Chapter 143: Spring Festival Gala Rehearsal and Final Shooting of

Liu Xiaoli is a mother who devotes her entire heart to her daughter.

After divorcing her husband, Mother Liu took Liu Tianxian to Miguo and started a new life with a lawyer.

In Mother Liu's heart, nothing is more important than her daughter.

Once life stabilized, she shifted her focus entirely to her daughter, enrolling her in various arts and cultivating her intensively.

When Liu Tianxian told her mother she wanted to become an actress, Mother Liu opposed it.

But since her daughter insisted, the two returned to China when Liu Tianxian was fourteen.

Thanks to her outstanding looks and talents, Liu Tianxian was admitted to Beijing Film Academy and began her acting career.

Everyone says the entertainment industry is a dye vat, but after entering it, Liu Tianxian was always accompanied by her mother.

Her mother strictly managed her life and work, helping her avoid some of the industry's bad influences.

Mother Liu had once been an actress herself, so she tirelessly imparted her insights on acting to her daughter.

She also closely supervised how her daughter interacted with others on set and how to avoid being "persecuted" by scheming people.

She was strict with her daughter—down to managing every sip of water and bite of food, up to negotiating roles and communicating with the production team.

Liu Tianxian was protected like a delicate orchid.

But excessive protection and rigid education brought a series of problems.

For example, difficulty getting along with others, and poor stress tolerance.

Today's scene was simple—just a change in expression.

Yet she turned it into a dramatic performance, needing seven or eight takes to get it right.

Director Li Guoli was patient with her for the first three or four takes, but after that, he just gave up.

There's no point explaining—it still turns out the same way!

From Liu Tianxian's perspective, after failing the first two takes, her mindset collapsed on the third.

Combined with Li Guoli's indifference, her mental state completely shattered.

Around her, crew members waited with their equipment, the entire large production team holding its breath for just her to nail the scene.

If this were a background actor, they'd have been scolded by the director and met with scorn from the crew long ago.

The pressure was immense; the more anxious she became, the worse her mindset got, and the worse her performance became.

The director certainly has the duty to guide and instruct, but he won't coddle a little girl forever.

That's why Cheng Chen proposed a break—to let Liu Tianxian calm down a little.

And to encourage her, guiding her gently with a kind attitude.

It's the same principle as raising a child.

Parents often deprive their children of playtime just because their grades are poor.

They also become disappointed because their child is "not smart" or performs poorly academically.

But for children, as long as they have confidence, they will naturally devote themselves fully when they need to learn.

Liu Tianxian, raised almost entirely by her mother's hand, with rigid learning methods imposed on her,

can solve problems that follow the same pattern without issue.

But when faced with variation or even slight external pressure, she becomes utterly lost.

After all, she's only sixteen—she needs encouragement, guidance, and affirmation.

Cheng Chen had tried this approach before on Gao Yuanyuan while filming The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

Back then, Big Beauty Yuanyuan wasn't young.

She simply lacked confidence because she wasn't a trained actor and had never undergone systematic acting training.

After this scene, Liu Tianxian's impression of Cheng Chen improved considerably.

He wasn't, as rumors claimed, some tyrannical actor.

He was warm, kind, and a reliable older brother.

During a scene transition, Cheng Chen smiled and said:

"We have many more scenes together—any questions you don't understand, just ask me directly; don't keep them bottled up.

Sword Coming

As long as we don't need too many takes, we'll finish today's shooting early, and you can go home sooner."

Though he hadn't been on set long,

he understood Liu Tianxian's personality well—she was his constant scene partner.

Slightly socially anxious, a bit of a homebody, and a worker who especially hates overtime!

For her, leaving early meant escaping the set sooner.

Hearing she could leave early, Liu Tianxian's eyes lit up, and she asked:

"You have so many lines—it's hard enough just memorizing them all.

My lines are almost as many as yours—can you even keep up?"

Cheng Chen smiled slightly and said:

"Memorizing lines is basic skill—I've already memorized all of mine."

"Impossible…"

Liu Tianxian's mouth hung open, utterly astonished.

She assumed Cheng Chen had too many duties to possibly memorize such long, complex, tedious lines.

But upon reflection, since Cheng Chen arrived on set, he'd never once carried a script.

When rehearsing with her, he spoke flawlessly, word for word, without error.

Indeed, successful people are extraordinary—especially this man, just a few years older than her.

The little girl's heart was filled with awe!

Seeing Liu Tianxian like this, Cheng Chen smiled and said:

"I didn't just memorize my own lines—I memorized yours too, by accident."

"Huh?!"

"By accident??"

Liu Tianxian was startled by Cheng Chen's words, her delicate face full of shock.

"Don't believe me?"

Cheng Chen glanced at the script in her hand, his eyes tinged with mockery, and said:

"Flip to any page of our dialogue. You say my lines, I'll say yours. Try it?"

"Fine, let's try it!"

Feeling belittled, Liu Tianxian flipped through her script, cleared her throat, and said:

"I'm not the one you've been waiting for!"

Cheng Chen paused briefly, then replied smoothly:

"You are Xiaoyao Gege… Sorry, Ling'er promised Xiaoyao Gege she'd smile, but Ling'er can't…"

As they walked, they recited their lines back and forth.

Seeing Cheng Chen recite every line without a single stumble.

And not just any recitation—he recited them like a point-and-read system, exactly as the pages were turned.

At this, Liu Tianxian was utterly convinced.

In fact, "Immortal Sword" was written as it was filmed; actors first received only a story outline.

Based on the outline, they would interpret their characters' states, while the accompanying Screenwriter, using the shooting outline and schedule,

distributed the completed literary script to the actors all at once each week.

Because of this, actors had no chance to memorize lines in advance.

They only began memorizing when the script was handed out each week—this inevitably increased the actors' difficulty.

For sixteen-year-old Liu Tianxian, besides maintaining her on-set performance, memorizing lines was her biggest headache.

So, she was deeply envious and reverent of Cheng Chen's ability to memorize lines…

After this scene, Liu Tianxian's relationship with Cheng Chen grew much closer.

As their scenes increased, Liu Tianxian's address for Cheng Chen shifted from "Teacher Cheng" to "Xiaoyao Gege."

Cheng Chen, following others' lead, called her by her nickname: Xixi.

…

As time passed, the first costume rehearsal for the CCTV Spring Festival Gala finally began.

Previously, Madam Sun Li had contacted Cheng Chen.

Since their parting after "The Great Dyeing Workshop," they had not seen each other for a long time.

After his sudden fame, their intermittent contact had completely ceased.

Cheng Chen understood her desire to distance herself—she simply didn't want to be accused of riding his coattails.

But around September, she excitedly told Cheng Chen she had been invited to the Spring Festival Gala.

Cheng Chen had congratulated her.

However, by December, Sun Li was then filming "The Crimson Beauty Family."

And in January of this year, news broke that Sun Li had withdrawn from the Spring Festival Gala due to a car accident.

She officially withdrew from the opening song-and-dance number "Wishing for Spring" on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

She needed to assist Modu police with the accident investigation and had no time for rehearsal.

When Cheng Chen heard the news, he specifically called her to check in…

In the backstage area, Cheng Chen encountered many figures who would later become famous on television, such as "I Miss You So Much," Uncle Ben Shan, and others.

Notably, this was likely Uncle Ben Shan's final collaboration with Gao Xiumin; after this, they had no further contact.

The iron triangle of Spring Festival Gala skits had thus collapsed.

This year was the Year of the Monkey, so as the representative figure of the monkey realm, Mr. "Liang Kai Hua," naturally received an invitation…

Of course, the Gala's program had already leaked, and what people most anticipated was:

A Du, Zhou Dong, and Cheng Chen would all appear on the same Spring Festival Gala stage.

When this news spread like wildfire, Cheng Chen's fans immediately erupted.

You know, Cheng Chen had been competing for top rankings with A Du since his debut.

At first, certain experts had directly condemned their music as immoral.

When Cheng Chen's first album achieved godlike status, Zhou Dong's fans had built a wall of resistance.

But that wall was immediately crushed by Cheng Chen's album sales, which broke one million copies in his first month.

Now that all three were on stage together, fans were eager for drama, speculating whether they'd fight backstage.

After all, "enemies" meeting always spark with fury!

And surely A Du would team up with Zhou Dong to gang up on Cheng Chen—he'd climbed to fame by stepping on them.

Just imagining it felt thrilling…

This year's Spring Festival Gala centered on blessings.

Through blessings exchanged among friends, neighbors, families, cities, and across the Taiwan Strait, it elevated to the people's blessings for their motherland.

The Gala retained its traditional structure of spoken drama, song-and-dance, and opera.

The program also incorporated medleys of theme songs from 2003's acclaimed TV dramas like "The Golden Powder Family."

It also introduced tap dance performances, widely beloved by young audiences.

To maximally attract young viewers.

Of course, every year the Spring Festival Gala claims it wants to attract young people.

But in reality, with unchanged structure and stale content, it's truly hard to attract the young.

And the time left for the Spring Festival Gala production team is running out.

With the impact of the internet age, an increasing number of young people are turning their attention to the internet.

Even in the future, traditions like eating dumplings and watching the Spring Festival Gala during the New Year, once universal in every household,

Were directly shattered by smartphones and the internet, growing increasingly dispirited.

On rehearsal, Cheng Chen still sang the same song, "Where Has All the Time Gone?"

But compared to before, this time a series of photos were added to the large screen behind him.

These were a family that director Liu Qiang had searched long and hard for—one that had consistently documented their child's growth since infancy.

The photos floated continuously behind him, shifting in sync with Cheng Chen's singing.

Some in the audience had heard this song before, yet still wept uncontrollably from being moved by this format and this song.

Seeing such excellent results, director Liu Qiang felt deep pride within—he was, after all, the one in charge of this segment.

He grew ever more eager to see this song broadcast on the Spring Festival Gala stage, touching millions of households…

After the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal ended, drawing from last year's experience, Cheng Chen this time fully equipped himself and slipped out quietly through the back door.

This allowed him to evade the reporters waiting at the front entrance.

…

Xinghuo Entertainment, Cheng Chen's office.

Cheng Chen would stay in Jingcheng for one or two days, so he directly called Ning Hao over.

Upon receiving the call, Ning Hao immediately rushed over, eager and excited.

He solemnly handed the script of "Crazy Stone" to Cheng Chen.

Cheng Chen read through the entire script from beginning to end, then closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

He immediately called Su Qingya over and said:

"This is director Ning Hao. The company will produce a film.

Regarding funding and related matters, I'll send you the detailed process later—please assist Ning Hao with his work."

Su Qingya nodded and said:

"Understood, Director Cheng."

Hearing Cheng Chen finally make the decision, Ning Hao was overjoyed, rubbing his hands excitedly, saying:

"Miss Su, hello—thank you for your help going forward."

"Director Ning is too kind; it's my duty."

Cheng Chen nodded and said:

"Oh, by the way, can I play the role of the international thief Mike in here?"

Hearing this, Ning Hao froze, then hesitated awkwardly:

"How much salary will you want?"

He mentally calculated: given Cheng Chen's current fame, it'd probably take at least several hundred thousand yuan.

But then the budget for making the film would shrink!

Cheng Chen caught onto his little scheme and laughed bitterly:

"You're really calculating, aren't you? Don't worry—I won't take any salary. I'm doing a cameo as a favor, no pay at all. Is that fine?"

"Hehe, that's wonderful, that's wonderful…"

Ning Hao grinned, jokingly—given Cheng Chen's current fame and acting ability, he was more than qualified to play Mike.

Moreover, Cheng Chen himself carried built-in buzz; with his involvement, "Crazy Stone" would become a sensation even before release.

Just the fans drawn by Cheng Chen alone would surely push box office numbers even higher.

"Alright, stop grinning like an idiot—go start organizing the crew. I'll be busy in the coming days.

If anything comes up, contact Qingya directly. Oh, and when you've picked the actors, show me before finalizing."

"Crazy Stone" succeeded at the box office not only because of its outstanding plot,

But also thanks to the brilliant performances by Huang Bo, Guo Tao, and Liu Hua.

Especially Huang Bo, with his Qing Shi dialect and unappealing looks, earned the film considerable critical acclaim.

And he personally won multiple awards, launching his career into a "massive explosion!"

Since "Crazy Stone" appears over a year earlier than in the original timeline, it cannot deviate from the original film's outcome and affect its results…

Hearing Cheng Chen's words, Ning Hao nodded and said:

"Don't worry, Director Cheng—I'll pay attention. Once I have ideas for the actors, I'll send them to you immediately."

…

——————Author's Note——————

Thank you to Jingqiao Bi, Yuan Shuai 2333, Mei Liu'er, and Song Linfeng for your monthly ticket support, and thank you all brothers for your recommendation ticket support—thank you!!!