Chapter 56

Limited Edition Acting Masterclass 1: Physical Contact is Limited Edition, Love is the Ultimate Luxury

Hu Xiu was visiting a drama school for the first time. The sky was a bit gloomy, with clouds layered one upon another.

Following Diao Zhiyu, she walked directly into the school gate and wandered around the campus. Because it was small and compact, there weren’t many people, and it wasn’t deserted either. She didn’t see the so-called gathering of high-颜值 students—no one was more handsome than Diao Zhiyu.

Diao Zhiyu walked ahead, his black curly hair and white skin standing out against the gloomy day, as if the contrast was stronger. He turned around and said, “The students are all on vacation now, so there aren’t many people on campus. I borrowed the key from a senior, and he said I could use it until one o’clock in the afternoon. This is where many old actors have rehearsed.”

“Did you guys take classes here before?”

“Yeah, only the acting and musical theater departments are in the city, the rest are in the suburbs.”

Privileged...

After opening the door, the rehearsal hall was an empty space of about fifty square meters. There were three floor-to-ceiling windows in a row on the south side, and bars on both sides. There were cabinets and speakers in the corner, as well as two large tables, and the floor was worn.

Diao Zhiyu was a little excited when he entered. After all, the Snowpiercer was a boring scene, and they had been acting in it over and over again, with no sense of freshness. But campus life was always nostalgic.

As soon as he took out a copy of “An Actor Prepares” from his bag, Diao Zhiyu frowned, “Don’t read this, and this version is wrong. I’ll get you the right one when I have a chance.”

“Then... what are we going to do?”

“Relax, stretch, and warm up your voice. Do as I do...”

Diao Zhiyu took off his thick coat, revealing his broad shoulders and long legs. As he twisted his neck from side to side, his bones cracked.

His body was very flexible when he bent over, and his muscles seemed to have been trained in a school. Hu Xiu watched intently, imitating him while asking, “Have you learned dance?”

“Yeah. I’ve been learning classical dance for ten years, but I didn’t get into the military arts academy. I don’t have any talent.”

“But your physical condition is so good...”

“Dancing requires talent. I’m not coordinated and can’t keep up with those who have a strong sense of balance and understanding.

And I don’t really like dancing. My mom liked it better, so later I started playing basketball and even skipped school—let’s not talk about me.

I brought you here to teach you some basic acting skills and help you find things in your subconscious.”

Subconscious... what?

“Is there a problem?” His pleasant voice echoed in the air. At this moment, Diao Zhiyu wasn’t the boyfriend who would cling to the phone before bed, but a teacher who watched the novice student with interest.

“What should I do?”

“Free your mind. Imitate animals, do pantomime without props, do silent pantomime with objects, which one do you choose?”

“I have to imitate an animal now?”

“Act like a monkey, scratching your ears and cheeks at me.”

Hu Xiu froze on the spot. Was this an extreme challenge from the start?

Diao Zhiyu, who was trying hard not to laugh, was silent for a few seconds, “Then let’s find something less stressful. Do you remember those scenes from the Snowpiercer?”

“I remember...”

“I’m the police officer now, and I’m about to arrest an escapee. Your task is to improvise for three minutes and persuade me to let you go. There’s no limit to the background, you can start.”

She looked around, there was no scene. How was she supposed to act? Diao Zhiyu seemed to understand her thoughts: “Immersive experience means having a sense of presence, while pure acting means the actor enters the scene himself.

The scene is all in your mind, you can hug a cat, bump into a tree, hold a dead illegitimate child in your arms.”

In the winter light, Diao Zhiyu’s face was covered in a fine layer of sweat, and he was wearing a sea-green shirt with a leather jacket over it. His black curly hair seemed to be permed, and when he was demonstrating professional acting, even his lack of sleep couldn’t hide his powerful aura. He exuded a sense of charm that filled the rehearsal room.

“He didn’t even shave... Is that cheating?”

She sniffed, “It’s cheating for the police chief not to shave today.”

“What cheating...”

“A man and a woman alone, I can’t say more.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Fantasy...”

Is it that hard for a straight guy to understand that you’re complimenting him?

Tilting her head to look at Diao Zhiyu, Diao Zhiyu put his hands behind his back, completely in the image of Qin Xiaoyi: “What are you looking at me for? Do you want me to handcuff you directly?”

“I can’t think straight when facing Qin Xiaoyi. What criminal? Where do I look like a criminal?

On the contrary, you’re playing the role of Department Chief Qin to set women’s hearts on fire, you’re a pyromaniac in the hearts of female players.”

“My hair is naturally curly...”

He didn’t give her a chance to change the subject, his authoritative voice as a police chief hadn’t faded: “Has the criminal thought of a setting?”

“What are you talking about, I’m on a mission, seducing the police chief.”

Diao Zhiyu finally understood that he was getting into character: “I don’t mess with women.”

Forget it, this trick won’t work on Qin Xiaoyi, he’s impervious to flattery. “I escaped from the hospital, although I’m in a gang, but my boss is kind and righteous. Seeing that I’m a woman, he used himself as a hostage to save my life.

I was injured and escaped to deliver intelligence, but I ran into you. A weak woman can’t do anything, and with the intelligence in hand, you let me deliver it, which can be considered the last thing I did for my boss before his death. After I’m done, kill me or cut me up.”

After Hu Xiu finished speaking, she stiffened her neck and lay straight across Diao Zhiyu’s face, pretending to be injured: “If you don’t believe me, kill me now, and if you believe me, let me go, and I’ll repay you in the future.”

As she spoke, she lost her confidence and as soon as her arm touched Diao Zhiyu’s hand, she jumped up and covered her face, hiding behind the curtain. What kind of injury was that, it was like a human wooden stake, so embarrassing! Diao Zhiyu raised an eyebrow: “Not bad...”

He actually thought... it was okay? Hu Xiu peeked out from behind the curtain, and Diao Zhiyu was moving the table: “Get up there...”

Wearing a pair of jeans and a lavender sweater, she obediently climbed onto the table and looked at Diao Zhiyu standing below—she felt a little ashamed. Diao Zhiyu said, “Turn your back to me...”

Hu Xiu turned around.

“Fall backwards...”

“Huh?”

Was he kidding? She turned her head, and behind her was Diao Zhiyu’s arm, extended and ready to catch her at any moment. She instinctively felt a void behind her head, and if she fell, she would definitely take a tumble.

She stood on the stool, trembling, “Diao Zhiyu, I haven’t been so tough since my early years of intense physical training at Suning. At most, I’d run at 5:30 in the morning and stand at attention at 10 pm. Even when doing backbends, there were thick cushions, and for high-altitude free falls, there were safety measures. You don’t have to catch me like this...”

“What are you afraid of? You don’t trust me that much?”

“What if I fall and hit you? What if you break a bone?”

“Don’t worry about me, just fall.”

“How can I not worry? Do you know how hard it is to get an orthopedic appointment nowadays? If I break both my hands, how will I dance in the future? Maybe I can go back to being a dance student.”

“Don’t be silly, fall.”

“Or are you trying to take advantage of me?”

Diao Zhiyu laughed, “Taking advantage of you by you falling on me? Why don’t I do it a different way?”

“That’s right, you do it a different way.”

He immediately turned cold, “Be serious, this is a class. You can’t disobey your teacher.”

Being urged to fall, she always hesitated. Hu Xiu stood on the table, feeling the tragic sense of climbing a cliff in a deep mountain.

Looking back at the person behind her, his arm was completely relaxed, tense yet very confident, and his eyes were determined.

Maybe it wasn’t that scary. Hu Xiu moved her heels a little bit off the table, it should be okay, she would just fall, at most she would get a big bump on the back of her head.

Closing her eyes, she leaned backward and lost her balance. When she opened her eyes, her hair fell on her face, and Diao Zhiyu had caught her steadily in a princess carry.

“It’s not that scary, is it?”

He was also hit hard, and he took a few heavy breaths. Seeing her startled eyes, he panicked too.

He chuckled, and the clouds seemed to part, revealing the sun. His beard looked particularly sexy against his face.

She heard Diao Zhiyu say, “There’s nothing wrong with your lines just now, but your eyes kept dodging, you were not confident, and you lacked an actor’s conviction. When you’re injured, you should show it, your body should feel pain, and your voice should tremble. Lines like ‘a weak woman’ are meaningless, they’re just clichés from TV dramas. I think you’re very good, you’re a rare tough girl among girls, you’re quick-witted and react quickly, you don’t need to belittle yourself.”

Her hair covered half her face, but her surprised expression was just right. She was stunned in his arms, her mouth hadn’t even closed.

She knew that the lines she had just said were terrible, and her actions were very fake, but Diao Zhiyu didn’t say a single bad word.

What he wanted to say subconsciously was to find the root of her lack of confidence and then use this opportunity to change it.

The sky cleared up at that moment, and the sunlight after the Tyndall effect shone directly into her eyes, making them moist. She closed and opened her eyes, and they were almost filled with tears.

But this wasn’t the time to expose him. Love and kindness were the most charming qualities of this boy.

Diao Zhiyu seemed to not want the atmosphere to become sentimental, and he teased her deliberately, “What’s wrong, are you going to stay in my arms?”

She fell but didn’t hit the ground, and Hu Xiu rolled onto the ground and knelt on her knees with a thud, “No, you can’t touch me, if there are any more physical contact scenes in the future, my heart can’t take it.”

Diao Zhiyu didn’t understand, “It’s normal for actors to touch each other, it’s nothing.”

“I’m not a good actress, if you touch me, I’ll get emotional.”

“Oh, then wear more clothes for the next training, tape yourself up, layer by layer—you won’t feel anything if I touch you.”

Huh?

“You said you couldn’t touch me. Or are you saying there will be some reaction if you touch me?”

What reaction? Hu Xiu swallowed, “Master, we’re in class now, please don’t harass your student.”

Having been accurately hit on her hidden thoughts, Diao Zhiyu suppressed his laughter, but his eyebrows still rose, “What are you thinking? I mean focus on acting. Please focus on the stage, the role, and the background, and don’t be swayed by personal feelings.”

Tears still fell uncontrollably. It wasn’t the right time to say thank you. Hu Xiu stood up, “Master, you’re so fierce, I think I’ve scraped my nail, I’m applying for a mid-class break.”

“Which leg?”

He squatted down and lifted up her pants leg, gently grasping her cold ankle with his warm hand, carefully examining the wound—she had indeed scraped it.

Hu Xiu looked down at the dark top of his head. His naturally curly hair hid so much tender affection.

So this actor couldn’t really tell the difference between acting and reality, and his heart softened when he saw a girl crying.

He, who hadn’t been tainted by the world, still had the instinct to protect girls. After confirming that Hu Xiu was okay, Diao Zhiyu took her hand and walked out, “Let’s go to the infirmary first. We might not have classes here in the future, so the first acting class is a kind of ritual.

The next class might be anywhere, anytime. You have to listen carefully and take good notes, I will check.”

Li Ai, who was best at playing Doraemon, had soon delivered the SAVORELLO that he had ordered for Hu Xiu.

The dark green bicycle was placed behind the shop, with a Yamaha guitar behind it. The afternoon light shone in, making it look like a British-style select shop.

Diao Zhiyu was standing in the shop, tying an apron and wiping cups. Behind him was his complete set of photography equipment: “There’s really no need, I lost it myself.” Although he said so, he couldn’t hide his happiness.

Hu Xiu, who was busy copywriting, just smiled and shook her head, as if she was being coquettish. She had recently found a new hobby, using her previous experience in advertising to write scripts first, and then filming them and editing them into videos.

Diao Zhiyu readily agreed and promised to help her edit, turning her into the most beautiful simultaneous interpretation UP master on Bilibili.

But before that, she had to continue her acting classes. The shoddy skills she had learned from murder mystery were very clumsy, her posture was a bit hunched, and it didn’t match the image of a live streamer. She had to undergo systematic training.

So, was the seal on her head starting the second class?

Li Ai was not there, it was said that he had another court hearing before the year was over—he could do less and less for the car accident, and a settlement was probably the final outcome. In the quiet afternoon, Zhao Xiaorou barged in: “Where’s Li Ai?”

“He hasn’t come back yet...”

Her face showed a familiar concern, and she didn’t seem very happy. The reason was simple. In a video that was secretly filmed a few days ago, Gong Huaicong was drunk and said that his current girlfriend was a fake pure chewing gum, tasteless after being chewed and spit out.

Netizens no longer defended Zhao Xiaorou as they did before. After so many hot searches, Zhao Xiaorou was no longer the weak woman who was cheated on. Netizens turned their faces faster than a book, saying that Gong Huaicong was worthy of being the “纪委主任” (Discipline Inspection Commission Director) of the entertainment industry, and his judgment of people was really accurate.

“Do me a favor. There’s a Mercedes event in a few days, and it’s for couples. Wang Guangming is going to take his girlfriend. You pretend to be my pursuer halfway through, and let Wang Guangming see that not only am I dating Gong Huaicong, but I also have handsome guys chasing me.”

“I’m not acting...”

“I’ll pay you, and aren’t you an actor? It’s not difficult to play a pursuer, and you’ll only appear for twenty minutes.”

“I have a girlfriend.”

“Who? When? So fast? You have a girlfriend so soon after quitting your job? What about Hu Xiu?”

Diao Zhiyu turned the newspaper with a clatter, “It’s her...”

“Damn!” Zhao Xiaorou looked at Hu Xiu who was drinking coffee, “You didn’t tell me, we’re breaking up. Oh my god, how did you do it? This iceberg was actually gnawed off by you?”

“I chased her...” Diao Zhiyu said calmly, as if it were nothing.

“I can’t follow this plot.” Zhao Xiaorou’s expression was not enough, “So it was Diao Zhiyu who chased her, how did he chase her?”

Of course, he couldn’t tell the wild things Diao Zhiyu had done when he broke into her house.

Hu Xiu blushed and improvised, “Well, one night he suddenly confessed, saying he had liked me for a long time, and if I didn’t agree, he would call the police.”

A questioning face appeared from behind the newspaper, and Hu Xiu shrugged and stuck out her tongue, not backing down.

Zhao Xiaorou didn’t listen carefully, and was still sending a voice message to her assistant, “For the Mercedes event, you secretly ask Gong Huaicong’s secretary if he has a schedule, if not, I’ll go and pester him at night.”

Hu Xiu couldn’t help but remind Zhao Xiaorou, “Don’t overdo it. What’s there to be afraid of, husband and wife are legal enemies, and boyfriend and girlfriend are sweet enemies, anyway, it’s all about acting.

When Gong Huaicong first met me, he said I was different from those flamboyant and cheap women, but now he’s starting to dislike me.

I can’t lose face in front of Wang Guangming. He’s cheating and still showing up with his mistress. An old fox with a weasel, how can I be alone beside him, clearly being dumped by Gong Huaicong.

Those marketing accounts are like cockroaches, they’re everywhere and they talk nasty, and I’ll be picked on by other internet celebrities and have comments bought to criticize me.”

“If Wang Guangming goes, there’s no need to compare yourself to him. Isn’t it good to be an independent single blogger?

Gong Huaicong is not serious either, it’s all acting, and you’re not showing your true self either, you’ll be exposed one day.”

“Not necessarily. The two things you’ll never forget in your life are your first love and the person you cheated with, everything else is just a seasoning.”

Zhao Xiaorou smoked heavily, but her innocent face had an impure voice, “I just didn’t expect that divorce could become a stain on women nowadays. Men say that love is the most beautiful thing, but in the end, they all want to find a blank canvas to paint on, and they don’t even look at their own painting skills.”

“True love for true love.” Hu Xiu didn’t comment on Zhao Xiaorou’s remarks, but gently brushed the stray hair from her face, “As for that money and status, why fight for it? Don’t fall into the old-fashioned way of fighting for power in the palace.”

“Diao Zhiyu saw everything. Zhao Xiaorou suddenly attacked, “Diao Zhiyu, treat Hu Xiu well, if you dare to bully her, I’ll twist your head off.”

The target was reading the newspaper seriously, pretending to read the English original—he held it upside down.

“So you’re acting?”

“Yeah. I’m performing a mime for you.”

“I don’t believe it, you’re just holding the newspaper upside down.”

Humming softly, Diao Zhiyu turned around and walked backwards, staring intently at Hu Xiu, looking incredibly attractive.

Hu Xiu was flustered by his gaze. The lights flickered on and off, revealing that one of his eyelids was slightly uneven, making him look exceptionally sweet when he smiled. She hadn’t noticed it before.

“What are you laughing at...” he asked first.

“Nothing...”

“Say it...”

“I remembered a joke Ning Zechen told in the Snowpiercer—your Qin Xiaoyi is a man with a kidney deficiency.”

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. Damn it, why did she blurt out such a crude joke!

Wasn’t this proving that she had some inappropriate thoughts about him? Her dirty thoughts were revealed in a few casual words, and her pure acting was in jeopardy.

Diao Zhiyu stopped, put his hand on Hu Xiu’s shoulder and slowly approached, his speed was very slow, his lips missed her cheek, and they didn’t touch; his curly hair brushed against her eyes and cheeks, and his lazy and gentle voice was in her ear, “If you say I have a kidney deficiency again, I won’t be polite to you.”

The hand on her shoulder slid down to her collarbone, his fingers slipped into her clothes and slid down two inches, stopping at a critical position.

Hu Xiu’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato, her body went numb, and she couldn’t move. Knowing that they were on a dimly lit road, with no one around the neighborhood, and the man’s pleasant scent had already filled her nose, both of them had had some improper thoughts since the last time they turned off the lights.

And Diao Zhiyu suddenly withdrew his hand, “You’re really wearing too little, your shoulders are freezing. Put on my coat and go upstairs, I’m going home.”

“That!”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to come upstairs...”

“Why should I go upstairs?” Diao Zhiyu looked at her with interest, Hu Xiu originally meant to ask him to come upstairs to chat, but now the meaning had changed.

Damn it, had she seduced him? Going upstairs this time would definitely be a home run, she didn’t even wear a full set of underwear, it was absurd!

“I’m going...” Diao Zhiyu smiled and backed away, his words had a bit of malice, “I’ll give you a supplementary lesson later. Love is in limited supply, promiscuity is not good, and physical contact is a luxury, you can’t use it until the critical moment. Oh, remember not to get the wound on your ankle wet.”

He handed her the down jacket and waved goodbye.

So cheeky!

Having just taken a shower and gone upstairs, Hu Xiu’s phone vibrated non-stop. Diao Zhiyu asked her to organize her class notes and send them to him for review. Hu Xiu took her notebook seriously and thought for a long time before writing.

The first lesson of the limited edition acting masterclass:

1.  The first step in acting is to build confidence;

2.  Terms like “weak woman” are not applicable to modern women and can be discarded;

3.  Trust falls can be used not only for quality development but also to train acting skills (although I feel like I was tricked); There are no small roles, only small actors. Don’t take on roles that aren’t suitable for you, especially don’t play someone else’s boyfriend; You can pretend to be reading a newspaper upside down, and you can wrap yourself in three layers of cling film to prevent physical contact;

4.  Love is in limited supply, promiscuity is not good, and physical contact is a luxury, you can’t use it until the critical moment...