Breaking Character [Entertainment Industry]

After twenty years in the business, Tang Zhiyu was still a nobody, a D-list actress. She had made up her mind to change careers when she got a call from a legendary director:

"Would you be willing to act in my film?"

She thought working with the movie emperor Shao Ningzhou would be the turning point in her life. Instead, she was sent to a dilapidated old neighborhood.

On the cold winter streets, she and Shao Ningzhou had a monthly living allowance of just ten yuan. They did carpentry, helped out wherever they could, and became friends with the homeless people in the neighborhood.

With snow sealing off the world outside, they ate hotpot in old padded coats. They didn't dwell on the past or look to the future. They lived as two different people.

That month, the future's brightest star and the young movie emperor both immersed themselves in their roles, willingly losing themselves in them.

Tang Zhiyu secretly treasured this stolen life, only to hear him ask after the film's wrap party, drunk:

"Do you like me?"

Tang Zhiyu's heart skipped a beat. Biting her lip, she asked, "Teacher Shao, why haven't you gotten out of character yet?"

The movie emperor Shao, pretending to be drunk: (spits blood)

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Acting has several stages: immersing yourself with absolute authenticity, performing with practiced skill, and expressing yourself with complete mastery.

Shao Ningzhou had always been quick to get out of character, so he kept her company by having a ridiculous romance with her in character.

He never expected the one who fell in love to be himself, after the performance was over.

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*The bit about the stages of acting is made up. Don't take it too seriously.

*This is a fictional entertainment industry setting, with no real-life inspirations.

Theme: The harder you work, the luckier you get