Page 40

In Wei Linxuan's words, it was already good enough that someone this dumb could act well. What more did he want, a bicycle?

Remembering that, Lu Heng was afraid Mai Chengliang would make him learn Cantonese, so he quickly added, "I really like Hong Kong films. I can understand Cantonese, but I can't speak it."

"Boys your age generally love Hong Kong gunfight movies. Pew pew pew, rat-a-tat-tat—so cool!" As Mai Chengliang spoke, he gestured with both hands, dancing around in an especially adorable manner.

He studied Lu Heng with a beaming smile, looking much like a creepy uncle trying to swindle candy from a child. "You can be that cool too. You just need to put in a little..."

Holding up four fingers, Mai Chengliang said with a smile, "Our film will probably begin shooting in March after the New Year. You have four months. How about losing ten pounds?"

Lu Heng was only fourteen that year. The teenager was slender and tall, around 1.67 meters, roughly matching the script's description of Fang.

However, because Lu Heng had practiced martial arts and exercised regularly since childhood, his physique and muscle definition were far clearer and smoother than those of his peers. Such a good body did not suit an addict's character setting, so if Lu Heng wanted to play Fang, he had to lose at least ten pounds.

Actually, being skinny enough to look like skin stretched over bones would have been best, but Mai Chengliang considered Lu Heng's appearance, temperament, fighting ability, and acting skills—especially the savage ferocity he displayed when he went ruthless. He practically could not have fit the role better.

To avoid scaring off a promising prospect he had his eye on, Mai Chengliang could only compromise and reluctantly propose the minimum requirement.

Seeing that Lu Heng still had no reaction, Mai Chengliang immediately coaxed him. "It's actually not that hard. You just need to skip one meal a day and not eat meat during the New Year. You're a real man—you want to be a hero. It's only a few pieces of meat. It won't hurt if you don't eat them."

Lu Heng stared expressionlessly at Mai Chengliang, who was doing his utmost to sweet-talk him.

The moment Lu Heng received the audition scene, he had already had a particularly bad feeling about this.

Director Mai's films were not standard, casual third-rate idol dramas where anything would do. Since the role he had gotten was an addict, his appearance during filming would definitely have to match an addict's characteristics.

Skinny as a skeleton, sallow-faced, with terrible skin, his body trembling out of habit, his expression vacant, and occasional neurotic twitches...

Why, after being reborn, was his first role a sissy? Why was his second role an ugly addict? The roles were all so ugly, and he still had to keep improving his acting skills!

In his previous life, he had clearly played nothing but walking hormones with cool looks and aloof personalities, roles that only required him to fight beautifully without having to think about acting at all!

Lu Heng felt a little like he had nothing left to live for. For a moment, he could not help doubting Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's... feng shui!

Didn't the saying go that fortune always turned? Could it be that Huaxia Imperial Entertainment's feng shui at this time... was clashing with his?

Lu Heng quietly let his imagination run wild. Seeing the silent Lu Heng, Mai Chengliang became a little worried that he could not accept the hard requirement of losing weight.

If an ordinary young actor dared to put on airs and play hard to get in front of him, Mai Chengliang would definitely ignore him and find someone else. Like Ji Wenxi, the popular idol who had auditioned for Fang earlier—the moment they failed to reach an agreement, he had left.

But Lu Heng was different. First, he was quite young, only fourteen. Most people in the industry knew that the hardest actors to handle in showbiz were not superstar celebrities throwing their weight around, but animals and children. That was because you could not judge their reactions with a normal person's way of thinking; you could only coax them, gauge their moods, and seize the moment to film. Second, Lu Heng's appearance, temperament, fighting ability, and acting skills fit Fang's character setting almost perfectly. Mai Chengliang truly could not bear to give him up.

He was afraid he would never find anyone more suitable.

Mai Chengliang gave Liu Jiawei a meaningful look. The implication was obvious: you brought him here, I've taken a liking to him, so you have to help me win him over.

Liu Jiawei had not expected things to develop this way either.

When he had recommended Lu Heng to Mai Chengliang, he had merely wanted to give it a try. On one hand, he wanted to do Mai Chengliang a favor; on the other, he was simply in the habit of supporting newcomers. He had never expected Lu Heng's burst of on-the-spot power to be so strong that one audition would leave everyone stunned.

He had expected even less that Mai Chengliang would take a liking to Lu Heng, only for Lu Heng to get stuck at the hurdle of losing weight.

But Lu Heng could not be blamed for that. When Liu Jiawei had introduced the audition to him, he had only said that Lu Heng would be coming to Hong Kong to audition for a role in Director Mai's new work. He had not mentioned the specific requirements. When Mai Chengliang's assistant called Huaxia Imperial Entertainment, he had not said much for confidentiality reasons either, merely asking Lu Heng to audition for the second male lead.

This was Mai Chengliang's second male lead!

Although the production team had been vague, with Mai Chengliang and Liu Jiawei's reputations as guarantees, inviting one of their own rookie artists to audition could not possibly be a scam. So Huaxia Imperial Entertainment did not ask further questions and directly packed Lu Heng off.

Thinking about it now, they might as well have said a little more back then, so Lu Heng could have been prepared.

Just as Mai Chengliang racked his brains trying to persuade Lu Heng, Lu Heng came back to himself and nodded. "No problem."

"Well, actually..." Mai Chengliang was still desperately searching for the right words when he heard Lu Heng's reply. He froze, failing to react for a moment. "What?"

"Losing ten pounds is no problem for me," Lu Heng repeated.

Isn't it just skipping one meal a day? Isn't it just not eating meat during the New Year? What's the big deal? A real man... sob... If this weren't Mai Chengliang's work, if I weren't doing this to act with Liu Jiawei and Wang Zhen, if I weren't currently without popularity, status, or money... I wouldn't agree, QAQ.

In his previous life, Lu Heng had basically never needed stunt doubles. Even when injured or suffering fractures, he had barely frowned. Yet Lu Heng, who feared nothing more than bad food and going hungry, took on the role of Fang with a belly full of bitterness. Director Mai contentedly indicated for the production team to contact Lu Heng's agency to sign the contract, while personally explaining the role to Lu Heng and telling him how to prepare for playing Fang.

He hoped that before filming began, Lu Heng could find an opportunity to visit a rehabilitation center in person. Ideally, he would also combine that experience with the script and write Fang's character biography.