Chapter 915: Chapteritute Xiao He, Replace Xiao He? Xiao He: A crushing victory, OK?
"Hello, Teacher Xiao. My name is Shi Yi, and I am your substitute actor."
Actually, there's no need for much introduction; Xiao He already knew the actor's identity.
Hello, hello.
He shook hands with the other person in a very friendly manner.
Shi Yi was shorter than Xiao He. After shaking hands, he immediately found another topic: "Wow, Teacher Xiao seems quite tall. Our platform is about three meters high. If Teacher Xiao were to go up there, he would probably look almost four meters down. We'll probably have to readjust the height then."
Upon hearing Shi Yi's words, Xiao He raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Thank you for the reminder."
He then focused his gaze on Yang Heng and continued the previous conversation, without paying any extra attention to Shi Yi.
Yang Heng's smile faded a bit. After greeting the others, he took Xiao He's arm and headed backstage, while unable to resist complaining, "You're here, why don't you go see the dean first? Your teacher has been talking about you a lot lately! Come on, he's here today too, he's been waiting for you. Let's go say hello to him."
"OK."
Xiao He didn't refuse and was thus pulled away by Yang Heng.
The rest of the troupe didn't say anything and watched the two leave.
After the two had walked away, they resumed their conversation.
"Brother Xiao is really quick! He just received his award the day before yesterday, right? I didn't expect him to come here today."
"I heard he turned down several press releases this time, and he's been with us throughout November."
"Is this for real? He just won the Flying Eagle Award for Best Actor. Shouldn't this month be the best time for them to promote their work? Is he really willing to stay out of the public eye?"
"Huh? But he was really popular a while ago, and he was still filming in Hong Kong. Besides, he just came back not long ago, and he hasn't even had a few days of rest."
“Don’t you even look at where we are now! Even if he wants to rest, we can’t let him rest indefinitely. Look at the immense pressure Qu Yuan is under.”
"Tsk, these actors, they must have special privileges! We can't just decide when they get a break."
"Hey, didn't Senior Brother Yang say that Xiao He has almost finished practicing? We've been rehearsing together for several days now. If he doesn't come, he might not be able to keep up with our pace."
"Besides—"
Someone was speaking halfway through when their gaze subtly drifted toward Shi Yi beside them.
Shi Yi, who was the substitute for Xiao He, didn't say anything. He just took a sip of water, looked up at the high platform in the distance, as if he had just finished watching the person performing the 'god' on the platform. His face was expressionless, and he didn't say anything.
-
Yang Heng finally found a chance to explain the situation to Xiao He: "You're finally back. If you hadn't come back, Shi Yi would have really taken your place."
Xiao He had already discerned some clues from Shi Yi's slightly hostile attitude. Hearing Yang Heng's words now only confirmed his guess, so he wasn't very angry or worried.
"Didn't you already confirm with me before? My situation is indeed somewhat special, and it's impossible for your training and rehearsals to affect my many important tasks. So if you can find a substitute or an actor to replace me, I have absolutely no objections."
Xiao He said quite frankly.
What kind of place is the National Theater? It's a place where rules are strictly observed.
Such special invitations to participate in performances are very rare cases. If such an application were formally submitted, some leaders might have objections.
Moreover, someone like Xiao He, who trained individually for a period of time, then joined the large group for further training during rehearsals, and was participating in an international competition.
If it weren't for someone providing additional guarantees, Xiao He would probably have been replaced long ago.
Where else can I find the opportunity to join as a formal actor and continue to participate in the show?
"Yes, we all know about this, but as you know, there must have been a reason why I invited you here."
Yang Heng scratched his head helplessly, "Take this actor who came specifically to be your substitute, what did you think of his performance just now?"
This naturally refers to Shi Yi, who was just talking to Xiao He.
Xiao He thought for a moment and gave a very conservative evaluation: "Actually, he's really not bad. You can tell he's worked very hard."
Xiao He felt that the character's personality and acting style were already quite good.
"The final personality switching chanting wasn't very good; it felt a bit too forceful."
Xiao He continued.
Yang Heng: "Can we please stop revealing our secrets now?"
What the hell is this personality-switching chanting?!
This is the most important part of the entire series, "The Root of All Evil"!
How am I supposed to face this part of the story if you say that?
Xiao He could only cough lightly, regain his seriousness, and said, "I think you all have your own standards for judging how well he performed, so why ask me?"
It's rather strange to ask him to give a formal evaluation of the candidates!
"Hey, are all you people in this industry so careful with your words?"
Yang Heng sighed helplessly and revealed his thoughts without hesitation: "It's obvious that sometimes you have to admit that in the face of talent, all your efforts are just bullshit."
"Especially those who blindly strive, they will never give up until they see the towering mountain in front of them. They will even resentfully believe that the mountain is blocking their progress, so instead of thinking about how to continue climbing, they think about moving the mountain away."
Xiao He fell silent.
"You find it ridiculous too, right?"
Instead of answering, Xiao He asked, "So he reported my situation to his superiors, wanting to replace me?"
"Who knows? Nobody has any evidence, it's just speculation." Yang Heng shrugged. "It's possible that the recent rehearsals have made him feel good about himself. Compared to you, who's so busy you're practically invisible, he naturally wants to keep pushing himself forward."
Xiao He nodded slightly: "That's only human nature."
Yang Heng was speechless: "Hey, you're really not angry at all, and you're not afraid of being replaced by him at all! You have no idea that the leaders above have been talking to my teacher about this every day recently. He's really annoyed by those guys."
"There's nothing we can do. It's like the previous generation cut down the trees, and the next generation is left to suffer the consequences," Xiao He sighed. "It's not uncommon for actors in the Chinese entertainment industry to participate in stage plays, but their 'crossover' has given people a lot of bad impressions. As one of them, I should keep a low profile and avoid causing trouble."
In fact, Xiao He felt that he had already received very good treatment because he hadn't been given any strange looks by the other members of the troupe.
After all, Xiao He had just won a highly prestigious award and was only there because of it. If it were anyone else, Shi Yi would probably have been jumping up and down, wanting to challenge or target them.
Yang Heng immediately deflated: "You're actually being so agreeable this time?"
No, not at all.
Xiao He changed the subject.
"A crushing defeat. If I say too much, won't I seem petty?"
Yang Heng: "...As expected of you!"