Chapter 133: Lin Ze’s Three-Minute Monologue

The two walked onto the stage. Tang Chuan still felt uneasy about Zhang Ya’s current state, but since they were already on stage, there was no opportunity for adjustments.

"Strange," he thought. "Was it because Lin Ze glanced at him earlier?"

Tang Chuan shook his head helplessly. On the screen, the scene they were about to perform was displayed: a confession in the rain. The male lead is a young man with delusions; he occasionally hallucinates that years have passed, causing him to lose interest in games very quickly. This scene depicts him gathering the courage to confess while standing in the rain. The female lead holds an umbrella, listening to him, and in this segment, the subtle changes in her expression are the finishing touch. However, there was no actual rain on stage, so Tang Chuan had to act as if he were drenched.

"Please choose your props!"

Following the host's cue, the two went to the prop area and picked their items. Zhang Ya took an umbrella, while Tang Chuan used a bottle of water to dampen his hair.

"Now, please begin your performance!"

The host stepped aside, and the stage lights dimmed. When they came back up, they were already inside the scene, and the sound of pattering rain began to play.

"Pingping, I love you!"

After shouting this, the character played by Tang Chuan entered a phase of embarrassment, at a loss for what to say next. The female lead stood not far away, saying nothing, just watching him quietly. Although he didn’t know what else to say, he had to continue.

"I love you. I know it’s sudden, but I love you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. I feel like we’ve known each other for a very long time—perhaps it’s just my delusions again, but... even if I am delusional, I’ve imagined us living together for thousands of years. And even after living through such a long time in my imagination, I still love you."

Their performance was projected onto the large screen behind them, allowing the audience to clearly see their facial expressions. However, the excitement in the audience suddenly died down when they looked at Zhang Ya. She seemed a bit dazed, her eyes even reflecting a hint of fear. Tang Chuan noticed this, gritted his teeth, and raised his voice.

"Pingping!"

This loud call finally snapped Zhang Ya out of it. Her eyes shifted rapidly, and she realized it was her turn to speak. The program suffered a flaw due to this brief lapse, causing the judges to shake their heads. When the scene ended, the two stood on stage, and Zhang Ya kept her head bowed.

"Tang Chuan’s performance was excellent as always, but the problem was with you, Zhang Ya," Song Mingchun asked with a serious expression. "What were you thinking during the performance? Why was your mind completely elsewhere?"

Zhang Ya was a promising talent who had always worked hard. The mistake today was egregious, and Song Mingchun was frustrated by her lack of focus.

"I..." Zhang Ya glanced at Lin Ze in the audience, hesitating to speak.

"There was indeed a special situation today. Let’s save the answer to that question for a little later," Tang Chuan said, bowing apologetically to the judges.

The other two sets of performers followed. They were familiar with one another, but their acting lacked depth. Furthermore, the scenes they chose were too simple, and both the audience and judges had a sense of the difficulty levels. By choosing easy scenes, their scores suffered.

Then it was Lin Ze’s turn. When he stepped onto the stage, the audience wore various expressions. Lin Ze glanced at them, a hint of mockery in his smile. Though it looked like a normal smile on the surface, for some reason, it felt unsettling to behold.

The screen behind him began to play his chosen scene. Having seen this clip before, the audience’s respect for the original actor deepened, and they couldn't help but sneer at the fact that Lin Ze had chosen such a difficult piece. But then, the smiles faded, and a few people swallowed hard.

A staff member brought out a stool, but Lin Ze walked over to the prop area, looked around, and brought back a small cart used for holding dishes in a hotpot restaurant. He placed it in front of him; it looked bizarre, but no one laughed anymore.

"Please begin your performance!"

The lights dimmed and rose again. Lin Ze placed his hands on the small table, fingers interlaced, his posture incredibly casual.

"Old Ma found me and brought up the same thing again. At first, they complained that I asked for too much and stopped letting me handle it. Now that they can't get it back, they came to me and offered an extra half-percent..."

Lin Ze felt an itch by his nose. He pursed his lips, but when that didn't help, he raised his hand and scratched it with his thumb. As he lifted that hand, the other seemed to move in tandem, as if restrained. Even though there were no handcuffs on his wrists, the audience felt as if he were sitting at an interrogation table.

"Then I went to De County—that’s where Chen Gou and his people are—and I called him over. I didn't expect him to bring two others, that... Xiao Liu. Since they were there, I took them to that villa."

Lin Ze’s gaze was unfocused, staring at the audience as if he were truly recalling that day. His eyes landed on a girl in the audience, and as he held her gaze, she felt goosebumps rising.

"Who made the first move?" the background audio prompted.

"Me," Lin Ze said, working his jaw. "They were yapping away, so I just acted."

He sighed through his teeth, looked at his wrists—where the imaginary handcuffs were—and gave them a tug. "Actually, they were useless; they didn't dare to do it. Then we got to the reservoir, and damn it, those three cowards actually did it."

Lin Ze chuckled at this, his hand rubbing the scar on the back of his head. "They didn't dare to move before, but when they beat me, they really went for the kill."

The stage and the audience were dead silent, everyone listening intently to Lin Ze’s confession.