Chapter 5: Classmates and Roommates of the North Electric 2000-Level Vocational Class

They're not worthy of fighting me.

In my eyes, they're worse than pus-filled boils.

I'm not afraid I'll kill them—it's your so-called Four Great Experts who'll lose their lives.

Tsk…

While reciting his lines aloud, Seeing Yan Li's expression grew increasingly unreadable.

I want to curse the screenwriter again!

Yuwen Chengdu is the type of invincible general who, before facing Li Yuanba, had never encountered a single rival—such a person being arrogant is natural, but he should radiate a commanding aura and defiant spirit born of absolute confidence in his martial prowess.

But the dialogue is written too cheaply, too watered-down—it doesn't sound like a fearless general who dominates three armies, but like a street thug from an Xiangjiang gangster film.

Hm?

Seeing Yan Li finally realized: earlier, when reading the script, he'd felt Yuwen Chengdu's character was oddly familiar.

Now that he compares it to Xiangjiang gangster films, isn't this just a classic villainous minor boss from a Guhuozai story?

He yells threats all day, starts fights at the drop of a hat, constantly gets humiliated, and as a high-ranking imperial general, he leads his men in line like a common thug—no dignity, no charisma.

This garbage screenwriter is writing Yuwen Chengdu using nothing but Guhuozai tropes…

And following this logic, Seeing Yan Li now sees that every court intrigue and battle scene in the script is indistinguishable from a gang's power struggle over territory.

Seeing Yan Li genuinely doubts whether the future news he'd seen in his monthly intelligence reports—that this drama became a hit—is real.

Still, remembering how wildly popular "Huanzhu Gege" had been despite its absurd historical inaccuracies, Seeing Yan Li felt less certain.

The market speaks for itself—maybe many viewers actually enjoy this kind of historically ridiculous gangster drama?

Though he internally seethed with resentment, Seeing Yan Li still diligently memorized his lines—he'd been paid.

Earning money isn't shameful!

Fatty and Cheng Long didn't avoid bad scripts either, and even veteran artists have stumbled—wait until you're famous to pick your own scripts.

…

In the past, Seeing Yan Li preferred to recite his lines out loud.

On one hand, reading aloud deepened memory; on the other, it trained tone, pitch, pauses, and emphasis.

Lines aren't just memorized and done—remembering is merely the baseline; delivering them must align with the character and plot, requiring refinement and practice, minute adjustments.

But today's lines were too embarrassing—he'd recited a few passages and felt bystanders' glances turning strange.

So he resorted to silent memorization: get the lines locked in first, then practice aloud alone in his hotel room at night…

Since finishing breakfast, Seeing Yan Li had been practicing his lines in this grove.

Around ten, the sun blazed high, the air grew warmer, and the small grove—already sparsely populated—now held only a few scattered figures.

The long-haired girl had packed up and left; as she passed Seeing Yan Li, she waved specifically to greet him.

Seeing Yan Li, absorbed in memorizing, nodded absently; the long-haired girl took no offense and walked away.

Near eleven, the tree shade no longer blocked the sun adequately; fearing he'd get sunburned before his next scene, Seeing Yan Li packed up and returned to the hotel.

After lunch, Seeing Yan Li nervously arrived at the makeup room for his final makeup.

Unfortunately, Wang Xiu was there—but luckily, Wang Xiu was busy applying makeup to someone else and had no time for him.

Final makeup refers to the process where actors confirm their character's hairstyle, makeup, and partial costume before filming begins.

Otherwise, designing new looks and outfits for each actor every morning would be impossible—so everything is finalized beforehand, then replicated exactly during shooting.

Yuwen Chengdu has few scenes, and the "Sui-Tang Heroes" crew wasn't particularly invested—or perhaps the crew simply had low standards for costume, hair, and makeup.

Aside from a handful of leads, everyone else looked identical: fixed hairstyles and makeup, with only minor changes in clothing and accessories.

Seeing Yan Li's final makeup today was nearly identical to yesterday's meeting with the director.

A hairpiece tied into a topknot, full-body black leather armor, skin slightly darkened, eyebrows slightly arched to make his face appear fiercer.

The makeup artist was about to glue on a beard when someone stopped him—it was Wang Xiu, the one Seeing Yan Li dreaded.

Wang Xiu glanced at Seeing Yan Li in the mirror, tapped his chin lightly, and spoke to Seeing Yan Li's makeup artist.

"I think it's better without a beard—youthful, raw intensity is key; a beard makes him look too composed, which contradicts the character."

Seeing Yan Li studied his reflection and compared it to yesterday's look.

Honestly, Wang Xiu really knew his stuff!

With a beard, Seeing Yan Li felt himself radiating sharp competence and bold courage—a formidable, strategic figure like Qin Qiong.

Without a beard, the sharpness and composure faded, leaving only raw strength and hardness—more like a fierce, unyielding general.

Having read the script, Seeing Yan Li knew exactly what kind of person Yuwen Chengdu was.

Arrogant, brainless, relying solely on brute force—Wang Xiu's suggestion was spot-on.

Seeing Yan Li regarded Wang Xiu with new respect; regardless of other matters, he Always Respect those with talent.

With Wang Xiu's help, Seeing Yan Li completed his final makeup successfully—the result was excellent.

As they neared the end of makeup removal, another makeup artist took a phone call, so Wang Xiu came over to assist.

"Handsome, you seem a bit afraid of me?"

Seeing Yan Li felt awkward; Wang Xiu chuckled teasingly, and Seeing Yan Li nodded.

"Yeah."

Wang Xiu froze, surprised Seeing Yan Li admitted it outright—he took a few seconds to recover.

"Why?"

"You know why."

"... How did you know?"

Wang Xiu was genuinely curious—he'd noticed Seeing Yan Li's subtle avoidance of him before.

In today's mainland climate, conservative and rigid, many straight men, upon learning his situation, develop some aversion—Seeing Yan Li was even polite; he'd seen others give him cold stares or even scream curses at him.

But what he truly didn't understand was how Seeing Yan Li had figured it out?

Wang Xiu believed his usual demeanor was perfectly normal—at most a bit refined. They'd met only twice, their interactions were perfectly fine, this was their first collaboration, he didn't know many people here, and none of his familiar colleagues had let anything slip—how had he been exposed?

"I once met someone whose speech and mannerisms were similar to yours. My intuition's usually reliable, so…"

Seeing Yan Li, of course, wouldn't reveal the truth, and simply made up an excuse.

Wang Xiu didn't fully believe it, but didn't press further, and clapped his hands cheerfully.

"If you're uncomfortable, let Sister Liu take care of you later."

His straightforwardness made Seeing Yan Li feel awkward: "Uh, you go ahead—I didn't mean anything by it. I'm young and inexperienced, maybe I overthought it."

"No problem, I understand."

Wang Xiu, guessing Seeing Yan Li had been through plenty and wasn't taking it seriously, patted Seeing Yan Li's sturdy shoulder and chuckled.

"Guys like you are noticed wherever they go, but don't worry—I've got someone."

Seeing Yan Li bowed his hands: "Then I'm the one making a fool of myself—I apologize."

"Hey, don't be so formal."

Once the matter was cleared up, the atmosphere between them naturally grew warmer. Wang Xiu even offered suggestions regarding Seeing Yan Li's appearance and physique, which greatly benefited the latter.

When leaving the makeup room, night had already fallen. Seeing Yan Li thought for a moment, then decided to walk to the barbecue spot he'd seen earlier.

With a tight budget, he ordered some must-try fatty kidney skewers and lamb skewers to take away, then bought a fried pancake and returned to the hotel.

He tasted the barbecue first—yes, the flavor was indeed excellent: the kidney was charred, fragrant, fatty, and tender; the lamb skewers were fresh and delicious.

It would've been even better with two cold beers, but tonight he still had to memorize his lines—priority number one.

After quickly cleaning up dinner, Seeing Yan Li resumed memorizing the script. Just before nine, his phone rang.

Seeing Yan Li answered the call: "Hello, Jiacuan."

"Brother Li, how's your role going?"

The voice on the other end belonged to Lin Jiacuan, Seeing Yan Li's college classmate and dorm roommate.

"Locked in. Just finalized my makeup today—shooting starts tomorrow or the day after."

"That's great!"

Excited shouts from Lin Jiacuan and others came through the phone. Seeing Yan Li smiled, then lay back on the bed.

"Are Songwen and Yiwei beside you?"

"Yeah."

There was a brief pause, then another low voice spoke: "Old Yan, it's Songwen. Do a good job shooting in Hengdian. The brothers are waiting to celebrate back in Jingcheng."

"Don't worry."

The last roommate, Zhou Yi, grabbed the phone: "Brother Li, do you need anything? We can mail it to you."

"I don't need anything. The assistant director I mentioned earlier has been looking out for me—I've got a private room in the crew's accommodation."

Hearing his brothers' concern, Seeing Yan Li's heart warmed.

Lin Jiacuan, Zhang Songwen, and Zhou Yi were not only classmates from the 2000 cohort of the Performance Department's vocational class at Beijing Film Academy, but also his dorm mates, and his best friends during his two years in Jingcheng.

The brothers ate together, lived together, studied together, played together, ran auditions together, supported each other, and forged a deep friendship.

This time, after graduating, Seeing Yan Li came alone to Hengdian to shoot. The three back in Jingcheng had been thinking of him constantly, calling him several times already.

"Alright, long-distance is expensive—let's call it a night. I'll call you again in a couple days."

In 2002, domestic inter-province long-distance calls cost over one yuan per minute, and both calling and receiving were charged—even with roaming services, it was still expensive.

The brothers had only just graduated, their careers barely started or not even begun, their income was minimal—they couldn't afford to waste money on long phone calls.

Just as he was about to hang up, Zhou Yi suddenly interrupted, stammering for a moment before blurting out:

"Brother Li, I ran into Miss Dong today on campus."

Seeing Yan Li's brow twitched slightly: "Hmm?"

The "Miss Dong" Zhou Yi referred to was his ex-girlfriend, Dong Xuan, a student in the 2000 cohort of Beijing Film Academy's undergraduate Performance Department and one of the campus beauties.

"The school requires us to move out of the dorms before summer break, right? She asked if I'd rented a place, whether I was renting alone or sharing—sounded like she was trying to find out your address."

"Oh."

Seeing Yan Li replied with just that one word, which frustrated Lin Jiacuan listening nearby: "Brother Li, are you really broken up?"

"She was the one who said it."

Seeing Yan Li finally added a few more words. Zhang Songwen, the oldest and most level-headed among them, also spoke up to advise:

"It's just a girl's temper tantrish words—soothe her a bit and it'll be fine."

"I did try soothing her. She wouldn't respond. I won't coddle her bad temper."

Seeing Yan Li snorted. The dorm mates exchanged glances. The youngest, Zhou Yi, spoke up fairly:

"You can't blame Miss Dong. You were hanging out with that junior, Huang Shengyi…"

"Cough, cough."

Seeing Yan Li coughed to cut him off: "There was nothing between us—just a senior guiding a junior. Don't smear my reputation."

"…."

With that, the dorm mates didn't press further. After all, it was Seeing Yan Li's personal matter.

(End of Chapter)