BXBX NOVEL Chapter 51 - 28: Are You Convinced?
Longing, greed.
Fear, timidity.
So many emotions were condensed into that brief glimpse.
Professor Yan was somewhat surprised for a moment.
Was this Ye Xiao?
Ye Xiao was her student, and she had seen Ye Xiao act before.
But.
When had Ye Xiao’s acting become so refined!
“Sister, I’m hungry,” said the character played by Ye Bingtong in a soft voice.
Professor Yan frowns subconsciously.
In acting exchanges, one must avoid having a wide discrepancy in the actors’ skills.
Even if the acting skills of both are subpar, a balance can still be achieved.
But if the gap is too wide, the better one actor performs, the more the flaws of the other are magnified, making it unbearable to watch.
Ye Xiao nodded but didn’t speak.
She gestured for Ye Bingtong to stay in place, then, with her head bowed, she hurriedly walked past the podium.
But in the moment she passed by, she suddenly reached out and took away the thermos.
At that moment.
Professor Yan’s eyes met directly with those of Ye Xiao.
What Professor Yan saw were eyes like those of a wolf.
She was slightly stunned, and by the time she collected herself, Ye Xiao had already taken the thermos away.
The next scene in the video showed Ye Xiao being caught and beaten.
Ye Xiao displayed her remarkable skill in acting without props; she rolled on the ground, clenching her teeth hard, clutching the thermos to her chest, refusing to let go.
No dialogue, no background music.
Even without props or a partner to act against.
Ye Xiao alone convincingly performed the sensation of being mobbed.
Fear flickered in Ye Bingtong’s eyes as she stood on the side.
After all, she was a student at the acting academy, capable of discerning good from bad.
Could it be that what Ye Xiao said earlier was true?
Had she really been hiding her strength for the past three years?
But even so.
Her hidden talent was perhaps too terrifying.
Ye Xiao lay on the ground, nearly breathless.
Next, it should have been Ye Bingtong’s turn to step forward.
But Ye Bingtong stood there foolishly, as if she had forgotten to move.
Professor Yan frowned and glanced at Ye Bingtong.
Coming to her senses, Ye Bingtong was about to rush over.
Professor Yan said indifferently, “Alright, that’s enough.”
She seemingly didn’t want to see any more of Ye Bingtong’s cringe-worthy acting.
On normal days, it was tolerable, but now that there was a comparison, the level of cringe was likely to skyrocket. It was better not to watch.
As soon as it was declared over.
Ye Xiao immediately got up from the ground, dusting off her clothes with a hint of disdain.
“Your approach just now doesn’t quite match that of Zhou, the Movie Queen,” said Professor Yan, her tone inadvertently softer as she looked at Ye Xiao.
Ye Xiao nodded, “I was thinking, in that era, after they had been wandering for so long, they must have experienced all kinds of hardships. In such a situation, even with a strong desire, their gazes would be restrained. However, at the moment of making up their minds to snatch, there would be no hesitation.”
Professor Yan rarely showed a smile, “Whether the interpretation is correct or not, you indeed performed something of your own. Ye Xiao, right? I’ll remember you.”
Ye Xiao nodded, not overly flattered, instead appearing as if it were expected.
Professor Yan then looked back at Ye Bingtong, and her expression instantly fell: “Come on, tell me, are you satisfied with your own performance!”
All the classmates’ nerves tightened.
Here it came, Professor Yan’s classic: “What do you think?”
Whenever she said that, don’t think you could just get by; it was her way to make you criticize yourself mercilessly. If you weren’t harsh enough on yourself, Professor Yan would then personally give you another scolding.
“I…” Ye Bingtong was on the verge of tears: “I’m not satisfied.”
“Oh? Elaborate.” Professor Yan looked at her with a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes.
Ye Bingtong could only start from the beginning, analyzing where her performance fell short and where her understanding was mistaken…
After she strained her brain to criticize herself, Professor Yan let out a cold laugh.
Everyone’s nerves tightened in unison again.
Clearly, Ye Bingtong’s self-criticism had not satisfied Professor Yan.
Professor Yan chuckled coldly and said, “You can still analyze that much? Your performance just now, to call it dogshit would be an insult to dogshit. It was just you stinking up the place, and I could have just closed my eyes and ignored it, but you had to be next to the fresh flowers, ruining a perfectly good garden. Ye Bingtong, I find it hard to imagine that you’ve been learning from me for three years, I…”
Professor Yan was really furious, unleashing a barrage of criticism toward Ye Bingtong.
Ye Bingtong was stupefied.
If Professor Yan wanted to criticize her, then just criticize her.
The underlying implication was still that Ye Xiao was the fresh flower, and she was the dogshit that tarnished it.
This was too much for Ye Bingtong, who had always believed that, at the very least, she was academically ahead of Ye Xiao!
She bowed her head desperately, hiding the fury in her eyes.
Ye Xiao might have held back a bit of her potential, but Bingtong didn’t feel Ye Xiao deserved such praise!
This Professor Yan was praising Ye Xiao like that now, all because of the Ye Family’s influence!
She pressured herself and elevated Ye Xiao just to please the Ye Family.
Fine, fine, fine.
She had fallen from grace, and now, everyone could bully her.
After Professor Yan finished scolding Bingtong, she turned to Ye Xiao: “Just now, Ye Bingtong said that you’ve always been hiding your ability? Why?”
Ye Xiao blinked: “Nothing much, I just prefer to keep a low profile.”
“Keep a low profile?” Professor Yan said, “In the acting profession, there’s no room for a low profile! If you keep a low profile, you won’t get any opportunities, and without opportunities, how can you refine your skills?”
As she said this, Professor Yan suddenly remembered something, and looked perplexedly at Ye Xiao: “Your acting seems like that of an old actor who has been in many productions.”
Ye Xiao smiled. She certainly had been in many productions, but that was in her past life.
As for this life.
She had decided.
Her persona would be that of a naturally gifted acting prodigy.
Ye Xiao slightly lifted her chin, saying proudly, “Acting? It’s quite simple. Do I need to join a production to learn? Just study a bit and you can get it. As a genius in this area, I’m definitely not the same as ordinary people.”
Professor Yan’s expression, which had been that of discovering a promising new talent, slowly turned perplexed following Ye Xiao’s words, and eventually, she was left with a numb look on her face.
Professor Yan’s lips trembled.
She had wanted to praise Ye Xiao.
But Ye Xiao’s attitude made it difficult for her to do so!
Professor Yan wanted to crush her arrogance, but her performance earlier was indeed flawless.
After a long struggle, Professor Yan said expressionlessly, “Ye Xiao, I’ll remember you.”
She had said “I’ll remember you” after the performance, and she said it again now.
Ye Xiao couldn’t help but think to herself that this was worthy of a professor, indeed; the same words could convey two completely different emotions.
She was certain that in Professor Yan’s classes to come, she would be given special attention.
But then again.
Ye Xiao feared nothing.
“Both of you, Ye Bingtong is deducted ten points from the regular grades, Ye Xiao gets an addition of ten points. Now, go back to your seats,” Professor Yan had regained her usual demeanor.
Ye Xiao immediately gave Ye Bingtong a challenging look, clearly not saying anything, yet seeming to have said everything.
I said earlier that I was hiding my abilities.
You seemed unconvinced.
How about now, are you convinced?