CH 13

When Xie Ming saw Mu Qingyan, he was also taken aback.

The last time they had a close face-to-face encounter was last year, the day before Mu Qingyan and Xing Hao’s engagement.

At that time, although the original owner had no feelings for Xing Hao, they were possessive and liked to interfere. When they discovered that their usually attentive fiancé hadn’t messaged them in two whole days, they had the idea to “check in” on him.

That afternoon, the original owner barged into Xing Hao’s office and happened to see Xie Ming sitting on the couch, looking pitiful and tearful.

Although Xie Ming and Xing Hao were only standing close to each other and not hugging, the original owner still sensed a strange atmosphere.

Xing Hao, afraid that the original owner would overthink things, sent Xie Ming away and explained that he was just a small actor who wanted to collaborate on endorsement deals and was upset at being rejected.

The original owner had never met Xie Ming before, and combined with Xing Hao’s coaxing, accepted his explanation.

From then on, the original owner and Xie Ming never met again until the former’s death.

In Xie Ming’s eyes, the former Mu Qingyan was manipulative and arrogant, but also easy to fool and control, like many people said, “an embroidered pillow filled with grass.”

Now, it seemed that Mu Qingyan’s temperament and aura had improved by several levels compared to a year ago, giving off an oppressive and untouchable aura.

Xie Ming knew that his interference in Mu Qingyan and Xing Hao’s marriage led to Mu Qingyan’s insistence on divorce. But he didn’t think he was wrong, after all, he and Xing Hao had a pure love, while Mu Qingyan and Xing Hao were only driven by commercial interests.

Morally, he always felt that he was not inferior to Mu Qingyan.

After a few seconds of internal struggle, Xie Ming decided to take the initiative to greet Mu Qingyan, after all, Mu Qingyan was a guest invited by the program group.

He had pulled a lot of strings through Xing Hao just to participate in this expensive variety show, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to fame.

He made up his mind not to let Mu Qingyan become his stumbling block.

Mu Qingyan coldly glanced at Xie Ming who had rashly barged into the dressing room, finding him irritating as he stood there fidgeting and unsure of what to do.

As a personal secretary, Ye Qiqi naturally sensed Mu Qingyan’s displeasure. She was about to come forward and drive Xie Ming away when she saw him approaching with a smile and hesitantly saying, “Hello, Brother Mu.”

Mu Qingyan looked incredulously at Xie Ming. If he were drinking water at the moment, he would have surely spat it out.

Where did he get such thick skin to actually call him Brother Mu?

Mu Qingyan seriously doubted whether the protagonist of the original book had a problem with his brain. He knew he was the other woman, yet he dared to greet the original wife?

Was he really that stupid?

Mu Qingyan completely ignored Xie Ming and closed his eyes, feeling that even looking at the other person would dirty his eyes.

Ye Qiqi stood between Mu Qingyan and Xie Ming, blocking Xie Ming’s seemingly innocent and friendly gaze. She politely but coldly said, “I’m sorry, President Mu needs to do his makeup now, please leave.”

“I’m an actor participating in the variety show, and I need to do makeup too,” Xie Ming looked at Ye Qiqi innocently and pointed to the several empty makeup tables around, “There are still several makeup tables available here.”

After speaking, Xie Ming secretly nudged his assistant next to him.

The assistant was always afraid of this seemingly harmless boss and hesitantly replied, “Yes, it’s normal to share the makeup room.”

Ye Qiqi didn’t waste any more time on Xie Ming and his assistant, and picked up her phone to send a message to the program director.

In less than half a minute, a staff member entered the makeup room.

Seeing Xie Ming standing in front of Mu Qingyan and refusing to leave, the staff member was shocked and asked, “What are you doing here, Xie Ming?”

Xie Ming replied naturally, “I’m here to do my makeup.”

“Oh no! Director Ji has instructed that this makeup room is only for President Mu’s use.” The staff member urged Xie Ming while pushing him towards the door, “You have to leave now and go to the makeup room across the hall.”

Xie Ming thought to himself, no wonder this makeup room is more spacious and luxurious than the others. Why does he have it while I don’t?

Xie Ming felt resentful, but helplessly followed the staff member to the door. At that moment, his phone rang.

“Ah, Brother Hao,” Xie Ming answered the phone and slowed down, pitifully saying, “I…I seem to have done something wrong again… Yeah, I made President Mu angry…”

Listening to his voice, he sounded like he was about to cry, but in reality, he didn’t even have red eyes.

When they reached the door, Xie Ming turned around and looked at Mu Qingyan, who still had his eyes closed, letting the top makeup artist in the country do his makeup. He didn’t care who he was talking to on the phone.

Xie Ming squeezed his phone tightly and felt malicious.

It was 7:40 pm, and the countdown to the live broadcast began in 20 minutes.

Mu Qingyan arrived at the live broadcasting site on time and prepared for the show according to the arrangement of the program group director.

Her phone vibrated.

Ji Liyun sent a message: “Look to your right rear.”

Mu Qingyan turned her head and saw Ji Liyun sitting in the audience with a mask on, waving to him.

He replied, “Why did you come?”

“Because it’s the first episode, I wanted to see the effect live and cheer you on,” Ji Liyun replied.

Mu Qingyan thought to himself that he was a top male star before transmigrating, and had participated in countless types of variety shows.

He sent a smiling face and did not reply further.

At exactly eight o’clock, the director commanded, “Action!”

The stage lights came on and the live audience fell silent.

After the host’s opening remarks, the four judges for this variety show were introduced. They were all internationally renowned directors with numerous works and a plethora of awards.

In particular, Director Cui Yu was so famous that anyone who appeared in his films, even as a supporting actor, would surely become very popular and highly respected. Therefore, from minor actors to top celebrities, no one did not want to work with Cui Yu.

After introducing the well-known directors and the eighteen actors who participated in the preliminary selection PK, the camera turned to Mu Qingyan.

The host introduced, “Our guest for the first episode of ‘Acting PK Battle’ is Mu Qingyan, the heir of the Ji Mu Group, the general manager of the MU company, and this year’s king of popularity!”

Perhaps due to her truly outstanding appearance, which could be described as the beauty of the world, or perhaps due to the recent intense public attention she received, Mu Qingyan only said, “Hello everyone, I am Mu Qingyan,” and the audience erupted into cheers.

The screams were even more excited than when their idols were introduced.

The live screen was filled with barrage comments.

[“Oh my god, Mu Qingyan is so handsome!”]

[“What a divine appearance and devilish figure, I’m licking the screen!”]

[“I’m a grown man and I think Mu Qingyan looks good.”]

[“He’s like a clay figure made by Nuwa, and I’m the mud that was thrown out with a whip.”]

[“Please show more shots of Mu Qingyan.”]

After introducing the directors, actors, and guests, the host began to explain the rules of “Acting PK Battle.”

Each actor would first draw a performance topic. These topics could be a verbatim script and lines from the original play, or a completely different adaptation, such as changing a comedy into a tragedy, or a tragedy into a drama.

Some of the acts are solo performances, performed independently by the contestants. Others are cooperative performances, completed by two or three actors who draw the same topic.

After drawing the topics, the actors who draw solo performances and one of the actors who draw cooperative performances will go on stage to draw the performance order.

Almost all of the participating actors hope to draw solo performances, so that the audience and director’s attention will be focused on them.

If they draw cooperative performances, they are likely to be outperformed or held back.

Xie Ming was visibly relieved when he found out that he had drawn a solo performance.

Before the actors perform, the program group will play a video of the original work of the topic to allow the audience to compare.

The actors will take advantage of this time to change clothes, take props, and prepare for the performance.

The first three performers to appear on stage are solo performances, and because of their extensive performance experience, the audience is completely immersed in their roles, and the directors give them good comments.

The fourth and fifth performers to appear are cooperative performances, and it is clear that some actors have very high acting skills while others are just ornaments.

The sixth performer’s acting skills are awkward, and he can’t even read the prompter smoothly. He made several embarrassing mistakes, causing the audience to burst into laughter and the directors to shake their heads. The actor was embarrassed and left in tears.

As a guest, Mu Qingyan occasionally is asked by the host to comment on the performances. He has a unique vision and can find the strengths and weaknesses of each actor accurately. If their acting is very poor, he will directly point it out without mercy.

Sharp and individualistic comments have become his label as a judge.

Many viewers watching the live broadcast have said: “This variety show is too real! Mu Qingyan is too daring!”

The seventh performer to appear is Xie Ming, and the topic he drew comes from the tear-jerking movie “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale.”

“Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” tells the story of a dog named Hachi who grows up with his visually impaired little owner and eventually dies trying to save him.

The scene that the actor needs to perform is when the owner wakes up in the hospital and learns that his beloved dog has died trying to save him. He recalls the past and is so sad that he cannot control himself.

Xie Ming’s best performance is crying scenes, and his fans have praised him as the most good-looking male actor when crying.

Therefore, when he drew this topic, he was very happy and confident. He felt that God was helping him. As long as he performed this play, he would definitely advance and become popular.

The screen switches to the hospital ward, and there is a hospital bed and a bedside table on the stage. On the bedside table, there is a cup of water and a photo frame with Hachi’s picture.

Xie Ming lies on the bed, and the host shouts, “Action!”

The background music of <The Life of Dolly> played, and Xie Ming sat up from the bed, his eyes red with tears. He picked up the picture frame on the bedside and held it in his arms, crying in pain.

His crying scene was indeed easy to infect people, and the live audience couldn’t help but feel heartbroken, looking forward to his next performance.

However, he cried for a full ten minutes.

When the performance ended, the four directors, who were moved by his crying scene at the beginning, turned into looking at each other helplessly, shaking their heads.