "Because I've wanted to see the director get frustrated for a long time."

Sun Honglei posted a photo with Chen Mo — after the rooftop trust fall, the setting sun turned the two of them into silhouettes.

The caption read: "I tricked Lay Zhang in the first episode. Little Chen chose me half because I owe it to Lay Zhang, and half because I'm just a jerk. This little brother, I have to acknowledge him."

Chen Mo replied underneath: "Brother Honglei, I'll choose you next time too."

Sun Honglei replied with a row of crying emojis.

Lay Zhang reposted Sun Honglei's Weibo, with the caption: "Brother Honglei, you also tore up my clues in the first episode."

Sun Honglei replied: "Lay Zhang, that's all in the past; let's not dwell on it."

Huang Lei replied underneath: "The first episode was only two months ago."

Sun Honglei retorted to Huang Lei: "What are you causing trouble for? Is he your kid?"

Show Lo posted a video of him repeatedly practicing in the practice room in front of a mirror, imitating the turn Chen Mo made when he chose Sun Honglei.

"I practiced it over a dozen times. It's not that the movement is hard, it's the timing of that turn that's hard. Too early and it looks like you're sulking, too late and it looks like you're hesitating. That exact moment, it was 'repaid'."

Chen Mo replied with a row of laughing emojis.

Wang Xun posted a photo of hotpot, with the caption: "Brother Lei said we'll gather in Beijing next week, and I'm in charge of ordering the food."

Huang Lei replied: "You just need to be in charge of eating."

In early August, at a mutton hotpot restaurant in Dongsi, Beijing.

Copper pot with charcoal fire, the lamb sliced as thin as paper, and the sesame sauce mixed to the perfect consistency.

Huang Bo, Sun Honglei, Huang Lei, Show Lo, Wang Xun, Lay Zhang, and Chen Mo — the seven of them sat around a round table.

Huang Bo raised his glass first. "Little Chen, Brother toasts you. We've recorded so many episodes of Go Fighting!, and you're the first person to make Director Yan freeze behind the monitor for several seconds."

Chen Mo picked up his glass and clinked it.

Sun Honglei picked up a chopstick full of lamb and put it into Chen Mo's bowl. "Little Chen, Brother also toasts you. You've been working hard lately; I've seen it all online. Amazing!"

Chen Mo ate the lamb and joked: "Brother Honglei, I'll choose you again next time."

"Don't choose me! Brother begs you to pick someone else!"

The whole table burst into laughter.

Halfway through the meal, Huang Bo put down his chopsticks.

"Little Chen, Brother has been in contact with a Hollywood movie recently. I've auditioned twice and am still waiting for news."

Chen Mo looked at him.

Huang Bo's brows were slightly furrowed; it wasn't really a complaint, but rather stating a fact.

"The role is a Chinese-American engineer. There aren't many lines, but it's key. In the first audition, the director said my acting was too 'big'. Hollywood wants something restrained. I've been acting in China for so many years, with full control over range, but over there, it became 'too big'."

"The second time I restrained it, he said it was too 'small'. I asked him what exactly he wanted, and he said he didn't know either, but he knew it wasn't me. For Chinese actors over there, it's always 'lacking something', and that difference lies in the skin."

Huang Bo sighed with emotion: "So, little brother, you're amazing!"

Chen Mo put down his chopsticks, frowned slightly from the heat, and asked: "Brother Bo, what's the name of the director for the movie you auditioned for?"

"It's called James Mangold, the director of 'logan'."

Chen Mo nodded and said with realization: "I know him."

Huang Bo's chopsticks stopped in mid-air, and everyone at the table looked at him.

Chen Mo's tone was very flat, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"Tom Hiddleston, he approached me before, saying Marvel was looking for a score for the third 'Thor' movie, and he highly recommended me. The director of the third 'Thor' movie is James Mangold."

Huang Bo put down his chopsticks, surprised but also finding it expected, and said: "You know Tom Hiddleston?"

Chen Mo briefly described the celebrity banquet Cartier held for him before.

"We are friends." Chen Mo opened his phone and showed them his chat history with Tom Hiddleston.

Everyone present saw Chen Mo's international status for the first time, which really made people gasp.

Huang Bo picked up his wine glass, didn't toast, took a sip himself, and when he put the glass down, his Adam's apple moved.

"Little Chen, Brother won't beat around the bush with you. For that movie, I've auditioned twice and waited for two months. If it's possible, help Brother put in a good word. You don't need to guarantee anything, just put in a word."

"Brother Bo, I will put in the word, but whether the director uses you or not depends on your performance. When auditioning, don't hold back; just act the way you talk in everyday life."

"A Chinese engineer is still a person; after work, he eats mutton hotpot, drinks with friends, has times when he can't hold back, and times when he doesn't want to talk. You are playing an engineer, not a 'Chinese-American'."

Huang Bo looked at him, looked for a long time, as if his eyes were saying something.

The charcoal fire in the copper pot was burning brightly, and the lamb was rolling in the boiling soup.

"Little Chen, Brother will remember that."