CSGM - Chapter 63
Chapter 63: A Rebellious Streak
For the past two days, Chu Xi and Ren Zhi hadn't had much interaction.
The acting class was full of trainees with clumsy skills, and Ren Zhi was too busy correcting their problems to have any time for Chu Xi.
And after class, trainees swarming around Ren Zhi during their free time, asking for "private lessons," were a common sight. Who knew what their real motives were.
Chu Xi, however, didn't care. She always attended class when she was supposed to and left when it was over, adhering to the principle of "not attending a single extra minute of class." As soon as class ended, she would coolly leave the classroom.
Anyway, she didn't need any teacher to give her private tutoring.
She and Ren Zhi finally had a chance to meet alone, and it was in the restroom.
Ren Zhi was coming out after washing her hands at the sink, and Chu Xi was just about to go in. The two ran into each other at the restroom entrance.
Chu Xi tilted her head, leaned her body against the clean tiled wall of the restroom, and looked at her with great interest. "Hey, long time no see."
Ren Zhi chuckled lightly. "We have class every day. I've seen you quite a few times."
Although she taught a hundred trainees every day, she could still spot Chu Xi among them.
They just didn't interact privately.
Chu Xi made a noncommittal "tsk" sound.
"With so many people, can you even keep track? I thought you wouldn't even see me."
Ren Zhi, however, said seriously, "I can see everyone."
It rather fit the image of an impartial and selfless teacher who treats everyone equally.
Unlike her approachable and friendly demeanor on Our Restaurant, here, Ren Zhi's style was no different from the other instructors on set. She knew how to project her aura and maintain a distance from the trainees.
She seemed to be able to effortlessly and quickly find her footing in her new role in this new environment.
Chu Xi never denied her professional abilities.
But when Chu Xi spoke to any teacher, she lacked the polite deference other trainees showed.
She asked Ren Zhi directly, "Last time I came to the Capital, I let you know, but you didn't reply. Are important people just forgetful? Have you finished filming that show?"
Ren Zhi first frowned, took out her phone and scrolled through it, then said apologetically, "I was probably too busy right after joining the cast and didn't notice your message. I'm sorry."
Chu Xi's face broke into a smile. "It's fine."
For some reason, her mood had improved a lot.
"I've already wrapped up with the crew. Filming just finished three days ago. Thanks for your concern," Ren Zhi said with a smile, preparing to walk out of the restroom.
Three days ago?
Chu Xi's brow furrowed. Didn't that mean she came to the training camp the very next day?
Ren Zhi brushed past her. Chu Xi turned her head and asked, "You're jumping straight into another job again?"
"It's just normal work," Ren Zhi's tone was casual enough.
At that, Chu Xi also let out a light "Oh," her snarky nature flaring up.
"You'd better not die from overwork."
Ren Zhi didn't turn around, but her steps clearly paused for a moment. It was impossible to know what expression was on her face.
After a second ticked by, she walked away again as if nothing had happened.
Chu Xi smiled and entered the restroom, took care of business, and also returned to the classroom.
Life at the training camp proceeded in an orderly fashion.
One evening a few days later, on her way back to the dorm, Chu Xi suddenly heard a sound coming from the stairwell.
"Wuwuwuwu… wuwuwu…"
It was a young female trainee, crying her eyes out.
It was nothing strange. Every day at the training camp, there were trainees who broke down from the pressure. Crying, punching walls, demanding to quit the camp—this kind of thing had happened countless times over the past three-plus months.
Usually, when Chu Xi encountered such situations, she would just take a detour and walk away, or even walk past them directly. In short, she wouldn't meddle in other people's business or disturb them while they were venting.
But this time, she stood on the landing below without moving, and instead, she pricked up her ears.
The reason was simple.
She heard Ren Zhi's voice. Ren Zhi was probably sitting next to that crybaby.
Ren Zhi was comforting her gently and patiently, "It's okay, it's alright. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're already doing very well."
Her voice was like the night breeze carrying the fragrance of Chinese roses from outside the window—serene and gentle, laced with a calming inner strength.
Chu Xi folded her arms and leaned against the stair railing, listening.
The whimpering female trainee sobbed for a long time, even letting out a hiccup before she could catch her breath.
"I'm so terrible, Teacher Ren. I'm never as good as everyone else… I, wuwuwu… I don't know if there's any point in me being here…"
"Don't doubt whether what you're doing has meaning. Often, it's our persistence that ultimately gives it meaning. Don't overthink it. You have your own strengths, too. Everyone's characteristics are different."
"Wuwuwu… Teacher Ren, what strengths do I have? Do I really have any?"
"Of course you do. You're very sensitive and perceptive. As an actor, that makes it easier for you to empathize with characters."
"But my acting is terrible…"
"No, it's not terrible. At the very least, I think you're definitely better at crying scenes than others. Your emotions are very real." Ren Zhi laughed lightly. "Being able to cry is a strength, you know. On set, I often encounter artists who are asked to do a crying scene but just can't cry, because they can't feel emotions as deeply as you do. They have to rely on eye drops."
Chu Xi sucked on the strawberry-flavored lollipop in her mouth, thinking how amusing this was.
Ren Zhi was quite good at finding an angle to comfort people. She recognized the crying voice; it was indeed a female actress whose performance was mediocre, with a skill level that could be described as average.
In a competition where five out of ten are selected, she might not even make the cut. Not to mention, the ratio for landing a role in this training camp was ten to one.
Some people were destined to just collect a "trainee's" salary.
The female trainee's confidence had collapsed. She said dejectedly, "No, Teacher Ren, everyone here is amazing. They're not like me… I… I'm useless!"
Not exactly useless. There's no such thing as an absolutely useless person in this world, just like when you've run out of roads, there's still a dead end. Hearing her say that, Chu Xi knew this person had a major mentality problem.
Tsk… Being a teacher like Ren Zhi is so troublesome. Not only does she have to teach, but she also has to provide psychological counseling to the trainees.
Ren Zhi asked, "In the last assessment, were all your scores at the bottom?"
The female trainee whimpered, "N-no…"
Ren Zhi said in a gentle voice, "Then don't talk about yourself like that. Otherwise, what would the students with lower scores than you think? How would that make them feel?"
The female trainee suddenly got a little anxious and quickly explained, "No, no, no… that's not what I meant!"
Ren Zhi smiled lightly, her tone still gentle and her attitude calm. "I know. You also need to know that you have your own outstanding qualities. Otherwise, why would the director have chosen you over others in the open auditions? I've seen your performance in acting class a few times. You have potential. You must not belittle yourself."
The female trainee: "Thank you… Thank you, Teacher Ren."
That should be about it, right?
Chu Xi frowned as she listened from below, her tongue having swirled the lollipop around dozens of times. She thought to herself, That trainee should be done crying by now, right?
They were all adults. She should have the self-awareness not to pester Ren Zhi for life counseling late at night.
Who would have thought that just as Ren Zhi patted the trainee's shoulder to comfort her, and just as the girl had quieted down for a few seconds, she would break down again in the blink of an eye.
Ren Zhi seemed to have endless patience. "What is it now?"
Chu Xi really didn't know whether to praise her for being so dedicated or curse her for having too much free time on her hands.
Anyway, there were 20 female trainees left here in total. Why doesn't she just spend tonight with this one, tomorrow night with that one, and give everyone a counseling session?
Oh, 19. No need to count her.
That female trainee at least had some decency and self-awareness. Knowing it was nighttime in the dormitory building, she tried her best to cry and complain in a very low voice—
"My life is so bitter! Teacher Ren! We have to get up at five every day for a morning run, do morning exercises, attend a full day of classes, and we can't even eat a single cup of instant noodles! All we eat are tasteless nutritional meals. I'm in so much pain! I don't even have a chance to get cast, and I still have to suffer here for three months. I really want to go out and eat some barbecue!"
This finally made Chu Xi laugh.
As expected, without oil, salt, and sugar, a person would go crazy sooner or later.
Three black lines appeared over Ren Zhi's head. She could only comfort her, "Just hang in there a little longer. We all went through this."
The female trainee took a deep breath and said gratefully, "Thank you. I feel much better now. I just couldn't help crying because the pressure was too much… I've troubled you, Teacher Ren…"
"It's okay. If you have any difficulties, feel free to find me again. It's no trouble. Go back and get a good rest tonight."
"Okay!"
Ren Zhi simply had incredible patience. Chu Xi was impressed.
"Then I'll head back first, too."
"Okay, bye-bye, Teacher Ren!"
Hearing the conversation end, Chu Xi straightened up from the stair railing and also started walking up.
She met Ren Zhi face-to-face and curled her lips into a smile. "Who would have thought? Teacher Ren is so gentle and approachable."
Ren Zhi glanced at her twice.
Chu Xi walked up to the next landing. The female trainee with the tear-streaked face was still sitting there, staring blankly as she approached.
Chu Xi looked at her too, and handed a bag of puffed snacks she was holding under her arm to the girl. "Here, eat this. Don't get caught."
It was actually braised beef-flavored Lay's potato chips!
Just seeing the packaging was enough to make the female trainee's mouth water!
She quickly took it, then looked at Chu Xi as if witnessing a miracle, asking in astonishment, "How did you buy this?"
The inspections at the training camp were so strict right now, yet Chu Xi had actually managed to buy snacks from outside and bring them in! And she… she was even willing to give them to her!
This was no different from a water source in the desert, a living flame in dead ashes, the savior of the training camp!
Chu Xi smiled smugly. "As long as I want to bring it in, it's easy. Hide it and eat it yourself."
The tears that had just been welling up in the female trainee's eyes now turned into starry-eyed admiration.
"Thank you, thank you…"
She looked at Chu Xi gratefully, and then her voice trailed off abruptly…
Ren Zhi had walked back up from the lower stairs and was standing behind Chu Xi, a pair of impartial eyes fixed on her.
Teacher Ren's gaze turned from gentle to icy cold, and her voice was no longer mild.
"Hand it over."
Ren Zhi held out her hand. The female trainee's heart felt like it was being cut by a knife, but she could only obediently hand over the potato chips.
"Alright, you can go back now. Don't let it happen again."
Ren Zhi confiscated the contraband and sent her away.
Chu Xi turned around and said cheekily, "Aren't you being a little too harsh on her?"
Ren Zhi looked at her, annoyed.
"Spit out the lollipop."
Chu Xi: "…"
"You know that aside from the meals arranged daily by the training camp, the trainees here are not allowed to consume any other food, right?"
Chu Xi didn't open her mouth, so as Ren Zhi asked, she helped pull the lollipop out of her mouth for her.
Ren Zhi twirled the now-smaller lollipop, looked at its color, and said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Strawberry flavor?"
Chu Xi's shoes scuffed unconsciously against the floor for a couple of steps. "…Yeah."
It was one thing for Ren Zhi to be angry, but her smiling was a bit scary…
Ren Zhi glanced at the remaining three bags of chips tucked under her arm, smiled as she pushed the lollipop back into her hand, then grabbed her hand and took out her phone with the other to dial—
"Sister Zhou, there's a trainee sneaking snacks here. Could you please come take a look? I've already caught her."
Twenty minutes later.
According to the rules set by the training camp, any trainee who couldn't control their mouth and snuck snacks had to climb stairs.
You burn off what you eat. In any case, climbing stairs was a green, aerobic, fat-burning exercise.
And so… Chu Xi was happily gifted a 2,000-step stair-climbing fat-loss package.
The dorm manager counted as she went up and down repeatedly. After 1,000 steps, she was so sleepy she started yawning. It was late at night, and she was getting on in years, after all.
Ren Zhi was with her, sitting on the top step of the stairs. She looked at her and said, "Sister Zhou, why don't you go back? I can watch her here."
"Okay, okay, sure. Let me know when she's finished. I'll report it to the director tomorrow!" The dorm manager nodded quickly and readily took her leave.
As she passed by Chu Xi, she heard her panting heavily and even lectured her with a serious air, "This is outrageous! We'll see if you dare to sneak food again!"
Chu Xi rolled her eyes at the ceiling. She touched her back—it was covered in sweat, soaking through the thin fabric of her clothes.
Ren Zhi sat with her chin in her hand, looking down. After letting her rest for a moment, she said with the ease of an observer, "Keep going. Still 1,000 to go. I'm counting for you."
The veins on Chu Xi's neck bulged. She tried to hold it in, but couldn't help but laugh helplessly. "Ren Zhi… can't… you show a little mercy?"
She was so tired her breath hitched. Climbing stairs was actually more killer than the morning runs.
Right now, just standing still, she could feel her calves trembling.
"Call me Teacher Ren," Ren Zhi reminded her, then asked in return, "So, will you dare to do it again?"
Chu Xi thought for a moment, but in the end, her rebellious streak acted up.
"I will."
"Keep climbing. Not a single step less."
Chu Xi let out a "heh" of a laugh, but surprisingly, she wasn't angry at all.
Seeing Ren Zhi looking happy, her subconscious mood was actually very peaceful, though she herself hadn't noticed it.
If Chu Xi had realized she was capable of such pathological submissiveness, she would have definitely cursed herself for being sick in the head!
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