Chapter 3: Returning to School

Clothes, hairstyle, makeup...

Lin Nan looked at himself in the mirror, unable to believe it; he really looked like a dull lad from the village.

Recalling the finished footage in his mind, he felt he had finally captured the right vibe.

Dragged and coaxed by two people from the station, the naive and inexperienced Yuan Fengming just followed them along.

Lin Nan portrayed this simplicity very well; most of his peers back home were like this.

With an extra "Second Uncle" in his life, he began the bitter life of working down in the mine.

Director Li Yang was very satisfied with Lin Nan's performance; although a bit green, wasn't that exactly the kind of greenness needed here?

The more he acted, the more he got into character; Lin Nan felt as if he had truly come to regard the two as his own kin.

It wasn't until the scene where he went to get a massage that Lin Nan was cut several times, for a reason that left everyone speechless.

He failed to convey that sense of ignorance and naivety; one look and it was obvious he was acting.

Lin Nan was helpless, too; his body was fine, but his heart was certainly no longer that of a novice.

Finally, after being repeatedly called to stop until everyone was exhausted, Lin Nan, with his mind blank, managed to perform that touch of childishness.

"Finally done," the group just wanted to rest.

The director pulled Lin Nan aside, "Were you feeling embarrassed just now? Actually, it's normal to have a reaction; you're a young man. But always remember, this is filming. You'll join many more crews in the future; you must never lose focus during scenes like this."

Lin Nan felt wronged in his heart: Director, you misunderstood me, I'm not that kind of person.

Seeing the seniors around him all watching with smiles, Lin Nan had to keep his mouth shut.

Time passed quickly; in the blink of an eye, twenty-some days had gone by.

The group got along very well in the crew, whether filming at the mine or shooting on location in town.

Lin Nan cherished this time; two years ago, he only thought about getting into the academy for the art exams.

But after two years, especially these twenty days of filming, Lin Nan's state of mind had changed somewhat.

He began to truly love this profession.

Returning to the mine once more.

Tang Zhaoyang was about to make a move on Yuan Fengming, but Song Jinming stopped him multiple times, and in the end, the two perished together.

The Yuan Fengming played by Lin Nan received the compensation money from his "Second Uncle," and he could use this money to complete his and his sister's education...

A month passed quickly, and it was time for the makeshift crew to disband.

"Director, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will always remember this experience and your guidance," Lin Nan thanked the director privately.

After saying goodbye to the other actors one by one, he needed to return to school as soon as possible.

It was already mid-November, and he had only asked for a month's leave; it wouldn't be good to drag it out, and he had already fallen behind on quite a few courses.

"Go back and study hard; we'll continue to collaborate if there's a chance.

As for the film, I will take it abroad. Whether it wins an award or how much money it makes, I will notify you the moment I know."

"Don't worry, Director, no problem. I believe you will definitely win an award; I'll stake my future on it," Lin Nan said nonchalantly.

This made the director laugh along, "I wouldn't dare delay your future, but I'll take your word for it."

All good things must come to an end.

Lin Nan left the crew, went to see his father, and then prepared to return to school.

After tossing and turning on the train for a long time, by the time he arrived at the station, Lin Nan felt like he was falling apart.

Ignoring the strange looks from others, he rushed back to the dormitory; he needed a good sleep first.

He really couldn't rest well on the train; it was too chaotic and noisy.

"Hey, wake up, Lin Nan, stop sleeping..."

Dazed and groggy, he seemed to hear someone calling him.

Struggling to open his eyes, he saw Zhu Yawen standing by his bed, along with a few other classmates.

"You've been sleeping from yesterday afternoon until this morning. If you didn't wake up, we were going to splash water on you."

Zhu Yawen said, and the others nearby dispersed once they saw Lin Nan wake up.

He lay on the bottom bunk, motionless.

"This past month has exhausted me," Lin Nan said, still feeling listless.

Zhu Yawen sat on the empty bunk opposite, "You've been gone for a month and look five years older; you really did go down into a mine."

Lin Nan didn't mind Old Zhu's teasing; he had indeed become much more weathered during this time. The dry weather in the Northwest, the fact that they didn't bathe in the crew to stay in character, and his hair had grown quite a bit.

He figured he would need to spend half a month resting at school for his skin to recover.

"But you're really something. You were talking about filming that morning, and a few days later you were actually on set. Even if it's small, it's still a movie."

Zhu Yawen looked envious, and he also admired Lin Nan's boldness in actually investing his own money.

It wasn't strange that Zhu Yawen knew; after all, he had asked for a month's leave, and the class monitor must have told the substitute teachers or classmates.

Just like that "Celestial" currently filming *Dragon*, everyone at school talked about it quite a bit, especially the female students—some with envy, some with jealousy.

"Enough about me, tell me about school. Anything new happen in the month I was gone?"

Speaking of which, Zhu Yawen became talkative again. A few days ago, there was a seminar at school for *Hero*; it was packed with people, and when the director and producers spoke on stage, the students below were fired up.

There were also some short films that were very shocking.

There were also quite a few classmates who kept asking for leave, either for a few days or not showing up at all.

Old Zhu talked, and Lin Nan listened.

"I'm going to wash my face, let's go out and get something to eat," Lin Nan said, getting up.

The school was still the same; you could see the most students in the lower grades, but the higher up you went, the more they were out running around.

"Linzi, I found a gig," seeing Old Zhu looking both happy and holding something back, Lin Nan was speechless.

"What else could you have? At most, you landed a role. Acting all coy like that, not very manly."

"Screw you, who's not manly? But you're actually right. I landed a TV drama, starts filming tomorrow, a youth campus drama."

"That's great, congratulations. Now we've both started our careers. TV dramas pay better than what I did; I invested, and my salary was only three thousand. A TV drama should pay tens of thousands, right?"

Lin Nan was still quite envious, but thinking that there would be good news next year, he felt much happier.

By then, he would also be someone who had won a Golden Horse.

When it comes to making money, TV actors still made more in these years; most film actors couldn't compare to them, except for that tiny group at the top.

The two went out to a restaurant, with Lin Nan treating, claiming it was because he had received his salary.

Afterward, Old Zhu went back to school first, and Lin Nan went to get a haircut.

"Master, the same style as I told you last time, clean and sunny."

"You got it."

Returning to school, he went to find the class monitor to cancel his leave.

"I heard from them that you slept for a whole day," Teacher Zhou teased.

"Don't listen to their nonsense, it wasn't even twenty hours. I was just too tired from this period, and the train ride was even more exhausting."

"Since you're back, settle your mind, focus on your classes, and catch up on what you missed."

"No problem, don't worry."

In the afternoon, Lin Nan went to his film history class. They were all old films; to put it bluntly, he hadn't even heard of these in his past life, and it was only after entering the film academy in this life that he came into contact with these foreign films.

The students at the film academy today were still full of ideals, and being a film actor was their goal, unlike later on when it became increasingly watered down and mocked by the public.

Lin Nan was thinking about a problem: it was hard for any actor to guarantee they would stay popular all the way.

How should he plan his future path? He probably couldn't just be an actor; that was too singular, and he might get replaced if he wasn't careful.

In the future, he could try multi-line development, such as being a producer, a director, or starting a company...

"Ahem, don't lose focus," the teacher was conscientious, Lin Nan had to admit.

Who told him to sit in the front and daydream? He had to thicken his skin and smile, begging for mercy.

The teacher above kept talking and eventually brought up the Golden Rooster Awards from the end of last month; Director Chen had won Best Director, adding another entry to his resume.

Director Chen was currently at the height of his career; only flowers and applause were worthy of him.

At the same time, Director Feng had helped Uncle Ge win the Hundred Flowers Best Actor award with *Big Shot's Funeral*.

Added to that was the upcoming *Hero* by Director Zhang, the National Master; these three should be considered the three most prominent big directors in the country right now.

The students listened excitedly, fantasizing about being able to act in these three directors' films.

But Lin Nan knew that was impossible right now; they all had their fixed circles, which were not something a group of small fry in their freshman year could reach, unless your father was very powerful.

*Hero* had already done a great job with promotion and would be released next month.

The students were eager to go and watch it the moment it was released; just thinking about the cast made everyone intoxicated. He heard it was an investment of thirty million dollars—good heavens, two hundred and fifty million yuan.

The bell for the end of class interrupted the teacher's mood, "Class dismissed."

"You're really something, sitting in the front and still daydreaming," the one who said this was Zhou Yang, a beauty with a straightforward personality, from Liaoning Province in the Northeast, a beauty with temperament who started out in dance.

"I just lost focus for a second, who knew I'd be called out," Lin Nan argued.

When he first met this female classmate, Lin Nan recognized her as the Third Holy Mother; that was the only role of hers that left a deep impression on him, mainly because the TV dramas she was in later were mostly trash.

"I heard you went to film a movie last month, how was it? Tell me about it?"

Zhou Yang draped her arm over Lin Nan's shoulder, asking as they walked, completely ignoring Lin Nan's resistant gaze.

"Sister, mind the influence," Lin Nan said, but he didn't shake off her arm.

"I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Hurry up and tell me."

"It's just a realistic subject, can't be released, I just took it as gaining experience," Lin Nan could only say this much, and he wasn't lying.

Only then did Zhou Yang let go, "I thought it was some big production, and you dared to ask for a month's leave. When I make it big in the future, I'll let you hang onto my coattails."

Lin Nan followed the line of sight downward; hmm, they were long legs.

"What are you looking at?" Zhou Yang said, running off toward the group of girls.

Zhu Yawen ran over, "Why do you still provoke her? She doesn't have a shred of a girl's gentleness."

"Be careful she hears you and beats you up again." Old Zhu had been teased by Zhou Yang before, all because of that mouth of hers.

"Forget it, forget it, I won't lower myself to her level. I heard quite a few film crews have opened up opportunities for us to visit the set. Do you want to go take a look? Let's go together."

"Which ones are there?" Lin Nan asked.

"Divine Physician Xi Langzhong, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Dye House..."

"Alright, alright," Lin Nan quickly called a halt, otherwise Old Zhu would have kept on listing them.

"Pick a time, let's go visit Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. You're still in the capital recently, right?"

"I am. So it's settled, we're going to Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils?"

"Isn't that exactly what you were thinking? Did you think I didn't know?"

"Haha, Linzi, you're the one who understands me."