When Jian Anning found Xi Ze, he had already completed the discharge procedures on his own. In reality, he was fine, with just a few scratches on his arms and legs, but nothing serious enough to keep him in the hospital. The hospital had given him permission to leave.
Xi Ze was settling the paperwork at the payment counter, ready to leave, when he was suddenly stopped by a woman wearing sunglasses and a red windbreaker draped over her arm.
The woman took off her sunglasses, revealing a beautiful face with big eyes and a high nose bridge. Surprisingly, she had the same Asian facial features as Xi Ze, without appearing to be of mixed heritage.
Jian Anning let out a small sigh of relief, hung the sunglasses on her chest, and gave Xi Ze a hug, saying, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Xi Ze calmly took a step back, politely asking, “Hello, may I ask who you are?” He searched his memory but couldn’t recall this person in front of him.
Jian Anning raised an eyebrow and smiled, “I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jian Anning, the manager assigned to you by the company. Starting from today, we’ll be partners.”
Manager? Xi Ze nodded with a faint smile, greeting her and extending his hand for a handshake. He understood the etiquette; a manager was an artist’s right-hand person. Regardless of who this woman was, Xi Ze believed it was important to maintain a good relationship with his manager. Moreover, the woman seemed polite and respectful towards him, which he could sense from her expression. It appeared that she even liked him.
Jian Anning was overjoyed in her heart. The boy in front of her was completely different from the photo and the information she had learned about him!
He didn’t have the distant and indifferent expression that pushed people away. His eyes were not dull and lifeless. He knew how to be polite and speak. When he smiled, there was a faint and gentle curve on his lips. He was polite to others and seemed to understand how to maintain a comfortable distance in social interactions. Everything he did seemed reasonable and satisfying, completely different from the child she had heard about who didn’t like to talk and didn’t know how to handle things!
Just like the short clip she had seen before, Xi Ze once again brought her great surprise. There was a spark in his eyes, his demeanor was steady, and he had a great temperament. He gave her the impression of a well-mannered young gentleman. Moreover, at close range, his appearance was truly outstanding. With his temperament as a backdrop, he looked like a prince who had descended from another world.
No wonder when Jian Anning was looking for someone in the hospital room and asked around, almost everyone could point her in the right direction. This child was simply born with a captivating aura, just like a big superstar!
Jian Anning and Xi Ze got in the flying car. The roof automatically closed, and Xi Ze sat in the passenger seat, calmly observing this flying car that could soar in the sky. He felt a strong sense of power, much cooler than the cars from six thousand years ago.
Jian Anning drove slowly, chatting with Xi Ze along the way. She briefly discussed some matters in the company with him and quickly steered the conversation back to the topic at hand. She asked, “Why did you come for an interview when the company didn’t arrange an assistant or manager for you? Although the company doesn’t oppose artists negotiating for roles on their own, it’s clear that you don’t have any experience, right?”
Xi Ze replied, “It was my brother, Xi Nan. He recommended that I come.”
Jian Anning, being an experienced manager, was well-informed about the competitive situation within the company, so she naturally knew about Xi Nan. However, there was something she couldn’t understand. As an older brother, why would he introduce his younger brother to such an unfavorable role as “Ael” in the script? It seemed somewhat incredulous to her.
However, Xi Ze and Xi Nan were brothers after all, and as a manager, she couldn’t say anything against it. So she asked, “Regarding this role, have you read the entire script?”
Xi Ze thought for a moment and admitted that he hadn’t read the entire script yet. He said, “No.”
Jian Anning connected her personal screen computer through the flying car and sent the script that she had secretly obtained for Xi Ze. Over the past few days, Xi Ze had already learned how to use the wristband-like computer on his wrist, which functioned like a miniature computer, including personal data and internet access.
He opened his wristband, received the script on the screen, and started reading it in the flying car. Although it wasn’t a physical document, Xi Ze had experience reading scripts, and combined with his ability to absorb information at a glance, he read very quickly. He could flip through pages with just a few glances.
However, to his surprise, the script for actors in the future world was only a few pages long!?
The dialogue was incomplete, the scenes weren’t described, and there was no psychological depiction. Countless sections were marked with “[Actor’s improvisation]”. Xi Ze sat in the passenger seat, stunned, and almost wanted to jump out of the car to see if he was dreaming.
╯︵┻━┻ This was too frustrating! Being an actor in the future world was too versatile, wasn’t it? The screenwriter only wrote a few pages of script, making it seem too easy. Why would a screenwriter even be needed if nothing was written?
Xi Ze: “…” Ten thousand alpacas galloped through his mind…
Jian Anning, who was driving, caught a glimpse of Xi Ze rapidly flipping through the screen and felt a sense of incredulity. This kid could actually read so quickly. Then she turned her head and realized that Xi Ze seemed to have already finished reading.
She turned back and continued driving, seemingly understanding what was troubling Xi Ze. She spoke, “That’s how Tom works in his films. His requirements for the screenwriter are at the director level, and his expectations for the actors are at the screenwriter level. He wants every actor in his movies to understand the characters’ minds and various scene visuals like a screenwriter. He believes that only when an actor’s visual imagination reaches the level of a screenwriter can they perform better.”
Jian Anning spoke at length, but suddenly noticed that Xi Ze beside her was looking at the script with a slight furrowed brow. He seemed to be pondering a serious question. Jian Anning turned her head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xi Ze regained his composure and said, “There’s an issue with this character.”
The character Xi Ze had just read about in the script was named “Ael.” Ael appeared near the beginning of the script, and although he didn’t have many scenes, it was already quite rare for a minor supporting role to have more than twenty minutes of screen time in a blockbuster. Of course, when Xi Ze mentioned the issue, it wasn’t about the character’s appearance, but rather the attributes of the character.
Cowardly, weak, selfish, always protected—a complete incompetent. In the end, he even betrayed the protagonist and died a rather tragic death.
It was precisely this kind of character whose positioning exuded an underlying feeling of “disgust” to the audience.
As an actor himself, Xi Ze paid special attention to the quality of the roles when selecting projects. Characters like Ael, if positioned in such a way, would be an intermediary role transitioning to a villainous character. The audience would initially be infuriated, feeling that he was constantly hindering the main character. When he betrayed the protagonist who had been protecting him, the contrast would make the audience hate and despise the character even more.
As a blockbuster film, Xi Ze couldn’t understand why such a character was arranged. In his view, an excellent film would have roles ranging from positive to negative, neutral to positive transitions, and even hidden attributes of the antagonists.
Generally, the inclusion of a minor character like Ael would mostly be seen in films with insufficient skill in scriptwriting or a lack of plot tension. Such a character would be “intentionally” arranged to drive the progression of the film.
An outstanding film wouldn’t make such arrangements unless it was absolutely necessary. Of course, there could be special circumstances, such as Ael actually being a positively positioned character with a hidden identity and carrying the burden of hidden plot clues. In order to lay the groundwork for future sequels, such a character might intentionally be introduced in the first film.
But regardless, Xi Ze’s impression of this character was now very poor. He had previously used his light screen computer to research Tom and knew that he was an excellent blockbuster director. He had also watched several films from the future world. To be honest, Ael was like a rat dropping in a pot of porridge, making Xi Ze feel extremely uncomfortable.
Upon hearing Xi Ze’s words, Jian Anning raised an eyebrow and asked, “And then?”
Xi Ze replied, “I can’t take this role.” Although he had just met Jian Anning and didn’t know what kind of agent she was, he was used to relying on himself. He wanted to take control of his own life, and of course, he needed to learn to get along with his new agent. “It’s an unlikable character. Although it’s a role that appears in a blockbuster film and has a decent amount of screen time, it’s just a terrible character.”
He turned to look at Jian Anning and said, “I messed up the audition, but I still refuse this role.”
Jian Anning switched the flying car to autopilot mode and burst into laughter. She turned to Xi Ze with an expression of delight and said, “Who said you messed up the audition?! I’ve already met with the director between the hospital and here, and he was extremely impressed with your performance. Tom is very satisfied with you and wanted to sign you right away, but I refused. You’re right, you shouldn’t take this role.”
Xi Ze was stunned. What? The director was impressed? That scene where he woke up in terror and spat out blood, only to be thrown around like a dog and covered in mud? That was just a fluke, not acting!
He really had lucked out! It seemed that reincarnators truly possessed a protagonist’s halo. This halo was truly shining and lovable.
However, Xi Ze truly admired Jian Anning for rejecting a film director’s offer. She had a long-term vision and was a very capable agent, not short-sighted and had great courage.
This journey had been filled with continuous green lights and a golden finger. He had a shell with a beautiful East Asian face, an audition where genuine emotions were accidentally revealed, and now he had an agent with a long-term perspective and vision!
Xi Ze sat in the passenger seat, his face calm but a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. They had just begun, and there was still a long way to go!
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