C3 Part1

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P – Chapter 2.12

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P – Chapter 3.1

Cao Ye and Liang Sizhe separately got into the car and sat in the back row. Zheng Yin took them towards the audition site.

This was Liang Sizhe’s second time riding in the off-road car, and compared to last time, it was a lot more relaxed — since he was sitting with Cao Ye.

“Have you played paintball before?” Cao Ye wasn’t sleepy anymore, and he now chatted to Liang Sizhe in high spirits.

“No,” Liang Sizhe said.

“It’s so fun, it’s super exciting.” Turning his body over slightly to look at him, Cao Ye’s eyes were bright. “Wanna come with me next time? We’ll switch out Li Zheng. He keeps dragging us down, we’re always losing.”

“I’ve never played before, so I probably won’t be much better than him.”

“You’ll definitely be better than him! It’ll be fine as long as you don’t kill me. That idiot Li Zheng actually shot at me — we were in the same team! I was also the main attacker, so you can already tell how badly we lost that round without me in it.”

“Then you could’ve shot him in the next round,” Liang Sizhe lazily said, reclining into the backseat. Cao Ye couldn’t tell if he was interested in playing or not.

“Bro, I can tell you’re someone fierce!” Cao Ye bent his elbow and placed it onto Liang Sizhe’s shoulder. “We’re going together next time. No arguments allowed.”

Before Liang Sizhe could respond, Zheng Yin spoke from the front, a smile on his mouth as he said, “Cao Ye, you brat. Why don’t you ask Sizhe if he’s even interested in your child games? Aren’t you just forcing him?”

“How would he know if he’s interested in it or not without actually playing it? Besides, what do you mean by child games? Uncle Yin, you should go and watch a game. A lot of people your age play it too. Wanna come with us next time?”

“I’m definitely not interested,” Zheng Yin laughed, shaking his head. “I don’t need to try it to know.”

The car drove into a film studio. The two of them got off and followed Zheng Yin inside. There were several large, domed marquees in the studio, and all of them were used for onsite shoots. Zheng Yin brought them into one of the buildings.

There were a few simply furnished rooms on both sides of the building entrance, available for actors or crew members to use. Once they walked in, they reached the place for their screen test today — it was a space large enough to feel a bit empty, and all of the curtains on its windows were tightly drawn. The natural lighting from outside were kept out while a spotlight, meticulously placed by the lighting crew, stood right in the centre. As soon as they got in, the dim and sombre lighting turned the entire filming site somewhat oppressive and stifling. There was still sewage left on the rough and pitted ground; they didn’t know if the water was splashed everywhere intentionally, or if the previous film crew had left it there. The various colours of the film set refracted off the surface.

Cao Xiuyuan sat behind the monitor, watching the figures inside the camera. There were around seven or eight other men and women around him, either sitting or standing, all of different ages, and at this moment, they were softly conversing with each other.

A few boys stood at the edges of the set, all around sixteen or seventeen. Some came by themselves; others had people with them.

“Just stand there for a bit,” Zheng Yin said. “I’ll go over and tell them you’re here.”

Zheng Yin went over and stopped diagonally behind Cao Xiuyuan. He leaned over, two hands propped onto his thighs, and said next to Cao Xiuyuan’s ear, “Yuan-ge, I’ve brought the boys over.”

Hearing that, Cao Xiuyuan turned to glance at Cao Ye and Liang Sizhe.

As soon as they heard Cao Xiuyuan’s son had arrived, the other main crew members also turned to look over at them.

Both of Liang Sizhe’s hands were clasped behind him, and the one leg that was stretched out in front was faintly bent. One of Cao Ye’s arms was on his shoulders, and Cao Ye’s head was slightly curved — as though he was saying something to Liang Sizhe. The scene of two good-looking boys standing together was honestly way too eye-catching; the other boys standing around them paled in comparison.

Someone next to them tilted their head and mouthed to Zheng Yin, their back to Cao Xiuyuan, which one?

Zheng Yin pointed to the left and also mouthed in return, the short hair.

At this moment, scriptwriter Zhou Ru spoke with a chuckle, “Yo, the young master’s here. He’s much better looking in real life than in photos.”

“Isn’t he?” Zheng Yin also chuckled.

“But he doesn’t look that similar to Director Cao. Does he resemble Li-laoshi more?” the assistant director asked by the side. ‘Li-laoshi’ was Li You, Cao Ye’s mother. She was an internationally renowned violinist, and even though their marriage had been never publicly revealed to the media, most people within the industry knew Li You was Cao Ye’s wife.

“The shape of his face and his eyes resemble his mother.” Lifting his head, Zheng Yin glanced at Cao Ye and said, smiling, “But his nose and mouth are exactly the same as Yuan-ge’s.”

“What a good-looking son,” someone said.

“Who’s the boy standing next to him?” Zhou Ru asked the question everyone else wanted to ask. Even though he didn’t have the dazzling halo of being ‘Cao Xiuyuan’s son’, Liang Sizhe’s brilliance wasn’t blocked in the least despite standing next to Cao Ye. He stood there casually, talking to Cao Ye once in a while, and yet he wasn’t outdone at all — he looked so unique. In a later interview one day, Zhou Ru would recall, he was just particularly striking.

“He’s someone Yuan-ge chose to come audition.” Zheng Yin didn’t really introduce him.

“Let’s continue.” Cao Xiuyuan had had enough of the chatter. “We’ll screen test everyone else first. Those two can go last.”

A worker on the outer edge of the group lowered his head and swept a look over the list of names in his hand, and he walked towards those group of youths. “Xu Qisheng, come. It’s your turn.” One of the boys responded, quickly heading towards the front of the camera, and stood still. He looked a bit bewildered, not knowing what to do.

“Take one step forward,” Cao Xiuyuan said behind the monitor.

The boy was clearly a bit nervous, and he immediately took a step. He tentatively asked, “Was that okay?”

Cao Xiuyuan then said, “Brush your hair up and look into the camera.”

He hurriedly raised a hand and smoothed his fringe up to the top of his head; he held it down with a palm.

Liang Sizhe and Cao Ye stood by the side, watching the entire process. Cao Ye’s arm suddenly lifted from Liang Sizhe’s shoulder, his hand raising nice and high as though he was giving a greeting.

Liang Sizhe looked in the direction of his greeting. A boy around seventeen or eighteen was walking towards them — he was delicate and pretty, not quite tall at around 175 centimetres at the most. He looked very skinny. He’d been sitting near Cao Xiuyuan earlier, but Cao Xiuyuan’s tall figure had blocked him entirely.

“Hey, Zhang Minghan.” Cao Ye’s hand returned back to Liang Sizhe’s shoulder. With a grin, he asked, “Why are you here too?”

“I haven’t had anything to film lately, so I came over to watch Cao-laoshi audition. I had nothing to do at home,” Zhang Minghan replied, also with a grin.

“But there’s nothing worth watching…” Cao Ye languidly said, “Plus haven’t you also gone through auditions?”

“Auditioning yourself and watching others audition is very different. Besides, you’re here — I’m here to witness the beginnings of a superstar.”

“I think that’s excessive praise. That could destroy me,” Cao Ye laughed.

“No, it’s called having foresight.” Zhang Minghan’s gaze landed on Liang Sizhe. They looked quite close, so he guessed Liang Sizhe was also another rich young master who’d grown up together with Cao Ye — or else he wouldn’t have such an aura. “…And this is?”

“Ah, I should introduce him to you.” Cao Ye patted Liang Sizhe’s shoulder. “This is Liang Sizhe. He’s just like you — he’s a newcomer personally picked by my dad.” He then introduced Zhang Minghan to Liang Sizhe. “I don’t need to introduce Zhang Minghan, right? He was the male lead in Yearning is a River1.”

Liang Sizhe actually didn’t really know much of Zhang Minghan, who’d acted in one of Cao Xiuyuan’s films as the main character two years ago. He’d won a Best Newcomer Award in a film festival and had very much earned some limelight, but Liang Sizhe hadn’t really paid attention to film industry news at that time. To him, Zhang Minghan was just another one of those many celebrities he’d heard of but was never able to match their names to their actual faces.

Once Cao Ye finished introducing each other, Liang Sizhe and Zhang Minghan shook hands very simply; they didn’t look like they were interested in getting to know each other.

Zhang Minghan’s attitude faintly changed at hearing Liang Sizhe was Cao Xiuyuan’s chosen newcomer. He packed away his previous caution and started to study Liang Sizhe very straightforwardly. He mused, “A newcomer, huh? This film is dual male lead?”

“We’re not sure either,” Cao Ye grinned. He’d grown up overseas, so his Chinese reading ability was painfully slow. He still hadn’t quite managed to finish even a third of the script — he didn’t know if a male character with the same screen time as Xiao Man would appear in the later stages of the plot. His eyes looked beyond Zhang Minghan’s shoulders. “Why does this screen test look so similar to applying to a film academy?”

“You talk as if you’ve applied to a film academy before,” Zhang Minghan said, amused.

“A friend told me about it… The way he described it sounds exactly like this.”

“This is much harder than trying to get into a film academy.” Zhang Minghan turned to the screen test area in the middle. “Cao-laoshi’s eyes are brutally sharp. He only needs to watch someone for a little bit, and he’ll know if that person can handle the character or not.”

The screen test proceeded very quickly — everyone was up for only for a few minutes before they finished. Cao Ye and Liang Sizhe were soon the only two left who hadn’t gone up.

“How about Xiao Ye being last? Is that okay, Yuan-ge?” Zheng Yin asked Cao Xiuyuan.

By the side, someone joked, “Does Director Cao’s own son even need to screen test?”

“Call Cao Ye over first,” Cao Xiuyuan said, gaze fixed on the monitor screen and his fingers holding onto his chin.

“All right.” Zheng Yin straightened up and waved an arm at Cao Ye. “Xiao Ye, come here.” He then gestured at the spot in front of the camera. “Stand there.”

“I’m off.” Cao Ye removed his arm from Liang Sizhe’s shoulders, said something to Zhang Minghan and then went to stand in front of the camera.

“Take two steps forward. Lift your chin a bit… Turn to the side. No, don’t turn that much… Good, now a little bit more… Turn enough that your back’s facing the camera and then walk forward. Don’t stop, keep going…” Behind the camera, Cao Xiuyuan gave out simple commands. The way he treated Cao Ye was no different from the way he treated everyone else.

Cao Ye appeared to obediently follow his commands, doing those actions one by one, but his mood worsened as soon as he heard Cao Xiuyuan’s voice. The more commands Cao Xiuyuan gave, the more Cao Ye’s mood dropped.

During those few steps he took with his back facing the camera, he even started to wonder if he was actually Cao Xiuyuan’s true born son — why else would he treat him as coldly as he treated other people? Cao Xiuyuan was focused only on the monitor screen; he didn’t lift his head and look at him directly even once.

“Walk back,” Cao Xiuyuan said.

Cao Ye had a terrible look on his face as he turned and walked back around. At this very moment, the boy who was usually filled with boundless energy and high spirits was flooded with indignation and resentment — and all that was written on his face, unable to be hidden.

But this change in emotions actually caught Cao Xiuyuan’s attention. His tightly drawn brows faintly loosened, his gaze stopping on the monitor for a few seconds, and then he raised his head to look at Cao Ye across the air.

Cao Ye was also looking at him. That one look contained a story — it was brimming with questions, with an unwillingness to accept defeat, with anger and discontent. Those kinds of emotions were overly intense, to the point everyone else in the area could sense something wasn’t quite right.

But this confrontation seemed to be merely wishful thinking on Cao Ye’s part. Cao Xiuyuan slightly tilted his head up to watch Cao Ye, his eyes calm as he observed him. His fingers lightly tapped his chin again and again; he looked like he was deep in thought. A moment later, he turned to say to Liang Sizhe, “Sizhe, come here and stand over there too.”

Translator has something to say:

This title is literally translated. The raws are 思念是条河. ↩

P – Chapter 3.2

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