Chapter 36: Fang Xinghe, You Are the Top Scorer in the High School Entrance Exam!

The days that followed marked the beginning of a brand-new, yet strictly disciplined, routine for Fang Xinghe.

He rose early for his morning practice.

Stance training and Tai Chi came first, followed by fist and sword forms, and finally, practicing tongue twisters using the Grotowski vocal technique. Thanks to his experiences in his previous life, his Mandarin was impeccable, free of any accent, which spared him the trouble of remedial speech training.

Once his morning routine was complete, he would shower and head to the rehearsal hall at the Beijing People's Art Theatre for specialized training. Teacher Feng Yuanzheng would sometimes provide personal guidance, but more often than not, he was busy and would leave Fang to his assistant. It didn't matter who was supervising; it was always Fang Xinghe who bore the brunt of the grueling work.

The Beijing People's Art Theatre was currently in its golden age. The older generation was legendary, and the second-generation pillars—Liang Guanhua, Pu Cunxin, Yang Lixin, He Bing, Wu Gang, Gong Lijun, Hu Jun, and others—though not yet household names, were destined to become the backbone of Chinese entertainment.

Had it been anyone else, they would have seized every opportunity to gawk, socialize, or curry favor. Fang Xinghe, however, was interested in no one. His self-awareness was razor-sharp:

"I will become a top-tier actor and leave behind a few deeply profound, cinematic classic roles. However, my path does not lie in the People's Art Theatre, nor in the art of acting, and certainly not in the entertainment industry."

Ultimately, he had no regard for the entertainment industry of the present, nor for that of the future. While those performing artists were certainly worthy of respect, Fang Xinghe only wanted to live like a god.

Before a person can contemplate art, style, or spiritual elevation, they must first satisfy their deepest inner cravings and clear their heart of clutter. Fang Xinghe was fourteen—the prime age for self-cultivation—and his true priority was to earn "Starlight" to boost his attributes.

He studied, exercised, and pushed himself to the limit with unwavering focus. With every milestone, he gained experience points, progressing at a speed that even Feng Yuanzheng found incomprehensible, to the point where the veteran actor couldn't help but call him a freak.

"You are simply a monster," Teacher Feng said, his face full of disbelief. "I know that practicing Tai Chi is immensely helpful for physical control and self-liberation, but your rate of progress is just absurd..."

Fang Xinghe, looking at his Grotowski training level, which had already reached 50 points, teased back, "My reserve of potential is just about tapped out. I reckon I still need a few more years of hard work to truly catch up to you."

"Ha! You are one bold student!"

A large face suddenly popped into the doorway of the rehearsal hall. Hu Jun walked in with a smile and handed a wedding invitation to Feng Yuanzheng. "Teacher Feng, I'm holding the banquet on the eleventh. I shouldn't be bothering you so early, but I have to head out soon, so I wanted to give you the invitation in advance. You must come!"

Feng Yuanzheng accepted the invitation, cupping his hands with a chuckle. "Congratulations to you and Lu. It’s wonderful to see lovers unite! I will definitely be there."

After they finished chatting, Hu Jun looked at Fang Xinghe with curiosity. "I’ve heard you took on a student—incredibly handsome and a great talent, too. What’s going on? In such a rush to surpass your master?"

"Greetings, Teacher Hu." Fang Xinghe offered a polite greeting, but his words were sharp. "If I can surpass my master, the person who would be happiest is undoubtedly my teacher. Since it is a shared wish, what is wrong with striving to achieve it?"

"Good, good, good!" Hu Jun laughed heartily. "Ambitious, young man! That’s excellent. I wish you success in advance."

Feng Yuanzheng was both pleased and proud, unable to resist bragging. "It’s only a matter of time. Xinghe’s talent is world-class, and his work ethic is relentless. I estimate that after he turns twenty, he’ll be the one waiting for the right role. And the moment that role comes, he’ll take home the Triple Crown of Best Actor awards!"

"Oh?" Hu Jun was genuinely stunned. He looked at Fang Xinghe again, a hint of skepticism in his eyes, but mostly envy. "You never praise people like that, let alone your own students. It seems little Fang really does have potential. Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. From now on, whenever a suitable opportunity arises, I’ll be sure to suggest him to the directors!"

Fang Xinghe didn't know if this was just polite talk, but since the offer had been made, he had to be grateful. "Thank you, Teacher Hu. I truly appreciate it. However, you needn't worry too much; before I've laid a solid foundation, I want to maintain a sense of mystery and reverence toward film and television."

What he actually meant was: I don't want to take any roles in the short term.

Even though it was essentially a rejection, the phrasing was so elegant that Hu Jun was not annoyed; instead, he praised him once more with genuine sincerity. "Truly worthy of being called a great talent. You could take any sentence you say and use it as a line of dialogue."

In reality, the title of "talent" was worth the least at the People's Art Theatre; the masters who had come from this place could have fielded an entire soccer team. Cao Yu, one of the "Ba-Lao-Cao" trio, was the quintessential pillar of the theatre.

However, being young was his greatest asset, as was his looks. With all these attributes combined, Hu Jun began to view Fang Xinghe as a valuable connection.

The three chatted for a while longer. Hu Jun left to continue distributing invitations, Feng Yuanzheng returned to rehearse, and the long-suffering Fang threw himself back into his training.

Of his 50 points in Grotowski training, only 30 were from his "cheat," while the remaining 20 were earned through his own sweat. In a sense, with his coordination, agility, and flexibility, combined with his martial arts foundation, he truly held an edge over any other actor in training.

This, too, was a form of talent. There are only three types of acting talent, all quite easy to understand.

The first is sensitivity, intuition, and strong empathy—the ability to experience a character's inner pain under the simplest of conditions. Others must experience heartbreak to understand that gut-wrenching pain, but an actor with this gift can empathize just by observing. These are the "experience-based" actors whom heaven feeds with a silver spoon.

The second is extreme intelligence, skilled at observation and synthesis. They learn immediately, grasp teachings instantly, and soon store a thousand character archetypes in their minds. They can summon these at will, playing a thousand faces without needing deep empathy.

The third is natural, high-level physical control. Some people can tie knots with their tongues or knit with their toes, while the Fang Xinghe of his previous life was so clumsy he couldn't even raise his ring finger independently, doubting his own existence the more he practiced.

Those "control freaks" who practice their basic skills and walk the path of an actor through sheer, methodical effort can also succeed.

None of these three paths is inherently superior; they only differ in their upper limits of talent.

As for the current Fang Xinghe, he was essentially a combination of the second and third types. He was a person whose rationality outweighed his emotions. He had some capacity for empathy, but not much; if he had chosen the path of a pure "experience" actor, his potential would have been limited.

But he was smart. He recognized the problem and immediately sought a solution. Now that he had apprenticed under Feng Yuanzheng and started his training years ahead of schedule, then coupled that with his intentional observation and accumulation of character traits, his future was incredibly promising.

He opened his status panel. A new item had been added to his artistic attributes: Acting.

It was currently only at 33 points, not matching his Grotowski training level. This was because basic skills cannot be simply equated to acting ability, nor does acting ability equate to the final performance effect.

The most classic example was Huang Xiaoming. When he didn't smile, he was fine, but once he flashed that "charming" grin—a charm that gave directors headaches and made audiences cringe—it showed that while he had great acting ability, he often lacked the right execution. Once a director couldn't keep him in check and let him "freely improvise"... well, you can imagine the result.

Fang Xinghe decided to take this as a warning. Consequently, he studied with even more diligence.

His days in the Imperial Capital were physically exhausting but mentally refreshing, fulfilling, and happy. Unfortunately, just as he had mastered the full set of training methods and was about to increase the intensity, the results of the high school entrance examination were released.

His pager had been buzzing for nearly twenty minutes; there was no telling how many people had sent him messages. Fang Xinghe lazily called Teacher Fang back, and the man shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fang Xinghe! You're number one! 610 points, the top score in the entire province!"