Chapter 507: 《Send You a Little Red Flower》

Wang Rong sat at the Director Seat, completely stunned.

"He's going up himself?"

"He is actually directing and acting in it himself!"

Wang Rong didn't think Luo Mo was cheating, because the competition rules didn't say it wasn't allowed.

What left him speechless was: "How did he think of the same thing as me!"

Wang Rong also planned to direct and act in a performance once, but not now.

If you save your trump card for later, but go up yourself early on, what are you going to do later?

But Luo Mo didn't need to have such concerns; he was just here to fill in, just a temporary worker.

Run Jie, as the person above him, considered everything for him.

Luo Mo could do whatever he wanted, and play however he liked.

He wasn't familiar with Tian Ou, and even had a bit of a grudge, so even if he messed it up and left a mess, he wouldn't have any psychological burden.

As for the live audience, they wouldn't care about that much.

"We won, this wave is a huge win!"

"To think we can actually see Luo Mo go on stage to act!"

"Wow! So looking forward to it!"

Li Dongliang and Fang Jie exchanged a glance, both of them frowning.

Especially Fang Jie; she opened her mouth to speak several times, only to discover... her mic had been cut.

Ning Dan was backstage and hadn't turned on the microphones for the four directors at all.

Variety shows are just like this; sometimes the audio is turned off so they can communicate normally in private instead of broadcasting to the whole venue.

Fang Jie closed her mouth helplessly and watched the big screen with cold eyes.

Luo Mo stood up, left the Director Seat, and went to prepare a little.

The character Luo Mo played in "A Little Red Flower" is named Wei Yihang.

He is sick; there is a tumor in his brain.

During the ten-plus minutes Luo Mo was preparing, Fang Jie said to Wang Rong and Li Dongliang: "There are quite a few of Director Luo's fans in this audience, right?"

This old lady squinted her eyes and smiled.

How could Wang Rong and Li Dongliang not understand what she meant?

Li Dongliang smiled and said: "A young, handsome guy, it's normal to have many fans."

Upon hearing this, Wang Rong muttered to himself: "This is implying that Luo Mo has a lot of fan votes?"

He himself planned to go on stage to act later, and since he also wanted to build a cooperative relationship with Luo Mo, he said: "Director Li, Director Fang, I actually think directing and acting yourself is more troublesome than hiring External Aid."

"After all, our show isn't recorded, it's performed live."

"When our three camps are performing, we can still sit in the back to oversee the actors and control the rhythm."

"Luo Mo went straight up to act, so there's no one to control these things; he can only prepare in advance and follow the process."

"Not to mention anything else, just every scene change is actually very troublesome."

"This way, if a mistake occurs on stage, there's no director to handle the emergency."

Li Dongliang and Fang Jie looked at him deeply, but in the end, they only said: "A mature director, even for a live performance, will prepare various contingency plans in advance."

The three were chatting heatedly, but at this moment, the big screen turned from dark to bright.

"A Little Red Flower" was about to begin.

Song Ge looked at the big screen, a bit dazed.

"He's actually acting himself."

"Acting himself..."

"Acting..."

………

………

The scene at the beginning of the short play was in a hospital.

The doctor was giving the male lead, Wei Yihang, a follow-up exam, with his mother accompanying him on the side.

"It's good, it's good," the doctor said to the two while holding the film.

Wei Yihang, played by Luo Mo, sat there with many small movements, folding the chewing gum wrapper in his hand into a stick shape, then bending it, then continuing to bend it.

"In the two years since the surgery, I've heard this sentence countless times," Luo Mo's pre-recorded voice, in the form of an inner-monologue voiceover, spread throughout the venue.

"But it can't change the life I have now."

After the mother and son said Farewell to the doctor, the screen began to switch, and in a comic-like format, began to recount Wei Yihang's condition and experiences.

He had something in his brain, and although he had surgery, no one knew if it would recur at any time.

"Insomnia, amnesia, aphasia, loss of balance, hemiplegia, low intelligence, schizophrenia; there are many potential sequelae after the surgery."

"If I'm lucky, I'll live with one of them..."

The male lead's personality was exposed completely, and coupled with the expression Luo Mo had just performed, as well as his entire posture, it made this person look—very depressed!

In the current era where "depressive culture" is relatively popular, it actually made many audience members feel it was quite interesting.

At the same time, one could also see that the teenager he was playing was still in a rebellious phase.

The scene shifted, and Wei Yihang and his mother had already arrived in the car; the car was about to exit the hospital parking lot and needed to pay.

The camera gave a close-up of the back seat of the car, which contained a large bag full of medicine, at least a dozen boxes.

When paying, the mother took out the parking ticket: "Hey, the ticket."

"Give me another five yuan, it's overtime," the staff member said.

"It's only five minutes over, young man, no need for a ticket." She prepared to close the window.

"One minute over is still over."

"I arrived right on time, the person in front took forever to drive out..."

"We use a computerized billing system."

"Then you're being completely unreasonable, someone else dawdled, and you're charging me."

Amidst cheerful and lighthearted music, Wei Yihang was chewing gum and started to go get money, but was interrupted by his mom.

The pre-recorded voiceover played precisely once more: "My mom, a finance worker who failed to get a promotion because she was taking care of me, has dedicated half her life to saving money."

During the voiceover, Mom took out her wallet and showed it to the staff member: "I really didn't bring any cash."

The staff member immediately said: "You can scan the code."

Wei Yihang chewed his gum while watching the commotion with a smile, as if watching a show.

"You don't have internet here, you guys..." Mom was actually still able to make a fuss.

"No internet?"

"Ah! Look, there's no internet!"

Honking sounds of urging began to come from behind.

"Fine, fine, let's go, let's go."

"Thanks!"

Because it was a stage performance, the driving was fake, but the background would change, and the car had already driven outside.

Wang Rong and the others watched this scene; as directors, they knew this was a form of foreshadowing to demonstrate the character's meticulousness and stinginess.

Fang Jie frowned deeply.

"Also sick?"

"The content overlaps too much!"

The scene switched again, and the two returned home.

The dad, played by Xu Ruihong, also made his official entrance, having prepared a table full of dishes.

At first, it was harmonious and happy, everyone was laughing and talking, and the audience also found it interesting.

The voiceover began to recount the passage of time, and a month flashed by just like that.

The family of three continued to eat at the dining table.

But not long after, Wei Yihang's facial expressions began to have subtle twitches.

It was visible that he was trying his best to endure it, and was carefully observing his parents, not wanting them to find out.

His mouth was still chewing the food normally, but half of his face kept twitching slightly!

Wei Yihang chewed with more and more force, harder and harder, even starting to make smacking sounds.

But he just couldn't help it!

Immediately after, his body also began to twitch, his whole body stiffened, like a frozen person, yet he couldn't stop trembling.

All the young contestants in the four camps watched this scene, their eyes wide.

This kind of nuanced performance and control of facial muscles—not a single young person here could do it!

Some were even learning the facial twitching on the spot, only to end up looking like a drooling idiot.

"How did he do that!?" Everyone was puzzled.

On this stage, Luo Mo, in the capacity of an Actor, with a mere twenty seconds of performance... began to show his brilliance!

"Wei Yihang!" his parents shouted.

His entire head hit the tabletop, and he lost consciousness.

The screen turned dark, leaving only the sound of "beep, beep, beep."

In the dark scene, the Actor had to start moving to change the set, and also had to pull himself out of his previous state.

This wasn't a pre-recorded broadcast; the difficulty was actually greater than filming on a normal day.

But fortunately, Luo Mo had rich experience on the theatrical stage.

These experiences were of great use at such a moment!

Like Fang Jie said, should they invite someone from the National Theatre of China to be an Assistant Actor?

Actually, there was no need.

He himself was practically half a member of the National Theatre of China.

Accompanied by the "beep, beep, beep" sound, the screen remained dark, but a human voice came out.

"There is a shadow in this area." This was the doctor's voice.

"We cannot confirm the results right now; we still have to wait for the other test results to come out before we can reach a final conclusion."

Mom's choked-up voice came out: "Wasn't it already stable? How could it... when will the results be out, Doctor?"

The line delivery skills were too good; even though there was no picture and the screen was pitch black, the audience found it moving just by listening to the voices.

"Recurrence is an unavoidable stage in the entire cancer treatment process, so don't be anxious," the doctor comforted them.

The screen turned bright again, and the three Actors were sitting in the car.

Mom was driving, Dad was in the passenger seat, and Wei Yihang was sitting in the back.

He lowered his head and said: "Mom, can you give me some money?"

"How much do you need?"

"A few thousand, I guess."

"You need that much? What are you going to do?"

"I want to go hiking, I need to buy some gear," Wei Yihang said.

"In your current condition, you want to go hiking?" She glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "Are we not valuing our lives anymore?"

"Forget it if you aren't giving it." Wei Yihang started up again.

"Am I saying I won't give it? I meant that, look at your current state..."

"Don't say any more, I don't want to hear it." He put on his headphones.

From beginning to end, Dad did not say a word; throughout the entire Drama, he seemed like a marginalized character with no say at home.

He only kept a worried look on his face.

Seeing this, due to the earlier foreshadowing and Character Shaping, everyone could feel that Wei Yihang had started to become despondent again, feeling that his days were numbered and wanting to do things he usually couldn't do before the end.

Mom cared about him, but it was because of her usual fussing over money that the argument broke out.

The car stopped and began waiting for the red light.

A person holding a child walked out from the side and started knocking on the car window.

Many people who drive have encountered such people; some will even try to sell you products while you wait for a red light, or beg, or just wipe your window twice and then ask you for money...

Mom did not open the car window.

This woman in tattered clothes, holding a child, kept knocking persistently.

Mom's expression grew increasingly solemn; she lowered her head slightly and opened the window.

"Boss, please have some mercy." The begging woman held the child and spoke, begging.

Wei Yihang's mom turned her head to look at her and said abruptly, "Is your child sick?"

Immediately following, her tone rose, her eye sockets turned red, yet she was filled with Anger, and she repeated, "Is he sick?"

"I'm asking you, is he sick!?"

The scene cut to Wei Yihang's facial expression; although he was wearing headphones, he kept his head down and glanced forward, clearly able to hear the conversation.

"I'm telling you, you have arms and legs, can't you find a proper job to support him!"

"Can't you!!?"

Her tears were already swirling in her eyes, yet she stared fixedly at this begging woman, staring intensely.

Dad reached out and gently pulled her, but she violently shook off his hand.

The breakdown of an adult often happens in just a single moment.

Wei Yihang sat in the back seat, closed his eyes, and said nothing.

"What is this for." Mom's right hand trembled as she opened her bag, took out a one-hundred-yuan note, shoved it forcefully into the woman's hand, and then immediately closed the window.

She had just unbuckled her seatbelt, and now that the light had turned green, she buckled it back on.

But her hand was shaking so violently that she tried twice and couldn't get it to click.

(PS: Second update, the Drama has been heavily modified.

Begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets, begging for monthly tickets.)

(End of this chapter)