Chapter 57

Limited Edition Acting Masterclass 2: “Heroine” means a girl can also be someone else’s superhero.

Diao Zhiyu’s physical training was even more demanding than his acting classes. An entire white wall in Hu Xiu’s house was covered with movie posters as a backdrop, and Hu Xiu was sticking to the wall, holding a book, and had to hold it for ten minutes without letting it fall.

Apparently, this was to help her straighten her back, no longer have uneven shoulders, and find a better angle for the camera. In Diao Zhiyu’s words, this was a step toward having a good temperament.

His classes seemed more like building confidence.

“Actually, even for UP masters, there’s a persona. Just think of it as acting out an image that the audience wants.

A sneaky demeanor, shifty eyes, to put it another way, is simply a failure to express oneself well. It’s a pity if stage fright affects your performance.”

“You can’t be there. I get nervous when I see you.”

“Hey, don’t be so exaggerated. You should also come out of the translation booth, just treat it as a role and relax.”

When recording the video, Hu Xiu spoke clearly and her British accent was very standard. She could skillfully greet and say goodbye at the beginning and end of each video, provided that Diao Zhiyu would hide next door.

She had a chair next to her, with a pile of reference materials, which she would take out for explanation when necessary. After arranging them one by one, Diao Zhiyu really went to the kitchen to read a book, occasionally poking his head out to remind her to keep smiling.

The goal was to make three videos, each forty minutes long. The first one took an entire afternoon to edit and upload.

Since it took a long time to export the video, Diao Zhiyu casually asked her if she wanted to play a fun game.

“What?”

“You can translate TV dramas on the spot, and I’ll replace the audio for you.”

“Oh?”

Diao Zhiyu took out “My Fair Princess” and “Love in the Rain” and found a line of dialogue, “Come on, translate it emotionally into English, using that kind of dramatic tone.”

It was the scene where Ziwei was pricked with needles by the Empress Dowager and Nanny Rong. Hu Xiu was a little puzzled, “How do you, a man born in 1996, know My Fair Princess?”

“Sister, it’s played on repeat during winter and summer vacations.” Diao Zhiyu was a little anxious, “Come on, translate it, I’m so curious.”

This was within Hu Xiu’s area of expertise. She cleared her throat and performed flawlessly, “-raise your head. I heard you can sing, play chess, and write poems. Is that so? -Your Majesty, it’s just a little bit. -Even a little bit would drive the emperor crazy, so what about the real thing? Are you going to kill him?”

Diao Zhiyu couldn’t stop laughing, and Hu Xiu stopped and looked at him, “What’s so funny.”

“You’re so funny. I thought you were just teasing me when I was in the Snowpiercer, but now I understand, you’re really good at being funny, both physically and verbally.”

She was a little immune to his compliments, and Hu Xiu pouted, “It’s nothing, it’s just oral translation.”

“It’s a pity that you work as a translator in a hospital, and you don’t understand medical terms.”

“Oh?”

“I always feel that work should be challenging and require learning, but actually, giving one hundred percent of what you’re best at is much better than reluctantly doing something to seventy or eighty percent.”

Hu Xiu’s heart was beating fast. That was indeed the case. Diao Zhiyu stood up and prepared to set up the tripod for the second video. Hu Xiu said, “Why do you see things so clearly?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. I feel like something has been bothering you, but I can’t tell what it is.”

Not wanting to admit it, Hu Xiu joked, “I didn’t realize you were a fortune teller.”

“Men have intuition too.”

Diao Zhiyu didn’t look at her while changing the lens of the camera. Hu Xiu felt a wave of emotions in her heart, and it might not be a bad idea to ask a smart boy in a different way.

“Master, I have a question for you... I have a friend, and someone very important to her has been suppressing her, what should she do?”

Diao Zhiyu listened, constantly adjusting the gimbal, “How important is it...”

“Biological parents... that kind.”

He looked up at Hu Xiu, pretending to be casual, “How are they suppressing her?”

“From a young age, they always feel that the child is a burden, that she is a failed work that they don’t want to see again if she doesn’t succeed...

At this age, no one cares about her, they just want her to find the most suitable opportunity to get married at this age, after all, she is an adult mediocrity.”

“Do both parents think so?”

“My mother doesn’t know where she went. When my friend was eighteen years old, her mother was kicked out of the house.”

The hand twisting the camera stopped in mid-air, the long-lashed camel paused for a few seconds, as if thinking, then twisted the camera again, and was a little angry because it didn’t fit the screw, “PUA is suppressing you under the guise of doing what’s good for you, and if you take it seriously, you lose. The most effective way is to suppress the other party in turn.”

“It sounds a bit unfilial, but when you can’t reason with them, it’s also good to make them doubt themselves.

If I knew this friend of yours, I could help you pretend to be a hooligan and beat up her parents, the kind where you put them in a sack.”

“What era is this, a triad? Parents have a duty to raise their children after all.”

“Not everyone can be a parent. Do you know how Northeasterners raise dogs? Leftovers, guarding the door, no bathing or playing.

If they die, they’re just thrown into a ditch and buried, or cooked and eaten. Parents without hearts raise their children in a similar way.”

Diao Zhiyu finally fixed the camera and smiled awkwardly at Hu Xiu, “Let’s start...”

During her break from work, Hu Xiu quietly checked the views of her video, and was happy to see that she had gained one more follower.

After dinner and returning from the convenience store, she happened to meet her father—he was still in the hospital?

Her father seemed to be looking for her too. She had a rough idea of what he was going to say, and as soon as she greeted him, she heard him say, “Xiao Pei went abroad? Are you two dating?”

“No...”

“Are you out of your mind? A man as good as him, you won’t find a second one even if you searched with a lantern.

Are you going to find a gigolo just like your mother? Those little boys will only get tired of you and dump you. Who wants you at thirty? Don’t you know you’re hard to marry?”

“Why am I hard to marry...”

“You’re just like your mother, useless and confused, and you’ve even been rejected in marriage. Can’t you weigh yourself?”

“What about you? You’ve been taking care of the teacher in the hospital, and you only care about me when it comes to marriage. Am I not your daughter?

What about Mom? Because of one affair, she doesn’t plan to see her again for the rest of her life?”

“He’s my teacher, I can’t just ignore him.”

“A bedridden teacher is more important than us...”

“Your mother was kicked out and she didn’t have the face to stay in Nanjing. What’s there for me to care about you, you’re alive and kicking. You have no brains, and even doctors don’t want you. I lament your misfortune and anger at your incompetence.”

She chased after him, and when she saw his back rushing to catch the bus, she suddenly shouted, “Dad!”

The man carrying the briefcase turned around, very impatient.

“Are you a misogynist?”

Her father looked at her in surprise, the first time in his life that his daughter had refuted him. The electric bike behind him brushed past him, and he trembled in fright, even more panicked.

Hu Xiu mustered up her courage, “From today on, I won’t care about you anymore either, I won’t listen to anything you say, after all—you’re not a good father either!”

The moment she turned and left, Hu Xiu felt the stubborn stone in her chest break—it felt so good!

It rained heavily that night. Hu Xiu was about to go to the rehearsal room with Diao Zhiyu when she received a call from Li Ai—Zhao Xiaorou was missing.

Hu Xiu was a little puzzled, why did Li Ai suddenly start looking for Zhao Xiaorou? She glanced at the time, it was five o’clock in the afternoon.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, it was raining heavily outside, and she disappeared.

Hu Xiu felt a sense of unease in her heart.

The incident began when Zhao Xiaorou and Gong Huaicong went to a French restaurant in Jing’an District. It was originally a sponsored event by the hotel; however, Zhao Xiaorou, out of carelessness, casually posted a selfie at noon before scheduling the post.

Netizens reposted it and questioned the authenticity, and Zhao Xiaorou’s former assistant, who had just resigned, posted an exposé online, revealing some true and false information, immediately turning Zhao Xiaorou into an ambitious and scheming internet celebrity with inflated vanity.

Most of the information was probably a misinterpretation by her employees. Zhao Xiaorou had always been kind to her assistant.

But it was difficult to divide the responsibility. Netizens were eager to expose her, with rumors of divorce, hiring water armies, faking, and exploiting employees spreading, and Zhao Xiaorou’s reputation was immediately tarnished.

Zhao Xiaorou was still filming when she received a call from Li Ai and they had a big argument on the spot.

Li Ai told her to come back and discuss countermeasures as soon as possible, and to find a lawyer and public relations team. Zhao Xiaorou insisted that she was right and even came out to explain, but the situation only got worse.

Out of ten employees, everyone was now panicking, and some were taking the opportunity to resign.

Whether Zhao Xiaorou attended the evening event or not, she was bound to be scolded. Li Ai said that they had to find her first.

“We’ll be right there. If she calls, don’t get angry.”

“Of course I know that,” Li Ai was still on the phone, “I don’t care who she’s dating, but I built this team, and I can’t just watch it fall apart.”

When they arrived, the office was very quiet. It was located in a WeWork office in Changning, close to Minhang, and the ten employees all looked anxious.

Some were on the phone, and some were arguing with people in the public conference room. Li Ai contacted a lawyer immediately, and asked Hu Xiu to collect evidence to refute the false statements and notarize them. He then limped out with his cane to appease everyone. Having dealt with legal matters every day, he was familiar with the process.

Hu Xiu sat in front of the computer, looking at the online abuse and curses, feeling like she had been stabbed repeatedly.

Zhao Xiaorou had a bad temper, that was true; but she was loyal to her friends, never delayed her employees’ salaries, and even shared PR gifts with her employees. Although she sometimes had a harsh tone at work, she had never been as self-interested as described online.

Gong Huaicong also became her new target. The pain she had suffered in her marriage had now turned into the most vicious woman’s heart, and even though she was glamorous when she returned home, she was still a worthless cheap commodity that no one wanted, and it was fortunate that Wang Guangming had divorced her...

She kept quiet and diligently collected evidence to create public relations posts, and also recorded all the posts with over 20,000 reads in case of subsequent legal action.

This kind of thing happened frequently in advertising companies, although she didn’t work there, she had heard about it many times in the group, and she had also written public relations posts before. As a copywriter, few people couldn’t write a press release.

With her fast typing speed and clear mind, Hu Xiu never let down the team in times of crisis.

Li Ai came out of the conference room, his expression frighteningly angry, “Do you have any news about her?”

“Not yet.”

“The Mercedes event starts at 7:30 pm. I took all her social media account passwords earlier, keep an eye on them, don’t let her post anything randomly, and delete it immediately if she does.” He went back into the conference room.

She wouldn’t, and besides, she probably just wanted to hide from now on. Diao Zhiyu held the clothes the stylist had brought over, “Where will she be? The event should be cancelled at this time.”

Hu Xiu was holding a little black dress. It was a knee-length satin dress with a lot of drape and a lace trim around the shoulders.

There was a Korean movie called “My Black Mini Dress” before, when Zhao Xiaorou had just met Hu Xiu, and they had two other Lee Donghae fans, saying they were going to be sisters for life and push each other’s wheelchairs in the nursing home. Now, only two were left.

Hu Xiu pondered for a moment and said softly, “Please take this dress and makeup bag to a place. The makeup artist can’t go there now, I’ll call Zhao Xiaorou, she’ll definitely answer.”

The address was the hotel next to Mercedes-Benz. She would definitely go to this event because Super Junior had held a concert there 15 years ago, and she had always been sentimental.

Zhao Xiaorou had a private number, and she didn’t answer Li Ai’s calls, but she would answer hers. This was a tacit understanding between them that had lasted for ten years—they would never ignore each other.

“Hello?”

“Zhao Xiaorou, are you at Mercedes-Benz?”

“Yes. But don’t come, I don’t want to see anyone.”

“Are you fed up? The life of an internet celebrity.”

“I don’t know what to do, I can’t feel happy anymore. That’s not the important thing, it’s that Gong Huaicong just posted on Weibo saying he broke up with me, and he’s trying to kick me while I’m down, he’s really something.”

“Go to the event, Zhao Xiaorou.”

“Are you kidding? I just got dumped, and now I have to see Wang Guangming again?”

“Don’t hide, if you don’t come out to explain now, you’ll be scolded. The best time for public relations is four to eight hours, if you come out directly, it will have the best effect, and we will arrange the follow-up press releases, you just need to show up.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t admit it, insist that you’re innocent, and that you’ve always been kind to everyone. Apologize for the photo incident, after all, it did leak the cooperation time.

But express your happiness about cooperating with the hotel sincerely, and say that it was unintentional to deceive everyone.

You can’t say anything about your relationship problems, but you were indeed dumped, and you’re heartbroken, that’s all. I’ll help you draft the specific words, and if you can’t, just memorize them.”

“I don’t have any clothes with me.”

“Diao Zhiyu is on his way. Do your own makeup, there’s no makeup artist at this point.”

“Hu Xiu...”

“Hmm?”

“How can you be so clear-headed at a time like this?”

“Because I’m used to it, my life has always been at a low point.” Hu Xiu actually laughed at this point, the acting class was useful, and at this moment, she was a media person who had just started working but was tough enough to handle the pressure.

“Ms. Hu, the superhero, what would I do without you?”

“I’ll probably just grow old alone. Heartbreak and being scolded are small matters, just get over it—and you still have to make me oatmeal in the nursing home.”

“Okay, I’ll go. But I won’t take this phone with me, I’ll only take my work phone. After it’s over, I have to go to Gong Huaicong’s house, I can’t let this go.

For the team... I’ll leave it to Li Ai, I don’t know what to say to him now, I don’t have the position to apologize to him.”

Before Hu Xiu could persuade her, she hurriedly hung up the phone.

An hour and a half later, Zhao Xiaorou, although late, still appeared at the Mercedes-Benz event. Her eyes were red from crying, and even the concealer couldn’t cover it up, which was good, because sadness should be seen by others.

It was a car brand event with women as the theme, and all the attendees were female protagonists, with men appearing as occasional embellishments.

Wang Guangming was also involved in this online violence, and out of courtesy to their former marriage, he smiled and declined to be interviewed when asked at the event.

Diao Zhiyu sent a WeChat message from the front lines saying everything was fine for now, but Zhao Xiaorou was being attacked by countless cameras and gazes, and had no time to touch up her makeup.

Hu Xiu worked tirelessly in the office, helping her draft a Weibo post and posted it using her account: “Since becoming a public figure, I have always demanded myself to present the best side of me, with beautiful clothes and makeup, and busy but fulfilling business trips and events. My best state is my reward to my audience and readers.

But in fact, this is a relatively cruel job, all the pressure is on myself, most of the communication cannot be face-to-face, which leaves a lot of misunderstandings, and occasionally there are deviations in the reception of information.

Becoming an internet celebrity as I am now, I am very happy, but also very tired, but I have a clear conscience towards my employees.

As for love, I may be a bit of a brainless person, and I always tend to be blindly devoted, but no matter what relationship it is, I treat it with the most sincere heart.

Goodbye, Gong Huaicong, even though you were the one who broke up first, I am still grateful for such a happy time.

Also, please don’t criticize married women who have been divorced too much. Marriage is a matter between two people, and you can’t redefine me as a villain just because of one-sided things. Thank you for your understanding.”

After posting, Li Ai came out of the conference room angrily, “I told her not to say anything!”

“I posted it...”

Li Ai frowned, clicked on the notification, read it carefully, and then put away his anger, “Fortunately, it was you. I’ve always said you’re someone who will explode in a crisis, and you’re right.”

On Hu Xiu’s phone, there was a photo of Diao Zhiyu sent by Zhao Xiaorou. After giving her the dress, Diao Zhiyu had been worried about Zhao Xiaorou being besieged and hadn’t left. He had been caught by a Mercedes-Benz photographer and even given a business card by a film director present.

In the photo, he was drenched, his hair was all swept back, revealing his beautiful skull and hairline, he was flawless and photogenic.

Sitting in the office, she felt that her sexy brain and this handsome long-legged guy were a perfect match.

Limited Edition Acting Masterclass Lesson 2:

1.  Once you have faith in your character, use your persona to convince everyone;

2.  PUA is when someone suppresses you under the guise of doing what’s good for you, and if you take it seriously, you lose. The most effective way is to suppress the other party in turn, although it’s not advisable, it works; The best time for emergency public relations is four to eight hours, a personal explanation is more useful than anything else, and the so-called backup is to help your friend clean up the mess in time; heroine means a girl can also be someone else’s superhero...