Chapter 492: Ten Years of Work Offstage

On the big screen, after the words "Ten Years of Work Offstage" disappeared, the curtain slowly pulled open.

As soon as it began, the sound of gongs and drums rang out.

Du Bin walked forward step by step from the back, head held high and chest out, his body upright; the distance of every step seemed perfectly consistent.

There was real skill behind this.

As he turned, he widened his eyes, carrying the demeanor of the Opera character he was meant to portray.

The other three directors were a bit shocked just from watching this scene.

"Opera?"

"Comedy?"

Fang Jie and Li Dongliang had, after all, experienced the golden age of Opera.

Both of them had watched the performances of true stars in person.

"He's got a lot of nerve," the two evaluated in their hearts.

Opera has an extremely Strictness rhythm.

The beat and breathing of the singing, the rhyming of the lyrics... there are too many things to be particular about.

And Comedy, at times, is not particular at all, or even nonsensical.

Combining the two, wanting to make it comfortable for the audience to watch and for those who understand Opera to like it, would be very, very difficult!

This requires a great deal of polishing in the details.

But time is limited.

They did not think a young director without particularly rich experience could cover every aspect and do it well.

But they could also see that this Actor named Du Bin truly had the skill.

Therefore, regardless of whether they were optimistic, at least their curiosity had been piqued.

………

………

In the first scene of "Ten Years of Work Offstage," a few large characters were posted on the stage background: "Annual Talent Showcase."

It seemed to be the set of a variety show for performing talents.

Amidst the Opera accompaniment, Du Bin walked to the microphone; his gaze and movements were all spot on, and he began to sing: "【Upon seeing the Princess, I steal the command arrow...】"

He had only sung a few words when a female voice rang out: "Come, come, let me interrupt for a second. Du Bin, besides Peking Opera, do you have any other talents?"

Du Bin remained in the posture he had just been singing in and said earnestly: "I can go up another key!"

For some reason, the audience had already begun to find it funny.

The character's personality was actually highlighted in this short sentence.

The female voice continued: "This has nothing to do with the key. It's too hard to spread Peking Opera nowadays; the audience doesn't like to listen to it, huh? You won't even pass the auditions like this."

The audience began to understand that this female voice was actually the director, and they were currently at an audition.

"Can you sing?" the female voice asked.

"I can," Du Bin replied.

He picked up the microphone and sang directly: "The ocean waves silently bring the night..."

He was singing "Big Fish," but the tone was entirely that of someone singing Opera, and it even came with... a Tengge'er feel.

Laughter from the audience erupted instantly.

"Good." The female voice interrupted immediately, and the director continued to ask: "Do you know any Yueqi?"

Du Bin began to whistle the tune of "Big Fish."

"Whistling doesn't count," the female director said immediately.

"You come down, let's discuss this further, come," the director said.

"Director, I can also do 【Dan Jiao】," Du Bin said, raising his hands, his gaze and posture both soft and charming.

"You come down," the female voice continued.

Du Bin changed again, shouting loudly: "【Painted Face】!"

"Come down, come down."

Du Bin's demeanor and expression changed again, and he said: "Small Painted Face!"

"Get down here!" the director roared.

"Who found this person? Who listens to Peking Opera these days? Hey Du Bin, watch out for the light above your head!"

The next moment, the scene plunged into darkness; amidst a comical scream, thunder began to rumble, and the scene began to transition.

Du Bin crawled out from a cabinet with the words 【Exit Stage】 written on it, and the scene changed to a small room.

Li Dongliang looked at the layout of the room, his eyes narrowing.

The construction of the scene is actually very important.

This room looked simple, but whether it was the 【Exit Stage】 posted on the cabinet, the 【Enter Stage】 posted on the doorway, the curtain hanging on the bed, or the layout of the furniture, everything was very particular.

The layout here represented that the owner of this room had simulated and built an Opera stage inside their own small room!

When the owner of this room stepped onto the bed, it meant the star was going on stage.

How much must one love Opera to do this.

"The arrangement of this scene can actually reflect a lot about the character's persona," Li Dongliang thought to himself.

He couldn't help but recall the title of this film—"Ten Years of Work Offstage."

Amidst the background music of Opera, Du Bin began to wander around the room: "Where is this?"

This was actually a very cliché time-travel plot, which the audience could understand immediately.

However, to increase immersion, to increase the comedic effect, and to deepen the persuasiveness of the time travel, a very clever method was used here.

"Isn't this the rented room from when I was a child?" Du Bin said.

"No, no, no, that's not right, let me get this straight."

"I just got off stage, got hit by a light, and then suddenly a bolt of lightning struck me into my childhood rented room."

"This couldn't be..."

All the audience members thought he was going to say time travel.

As it turned out, this fool said with great excitement: "A reality show!"

He started looking for cameras and continued wandering around the room.

"Hey, this is the model I made when I was a kid."

"Hey, this is the carpet I used to practice on when I was a kid."

"The production still of me performing Opera when I was a kid."

"The 【Hang Tou】 I wore when I was performing Opera as a kid!"

He gave the 【Hang Tou】 a hard tug and turned it around.

"And me as a kid!"

A young boy wearing the Hang Tou was pulled out by him.

"Me as a kid!!???" Du Bin looked at the boy, stunned.

To the accompaniment of Opera music, the two walked as if they were on an Opera stage, adding a comedic effect, then stared at each other.

The boy thought a thief had broken in, while Du Bin realized he had time-traveled.

He even pulled a photo of his first love, which only he knew about, out of a Corner and said: "Nana's photo?"

He said in surprise: "I've time-traveled?"

The boy held an Opera weapon, pointed it at him, and said: "I knew you would say that."

"Hey, no... listen to me..."

"Are you trying to say that this used to be your home?"

"It really is..."

"Are you also trying to say that you came from the future?"

"I am from..."

"Are you also trying to say that you are the future me?"

"I know this is hard to believe, but I really am..."

The boy gave a cute yet cheeky smile and said in a silly way: "I believe you!"

"Huh?" Now it was Du Bin's turn to be stunned.

"Only I know where Nana's photo is," the boy said.

The two pointed at each other and said with a grin: "As expected of me!"

The two were happy, feeling that such a magical thing as time travel had happened to them.

"Did you come back from twenty years later?" The boy looked at him and said with a laugh.

"I'm from ten years later," Du Bin said.

"Ah?"

A simple little sketch; because the two performed with such comedic flair, the audience laughed again.

The two were in the small bedroom, and for a moment, neither knew how to address the other.

"Brother?"

"Uncle?"

"Uh, no... Older Me!" The boy finally found the right term.

A strange and peculiar "Older Me" made the audience feel it was nonsensical again.

The boy started asking: "I'm going to take the exam soon, did I get in?"

"You got in," Du Bin said.

"Which school?"

"Xiqu Xueyuan!"

The boy acted as if he were possessed: "Yes!"

As if he had achieved the greatest accomplishment of his life so far.

Then, he started asking questions like whether he ended up with Nana; upon learning that he did date Nana, he became even more excited.

"But we broke up later," Du Bin added.

The boy was disappointed at first, then smiled cheekily: "At least we dated."

The story progressed to this point, all building up, letting the audience empathize and feel it was relaxed and interesting.

The two's conversation finally returned to the subject of Opera.

The boy started Singing the same line: "【Upon seeing the Princess steal the command arrow, I cannot help but feel joy in my heart; standing at the palace gate, I call to the little barbarian—!】"

On the word "barbarian," his voice cracked directly.

The audience laughed again.

This was the part the boy had never been able to master, and he asked: "Will it get better when I grow up?"

Du Bin was incredibly smug and said: "Of course."

Then, he demonstrated it once.

The boy was incredibly impressed, lay on the bed, and expressed that he wanted to hear it a few more times to appreciate it further.

Du Bin started to smugly continue his demonstration, however, the next moment, he actually cracked his voice too, causing the audience to laugh again.

"Fan——!" A voice crack.

"Fan——! Huh?" A voice crack.

"Huh? Fan——Fan——!"

"So annoying!"

He began to realize that something was wrong.

He glanced at his ten-years-younger self lying on the bed and asked, "Have you been slacking off?"

"No," the youth said lazily.

Du Bin immediately began to whip him: "One minute on stage, ten years of work off stage; why are you just lying there!"

This segment of the Drama is very clever; it not only hits the theme and reveals the core of the story, but at the same time, it moves the Drama from the preceding setup into the key plot.

——Making them realize that the past can change the future!

Du Bin began to supervise the youth to continue practicing, not allowing any slacking, but the youth didn't grasp the method and was just shouting there, and then Du Bin's throat instantly went hoarse.

"This ruins your voice——!" he said to the youth with a hoarse voice.

The audience laughed again.

"How did I end up with this voice?" Du Bin was stunned.

"Stop practicing, you have to use the method."

"Right, right, right! 【Little Fan——】." The youth found the right position.

"Yeah, right, as long as you use the right method..." Du Bin spoke again, his voice immediately no longer hoarse, returning to its original state.

The audience found this very interesting to watch.

"Is it that immediate?" Du Bin touched his throat; the voice that came out was incredibly clear, like a skylark.

A vocal transformation, as long as the stage performance is good enough, is full of comedic effect.

The story actually begins here, pushing into a deeper level.

Du Bin looked at him and said excitedly, "It seems that as long as you think about it, I will be able to do Singing."

"Yeah!" the youth said.

"As long as you think about it, I will be able to play Yueqi!"

"Yeah!"

"As long as you think about it, I won't have to perform opera anymore!"

"No," the youth said immediately.

"Think about it again, as long as you think..."

"I'm not thinking about it anymore," the youth said.

He said in a very chuunibyou tone, seriously and solemnly: "Peking opera is the love of my life; how can I give it up so easily?"

Du Bin looked at him and muttered to himself: "Sorry, little Du Bin, I came here this time, and I must seize this opportunity to change careers."

He wanted to make his past self learn something else, so that his future self would naturally be able to master those things.

He began to use the words 【Little Me】 to address the youth.

"Do you like performing opera that much?" he said in a bantering tone.

The youth looked serious and said, "No, it's passion."

It inexplicably made the audience feel it was funny again.

Du Bin began to recount the disadvantages of performing opera, and the bad idea he finally found also started from Nana, saying that because he performed opera he had no time to accompany Nana, so she ran off with someone else.

The youth was indeed anxious.

"With whom?"

"It's just... she ran off with someone who does Singing." The trickery began.

The intricate design, ring after ring, kept the audience completely engrossed.

Wang Rong was beaming with joy at the Director Seat.

Song Ge, meanwhile, was watching from off-stage with a face as dark as water.

"How could she run off with someone who does Singing? We can do Singing too," the youth said.

"Huh?" Du Bin was confused; I can do Singing too?

The youth immediately began: "The waves are silent, taking the night curtain..."

He sang it exactly like Tengge'er from Earth.

This kind of 【callback】 style of humor was particularly effective.

The youth finally said: "For Nana, I'll learn it!"

The next moment, Du Bin began to try Singing; as soon as he opened his mouth, the first line of "Big Fish" recorded by Tong Shu came out: "The waves are silent, taking the night curtain deep..."

Cheers immediately erupted throughout the venue.

"Eh!?" Du Bin's eyes lit up, and he was beaming with delight.

But when he sang the next line, he returned to his original state.

It was clear that the youth's thoughts had changed again; he didn't want to learn Singing.

The youth refused to sing no matter what, so Du Bin started telling him to learn Yueqi again.

The youth immediately started whistling.

"Whistling doesn't count!" Du Bin said, exasperated.

The two of them had another tug-of-war over learning the guitar.

But Du Bin would be able to play for a moment, and then he wouldn't be able to again.

"What are you thinking about? Nana is kissing someone else!" Du Bin shouted.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" The youth panicked.

Then, Du Bin was immediately able to play again.

After a few seconds, he couldn't do it again and started walking with the steps of Opera.

The youth ultimately refused to learn: "Forget it, it seems Nana and I aren't very compatible; I'd better just focus on learning Singing."

"With your attitude, what kind of future could you have in Singing?" Du Bin couldn't hold it back and said it directly.

The youth pointed at him, suddenly realizing: "You lied to me!"

"It wasn't for Nana at all; it's because you don't want me to learn Singing, right?"

Du Bin began to pour out his grievances.

"I'm having a really miserable time right now."

"Nowadays, there are people who listen to Singing, but no one understands it!"

As he complained tearfully, the youth comforted him: "You've had it pretty rough too, it's okay."

Du Bin turned to look at him and said: "Actually, I also... wait? This has nothing to do with you, right!?"

You are me, I am you, and you're actually comforting me.

What is this supposed to be?

Self... what?

After some conversation, he looked at the youth and said: "So, at times like this, you should sacrifice the 'small self' to achieve the 'greater self'."

The audience laughed again, not expecting the Reversal to be buried here.

"I understand, it's all because of me that I've become like this." The youth was dejected, took a few steps forward, and then had a sudden realization.

"It's my fault... it's my fault that my heart isn't calm!"

"Eh!?" Du Bin was shocked.

"I should just focus entirely on learning Peking Opera and not think about anything else!"

"No more playing games, no more watching movies, no more playing basketball..."

Du Bin was anxious and said: "No, that's not what I meant..."

The next moment, Du Bin's daily speech turned into the style of Opera, as if he couldn't speak normally anymore; he had truly become an Opera fanatic!

The progression of the Drama was logical, yet it contained a large number of small Reversals.

It was unexpected, yet reasonable.

Amidst a commotion that left everyone both laughing and crying, the two finally returned to normal.

Du Bin said: "I know you might not listen when I tell you these things, but I'm doing it all for your future."

"Then what if I work a little harder and am a little more diligent? Then will my future..."

Du Bin immediately interrupted loudly: "I am your future!"

"Anyway, you've seen it; your future is just like me, this sorry state."

"As for how to choose..."

Thunder rumbled again; his time was up, he couldn't stay in the past anymore, it was time to go back.

He ducked back into the cabinet labeled "Exit Stage", but couldn't get back.

"Why can't I go back?"

"Do you want to try the entrance door? 'Exit Stage' is for exiting, 'Enter Prime Minister' is for..." the youth said.

"Oh, cut, cut, cut!" Du Bin lost his patience; he didn't want to hear anything related to Opera anymore.

Just before walking into the door labeled "Enter Prime Minister", he immediately poked his head out and said: "Right! You can learn stand-up comedy; it'll be super popular in ten years!"

Heavy rain began to fall outside the window, the sound of rain spreading throughout the venue.

The youth, wearing a full Peking Opera Hang Tou, walked silently to a photograph.

The scene switched again at this moment, arriving at the stage of a variety show.

A voiceover sounded: "Welcome everyone to the 'Annual Stand-up Comedy Competition'."

"Let's welcome—Du Bin!"

Having just traveled back, Du Bin ran to the microphone foolishly.

"Hello everyone! I'm Du Bin!" he said loudly, confident and high-spirited.

He must have been thinking, the past me actually learned stand-up comedy!

It's changed! Everything has changed!

Hahahaha! I'm going to be famous!

He picked up the microphone, and in his excitement, his breathing began to quicken, and he started to wheeze.

"Hah-hiss—hah-hiss—"

He wheezed while looking out at the entire audience.

His expression shifted from initial excitement to confusion, and then to bewilderment.

He perhaps realized at this moment that he didn't know stand-up comedy.

—"I" didn't learn it.

He continued to wheeze, unable to speak while holding the microphone, his gaze shifting from bewilderment to timidity.

He began to get stage fright.

I still can't do it, I still can't do anything, what should I do?

By now, twenty seconds had passed, with only his expressions and eyes changing.

Not a single line of dialogue, only the sound of wheezing!

Du Bin's gaze began to grow increasingly dull, and the sounds of Opera began to ring in his ears, as if he were possessed.

He blinked continuously, his eye sockets growing redder and redder.

He began to gradually realize—what exactly he was capable of.

He tried to slightly lift the microphone, then put it down again, continuing to pant "ha-chi, ha-chi."

The accompaniment music for the Opera clearly did not exist, yet it grew louder and louder in his ears.

It was too loud! It was truly too loud!

He picked up the microphone, placed it by his mouth, his eyes vacant and unfocused.

"【Upon seeing...】" He only sang two characters before stopping and putting the microphone down again.

This was an attempt of his.

——I can still perform Opera.

This was the result.

"Ha-chi—ha-chi—."

He held the microphone, not daring to look at the camera, his eyes fixed on the ground.

"【Upon seeing the princess steal the command arrow—】" He began Singing.

His dull gaze began to change gradually; his eyes started to widen, just as they had when he first went on stage in the first act, every movement and every style fully immersed in the character from the Opera.

"【I cannot help but feel joy in my heart—】" Du Bin's reddened eyes stared straight into the camera, without dodging or timidity.

Even though the large characters "Annual Talk Show Conference" were written behind him.

"【Standing at the palace gate—】"

He made a one-second pause.

Originally, his left hand had been supporting itself on the microphone stand, gripping the stand tightly, needing a pillar of support.

When people are nervous and at a loss, they are always like this.

At this moment, he slowly loosened his left hand.

He did not need it anymore.

Du Bin raised his left hand, pointing upward, striking an Opera pose.

"【Calling the little barbarian—!】" The voice seemed as if it would blow the roof off the entire hall!

Compared to when he performed Opera on stage before he transmigrated in the first act, this line was completely different.

This made many audience members who understood what was happening shiver all over, their eyes turning red; every previous attempt that could change the future had been a setup for this final act and this final line.

"Ten Years of Work Offstage," this short film is called "Ten Years of Work Offstage."

When Du Bin sang this time, the difference from the previous time was:

——He raised the key!

The five hundred audience members in the hall gave thunderous applause!

(PS: Second update, nearly 6000 words, I won't split it into a third update, please vote for monthly tickets! Charging up the rankings at the start of the month! Only a few hundred away from the top five!)

I strongly suggest everyone go watch the full version; many comedic things cannot be expressed through text, this is the charm of Comedy. Of course, there is also the change in his eyes at the end.)

Please vote for monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)