Chapter 3: Returning to School

Clothes, hairstyle, makeup...

Lin Nan looked at himself in the mirror and couldn't believe it; he really looked like a dull young man from the village.

Recalling the finished film in his mind, he felt he had it.

Lured and coaxed by two people at the station, the confused and socially inexperienced Yuan Fengming followed them away.

Lin Nan expressed this simplicity very well; most of the peers in his hometown were like this.

With an extra second uncle, he began the bitter life of working in the mine.

Director Li Yang was very satisfied with Lin Nan's performance. Although a bit immature, wasn't this immaturity what was needed here?

The more he acted, the more he got into the state; Lin Nan seemed to really treat the two as relatives.

Until the scene of going to the health center, Lin Nan was cut several times, and the reason was speechless.

He couldn't express that ignorance and confusion; one look and you could tell he was acting.

Lin Nan was also helpless; his body was fine, but his heart was indeed no longer a virgin.

Finally, he was repeatedly stopped until everyone was exhausted, and only then did the empty-headed Lin Nan perform that childishness.

"Finally done," a group of people just wanted to rest.

The director pulled Lin Nan over. "Were you embarrassed just now? Actually, it's normal to have a reaction; you're a big guy. But always remember, this is filming. You will enter many crews in the future; don't get distracted in this kind of scene."

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

Seeing several seniors around him looking with smiles, Lin Nan had to shut up.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it had been more than twenty days.

Everyone in the crew got along well, whether filming at the mine or taking scenes in the town.

Lin Nan cherished this period of time. Two years ago, he wanted to take the art exam just because he wanted to get in.

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

He began to truly like this profession.

Returning to the mine again.

Tang Chaoyang wanted to attack Yuan Fengming, Song Jinming stopped him many times, and finally, the two perished together.

Yuan Fengming, played by Lin Nan, received the "second uncle's" compensation, and he could use this money to complete his and his sister's studies...

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

"Director, thank you for giving me this opportunity. I will always remember the experience of this period, as well as your guidance," Lin Nan thanked the director alone.

He said goodbye to several 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 wasn't good to drag it out, and he had missed a lot of courses.

"Go back and study hard. If there is a chance, we will continue to cooperate.

Also, about the film, I will take it abroad. Whether it wins an award or how much money it sells for, I will notify you as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Director, no problem. I believe you will definitely win an award; I guarantee it with my future," Lin Nan said carelessly.

Which made the director laugh too. "I wouldn't dare to delay your future, but I'll take your good words."

All good things must come to an end.

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

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

Ignoring the strange looks of others, he ran straight back to the dorm; let him have a good sleep first.

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

"Hey, wake up, Lin Nan, don't sleep..."

Dazed, in a blur, he seemed to hear someone calling him.

He tried hard to open his eyes and saw Zhu Yawen standing by his bed, along with a few other classmates.

"You've slept from yesterday afternoon until this morning. If you don't wake up, we're going to break the water."

Zhu Yawen said, and the people next to him saw Lin Nan wake up and dispersed.

Lying on the lower bunk, he didn't move.

"This month or so has exhausted me," Lin Nan was still weak.

Zhu Yawen sat on the empty bunk opposite. "You haven't been seen for a month, and you've aged five years. You really did drill into a mine shaft."

He didn't care about Old Zhu's teasing; he had indeed become much more weathered during this time. The Northwest was dry, and the crew didn't bathe to stay in character, and his hair had grown quite a bit.

He estimated he would have to spend half a month at school to recover his skin.

"However, you are really amazing. You were talking about filming that morning, and a few days later you really joined a crew. Although small, it's still a movie."

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

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

Just like that fairy who was filming *Demi-Gods*, everyone talked about it a lot at school, especially the female classmates—some envious, some jealous.

"Don't talk about me, tell me about school. In the month I was away, was there anything new?"

Speaking of this, Zhu Yawen talked a lot. A few days ago, the school had a seminar on *Hero*. Oh boy, it was a sea of people; the director and producer were speaking above, and the students below were listening with boiling blood.

And there were some short films that were very shocking.

And quite a few classmates were constantly asking for leave, either for a few days or not coming at all.

Old Zhu talked, and Lin Nan listened.

"I'll wash my face, let's go out for a meal," Lin Nan got up.

The school was still the same; the lower grades were where you could see the most people. The higher up you went, the more they were running around outside.

"Lin, I found something." Looking at Old Zhu's happy and stifled appearance, Lin Nan was speechless.

"What else could you have? At most, you got a role. Looking all coy—not manly."

"Get lost, who's not manly? But you're right. I got a TV series, filming starts tomorrow, a youth campus drama."

"That's great, congratulations. Now we've both started. TV series are better than my movie; I invested in mine and only got three thousand in pay. A TV series should be tens of thousands, right?"

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

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

In terms of making money, TV actors made money in these few years; most film actors couldn't compare to them, except for that top handful.

The two went to a restaurant outside; Lin Nan treated, calling it getting his pay.

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

"Master, the same hairstyle I told you about last time, clean and sunny."

"Alright."

Returning to school, he went to cancel his leave with the class teacher.

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

"Don't listen to their nonsense, it was still less than twenty hours. Mainly, this period was too tiring, and taking the car was even more tiring."

"Since you're back, then settle your heart, focus on class, and make up for what you missed."

"No problem, don't worry."

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

The current Film Academy students were all full of ideals; film actor was their goal, unlike later when it became more and more watered down and ridiculed by the whole nation.

Lin Nan was thinking about a problem: it was difficult for an 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 be replaced if he wasn't careful.

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

"Humph, don't get distracted," the teacher was conscientious; Lin Nan had to admit that.

Who told him to sit in the front and slack off? He had to smile with a thick skin and beg for mercy.

The teacher above talked and talked, and it drifted to the Golden Rooster Awards at the end of last month. Director Chen won Best Director, adding another entry to his resume.

Director Chen was in his prime now; only flowers and applause were worthy of him.

At the same time, Director Feng relied on *Big Shot's Funeral* to let Uncle Ge win the Hundred Flowers Best Actor.

Plus Director Zhang of *Hero*, which was about to be released, these three should be said to be the three biggest directors in the country right now.

The classmates listened excitedly, fantasizing about being able to act in their films.

But Lin Nan knew that this was impossible right now; others had fixed circles, and it wasn't something a group of small shrimps in their freshman year could reach, unless your dad was very powerful.

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

The classmates were eager to try, preparing to go observe it as soon as possible. Thinking about the cast made everyone intoxicated; heard it was an investment of thirty million dollars—oh boy, two hundred and fifty million.

The bell for the end of class interrupted the teacher's mood without any tact. "Class dismissed."

"You're really something, sitting in the front and still spacing out." The one who said this was Zhou Yang, a beauty, with a carefree personality, from Liaoning Province, a beauty with temperament, who started as a dancer.

"I just got distracted for a moment, who knew I'd be called on," Lin Nan argued.

When he first saw this classmate, Lin Nan recognized the Third Sister; this was the only role of Zhou Yang's that left a deep impression on him, mainly because the TV series that followed were mostly trash.

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

Zhou Yang put her arm around Lin Nan's shoulder, asking as they walked, ignoring Lin Nan's resistant gaze.

"Sister, watch your influence," Lin Nan said, but didn't shake off the arm.

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

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

Zhou Yang let go. "I thought it was a big show; you dared to ask for a month's leave. Wait until I get famous in the future, I'll let you hold my thigh."

Lin Nan looked down and saw, hmm, it was a long leg.

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

Zhu Yawen ran over. "Why are you still provoking her? She doesn't have a bit of a girl's quietness."

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

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

"Which ones are there?" Lin Nan asked.

"Divine Doctor Xi, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Dyehouse..."

"Alright, alright," Lin Nan hurried to call a stop, otherwise Old Zhu would continue to report.

"Pick a time, let's go see *Demi-Gods*. It's still in the capital recently, right?"

"It is. So it's settled, we're going to *Demi-Gods*?"

"Isn't that what you were thinking? You thought I didn't know?"

"Haha, Lin, you still understand me." ===== CHAPTER 4 =====