Chapter 64 Township Party
[Disclaimer: The RY County mentioned in this chapter is where Lao Ao was born and raised, and the events used are also real, but the timeline has been changed.]
Although character biographies were sent out in advance—not the kind that the actors themselves summarized—when the actors went in for the audition, they only needed to memorize the lines.
But because it was Liu Heng's first time to do this kind of thing, his efficiency was still not very high. It took him about twenty minutes to finish interviewing one person. From 9 . to noon, he had only interviewed eight people.
Liu Heng was not satisfied with any of these eight people, but he was very satisfied with Xu Kun's performance.
He appeared in four out of eight auditions. If his initial appearance was "stunning", then the impression left on Liu Heng after these four times was "stable".
During the four supporting performances, Xu Kun's facial expressions, movements, and emotions in his lines were always maintained at the same level, which proved that his initial "amazing" performance was not a flash in the pan, but an acting skill that could be output stably.
This also means that there is still more potential to be tapped in Xu Kun.
In addition, the Queen played by Hao Lei is also remarkable, and Liu Heng is just short of giving Lv Liping a banner that reads "Seeing through fire".
At noon, Liu Heng specially set up a table in the east wing to entertain everyone. Those young actors in the courtyard who were waiting for auditions would also be offered a box lunch and a bottle of mineral water if they did not want to leave.
Before dinner, when Xu Kun went outside to wash his hands at the sink, he suddenly received a call from Zhang Yong.
"Kun'er, have you eaten?"
As soon as I heard Zhang Yong's unclear voice, I knew he must have been drunk again last night.
By the end of the month, his off-season vegetables should be on the market, and now is the time to open up the links. Northerners are accustomed to discussing business over the wine table, and they basically spend their days in drunkenness.
"Just getting ready to eat."
Xu Kun knew that Zhang Yong must have something to say to him at this time, so he asked straight to the point: "Brother Yong, just tell me what you want to say."
"Ah~ drinking is harmful!"
Zhang Yong sighed heavily and said with some difficulty: "When I was on the set, didn't I take a lot of group photos? Usually at the dinner table, I can't help but brag about it. I thought I could also help you gain fame, but who knew that the county leaders actually took it seriously!"
"What do you mean?"
Xu Kun was puzzled: "Could it be that the county wants me to go back and perform? Could it be that they want me to donate money to my hometown?"
He secretly calculated his family assets. After including what Zhang Yong had given him before, he had about 50,000 yuan left. How about grit his teeth and take out 50,000 yuan, and consider it as a donation made by himself and Brother Yong together?
"That's not it."
Zhang Yong said helplessly: "The county doesn't want you to perform for money, nor does it want your little tricks. Instead, they want you to help them connect with a big star to endorse the greenhouse vegetables in your hometown."
That turned out to be the idea.
If we talk about big stars, Lv Liping can barely be considered one. Not to mention her past achievements, she won countless fans just with last year's "The Passionate Years".
But the problem is that while I say I don’t want to be Sun Honglei, I shamelessly ask others for help...
"How much are they going to pay?"
Xu Kun hesitated for a moment and decided to look at the bargaining chips from his hometown first. If the chips offered were enough, the matter could be discussed.
Zhang Yong smiled bitterly and said, "How much can our poor little county give? Yesterday, the deputy county chief in charge of agriculture, as well as the heads of the Agricultural Bureau and the Merchants Bureau, gave me a big lecture. They just wanted to spend little money to achieve great things."
Hearing that the county wanted to get something for free, Xu Kun held up his phone and was speechless: "She is a big star, not a cabbage. Why would she lower her status to endorse you for free?"
"No, no, listen to me first."
Zhang Yong heard that Xu Kun had misunderstood, and hurriedly said, "The county wants to invite a local celebrity. Since they are endorsing their hometown and are helping the villagers to earn money, they should charge less, right?"
"Our local big star?"
Xu Kun dug deep into his memory and suddenly said, "You mean the old man who played Jiang Ziya? But it's been so many years since "Investiture of the Gods". Even if the old man is still alive, he must have been out of fashion a long time ago, right?"
When Xu Kun was a child, he heard his grandfather mention this story when he watched Investiture of the Gods. He said that the old man's family was a wealthy family in the county in the early years and was also a regular customer of the lion dance. "It's not Jiang Ziya, it's a popular star!"
Zhang Yong said with some pride: "You must know Ge You, he also came from our county!"
"real or fake?"
Xu Kun was shocked when he heard this. He had never thought that he and Li Dongbao were from the same hometown: "But how come I heard that Ge You was born and raised in Beijing..."
"His father left the country, so of course he was born and raised in the capital."
Zhang Yong said, and then got back to the point: "The county wants you to help scout out Ge You's intentions. If it works, that would be great. If he doesn't have this intention, the county won't bother trying to get you to do something that's not worth it."
As he was talking, the excitement of being proud of himself faded away, and he couldn't help sighing: "I know this won't be easy. If it's really hard, I'll turn around..."
"Let me try it first."
For other young actors, it is naturally not easy to get close to Ge You, who is at the peak of his career, but don’t we have "Ge Ling"?
It's not possible to ask Lv Liping to lower her status to endorse her hometown, but it is at least possible to help her advise on how to get close to Ge You.
If this is accomplished, it will be considered that I have done something practical for my hometown; even if it cannot be done, it will be worthwhile to take the opportunity to get to know Uncle Ge.
After hanging up the phone, Xu Kun pondered for a while before turning around and preparing to return to the east wing to take his seat.
Unexpectedly, when he turned around, he saw Li Fazeng standing behind him with a strange expression on his face.
"Mr. Li, you..."
"RY, right?"
Just when Xu Kun was about to ask what was going on, he heard Li Fazeng's dialect that sounded familiar.
"what?!"
Xu Kun was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "Are you from SN?"
Li Fazeng nodded and said with some regret: "I haven't spoken my hometown dialect for some years."
Although these two counties belong to two cities respectively, they are adjacent to each other, and traveling between them is more convenient than going to the city.
Since they were half fellow villagers, Xu Kun was just planning to take the opportunity to get close to him, but he heard Li Fazeng say, "The idea your county has is not bad, but it's a pity that you are blinded by a single leaf and fail to see the big picture."
After saying that, he shook his head and went back to the east wing.
What does this mean?
Xu Kun followed into the east wing in confusion and naturally sat down below Hao Lei.
Hao Lei nudged him with her elbow and asked curiously, "What were you talking about with Mr. Li outside? Why did you just come back after so long?"
In fact, Li Fazeng was standing next to him and listened to him communicating with Zhang Yong in his native dialect, and the two of them only had a few words of actual conversation.
But Xu Kun certainly couldn't dismantle his own reputation, so he said vaguely: "The old man was originally from the county next to ours, so he is half a fellow villager to me."
"Is there such a good thing?"
Upon hearing this, Hao Lei hurriedly said, "Then you must take this opportunity to improve your relationship. If you can make Mr. Li happy, you will definitely benefit from it in the future."
This sister is quite righteous. Just because the introducer was Lü Liping, she really treated Xu Kun as her own - but she is a little stubborn and not considerate enough about social matters.
In fact, even if she didn't say it, Xu Kun would definitely do the same. However, what Xu Kun is more curious about now is, what does Li Fazeng mean by "a single leaf blocks the view of the mountain"?
He wasn't talking about himself, was he?
In terms of status in the circle and administrative level, Li Fazeng's qualifications are equivalent to those of the vice president of the National Theatre, which does indeed put him above Ge You.
But they are not from the same city. Even if the old man is willing to lower his price, it doesn't fit the theme of "I am the ambassador for my hometown"?
(End of this chapter)
