When the teacher read this quiz question in a strong voice, all the students in the class couldn’t help it, instantly bursting out into laughter. Their bodies trembled from the laughter, looking like they were collectively hit by a spell that caused Parkinson’s disease.
Even the drama teacher who wanted to be serious couldn’t help but twitch his mouth. He glanced at Tao Mu with a particularly pitying look——this boy’s luck was indeed really bad.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )
It was estimated that the whole class had just this weird quiz question, and as expected he was the one to draw it.
Amidst the loud hahahaha laughing, Du Kang cupped his hands at the whole class with a smug expression on his face. In fact, he even stood up and bowed. Just as he said before, no one could guess his quiz question. And sure enough.
“Student Tao Mu,” the drama teacher uttered to get the class to settle down: “Get ready and start your performance.”
As soon as the voice fell, the eyes of the twenty-five people (including the teacher) in the class turned towards Tao Mu. Every pair of eyes were bright and eager, practically scorching, but what overflowed from their eyes was uncontrollable gloating and eager expectations.
Everyone, including Du Kang himself, felt that if Tao Mu wanted to pass this quiz question he must perform in a comedic style. Because this quiz question itself was very absurd, fundamentally untenable. The reason why Du Kang supplied such a tricky quiz question was just to stir up some fun.
Of course, there was still a sense of anticipation to watch Tao Mu’s idol baggage collapse——as everyone knows, he was admitted to Beijing Film with an excellent score on appearance, and during the shooting of Guo Yaning’s MV, he used advanced and unique makeup skills and styling that conquered the entire Chinese fashion industry. Additionally, in order to select the Beijing Film campus beauty more fairly and justly, CEO Tao even founded FlyNews.com. This fellow’s style was simply different from that of most boys in Beijing Film.
To describe it in the words of the other three roommates in dorm 301, it was simply having a case of extremely serious idol baggage. Although Tao Mu usually had no idol baggage when he attended class. But in fact, everyone could feel that Tao Mu’s acting style was actually different from theirs. Because the acting skills Tao Mu had honed in his last life to be able to win best actor was enough to satisfy a passable performance in the classroom assessments. As a result, he managed to look decent even if he was acting the role of a beggar——not only were his acting skills good, it also made people see that this fellow was a very handsome and fashionable beggar.
In general, compared with his classmates of the same grade who enrolled at the same time but whose acting skills were relatively immature, Tao Mu’s performance was still very amazing. Basically, in the entire ’08 freshmen year, with the exception of the naturally talented Wen Bao, who was blessed by God, even Chu Sui’an and the other future film emperors were dwarfed by him.
This was also an important reason why even though Tao Mu frequently asked for leave due to family affairs, Beijing Film and the teachers of the Drama Department still had good feelings towards Tao Mu——this fellow’s acting skills were that good. Although the newbie habit of always liking to overact could still be seen, to be fair, Tao Mu’s current acting skills were indeed really good. Even some slightly less talented sophomores and juniors might not possess Tao Mu’s current acting skills.
However, Tao Mu always habitually brought out a certain someone’s shadow in his performance. The teachers in the drama department could guess that Tao Mu might have watched a certain someone’s films when pondering acting. This was also a learning method that many newbies chose when honing their acting skills.
But how to put it, an old artist once said that “those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die.” (TN: from Chinese painter Qi Baishi, meaning one should not just imitate his style but develop their own) Although sometimes in Tao Mu’s performance, one could clearly see the shining point of being better than his ‘teacher’. However, in the eyes of Beijing Film’s professors who possess a solid background and well-rounded acting skills, the performance traces in Tao Mu’s acting were still too deliberate.
Simply said, it was too much overacting and tended to come off as showy. When encountering the right role he might delight and shock the audience. But if one really wanted to talk about acting, it was not smooth enough, the grip on the handle was not yet right. In contrast, the professors of Beijing Film naturally liked Wen Bao’s unpretentious yet flexible performance more.
But it must be said that even if Wen Bao’s acting skills could leave Tao Mu in the dust, if they really entered the entertainment circle, Tao Mu’s career development prospects were definitely better than Wen Bao’s. The development here does not refer to the depth and breadth of professionalism, but a competition of status and popularity. In other words, Wen Bao’s future was visible to the naked eye——he could conquer major film festivals with his acting skills and become an actor and artist with a strong Beijing Film label. But whether it was making a movie or making a TV series, it was likely that he would have to follow the orthodox style of acting in art films. It was estimated that those commercial blockbusters with big investment and production would not find such actors as the leading actors.
But Tao Mu, through his appearance, coupled with his acting skills, and his ability to incite storms in the entertainment industry before he even debuted, could try taking the path of a superstar. If he did well, he might even be a superstar that possessed both acting skills and popularity.
There had always been a saying in the China entertainment circle: Beijing Film made actors and Yan Film made celebrities. Although it essentially acknowledged the high teaching quality of Beijing Film and the high acting quality of Beijing Film students. But in fact, everyone, including the Beijing Film Academy and the professors, were not accepting of this.
——Our students possess acting skills and good looks, so why should they only be actors but not celebrities? Every one of you Yan Film students have poor acting skills, but you can smoothly snatch the role of leading actor and actress of big productions just by relying on your face and stirring up scandals and gossip, and you dare to say that you Yan Film students are more influential than Beijing Film’s students in China’s entertainment circle?
Do you still have any shame?
However, even if they were not convinced, everyone had to admit that the influence of celebrities on fans was indeed higher than that of actors. Whether it was the subject of conversations or all aspects of attention, they could easily trigger discussions. And this was the key factor that investors and filmmakers must consider when looking for male and female leads. No matter whether their acting skills were good or not, they had to find someone who could bring in box office sales.
However, as everyone knows, the students from Beijing Film, no matter how good their acting skills were, their ability to bring in box office sales…..could not be said to be completely sloppy. But in any case, those who could bring in box office sales were relatively rare.
In the face of this dilemma, it was not that Beijing Film had not put up a resistance. Through their influence in the industry, they also wanted to forcefully push out popular stars that could bring in box office sales. However, while relative popularity could be manipulated, major popularity relied on fate. Such a saying had never been just talk.
Except for the old bigshots in the circle, of the students coming out of Beijing Film, there were simply none who became big hits. Even if Beijing Film took the lead in looking for a director and finding a script for them (with Beijing Film’s vision and academic style, one could imagine what scripts and directors they found). But one had to admit that while the reputation of the films and the responses of the film critics were very good, and by good we mean really good, in terms of box office however, that was really impossible to speak of.
——Barely covering the expenses was already considered a win. But having said that, managing to turn a commercial blockbuster into an artistic film that discussed human nature and social darkness, it was also conceivable that this kind of film would have such a box office result, right?
So as time passed, complaints could be heard in the industry. Beijing Film was also a bit frustrated themselves. The key was that Yan Film next door kept laughing at them gloatingly. So after careful consideration, it was decided that they should temporarily put aside their ambitions. We must learn from the previous profound lessons, and when looking for directors and scripts next time, we must strictly follow the commercial film model.
——Basically, the film to be made two years later that Tao Mu was aiming for even before he entered Beijing Film.
But putting aside these things for the time being. Since Tao Mu entered school, whether it was his appearance, his acting skills, or his headlines attracting physique, the professors in the drama department were extremely satisfied. It was not an exaggeration to say that they finally saw the hope of breaking the curse that ‘Beijing Film could only produce actors’.
Therefore, although the professors in the drama department didn’t say anything, they all tried their best to train Tao Mu——they wanted to produce a super popular superstar who possessed both acting skills and strength. The acting skills must crush Yan Film, and the popularity must also crush Yan Film.
So in this kind of situation, it would be a bit embarrassing if Tao Mu’s acting skills always carried the traces of the student Yan Film was most proud of, Yan Sheng. One must know, when Yan Sheng first applied for Beijing Film and Yan Film, he passed the art test and ranked first in entrance examinations for both schools. But in the end, Yan Sheng abandoned Beijing Film to choose Yan Film, and in just his freshman year, he managed to shine brightly, the first movie he made won him a best actor award. It really made Yan Film quite proud for quite awhile.
It also caused Beijing Film to secretly feel annoyed. So after Yan Sheng, Beijing Film really wanted to produce a superstar. However, the most popular A-list superstar that Beijing Film produced was Wang Boyuan. Although he was not bad, he was still a little bit lacking when compared with Yan Sheng.
So when it came to Tao Mu, they had to be more cautious——such a good seedling must not grow crooked. His acting skills could be similar to anyone, but Yan Sheng was the only exception. Otherwise, even if they managed to produce a superstar in him, so long as they even thought about what Yan Film would say, Beijing Film would feel a headache.
At this time, Beijing Film felt especially fortunate that the school had regulations on students not being allowed to accept film roles among freshmen and sophomores. They must train and completely tune Tao Mu to satisfaction before letting him accept acting roles There must definitely be no trace of Yan Sheng to be seen on him at all.
However, this kind of training was not simply wishful thinking. They must find the right time, let the training take effect gradually and imperceptibly. It was like pulling a thread or peeling a cocoon, one couldn’t directly point it out as it was easy to make a child who hadn’t been exposed to too many performances feel helpless. When uncertainty during performing lasts over a long time, any talent could slip away.
The professors of Beijing Film could be considered to have worked quite hard for this, and they were all secretly waiting for an opportunity. However, Tao Mu had too many troubles during the first semester, taking a few leaves, and he probably didn’t put much mind on his acting courses. Besides, based on Tao Mu’s acting skills, ordinary classroom assessments were sufficiently handled with ease even if he was absent-minded. This caused the teachers of the drama department who had been sharpening their knives, but were not able to find a place to begin using their knives, feel a bit disappointed.
But now Du Kang’s quiz question inadvertently provided them with a light at the end of the tunnel, letting the professor see the hope of breaking Tao Mu’s shackles——yes, in the professor’s eyes, Tao Mu’s idol baggage was also a kind of shackle that restrained him from improving his acting skills.
Tao Mu’s acting skills had not come from professional acting courses in his previous life, and all his performance experience was through self-study. And because Yan Sheng always suppressed his stage presence every time they had a scene together, Tao Mu inadvertently began to ponder the most on Yan Sheng’s performance.
Yan Sheng was a top domestic superstar. His overly handsome appearance and high popularity ensured that the films and TV series he shot were all commercial successes with big productions and large investments. This led to the result that no matter what themes of the movies Yan Sheng filmed, he must ensure the charm as the male lead——ensure that Yan Sheng’s fans would pay money to enter the movie theater, even if it was just for the sake of Yan Sheng’s face.
Therefore, in order to bring in box office sales, Yan Sheng would unconsciously retain every shining point that made him look more handsome and more attractive on the big screen when performing. Tao Mu used him as a reference, and naturally he would subconsciously retain his shining points when he honed his acting skills.
But in the eyes of the Beijing Film professors, this was simply idol baggage. It was also one of the factors that affected Tao Mu’s acting skills and caused it to not be as natural as it could have been. Before, the classroom assessments were nothing new or novel, the old exam questions failing to force out Tao Mu’s potential. But now seeing such a weird test question——even the professor felt a headache and didn’t know how to go about acting it in such a short time, so he wanted to see how Tao Mu would interpret this role.
“Perform well. Put aside your idol baggage.” The drama teacher said with a smile, and then warned: “Don’t try to appear cool and handsome.”
All the students clapped their hands and made noises. In everyone’s opinion, Tao Mu would definitely interpret the role as playing a harlequin this time. Some students even excitedly took out their smartphones or home video recorders, ready to take shots of Tao Mu’s assessment performance and post it on the Internet. Let other netizens also feel the fun in appreciating acting performances.
However, Tao Mu’s expression was particularly serious amidst the chaotic laughter around him.
He never thought of interpreting this role in a funny comedic style. Tao Mu himself could of course detect the shackles that the acting teacher could feel. After rebirth, he chose to start over from the beginning at Beijing Film to professionally learn acting. In addition to coveting Beijing Film’s huge network connections and influence in the circle, he also really wanted to break the shackles on his acting skills.
He also didn’t want his acting style to be similar to Yan Sheng. Every time he heard such comments, Tao Mu would feel sick and get the urge to vomit. Because no one knew how desperate he was back then, desperate to the point of collapse, desperate to the point of being unable to see even a speck of light in the dark. How he gritted his teeth, supported himself with the only hard bones in his body that hadn’t been softened and persisted until the end.
After rebirth, Tao Mu chose to start over, chose to receive professional training in Beijing Film——he really wanted to study hard, but troublesome things always came to distract him. Even if Tao Mu didn’t ask for leave and stayed on campus, Tao Mu was unable to help being worried about those damn things.
The Yao family, Sheng’an Group, the Tao Haiguo couple, and the orphanage were like mountains that weighed on Tao Mu’s mind, and they could crush him to pieces at any moment. Just like the arrival of the tsunami, everything he had could be destroyed in an instant——a stable life and close family members.
Such pressure did not allow Tao Mu to breathe freely and easily. He must solve these troubles. Only by beating the wolves surrounding him until they could no longer fight back, could he have the extra energy to do what he wanted to do.
Now, Tao Mu felt that he was finally safer. At least he had the strength to resist those who wanted him to suffer.
Therefore, Tao Mu finally had the leisurely mind to ponder about his career and interests.
He held Du Kang’s quiz question, although it was a little strange and absurd. But in Tao Mu’s eyes, this was indeed the first acting challenge he got after he finally relaxed from dealing with troublesome things. Tao Mu’s drama addiction also began to surge——the most important thing was that Tao Mu had just watched Wen Bao’s smooth and natural performance. He felt particularly shocked, his heart developing envy and yearning.
He also wanted to seriously act out a performance and enjoy it. And not because his acting skills were not enough, and therefore he had to use an absurd comedic style to make up for it. That was not interpreting the role with his acting skills, but interpreting the quiz question with the style of absurd comedy.
Tao Mu didn’t want to just admit defeat. So he really considered this topic seriously. First sort out the plot and character description in his heart.
An e-sports player who developed Parkinson’s disease playing games.
Parkinson’s disease, also known as shaking palsy. It was a common degenerative disease of the nervous system in middle-aged and elderly people. The clinical manifestations included static tremor, muscle rigidity, slow movement, postural and gait disorders, and it could even cause depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, cognitive disorders and other symptoms.
As for e-sports players, perhaps people in 2008 were still a little unfamiliar with this word. But Tao Mu, who came back from ten years in the future, at least understood what an e-sports player was. Although he didn’t play games himself, Tao Mu had also watched some particularly popular live gaming broadcasts.
Tao Mu felt that he could at least use the mentality of an athlete to interpret an e-sports player. So, what if an athlete had Parkinson’s disease?
As a professional e-sports player, steady hands, fast hands, and quick brain response were the most basic professional qualities. However, when a professional e-sports player had Parkinson’s disease, how could he continue to gallop in his most proud professional field——the gaming field?
It was completely impossible.
Tao Mu moved.
Sitting on the desk in front of the podium, he slowly stretched his right hand to the mouse on the desk in front of him, his arm seemed to be unable to rise, appearing stiff and slow, sliding across the desk. Then he grasped the mouse steadily——it was just his subconscious action, a conditioned reflex after years of training.
However, his physical condition did not depend on his will. When he took the mouse in his hand, his hand began to shake unconsciously. At first, there was a slight shaking, Tao Mu tried his best to control his hands. However, the more he wanted to control them, the faster his hands shook and the greater the amplitude. Tao Mu put his other hand on the keyboard, wanting to control the keyboard to complete the game instructions.
However, his fingers were too inflexible. The slender fingertips jittered slightly on the keyboard, and the usual light movements were so difficult at this moment. His fingers could once dance flexibly on the keyboard to make beautiful clicking sounds——more flexible than a pianist’s fingers. Now they could only stick stiffly on the buttons.
He pressed down hard with his fingers, and his fingertips trembled as they pressed heavily on the buttons, the computer immediately displaying the wrong command due to the operation delay. Because his movements were too slow. Such a short typing action, yet because his joints were stiff, his fingertips were trembling and slow, there was no way to complete the operation instructions.
Tao Mu smiled, he licked his lips, and took a short breath. He opened his mouth and breathed heavily, his eyes suddenly reddening.
His gasps trembled, his smile became bigger and bigger, tears rolling down from his reddened eyes. Tao Mu put down the mouse, and swallowed hard, trying to calm his emotions.
He picked up the mineral water bottle next to the computer, wanting to unscrew the cap to take a drink. However, he couldn’t open the bottle at all——he was a professional e-sports player who had won awards in e-sports competitions. But now he couldn’t even open a bottle of mineral water.
Tao Mu stopped smiling, he held back his tears, and took another deep breath. His hand clenched the mineral water bottle tightly. With the motion of holding the mineral water bottle, his hand raised in mid-air, shaking slightly and violently.
Tao Mu tried his best to control his right hand, but the harder he tried, the more his hand shook.
Tao Mu held the mineral water bottle against his chest with a trembling hand, wanting to use his chest to stabilize the mineral water bottle. The other hand was also trembling as it was placed on the bottle cap, trying to open the bottle cap. He even lowered his head and bit the cap with his teeth without any regard for his image, his only thought to help his hands open the water bottle.
Finally, the bottle cap was opened with much difficulty. Tao Mu tremblingly put down the bottle cap, wanting to take a drink.
However, he could not control his hands. He held the mineral water bottle to his mouth with his right hand, but it was shaking too much, his arm hard and stiff, the mouth of the bottle unable to get close to his mouth. Tao Mu used his other hand, holding the bottle with both hands and trying to pour the water into his mouth.
The trembling of the bottle became even worse. The water simply could not pour in at all. Tao Mu decided to pick up a cup, wanting to pour water into the cup. The mineral water bottle was shaking, shaking, shaking as half the bottle of water poured into the cup. The cup moved slightly on the tabletop under the continuous impact of the mineral water bottle, the mouth of the bottle and cup colliding making a fine sound.
Tao Mu looked at the water in the cup, but didn’t want to drink it anymore.
He sat on the chair dazedly, his eyes red and gaze blank. His hands were still trembling slightly. After a while, Tao Mu suddenly went crazy and swept the computer, keyboard and mouse, mineral water bottle and cup off the table.
He was a professional e-sports player. The computer, mouse and keyboard used to be his most precious things, and he had ordered it from abroad for a large price.
But now, toward these expensive equipment, an e-sports player’s favorite “armor and weapon”, Tao Mu had become completely unnecessary.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )
An e-sports player who had Parkinson’s disease was not an e-sports player. Never in this life.
He would not be able to play games in his entire life.
No, it should be said that he no longer had a life.
When Tao Mu finished his physical theatrical performance, there was only silence in the drama classroom of the ’08 class.
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