After a period of intensive publicity, 《The Apostle》 was finally released as scheduled. After a brief moment, the lights in the cinema dimmed, and Xiao Jiashu sat next to Ji Mian, his hands and feet were cold with nervousness. This is the first time he has watched a movie he starred in. He doesn’t know how it will perform and whether it will be recognized by the audience.
“Take it easy. You did a great job.” Ji Mian whispered to his ear and comforted him in a deep, husky voice.
Xiao Jiashu’s thoughts suddenly went astray. Ji Ge’s voice is so nice ah, it’s no wonder that most of the movies he shoots use the original sound, and rarely use a voice actor. Aiya, his ears are getting pregnant! He touched his hot earlobes, forgetting his nervousness.
Ji Mian smiled deeply, which made his ears tremble. If it weren’t for the sound of the opening song, he might still be immersed in the intoxicating low pitched1 voice of his idol.
The plot of the movie slowly unfolded, and the audience might not feel much, but Xiao Jiashu could easily discover how different his performance was in the early and late stages. In the early stage, he didn’t know what performance was. He just simply presented another side of his life. Although it seemed natural, it was a little less impressive. Performances without acting skills are thin, flat, and powerless. Now he finally understands what this sentence meant.
At the later stage, he gradually put himself into the shoes of the character and his acting skills improved by leaps and bounds. Like a critic, he calmly analyzed his own performance in the film, silently noting down the outstanding or inadequate points; and like the audience, he was fascinated by the development of the plot. Finally, when he saw the scene of Ling Feng’s death, his mind had gone blank, and he could only stare woodenly at Ji Mian’s eyes that had been magnified countless times.
The desperation and mourning in those eyes flooded his heart like the sea, causing his thoughts to drift away and feel like his heart was cut with a knife. He was unaware that he had tears running down his face, cold teardrops sliding down his neck before he snapped out of it, then hung his head and wiped his face quickly with a tissue.
After that, he didn’t have time to think. He had been absorbed by Ling Tao, who was determined and tried to destroy the whole world. Seeing Ling Tao injured, he seemed to feel pain; seeing Ling Tao falling into madness, he seemed to have lost his way. His joys and sorrows are controlled by the characters in the film. Only because Ji Mian’s acting skills have such a strong appeal, he can’t get rid of the feeling at all. What’s more, he once played Ling Tao’s brother. This appeal was countless times stronger and instantly dragged him into the illusory but real world.
Eventually, Ling Tao was shot and fell. He lay on his back on a pile of ashes, and the light in his eyes went out bit by bit. There were low sobs in the cinema one after another, he was clearly a villain, but nobody in the audience applauded his death, for his life had been so rough and so tragic. He was thoroughly wicked, and at the same time loved to the bone; his heart was full of darkness, but also of light.
This is a man who is so contradictory, so cold, and yet so fiery. He and Ling Feng are like two halves of a whole, once they lose each other, they are no longer a complete person, and so they also lose the meaning of their existence. His end was already predetermined.
He used the ultimate black to set off Ling Feng’s ultimate white. On the contrary, Ling Feng used the ultimate light to awaken his only remaining good thoughts. The existence of these two characters in the movie is mutually dependent and premised on each other. Neither one can be belittled if one was to talk about their performance. If one of the actors can’t keep up with the acting of the other, the film would be ruined.
But now, instead of being ruined, it shines because of the exceptional performance of the two actors. All the contradictions and conflicts, humanity and ferocity hidden in the plot are like a hot lava, exploding in a violent way.
The audience was either amazed, weeping, or addicted, and they were all deeply attracted by the plot, but Xiao Jiashu was so uncomfortable that he was suffocating. He stared at the dying Ling Tao, and couldn’t help shouting in his heart: Don’t die, don’t care about my ashes, get on the plane and go! Leave here and go abroad, build a house of your own, get married and have children, and live a normal life.
He didn’t care about the three views and the law. He only knows that this person is his brother, even if he destroys the world, he shouldn’t bear such an ending.
Ling Tao finally died. The light in his eyes completely dissipated, leaving only a heavy darkness. Xiao Jiashu’s tears surged again and couldn’t be wiped clean. He has always been a sentimental person. When he was a child, he was particularly easily moved by the emotional scenes when watching TV. Although he deliberately restrained himself when he grew up, he still collapsed in front of the strong acting skills of Ji Mian. Ji Mian played Ling Tao so well that Xiao Jiashu couldn’t see him as an imaginary character. He is his brother, and he wants him to have a happy ending. Where are the writers? What if he wants to beat them to death?
He blinked his reddened eyes while looking for the screenwriter, but his cheek was covered by a handkerchief, an arm came around from behind and gently pressed on his shoulder, Ji Mian’s helpless voice rang out, “Don’t cry, it’s just a movie.”
“No, in my heart, they are all real people with flesh and blood.” Xiao Jiashu retorted in a muffled voice.
Ji Mian wanted to laugh very much, but was very moved. When watching this episode, how could he not feel the strong fluctuations in Xiao Jiashu’s heart? He prayed so hard for Ling Tao, so eagerly hoped that he could live. He poured these loving emotions into Ji Mian continuously, making Ji Mian like soaking in a hot spring. Every pore was soothed and permeated, making him restless and unable to help but indulge in it.
So this is the “feeling of being loved”. After living for more than 30 years, Ji Mian truly realized the meaning of these words for the first time. So he couldn’t stand Xiao Jiashu’s crying. Knowing that Luo Zhangwei invited many reporters and they were secretly filming the movements of the actors, he still took Xiao Jiashu into his arms and helplessly wiped the tears and snot on his face with a handkerchief.
“Don’t cry, the reporter is taking pictures. You don’t want to make headlines because of your crying photos, right?” He whispered in Xiao Jiashu’s ear.
Xiao Jiashu froze, then raised his head obediently and asked Ji Mian to wipe his face.
“Ji Ge you acted so well! You brought Ling Tao to life, I really don’t want him to die. Why didn’t the screenwriter write a sequel? He could have changed Ling Tao’s ending to a fake death, let him go into seclusion abroad, and when drug crimes become rampant again, he will come out to help He Jin work undercover to get credit for his crimes. In fact, he has long been admirable, Southeast Asia’s drug trafficking circle is relying on him to resolve it, He Jin did what ah? He Jin is a simple-minded reckless man with brawns, without Ling Tao behind him, he would have died hundreds of times, and what to turn over the case and take credit for it?” In order to relieve his inner grief, Xiao Jiashu complained incessantly.
Ji Mian was so overwhelmed by him that he couldn’t laugh or cry. Seeing that his face was wiped clean, he finally couldn’t help but pat his face. This living treasure!
The movie reached the finale. He Jin buried the ashes of the two brothers together, and then hung the nameplate engraved with the words “T&F” on the tombstone. When the breeze blew, there was a light clanging sound. The subtitles slowly climbed up, and the sad and atmospheric music echoed in the theater, followed by the warm applause of the audience.
Shi Tingheng applauded while holding back his laughter, “Xiao Jiashu, don’t think I can’t hear you berating me. Believe it or not, I’ll post your crying photo on the Internet to give you some good publicity.”
Xiao Jiashu hurriedly made a mouth zipper action, furrowing his eyebrows together as if to beg for mercy, with a red face and nose, the image is really miserable. Shi Tingheng and Ji Mian were amused by him, but Lin Leyang, who was sitting in the corner, could not join in and could only keep his face stiff throughout.
When Xiao Jiashu began to weep, Ji Ge’s attention was completely off the movie. He will look at Xiao Jiashu almost every few minutes, his face full of struggle, helplessness and pity. In the end he finally couldn’t help himself, and pulled out a handkerchief to help Xiao Jiashu wipe his face, while taking the person into his arms to pat and comfort. He did not know how gentle and indulgent his expression was, the same as Ling Tao on the screen.
Is it because he made this film that he fell into that illusory feeling and couldn’t get out? Lin Leyang felt terrible, but he was no longer qualified to question or interfere.
The lights in the theater were lit one after another, and several production crew members stood up and bowed, while the audience responded with thunderous applause. They don’t know which little girl shouted in a choked voice, “Which one is the screenwriter of the movie? Stand up and let me see, I promise I won’t kill him! Why did he kill Ling Tao and Ling Feng?! ”
The audience exploded, some laughed, some agreed, and some sighed. But in any case, the film was on fire, it portrayed one of the most successful and charismatic villains in the history of cinema, adding another glorious piece to the resume of Ji Mian.
Xiao Jiashu’s acting skills, which are not inferior to those of the two major actors, have been widely recognized by everyone, and he has quickly gained a foothold in the entertainment industry. Before, some people said that he relied on a face and a prominent family background to get hot, but now no one speaks such sour words anymore. Good family background and good looks are indeed his strengths, but at the same time, he also has extremely good acting skills to back him up.
It would be outrageous if such a man can’t become popular.
《The Apostle》 is a police and gangster film. The investment scale is not large, and the full budget is only 350 million. The cost was recovered just one week after its release. In the next few weeks, the momentum continued to rise, and major websites gave high reviews.Now, if there is good news, there is bad news. Of course, this bad news is only for Xiao Jiashu.
The picture of him crying in the cinema was still taken by the reporter and posted on the Internet. What’s more, the video of Ji Mian holding him in his arms and wiping his tears away was also spread everywhere. It was edited into the expression pack together with the screenshot of him wandering on the street, occupying the first place of the best expression pack of the year.
Netizens said that after watching the movie, they watched the video, and their broken hearts were healed. This is the correct way to commemorate the Ling brothers! Please be happy no matter what!