Chapter 260: Sir, Through the Ages; A National Scholar Without Peer

Shen Yinuo had never imagined that one day she would live a life like this.

Working from dawn till dusk was no big deal; she wasn't the type who couldn't endure hardship.

The main thing was that the self-confidence she had built up over so many years had been ruthlessly destroyed by Luo Mo.

She went from "I can act," to "Wait, I can't act?", then to "I actually really can't act," and finally finished with "I'm just trash."

Luo Mo's idea was very simple: personally deflate this energetic girl, and then pump her back up.

Shen Yinuo hadn't performed properly for too long; her current state could be left ten streets behind by Ding Xiaoyu.

Moreover, she was too optimistic by nature and was always bouncing around; it was too difficult to make her discover her own shortcomings on her own.

If not for the advantage of playing a role close to her own personality, Luo Mo might not have even considered letting her play the young mistress of Lin Family Fort, Lin Yueru.

An excellent director must possess the skill to coach actors.

In the hands of a famous director, some actors can turn decay into magic.

This is also one of the reasons why many actors' acting skills are erratic, fluctuating between high and low.

Shen Yinuo was, in fact, the first test subject and the first coaching target in Luo Mo's directing career.

She didn't know that she was still just a tool...

Otherwise, she would definitely have... cried even louder.

Actually, recalling the scenes in "Legend of Sword and Fairy" where Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru first meet, the spoiled young mistress of Lin Family Fort was also bullied in all sorts of ways by Li Xiaoyao.

This made Shen Yinuo feel over these past few days like she had become a plaything in Luo Mo's palm.

Outside of the scenes, he coached her; inside the scenes, he teased her.

She felt that both her body and soul had suffered a double invasion.

Under these circumstances of extreme shame and humiliation, when she performed as Lin Yueru, it actually produced results!

Every time she felt she had reached her limit, Luo Mo would wave at her and say, "Come over, take a look at this take yourself."

Then Shen Yinuo would stare intently, watching the filmed footage, watching her own vivid performance, and feel extremely astonished: "This... this is really something I acted out!?"

Actually, this involved using a portion of the 【Experience School】 mode.

In the eyes of director Luo Mo, he feared Ding Xiaoyu would get too deep into the role, yet he also feared Shen Yinuo would get too shallow into it.

This caused Shen Yinuo's entire state to fluctuate over these past few days.

Deflated—inflated—deflated again—inflated again—

Shame and anger—collapse—hitting rock bottom and rebounding—shame and anger again—collapse again—hitting rock bottom and rebounding again—

As time went on, she felt like she herself was broken.

But it was unclear if she had become a bit addicted to being abused; as time passed, her long-dormant acting itch was actually hooked.

The more she put into this play, the more she cared about the results.

At the same time, her immersion into the character of Lin Yueru grew stronger and stronger.

Luo Mo treated her just like he treated Ding Xiaoyu, only giving her the first stage of the script, so Shen Yinuo also didn't know what the final ending for Li Xiaoyao and Lin Yueru would be.

She had been curious when she first read the script, and now she was even more curious, curious to the point of feeling an itch in her heart.

The insert songs in "Legend of Sword and Fairy" were almost all classics, and the song "Always Very Quiet," from a certain level, was actually written specifically for the character of Lin Yueru.

Many viewers from back then might not have known that this song, sung by the singer A Sang who made people feel regret, this work that everyone was familiar with, had a lyricist who was that guy—Fang Wenshan.

In Luo Mo's view, if Shen Yinuo ultimately interpreted the character of Lin Yueru well and could grasp the emotions, he would consider letting Shen Yinuo try singing "Always Very Quiet."

Because as of now, his best choice in his heart was Tao Jie, Chen Shanqi; generally speaking, Tao Jie might be more suitable for this song.

……..

……..

A week passed in a flash; in a busy life, time always flies by.

The new weekend arrived, and the second episode of "Classics in China," 【Exploitation of the Works of Nature】, would be broadcast tonight.

Those viewers who were attracted by the first episode had been looking forward to the second episode for a long time.

Luo Mo posted on Weibo early, with the poster as the image, and the text was only eight characters: 【Exploitation of the Works of Nature, National Scholar Without Peer】.

These eight characters were equivalent to telling the netizens the theme and content of the second episode.

"Ah! The second episode is about 'Exploitation of the Works of Nature'! I remember this book had extraordinary influence abroad before."

"I'm going to look up some information before watching to understand more, so I can have more immersion when I watch it."

"The name of this book feels so good, Exploitation of the Works of Nature."

"Song Yingxing is from our hometown! Excited!"

Netizens focused their attention on the four characters 【Exploitation of the Works of Nature】, and didn't think much about the 【National Scholar Without Peer】 that followed.

Everyone instinctively felt that these four characters were used to praise Song Yingxing, who wrote "Exploitation of the Works of Nature," but in reality, that was not the case.

The National Scholars in this episode were not just Song Yingxing alone.

Up to now, "Classics in China" had already set 3 records for cultural variety shows.

It was hard to imagine that this was a variety show that had only aired one episode, and whose reputation and influence had just begun to ferment.

As mentioned before, throughout this week, major media outlets with special characteristics had not stopped praising this variety show, as well as the production team behind it.

Major platforms also immediately followed suit in terms of promotion, making "Classics in China" completely break out of its niche.

Some viewers who were extremely resistant to CCTV variety shows were also attracted to come and take a look.

Then they sighed: "Can't escape it!"

"Speechless, trapped by Luo Mo again!"

"It's hard to imagine that a cultural variety show could bring me so much shock!"

"Cried watching it, why does Luo Mo always love to use these tear-jerkers!"

"Cried to death! I think my tear threshold is too low; I definitely won't cry for the second episode!"

"I'll set a flag too: I won't cry tonight."

Amidst the heated discussions of netizens, the second episode was broadcast simultaneously on CCTV and Penguin Video.

Yet those who had vowed not to let Luo Mo succeed and insisted they wouldn't shed a tear tonight could never have imagined that as soon as the program began, the appearance of one person, the appearance of one name, would make their tear ducts start to disobey them.

Many viewers also realized at this moment why Luo Mo had written: "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature, a National Scholar Without Peer."

At the start of the second episode, just like the first, a repeated opening sequence was played.

After the opening ended, it was that same routine operation: Luo Mo, dressed in black, walked with long strides to the center of the stage and then sat down at a desk.

Only this time, there was an additional vintage-style desk lamp on the desk.

Seeing him pull the lamp, and after the light turned on, he opened a book and began to narrate events that had happened many years ago, thereby introducing "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature."

The figure who introduced the "Book of Documents" in the first episode was a Daoist from Dunhuang.

The figure who introduced "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" in the second episode was someone everyone knows—Grandpa Yuan!

As Luo Mo narrated in a deep voice, on the other side of the stage, the stage actors began to recreate the scene.

A middle-aged person appeared, wearing a shirt tucked into his trousers, his hair combed back, looking generally lean.

On the subtitles, his name was displayed.

His surname was Yuan, the Father of Hybrid Rice, whom netizens called the Contemporary Shennong.

Just from this single image, the barrage began to surge endlessly.

"Instantly teary-eyed."

"Yuan, may you live forever in our hearts!"

"Grandpa Yuan! No wonder he is a National Scholar Without Peer!"

"This old man, who used to appear frequently in textbooks, news, and on television, can no longer be seen today..."

He was seen with his students, researching a stalk of rice.

A student looked at it and said, "If all the rice were like this, that would be a yield of over a thousand catties per mu!"

At this time, Yuan, still with a head of black hair, said to the student, "Right! A yield of over a thousand catties per mu; if that happens, my He Xia Cheng Liang Meng will have taken its first step."

"He Xia Cheng Liang Meng?" a female student asked.

"That's right," Yuan said. "I dreamed that the rice in our experimental field grew as tall as sorghum, and the ears were as long as brooms. The grains were as big as peanuts, and everyone could enjoy the shade under the rice ears."

"If this beautiful dream could really come true, then all the people of Huaxia would never lack rice to eat," said a male student wearing glasses, his skin tanned red.

A female student on the side joked with a smile, "People all over the world would never lack rice to eat!"

Mr. Yuan laughed heartily along with them on the side.

His smile was so radiant, and his eyes seemed to carry his expectations for his own 【He Xia Cheng Liang Meng】.

The acting of this stage actor was truly too good, and the program team's 【Costume, Makeup, and Props】 were too meticulous.

This made him look so much like that person.

A person who let everyone eat their fill, yet was so thin, so thin...

By the way, he also kept a cat named Yuan Hua Hua.

Do you still remember that painting with over a million likes, the one of the little cat sleeping under the rice grains?

And the caption: "Yuan Hua Hua, if you fall asleep under the fragrant rice, will you dream of Grandpa?"

In the footage of the second episode, Yuan and his students began to conduct experiments to see the results of the second year.

Before the scene transitioned, a gust of wind blew, brushing against that most special stalk of rice.

In the barrage, netizens immediately posted that sentence to accompany this scene.

——"The wind blowing through the rice flowers is the echo of his soul."

The screen dimmed at this moment, and a year passed quietly.

Luo Mo looked down at the book and continued to read: "In the spring of the second year, Grandpa Yuan sowed the seeds of this rice into the field."

"Who would have thought that when the seedlings headed, some were early, some were late, some were tall, some were short, all uneven."

The scene switched again, coming to the stage actors.

Beside the Rice Field, the same group of students asked, "Teacher Yuan, why is it like this?"

Yuan replied, "It is very likely because that stalk of rice that stood out from the crowd was a natural hybrid rice."

The student asked again, "Teacher Yuan, doesn't rice lack hybrid vigor?"

Yuan said, "Of course it has it; hybrid vigor is a universal phenomenon in the natural world. As early as 1637, the published 'The Exploitation of the Works of Nature' recorded how the sericulture industry utilized hybrid vigor..."

In this situation and format, this Classic was naturally introduced.

This form of introduction was similar to the first episode.

However, in the first episode, everyone only started crying after Fu Sheng appeared; now, even before Song Yingxing had appeared, many viewers were already crying until they couldn't catch their breath while watching the barrage and the screen.

"On top of Yuan's grave, two bowls of rice are placed squarely, with the words written on the bowls: May everyone in the world have enough to eat."

Many viewers, seeing this sentence, couldn't help but recall an interview they had seen before.

Grandpa Yuan said, "A grain of food can save a country, and it can also topple a country. You are young and don't know; in the sixties of the last century, during the famine, people starved to death."

"Are you particularly afraid that such a scene will appear again?" the reporter asked.

Yuan said in a deep, serious voice, "It's impossible now."

Yes, because of you, it is impossible.

It's just that now...

From now on, every wisp of rising cooking smoke is a tribute to you from the human world.

Sir, may you live forever in our hearts; a National Scholar Without Peer.

(PS: Second update, asking for monthly tickets!)

(End of this chapter)