Chapter 0032: Life Is Like a Play, All About Acting

Perhaps the best love is this: I admire you like a hero, and you cherish me like a child.

Zhao Fusheng never thought of being anyone's hero; he only hoped to meet someone who could make his heart flutter, like what he heard on the radio that day—like the refreshing wind in the mountains, like the warm light of an ancient city, warming his heart.

Of course, before that, he had to work hard to earn money. Even little Fan Beibei knew that the happiest thing in the world was having endless money. Zhao Fusheng understood even better that although material things were not the most important factor in maintaining a relationship, love without material foundation was like scattered sand—it would fall apart without the wind, just after a few steps.

Therefore, the life Mu Qingqing pursued was very idealistic, but it was not what Zhao Fusheng wanted.

Two people from different worlds simply could not share the same language.

"You mean I should go out and see the world?" Mu Qingqing was stunned for a moment, looking at Zhao Fusheng and asking.

Obviously, Zhao Fusheng's words had given her some ideas.

"What kind of worldview is that? A person should have ideals and..." Li Zhiyuan scoffed beside him, clearly disapproving of Zhao Fusheng's words.

Zhao Fusheng smiled faintly, glanced at Li Zhiyuan, then at Mu Qingqing, and said, "We haven't even seen the world, so where do we get a worldview?"

"I rather aspire to pursue the ancient sages. Their lives might have been very plain, and everything about them might not have been so glorious, but they had a certain ease and freedom."

Zhao Fusheng's eyes fixed on Mu Qingqing as he calmly said, "The world is so big; I want to see it."

After saying this, he simply ignored Mu Qingqing and the others, turned around, and went straight back to the dormitory.

This move was quite successful!

Zhao Fusheng thought to himself.

One cannot step into the same river twice, because things are constantly changing and in absolute motion. When a person steps into the same river a second time, the river has already changed.

For Zhao Fusheng, he knew very well that this principle applied to him as well.

But that did not prevent him from striving to race down the path of happiness.

Incidentally, he could also fool Mu Qingqing.

Anyway, in Zhao Fusheng's view, the path he pointed out to her was still better than the life she had experienced before.

"This guy, a lunatic!" Li Zhiyuan silently said, watching Zhao Fusheng's back.

Very cleverly, he did not let Mu Qingqing hear his voice, but wore a gentle smile on his face. When Mu Qingqing turned to look at him, he said mildly, "Qingqing, how about I go and persuade him again?"

A qualified hypocrite must always maintain a smile, no matter when or where, and must always be vigilant not to let others see what he is thinking.

Of course, Li Zhiyuan did not think of himself as a bad person. Could matters of a scholar be called bad deeds?

Pursuing a girl he liked, even if he used some tricks, it was all for love.

For the sake of love, even secretly having someone teach this guy named Zhao Fusheng a lesson was not a bad thing.

"No need." Mu Qingqing shook her head, rejecting Li Zhiyuan's suggestion. She looked at Zhao Fusheng's back, a strange light flashing in her eyes, and murmured to herself, "He's a man with ideas; you can't persuade him."

Actually, Zhao Fusheng was wrong about one thing: Mu Qingqing was just an idealist, but she was not stupid.

A woman who, even many years later, was still regarded as a goddess by several cohorts of students at Ninghai Normal University, who won a government-funded scholarship to study abroad and became a legend—she was not only highly intelligent but also emotionally intelligent.

The reason she chose to go with the flow in her previous life was that Mu Qingqing had seen through the world and knew that if she continued to be aloof, she would only become more unfortunate. So she chose to hide her sharpness and edges and become a part of this vulgar world.

In fact, this is what most of us experience after entering society.

After charging headlong, we end up bruised and battered, eventually having our edges and sharpness worn away, the passion in our hearts cooled, and finally becoming timid and going with the flow, euphemistically called: for the sake of life.

In the end, it is because of fear, because of dread.

Fear that one day, we will be devoured by this terrifying world; fear that if we persist in our ideals, we cannot survive in this world.

Because this world itself is dirty, a quagmire.

Either emerge unstained from the filth, or wallow in it with the rest.

Mu Qingqing felt that Zhao Fusheng and she were the same kind of people.

Only, he saw through things more thoroughly than she did, and what he chose was to blend into this realistic society, to do more things, to read ten thousand books, and to travel ten thousand miles.

With such thoughts in her heart, Mu Qingqing took a deep look at Zhao Fusheng's back and silently left, without saying another word to Li Zhiyuan beside her.

In fact, if Zhao Fusheng knew what Mu Qingqing was thinking at that moment, he would definitely cry out in injustice.

Because from start to finish, he never had any lofty thoughts. For a mundane person whose mission was to earn money, and lots of it, the words he had used to fool Mu Qingqing were purely conclusions drawn from reading too many literary youth novels. The real Zhao Fusheng had never thought about topics like worldviews at all.

Simply put, since his rebirth, his outlook on life and worldview had been completely shattered. Having experienced such bizarre events, how could Zhao Fusheng still examine this world with a calm gaze?

Once you have sailed the vast sea, it is hard to be impressed by mere streams; once you have seen the clouds over Mount Wu, other clouds pale in comparison.

People live, yearning for the day when they achieve fame and success, so that the sky can no longer block their sight, the earth can no longer bury their heart, all beings can understand their will, and the gods and Buddhas pressing down on their heads vanish into smoke.

However, this requires a process.

The process of changing the world begins with changing oneself.

Zhao Fusheng sat in the dormitory, looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, a faint smile curling at the corners of his mouth. Perhaps that girl Fan Baobao would be taken aback when she met Zheng Yao?

…

…

Fan Baobao was in a bad mood now, because she had failed another audition.

Because it was a branch campus, in fact, Ninghai Art Institute was not strict about students taking acting jobs, and even somewhat encouraged it.

After all, compared to the illustrious main campus, their branch campus seemed somewhat inferior. Over the years, they had never produced any top-tier stars; at best, occasionally having a second- or third-tier actor was considered hitting the jackpot.

Therefore, the school had always been quite supportive of students going out for auditions and such.

But the problem was, support did not mean success.

Just like now with Fan Baobao, when she received a call from the assistant director of the crew, the person directly said, "Sorry, this role is not suitable for you."

Then, without giving her a chance to speak again, they hung up directly.

"Hmph!" Fan Baobao gritted her teeth and stomped her foot hard. "Isn't it just a self-produced drama by a city TV station? When I become famous, even if you beg me to act, I won't do it."

“Come on, stop dreaming. You think you can become famous?”

In the dormitory, a girl putting on makeup in front of the mirror mocked without turning her head, “Better look in the mirror first…”

“Yuan Lu, stop with the sarcasm. If you’re so capable, go try it yourself and see if anyone hires you. You probably won’t even pass the initial screening.” Fan Baobao was no pushover. Having grown up, except for the occasional times when that bastard Zhao Fusheng made her furious enough to jump out of her skin, she was unmatched in verbal sparring throughout high school.

Girls’ dormitories, especially those in art schools, were never peaceful places. The so-called deep friendship among classmates shown on TV was mostly for the media. After all, art students never thought themselves inferior to others. Why should she become famous and not me?

Everyone was fighting not just for pride, but for an opportunity—a chance to skyrocket to fame.

The girl named Yuan Lu and Fan Baobao had been at odds since their freshman year. The former thought Fan Baobao was too pretty and often called her a seductive face behind her back.

Fan Baobao didn’t stay idle either. In her words, Yuan Lu was born to be a comedy actress. The reason was simple: an angel’s figure, a devil’s face—full of comedic appeal.

“Heh, even if you pass the initial screening, you’ll still be eliminated,” Yuan Lu sneered.

Fan Baobao remained silent. As Yuan Lu said, passing the initial screening really meant nothing. Before getting a contract, the so-called initial and secondary screenings were just a process.

“Really no chance…” Sighing silently in her heart, Fan Baobao felt quite down.

She was seizing every opportunity to start earning money as soon as possible, but fate often played tricks. The more you wanted something, the more elusive it became.

Occasionally, she used to get one or two modeling gigs, earning three to five hundred as extra income. But recently, her luck seemed to have run out. No matter what audition she attended, the results were never satisfactory.

Fan Baobao sometimes even wondered if her life lately had been cursed, as if the heavens were toying with her.

Pouring out all her passion and sincerity, only to get a helpless result—that feeling was hard to bear.

Seeming to sense Fan Baobao’s low spirits, Yuan Lu snickered, “An ugly duckling shouldn’t dream of becoming a swan.”

She came from a well-off family, and her parents had some connections in Ninghai’s film and television circle, occasionally arranging magazine covers and such for her. So she was used to looking down on Fan Baobao, who had to audition on her own every day.

Fan Baobao didn’t respond. Normally, she would have retorted, but ever since her father disappeared and the three of them had to live under someone else’s roof, her desire for success had grown stronger. In turn, she couldn’t be bothered with people like Yuan Lu anymore.

No one shares the exact same life path as another, because everyone is unique.

In life, there will always be people you dislike, and people who dislike you. But as long as there is someone in this world who likes or loves you, all your efforts are meaningful and worthwhile.