Chapter Sixty-Six: Lin Xing Is Shocked, Lin Xing Is Bewildered

“Why should I trust you? The inspection teams have come and gone over the years, and what happened? They passed through without ever tasting anything substantial. You expect me to trust the inspection team just because we were classmates?”
“The sky over Jinghai is shrouded in darkness. Can you really tell who’s good and who’s bad in this system?”
“It’s not that I, Yu Feng, have become like this, but if I hadn’t, I’d have died a hundred times over.”
“Justice? Tell me, what is justice? Fourteen years ago, my mentor died without reason. Twelve years ago, my comrade died. Ten years ago, my apprentice disappeared while investigating a case in the countryside—alive or dead, no one knows. Five years ago, my wife was killed by someone on Central Avenue. Fourteen years have passed, and now you tell me justice won’t be absent? Justice that’s already fourteen years late has long since failed to arrive…”
…
Inside the conference room, Ren Yi was reading the lines for Yu Feng’s character from the script.
At the Script Reading Session, character readings were always a part of the process, and as the lead actor in “Sweeping the Waves of Crime,” Ren Yi was naturally the first to begin.
This particular scene was where Xia Hai, the head of the provincial anti-crime squad, sought out Ren Yi.
Lin Xing finally understood why Kong Tian claimed Ren Yi had the strongest command of dialogue among their classmates.
Just a moment ago, Ren Yi was laughing and chatting casually with everyone, but in the next instant, it was as if Yu Feng himself had possessed him.
The key was that this was only a reading—no acting required. Yet, simply sitting there and reciting the lines, Ren Yi made everyone feel the pain of the character, his suffering, and his anger.
What does it mean to be a master of the stage?
What does it mean to be a veteran actor?
What does it mean to be an emperor of the screen?
This was it.
He didn’t even need to act; just sitting and reciting the lines, he could immerse you in the world of the character.
Ren Yi was just like that, and soon enough, Wang Fei proved to be the same.
“The dishes the inspection team gets depend on what we prepare for them. If they’re sensible, we’ll set some real dishes before them. If they’re not, we’ll give them something truly tough to chew on, assuming their teeth are up for it…”
“A woman is just like a leader; you have to know what she wants. Some love fame, some love talent, some love money, and some women… heh…”
…
Since Lin Xing sat between Ren Yi and Wang Fei, he first heard Ren Yi’s reading, then Wang Fei’s.
Their interpretations were entirely different, but both infused the lines with an invisible aura.
In Wang Fei’s portrayal of Shen Ming, the script didn’t call for a cold “heh” laugh. It was something the actor naturally inserted after a pause.
But that cold laugh perfectly revealed Shen Ming’s hypocrisy and cold-bloodedness.
The readings from these two titans made Lin Xing grasp what true acting really was.

How to describe it?
It was utterly natural.
Like how some actors play simple, honest fools so convincingly you don’t dislike them, while others turn the role into a caricature.
They lose the essence.
Many actors are loud, their expressions, tone, and movements exaggerated, often exceeding the required scale. They think they’re acting well, but the performance is hollow, empty, and unreal.
Finding the right balance is actually very difficult.
Kong Tian had said an actor needs to find their own path. If you always imitate others while learning, you’ll end up with a style that resembles someone else’s—you’ll always be a counterfeit.
It’s like remakes; some actors do the role well, others simply repeat the style of the first.
But whether it was Ren Yi, Wang Fei, or the next speaker—
At that moment, Lin Xing felt like a primary school student, taking notes diligently.
He thought these were all worth learning from.
“No wonder Brother Kong says acting with these masters is like taking years of acting classes,”
Lin Xing sighed quietly to himself.
But he didn’t feel much discouragement.
He had started late, and these ten years had been spent on basic skills.
In “Only Waiting for You,” his performance was just normal, and he had had no one to ask for advice.
But “Sweeping the Waves of Crime” was different.
The director’s demands, the atmosphere on set, the cast—all were perfect for learning.
As always, practice outweighed theory.
At this moment, Lin Xing felt he had much room to improve.
As for the second row, Feng Qing didn’t see it that way.
“If I were up there, I’d do just as well.”
Feng Qing watched the readings, unimpressed, thinking only one thing.
Nothing special!

When Lin Xing read the lines for Zhou Bo, Feng Qing felt even more disdain.
That’s right.
Feng Qing thought Lin Xing was a certified illiterate—he was ten years ago, and still is today.
While Feng Qing was inwardly criticizing, Lin Xing finished reciting his character’s scenes.
“Xiao Lin, I think your notes on Zhou Bo’s character are excellent. Just play Zhou Bo as ‘evil’.”
Liao Qingshan smiled after Lin Xing finished, saying, “Actually, when I first wrote Zhou Bo, I didn’t think much about it. Later, when I wrote the script, I followed a normal personality. But after discussing with Director Zu these past couple of days, we realized that many anti-crime dramas already have characters who turn from good to bad, so why not create a purely evil character?”
Director Zu Ming added, “That’s right, Xiao Lin’s character is defined as evil now. As for Cao Xiang, your character needs to be sparing with words but show cunning. Early on, you should make it so no one can tell if you’re a dirty cop or not…”
Cao Xiang played Xia Hai.
Portraying righteousness isn’t easy.
So Director Zu wanted Cao Xiang to add a hint of ambiguity to his image.
Before anyone realized it, the morning script reading session had ended.
Afterwards, everyone headed to the hotel buffet. The production team had reserved both the conference room and the restaurant.
“Mr. Lin, hello.”
In the buffet, before Lin Xing had picked anything up, Feng Wei approached him with a cheerful smile.
“Mr. Feng, just call me Xiao Lin…”
Lin Xing quickly replied politely.
If you let a veteran actor call you ‘teacher’ you might get accused of being arrogant.
“Haha, then I’ll call you Xing.”
Feng Wei laughed, “And you don’t need to call me Mr. Feng, just call me Brother Feng.”
“Dad, if he calls you Brother Feng, should I call him uncle?”
Feng Qing, standing behind, grumbled at Lin Xing, “Lin Xing, you better step it up. Don’t drop the ball when acting.”
Lin Xing: “???”
…
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