Chapter 158 What a pity

In the lounge, Zhang Yuan and Wu Jing waited for a long time.

Although he has filmed many film and television dramas and can be considered a half-"veteran actor", Wu Jing is still uneasy.

After all, this is Stephen Chow’s movie. If it can be filmed, if it can perform well, if it can attract people’s attention... there is a possibility that it will soar to the sky!

Let’s take a closer look at Stephen Chow’s achievements, especially those at the end of the Wu Mengda era and the post-Wu Mengda era.

"The King of Comedy" brought out a generation of "jade girl" Zhang Bozhi.

"Kung Fu" brought out the "mute girl" Huang Shengyi.

"CJ7" made Zhang Yuqi famous.

"The Mermaid" made Lin Yun famous.

Just as Jia's mother said in A Dream of Red Mansions: Not to mention eating it, even smelling it can prolong your life.

The same is true for Stephen Chow's movies. Not to mention being the protagonist, even playing a supporting role can be a highlight.

Especially Wu Jing.

He looked at his two seniors, Li Lianjie and Zhao Wenzhuo.

Needless to say, Li Lianjie was the best in martial arts. When he was around, no one could win the championship.

Just like Zhang Yining's status in the table tennis world, she is a big devil who has absolute dominance among her contemporaries.

In terms of film and television, the first movie starring Li Lianjie, "Shaolin Temple", took in 1.6 million yuan at the box office with an average ticket price of cent. If converted, it is at least equivalent to the box office performance of tens of billions in later generations.

When it comes to Zhao Wenzhuo, in terms of martial arts, he is stronger than several other strong men of the same period. He no longer has the dominance to speak of, but he is still an expert and famous throughout the country.

When it comes to film and television, his starting point was in movies. He starred in two blockbusters, "Fong Sai-yuk" and "Once Upon a Time in China", in his first year. The role of the Nine Gates Governor Ordo he played in "Fong Sai-yuk" became a classic villain of his generation, and his debut was the peak of his career.

With the support of Anita Mui's resources, Zhao Wenzhuo's development in Hong Kong was very smooth.

As for Wu Jing, although he is a good fighter in terms of martial arts, it is his eternal pain that he has not reached the "Wu Ying level". The first two were both at the Wu Ying level.

Speaking of film and television, "Kung Fu Kid", "Tai Chi Master", "The Legend of Mi Yue"... the reputation and popularity of these works are certainly not bad, but compared with the two predecessors who made movies, his works are just TV series.

Not only that, his performance got worse and worse. He debuted as the No. 1 male lead, but his status gradually declined afterwards. In "A Chinese Ghost Story", he had to work very hard to get the No. 3 male lead.

Whenever Wu Jing compared himself with the two predecessors, he felt that he was just like the old saying goes, "Each generation of phoenixes is inferior to the previous one."

As for his own situation, "Wang Xiaoer's New Year is getting worse every year."

In fact, he is the one who is involved in the matter and is confused, while Zhang Yuan is a bystander and can see things clearly.

The reason why he is not doing well cannot be entirely blamed on his lack of ability compared to his two predecessors, but rather the fact that the entire kung fu film market is rapidly declining and withering.

If you stand on the right spot, even a pig can take off.

But if you walk against the wind, you will be blown to the ground even if you are walking properly.

So Wu was very worried!

I was so anxious that my forehead was sweating.

But when he turned around, he saw that the guy who came with him was very calm.

He even hummed a little tune and took a sip from the paper cup from time to time, as leisurely as if he was drinking afternoon tea.

"I am obviously older than him, but my mentality is not as good as his." Wu Jing said self-deprecatingly in his heart.

"Wu Jing, get ready for the audition!"

Soon, a staff member came and called his name.

"Brother, I'm sorry, this role is very important to me." Wu Jing greeted him with a fist.

Why did he apologize in advance?

Because he understood that he had the advantage in kung fu. If he went on stage first and Zhang Yuan went on stage later, the director and the judges would be able to tell at a glance that Zhang Yuan was not as good as him, and the other party's audition success rate would be greatly reduced.

Of course Zhang Yuan understood what he meant, and thought that Brother Jing was a very honest person, worthy of being a native of the imperial capital.

"It's okay, I wish you success." He replied immediately.

The other party gave a look of gratitude, then opened the door and left.

It’s a pity that neither you nor I can get this role… Zhang Yuan slowly uttered these words after he left.

So he didn't care at all about the order in which the two auditioned.

Half an hour later, the staff entered the room again and called Zhang Yuan.

When I went out, I happened to meet Wu Jing, who was walking back, sweating all over.

"You take a rest first, I'll be back soon."

"Hey..." Wu Jing looked at his back and shouted, "I didn't use the stick."

He knew that Zhang Yuan was best with the knife and the stick, especially the stick, so he deliberately did not show his stick skills in the audition just now, as a way to leave a loophole for his friend.

"Thank you!"

Entering the large conference room used for auditions, it was not as grand as Zhang Jizhong's audition, nor was there a long table like a podium.

There are just a few household dueling artifacts and folding stools.

Those sitting on the folding stools are today's "judges".

There were only two people he knew.

The fat man Hong Jinbao, and the thin middle-aged man sitting next to him, with medium-length black hair with occasional gray and silver strands.

Who else could it be if not Stephen Chow!

At that time, his hair was not yet completely white, and his eyes, although small, were bright and sparkling.

"Hello everyone, my name is Zhang Yuan." He stood in an empty space and gave his name.

"Why don't you tell us about your performance experience?" Sammo Hung reminded him when he stopped talking after saying his name.

Why is this boy so silly? Doesn't he know how to show himself?

"I feel that my past acting experience is useless when filming Stephen Chow's movies. I'll have to start over anyway, so it's better not to mention it."

Hehehehe... Hearing this, Zhou Xingchi, who had originally had a serious face, pursed his lips and chuckled.

Hong Jinbao rolled his eyes.

Wow, it turns out this guy had planned this all along and did it on purpose.

Others start by talking about their past performance experiences in great detail, wishing they could describe them in great detail.

But he just didn't say it, which immediately left a different impression on Xingzai.

The big brother thought of the scene when Zhang Yuan leaned back to avoid the attack during the previous test.

"Sure enough, this kid is very slippery, and what he said is not wrong."

No matter what you have played before, when you appear in Stephen Chow's films, you will gradually become like Stephen Chow...

Moreover, like his old partner Liu Zhenwei, Stephen Chow likes to use child actors, even amateurs and non-professional actors.

Because these people have a simple and rustic temperament, and because they can't act, they will present a special sense of incongruity in the film.

This sense of disharmony is one of the sources of laughter in their films.

Stephen Chow would laugh because he thought someone interesting had come and at least he understood him.

"Okay, show us your specialties first." Mr. Xing raised his hand and gestured, meaning...

Please start your show!
Zhang Yuan looked at the weapons rack beside him and walked forward.

On the shelf are common weapons such as knives, swords, guns, and sticks, as well as a non-mainstream... nunchaku.

Zhang Yuan knew at a glance that this was placed there intentionally by Stephen Chow. After all, he is a die-hard fan of Bruce Lee.

Even the movie "Kung Fu" is a semi-tribute work, which contains many Bruce Lee elements.

Zhang Yuan's target was of course the wooden stick, but before picking it up, he carefully scanned all the weapons.

There were some wet marks on the sword handle and the gun handle, which must be sweat stains, but the long stick and the knife handle were dry.

This proves that Wu Jing did not deceive himself and he did not use the long stick just now.

Don't blame Zhang Yuan for being too cautious, there are too many cunning and scheming people in the entertainment industry.

Change to someone with dirty intentions. He will first make friends with you to gain your trust, and then trick you into using the weapon he is good at, in an attempt to outperform you in the audition performance.

This is not uncommon.

After confirming that Brother Jing was indeed a real man, Zhang Yuan was completely relieved and took the long stick from the weapon rack.

Hurala!
He clenched his hands, twisted them while turning, exerted force from his waist, and performed a stick flower, which caused a series of wind-breaking sounds. "Oh." Hong Jinbao straightened his body which was originally leaning back.

As mentioned before, Big Brother is good at using a stick, and the stick is not afraid of Lao Lang, who is an expert in stick techniques.

Seeing Zhang Yuan take down the stick, he became excited.

And seeing the stick flower he was playing with, he became even more interested.

"Is this boy an expert at playing with sticks?"

As the saying goes, an expert sees the doorway, but he was too lazy to even watch the dance of the stick.

What he looks at is the technique of exerting force.

The biggest difference between stick flower and sword flower is the focus of force.

To wield a sword you use your arms, while to wield a stick you use your waist!
The stick is the ancestor of the spear, so the force-generating technique of the spear is the same.

Zhang Yuan's arms moved with his waist, and the stick moved with his arms. The power was transmitted smoothly. Hong Jinbao knew at a glance that this guy often used a stick.

Look at the way he holds the mobile phone, one hand is empty and the other is solid.

When blocking, the real hand is in front and the empty hand is behind.

When thrusting, the virtual and the real are switched, with the virtual in front and the real in the back.

In this way, by using the real hand to exert force and the empty hand to adjust the direction, the wooden stick can be shot at the enemy like a bullet.

boom!
Zhang Yuan took a fierce step forward and split the air in front of him with a stick.

Then the stick in his hand was like a white snake coming out of a cave, soft and long, the tip of the stick swayed up and down, constantly shaking left and right, and making rhythmic circles.

Stephen Chow was used to seeing vigorous and open stick techniques, so he was quite puzzled by the "restrained" stick techniques displayed by Zhang Yuan.

But just as he was hesitating, Hong Jinbao clapped his hands and shouted.

"Great stick technique!"

The fat man stood up and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you are using the Ziwu Yin-Yang Stick."

"It's the circle rotation method!"

Hong Jinbao was itching to try his skills, so he rushed forward, picked up a stick, came in front of Zhang Yuan, and started chopping with his hand.

Zhang Yuan was not panicked at all, knowing that this was a competition, not a fight to determine "superiority or life or death", so he just let go and do it.

With a dull thud, Zhang Yuan turned sideways and used the "poke" technique in his stick technique to deflect the opponent's chop and at the same time dissipate the force of the opponent's attack.

Hong Jinbao's strength in this attack was exhausted, and he immediately raised his hand again, sweeping towards Zhang Yuan's waist.

Stephen Chow, who was standing by, smiled when he saw the big brother's stick skills.

This kind of bold and aggressive style of play is what he is most familiar with.

Based on Big Brother's past performance, this "kid" probably wouldn't last more than five moves in front of him.

But in a second, his brows became serious.

Because of Hong Jinbao's movements, he suddenly became restrained and no longer as fierce and vigorous as before.

However, his transformation was not voluntary, but was forced upon him by Zhang Yuan.

I saw that the tips of their sticks were pressed tightly together as if they were tied by rubber bands.

Every time Hong Jinbao took a step forward, Zhang Yuan took a step back, while the long stick in his hand kept circling around the tip of his opponent's stick.

The big brother had a conflicted look on his face and kept exerting force with both hands, but it seemed that the stick in his hand could never escape Zhang Yuan's pursuit.

As soon as you withdraw your hands, you will be quickly stuck to by the opponent's stick again.

"Humph!"

Two minutes later, Hong Jinbao pulled back his stick and said awkwardly, "This move of yours is so troublesome!"

"Uncle Hong showed mercy."

Hong Jinbao threw the stick back into the weapon rack and sat back on the folding stool.

"What happened just now?" Star Master asked when he saw that Big Brother looked troubled.

"His style just restrains me." Hong Jinbao frowned, revealing a trace of regret: "The stick method he uses is not for performance, but for actual combat."

“So I went up and tried it, and it was really hard to solve.”

"The technique he used is called 'sticking' in stick fighting."

"Once you are stuck with his stick, no matter how hard you try, he will spin you in circles to dissipate your strength and disrupt the direction of your stick's force."

"No matter how fast I am, once he sticks to me, I will be like a bird with its wings plucked. There is no way I can escape."

Hong Jinbao was also surprised. When he first saw Zhang Yuan using the circle spinning method, he thought that he should be able to break it with his speed and strength.

But after getting started, he found that the opponent's skills in controlling strength exceeded his expectations.

If they really fought, and he tried to force his way in, both sides would suffer losses.

Zhang Yuan's move was formed by combining Yu Dayou's Ziwu Yin-Yang stick technique and the special force-generating technique of the Natural Gate. It is far more difficult to deal with than the ordinary sticky stick.

Using a little force to achieve a great result is the most powerful way to defeat Hong Jinbao.

Of course, this was what he planned.

Knowing that Sammo Hung is good at using a stick and is good at using it in a domineering and fierce manner, the performer deliberately found a routine to restrain him.

Only in this way can you leave a deeper impression on all the judges.

Master Xing nodded, roughly understanding it.

Zhou Xingchi's kung fu was mostly unconventional. Because he was poor when he was young, he only followed his master for three months before losing the qualification to continue practicing martial arts.

He really envied young people who had real kung fu skills.

Most people spend their entire lives making up for the deficiencies of their childhood, even someone as successful as Stephen Chow.

"Oh, what a pity, what a pity..." Sammo Hung suddenly sighed.

What he regretted was not that Zhang Yuan’s stick skills were not good enough.

"It's a pity that he is too handsome and too young."

"Otherwise, the role of the fried dough stick and gun wielding characters in the script would be quite suitable for him."

"But this character should be in his early 40s, with an average appearance, which doesn't fit him."

"Pity."

Hong Jinbao sighed and chuckled at the same time.

"I didn't expect to find another young master today."

"My junior brother has a good eye."

Mr. Xing leaned over and asked.

"Big Brother, how does this guy's Kung Fu compare to Wu Jing just now?"

"Wu Jing is definitely stronger. Wu Jing's spear and sword skills are both top-notch. I am no match for him." Hong Jinbao told the truth.

"Oh, I understand." Master Xing nodded.

Since he is not as good as Wu Jing, then I will definitely choose Wu Jing.

Besides, Stephen Chow has the same opinion about Zhang Yuan, he thinks he is so handsome.

It’s not that he is afraid of outshining himself, but that he and Liu Zhenwei both like to use "weird" actors.

People who are too handsome tend to have idol baggage and are not suitable for acting in comedies.

"Okay, we know your level. Go back and wait for notification." Master Xing smiled and waved his hand.

"But I haven't finished showing it yet?" Zhang Yuan spread his hands with a smile on his face.

"We already know your skills, there's no need to continue." Hong Jinbao also responded.

It is right for young people to strive for progress, but they still need to be tempered.

"But what I'm going to demonstrate next is not kung fu." Zhang Yuan replied confidently.

"Oh?" Master Xing and Sammo Hung looked at each other and then looked at him at the same time.

Next, Zhang Yuan's performance will open their eyes...

(End of this chapter)