Chapter 388: How to get compensation?

A mountain road, rugged and many twists and turns.

Huang Kairen sat in a van, bumping along the uneven mountain road.

By the time he arrived at the shooting scene, the sunset had already sunk halfway, leaving only half a circle above the horizon.

Originally, Huang Kairen was not going here, but because of the temporary adjustment of the shooting, in order to catch the sky light and shoot the night scene, it was changed here.

By the time the car stopped, Huang Kairen felt that his internal organs were about to be bumped out.

He endured the discomfort and nausea, got out of the car, and saw the place where he was, which was actually in a forest.

"Where are the people?" Huang Kairen was stunned, because there was no one around.

He looked back at the driver and the person who came to pick him up in surprise.

"Teacher Huang, wait a moment, it's not there yet, it's just that the road behind is not easy for the car to drive, so you have to walk in." The other party said.

Huang Kairen was surprised.

Then, he walked for about ten minutes before he saw a group of people from afar and saw the familiar set scene.

The lighting has been set up.

The twilight is very thick, and there is a sense of depression that wants to swallow everything.

The staff member who came to pick him up said: "Teacher Huang, we are here."

Between heaven and earth, the twilight only has the last layer of rhyme left.

The mottled tree shadows and the voices of people coming and going are intertwined, like a mirage that is about to wake up.

I don't know if it was because he was dizzy after bumping all the way, or if the picture presented before his eyes at this moment was too detached from ordinary reality.

Huang Kairen's heart seemed to be tapped lightly by a hammer.

Tapped out the long Sanskrit sound in the deep mountain temple.

"Teacher Huang?" The staff member shouted again.

He woke up like a dream, and for a moment, a bitter smile overflowed from the corner of his mouth.

Actor, why be an actor?

Huang Kairen's mind floated this question again.

Before coming, he had roughly thought that his heart not wanting to act in *Rouge* would waver, but he didn't expect his heart to waver so quickly.

It's not any god-sent factor, but this atmosphere.

Besides fame and fortune, what are actors pursuing?

Others don't know, but Huang Kairen enjoys the process of playing a character.

Why do many actors say they want to act in movies, not TV series? Especially those top actors. Is it purely because of the contempt chain that movies are more advanced than TV series? People who hold this idea actually ignore the most simple yearning of people for good and beauty. Actors like Huang Kairen, he likes acting and is an actor with more acute sensitivity than ordinary people, even more so. He also yearns to act in movies, yearning for that kind of more extreme performance environment.

In the current film and television production environment, there will absolutely not be any TV series crew that will come to such a deserted place like a wilderness that needs to be transferred so far to take scenes for a play.

So, in that moment just now, why was Huang Kai touched?

Because the group of people before him, in order to obtain the most ultimate, most authentic shooting environment, could disregard time, disregard location, and not care how far this place was from human society, enduring the hardships of a near-pristine wilderness.

Huang Kai was not the type of actor to covet comfort; otherwise, he wouldn't be trying every possible way to transition his career. He was also not the type of actor who would refuse a role or a project because the shooting environment was poor or involved a lot of suffering. On the contrary, he actually quite enjoyed the state of being challenged and pushed to his limits for the sake of a role. He liked the burden; once he overcame that burden, he would gain a sense of pleasure.

However, in his past shooting experiences, there were rarely such moments.

Lian Xun knew this too.

But Lian Xun had said, "It's not like only ascetic actors are good actors. You are already ahead of many of your peers, and no one says your acting is bad, so why go out of your way to look for suffering?"

Huang Kai thought to himself that Lian Xun had never understood him from beginning to end.

"He thinks I don't understand him, thinks I'm just a profit-driven agent."

Lian Xun was drinking with a friend, venting, and as he spoke, he became emotional, feeling annoyed, dissatisfied, and disappointed.

The friend said, "Then why don't you let him go film a project he wants to do?"

"Because his acting isn't that good! In the projects I pick for him, he can show excellent acting, but that doesn't mean he can play anything!" Lian Xun said with dissatisfaction. "Look at Lu Yan He. He knows how to act; even a fool can see that. He can play anything, so of course he's not afraid of any role. Even if he plays a villain, he can make it charming. But does Huang Kai have that ability?"

"He hasn't even played those roles, how do you know he doesn't?"

"I'm his agent. If I didn't even know whether he had that kind of ability, wouldn't I have been working in vain? Don't think I just treat him as a money-making job. I'm telling you, I truly treat him like a brother. You think I'm just profit-driven and money-grubbing? I also hope his career develops well and he can reach a certain height in the future. But everyone has their own limitations. You have to look at what kind of material someone is. If someone is clearly on the path of a star, and you force them to be a character actor, if they can't handle that kind of work, why force it?"

The friend laughed and said, "The way you put it, who doesn't want to reach a higher height?"

"Who says the height of a character actor is necessarily higher than that of a star?" Lian Xun said very dissatisfiedly. "That's all blown out of proportion by you people. This is the entertainment industry, the performing arts industry, not a stage for plays, nor some circle of performance art. This is a stage for star-making. Even if we hype up a character actor, it's to create a star who is a character actor. Over all these years, are all the legendary big stars character actors? Professional ability is necessary, but if you really want to choose character actors, then everyone should just go perform on the stage. Film and television are about the times creating heroes, not acting creating heroes."

"You say that, but others don't acknowledge it."

"But why can't Huang Kai see this point? He sees Lu Yan He suddenly emerge, and he gets hot-blooded and naive, thinking he can do it too." Lian Xun was incredibly annoyed. "I don't even know who is behind him, egging him on, making him think he has that level."

Huang Kai sat in a corner, playing the role of a complete spectator, quietly watching everything before him.

The makeup artist was touching up Lu Yan He and Chen Bige.

At this moment, both of them were supposed to look a bit disheveled, as they had run away in the middle of the night.

Huang Kai heard Lu Yan He say, "Actually, shouldn't my mouth be a bit drier at this moment?"

The makeup artist turned to look at Wang Zhong.

Wang Zhong was standing right in front of them.

He said, "Too dry doesn't look good either. At this moment, I don't want your scene with her to be unbeautiful. This night scene is the most story-driven part of the whole narrative; being too realistic doesn't look good."

Lu Yan He smiled and did not argue.

This story was set against the backdrop of the Republic of China era, where a young man secretly fell in love with the lady next door, whose husband had died in battle, leaving her a widow.

And her husband's superior—a murderous warlord—coerced her into marrying into his mansion as a concubine.

On impulse, the young man took her away one night to elope. The woman followed him on a night run, stayed overnight in an ancient temple, and listened to him tell the story of his secret love for her, until he leaned against the wall and fell into a deep sleep.

Before dawn, the woman got up, covered the young man with her own cloak, and returned alone to marry the warlord.

There wasn't much plot; it was all mood and atmosphere.

For an actor, it was very difficult to perform.

But for a capable actor, it provided a great deal of room for expression.

"You are running away with the lady you've always loved; that's just the shell of the story. But I don't want to shoot a realistic scene. This night is like a sudden firework, happening very abruptly. But even so, your dishevelment, your nervousness and unease are all intertwined with a rapidly rising heat that breaks through conventional constraints and limitations. You should understand what I mean, right? Like a butterfly trapped in a spider web, finally breaking free on this night and flying toward the bonfire—that kind of image."

Lu Yan He thought about it seriously and nodded.

"Impulse and heat, carrying a youthful, idealistic passion."

Chen Bige said, "I already have an idea. In fact, in this short film, from beginning to end, I have never actively done a single thing. The perspective of the short film is the young man's perspective. From the young man's perspective, I am dignified and generous, gentle and composed. Director, you want a dreamlike heat, but in that heat, I am still calm and reticent. I want to perform a feeling of being breathless, like a portrait accompanying the young man, as if all of this is just his dream. Only at the very end, at dawn, does the perspective of the short film change, and I have my first active behavior: leaving him and returning."

"I have a kind of tolerance for him that is absolutely not just love. In fact, in my understanding, I don't actually have romantic love for this young man," Chen Bige said. "I just saw in him the person who used to be by my side, projecting my dead husband onto him."

Wang Zhong sighed deeply.

"I was worried you would design it this way."

"Hmm?" Chen Bige was startled.

"But I want you to be moved by this young man," Wang Zhong said. "You project your dead husband, see his shadow in the young man, and have a tolerance for him—these are all fine, I don't object, you can improvise as you like. But there is one point: she must be moved by the young man. If that layer isn't there, I feel this story becomes vulgar. You can play it complexly, but you cannot play it too logically to reduce the audience's discomfort. You yourself still feel that you are much older than him, and if you really fell in love with him, others would be uncomfortable to some extent, which is why you designed this logical line for yourself so you can convince yourself and the audience."

Wang Zhong pointed out Chen Bige's character logic line with pinpoint accuracy.

"But we are not making a film to please the audience. Even if it's a little offensive, I hope this short film can have something unconventional."

Chen Bige fell into silence.

Seeing this, Lu Yan He also closed his mouth, remaining quiet to give Chen Bige space to think.

"Pursuing art, pursuing the richness and literary quality of characters—honestly, do you think this is still that kind of era?" Lian Xun asked his friend.

"A good persona can let an artist live off it for a lifetime; a bad persona, and the actor gets scolded along with it. There are too many such examples," Lian Xun said. "Refusing to play a role that the audience likes and insisting on playing someone who betrayed their lover, someone selfish and fickle—yes, such a role is very different, something never played before, but why doesn't he think about why he hasn't played it? Is it because my judgment is bad and I can't think of picking such a role for him?"

The friend said, "Lian Xun, everything you say is correct, but you also have to think that even if Huang Kai is just a star and an artist in your eyes, not an artist, he still has such a heart that pursues art. You keep blocking him; how do you think he feels?"

Lian Xun wanted to continue speaking.

The friend interrupted him, not letting him finish.

"Don't you know that your mom telling you to stay up less is for your own good? Have you done it?"

"Don't you know that me asking you to change your way of thinking about this matter is for your own good? Have you accepted it?"

Lian Xun was retorted so hard he couldn't say a single word.

"He is not a puppet in your hands. If he wants to hit a wall, you have to let him hit it. On one hand, he might exceed your expectations and break through the wall. On the other hand, if he doesn't break through, okay, then he himself will know you were right," the friend said. "If you never let him hit a wall, in his eyes, you are the biggest wall preventing him from surpassing himself. Then be prepared to part ways with him in the future."

Lian Xun couldn't say a word.

His heart felt like a draft blowing through a hall.

The wind had risen.

Chen Bige raised her hand and pulled her cloak together.

A gentle smile flashed in her eyes.

At this smile, the young man's heartbeat seemed to stop. He was dazed for a moment, then immediately withdrew his gaze and said, "M-Madam, there is an ancient temple ahead; let's go rest for a while."

The young man's voice was filled with embarrassment.

Chen Bige nodded gently, "Okay."

Her lines were few, her facial expressions were few, but her face and eyes were full of story.

Every look she cast at the young man held deep, complex emotions, yet they were restrained within, separated by a layer of mist, revealing only shadows.

Even from a distance, with Huang Kai not looking at the close-up on the monitor but just watching with his own eyes, he could feel the atmosphere between the two actors.

Nightfall, in the forest, the cold moonlight spilled through the branches and shadows.

Water mist curled, bird calls sounded like jade.

At this moment, the natural environment and the artificially created effects merged into one.

Lu Yan He and Chen Bige stood less than five meters away from Huang Kai, yet it was as if they were separated by a different time and space.

This clear sense of detachment, as if truly seeing a scene from the past through the light and shadow of a mirage, was a shooting scene Huang Kai had never seen before.

The shooting scene itself seemed to have become a work of art.

Huang Kai silently pursed his lips.

He did not notice that Xin Zixing was standing behind his side, examining his absorbed expression, watching him just as quietly, just as absorbed, as if gazing at him.

Xin Zixing never believed that Huang Kai's acting talent was enough to make him a great master of performance.

But she knew his piety and love for acting.

Therefore, even if he might not be able to perform brilliantly, wasn't the process of acting a kind of wish-fulfilling satisfaction?

Xin Zixing didn't care if Huang Kai could win awards, but she hoped he could get what he wanted.

She had never said these words to him.

Huang Kai always felt that she didn't understand his feelings about acting as an actor.

Xin Zixing indeed didn't understand where the charm of acting lay; if she did, she might have become an actor herself.

But she didn't need to understand. As long as she knew what he cared about, what he valued, and what he truly wanted, as his lover, she would use all her strength to help him achieve it.