The man in front of him was named Xie Gefei. The reason why Ye Zhou remembered this person was entirely because the role he played in the original novel was too brilliant.
Xie Gefei was discovered by a talent scout at the age of 15 and became the youngest Best Actor in China at the age of 16 with a movie role. Just when everyone thought he would have a smooth career ahead, he disappeared from the public eye. No one knew what had happened to him. When he reappeared in the audience’s view again, it was because of a low-budget crime genre movie.
He played a negligible villain in the movie, but he turned this character into a classic. Many viewers were even scared out of their wits after watching the film.
Relying on this film, he won the Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Orange Awards, which kicked off the opening of his cheat-like life.
In just five short years, this incredible man had almost won all the awards at major domestic film festivals. Before anyone could applaud his honors, he disappeared again.
The next time there was news of him was two years later at the Cannes Film Festival. Xie Gefei won Best Actor at this film festival. This seemed to be just the beginning. In the following years, Xie Gefei frequently won awards at the Berlin and Venice Film Festivals.
…
Everyone praised his full honors, but few knew that Xie Gefei had almost given up his acting career after being suppressed by others a few years ago. At his most difficult time, Xie Gefei even had to work three or four jobs a month. Apart from maintaining a basic life, the rest was used to study acting.
Apart from superb acting skills, Xie Gefei was also very gentle and modest. He never stinted on sharing his acting experiences and would patiently teach whoever asked. As a result, almost all the actors who had worked with him grew after finishing filming.
Ye Zhou clearly remembered that the period when the protagonist Cheng Ran left Jiang Yu in the novel was because he had received Xie Gefei’s help to quickly improve his acting skills, paving the way for his later domination of the entertainment industry.
Such a superb actor with a gentle personality who would even help directors teach newcomers was simply the favorite of all directors! Ye Zhou had never dreamed that such a legendary figure would appear at the audition for his film.
Judging from Xie Gefei’s current outfit, he should still not have walked out of the low point in his life. Ye Zhou roughly calculated the timeline and found there was still more than a year before Xie Gefei filmed that crime genre film.
He tried hard to suppress the upward curl of his lips and signaled to the assistant director next to him. The assistant director understood and looked at the registration form, “Mr. Xie Gefei, right? If you’re ready, you can start.”
Hearing this, Xie Gefei bowed to the judging panel. When he raised his head again, Ye Zhou noticed his aura had instantly changed.
He got a very interesting role. The character he needed to play was an extremely cruel and ruthless killer. Because of his extremely skilled abilities, he quickly made a name for himself in the circle. And because of his cold personality and habit of never speaking more than three words, he got a codename over time – Killer No. 3. No one knew that the reason why No. 3 was cold and silent was because he stuttered. Once he spoke more than three words, he would stutter.
This role looked simple but was not easy to play well. He had to maintain the image of a cruel and cold-blooded killer while also showing some humorous elements. Although the killer was not the male lead, he was the soul of the whole drama. Ye Zhou had not expected Xie Gefei to get this role even in the audition.
The audition time was not long, just five minutes or so, and Xie Gefei’s performance was over.
The assistant director observed Ye Zhou’s expression and saw that he remained calm and unruffled. He knew what Ye Zhou thought.
He lightly coughed to break the silence in the room, “That’s it. You can go back and wait for notice.”
Hearing this, Xie Gefei nodded and concealed the loss in his eyes as he bowed.
‘Go back and wait for notice’, Xie Gefei had heard this countless times. Although he had prepared mentally beforehand, when this result really came, Xie Gefei still couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
Although he had only gotten a few words about this role, he really liked the character.
Xie Gefei took a deep breath. When he raised his head again, the loneliness and loss in his eyes had disappeared. He turned and left, just like every time after a failed audition.
“Wait.” A clear voice rang out in the room, successfully stopping Xie Gefei’s footsteps.
He turned around and found that the refined and gentle-looking young man was the one who had called out to him. Astonishment flashed across his face.
“Can I ask a question?” Ye Zhou looked at him and said, “What kind of character should Killer No.3 be?”
Xie Gefei hesitated for a moment and candidly replied, “It’s pure yet…a little insecure.”
“Get ready. Come to the crew to report next month.” Ye Zhou made a very decisive decision on the actor for this role.
Although he knew Xie Gefei would become a dazzling star in the future, if he could not perfectly meet Ye Zhou’s expectations, Ye Zhou would never use him.
But obviously, Xie Gefei’s performance just now made Ye Zhou very satisfied.
Xie Gefei’s mind was still blank even after leaving the audition room. He dazedly looked at the contact information given by the crew, and a sense of unreality filled his whole body.
Everything felt like a dream. Xie Gefei didn’t even dare to think back on what happened just now for fear that it was just his imagination.
After walking aimlessly for an unknown amount of time, Xie Gefei stopped and finally bit the tip of his tongue as if he had finally made up his mind.
The sting and taste of blood instantly filled his mouth, but Xie Gefei laughed out loud.
At first, it was just a smile, then the corners of his lips uncontrollably kept rising, but in the end, tears suddenly fell down while laughing.
If what happened today was just a dream, he wished to never wake up.
#
Because of Xie Gefei’s appearance, Ye Zhou couldn’t help racking his brains to recall the not-yet-famous powerful male actors in the original novel at this stage.
He did think of a few. It was just a pity that, obviously, he didn’t have the same good luck as the protagonist. It was already a huge bug to meet Xie Gefei. Wanting more was simply impossible.
With the precious Xie Gefei ahead, the actors who came to audition afterward instantly became foils, unsatisfying Ye Zhou anywhere.
Apart from the limited acting skills of these actors themselves, Ye Zhou’s pickiness also posed a huge obstacle to the crew’s casting.
He was busy until the evening when the first day of auditions ended without a second actor appearing who could catch Ye Zhou’s eye.
Fortunately, the auditions would last three days. Although there was no one on the level of Xie Gefei’s bug in the next two days either, Ye Zhou did find several decent seedlings.
Although most were unknown newcomers whose acting was still awkward, they had great potential. This was also an unexpected piece of good fortune.
As time passed day by day, everything was ready, and the film was about to start shooting. An accident happened that caught the entire crew off guard.
Three days before filming started, the assistant director in charge of the actors suddenly received a call with bad news.
An actor they had finalized negotiations with and signed a contract with suddenly went back on his word, willing to pay liquidated damages rather than continue to participate in filming “A Farce.” There was no reason, but he was very determined.
To make matters worse, this actor was not an isolated case. Apart from him, two other actors also politely expressed they could not come either and were willing to pay compensation for breach of contract.
When Ye Zhou hurried over after receiving the news, the assistant director was drenched in anxious sweat, holding the phone and urgently communicating something with someone.
But the discussion clearly wasn’t going well.
Though it started off calm, something the person on the other end said agitated the usually even-tempered assistant director and changed his expression.
“The contract is signed, and we start shooting the day after tomorrow. You’re backing out now. Where do you expect us to find a replacement actor to fill your role at such short notice?” The assistant director’s face flushed red with anger, his grip on the phone tightening as if it were the actor’s neck he wished to strangle.
He took a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. “We can renegotiate the fee. Or just let me know when you’re free to come to the set, and we can discuss any issues…”
Before he could finish, the phone was snatched from his hand. Annoyed, the assistant director turned to see who would be so bold, only to find the director himself standing behind him.
Ye Zhou glanced at the number on the screen and was about to say something when a harsh male voice arrogantly cut in from the other end: “I already said it’s not about money. What kind of decent work could a tiny production team like yours put out with an incompetent director like Director Ye?”
“Instead of trying to persuade me to act for you, why don’t you ask your Director Ye how many of his past films were made based on his own ability?” The voice rang loud and clear, and even the assistant director could hear every word distinctly. He carefully observed Ye Zhou’s expression, worried that his boss might erupt in anger.
He was also a director. No one understood better than him how it felt to have one’s skills doubted, especially a director’s filming capabilities.
The assistant director was ready to placate Ye Zhou, but unexpectedly Ye Zhou remained very calm. He quietly waited for the other party to finish before speaking, “Thank you for your concern. Regrettably, how good my filming skills are, you will no longer be able to witness personally.”
“Besides, Mr. Liu, please transfer the liquidated damages to the crew’s finance department within the deadline stipulated in the contract. Lastly, I wish you the best in your acting career.”
After that, Ye Zhou directly hung up and returned the phone to the assistant director.
He opened Weibo on his own phone. Without needing to deliberately search for anything, his name was prominently displayed in the most eye-catching position on the hot search trends.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
