Chapter 143: The Key Is to Unleash Your Nature and Grind Out Your Own Style (Please Subscribe)

The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp had been a sensation for an entire month.

During that month, Xu Jiang had become the target of interviews for numerous media outlets in the industry.

After all, it was the year’s biggest hit.

Aside from Su Mu, the leading actor, the director was naturally one of the greatest beneficiaries as well.

Jianghe Film and Television, which had previously been ignored by everyone, had been so busy these days that people were practically trampling down its doorstep.

And it was not only reporters who came calling.

There were even numerous investors who had taken the initiative to bring their money, hoping to invest in Xu Jiang’s next project.

They all wanted him to make a second installment of The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp.

Had this happened in the past, it would have been something Xu Jiang would never even have dared imagine.

He had always been the one going out to beg people, playing the humble supplicant while scraping together investments for his films. Never had anyone taken the initiative to bring money to him and ask him to make a movie.

The contrast between then and now finally allowed him to understand the difference between having a reputation and having none at all.

One could easily imagine how the country’s top directors could make money from a film. For them, it was almost effortless.

Of course, at their level, they all treasured their reputations.

Unless the offer was truly enormous, they would never make some shoddy production simply for the sake of money.

Faced with such temptation, Xu Jiang ultimately declined every offer.

It was not that he did not love money.

He simply felt that if he chose these small gains in the present, he might miss out on something far greater.

He did not know what Su Mu would offer him after they became partners.

But one thing could not be denied.

Su Mu was the benefactor of his career in film.

Rather than saying that Xu Jiang had chosen Su Mu for The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp, it would be more accurate to say that Su Mu had chosen The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp. Only then had everything that followed become possible.

Xu Jiang was a director with a sensitive and perceptive mind.

There were many things he never said aloud, yet he saw them clearly in his heart.

Without Su Mu stepping in to take over the project, The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp might still have become popular, but it absolutely would not have reached its current level.

That was Su Mu’s ability—the unique ability to turn the tables in ways no one could anticipate.

Yet Xu Jiang knew that Su Mu was still far from reaching his limits.

So Xu Jiang had decided to take a gamble.

Perhaps by following Su Mu, he could carve out an entirely new path.

At that moment, a reporter interviewing him asked, “Mr. Xu Jiang, we all know that your journey as a director has been rather difficult. We’ve heard that things did not go smoothly for you. Now that you have finally made it through the darkest days and seen the light, is there anyone you would like to thank, or anything you would like to say to those who have supported you? And one final question: do you have any plans to make a new film in the future?”

Xu Jiang paused to think before answering. “As for whom I want to thank, the person I most want to thank is Su Mu. But I imagine he has heard me thank him plenty of times already, so I will not say too much here. He understands me without my having to explain.

“As for your final question, I do plan to make another film. However, I have not yet decided on the subject. Perhaps I will continue with the tomb-exploration series, or perhaps I will try an entirely new style. I cannot say for now.

“So I would also ask all the investors hoping to finance the second installment of The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp to be patient. Let me think it over first.”

After finishing the interview, Xu Jiang saw the reporter out.

Almost immediately afterward, Old Jin burst in, his face full of astonishment and confusion.

“Xu Jiang, there were several investors! Why didn’t you accept any of them? They’re all major companies with money to burn. If you had agreed to make the second installment with just one of them, you would have made a fortune.”

Xu Jiang smiled and shook his head. “Old Jin, don’t worry about my affairs. Have you thought it through? Now is the best time for you to withdraw as a partner.”

Old Jin’s expression changed. Then he forced a smile. “Xu Jiang, you know how long the two of us have been together. I was only confused for a while before. How about—”

“I know,” Xu Jiang interrupted. “You still have feelings for Jianghe Film and Television.”

“Yes. After all, I’ve been a partner here for so many years. How could I bear to leave?”

Xu Jiang rose to his feet. “You founded this company with me in the beginning, and I dragged you down for so long. That was indeed my fault. So I’ve decided to leave Jianghe Film and Television to you. I’m leaving.”

Old Jin stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“Jianghe Film and Television has some name recognition now. If you handle the transfer properly, you can still make a decent profit. I’m leaving it to you, Old Jin.”

“You…”

Xu Jiang patted him on the shoulder and sighed. “Old Jin, do you remember when I had just graduated and the two of us had only recently met? We hit it off immediately and spent our days talking grandly about our ideals?”

Old Jin lowered his head. “That was a long time ago. Why bring it up now?”

Xu Jiang took out a cigarette and handed another to Old Jin. “During the hardest years, I thought about how we used to be every single day.

“Those days were wonderful. One pack of cigarettes could last us half a month. We could drink two bottles of liquor all night without a single dish to go with them. We would watch the traffic and talk about our dreams, then whistle at the proprietress…

“You said I could make good movies, and I believed you. In the end, after stumbling our way through countless difficulties, the two of us founded this company.”

Old Jin gave a helpless smile. “Yes. At the very beginning, we had nothing but a single desk… Back then there were no digital cameras. Everything was shot on film, and every reel cost a fortune.”

“I just don’t know when it began,” Xu Jiang said, “but somehow, we both forgot.”

Old Jin suddenly fell silent.

He took a drag, then exhaled a cloud of smoke, as though he were sending all their memories away together with the nicotine.

Xu Jiang patted him on the shoulder but said nothing more.

They both understood. That was simply how the world of adults worked.

There was no right or wrong in this matter.

Back then, Old Jin had even taken the money he and his wife had saved for their wedding banquet so that Xu Jiang could raise funds to make his film.

In the end, they had nearly been unable to get married. But now Old Jin had a wife and children of his own. Naturally, he no longer had the luxury of speaking endlessly about ideals.

Xu Jiang had been somewhat angry at first, but gradually he came to understand Old Jin.

Leaving Jianghe Film and Television to him could be considered repayment for the money he had once spent on the wedding banquet.

“Are you really leaving?” Old Jin asked.

“Yes. I want to try a new path.”

Old Jin said nothing.

After a long while, he spoke again. “Old Xu, I’m not selling Jianghe for the time being. If this new path of yours doesn’t work out… you can come back anytime. No—actually, you’d better go far away and make something of yourself.”

Xu Jiang smiled. “I’ll take you and Sister-in-law out for dinner sometime.”

…

…

…

These past few days, Su Mu had gone nowhere.

He had simply stayed in the hotel, tirelessly grinding his skill proficiency.

After The Ghost Extinguishes the Lamp came the main event of the year-end holiday season.

So he knew that, over the next few months, the most important thing was to discover a comedic style of his own.

At the end of the day, no matter how abundant the investment, how high the popularity, or how excellent the director and crew, none of those things could determine a film’s upper limit.

The true key was Su Mu himself.

He was the lead actor, after all, and it was him the audience had come to see.

For the moment, Zhang Huaimou’s production had not begun its advance publicity.

Thus, apart from a small number of people within the industry, the outside world still did not know that Su Mu’s holiday-season film would be a comedy.

Once they found out, there would surely be another tremendous surge of attention and controversy.

After all, Su Mu had never acted in a comedy before.

He had always appeared either as a handsome leading man or as a protagonist with a strong, distinctive personality.

With the attention, controversy, and expectations all reaching their peak, the pressure on him would naturally be just as great.

According to Zhang Huaimou:

Actors should never be trapped in a fixed mold. Otherwise, their path would only grow narrower and narrower.

As long as one was sufficiently uninhibited, many forms of acting could emerge naturally.

People often said that one’s appearance reflected one’s heart. If you considered yourself an idol and carried too much self-consciousness, then your facial expressions could never change in an exaggerated way during a performance.

But if you could truly let yourself go—if you did not restrain yourself, did not feel embarrassed, did not care about other people’s opinions, and could completely liberate yourself and release your natural instincts—

then forget acting in a comedy. You could perform in an idol drama stark naked and still be the most dazzling man in the entire universe.

Of course, liberating one’s natural instincts was itself a kind of talent.

It had a great deal to do with one’s personality and the environment in which one had grown up.

Some people simply did not care in the slightest.

Others were so sensitive that even a glance from a stranger felt like thorns pricking their backs, making it difficult for them to perform.

That was why most comedians possessed an innate ability to free their inner nature.

They could switch it on and off at will.

In front of the camera, they could bare their teeth and wave their claws. Once they left the camera’s view, they could become quiet and taciturn.

However—

Su Mu was not worried about that.

He did not know whether he possessed the ability to liberate his natural instincts.

But as long as the money was sufficient, even if he did not have it, he could develop it.

Wasn’t becoming the most dazzling man in the universe just a matter of hard work?

He only had to grind away at it.

Besides, if he could use his established image to create a sense of contrast, the visual impact would be even greater.

And what he needed to do now was raise his proficiency to the maximum.

Once he did that, his understanding of comic performance would come naturally.

It was like practicing horsemanship and swordsmanship. Once enough repetition had accumulated, the actions would become reflexive.

There would be no need for conscious thought. Humor and comic effect would emerge naturally.

But judging from his current progress, he still had a long way to go.

[Comic Setup Proficiency, Level 2: 12/1000]

[Comedic Timing Proficiency, Level 2: 12/1000]

[Absurdist Proficiency, Level 2: 70/1000]

After several days of effort, Su Mu had already raised all three proficiencies to Level 2.

Based on his analysis, the three proficiencies corresponded to language, psychology, and outward behavior.

The ability to deliver comic setups was an expressive skill. Whether jokes or anecdotes, it required a certain amount of accumulated material, along with bizarre linguistic logic.

Comedic timing, on the other hand, was psychological. It represented the ability to control the height and intensity of a punch line.

The more one practiced, the more accurately one could understand the audience’s sense of humor, and the better one could judge how subtle or outrageous a comic setup should be.

As for absurdism, that was primarily a matter of behavior.

Comedy required not only carefully designed dialogue and plots, but also comic business built into the characters’ actions.

In his previous life, Master Star had pushed this style to its absolute limits and applied it to film, ultimately creating countless classics.

Of course, every comedian had a different style.

What suited others might not suit him.

The only way was to find his own path.

As for how to find that path, Su Mu had thought about it carefully.

Aside from spending every day grinding jokes with Little Tangerine, Little Li, and Little Zhang—

was there any other way to improve his proficiency?

When all was said and done, the most important step was still to liberate his natural instincts.

“What are you doing, Boss?”

Su Mu held up the little card he had found outside the door. “Nothing much. I was thinking of finding someone to chat with.”

Qian Jida: “?”

Sun Liaojun: “?”

Little Li: “?”

Little Zhang: “?”

Little Tangerine: “(ω)”

[Absurdist Behavior +1]

[Skill Points +0.01…]

At that moment, the call had already connected.

A voice came from the other end. “Sir~ What kind of service would you like?”

Su Mu replied, “I’d like the free kind of service. Do you offer that?”

The phone fell silent.

[Absurdism +1]

[Comedic Timing +1]

[Skill Points +0.01…]

“Pfft…”

“Hahahaha.”

…

After dinner, Master Zhu suddenly came to see Su Mu.

He then showed Su Mu the messages on his phone.

There were actually several requests from people hoping to purchase the rights outright.

Among them were numerous animation studios, audiobook platforms, and even representatives from film and television companies.

Yet amid all those messages, Su Mu still noticed several familiar names.

For example, Kiwi Literature, Penguin Comics, and the Youku rights department.

Su Mu smiled. It looked like more money was on the way.

“Okay. Don’t worry about them for now, and don’t reply. Just leave them hanging.”

Master Zhu nodded. “All right.”

“Oh, right, Master Zhu,” Su Mu said. “Have you ever heard of the Bull Demon King?”

Master Zhu answered, “Badass.”

Su Mu: “…”

Master Zhu: “Ha~”

[Comedic Timing +1]

[Skill Points +0.01]

That works too?

“Master Zhu, have a seat,” Su Mu said.

“Sure…”

P.S. Thank you all for your support!

End of Chapter