Two in the afternoon.
Hengcheng Hotel, third-floor conference room.
The first table read for the cast and crew of 《The Grand Game》 had officially begun.
In the industry, it was also called a script reading.
On the surface, it was just the director, screenwriters, and main actors sitting together to go through the script from beginning to end.
To align their understanding of the characters.
To adjust the rhythm of their lines.
And to catch any awkward parts to modify in advance.
But everyone knew in their hearts.
This thing was by no means just a simple reading of a few lines.
It was the first silent battlefield before filming officially started.
There was no makeup.
There were no cameras.
There was no positioning.
Yet, an actor's vocal skills, character comprehension, and ability to react on the spot would all be fully exposed here.
Whether they were a thoroughbred or a workhorse, a few lines of reading would show their true colors.
At this moment, the atmosphere around the massive oval conference table was quiet and subtle.
Director Xu Pingqiu sat in the host seat.
To his left and right, in order, sat the male lead, the supporting male actors, several veteran actors, and a few key supporting cast members.
Jiang Yue sat near the back, wearing a simple black hoodie.
He held the newly distributed script, marking it with a pen.
He was incredibly quiet.
He didn't look like a newcomer attending a table read.
Instead, he looked like a student who had returned to school, preparing to listen to a major lecture.
Directly across and slightly to the side, Zhang Yu stared at Jiang Yue's face, nearly snapping the pen in his hand.
What the hell?
Why was he here?!
The amateur who had repaired computers and stolen his spotlight on the set of 《Manhunt》 was actually sitting in the table read for 《The Grand Game》.
And judging by his seat, he was playing the fourth male lead, who had a significant amount of screentime.
Chu Yan.
The fire in Zhang Yu's chest almost flared up right then and there.
But he forced himself to hold back.
Before coming, Wang Jin had repeatedly warned him.
In Xu Pingqiu's crew, even a dragon had to coil up, and even a tiger had to crouch down.
If anyone dared to cause trouble, Xu Pingqiu wouldn't care about their agency or their background.
He would fire whoever needed to be fired.
Zhang Yu took a deep breath.
Calm down.
I must stay calm.
Getting into the crew didn't mean he could act well.
The sheer volume of lines and emotional depth in a historical drama were completely incomparable to a web drama.
Today's table read was the ultimate touchstone.
Once they actually started acting opposite each other, could he, a graduate of a prestigious drama school, really not overpower a computer repairman?
With this thought, Zhang Yu flipped open his script, his gaze turning cold.
At three-thirty in the afternoon, the table read progressed to episode twelve.
Xu Pingqiu tapped the table.
“Next scene. Lin Zhaonan and Chu Yan's scene.”
His gaze swept over Zhang Yu and Jiang Yue.
“In this scene, Lin Zhaonan runs into a drunken Chu Yan outside the palace gates.
“Lin Zhaonan has an upright character and looks down on Chu Yan for playing the fool all day, so he mocks him.
“Chu Yan uses his drunkenness to play dumb and deflects the words.”
Xu Pingqiu paused.
“Zhang Yu, Jiang Yue. You two get ready. Let's start directly.”
The conference room fell silent.
Several veteran actors put down their thermoses, looking at the two young men with great interest.
Zhang Yu cleared his throat.
He sat up slightly straighter.
In this scene, he was the aggressor.
Lin Zhaonan was born of a prestigious family and was full of ambition.
Faced with a useless waste like Chu Yan, who stayed drunk all day and brought shame to the Zhennan Prince's Residence, his attitude had to be one of condescending contempt and distress.
This was also the style of acting Zhang Yu was most familiar with.
Standing on the moral high ground.
Giving full emotional output.
Throwing the lines out.
As long as his opponent couldn't handle it, he would completely dominate the room.
“Chu Yan!”
The moment Zhang Yu spoke, his voice was deeply grounded.
It was full of energy.
His brows furrowed tightly.
His eyes were filled with absolute disgust.
“Our country is ruined, and our families are gone. As the sole remaining bloodline of the southern royal family, instead of striving for progress, you spend your days and nights lingering in taverns!
“Even if you don't care about your own reputation, you should at least show some respect for the bones of the hundred thousand soldiers who died in the south!”
The lines were delivered with powerful resonance.
The emotion was also fully charged.
Several veteran actors around them nodded secretly.
The guy pushed in by Xinghui Entertainment did have the basic skills down.
At least for this line, his explosive delivery was textbook standard.
Everyone's gaze turned to Jiang Yue.
This kind of scene, where one is cursed out right to their face, was the ultimate test of how well an actor could receive and react.
If the delivery was too weak, the actor's presence would be instantly crushed.
If it was too strong, it wouldn't fit Chu Yan's facade of a "useless hostage prince."
Jiang Yue did not look at his script again.
System, equip 【Vocal Control】.
A blue light flashed.
The trait integrated into his body.
This time, he didn't activate 【Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream】.
The table read was just for lines.
There was no need to trigger a physiological-level second personality switch.
Relying solely on the Blue-Tier Trait's control over emphasis, phrasing, and rhythm was already more than enough.
In the next second, Jiang Yue leaned back against his chair.
He didn't reply immediately.
Instead, he lowered his head first, mimicking a drunkard struggling to open his eyes.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
Then, he squeezed a very soft, slurred laugh from his throat.
“Hehe...”
The laugh wasn't loud.
It sounded as if his tongue had been softened by alcohol.
Immediately after, Jiang Yue raised his head.
His gaze didn't land on Zhang Yu's face, but instead drifted emptily in the air.
It was as if he were looking for someone, or as if he simply didn't take the person in front of him seriously at all.
“Young Master Lin... what a fiery temper you have.”
Jiang Yue spoke.
His pace was very slow.
The trailing ends of his words dragged slightly.
Every word sounded as if it had just been fished out of a wine jar, carrying the shiftless sloppiness of a hopeless slacker.
Yet, strangely, he placed the emphasis on the word "temper."
And even then, it was delivered with a soft, limp touch.
With just this single line, the righteous indignation Zhang Yu had just built up was instantly deflated.
Zhang Yu froze for a moment.
He felt very clearly that his previous punch had landed in a ball of cotton.
He couldn't leverage any force against it.
Instead, his energy was completely dissipated.
This feeling was incredibly frustrating.
It was as if he had struck a perfect pose, ready to defeat his opponent with a single strike, only for the opponent to not even be standing in his line of fire.
Zhang Yu could only brace himself and deliver the next line.
“How much longer are you going to play the fool!”
Jiang Yue didn't take the bait.
He suddenly raised his right hand, making a loose grasping motion in mid-air, as if he were holding a wine cup.
Then, he lowered his head, leaning in close to take a deep sniff.
“Young Master Lin. Do you smell that?”
Jiang Yue's voice was pitched very low, carrying the secretive air unique to drunkards.
His delivery of the lines was heavily fragmented.
“The wine of this capital... though fragrant... always carries a hint of...”
At this point, he paused for a second.
Just that single second.
The attention of everyone in the conference room was instantly gripped.
Even though everyone had the script in their hands, and even though they all knew what the next line was, at this moment, they still couldn't help but wait for Jiang Yue to utter those few words.
“...blood.”
When those last words came out, Jiang Yue's originally slurred voice suddenly became clear.
It was as if a person had briefly sobered up amidst the alcohol fumes.
He saw the prosperity of the capital.
And he also saw the bones buried beneath that prosperity.
In that instant, it was as if Chu Yan had truly awakened.
He was no longer the useless, profligate playboy who spent his days in taverns.
Instead, he was the heir to the Prince of Zhennan, trapped in the capital for ten years, watching the lights of the city while carrying the weight of a land soaked in blood.
But in the next second, he let out a loud, wet hiccup.
Hic...
“Too metallic. I can't get used to it.”
Having said that, Jiang Yue slumped back into his sloppy, boneless posture.
He tilted his head to the side, as if he would fall fast asleep in the next second.
The conference room fell dead silent.
Rate on N.U.
