Chapter 114

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Cheng Chen secretly traveled to Gang Sheng; the outside world knew nothing of it.

Although Cheng Chen was not on the Mainland, rumors about him spread everywhere there.

This stemmed from one interview.

Huang Xiaoming was asked during an interview, as both belonged to the new generation of talented actors.

He was asked who he saw as a threat, or as his rival.

At this time, Huang Xiaoming had already starred in numerous TV dramas, such as:

Love Is Not a Game, Let's Get Married, Bright Heart, The Great Han Emperor, among others, making him a rising heartthrob.

After listing a series of contemporaneous actors, the reporter still pressed on:

"What about Cheng Chen? What do you think of Cheng Chen?"

After a brief pause, Huang Xiaoming smiled and said:

"Cheng Chen? I've heard of him, but isn't he a singer…? I'm an actor, thank you."

Huang Xiaoming's response went viral among media outlets; his meaning was clear.

He did not acknowledge Cheng Chen as an actor, or rather, he felt Cheng Chen was not comparable to him as an actor.

Coincidentally, a few days later, Deng Chao was also questioned by reporters during an event about Huang Xiaoming's views on Cheng Chen.

Deng Chao smiled and said at the time:

"I think Xiao Ming's point makes sense."

Soon, entertainment news spread headlines like "Contemporary Heartthrobs United in Boycotting Cheng Chen" and "The Heavenly King of Mainland Entertainment Has Not Gained Recognition from His Peers."

The entertainment industry is strange—it can make someone famous overnight, or destroy their reputation in an instant.

Although Huang Xiaoming and Deng Chao's joint boycott did little damage to Cheng Chen's fame,

it revealed that Cheng Chen's reputation as an actor truly lagged behind his singing talent.

At this time, the term "traffic" and its underlying meaning had not yet become widespread; directors still prioritized acting ability when casting.

For stars like Cheng Chen, though producers wanted to hire him, they still needed to assess whether he could carry a lead role.

Otherwise, spending so much money to bring you in only for you to fail—that would be a waste!

There was a reason why Huang Xiaoming and Deng Chao suddenly turned their attention toward Cheng Chen.

After the New Year, Cheng Chen wildly accepted commercial appearances and endorsements, causing the sponsors originally loyal to Huang Xiaoming and Deng Chao to shift toward Cheng Chen.

After all, Cheng Chen, Huang Xiaoming, and Deng Chao were all top talents among the new generation, highly famous and immensely popular with young audiences.

But Cheng Chen's fame overshadowed the other two; advertisers were not fools—they naturally flocked to Cheng Chen.

In fact, such incidents were commonplace in the entertainment industry; initially, the two hadn't cared.

But Cheng Chen's frenzied pace of earning money was astonishing.

Both had recently become famous and planned to make a good profit during this Spring Festival.

Yet all their sponsors had fled to Cheng Chen—how could they not be furious?

Later, they heard Cheng Chen had earned tens of millions during this Spring Festival; they were utterly envious.

They noticed Cheng Chen had no powerful agency behind him and focused entirely on his singing career.

That's why the interview remarks happened…

The Mainland entertainment industry erupted over this incident; after the previous "rumored girlfriend" scandal, Cheng Chen was once again thrust into the spotlight.

Cheng Chen's musical talent was unparalleled, but since his debut, he had only starred in three films: Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, The Policeman's Story, and The Great Dyeing Workshop.

In Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, he played a supporting role; in The Great Dyeing Workshop, he barely landed the second male lead.

As for The Policeman's Story, he only got a minor supporting role in a standalone episode, and neither of the latter two TV dramas had been released yet.

Thus, people could only glimpse Cheng Chen's acting through his role as Song Qingshu in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

As for his acting… it was unremarkable.

Cheng Chen, stationed in Gang Sheng, naturally paid no attention to events on the Mainland.

Even if he knew, he would merely laugh it off.

To have Huang and Deng, who would later vie for the title of Huayi's "Number One," unite against him—on some level, that was an achievement.

…

At this moment, Cheng Chen sat upright in Zhou Xingchi's office.

"You're… Cheng Chen?"

After a while, the office door opened, and Zhou Xingchi's weary voice came through.

Cheng Chen stood and respectfully greeted Zhou Xingchi.

"Can you speak Cantonese?"

"Yes."

"Hmm."

Zhou Xingchi was vastly different from the image he portrayed in his past films.

Merely upon meeting him, Cheng Chen could sense from his aura that he was a serious man.

From the moment he sat down until now, Zhou Xingchi had spoken only three sentences to him.

No pleasantries, no small talk—neither warm nor cold, merely indifferent, even faintly melancholic.

His temples were already streaked with gray hair; compared to the sunny, handsome "Stephen Chow" from his earlier films, he now seemed silent and lonely.

After sitting down, Zhou Xingchi picked up a script, flipped through a few pages, then asked slowly:

"Lai Shuiqing mentioned you. In the news, your singer's halo seems brighter than your actor's—why come to act in films?"

Hearing Zhou Xingchi's question, Cheng Chen smiled slightly and said:

"Compared to singing, I prefer acting; singing is just a side job, acting is my main profession."

"Singing is a side job? Haha, you're funny—any singer outside would be utterly ashamed to hear you say that."

Cheng Chen nodded; anyone hearing him say that would likely react just like Zhou Xingchi.

Zhou Xingchi picked up the script lying on the table, as if muttering to himself, yet also testing Cheng Chen:

"After the protagonist successfully becomes a villain and robs the ice cream cart, why does he feel no pleasure at all, but instead fly into a rage and beat his partner?"

Here it comes, Cheng Chen knew Zhou Xingchi was starting his exam.

An actor must not only perform his own role well, but also understand the entire film's plot and story inside out.

Especially for film actors, because film demands greater integrity and rhythm than television dramas.

A qualified film must tell a clear story within a hundred minutes using precise shots.

Every single shot is deliberately arranged; every object appearing in the frame is carefully designed.

Otherwise, a film would never take three or four years, even five or six, to prepare.

Of course, there are actors who don't know the film's plot.

For example, Wong Kar-wai.

This man would hand actors just a few pages of dialogue, never explain the scenes, and sit lazily behind the monitor watching.

As long as the actor didn't deliver the state he wanted, the shot would be shot again and again.

Sometimes he didn't even know what kind of 'feeling' he wanted—just keep acting anyway…

So actors were often driven to despair, and crew members constantly complained.

But he didn't care; his film Ashes of Time took three years to shoot, and is still revered by art-house fans as a masterpiece.

It took three years total, until funding ran out, until the Producer cursed his name…

His friend Liu Zhenwei, just before the New Year release window, completed Chinese Odyssey 2002 in 27 days using the same crew as Ashes of Time, thereby rescuing Wong Kar-wai's broken funding.

It earned over 20 million at the box office, yet Ashes of Time, with the same crew, earned only nine million after release.

…

So even though Zhou Xingchi's question had nothing to do with the role Cheng Chen wanted to audition for, Cheng Chen still had to answer.

For Cheng Chen, who knew the plot well, the moment Zhou Xingchi posed the question, he pinpointed the exact scene:

The protagonist, portrayed by Zhou Xingchi, had just robbed the ice cream stall belonging to Fang'er, portrayed by Huang Shengyi, alongside Feizai Cong.

He accidentally learned she was the girl he had once tried to save as a child, only to be beaten senseless by thugs.

Then, Stephen Chow drove away Feizai Cong, who had been following him.

"Actually, this is a clever emotional supplement, refining the character's logic—precisely because he succeeded in becoming a villain, he's angry; he hates himself for only being able to bully the weak, for sinking to tormenting a mute girl..."

Zhou Xingchi listened silently; Cheng Chen's answer was mediocre—not dazzling, merely proof he'd read the script.

Then Cheng Chen continued slowly:

"Because he discovers he's bullying someone he's known since childhood, and that childhood acquaintance is the very person who triggered his psychological defense mechanism after his failed act of righteousness."

So he constructs a new persona to protect his self-respect—he must become a villain, because being good doesn't guarantee good outcomes."

And when the robbery succeeds, the emotional turmoil makes him conflicted, angry, even lost..."

Hearing this, Zhou Xingchi nodded; Cheng Chen had summarized the character's surface and inner depths well.

Just as he was about to speak, Cheng Chen went on:

"Actually, this scene serves structurally as a bridge—it deepens the protagonist's past, giving the audience emotional grounding."

It also foreshadows the protagonist's later joining of the Axe Gang, and his eventual betrayal, like the Sword of the Divine Condor..."

The emotional upheaval causes the protagonist to kill his villainous self—he understands the words spoken by Xiao Long Nu and the Beggar: 'If not me, then who?'"

The entire film is less an action Kung Fu movie than a battle between the protagonist's good and evil personas."

As a child, he wanted to be an upright good man; later, entering society, he saw villains controlled all resources, leaving him only two paths."

Either join the villains to gain resources, or sink into the bottom rung as an ordinary person—he chose to become a villain."

But in the end, he was redeemed, becoming the very 'good man' he had ignored—or looked down upon."

After Cheng Chen finished, Zhou Xingchi stared at him steadily, until Cheng Chen felt uneasy; only then did Zhou Xingchi speak slowly:

"Hmm. If you can't beat them, join them… Your Chinese grades must've been excellent, right?"

"Ah, this…"

"Just kidding. You understood well. You came here today—have you already decided which role you want to play?"

Zhou Xingchi rarely joked; Cheng Chen smiled beside him:

"Chen Ge."

"Hmm…"

Zhou Xingchi fell silent again; Cheng Chen couldn't tell his attitude.

Chen Guokun must have already joined Zhou Xingchi's company as one of his artists.

Add to that his solid performance in Shaolin Soccer, and taking Chen Ge's role from him would be extremely difficult.

But he'd come this far—Cheng Chen had no intention of backing down.

"Oh, Chen Ge…"

Zhou Xingchi paused, then said:

"Try performing the scene where Chen Ge kills the Crocodile Gang boss and his wife."

Then Zhou Xingchi called in a man and a woman.

Cheng Chen thought for a moment—this was a scene from the opening of Kung Fu, the most three-dimensional portrayal of Chen Ge in the entire film.

The general plot:

The Crocodile Gang boss's wife was caught by police for spitting on the street—it was a setup arranged by Chen Ge in collusion with the cops.

Taking advantage of the gap while Feng Laoda was throwing his weight around at the police station, Chen Ge had already wiped out all the Crocodile Gang's underlings.

In the end, Feng Laoda became a turtle in a jar, and the Axe Gang did it without lifting a finger; from then on, the Crocodile Gang vanished without a trace.

To sum it up with a proverb:

"A thug isn't scary—what's scary is a thug with culture."

"Ready?"

Zhou Xingchi asked.

"I'm good."

Cheng Chen closed his eyes, thinking about how to perform this scene, and when he opened them again, his whole body began to sway ever so slightly.

He looked to be in an extremely manic and arrogant state, his facial muscles twitching faintly—utterly unhinged—and his body swaying in different rhythms.

He took the most dashing of dance steps, gliding slowly over to the side of the man playing the Crocodile Gang's boss.

The man was also thrown off by Cheng Chen's sudden shift in style, as if he were truly facing a brutal, temperamental demon.

Especially those eyes, fixed dead on him—even the paper stick Cheng Chen had rolled from the script seemed like an axe about to cleave him down.

The only thoughts in his head were fear and escape, but luckily he came to his senses in time, looked at Cheng Chen, and said in terror:

"Wait! Wait! Don't you remember? I even treated you to a meal!"

Cheng Chen paid no heed to his plea and chopped straight down.

The man dropped on cue, and Cheng Chen kept "chopping" with great gusto.

Then Cheng Chen turned his gaze to the woman beside him; she was scared stiff and begged:

"Big brother, let me go!"

At this moment Cheng Chen's eyes went hazy again, his breath came in gasps, and his face took on a serious, solemn expression as he said:

"Don't be silly, sister-in-law—I don't kill women. Go on…"

The woman replied on cue:

"Thank you, big brother."

But the moment she turned around, Cheng Chen waved his hand at the empty air, as if taking a shotgun from an underling.

He toyed with the paper stick in his hand, then casually and elegantly pointed it in the woman's direction…

"Bang!"

The woman dropped on cue.

Cheng Chen grinned, his expression seeming to revel in the thrill of killing, and also to enjoy that intoxicating rush.

His whole body drifting, light as air, he took elegant dance steps and slowly walked away…

"Clap clap clap!"

Zhou Xingchi applauded from the side and said:

"Not bad."

Cheng Chen's gaze turned to Zhou Xingchi, and he immediately stepped out of his acting state.

Hearing his words, Cheng Chen almost thought he'd traveled back in time.

"Hahahaha—one word: perfect!"

Isn't this freaking meme material?!

The two crew members Zhou Xingchi had called over on the spot also left the office.

"Zhang-ge, what's the background of that guy inside? His eyes just now were really scary."

"I was startled by his performance too. You don't know who he is?

He's a singer who's been really hot on the Mainland lately. No idea why he came to Gang Sheng—probably auditioning for the boss's next film."

……