novelraw Chapter 98: Best Actor’s Reply: Send Me the Script
Chapter 98: Best Actor’s Reply: Send Me the Script
Wei Song's efficiency was astonishingly fast.
Before the dinner party had even completely dispersed, he had already leveraged several layers of intricate personal connections to deliver a sincere letter of invitation, along with a condensed script summary, directly to Qin Feng's agent's email inbox.
The next morning, an email was waiting right on time in Wei Song's inbox.
The sender was indeed Qin Feng's agent.
Everyone from the team gathered around.
Wei Song clicked open the email.
The wording was official and polite, impossible to find fault with.
"Director Wei, thank you very much for your production team's high regard. Teacher Qin's schedule for the second half of the year is already arranged and he cannot participate in the filming of 'The Legend of Han and Chu'. We deeply regret this. We wish the film smooth shooting and great box office success."
A watertight, flawless rejection.
In the office, the small flame of hope that had just ignited was instantly snuffed out."Sigh, I knew it."
"As expected, it still wasn't possible."
"A figure at the Film Emperor level, how could they be that easy to invite? He doesn't lack for roles to play, let alone money."
The head screenwriter deflated, plopping back onto the sofa, his whole person seeming listless and dispirited.
Everyone understood in their hearts that this kind of official reply basically pronounced a death sentence for the matter. The so-called "already arranged" was merely the most dignified way of refusal within the industry.
Even the few producers who had staunchly supported Wei Song at the dinner table yesterday now wore troubled expressions.
"Old Wei, how about... let's take another look from the backup list?"
"Teacher Qin Feng's side, it truly is asking the impossible."
Only Wei Song remained silent, staring at that email without saying a word.
The crew members all thought he would give up.
However, Wei Song suddenly stood up and grabbed the car keys from the table.
"You all keep an eye on things here, I'm going out for a bit."
He didn't explain where he was going, nor did he say what he was going to do.
An hour later, he returned.
In his hand was an additional encrypted USB drive.
Ignoring the team's puzzled inquiries, he went straight to his own computer and began operating.
Then he utilized an even more secretive connection, a channel that could bypass Qin Feng's entire agent team and reach the man himself directly.
He uploaded the video file from the USB drive and sent it to that private email address, which was reportedly only checked by Qin Feng himself.
The body of the email was extremely simple.
Only one sentence.
"Teacher Qin, please watch a performance first. This is our future 'Xiang Yu'."
After finishing all this, Wei Song leaned back in his chair and quietly waited for the other party's reply.
At the same time.
In the suburbs of Beijing, within a secluded courtyard house.
A few stalks of green bamboo were planted in the courtyard, along with a stone table and several stone stools.
Qin Feng was wearing a loose-fitting cotton and linen jacket, with reading glasses on, sitting at the stone table, meticulously tending to a newly acquired orchid plant.
After wrapping up filming for "Palace Conspiracy", he had turned down all film offers and public appearances, living a semi-retired life.
Every day, he tended flowers, drank tea, practiced calligraphy, living a leisurely and comfortable life.
He had also seen the invitation email his agent received last night.
"The Legend of Han and Chu", Xiang Yu, Liu Bang.
He wasn't interested.
Over the years, too many scripts had come his way asking him to play emperors, kings, generals, and ministers, most of them just the same old wine in a new bottle.
His agent had just casually mentioned it.
The actor already cast for the role of "Xiang Yu" in that production team was that young man who played the young general last time in "Palace Conspiracy".
Named... Jiang Ci.
Qin Feng had a strong impression of this name.
Jiang Ci's final scenes for his character in "Palace Conspiracy" had left a deep impression on him at the time.
He put down the small scissors in his hand, wiped his hands, and paced back to his study.
The study was filled with a faint fragrance of ink.
He opened his laptop, intending to check on what that kid Jiang Ci had been up to since wrapping up "Palace Conspiracy".
But he noticed the private email icon in the lower right corner of the computer screen was blinking.
He clicked open the email.
The sender was unfamiliar.
Qin Feng initially wanted to delete it directly, but the sentence following the sender's name made him pause his action.
"This is our future 'Xiang Yu'."
He remained silent for a few seconds, and ultimately still clicked open that email.
An encrypted video file began downloading.
He picked up the barley tea that had been brewed beside him long ago, blew on the steam, leaned back in his chair, and waited unhurriedly.
The video finished downloading, and he clicked play.
The screen lit up.
The first to appear was a tall, imposing young man clad in heavy armor.
It was Peng Shaofeng.
Qin Feng knew him, the popular young star heavily promoted by Evergreen Entertainment, with very solid foundational skills.
Peng Shaofeng's performance in the video was full of power.
He portrayed a decisive, ruthless overlord almost perfectly.
Watching, Qin Feng slowly nodded.
Not bad.
Solid skills, ample presence.
If the script was solid, this would be a very good commercial blockbuster.
The video continued playing.
The scene shifted, the setting didn't change, but the person did.
A slender young man wearing simple everyday clothes walked in.
It was that young man named Jiang Ci.
Qin Feng's hand holding the teacup paused slightly.
He saw Jiang Ci didn't sit down with a commanding, imposing posture like Peng Shaofeng had.
Instead, after sitting down, he picked up the bronze wine cup on the low table and began playing with it on his own.
His entire person seemed isolated from everything around him.
He showed not the slightest bit of concern for the performance about to begin, for the camera, or for the environment.
Qin Feng's hand holding the teacup just stopped there in mid-air.
He wasn't watching a screen test recording.
He seemed to be seeing, through the screen, a real ancient nobleman, immersed in his own world, indifferent to external things.
The atmosphere in the video became strange.
Liu Hanyu, playing Liu Bang, walked in, preparing to kneel and beg for forgiveness.
Yet, that young man still kept his head down, intently caressing the wine cup in his hand.
Complete disregard.
In Qin Feng's eyes, which had seen countless storms and long since become unruffled, a ripple appeared.
This was a state of being that was completely natural, transcending everything.
In the video, a full dozen or more seconds passed.
Only then did that young man named Jiang Ci seem to grow tired of playing, casually putting down the wine cup.
Then, slowly, he raised his head.
He spoke.
"Ah..."
A drawn-out, single syllable that betrayed no joy or anger.
Lazy, yet carrying a trace of impatience at being disturbed.
This word, coming through the speakers, sounded light and airy, yet seemed to carry a strange kind of magic.
Qin Feng felt he wasn't watching a video, but was standing right there on that set.
He could feel all the momentum that "Liu Bang" had built up being instantly punctured by this one word.
Sure enough.
In the video, that experienced veteran actor's knees went weak.
"Thump!"
He heavily knelt down.
A terrifyingly sharp gleam suddenly burst forth in Qin Feng's aged, somewhat cloudy eyes.
With a "bang", he heavily placed the teacup in his hand down on the desk.
Tea splashed out, wetting an area.
He remained completely unaware.
Jiang Ci wasn't "acting" Xiang Yu's domineering aura.
He had turned himself into Xiang Yu.
That nobility rooted in bloodline, that genuine indifference towards all things in the world, that "heaven is first, I am second" sense of entitlement.
He had made all of this his own.
Qin Feng's heart, dormant for many years, was fiercely struck at this moment.
That kid Jiang Ci, not seen for a few months, had given him another surprise.
A long-lost, almost forgotten impulse suddenly surged up from the deepest part of his heart.
It was the excitement of an actor encountering a worthy opponent!
He wanted to act opposite him!
He wanted to stand opposite this young man, to feel that suffocating, hierarchical pressure!
Qin Feng didn't hesitate in the slightest.
He immediately picked up his private phone that he never used for external contacts.
At the end of the email, he found the contact information Wei Song had left.
He personally dialed the number.
...
Huaxing Pictures, the director's office.
The atmosphere was oppressive.
Wei Song smoked cigarette after cigarette.
No one on the team dared to speak.
Everyone felt that this time, there really was no hope.
Right at that moment, Wei Song's private phone suddenly rang.
It was an unfamiliar number from Beijing.
Irritated, he picked up the phone, initially intending to hang up directly.
But as if guided by some unseen force, he still pressed the answer button.
"Hello, who is this?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line.
Then a steady, powerful voice with a unique texture came through.
Without a single wasted word.
"This is Qin Feng."
"Send the complete script over."