Striving Youth

With autumn's deepening hues, the season of frost-tinted hills in the Western Mountains, Murong Feng attended the launch ceremony of "Striving Youth" and officially joined the cast as the second male lead. He declined to attend the press conference at the opening ceremony and refused all interview requests from reporters. The director explained to the media that as a newcomer, Murong Feng hoped to focus on honing his acting skills and would not participate in promotional activities.

This newcomer, who had never acted before and was named Murong Feng, left all the media reporters with an impression of being mysterious and low-key on the first day of the shoot.

On the first day of filming, the "Striving Youth" crew shot scenes set in the university. Wang Yishuai, leveraging his status as an alumnus of Northern University, secured permission to film on the campus for a day.

After filming several scenes of the characters' youthful campus life during the day, they had a major scene to shoot in the evening. This scene took place at a campus event where Fang Zhanpeng, Huazi, and their close friend Tienan's band performed on stage. During their performance, a girl suddenly got up and left, causing Huazi to freeze and stop playing. This scene was meant to convey that the girl Huazi was pursuing rejected him in this manner.

Murong Feng needed to portray Huazi's deep emotional involvement in his performance, the tenderness he displayed to impress the girl, and his subsequent heartbreak when she left. This scene also marked the beginning of Huazi's decline throughout the story.

Due to the large scale of the scene, many students were needed as extras to act as the audience at the school auditorium. This added to the difficulty of controlling the shoot, and since it was Murong Feng's first scene, Wang Yishuai gave him special instructions after directing the extras. He patted Murong Feng on the shoulder and smiled, "Murong, don't be nervous. You've acted in many stage plays. Just treat this like a real campus event and immerse yourself in Huazi's character. I believe in you."

Murong Feng nodded. Although he was a bit nervous, he understood the essence of the director's guidance.

As filming began, Wang Yishuai watched the monitor closely: the three-man band performed passionately on stage. The camera focused on the lead actor, Fang Zhanpeng, who was playing the guitar with flair, enjoying the music. The camera then panned to Huazi, who was playing the electronic keyboard and singing along, his eyes filled with deep affection as he looked out into the audience. Murong Feng's performance of anticipation and tenderness was spot-on, earning Wang Yishuai's silent praise.

With a gesture from Wang Yishuai, the actress playing the girl Huazi was pursuing suddenly stood up, making her conspicuous in the otherwise attentive audience. She looked at Huazi with determination before turning and leaving her seat, exiting through the aisle.

Watching the actress walk away, Murong Feng suddenly felt Huazi's uncontrollable sadness. In his mind, he involuntarily saw the image of Nian Nian, making him feel as though a heavy hammer had struck his heart. His face turned pale, and his fingers naturally stopped playing, causing the music to abruptly stop. The camera zoomed in on Murong Feng's face, capturing the raw, bone-deep sadness and loss that he portrayed. Wang Yishuai, thrilled, exclaimed, "Great! That was perfect!" To nail it in one take was almost unheard of, especially for someone who had never acted before!

With the director's call of "cut," everyone was pleased. Murong Feng, however, couldn't shake the deep sadness he felt. He had not yet emerged from Huazi's heartbreak. Lu Ye, putting an arm around him as they reviewed the monitor, laughed heartily, "Murong, you really are a natural at acting! That expression was spot on!"

Murong Feng nodded absentmindedly. He hadn't yet grasped the feeling of acting, but he had indeed connected with Huazi's emotions in that moment.

As the days passed smoothly, "Striving Youth" continued its successful filming. Murong Feng also found time to enjoy his life, balancing his work at the magazine, his research group commitments, and now his acting. He particularly enjoyed the variety and fulfillment his new routine brought.

Every month, Zhou Haitao from UBS would schedule a meeting with Murong Feng to discuss his asset management. Despite the ongoing global financial crisis, some markets were showing clear signs of recovery. The investment team had seen significant gains in the Hong Kong and U.S. tech markets. Murong Feng's assets had grown by over 20% in less than half a year, now totaling over 60 million yuan1. Zhou Haitao suggested further investments in high-quality private enterprises, and Murong Feng, trusting the team, agreed.

Murong Feng considered investing the remaining 50 million yuan2 that was sitting in the bank but hadn't yet decided on a good investment direction. He followed the old financial adage of not putting all his eggs in one basket and was content with earning interest for now.

Time passed smoothly, and "Striving Youth" was progressing well. The final scene to be filmed was in the presidential suite of a newly-built luxury hotel, Park Hyatt, featuring the main character Fang Zhanpeng and his billionaire father, Xu Zhisen. Wang Yishuai had enough connections to secure the location for filming.

Though this scene only involved Lu Ye, Murong Feng felt he learned a lot from observing it.