After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn

In "Modern Version of Flowers as a Matchmaker" directed by Du Kang, the role of the male protagonist Wang Junqing was played by Tao Mu, and the role of the female protagonist Zhang Wuke was played by Jiang Cheng, the class beauty recognized by everyone in the class——and the one who announced during the military training that in the future she will keep Tao Mu once she made it big in the entertainment circle. As for the male protagonist's cousin Jia Junying, after some selection, the role was snatched by Chu Sui'an. Female number two, Li Yue'e, was won by another girl in the class called Yuan Di. Du Kang himself played the father of Li Yue'e, Li Maolin, a comedic character.

And because Wen Bao had ‘tormented' Du Kang, who happened to be the director and screenwriter. In order to retaliate against Wen Bao, Director Du strongly requested Wen Bao to play the role of Mama Ruan. He also personally designed a tacky floral dress and Liu Hulan hairstyle with flower hairpin look for Mama Ruan. Except for Wen Bao himself, the whole class clapped and applauded, unanimously giving the costume look a passing score.

In the modern version of "Flowers as a Matchmaker", the story background and the relationship between the characters had slightly changed due to the different time and setting. The male protagonist Wang Junqing, played by Tao Mu, was a rich second-generation who returned from studying abroad. After returning to China, he attended the 60th birthday of his father's friend and fell in love at first sight with his childhood friend Li Yue'e at the birthday banquet. The two wanted to instantly marry each other after falling passionately in love, but the Li family disagreed with the marriage. Because the Li family was a scholarly family, and Li Yue'e's father hated vulgar businessmen the most.

Since the Li family disagreed with the marriage, the Wang family would naturally not lower themselves to beg either. At the same time, the Zhang family, who along with the Wang family was also the two richest families in the city, wanted to form a business alliance through marriage with the Wang family, entrusting a matchmaker to set up a blind date for their daughter Zhang Wuke with Wang Junqing, the son of the Wang family. The matchmaker was the director of the local committee of the Women's Federation when she was young, and even after retiring, was particularly enthusiastic about setting up young couples——Mama Ruan.

Wang Junqing, an elite who returned from studying abroad, certainly did not agree to something as outdated as blind dates. Besides, he only liked his childhood friend with all his heart, so it was even more unlikely that he would agree to a business marriage with Miss Zhang, who he had never met before. However, Wang Junqing’s parents put pressure on him so Wang Junqing had no choice but to ask Jia Junying to go on the blind date in his place. The best case would be to find a way to mess up the blind date and have Zhang Wuke dislike him and take the initiative to ask her parents not to agree to the marriage.

But what happened afterwards, Zhang Wuke and Jia Junying fell in love at first sight when they met on the blind date, both developing good feelings for each other. However, Jia Junying was from an ordinary family, and he did not have the courage to tell Zhang Wuke his true identity. He could only try his best to belittle the character of ‘Wang Junqing' and tell Zhang Wuke that he was not worthy of her and that Zhang Wu deserved better.

Unfortunately, the more Jia Junying belittled ‘himself', the more Zhang Wuke admired him for his humbleness and talent. So when Zhang Wuke went home, she told her parents that she was particularly satisfied with the Wang family's son and did not oppose the marriage.

On the other side, Jia Junying returned home and heard his mother tell him that his mentor called his home in the morning and wanted to arrange a blind date for him and his mentor's daughter. It turned out that Jia Junying's mentor was Li Maolin. Li Maolin had always wanted a gentlemanly son-in-law. It happened that Jia Junying was also his proud disciple. So this blind date was arranged.

Jia Junying lost his father as a young boy and was raised by his widowed mother. When he was in college, he received the favor of his mentor, so he had no way to refuse the good intentions of these two elders. He could only go on a blind date with Li Yue'e. Li Yue'e didn't like Jia Junying either, but she was a gentle and obedient girl since she was a child, and she didn't dare to go against her parents. She could only make her grievances known to Jia Junying, her senior brother. Jia Junying learned that Li Yue'e, his junior sister, actually already liked her childhood friend, so he agreed to explain to his mentor and dispel his mentor's idea of turning him into his son-in-law.

On the other side, Wang Junqing learned that Zhang Wuke was very satisfied by the blind date and actually agreed to the marriage alliance. Instantly, it was like a bolt of thunder hit him from out of the blue. However, both the Zhang family and the Wang family were rich and influential families in the city. Now that the happy news had been released to the public, marriage between the two families was imperative.

Learning that Wang Junqing was about to get married, Li Yue'e instantly fell ill. So Li Yue'e's best friend came up with an idea, to crash the wedding. Arrive at the wedding wearing a wedding dress and ask: Wang Junqing, do you like me or not?

Li Yue'e had always been a rule follower since she was a child, and had never done anything that stepped out of the line. Now, in order to guard her love, she was willing to throw caution to the wind. On the wedding day, she really did wear a wedding dress to ask Wang Junqing that question. At this time Zhang Wuke also knew that the person she really liked was not the groom Wang Junqing, but the best man Jia Junying and refused to get married.

It happened that Li Yue'e also came to the wedding in a wedding dress. When the two brides met at the wedding, they sympathized with each other and developed a favorable impression of the other. So Zhang Wuke came up with the bold decision to have Li Yue'e marry Wang Junqing while she married Jia Junying. The best of both worlds and happiness for everyone.

Because the entire script was adapted from the Pingju comedy "Flowers as a Matchmaker", the tone of the script had some absurd comedy in it. Du Kang captured the essence of Chinese opera during the writing of the script, and adapted the modern version of "Flowers as a Matchmaker" into a stage play with a hint of musical.

Tao Mu, the male protagonist, had a tango performance with Li Yue'e in the scene where Wang Junqing fell in love at first sight, and hip-hop and jazz dancing during inner monologues. As for the lines sung while singing and dancing, they were adapted from popular current music.

The performance styles of other characters were also similar. The highlights included a dance between Wang Junqing and Li Yue'e when they fell in love at first sight, a dance between Jia Junying and Zhang Wuke during the blind date, and a dance between Zhang Wuke and Li Yue'e when they finally met at the wedding. These scenes were all performed through singing and dancing. Especially the final scene at the wedding, which was particularly lively.

Tao Mu was really emitting pheromones heartily when he was performing. Every time he appeared on stage, the girls below would all excitedly scream. However, after the whole performance was acted, the most brilliant role was actually Wen Bao, who played the aunt of the local committee.

This dude wore a wide and billowy floral old fashioned dress, a Liu Hulan hairstyle wig, and a pink Hello Kitty butterfly hairpin. Wide smile and squinty eyes, he could hold the entire atmosphere of the audience in just his first entrance scene.

Especially in the last big wedding scene, Wen Bao wore a big red skirt and danced a twisty Northeast Yangko (TN: popular rural folk dance) on the stage——and to the background music that was the kind of hot DJ club music. Wen Bao, this mad beat dancing demon, actually influenced all the actors to dance Yangko with him unconsciously.

That scene was simply just crazy. It was such a hit that it kept lingering in the mind after just watching it once, like 3D loop playback.

Anyway, after the whole performance, everyone was laughing crazily. Even Tao Mu, who was full of thoughts on other things, had a lot of fun. He really felt that it was a pleasure to perform with actors like Wen Bao.

"Cheers!"

After the end-of-term drama performance, the students in class 1 of the 2008 Beijing Film class were all brought to Wen Juxiang to eat Mongolian hot-pot by Wen Bao.

As one of the important members of class 1, Tao Mu certainly could not act the wet blanket. He originally wanted to take Mr. Song and the others to dinner and celebrate after the end of the term performance. But now he had to temporarily change the agenda.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi understood very well, and drove Mr. Song and dean Tao back to Houhai. Before leaving, they told Tao Mu to have a good time: "If you still didn't have enough fun after eating, you can come to Night. At least there you don't need to worry about safety issues."

Tao Mu agreed with a smile. Watching his Yao Dad drive his family away before turning and apologizing to Li Xiaoheng: "…..I wanted to treat you to dinner. But I don't have time today."

"Don't apologize to me." Li Xiaoheng smiled slightly: "I am very happy today. I feel like I saw a different side of you on the stage."

"It's very different from the me you usually come into contact with, isn't it?" Tao Mu twitched the corner of his mouth: "In fact, our circle is quite complicated. In the future, in order to film a movie, there may even be made up gossip and use of fake character images. You will see even more different faces of me. You may be disappointed then."

"If I like the Tao Mu in my impression, then the changes you speak of may disappoint me. But if I like the real you, the more faces you show, I will only become more and more happy. Because I will be able to know a more complete Tao Mu." Li Xiaoheng smiled warmly: "Completeness does not necessarily mean reality. If I like you, I will like the real side of you, and I will also feel that the false sides of you are also interesting. This lifetime can be very long, and we will have to get along for decades. If everything was the same, wouldn’t it be terrible?”

Tao Mu looked at Li Xiaoheng dumbly: "Did you study debate in university?"

"I studied finance." Li Xiaoheng looked at Tao Mu with warm eyes: "So I know that no stock in this world is set in stone. It will not rise forever, nor will it fall forever. The same is true for people."

"It's getting late. Your classmates are still waiting for you." Li Xiaoheng urged softly: "It's cold outside, go in."

Tao Mu looked helplessly at Li Xiaoheng: "CEO Li studied finance. Then you should know that even if two companies merge successfully, they may still face various crises in the future. For example, operational crises, such as internal management struggles. Some conflicts cannot be resolved by adjusting the structure or business strategy. In the end, it is very likely that the internal conflict within the enterprise will lead to a situation where both sides suffer."

"Perhaps." Li Xiaoheng smiled: "But the situation you mentioned has never appeared in the M&A projects led by me. I think that if there is a failure in the process of corporate mergers and acquisitions, it must be because the work in advance had not been done well. Te interests and needs of both parties had not been communicated well. If we compare our relationship to mergers and acquisitions, then my need is you. So Xiao Mu, what are your needs and interests?"

Tao Mu: "My needs and interests are independent management."

Li Xiaoheng lowered his head and chuckled, "Xiao Mu, I'm very curious. You say this, or the reason you insist on operating independently, is it because you have no confidence in me or in yourself?"

Tao Mu said: "I have no confidence in time."

"Time?" Li Xiaoheng frowned slightly, then chuckled, "This is indeed a problem."

As soon as Tao Mu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Li Xiaoheng continue to say: "But I will figure out a way."

"The weather is too cold, go in first. Your classmates may be getting impatient." Li Xiaoheng looked at his sweetheart standing two steps away from him. The night was cold, and the orange street lights highlighted his features more delicately and beautifully. This reminded Li Xiaoheng of the first time he saw Tao Mu.

If at that time Tao Mu was just a stranger who fit his aesthetics from head to toe. Now, Tao Mu was the one he, Li Xiaoheng, wanted to take home and spend the rest of his life together with.

They still had a lifetime to get along. So Li Xiaoheng was not in a hurry, nor did he want to force Tao Mu too much.

When Tao Mu returned to the private box, Du Kang was holding a glass of wine and complaining again and again: "…..Student Wen Bao, did you do it on purpose? When we rehearsed, we clearly agreed that we would dance that kind of sophisticated dance style, musical. But, as soon as you showed up, you started to dance Yangko with all your energy, which led everyone off track. Did you do that deliberately? You deliberately made it so that our entire class will have no image left, and therefore won’t be able to find a significant other in the future?"

"What does it have to do with me?" Wen Bao squinted his crescent eyes with a smile: "I was just acting my part seriously. It's you guys who were willing to go off track, alright?"

"What! You did it on purpose!" The female classmate who played Zhang Wuke waved the beer bottle in her hand at Wen Bao: "Do you know how long this sister has practiced the last dance? It was so hard during the rehearsal but I survived it. But in the end the dance was not used at all. You have to make it up to me."

"Aren't I treating you to eat Mongolian hot-pot!" Wen Bao grinned, pointing to Tao Mu and said: "You don't need to feel wronged. Look at Mr. Tao, the one with the most idol baggage in our class, even he didn't say anything, right?"

"What can he say? Except for you, in this scene today, Mu Mu was the one who most enjoyed twisting about on the stage. When dancing Yangko, he was happier than when street dancing and tango dancing in the scenes before, yeah?" Chu Sui'an was so excited, his tone carried the dialect of his hometown when he spoke: "Are you really planning to lose your idol baggage?"

Tao Mu laughed very happily.

Du Kang sighed with emotion that Tao Mu was the happiest when he was acting: "This is all thanks to me. If it wasn't for my script that liberated our brother Mu, he would still be solemnly curled up in his idol baggage. How boring is that?"

"That's right." Tao Mu had a drink with Du Kang. He chuckled lightly, his eyebrows rising, and he even joked with a smile in his voice: "How can I thank you?"

"How about with yourself!" Du Kang was also a dude with no gate on his mouth. As soon as this was said, the whole class immediately clapped their hands and hooted.

The female classmate who had already become slightly titzy stood up unconvinced: "Why give himself to you? This sister is still waiting to make it big in the future and keep our Mu Mu. You think you're so awesome cause you're tall! Go and wait in line!"

"Yohoo!!" The large group of students continued to clap and yell: "Fight!"

"Fight! Fight!"

It took more than two hours to eat this Mongolian hot-pot. After dinner, the large group of people still planned on going to sing karaoke.

After the finals performance drama was over, it was winter vacation. The classmates who live in Beijing had it easier. But those who live in other provinces must pack their luggage and go home for the New Year. It would be another month and a half before seeing each other again.

The group of 18 to 19-year-old boys and girls came from all parts of the country to Beijing to go to university. Having left their parents' side for the first time, the closest relationship they had was with their classmates. So now about to be separated, they all felt a bit of reluctance.

But these feelings would gradually dilute as they grow up and encounter more and more gatherings and separations. After they graduated, moved to various places, jumped from film crews to film crews, their minds would be gradually occupied by fame and fortune or other things. Finally becoming more and more numb after being soaked in the big dyeing vat of the entertainment industry. The enthusiasm and righteousness of the past and once ideals may gradually fade under the pressure of life, gradually forgetting the original intention on the road to success, and only the troubles of making a livelihood were left.

A piece of white paper may be dyed in colorful and dazzling colors, or it may become completely black due to the complexity of the colors being mixed.

Tao Mu didn't know how long this process would take. But at this moment, he still cherished these simple and lovely friendships. If possible, he hoped to do his best to make it so that this group of children could have it much easier.

After all, there were not many fond memories that he could look back to in his two lifetimes.

There were too many things in this world that could go bad. As a wealthy person, Tao Mu couldn't do much, but hoped that he could protect them as long as possible before the things he owned deteriorated.

Because after those things had deteriorated, even if Tao Mu was regretful and reluctant to let go, he must still abandon it.

This was not a pleasant feeling. Even if in his previous life and this life Tao Mu was already used to making this choice, when this regret appeared again, he would still feel uncomfortable.

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