Huayu: Starting with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

Chen Mo took two steps back.

A small area was left empty in the middle of the room.

There was no set, no props, and no costumes.

It was a young man wearing a Chinese-style stand-up collar shirt, standing opposite a long table on a three-meter square cement floor.

Chen Mo stood there and closed his eyes.

It closed for about five seconds.

When he opened his eyes again, there was something in them.

It's not Xiang Yu.

It wasn't Huo Qubing.

It's something else.

Luo Yifeng saw it very clearly.

It's a kind of... how should I put it?

Those were the eyes of a thirteen-year-old child.

Clean.

I have nothing on my mind.

There's no "Zhu Zhanji" filter from history books.

It's about a child standing next to his grandfather, entering a city that his grandfather has just conquered for the first time.

Chen Mo did not speak.

He's just starting to act.

His body subconsciously shrunk a little.

It's not that I squatted down, but that the position of my shoulders changed, from the position of an adult to the position of a half-grown child. That change in position is only a matter of millimeters.

But Luo Yifeng saw through it.

His eyes followed someone.

That person isn't in the room.

But judging from Chen Mo's eyes, the person was tall. Chen Mo's gaze was slightly upward, at the level of a thirteen-year-old child looking at an adult.

That was Zhu Di.

Chen Mo quietly followed Zhu Di for a few steps.

Then his gaze shifted downwards.

My gaze fell on one spot.

There was no one, nothing, just an empty space on the concrete ground.

But Luo Yifeng knew what it was.

That's a corpse.

That was the location of a corpse.

Chen Mo stared at the non-existent corpse.

I watched it for about three seconds.

His lips moved slightly.

He didn't speak.

Then he turned his head and looked at the non-existent Zhu Di beside him.

It was at this very moment.

He smiled.

That smile...

Luo Yifeng had never seen such a smile in his life.

I'm not happy.

It's not about trying to please.

It's not about feigning composure after fear.

It was a kind of... He understood.

The smile on a thirteen-year-old boy's face when he looks at the gentlest grandfather beside him and realizes, "So you can do this kind of thing."

That smile contained:

"Grandpa, you're amazing."

"Grandpa, I'll remember."

"Grandpa, I can do it too someday."

The three sentences were spoken simultaneously.

They are not separate.

Chen Mo's smile lasted for less than two seconds.

Then he closed his eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, the thirteen-year-old child was gone.

He's Chen Mo again.

The room was very quiet.

Luo Yifeng remained silent.

The assistant director remained silent.

The female staff member who was typing had her fingers hovering above the keyboard the whole time, without moving an inch.

Ten seconds or so passed.

Luo Yifeng spoke.

"One more time."

Chen Mo nodded.

He took two steps back and returned to his previous position.

Close your eyes.

Five seconds.

Open your eyes.

The thirteen-year-old boy is back.

Every movement, every step, every glance—it was exactly the same as the last time.

The same few millimeters of shoulder descent.

My gaze fell on the non-existent corpse for three seconds, just like before.

Turning her head, she smiled.

same.

Two seconds, same.

The same.

Luo Yifeng leaned back in his chair.

He stared at Chen Mo for a long time.

Then he did something.

He turned his head and looked at the assistant director.

"Give him the script."

The assistant director was stunned.

"director......"

The assistant director hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to go against Luo Yifeng's wishes; he just felt that today was the first test.

This young man only acted in one scene that wasn't in the script; he didn't act in any of the two formal audition scenes in episodes eighteen and twenty-seven.

According to the procedure, he should have finished performing those two segments by now.

Then try again.

Then a second test.

Then it's decided.

"Director, how about he acts out those two scenes too?"

Luo Yifeng remained silent.

He turned his head again and looked at Chen Mo.

"Should we continue acting?"

Chen Mo looked at him.

"If you feel you should act, then act."

Luo Yifeng looked at him.

The two stared at each other for about five seconds.

Then Luo Yifeng smiled.

His laugh was very light, as light as a breath.

"No need," he said.

"Give him the script."

The room remained quiet for a long time.

The assistant director stood up, walked around the long table, and handed the thick script on the table to Chen Mo.

The script has a kraft paper cover. There are three words printed on the cover.

"Mountains and Rivers Under the Bright Moon".

Chen Mo took it.

It feels very heavy.

He glanced down at the cover, then looked up at Luo Yifeng.

"Director Luo."

"Um?"

"There's one more thing I want to say."

"explain."

"Before I came here today, Mr. Shen told me that this film is not a favor to repay."

Luo Yifeng was stunned for a moment.

"Did she tell you?"

"She didn't say it directly," Chen Mo said, "but when she told me 'no one pushed you,' I understood."

Luo Yifeng looked at him without saying a word for a long time.

Then he laughed.

This time, the laugh was much louder than the last one.

"Your agent is not easy to fool."

"She told me that," Chen Mo said. "She said she 'remembered' what you said."

"I'd also like to say something to you."

"I've written that down too."

Luo Yifeng remained silent.

He stood up, walked around the long table, and stood in front of Chen Mo.

He was shorter than Chen Mo, and he looked up at Chen Mo.

"Chen Mo."

"Um."

"How many days have you been preparing?"

Five days.

Luo Yifeng nodded.

Five days.

"I spent eight months preparing for the role of Zhu Zhanji and four months choosing the right actor," Luo Yifeng said. "I thought I had thought it through very clearly."

"Your scene just now."

Luo Yifeng paused for a moment.

"I didn't expect that."

Chen Mo did not respond.

He stood quietly, holding the script in his hands.

Luo Yifeng looked at him, and then looked at him for a while.

Then he said something.

"Welcome to the group."

When Chen Mo walked out of room 201, the four candidates were still in the corridor.

They watched him walk out of the door, holding a script with a brown paper cover.

Three out of the four people recognized the cover.

That was the final version of the script; only those selected would receive it.

No one speaks.

Chen Mo didn't look at them.

He carried the script and walked step by step up the stairs.

He paused as he passed a glass-enclosed tea room at the end of the corridor.

His own face was reflected in the glass of the tea room.

He stared at his reflection in the glass for about two seconds.

Then he continued walking up the stairs.

The four candidates behind him were still standing in the same spot.

One of them leaned against the wall, took out a cigarette from his pocket, didn't light it, and twirled it between two fingers for a long time.

He wasn't smoking.

He was processing something.

The thing is, the four of them came here today to audition for Zhu Zhanji.

But the role was no longer theirs before they even went up to the second floor.

This kind of thing isn't new in the entertainment industry; what's new is that all four of them are completely convinced.

No one felt wronged.

No one felt it was unfair.

As they watched that figure walk down the stairs, the same thought crossed their minds.

Better than me.

It's not about looks, status, or the management of a talent agency.

It's the kind of thing they can't quite explain, but you can tell at a glance.

The young man, who had struck a pose, held the unlit cigarette between his fingers, pushed open the stairwell window, and stuck his head out for some fresh air.

Chen Mo passed the security booth when he went downstairs.

The security guard was looking at a blog on his phone.

He saw Chen Mo come down, raised his head, opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

Chen Mo nodded to him and walked towards the gate.

The security guard looked at him from behind for a few seconds, then suddenly looked down at the poster of Xiang Yu from "The Legend of Chu and Han" on his phone screen.

She looked up again at Chen Mo's back.

Then he muttered something.

"This isn't a face."

The four candidates behind him finally started coming downstairs one after another. The last person to come downstairs heard the security guard mutter this to himself as he passed the security booth.

He stopped and turned to look at the security guard.

"Brother, what do you mean by that?"

The security guard scratched his head.

"I watched Xiang Yu this morning," he said, holding up his phone. "Then I saw him come in this afternoon."

"It's not a face."

The candidate looked at the security guard.

Three seconds passed.

He smiled.

"Big brother, you have a sharp eye."

"hey-hey."

The candidate pushed open the gate of the base.

The sunlight outside suddenly streamed in.

Early summer, 3:10 pm.

The sunlight was very bright.

He raised his hand to shield his eyes and stood at the doorway, thinking for a moment.

Then he took out his phone and dialed his agent's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

The agent's first words on the other end of the line were...

"How is it? How do you feel?"

The candidate did not answer immediately.

He looked at the asphalt road in front of the door. Chen Mo had already gotten into a taxi at the other end of the road. The taxi was the cheapest kind, with an old color and the roof light was crooked.

He watched the taxi drive away.

Then he said three words into the phone.

"Forget it."