Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

Xu Yao immediately criticized the character for being abnormal, which is indeed a reflection of real market feedback.

The second one wasn't stupid; his goal was simple: he just wasn't selected in the end.

After terminating her contract, she had to prepare for her new album and had no interest in acting.

But not wanting to go against Sister Xixi's kindness, this is how this happened.

The three teachers' expressions remained frozen.

The female teacher's anger had not subsided.

Just then, footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"I'm here to accompany Xu Yao to his audition."

A voice came from the doorway.

The voice was soft and delicate, yet it carried a strange ethereal and crisp quality, like the lingering sound of wind chimes in the courtyard on a summer afternoon.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

Liu Yifei stood at the door.

She was wearing a light blue denim shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up to her forearms, dark straight-leg jeans, and white canvas shoes.

She stood there without any of the pomp and circumstance of a top celebrity's arrival, yet it felt as if all the light in the room was focused on her.

"Sister Qian... Sister Qianqian?"

Xu Yao was stunned. Wasn't the female lead already decided? Why is Sister Xixi here today too?

Liu Yifei walked over, sat down on the chair next to Xu Yao, and casually put her bag down at her feet.

"Xiao Yao, you came to Beijing without telling me? If my assistant hadn't seen you, I wouldn't have known you were here for an audition today."

She spoke with a smile on her lips, but her tone contained reproach, yet more so a sense of naturalness between family members.

"Sister Sisi, I didn't mean to..."

Xu Yao was halfway through his sentence when the assistant director was the first to stand up.

The displeasure on his face quickly transformed into a perfectly appropriate smile that was neither exaggerated nor lacking in courtesy.

"Teacher Liu, why did you come in person? You didn't even tell us beforehand so we could have met you at the door."

The female teacher's expression also changed.

Just moments ago, he was slamming his fist on the table and yelling, "Do you even know anything about art?" He was a fierce-looking man, but in the blink of an eye, he's transformed into a gentle smile.

"Sister Feifei, it's been a long time! Please have a seat. Would you like some hot water? It must be cold outside."

Liu Yifei remained silent, sitting quietly.

Clearly, Liu Yifei had overheard their conversation.

"Xu Yao has a great image, with well-defined features and a handsome jawline. He must have a strong presence on camera."

The female teacher continued, her gaze sweeping across Xu Yao's face before returning to Liu Yifei, "Sister Feifei's eye for casting is truly accurate."

Liu Yifei did not respond to that sentence.

She turned her head slightly to look at Xu Yao, then turned her gaze to the three teachers, her voice still soft.

"Whether it's good or not depends on the performance. You can't just judge by appearance."

She said this without emphasizing it or pausing deliberately.

But Xu Yao understood that this sentence was meant for the three teachers, and also for him.

It was speaking up for him, and also telling him: if you're here, you have to perform well, I'll be watching you.

Liu Yifei has watched Xu Yao's music video.

She watched the scene of the young man sitting on the floor of the rented room, staring blankly at his phone, with tears welling up in his eyes but not falling, several times before forwarding it.

This younger brother's acting is pretty good.

The assistant director was the first to come to his senses. He nodded, opened the storyboard, scanned it, and then looked up.

"Then... let Xu Yao try acting for a bit. Since Teacher Liu is willing to act with him, let's come up with a two-person scene."

He flipped through a few pages, his finger pausing on one of them.

"Marin first met Elsa by the pool. He had just finished swimming and was coming out of the water when Elsa lay on a white chair beside him, wearing sunglasses. Marin didn't dare to approach her, so he stood two steps away, looking at her profile. Then Elsa took off her sunglasses, turned her head and said to him, 'Are you Marin?' Marin hesitated for a long time before finally managing to say, 'You... how do you know my name?' Elsa smiled and continued to look down at the French novel in her hands. That's the scene."

We met for the first time by the pool.

Marin had just climbed out of the water, soaking wet, and stood in front of his beloved girl, not daring to take even half a step closer.

The panic that seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys feel when they fall in love for the first time.

I wanted to ask a lot of questions, but I couldn't get a single word out.

I wanted to get closer, but my feet felt like they were nailed to the edge of the pool.

Liu Yifei sat in the chair, a hint of dissatisfaction appearing on her face, but she quickly concealed it.

She didn't close the script, nor did she say, "I don't want to act in this scene." She simply placed the few pages gently on the table.

"Let's begin." Liu Yifei stood up.

There was no swimming pool. There were no lounge chairs. There were no sunglasses.

The room contained only a few chairs and a long table.

Liu Yifei moved a chair to the middle of the room, sat down, leaned back slightly, crossed her legs, placed one hand on her knee, and left the other hand empty, as if she were reading a novel.

But the moment she leaned back in her chair, Elsa came in.

Her gaze wasn't directed at Xu Yao, but at a place very, very far away.

Xu Yao stood there, sighed, and realized he had no choice but to act well, otherwise he would be embarrassing Liu Yifei.

I started thinking about my acting plans.

He walked over from the other end of the room, his eyes fixed on Liu Yifei, but his body was stiff and uncoordinated due to tension, and his limbs were obviously stiff.

Xu Yao finally approached Liu Yifei, hesitating several times before finally speaking: "How...how do you know my name?"

Liu Yifei looked up and took off sunglasses that weren't actually there.

She turned her head and glanced at Xu Yao, with a look of realization that read, "So you're Marin."

Then he lowered his head, his gaze returning to the non-existent pages, and turned a page with his finger.

There are no more lines.

The script reads, "Elsa smiled and continued to look down at the French novel in her hand," with no dialogue, only actions.

But after Liu Yifei turned the page, she looked up and glanced at Xu Yao.

She used this extra gaze to confirm whether Xu Yao could catch it.

Xu Yao didn't make any unnecessary movements; he simply stood there and looked at her.

That was Marin's gaze and inner world; he wanted to take a step forward, but dared not move his feet.

I wanted to say something more, but no sound came out of my throat.

"You...you're so...beautiful."

Xu Yao stammered and improvised a line on the spot.

The assistant director put down his storyboard and started clapping.

The female teacher joined in, her expression still a little stiff, but her hands didn't stop moving.

The young casting director stood up and applauded, muttering, "So natural," and "You can't tell he's acting."

Just then, a hushed discussion broke out inside the room.

"Who's that person? Liu Yifei personally co-starred with him? Is he that important?"

"His name is Xu Yao, the champion of The Voice of China. I heard that the role was originally intended for Yu Shaoqun."

Xu Yao's ears caught the last few words.

Who is Yu Shaoqun?

He listened to operas with his grandmother from a young age, and entered an arts school at the age of 14 to study Han opera, specializing in civil and military young male roles.

He started his own solo performance at the age of 23 and was the last disciple of Chen Bohua, a master of Han Opera.

Later, he was spotted by Chen Kaige and played the young Mei Lanfang in "Mei Lanfang". Mei Baojiu personally taught him, and he secluded himself for eight months to learn the Mei School of Peking Opera from scratch. He won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer.

She transitioned from martial arts roles to female roles, from Han opera to Peking opera, and even learned the Yin school of Yue opera. Her performance was so authentic that even those who had trained in the field since childhood felt inferior.

Later, when he played Ning Caichen in "A Chinese Ghost Story," Chen Kaige said that he was "the most youthful among actors with opera skills."

The character Ma Lin is a student at a Sichuan Opera school who loves Sichuan Opera. He meets Elsa at the swimming pool and falls in love at first sight, obsessively following, spying on, and secretly admiring her.

This character belonged to Yu Shaoqun from the very beginning.

An actor who grew up immersed in traditional opera plays a boy who is so obsessed with Sichuan opera that he can't distinguish between the play and real life.

Insiders say this was tailor-made.

Now, a talent show contestant has been added to the shortlist for this role.

He was parachuted in through Liu Yifei's connections.

The female teacher greatly admired and liked Yu Shaoqun, which is why her attitude towards Xu Yao was somewhat intense.

"younger brother."

Liu Yifei's voice came from the side, the two words were very clear. She had been standing behind Xu Yao at some point, and then deliberately linked arms with Xu Yao in front of everyone.

"In the entertainment industry, gossip is everywhere. If you listen to every single one of them, you'll go crazy."

After she finished speaking, she picked up her bag and prepared to leave with Xu Yao.

"Just focus on playing each role well. Come on, let's go eat. Beijing-style hot pot, you've lost so much weight, you need to eat more."

Xu Yao nodded and replied, "Sister, I heard that when you eat hot pot in Beijing, you have to have a bunch of grapes with it."

"Why pair it with grapes?" Liu Yifei asked, puzzled. Was it some new trendy way to eat it?

"If there are no grapes at the next table, they can only watch us eat grapes and then complain that these grapes must be so sour and not tasty at all," Xu Yao explained.

Liu Yifei immediately understood and burst into laughter. After a while, she managed to suppress her laughter and said, "Little brother, let's go eat some grapes."

(P.S.: This is the latest and hottest post. I was originally going to post it tomorrow, but I'm posting it now anyway. Thanks for the monthly votes!)