Chapter 622
I can't even have a proper chat with my high school classmates anymore.
Tian Xiwei got up and walked out of the classroom, walking quickly towards the crowd. She smiled and said, "I'm not a big star. Yang Mi is the big star. Lu Han was in the movie I filmed before. Lu Han is the star."
He spoke standard Mandarin with perfect pronunciation.
The crowd fell silent for a moment.
Several students looked a little embarrassed and awkward.
I didn't really feel anything when we chatted in the class group before.
When we met, we realized that it had only been a few months since we last saw each other, but Tian Xiwei seemed different from before.
Someone secretly glanced at Tian Xiwei and noticed that she was still dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans.
Her hair was tied in a ponytail.
Her features are still the same as before, but it feels like there's a thin veil separating her from everyone else.
The girl sitting behind Tian Xiwei in the senior year of high school replied softly, "Long time no see, Tian Xiwei."
She used to be called Xiwei.
For some reason, I unconsciously called out Tian Xiwei's full name this time.
Back then, during math class, the two of them would secretly pass notes.
I'm complaining about my math teacher's accent. When explaining functions, he pronounces monotonicity as "single-hanging property" and derivative as "derivative mouse".
Back then, Tian Xiwei would share the cured sausages her mother made with her in dialect.
After running 800 meters in PE class, he would put his hands on his hips and shout in Chongqing dialect, "I can't take it anymore, I'm never running again!"
It's vibrant and down-to-earth.
She is like the same person as Tian Xiwei now, yet they are like people from two different worlds.
The girl next to him was also stunned.
During the sports meet in her second year of high school, Tian Xiwei participated in a relay race. She fell while running the last leg, scraping her knee, but she still got up and crossed the finish line.
Later, when she helped Tian Xiwei up, Tian Xiwei grimaced in pain and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing, this little injury is nothing."
The conversation always revolved around exams, homework, and spicy noodles outside of school.
But now, Tian Xiwei's world includes film sets, stages, and artist colleagues.
They are still worried about their future studies.
I don't know what major to study in college, and I don't know what the job prospects are like after graduation.
Our lives have already taken different paths, and it's likely we'll never cross paths again.
Just then, Tian Xi smiled and said, "Jiang Yang is a star now, and so is Yang Chaoyue from my company."
This time, they're speaking the Chongqing dialect.
I don't know why.
Suddenly I felt much closer to Tian Xiwei.
Now she's just like before, the Tian Xiwei we used to vent about school together in our local dialect.
When Yang Chaoyue was mentioned, someone asked, "Isn't that the factory girl who sang 'Calories'?"
"Yes, yes, Chaoyue is a star now, much more well-behaved and famous than me."
The first class reunion after the college entrance examination.
All of them had youthful, inexperienced faces.
I originally wanted to go to the office to find the homeroom teacher, but I found that the homeroom teacher was teaching a class in the second year of high school.
We chatted while strolling around the school.
They talked about how in math class, if anyone dared to daydream, the math teacher would throw chalk at them.
Smash it on the table, or on your forehead.
It hurts.
There was also the scramble to copy during the monthly exams, with some people even creating two identical test papers.
The playground is just ahead.
Those who were having PE class just now are now back in the classroom.
The track was scorching hot from the sun, and the basketball hoops were covered in rust.
The school store is still open.
The sign at the entrance is faded.
A few of my classmates were familiar with the proprietress, so we greeted her with smiles, bought some snacks, and then stepped out onto the tree-lined path.
The branches and leaves of the roadside trees intertwine, weaving a dense green canopy.
In winter, the ground is covered with tiny leaves that rustle underfoot.
Tian Xiwei and Jiang Yang had talked about school matters.
I know that this tree-lined path used to be a hiding place for many students' secrets. Some people would secretly pass notes here, and others would whisper secrets under the guise of taking a walk.
According to Jiang Yang, he and his ex-girlfriend from his class who had big breasts were dating and holding hands when Old Li caught them here.
After being caught by Lao Li and taken to his office, he was neither scolded nor punished.
To put it simply: "You can date, but first improve your grades."
As a result, Jiang Yang ranked last in the grade, so Old Li called his parents and forcibly separated them.
Tian Xiwei used to think Jiang Yang's matter was nothing, but now she's starting to think about it more carefully.
What else did Jiang Yang do with his busty ex-girlfriend?
Besides holding hands, what else?
Has anyone else, like her, ever left a hickey on Jiang Yang's neck? Have they ever kissed?
Grass!
Tian Xiwei took out her phone and sent Jiang Yang a message: [“You bastard, why didn’t you study properly when you were in school? What are you doing, getting involved in puppy love?”]
[“What’s wrong?”] Received Jiang Yang’s reply. [“Nothing.”]
"You lost a ranked game too?"
"No, I'm just strolling around school with my classmates."
Jiang Yang sent a message: ["Then why did you suddenly start cursing at me?"]
Tian Xiwei typed: [“You’ve been corrupted by your mom, you damn mother!”]
After strolling around the campus, someone suggested finding a place to eat something nice and then going to karaoke.
A group of people chatted and laughed as they poured out of the school gate.
I went to the restaurant across from the school.
We ordered spicy chicken, spicy blood curd, and boiled sliced pork, and sat around the table in a lively atmosphere.
The conversation at the dinner table naturally turned to Tian Xiwei.
I wonder if she often runs into other big stars while filming in Hengdian.
They pressed him on whether life on set was like what was portrayed on television.
He inquired about Jiang Yang's recent situation repeatedly.
They asked if Jiang Yang would still be the same as before, and whether he had changed after becoming famous.
Tian Xiwei held a steaming bowl of Chongqing noodles.
Chili oil floats on the surface of the soup, and chopped green onions are sprinkled evenly.
She picked up the food with her chopsticks quickly, slurped it up, and her cheeks flushed slightly from the steam.
It doesn't interfere with speaking at all.
You don't have to restrain yourself like you would when facing a bunch of unfamiliar lights, cameramen, production assistants, and directors on a film set.
Always maintain politeness and propriety.
Those gathered around the table were classmates who had gone through three years of high school together.
The straightforward and feisty spirit of the girl from Chongqing was completely unleashed.
Tian Xiwei spoke in a light and straightforward tone, without hiding anything or beating around the bush.
She enthusiastically recounted the interesting things that happened on set when she looked back.
Filming night scenes until the early hours of the morning, Chaoyue was so sleepy that he could nod while standing.
Just as Tian Xiwei had gotten into the mood for a crying scene, which was a scene with Hao Chun, she realized that during the meal earlier, Hao Chun had eaten something with garlic mixed in, and his speech reeked of garlic. This made it impossible for Tian Xiwei to cry, and she really wanted to beat Hao Chun up, wondering if he did it on purpose.
There were also instances where the director changed the script on the spot, turning a heartfelt confession into a comedic line, leaving the actors blushing.
And when he, Chaoyue, Haochun, Bailu, Ruonan and others got together to rehearse, even though it was a serious scene, whoever laughed first would cause the others to break down.
They were laughing so hard they couldn't stand up straight in front of the camera.
Constantly taking NG (no good) shots.
Even the director started cursing.
In the end, they had to call Jiang Yang over to oversee things and coach his acting before he could perform well.
When talking about these things, Tian Xiwei spoke with great enthusiasm, gesturing with her hands.
She kept laughing to herself.
But as they talked, they gradually realized that something was wrong.
The atmosphere is off.
When we talk about these things in private with Chaoyue and the others, or when we have dinner with the crew, the atmosphere is always great, lively and cheerful, and we can easily start talking.
But at this moment.
The private room in the small restaurant was rather quiet.
Tian Xi looked up and saw that some classmates forced a couple of laughs, but their eyes were a little unfocused.
Some people nodded but didn't reply.
There were also a few students who usually buried themselves in their studies and were even locked at home by their parents to do practice problems on weekends. They just ate their food silently, looking completely bewildered.
Tian Xi paused slightly.
Why is this happening?
In hindsight, I realized it might be because she used a lot of terms that only people in the industry would understand.
Track, crane, monitor, clapperboard, script supervisor, sound recording, lighting, depth of field, blocking, forced positioning, emotional memory, rhythm points, scheduling, one take, one take, close-up, medium shot, wide shot... These are words she hears and deals with every day on set, words she hears daily. But when she first went to Beiping to find Jiang Yang, and first visited the set of "A Little Reunion," and listened to the crew members talk about these things, she was completely bewildered.
I can't understand it at all.
Could it be that the other students in the private room felt the same way she did?
You can sense that there's still some distance between people and her.
I don't want it to be like this.
Because I know that I will be spending more and more time with Chaoyue and the others in the future.
I may rarely see these high school classmates who went through thick and thin with me.
I want to preserve as many beautiful memories as possible.
So try to talk in a way that everyone can understand.
Tian Xiwei continued to try to talk to everyone while observing their reactions:
"During the scene where he leaps over the rails, the cameraman almost fell because of the chaotic blocking and stepped on the tracks."
The student didn't understand what positioning was.
I don't know what a track is.
I only felt that the fall was dangerous, and I couldn't understand the scene that was both dangerous and funny at the time.
“Some of us couldn’t connect emotionally, and the rhythm was off. Director Chung Shu-chia helped us find our emotional anchor again.”
Tian Xiwei could clearly sense that the classmates who were listening attentively to her looked confused.
I even heard someone muttering to themselves, "What is an emotional anchor?"
Why are we looking for it?
"Isn't acting just reciting lines?" (End of Chapter)