Reborn in the Entertainment Industry: This Top Star Has Real Achievements

When the door was opened, the room was not brightly lit. Director Zhang Yimou was sitting in a chair by the window, fiddling with a pen. Hearing the noise, he looked up.

"Yi Mou, this is my eldest nephew, Li Xiang," Uncle Wang introduced from the side.

Li Xiang quickly walked to the other side and politely greeted, "Hello, Director Zhang."

Zhang Yimou nodded and pointed to the chair opposite him: "Don't be shy, let's all sit down and talk." His voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of steadiness and composure.

At first, the group didn't go straight to the audition. Instead, they casually asked Li Xiang about his schoolwork and chatted about the current teachers at the Beijing Film Academy.

He didn't talk much, but every word he spoke was sincere and genuine, without a single perfunctory remark. It was as if he were truly discussing a problem with someone.

Influenced by the atmosphere, Li Xiang subconsciously abandoned his usual carefree attitude and answered with exceptional sincerity and honesty.

When occasionally asked about his understanding of acting, he didn't use any fancy words, only saying that he was studying it seriously.

After chatting for a few more minutes, he changed the subject, picking up a well-worn book from the corner of the table—

It was the book "Under the Hawthorn Tree" that Uncle Wang had shown Li Xiang.

He gripped the spine of the book and shook it, then looked up and asked, "Have you read this book?"

Li Xiang nodded honestly: "After Uncle Wang told me, I watched it three times in a row."

After he said that, the room fell silent.

Zhang Yimou was clearly taken aback by his honest answer. He paused for a moment, then turned to look at Uncle Wang sitting to the side, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

That's like saying, "Isn't this last-minute cramming a bit foolish?"

Uncle Wang couldn't hold back any longer and immediately chimed in, "This kid isn't stupid, he's quite shrewd. He's just a bit of a chatterbox, but he's honest and doesn't hide anything."

Zhang Yimou then turned back, looked at Li Xiang and smiled: "Being talkative doesn't suit Lao San's personality."

Before Li Xiang could explain, he continued, "But it's okay. Actors have to act, after all. How can you find someone who is exactly the same as the character?"

"If that were the case, it wouldn't be very interesting." He laughed as he said this, and the atmosphere in the room became more relaxed.

He got up and paced a couple of steps, looking Li Xiang up and down: "His physique is quite good, but... it's a bit too upright."

"However, makeup can help to tone it down. Fortunately, he's not the kind of sharp, overtly handsome guy, and his inner qualities are still solid."

After saying that, he picked up the book, flipped through a couple of pages, and pointed to a passage: "The part about the branches holding hands to cross the river, why don't you try it?"

Li Xiang took a deep breath, and the slight relaxation he had just felt returned.

He closed his eyes, but instead of thinking about the plot of the book, he thought about the movie he had seen in his previous life.

When I opened my eyes again, the restraint I had felt earlier had dissipated, and my eyes held a gentler, more mellow look.

He didn't make any deliberate movements; he just slightly turned his head as if there really was someone behind him. His subsequent movements were also very subtle.

With a cautiousness that seemed afraid of disturbing something, even her fingertips betrayed a touch of youthful nervousness, until finally she grasped that hand and smiled shyly.

After the performance ended, the room returned to silence.

As for Zhang Yimou, he twirled his fingers for a while before nodding, "Yes, this cleanliness is the right approach."

He then looked at Uncle Wang, "People of that era didn't have so many hidden thoughts; the purity in their eyes couldn't be hidden, and he had that."

Then he suggested a few more clips for Li Xiang to try. As the story progressed, Zhang Yimou's brows relaxed more and more.

Because he noticed that when the child wasn't speaking, there was a strange, melancholic quality in his eyes—

This also results in a face that is clearly young, yet always exudes a maturity beyond its years, a contradiction that is very captivating.

Especially those eyes; when they're still, they're like ink soaked in water, bright and layered, truly capable of holding a performance.

At the end of the conversation, Zhang Yimou closed his book and looked at Li Xiang solemnly, saying, "It's very good."

He didn't say much judgment, but the two people present could hear the approval in his tone.

The weight that had been hanging over Li Xiang's heart was lifted a little. He guessed that he would probably be able to pass Director Zhang's test.

However, Zhang Yimou didn't immediately make a decision. Instead, he turned to Uncle Wang beside him and explained calmly:

"You know our line of work; relationships are incredibly complex and intertwined, and they're all old connections. We have to go through them one by one to convince people."

Uncle Wang naturally understood this as well, and he was even a beneficiary of it; otherwise, he wouldn't have put Li Xiang in the audition so quickly.

So he immediately waved his hand and said, "Why are you telling me all this? Besides, do you think I don't understand this principle?"

Zhang Yimou didn't respond, but turned his gaze to Li Xiang beside him and said in a gentle tone, "I'm not saying this to you, but to Xiao Li."

He looked at Li Xiang and continued, "Young people are impatient and always hope for immediate results, but the adult world is sometimes like this; you have to wait and endure."

Li Xiang listened without showing any emotion on his face. Instead, he nodded seriously and said in a sincere tone, "Director Zhang, I understand."

This is being responsible to the film, and also to us who auditioned. After all, there's only one role, and we have to choose the most suitable one.

"But regardless of whether it works out in the end, I'm very grateful to have had this opportunity. After all, it's Director Zhang's audition, and it's a valuable experience to talk about in the future."

It wasn't that he was saying empty, grandiose things in front of those two.

Although the entertainment industry today isn't as rife with corruption as it was in later years, it's no longer unusual for actors to be replaced mid-production or for someone to be replaced halfway through filming.

Even a renowned director like Zhang Yimou doesn't necessarily have complete control over his own films.

Look at those top Hollywood productions, how many examples are there of directors being coerced by capital and having to be replaced?

It would be better to expose everyone from the beginning, so that no one suddenly appears halfway through the filming and gets overtaken, which would be truly frustrating.

Only Zhang Yimou and Uncle Wang probably still thought of him as a young man who hadn't experienced any storms, and were afraid that he couldn't withstand this little setback.

But what they didn't realize was that what he was doing was already stealing opportunities from others...

Having made up their minds to venture into the entertainment industry, they naturally had to make use of their "foresight" advantage.

Therefore, when good resources come his way, he will never hesitate to make a move.

Since he had already planned this all along, he naturally had to bear the risk of being outmaneuvered by someone else.

He never intended to be a morally perfect person. In this circle, those who are soft-hearted probably wouldn't even get a hot meal.

Uncle Wang, listening from the side, nodded repeatedly. He secretly sighed, thinking that this kid was indeed composed, and that his efforts in connecting them hadn't been in vain.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yimou's eyes flashed with approval, but he didn't say anything more, only nodding: "She's a sensible person."

He picked up his phone from the table and said, "Let's exchange phone numbers. Once we've finalized the results, I'll let you and Lao Wang know as soon as possible."

Uncle Wang smiled and stood up upon hearing this: "I know you're a workaholic, so I won't bother you for now. I'll be in Beijing for a while, and I'll come find you when I have something to do."

Zhang Yimou also stood up, waving his hand with a smile: "Haha, just don't forget about me, let's have a good get-together then."

Seeing this, Li Xiang quickly gave Zhang Yimou his number, and after watching Zhang Yimou save it into his phone, he also saved the other party's number.

Just before leaving, he glanced back and saw that Zhang Yimou had already sat back down in his chair and picked up the book "Under the Hawthorn Tree".