CH 24

CHAPTER 24—Line Recording

On the second day after Xie Yu arrived on Terran, the official blog of <Blood Wanted> was opened, and the publicity process began on the Star Network.

Not many people paid much attention to the news regarding the official announcement of the project, but the follow-up actor recruitment post attracted widespread attention and popularity.

The tipping-point was that the official blog had disclosed the production team, and Shen Qi’s name was listed first in the director team.

Previously, <Simon’s Star> exploded due to word-of-mouth, and later, it won several Golden Laurel awards.

That’s why netizen were very interested in Shen Qi—talking about his appearance and his identity.

Many viewers fell in love with him, and even turned Weibo upside down, only to finally find that this person did not register an account at all.

<Blood Wanted>’s official blog tagged Shen Qi, so many netizens followed the link to find him.

There was no other news on Shen Qi’s homepage, since he only reposted the official blog’s project approval news and said congratulations.

As for the recruitment post, Director Shen didn’t re-post it, and only liked it below.

This style was as concise as his Golden Laurel speech.

Netizens ate this up, and Shen Qi’s account gained tens of millions of fans in a day.

In the end, the opening of the blog got a lot of exposure.

Xie Yu was reminded by his agent to follow the official blog of <Blood Wanted>, and he also followed Shen Qi as well.

Seeing that the number of followers Shen Qi had gained in a day was equal to that of what a popular artist would gain in a year, Xie Yu was quite envious.

“Don’t you think Shen Qi should just make his debut?”

After Xie Yu arrived on Terran, Zhou Cheng also rushed over, and was renting a hotel suite at the moment.

Currently, he was in a voice chat with Xie Yu to talk about work.

Xie Yu smiled, “That can’t be done, he’s already working hard at making movies.”

“Yes, with his joining, the <Blood Wanted> project is about to take off.”

During the call, Zhou Cheng’s voice was mixed with the sound of tapping on a light screen, as if he was busy with other things at the same time, “President Wang said Shen Qi’s investment amount is not small. The budget of the entire crew has now expanded by at least 50%.”

“That’s good.” Xie Yu responded, “The plot of <Blood Wanted> is alright too. After reading the official announcement, how many actors and stars left comments and likes under the recruitment post…By the way, are they really going to audition?”

“Don’t worry, they won’t.” Zhou Cheng stopped his movements, “It’s all about looking good to Shen Qi, wanting to get some good impression points from him, so that they can build a relationship in the future. They don’t really want to participate.”

Xie Yu nodded, feeling that Zhou Cheng’s words made sense.

The Interstellar entertainment industry was still the entertainment industry, and there wasn’t much change in its’ essence.

No matter how the process is carried out on the bright side, human relations will definitely not be ignored or left out in the cold.

“Also, from what I’ve heard, the pay for <Blood Wanted> won’t be particularly high. It’ll probably be lower than the average salary. And the weekly drama mechanism can’t be taken as a package price, so you have to be mentally prepared.” Zhou Cheng clicked his tongue, “If you can rely on this work to transform yourself, money won’t matter. But if the response is mediocre, it’ll be troublesome.”

“About how much? Didn’t you say that the budget was expanded? How could it be lower than the average renumeration?” Xie Yu asked in a very flat tone.

“I truly value my transformation more. After all, this year’s profit target has been reached.”

This year was the tenth year since Xie Yu and Tengfei had signed a contract.

The annual profit target was 500 million star coins, and the full film salary of <The Legend of Aquarius> was 130 million star coins.

Adding on the endorsement fees before and after, Xie Yu had fulfilled Tengfei’s profit requirements for him.

“For <Blood Wanted>, Mr. Li said that he personally contributed 30 million star coins, and Tengfei initially proposed 280 million. I don’t know how much Shen Qi will contribute, but his joining has attracted many investors who were still waiting on the sidelines. So in the end, it’s expected that the scale of the project will be expanded.”

Zhou Cheng continued to voice his thoughts, “I don’t understand why the salary is low. I really don’t know what the top management of Tengfei is thinking. But if the salary is higher, maybe we can invite heavyweight actors to join.”

Xie Yu didn’t continue to say anything about the topic, and he didn’t tell Zhou Cheng his guesses.

Seeing that Zhou Cheng had no other work to explain, he hung up the call on the pretext of reading the script after they exchanged a few more small words.

The contract period between the original body and Tengfei didn’t have long left.

If he could grab evidence on Tengfei within the contract period, he won’t renew his contract with them.

And this self-produced drama was really a good opportunity to suss out Tengfei.

Xie Yu weighed the light brain in his hand and then settled down to prepare his lines.

*****

He looked at the key points that Shen Qi pointed out for him yesterday when he got up in the morning.

While deconstructing the character’s lines, he also searched for other information on the Star Network.

After working all morning, he finally grasped a feeling for the role.

He obviously felt that he had entered a good state, so he turned on the recording function of his light brain, stood up straight in the room, and tried to recite the lines alone.

He started with regular dialogues, trying to make his tone and timbre close to the image he had of Misai.

After finishing the dialogue, he was not in a hurry to take a break, so he gathered his strength and started to recite the emotional dialogue near the end.

His eyes became red, and his expression was forbearing and sad as he recited passionately.

“…Relief? Stop?” Xie Yu lowered his voice, closed his eyes, felt the tremor in his throat, heard his own hoarse voice, and felt that his emotions were in place, so he let out a chuckle.

In the script, after completing his revenge, Misai was overcome with joyful relief, and laughed nervously in the face of policeman He Fei’s armed warning and harsh questioning.

“When I saw Sheiffer being sent into the decomposition furnace, I felt like I was liberated.” He smiled and sniffled, “I knew you were after me…Relax, I’m not going to escape this time.”

The confrontation between the policeman He Fei and the killer Misai was the highlight of the whole work.

After finishing this line, Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief, collected himself, and picked up his light brain that was recording him.

He exported the audio, turned the script back to the front, and prepared to write notes for himself while listening to the playback.

It was only after listening to the recording did Xie Yu get black lines all over his head, and his expression became extremely ugly. (TL: ‘black lines over ones head’ is a common visual convention found in manga which often represents mortification, disbelief, or frustration with something)

He didn’t expect that he would still be unable to fully control the original body’s voice.

He was familiar with his own slightly lower voice, and his habit of speaking lines was also coordinated according to this voice.

But the sound of the original body’s voice was clearer and cleaner.

And after deliberately raising his tone, it seemed exaggerated and artificial.

He didn’t pause the recording, but just listened, endured the embarrassment, and focused on noting down the points in many of his lines that he thought he had recited poorly.

An actor’s prep work before starting a work naturally includes line practice.

Shen Qi also suggested to him to record himself, which was to tell him the importance of early stage preparation.

Xie Yu listened to his own recording several times until he felt nauseous of hearing his own voice.

Then, he sent it to his four-person work group with Zhou Cheng, Anna, and Fei Chen.

[Beiming Youyu: How is it? (audio link)]

He didn’t know what Zhou Cheng was doing, but Anna and Fei Chen were online.

And seeing the audio link from Xie Yu, they hurriedly replied after listening to it.

[Anna Nana: Brother Ayu, this dialogue is good, better than your usual!]

[Fei Chen: I also think that the role is better, or did your lines improve?]

Xie Yu looked at the replies from his two assistants and was a little bit dumbfounded.

If this was considered good, how bad was the original usually…

He didn’t chat much more with them, and just looked over the points that he had marked that needed improvement, and repeated the lines over and over again, searching for the most suitable tone.

After practicing his lines several times, Xie Yu felt that his condition was good, so he turned on his light brain again to record.

When Xie Chan knocked on the door and entered the room, she saw her brother kneeling on one knee and leaning forward.

He held his light brain and a few pieces of paper in one hand, and his other hand was empty with veins popping out of his arm as he spoke in a tone of voice that was cold and evil.

Xie Chan was shocked and stood at the door not daring to move.

Xie Yu heard a sound and stopped immediately. Looking back, he saw his sister’s terrified expression, as if she saw a real murderer.

“Cough…” Xie Yu, who was rarely interrupted during a rehearsal scene, felt a little embarrassed now, and quickly patted down his clothes, calmed down his demeanor, and smiled kindly at Xie Chan, “Xiao Chan, what’s wrong?”

“Brother, wha are you doing?” Xie Chan asked with an unnatural expression.

Her body was a little stiff, half hidden in the shadows, “Mom made some snacks, and told me to call you down to eat.”

The moment Xie Yu opened his mouth to explain, he thought of the experience Xie Chan had gone through. So when he tried to speak again, his tone was exceptionally gentle.

“It’s okay, Xiao Chan, I’m just practicing my lines. I may have to enter a work soon, so I’m getting familiar with the dialogue of the characters after having received the script.” Xie Yu patted his bed, signaling Xie Chan to come over and sit down.

Xie Chan relaxed and sat down next to Xie Yu, looking curiously at the light screen in Xie Yu’s hand and the pieces of paper covered with handwritten characters.

Seeing where Xie Chan’s eyes fell, Xie Yu stopped the recording function that was still in progress, and handed her the things in his hand, “Really, I’m reading a script. If Xiao Chan is interested, you can also practice it with me. I’ll take the role of Misai, and you can be He Fei.”

Xie Chan shook her head, expressing that although she was curious, she had no intention of trying acting.

She pointed to Xie Yu’s notes, “Brother, why do your words look…”

“Huh?” Xie Yu raised his eyebrows.

“They’re a bit crooked, not as good-looking as your previous handwriting.” Xie Chan hesitated, but said it anyway.

Xie Yu also looked at his papers, and had to admit that Xie Chan was right.

He became proficient in the interstellar language thanks to the memories belonging to the original body.

But when it came to writing it, it took him a lot of effort.

Xie Yu put away his paper notes hesitantly, rubbed Xie Chan’s head, and then took his sister out of the room to have some snacks.

The snacks in the Interstellar Era, even if made by the human race, were different from those from the Earth Era.

Xie Yu nibbled on them out of curiosity, and unexpectedly found that the taste was good.

After eating several snacks, he floated back to his room amid Mother Xie’s laughter, and continued to work on his lines.

Having replenished some energy, Xie Yu regained his strength, and the following recording went very smoothly.

After exporting the audio, he listened to it several times, until he felt that there were no problems.

Then he thought about Shen Qi who gave him the advice.

He considered whether or not to give him the recording for reference—wanting to get Shen Qi’s thoughts and suggestions, but also worrying about causing trouble for Shen Qi.

He thought it over twice, and finally sent it.

[Beiming Youyu: Director Shen, your suggestion yesterday was really helpful. After reading the lines today, I really felt that I got a good grasp of the character. This is the recorded result, and I hope it can satisfy Director Shen. (audio link)]

Xie Yu sent a link, then quickly placed down his light brain, and continued to recite his lines, no longer paying attention to whether Shen Qi would reply or not.

*****

Shen Qi, who was still basking in the sun with his family at his home on the Giant Cat Star, received a new message from Xie Yu.

He pushed away several big heads that wanted to climb up to see his light brain’s screen, and got up to sit in a corner.

Shen Qi just said a few things yesterday, making suggestions to Xie Yu out of good intentions.

He didn’t expect Xie Yu to move so fast, and there was even a recording.

He thought that since Xie Yu had sent it to him, it would be impolite not to listen to it, and he was really interested in Xie Yu’s recording from the bottom of his heart as well.

Remembering that his headset was left upstairs, he didn’t bother to go get it, and just clicked on Xie Yu’s link.

Shen Qi shook his head, waving away the drowsiness caused by the sun, and listened to the sound in the audio.

The first section was marked as “The corner of a street in the fourth act of the second episode (he informally meets Misai)”.

Before a human voice came in, there was only the sound of clear and crisp footsteps.

Shen Qi listened, and with his keen sense of hearing, he could distinguish that the initial frequency of the sound of footsteps was a bit chaotic, then the footsteps became an even rhythm after two seconds.

This subtle difference was fleeting, but Shen Qi could clearly feel that the person, who these footsteps belonged to, was obviously calming down.

This was then followed by a dozen seconds of blank space—the recorder was clearly reserving space for the lines of other characters.

In the script, Misai was being introduced to He Fei by other neighbors at this point.

The gentle young man listened to the neighbors’ introduction, looked at the strange police officer, and smiled before saying anything.

“Officer He? Hello, I am…”

“Well, goodbye…”

“Ah…”

The recording started with a chuckle, which was neither frivolous nor deliberate.

After a brief pause due to giving a smile, the young man spoke in a friendly voice.

The words “Officer He” were spoken slowly, completely in line with the psychological state of meeting someone for the first time.

But the tone of the words “I am” rose at the end, as if waiting for something to be unraveled.

At the end of the conversation, footsteps sounded again, mixed with a light chuckle that was completely different from the previous one.

The nasally voice had a hint of a smile, but it felt more like sarcasm.

This kind of line was simple and common, but when Xie Yu handled it, he showed a good grasp of the tone, which unexpectedly fit the superficial disguise Misai put on.

It was only then did Shen Qi break away from his focused contemplation on the context created by Xie Yu’s lines, and saw three cubs surrounding him.

From the fourth child to the sixth child, they squatted and lined up in a row, with big eyes staring curiously at his… light brain.

The recording on his light brain was still playing, so Shen Qi raised his hand to pause it, patted the heads of his younger brothers and sisters silently, and turned back to head to his room.

After closing the door, Shen Qi turned up the volume, so that he could fully enjoy the recording of Xie Yu’s lines.

The first few lines were a part of a normal and casual dialogue, and although Shen Qi felt that Xie Yu was capable after listening to that part, he was not too moved.

When the recording started to play the lines belonging to the next few episodes, Shen Qi who was lying on his bed, sat up.

This was the part of the plot where there was a dialogue between Misai and the initiator of the experiments.

In the scene, Misai had already tied-up and bound the initiator, and was slowly drilling into the back of the initiator’s hand with a knife.

Naturally, there was no one saying the initiator’s lines in the recording, but hearing Xie Yu’s tone and voice, Shen Qi almost thought for a moment that he really saw Misai in the midst of committing a crime.

Xie Yu’s voice was full of emotions, but also restrained, and a few pauses in his words actually helped Shen Qi imagine his movement of grasping the knife.

In the past few days, Shen Qi’s WeChat account had exploded on a small scale.

Many people wanted to become friends, and some actors even made a connection to ask if they could play a few roles.

Others very few boldly posted videos of a solo audition directly, but Shen Qi didn’t feel anything after watching them.

But, after hearing the lines recited by Xie Yu just now, his face remained expressionless, but his hands hurriedly tapped on his knees.

At the end of the whole audio, Shen Qi raised his head and dragged the progress bar forward, and listened to it several more times.

Shen Qi remained listening to the recording in his room for several hours, and in the end, downloaded and saved the recording to the storage area of his light brain.

Shen Qi was very happy he heard the audio, and Xie Yu soon received a reply from the director.

[Shen Qi: I listened, it was good.]

[Shen Qi: I’ll wait until the audition, you must pass the test based on your acting skills.]

Xie Yu looked at the word “good” on the light screen in front of him, and after becoming speechless, he felt a little happy again.

If Director Shen said so, it should be regarded as acknowledging his line skills.

As for the words “must pass the test”… Does he have expectations for him?

In that case, he was already halfway through this fight for the role of Misai even before the audition.

Xie Yu pulled up to look through his chat history, and felt that Shen Qi was like a serious and unsmiling patriarch—praise was given very subtly, but his comments were very straightforward, and his expectations were like an order.

He really didn’t know if the crew of <Blood Wanted> could stand cooperating with such a temperamental director.