Chapter 52

Since the day he promised Xu Qichen to consider auditioning, Xia Xiqing had nightmares all night long, all of which happened when he was a child. He thought he had forgotten all about it for so many years.

But the moment he opened his eyes in cold sweat, Xia Xiqing realized that he had never forgotten that these dark memories were dormant in a hidden corner of his heart, waiting all the time for an opportunity to surface and attack his nerves.

Xia Xiqing hated being embarrassed, and even more hated himself who was so embarrassed that he didn't dare to face him.

When woke up, couldn't sleep anymore. turned on phone at 3:00 in the middle of the night and refreshed circle of friends. Coincidentally, the latest one turned out to be a circle of friends posted by Zhou Ziheng at 2:45 in the morning.

There was only one photo, his mosaic of scripts and various notes, and a cup of coffee.

Really hard work.

Xia Xiqing gave a like, and the next second he received a message from Zhou Ziheng.

[Moral Pacer: Why haven't you slept yet? ]

[Terrorist: Follow you. ]

Holding the phone, Xia Xiqing looked at the ceiling and thought of the documents he saw last time in the bay window of Zhou Ziheng's bedroom. It seems that he really wants to play this play well, so he put so much effort into it.

I don't know why, but a picture suddenly popped up in my mind. Zhou Ziheng, in a suit and leather shoes, stood on the stage to receive the award, and he also sat down to applaud him in a dog-like dress.

Xia Xiqing felt that he must be sick.

What if one of the main creators in the audience to celebrate him was someone else.

[Terrorist: Which new people have you met, send them to let me have a taste. ]

It was just a joke, who would have thought that Zhou Ziheng actually sent him a few photos.

[Moral pacesetter: All directors went to the film school to find them. At present, I think these three are not bad. They are very handsome. ]

In fact, Zhou Ziheng's words are quite pertinent. "Not bad", "pretty", "alright", these descriptions are not enough [appreciation] anyway, they can only be regarded as above the pass line. But Xia Xiqing felt uncomfortable when he saw it, and he was accustomed to looking for reasons, and he attributed this abnormal mood to his old problem of exaggerating self-esteem.

But he didn't understand why he was compared with the three newcomers Zhou Ziheng said.

Perhaps Xia Xiqing didn't reply for too long, so Zhou Ziheng sent another one.

[Morality Pacer: What's the matter, I suddenly asked this. ]

[Terrorist: Just ask, let’s see which newcomer is so lucky to be with Zhou Dashuai for the first time. ]

He clicked on the first picture. It was a little boy who looked eighteen or nineteen years old, with delicate facial features and fair skin. He looked very pure. The second picture is almost the same style, with longer hair.

The boy in the last picture is a little bit special, with very light eyeballs, round eyes, slap face, and brown hair. He is the type that girls like now, cute and pure.

[Terrorist: The third child is very cute, I think it fits you well. ]

When it was time to send it, Xia Xiqing deleted the second half of the sentence, leaving only the first half of the compliment.

Originally this week, Ziheng was editing the reply to Xia Xiqing's last WeChat message. He hesitated whether to tell Xia Xiqing that he just wanted to act in this play with him. A few words were deleted and changed, only to see the other party's post. New news coming.

The three words "children" touched his back almost instantly, not to mention the words "pretty cute" followed by him, and he deleted the words he edited before.

[Moral Pacesetter: What, your appetite? ]

Seeing this sentence, Xia Xiqing couldn't help laughing, how come this guy still doesn't know what his taste is, and if he doesn't know, he can't help but look in the mirror.

He glanced at the photo again, the boy in it was smiling brightly, and the shape of his eyes was beautiful.

Like a little angel.

[Terrorist: Isn’t this kind of pure appearance to your taste? I don’t know if it’s the same as it appears on the outside. ]

Don't be like me.

Zhou Ziheng was originally angry, but when he saw this sentence, he was even more angry. It turned out that Xia Xiqing always thought that he was fooling around with him just because of his innocent-looking face. He knew who Xia Xiqing was from the beginning, and it wasn't because of his face that he was deceived. I don't know if it was anger or what, Zhou Ziheng finally typed a few words and turned off the phone.

[Moral Pacer: Yes, it's my taste. ]

As soon as Xia Xiqing saw this WeChat message, he sat up directly from the bed.

When he Xia Xiqing didn't come and linger at the call of others, and there were an unknown number of people waiting in line for him, Zhou Ziheng dared to say in front of him that other men were his tastes. These days are really giving him face.

The more I thought about it, the more panic I became, the more I felt useless, so I sat up and smoked a cigarette. Xu Qichen didn't dare to pick up the book by himself, and now he is being compared by this yellow-haired brat.

your taste? I'm not letting you play with your tastes yet.

With this not-so-positive attitude. Two days later, Xia Xiqing finally agreed to Xu Qichen's audition. Xu Qichen on the phone was so surprised, "I thought you were fooling me by saying you should consider it, but I didn't expect you to come."

In fact, it was really a fool, if it wasn't for being angry with Zhou Ziheng.

"Well, send me the time and place."

"Huh? Didn't Ziheng tell you? It's tonight."

"Tonight?" Xia Xiqing didn't hold back, but regretted it after saying it. He hasn't spoken to Zhou Ziheng since that night. Even if he lives in the opposite door, he doesn't contact anyone. He doesn't even know that the audition for the second male lead is scheduled for tonight.

"Well, at 7:30 tonight. I'll send you the address. If you come here, don't drive, just take a taxi. I'll wait for you downstairs. There are a lot of reporters around here."

Xia Xiqing hummed and hung up the phone only to find that it was already seven o'clock. He was too lazy to clean up, so he went out wearing the black overalls he painted at home. When sitting in the taxi, Xia Xiqing saw himself in the rearview mirror, his hair was a little messy, so he used a hair tie to tie the ends of his hair to the back of his head.

As soon as he finished piercing, he was stunned for a moment, what was he doing in such a hurry, as if he wanted to act with him too much.

No, didn't want him to succeed. Thinking of what happened in the early morning that day, Xia Xiqing was full of fire.

The taxi driver sitting in front glanced at him several times, and hesitated for a long time before saying, "You, are you that star?"

When he met a stranger, Xia Xiqing habitually used the smirk that he had used for twenty-five years, "You must admit it wrong."

"No, my sister's mobile screen saver is you." The driver looked only in his twenties or thirties, "It's you and the actor, that... Zhou Ziheng, yes, a photo of the two of you." He glanced again. With a glance, "You and I will definitely not admit it wrong. You have long hair and a mole on your nose. My sister likes you."

For some reason, Xia Xiqing felt a little proud.

When he got out of the car, the driver held his mobile phone out the window and wanted to take a picture of him. Xia Xiqing saw it and didn't stop him. Who told his sister to be a self-study girl?

Xia Xiqing suddenly discovered that the pleasure brought by being a fan is actually a two-way street.

As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Xu Qichen at the entrance of the hotel. He wore glasses today and looked more schoolboy than usual. Xia Xiqing trotted two steps to his side.

"Wait for a long time?"

"No." Xu Qichen pushed his glasses and said to him with a smile, "You were pretty handsome when you ran two steps just now."

"I just found out now that your brother Xiqing is handsome." Xia Xiqing twisted the corner of his mouth sullenly, and put his hand on Xu Qichen's shoulder unconsciously, "Why don't you dump Xia Zhixu and brother me."

Xu Qichen didn't say anything, just smiled, and the two of them went upstairs like this. During the elevator ride, he briefly talked to Xia Xiqing about the audition, and handed him the script in his hand. The folded page was the part he needed to prepare.

"How many people are here today?"

"Adding you one is four."

Xia Xiqing sighed, thinking of the photos Zhou Ziheng sent him before, it is estimated that they are the three newcomers, "Are there no other actors coming?"

Xu Qichen shook his head, "We've already met the others for a round, and Director Kun is not particularly satisfied. Besides," Xu Qichen lowered his voice, "This play is not a big production, and it doesn't have the halo of a famous director. Many popular young students are unwilling to act."

That's right. In fact, Xia Xiqing always felt that Director Kun hoped that he could play the role. On the one hand, he must have felt that he was very similar to Jiang Tong, but he did not rule out the possibility that the combination between him and Zhou Ziheng would bring its own heat. After all, for a person who has always been For directors who make niche movies, it is also very important to be able to see their works by more people.

Just like an artist, who advertises his own uniqueness in his mouth, but really, who doesn't want his works to be widely known. No matter how valuable something is not discovered, it cannot shine.

"I have tried two actors just now." Xu Qichen pushed open the door of the audition room, "Now everyone is resting and discussing, you can read the script, and you will be the next one."

Xia Xiqing nodded.

Xu Qichen tugged at his wide overalls, and there was paint on it. He couldn't help laughing, "You dress very casually today."

Looking down, Xia Xiqing smiled indifferently and said, "Aren't you going to play autistic youth, autistic youth don't dress up." They entered through the back door. This room is quite large, with a vacant area in front of it, and the camera is facing Even after lighting up, a short man in a peaked cap sat in front, talking to a man in a suit beside him. Xia Xiqing guessed that this man dressed simply was the director Kun they were talking about.

What made him feel strange was that there was a little girl sitting next to him. Whose child is that? Still a little actor.

Coincidentally, when the two of them ended their conversation, Director Kun looked back and saw Xia Xiqing at once, with a surprised expression.

Xia Xiqing smiled politely at him.

"I'll go to the front first." Xu Qichen patted him on the shoulder, walked to the director's side and sat down.

Xia Xiqing nodded, then sat in the corner and read the script in his hand. The part that was folded was a small explosive scene. Jiang Tong came home from the hospital and saw a family abusing a little girl in the corridor. This family has lived downstairs of his house for two years, and there is a slight difference. It is common practice to beat children along the way.

But today, Jiang Tong just came back from the hospital and felt chills all over. The girl's hoarse cry came from his hearing aid. Thinking of his previous self, he knocked on the door, from knocking on the door to slamming on the door until the little girl's father opened the door. . He stepped forward and hugged the child who had been abused, and let the other side beat him, but he didn't let go, and even the hearing aid was knocked out.

It wasn't until Gao Kun passed by when he came back that he saved him.

It was such a high-intensity climax scene that Xia Xiqing felt a little difficult, but fortunately Jiang Tong is a hearing impaired person, with almost no lines and no additional task of memorizing lines.

For some reason, Xia Xiqing felt a little breathless just by looking at the simplest description in the script. He tried to calm down and be more calm.

One of the advantages of drawing from a young age is that he can build a figurative scene in his mind all the time, and it is not difficult to restore the situation in the script.

The difficulty is whether he can let go, or whether he dares to let go.

"Xu Zixi."

He raised his head and saw a young man sitting beside him respond and walk to the front.

"Hello everyone, I'm Xu Zixi, a third-year undergraduate student at XX Film Academy."

Junior year? With Zhou Ziheng, they are real peers. The distance was a bit far, Xia Xiqing narrowed his eyes slightly and took a closer look. Isn't this the boy who "fits his taste" as Zhou Ziheng said. The real person is better looking than the photo, well-behaved and delicate, not particularly tall, and his voice is quite tender.

Xia Xiqing watched Xu Zixi walk out of the room, and it seemed that she was going to start the act by knocking on the door.

"Are you ready?" Director Kun asked.

"It's alright." Xu Zixi answered at the door, and after half a minute, he heard his knock on the door. It was weak at first, with little strength, and not loudly. After knocking for a while, no one answered. The movements became louder and louder, and the knocking on the door became louder and louder, mixed with a few shouts of "Aah", acting like a deaf-mute.

He started slamming on the door, louder and more anxious. At this time, an actor who was taking part in the show strode forward and opened the door at once, Xu Zixi's horrified expression appeared outside the door, and his raised hand was slowly lowered.

The actor is not responsible for speaking the lines. At this time, the little girl is already standing in front of the camera. The little actor is exhausted in acting, so she just stands there and does not need to cry. Xia Xiqing felt the pressure even more.

As soon as Xu Zixi came in, he staggered quickly to the little girl's side, knelt down and hugged her. His arms were raised high, and he was still shouting. The lines were very simple, almost repeating the words "don't... hit...", but he said it very hard, it was really like a full man Battered handicapped.

Xia Xiqing had to admit that he played really well.

At this time, another person walked in quickly from the door and pulled up Xu Zixi, who was half-kneeling on the ground.

It is Zhou Ziheng.

It turned out that he was here, and he was also in charge of acting.

Zhou Ziheng pulled him to the other side, and as soon as he let go, Xu Zixi hugged the little actor and squatted down. His tears came down almost instantly. The little actor's hands were shaking. The place was silent, and no one spoke.

Just the crying scene made Xia Xiqing feel the pressure. It seems that his background in a major is really different. When he says crying, he can immediately burst into tears.

"Okay. Okay."

Hearing the director's words, Xu Zixi quickly walked out of the role. He wiped his face and smiled shyly. He held the little actor's hand and said in a gentle voice, "Did I just scare you?"

The director didn't say much, but the man in a suit sitting next to him had a satisfied smile on his face. Xu Zixi turned around and bowed to Zhou Ziheng. Zhou Ziheng also smiled politely at him and praised, "The crying scene is really good."

If it were someone else, seeing such an audition at this time would probably have been withdrawn long ago. He was not a professional actor at first, and with pearls and jade in front of him, it might be a shame to stay here.

But Xia Xiqing was a smart and strong person, especially when he heard Zhou Ziheng's praise.

If it was another character, he was not sure about it.

But it was Jiang Tong who played the role.

Zhou Ziheng turned around and happened to see Xia Xiqing in the corner wearing a black overalls. The two met eyes again after many days.

Seeing Zhou Ziheng's surprised eyes, Xia Xiqing raised the corner of his mouth and raised his eyebrows.

No, it's not Jiang Tong.

What he wants to play is himself, how could he possibly lose.