Superstars of Tomorrow

Fang Zhao still remembered staring at the gloomy sky just before he died.

Actually, before that battle, Fang Zhao had already made preparations. He had arranged everything properly so that the moment he could not go on, Yanzhou would not descend into chaos.

He knew his body best, and he had already been at his limit just enduring till that point in time. It was because of those preparations that his sentiments just before he died had been very serene. Although he had not been able to endure to see the Founding Era and he had not been able to accomplish his dream from when he was younger, if he was able to trade that life of his for a new Yanzhou and a new world, he considered it worthwhile.

When season nine was about to begin filming, the atmosphere within the cast and crew was much more tensed than in previous seasons. This was because when touching upon the various historical events, the filming teams of each continent had much more interaction.

Many actors would be receiving bento boxes in season nine. Among them, the character with the highest importance was Fang Zhao, but Fang Zhao wasn’t as restless as the others. However, he was occasionally in a daze while sitting beside the set.

When others in the cast and crew saw Fang Zhao being this way... "Hey, your team’s Fang Zhao is in a daze again. How is his condition while filming?" an actor from another continent asked Wu Yun.

The youthful Wu Yan was played by Wu Yun. Although his scenes were done, he hadn’t left the crew yet and frequently sat to the side, watching others filming and learning some techniques.

Hearing his friend’s question, Wu Yun’s attention was directed to the side of the set, and he saw Fang Zhao resting at the side. Wu Yun replied, "All along Fang Zhao has maintained his form very well. Normally, it is other actors making mistakes. He rarely makes any during filming."

When Fang Zhao was mentioned, Wu Yun had a strange expression in his eyes. Fang Zhao was younger than him. When filming had first started, like others, he had also doubted Fang Zhao’s acting chops. But after season after season had passed, he had been able to see everything clearly.

Especially when shooting the previous day’s scenes, Fang Zhao had been sitting on a sand dune gazing out into the distance. The expression Fang Zhao had given was as if he had lived through great changes and looked like he had been through hundreds of years. Wu Yun would not be able to act in such a way.

This was the gap between them! And it was also the reason why Wu Yun could only play Wu Yan for just that short period and could not portray a character all by himself like Fang Zhao was doing.

Having arrived at this point, nobody in the cast and crew, including those seniors and elders, could go against their own conscience and say that Fang Zhao could not act well.

Not only did he have the ability, he gave his all, too. There was nothing to be ashamed of when being outdone by such a person.

Hearing Wu Yan’s words, that actor from another continent thought about it and laughed. "There is something else I want to say, but promise me you won’t get angry."

"What?" Wu Yun asked.

"Have you ever realized that the way Fang Zhao looks at you is odd? It gives me the feeling of someone looking at his own grandson. Hahahaha!"

The side of Wu Yun’s lip curled. He wanted to laugh, yet he felt helpless. "You only just realized?"

"Sigh, it’s like this when one is too immersed in their character. Over at our filming team, there is an actor around the same age as me who portrays my character’s father. I still call him dad outside of filming. When you are too immersed in the character and reach the deepest depths, you don’t think about anything else."

Fang Zhao paid no attention to how others discussed him in private. He was currently thinking of something. He had already seen the script for season nine many times and had memorized all the lines. Maintaining his current form would not be too difficult.

Fang Zhao had already submitted his musical score, and it had received its final ruling. During the break after season eight’s filming concluded, Fang Zhao had already found an orchestra to record it.

There was no need to worry about this anymore.

What Fang Zhao was thinking about was a segment of a song score that Mo Lang had shown him yesterday. It was a small portion of the ending theme for the "Founding Era" series. Yesterday, he had discussed the question of which accompanying instruments to use with Mo Lang, and now he was playing all sorts of musical instruments over and over in his head.

And every time Fang Zhao was concentrating and pondering, other people in the cast and crew assumed he was trying to build up his mood and avoided disturbing him.

Of course, during filming, Fang Zhao was still very immersed in his character and would not be distracted or let his mind wander.

Finally, after he was done filming his last scene, Fang Zhao got up from the ground and wiped the dust and "blood" off his face and took a deep breath and exhaled, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

In the surroundings, the other actors had not yet stepped out of character from filming that scene, and their faces still had mournful and solemn expressions.

One of the older actors came over, gave Fang Zhao a warm hug, and rather forcefully patted Fang Zhao’s shoulders. "You acted well."

All the other nearby actors came over to hug Fang Zhao as well. This could be considered a sort of parting ceremony.

After the actors dispersed, Director Bai came over and asked Fang Zhao, "How are you feeling? Do you feel very..."

Fang Zhao laughed. "Relaxed."

Director Bai, who had been just about to say "heavy-hearted," swallowed his words. Scanning Fang Zhao carefully, he realized that the extremely repressed manner that Fang Zhao had been in, as if he had witnessed great changes, had vanished in an instant. Now, even though the person standing in front of him had not removed his makeup, he gave off a completely different vibe. The hunchback due to him being ill and aged in the show was now straight, and his eyes were full of vigor.

Director Bai felt relieved to see Fang Zhao having seemingly shed his character. However, according to the usual practice, Director Bai still had to exhort, "Remember to visit the psychologists. Even if you feel fine, you still have to get them to verify it."

"Got it. Thank you, Director Bai."

Fang Zhao removed his makeup, changed out of his costume, took a bath, and put on a fresh pair of clothes before heading over to the psychologist.

At the moment, psychologist Dai Yu was in his own office cracking melon seeds.

Actors might feel a lot of pressure, but as psychologists in charge of adjusting the mental states of these actors, they were under a lot of stress too. Cracking melon seeds was also a method for relieving stress.

Hearing that someone would be coming, Dai Yu quickly put away his box of melon seeds. He stared at the mirror and wiped his mouth, spraying some breath freshener and arranging his appearance and facial expressions till they were at a suitable level.

In front of these actors, psychologists needed to maintain a capable image. It wasn’t right letting actors know that they normally cracked melon seeds when they had nothing to do. That would destroy their image! Perhaps the actors might even doubt the professional standards of these psychologists if they saw it.

After he was done tidying himself up, Dai Yu put on a deadpan expression and sat there and let the actor waiting outside come in.

Seeing that the one coming in was Fang Zhao, Dai Yu changed modes and became more casual. "Oh, it’s you."

As he spoke, he looked at Fang Zhao bewilderedly. "There seems to be something different with you today... Is it time for you to collect your bento box?"

Fang Zhao closed the door and sat on the chair on the opposite side of the desk. "Mhmm, filming just concluded."

To ensure privacy for actors, the psychologists here would not necessarily make video recordings. The psychologists would comply with the actor’s wishes. If an actor was willing to have the conversation recorded, then the camera would be turned on.

The majority of actors were not willing to be recorded. Fang Zhao had not wanted his sessions to be recorded either, and Dai Yu approved of his choice. Fang Zhao could feel more at ease when there weren’t any recordings.

From when filming for "Founding Era" had begun until now, everyone had already gotten familiar with each other. Now, Dai Yu had no need for keeping up impressions in front of Fang Zhao. Opening his drawer, he took out the box of melon seeds and started cracking them once again.

Noticing Fang Zhao staring at him, Dai Yu explained, "It’s for relieving stress. Doctors are only human, not gods. We have stress too. Don’t go around telling others about this."

"Mmhm."

Dai Yu pushed the box of melon seeds to the middle. "Want some?"

"No thanks, I’m good."

"You seem to be in a much better state now. Previously, you gave off a dangerous vibe, and I nearly put you in the high-risk category, but now..." Dai Yu swept his gaze over Fang Zhao a few times. "You are all right. You seem much less threatening now."

"Could I trouble you to verify that I’m fine?"

"Sure."

Dai Yu quickly issued Fang Zhao a proof certificate, verifying that this actor had shed his character and was in a fine mental state and could leave the cast and crew at any time.

Having received his proof, Fang Zhao did not stick around to crack melon seeds.

Dai Yu watched as Fang Zhao, and he thought to himself, This person is rather interesting. Other people find it hard to shed their characters, yet he can do it really quickly and isn’t affected at all. He really doesn’t seem as dangerous as when he first came.

Just that... "I just feel that there is still something strange." But Dai Yu was unable to determine which part of it was strange. "Who cares!" Dai Yu continued cracking melon seeds. Fang Zhao’s job might be done, but Dai Yu still needed to work.

At the other side, after leaving Dai Yu’s office, Fang Zhao headed to the large dining hall. He still had to collect the bento box that belonged to him.

However, when he saw his bento box, Fang Zhao fell silent.

Placed in front of him was a huge 10-layer bento set that resembled a steamer basket.

"This is..." Fang Zhao asked the shifu in charge of issuing bento boxes.

The shifu wore an exceptionally kind smile and there was a hint of tenderness. "For your last meal, every portion is extra large, to make sure you eat till you are full!"

"...Has there been a misunderstanding?" Fang Zhao asked.

"Oh, haha, there is no need to feel embarrassed. Look, this was specially prepared for you by us at the dining hall. Uncle just loves all of you with good appetites. Eating is a blessing! This is a little heavy and isn’t easy to carry; do you want to eat it over here?"

"I’ll bring it back to eat. Can I have a bag, please?" Fang Zhao did not wish to be surrounded and watched as he ate the bento set. There were already dining hall staff at the sides looking over. Many actors that had come to the dining hall for a meal were already making preparations and were just waiting to take a snapshot of him eating such a large meal.

After the shifu had made this super-huge bento set into a takeaway, he added, "Let me get someone to help you bring it back."

"No need. I can carry it myself."

Seeing Fang Zhao effortlessly lift up the super-huge bento set and walk rather steady, that shifu even lamented, "Hey, this little fella is full of vigor! As expected of someone who eats eight portions!"

Fang Zhao felt that he would never ever be able to explain the matter of "eight portions a meal."

On his way back, the scene of Fang Zhao carrying such a large object was noticed by a lot of people.

"Fang Zhao, what is this?" an actor asked.

"Bento box."

"Bento... box!? Cough, what, you better hurry up and eat it. If the food is left for too long, it won’t taste good."

Watching Fang Zhao carry that super-huge bento set as he left, that actor could not help but feel a tinge of respect for Fang Zhao. As Fang Zhao turned away, the actor secretly snapped a shot. He might not have internet access now, but they still had the local intranet and their own internal chat groups. He would be able to share this news with his good friends.

Fang Zhao can eat eight portions of a meal?

That is already past tense!

Have you seen this! Extra large, 10 layers!

On his way back, Fang Zhao was stopped by many people with questions. When he finally returned to his quarters, he remembered how Great-Grandfather Fang had specifically exhorted him to take more photos of his last bento box, so Fang Zhao took a few photographs of it.

Facing this large bento box, Fang Zhao did not feel very rueful, and he dug in after he had taken a few photographs.

As he was eating, Fang Zhao received a call from Zaro.

"Fang Zhao, I heard that you received your bento box today?" From Zaro’s tone, it seemed like he was in high spirits.

"Mmhm. What’s up?"

"Come out and have some fun! How about letting me host a banquet to celebrate you finally receiving your bento box!" Beside Zaro, his manager could only sigh when hearing Zaro speak. Isn’t he afraid of offending people with his words? Can’t he be a little more tactful? If narrow-minded people heard these words, they would reckon that Zaro was taking delight in their misfortune.

"There’s no rush. Everyone is still busy filming. You don’t have to purposely free up time," Fang Zhao replied.

"Busy, my *ss. Everyone knows each other, and it’s not as if they are acting out some important roles. Everyone has a bunch of time!"

Actually, Zaro wasn’t anxious to hold a celebration for Fang Zhao. He was just worried that he might not get the chance to host a banquet and show off once Fang Zhao left the cast and crew! Previously, he had hyped up garlic and earned a lot of money. Now he was a successful figure! He even remembered that he owed a meal.

After ending the call with Fang Zhao, Zaro scrolled through his contact list to confirm the banquet’s attendance list.

"We cannot forget these important characters, and Woo Tianhao, and Barbara... Forget it, let’s not invite Barbara."

Two days ago, Zaro and Barbara had had a disagreement, and now he found her an eyesore.

Zaro called each of them in turn to set the date. He was pleased, and he pondered what he should do to make himself even more pretentious during the banquet. Suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he asked his manager beside him. "I heard that Woo Tianhao is collaborating with others to promote something. Hey, what did you say I should promote next? We have to make sure we don’t lose to him."

Zaro’s agent calmly replied, "No worries. What they are endorsing is ginger. Right now, there are many people following the tide, and the profits won’t be much. Let’s take a different road from them."

"Then what shall we endorse?"

"Ginger’s cousin, mountain ginger."

"Why is ginger’s cousin mountain ginger?"

"That isn’t the main point. The main point is that the plan has already been set. Now you must make sure not to reveal it first."

"Don’t worry, I’m not stupid. I definitely won’t leak it!" Zaro promised.