Uneasy daily life

“He’s from high school,” Guan Gu Chun introduced. “Remember my Chinese friend we were talking about when we were drinking? That’s him! Actually, when this movie was being prepared, I always wanted to find him, whether it was a cameo or just a passerby. For me, this novel is a thing of the past, but he is the hero who changed my life. I want to put a perfect end to that period of time!”

Their attitude was very firm; they couldn't forcefully push this person, who had connections, away.

"Okay, but I need to be assessed first. I have my own goals too." Okita couldn't refuse, so he could only try to minimize the impact.

"Don't worry! My brother is unparalleled and capable of anything! He can handle even a small role with ease!" Guan Guchun patted his chest and assured him.

Okita felt even more uncertain, but as a director with principles, he had already come up with a way to pretend to film a segment for the other party's younger brother, let the other party have a taste of acting, and then 'accidentally' cut it out in the final cut.

The two walked away from the busy film crew. Ahead of them, at the dusty and rather old school gate, a sound came from.

It is a song, a song without words, only sound.

The gentle, carefree, and tranquil sound, rising and falling with the volume, seeps into the heart like flowing water, making it impossible to look away and stop to listen.

A young man sang with his eyes closed and his throat slightly moving. His singing was like a conductor's baton, and the man and cat surrounding him were the most suitable actors. The young man disguised himself as a large cat and moved slowly on the ground, crawling around the black cat and making soft calls that were indistinguishable from reality. The black cat sat at a reserved and elegant distance, occasionally meowing softly.

The occasional meows of humans and cats echoed each other, striking precisely on the wordless melody, splashing up waves of joy and delight.

They probed each other, conveyed their feelings, and kept their emotions to themselves.

The wordless melody suddenly shifts, its ups and downs becoming more pronounced and intense. The frequently jumping syllables pluck at the heartstrings, conveying passion, jubilation, and exhilaration—a fiery and burning passion!

The black cat gently licked its paws, slowly rose, and approached with light, shy steps, like a woman finally moved.

The white figure suddenly flipped over and jumped up, kneeling on one knee towards the stunned Angelina. Reaching out her hand, she sang with deep emotion: "To my beloved—eyes bright and untouched by worldly dust, a youthful soul that remains young despite the passing years, the tentative glances we exchanged will eventually become a life that flows together."

The words and phrases perfectly capture the rhythm of each melody, complementing the passionately expressive tune, yet subtly taking the lead by guiding the melody as the lyrics veer off course.

"Ah? Oh..."

Angelina was a little confused, or rather, she hadn't been able to react at all, and nodded blankly.

The silent melody stirred a slight ripple within it.

"Meow—!!!!"

A sharp cry pierced the air, striking a beat.

The black cat arched its body angrily.

“Miss Christine…” The white figure rose and moved, singing sadly, “I am the wanderer of the wind, you are the darling of the flowers. The swaying flowers cannot leave the soil, the flowing wind is not the final destination. This is a journey destined for separation. The hazy joy is refined and clarified by the years. The persistent one is destined to be left behind by no one…”

The hurtful words, tinged with a hint of scum, enraged the black cat, who howled and chased after the white figure as it fled, constantly spewing out scumbag quotes.

"Forced love will lead nowhere; the flowing river will only fall—falling to the point of separation between heaven and earth, falling to the vast distance between life and death..."

The original melody, amidst the rising and falling words, has become intense, like the clash of swords and the clatter of pots and pans.

A human and a cat chased after the puppet.

The black cat had a sudden inspiration. It grabbed the puppet's trouser leg and climbed onto its shoulder. With a leap, its claws flashed out and swept across the white figure's neck, pushing the melody to its explosive peak.

And so, the melody naturally faded away.

The white figure stopped, clutched his throat, staggered a few steps, and reached out towards Angelina.

"Farewell...too long to remember...my love..."

Angelina: "..."

A white shadow stumbles down, a black cat crouches, its silhouette vaguely desolate, occasionally emitting echoing melodies, its meows gradually fading away.

The melody slows down, freezes, and falls silent, a profound sadness, a desolate end, recounting an absurdity.

Phantom stopped singing, opened his eyes, took off his hat, and bowed to a secluded spot.

“Miss Christine, a cat shouldn’t be so despicable.”

The white figure flipped and jumped up, wiping a bit of dust from its nose: "But I'm still a cut above the rest! Wahahahahaha!"

The black cat seemed to roll its eyes and leaped into Phantom's hat.

"Xu Bai, your performance has taken another step forward."

Phantom put on his hat.

"Don't be fooled by Miss Christine next time. What's with the opening theme of 'Secret Love'? I almost had to put on a show about a human and a cat falling in love. I'm not a Fury fanatic—hey, audience members, even if you don't have money, at least give me a round of applause."

Bai Ying raised her hand and greeted Guan Gu Chun and the unfamiliar bald uncle, then looked towards the entrance outside the school gate.

There was a mature woman there, and...

Oh my god, isn't that the famous actress Mai Sakurajima?

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Snow Mother, Snow Mother! The whole audience cheered!

Wonderful!

This performance is fantastic! The flexibility and agility of the cat, the feigned affection of the scumbag, and especially the instantaneous switch between playing a cat and a human – it's all superb!

That voice! The melody, entirely driven by humming without lyrics, is simply beautiful, even though I'm not the music director. It's especially wonderful that you can feel the emotions the melody conveys! Acting skills don't matter; they'd be perfect for singing theme songs and insert songs!

"You two are hired by the production team!"

Okita immediately made the decision.

The white-clad figure asked in confusion, "Who are you, uncle?"

“You guys came here for auditions, right?” Okita said. “This improvisational audition method is really good…”

"You're overthinking it." Bai Ying stroked her chin. "But I'm actually a little interested in joining the crew—do you have a script?"

Guan Gu Jun pulled the script out of his bag: "Here!"

Bai Ying took the script and started reading. Okita Masashi didn't say anything. Given their close friendship, he figured Okita wouldn't leak the script. Besides, it would be even better if the script could move him. He tried to persuade Puppet Shadow, "Young man, would you like to join the crew?"

Phantom: "No."

Okita Tadashi: "But your friend has joined too, why don't you give it a try?"

Phantom: "No."

"Um, I mean—" Okita thought in reverse, "Don't you want to join the cast?"

Phantom: "Yes."

Okita Tadashi: "..."

“Aside from the troupe’s performances, Phantom never participates in any other formal performances in public. You can’t persuade him, uncle.”

Bai Ying quickly flipped through the script, her expression growing brighter with each page.

Wonderful!

Although I had a premonition after reading Brother Guan Gu's original work, I only realized how wonderful it was after actually reading it!

This script was clearly designed to flop at the box office and get a lot of flak!

Artistic, documentary-like, micro-stream of consciousness, tragedy, and most importantly, a sense of inferiority.

Viewers cannot empathize with inferior characters; they find it more painful to tolerate the flaws of others than to have flaws themselves.

If we look at it from a darker perspective, we can say that people live by contempt. If they can't contempt the living, they contempt the dead; if they can't contempt success, they contempt failure; if they can't contempt the material, they contempt the spiritual. In this way, they find excuses to deceive themselves and reasons to live a stable life. This is an unavoidable darkness in their hearts.

In short, it's not bad.

A director who chooses to adapt a novel into a film is bound to be a flop.

This movie is bound to flop.

Box office zero, actors ruined. When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?

That's brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

"Hmm, this script isn't quite compelling enough."

Bai Ying said, "Besides, the roles have already been decided, right? Even if I participate, I can't play anyone—I think we can revise the script. I happen to have some experience in this area, and with Brother Guan Gu's help, we can definitely make it a masterpiece!"

Let me, the master of light novel failures, give this script a good boost and hopefully turn the box office into a loss!

"No problem." The director was very lenient, since he would be reviewing the script himself in the end anyway. "Speaking of which, what's your name, young man? Guan Gu hasn't been formally introduced yet."

"My name is Bai Ying, an ordinary theater actor."

Okita Masahiro said knowingly, "A theater troupe? The kind that performs plays? No wonder they have such profound acting skills."

No wonder I've never heard of him in the relatively small entertainment industry; it's fate.

Mai Sakurajima, who had been quietly listening, raised an eyebrow slightly and glanced at the white figure with a strange look in her deep eyes. She reached out and smoothed her slightly curled hair... White figure? White figure? Could it be this person? Come to think of it, I think I ran into him before? It seems to match.

The effortless performance and aura, along with the lack of particular focus on himself, seem somewhat mismatched.

Regardless of whether you're a hater or a supporter, you at least have to be a supporter, right?

"The wages..."

Okita was a little cautious, after all, the production team was very poor.

"I'll help you for free."

Bai Ying said generously, "A low-budget art film doesn't take much time, and this is about Brother Guan Gu's first half of life. It's not reasonable to take money from it."

Okita gave a thumbs up: "He's righteous, but we should still give what we owe. Let's discuss it later. First, let's revise the script."

"Director," Mai Sakurajima said, "if the script needs to be changed, will the filming schedule be postponed? Will my scenes need to be reworked?"

"Okay, let's not film today, let's wait a bit."

The woman next to Mai Sakurajima frowned: "Director, isn't it going too far for you to suddenly add an actor and then suddenly change the script?"

Okita frowned: "This is for the sake of perfection!"

"Striving for perfection? I was already against Mai auditioning for this role, and you..."

“Alright, Mother, the contract is clearly signed in black and white. I just need to do what an actor should do,” Mai Sakurajima said with a smile. “The rest is up to the director. Thank you for your help. I hope you can give it to me as soon as the script is revised.”

"No problem, Ms. Mai. I'll get back to work now and let you know when filming is about to begin."

Okita nodded and immediately turned away, not wanting to be bothered by that Sakurajima older sister.

"Mai! I'm doing this to protect your identity as an actress! What kind of film can you make by acting like this? It would be terrible if it became a stain on your reputation!" Sakurajima's mother rubbed her forehead. "No, I still have to talk to the director about this!"

Sakurajima's mother glanced at the white figure who was discussing the script with Sekiya Jun with a slightly unfriendly look, and then strode after Okita Masashi.

Mai Sakurajima bowed and said, "I'm sorry, my mother probably felt that you were threatening my position in the crew, so she was being impolite."

"It's alright." Bai Ying replied casually, and continued to discuss with Guan Gu Jun how to make the tragedy more impactful. In that "do not disturb me" state, Sakurajima Mai couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Is it really Bai Liang and Bai Ying?

Sakurajima Mai was a little confused and suspicious. Could it just be a coincidence? After all, it's rare for people to go online using their real names, right?

"Ms. Sakurajima! Um, could I get your autograph?"

Angelina, having nothing to do, remembered that the other person was a celebrity and that some of her classmates might like him, so she quickly tried to pull out paper and pen from her pocket—but who would have thought she would run into a celebrity when she went out!

"It's alright, there are paper and pens elsewhere, come with me."

Mai Sakurajima smiled, found some paper and pen with Angelina on set, and signed her name: "May I ask what your name is?"

"Anxinyuan Angelina".

...What a long name.

Mai Sakurajima bowed her head and wrote a pointed blessing: "Alright, here you go."

“Um-um--” Angelina said shyly, “Could you write me another one? I’m planning to give it to Yui Yuigahama.”

“No problem.” Mai Sakurajima said casually as she wrote, “Wow, I’m that famous? I never really realized it.”

"I don't know either."

Angelina's mouth twitched, and she quickly coughed, "Yes, yes, Yuihama said that Sakurajima-san is a big star! She's been popular since she debuted as a child star, she must be very famous!"

"A child star debuted... that was several years ago. The times can forget someone in the blink of an eye."

Mai Sakurajima smiled and handed over the signed autograph: "Do you have any other classmates? Like that busy Bai Ying? I'll sign one for him too, you can give it to him later?"

Angelina happily put the autograph away: "Oh dear, Bai Ying definitely won't want an autograph..."

"Oh? Why?" Mai Sakurajima asked, puzzled. "Does it mean you dislike me?"

"Bai Ying said she wanted to be your hater, but she was probably just joking during the dinner party. But Bai Ying definitely doesn't follow celebrities..."

Angelina recalled the amusing incident and casually recounted the whole story.