Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

Chapter 384 My Path, I Want to Walk It Myself

Liu Haochun looked at Jiang Yang's grades page several times, never expecting Jiang Yang's grades to be so good.

A near-perfect score.

There was shock, but also joy.

I am happy for my boss.

If it were him, he would probably be so happy that he would send out red envelopes in the company's internal group chat, but Jiang Yang didn't care at all.

Because it's clear that the results inquiry page shows this is the first time I've checked my results today.

“Jiang Yang got almost perfect scores…” Zhang Qing said incredulously.

I heard that this inquiry is about Jiang Yang's grades.

The lighting technician, makeup artist, head of extras, and script supervisor all came back together.

I'm very curious and want to know what's going on.

Jiang Yang is too young; he's still a senior in high school.

Also, Jiang Yang is the producer of this project, and also its boss, in charge of director Zhang Qing.

This indirectly affects the income of their entire team in this project.

Watching Liu Haochun's finger slide down the screen.

This displays Jiang Yang's ranking information.

Total score: 214.6 points.

Professional ranking: No. 1.

Number of people with the same score: 0.

Historical comparison: The average score of the top student in this major over the past three years is 182.

Below that is the examiner's overall evaluation.

The comment above is only one short sentence:

[This candidate is exceptionally gifted; we recommend focusing on nurturing and developing their abilities.]
The noodle shop was quiet for a short while, but soon it became lively again.

Everyone got a first impression of Jiang Yang; he was not only the producer of this project, but also had excellent academic performance.

She's a top student.

After Liu Haochun finished her makeup and styling in the makeshift dressing room, her gaze remained fixed on her phone screen.

The score was frozen on Jiang Yang's score.

Some were still in shock.

It was expected that Jiang Yang would be ranked first in the Beijing Dance Academy.

His score was more than 20 points higher than his own.

It was even more than 20 points higher than the top scorer from the Beijing Dance Academy in the previous three years.

What concept?
To the crew on set, the difference between Jiang Yang's score and his own score was only the difference between first and second place.

It is actually as large as a Milky Way.

Suddenly she realized that during the third audition for the Beijing Dance Academy, she was so nervous that she even stuttered a little.

Jiang Yang remained calm and composed throughout the entire process.

Because of Jiang Yang's strength, this was to be expected.

If Jiang Yang had focused all his energy on dancing like I did, his score might have been even higher.

Makeup and styling are done.

Liu Haochun, as before, spent a few minutes alone.

Before trying to get into character, she took a screenshot of her art exam results and sent it to her mother, along with a message: ["Mom, my Beijing Dance Academy entrance exam results are out, I came in second."]
The message was not sent.

My mother replied: ["Why second place? You've won so many city and provincial awards; you shouldn't be second."]
Liu Haochun was taken aback.

Continuing to type: ["But my second-place score is higher than the average score of the first-place winners over the past three years. Mom, can you praise me?"]
My mom replied: ["What's so great about getting second place? You've won so many first places since you were little, why weren't you first this time?"]
My mother sent another message: ["So what if your score is higher than the top student in previous years? Just because others did poorly doesn't mean you should be satisfied. If your father had been as easily satisfied as you were back then, I wouldn't be..."]
The chat window displayed the message "The other party is typing."

She paused again and sent a message: ["Haochun, don't blame Mom for being strict with you. Mom's life has been too hard, and Mom doesn't want your future to be as hard as mine. I don't want you to slack off at such a young age. If you don't work hard now, you'll definitely regret it when you grow up."]
Mom sent another message: ["This world is so cruel; no one remembers the second place. Mom asks you, do you know what the world's highest peak is?"]
Liu Haochun sent a message: [“It’s Mount Everest.”]
"And the second one?"
Liu Haochun didn't reply to the question, but sent a message to end the conversation: ["I understand, Mom. I will try my best."]
"Haochun, you must listen to what your mother says."
I didn't continue talking to my mother.

I feel a tightness in my chest.

Sure enough, this is still the case.

Even if I got a perfect score in one subject when I was a child, my mother would still ask why it wasn't a perfect score in both subjects.

They would never say "You're great, daughter," but only "You can do even better."

The phone screen went dark, revealing Liu Haochun's slightly reddened eyes.

Does Mom not actually love herself?

Or perhaps, Mom's life has been so hard that she can't even spare herself a word of praise.

Whenever I think of home, I think of that home filled with arguments.

My mother always said that she was the most outstanding and beautiful girl that my father could meet, which is why he married her and gave her all his money.

I want to learn from her.

She became outstanding and married a man who was richer than her father back then.

but.

Is it true that you strive to become excellent just to get married, or for money?
Should I really listen to my mother?

Does a mother's life experience really work for her own life?

Liu Haochun opened Yang Chaoyue's chat window and then realized that Chaoyue should be on the plane and wouldn't be able to receive her messages.

She sent a message to Zhao Lushi, but deleted it after typing just the words "Mom and Sister".

Edited text: [“Ruth, are you busy?”]
Zhao Lushi replied: ["Not busy, waiting for my interview. Damn, I've been waiting for ages! I'm pretty free now. By the way, I saw on the news in Beiping that the Beijing Dance Academy entrance exam scores came out today. How did yours go? Can you tell me?"]
Liu Haochun sent her a screenshot of her grades.

Zhao Lushi replied with only two words: "Holy crap!"
Then came two more words: [“Awesome!”]
Zhao Lushi continued: [“Higher than the average of the first place winners in the past three years, Hao Chun, you're fucking awesome!”]
Liu Haochun stared in astonishment.

These are clearly vulgar and offensive words, words that teachers and mothers taught us from a young age that should not be spoken and should be resisted.

Why does it look so comfortable?

Zhao Lushi sent a red envelope containing 200 yuan.

Liu Haochun didn't answer: ["What?"]
Zhao Lushi replied: [“You must have suffered a lot to get this result. You must be very happy now. I’m not good with words, so I’ve saved it all in the red envelope.”]
Liu Haochun returned the red envelope and replied: ["I appreciate the sentiment, thank you Ruth, but I have money. Jiang Yang got me a supporting role in Ze Tian Ji and pays me a salary every month. Now he's given me a lead role offer."]
Zhao Lushi sent another red envelope: [“All this talk is just an excuse. What the hell are you doing, trying to find fault with me?”]
Liu Haochun received the money instantly.

Then he messaged Zhao Lushi, asking the same question his mother had just asked: "Ruth, do you know what the world's highest peak is?"
Zhao Lushi replied: [“It’s Mount Everest.”]
Liu Haochun typed: [“What about second place?”]
I regretted it as soon as I sent it.

This is the question my mother just asked me, and I feel bad because I can't answer it.

There's no need to make Zhao Lushi do the same.

Zhao Lushi replied: [“K2.”]
Liu Haochun was stunned.

Zhao Lushi actually remembered the name of the second peak.

She then messaged: "[What about third?]"
Received a reply from Zhao Lushi: [“Ganchenjunga Peak.”]
"And the fourth one?"
"Luozi Peak."
Who says no one knows about the second, third, or fourth?

Zhao Lushi knew that.

Suddenly I understood something.

Liu Haochun typed: ["Thank you for telling me all this, Ruth."]
Why are you asking this?
"That's right, my mom just asked me a question, and I couldn't answer it."
"Haochun, times have changed."
Liu Haochun's gaze froze slightly.

Her eyelashes trembled.

His gaze lingered on the words "times have changed," and a smile crept onto his lips.

Jiang Yang had said something similar.

I remember Jiang Yang saying, "Times are changing, and the experience of the previous generation may not be suitable for us now."

I didn't fully understand it then, but now I suddenly do.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating her slightly reddened eyes.

Her mother always used Mount Everest to teach her to always strive to be number one.

But so many people in the world are still paying attention to the second and third peaks.

Just like Zhao Lushi, this girl who speaks "Male Gobi" all the time, can name all the peaks in one breath.

Although Ruth spoke rudely, she seemed to have a clearer understanding of life than I did. Those swear words that my mother considered rude actually contained the most genuine care.

That silly girl Yang Chaoyue, even though she could answer the second half of the poem "The country is broken but the mountains and rivers remain" as "When the family is at peace, everything prospers," she always smiled so brightly.

Sometimes wrong answers are more valuable because they come from the heart.

"Perhaps I should learn from Chaoyue that not everything has to be perfect to be worthy of love."

Liu Haochun walked out of the dressing room.

She looked up at Zhang Qing, who was sitting in front of the monitor with a furrowed brow.

Zhang Qingzheng watched Liu Haochun's replay over and over again, trying not to disturb Liu Haochun.

He was thinking about how he could help Liu Haochun perform that crying scene.

But they couldn't think of a solution.

Liu Haochun can simply cry; she can just shed tears.

He can also mentor new actors and teach them how to cry.

The difficulty lies in conveying emotion through tears; otherwise, it's something that can be acted out simply by using eye drops.

Liu Haochun's performance, however, is characterized by a progressively stronger emotional arc.

I heard that when Liu Haochun was auditioning for a supporting role in "Fighter of the Destiny" on the set of "A Little Reunion," she portrayed four emotions in a progressive manner, which finally burst together and she shed tears.

Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

How exactly was Jiang Yang trained?

She never even had formal training, yet she achieved the top score in the Beijing Dance Academy entrance exam, and she's still able to train actors' acting skills—that's a bit strange.

Looking up at Liu Haochun, I saw the emotions in Liu Haochun's eyes.

There was despair, there was exhaustion.

It's the same as before.

I'm back in character.

Zhang Qing picked up the walkie-talkie: "Everyone to your positions, let's start filming immediately!"

The staff immediately got to work.

The extras returned to their respective positions.

The makeup artist, who had been chatting casually, immediately stepped out of the frame and left the camera's view.

Liu Haochun sat back down, next to the spot separated by the reflector.

The noodle shop owner served the freshly made noodles to the table.

"Action!"

The process remains the same as before.

Upon seeing the message from her mother, Liu Haochun hesitated before replying, but ultimately locked her phone and tossed it into her bag.

I heard the bank card debit bell.

This was followed by a WeChat voice message from the agent.

Liu Haochun slammed his chopsticks on the table, sent a message to his agent, and when he saw the extras looking over, he lowered his head and continued eating his ramen.

Liu Haochun sat very well throughout each and every step of the process, right up to this point.

However, they all got stuck at this last step.

cry.

Zhang Qing stared at Liu Haochun's expression on the monitor.

Will we succeed this time?

Liu Haochun held his chopsticks, stirring the noodles in his bowl, and turned his head to look at the phone screen lit up on the table.

This is a prop phone.

Not my own.

The message above is also false.

But the message my mother sent me in the makeshift dressing room just now was true.

Liu Haochun remembers every single word of that sentence clearly.

"Haochun, don't blame your mother for being strict with you. It's because my life has been too hard, and I don't want your life to be as hard as mine. I don't want you to slack off at such a young age. If you don't work hard now, you will definitely regret it when you grow up."

My mother has had a hard life.

My mother suffered a lot.

Your mother is doing this for your own good, so that you won't have to suffer so much in the future.

I've heard similar things countless times from elementary school to high school.

After listening to it so many times, I gradually felt that something was wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on why, so I numbly continued listening.

But now, it's different.

"Hao Chun's eyes have changed." Zhang Qing stared at Liu Hao Chun's eyes, which were gradually becoming moist, on the monitor.

Eyes red.

Her eyes were already wet.

I might burst into tears at any moment.

I could cry before, but this time was different.

There was a feeling of being unable to speak out, yet unwilling to accept it, and also a sense of pent-up resentment.

This is exactly the emotion the female lead needs at this moment, as described in the script.

Liu Haochun's finger swiped across the phone screen.

Through my blurry tears, I saw the message my mother had sent earlier.

But his gaze gradually hardened.

"Mom, your life has been very difficult, but I want to walk my own path."

Liu Haochun spoke softly, in a voice only he could hear.

It was said very softly.

He used all his strength.

A tear slipped uncontrollably down her cheek, landing on her phone screen and blurring the conversation history.

[Under your care, Liu Haochun's acting skills have improved, and you have received corresponding feedback.]

Did you manage to get the attribute?

Jiang Yang paused, for across the street was the noodle shop that served as the film set.

He hadn't received any messages from Zhang Qing about finishing work or reporting on the filming progress, so he realized that the filming must have encountered difficulties.

Otherwise, judging by the timeline, it should have already been filmed.

She didn't have many scenes.

Discovering Liu Haochun's acting skills was an unexpected bonus.

That's why Liu Haochun is currently the most cost-effective actress he's paired with; she can help him extract attributes from other actresses he's paired with.

Without his guidance.

Liu Haochun can train himself and develop his acting skills.

If Hao Chun doesn't work harder, how will he become a movie star in the future?

Jiang Yang had just arrived at the entrance of the noodle shop when he stepped over the black line taped to the ground without making a sound.

I know they're filming inside.

The script supervisor tried to stop Jiang Yang, but after seeing Jiang Yang's appearance, he hesitated and didn't dare to say anything.

Jiang Yang made a shushing gesture, nodded and smiled, and stepped onto the set.

(End of this chapter)