Chapter 7

On August 26th, Bei Dian officially started work. However, the first day of work was uneventful, just cleaning and tidying up the office.

The office for the Performance Department's 01 class was on the second floor of the Performance and Directing Building. The room was spacious, with six desks arranged in two rows. Zhang Ran had been busy writing the script for "Time Prisoner" over the past two days and arrived a bit late. When he got to the office, the other teachers were already seated.

Hu Weiguo didn't need an introduction, and Wang Jingsong didn't need an introduction either. He was the head teacher of the 01 class, a very capable person who would later become the deputy dean of the Performance College. Of course, Wang Jingsong was only in his early 30s at the time, with a much lower hairline, making him look very young.

The other two were introduced to Zhang Ran by Li Xinyue. The woman was named Jin Shuying, 26 years old, who had taught a specialized class and was now Wang Jingsong's assistant this year. The other man was named Chen Hai, 25 years old, who had graduated with a master's degree last year and stayed to teach, serving as Hu Weiguo's assistant.

The teachers for the acting, physical training, and vocal classes had their own offices and did not share the same office as Zhang Ran and the others. Graduate students like Zhou Zheng did not have an office.

At that moment, Chen Hai and Hu Weiguo were talking loudly, occasionally glancing at Li Xinyue, seemingly trying to catch her attention. However, Li Xinyue sat behind her desk, flipping through a fashion magazine, as if they didn't exist.

When Li Xinyue saw Zhang Ran enter, her stern face broke into a smile, and she stood up to greet him: "Teacher Zhang, you're here!"

Zhang Ran nodded in response: "Teacher Li, you're early!"

Li Xinyue smiled at Zhang Ran and introduced him to everyone: "This is our new teacher, Zhang Ran." Then she pointed to Wang Jingsong and the others and introduced them: "This is Teacher Wang Jingsong, this is Jin Shuying, and this is Chen Hai, who is a new teacher this year!"

Zhang Ran greeted Wang Jingsong and the others one by one as Li Xinyue introduced them. However, Zhang Ran could tell that Wang Jingsong and Jin Shuying were not very enthusiastic towards him, and Chen Hai's eyes carried a hint of hostility.

Wang Jingsong had taught two specialized classes with outstanding results and was supposed to teach an undergraduate class this time. However, Zhang Ran took his place, so he naturally had some resentment towards Zhang Ran. But Wang Jingsong was passionate about acting and, though he didn't like Zhang Ran, he was very interested in Zhang Ran's expertise: "Zhang Ran, you're back from the United States, and you studied the Method. Tell us about the Method in the United States."

Li Xinyue chimed in: "Yes, tell us!"

Seeing everyone's interest, Zhang Ran didn't hesitate and began his introduction: "There are about twenty popular acting training methods in the United States, and the Method is a general term with many branches. It's a bit of a legend, like a story from Jin Yong's novels. In 1931, a few young people in New York founded a theater group dedicated to the study and teaching of the Stanislavski system. During their research, they developed different understandings of the Stanislavski system, each believing the others were wrong and they were right. However, Strasberg was the leader of the group, and his views were the mainstream. The group always trained according to his ideas, and the other views were suppressed.

One of them, a woman named Stella Adler, was not convinced. In a fit of anger, she went to find the founder, Stanislavski, and eventually found him in France, where she studied with him for five weeks. When Stella returned to the United States, she brought back the views of the founder, Stanislavski, and she was right! Strasberg could no longer stay in the group, and the entire group fell apart. The members of the group founded their own acting training classes, training actors according to their own ideas, and eventually formed different schools. The school I studied is called the Stella Adler technique, which was passed down by Stella Adler!"

Wang Jingsong was surprised to hear that there were six or seven schools of the Stanislavski system in the United States: "I didn't expect there to be so many schools of acting in the United States. However, I've never heard of the Stella Adler technique before."

Zhang Ran smiled: "Our school is more involved in stage and musical performances, so it's not very well-known. But our representative figures, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, are definitely familiar to everyone!"

Li Xinyue asked curiously: "What about Al Pacino?"

Zhang Ran explained: "Al Pacino came from Strasberg's Actors Studio. Most of the actors referred to as the Method actors come from the Actors Studio. Although they both belong to the Stanislavski system, they belong to different branches, and their performances have differences."

Wang Jingsong slapped the table: "That's right, I always thought their performances were different. It turns out they're not from the same school!"

Seeing Zhang Ran and Wang Jingsong talking animatedly, Hu Weiguo's eyes flashed with annoyance. He said sarcastically: "So, Teacher Zhang, you have a connection with Robert De Niro. No wonder Dean Chen favors you so much. It looks like you have a bright future. Don't forget to take care of us, your colleagues, when the time comes!"

Hu Weiguo's words sounded nice on the surface but were actually mocking Zhang Ran for sucking up to Robert De Niro and flattering Dean Chen.

Wang Jingsong and Jin Shuying were well aware of the conflict between Chen Jianfeng and Huang Zhenyu and knew why Hu Weiguo was targeting Zhang Ran. However, they had no interest in getting involved and just watched from the sidelines.

Chen Hai, Hu Weiguo's assistant, knew Hu Weiguo's background and wanted to curry favor with him. He joined in the mockery: "Yes, with Dean Chen's help, Teacher Zhang will definitely have a bright future. Don't forget to help us, your colleagues, when the time comes!"

Zhang Ran glanced at Hu Weiguo and smiled: "No problem. If Teacher Hu needs any help, as long as it doesn't violate principles, I'll definitely help!"

Hu Weiguo didn't expect Zhang Ran to say this and was immediately frustrated. "What are you, anyway? Don't think that sucking up to Chen Jianfeng makes you special. We'll see how you fare. You'll cry when the time comes!"

Wang Jingsong looked at Zhang Ran and smiled, thinking, "This Zhang Ran is not someone to mess with. The office is going to get lively!"

Knock, knock, knock—

The sound of knocking came, and a woman in her late 20s walked in. She had long, flowing hair, an oval face, large, expressive eyes, a slightly upturned nose, and full lips. She wore a white shirt and a well-fitted black skirt, revealing her white neck and arms, looking very sexy.

Zhang Ran didn't recognize the woman, but the others in the office smiled when they saw her. Chen Hai and Hu Weiguo's eyes lit up: "Miss Yang, your presence in our office is a great honor. Please, have a seat." Hu Weiguo stood up to help the woman with a chair.

"Miss Yi Mei, are you here to assign us tasks?" Li Xinyue asked with a smile.

"You little thing, always making fun of me. I'm not a leader, so I can't assign tasks. I'm just a messenger," the woman said with a playful smile, her eyes involuntarily landing on Zhang Ran. When she saw his face clearly, her dark eyes brightened: "You must be the new teacher, Zhang Ran?"

"I'm Zhang Ran. You must be Secretary Yang. I've heard that our department's teaching secretary is a great beauty. It's nice to finally meet you!" Zhang Ran smiled and extended his hand.

Yang Yimei laughed, her eyes crescent-shaped like the moon, and she shook Zhang Ran's hand gracefully: "Hello, Teacher Zhang. I'm Yang Yimei, the teaching secretary of our college. It's nice to meet you." She then pulled a sheet of paper from her file and handed it to Zhang Ran: "This is your class schedule and your course arrangement."

"Yimei, that's not right! We greeted you first, but you gave the documents to Zhang Ran first?" Wang Jingsong tapped the table, joking with Yang Yimei.

"I can't help it; I like looking at handsome men!" Yang Yimei shot Wang Jingsong a playful glance and then smiled at Zhang Ran, "Teacher Zhang, if you have any questions, feel free to call me. My phone number is on the notice. If you have nothing to do, you can also go out with me; I like going out with handsome men!"

Zhang Ran flipped through the course schedule in his hand and smiled: "Okay, we'll make it a deal!"

Yang Yimei took out some documents from her file and gave one to each teacher in the office before turning to leave. Just as she reached the door, she remembered something: "Oh, by the way, there's one more thing. The school will be checking lesson plans. Have you prepared yours? If you have, please submit it to Dean Huang as soon as possible."

"What, checking lesson plans?" Zhang Ran was taken aback. He had only heard of lesson plans being checked in middle and high schools, not in universities. He had been busy writing the script for "Time Prisoner" and had only prepared a simple teaching outline, not a detailed lesson plan.

"Yes, Dean Huang will personally evaluate the lesson plans, and it's very strict!"

"When is the latest I can submit it?" Zhang Ran frowned. If he didn't submit a complete