Chapter 153: Putting It Differently / If He Wants To Be, He Is Simply the Best! (Long Chapter)

It was already late into the night.

Su Mu randomly selected a contact from his WeChat friends.

Then, he directly dialed a video call.

Soon, Sun Liaojun's bewildered face appeared on the screen.

After all, it was the middle of the night, and his boss was calling him. Receiving a call like this just before his vacation was definitely not a good sign.

Sun Liaojun: "Bo... Boss?"

Su Mu: "Oh my, what a coincidence, it's you, little Jun-jun."

Sun Liaojun: "Yeah..."

That sounded rather awkward.

If you didn't know it was me, why the hell did you video call me?

Just as he was silently complaining, he saw Su Mu's expression suddenly change.

Immediately afterward, the corners of his eyes turned red.

That sorrowful expression looked as though he had just lost the love of his life!

Could it be that the boss's close relative had passed away?

"Boss, what's wrong with you?"

Su Mu: "It's gone..."

Her?

As expected!

Sun Liaojun knew he had guessed right, so he hurriedly comforted him: "Boss, please accept my condolences. Such things are inevitable, try to look on the bright side. Life is still beautiful."

Su Mu: "But without the seasoning packet, how am I supposed to eat instant noodles?"

Sun Liaojun: "..."

Su Mu: "Alright, go back to sleep. I just wanted to tell you."

Sun Liaojun: Damn it!

[Expression Proficiency +1]

[Skill Point +0.01...]

[Expression Control Proficiency Lv5: 1/100,000 (Ultimate)]

The video call disconnected.

Su Mu looked at the system panel notification.

Starting from this moment, his expression control had officially reached LV5!

And the moment he stepped into this level,

Su Mu suddenly had a flash of insight.

It was a more thorough and natural understanding of acting, born from within.

Especially in the realm of expression control, it felt the most distinct!

He knew this must be the comprehension brought by reaching the LV5 level.

If an expression at the master level expressed emotion, then the ultimate level completely replaced language.

Yes, expression control at the ceiling level could replace language.

At this realm, even if you said nothing at all, people could still see what you wanted to say and perceive your inner world purely from your expression.

The impact of an expression was much more direct and straightforward than the rendering of emotion.

Perhaps you merely used an expression while feeling no particular emotion inside.

Yet from the perspective of the viewer, a thousand-word narration had already formed in their minds.

This was the ability granted beneath the ultimate tier.

In his past life, there were actually many actors who could reach this realm, such as the master of expressions Mr. Bean, Jim Carrey, and even Stephen Chow at his peak. In reality, they had cultivated their expressions to the extreme.

Mr. Bean had no lines at all throughout his show.

Yet watching his performance, you could always understand what he was 'saying'.

Jim Carrey and Stephen Chow both used exaggerated expressions in comedy, but no matter how quirky or comical they acted, at a certain moment, thousands of words of romance and melancholy would still well up beneath their masks.

This was the charm of expression, completely independent of emotion.

It was simply another way of 'speaking'.

However, the problem was...

One hundred thousand points of proficiency!

This requirement was greater than the previous four levels combined.

It seemed that reaching the highest, most consummate realm of expression would require grinding until the end of time.

Fortunately, grinding this out had its rewards.

From now on, his salary was bound to exceed nine figures.

Such a massive sum of money had to be worth the price.

If he could reach this kind of realm, demanding a pay raise would feel all the more justified.

As long as it effectively justified asking for more money, that was all that mattered.

In order to earn more money in the future,

he ground away with all his heart.

Su Mu: "Add 10 points to cardiopulmonary attributes, 10 points to stamina, and 10 points to strength."

[Prompt: Deducted 30 skill points, remaining: 10.94]

Strength: 35.1

Cardiopulmonary: 35.1

Stamina: 46.1

[Completed]

Su Mu upgraded a wave of basic attributes.

The reason he chose stamina, cardiopulmonary, and strength was actually for his future plans.

During subsequent filming sessions, he might need to unlock who-knows-what kind of proficiency.

If his basic physical attributes did not meet the standards, grinding would become extremely difficult.

This was definitely heavy physical labor.

So making some preparations in advance was not excessive.

además, in order to make his image a bit more rounded and better fit the character of Xia Luo, he had gained weight for several months.

Therefore, he had to take advantage of the upcoming time to quickly work off that body fat.

He needed to lose a large amount of weight and return to his peak condition.

According to the fat-loss training schedule arranged for him by Qian Jida, he had to strictly follow the table every day from now on.

So it was very necessary to boost his stamina, strength, and cardiopulmonary function.

This would ensure that his training wouldn't run into problems—better safe than sorry.

Feeling the itching sensation all over his body, Su Mu felt that he was stronger and had much more stamina.

In this way, even going at it for an hour wouldn't tire him out, right?

Su Mu: "Give me 10 mystery boxes!"

[Prompt: Deducted 10.0 skill points / Remaining 0.94]

Tension filled him as he waited for the rewards from the mystery boxes.

Su Mu prayed in his heart that his luck wouldn't be terrible this time.

He had just used up his last 10 skill points.

He only prayed for a huge win!

[Mystery boxes are being unsealed...]

Script *1: 《Love O2O》

*2: 《A Mortal's Journey to Immortality》, 《The Wandering Earth》

Musical Score *4: 《Superhuman》, 《Enough Love》, 《I Only Have Feelings For You》, 《Moonlight》

Items *2: Throat lozenges +1 / Facial mask +1

Proficiency: +2,000 times

"Holy crap! Gold, gold, gold!"

Looking at the mystery box rewards this time, Su Mu's face broke into a wide smile.

As expected, praying still had some effect; this ten-draw batch had an explosively good luck streak.

Pulling 《Mortal》 and 《The Wandering Earth》 was definitely a fantastic stroke of fortune.

And crucially, among the songs this time, there was also a gold-tier one—he actually pulled 《Moonlight》.

Of course, he might not be able to handle it just yet, but that didn't detract from the song's classic status.

As for the rest, they were quite standard.

Su Mu could easily accept that.

After all, they were mystery boxes; a ten-draw couldn't possibly yield top-tier items in every slot, but having one or two made it a great haul.

In his memory, the idol drama 《Love O2O》 had actually performed quite well back then.

Of course, for this kind of ultra-sweet romantic idol drama, as long as the actors were well-chosen, it was hard for it not to blow up.

After all, who doesn't like sweet romance, and plus you get to kiss-kiss~ tsk.

As for the other songs, Su Mu clicked on them to take another look.

《Superhuman》 and 《I Only Have Feelings For You》 were both by Fahrenheit. If he pulled a few more songs, he would practically have enough for a whole album.

However, Su Mu definitely wouldn't sing them himself; he'd find an opportunity to give them away as gifts, or even sell them.

Even a mosquito's leg was meat.

After all, with the studio's personnel gradually increasing, there were countless places that required money.

Finally, Su Mu allocated the 2,000 proficiency points, giving 500 to each of the remaining acting categories.

Only then did he go to sleep satisfied.

...

...

December, the end of the year was approaching once again.

Rest was always fleeting.

A month's time felt like it had barely begun to feel comfortable.

And just like that, it had passed.

Of course, that was only the feeling of Fan Xiaoju, Little Li, Little Zhang, and the others.

As for Su Mu,

he was working every single hour.

Even when he wasn't on set, insisting on daily training for fat loss

was actually a part of his work.

During this period, Su Mu poured almost all of his energy into fitness.

He strictly followed Qian Jida's diet plan and daily training regimen.

And the weight loss was visible to the naked eye.

The slightly rounded lines from before also began to return to his previous state bit by bit.

Meanwhile, the operations department naturally carried out an in-depth promotional campaign based on Su Mu's fitness routine.

Sun Liaojun was extremely acute when it came to such matters.

Right from the start, he used the "Black Gossip" account to leak the major news that Su Mu had gained weight.

At that time, internet female fans were wailing in grief across the board.

However, right after that, as snippets of Su Mu's fitness workouts were leaked each week,

until finally discovering that Su Mu had actually slimmed back down to his peak state,

the fans were all astonished.

[My brother Su Mu is back!]

[You scared me to death, I thought Su Mu wasn't coming back after playing Xia Luo!]

[Now that's a dedicated actor! He gets fat when he needs to, and works out to get back in shape just as easily!]

[So the saying 'God Su just gets fat for fun' is really true!]

Praises echoed all over the internet.

It only served to further cement Su Mu's persona as a dedicated professional.

On the other side,

the annual China's Pinnacle Awards Ceremony was held as scheduled.

Su Mu and Xu Jiang both attended.

Furthermore, before going, they had already been notified that they had been nominated for this year's Annual Best Film and Television Work and Best Actor.

As for who would ultimately win the awards,

it would depend on the final results tonight.

Su Mu probably didn't have a very high probability of winning this time, considering he had already won in a previous year.

Whereas Xu Jiang's chances seemed quite stable; after all, his series 《Candle in the Tomb》 had led the trend for an entire genre this year.

Its massive popularity was also a tremendous boost to the television drama market.

So, logically and emotionally,

this time it should be his.

...

The stage was glittering with starlight.

The host held the microphone: "Next, we present the Annual Best Television Work... Congratulations! Director Xu Jiang! 《Candle in the Tomb》! Let's invite Director Xu Jiang to the stage to accept the award."

Applause erupted in a wave.

When his name was called, Xu Jiang was still in a daze.

Xu Jiang: "Is it me?"

Su Mu smiled and patted him from the side: "Director Xu, it's you, congratulations. Hurry up to the stage."

Hearing Su Mu's words, Xu Jiang adjusted his emotions.

In fact, his heart was filled with deep emotion at this moment.

Having directed shows for so many years without ever making much noise—no, "without making much noise" was too generous,

it should be said he was completely unknown.

Yet who in this industry didn't want to produce great works and achieve fame and success?

Xu Jiang had dreamed of it countless times.

But reality always drew a clear line against him.

He just never expected that this last desperate gamble of his would turn out to be a brand-new starting point.

Yes, not fame and fortune achieved, but a new starting point.

After all, winning an Annual Best Film and Television Work award only meant recognition for this specific drama.

As for Xu Jiang himself, he hadn't reached the pinnacle yet; it was merely taking a step forward, nothing more.

Therefore, Xu Jiang's excitement was a sort of release.

At least winning this award

could be considered an accounting to his past self.

Arriving at the podium, Xu Jiang held the trophy and approached the microphone to deliver his acceptance speech.

After brewing his emotions for a long time,

Xu Jiang slowly began: "Winning this award, I must first thank myself. Thank you for my stubborn persistence back then, for unwavering in choosing... Su Mu.

Secondly, I want to thank Su Mu. Without him, this drama probably wouldn't have achieved today's success.

Lastly, I want to say that he is a good actor, and his commitment to his original aspiration deeply touched me. Therefore, from now on, I will also strive to be a director who 'never forgets his original aspiration'. Thank you."

"!!!"

"???"

Xu Jiang's speech left many people below in shock.

Usually, award recipients thanked a long list of people.

Yet this time, Xu Jiang didn't mention anyone else at all, naming only Su Mu.

This inevitably brought back memories of the previous year's "Thank you, Su Mu" spectacle.

The big three of the video era, Director Zhang Huaimou and other heavyweights, had taken the stage and opened their mouths only to thank Su Mu.

So was this going to repeat as a cycle this year?

What on earth did this Su Mu actually do?

Did he feed them some kind of love potion?

Host: "Congratulations, Director Xu. We know this seems to be your first time winning an award, and the grave-robbing genre of 《Candle in the Tomb》 was essentially popularized by you.

I wonder if you will continue shooting sequels in the future? Or perhaps collaborate with Su Mu once more on other related genre works?"

Xu Jiang: "It depends on the circumstances."

Seeing that Xu Jiang's answer was brief and devoid of content, the host seemed unwilling to let him step down just like that.

He continued to ask: "Director Xu speaks very highly of Su Mu. He is a regular fixture here at China's Pinnacle, but with the upcoming New Year film season, he is officially stepping into the film circle. I wonder if you have confidence in him?"

As soon as this question was asked, everyone in the industry and the media present focused their attention.

One had to admit, the host had serious skills.

And the phrasing of the question was extremely clever.

It looked like a simple inquiry into whether Xu Jiang had confidence in Su Mu.

But in reality, this question was not easy to answer.

Throughout the entire year, the controversy between Su Mu and Lin Haoming had never stopped, and now Du Qifeng was also entering the fray for the New Year season.

Starting from December, almost everyone's eyes would be glued to the New Year box office race.

Therefore, any related topic could instantly become a trending keyword.

If Xu Jiang gave Su Mu an overly high evaluation, it would obviously be interpreted as him believing Su Mu could win this box office battle.

But if he gave an ambiguous answer, his previous speech thanking Su Mu would look like mere hypocrisy.

At that moment, everyone looked at Xu Jiang.

However, Xu Jiang's reaction lacked the hesitation and awkwardness everyone imagined. Instead, he picked up the microphone and said firmly: "Ever since I met Su Mu, I never believed he would lose. Whether in the past, the present, or the future, as long as he wants to, he will always be the best. That's who he is. Thank you."

"!!!"

"!!!"

After saying this, Xu Jiang handed the microphone straight back to the host.

Then he strode off the stage.

The audience below and the host all wore looks of astonishment.

No one expected Xu Jiang to be so absolute.

And his trust in Su Mu left no room for doubt.

As long as he wants to, he's the best one?

Did that mean Su Mu would definitely triumph in this year's box office war?

Punching Lin Haoming's 500 million, kicking Du Qifeng's action choreography?

Nobody knew why Xu Jiang had such blind confidence in Su Mu.

But tomorrow's trending searches

were guaranteed to have a spot reserved for this.

...

The awards ceremony concluded as usual.

This time, for Best Actor, Su Mu was only nominated; the final award went to an over-fifty-year-old veteran actor.

The drama the other party starred in was a period piece.

And its word-of-mouth reputation was exceptionally stellar.

So giving the award to him was totally reasonable and flawless.

Su Mu accepted this as well; actors of the older generation deserved respect.

...

The night passed in silence.

The next morning, just as anticipated,

Xu Jiang's remarks made the trending search list.

Meanwhile, the New Year film season officially kicked off.

(Author's Note: There will be an update later tonight, a guaranteed ten thousand words minimum. Thank you for your support!)

(End of Chapter)