Chapter 40: Stop Pretending There
The security guard held an electric baton, gazing with sharp vigilance at the stranger lingering by the school gate.
Sunglasses, a face mask, and a small suitcase...
Wearing such items late at night naturally made him suspicious of Lin Yi's intentions.
A reporter? A celebrity? A robber?
Various occupations flashed through the security guard's mind.
"Hey, what are you here for?" the security guard asked cautiously, hiding the electric baton behind his back.
The moment the man in front of him showed the slightest sign of abnormal behavior, he would strike and give this fellow a taste of electricity.
Hearing the voice, Lin Yi turned around and looked around. Finding no one else nearby except for himself, he pointed at himself and asked, "Are you talking to me?"
The security guard adjusted his hat, took a step forward, tightened his grip on the electric baton with a bit more force, and barked, "Who else would I be talking to?"
Huh?
Lin Yi looked skeptically at the elderly security guard. Why was he holding such a deep grudge against him? He hadn't provoked the old man at all!
"I'm here to find someone," Lin Yi replied calmly.
"Find who?"
"Director Li Xue."
"No..." The elderly guard stopped halfway and looked Lin Yi up and down. "What are you looking for him for?"
"I'm here to act."
"You're here to act?" The elderly guard's voice rose by several octaves.
The person in front of him was here to act?
He didn't look like it at all!
Whenever other people came, they brought what's-it-called—oh right, assistants. But this guy came all by himself?
"You don't have to mind me, he'll be out in a moment." Seeing the incredulous look on the old guard's face, Lin Yi suddenly felt a bit awkward.
"Are you really here to act?" The old guard still found it hard to believe, staring wide-eyed as he asked.
"Really." Lin Yi nodded helplessly. How was he supposed to prove he was here to act? Should he pull out a certificate to prove it?
"I don't think you look the part! Everyone else brings five or six people with them, but you came all by yourself."
"I keep a low profile."
"Bulls**t! You're probably just a nobody, stop putting on airs. Come over, sit down, and have a cup of tea. You've been standing out there for over half an hour. Anyone passing by would think you had malicious intentions."
Believing Lin Yi's words, the elderly guard took his electric baton and walked back into the security booth.
Hearing this, Lin Yi rubbed his nose and silently followed behind him.
Putting down his hat and electric baton, the elderly guard plugged in the kettle to boil water.
"Stop wearing that mask, take it off. There's only the two of us here."
"Alright." Lin Yi let out a breath and removed his mask.
Taking a clear look at Lin Yi's features, the elderly guard smiled and said, "Quite a handsome young man!"
Huh?
Suddenly, the old guard's eyebrows furrowed. Spotting a sneaky shadow darting through the darkness, he grabbed his electric baton and sprinted outside, shouting, "You are not allowed to scale the wall!"
Whoosh!
Hearing the guard, the shadowy figure panicked and fled blindly, leaving one shoe behind without daring to look back.
"Nine times out of ten, that brat wanted to sneak out to surf the internet again," the old guard muttered grumblingly as he walked back.
A dozen meters inside the school gate, several figures were hurriedly walking out.
"Brother Zhang, I'm right here." Recognizing the approaching people, Lin Yi hurriedly stood up and called out.
"I'm sorry, I was in a meeting with them just now and didn't expect it to run rather long," Zhang Yibo said apologetically. He hadn't intended to let Lin Yi wait for so long, but the meeting discussion simply lost track of time.
"It's no problem."
"Good afternoon, Principal." The leaders beside Zhang Yibo bowed respectfully upon seeing the elderly guard.
Principal?
Lin Yi stared in shock at the elderly guard in front of him, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. The old security guard was actually the school's principal?
This was taking keeping a low profile to an excessive degree.
"Sigh, I've already retired, don't call me principal anymore. You guys check the surveillance footage and see which class's student is trying to scale the wall and go out," the elderly guard said sternly.
In his heart, Lin Yi silently said a prayer for that dark and windy night student who wanted to commit mischief.
"Lin Yi, you haven't eaten yet, right? We can talk while we eat."
Getting into Zhang Yibo's car, he and Zhang Yibo arrived at a small restaurant.
"Bring out all your signature dishes, and some wine—wait, never mind, no wine." Remembering that they still had filming tomorrow, Zhang Yibo had to tearfully reject the beer. He wasn't afraid of getting drunk himself, but he was worried about Lin Yi getting drunk.
The dishes were served very quickly.
"Lin Yi, big brother here wants to apologize to you. I'll substitute tea for wine as punishment." Zhang Yibo drank three cups of tea in a row, and Lin Yi couldn't talk him out of it.
"Let's eat, let's eat!"
"Lin Yi, filming starts tomorrow, but don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just act normally."
"Fortunately, our progress isn't that fast yet, otherwise you'd have to play Zhao Ye. Zhao Ye's difficulty coefficient is much higher, completely unsuitable for a newbie like you."
"Qioran is different, I feel like that role was tailor-made for you."
"Lin Yi, I believe you can do it."
"Thank you," Lin Yi said sincerely.
"Hey, let me state the ugly truth first: on the set, just act as the script requires. Don't add too many personal ad-libs."
As a director, the thing he loathed most was an actor trying to teach him how things should or shouldn't be done.
An actor merely views the scenes from a personal perspective.
Whereas a director needs to start from the overall picture and balance the entire performance.
If a supporting character or even an extra steals the spotlight from the protagonist, how is that supposed to be performed?
The whole production would collapse.
That is precisely why many artists who transition from acting to directing end up making box-office flops.
They fail to pay attention to the overall internal coherence.
Of course, a bad script is also related to why productions flop.
Conversely, if directors become actors, many of them succeed, such as Feng Xiaogang, Chen Sicheng, Zeng Zhiwei...
Because they know how to bring a character to life and what kind of effect the performance needs to achieve.
"Understood." Naturally, Lin Yi wouldn't object. He was already worried about whether he could act well; how could he dare pull so many unnecessary stunts?
Pulling stunts would be pure courting of death, wouldn't it?
He wasn't foolish to that extent.
Seeing that Lin Yi had taken his words to heart, Zhang Yibo's hanging heart finally dropped. He really feared that Lin Yi would start bossing people around here.
If that were the case, both of them would end up in a very awkward position.
He was the one who invited Lin Yi, yet Lin Yi would be giving him orders—he couldn't even bear to imagine that scenario.
"Lin Yi, eat more meat, and have some of this soup. It's exceptionally delicious." Zhang Yibo picked up the ladle and scooped a bowl of soup for Lin Yi.
"Brother Zhang, I can serve myself," Lin Yi said hurriedly.
"Oh, don't stand on ceremony, let's just get you fed first."
It was hard to decline such warm hospitality!
Lin Yi had no choice but to accept Zhang Yibo's kindness.
At the dining table.
Zhang Yibo chatted extensively with Lin Yi about *Fleet of Time*.
He had bought the movie copyright for *Fleet of Time* back in 2011, but filming had been continuously delayed.
It wasn't until 2013, when he was moved by the script written by the two screenwriters Li Han and Liu Han, that he finally made up his mind to officially launch the film's production.
The actor who previously played the third male lead refused to accept his scolding and even yelled back at him, putting him in an extremely awkward spot for a while.
"Forget it, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about you—Lin Yi, do you have a girlfriend?"