Chapter 45: "The Patriarch Grants a Meal"

“Come and take a look at the scene you’ll be auditioning for today,” said Mr. Huang, handing Zhou Ran a script excerpt from the film after Zhou Ran had rested in the room for a while. He wanted Zhou Ran to give it a try.

Typically, during auditions, directors provide actors with a scene from the film on the spot. This both protects the script from leaks and allows the director to see if the actor is suited for the role.

“All right, Mr. Huang,” Zhou Ran replied, taking the script from Chef Huang and reading it carefully.

“Should I convey a sense of growing stronger through adversity?” Zhou Ran asked after skimming through the plot.

The script Chef Huang gave Zhou Ran depicted a young man being repeatedly struck by his teacher as he played the drums. Despite the blows, the boy never gave up; instead, he persisted, enduring failure after failure, trying again and again with unwavering determination.

After reading through the script several times, Zhou Ran put it aside, closed his eyes, and began to ponder how best to portray the story and capture the feeling Chef Huang wanted.

He quickly dismissed relying on acting techniques, as he wasn’t formally trained—he had only read a few books on acting. If he tried a method-acting approach, he’d only make a fool of himself, putting on a clownish performance for Chef Huang.

After thinking it over, Zhou Ran ultimately decided to take an experiential approach—immersing himself fully in the character, doing everything possible to become the role he needed to portray.

This was the only method available to him for now. It was the most effective way to quickly achieve results, especially since Zhou Ran, having lived two lives, had experienced much and found it easier to immerse himself.

After about ten minutes of contemplation, Zhou Ran was finally ready.

Once prepared, he stood up, and a subtle change came over him, altering the aura he projected.

Chef Huang, observing from his seat, noticed the shift as Zhou Ran stood. He understood—Zhou Ran was finally getting into character. But what happened next left Chef Huang utterly astonished.

After standing, Zhou Ran began to mutter to himself, “I won’t give up! I won’t give up! I won’t give up!” His words grew faster and more urgent, his emotions intensifying. Suddenly, he raised his hands and slapped his own face hard.

The repeated smacks rang out sharply—one after another.

The sound of Zhou Ran slapping himself made Chef Huang’s heart race; it sounded genuinely painful. And Zhou Ran didn’t hesitate to strike his own handsome face.

Regardless of acting ability, Zhou Ran’s determination alone ranked him among the very best of his generation in Chef Huang’s eyes. What Chef Huang admired most was that, with Zhou Ran’s current level of fame, he had no need to work this hard. After all, Zhou Ran’s songs still dominated the charts—he had held the number one spot for nearly two months now.

As Chef Huang saw it, no one more famous than Zhou Ran worked as hard as he did, and no one more hardworking had Zhou Ran’s level of fame. Based solely on what he’d just witnessed, Zhou Ran was unmatched among the younger generation.

Even as Chef Huang pondered, the slaps hadn’t stopped; Zhou Ran kept hitting himself, as if he would continue endlessly unless someone intervened.

Startled, Chef Huang snapped back to reality and hurried to stop Zhou Ran.

Only after Chef Huang gave a signal to finish did Zhou Ran finally stop. At that moment, he looked utterly spent, trembling from exhaustion, sweat soaking through his shirt, his back drenched.

Seeing this, Chef Huang quickly urged Zhou Ran to sit and rest. If anything were to happen to Zhou Ran because of this audition, Chef Huang would regret it for the rest of his life.

While Zhou Ran rested, Chef Huang observed him carefully. Zhou Ran’s sheer grit left him stunned, but after a few glances, Chef Huang had to look away—Zhou Ran’s face was badly swollen, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth.

Silently, Chef Huang marveled at Zhou Ran’s performance: “This child is truly relentless, with a ferocity in his bones—unafraid of hardship, bravely inhabiting the role. It’s remarkable.”

From Zhou Ran’s performance alone, Chef Huang was almost certain he had found his leading man.

Though Zhou Ran’s method of slapping himself to get into character was a bit extreme in Chef Huang’s eyes, it was, for Zhou Ran, the most effective way to quickly reach the emotional state the role demanded.

Chef Huang found this approach to be inspired. Although Zhou Ran lacked the foundational skills of a professionally trained actor, his natural sensitivity more than satisfied Chef Huang.

It was this sensitivity that Chef Huang valued most. With a little more effort and no laziness, Zhou Ran could hardly fail to succeed.

For Chef Huang, the best example of such talent was Zhang Xiaofeng. When she acted in her first film, she had no formal training, yet her innate sensitivity allowed her to instantly grasp and deliver whatever the director wanted.

In Chef Huang’s eyes, this was the gift of acting—a talent many long for in vain. As one director put it, “Zhang Xiaofeng was born to be an actor, as if the gods themselves are feeding her the craft.”

Such talent cannot be envied or imitated, and Chef Huang saw a glimmer of it in Zhou Ran.

As for acting knowledge and technique, Chef Huang was confident he could teach Zhou Ran all that in the two months of training ahead.

After all, Chef Huang had been a film school instructor for over a decade—he certainly had the skills for it.