Global Best Actor: Starting with Picking Up Attributes in America

Chapter 288 Gaochun's Perfect State Has Been Activated

Chapter 287 Gaochun's Perfect State Has Been Activated (Happy New Year, Please Vote!)

Chen Xun sat there, wearing a gray hoodie and a baseball cap, looking quite different from his usual appearance on movie posters.

But Xin Zhilei recognized her at a glance.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but didn't.

Yang Chao introduced from the side: "Xin Zhilei, this is Chen Xun, you should know him."

Xin Zhilei nodded, her face flushed.

She stood there, fiddling with her old-fashioned phone, seemingly very nervous.

Chen Xun stood up and extended his hand.

"Hello, I'm Chen Xun."

Xin Zhilei stared at the hand for a second, then quickly extended her own hand.

Her body trembled slightly, and her voice quivered as she said, "You—hello, I'm Xin Zhilei."

Chen Xun smiled.

"Sit down and let's talk."

Xin Zhilei nodded and sat down next to Yang Chao.

She unzipped her coat a little, revealing the sweater underneath.

It was a white turtleneck sweater.

Yang Chao looked at her.

"Traffic jam?"

"Road construction in Tongzhou has caused buses to take a huge detour."

Her eyes couldn't help but glance at Chen Xun.

He glanced at it, then quickly looked away.

"You brought a script, didn't you?"

Yang Chao looked at the female lead he had chosen.

Xin Zhilei nodded and took out a thick stack of scripts from her bag.

Place it on the table.

She looked at Chen Xun and suddenly asked cautiously, "Teacher Chen, may I ask you a question?"

Chen Xun nodded.

Xin Zhilei clenched her fists so tightly that the corners of the script pages were creased with deep wrinkles.

She took a deep breath, as if gathering all her strength, before finally uttering the question, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "You—you've taken the male lead role in this drama, so does that mean I, the female lead, am going to be replaced?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the background music in the coffee shop seemed to go quieter.

Yang Chao's coffee cup froze in mid-air, and the smile on his face instantly turned to ice.

He was about to explain when Chen Xun raised his hand to stop him.

He looked at the girl across from him.

Her eyes were bright, as bright as stars on the surface of the Yangtze River, but that brightness was filled with too much anxiety and unease.

Chen Xun was all too familiar with that look in his eyes.

Why would you think that way?

Chen Xun spoke in a very gentle tone, without the slightest air of arrogance. He pointed to the script she was clutching, which was now distorted: "Director Yang chose you because you're suitable for Anlu, isn't that right?"

Xin Zhilei's lips moved, and her eyes instantly reddened.

She lowered her head, looking at the dense notes she had written on the script, and said in a low voice, "I know—I'm not famous, I've never played a leading role, and I don't even have any decent works."

"You're an Oscar-caliber actress. If you were to act in this film, the investors and the production team would definitely want to cast a more famous actress alongside you. I understand."

She wasn't unfamiliar with such statements.

From the moment director Yang Chao told her that Chen Xun was going to take on this role, her friends who were running around to different production teams started telling her.

"Don't be silly, you won't get something for nothing."

"Chen Xun is such a big star, how could he possibly act alongside a newcomer like you?"

"The production team will definitely have to replace the female lead."

She's been tossing and turning, unable to sleep for the past two days.

He read the script until it was worn out, and pondered every single line Anlu spoke over and over again.

But the more she thought about it, the more afraid she became.

She was terrified that the first leading role she had waited so many years for would be lost before filming even started.

"What do you know?"

Chen Xun smiled and picked up the script in front of him, which he had already read several times.

Turn it over.

The room was filled with his notes, clearly marking every monologue and emotional shift of Gao Chun: "I came to act in this play because I wanted to play Gao Chun, not to elevate the status of the production team, and certainly not to ruin the actors that Director Yang had chosen."

He looked up at Xin Zhilei, his eyes serious: "When I first entered the industry, I was even worse off than you."

"At least you still have a script with a female lead in your hands. Back then, I was lying on the set every day playing a corpse, and I didn't even get a single line. The director scolded me for dying without any emotion, and the whole crew laughed at me. I didn't even have the right to talk back."

Xin Zhilei suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She had only seen Chen Xun in the news; he was an Oscar-winning Best Supporting Actor, a top-tier Chinese actor in Hollywood, and he was in big-budget productions worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

She never imagined that someone like her would ever have a day spent lying on the ground playing the role of a corpse.

"In the acting profession, it's never about how famous you are, but about whether you can immerse yourself in the role."

Chen Xun pointed to the two characters "An Lu" on the script cover: "Director Yang said you have that spirit of An Lu in your eyes. You've been poor, you've been down and out, but the stubbornness in your bones has never died out. That's enough!"

"I have enough fame; you just need to play Anlu well."

Yang Chao breathed a sigh of relief and added with a smile, "I chose her not only because of her drive, but also because she's truly dedicated!"

He reached out and took the script from Xin Zhilei's hand, flipped it open and showed it to Chen Xun: "Look here, it's all her notes."

"For this role, she went to the Yangtze River last winter and stayed in a small hotel by the river for a month. Every day she would sit by the river and watch the water, chat with the boatmen, memorize the poetry collection, and even find out the history of every dock along the Yangtze River."

Chen Xun's gaze fell on the script.

The densely packed small characters included interpretations of the lines, descriptions of Anlu's emotional changes in the current scene, and even the phrasing of each line.

In the blank spaces, she also wrote a lot of her own understanding of the Yangtze River and Anlu.

Some parts were damp, probably because they were wet from the river mist while reading the script by the river.

The corners of several pages are worn and frayed, clearly indicating they've been flipped through countless times.

"I worked on film sets for six years, playing maids with only one line, and passersby without even a name. I was scolded by directors for not being able to act, and my resume was torn up in public by an assistant director."

Xin Zhilei's emotions gradually calmed down. Her fingertips gently traced the words on the script, and her tone carried a tenacious quality: "The role of Anlu is the only one I've waited so long for that makes me feel like I can give my all to her."

"I won't let you down!"

Chen Xun looked at her and nodded.

He has seen too many actors who have a lot of popularity but can't even remember their lines.

I've also seen too many actors who have struggled at the bottom of society, yet still have light in their eyes and fire in their hearts.

The intensity in Xin Zhilei's eyes was undeniable.

Just like himself back then, even when he was lying on the ground playing a corpse, he was still calculating the countdown to his visa, thinking about how to get a line and how to gain a foothold.

That defiant spirit is ingrained in their very bones.

"Perfect, everyone's here today, let's work out a scene."

Yang Chao's eyes gleamed with excitement; he had waited far too long for this day.

The script had been polished for seven years, and now that the male and female leads were right in front of him, he couldn't wait to start filming: "How about we try the first scene, at Wusongkou, where the boat from Gaochun has just departed, the scene where they first meet Anlu at the dock? What do you think?"

Chen Xun nodded, pulled the hood of his hoodie down a little, and leaned back slightly in his chair.

In that instant, his entire demeanor changed.

Just moments ago he was the same gentle and composed actor, but in the blink of an eye, the light in his eyes dimmed, his brows drooped slightly, and he looked tired and dejected.

He became a disillusioned man who had just escaped the miserable life of a struggling migrant worker in Beijing and was now hiding on a cargo ship on the river, completely lost about the future.

[Gaochun's perfect state has been activated]

A line of small print appeared before my eyes.

Chen Xun, however, seemed completely oblivious.

He looked up at Xin Zhilei, and when he spoke, his voice was low and carried the weariness of a river breeze, perfectly capturing Gao Chun's essence: "You want to take a boat?"

Xin Zhilei froze completely.

One second she was sitting in a coffee shop chair, her palms sweating with nervousness.

But as soon as Chen Xun said that, she felt as if she had been instantly transported to the misty Wusongkou Wharf.

The person in front of him was not Chen Xun, but Gao Chun, who had just left Shanghai in a cargo ship.

She instinctively clenched her fists, leaned forward slightly, and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes, but was quickly suppressed by a stubbornness. Her lips moved: "Yes, I'm going to Jiangyin."

Her voice was soft, carrying an air of recklessness.

"My boat doesn't carry people."

Gao Chun's gaze swept across her face, devoid of warmth, as if looking at an insignificant stranger, before he turned to leave.

"I have money!"

Anlu immediately took a step forward, reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of crumpled coins, and slapped them on the edge of the table beside him.

"Splash!"

The coins clinked together, making a crisp sound.

The words were especially clear in the quiet café: "Is that enough? If not, I'll think of something else."

Gao Chun stopped in his tracks.

He looked back at her, then at the handful of change, remained silent for a few seconds, and finally stepped aside to make way for her to board the boat.

He didn't say anything more, but turned around and left her with a dejected and lonely back view.

"Cut!"

Yang Chao slammed his hand on the table in excitement.

His voice was trembling.

The people at the next table in the coffee shop looked over curiously, but he didn't care at all; his eyes were shining brightly: "Yes! That's the feeling! That's the taste!"

Xin Zhilei suddenly came to her senses; a thin layer of sweat had already formed on her back, and her heart was pounding rapidly.

In those few short exchanges, she even forgot that she was auditioning.

He also forgot that the person opposite him was Chen Xun.

She felt that she was Anlu.

Standing on the dock at Wusongkou, looking at the man sailing the cargo ship, I just wanted to grasp at this only straw that allowed me to go against the current.

She has acted with many actors before.

Never before have I been so easily led into the role, without even a hint of nervousness, as I am now.

"How is it?"

Chen Xun had already snapped out of his reverie about Gao Chun, looked at her and smiled: "Still feel like you're not good enough for this leading lady?"

Xin Zhilei's eyes reddened again, this time not from anxiety, but from excitement.

She nodded vigorously, her voice trembling with tears, yet utterly resolute: "Teacher Chen, Director Yang, don't worry, I will definitely play Anlu well and will absolutely not hold the crew back."

"It's not that I won't hold you back."

Yang Chao picked up the coffee cup on the table, raised it, and said with anticipation in his eyes, "Let's work together to film this part of the Yangtze River and show it to everyone."

Chen Xun picked up his own unpalatable instant Americano, clinked glasses with him, and then looked at Xin Zhilei.

The girl quickly picked up her water glass and clinked it against theirs.